Captain Krusenstern is disposed to think, that what Capt. Marshall saw were the islands of the Ralick chain. Kotzebue has at all events been the first to make us acquainted with their true situation and internal character; and the narrow inspection which he was enabled to take of them, has put us in possession of much more full and satisfactory information relative to their origin. Nothing in nature is more wonderful than the process by which these islands are continually rising into exis tence. The foundation on which the corals build, are shoals or table mountains, rising with perpendicular walls from the depths of the ocean, near which the lead finds no bottom. The surface of the table is below water: only a broad dam or reef around the circumference of it, reaches the surface at low water. As far as this dam can be examined, it consists of horizontal layers of a limestone formed of coral sand or fragments of madrepores; a species of rock evidently of new formation, and which still continues to be produced. It is this same stone in which, on the coast of Guadaloupe, human skeletons have been found enclosed. Thus, says M. Chamisso, we cannot but believe that

' in those parts of the sea where the enormous masses of this forma tion rise, even in the cold and unillumined bottom of the ocean, animals are continually employed in producing, by the process of their life, the materials for its indisputably continued growth and increase. And the ocean between the tropics seems to be a great chemical la boratory of nature, where she confides an important office in the system of her economy, to these imperfectly organized animals that produce lime-stone.'

A fine white sand of madrepore fragments covers the declivity of the dam, which is washed by the water. A few kinds of branching madrepores, or millepores, rise partially from this bottom, in which they have fixed themselves, with roots of a round form. Several others grow on the stone walls of larger clefts, the bottom of which: is filled up with sand; among these also the Tubipora musica, which we saw in a living state, and the producers of which we recognised! to be a polypus of the form of a star of eight rays. Species which cover the stone, or assume a lozenge form (Astrea) are always met with in the constantly-watered hollows of the bottom, next to thes breakers. The red colour of the reef, under the breakers, is caused by a Nullipora, which covers the stone wherever the waves beat, and under favourable circumstances, assumes a stalactitical form. The colour and silky lustre, which disappear in the air, immediately de cided us to ascribe to this substance an animal nature, and the treat ment of the bleached skeleton, with diluted nitric acid, confirmed our opinion, which had been founded on analogy. The cursory viewo distinguishes, only by the colouring, and a certain velvet-like appear ance, the lythophytes, with fine pores in a living state, from their dead bleached skeletons. We found only the Millepora cærulea, and

the Tubipora musica, and a yellowish, red-brown Distichopora, with coloured skeletons; but never saw the latter alive. The kinds with larger stars, or Lamella, have larger and more distinguishable polypuses. Thus an animal, resembling the Actinia, covers the endbranches of a species of Caryophillia, which we also found alive above low water-mark; the branches and roots seem to be bleached and dead. We often see in the lythophytes living branches, or parts existing with others that are dead; and the species, which otherwise assume a spherical form, spread out in places where sand is carried, into flat surfaces, with a raised edge, because the sand kills the upper part, and they can only live and grow on the circumference. The enormous masses of one growth, which are met with here and there on the islands, or on the reefs, as rolled pieces of rock, have been probably formed in the tranquil depths of the ocean. Above, under the influence of various agents, only masses of inferior size can be formed. A broad-limbed Corallina, in a living state, has a vegetable green colour, which it loses when dried.'

On these coral ridges form the sand-banks which the sea throws up, especially at the windward side and at the projecting angles of the circumference. These sand-banks become islands, having in their centre a basin or lagoon, communicating with the sea by narrow inlets. In some cases, where the ring is small, the lagoon is filled up, and a single island is produced; but in that case, the flat level in the centre is always lower than the outward wall of the island, and here pools of water are formed after a continued rain,-the only fresh water the inhabitants possess. No dew falls in these islands, nor do they check the course of the wind. The process of their formation is thus more particularly described in an Appendix.

As soon as the outer edge of the reef has reached such a height, that it remains almost dry at low water, at the time of ebb, the corals leave off building higher; sea-shells, fragments of coral, sea-hedgehog shells, and their broken off prickles are united by the burning sun, through the medium of the cementing calcareous sand, which has arisen from the pulverisation of the above-mentioned shells, into one whole, or solid stone, which, strengthened by the continual throwing up of new materials, gradually increases in thickness, till it at last becomes so high, that it is covered only during some seasons of the year by the high tides. The heat of the sun so penetrates the mass of stone when it is dry, that it splits in many places, and breaks off in flakes. These flakes, so separated, are raised one upon another by the waves at the time of high water. The always active surf throws blocks of coral (frequently of a fathom in length, and three or four feet thick) and shells of marine animals between and upon the foun dation stones; after this the calcareous sand lies undisturbed, and offers to the seeds of trees and plants cast upon it by the waves, a soit upon which they rapidly grow to overshadow its dazzling white sur› face. Entire trunks of trees, which are carried by the rivers from

other countries and islands, find here, at length, a resting place, after their long wanderings: with these, come some small animals, such as. lizards and insects, as the first inhabitants. Even before the trees form a wood, the real sea-birds nestle here; strayed land-birds take refuge in the bushes; and at a much later period, when the work has been long since completed, man also appears, builds his hut on the fruitful soil formed by the corruption of the leaves of the trees, and calls himself lord and proprietor of this new creation.' Vol. III. pp. 332, 3.

