y have been
published; but in the five years between 1870 and 1875, we happen to
know that 281 'homicides' were committed there, and that only seven of
the murderers were hanged. Twenty-four were sent to prison--nominally
for life, although that is a mere form--and more than one-fourth of the
criminals were never brought to trial at all. If Baron Huebner had known
all this, he would have regarded his two new acquaintances with even
greater interest than he did.

How and why they let him go scot-free is to us a mystery. They invited
him to take a hand in the game, and he declined. They pretended to play
for him; won, and offered him the stakes. He told them he had no money
with him, that they would get nothing for their trouble, that the French
Consul was to meet him on board the 'Bothnia' to bid him adieu; if he
were not there a hue and cry at once would be raised. 'Then,' adds the
Baron, 'turning to my friend from Sydney, I said to him, "Open the
door." The ruffians gave in without further trouble. There was an
exchange of looks between them, and the tall man said to the other,
'show him out.' We have heard of many strange things happening in New
York, but never of one so strange as that.' When I stepped upon the deck
of the "Bothnia," says the Baron, 'a few minutes before departure, I
felt that I had had a narrow escape.' Very narrow; we should advise
Baron Huebner, if ever again he finds himself in New York, not to tempt
his good fortune by taking a drive with strangers who admire his
writings.

For the novel and stirring incidents of travel, we must turn to Mr.
Romilly's narrative of his experiences in the Western Pacific. He
transports us to a comparatively little known region, and it was his
good or ill fortune to come into contact with phases of life which must,
it is to be hoped, for ever remain unknown to most of us. Few living
men, for instance, have been present at a great feast on human flesh,
cannibalism being one of the habits of savage life which is found to
yield at the first touch of civilization. In New Ireland, however, Mr.
Romilly happened to be present at a sort of state banquet, given in
honour of a victory over the enemy. The enemy himself supplied the
materials of the repast. The details of the preparation of the horrible
food may be read in Mr. Romilly's pages by all who have a curiosity on
the subject. Some few particulars concerning a compound called 'Sak-sak'
may here be given:--

'T