The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-08 00:00:00

A MIRACLE Ol' AUTHORSHIP.

In the review contained in our impression of
Saturday evening, by a ludicrous transformation of
one small monosyllable, we appeared to state as an
actual fact what was of course in itself, upon the
very face of it, a physical impossibility. The extrava-
gance of the intimation, however, virtually corrected
itself. So that it is in a manner superfluous to add,
what we nevertheless do add here very explicitly—
not being in any way ambitious of claiming for our-
selves a lineal descent from Baron Munchausen :
Erratum—line 78—for "weeks" read months."
In his charming volume of puns and poetry, a book
brimful (from rim to rim—of the cover) with the
gravest and the gaiest disquisitions—" The Jar of
Honey from Mount Hybla"—Leigh Hunt (it may
be remembered by those who know the volume)
speaks incidentally of the wonderful brass pot drag-
ged up in his net out of the deep by the Fisher-
man in the Arabian Nights Entertainments, the
brass pot sealed with the seal of the Great Solyman,
as containing within it " the concentrated essence of
Jinn." That miracle of compression, however, told
of by the oriental fabulist—wonderful though it is
—would be nothing to the one here incidentally hit
upon by this lapsus calami—almost we had written
that last word (indeed we must so have written it
but for the delightful absurdity of the lapsus)—
calami-ty ! In the story of the Fisherman and the
Geni, of course one may conjecture that the latter
was squeezed into the vessel—during all those ages
through which it lay buried under the ocean-by
the agency (shall we venture to hint ?) of—hydrau-
lic pressure. It would be rather bewildering to
conjecture, however, the nature of the force, mecha-
nical, mental, or moral, that could affect to explain
even by a joke this other, this far more astounding
compression—not in regard to "space" but in regard
to " time"—not of the Arabian but of the English
Genius. Remembering the description of the
former incident as related in the glorious Arabian
Tales—

"Immediately the form of the genie began
to change into smoke [a very reasonable thing
truly for it to end in g and extending itself as
before, over both the shore and the sea ; and then
collecting itself, began to enter the vase, and con-
tinued to do so, in a slow and equal manner, till
nothing remained without. A voice immediately
issued forth saying, ' Now then, thou incredulous
fisherman, dost thou believe me now I am in the
vase' ?"

one may certainly pronounce that to have
been " a cram." But—recollecting the description
of the more recent incident thus, as we have seen,
accidentally blundered upon in regard to one of our
glorious English Tales, we would almost go so far
as to pronounce that—may we hope to be forgiven
for saying it ?—" a crammer." A hand that could
so write must certainly have been worked by no
other than a steam arm—a patent match for the
famous steam leg in the old comic song. It must
have written too, that marvellous hand, literally,
as we said on Saturday currente calanzo—it must
have been armed, that is, in other words, with a
Flying Pen, plucked from the wing of one
of the most volacious birds of the Flying Island (of
Swift !) one of the glibest goosequills familiar
to the grasp of the immortal one-eyed philo-
sophers. The "achievement," in fact (re-
ferred to on Saturday), when completed,
must have left that old allegorical personage
with the scythe and hour-glass somewhat in the
same utterly blown and exhausted condition as
Dr. Johnson describes him to have been reduced to
at the close of Shakspere's career, where the Doctor
sings, in a strain of magnificent hyperbole, that—
.

"Panting Time toiled after him in vain."

It could only be accomplished, indeed—this high-
pressure velocity, in the way of "ready writing"—
by, we will suppose, Munchausen himself redivivus,
armed with the steam arm already imagined, and
dipping the Flying Pen (already referred to as
dropped from the Flying Island) in an American
standish of "greased lightning." The result, of
course, to be applauded afterwards in ciao course
by resounding peals of Mr. Philip Bailey's " but-
tered thunder."*

11 For the which see _Festal'.

LITERATURE.

Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial.Afriea.
By M. Paul Du Chaillu. Murray.
Many adventurous spirits have penetrated into
the wilds of Africa, both in the north and south,
but until a few years ago none had dared the un-
known regions of the burning equator. England
may be proud of the discoveries of Bruce, Living-
stone, and other eminent pioneers of civilisation ;
but it was reserved for France and America to
divide the boast that a French American was the
first white man who penetrated into the interior of
Equatorial Africa, furnishing valuable geographical
and ethnological information, and contributed vari-
ous new and rare specimens to our zoological col-
lection. M. du Chaillu left America for the western
coast of Africa in the year 1855, with the '
intention of spending some years in the
exploration of the region of the equator, and of
penetrating as far back beyond the Sierra del
Crystal es possible. It is to be remembered that
hitherto, although the existence of white men had
been known by report to the tribes and nations of
the interior, before M. du Chaillu's advent, they had
never seen one of these wonderful beings. Alone,
and trusting only to his own resources, did this ad-
venturous explorer enter upon the unknown. His
desire was, as he expresses himself in his preface,
firstly, to discover whether in the interior a more
healthy situation could not be found for the Ameri-
can mission, which suffered much on the coast;
secondly, to examine the rivers, and determine if
they were suitable for vessels of light tonnage; and
lastly, but by no !means of the least importance,
in the eyes of M. du Chiallu to hunt the gorilla, an
ape of the largest size, which had until then only a
mythical existence; for although the skin of a young
one had some time previously been sent to England,
the habits, size, and ferocity of this nearest link to
humanity in the animal chain was dependent on
the tales of the natives of the coast. How well he
has succeeded, the perusal of his account of his
adventures and the flattering reception he has re-
ceived from the Geographical and Ethnological
Societies, will bear witness. Before entering upon
a sketch of these interesting travels, we may re-
mark that, although travelling among savages, and
in continual peril, more or less, from both man and
beast, M. du Chaillu makes light of his own adven-
tures, and never brings himself into prominent
notice, except when necessary ; this modesty is
very commendable, and gives a truthfulness
to the narration of certain events which
certainly have a touch of the marvellous.
The region of his exploration, although circum-
scribed in extent, extending about 400 miles in a
direct line from the coast, and two degrees north
and south of the equator, from the River Mundi,
in Corisco Bay, on the north, to the Ferroand Vas
and Cape Catharine on the south, contain many
wonders. It is a curious fact that the farther he
penetrated, the more manly and intellectual the
inhabitants became—superstition, of course, hold-
ing a supreme command of these, as of ether Afri-
can nations. As the gorilla has claimed this work
as its own, M. du Chaillu's travels being, in general,
termed, "The Gorilla book," we will give the gigantic
ape the first place in our notice. The author found
it in several districts, his first meeting with it was
in the Fan country which lies to the eastward of the
Mundi river. He had contrived by presents to
make friends with the natives, but he had a great
advantage in having spent several years on the coast
with his father trading. He was well known to
many of the kings or chiefs, who introduced him to
their connections in the interior, who again for-
warded him on his way, he having established his
footing with them by his kind and generous dis-
position, backed by his cool daring and his sur-
prising skill with his rifle. He thus describes his
first gorilla :

MY FIRST GORILLA.
We started early, and pushed for tho most dense and im-
penetrable part of the forest, in hop to find the very home