The view of these coral groupes is described as presenting a tiresome uniformity. Looking from the outer sea, where the cocoa-tree is not seen above the rest of the wood, it would hardly be supposed that they had any inhabitants. The most useful plant is the common pandanus of the South-Sea Islands, which grows wild on the sterile sand where vegetation commences its fruit is the principal food of the inhabitants, the spicy juice obtained from it is their wine, and its leaves furnish them with aprons, mats, sails, and mattresses. The cocoatree, besides affording them drink and food, oil, and utensils, supplies them with the materials of their cordage. The sea brings them timber, and in the wrecks of ships, the iron which they so highly prize. The Radackers are described as slender in their make, well-built, and healthy. Their bones,' Lieut. K. informs us, are as delicate as those of women; their hands ' and feet uncommonly small.' They are darker than the people of Owhyhee, but are distinguished by greater clearness of skin. They are mild and timid, but cheerful and hospitable; and what is highly remarkable, the women uniformly conducted themselves with modesty and reserve. No woman of Radack,' says M. Chamisso, ever came on board our ship;' and both sexes are represented as free from the vices which disgrace the people of the more Eastern Polynesia. Yet, they have their wars, and in Prince Lamary all the Northern groupes had submitted to a conqueror. As to religion, they are stated to adore an invisible God, and to offer him a simple tribute of fruits, without temples and without priests; but we receive with some suspicion, the details of M. Chamisso on this subject. It is plain, that a species of polytheism prevails, together with a belief in conjuration and omens. Infanticide is the law of Radack: no mother is allowed to bring up more than three children; the fourth she is obliged to bury alive, and any more that she may have. Yet, with a singular mixture of refinement and barbarity, a staff fixed in the ground, with annular in'cisions, marks the grave of the children who were not allowed 'to live.' The bodies of the chiefs are buried on the islands, under rude monumental heaps of stones: those of the

people are committed to the sea. Altogether, these uncorrupted children of nature,' must be allowed to exhibit a very extraordinary and favourable specimen of uncivilized life. Notwithstanding the barbarous custom above stated, their character is decidedly amiable; they discover a taste in their dress, a cleanliness, and a modesty very strikingly in contrast with the manners of savages in general; and their difference from the inhabitants of other chains of islands, who appear to belong to the same great family, is a circumstance at present inexplicable. The inhabitants of a not very distant groupe were reported to be cannibals.

The most extraordinary personage whom they met with in Radack, was, however, a foreigner named Kadu, who had been driven by a storm out of his course, and after drifting about the sea for eight months, had at length fortunately been cast on the groupe of Aur. He was a native of the island of Ulle, one of the Carolinas. This highly intelligent and amiable savage attached himself to Kotzebue, and at his own urgent request, was received into his service. He appears to have acted with great decision and firmness, and during the subsequent voyage to the North, behaved with singular propriety. On arriving at Oonalashka, he was much astonished at the sight of some large oxen, and considerably relieved at ascertaining that the meat which the crew ate, was the flesh of these animals. It seems that he had imagined they ate men, and had thought it might one day be his turn to serve as ship-provision; for soon after their departure from Radack, he had been present at the opening of a barrel of salt meat, and the sight of the ribs brought to his recollection the warning of his friends, not to go with the white strangers, because they ate the blacks.

Lieut. Kotzebue had proceeded on the 10th of July as far as the St, Lawrence Islands, when the sight of ice extending to, N. E. and then to N. over the whole surface of the ocean, concurred with a serious inflammation on his lungs, to decide him on returning to Oonalashka. The moment I signed the paper (announcing this determination), was,' he says, the most 'painful in my life, for with this stroke of my pen, I gave up the ardent and most cherished wish of my heart.' Kadu on their return was left at Otdia: he had left behind in Aur a little child whose lamentations during his absence, as reported to him by the islanders, shook his determination to proceed to Europe. On the departure of the Rurick, he cried like a child, and implored Totabu to come again. Men, women, and children accompanied their benefactors to the boats with loud and unaffected lamentations. After we had put off,' says our Author,

they all sat on the shore, and joined in a song, in which our names were frequently repeated.'

This article has already extended beyond its due limits, and we must therefore waive all further remark. There are some coloured plates, consisting of portraits of Rarick, Kadu, and other islanders, and two or three views, of indifferent execution, but answering the purpose of illustration.

Art. III. Travels in Syria and the Holy Land. By the late John Lewis Burckhardt. Published by the Association for promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa. 4to. Price 21. 88. London. 1822.

WE

E have so long been accustomed to contemplate the cha racter of Burckhardt with affectionate esteem, that we were highly gratified when the present volume, a part only of the posthumous manuscripts of that amiable and intelligent traveller, made its appearance.. It contains his observations in

Syria and Arabia Petræa, and his tour in the Peninsula of Mount Sinai, though in point of date the latest of his expeditions, has been added to it, because it is connected by its subject with his journey through the adjacent districts of the Holy Land. There still remain, as we are told by the Editor, manuscripts sufficient to fill two volumes, one of which will consist of his travels in Arabia, which were confined to the Hedjas or Holy Land of the Mussulmans, the part least accessible to Christians; and the other will contain copious remarks on the Arabs of the Desert, with a particular account of the singular tribes of the Wahabys.

It is fortunate for the posthumous fame of the lamented Sheikh Ibraim, and fortunate also for the general interests of science, that the work has been published under the inspection of an Editor so well qualified for the task, as the present acting secretary of the African Association. Mr. Leake has given ample security for the able performance of the duty, by his Researches in Greece, and the masterly disquisitions upon the geography of the East, with which he enriched Mr. Walpole's collection. His preface moreover to the volume before us, bears additional attestation to the extent and variety of his erudition, and contributes to the solution of several interesting geographical problems, which have hitherto been matters of inextricable doubt and perplexity.

But as it may seem singular, that a volume of travels in Asia should have been published by a Society whose professed object is the promotion of discoveries in Africa, it will be right to present our readers with a passage or two in the preface, accounting for the circumstance,