LITERARY CHRONICLE.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 19, 4 October 1842, Page 4

LITERARY CHRONICLE.

(From the Weekly Chronicle)

Tait’s Magazine. —Among other godd things, we have been much amused by a laughable d'esprit in the May number of Tail, the subject being Dickens’s trip to America. Many well-known American writers, including Cooper and that shallow egotist Willis, figure in the tale, Boz himself being typified under the name of Duggins. Wc extract an alleged adventure of BOZ IN THE BUSH. My friends and myself were sitting in one of the bastions of the fort one evening, smoking and chatting comfortably about things in general.. The evening had been oppressively hot, and I had noticed that the sky was in some places as black as pitch. In a short time the whole firmament round and round was one mass of darkness. The clouds descended till , they appeared almost to touch the ground, and the atmosphere was close and suffocating. I remarked to my friends that, if I mistook not, we were going to have a fearful night. The words were scarcely out of my mouth when we heard a low moaning sound among the ravines. Presently the hurricane commenced, accompanied by the loudest thunder, the most vivid lightning, and the heaviest rain I ever saw. The bastion shook to its,foundation. We ran down with all our speed. I lost my hat in crossing the fort; and by.the lightning I could see the flag-staff bending like a willow. We reached our apartment in the fort with difficulty, and had scarcely , done so when we heard something fall with a loud crash. We thought it was the old bastion, where we had been sitting, and the master of the fort tried to get out to see. After being fairly driven back four times by the wind and rain, he got out, and found the whole range of pickets on one side of the fort laid flat upon the ground. was a pretty business. The Indians, we knew, were close in the neighbourhood, and our party, which consisted of only eight men in all, besides my friends and myself, could present no opposition to their formidable numbers. So soon as we discovered the calamity, we seized our arms and rushed to occupy the trenches. The hurricane continued. The thunder pealed around us, and the occasional flash of the forked lightning served to add new terrors to the gloom. In about an hour the tempest abated; but not with it did our fears abate, for the crack of half-a-dozen rifles from the forest told us that the Indians were upon us. There was a pause of a moment, and you might have heard a pin fall along our line. “ Save your fire till you can get a view of the rascals,”

whispered the master of the fort. We did not require to economise it long; for, with a hideous whoop, the Indians dashed from the brake, and in a trice they were within a few yards of us. We fired, and not p ball but did its duty.

The foremost brave received in his forehead the contents of our friend Bryan’s rifle, and, jumping high in the air, fell like a log to the earth. What followed is chaos—l saw Willis cutting about like a Berserkar, giving and receiving

gashes on every hand; and I warrant me, many a Blackfoot will carry his mark with him to the grave. Never could I have supposed the author of “Melanie, and Other Poems,” to have had so much mettle in him. I laid about me in all directions, and was growing faint with wounds, when a sudden blaze flashed out upon the midnight sky. The fort was in flames! and the blazing pile lighted up the gashed and gory bodies of its unfortunate denizens. I sunk to the ground, alongside of my poor friend Bryan, who had been brought to the embraces of mother earth by the blow of a club, some minutes before it bestowed a similar compliment upon myself. The dying groans of the urifortuHad. scarcely sunk into the silence of death. when the Indians, hastily collecting their /b'dcisy, comrade, Mullins Bryahy myselff the only survivors, upon two ot the wild prairie 'horses, in the very centre J 6f of atm.to the heart of the bound%s : Wflderhe§B. : ; wounded, weary, motion and - 1 animal, which I rode recalled fliy 'energies', i and enabled roe faibre attentiorito imfe; thjb i singular and terrific aspect of the' savage into whose hands fhlleh. Of'a'triith the* survey was by no nierois ‘Gohdeive sixty or seventy half naked, streaked .oyer with yellow paint, their the most j grotesque and hidbaiisf rSCalps! suspended from their' through Their noses and t|imr^ero ? ar 'bh-'iaj'.ltybp r frahtic'-as though VdemoniiM spirit of their tidefs/ S®i w® ghastlyj f“moifseross'blafljfeet of ;^e : r wfe^lkd,\y-cherry r choV'nver! With yefl; and lapghter, we sped thrcmgh'; the fa? Savannah, startling the grey wolf from his laifyfea- r driving furiously through herds, of astounded buffaloes. Nq rest, no refr , eshrhent-—not even‘d d'"drop of water to moisten our parching;' and allay thirst that was .gnawing at bid r vitrils., Morning dawned; juid the sun upon us with intdler|J|e vehe-

