A LADY'S CRUISE IN A FRENCH MAN-OF-WAR.* WHERE, in all

the wide world, are to be found scenes of more entrancing loveliness than among the volcanic islands of the distant South Pacific P Mountains, grand or fantastic in form, rear their heads against the skies, or are capped with brooding clouds ; whilst the valleys and ravines below are filled with the dense and exquisite foliage and flowers of the tropics, which cover also the lower levels of the islands, down to the margin of the sea, where the transparent water of the lagoon laps idly along the beach, or ocean billows dash with thunder and uproar on a rocky and unprotected coast. Many voyagers, from Cap- tain Cook a hundred years ago, to Lady Brassey in 1876, have visited these enchanting spots, and have told of their dream-like beauty. Form, colour, and atmosphere com- bine to make them delightful ; and amid such scenery, and with an almost perfect climate, simply to live must be a joy unknown to a dweller under the murky skies of Britain. Among the later comers to these "summer isles of Eden" is Miss Gordon Cumming, who travelled among the Pacific groups in 1877, and, as is her wont, has given us another enjoyable description of her experiences, which we regret not having noticed earlier. Those who know her work in Fiji will be pre- pared to welcome this book. For although, necessarily, there is matter here that is not new, it is none the less acceptable on that account, for Miss Cumming has contrived to blend with her individual observations a history of most of the principal islands, and this, drawn largely from Missionary sources, is oppor- tune and well selected, and adds greatly to the value of her own re- marks. Whatever explanation may be attempted, it is certain that the endeavours of the Missionaries in the South Seas met with extraordinary success, completely changing the character of the people ; and it is impossible in a candid narrative to avoid constant allusion to and acknowledgment of their indefatigable labours. Eighty years ago, let it be remembered,— • A Lady's Cruise in a French Man-of-War. By Miss C. F. Gordon Cumming. Second Edition. London : Blackwood and Sons.

" There was not one isle in the whole Pacific which was not steeped in debasing heathenism and cruel wars. Now, throughout Polynesia, idolatry is a thing of the past ; none of the present genera- tion have even seen the wood and stone gods of their fathers : in- fanticide and murder are probably less common than in Europe, and a reverent obedienee to all Christian precepts a good deal more ap- parent than in civilised countries. On upwards of 300 isles (where, in the early half of this century, no boat could have toaohed without imminent danger), Christianity of a really practical sort now reigns. Upwards of a quarter of a million persons show their faith in its re- quirements by utterly changed lives, and at least 60,000 of these are regular communicants. The casual traveller, who, a few years ago, would almost inevitably have been killed had he ventured to land, is now chiefly in danger of asserting that the natives have been trained to be religious over-much,—their innocent nature' cramped ; and so the chances are, that without intending to do mischief, he throws his influence of the moment into the opposite scale, and is, perhaps, the source of more evil than he dreams of."

Unfortunately, it is not the "casual traveller" alone who undoes the work of years. At the time of Miss Cum- ming's visit, the " mighty anti-Christian firm " of Godeffroy, of Hamburg, were paramount in the Pacific, and gave plain directions to their agents thus,—" Never assist Mis- sionaries, either by word or deed, but wheresover you may find them, use your best influence with the natives to obstruct and exclude them." But, alas ! in too many cases, unprincipled white men, whether engaged in the " labour " or sandal-wood trade, have shown themselves, by their hideous cruelties and lust for gain, to be veritable white barbarians ; and we read with pain that "in some of the Papuan Isles, the name by which the natives describe a white man means literally' a sailing profligate." Miss Cumming, who is fairly entitled to speak with some authority, is always loud in her praises of the Mis- sionaries, and of Williams, the first martyr of Erromanga—for

several others have met violent deaths in that ill-fated island— especially. We should have been indebted to Miss Cumming were it for this only, that she has induced us to take down from its shelf that wonderful book, Williams' Missionary Enterprise. Few persons are aware, probably, what a romance is to be found in its pages. This, with Moffatt's Labours in South Africa, formed the most thrilling reading of our childhood, pos- sessing the additional attraction of unchallenged truth. Over Williams' book, seated in a chair made from wood which

he had brought over (whereby the actuality of his narrative gained immensely), what hours did we spend in his company as he taught and travelled among those " knots of Paradise," until Raiatea, Tongatabu, and Samoa became familiar names, and we were fain to acknowledge that certain demands on our scant pocket-money, at times deemed exacting, were not ill- repaid if Missionaries could send us such books as this. There- fore, it has pleased us greatly to find that our old favourite still retains its charm, and that the marvellous story of splendid courage and self-devotion, told in very simple, God-fearing language, and with an utter absence of self-assertion, is delightful and fresh as ever.

