Butt of Lewis. Hitherto it may be said, that the dangerous circumnavigation of the Cape, and passage of the greater Minsh, which is annually performed by a large portion of the vessels engaged in the Baltic trade, has not been guarded by a single beacon. A light-house in the port of Stornaway would be rendered particularly useful, by the liability to mistake the headlands to the northward of the harbour. There is a poor little inn at Stornaway, but I was rendered independent of its accommodation, by the hospitality of Seaforth Lodge, the residence of Mr. Stewart Mackenzie, proprietor of the island, a tract sixty miles in length, by thirty in breadth. It stands on an eminence, bare, except where a few trees appear in an adjacent glen; and commands a fine view of the town and harbour of Stornaway, which is frequently crowded with vessels; of the rocky shores and islands, which render the entrance extremely picturesque; and of the distant coast of the shires of Ross and Sutherland; a noble rampart of lofty and rugged peaks, the magnificence of which is strikingly displayed by a setting sun. Stornaway is the principal town of the Hebrides; the only one possessing the advantage of trade. It contains, together with the parish, a population of 4000 persons. It is partly of old, and partly of modern date, spread over a peninsula, formed by two branches of the harbour, on which the best houses, occupied by the merchants and other respectable inhabitants, are distributed in streets, whilst the huts of the poorer classes have been gradually removed to the suburbs. One of the best houses in the town is the Free-Masons' Lodge, in which the members of this body hold their meetings.

On the beach stand the walls of a ruined house, attesting the truth of the following curious tradition, which has been handed down by the most long-lived inhabitants, in such uninterrupted succession, that no doubt can be entertained of its authenticity. It was occupied, during the Civil War, by the few soldiers who composed the garrison which Cromwell had planted here. Macleod, the then proprietor of the island, determined to extirpate the intruders, and, secretly entering their quarters at night, while they were almost all asleep, murdered them with his single arm: the only individual who assisted him in the execution of his deadly purpose was a maid-servant, who bore the torch,-another Thais, "to light him to his prey." The end of this Macleod was miserable, and from him the Mackenzies of Seaforth purchased the island.

LEWIS; LOCHS; LOCHS SHIELL AND VALAMIS;
SHIANT ISLES.

FROM Stornaway I made some excursions in company with a gentleman of Ross-shire, fortunately acquainted with the Gaelic language, which is almost exclusively spoken in Lewis, except at Stornaway. The most extensive embraced the Shiant Isles. Our first stage was to the Manse of the parish of Lochs. The reputed distance, according to the natives, is four miles, the mile, in these parts, being calculated from brook to brook, and necessarily differing exceedingly. Time, which would afford a far better criterion of distance, the inhabitants are, unfortunately, less conversant with than with space. The real distance we found to be four-fold the reputed, that is, sixteen miles. Not a trace of path, nor human habitation could be descried. Lewis is one vast moor, penetrated by arms of the sea, and interspersed with a vast multitude of small lakes, affording, except in the high mountainous district adjoining Harris, which we were now approaching, no scenery, except in a few spots, worthy of notice. We were kindly received by a very aged minister, who,

in times that were long gone by,

When his limbs were strong and his courage was high, would walk, carrying his bed on his back, a long day's journey to a preaching-station in his parish, on the western coast, not a house intervening to afford him the slightest refreshment. "His parish, so called from its numerous harbours or lakes of fresh water, is eighteen computed miles in length, but following the coast it is eighty, and eight or nine in breadth." (Playfair.) The population is 3000. The minister has neither assistant nor missionary: he upholds the psalmody of his Church most zealously; and on his first entering upon his duties, finding no member of his congregation capable of singing, he proclaimed his determination to marry no person who could not join in this part of the service. Seconding this compulsory

system by instruction, he succeeded in filling his church with a loud choir.

