magistrates, in long black robes, were already arriving to fill their respective offices.

school in which was a small pulpit, with steps up to it, in the middle of the apartment; a great theatre; I contemplated the busy scene from my peaceful a temple of justice; an amphitheatre about 220 feet in platform, where nothing stirred but aged devotees length; various temples; a barrack for soldiers, the creeping to their devotions; and whilst I remained columns of which are scribbled with their names and thus calm and tranquil, heard the distant buzz of the jests; wells, cisterns, seats, tricliniums, beautiful Motown. Fortunately, some length of waves rolled be-saic; altars, inscriptions, fragments of statues, and tween me and its tumults, so that I ate my grapes many other curious remains of antiquity. Among the and read Metastasio undisturbed by officiousness or most remarkable objects was an ancient wall, with curiosity. When the sun became too powerful, I en- part of a still more ancient marble frieze, built in it as tered the nave. a common stone; and a stream which has flowed under this once subterraneous city long before its burial; pipes of Terra Cotta to convey the water to the different streets; stocks for prisoners, in one of which a skeleton was found. All these things incline one almost to look for the inhabitants, and wonder at the desolate silence of the place.

The houses in general are very low, and the rooms are small; I should think not above ten feet high. Every house is provided with a well and a cistern. Everything seems to be in proportion. The principal streets do not appear to exceed 16 feet in width, with side pavements of about 3 feet; some of the subordinate streets are from 6 to 10 feet wide, with side parements in proportion: these are occasionally high, and are reached by steps. The columns of the bar racks are about 15 feet in height; they are made of tuffa with stucco; one-third of the shaft is smoothly plastered, the rest fluted to the capital. The walls of the houses are often painted red, and some of them have borders and antique ornaments, masks, and imitations of marble; but in general poorly executed. I have observed on the walls of an eating-room various kinds of food and game tolerably represented: one woman's apartment was adorned with subjects relating to love, and a man's with pictures of a martial character. Considering that the whole has been under ground upwards of seventeen centuries, it is certainly surprising that they should be as fresh as at the period of their burial. The whole extent of the city, not one half of which is excavated, may be about four miles. ARCTIC DISCOVERY-ROSS, PARRY, FRANKLIN, &C.

After I had admired the masterly structure of the roof and the lightness of its arches, my eyes naturally directed themselves to the pavement of white and ruddy marble, polished, and reflecting like a mirror the columns which rise from it. Over this I walked to a door that admitted me into the principal quadrangle of the convent, surrounded by a cloister supported on Ionic pillars beautifully proportioned. A flight of stairs opens into the court, adorned with balustrades and pedestals sculptured with elegance truly Grecian. This brought me to the refectory, where the chef d'œuvre of Paul Veronese, representing the marriage of Cana in Galilee, was the first object that presented itself. I never beheld so gorgeous a group of wedding garments before; there is every variety of fold and plait that can possibly be imagined. The attitudes and countenances are more uniform, and the guests appear a very genteel decent sort of people, well used to the mode of their times, and accustomed to miracles.

Having examined this fictitious repast, I cast a look on a long range of tables covered with very excellent realities, which the monks were coming to devour with energy, if one might judge from their appearance. These sons of penitence and mortification possess one of the most spacious islands of the whole cluster; a princely habitation, with gardens and open porticos that engross every breath of air; and what adds not a little to the charms of their abode, is the facility of making excursions from it whenever they have a mind.

[Description of Pompeii.]

[From Williams's Travels in Italy, Greece,' &c.]

Pompeii is getting daily disencumbered, and a very considerable part of this Grecian city is unveiled. We entered by the Appian way, through a narrow street of marble tombs, beautifully executed, with the names of the deceased plain and legible. We looked into the columbary below that of Marius Arius Diomedes, and perceived jars containing the ashes of the dead, with a small lamp at the side of each. Arriving at the gate, we perceived a sentry-box in which the skeleton of a soldier was found with a lamp in his hand: proceeding up the street beyond the gate, we went into several streets, and entered what is called a coffeehouse, the marks of cups being visible on the stone: we came likewise to a tavern, and found the sign (not a very decent one) near the entrance. The streets are lined with public buildings and private houses, most of which have their original painted decorations fresh and entire. The pavement of the streets is much worn by carriage wheels, and holes are cut through the side stones for the purpose of fastening animals in the market-place; and in certain situations are placed stepping-stones, which give us a rather unfavourable idea of the state of the streets. We passed two beautiful little temples; went into a surgeon's house, in the operation-room of which chirurgical instruments were found; entered an ironmonger's shop, where an anvil and hammer were discovered; a sculptor's and a baker's shop, in the latter of which may be seen an oven and grinding mills, like old Scotch querns. We examined likewise an oilman's shop, and a wine shop iately opened, where money was found in the till; a

