of seeing effected throughout the settlement. He also, by his judicious and conciliating conduct, secured the good wishes and co-operation of the native chiefs, and organized a plan for the education of the population of the country, who looked upon him as their friend and benefactor. During his stay in the settlement, he made extensive collections in natural history, and discovered one of the largest and most extraordinary flowers in the whole creation, now known as the Rafflesia Arnoldi. At this time, in consequence of the British having given up every thing to the Dutch, Sir Stamford quitted Bencoolen for Calcutta, and proposed to the Marquess of Hastings the propriety of fixing on some central station for the benefit of British commerce, within the archipelago, so as to secure a free and uninterrupted passage with China, through the straits of Malacca. His sagacious spirit had aiready fixed on a position, in which, he says, he "neither wanted people nor territory." All he asked, it is added, was permission to anchor a line-of-battle ship at the mouth either of the straits of Malacca or Sunda, and the trade of England would be secured, and the monopoly of the Dutch broken." He was, accordingly, appointed agent to the governor-general; and, in February, 1819, sailed to Singapore, the taking of which island under British protection, was an event equally advantageous for the inhabitants and for the commercial interests of this country. "The progress of my new settlement," he observes, in a letter to his relative, the Rev. Dr. Raffles, " is, in every way, most satisfactory; and it would gladden your heart to witness the activity and cheerfulness which prevail throughout: every day," he adds, "brings us new settlers, and Singapore has already become a great emporium." Nor was he alone contented with giving the settlers commercial importance; but he also established scientific and literary institutions for their intellectual and moral improvement.

In 1824, the impaired state of his health rendering it adviseable for him to return to England, he embarked on board the ship Fame, which taking fire on the evening of his departure, he escaped with nothing but his

69

life, the preservation of which was deeply embittered by the loss of his property to the amount of nearly £30,000. But what he felt as the greatest disaster was the destruction of his collections in natural history, his papers and drawings, which altogether occupied one hundred and twenty cases. This misfortune, of which he gives a very interesting account in a letter to a friend, since printed, he bore with singular fortitude; and, after having publicly returned thanks to God, he commenced making another collection in natural history, a portion of which now forms the most valuable part of the Zoological Museum, in Bruton Street, London; an institution which, in conjunction with the late Sir Humphry Davy, he is said to have planned and established. He arrived in England in the autumn of the last-mentioned year; but his return to his native country proved of little service to his health, and he died in July, 1826, on the day previously to the completion of his forty-fifth year.

The life of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles appears to have been one undeviating course of solicitude and exertion for the amelioration of his fellow-creatures, and for the promotion of his country's interests. The extent of his knowledge was equal to the excellence of his intentions; possessing, as he did, all the talents of a great, and all the virtues of a good man. "No individual," says a writer in the Quarterly Review, "before or since his time, has possessed so extensive a knowledge of the commerce, resources, laws, language, and customs of the varied population of the great eastern archipelago, and more particularly of the two magnificent islands of Java and Sumatra as did Sir Stamford Raffles." The same writer compares him to Bishop Heber, both in acquirements and disposition and, indeed, few men have so well merited the appellation of a Christian as the subject of our memoir.

In all the domestic relations of life. his conduct was most affectionate and exemplary; and to his family he was the object of the most devoted attachment and respect. "He entered," says Lady Raffles, in her very interesting memoir of her husband's life," with the most child-like simplicity into oc

JAMES SILK BUCKINGHAM was born in Truro, in the county of Cornwali, about 1784; and, after having made a voyage at an early age, in the course of which he was carried a prisoner to Spain, he returned to his native town, and was bound apprentice to a printer. He carried on business for some time as a bookseller and stationer; but, desirous of a more exciting employment, he subsequently took the command of a trading vessel, in which he performed several voyages to the West Indies, the two Americas, and the Mediterranean Sea, in the joint character of seaman and merchant. He continued to carry on an extensive intercourse with India for several years, during which time he was frequently intrusted, by the merchants and native princes, with the transacting of important negotiations.

