The Press. — London, England, 1853-12-24 00:00:00

The late Lord Northampton published sonic of my stanza's in a collection called " The 1 ribute. - -.T. It. The scenes in coaching up to town, in which Moore used to amuse his fellow-passengers, while he remained inetiy., arc amongst the fun niest thingi in the Ineltioirs. lien. is an amusing one:— Started in the conch for town at eight. Party inside, an u)d Irish gentltman and his grantblailehtec, a very pretty girl, just arrived by the Bristol packt t. After sounding each other for some t* • its Irish poltties, fl/111111 than he wan a violent Orangeman. Avowed Inv self of a different opinion ; upon which, taking me fitr ans Englishusaii. he lamented our ientonmee in this ssaintry of Irish atr i nra ; the girl, too, as violent ws atiti-t 'al lodic as her gr a mipa l ia, hich I liked her all the Is tier row : argued plavftilly wills them both. When we *loomed to breakfast, keitill Lord Arthur II ill nniong the I nit side passengers ; whispered iliM not to betray tile. In the coitme of the journey owned to them I was an Irishman, and told the girl that when she knew who 1 was she would, perhaps, forgive ale fur being a rebel : offered to put myself in her hands to convert me. Told them quatititieN of Itimli stern 's. mid kept them, 111111 a good sort of Englishman, who formed oor fourth, laugh. ling the whole time. Lord A. I ill hold me tie.) , inquired of him who I was, and he said it Mr..lohitson. At last, after se clintig44l Isom, nt Ilnmulow, I give the girl my earl', and declared myself to he the veritable Captain Ibtek. The girl exclaimed al 1, mid the old b.llow, in spite I/1 his Otungeitone, taking 1111. es olllitally by the hand, said he was 111194 rejoiced to meet me, and that he had urhudlr, tier the two or three last hours, 1.41114111.1.11.11 111110 1 1111.4, 11.• th e n got very adrisitly over the difference in our opiniuus, by saying," VIM, air, take the )sletical view of these matters." Proved to be Sir Ilem . y Osborne, once high sheriff of the county of Waterford, and a member of the Irish mutt parted great friends. We will shortly return to the sixth volume of this protracted literary suicide. " Poor Moore !" Life in Ahyminia. Being Notes Collected during Three Years' Residence and Travels in that Country. London : Murray. THIN is a clover hook, at once amusing and instructive. It contains a great deal of infor mation respecting a country as yet little known, and has moreover the rare merit of being very concise. We are acquainted with few works of travel which it, would be less easy to submit to a condensing process with out eliminating something which readers would regret to lose. Mr. Parkyns has one fault as an author which to fastidious critics is peculiarly offensive, but which a little prac tice in bookwriting will remove. His style is affectedly flippant: he travels fair out of his way in searell of rather flat jokes, anti tells stories which he assures us were good when be heard them, but which in his rendering seem decidedly pointless. There is also a puerile ostentation of the author's (imaginary) preference of savage over civilised life—a preference which we do not believe him or any other reasoning human being seriously to entertain, and the affectation of which, new in Rousseau's time, is long since worn thread bare. That the desire to see strange sights, the hope of increasing the world's knowledge in natural or geographical science, nay, even the mere love of adventure anti sport, should take men among barbarous tribes, is natural enough; but an educated European who expatiates on the happiness of living ill a society whose members go half naked, anoint their hair with rancid oil, and know no occupation be yond fighting and the chase, excites our pity either for his veracity or for his taste. But we must not be hard upon a traveller if he " magnifies his office," and exalts the pleasure of that pursuit of which we reap the results. The first requisite for successful discovery is health. Be who cannot keep his physical energies unimpaired in all temperatures and climates, while undergoing hard labour, and living on any sort of provision he can get, would do better to stay at home. Rut this, with proper precaution, is easier than many think. Mr. Parkyns repeats and enforces the lesson which every explorer has learnt in turn—that health, in whatever climate, depends mainly On abstinence in eating anti drinking. It is principally neglect, or want of self-control, in this respect that renders the Indies anti Africa the grave of Englishmen. Light diet. -al avoidance of spots to prevail, are the lure to sun is less Ily considered, if the )3 - non-observance of By Mansfield Parkyns. It,f, disuse of strong drink, mail • V s known ; • • • Expose f o r .let ...unit A usual' .' • tg \ -- not ditspased b; • •N t • 4 • • THE PRESS. these rules. When it becomes necessary to sleep in unhealthy and feverish localities the traveller should light fires, cover his head while sleeping with a cloth, which acts as a respirator, and smoke, if possible, while awake. With these hints to guide him ho may not, indeed, be wholly free from danger, but he will have reduced to a minimum the amount of dstnger undergone. Mr. I'arkyus gives, in