present advantage has been gained by this expedition; but an opening has been made; a clearer knowledge of the nearer ground has reached us, though the distant horizon is still enclosed in clouds and obscurity. One striking observation Capt. Sturt makes; that is, of the want of vegetable matter on the surface of New Holland, which leads him to consider it as comparatively of new formation; while, on the neighbouring island of Norfolk, it abounds in the greatest profusion. The main discovery is this, that the river Macquarie ceases to exist near the spot where Mr. Oxley's expedition terminated; and that another river, fed by salt springs, was discovered about one hundred miles to the westward of the Macquarie, running south and west.

The second volume is employed in the narration of another expedition undertaken for the purpose of tracing the course of the Morumbidgee, and of ascertaining whether it communicated with the coast that forms the southern boundary of the colony. After they had been almost seven days on this river, they entered a new river running from east to west, called the Murray, into which the Morumbidgee flows; and several days after, another river flowed into the Murray, which Capt. Sturt considered to be the Darling the river he discovered in his former expedition. Another tributary stream, called the "Lindsay," was joined here from the south-east; and soon after the Murray entered a lake of 50 or 60 miles in length, and 30 to 40 in breadth, lying eastward of Gulf of St. Vincent, and extending to the shore of Encounter Bay. Should the river that flowed into the Murray prove to be the Darling, a great discovery will undoubtedly be made, that will connect the north-eastern parts of the interior with the southern coast. This, however, has still to be verified, and is very doubtful.

This expedition was admirably conducted, through many difficulties, privations, and dangers. The natives, though fearful from ignorance of our strength, were always inclined to be hostile; and several times had the party that attended Capt. Sturt completely in their power, had they known it. The country was uninteresting, the plants discovered few, and the adGENT. MAG. VOL. I.

ditions made to the geological department very rare. The emu is permitted to be eaten only by the aged savages, it is supposed lest the breed should be destroyed, by their being used for the general food. Fish is not relished by the natives, but eaten because other provisions are scarce. The tortoise is much liked. The savages roasted the birds killed and presented to them, and eat them feathers and all. The black. swan, with its sweet silvery note, was seen; and some magnificent parroquets and kangaroos. That the natives are occasionally cannibals cannot be doubted; one man having been discovered, who had killed his child, and eaten it. The expedition returned, without the loss of a single man, (which they owed entirely to the good feeling and subordination existing among them, and the admirable preparations made for them,) after an absence of six months, safe to Sydney.

A Narrative of the Naval part of the Expedition to Portugal under the orders of Dom Pedro, &c. By Capt. Mins, K.T.S., late Second in command of the Squadron, &c.; with a Vindication of himself, &c. 8vo. pp. 353. Plates.

IT is singular that this should be the first of, as we believe, several publications concerning the Invasion of Portugal on the part of the young Queen Mary, that has presented itself to us, notwithstanding the necessity for accurate details on all points, and which were so well merited by this country, from its having led the way to her recognition by the European Powers. We are sorry that this first exhibits a series of embarrassments which, if extended, must have greatly impeded the Queen's Government, as well as inflicted injury on the cause.

We regret also that Capt. Mins did not arrange his work as he did his title, by separating the vindicatory matter from the narrative, because the former obviously obstructs the latter, and might, but for the powerful evidence adduced, lead to some doubts of the facts.

However, our readers require that we should furnish some account of those facts, which shall be done as briefly as possible; premising, only

K

for their information, on our own parts, that Capt. Sartorius commanded the Pyramus frigate in the Expedition under Lord Amelius Beauclerk, sent to Lisbon by Mr. Canning with the troops under Sir W. Clinton in the winter of 1826; that he remained as Commodore after his Lordship's departure; that he was generally conceived an enthusiast in the constitutional cause, and when its persecution commenced under the ministry of Don Miguel, he sheltered some of its objects on board his ship; that when Brigadier-General Sir John Milley Doyle was imprisoned in the Newgate of Lisbon, he went in all the naval pomp of his command to visit him, with a hope of its inducing some relaxation, and it was not his fault that it was in vain; that in society on shore Capt. Sartorius was "the gayest of the gay," played the guitar with great taste, and moreover sketched beautifully some Portuguese scenery. This much, and a broken off marriage, remains on record in Lisbon concerning him; and no more. The first point that strikes us in this work, is the Captain's change of the a in his name to e, as if to assimilate himself with the memory of the Roman general Sertorius, still so strongly preserved in Portugal.

