green, d-d green, indeed: tak them awa', tak them awa'," vociferated Dr. Hutton, starting up

from table, and giving full vent to his feelings of abhorrence.

J

ANECDOTES of DR. ADAM

DR SMITH is well known to have been one of the most absent men living. Mr. Mackenzie placed in his hand the beautiful tale of La Roche, in which he introduces Mr. David Hume, for the express purpose of knowing whether there was any thing in it which Mr. Hume's surviving friends could think hurtful to his memory. Dr. Smith read and highly approved of the MS.; but, on returning it to Mr. Mackenzie, only expressed his surprise that Mr. Hume should never have mentioned the anecdote to him. When walking in the street, Adam had a manner of talking and laughing to himself, which often attracted the notice and excited the surprise of the passengers. He used himself to mention the ejaculation of an old market-woman 66 Hegh, Sirs!" shaking her head as she uttered it; to which her companion answered, having echoed the compassionate sigh, "and he is well put on too!" expressing their surprise that a decided lunatic, who, from his dress, appeared to be a gentleman, should be permitted to walk abroad. In a private room, his demeanour was equally remarkable: one evening, he put an elderly maiden lady, who presided at the tea-table, to sore confusion, by neglecting utterly her invitations to be seated, and walking round and round the circle, stopping ever and anon to steal a lump from the sugar-basin, which the venerable spinster was at length

SMITH.-(From the same.)

constrained to place on her own knee, as the only method of securing it from his most uneconomical depredations.

When Dr. Smith was a commissioner of the board of Customs, that board had in their service, as porter, a stately person, who, dressed in a huge scarlet gown or cloak, covered with frogs of worsted lace, and holding in his hand a staff about seven feet high, as an emblem of his office, used to mount guard before the Customhouse when a board was to be held. It was the etiquette that, as each commissioner entered, the porter should go through a sort of salute with his staff of office, resembling that which officers used formerly to perform with their spontoon, and then marshal the dignitary to the hall of meeting. This ceremony had been performed before the great Economist perhaps five hundred times: nevertheless, one day, as he was about to enter the Custom-house, the motions of this janitor seemed to have attracted his eye without their character or purpose reaching his apprehension, and on a sudden he began to imitate his gestures, as a recruit does those of his drill

sergeant. The porter, having drawn up in front of the door, presented his staff as a soldier does his musket: the commissioner, raising his cane, and holding it with both his hands by the middle, returned the salute with the utmost gravity. The inferior officer,

much amazed, recovered his weapon, wheeled to the right, stepping a pace back to give the commissioner room to pass, lowering his staff at the same time, in token of obeisance. Dr. Smith, instead of passing on, drew up on the opposite side, and lowered his cane at the same angle. The functionary,

philosopher again imitated his motions, and returned his bow with the most profound gravity. When the doctor entered the apartment, the spell under which he seemed to act was entirely broken, and our informant, who, very much amused, had followed him the

moved up stairs with his staff advanced, while the author of the "Wealth of Nations" followed with his bamboo in precisely the same posture, and his whole soul apparently wrapped up in the purpose of placing his foot exactly on the same spot of each step which had been occupied by the officer who preceded him. At the door of the hall, the porter again drew off, saluted with his staff, and bowed reverentially.

The

convince him that he had been doing any thing extraordinary. Upon another occasion, having to sign an official minute or mandate, Adam Smith was observed to be unusually tedious, when the same person, peeping over his shoulder, discovered that he was engaged, not in writing his own name, but in imitating, as nearly as possible, the signature of his brother in office, who had held the pen before him.

zid

HE unusual severity of the season, on the passage outwards; and the change, which could not be anticipated, that had taken place in the position of the floating fields of ice that permanently occupy some part of Baffin's Bay, retarded the progress of the ships so long, that it was with much difficulty they were enabled to reach Port Bowen, on the eastern shore of Prince Regent's Inlet, before all further navigation, for that season, became impracticable, on account of the formation of young ice on the surface of the seas Had captain Parry been fortunate enough to have reached this point three weeks or a month sooner, as from former experience helhad every reasonable ground to expect, he would in all proba bility have crossed the southern portion of the Polar sea, and wintered on some part of the coast of America.

noThelwinter in Port Bowen was passed nearly in the same manner as former winters in the Polar seas.

