was engaged, under circumstances of unusual occurrence, in a solitary journey of a thousand miles, through a country, perhaps the wildest on the face of the earth, and whose inhabitants were scarcely yet accounted within the pale of civilization, with no other attendant, than a rude Tartar postillion, to whose language my ear was wholly unaccustomed; and yet, I was supported by a feeling of happy confidence, with a calm resignation to all the inconveniences and risks of my arduous undertaking; nay, I even derived a real inward gratification in the prospect of retirement from the eternal round of pleasure and social enjoyments, in which I had been participating, to a degree of satiety that began to be oppressive. Again and again I interested myself, by contrasting voluntary exile with the constrained banishment of the numerous unfortunate wretches who have been known to languish away in the inhospitable wilds I was about to traverse, the remnant. of a protracted existence, aggravated by an eternal separation from all the blessings that they have deemed most dear to them in life."

After an absence of two years and one day from his native country, our author ultimately landed at Hull, on the 24th of June, 1824.

"Sweet is the hour that brings us home,

Where all will spring to meet us;

Where hands are striving, as we come,

To be the first to greet us.

When the world has spent its frowns and wrath,
And care been sorely pressing,

"Tis sweet to turn from our roving path,
And find a fireside blessing.

Ah, joyfully dear is the homeward track,

If we are but sure of a welcome back!"

No one, we think, can fail to discover in Mr. Holman the elements of a noble and active mind, a force of character, and strength of purpose that would have done honor to a Cæsar. Yet some may urge, (while at the same time they laud his perseverance,) that, had our author lost his sight in infancy, his passion for traveling would never have developed itself. Such an inference would scarcely be just, for now that Locke's philosophy is exploded, no one dare deny the existence of ruling desires, in germ, even at birth. It will be seen that the loss of our highest external sense, (viz, sight,) does not necessitate any faculty of the mind to remain dormant, when we take into consideration the superior culture which the remaining senses receive, and more especially if the physical organism be strong and vigorous. True, happy circumstances aid greatly in nourishing genius, and exercise alone gives health and vigor to the mental, as well as to the physical constitution. The eye may embrace, at one glance, (though superficially,) what would occupy weeks to examine by the sense of touch; yet we do not know that this is so great an advantage, nor do we believe that the loss of sight precludes the possibility of scientific investigation, deep and profound thought, and even a high appreciation of the bear tiful. Nor does external blindness

shut out from inner vision the glad face of Nature. Objects which inspire the seeing with emotions of grandeur and sublimity, excite in us the same feelings, and frequently more intense.

We may, at some future time, favor the reading public in this country, with Mr. Holman's entire work; but at present, we shall be obliged to make a few brief extracts suffice.

Mr. Holman, in commenting upon the characters and customs of the French inhabitants of Fernando Po, says, "I shall indulge my own particular feelings and partialities in entering upon that part of my observations which relates more exclusively to the fairer and softer portion of this aboriginal people. The infinite modifications of person, mind, and manners, exhibited by the sex in the different grades of society throughout the world, whether formed by the influences of climate, government or education, presents a most interesting subject to the speculative observer of human nature; and to one who, from early life, both by profession and inclination a traveler, has wandered under every temperature of our eastern hemisphere, who has studied and admired the sex under every variety of character, no wonder that the contemplation of woman, as nature left her, inartificial, unsophisticated, simple, barbarous, and unadorned, should seem fraught with peculiar interest. Are there any who imagine that my loss of eye-sight must necessarily deny me the enjoyments of such contemplations? How much more do I pity the mental

darkness which could give rise to such an error, than they can pity my personal calamity! The feelings and sympathies which pervade my heart, when in the presence of an amiable and interesting female, are such as never could be suggested by viewing a mere surface of colored clay, however shaped into beauty, or however animated by feeling and expression. The intelligence still allowed me by a beneficent Providence, is amply sufficient to apprise me of the existence of the more real-the diviner beauties of the soul; and herein are enjoyments in which I am proud to indulge. A soft and sweet voice, for instance, affords me a two-fold gratification;—it is a vehicle of delight, as operating on the appropriate nerves, and, at the same time, it suggests ideas of visible beauty, which, I admit, may, by force of imagination, be carried beyond reality.* But, supposing I am deceived, are my feelings the less intense ?—and, in what consists my existence, but in those feelings?

*What Mr. Holman avers to be true of himself, in relation to ideas of visible beauty, suggested by pleasant voices, the present writers of this volume most cheerfully endorse. It is corroborated by the experience of almost every blind person with whom we are acquainted, and those are not a few. As nature speaks of tranquillity in the low whisper of the winds, or of might and contention in the roar of the ocean, so the soul has a voice, blended with the natural utterance of speech, or the sound of the human voice. To us, the voice as clearly indicates moral worth, intelligence, and personal beauty, as does the expression of countenance to the seeing. The voice is as truly an index of the mind, as the face; nor can the mind be highly cultivated, without perceptibly changing the tone

of voice.

Is it otherwise with those who see? If it be, I envy them not. But are those who think themselves happier, in this respect, than I am, sure that the possession of a more exquisite sense than any they enjoy, does not, sometimes at least, compensate the curtailments to which the ordinary senses, and particularly the one of eye-sight, is liable? and if they should think So, let them not, at least, deny me the resources I possess. I shall not, however, persist further in a description of that situation, those circumstances and those consolations, which the all-feeling comprehension of the poet hath so justly caught in one of its diviner moods of inspiration:

'And yet he neither drooped nor pined,
Nor had a melancholy mind;

For God took pity on the boy.

And was his friend, and gave him joy,
Of which we nothing know.'

"The personal appearance of the females of Fernando Po, is by no means attractive, unless (degustibus non est dis pretandum) a very ordinary face, with much of the contour of the baboon be deemed so.

"Add to this the ornaments of scarification and tattooing, adopted by the sex to a greater extent than by the men, and the imagination will at once be sen sible how much divinity attaches to Fernandian beauty. Like the men, the women plaster the body all over with clay and palm-oil, and also, in a similar manner, wear the hair long, and in curls or ringlets, well stiffened with the above composition. The chil