Contemporaneous with the African expeditions already described, a strong desire was felt in this country to prosecute our discoveries in the Northern seas, which for fifty years had been neglected. The idea of a north-west passage to Asia still presented attractions, and on the close of the revolutionary war, an effort to discover it was resolved upon. In 1818 an expedition was fitted out, consisting of two ships, one under the command of CAPTAIN JOHN Ross, and another under LIEUTENANT, now SIR EDWARD PARRY. The most interesting feature in this voyage is the account of a tribe of Esquimaux hitherto unknown, who inhabited a tract of country extending on the shore for 120 miles, and situated near Baffin's Bay. A singular pheno menon was also witnessed-a range of cliffs covered with snow of a deep crimson colour, arising from some vegetable substance. When the expedition came to Lancaster Sound, a passage was confidently anticipated; but after sailing up the bay, Captain Ross conceived that he saw land-a high ridge of mountains, extending directly across the bottom of the inlet-and he abandoned the enter prise. Lieutenant Parry and others entertained a different opinion from that of their commander as to the existence of land, and the admiralty fitted out a new expedition, which sailed in 1819, for the purpose of again exploring Lancaster Sound. The expe dition, including two ships, the Hecla and Griper, was intrusted to Captain Parry, who had the satisfaction of verifying the correctness of his former impressions, by sailing through what Captain Ros

1

•

mained, and it would have amused an unconcerned looker-on to have observed the anxiety and suspense depicted on the countenances of our part of the group till this was accomplished, for never were the tracings of a pencil watched with more eager solicitude. Our surprise and satisfaction may therefore in some degree be imagined when, without taking it from the paper, Iligluik brought the continental coast short round to the westward, and afterwards to the S.S.W., so as to come within three or four days' journey of Repulse Bay.

supposed to be a mountain barrier in Lancaster Sound. To have sailed upwards of thirty degrees of longitude beyond the point reached by any former navigator-to have discovered many new lands, islands, and bays-to have established the muchcontested existence of a Polar sea north of America -finally, after a wintering of eleven months, to have brought back his crew in a sound and vigorous state-were enough to raise his name above that of any former Arctic voyager.' The long winter sojourn in this Polar region was relieved by various devices and amusements: a temporary theatre was fitted up, and the officers came forward as amateur performers. A sort of newspaper was also established, called the North Georgian Gazette, to which all were invited to contribute; and excursions abroad were kept up as much as possible. The brilliant results of Captain Parry's voyage soon induced another expedition to the Northern seas of America. That commander hoisted his flag on board the Fury,' and Captain Lyon, distinguished by his services in Africa, received the command of the 'Hecla.' The ships sailed in May 1821. It was more than two years ere they returned; and though the expedition, as to its main object of finding a pas-Thus regarded, she had always been freely admitted sage into the Polar sea, was a failure, various geointo the ships, the quarter-masters at the gangway graphical discoveries were made. The tediousness never thinking of refusing entrance to the wise of winter, when the vessels were frozen up, was woman,' as they called her. Whenever any explanation again relieved by entertainments similar to those was necessary between the Esquimaux and us, Iligluik formerly adopted; and further gratification was was sent for as an interpreter; information was chiefly afforded by intercourse with the Esquimaux, who, in obtained through her, and she thus found herself their houses of snow and ice, burrowed along the rising into a degree of consequence to which, but shores. We shall extract part of Captain Parry's account of this shrewd though savage race.