passing, his opinion of Turkey and the Turks, dividing them into two wholly distinct classes—those who have adopted European ideas, and those who have not. To the latter he shows a strong par tiality, and, we believe, not an unjust one. It is a mistake, he argues, to judge of the Otto man empire by Constantinople, or to imagine that all Mahometans have become effeminate, drunkards, and apostates from their religion. We note, nevertheless, that our author's eulogy is limited to personal qualities ; whereas those who most depreciate the Turkish character principally assail the institutions and admi nistration of the country. Nor should Mr. Parkyns' avowed predilection for IL low over a high state of civilisation be forgotten. Here is his description of the old and new school : r mei r impel Turk: middle-sized ; of powerful flame; blunt but sincere diameter ; brave; religious, sometimes even to fanutienon ; cleanly, temperate, addicted to coffee and pipes ; fond of a good blade, and generally well skilled in its use ; too proud to Is, mean, cowardly, or false ; generous to pnidigality ; and in dress fond of bright coloura end rich clothing, of which he often wears three or four suits at a time, one over the other.—Cieilined Turk : under sized ; of delicate frame; polite, but insincere ; not over ir.tve ; often boasting of atheism ; neglecting the ablutions of his religion, partly because the Franks are dirty, and partly because his new costume won't admit of them ; given to Cognac and cigarettes; fond of a showy sheath if a " militaire," or of a pretty cane if a civilian ; no pride whatever, but lots of vanity ; possesses no Oriental genera sity ; and for dress wears a frock-coat, stays to give a small waist, a gay-coloured " gent's vest," ditto ditto inex presaibles, often of a rather "loud railway pattern," and strapped down very tight, so as to show to advantage the only distinguishing Orimital features which remain to him —a very crooked pair of legs; his " ehaussure " consists of ft pair of French grey merino " brodequins " with patent leather toes; his headdress is a ridiculously small red skullcap, worn at the back of the head, and often containing a small piece of looking-glass, whereby on all occasions to arrange the rather unruly coarse hair it frequently covers. Straw-colour Naples imitation gloves, at two dollars a dozen, and an eyeglass, are generally considered as indis pensable parts of the " getting up ally Franca." In point of manners, the lowest real Turk is a nobleman; the best of the Europeanized lot is barely a gentleman. As an old campaigner in the East, Mr. Par kyns had ample opportunities of observing the tricks played oft along the overland route, on his unsuspecting countrymen. At Alex andria be purposely disguised himself in the dress of a newcomer, for the amusement of hearing the uncomplimentary remarks of his attendant donkey-driver. The practical joke stu after a titilure or two : At last I bethought me of the veil and umbrella dodge, and having equipped myself altogether d l'Anglaise (that is, with shoes instead of brodequins, a straw hat instead of a cap, and a thick stick instead of a cane), I addressed a boy, beginning my conversation (as all Englishmen are supposed to do) with a strongish expletive, and continuing my inquiry in very bud English, as all Englishmen do, in the idea, I suppose, that, because the natives speak a broken language, they will digest it better if broken up ready for their use. the bait took, as the buy's answer convinced me. " Here, master, you one very good jackass." We went a long ride down to Shoubra gardens (I was then at Boulac), and the boy kept up, with the gravest possible face, a desultory conversation of the following nature. (N.H. Tho words in italics are supposed to be said in Arabic.) The donkey stumbles. " You boy, your donkey not good at all !" " Yes, master, him berry good, better than his rider." "Go on fast !" " Yes, master (a-a-a — with a dig causing a wriggle)"—[to ass] : "Get on, Christian, son of a Christian, ridden by a Christian,--ass, son of an ass, ridden by an ass,—Ktkfir (infidel), son el a Kektir, ridden by a Kfklir. - And then perhaps he would amuse himself and the passers-by with a roundelay of the following signification : " Nusserini, kelb °wan!, Akal el kelwa, wa khallini— Aho, el kusserkni. " Christian, blind dog, Ate the sweet thing, and left me— Here he is, the Christian." " That's a very nice song: what does it say ?" " All 'bout master and donkey, berry good. me behind, with stick, make 'm go; master give me shilling me sing hint song again !'"l'hen he would perhaps give the donkey a spiteful dig under the tail, thereby eliciting a kick. while' at the same time he' would express a wish tin Arabic) that the stick in his hand were a khasoug t or impaling-post 1 dedi eated to the especial elevation of the ass anti his rider. So we went on for a long time. ( the parts of the conversa tion I have selected are the few which wont' bear printing in English), till at last, as fortune would have it, I was reeo ,, nised by a Turkish Mend of mine, who addressed me SATURDAY, in Arabic. Not wishing to appear to cut him, I answered, but first got a good hold of my follower, which intertupted him in a most benevolent