watched these unfortunate beings, when the allotted task was done, come down to the edge of the water, and, stripping off their cotton tunics, immerse themselves in the sea, and strive to wash themselves free of the powdery filth of the day's work.

It was currently reported that, a few days prior to our arrival, the commandante of the island had three of these refractory diggers flogged so severely that they died in a few hours after; and it is well known that, to escape so galling a bondage, some have poisoned themselves with opium, some have allowed themselves to be buried alive in the very material they were working in, and others, choosing a more easy form of death, have jumped off the rocks into the sea, and drowned themselves. Whether owing to a knowledge of these sad facts, or from an experience of the frightful massacres so often occurring on board ships freighted with Chinese emigrants, we know that at one time her Majesty's government declared that they should not be carried in British bottoms, consequently, most of the Celestials whom we have seen arrive in Australian ports, en route for the gold-fields, have been brought thither in American ships; and during the passage it has frequently happened that the crew were obliged to retreat to the after-end of the ship, and could only trim the sails, or work the vessel, by going forward in a body, provided with cutlasses and pistols, while the front of the poop was armed with double-shotted carronades.

At a little distance from these wretched dwellings was situated another wooden erection, the hospital, supported by the Peruvian government, probably more from the politic principle of losing as few workers as possible, than from any charitable feeling for their sufferings. Introducing ourselves to the medical superintendent, a German, he shewed us round his ward, which constituted the whole hospital, comprising about ten beds, occupied mainly by patients suffering from indolent sores, produced by poor diet, a fever case or two, and one accident, where a truck had run over a man's leg. The building was of the most primitive kind possible, and the whole internal arrangements were of the most niggardly description. As we extended our walk, we came round to the back of the island, where the deposit is much less in thickness-that on the side next the shipping being roughly estimated at fifty feet deep, comprising upwards of seventeen millions of tons and fell in with a gaily decorated wooden shed, hung with silks, and displaying brilliant flags. We did not go in, but saw that the entrance, which was adorned with curtains, was occupied by a counter, behind which were standing two Chinese gorgeously dressed, evidently masters of the ceremonies; the rest of the building was in like manner filled with counters and forms. At first, we supposed that this was a joss-house, or place intended for the celebration of the religious services of the Chinese; but a gentleman who was with us, and had often been on the island before, informed us that it was a gambling-house, and that the proprietor had amassed no less a sum than two thousand dollars out of the miserable pittance paid to his brother-workers.

At one end of the island is set apart an acre or so of guano, under the designation of a cemetery, intended for the use of sailors who may die here, but without the slightest enclosure, either wooden fence or stone wall. It was certainly the most wretched necropolis we ever saw: not a tree, not a vestige of adornment of any kind distinguished this hallowed patch; nor is it certain that the Peruvian government will respect the spot when the supply of guano becomes scarce. Would it not have been better to have adopted the plan followed when at sea, and committed the dead to the deep, instead of burying them in a heap of manure? Or, better still, to have interred them in

the hold of the ship, as was done with the body of the captain of the A- during the time we lay there, since the antiseptic qualities of the guano will keep the remains entire for months, until they can obtain more decent burial. As we stepped over one or two mounds which alone indicated the presence of the dead, we noticed at the head of others small wooden tablets, carved with the name, age, and occupation of the deceased, which was always that either of a petty-officer or common seaman.

It is a well-known fact, that guano may be met with in nearly all parts of the world, but that whenhowever, is situated in what geographers call the ever the rain falls, it is washed away. Much of Peru, rainless region of the earth; consequently, this deposit has been accumulating for ages, probably several thousand years, and rain never falling, or else so sparingly as to be hailed by the inhabitants as agua benedita (holy-water), has never been swept off. On inspecting the surface, this substance appears to be of a light brownish hue; lower down, the colour deepens to a dark brown, and the layers next the rock are generally of a dusky red. The bones of seals, the wings, and even entire birds, are often met with while excavating-occurrences which have given rise to the idea among those who frequent the islands, that guano is not so much formed of the excrement as of the decomposed bodies of these animals.