I am, however, compelled to acknowledge, that in proportion as the superior understanding of this extraordinary woman became more and more developed, her head (for what female head is indifferent to praise?) began to be turned by the general attention and numberless presents she received. The superior decency and even modesty of her behaviour had combined, with her intellectual qualities, to raise her in our estimation far above her companions; and I often heard others express what I could not but agree in, that for Iligluik alone, of all the Esquimaux women, that kind of respect could be entertained which mo desty in a female never fails to command in our sex.

for

us,

she could never have attained. Notwithstand

ing a more than ordinary share of good sense on her

Ipart, it will not therefore be wondered at if she became giddy with her exaltation-considered her admission into the ships and most of the cabins no longer an indulgence, but a right-ceased to return the slightest acknowledgment for any kindness or presents-became listless and inattentive in unravelling the meaning of our questions, and careless whether her answers conveyed the information we desired. In short, Iligluik in February and Iligluik in April were confessedly very different persons; and it was at last amusing to recollect, though not very easy to persuade one's self, that the woman who now sat demurely in a chair, so confidently expecting the notice of those around her, and she who had at first, with eager and wild delight, assisted in cutting snow for the building of a hut, and with the hope of obtaining a single needle, were actually one and the same individual.

[Description of the Esquimaux.]

The Esquimaux exhibit a strange mixture of intellect and dulness, of cunning and simplicity, of ingenuity and stupidity; few of them could count beyond five, and not one of them beyond ten, nor could any of them speak a dozen words of English after a constant intercourse of seventeen or eighteen months; yet many of them could imitate the manners and actions of the strangers, and were on the whole excellent mimics. One woman in particular, of the name of Iligluik, very soon attracted the attention of our voyagers by the various traits of that superiority of understanding for which, it was found, she was remarkably distinguished, and held in esteem even by her own countrymen. She had a great fondness for singing, possessed a soft voice and an excellent ear; but, like another great singer who figured in a different society, there was scarcely any stopping her when she had once begun;' she would listen, however, for hours together to the tunes played on the organ. Her superior intelligence was perhaps most conspicuous in the readiness with which she was made to comprehend the manner of laying down on paper the geographical outline of that part of the coast of America she was acquainted with, and the neighbouring islands, so as to construct a chart. At first it was found difficult to make her comprehend what was meant; but when Captain Parry had discovered that the Esquimaux were already acquainted with the four cardinal points of the compass, for which they have appropriate names, he drew them on a sheet of paper, together with that portion of the coast just discovered, which was opposite to Winter Island, where then they were, and of course well known to her.

We desired her (says Captain Parry) to complete the rest, and to do it mikkee (small), when, with a countenance of the most grave attention and peculiar intelligence, she drew the coast of the continent beyond her own country, as lying nearly north from Winter Island. The most important part still re

No kind of distress can deprive the Esquimaux of their cheerful temper and good humour, which they preserve even when severely pinched vith hunger and cold, and wholly deprived for days together both of food and fuel-a situation to which they are very frequently reduced. Yet no calamity of this kind can teach them to be provident, or to take the least thought for the morrow; with them, indeed, it is always either a feast or a famine. The enormous quantity of animal food (they have no other) which they devour at a time is almost incredible. The quantity of meat which they procured between the first of October and the first of April was sufficient to have urnished about double the number of working people, who were moderate eaters, and had any idea of providing for a future day; but to individuals who can demolish four or five pounds at a sitting, and at least ten in the course of a day, and who never bestow a thought on to-morrow, at least with the view to provide for it by economy, there is scarcely any supply which could secure them from occasional scarcity. It is highly probable that the alternate feasting and fasting to which the gluttony and improvidence of these people so constantly subject them, may have oc

casioned many of the complaints that proved fatal during the winter; and on this account we hardly knew whether to rejoice or not at the general success of their fishery.

"

160 miles still remained unexplored. In 1829 Captain, now Sir John Ross, disappointed at being outstripped by Captain Parry in the discovery of the strait leading into the Polar sea, equipped a A third expedition was undertaken by Captain steam-vessel, solely from private resources, and pro- || Parry, assisted by Captain Hoppner, in 1824, but it ceeded to Baffin's Bay. It was a bold but inconproved still more unfortunate. The broken ice in siderate undertaking, and every soul who embarked Baffin's Bay retarded his progress until the season on it must have perished, but for the ample supplies was too far advanced for navigation in that climate. they received from the Fury, or rather from the After the winter broke up, huge masses of ice drove provisions and stores which, by the providence of the ships on shore, and the Fury' was so much in- Captain Parry, had been carefully stored up on the jured, that it was deemed necessary to abandon her beach; for the ship herself had entirely disappeared. with all her stores. In April 1827 Captain Parry once He proceeded down Regent's Inlet as far as he could more sailed in the 'Hecla,' to realise, if possible, his in his little ship, the Victory; placed her amongst sanguine expectations; but on this occasion he pro-ice clinging to the shore, and after two winters, left jected reaching the North Pole by employing light her there; and in returning to the northward, by boats and sledges, which might be alternately used, great good luck fell in with a whaling ship, which as compact fields of ice, or open sea, interposed in took them all on board and brought them home.' his route. On reaching Hecla Cove they left the Captain James Ross, nephew of the commander, ship to commence their journey on the ice. Vigo- collected some geographical information in the course rous efforts were made to reach the Pole, still 500 of this unfortunate enterprise. miles distant; but the various impediments they had to encounter, and particularly the drifting of the snow-fields, frustrated all their endeavours; and after two months spent on the ice, and penetrating about a degree farther than any previous expedition, the design was abandoned. These four expeditions were described by Captain Parry in separate volumes, which were read with great avidity. The whole have since been published in six small volumes, constituting one of the most interesting series of adventures and discoveries recorded in our language.

