attempts to attain a like result? If the individual be conscious of intellectual power, the suffering is greater. Even where success is apparently attained, he sometimes gains it but to die-or with all capacity to enjoy it exhausted-worn out in the struggle with fortune. If it be true that the African is an inferior variety of the human race, of less elevated character and more limited intellect, is it not desirable that the inferior laboring class should be made up of such who will conform to their condition without painful aspirations and vain struggles?

The slave is certainly liable to be sold. But perhaps it may be questioned whether this is a greater evil than the liability of the laborer, in fully peopled countries, to be dismissed by his employer, with the uncertainty of being able to obtain employment, or the means of subsistence, elsewhere. With us, the employer cannot dismiss his laborer without providing him with another employer. His means of subsistence are secure, and this is a compensation for much. He is also liable to be separated from wife or child-though not more frequently, that I am aware of, than the exigency of their condition compels the separation of families among the laboring poor elsewhere-but from native character and temperament, the separation is much less severely felt. And it is one of the compensations, that he may sustain these relations without suffering a still severer penalty for the indulgence.

The love of liberty is a noble passion-to have the free, uncontrolled disposition of ourselves, our words and actions. But, alas! it is one in which we know that a large portion of the human race can never be gratified. It is mockery to say that the laborer anywhere has such disposition of himself-though there may be an approach to it in some peculiar, and those, perhaps, not the most desirable, states of society. But unless he be properly disciplined and prepared for its enjoyment, it is the most fatal boon that could be conferred-fatal to himself and others. If slaves have less freedom of action than other laborers, which I by no means admit, they are saved in a great degree from the responsibility of self-government, and the evils springing from their own perverse wills. Those who have looked most closely into life, and know how great a portion of human misery is derived from these sources-the undecided and wavering purpose-producing ineffectual exertion, or indolence with its thousand attendant evils-the wayward conduct-intemperance or profligacy-will most appreciate this benefit. The line of a slave's duty is marked out with precision, and he has no choice but to follow

He is saved the double difficulty, first of determining the proper course for himself, and then of summoning up the energy which will sustain him in pursuing it.

If some superior power should impose on the laborious poor of any other country, this as their unalterable condition-you shall be saved from the torturing anxiety concerning your own future support, and that of your children, which now pursues you through life and haunts you in death-you shall be under the necessity of regular and healthful, though not excessive labor-in return, you shall have the am.

ple supply of your natural wants-you may follow the instinct of nature in becoming parents, without apprehending that this supply will fail yourselves or your children-you shall be supported and relieved in sickness, and in old age wear out the remains of existence among familiar scenes and accustomed associates, without being driven to beg, or to resort to the hard and miserable charity of a work-house— you shall of necessity be temperate, and shall have neither the temptation nor opportunity to commit great crimes, or practise the more destructive vices-how inappreciable would the boon be thought! And is not this a very near approach to the condition of our slaves? The evils of their situation they but lightly feel, and would hardly feel at all, if they were not sedulously instructed into sensibility. Certain it is, that if their fate were at the absolute disposal of a council of the most enlightened philanthropists in Christendom, with unlimited resources, they could place them in no situation so favorable to themselves, as that which they at present occupy. But whatever good there may be, or whatever mitigation of evil, it is worse than valueless, because it is the result of slavery.

'I am aware, that however often answered, it is likely to be repeated again and again-how can that institution be tolerable, by which a large class of society is cut off from the hope of improvement in knowledge; to whom blows are not degrading; theft no more than a fault; falsehood and the want of chastity almost venial, and in which a husband or parent looks with comparative indifference on that which, to a freeman, would be the dishonor of a wife or child?

But why not, if it produces the greatest aggregate of good? Sin and ignorance are only evils because they lead to misery. It is not our institution, but the institution of nature, that in the progress of society a portion of it should be exposed to want, and the misery which it brings, and therefore involved in ignorance, vice and depravity. In anticipating some of the good, we also anticipate a portion of the evil of civilization. But we have it in a mitigated form. The want and the misery are unknown; the ignorance is less a misfortune, because the being is not the guardian of himself, and partly on account of that involuntary ignorance, the vice is less vice-less hurtful to man and less displeasing to God.J

ART. V.-SOUTH AFRICA AND ITS SPORTS.

