with the exception of much more gaiety, more avowed vice, and the absence of all pretence at rational resources, acts the part of the library at an English wateringplace. The Redoubt is a large handsome building, the ground floor open with a colonnade in front, appropriated to print, toyshops, &c. A wide stair-case conducts to the first-floor, where, after depositing your hat and stick with the gens d'armes at the door, you enter the Grand Saloon-a splendid room, with a carved cieling, and lined with mirrors. On one side a crowd of motley, but well-dressed and gay-looking persons, (I regret to say, of both sexes), are pressing over each other's heads, round two large banks of Rouge et Noir. An anxious silence reigns, only interrupted by the rattling of the roulette, the clink of the Napoleons and francs, and the titters and jokes of the few whose speculations are a matter of mere frolic. The play is frequently very high, but the bank does not refuse to sweep in a solitary franc. Pretty, interesting women were putting down their Napoleons, and seeing them swept away, or drawing them in doubled, with a sang froid which showed they were no novices in their employment.

A Russian officer of my ac quaintance was subject, like many of his countrymen whom I have known, to the infatuation of play to a most ridiculous excess. His distrust of himself, under the assailments which he anticipated at a place like Aix-la-Chapelle, had induced him to take the prudent precaution of paying in advance at his hotel for his board and

lodging, and at the bathing-house for his baths, for the time he intended to stay. The remaining contents of his purse he thought fairly his own; and he went of course to the table all the gayer for the sort of licence he had taken of his conscience. On for. tune showing him a few favours, he came to me, in high spirits, with a purse full of Napoleons, and a resolute determination to keep them by venturing no more: but a gamester can no more be stationary than the tide of a river, and in the evening he was put out of suspense by having not a Napoleon left, and nothing to console himself but congratulation on his foresight, and the excellent supper which was the fruit of it.

Between four and five o'clock, groupes of the beau monde repair to the Louisberg-a bold sandy hill, rising abruptly just above the ramparts of the town, the view from which overlooks the city and the rich valley beneath, and stretches over the neighbouring hills and fertile pastures, to a range of even mountains which bound the horizon towards Germany. The scene of attraction on the mountain is a large tavern, with a splendid saloon, commanding a noble prospect. Music, dancing, smoking, tea-drinking, walks in the gardens, &c., occupy the various descriptions of guests; and the scene has few features of difference from our cockney rendezvous near town, except the characters of the parties, who, instead of being worthy cits, with fat spouses, are often a gay assemblage, of Counts, Barons, &c. &c. of various nations and qualities.

During the continuance of the

season

season there is generally a company of German players at Aixla-Chapelle, and the company hastily return from the Louisberg to the theatre. The building is small, and by no means handsome. An opera was given the night I was there, the music of which was agreeable, but the actors by no means extraordinary.

The Cathedral of Aix is interesting for its history, and its rude specimens of early Saxon architecture: but has neither beauty nor grandeur to recommend it. The quaint old dome, which com. prehends the whole edifice, except the light Gothic choir of a later date, is a venerable relic of the old minster with which Charlemagne adorned his native city. It was consecrated by Pope Leo III. in 804, with a ceremony worthy of its splendor. Three hundred and sixty-five archbishops and bishops were to be present at the solemnity; but unluckily two were missing, and there is no knowing what might have resulted if two reverend prelates of Tongres, long ago dead and buried at Maestricht, had not been so kind as to walk out of their graves and supply the vacant seats at the ceremony. Some of the variegated marble pillars which adorned the old edifice are now returned from their temporary visit to Paris, and are shown with the curiosities of the church. Under the centre of the dome repose the ashes of the great Charles, with the simple but impressive inscription on the pavement-Carolo Magno. Immediately above hangs an immense circular sort of chandelier in the shape of a crown, composed of silver and brass-a

present to the church from Fre deric the Great, called Charlemagne's crown.

Narrative of my Captivity in JAPAN, during the years 1811, 1812, and 1813. By Captain Golownin, R. N.