The interval of 160 miles between Point Barrow, reached by Beechey's master, and the farthest point to which Captain Franklin penetrated, was in 1837 surveyed by MR THOMAS SIMPSON and the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company. The latter had with great generosity lent their valuable assistance to complete the geography of that region, and Mr Simpson was enthusiastically devoted to the same object. In the summer of 1837 he, with his senior officer, Mr Dease, started from the Great Slave Lake, following the steps of Franklin as far as the point called Franklin's Farthest, whence they traced the remainFollowing out the plan of northern discovery, an der of the coast to the westward to Point Barrow, by expedition was, in 1819, despatched overland to pro- which they completed our knowledge of this coast ceed from the Hudson's Bay factory, tracing the the whole way west of the Coppermine River, as far coast of the Northern ocean. This expedition was as Behring's Straits. Wintering at the north-east commanded by CAPTAIN JOHN FRANKLIN, accom- angle of the Great Bear Lake, the party descended panied by Dr Richardson, a scientific gentleman; the Coppermine River, and followed the coast easttwo midshipmen-Mr Hood and Mr Back-and two wards as far as the mouth of the Great Fish River, English seamen. The journey to the Coppermine discovered by Back in 1834. The expedition com River displayed the characteristic ardour and hardi-prised the navigation of a tempestuous ocean beset hood of British seamen. Great suffering was expe- with ice, for a distance exceeding 1400 geographical rienced. Mr Hood lost his life, and Captain Franklin or 1600 statute miles, in open boats, together with and Dr Richardson were on the point of death, when all the fatigues of long land journeys and the perils timely succour was afforded by some Indians. The of the climate.' In 1839 the Geographical Society results of this journey, which, including the navi- of London rewarded Mr Simpson with a medal for gation along the coast, extended to 5500 miles, are advancing almost to completion the solution of the obviously of the greatest importance to geography. great problem of the configuration of the northern As the coast running northward was followed to Cape shore of the North American continent.' While Turnagain, in latitude 68 degrees, it is evident returning to Europe in June 1840, Mr Simpson died, that if a north-west passage exist, it must be it is supposed, by his own hand in a paroxysm found beyond that limit. The narratives of Cap. insanity, after shooting two of the four men who tain Franklin, Dr Richardson, and Mr Back, form a accompanied him from the Red River colony. Mr fitting and not less interesting sequel to those of Simpson was a native of Dingwall, in Ross-shire, and Captain Parry. The same intrepid parties under- at the time of his melancholy death, was only in his took, in 1823, a second expedition to explore the thirty-second year. His Narrative of the Discoveries shores of the Polar seas. The coast between the on the North Coast of America, Effected by the Officers Mackenzie and Coppermine rivers, 902 miles, was of the Hudson's Bay Company during the years 1836-39, examined. Subsequent expeditions were undertaken was published in 1843. by CAPTAIN LYON and CAPTAIN BEECHEY. The former failed through continued bad weather; but Captain Beechey having sent his master, Mr Elson, in a barge to prosecute the voyage to the east, that individual penetrated to a sandy point, on which the ice had grounded, the most northern part of the continent then known. Captain Franklin had, only four days previous, been within 160 miles of this point, when he commenced his return to the Mackenzie River, and it is conjectured, with much probability, that had he been aware that by persevering in his exertions for a few days he might have reached his friends, it is possible that a knowledge of the circumstance might have induced him, through all nazards, to continue his journey. The intermediate

Valuable information connected with the Arctic regions was afforded by MR WILLIAM SCORESBY, a gentleman who, while practising the whale fishing, had become the most learned observer and describer of the regions of ice. His account of the Northern Whale Fishery, 1822, is a standard work of great value, and he is author also of an Account of the Arctic Regions.

