338 Bibliographical Notice. 



beasts is much given to the promotion of natural history ; while of 

 course that wicked traffic which has of late years sprung up among 

 the isles of this broad ocean, and has excited the righteous indigna- 

 tion of all Christian people throughout the world, is yet less likely to 

 profit the naturalist. 



The author of this book enjoyed the opportunity of visiting some 

 of these interesting islands as the guest of Commodore Sir "William 

 Wiseman, then commanding Her Majesty's ship ' Curacoa.' Mr. 

 Brenchley was (for we regret to say we have to use the past tense 

 in speaking of him) apparently one of those numerous Englishmen 

 who go every where and do every thing short of writing books of 

 travels. Herein they often show their wisdom ; for the most ven- 

 turesome of wanderers and explorers are by no means always the 

 best penmen, and Mr. Brenchley seems to have had an instinctive 

 knowledge that this was his case. Though he had crossed the Rocky 

 Mountains long ere the Pacific Railroad was projected, and had lived 

 four years in the Sandwich Islands — though he had slipped down 

 the crater of Pichincha and had coasted along Peru and Chili — 

 though he had descended the Mississippi from its source and had 

 made a "home tour" in such comparatively tame countries as 

 Morocco and Algeria — though he had seen India and Ceylon, China 

 and Mongolia, Japan and Australasia, and had finally returned home 

 by the overland route of the Gobi Desert and Siberia, " he was more 

 interested," we are told, " in collecting material objects, illustrative 

 and commemorative of his varied travels, than in devoting himself 

 to literary descriptions of them ; " and the work now before us " was 

 the result of a promise." 



By whom the promise was exacted we know not, nor does it sig- 

 nify. Mr. Brenchley died in its performance. The preface to this 

 book, begun by the author, recounts the death of two of his ship- 

 mates, Mr. Foljambe and Mr. Meade, who had helped him in form- 

 ing, and of two naturalists, Dr. Baird and Mr. George Gray, who 

 had assisted him in determining his collections, and is finished by 

 an unnamed friend. The narrative of the cruise, we must confess, 

 is not very interesting. The "jottings" taken while it lasted must 

 have indeed been very brief ; and the author seems to have been 

 quite unaware of the chief points which deserved his attention, 

 though he was accompanied by men who were at least practical 

 naturalists : — one of the Messrs. Veitch ; Mr. Wall, for many years 

 Curator of the Sydney Museum ; and Mr. Brazier, the shell- collector. 

 Indeed not a small part of the narrative is made up of extracts 

 from very well-known books, those of Erskine, Hood, Mariner, 

 Seemann, and Williams being especially laid under contribution. Of 

 course the dates of arrival at and sailing from the different islands 

 are duly given ; but the original information concerning them and 

 their products is meagre. As an average specimen we subjoin (from 

 Chap. V.) all that is said of the natural history of Vavau, an outlier 

 of the Tonga group. 



" The island seemed entirely clothed with vegetation, among 

 " which the casuarina, the pandanus, and cocoa-nut trees, were 