As a manure, guano has been but comparatively recently employed in England, but it would seem to have been used as such by the Peruvians from the age of the Incas downwards. In 1839, the government of Peru sold to Messrs Quiros, Allier, & Co., of Lima, for the trifling sum of about ten thousand pounds, the sole right to ship guano during a period of nine years. As they, however, soon after saw that they had committed a grievous error towards the state in thus willing away a privilege of the value of which they were totally ignorant, they cancelled this contract in 1841, and for several years the trade was free, till they again gave a monopoly to the Messrs Gibbs & Sons of London. Much attention having, however, of late been bestowed on the manufacture of artificial manures, the demand for this substance has not been so great. In order that the continuance of deposit may not be interfered with, the Peruvian government strictly forbid the use of firearms in the vicinity of the islands; but the number of men now employed upon them have completely driven the birds away, who now resort to the islands of San Gallan and Blanco, and the mainland. This cessation of feud between man and the lower animals of creation is still more extended in its effects, for the seals, which here abound in thousands, and receive the benefit of this act of grace, as supposed colabourers with the birds in the formation of this valuable material, come bobbing up around the boat in dozens at a time, while immense whales gambol about among the shipping, spouting their water on board without being the least afraid of their sworn foe.

As the Chinchas rise most abruptly from the sea, a peculiar method of shipment has to be adopted. From the top of the cliff, a long and wide canvas shoot or tube, called a manguerra, one hundred and fifty feet long, by six to eight in diameter, is securely fastened, and the lower end placed in the hold of the long-boat. When the word is given that all is in readiness, two or three truck-loads are shot down, until that boat has received its quantum; when, as it shoves off, another party lay hold of the end of the canvas shoot, and when they have received their load, another, and another, till all are filled. If, however, the higher officials of the Peruvian government on the island do not scruple to regulate the order of supply to each vessel by the amount of the bribe given, neither does the man who has charge of the manguerra forget to

suggest that he, too, has his price; for when the longboat of the ship we were in went for their cargo, though first at the shoot, they were put off to the last, and made aware of the reason by a voice shouting down the tube: What for master not send me old coat, boots, and hat?' Sometimes, however, a much more expeditious method of shipment is adopted. The vessel is brought quite close alongside, some thirty or forty yards from the rocks, immediately under the manguerra-a matter of no difficulty as regards the depth, here generally from fifteen to thirty fathoms and being securely swung broadside on to the island (though in such a precarious position, that with each roll of the surf she sways to and fro so much that the tops of her masts nearly touch the rocks), the lower end of the shoot is received into the hold of the ship, and being fed all day long with trucks of guano from above, will take in (we are told) four hundred tons in a day. Thus, in three or four days, a fourteenhundred ton ship is filled and despatched.

The delay, however, occasioned by inefficient means of supply is very great, so much so, that three or four months is no unusual period of detention. During this time, masters and officers of ships amuse themselves by catching fish, which used to be so plentiful as to be obtainable in boat-loads, and which of course constitute the food of the innumerable millions of birds which swarm along this coast, and literally darken the sky.

We ourselves having been detained there a fortnight, waiting the arrival of the Pacific Mail Company's steamer, took the opportunity of visiting the mainland at Pisco, a miserable collection of bamboo stuccoed huts, situated nearly opposite the islands. Not trusting to the accommodation to be found in so recherché a Peruvian city, noted, however, for its wine, we took a tent with us, and camping under some palm-trees at a well, situated like an oasis in the middle of a sandy desert, made sundry excursions along the coast, destroying large numbers of birds, principally of a duck species, which proved excellent eating. On one occasion, extending our journey into the interior a little, we came upon a mound of dead bodies, evidently those of coloured people, as betokened by the skin of the hands and feet, which, though parched and dry, were still entire. The skulls, made perfectly brittle by long exposure to a burning sun and dry atmosphere, lay on the surface in dozens; and the cotton tunics of the former wearers were fluttering about in the air, where the wind had drifted them bare of sand; but whether this was only the hurried entombment of those who had fallen victims to the plague, or been killed in some of their intestine struggles, we could not learn.

A favourite excursion was to the islands of San Gallan and Blanco, whither the birds and seals, formerly inhabiting the Chinchas, have now repaired. The latter are nearly as numerous as the former, and may be seen basking on the rocks in thousands, affording subject of sport for an expert shot, as they come sliding, slipping, and splashing into the water in dozens on the report of a rifle. We reserved the skin and fat, the latter being turned into oil, and left the carcass to be consumed by the turkey vultures and others of that species, who form the scavengers of Peru, as the adjutants do of India.

Unimportant as Pisco is, the fleet around, and the labourers of the Guano Islands, could not exist without it, since every morsel of food, and every drop of water required by them, has to be brought from there a distance of twelve miles--by large boats, which start in the morning, and return again in the afternoon. It is almost impossible, without visiting these islands, to form an idea of their unique appearance. This barren rock, whose soil-the solidified excrement of myriads of sea-fowls for many agesproduces not a blade of grass, nor gives origin to a rill of water, is certainly a fitting spot in which the

convict may eke out his lifetime of servitude; but also one where the tyranny of man may condemn to perpetual slavery his fellow-man, without fearing the inquiries of the philanthropist.