EASTERN TRAVELLERS.

The scenes and countries mentioned in Scripture have been frequently described since the publications of Dr Clarke. BURCKHARDT traversed Petræs (the Edom of the prophecies); MR WILLIAM RAE

had retired to some distance; and that the " sea

WILSON, in 1823, published Travels in Egypt and the Holy Land; MR CLAUDIUS JAMES RICH (the accomplished British resident at Bagdad, who died in 1821, at the early age of thirty-five) wrote an excellent memoir of the remains of Babylon; the HON. GEORGE KEPPEL performed the overland journey to India in 1824, and gave a narrative of his observations in Bassorah, Bagdad, the ruins of Babylon, &c. MR J. S. BUCKINGHAM also travelled by the overland route (taking, however, the way of the Mediterranean and the Turkish provinces in Asia Minor), and the result of his journey was given to the world in three separate works (the latest published in 1827), entitled Travels in Palestine; Travels among the Arab Tribes; and Travels in Mesopotamia. DR R. R. MADDEN, a medical gentleman, who resided several years in India, in 1829 published Travels in Egypt, Turkey, Nubia, and Palestine. Letters from the East, and Recollections of Travel in the East (1830), by JoHN CARNE, Esq. of Queen's college, Cambridge, extend, the first over Syria and Egypt, and the second over Palestine and Cairo. Mr Carne is a judicious observer and picturesque describer, yet he sometimes ventures on doubtful biblical criticism. The miracle of the passage of the Red Sea, for example, he thinks should be limited to a specific change in the direction of the winds. The idea of representing the waves standing like a wall on each side must consequently be abandoned. This,' he says, 'is giving a literal interpretation to the evidently figurative language of Scripture, where it is said that "God caused the sea to go back all night by a strong east wind," and when the morning dawned, there was probably a wide and waste expanse, from which the waters returning in his strength in the morning," was the rushing back of an impetuous and resistless tide, inevitable, but not instantaneous, for it is evident the Egyptians turned and fled at its approach.' In But to return to the ladies of the higher circles, either case a miracle must have been performed, whom we left in some gay saloon of Bagdad. When and it seems unnecessary and hypercritical to at-all are assembled, the evening meal or dinner is soon tempt reducing it to the lowest point. Mr Milman, served. The party, seated in rows, then prepare themin his history of the Jews, has fallen into this error, selves for the entrance of the show, which, consisting and explained away the miracles of the Old Testa- of music and dancing, continues in noisy exhibition ment till all that is supernatural, grand, and impres- through the whole night. At twelve o'clock supper is sive disappears. Travels along the Mediterranean and Parts Ad- produced, when pilaus, kabobs, preserves, fruits, dried sweetmeats, and sherbets of every fabric and flavour, jacent (1822), by DR ROBERT RICHARDSON, is an engage the fair convives for some time. Between this interesting work, particularly as relates to anti-second banquet and the preceding, the perfumed narquities. The doctor travelled by way of Alexan- quilly is never absent from their rosy lips, excepting dria, Cairo, &c. to the second cataract of the Nile, when they sip coffee, or indulge in a general shout of returning by Jerusalem, Damascus, Balbec, and approbation, or a hearty peal of laughter at the freaks Tripoli. He surveyed the temple of Solomon, and of the dancers or the subject of the singers' madrigals. was the first acknowledged Christian received within But no respite is given to the entertainers; and, durits holy walls since it has been appropriated to the ing so long a stretch of merriment, should any of the religion of Mohammed. The Journal to Some Parts of happy guests feel a sudden desire for temporary reEthiopia (1822), by MESSRS WADDINGTON and HAN-pose, without the least apology she lies down to sleep BURY, gives an account of the antiquities of Ethio- on the luxurious carpet that is her seat; and thus she pia and the extirpation of the Mamelukes. remains, sunk in as deep an oblivion as if the numSIR JOHN MALCOLM was author of a History of mud were spread in her own chamber. Others speedily Persia, and Sketches of Persia. MR MORIER'S Jour-follow her example, sleeping as sound; notwithstandneys through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor, abounding that the bawling of the singers, the horrid jangling in interesting descriptions of the country, people, of the guitars, the thumping on the jar-like doubleand government. SIR WILLIAM OUSELY (who had drum, the ringing and loud clangour of the metal bells been private secretary to the British embassy in and castanets of the dancers, with an eternal talking Persia) has published three large volumes of travels in all keys, abrupt laughter, and vociferous expressions in various countries of the East, particularly Persia, of gratification, making in all a full concert of disin 1810, 1811, and 1812. This work illustrates sub-tracting sounds, sufficient, one might suppose, to jects of antiquarian research, history, geography, awaken the dead. But the merry tumult and joyful philology, &c. and is valuable to the scholar for its strains of this conviviality gradually become fainter citations from rare Oriental manuscripts. Another and fainter; first one and then another of the visitors valuable work on this country is SIR ROBERT KER (while even the performers are not spared by the sopoPORTER'S Travels in Georgia, Persia, Babylonia, &c. rific god) sink down under the drowsy influence, till published in 1822. at length the whole carpet is covered with the sleeping

