In this case the weight had an air bag attached, and was not allowed to sink rapidly for the first 50 fathoms. Still it appears to have reached the 1000 fathoms in less time than in the preceding experiment, and at 1600 much earlier. Thus in No. 1. 1000 fathoms 24 55.2 1600 fathoms 55 57-2 In case 1 the weight was lead 12 lbs. 2 66 iron 14 lbs. enclosed in canvas. On the 23rd the water bottle was sent down in latitude 2° 33′ S., longitude 8° 15'. The temperatures as given by the undermentioned thermometers, (with the exception of 357 and 358,) cannot be corrected until I have further opportunities of determining their values. The line was brought perpendicular by the jolly boat before hauling the line in. On the 13th of April, being becalmed in latitude 35° 50' S., longitude 1o 54' E., another attempt was made at deep-sea soundings, but the line parted without any surface strain at 1270 fathoms. I shall not lose more line by any repetition until I have laid them up three strands. I then obtained temperatures at the under-mentioned depths. 300 fathoms 336 47.25° corrected. Protection of H.M. sloop Scylla from Lightning.-By the official journal of this ship, signed by Commander Sharpe, and transmitted lately to the Admiralty, it appears that a powerful discharge of lightning fell on the vessel on the 6th of August last, in lat. 24° 3' N., long. 96° 13′ W. They had shortened sail to a heavy squall from southwest at 6h. 30m. A.M., which at 7h. 50m. veered to north-west with hard rain. At this instant the ship was struck by lightning; the dis charge descended upon the main-top-gallant-mast, and passed down the conductors on the masts, and through the lower deck by the conductors in the hull with perfect safety into the sea. The force of the lightning was so great, that some of the butts and fixing of the copper-plates are said to have been started, especially where the lightning first struck; whilst the highly charged state of the air caused various parts of the ship to exhibit electrical signs. No inconvenience appears to have been felt on the occasion, the squall having passed, they again made sail within half an hour from the time the lightning struck the ship, and the usual duties went on as if nothing of the kind had occurred. When we contrast this happy result with the destructive effects of the electrical discharge, as shewn by the logs of H.M. ships in this and former numbers, it must be surely admitted to be a highly satisfactory demonstration, by experiment, on the great scale of Nature, of the truth of the principles on which lightning conductors are spplied, as well as of their great practical value. At least eight ships of H.M. Navy have been successfully defended in this way from the terrible effects of lightning. In no instance have the conductors failed to transmit the electrical agency safely to the water, without those heating effects, and other ill consequences in the form of lateral explosions which some persons have asserted would necessarily be attendant on them. These objections, therefore, so often discussed in the pages of this work may be considered as being so far satisfactorily disposed of. To rescue the British navy from the terrible and often fatal consequences of lightning, so fully apparent in the offcial log books of H.M. ships above alluded to, cannot but be considered as a matter of great national importance. NAUTICAL RAMBLES.-THE LEEWARD STATION DURING THE WAR. Port Royal and its Associations. (Continued from p. 717.) OUR worthy host listened to this long yarn with the greatest attention, and replied "I am much gratified, and in truth feel highly indebted for the explanation which you have been so good as to afford me; and I readily acknowledge to have hitherto looked at the matter only in the abstract, a circumstance I apprehend which is but too common among the mass of mankind. You have given a spur to my enquiry, and although convinced that your reasoning is just, may I enquire, without doubting, whether the isolated state of seamen, as a body, may not be taken into the account." "Most certainly, as well also the opposite position of the slave, who has an opportunity at any time, of evasion, by absenting himself. I made a slight allusion to this, I believe, in the course of the argument." "It must be admitted that your train of reason seems conclusive with respect to the slave; but how, may I ask (said our host) does it happen that the black individuals, (who have not the same stimulants to action as British seamen,) composing the West India regiments attain-if not to an equal degree of perfection, at least to a high state of subordination and discipline." "Your question is one which I am hardly prepared to answer; indeed, knowing nothing of soldiering, and very little with respect to the individuals to whom you allude, I cannot pretend to reason out the case; which upon the presumption that the disposition of the negro is pretty much the same everywhere, and under any circumstances, would appear almost a phenomenon! Yet, as it is probable that most, if not all, the persons enlisted into the West India regiments are young in years on their entry, much may be said on the score of early training, and the force of habit resulting from the constancy of a regular routine of duties. I believe, too, that the efforts of the officers were greatly assisted by a plan of education adopted for the improvement of the minds of the non-commissioned officers, who were blacks, and who thereby imparted to their comrades a large share of the esprit de corps, which acts with such beneficial effect in the services. Nevertheless, instances of mutiny or resistance to authority have not infrequently happened in the corps. But my object in the discussion is rather to endeavour to prove from direct facts that the negro slave is incapable of being brought to the same degree of regularity and obedience as the British seaman is; that is the gist of my argument, 'le but où j'aspire,' (the point which I aim at,) as the Frenchman would say." The question was thus disposed of, and our host seemed to feel that he had gained a "wrinkle". I afterwards heard that a gentleman of fortune who had served in the army, and was rather fond of eau de vie de sucre, was in the habit of inspecting his slaves after the fashion of the soldiers: they were made to bathe themselves in a river which ran through the estate, and were afterwards mustered in their clean attire before the dwelling. I believe the system did not last very long. The person alluded to, if my memory serves me, was Mr. T--, son of one of the most extensive proprietors of the island, of whom I have heard the following marvellous story. "When he was born, a pigeon laid an egg upon which was legibly traced this line": "Joy unto thee J. T." The former took it into his head to attend the expedition which captured the City of St. Domingo, during Admiral B. S. Rowley's command, and it was said, afforded a great deal of amusement to the tars. Whilst in the mountains I had an opportunity of seeing the musical instrument called a bonja. The lines written by the late R. C. Dallas, Esq., on the pastime of the negroes, alludes to this instrument. "What are the joys of white man here? What are his pleasures? say; Me