SIR FRANCIS ON THE HORSE. Ir has of late become the fashion with not a few of those authors who have earned a great and deserved reputation among us by their wit and humour, their eloquence, or their powers of story-telling, to take to didactic writing, or, in other words, to lecturing the British public pretty severely. The offices of the parson and the political economist are usurped by these lay-preachers. The cap and bells are laid aside, the white bans decorously adopted, and Mr Liston plays, at length, with greater or less success, his longdesired part of the Prince of Denmark. Sir Francis Head of the Brunnen and the Emigrant, of the French Sticks and of Stokers and Pokers, is the latest addition to this band of volunteer Teachers. Other authors have confined themselves to teaching, after various fashions, the young idea to shoot; but the baronet has gone a step further in his present volume,* by teaching both old and young among us how to ride. There is a portrait, we suppose of Sir Francis himself, but which exceedingly resembles Mr Bright, M.P., prefixed to these pages, and representing a gentleman crossing the Andes mounted upon a Red Indian, with the not unnatural query written under it, Which is the savage?' but in the letterpress, our author confines himself exclusively to the Horse. This animal has been an inhabitant of almost every region of the earth, and in all ages. His teeth lie in the polar ice, not for anaesthetic purposes, but because, when he was alive, he dwelt there in company with the Siberian mammoth; in the Himalaya with lost and only lately obtained genera; and in the caverns of Ireland. His bones rest, unless when the geologist sacrilegiously disturbs them, with those of the Mastodon and the colossal Urus. Unlike these, however, he remains on the earth's surface as well as under it. He is found in all history, sacred, profane, and modern; sharing in the conquests and defeats, the occupations and amusements of man. When the famine was sore in the land of Egypt, the Egyptians gave him unto Joseph in exchange for bread. was overthrown with his rider in the Red Sea. He was rampant at Nineveh and in the Acropolis of Athens, as we see in the friezes; and we have got him in half the squares of London with a king on his back. He is the current gift of friendship which is offered to one another by kings up to this day, and he is worthy to be so. And yet how vilely the majority of men, from kings to tailors, treat him in return! It is true such persons are not aware of the cruelty they are committing, and it is to remind the thoughtless, and to instruct the ignorant, that Sir Francis Head has written this book.

He

There is no subject, says he, connected with this matter so worthy of consideration, most especially to any man wearing the name of a gentleman, as the use and abuse of Spurs. Whatever is to be said—and that is very little-in favour of spurs in the case of animals that have been roaming in a state of nature, that have never tasted corn, or been excited to race against one another, and, consequently, that cannot be induced to exhaust in man's service the whole of their strength, except by punishment, with English horses the conditions are quite different. Tied to mangers, in which they feast on dry oats, beans, and hay, no sooner do they leave their stables than the very sight of creation animates them; every carriage that trots by, and every rider that passes, excites them. When brought into condition, and then encouraged to

The Horse and his Rider. By Sir Francis B. Head, Bart. Murray, London.

compete against each other, their physical strength, though artificially raised to the maximum, remains far behind their instinctive courage and disposition to go till they die in almost any service in which they may be employed.

Under these circumstances, the use of the spur is to enable man to maintain his supremacy, and, whenever necessary, promptly and efficiently to suppress mutiny in whatever form it may break out. If a restiff horse objects to pass a particular post, he must be forced to do so. If he refuses to jump water, he must, as we have described, be conquered; but in every case of this nature, a combination of cool determination, plenty of time, and a little punishment, invariably form a more permanent cure than a prescription composed only of the last ingredient; for as anger, in a horse as in a man, is a short madness, an animal under its influence is not in so good a state to learn and remember the lesson of obedience which man is entitled to impart, as when he has time given to him to observe that the just sentence to which he is sternly required to submit, is tempered with mercy. 'But if the uses of the spur are few, its abuses are many. On the race-course, the eagerness and impetuosity of thoroughbred horses to contend against each other are so great, that for a considerable time it is difficult to prevent them, especially young ones, from starting before the signal is given. As soon as they are off," it becomes all that the best riders in the world can do merely to guide them: to stop them would be impossible. Occasionally, their very limbs "break down" in their endeavours to win; and yet, while they are exerting their utmost powers and strength to the shame of their owners, and to the disgrace of the nation-the riders are allowed, as a sort of show-off, to end the contest by whipping and spurring, which, nine times out of ten, has the effect of making the noblest quadruped in creation do what is technically called shut up, which means that the ungenerous and ungrateful punishment and degradation that have been unjustly inflicted upon him have cowed his gallant spirit, and have broken an honest heart!'

