The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-12-25 00:00:00

SUPP - 4 C • ty , I to 3( t • • , 1 1 "" " " (.7 .r• • fs, ET• RTISER. 17%)9.] [GRATIS. AND GENERAL COMMERCIAL ADVE LIVERPOOL, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1R55. THE MIRROR OF HOPE. . It is singiAttr, its well as ;edifying,"to trace the Curious workings of a restless mental bodily ivity which seems to find solace only in tut, : 4tring " to and fro upon the earth,'! thto v various scenes of peril and adventure, hick forces its possessor into strange fellowship with the privations and dangers of savage life, and shrinks' not from the perils to be met with in the encounter of civilised man returning to a state of savagery in quest of gold. All this, and more than this, is to be met with in the pages of the two volumes now issued by this adventurous female. Her adventures among the islands of the Malayan Archipelago, as they open up a newer field of observation, are fresher than those connected with California, concerning which we have already heard so much. Among these little known islands, and still less-known people, she met with many incidents worthy of notice, and several of these we should like to have transferred to our columns, but must content ourselves with one. Amin the desert's rugged scene, Delusive Hope! why dost thou stand, Displaying thus with silent mien, A mystic mirror in thine hand? Alas I my sinking heart to mock, The gleaming crystal cheats mine eyes, Casting on barren sand and rock The light, the tints of Paradise. Reflected in the glass I see Bare rocks, with moss and flow'rets gay; Young leaves bedeck the blighted tree, And 'mid the sands a streamlet's play ; But false are flower, and stream, and leaf; I look around—the vision's o'er— Cease, cruel Hope l to sport with grief; Thy magic shall deceive no more. I snatch thy mirror—break it—strew The scatter'd relics far and near—L- Rut see! full many a vivid hue, And gleam and ray are sparkling here. O'er all the wilderness they beam, The shiver'd crystal's atoms bright, And make the illumin'd landscape seem Refulgent with a wondrous light. A VISIT OF CEREMONY TO THE QUEEN OF LAGUSI. When I left the boat to walk a quarter of a mile to the royal abode, the whole population of the village ac companied me, for mine was the first European face that had ever been seen here. The whole body tried to enter with me into the palace (a bamboo hut, of course), but they were, as might be expected, forcibly put back. The queen kept me waiting a long while before she made her appearance. She was an old, but lively and vigorous looking woman, and talked a great deal, and with much emphasis. She said she was seventy-six, but judging by the age of her youngest son she could not have been so much. The people here, when they are old, generally 4 ,-cty' 8 Second Journey Round the World • • try to make themselves out older, in orde r t o add to Sumatra, to the Cape of Good Hope, Borneo, their dignity; but besides this, they have a very imperfect eltrnatra, Celebes, Ceram, the _Moluccas, way of reckoning , and o ften do not themselves know how t 41 ifornia Panama, Peru, Ecuador, and the many years they should count. After having partaken of ell S tates. B Ida Pfeiffer, London: Lo - the customary refreshments of tea and sweetmeats, I b i le l Co* y Lon wished to retire, for I was half-lame from sitting nine ti hours in that cramped posture; but the great l ad y would eke Ida Pfeiffer has now seen all the not allow this ; she was too much entertained with the twice andall the d . world, at over, of my interpreter, who told her all the news 4.0 f the great town of Macassar. She was extremely qd many who are not adepts in the read- cheerful and animated, although, as she herself told me, tt, 1 , have, at least, heard of, if they have not with truly stoical ind i ff erence, she had ~. a Sim only 'adanie Ida Pfeiffer. Among the latter class three days before. That ,is the way w , these people. I lat frankly range ourselves ; we have often. Aa and dlong behave asth a e a bo i d f y t i h s e in t w h e e r tou f s ra e n t t h ie ey w s i c t rm eet a r n e d w r b w u l Of, though we have not seen, the roving when it is once buried, the the sorrow is buried with it, and jlhe is, and has been, a great traveller, they are quite comfortable and merry again. The queen ( 4 7vellers, it is well- known, “ see strange wore mourning for her son, which consisted of a piece of ''' but Madame Pfeiffer , does more than see ' 'dark cloth passed round her head, so as quite to conceal 118 ° tells ' her hair, and hanging down upon her shoulders. Much of the strange sights she has seen. against my will I was compelled to sup with Her Majesty, p a ssioni for travel seems ,to be a somewhat and the sapper was no better than usual. There was a r One, and is less or more confined to love crowd of little dishes, the entire contents of which would Peg . by rfo means have overloaded the stomach of one person otion which, in her case, appears to be, . with , a good appetite. One dish contained a single hard- L lilt ue, in ' vgreat degree its own reward. boiled egg, cut into four parts, another three very tiny Zrseverance and courage exhibited by a lone potatoes, a third the half of a fish three inches long, a in twice traversing the principal thorough- foul few slices of cucumber, a fifth two very little i,*. a ban and many of the least-invitinc , and `most onioiX / and so forth. In the midst of this splendid °tens byeways of tlirikrld, is so''' . unnvak, if . quet wa i t placed a vry large closely-covered soup-tureen, . and up it'a great ladle ;on this giant dish I centred all b $ the as to class the achievem . erkt „my bop& and expectations, dreaming of boiled fowls, and the acts of heroism. 