expression of the kind manner in which he would like to treat all the members of my tinnily, enumerating each one in succession from my great grandfather and his respected lady downwards, and inter. mingling them in a most facetious manner with the ancestry of the animal 1 bestrode. " You would, would you, You !MI ft r a deg!" said I, turning round, and seizing him : " and now that 1 have you in my power, what shall I do with you r - - The di.nownent may be guessed—the h i d." entreaties, the travellers atfreted wrath and real amusement, and the scene closing with double " hashish." Much has been said, and something done, in this country in favour of Abyssinian mis sions, having for object the establishment there of a purer faith. Mr. Parkyns readily allows the necessity of moral improvement, but doubts the efficacy of the means used. According to him the missionaries have gained few proselytes except through appeals to interest; have raised suspicion, offended the prejudices of the people, and thereby con fined them in their singularly narrow-minded and bitter bigotry. Honourable exception is made in favour of Samuel (iobat, now Bishop of Jerusalem. We concur with the author in thinking that a moral and intellectual influence must first bo created by those who aspire to teach ; anal that mere religious preaching, apart from this, is apt to excite only ridicule and contempt, if it does not promote persecu. tion, Next to the preservation of health, the first concern of a traveller is the reception he meets with from those whom he visits. And here again, though but incidentally, Mr. Parkyns gives judicious warning to his suc cessors in travel : Many travellers adopt the practice of taking a soldier from the chief or king of the country in which they may he travelling, to ensure them a hospitable reception in the villages where they may be obliged to lodge. Many also, thus provided, affect a harsh demeanour to the natives, demanding lodging, food, &c., in the most peremptory manner. Now this, in my opinion, is a plan not at all to be recommended. In the first place, it often leads to a intro& quarrel, which is a disagreeable .oduction into a village, and not a likely one to obtain for a traveller what he ought so much to court if he wishes to study the manners and customs of a people—their good will and confidence. Secondly, to have an Amhara soldier with you. or in fact to be supposed to have anything to do with the camp or people of Oubi, is no recommendation to the confidence of the Tigreans ; nor is it at all a likely means to induce them to ( - yen their hearts, or let their feelings, especially on political subjects, be known to you, by thus appearing be fore them under the protection of and accompanied by a soldier from the household of their tyrannical usurper Thi►dly, " Every man's house is his castle." I should very much dislike any one's forcing himself into my house, against my will, and am disposed to act generally on the principle of " Do unto others as ye would they should do unto you." Travellers should learn, like Itasselas and Nekayah, "to understand that they have for a time laid aside their dignity, and are to expect only such regard as liberality and courtesy can procure." There's nothing like a civil tongue and quiet unpretending manners to get on in these commies, as I suppose in all others. On my arrival at a village I have always found it the better plan to do as native travellers would—wait under a tree till some one asks me in. This is generally soon done, though a little patience is sometimes needed. People often gather round yon to look at you, and occasionally make rather personal remarks, though generally they are very civil. Only answer their questions good-naturedly, and take pleasure in making yourself agreeable, which you will find will become a habit, and you will become welcome every where. I don't think it necessary to mention, as some travellers do, every place. I slept in, and what I was fed with every day, but sometimes 1 must be allowed to do so, hoping that a few instances of the way in which I was treated, without any bullying on my part, may induce some future traveller to think like myself, that it is not absolutely necessary to enter forcibly into other people's houses, or to demand as a right the supper which one ought to receive with thanks if voluntarily given. What right has Onbi to make his peasantry feed me or any one else? They pay their taxes, whether or no : and if he were generously dis posed towards strangers, why does he not supply them at his own expense? 1 have said a good deal on this subject, because I have not only heard people express their opinion that force, or rather authority, was necessary for a man to make his way in some countries, but I have even seen similar opinions published. Never was caution more needed; for English men, wherever they go, whether in an Austrian passport-office or an Abyssinian village, are apt to think that foreigners can understand no language except that of bluster and threats. Even where, as in British India. absolute submission to their will might disarm rudeness, it is still the same : admired for energy and " pluck," we are hated for our contemptuous disregard of the feelings of other races.