Perhaps, indeed, this third winterv was somewhat more dreary

than former ones; there was a total absence of all human creatures besides themselves; and, almost of every object of animated nature.

It was not till the 20th of July, that the disruption of the ice allowed the ships to remove from their winter-quarters, and enabled them to stretch across towards the western shore of Prince Regent's Inlet, where, after some slight obstruction, they succeeded in making favourable progress along the land. This however did not continue long; the ice was perceived to approach the land, till at length it reached the ships and drove them both on shore, and the Fury was found to be so very seriously damaged as to make it impossible for her to proceed farther without repairs, and probably without, as captain Parry calls it, the ruinous necessity" of heaving the ship down.

1

There being no harbour, it was necessary to form a sort of basin by means of the ice for the performance of this operation; the process was tedious and laborious, and various impediments occurred

from the movement and pressure of the ice. They succeeded, however, after immense exertions, in heaving the Fury down: but this had scarcely been accomplished when a gale of wind destroyed the securities of the basin, which rendered it necessary to tow the Fury out, to re-equip the Hecla, and for the latter to stand out to sea. The Fury was once more driven on shore, and it now appeared on a close examination, that it was hopeless, circumstanced as they were, to make her sea-worthy,

and that it was therefore necessary to abandon her. The incessant labour which every one underwent, upon this disastrous occasion, had a curious effect on the mind. "The officers and men," says captain Parry, "were now literally so harassed and fatigued, as to be scarcely capable of further exertion without some rest; and on this and one or two other occasions, I noticed more than a single in

stance of stupor amounting to a certain degree of failure in intellect, rendering the individual so affected quite unable at first to comprehend the meaning of an order, though still as willing as still ever to obey it.”

Whatever expectations captain Parry might have rested on the result of heaving down and repairing the Fury, these were now at an end. "With a twelvemonth's provisions for both ships' companies (says the captain), it would have been folly to hope for final success, considering the small progress we had already made, the uncertain nature of this navigation, and the advanced period of the present season. (I was therefore," he adds, "reduced to the only remaining conclusion, that it was my duty, under all the circumstances of the case, to return to England, in compliance with the plain tenor of my instruc tions." Lit Gabrostor

tention, and he, with a boldness which greatly enhanced the respect I bore him, expressed his willingness to push our research in that direction, though we had we had been hitherto so unsuccessful." Proceeding, therefore, to the southward, in about the latitude 65, they thought they had discovered land, which showed itself in the shape of a black rock; but, on a nearer approach, it proved to be only an ice-island, covered on one of its sides with black earth. Their disappointment, however, was somewhat soothed by the consideration that it must have disengaged itself from some high land possessing a considerable quantity of soil, and the possibility that this land might not be far distant. From this place, however, till their arrival in latitude 69°, detached islands of ice were constantly occurring, so numerous indeed, about the latter point, as almost to impede and prevent their passing further. Sixty-six," says captain Weddell, were counted around us; and for about fifty miles to the south, we had seldom fewer in sight."

could not be ascertained, but we are told it was fully as mild as in the latitude 61°, in the month of December (34° to 36°) and they were now near the parallel of 73°. The sea was literally covered with birds of the blue peterel kind, but nothing like land nor any indication of land appeared. The weather continued mild and serene, and "not a particle of ice of any description was to be seen;" and this absence of ice continued till the 20th of February, when in latitude 74° 15′, longitude 34° 17′, three ice-islands were in sight from the deck, and one more from the mast-head.

Having attained this high latitude, which is three degrees and five minutes farther south than captain Cook, or any preceding navi gator had reached; and the wind blowing fresh from the south, the season too fast advancing, captain Weddell deemed it prudent to return.

"I would willingly (says he) have explored the S. W. quarter, but taking into consideration the lateness of the season, and that we had to pass homewards through one thousand miles of sea strewed with ice-islands, with long nights, and probably attended with fogs, I could not determine otherwise than to take advantage of this favourable wind for returning."

the ice from Spitzbergen to the Pole, and this plan had been adopted by captain Parry, who, in addition to his own ardent expectations of success, procured the sanction of the Royal Society to the practicability of the enterprise. The Hecla