In 1813, he proceeded to Malta, with the intention of settling there; but the plague driving him to Smyrna, he thence continued his course to Alexandria, in Egypt, and was employed by the pacha, in tracing a set of Arrowsmith's charts, in the Arabic character. He subsequently proposed re-opening, for his Egyptian majesty, the ancient canal which had connected the Red Sea with the Mediterranean; but was prevented carrying his design into effect by the pacha being called to join in the war against the Waliabees. He then proceeded to Cairo, and ascended the Nile into Nubia, beyond the cataracts; and afterwards, in crossing the desert of Kosseir, he was attacked by a party of the pacha's mutinous soldiers, and stripped, plundered, and left entirely naked, sixty miles from any habitation,

food, or water. Returning, however, in safety, to Cairo, he traversed the isthmus of Suez; explored all the surrounding country; and, habited as an Egyptian, speaking the language, and mixing freely with the people, he visited every part of Lower Egypt and the Delta.

About this time, he made an unsuccessful journey to Bombay, at the instance of a British merchant in Egypt, for the purpose of endeavouring to open the trade with India by means of the Red Sea; the merchants at Bombay requiring securities not to be easily obtained. His account of this expedition, which he performed by way of Mecca, Jidda and Mocha, under the most disastrous circumstances, was pub lished in the Friendship's Offering for 1827; in which annual, for 1829, is also given the history of another of his tours.

In 1815, he obtained the command of a frigate, just launched for the Imaun of Muscat, and was in the act of rigging her, when he received notice from the government of Bombay to quit India, in consequence of his being there without a license from the East India directors. Thus deprived of making the profitable voyages he had anticipated, he returned to Egypt by way of the Red Sea; on the coast of which he collected ample materials for a new hydrographical chart. The merchants of Alexandria now attempting to procure from the pacha the securities required by the merchants at Bombay, a commercial treaty was entered into by the pacha, the British consul, and our traveller, which ended in his being made the bearer of letters, as ambassador or envoy of the pacha, to India.

He accordingly left Alexandria a second time, the latter end of 1815, and proceeded by Tyre, Sidon, Acre, and Jaffa, to Jerusalem; traversed nearly the whole of Palestine, and the countries east of Jordan and the Dead Sea; visited Damascus, Baalbec, Lebanon, &c.; penetrated to the heart of Asia Minor; and, after having inspected the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, where he discovered a portion of the ancient wall, and ascended to the summit of the Tower of Babel, he arrived, and made a short stay, at Bagdad. Hence he proceeded, by Kermanshal, to Hamadan, the ancient Ecbatana, Ispahan, Shiraz and Bushire; where he embarked in an East India Company's ship of war; and finally reached Bombay at the end of 1816. Of these

travels he afterwards published an account, in four volumes; a perusal of which, observes the reviewer, in the New Monthly Magazine for 1829, will repay any reader for the toil.

He was unable to accomplish the object of his mission to Bombay; but having received the Company's license to remain in India, he resumed the command of the Imaun of Muscat's frigate, in which he sailed into the Persian Gulph; and, after visiting Muscat and Bussorah, returned with a successful result to Bombay. He next visited the coast of Malabar, and arrived at Calcutta in June, 1818, where he received the imaun's orders to proceed to the coast of Zanzibar, in Africa, to give convoy to several vessels engaged in procuring slaves, as well as to take some on board his own frigate; "a service," he nobly observes, in his brief memoir," in which, had the prospect of fortune been ten times as brilliant as it was, my abhorrence of slavery would not permit me to engage; and, accordingly, rather than acquire riches from such a source, I resigned the command, and with it all prospects of competency and ease, which it had hitherto promised me."

At this period, becoming acquainted with the famous East India merchant, Mr. John Palmer, he, at his suggestion, and encouraged by the Marquess of Hastings and the Bishop of Calcutta, Dr. Middleton, undertook the editorial department of a paper, entitled the Calcutta Journal; at first a weekly, and

afterwards a daily paper. It acquired almost instantaneous popularity, and produced a nett profit of £8,000 per annum to Mr. Buckingham, who sold a fourth share of it to the principal merchants, and civil and military officers in the Company's service, in shares of £100 each, for £10,000. During the whole of the marquess's government in India, which lasted ten years, our author expressed himself freely, without molestation; but no sooner did the marquess's health oblige him to quit India, than his locum tenens, Mr. John Adam, and others to whom Mr. Buckingham was obnoxious, determined, he says, to banish him from India. To effect their purpose, resort was had to the assistance of a Dr. Bryce, a Scotch presbyterian minister; who, in the John Bull, a paper, as he says, set up by the authorities of the Indian government, for the avowed purpose of defaming him, published a libel concerning him, for which he obtained judgment against the doctor, in an Indian court of justice, with large damages; the judge declaring the libel to be "so atrocious, as scarcely to be thought of without horror.'