The neighbouring river Laxay, (the Danish word Lax, signifying Salmon,) abounds with this fish. We pursued our route to the head of Loch Shiell, a spacious and good harbour. Its hills and shores are peopled by fishermen, and partly cultivated. The huts of Lewis are generally very wretched. We groped our way into one of them, through a dense atmosphere of smoke, and procuring some addition to our stock of provisions, sat down to partake of it upon an adjacent peat-stack, amid the minute examination of all the grown-up persons and children who could collect to gaze at the strangers. A fine eagle passed over us at the moment, and took no further notice of a discharge of small shot from one of our fowling-pieces, which rattled against his wings, than a shake of his head.

Between Lochs Shiell and Valamis, (about 12 miles,) the most elevated district of Lewis lies, consisting of a cluster of rugged mountains, by no means destitute of grandeur. Skirting the steep side of a hill, we passed over a stony tract, resembling the broad channel of a watercourse, scooped out as if by design, terminating above in a point, and below in a small lake, filled with large masses of earth and rock, which had formerly occupied the cavity, and must have been dislodged and driven downward with great force. This phenomenon was the result of a tempest during the preceding winter, and was attributed by our guide to lightning, which he observed, according to the common notion, pursued its destructive course till checked by water. There can be little doubt but that it was produced by a water-spout. The disruption must have been obviously effected by some very great external force; otherwise it might have been merely a slip of the hill, such as occurred at Goldau, in Switzerland*.

We took up our quarters at the house of the farmer, who rents the principal, and almost only sheep-farm in Lewis; together with the Shiant Isles, and who, fortunately, had just returned from them to his residence. During the few days in which he migrates to them for the purpose of superintending the gathering of the harvest, he gives directions in the Highland fashion, that the approach of a stranger should be intimated to him, by a beacon, kindled on an adjacent hill, to summon him to his duty.

The next morning being fine, and promising a landing on the Shiant Isles, which sometimes can scarcely be accomplished during ten days in the year, we launched forth in this gentleman's boat, a small skiff or yawl built in Norway, long, narrow, peaked at both ends, extremely light, floating like a feather upon the water, and when properly managed with the buoyancy and almost the security of a "sea-bird on its native wave." The skiff is often brought from Norway to Lewis in the trading vessels; and its construction imitated by the builders of Stornaway: but the boatmen of Lewis do not understand the management of it. It carries the Norwegian pilot twenty miles from his western coast to a vessel, and is sometimes left in the sole charge of his wife who accompanies him. On the southern coast of Norway, the pilots have adopted the boat of more ordinary construction: the skiff is an ornamental appendage to the lakes of that country. The boats used by the celebrated fishermen of Barra are of similar construction. Dr Macculloch says "that they are of considerable size, so as easily to carry ten or twelve men, and extremely sharp both fore and aft. . . . . From their lightness they are as buoyant on a bad sea as a Norway skiff. The boatmen are their own builders, purchasing the timber from the Northern traders." Edmonstone informs us that the same form is adopted in Shetland. Our host, the helmsman, a very adventurous seaman, very lately paid the penalty of his hardihood by losing a valuable vessel and cargo of sheep on the coast of Sky, himself providentially escaping from the wreck. His faithful dog, of the shepherds breed, which now accompanied us, was washed overboard on this occasion, but instead of swimming ashore returned to the boat.

....

As we quitted Loch Valamis, on the opposite shore of Loch Seaforth, which marks the division between Lewis and Harris, rose the latter island, the northern part of which is a mass of mountains. On the long and bold promontory of Scalpay stands a lighthouse, affording very necessary direction to the navigation of the Lesser Minsh, the passage between Sky and the Long Island, which is so obstructed by rocks and shoals, that many vessels, fearful of mist, prefer the remoter circuit of the * See Saturday Magazine, Vol. V., p. 119.

