28.-Passaic; a Group of Poems Fouching that River, with Other Musings. By FLACCUS 12mo. pp. 292. New York: Wiley & Putnam. 1842.

2

A portion of the poetic effusions embraced in this elegantly printed and delicately bound volume, obtained a wide circulation as they appeared singly in the pages of the Knickerbocker Magazine; and although they have been severely criticized in certain quarters, we are constrained to say that they possess a considerable share of merit. The writer is cer tainly gifted with many of the requisites of a poet; his verse runs smoothly, and he has an eye and a heart for the true and the beautiful. Some of the shorter pieces are excellent, and a few passages in the first “ group of poems" would not detract from the wellearned fame of our best American poets,-while others sink almost below mediocrity 29.-The Christmas Bells: A Tale of Holy Tide; and other Poems. By the author of "Constance," "Virginia," etc. 18mo. pp. 221. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1842. We confess ourselves disappointed, and happily, in the poetic effusions contained in this elegantly printed volume. Here is an American poet, without pretension, modestly concealing his name, who has produced stanzas that would add new laurels to the brow of many of our poets whose names are as familiar as household words. Purity of diction and harmony of versification are here rendered subservient to Christian sympathies and devout feelings, and though tinged with the conservatism of episcopacy, the more republican, but not less devout disciple of the Divine Founder of our faith, will refresh his soul with the delightful musings of a true and faithful heart.

TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS.

In issuing the sixth half-yearly volume of the Merchants' Magazine, duty to the mercantile community and others who have supported it since its commencement, as well as duty to ourselves, requires that we should say something of the past and the future. This magazine was commenced in a time of difficulty and pressure among mercantile and other classes, when usual undertakings would have broken down or have been unsuccessful. Notwithstanding the pecuniary troubles of the times-owing, we flatter ourselves, in some measure to the originality of our work, and its usefulness to that branch of the community for whom it was intended, we succeeded in our efforts, and can now announce to the public that the Merchants' Magazine is fixed on as permanent a basis as any periodical in this country or abroad. We have endeavored in every possible way to collect and furnish information on all mercantile matters, whether relating to domestic or foreign commerce, that could in any way merit the attention of those engaged in trade. Nor to them alone has our magazine been of interest; we have given statistical tables, monthly, valuable to all portions of the community, and collected by us with great expense and trouble,—a species of information that has never before been furnished by any publication in the United States. Our arrangements for the ensuing volume are extensive and valuable. It has been seen by our readers that for some time back we have published articles relating to the laws and resources of the different states and territories of the Union. In every case we have availed ourselves of all the official information that could be secured from the fountain head: correctness has been our aim, and in all our publications we shall sustain that posi tion. The merchant, of all others, needs true information in his business; and the Merchants' Magazine will be the last organ to furnish any thing but facts. As the laws in the different states relating to commercial transactions are altered, we have made such arrangements as will give us the opportunity of furnishing them early to our readers and subscribers. Nor does this relate only to state or United States laws. All foreign laws affecting commercial regulations will be as soon as possible promulgated by us, so that the mercantile community will be saved from unnecessary or conflicting inquiry.

In our commercial law reports we have secured the aid of some of the most distinguished jurists that our country has furnished; they will come fresh to the merchant from the "mint of mind," the deciders in our courts of admiralty and mercantile law, whose names are synonymous with wisdom and justice.

We have thus announced to the public briefly, our course in the future volume, and feel that we cannot conclude without saying that the statistical information furnished will be, as it has been, under the immediate superintendence of the editor of the Merchants' Magazine, and for its accuracy and usefulness he vouches his personal responsibility.

HUNT'S

MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE.

FEBRUARY, 1842.

ART. I.-THE FALKLAND ISLANDS:

A MEMOIR; DESCRIPTIVE, HISTORICAL, AND POLITICAL.*

INTRODUCTION.

