New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1844-11-08
He TRIBU N E.
From Tait's Magazine.
nI1AEER MISSION TO TIE MAURiIlOS

<,s.bment in following Mr.. Bsckheuse and his
fellov.lsbore on their Missionary Ramo'es
throu,h the Australian Colonies, will, we are
persuaded. be as much gra,i6ed In accompany
inp them in their farther pilgrimage. Before
,stnrniug TO Europe, after their visit tn Australia,
Mr.. Backhouse and his friend, MIR. George
Washington Walker, went to the Msurltlus,
whence, after arief stay. they embarked Tor the
Cape of Good Hope, and made rather ex'en
sive tour among the missionary etatlons anu
Christianized spots of South Africa. Mr.: BACK
house il rather to be regarded as one VINO sur
vsys and reports upon the labors OF othefe' tnah
as himself regular laborer IN the missionary
field, though he never loses an opportunity o.
throwing out word IN sesson wherever n!S iot
NAV he cast Whatever Friends may be at home,
abroad they are of truly catholic spirit. Mo-
rayians. Me,hodiss, Scots. Germans, Catffes,
Hottentots, wherever the Quaker apostles net
with sincere Christian, he was hailed az q
brother in the bonds of the Gospel.
As work Of travel. this volume Is less inter
sztinp than the account of Mr.. Bsckhouse's
visits 10 the new settlements and eng ant groups
of Australia. OF the circumstances OF ihe ic"
ENGLISH and Scottish settlers whom he So" d.
Glen Lyuden, Glen Avon, and other places III
Son,b Africa. he hiss told less than we wouso lhe
10 hear regarding this interesting class OF our
eountrymen. But perhaps there might mol DC
much to tell respecting ;her social condition. ana
Mr.. B,ckhouses inquiries were confined 10 SUD
iscts of ptaver import. The same quiet enthusi,
ssm for nature, and particularly for botany and
crn;thoIoqy. which we noted In his former volume,
IA .trikipgIy apparent in the new one; and Ain
"A affords much richer field to the naturalist
than Australia. Mr.. Backhouse excels as
Landscape painter. In the Mauritius, as in Aus.
tralia, he generally adopted the primitive MODE OF
usinp his own legs In his excursions ABOUT Tue
island. The landscape sketched below Is we
think, very pretty and engaging. Inc season is
the middle of April, 1888.
I3M.-Yes,erday, we again came to Roc en-
Roc. Mapou, where, to day, considerable con
prsgation assembled, TO whom the objects OF the
Coming and death of Christ were largely forth,
in connection with the difference between the su-
perstitious appropriation of them, according TO the
traditions of men, and the spiritual application
of them to the soul, by the power of God. The
people were very attentive, and precious sense
of the divine presence prevailed at seasons.
In tho afternoon, walked to Grande Bale, with
G.. Clark and young colored Creole, who was
learning the British and Foreign School system
of instruction, with a view 10 become teacher.
We went along the coast, which made tho dis
lance about nine miles, though perhaps not more
than six by the nearest way. The land Of the
coast il either covered with grassy turf, or with
copses of various shrubs. Here and there, cocoa
nut and date palms are scattered, chiefly near hit
tie groups of tue dwellings, of fishermen. Little
tranquil inlets covered by the sea at high water,
are numerous in this direction; they are mar
gined with 'mapgroves Of about ten ieet high,
having handsome, elliptical, laurclike foliage.
Large bushes of syzygium Jamboiand grow a
little farther from the beach; they produce the
fruit called iamlongue, which is tho size of u
small plum, but moro cylindrical and is sweet,
but astrngent Some Of the poorer people on the
coast collect the PROSTATE stems OF bdtdtas mori
tina, a plant of the convolvuIus tribe, which OK
tend many yards along the candy ground, and
bind them in long, lose, thick bundles These
they cast into the sea, and drsg to the shore
bringing with them small fishes. We passed
some blacks making large torches of numerous
spl,nters of kind of wood that is inhammab!e
when green, which they use to attract the fish at
night. These torches are about three feet long,
and foot In diameter at the wider end they are
bound together by means OF withes of the Jas
min. du pays, jGsminum rnauritianum, the shuots
of which are 30 long that one is sometimes sui
fcient to make little basket, as we were assure
BY q man of color, who was making basket
from them.
The state of society in the Mauritius, previous
to the abolition of slavery, is represented as OK
cesdirgly depraved and hcenious. BY the time
of Mr.. Backhouse'a visit, symptoms of improve
ment were apparent The whites were showing
a better example, and marriage ties had begun &c
be known and respected among The black popu.
lation.
The following passage, which occurs in the
Journal shortly after Mr.. Backhouse had reached
Cape Town, will be perused with deep interest,
from the affecting "reminiscences it awakens,
and the weight which belongs to the authors
opinions on the question of war, or the right OF
the strongest:
"In the evening we attended O monthly mis-
sionary meeting IN the Union Chapel, at which
John Williams, of the South Sea Mission, was
present, the Camden missionary ship having put
into Smon's Bay yesterday. John Williams
gave some interesting information respecting the
mission, and his visit to England; he spoke very
modesty OF the labors OF the MISSIONARIES IN the
South Seas and, in abiding to the good that had
been Effected among the islanders by the intro
duction of the gospel among them, dwelt chiefly
upon the destruction OF idola,ry and infanlicide,
and tho general improvement of the people; he
also brought forward some cases, showing that a
spiritual change had been wrought; and no,ice d
the important fact, that mulutudes, WHO few
years ago were in utter ignorance, could now
read the Holy Scriptures with facility, and could
wife intelligent letters. After John Williams
had concludes, gave the company some in
formation respecting the forloIn state of the abo-
rigincs of Australia, and the injury done them
under the influence Of misapprehension and pre-
iudIce DR.. Philip made few pertinent CON-
ments on what had been expressed, showing that
the erroneous ideas of defective capacity IN the
Australians aud Tasmanians, and the alleged
difficulties in regard to their instruction and civil
ixation, were only such long existed in respect
20 the Hotlentots; that these had been Demon
strated to be utterly iallacisus and tho result of
ignorance of The constitution OF the human mind.
He also expressed conviction that, as more cor
rect information was now diffused, better spirit
would be stirred up toward these oppressed peo-
ple; and that ere long they would become the
SUBJECTS of more extended Christian labcrs, 50
that in them also the power ct divine grace would
be shown.
sd-We dined with William Henry Harvey,
the Colonial Treasurer. and walked With him,