want no joys, no ills me fear, The bonja is a singularly simple instrument, a sort of Paganinian of one string, which is stretched between the extremes of a bow, and is rested against the teeth or jaw, and played with the fingers. There was an old blind negro at Montego Bay, who was celebrated for his performance on this simple instrument; and I recollect to have seen in the year 1814, at the Court House of that town, a very beautiful watercolour drawing of the bay and shipping from the heights above the town, wherein this old African musician was introduced with very happy effect sitting under a magnificent Sabia tree. The picture was the performance of a young English artist named Eves, whose skill and colouring I thought second only to the masterly delineations of his townsmen, (of Bristol,) Danby and Jackson. The unfortunate draughtsman, I was told, subsequently fell a victim to the climate. also had an opportunity of seeing the contoo, another simple instrument, if the unconnected pieces which are used to produce the sounds, can be so termed. It consists of two longitudinal pieces of wood in the rough state, with ten or twelve other pieces of different sizes, but proportionate in decrease from the first to the last, laid transversely upon the former; these are struck quickly with another rough stick, not successively, but with apparent irregularity, each piece producing a sound according to its size. It will appear obvious that to produce harmonious sounds from so rude an instrument, it is necessary that the player should possess an ear for music; and that the sound issued by each piece of wood, must be retained in memory, just in the same way as that given out by each key of a piano requires to be known, in order to effect the compo. sition of a regular and pleasing tune. There is no gamut to aid the mind of the black musician; but the tone of each key, if we may apply the term here, being once clearly understood by the ear, the selection of the others in succession for the production of a harmonious tune, will be dependent on the musical skill of the performer. The tones given out were soft and plaintive, similar to those produced by the musical glasses, or, by tumblers filled with water; and as the strokes were rapidly made, the sounds falling, as it were, into each other, altogether afforded an agreeable tune; superior indeed to what I should have expected from the sight of such a primitive instrument. A peculiar kind of hard wood is, I believe, necessary to be selected; and the proportionate lengths and diameter of each and all must be nicely adjusted. It is probable, too, that the size of the pores of the wood assists in modulating the sounds. The performer was an aged African negro, the watchman of a plaintain-walk. He sat alone in the midst of the romantic scene, consoling his withering heart with the thoughts of his early days; thoughts lit up, no doubt, by the sounds of his native instrument, which were familiar to the ears of his boyhood, and now carried his imagination back to those moments, to him, perhaps, as to many of a different caste, the only ones which, through a chequered life, were productive of unsearing happiness! That this view of the state of his feelings was correct, I was assured; for the poor old fellow after exerting his skill with animation for some time, became too excited to proceed, and at length threw down the stick he had been using-and wept! It was an eloquent picture, and those tears which the source of remembrance had poured down his aged and furrowed cheeks, told more forcibly than language could have done, that, black though the negro is, his feelings are strung upon the same vibratory thread as those of his more fortunate white brother. I had, at this time, an opportunity of witnessing the festival of the "John Canoe". Whether this pastime is of African origin or not I did not ascertain, but except in the grotesque figure of the principal actor, there appeared nothing to entitle it to the attention of the curious spectator. It was difficult to make out what meaning was attached to the ceremony by the negroes; to me it seemed to be intended merely to create harmless diversion aud mirth, which it failed not to do among the multitude that assembled to witness it; the black children especially were uproarious in the expressions of their delight; and no doubt were as happy as the white little ones at home' are in viewing Punch and Judy. The man who performed the chief character was fantastically dressed with a loose flowing robe over his shoulders reaching down to his heels, and the representation of a castle, or spired building on his head. In fact it appeared to be a sort of Carnival, and possessed as little pretensions as that ridiculous pastime of the more serious Catholics, to rationality. Jamaica is not exempt from the presence of that singular people distinguished by the name of Jews; indeed, the island appears to possess rather more than its share of such keen sons of Mammon. Some have attained to great wealth, and receive that attention and deference from the rest of the community which a long purse will always com-. mand. I have met, too, with a few who are not usurers, or engaged in trade, but have swerved from the beaten track of their progenitors, and live in the country upon their own estates. It is a subject for remark that in these individuals I found the lineaments of the face far less marked and peculiar, than in those who follow the ordinary occupation of the sect. Some of the members to which I particularly allude have married Christian females, a step which would seem to imply that their sentiments with respect to their religious creed was undergoing a change; or, what, perhaps, amounts to the same thing, they had become indifferent to the claims of exclusive observance exacted by the tenets of their religion, or the practice enjoined by the laws which govern their conduct. In two or three generations it is probable that, little trace of the Jewish features, or origin will remain, and that the successors will fall imperceptibly into the pale of the reformed Church; a mode of amalgamation, if the term may be permitted, that seems more natural than a sudden change of belief, which always must be attended with violence to the feelings; and may give cause for others to suspect that the party which leaps at a bound, from one creed to another, that are diametrically opposed, has little claim to be considered as being in possession of any religion whatever. Nevertheless, conviction of a truth, or of some point which may be strikingly confirmatory of what is considered by a people, a sect, or party, to be a truth, may flash suddenly across the mind of an individual, and bias it at once and for ever in favour of that truth. The history of the Jews themselves is confirmatory of the truth of the New Testament. Those who may entertain any scepticism of the genuine contents of the Bible, one would think, upon due reflection on all which is therein recorded of that singular people, and the verification of the general denunciation, ought to be convinced of the erroneousness of their opinion. There is, indeed scarcely a subject connected with the ENLARGED SERIES.-NO. 12.-VOL. FOR 1843. 5 K |
