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In the absence of a profound and philosophic observer, the reviewer is 66 very glad have the picture of the New Zealanders drawn by the present author's animated pencil.' "Its tints are fresh and vivid, laid on boldly and roughly, like those which he spreads over his panoramic canvas;" and he has thus produced a volume, "at once extremely amusing and full of information;" and yet there are "considerable portions of it, which require to be carefully sifted." While we regret that the able writer of the Edinburgh has not carefully sifted," as most surely he ought to have done, the amus ing volume of Mr. Earle, we are happy to know that another of his majesty's subjects has recently visited New Zealand, and that another volume is soon to be before the public. Personal acquaintance with the gentleman from whose letter we are about to quote, enables us to say confidently that his observations will be worthy of the fullest credit, though several of his statements will give "the most decided negative" to those of Mr. Earle. The letter is dated Madras, 3d June 1833; referring to New Zealand, the writer says

"I spent eight months in Van Diemen's Land, and four months and a half in New South Wales, including in this time a visit of five weeks to New Zealand. You will recollect the anxiety which I expressed to you about this latter country, and will therefore be prepared to understand the motives of my trip thither. It would really appear providential, that the

vindication of the much-injured cause of those missions should have fallen into the hands of one who has assuredly an equal claim to veracity and independence of judgment, with Mr. Earle and such like calumniators of the excellent men and their labors in the mission in New Zealand. Earle's book has appeared in England, and I find has attracted considerable attention; and the Directors of the Church Missionary Society have alluded to it in the number of the "Church Missionary Record for last September. These I had not seen until I returned from New Zealand; and in my remarks upon what I saw, it is remarkable enough that I should have noticed several things which give the most decided negative to Earle's statements. I have upon subsequent consideration resolved on sending my observations to the press, and they will probably appear in London in January next, in an octavo volume under the title of—

"Recollections of New Zea land in 1833, by a staff officer of the Indian Army.'-The entire proceeds (not profits) will be appropriated to the publication of the Holy Scriptures in the New Zealand language. The work will be completed in about 150 pages; and I hope and pray it may be of use to the cause of missions generally.

"In the compass of a letter I cannot say much respecting the very interesting country and people to which I have alluded. Everything I witnessed far exceeded all my expec tations. There is a growing attention to religion amongst the

THE DEATH OF THE EMPRESs, on the 10th of June last, has been a frequent topic of conversation during the present month. The nature of her disease, and the length of her illness do not appear; but it seems that she had long been in bad health. An imperial edict is before us, on the subject; in which formality and tenderness are strangely blended. His majesty after mentioning the dates of his marriage with her, and of her elevation to the title of empress, states the connubial affection which has existed between them for twenty-six years, as being "known to all the palace." Then, unable to dwell upon the loss of this "interior assistant," he proceeds to appoint officers to superintend all the necessary rites of mourning. The principal of these officers are his majesty's brother Tuntsin wang, and his brother-inlaw Hengan.

We should not have expected, in such a country as China, to have found any uncertainty as to the mourning ceremonies to be observed. In Canton, two or three different orders have appeared on the subject. The final one was to this effect;-that no officer shall have his head shaved during one hundred days, nor have any marriage in his family during twenty-seven days, nor play on any musical instrument during one year; and that the soldiers and people shall not shave their heads for one month, nor engage in marriages during seven days, nor play on any musical instrument during one hundred days.-Other marks of mourning are the use of blue ink in the public offices, in place of red; and the removal of the red fringe which usually ornaments the Chinese caps.

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We subjoin the following short. translation of the "order of rites observed in receiving the imperial mandate, raising lamentation, and laying aside (the mourning) clothes, on occasion of the grand ceremony following the demise of an empress.' It has been lately circulated in Canton as a supplement to the daily court circular.

When the imperial mandate, written on yellow paper, comes down the river, an officer is immediately deputed to receive aud guard it, at the imperial landing place. The master of ceremonies leads the officer, and directs him to receive the mandate with uplifted hands, land it, deposit it safely in the dragon dome (a kind of carriage borne by sixteen or thirty-two men); and spread it out in proper form. The civil and military officers, in plain dresses, then kneel down in order, in the Sunny-side pavilion, and so remain until the mandate has passed. When they have risen, the officer leads the procession to the grand gate of the examination court; and the civil and military officers then first enter the most public hall,' and there kneel down,-the civilians on the east side, and the military on the west,-until the dragon dome has passed; after which they rise and wait till the dome has entered the ball of the constellation Kwei.* In this hall an embroidered yellow curtain, and incense table, must previously be prepared, and an officer be sent to receive with reverence the imperial mandate and safely lay it on the table. When this has been done, all the officers enter; upon which, the master of ceremonies cries out, " Range yourselves in order-Perform the cere

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mony of thrice kneeling, and nine times knocking the head,-rise." The master of ceremonies then requests to have the mandate read aloud; and the public official reader raises up the mandate to do so.

Must. of cer. Officers-all kneel -hear the proclamation read-(and when the reading is concluded he continues)-rise-raise lamentation." The officers do so accordingly.