On the agents of Don Pedro expecting a loan through Mr. Maberly, and determining to form a navy, about the end of 1830, Capt. Sartorius was engaged to command it, with the rank of Vice-Admiral, and the power of appointing officers, and the selection of ships for purchase in England. Among others engaged and strangely neglected (in particular one of the most enterprising characters of the age, who was to be the Admiral's right-hand man," left behind at the last moment) was the present author, ultimately second in command. The Congress, a Swedish frigate, afterwards named Rainha (the Queen), and Asia, an English one, afterwards Donna Maria II., were purchased for 19,000l.; and also the Juno for troops. In fitting them out they were interrupted by the agents of Don Miguel, who got them seized under the Act of Parliament, till they were claimed as French property, and sent to Belleisle. Capt. Mins was sent to Plymouth to engage seamen, who were afterwards

On

left behind, and at length, with fifteen officers and 200 men, sailed in the Lord Blayney for Belleisle. A gale drove them into Milford Haven, when the men mutineyed, and one hundred were left behind. On Dec. 18 they reached their destination, whither, on the same day, the Admiral also arrived. The ships were still without stores, and the men in revolt. After much delay and many vacillations in the Admiral's appointments, Capt. Mins was appointed to the Maria as Second, and with the Rainha (with the Emperor on board), Maria, Terceira armed schooner, to land communications in Portugal, sailed on the 10th of Feb. 1832. Dates and names are rather confused, but we suppose we take them rightly: Capt. Mins had on board a large portion of the court and state of Portugal: Marquez Fronteira, Condes Villa Real, Taipa, and Lumiar; Baron Rendulfe, Generals Vasconcellos, &c. and Senhor José Silva Carvalho, present Minister of Finance, besides others. the 24th he anchored off Angra (Terceira), was fully aided by Villa Flor, then Regent, and was joined by a valuable officer (Capt. Popham Hill) with marines; also the Terceira having performed her duty-" but no news of the Admiral." (p. 24.) Capt. Mins then proceeded, from bad weather, to Orta (Fayal); was received with joy. He returned to Terceira, and the Admiral had then arrived in bad order ; one must, in common charity, suppose from the same cause that drove Mins away. After some vexations, the Rainha went to Fayal to refit, and Mins was ordered to take some Portuguese to Porto Santo (Madeira) with sealed instructions for a very general cruize; it was certainly very odd that the Admiral defeated his own as well as the Government orders, by determining to accompany him; we must not adopt ex parte a statement of numerous preventions of making prizes by him, or of consequent revolts. Porto Santo was occupied. It was certainly mal-apropos in the Admiral to send the American ships, whose consul had been civil, away. He, however, then returned to Terceira, leaving Mins to blockade Funchal, the capital. With his one ship he nevertheless took prizes, fitted one with guns, and complimented the Admiral by calling it the Sartorius.

On the 30th April he received orders to repair to St. Michael's, and there found the Emperor at Ponte Delgado, displeased that he had not, in fact, disobeyed his Admiral. An extract of a letter of Capt. Boid, secretary of the Admiral, is given in p. 49, very damnatory indeed to both, if not in some way relieved by the context not given. As relates to the cause, however, sufficient already appears to evince a misunderstanding, on the part of the Admiral, with regard to his Second in command, which is ever dangerous in war, whether by sea or land. At all events, the Emperor must have found himself very unusually embarrassed on board his "British Fleet."

As far as we can guess, on the 27th June, 1832, the fleet, with 7,500 troops disposed in forty-two transports, sailed for Portugal, without any plan of operations, any point of rendezvous, &c., and by means only of the Emperor's well-known energies in such cases (as often on record, we add, at Rio Janeiro) disembarked in the vicinity and took possession of Oporto. Whether the place of embarkation was, as here stated, Mindella, or, as we believe, Matozinhos, or both, is of no import; they did land, the enemy retiring in a most extraordinary manner.

We must leave Capt. Mins to tell the intervening extraordinary tale (64 et seq.) to come at the conflict between the two fleets, in which we again find difficulty. His arriving at Cascaes, and being warned off by the English fleet there, was narrated at the time.

He

and his companion ships "anchored in the south passage of Tagus" (the safest), “saw the enemy's fleet between Belem and St. Julian's" (north side), took many vessels; and, if we understand rightly, was recalled by the Admiral from that position which the world has believed would have been the best for taking the enemy in detail. However, at length occurred the signal for action. Some mischief occurred, in which the Maria would appear to have suffered the most, though chiefly consisting in manoeuvres, in which the Miguelites seem to have outdone their opponents; and our wonder is excited not to find any mention of their Admiral Joao Felles, an elevé of our Nelson. Admiral Sartorius, however, obtained credit, with

the assent of Capt. Mins, unless as relates to his being left to be battered by the enemy, which greatly annoyed his people. Honours were obtained by the Admiral for the senior officers, which the author, though he shared them, thought ill deserved, and but an excitement to better desert.