But we must return .to Miss Cumming, with the excuse, if we have digressed too long, that she also sailed among the islands of the Pacific in a Missionary ship. This may seem a paradox, but the explanation is easy. Whilst staying at her home in Fiji, there arrived one day a French man-of-war, Le Seignelay,' having on board the Roman Catholic Eveque de Tipara, Monseigneur Elloi, who was visit- ing the island missions in his diocese. A unanimous invitation from the vessel's kindly commander, Captain Aube, and his officers, induced Miss Cumming to accompany them to some of the neighbouring islands ; but ultimately she went on to Tahiti, " the loveliest isle in the South Seas," and stayed there for five months, thus gaining the opportunity—in her hands, a valuable one—of more than superficially observing the characteristics of the island and the present condition of its people. This book is a letter-journal of her cruise, during which many islands were visited and many more sighted. The pleasantest relations existed

between the officers of this French vessel and their captain, and life on board seemed "that of a happy family, with the filial and paternal affections remarkably well developed." Everybody did his best to make things comfortable for the lady-visitor, for whom a charming little cabin was prepared, and she confesses to have had spoiling to perfection. On deck a capital sofa was made, by filling the carriage of a big gun with cushions, and in foul weather refuge was sought in the gun-room. To sail in this luxurious fashion, in a large ship, in these delightful climes, was a piece of rare good-luck, both for the lady and the readers of her book. She was carried to the Friendly

Isles, and landed at Tongatabu, known all over the group as " the cold isle," where many strong natives die of consumption, and where she shivered in the bitter night-air. Here she found a convent, containing four sisters only, all French. One of the chief attractions of this island, which is flat and tame, com- pared with Fiji, is a wonderful trilithon, standing in weird solitude, and of cyclopean proportions, and Miss Cumming gives a careful drawing of this monument of a forgotten race. When Captain Cook sailed among the Pacific groups, he found

numerous morals, or temples and tombs, many of gigantic dimensions, and constructed of enormous hewn stones, some-

times of a different character to any found on the island. How they were hewn, or how they were transported, is a mystery ; native tradition is silent concerning their origin, and though many were destroyed by the people when idolatry was aban- doned, " happily for the antiquarian, some of the tombs of the mighty dead escaped these over-zealous reformers." Easter Isle, where the ship touched before Miss Cumming joined, perhaps the loneliest spot in the Pacific, only two islets being known within a radius of 1,000 miles, contains the most wonderful of such remains, an interesting account of which is given in these pages. When Samoa was reached, it was found to be in a state of anarchy, owing to inter-tribal disputes, and a battle had recently been fought, in which sixty lives had been lost, and the heads of the slain " cut off and sent to friendly chiefs, as delicate offerings." These feuds are fomented by unprincipled whites, to serve their own base interests, and although the good Bishop united with the English Missionaries to allay the strife, we learn from a note that the King, with whom Sir Arthur Gordon concluded a treaty in 1879, died in 1880, and the country is again in turmoil. A very strange thing about the Samoans is their reverence for old, rotten mate. One of these was formerly wor- shipped as Papo, the venerable god of war, and is to be seen in the London Missionary Society's Museum. Miss Cumming says :—

" I well remember our astonishment, when the Samoan chiefs came to Fiji to consult Sir Arthur Gordon on the question of British pro- tection, to see with what infinite solemnity these fine, stately men presented him with a very dirty and exceedingly unfragrant and tattered old mat, which, I believe, was to be offered to her Majesty Queenie Vikatoria, but has, I think, found an asylum in the British Museum. What makes this so very strange is, that the mats worn by the Samoan chiefs and ladies are beautifully fine and glossy, of most delicate straw-colour, and edged with handsome grass fringe. Whatever may have been the origin of this form of antiquarian lunacy, its existence is an unmistakable reality. The Samoan chief treasures the dirty and ragged old mat of some revered ancestor as a British regiment does the tattered colours which find their honoured rest in some grey sanctuary. The old mat, which from generation to genera- tion has been jealously guarded by his clan, is his patent of nobility, and the title-deed which proves his right to broad acres. Some of these strips of dirty old matting, which no rag-man would pick off a dust-heap, are known throughout the group by special names. There is one, which is known to be upwards of 200 years old, during which period its successive guardians have all been duly enrolled. It is called Moe-e-fiti-fui,—ti.e., the mat which slept beneath the vines, in allusion to its having lain hidden for several years among the lilac ipomeas which twine in matted tangles all along the sea-beach. No money would induce a Samoan to sell one of these unsavoury treasures; it is said that £100 might be offered in vain, though I certainly can- not imagine any sane person offering 100 pence. However, it is simply a form of relic-worship,—and probably no whit more foolish than the adoration of dirty clothes, and kindred objects, supposed to have been hallowed by the touch of Christian or Buddhist saints."

