The Press.
London, England, 1854-05-06 00:00:00

MAY 6, 1854.

not built on enduring interests, or in which
signal genius has not taken part in the strife.
The notes from Bishop Coplestone's com-
monplace-book do not occupy thirty pages of
the volume. Some of them possess philologi
cal interest. We extract the most interesting
passage, along with the editor's notes :

The affinity of words is by no means to be rejected be-
cause it is remote. if each step in the pedigree be clearly
established, the connection is as certain as if it consisted of
but one or two stages of descent. Thus Journal is un•
doubtedly derived from Dies. Dies, Diurnns, Giorno,
Diurnal, Journal. Lord Clarendon, in his Life, uses Diur.
soli in the sense of Journals.

The Arches is a vulgar name with seamen for the Archi-
pelago, which is itself a corruption of a:ytioc riXayo; ( Mit-
ford's " History of Greece," vol. i.) ; Charter-house from
Chartreuz ; Postmaster, at Merton College, from Portion-
ista. These corruptions are similar to those in daily use
among our seamen, when they assimilate the same of a ship
to some word already familiar. Bellerophon, Bully Ruffian ;
Bienfaisant, Bonney pheasant. So liologne Mouth Bull
and Mouth ; Belle Sauvage, Bell and Savage. This is an
important principle tbr the etymologist to notice. It
solves many phenomena in language. E.g. Bridgewater, a
town in Somerset, is corrupted from Walter de Burgh ;
Sparrowgrass, from Asparagus; Coweumber, from Cucumis ;
Biscakes, from Biscuits ; " please the pigs," from " please
the pit," or sacred box in which the host was kept; coun-
try dance, from contreclarme.
Quelques chores . . Kickshaws.
Hoc eat corpus . . . Homo peens.
Another guise . . . Another guess.
Sucre Brule . . . . liarleysugar and yet the French

saygmre Purge.•
Buffet ier
Euripus
Oyez 0 yes !
Chaussee
11 Janitore John Dory.
Girasole Artichoke .

Chacal . . .

. Jackall.

Toad-eater, from the Spanish todito, a familiar diminu-
tive of todo (toto), one who does everything for you—a
fu.to•tara+—a frequent member of the Spanish household.
The word to pania (TA ',Pines) was the name of a similar
personage at Rome. (See Petronius.)

In the "Curiosities of Literature " there is a
still more singular catalogue of the corruption
of names.

Amongst the sern►ons we were particularly
struck by that in which the purpose of War-
burton's argument on " The Divine Legation"
is commented on. We doubt whether Bishop
Coplestone would have printed the sermon as
it here stands without some further elucida
tions and more qualifying remarks. We re
commend the discourse to those interested
about Warburton. Those occupied with the
present aspects of the religious world will
complain of the volume now before us as de-
ficient in utility, while readers of another
school will complain of its tenuity of matter,
and its raising questions that are not solved,
notwithstanding the acuteness of the " logic "
which is visible in its pages.

Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Herald
during the Years 1845-51. By Berthold
Seemann, F.L.S. London : Reeve and Co.

THE voyage of the Herald lasted from 1845 to
1851, five years and eleven months, including
a circumnavigation of the globe, numerous
surveys in little known seas, and even the dis
covery of an arctic island. Few expeditions
of longer duration or more successfully con
ducted. have left English shores. The navi-
gators touched at Madeira and Rio—visited
the Falkland Islands—rounded the Horn—
thence proceeded to Lima, the Galapagos,
Panama, and the Pacific coast generally, as
far north as Vancouver's Island, being up to
this period exclusively employed in survey-
ing. In April, '4B, they received orders to
search for Franklin in the vicinity of Behring's
Straits; and after a brief stay at Petro-
paulowski, in Kamschatka, entered the Arctic
regions, where they remained only long
enough to verify Wrangell's conjecture of the
existence of a Polar land north of the Siberian
continent. Returning from her brief Arctic
cruise, the Herald wintered at Honololu, and
in the spring of 1849 again left for the Straits.
A surveying expedition in the Gulf of California

• Originally it was barley-water, sweetened with sugar (a com-
mon remedy in coughs) boiled down to w extract. And some
such is still made.—En.
4. I have heard an ingenious person object (and I think Justly)
to this etymology, and derive the word from the animal " toad,"
which I think equally improbable. Both seem to me to have over-
looked a simple and obvious derivation. One element in etymo-
logy, which is not to he lost sight of, is the tendency to contract
or otherwise alter is pristvecieffim any word of which the 'utter-
ance would be either profane or disgusting. E... " my life,"
•' cad," "Lud," and many others.—En.