mence. Oh, that everthe 'blessed sun should be-, come a weariness to man ! Huge clouds, of; dust choked our feeble respiration—-my .brain; grew dark and dizzy, ; and.l fell into a swoon. • It was evening when I,awoke. , We had -encamped for the night in a small ravine, by the, of a murmuring stream. The clear istars already, began to glitter -in the dark-blue empy-[ rean. The coolwind breathed upon my fevered bipw, with more - than Elysian, . freshness. I. raised my head with difficulty, and. looked round.. Our captors were seated by a huge fire, - smdking their calumets, and circulating, .with remarkable rapidity, several bottles of rum, part of the plunder from the fort. Near me lay Mullins Hryan, bound and shackled, his. fine eye fixed : with an expression of deadly hatred upon the ■ savage group, and his hands, .convulsively clenched, as if clutching the fatal bowie-knife. I coughed slightly, ,to attract his attention, and' he turned his head. “ ’Tarnal death to me, Duggins,” said my friend, “ if this a’nt a vicious fix, it is! Them blood-thirsty.niggersiwill make mince-meat of us before long, or there’s no snakes in Virginny, I reckon.” “ Gracious heaven f” said I, “ is there no possibility of escape !” “Ax a ’possum to jump out of his skin ,!” replied Bryan. “ It’s as little use trying it as pumping for thunder in dry weather. I know the critters well. They’re the bloodiest murdering set of savages in the prairies ; and Lord help man, woman, or child, that fall into their hands —gouging’s a joke to it.” An Indian advanced from , the fire, and touched'my shoulder. “Is the pale-face sad?” said he in a tone of playful ironry,; “ will he not drink fire-water with his red brother ?” and he put a bottle to my lips. I drank, but not -eagerly. The Indian observed me narrowly, and continued, “ The pale-face is a great medicine. Is not the fire-water good ?” “It is good,” said I, “but I like it better half-and-half, and warm with.” “My brother is foolish,” said the savage, with a v chuckling laugh. ..“ Fire and water no good together, better plain.' Let the pale-face wait. He shall, have it 4 warm with’ soon enough.” Then turning to my companion, he ran his hand over his glossy locks, and said, laconically, “My brother has a fine scalp.” “ Darn your mocassins, you tarnation nigger!” shouted Bryan. “ Take your obstumpulous fingers from my comb-box, or I’ll make an expectoratoon of your gimlet-eye—l will.” “ The Yenghese is angry. Anger is not good. My brother has, a loud voice. Let us hear how he will sing his death-song at the stake.” I cannot linger on these details. Even now, the recollection of what I endured on that most fearful journey unmans me. I feel as if the tragedy were again re-acting before me, and my blood curdles at the thought. In mercy to myself, I must be short. On the, evening of the second day we reached the Indian village. (To be continued.)

Fatal Duel at Palermo. —We have been! favoured with the following from a gentleman' at Palermo, dated April 23 : “ Two officers of the 88th, now quartered at Malta, having procured leave of absence, had come over for a few days to Sicily : they had landed about three days at this place, when yesterday evening a quarrel arose between one of the officers, Lieut. J. Brooke Johnson, and a Neapolitan nobleman, the Due de Calabritta, which proceeded to such lengths that Mr. Johnson, who was somewhat intoxicated, struck the, other such a violent blow on the mouth that it knocked out his two front teeth. A meeting this morning was the consequence. Before the affair had" got wind to the police, the Due de Cadbritta, being attended by Mons. del Balzoff and Signor Parisi, while Mr.' Johnson was accompanied by his brother-officer, Lieut. Norton, and another English gentleman, called Markland, the combatants were placed at 15 paces distance, pistols being the weapons used. The first fire took place without effect; but, unfortunately, notwithstanding every attempt, to, reconcile the parties, a second fire was insisted on, when, horrible to relate, ML Johnson was; shot dead on the spot", Bis owns shot Wounding his antagonist in .the. carry away part of the most probably for life,. * The, jSeqond? are-all in , custody, arid it is. with, as the laws against^j|ue3Ehpg vere.in this .. y■ .v? *• f er ■ * Majesty's * Her. Alajesty 'lias signified h^fthateach fair leader of;.fashion should bring her'ora ; batqhial Court 'to‘ pay liege ‘homage to Edward and PJbihippa, and in the cqstjime of such epoch ' Way suit' themselves,, theijr.. swprds, dames. Her toyal highness. the has adapted the characr Bretagne. The costume belongs to one oimmost splendid and chivalric periods of ; Fifty followers are to highness, most of them wearing thd the courthis, successors.Wearb noji royaj highness th^, dhhV I*9 - • Amongst the cortege of, her royal highness wjil be formed four complete quaqrjhesTTiFrerich, . German) *

Spanish, <apd Italian; We hear that their excellencies ; the French ambassador and ambassadress with her royal highness, and, no* doubt, will contribute: to uphold the memory of one: of jthe noblest royal [dames that.ever bore the sceptre of St.jLouis. :;The Countess :of Jersey, wehe.ar, -is,, to .wear the, costume the great Medici, by the ascendancy of their taste and . their power, rendered so much the vogue in past, ages, and which bears the stamp of the iclassic source from which it flowed. All these arrangements would, however, Ipse; their charm, if, from the vety. outset, the royal and noble mummers were mixed. It is, therer fore, expected that each party will rendezvous at some given point, and thus proceed to the “ masque.” It is therefore expected we repeat, that her Majesty, seated, finder a canopy, will receive the bright squadrons with their separate cognizances as they arrive, and that these, as soon as they have, paid their .obeisances to royalty, will file off right and left, to raised seats in the presence chamber, and in their turn become spectators, after being actors in the mimic scene —until at last, the brilliant assemblage is complete; the quadrilles, under their separate leaders, will once more occupy the floor. It is stated that her Majesty is to enact Queen Phillippa;. her royal consort, the hero of Cressy. Prince Albert will wear the panoply of Edward the Third. All the great officers of the crown are to wear the costume fif tlieir offices in King Edward’s reign. It has been suggested that the ambassadors of the different courts should adopt the costume of their country in the 14th century.— Weekly Chronicle. The Way to be Happy.—“ Cut your coat according to your cloth,” is an old maxim and a wise one; and if people will only square their ideas according to their circumstances, how much happier might we all be. If we would only come down a, peg or two in our notions, in ac-. cordance with our waning fortunes, happiness would always be within our reach. It is not what we have, or what we have not, which adds or abstracts from our felicity. It is the longing for more than we have, the envying those who possess that more, and the wish to appear in the world of more consequence than we really are, which destroy our peace of mind and eventually leads to ruin.