its open mouth the player throws little leaden dumps, with the privilege of scoring some high number if he succeeds, and of hitting the legs of the spectators if he fails. At this exciting game a party of embryo doctors and lawyers will amuse themselves at the "Closerie" for hours, and moreover exhibit indications of a most lively interest. The great recommendation of the amusement, I believe, is, that the players might be doing something worse; a philosophical system of reasoning, which will apply to most diversions-from pitch-and-toss to manslaughter.

A few hours of this amusement is scarcely necessary to give the student that sometimes inconvenient instinct-an appetite. Accordingly, at about five he begins to think about dining; or, rather, he begins to perform that operation, for he has been thinking about it for some time.

Dining, in the weak imagination of conventional persons, usually induces visions of Vefour, and is suggestive of Provençal fraternity. But the student of the Quartier Latin, if he indulges in any such visions, or is visited by any such suggestions, finds their end about as substantial as their beginning. His dreamy dinners have, alas! no possibility of realisation. Truffles to him are tasteless, and his "trifles are literally "light as air." Provence provides him, unfortunately, with more songs than suppers, and the fraternal associations with which he is best acquainted are those of the Cuisiniers in the Rue Racine or Rue des Mathurins.

It is, very probably, with one of these "Associations Fraternelles des Cuisiniers" that the student proceeds to dine. These societies, which are fast multiplying in every quarter of Paris, are patronised principally by Republicans who are red, and by Monarchists who are poor. The former are attracted by sym. pathy, the latter are driven by necessity. Indeed, a plat àt six

sous, which is the usual price at these establishments, is a very appropriate reward for the one, or refuge for the other. At these establishments—which had no existence before the last revolution -everybody is equal; there are no masters, and there are no servants. The garçons who wait upon the guests are the proprietors, and the guests themselves are not recognised as having any superior social position. The guest who addresses the waiter as "garçon" is very probably insulted, and the garçon who addresses a guest as "monsieur" is liable to be expelled from the society. In each case "citoyen" is the current form of courtesy, and any person who objects to the term is free to dine elsewhere. Even the dishes have a republican savour. "Macaroni à la République," "Fricandeau à la Robespierre," or " Filet à la Charrier," are as dear to republican hearts as they are cheap to republican pockets.

A dinner of this kind costs the student little more than a franc. If he is more ostentatious, or epicurean, he dines at Risbec's, in the Place de l'Odéon. Here, for one franc, sixty centimes, he has an entertainment consisting of four courses and a dessert, inclusive of half a bottle of vin ordinaire. If he is a sensible man, he prefers this to the Associated Cooks, who, it must be confessed, even by republicans of taste, are not quite what might be expected, considering the advancing principles they profess.

After dinner, the student, if the Prado or some equally congenial establishment is not open, usually addicts himself to the theatre. His favourite resort is, not the Odéon, as might be supposed, from its superior importance and equal cheapness, but the "Théâtre du Luxembourg," familiarly called by its frequenters— why, is a mystery-" Bobineau's." Here the student is in his

element.

He talks to his acquaintances across the house; in

dulges in comic demonstrations of extasy whenever Mademoiselle Hermance appears on the scene, and, in short, makes himself as ridiculous and contented as can be. Mademoiselle Hermance, it is necessary to add, is the goddess of the quarter, and has nightly no end of worshippers. The theatre itself is everything that could be desired by any gentleman of advanced principles, who spurns propriety, and inclines himself towards oranges.

After the theatre the student probably goes home, and there I will leave him safely. My object has been merely to indicate the general characteristics of his ordinary life, from which he seldom deviates, unless tempted by an unexpected remittance to indulge in more costly recreations, afforded by the Bal Mabille or the Château Rouge.

M

Tahiti.

ADAME IDA PFEIFFER, of Vienna, a lady, favourably

known to the reading public of Germany as the pleasant narrator of a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and of various Tours in different parts of Europe, has recently published an account of her travels round the World. In her preface, she states that an uncontrollable desire to travel, and to see distant and little known regions, impelled her to undertake the bold enterprise, the details of which are now recorded in three little volumes, entitled “A Lady's Travels round the World." In the course of so extensive a circuit, much that is curious and interesting must have presented itself to an intelligent observer like Madame Pfeiffer. We subjoin, with some abridgment, her account of Tahiti and its inhabitants.

It may be well to premise, that until lately Tahiti was under the protection of England, but it is now transferred to France. The island was long an object of dispute between the Governments of both nations; but in November, 1846, peace was concluded. Queen Pomare, who, during the interval of contention, fled to another island, had returned to Papeiti, one of the chief cities, a few weeks before Madame Pfeiffer arrived there. Her abode was a small house containing only four rooms, and she dined every day at the residence of the Governor. A suitable abode is now being built for the Queen, by the French Govern

Frauenfahrt um die Welt.

ment, from which Her Majesty receives a pension of twenty-five thousand franes per annum.

Papeiti, the port, is surrounded by coral-reefs, which defend it like the outworks of a fortress, and render its entrance at once difficult and dangerous. Between the rocks, against which the billows break with frightful force, a very narrow opening barely affords sufficient room for the passage of ships. On our approach, says Madame Pfeiffer, a pilot came out to us, and, in spite of a very adverse wind, we succeeded in working our way safely into the harbour. After we had landed, we were congratulated on our lucky escape; the people who were anxiously watching our entrance assured us that at one moment we nearly struck on a coral bank-an accident which had a short time previously befallen a French vessel.

Before we cast anchor, we observed some half-dozen Pirogues making towards us; and in the space of a few minutes our deck was thronged with Indians, who nimbly climbed up the ship's sides to offer us fruit and shell-fish. But these luxuries are not now, as they were in Captain Cook's time, obtained in exchange for glass beads and bits of red cloth. They are to be had for money only; and our Tahitian visitors showed us that they knew how to drive bargains and extort high prices as well as the most practised hucksters of Europe. I presented to one of the Indians a ring made of some kind of gilt metal. He took it; and after smelling it, shook his head, giving me to understand that he knew it was not made of gold. Observing a ring on my finger, he took my hand, and whilst he smelt the ring, a pleasant smile that lighted up his features seemed expressive of a request that I would give it to him.

We found Papeiti (on the 25th of April, 1847,) full of French