Dr. Bryce, however, having been afterwards appointed to an office, "I was," says Mr. Buckingham, "for an article reflecting upon this act of the government, a second time banished from India; by which I was made to lose £100,000 in property, with the additional deprivation of £8,000 a year from the labours of my own pen; with the imputation that I was a fire-brand, dangerous to the peace of the country."

On reaching London, under these oppressive circumstances, he commenced an evening paper, which did not answer; but he was more successful

In

in the establishment of the Oriental Herald, which being almost exclusively devoted to East India affairs, was eagerly sought after in every part of that country, and well esteemed by the statesmen and legislators of this. July, 1827, he established the Sphynx, and sometime afterwards, the Athenæum; in the conducting of which, he was principally supported by the Rev. Henry Stebbing, author of the Lives of the Italian Poets. These journals he sold, after carrying them on for two or three years; since which, he has

been principally occupied in delivering, at the principal towns of England and Scotland, public lectures, in advocacy of a free trade to India, and on the government, commerce, politics, &c. of the east. Besides the works already named, he published, in 1823, at Calcutta, A Faithful History of the Discussions in Bengal, in reference, as he styles it, to his being transported from that part of India without a trial; in 1829, the Heads of his Lectures, with his Life; and, in 1830, A History of the Public Proceedings on the Question of the East India Monopoly, during 1829, with an outline of his extempore descriptions of the oriental world; and it

is some proof of his ability and correctness, that the map of Syria, contained in the Ancient Atlas of Geography, printed in 1829, was adjusted from his map of that country.

Mr. Buckingham is a writer of great originality and power of mind; as a traveller, enterprising and intelligent; in his capacity of lecturer, eloquent, clear, and concise; and, as a member of society, although, perhaps, mistaken in some of his views, honest, active, and useful. His private character is estimable; and, with an independent spirit, he possesses a penetrating and philanthropic mind, and a warm and generous heart.

JOHN LEWIS BURCKHARDT, descended from an eminent family in Switzerland, was born at Lausanne, about the year 1785. He received the rudiments of his education at a school at Neufchatel, and completed his studies at the universities of Leipsic and Gottingen. At the latter, he recommended himself, by his talents and general good conduct, to the favourable notice of the celebrated Blumenbach, who gave him a letter of introduction to Sir Joseph Banks, upon whom Burckhardt called, on his arrival in London, in July, 1806. His acquaintance with Sir Joseph brought him into connexion with the other members of the African Association, and ended in his undertaking, under the patronage of the Society, to explore the interior of Africa. His offer was accepted in May, 1808, when he immediately set about preparing himself for his journey, by studying in London and at Cambridge, not only the Arabic language and oriental customs, but also astronomy, chemistry, mineralogy, medicine, and surgery. In addition to this, he suffered his beard to grow, accustomed himself to wear the eastern dress, and in the intervals of his studies, exercised himself by long journies on foot, bareheaded, in the heat of the day, sleeping upon the ground, and living upon vegetables and water.

On the 25th of January, 1809, he received his final instructions, and on the 2nd of March, he embarked at Cowes, for Malta, where he appeared in an oriental costume, and, by his judicious conduct, contrived to conceal his real character from several Swiss officers, whom he had previously known. Being unable to procure a vessel bound for Cyprus, he embarked in one sailing to the coast of Caramania. "I introduced myself," he says, "to the passengers, who were Tripolines, as an Indian Mohammedan merchant, who had been, from early years, in England, and was now on his way home; and I had the good fortune to make my story credible. During the course of our voyage, numerous questions were put to me relative to India, which I answered as well as I could; and when I was asked for a specimen of the Hindoo language, I answered in the worst dialogue of the Swiss German." Having landed at Satalia, he made an excursion to Tarsus, where, finding a vessel bound for the coast of Syria, he embarked for that country, and entered it at the point where the Aasi, the Ancient Orontis, falls into the sea. Here he joined a caravan proceeding to Aleppo, in his way whither he was much annoyed by the companions of his journey insisting that he was a Frank; and at Antakia, one going so