THE PRESS.

filled up a subsequent interval of time; and
early in 1850 a third visit was paid to the
north-west coast. In October, 1850, the
homeward voyage began : it ended in June,
'5l, when the Herald's crew returned, with
(as we understand) the loss of only two men,
after one of the most protracted cruises on
record.
We do not know the circumstances under
which Mr. Seemann has written his narrative,
or how far the undertaking to do so was a
volunteer over on his part. If it were so, we
cannot commend his discretion; for he was
only present with the ship during a part of
her voyage, and his account is often meagre
through insufficient information, while a
compilation from the journals of various
officers, such as this work professes to
be, seems not the form of writing best
calculated to convey a clear impression of
what has been seen and done. But it would
rather appear that the duty devolved officially
on the narrator,—Captain Kellett being absent
somewhere in the neighbourhood of the North
Pole, and in this case we cannot find fault
with one who has certainly made the best use
of such materials as were at his disposal.
Of Vancouver's Island, and its principal
settlement, Port Victoria, the voyagers give a
favourable description. The harbour is in-
different, and water scarce; but this latter
defect may be remedied by more scientific
boring. The country is described as beauti
ful ; " a natural park ; noble oaks and ferns
" are seen in the greatest luxuriance; thickets
" of the hazel and the willow, shrubberies of
" the poplar and the alder, are dotted about."
Cultivation had begun with success, though
(in 1846) only three years had elapsed since
the settlement was made. " All the necessaries
" and most of the comforts of civilised life
" already existed." The fort is a square
stockaded enclosure, protected by towers on
which artillery is mounted, and strong enough
to repel all native aggressors. One attempt
had been made upon it, which was easily
defeated, and a speedy reconciliation effected.
The natives are dirty, indolent, but not
dangerous ; especially as the Hudson's Bay
Company wisely refuse to supply them with
spirits. The half-caste population increases,
and may in the end prove troublesome, having
much of European energy, but little desire to
adopt civilised habits. All trade being in the
hands of the company, prices are exorbitant;
the more so as its customers are almost always
in debt. (It must be remembered that these
statements refer to the year '46, since which
time considerable changes have taken place.)

Peculiar interest attaches to Mr. Seemann's
notes on the Panainese Isthmus, which he
visited, and in part explored. As regards the
physical features of the country, recent ob-
servation has superseded his discoveries ;
but we know no better account than his of
the native races inhabiting this district.
Here is a sketch of the state of agriculture :
In a country like the isthmus, where nature has supplied
nearly every want of life, and where the consumption of a
limited population is little felt, agrioulture, deprived of its
proper stimulus. cannot make much progress ; it is there-
fore, in the isthmus, in the most primitive state,—our
first parents could hartUy have carried it on more rudely.
A spade is a curiosity, the plough has never been heard of,
and the only implements used for converting forests into
fields are the axe and the machete (or chopping-knife).
A piece of ground intended for cultivation is selected
in the forests, cleared of the trees by felling and burning
them, and surrounded with a fence. In the beginning of
the wet season the field is set with plants by simply making
a hole with the machete, and placing the seed or rout in
it ; the extreme be-at and moisture soon call them into ac-
tivity, the fertility of a virgin soil affords them ample
nourishment, and without the further aid of man a nch
harvest is produced. The mute ground is occupied two
or three years in succession : after that time the soil is so
hard, and the old stumps Lave thriven with so much
enerKv, that a new spot has to be chosen. In most coun-
tries this mode of cultivation would be found impossible;
but in New Granada all the unoccupied land is common
property, of which anybody may appropriate as much as he
pleases, provided he encloses it either artificially or by
taking advantage of rivers, the sea, or mountains. As long
as the land is enclosed it remains in his possession; when-
ever the fence is decayed the land again becomes the pro-
perty of the republic. Colonial produce, such as
sugar, coffee, cacao, tamarinds, etc., which require more
attention than the inhabitants are wont to bestow, are
merely raised for home consumption ; and although the
provincial government has tried to encourage this branch
of industry by uftering premiums for growing a certain
number of plants, and the soil and climate are favourable,
I yet none, except a few enterprising toreigners, have taken