At length, in a howling storm, the vessel reached the harbour of Papeete, in Tahiti, and Miss Cumming found that Queen Pomare, "the good, old Queen of my infantile, romantic visions," had just died. During her protracted stay, she lived a kind of delightful, out-of-door, picnic life, and more than half her book is devoted to the narration of excursions and visitings, told with spirit and liveliness, interspersed with fascinating de- scriptions of gorgeous scenery. Tahiti is now a highly organ- ised French colony, scarcely showing a trace of aboriginal manners and customs, and tattooing has entirely disappeared. The Seignelay ' went to the Marquesas and Paumotus, but Miss Cumming did not accompany her, although she afterwards bitterly lamented the indecision which lost her so splendid a chance of visiting these little-known islands, and mourned over the wasted opportunity as over a lost inheritance. She managed, however, to collect a good deal of information about them, and what we read increases our regret that she did not go on with the ship.

Miss Cumming refers to the policy of the French in the Pacific, and relates in justly indignant language the story of the proceed- ings of the " French pirates," as she terms them, in 1843, when their assumption of the protectorate of Tahiti, and the insults offered to Mr. Pritchard, our Consul there, nearly brought France and England into warlike collision. We find Mr. Pritchard's authority for the statement that not a sou Of the indemnity promised for what the French admitted to be "illegal imprisonment and pecuniary losses," had been paid him in 1880, in which year the cloak of the protectorate was thrown

off, and Tahiti was formally annexed, King Pomare V. ceding his nominal sovereignty for a life pension of 12,000 dollars a year. Now, it will probably he admitted that the construction of the Panama Canal is not, in these days, an extremely remote eventuality. An American orator, we remember, in a moment of humorous irritation, once threatened to cat it, in order to let the Gulf Stream escape through it into the Pacific, and so, by tapping our supplies of warm water at their fountain-head in the Gulf of Mexico, reduce the temperature of North-Western Europe to an Arctic coldness, and demolish the obnoxious Britisher once and for all. The possibility of this appalling change in the direction of ocean currents is open to question, but it is certain, that with the successful cutting of the Panama Isthmus, the current of traffic will be enormously deflected from its present course. Any one who will study a chart of the Pacific Ocean will easily realise how immensely the importance of the South Sea Islands will be increased, should the enterprise of M. Lesseps become an accom- plished fact. This has not escaped the notice of the French, who already hold the Marquesas, the Paumotus, the Gambiers, and Tahiti. Their present scheme seems to be " to annex every desirable island lying to the east of Samoa, thus securing possession of every good harbour and coaling-station lying between New Zealand and the coast of South America ; and also, diverting all the trade of these isles from Britain's Australian Colonies to a French centre which shall command the great commercial highway of the future, when the Panama Canal shall he completed."

Remote as these islands are, small as their interests may ap- pear to be, and difficult as it is to get evidence about the pro- ceedings of the French there, Miss Cumming thinks that if their designs succeed, the key to the Panama Canal will be in their hands. While it is to be hoped no concession will be made to French demands without the whole case being intelligibly put before the public, it must not be forgotten that when the question comes to be settled, the Americans will insist ou having a word in the matter.

One word in conclusion. Miss Cumraiog belongs to a family whose members, she tells us, arc driven hard by a "locomotive demon." It may be so ; but judging from the extreme delight she evidently takes in travel, and the enjoyment she is able to give through her letters and journals to more stay-at-home people, we would fain imagine that, mistaking the character of her supernatural director, she is not driven by a demon, but rather led by an angel, unawares.