In the progress of settlement and civilization, the Daniel Boones of our country have been rapidly giving way to sober herdsmen, athletic farmers, and educated country gentlemen; but we are still new enough from the forests to appreciate and enjoy a description of its rare and exciting sports, whenever vouchsafed to us by any of the choice spirits who regard society a restraint, and only feel their be ing perfect when plunging into the depths of savage wildernesses. Such men exist still, and such there will be while nature shall continue to speak to the heart, and primitive instincts shall not be entirely lost.

We are familiar enough with the description of hunter life in our own wilds-the excitement of the deer hunt, with packed hounds and winding horns-the chase of buffaloes over boundless and ocean-like prairies, the fox, the wolf, and the wild-cat pursuit; but beyond them our sporting experience has had nothing to teach, and we even wonder if there has been ever any sport to vie with ours, since the days when Nimrod came first to be a mighty hunter before the Lord. Let Daniel Boone, and Texas, and Arkansas hold down their heads, and tear away the laurels they have exultingly worn in the fields of adventurous sport, for theirs after all has been but child's play in comparison with that which their brethren beyond the seas have enjoyed. Tell us of your buffaloes, your wild cats, or even your panthers: these are but a vulgar race of monsters, when one may listen to the stories of hunters who, in the wild jungles of Africa, struggle with the veritable "roaring lion" himself, the huge elephant, the leopard, the sea cow, the hippopotamus, and the terrible hyæna of almost fabled reputation and memory.

We have a book before us,* but a few days from the press, which, leaving the common field of adventure, transports us into the depths of the savage wild, among Hottentots and Bushmen, where never be fore the voice of civilized man was heard, and where, since Adam called them by name, or Noah dismissed them from the Ark, the noblest creations of the forest, in comparison with whom all others are but a pigmy brood, have roamed in their freedom and in their might. A book full of wild interest and excitement is here, and one into which we plunge with a zest which admits of no interval or break.

The author, Roualeyn Gordon Cumming, was an officer in her Majesty's service; but having in his boyhood affected the joys of "salmon fishing and roe stalking," and become an enthusiast in his admiration of nature, and having with his regiment visited the Cape of Good Hope and taken a hand in the chase of antelopes, he could no longer be content with the dull routine of camp life, but sighed for the boundless wilderness beyond it.

In describing to us his outfit and start, he furnishes some interesting facts in regard to the traders who plunge into South Africa to barter the trifles of civilization for ivory, ostrich feathers, etc. These are obtained from the Behuana tribes. Ostrich feathers were formerly valued at £5 to £6 per pound in England, but the demand has greatly fallen off. Good ivory they sell in the neighboring towns at 4s. the pound. In exchange are given beads, guns, wire, clothing; but not tobacco and snuff, as has been asserted, for Mr. Cumming says, "I can scarcely remember having ever obtained the smallest article in barter for either, not even a drink of milk. The natives will receive these articles gratuitously, but set no value upon them.” As our author found it expedient to mingle the utile with the dulce, and was himself no bad or unsuccessful trader, though evidently not prosecuting the business con amore, we shall pause a moment for him to describe a scene between buyer and seller in the wilderness, which shows there are barbarian as well as civilized Yankees.

*Five Years of a Hunter's Life in the Far Interior of South Africa.

A message came from the great chief, Sicomy, and at last the chief himself, who said he had sent men in search of elephants' teeth, and would be ready, without delay, to purchase everything that was offered. Being asked four large bulls' teeth for a musket, he retired to a grove and discoursed with his men several hours on this price. Two of them soon approached the wagon with a bull's tooth each, which the chief argued was a full equivalent. Afterwards a third tusk was brought, and that a small one. A whole day was wasted in this beating down game, and the undaunted Sicomy was ready again early next morning to resume it, by tendering his original offer of two elephants' teeth. A bargain was finally struck for three large teeth, but Sicomy would have a bullet mould into the bargain; and upon the principle of asking the long boat if the ship be given, he insisted also upon a leaden ladle. The following extract is worthy of a place in our pages, relating, as it does, to the novel subject of ivory trading:

"Although I voted the trading an intense bore, it was nevertheless well worth a little time and inconvenience, on account of the enormous profit I should realize. The price I had paid for the muskets was £16 for each case containing twenty muskets, and the value of the ivory I required for each musket was upward of £30, being about 3,000 per cent., which I am informed is reckoned among mercantile men to be a very fair profit. Sicomy was, in those days, in the possession of very large quantities of splendid ivory, and still considerable quantities pass annually through his hands. Since I first visited Bamangwato, and taught the natives the use of fire-arms, they have learned to kill the elephant themselves; but previous to my arrival they were utterly incapable of subduing a full-grown elephant, even by the united exertions of the whole tribe. All the ivory which Sicomy then possessed, and the majority of that which still passes through his hands, is obtained from elephants slain with assagais, by an active and daring race of Bushmen inhabiting very remote regions to the northward and northwest of Bamangwato.

