except in a bad cause. A very good reply, however, appeared in an American Review, and it is amusing, as it proves that we came very honestly by this odd fancy for ridiculous names, having inherited the taste from John Bull himself, the following being a sample of those he has bestowed upon his discoveries about the world:
| “ | Oh, could I seize the lyre of Walter Scott, |
| Then might I sing the terrors of Black Pot, | |
| Black River, Black Tail, | |
| Long Nose, Never Fail, | |
| Black Water, Black Bay, | |
| Black Point, Popinjay, | |
| Points Sally and Moggy, | |
| Two-Headed and Foggy, | |
| While merrily, merrily bounded Cook's bark, | |
| By Kidnapper's Cape, and old Noah's Ark, | |
| Round Hog Island, Hog's-Heads, and Hog-Eyes, | |
| Hog-Bay and Hog John, Hog's Tails, and Hog-Sties.” | |
| ******* | |
Perhaps this taste is one of the peculiarities of the Anglo-Saxon race, about which it is the fashion to talk so much just now. The discoverers from other nations do not seem to have laid themselves open to the same reproach. The Portuguese names for the Cape of Good Hope, Labrador, Buenos Ayres, &c., are very good; both themselves and the Spaniards gave many religious names, but the navigators of these nations also left many Indian words wherever they passed. M. Von Humboldt observes that Mantanzas, massacre, and Vittoria, victory, are frequently scattered over the Spanish colonies. The Italians have made little impression in the way of names, though they have supplied noted chiefs to many a fleet of discovery; probably, however,