In the year 1811, Capt. Golownin had the command of the imperial sloop of war, Diana, lying in the month of April at Kamtschatka, where he received an order from the Russian minister of marine, directing him to survey the Southern Kurile and Shanter islands, from lat. 53° 38′ north to Okotsk. Before this expedition took place, one Lieut. Chwostoff, a commander in one of the American Company's ships, had made a predatory expedition, in which, without any notice given, he attacked the Japanese villages on the Kurile islands.

On the 17th of June, 1811, Capt. Golownin found himself near the western coast of the northern extremity of the island Eetoorpoo; and sending a boat with an officer of descry, he learned that some Kuriles who had been detained by the Japanese, were still kept in a kind of imprisonment on the island. some delay from fogs and adverse winds, the Russian sloop at length reached the straits between Matsmai and Kunashier, and on the 5th of July, anchored in a harbour in the latter place.

After

As we advanced, guns were twice fired at us from the castle; the shot, however, fell into the water without reaching our vessel. From this circumstance, we con

cluded

cluded that the Japanese 'on the Island of Eetooroop had not yet made known to those here our favourable intentions; and as the fortress and the bay were still enveloped in darkness, we again cast anchor. When the weather cleared up, we stood in towards the fortress, from which there was now no more firing; though the boat, which was a-head of us, and in which some of our crew were taking soundings, was within range of the guns. The works were hung round with white and black, or dark blue striped cloth, so that we could perceive neither walls nor palisades. Sentinels were posted in various places, and above them embrasures were painted, but in so rough a style that even at a considerable distance we could perceive the deception. Within the fortress we could only descry a few buildings which stood upon an acclivity and overtopt the wall. Among these buildings the governor's house was distinguished by numerous flags and weathercocks being fixed upon the roof; we likewise saw flags waving on other houses in the town, but not in such number. For this circumstance Alexei could not account, though he told us that the town was always so ornamented whenever a foreign vessel or any personage of distinction entered the harbour. We cast anchor at a distance of about two wersts from the garrison, and the pilot's assistant, named Srednoy, four sailors, the Kurile and myself, got on board a boat and rowed towards the shore. We had already come within fifty fathoms of the shore, when the Japanese

unexpectedly began to fire their cannon upon us from different points. We immediately put about, and, as will readily be supposed, began to row off as quickly as possible. The first guns which were fired had nearly proved fatal to us, for the shot passed close to the boat; but afterwards they fired less frequently, and appeared to point their guns very badly.

On hearing the report of the first firing, Captain Lieutenant Rikord, the senior commandingofficer under me, immediately dispatched all the armed boats to our assistance; fortunately, however, we had no occasion for them, as not a single ball touched us. Even when we were out of the reach of their shot, the Japanese did not cease firing, and we still heard the reports of their cannon after we had got on board the sloop. I was not a little indignant at this aggression. It appeared to me that none except the rudest barbarians would have been guilty of firing from the fortress upon a little boat, containing only seven men, when they could not but be aware that a single ball might have sent us all to the bottom. I at first thought I should be justified in taking vengeance on them, and had already ordered a cannon to be pointed at the castle, to convince the Japanese how powerfully our sloop was armed; but I soon reflected that the moment for vengeance would not be lost, and that without the consent of my government I should not be justified in resorting to hostile proceedings; I therefore altered my intention, and stood off from the

garrison

garrison. A thought now suddenly came across my mind. I imagined that by means of signs I might make myself understood by the Japanese. For this purpose, on the 6th of July, I caused a cask to be sawed in two, and set both parts afloat in the water in front of the town. In the inside of one half of the cask were placed a glass containing fresh water, a piece of wood, and a handful of rice, to denote that we were in want of these articles; the other balf contained a few piastres, a piece of yellow cloth, and some crystal beads and pearls, meaning thereby to intimate that we would give them either money or other articles in exchange for provisions. Upon this half of the cask we fixed a drawing of the harbour, the fortress and the sloop; which was very skilfully executed by the Midshipman, Moor. In this drawing the sloop's guns were very distinctly marked, but fixed in the ports with their tompkins in; but the guns of the garrison were represented firing, and the balls flying over the sloop. By this means I wished, if possible, to make the Japanese sensible of their perfidy. No sooner had we set the cask afloat and rowed away, than the Japanese immediately seized it, and carried it into their fortress. On the following day we approached within gun-shot of the castle, for the purpose of receiving an answer; having, however, previously made every preparation for an engagement; but the Japanese did not seem to notice

us.

as

No one appeared near the works, which were still hung round with cloth.