After the lamentation, the reader places the mandate on the yellow table, and the master of ceremonies calls out," deliver the imperial mandate." An officer is then sent to the yellow table, who raises up the mandate, and delivers it to the governor, kneeling. The governor having received it, rises, and deliv ers it to the pooching sze, also kneeling; and he, in turn, rises and delivers it to his chief clerk, likewise kneeling. The clerk rises and takes it to the hall of Tsze-wei (in the pooching sze's office), to be printed on vellow paper. Must. of cer "Office 's-all put on mourning dresses." The officers then retire; when they have chang ed their dresses, the master of ceremonies leads them back, and gives the order, "arrange yourselves, thrice kneel and nine times knock headrise-raise lamentatation-(after lamentation)-eat." The officers then go out to the hall of abstinence! where they eat a little, the civil and military each taking their respective sides. The master of ceremonies then cries-" retire. They retire to the public place,' and in the evening reassemble, and perform the same ceremonies. At night, they sleep in the public place, separate from their families. The same ceremonies are performed in the morning and evening of the two following days, after which the officers reurn to their ordinary duties.

When the mandate has been copied, an officer is sent with it to the hall of the constellation Kwei, to place it on the yellow table, and another is sent to burn incense and keep respectful charge of it for twentyseven days, after which it is delivered to the pooching sze, and sent back to the Board of Rites. On the 27th day, the officers assemble as before, and. after the same ceremonies of lamentation have been gone through, the master of ceremonies

gives the order-"take off mourning-put on plain clothes-remove the table of incense." All then return home, and the mourning ceremonies are at an end.

INUNDATION.-Along the banks of some of the rivers of China, the country is frequently deluged, and cattle, grain, and houses, with the inhabitants are swept away. In the south of China, such inundations are not very frequent. Though considerable part of the province of Canton is low ground, yet the waters seldom rise and break through the embankments so as to destroy extensively the habitations of men or the productions of the soil.-Very heavy rains began to fall early in this mouth, and on the 9th and 10th instant, the water stood in some districts a few miles west of Canton, more than ten feet above the ordinary mark. It was a very awful visitation. Ten thousand lives, it is said, have been lost. This is doubtless somewhat above the truth; though the real number cannot, we think, be below five or six thousand. A native Christian whose house and paddy were washed away thus writes:

"I find on my return that my family, old and young, have been preserved in safety by the care of our heavenly Father. But one of our mud houses, and part of another have been washed away. The other little houses are much injured by the wa

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escaped to an adjacent hill). Although this is a calamity sent from heaven. yet it must be traced to the rebellion and wickedness of man as a cause. When I see those who have suffered, my mind is increasingly filled with awe; and I would cherish a fear of offending the living and true God. Pray for me, Sir, that God may preserve me from sin, and from disgracing the religion of our Saviour, and then I shall be happy.

I have heard that the fooyuen and the leäng-taou [superintendent of the grain department] have subscribed a few hundred dollars, and have sent a few officers with cakes to distribute to the distressed sufferers in Nanhae and Shuntih districts: but at Kaouyaou and Kaouming, the districts where I live, (the land being higher) no assistance has been sent, and the distress of the people is truly great."

RETIREMENT OF AN AGED STATESMAN.-In China the officers of government are regarded as hond-servants of the emperor, to be kept as long as he pleases to retain them. He shows tenderness as much in permitting them to resign, as in employing and promoting them. Loo YIN-FOO, the fourth in order of the cabinet ministers, has been ill for some months back, and, his health not improving, has presented a very earnest request to be allowed to retire. This request is often a mere matter of form, when an officer has been long indisposed; but in the present instance it appears to be of a more serious nature; and his majesty has reluctantly granted it, lest the anxieties he must feel respecting the duties of his office, should prove detrimental to his recovery. He is therefore allowed to retire with the

title of 'guardian of the heir appar ent,' and the allowances and full salary of his office.

THE COCHINCHINESE ESCORT of the man-of-war junk, driven last February

on the coast of Cochinchina, and now brought back. as mentioned in the last number, has not, it appears, come empty, but are accompanied by two large junks, fully laden. They have therefore moved their quarters from the Houan temple to one of the hong-merchant's warehouses, and

the governor has written to Peking, to ascertain whether or not the duties shall be remitted, in return for their kindness to the wrecked mariners. The officers forming the escort are six in number, and two of them, we hear, are no new travelers, having sailed, in his Cochinchinese majesty's vessels, to Calcutta, the straits of Malacca, and Manila:-yet they are mere stammerers except in their own language.

The commercial business of junks trading between Cochinchina or Siam and Canton is conducted by two of the hong-merchants, in annual rotation. It is this year the turn of the two junior hongs, established only last year, to conduct this trade; the governor has therefore ordered the two senior merchants to assist them in attending to the wants of the Cochinchinese visitors.

INSURRECTION IN SZECHUEN.-There has of late been some insubordination on the part of the foreign tribe called Tsing-ke, attached to this province: which has occasioned a large expenditure of treasure on the part of the imperial government. Nayenpaou, (a brother of the disgraced statesman Nayenching, lately deceased,) is Mantchou general of the province, and has at present direction of the war. The Chinese commander-in-chief Kwei-han, a general of 30 year's standing, has died in consequence of cold taken during a successful campaign in which he was engaged against the insurgents. His majesty confers posthumous titles on him accordingly, and also commands particular attentions to be paid to the members of his surviving family.

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