the smallest familiarity between them, they set no bounds to their thirst of revenge against these poor bondswomen, who, in most cases, have not dared to resist the will of their masters, for fear of ill treatment. They torture them in various ways; they have them whipped with rods, and beat with rattans, til they sink down before them, nearly exhausted: among other methods of tormenting them, they make the poor girls sit before them in such a posture, that they can pinch them with their toes, in a certain sensible part, which is the peculiar object of their vengeance, with such cruel ingenuity, that they faint away by the excess of pain. I shall refrain from the recital of instances, which I have heard, of the most refined cruelty practised upon these wretched victims of jealousy, by Indian women, and which have been related to me by witnesses worthy of belief; they are too repugnant to every feeling of humanity, and surpass the usual bounds of credibility. Having thus satiated their anger upon their slaves, their next object is to take equal revenge upon their husbands, which they do in a manner less cruel, and more pleasant to themselves. The warmth of the climate, which influences strongly upon their constitutions, together with the dissolute lives of the men before marriage, are the causes of much wantonness and dissipation among the women. Marriages are always made at Batavia on Sundays, yet the bride never appears abroad before the following Wednesday evening, when she attends divine service; to be sooner seen in public, would be a violation of the rules of decorum. As soon as a woman becomes a widow, and the body of her husband is interred, which is generally done the day after his decease, if she be but rich, Sedan-chairs are not in use here. The ladies, however, sometimes employ a conveyance, that is somewhat like them, and is called a norimon. This is a kind of box, narrower at the top than the bottom, and carried by a thick bamboo pole, fastened over the top. They sit in it, with their legs crossed under them, and have then just room enough to sit upright, without being seen. I For the Monthly Visitor. FATAL EFFECTS OF SEDUCTIÓN, Example strikes were precept fails, AM not going to enquire whether moral depravity is more general, virtue more frequently oppressed, or vice held in less detestation, than at any former period of time. It appears to me, that vice and error have ever held almost unlimited dominion over the human race, and shackled, by their morbid influence, the best feelings of the soul; to resist the allurements of vice, when arrayed in the seducive habiliments of pleasure, and assuming the soft voice of invitation, is, perhaps, a task of some difficulty. Yet, my young readers, think, before you give your minds up to the dangerous and transient enjoyment of sense, that vice, if not early resisted, is seldom subdued. I shall endeavour to prove the truth of my assertion by a melancholy tale-no fiction-but a serious and unfortunate fact. Frederick Lawson was the only son of a good, but indigent family, who, relying on the promise of friends, educated him for the church. On quitting college, a maternal aunt invited him to take up his residence with her, until he could be otherwise pro vided for; a friend of hers was a dignitary in the church, and he had assured her that he would attend to the interest of her nephew; relying on this promise, and extremely anxious for his future welfare, Mrs. Freeman generously supplied him with the means of mixing with such society as his family connections and future expectations entitled him to. In the presence of the young, the gay, and the dissipated, he too frequently forgot the sanctity of that character he was intended to occupy; pleasure opened her thousand sources, and he freely drank of the inebriating draught; and, if conscience, sometimes in a casual pause from folly, attempted to be heard, her voice was silenced by the sneer of ridicule, the clamour of fashion, or the force of example. The winter, for it was autumn when he arrived in London, passed rapidly away, spring advanced, and the bishop, who was about to retire to his episcopal seat, summoned Frederick to attend him there as domestic chaplain; he soon found himself very agreeably situated he was treated by his patron with great kindness, and by his family with respect. Two young gentlemen, nephews of the prelate, were entrusted to his care; they were lively good-humoured boys, who soon became very strongly attached to him, for his manners were both pleasant and insinuating. In the excursions which he daily made with his pupils, in the vicinity of the Priory, they, by their uncle's orders, used to call frequently among the peasantry, to view their manner of life, enquire into their wants, and make little presents among the children. In one of these benevolent rambles, they were smitten by the appearance of a cottage, which, for neatness and rusticity; seemed to emulate the simplicity of ancient days, a low hedge of sweet-briar and hawthorn, carefully trimmed, separated it from a wild and extensive common, around which was scattered a few straggling hamlets; the garden, which fronted the cottage, was not extensive, but prettily laid out in small beds of flowers, shrubs, and odoriferous herbs,which mixing their sweets with the wild thyme that grew profusely on the heath, gave a balmy fragrance to the air, and an exhilarating sensation to the heart; up the white front of the cottage, the luxuriant honeysuckle mixed its pliant tendrils with those of the vine; near the door stood an antique elm, whose bold projecting branches denoted that it had flourished there long before the present inhabitants of the cottage had been called into being, a rustic seat of turf was formed beneath it, on which sat a young woman knitting, and caroling a sweet and plaintive ditty, unconscious of being observed. Frederick opened a wicket, which led through the garden to the cottage, without thinking that he might possibly obtrude on persons who wished to remain unknown; the idea occurred just as he had reached the tree, it was then too late to recede, as his appearance had alarmed the young woman, who threw down her work in confusion, and hastily retired; at the same time a neat old woman, of chearful aspect, advanced from the cottage, and civilly invited them to enter, this they declined, but seating themselves without ceremony beneath the tree, began to talk with the old lady, who was very communicative on the situation of her family. They learnt that she was grandmother to the young woman they had seen, whose father was recently deceased, he had occupied a small farm, which they at his death, for want of friends to assist them, had been obliged to quit. Maria, so was the young woman called, had one brother, a bold eccentric lad, who quitted home in disgust after the death of his father, and entered himself for a sailor on board a king's ship; they were in great anxiety for his safety, and utterly unacquainted with his present destination, though they knew he had left England. Frederick asked what ship he was on board of-the Lion, answered the grandmother. Frederick promised to make enquiries where the Lion was stationed, and likewise to gain intelligence whether the ship had been in action since her grandson had been on board. This condescending goodness quite charmed the unsuspecting cottager, she eagerly called Ma ria to come forward, who, advancing with timidity, was informed of the kindness of the good young gen. tleman, and desired to, gather him the best nosegay the garden afforded. With this request she complied, and mixing the flowers with taste and judgment, presented each with a small bouquet; they soon after departed, leaving the cottagers much impressed in their favour. To be continued. ) ACCOUNT OF THE HOTTENTOTS. (From Barrow's Travels into the Interior of Southern Africa.) WENTY years ago, if we may credit the tra Tellers of that day, the country beyond Cam toos river, which was then the eastern limit of the colony, abounded with kraals or villages of Hottentots, out of which the inhabitants came to meet them by hundreds in a group. Some of these villages might still have been expected to remain in this remote and not very populous part of the colony. Not one, however, was, to be found. There is not in the whole extensive district of Graaff Reynet, a single horde of independent Hottentots; and perhaps not a score of individuals who are not actually in the service of the Dutch. These weak people, the most helpless, and, in their present condition, perhaps, the most wretched of the human race, duped out of their possessions, their country, and finally out of their liberty, have entailed upon their miserable offspring a state of existence to which that of slavery might bear the comparison of happiness. It is a condition, however, not likely to continue to a very remote posterity. The name of Hottentot will be forgotten, or remembered only as that of a deceased person of little note. Their numbers of late years have ra D |