I reflected seriously on all the circumstances that had occurred, and was convinced that I had a right to demand an answer of some sort or other from the Japanese. Our first intercourse with them had been purely accidental; the chief with whom we communicated had voluntarily given us a letter to the governor of a town, in order that we might be supplied not only with wood and water, but likewise with provisions. Relying on this assurance, we had sailed to Kunashier, and lost a fortnight, during which time we might have returned to Okotzk. Our provisions having in the meanwhile greatly diminished, we hoped to obtain a fresh stock from the Japanese, who, however, did not regard our proposal as worthy of an answer. In this critical situation, I requested that each officer should draw up a written declaration of his opinion respecting the course which ought to be adopted. They all agreed that nothing but the utmost provocation could justify us in proceeding to hostilities, until the command of the monarch authorized us so to do. In this particular, the opinions of the officers coincided with my own, and we moved farther from the castle.

I now dispatched a well-armed boat, under the command of Captain-Lieutenant Rikord, to a fishing-village on one side of the harbour, directing him to take the necessary quantity of wood, water, and rice, and to leave payment either in Spanish piastres or merchandize. I remained on board the sloop, which I kept under sail at a short distance

from the shore, being fully resolved to obtain these articles by force, in case the Japanese should oppose the landing of Lieutenant Rikord. But neither soldiers nor any inhabitants were to be seen in the village. Here Lieutenant Rikord found only muddy rainwater; he, however, carried off some wood, rice, and dried fish, and left behind him various European articles, which Alexei declared to be far more valuable than what he carried away. In the afternoon curiosity induced me to go ashore to try to discover the plans of the Japanese, and I was highly pleased to observe that all the articles which Lieutenant Rikord had left were removed. The Japanese must, therefore, have visited the shore after his departure, and those who occupied the fortress would thus be convinced that plunder was not our object. There were two fishing villages on this side of the harbour, and we observed every necessary apparatus for fishing, salting, drying and extracting oil. The Japanese nets are excessively large, and every article used by fishermen, such as boats, buckets, vats for the oil, &c. were all in astonishing good order.

On the 8th of July we observed a cask floating before the town; I immediately weighed anchor in order to take it up. We found that it contained a little box wrapped up in several pieces of oil-cloth. The box contained three papers; one of which was a Japanese letter which we could not read, and the other two were drawings. Both these sketches represented the harbour, the castle, our sloop, the cask with a

boat rowing towards it, and the rising sun, but with this difference, that in one the guns of the castle were firing, whilst in the other the muzzles of the cannon were turned backwards. We were a long time occupied in considering these hieroglyphics, and each explained them after his own way; but this will not be thought wonderful, as the same thing frequently happens among greater scholars. We all, however, agreed in one thing, namely, that the Japanese declined holding intercourse with us.

For my own part I interpreted these drawings in the following manner: I supposed the Japanese to mean that, though they had not fired upon us when they observed us sending off the cask, yet if we attempted to send out another, they would immediately fire upon it. We then got under way and stood over to the mouth of a little river on the western side of the harbour, where we cast anchor. I now sent out some armed boats in quest of fresh water. The seamen continued at work all day on the shore without experiencing any opposition from the Japanese; they merely sent out some Kuriles from the castle, who at the distance of about half a werst observed the motions of our crew. On the following morning, the 9th of July, our boats again went ashore ; a Kurile immediately came out of the castle, and approached them with a very slow pace, and an air of extreme apprehension. In one hand he held a wooden crucifix, and with the other continually crossed himself as he advanced towards the shore. He had lived

for