THE TOWN HOUSE AT ULM. ULM is a city of Germany, at present included within the territory of the kingdom of Wirtemberg. It is seated on the left bank of the Danube, at the place of its confluence with the Iller and Blau; there, however, that celebrated stream is of comparatively trifling width. It was formerly a free city of the German empire; but in 1802 it was made over to Bavaria, and again in 1810, transferred to the king of Wirtemberg, under whose dominion it still remains. Of late years, it has considerably declined, its population, which in 1808 was 14,000, being now estimated at between eleven and twelve thousand; but nevertheless it is the second city in the territory of Wirtemberg, both as regards the number of its inhabitants, and the importance of its trade and manufactures. The appearance of this place is rather antique; many of the houses being topped with those huge steep roofs, which rise pretty nearly as high above the main walls, as the walls themselves rise above the ground. The Town-house, shown in the engraving of the preceding page, is a specimen of this style of architecture.

At the head of the public edifices of Ulm, is the Cathedral or Münster," a building" says Malte Brun, "that cannot be too highly commended, on account of its proportions, and rich Gothic architecture." It was begun in the fourteenth century, the foundation being laid in the year 1377, but a period of 111 years was required to bring it to its present state, which even now is not a state of completion; for the steeple remains to this day unfinished. The Rev. Dr. Dibdin classes this cathedral "among the most respectable of those upon the Continent:" he remarks that its appearance is peculiarly English-like, as he calls it, a resemblance to which the character of the bold buttresses much contributes. The edifice is large in its dimensions, and the style of its architecture is of a massive and imposing kind. Its internal appearance is noble, well corresponding indeed, with the aspect of its exterior; but within a recent period, it has been subjected to a barbarous process, which we can easily conceive to have much impaired its solemnity, and grandeur of effect.

Not many years ago, the walls of the inside were whitewashed; the learned traveller already quoted, visited it shortly afterwards, and he laments with a proper feeling, the "fine mellow tints of five centuries," which had been so rudely wiped away, to make room for the more glaring substitute of modern improvement. The choir possesses some objects of interest; the altar being decorated with a series of oil-paintings upon wood, emblazoned with gilt backgrounds. The subjects of these, are taken from Scripture; and the pictures themselves are so arranged, as to turn upon hinges, and shut up.

The tower of this cathedral is, perhaps, the chief attraction of its exterior; and were it finished, would scarcely be surpassed by any other in existence. It is a very beautiful piece of architecture, exhibiting a remarkable degree of light airy elegance, combined with sufficient strength, and firmness. Its summit affords the visiter an interesting view of the town and its vicinity; and should it so happen that he is a true antiquary, he will, according to the testimony of one of his class, meet with a rich treat there.

"We paused a minute" says Dr. Dibdin, after giving an account of his ascent, "to recover our breath, and to look at the prospect which surrounded

opposite side flowed the Danube: not broad, nor, as I learnt, very deep; but rapid, and in a serpentine direction. The river here begins to be navigable for larger boats; but there is little appearance of bustle or business upon the quays. Few or no white sails floating down the stream, catch the morning or the evening sun-beam: no grove of masts; no shouts of mariners; no commercial rivalry.

"Do you observe here, gentlemen?' said our guide, pointing to the coping of the parapet wall, where the stone is a little rubbed;'-'I do,' (replied I.) What may this mean? Look below, Sir,' resumed he, how fearfully deep it is; you would not like to tumble down from hence.' This remark could admit but of one answer, in the negative; yet the man seemed to be preparing himself to announce some marvellous fact, and I continued mute. Mark well, gentlemen,' (continued he,) it was here, on this identical spot, that our famous Emperor Maximilian stood upon one leg, and turned himself quite round, to the astonishment and trepidation of his attendants! He was a man of great bravery, and this was one of his pranks to show his courage.' We confessed that we should not like to exhibit the same proof of our bravery, and wondered how his majesty could have escaped being dashed to atoms. The guide continued:-This story, gentlemen, has descended to us for three centuries; and not long ago, the example of the emperor was attempted to be imitated by two officers, one of whom failed and the other succeeded. The first lost his balance, and was precipitated to the earth, dying the very instant he touched the ground; the second succeeded, and declared himself, in consequence, Maximilian the Second!"