"The manner in which Sicomy obtained this ivory was by sending a party of his warriors to the Bushman, who first obtained the tusks in barter for a few beads, and then compelled some of the poor Bakalahari, or wild natives of the desert, over whom Sicomy conceives he has a perfect right to tyrannize, to bear them on their shoulders across extensive deserts of burning sand to his head-quarters at Bamangwato."

Having fallen in with several nests of ostriches, our author mentions a peculiar propensity of the bird to destroy its eggs, if the nest has been discovered, though not even touched. The nest is scooped in the sand among low bushes, and is about seven feet in diameter. Both cock and hen are employed in the incubation of eggs, and the Bushman finds the egg shell useful for water flasks, cups and dishes. The mode of hunting the ostrich is thus described:

THE OSTRICH.

"A favorite method adopted by the wild Bushman for approaching the ostrich and other varieties of game, is to clothe himself in the skin of one of these birds, in which, taking care of the wind, he stalks about the plain, cunningly imitating the gait and motions of the ostrich

until within range, when, with a well-directed poisoned arrow from his tiny bow, he can generally seal the fate of any of the ordinary varieties of game. These insignificant looking arrows are about two feet six inches in length; they consist of a slender reed, with a sharp bone head, thoroughly poisoned with a composition, of which the principal ingredients are obtained sometimes from a succulent herb, having thick leaves, yielding a poisonous milky juice, and sometimes from the jaws of snakes. The bow barely exceeds three feet in length; its string is of twisted sinews. When a Bushman finds an ostrich's nest, he ensconces himself in it, and there awaits the return of the old birds, by which means he generally secures the pair. It is by means of these little arrows, that the majority of the fine plumes are obtained which grace the heads of the fair throughout the civilized world."

But we must turn to larger game. The habits of the lion, that king of the forest, are discussed by Mr. Cumming. He had seen the noble beast in every position in his own domains, and contended with and mastered him there. By means of his powerful, though comparatively diminutive structure, the lion is able to contend with the largest of the forest lords, and will dash to the ground and overcome even the towering giraffe. He will master the strongest buffalo, though his favorite choice is the antelope, the gnoo, and the zebra. The males only produce a mane, which is attained in the third year. Their roar is chiefly at night, but on rainy or foggy days it will be heard. The lion's predatory excursions also, are at night; and the more dark and stormy, the better does it accord with his tastes. The glare of his eyes may be seen at a great length, like balls of fire. The female is even more fierce and active than the male. The voice of the lion is thus portrayed by Mr. Cumming:

"One of the most striking things connected with the lion is his voice, which is extremely grand and peculiarly striking. It consists at times of a low, deep moaning, repeated five or six times, ending in faintly audible sighs; at other times he startles the forest with loud, deep-toned, solemn roars, repeated five or six times in quick succession, each increasing in loudness to the third or fourth, when his voice dies away in five or six low, muffled sounds, very much resembling distant thunder. At times, and not unfrequently, a troop may be heard roaring in concert, one assuming the lead, and two, three, or four more regularly taking up their parts, like persons singing a catch. Like our Scottish stags at the rutting season, they roar loudest in cold, frosty nights; but on no occasions are their voices to be heard in such perfection, or so intensely powerful, as when two or three strange troops of lions approach a fountain to drink at the same time. When this occurs, every member of each troop sounds a bold roar of defiance at the opposite parties; and when one roars, all roar together, and each seems to vie with his comrades in the intensity and power of his voice. The power and grandeur of these nocturnal forest concerts is inconceivably striking and pleasing to the hunter's ear. The effect, I may remark, is greatly enhanced when the hearer happens to be situated in the depths of the forest, at the dead hour of midnight, unaccompanied by any attendant, and ensconced within twenty yards of the fountain which the surrounding troops of lions are approaching. Such has been my situation many scores of times; and though I am allowed to have a tolerably good taste for music, I consider the catches with which I was then regaled as the sweetest and most natural I ever heard."