[View of Society in Bagdad.]
[From Sir R. K. Porter's Travels."]

The wives of the higher classes in Bagdad are usually selected from the most beautiful girls that can be obtained from Georgia and Circassia; and, to their natural charms, in like manner with their captive sisters all over the East, they add the fancied embellishments of painted complexions, hands and feet dyed with henna, and their hair and eyebrows stained with the rang, or prepared indigo leaf. Chains of gold. and collars of pearls, with various ornaments of precious stones, decorate the upper part of their persons, while solid bracelets of gold, in shapes resembling serpents, clasp their wrists and ankles. Silver and golden tissued muslins not only form their turbans, but frequently their under garments. In summer the ample pelisse is made of the most costly shawl, and in cold weather, lined and bordered with the choicest furs. The dress is altogether very becoming; by its easy folds and glittering transparency, showing a fine shape to advantage, without the immodest exposure of the open vest of the Persian ladies. The humbler females generally move abroad with faces totally unveiled, having a handkerchief rolled round their heads, from beneath which their hair hangs down over their shoulders, while another piece of linen passes under their chin, in the fashion of the Georgians. Their garment is a gown of a shift form, reaching to their ankles, open before, and of a gray colour. Their feet are completely naked. Many of the very inferior classes stain their bosoms with the figures of circles, half-moons, stars, &c. in a bluish stamp. In this barbaric embelof vanity resembling that of the ladies of Irak Ajem. lishment the poor damsel of Irak Arabi has one point The former frequently adds this frightful cadaverous hue to her lips; and, to complete her savage appearance, thrusts a ring through the right nostril, pendent with a flat button-like ornament set round with blue

or red stones.

beauties, mixed indiscriminately with handmaids, dancers, and musicians, as fast asleep as themselves. The business, however, is not thus quietly ended. Letters from the South, two volumes, 1837, by MR As soon as the sun begins to call forth the blushes of THOMAS CAMPBELL, the poet, give an account of a the morn, by lifting the veil that shades her slumber- voyage made by that gentleman to Algiers. The ing eyelids, the faithful slaves rub their own clear of letters are descriptive, without any political or colo any lurking drowsiness, and then tug their respective nial views, but full of entertaining gossip and poetimistresses by the toe or the shoulder, to rouse them cal sketches of striking and picturesque objects. up to perform the devotional ablutions usual at the The grandeur of the surrounding mountain scenery dawn of day. All start mechanically, as if touched seems to have astonished Mr Campbell. The by a spell; and then commences the splashing of African highlands,' he says, 'spring up to the sight water and the muttering of prayers, presenting a sin- not only with a sterner boldness than our own, but gular contrast to the vivacious scene of a few hours before. This duty over, the fair devotees shake their they borrow colours from the sun unknown to our feathers like birds from a refreshing shower, and trip-climate, and they are marked in clouds of richer dye. The farthest-off summits appeared in their snow like the turbans of gigantic Moors, whilst the nearer masses glared in crimson and gold under the light of morning.'

ping lightly forward with garments, and perhaps looks, a little the worse for the wear of the preceding evening, plunge at once again into all the depths of its amusements. Coffee, sweetmeats, kaliouns, as before, accompany every obstreperous repetition of the midnight song and dance; and all being followed up by a plentiful breakfast of rice, meats, fruits, &c. towards noon the party separate, after having spent between fifteen and sixteen hours in this riotous festivity.