THE Southern extremity of the American continent, and the islands in its vicinity, were discovered by Europeans soon after Columbus had ascertained the existence of a new world west of the Atlantic; and during the sixteenth century, the coasts of those territories were frequently examined in search of passages of communication between that ocean and the Pacific. In the course of these examinations, Magellan's Strait was found in 1520, by the navigator whose name it perpetuates; and in 1600, the Dutch sailed into the Pacific, through the open sea further south, around the promontory which they afterward called Cape Horn, in honor of an ancient city of Holland.

For more than a hundred and fifty years after the latter period, these territories scarcely attracted the notice of civilized nations. The Spaniards regarded them merely as useful barriers for the security of their dominions on the Pacific; and as they offered no advantages in the way of commerce or of settlement, they were only occasionally visited by ships of war, or bucaniers, or exploring vessels, in voyages between the oceans which they separate. At length, in 1770, the attention of the whole civilized world was suddenly directed towards a small group of uninhabited islands, situated about 200 miles east of Magellan's Strait, for the possession of which a violent dispute had arisen between Great Britain and Spain; and maps, charts, and geographical works were everywhere consulted, for infor

* Written for the Merchants' Magazine, by ROBERT GREENHOW, Esq., author of a Memoir, historical and political, on the Northwest Coast of North America, and the adjacent territories, published by order of the United States Senate, in 1840.

mation respecting the Falkland, or Sebaldine, or Malouine, or Malvinas Islands, by each of which names they had been distinguished in some time or country. With the events which led to this dispute, the political history of the Magellanic regions may be said to have commenced; for the thousands of pages which had been previously published about them were devoted to accounts, generally as tedious as unsatisfactory, of voyages around their coasts, and fables concerning their inhabitants. That dispute was compromised; but others of a similar nature, with regard to the same group, have, within the last ten years, arisen between the United States and the Argentine Republic, (better known as Buenos Ayres,) and between the latter republic and Great Britain, neither of which has been settled; unless the seizure of the islands and their subsequent occupation by Great Britain be considered as deciding them both.

To afford a clear and impartial view of these questions is the object of this present memoir; in which the author has endeavored to embody all the most material facts relative to the Falkland Islands, in a regular and connected historical narrative, accompanied by reasonings on the various points of national right involved in them. When it is added, that the determination of these questions may seriously affect the American whale and seal fisheries in the Southern and Pacific oceans, and indeed the whole trade of the United States with the countries bordering upon those seas, no further apology will be deemed necessary for this attempt to throw light upon a subject which has been perhaps already too long neglected.

As correct information with regard to the geography of these countries is not generally diffused, before commencing their history it will be convenient to present a brief

DESCRIPTION OF PATAGONIA AND TIERRA DEL FUEGO.

The South American continent is traversed in its whole length, from north to south, by an uninterrupted range of lofty mountains, which are known under the collective names of Andes and Cordilleras. This range runs throughout nearly parallel to the Pacific coast, and within about two hundred miles from it; north of the 40th deg. of latitude, the mountains are separated from the Atlantic by a vast expanse of lower country ; south of that latitude the continent becomes much narrower, and its breadth gradually diminishes towards its extremity.

This narrow, southernmost part of America is called Patagonia, from the Spanish word Patagones, signifying Big-feet, which Magellan applied as a characteristic name to its inhabitants. It extends to the latitude of 53 deg. 54 min., in which Cape Froward, the southernmost point of the continent, is situated; further south, extending to Cape Horn, near the 56th parallel, is a group of islands, separated from the continent by Magellan's Strait, and from each other, by intricate channels; to which group Magellan, believing it to be a continuous territory, and to be filled with volcanoes, gave the appellation of Tierra del Fuego, or the Land of Fire. The whole western coast of Patagonia is in like manner completely masked by islands; while on the Atlantic side there are very few, all of which are small, in the vicinity of the main land. Magellan's Strait opens into both oceans, nearly under the same latitude of 524 deg.; its course between its two extremities being nearly represented by the letter U. The difficulties, dangers, and uncertainties of the navigation through it are such, that the passage around Cape Horn is almost universally preferred.