'That the ladh.lnas Heaven knows what dainties, that I suppOsed it to con tnderful philosophic depth of minCaM is tain. I took a good portion of rice upon my plate, think- Possessed of accurate generalising pa g o f of the fowl. \Still the cover was not raised. I thought I rvation is tam me 3 and the fact, thQ4ll it de— should like a little salt to my r ice, an d' a sked for some ; in an unfortunate degree from file value of eels, does.not.. in any way lessenAbb wonder by the extraordinary 1-1 ' 10 ays effort_. ..,. er pictures minute, and they catty on their face tan air of fidelity - ; that: they convQ± in- tiitii 04 of an important character, which rnds • oeculative than her own ma t tit. q salt-aellar. I felt ready to turn into a pillar of salt my anner of serving water. Two handsome cut-glass 'oantlks, in cases, , , y urn to usefu . -., • •• and then, at laiti . off went the cover, the great ladle was plunged 4n, and about a thimbleful of fine white salt pre sented to me. The grand dish was merely a monster sel/60th grief and disappointed hope. Not less odd was hadAlbeen placed before us ; and, as ,„ '...nters•are mostly accompanied by glasses, I waited 1,.. , e time in hopes of seeing them brought ; but as none eitine,l asked for them, and was then requested by Her li, Like earth-born stars here glittering keen, Like fragments of a rainbow there, Like jewels dropped by elfin queen, Like fountain's spray, like dew-drops fair, The shattered mirror multiplies Its vainly-broken fairy spell; I Hope lin thee what magic Hest Thy power is indestructible I REVIEWS. r,„_ v ,' a ':~`._,. - IVialisty to drink out of the bottle. I did so accordingly, and not only I and she, but the two interpreters, and every one else. :Among the fruits was one called Dorian, in form and size resembling a middle-sized lemon, which smells so - strongly of garlic, that you can perceive its presence forty yards off. The interior consists of very large white beans lying apart from each other. I had seen this fruit at Borneo, as well as in the Moluccas; and the Europeans declare that, if you can get accustomed to the smell, the taste is very fine, but that the best way to eat it is when sitting in a boat on a river, so that you can dip your hands every moment into the water. I must own, however, that though I made several attempts, I never could succeed in liking it,— the perfume was too powerful. The court lady, or attendant, who waited at table, wore on the thumb of the left hand a nail-case at least five inches long; and when I expressed my astonishment at this enormous nail, saying I had never seen anything like it in China, the land of long nails, she smiled, and drew off the nail-case, and then I saw that it was merely an ornament, and that the nail it was intended to cover was at most of the length of half an inch. The case was the same with others whom I saw wearing this curious decoration—with the exception of the Queen's son, who really boasted a nail two inches long. This fashion of wearing nail-cases, I never saw anywhere else than here. When the meal was over, I was obliged so far to disregard ceremony as to beg permission to retire. The Queen expressed much regret at not being able to receive me in her ruin of a palace, but requested I would follow her son to his, where I should find everything ready for my reception, and should also be presented to his wife, and entertained once more with tea and pastry. This honour, however, I was obliged to decline, and I stepped as quickly as possible under my clambu, and there enjoyed the rest Iso much needed. The prince was still a young man, but his features and complexion betrayed the habitual opium smoker ; and bis first occupation in the morning was always to light his pipe. This poison, alas ! is now continually brought to Celebes. After the breakfast, which was quite worthy of the preceding evening's supper, I went with the prince to pay a visit to the Queen, and take my leave. As I entered, my attention was attracted by three boxes, which I had not noticed the preceding evening, and I soon found that two were to serve as seats for her majesty and myself, and the third to figure as the table. I had to wait half-an-hour for the Queen, who I was told was making her toilette,—and such a toilette as it was when it was made ! She had on a loose white blouse over her sarang, and her head was, as it had been the day before, wrapped in a handkerchief. By way of decoration, she wore two rows of hollow gold balls, of the form and size of eggs, which were crossed over her breast and shoulders ; and at each side of the bosom hung a flat piece of gold-plate, set with precious stones, that might have been taken for an order, if such a symbol of civilization could have been ex pected at Celebes. Her chaussure, however, struck me most ; it consisted of shoes cut in the European shape, but not out of silk or stuff, but of gold-plate,—soles and all, —and adorned in the front with precious stones. In this, her second journey, Madame Pfeiffer has not only maintained, but she has added to her character as an intrepid and indefatigable traveller, and a curious observer of life and manners, which she paints with more fidelity than she exhibits skill in the delineation of. The Wonders of Scicnce ; or, Young Humphry Davy. The Life of a Wonderful Boy. Written for Boys. By Henry Mayhew. Lon- don : David Bogue. The learned philosopher and the simple rustic alike yield practical concurrence in the maxim, that the " boy is father of the man," and this being so, whatever tends to enlighten and expand the boy-mind, confers a lasting boon • upon society. Viewed in this light, the tale of the " Philosopher Boy," by Mr. Mayhew, is one of peculiar interest. In it he contrives, suo more, to enlist the brisk activity of mind and the eager curiosity, both so characteristic of youth, in a well-told and cleverly-arranged exposition of the LEMENT TO id; rOrf il OB oirt let