Travels in the East, by the REV. HORATIO SOUTHGATE (1840), describe the traveller's route through Greece, Turkey, Armenia, Koordistan, Persia, and Mesopotamia, and give a good account of the Mohammedan religion, and its rites and ceremonies. The following is a correction of a vulgar error :

behind a lattice; and something of the same kind I have observed among the Christians of Mesopotamia.

Six Years' Residence in Algiers, by MRS BROUGHTON, published in 1839, is an interesting domestic chronicle. The authoress was daughter to Mr Blanckley, the British consul-general at Algiers; and the work is composed of a journal kept by Mrs Blanckley, with reminiscences by her daughter, Mrs Broughton. The vivacity, minute description, and kindly feeling everywhere apparent in this book, render it highly attractive.

[Religious Status of Women in the Mohammedan System.]

Mo

·

ALEXANDER, two volumes, 1838, describe a journey Discoveries in the Interior of Africa, by SIR JAMES from Cape-Town, of about four thousand miles, and occupying above a year, towards the tracts of country inhabited by the Damaras, a nation of which very little was known, and generally the The place which the Mohammedan system assigns country to the north of the Orange River, on the to woman in the other world has often been wrongfully west coast. The author's personal adventures are represented. It is not true, as has sometimes been interesting, and it appears that the aborigines are a reported, that Mohammedan teachers deny her admis-kind and friendly tribe of people, with whom Sir sion to the felicities of Paradise. The doctrine of the James Alexander thinks that an extended interKoran is, most plainly, that her destiny is to be de- course may be maintained for the mutual benefit of termined in like manner with that of every account- the colonists and the natives. able being; and according to the judgment passed upon her is her reward, although nothing definite is said of the place which she is to occupy in Paradise. hammed speaks repeatedly of believing women,' commends them, and promises them the recompense which their good deeds deserve. The regulations of the Sunneh are in accordancecond with the precepts of the Koran. So far is woman from being regarded in these institutions as a creature without a soul, that special allusion is frequently made to her, and particular directions given for her religious conduct. Respecting her observance of Ramazan, her ablutions, and many other matters, her duty is taught with a minuteness that borders on indecorous precision. She repeats the creed in dying, and, like other Mussulmans, says, 'In this faith I have lived, in this faith I die, and in this faith I hope to rise again.' She is required to do everything of religious obligation equally with men. The command to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca extends to her. In my journeys, I often met with women on their way to the Holy City. They may even undertake this journey without the consent of their husbands, whose authority in religious matters extends only to those acts of devotion which are not obligatory. Women are not, indeed, allowed to be present in the mosques at the time of public prayers; but the reason is not that they are regarded, like pagan females, as unsusceptible of religious sentiments, but because the meeting of the two sexes in a sacred place is supposed to be unfavourable to devotion. This, however, is an Oriental, not a Mohammedan prejudice. The custom is nearly the same among the Christians as among the Mussulmans. In the Greek churches the females are separated from the males, and concealed

Minor in 1838, by CHARLES FELLOWs, is valuable
A Journal Written During an Excursion in Asia-
Fellows has also written a second work, Ancient
from the author's discoveries in Pamphylia. Mr
Lycia; an Account of Discoveries made during a Se-

Excursion to Asia-Minor in 1840. Two recent travellers, LIEUT. J. R. WELLSTED, author of the Shores of the Red Sea (1838), and LORD LINDSAY, Travels in Arabia, the Peninsula of Sinai, and along in his Letters on Egypt, Edom, and the Holy Land (1838), supply some additional details. The scene of the encampment of the Israelites, after crossing the Red Sea, is thus described by Lord Lindsay:

The bright sea suddenly burst on us, a sail in the distance, and the blue mountains of Africa beyond it -a lovely vista. But when we had fairly issued into the plain on the sea-shore, beautiful indeed, most beautiful was the view-the whole African coast, from Gebel Ataka to Gebel Krarreb lay before us, washed by the Red Sea a vast amphitheatre of mountains, except the space where the waters were lost in distance between the Asiatic and Libyan promontories. It was the stillest hour of day; the sun shone brightly, descending to his palace in the occident; the tide was coming in with its peaceful pensive murmurs, wave after wave. It was in this plain, broad and perfectly smooth from the mountains to the sea, that the children of Israel encamped after leaving Elim. What a glorious scene it must then have presented! and how nobly those of rocks, now so silent, must have re-echoed the song Moses and its ever-returning chorus - Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea!'