425

a prominent part in the cultivation ; and there is reason
to believe that, while the country remains thinly populated,
the high price of labour, consequent on such a state
of society, will be a lasting impediment to the establish-
ment of plantations on a large scale. The oerealia grown
are rice and Indian corn : the former was introduced by
the Spaniards ; the later was known before the conquest to
the Aborigines, who raised it extensively, and used to
prepare from it their bread, and chirAa, a kind of beer.
Some successful experiments with wheat have been made
on the mountains of Varaguas which will doubtless lead
to an extrusive cultivation of that grain.
Apathetic indolence characterises the people
—a peculiarity not to be wondered at in such a
climate, and in a state of society where
luxuries are unknown, while necessaries can
be obtained without trouble. The rains con-
tinue during three-fourths of the year ; in
some parts of Darien it even rains eleven
months out of the twelve. The heat is exces-
sive, and debilitating, from the quantity of
moisture with which the air is loaded. The
following sketch of a day on the isthmus shows
both accuracy of observation and graphic
power :

During the dry season the climate agrees tolerably well
with a European. But a summer day in lurope and one
in the Isthmus—what a difference ! Night and day, from
the vicinity of the country to the equator, pre nearly
always of equal length. Scarcely has dawn commenced
when every body is in action—it is the hour of business
and bodily exercise ; nature stands refreshed, and drops of
dew hang on every leaf. Amidst a profusion of flowers,
the stately palm waves its foliage, and gay-coloured birds,
strongly contrasting with the azure sky, diffuse animation
and life ; in vain however does the Northman listen,—
instead of the sweet melodies of nightingales and robins,
the disagreeable cries of parrots and macaws strike his ear.
Towards eight o'clock the heat begins to be felt, and that
lassitude, fur which the tropics are so well known, seizes
everything. The further the day advances, the more is
this influence perceptible : the leaves droop, the wood-
pigeons, which all the morning sent forth their mono-
umous notes, are silent, the inhabitants have sought
shelter front the scorching rays in the interior of their
dwellings, all living beings are reposing, and • still-
ness prevails almost as profound as that of midnight. Ily
degrees the heat becomes less oppressive, the breezes in-
crease, and the cool air of the evening soon calls forth a
new life. The forests now glitter with fireflies, crickets
chant their merry times, and here and there are seen
groups of people chatting and enjoying themselves. But
nothing can exceed the beauty of the scene when the full
moon rises, shedding its silvery light over the broad
foliage of the tropics ; whatever may have been the fatigue
of the day, whatever the body may have suffered from heat
and languor, all is forgotten in the presence of this
spectacle. Such nights indeed baffle description—they
are the quintessence of equinoctial life.

Concerning the Indian tribes little is known:
the Creole population treat them with con-
tempt, and they themselves repel all efforts at
approximation between the races. There
lives in Veraguas a chief who annually sends
envoys to Santiago, the capital of the pro-
vince, asserting his right of independent so-
vereignty, and denying the territorial claims
of Spain. In some parts of the country monu
ments are found whose immense antiquity is
attested by the detrition of the granite which
forms their material. These, however, appear
only in certain localities, the majority of the
Isthmian Indians being poor and savage races,
always at war, and acknowledging no general
or supreme head.
Not much is told of the Polar coast. Seen far
off, it appeared high, very rocky, and broken,
and stretched out to a considerable distance.
Its existence was traditionally reported among
the Siberians, who add that it is inhabited by
a race wholly unknown, and who never quit it
for a more southern latitude. Beyond the
bare fact of land being there we know nothing.
The Plover, a ecompanyin g the Herald,
passed one winter (that of 1$19) in Kotzebue
Sound, and during this interval of inaction an
officer attached to her was despatched to tho
Russian fort of Michelowski. Here be heard
native rumours, confirmed also by the Russian
commandant, of white men having been seen
on a river in the interior, badly supplied with
provisions, and who had parted with their
guns to obtain food. As these men could
scarcely be officers of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany, the place where they were seen being
far within the limits of Russian America, the
presumption arose that they might belong to
Franklin's party. Captain Moore, however,
discredited the report, and no farther explora-
tion ensued.
Not the least interesting part of this work is
a resume—brief and very clear—of the various
searching expeditions sent out after Sir John
Franklin. Mr. Seemann considers it certain
that the missing expedition, if ever destined