Next to the cathedral the most important building of Ulm is the Rath-Haus, or Town-House, a view of which is given in our Engraving. It is a very good specimen of the high-roofed style, so common in the towns of Germany and the Low Countries, and its origin may be referred to the same age as that of the cathedral. The other public buildings of Ulm are neither numerous nor worthy of much notice; the principal of them are the arsenal and the library.

The manufactures of Ulm are not very extensive at present, neither is its trade carried to any great extent. Its principal manufacture is that of linen, but this is not now of such magnitude as it formerly used to be; nevertheless, although the city may have declined in these respects, it still possesses a claim, and some will think no unimportant one, to distinction. "The pastry, known by the name of Ulm bread," says Malte-Brun, " its asparagus, and the snails fattened in the vicinity, are duly appreciated by gourmands. Could it be believed, that more than four millions of these animals are annually exported?" To an Englishman's ear, the fact certainly sounds rather strange.

The city of Ulm is not wholly without attraction in an historical point of view. Setting aside the interest which attaches to it in consequence of its share in many of the domestic troubles of Germany, and also in consequence of its connexion with some of the exploits of our own famous Marlborough, it is worthy of attention as having been, in more modern times, the scene of an event of the highest importance, and one which, for a while at least, materially influenced the destinies of Europe. We allude to the celebrated capitulation which obtains its name from this city, and which took place in 1805. It was in that year, as our readers will recollect, that England, who had been contending with France ever since the termination of the transient

peace of Amiens, succeeded in forming a coalition against her enemy, to which Russia, Austria, and Sweden, were parties. Buonaparte was not slow in concerting measures to crush this opposition to his power; and no sooner had he formed his plans, than he proceeded with his usual vigour to carry them into

execution.

A mass of French troops was rapidly poured into the heart of Germany, where a strong Austrian army was gathered under the command of Field-Marshal Mack, a general of much reputation, but evidently of more than he could sustain. He was the same

of whom Nelson had once spoken so pithily, when the Austrian government were employing him to defend the Neapolitan territory. "General Mack cannot move without five carriages; I have formed my opinion, I heartily pray that I may be mistaken." Nelson judged the man well; Mack was easily beaten on that occasion, and he now seemed determined not to win a better character than he then gained. Napoleon was down upon his opponent before he was expected; and the Austrians, having been worsted in some slight encounters, were obliged to give way. Mack himself, with 40,000 of his best troops, took up a position in Ulm, and thus became separated completely from the rest of his army. Napoleon took measures for cutting off his retreat; and these he executed with his usual secrecy and speed.

He made preparations for storming the town, and issued a proclamation to his troops, telling them in his usual strain, that the following day would be an hundred times more celebrated than that of Marengo. He then sent a summons to Mack, calling upon him to capitulate without loss of time, and threatening, in the event of a refusal, to storm the town. On the following day, the Austrian general issued an order, intimating to the troops his resolution to defend his position to the last, forbidding the word surrender to be used by any one, and declaring his determination to eat horse-flesh rather than listen to any terms of capitulation. "This bravado," says Sir W. Scott, " appeared on the 16th of October, and the conditions of surrender were subscribed by Mack on the next day, having been probably in the course of adjustment when he was making these notable professions of resistance."

The city of Ulm was to be surrendered to the French army with all the magazines and artillery,— the garrison were to march out with all the honours of war, and lay down their arms,--the field officers being then sent on their parole of honour into Austria, while the soldiers and subalterns were to be sent into France, there to remain until exchanged. The young Archduke Ferdinand, who opposed his weak or treacherous commander on the first proposal of this disgraceful surrender, dared to refuse submission, and, followed by several thousand of the troops, had gallantly cut his way into Bohemia. The remainder of the Austrian army, to the number of 28,000 men, marched out of the city, and filing before Napoleon, laid down their arms, and yielded themselves prisoners of war. During this operation, the conqueror called Mack and the other generals before him, and gave them an oration, in which he used the memorable expression,-" I desire nothing upon the continent; I want ships, colonies, and commerce!"