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The hunter-nay, the horse of whatever kind who is taken to the hunting-field-will follow the hounds till he drops, and to his own great physical detriment; so that after having, with apparent cheerfulness, brought his rider home with a good appetite, secured by some ten or twelve hours' exercise, his own exhausted stomach remains for hours, and sometimes days, without the smallest desire for corn or beans. 'If this plain statement be correct, leaving humanity entirely out of the question, how ignorant and contemptible is that man who is seen, during a run, not only to be spurring his horse with both heels, when ever he comes to deep-ploughed ground or to the bottom of a steep hill, but who, just as if he were singing to himself a little song, or, "for want of thought," whistling to himself a favourite tune, throughout the run, continues, as a sort of idle accompaniment to his music, to dangle more or less severely the rowel of one spur into the side of a singed hunter, who all the time is a great deal more anxious to live with the hounds than he is!'

Again, how many men, calling themselves sportsmen, do we see in the hunting-field, after long severe runs, lighting their cigars, and taking their ease upon the backs of the very creatures whose exertions have enabled them to be in at the finish,' and whose qualifications may even form the theme of their talk. In the army, when a soldier who has committed an offence is sentenced to crawl, for several hours, up and down a parade "in heavy marching order," it is justly called "punishment drill." In like manner, if an unruly horse were to be sentenced merely to stand in his stable for ten hours with a sack of heavy oats, weighing (at forty-two pounds the bushel) exactly twelve stone, the punishment or pain his muscles

would undergo in bearing such a weight for so long a time would be so severe that by almost everybody it would be termed "cruel." But if, instead of being quiescent, the sack of oats could, by mechanical contrivances, be continually lifted up, and then by a series of heavy blows dropped down upon vertebræ which have nothing but muscles to support them, the punishment would be condemned as excruciating; and yet this excruciating punishment is quite unnecessarily inflicted upon hunters by a lot of good-humoured heavy men, simply from neglecting to reflect that if they would, only even for a minute or two, occasionally unload their saddles, to walk a little, stand still a little, or while the hounds are drawing, sit placidly upon the stile or gate that is often close beside them, they would not only perform an act of mercy, but they would impart, or rather restore strength, tone, and activity to muscles which, if vigorous, can carry them safely, but which, if exhausted, must inevitably fail when tested by a severe run.'

Sir Francis Head's advice, as a practical horseman, is not at all less valuable than the part of the volume which may be called its humanity lectures.' A horse accustomed to road-travelling, whose head through the use of the curb-bit-is raised above the natural level, and who has good action, commonly earns the character of being a capital hack. Now, to metamorphose "a hack" into "a hunter" is principally effected by the bridle, and yet the great difficulty of the art is to learn not how much, but how little to use it; in short, a considerable portion of what the bridle has done has to be undone. Accordingly, instead of being encouraged to travel on his haunches with his fore-legs lightly touching the ground, the latter must be required to bear the greater portion of the burden, which it is the duty of the hind-legs to propel. The head has to be brought down to its proper level; and to induce or rather to oblige the horse to make his eyes the lantern of his feet, to study geology instead of astronomy, he should be slowly ridden, with a loose rein, over every little hole, grip, or heap that would be likely to throw a hack down. Whenever he can be made to stumble-if the rider feels that he will not actually fall-the reins should instantly be dropped. In like manner, he should be walked for several days over the roughest ground that can be found, particularly land that has been excavated to obtain the substratum, and left in holes. With a perfectly loose rein he should be gently trotted, gently cantered, and gently galloped over a surface of this description, the rider always dropping the rein when he blunders.'

The cause and cure of Shying was certainly never treated of with greater judgment and humour than in the following sentences. It often happens that a horse, brimful of qualifications of the very best description, is most reluctantly sold by his master "because he shies so dreadfully;" a frolic which, to a good rider, is perfectly harmless, and which, if he deems it worth the trouble, he is almost certain to cure. A timid horseman, however, not only believes that his horse is frightened at the little heap of stones at which he shies, but for this very reason he becomes frightened at it himself; whereas the truth is, that the animal's sensations in passing it are usually compounded as follows: Of fear of the little heap,

whip and spur,

Now, if this be the case, which no one of experience will deny, it is evident that the simple remedy to be adopted is, first, at once to remove the great cause of the evil complained of, by ceasing to apply either whip or spur; and, secondly, gradually to remove the lesser cause by a little patient management, which shall briefly be explained.

'When a horse has been overloaded with a heavy charge of oats and beans, which may be termed jumping powder, and primed by a very short allowance