study the life and writings of the great poet and patriot, without aspiring to emulate, not indeed the sublime works with which his genius has enriched our literature, but the zeal with which he laboured for the public good, the fortitude with which he endured every private calamity, the lofty disdain with which he looked down on temptations and dangers, the deadly hatred which he bore to bigots and tyrants, and the faith which he so sternly kept with his country and with his fame.

MACAO.

MACAO is situated at the southern extremity of the island of Heangshan. It is about two miles in length, and connected with the island by an isthmus, or neck of land, about three quarters of a mile in length and twenty rods in breadth, across which the Chinese have erected a barrier, so that the Portuguese are imprisoned in this narrow strip of land, which is considered as under their jurisdiction, as far as foreigners are concerned. This neutrality has, until recently, been strictly

observed.

The Portuguese obtained the settlement of Macao, by the connivance of the Mandarins, about the year 1537, on condition of paying the Chinese a ground-rent of 500 taels, or about £167 a-year. The fortresses are subject to an annual inspection by the mandarin, and not more than twenty-five Portuguese vessels may be admitted in the same year; this number, however, far exceeds the present number of arrivals. There are likewise two Chinese authorities, one of whom, called a Tso-tang, resides in the town itself, for the Portuguese can exercise no jurisdiction over the Chinese population without consulting with the mandarins; they cannot erect or demolish houses without permission.

The city of Macao extends to the shores on each side of the sloping neck of land which joins the two barren hills that form the peninsula; the houses are well-built of brick or stone, and covered with white cement. Macao has more of an European appearance than most cities of the East, as the Portuguese have introduced their own style of building at home, regardless of the difference of climate. The population has been estimated at thirty-five thousand, of whom perhaps five thousand may be considered subject to Portugal, these however frequently intermarry with the Chinese inhabitants. The Chinese part of the

city presents, to the eye of the stranger, an intricate mass of narrow lanes, filled with itinerant and noisy workmen and vendors of Chinese articles.

The temple of the goddess Matsoo-poo, in the village of Amako, faces the inner harbour, and the grotesque rocks and luxuriant foliage of the beautiful hill of Amako render this spot the favourite resort of visitors to the colony. The unfortunate poet Camoens passed part of his exile in Macao, in a retreat which is still called the Cave of Camoens, and here he wrote the greater part of his Lusiad.

"The good intention," says a recent visitor, "but bad taste of the present owner, has gone far to destroy the romantic appearance of the exile's retreat, which he had fixed between two high rocks, cleft and separated by one of Nature's freaks. Who can fancy the genius of poetry to have poured forth its strains in the place with its present appearance, all the little roughnesses in the rock being filled up with plaster and whitewash. In an ornamented niche, inclosing the identical spot where the poet sat, is a bronze bust of Camoens; while an inscription in gold records the birth, genius, and death of this victim of the tender passion; who, through an unfortunate attachment, after spending his blood in the hard-fought battles of his country, is reported to have quitted it, exclaiming," Ingrata patria, non possidebis ossa mea." Ungrateful country, thou shalt not possess my bones. The garden that surrounds this grotto, situated to the northward of the town, a little beyond the church of St. Antonio is, indeed, a beautiful little retreat-an oasis in the desert-and, from the kindness of the gentleman to whom it belongs, is open to the public.

The cave itself is situated on the side of a gently sloping hill, on the top of which is a small modern quadrangular summer-house, commanding a most beautiful and extensive view of the surrounding country. To the south-westward are seen the Typa, the inner harbour crowded with every variety of native craft, with the opposite shore of the Lapa, with its verdant hills. On the northward we observe that memento of celestial jealousy, the barrier, with the small Chinese town of Tseenshan to the westward of it. While looking towards the east, the beholder is enchanted with the wide expanse of sea, studded with numerous islands, the blue outlines of Lintin or Lantao appearing in the distance.