Such was the famous capitulation of Ulm, which was speedily followed by the entry of the French into Vienna, then the celebrated battle of Austerlitz, and finally, by the peace of Presburg.

SELF-WILL is so ardent and active, that it will break a world to pieces, to make a stool to sit on.-CECIL.

I.

THE NATURAL AND CIVIL HISTORY OF CEYLON.

ITS EARLY HISTORY-DIFFERENT CLASSES OF NATIVES-THE VEDAHS-THE CINGALESE-THE CANDIANS-THE MALABARS.

THE earliest account of Ceylon was brought to Europe by the Macedonians who were with Alexander in India. Onesicritus, a cynic philosopher who accompanied the king into Asia, is supposed to be the first author who mentions this island under the name of Taprobane; and the variety of its names in the east, as well as in Europe, is one of the extraordinary circumstances of its history. Ancient historians differ greatly with respect to the situation and size days' sail from the Continent, but he gives its dimensions of the modern Ceylon. Onesicritus states it to lie twenty with tolerable accuracy, if his estimate of five thousand stadia, which he asserts to be its size, (for according to Strabo, he does not mention whether this admeasurement refers to its length, breadth, or circumference,) be considered as comprehending the whole extent of its coast. It may reasonably be concluded that he intended to mark the cirstadia; since, at eight stadia to the mile, these precisely cumference of the island, by computing it at five thousand amount to 625 miles, which is not far distant from the measurement of Rennell, who, in his last map, lays down the length at 280 miles, the breadth at 150, and the extreme circumference at 660.

modern appellation of Ceylon is probably derived. By the Ceylon is called by the natives, Singhala, from which its Hindoos on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts, it is called Lanca, and by the Mohammedans, Serendib. Its ancient name of Taprobane has been supposed, but I think,_upon no sufficient authority, to have had its origin from Tapoo Ravana, or the island of Ravan, a demon and sovereign in the remote times of Hindoo antiquity. The great mythological poem of the Hindoos, the Ramayana, a most voluminous epic, written in the purest Sanscrit, describes the conquest of Ceylon, and the destruction of its demoniacal sovereign Ravan, by the illustrious Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, who, assisted by an army of monkeys, took the island, and dethroned and destroyed its demon-king. Rama's bridge, the original name of the reef of rocks called Adam's bridge by the Mohammedans, was so named which connects Ceylon with the small island of Ramiseram, by the Hindoos, in commemoration of this memorable event.

Although this celebrated island was known to the earliest historians, yet from none of them do we obtain any information respecting the social or physical changes which Alexander the Great, or Iskander Sutlan, as he is denomiit has undergone; and although so early as the time of nated by eastern writers, the name of Taprobane was familiar to the Greek historians; yet was it not until the Portuguese obtained a settlement there, in the early part of the sixteenth century, that any very accurate information was obtained respecting it. The Portuguese retained unthey were expelled by the Dutch, in whose possession it disturbed possession of Columbo, until the year 1656, when remained until the year 1796, when it was captured by the British, and finally ceded to them at the peace of Amiens.

DIFFERENT CLASSES OF NATIVES.

THE native inhabitants of the island are divided into three main classes; Cingalese, Candians, and Malabars. The two first are descendants from the aborigines; the latter are those who have at different times colonized here from the south-eastern coast of the peninsula. The modern appellation of Cingalese is, according to Dr Vincent*, upon the authority of Knox, a corruption of Hingo-dagul, or city of the Hingoos, a name which the natives still retain. The Cingalese occupy the southern, and the Malabars the northern coasts of the island, while the Candians had retained undisturbed possession of the interior, until the sixteenth year of the present century, when the reigning sovereign was deposed by the British forces, under the command of General Brownrigg.

THE VEDAHS.

THERE is a wild tribe who inhabit the mountains, called Vedahs, of which many remarkable things are related. In the scale of intellect they seem scarcely to rise higher than to the instinct of a baboon. They are not numerous, indeed, not exceeding many thousands in number, and * Vide Periplus of the Erythrean Sea.