Again (p. 92) on the 22d they set sail for Lisbon, and arrived on the 25th off the Tagus. Out came the Miguelite fleet again, prizes were taken, but new squabbles occurred with the Admiral. A small schooner of one gun was despatched to Oporto to announce the sortie, whose commander, taking a prize, "carried her to Falmouth, plundered her, and decamped." Irregularities of the Admiral determined Capt. Mins to resign. His ship became injured in action, while the Admiral was firing his stern guns; mutual vituperation now occurs, and in fact every thing but about the enemy. The squadron, however, anchored at the Bayonna Islands, and the enemy were six miles off in Vigo Bay. Capt. Morgell, a brave officer, was sent to supersede Mins, and, instead, as might be expected, he advised reconciliation, and the second action occurred, and the Maria was again placed in jeopardy. The Admiral some how or other was now on board of her, and the enemy's flag-ship only about 300 yards to her lee quarter; and besides some demonstrations, every thing was prepared to fight her, which the Admiral declined, saying he wished to communicate with Oporto. This was certainly not in the Old English fashion of "sunk, burnt, and destroyed as per margin." Nevertheless, the enemy got sufficiently peppered to return to the Tagus; and the opposing fleet to return to the Douro.

Mins with difficulty sailed to Vigo to refit. Bad weather brought thither the Admiral and others of the fleet, and also the London steamer with Marquez Palmella, &c. from communication with whom Capt. Mins asserts intrigues of the Admiral against him, and also shews his own useful services in provisioning Oporto. We can easily believe that the Princess Isabel Maria had exerted means to escape from her brother Miguel at Braga, because we have reason to know that she had before intended it from Lisbon. We

cannot go through the nonsensical Courts-martial that followed, or their consequences, the whole of which would only shew that the Admiral had, as Lord Munster said some years ago, on a memorable trial, "lost his head.' There are many most extraordinary facts stated, but we must reserve them for the audi alteram partem, and proceed to the mission of Maj.-Gen. Sir John Milley Doyle, K.C.B. &c. as aide-de-camp to the Emperor, with Capt. Crosbie, to supersede Admiral Sartorius, or Sertorius, which ended in Sir J. M. Doyle being placed in arrest by the Admiral, who resisted the Emperor's decree, of which he was bearer, and it seems threatened to take the fleet away and sell it, unless both himself and his people were satisfied.

This was arranged afterwards at Oporto; Captain Napier was made Admiral, and the result is already well known. If any thing were necessary to exalt the glory of this British naval hero, it would be the comparative statement of ships and guns here given. In Sartorius' unsuccessful engagement (Oct. 11, 1832) his squadron numbered eight against five, with an inferiority of guns of only 28; in Napier's victory (July 5, 1833) his squadron consisted only of five against nine, with an inferior number of guns of 178 !

This was certainly unfortunate for the fame of Capt. Sartorius, but not more so than the documents published under his own hand. For the personal insult offered to Sir J. M. Doyle, he challenged the Admiral to duel, but he would not go on shore, and charged Sir John with "indelicacy" in bearing the Emperor's decree ; while in fact it must have arisen from delicacy in the Emperor, that he was sent with the Portuguese Commissioner and British officer, who was to supersede him, for the purpose of softening the measure; the Admiral also upbraids Sir John with his "exertions, and visits to him in prison, to which, seconded by the aid of the Consul-General, was mainly owing his (Sir John's) liberation from secret imprisonment, &c. ;" while it is positively known that beyond the courtesy of visits he could effect nothing; and that so far from acting with the Consul (who had then become the only diplo

matic character, which he filled under the most extraordinary difficulties with dignity and utility) Capt. Sartorius set himself up against his authority, even to calling meetings of merchants against it on-board his own ship. Sir John's whole case, both of negociation with Don Miguel's Government, and through several Portuguese Courts, was conducted by the friend in whose house he lived, and on whose security he was finally liberated after Capt. Sartorius had returned to England; the Consul-General operating ex officio between the British and Portuguese governments. On Adm. Sartorius refusing apology or satisfaction, Sir John desired him to "consider himself as horsewhipped;" and the venerable General, Sir John's uncle, with his wonted humour, advised Sartorius to tell his nephew to "conceive himself run through the body!" and thus the affair ended. The letters, &c. are p. 229 et seq.

A sort of fleet order was also issued by Admiral Sartorius, in which he stoops to reprimand Capt. Mins's officers for having, on his resignation of his ship, showed their honour of him by themselves manning the boat that carried him away amidst the cheers of the crew-an affecting tribute, felt the more because told without pretence; and also censuring a Lieutenant, who, when he had ordered that the mustachios worn in compliment to Dom Pedro should be shaved away, also shaved his eyebrows! adding that, besides a representation to His Imperial Majesty, he will represent it to the British Admiralty, to stop the chance of promotion there. (p. 172.) Surely all this was infra dignitatem, to say no more.

On almost every occasion something of a vexatious nature occurs throughout the book-which we deeply regret ; Capt. Mins, however, has completely vindicated himself, and shews that he retains the approbation of the Government he has served. We would have preferred the narrative of naval transactions without alloy. However, as this is the only work offered to us on the subject, and comes down to the end of June in Portugal, and to the present moment at home, so we must take it as it is. It eminently shews the difficulties which have stood in the