far as to pull him by the beard, he resented the affront by giving the offender a blow on the face. On his arrival at Aleppo, he assumed the name of Ibrahim, and applied himself with unceasing assiduity to the study of the Arabic language, into which he made an attempt to translate Robinson Crusoe. In July, 1810, he started, by way of Palmyra, for Damascus; and, in the course of his journey, was twice attacked by banditti, and robbed of his watch and compass. He quitted Damascus in September, but returned to that city, after having visited the ruins of Balbec, Libanus, and Mount Hermon. He subsequently made an excursion into the Hauràn, the patrimony of Abraham, and, on the 1st of January, 1811, again entered Aleppo. From hence he accompanied an Arab sheikh into the desert towards the Euphrates, but the protection of his guide proving insufficient, he was robbed of all his clothes, and compelled to return, without having accomplished any of the objects of his journey. "It was in this excursion to the desert," says Mr. Barker, the British consul at Aleppo, " that Burckhardt had so hard a struggle with an Arab lady, who took a fancy to the only garment which the delicacy or compassion of the men had left him." On the 14th of February, he finally quitted Aleppo, and once more returning to Damascus, made another journey from thence into the Hauran, in the course of which, he discovered the ruins of a city unvisited by any other European, which he conjectured to be those of Petra, the capital of Arabia Petræa. The ruins are situate in the valley of Ghor, or Araba, the existence of which, he says, 46 appears to have been unknown to ancient as well as modern geographers." Speaking of Balka, he observes, "many ruined places and mountains in that district preserve the names of the Old Testament; and elucidate the topography of the province that fell to the share of the tribes of Gad and Reuben."

After many hardships and dangers, cur traveller reached Cairo, in Egypt, with the intention of joining a caravan, and travelling to Fezzan, in the north of Africa, the grand object of his mission. Whilst, however, the caravan was preparing, he undertook an expedition to Nubia, on which he set out,

accompanied by a guide, on the 14th of February, 1813. They were mounted on dromedaries, and Burckhardt's only incumbrances were a gun, a sabre, a pistol, a provision bag, and a woollen mantle, which served by day for a carpet, and for a covering during the night. The country through which he passed was in a state of great distraction, but he proceeded in safety as far as the Mahass territory, on reaching which, "he found himself," says Mr. St. John, in his life of our traveller, "in the midst of the worst description of savages. The governor, a ferocious black, furiously intoxicated, and surrounded by numerous followers in the same condition, received him in a hut. In the midst of their drunken mirth, they called for their muskets, and amused themselves with firing in the hut, and Burckhardt every moment expected that a random ball would put an end to his travels." Having proceeded up the Nile almost as far as Dongola, he turned towards the north, and at Kolbe swam across the river, "holding by his camel's tail with one hand, and urging on the beast with the other." He then visited Ybsambul, Mosmos, Derr, and Assouan, where he remained till the 2nd of March, 1814; his whole expenditure during the time of his stay, for himself, his servant, dromedary, and ass, not exceeding one shilling and sixpence per day.

Having assumed the character of a poor trader and a Turk of Syria, he, on the day above-mentioned, set out with a caravan, through the deserts of Nubia, to Berbera and Shendy, as far as Suakim, on the Red Sea, whence he performed his pilgrimage to Mecca by way of Jidda. During this journey, in the course of which he had an opportunity of confirming many of the statements of Bruce, he endured a series of hardships and sufferings scarcely inferior to those of Park in Africa. Whilst mad with thirst in the burning desert, he beheld the mocking mirage; and if he escaped burial beneath the overwhelming sand, lifted like a wave by the tempestuous blast, it was doubtful whether he had not yet a more dangerous foe to meet in the plundering Arab. At Damer, he cried beads for sale, to procure provisions for his ass; at Jidda, his finances were so low, that he was