singular, and well deserve a place in our repertory of curiosities.
The seller of _tir'mis_ (or lupins) often cries "Aid! O Imba'bee!
aid!" This is understood in two senses: as an invocation for aid
to the sheykh El-Imba'bee, a celebrated Moos'lim saint, buried at
the Imba'beh, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Cairo; in the
neighbourhood of which village the best tir'mis is grown; and also as
implying that it is through the aid of the saint above mentioned that
the tir'mis of Imba'beh is so excellent. The seller of this vegetable
also cries, "The tir'mis of Imba'beh surpasses the almond!" Another
cry of the seller of tir'mis is, "O how sweet are the little children
of the river!" This last cry, which is seldom heard but in the country
towns and villages of Egypt, alludes to the manner in which the tir'mis
is prepared for food. To deprive it of its natural bitterness, it is
soaked, for two or three days, in a vessel full of water; then boiled,
and, after this, sewed up in a basket of palm-leaves (called _furd_),
and thrown into the Nile, where it is left to soak again, two or three
days; after which, it is dried, and eaten cold, with a little salt. The
seller of sour limes cries, "God make them light [or easy of sale]!
O limes!" The toasted pips of a kind of melon called '_abdalla'wee_,
and of the water-melon, are often announced by the cry of "O consoler
of the embarrassed! O pips!" though more commonly, by the simple cry
of "Roasted pips!" A curious cry of the seller of a kind of sweetmeat
(hhala'wee), composed of treacle fried with some other ingredients,
is, "For a nail! O sweetmeat!" He is said to be half a thief: children
and servants often steal implements of iron, &c., from the house in
which they live, and give them to him in exchange for his sweetmeat.
The hawker of oranges cries, "Honey! O oranges! Honey!" and similar
cries are used by the sellers of other fruits and vegetables; so that
it is sometimes impossible to guess what the person announces for sale;
as, when we hear the cry of "Sycamore-figs! O grapes!" excepting by
the rule that what is for sale is the least excellent of the fruits,
&c., mentioned; as sycamore-figs are not so good as grapes. A very
singular cry is used by the seller of roses: "The rose was a thorn:
from the sweat of the Prophet it opened [its flowers]." This alludes
to a miracle related of the Prophet. The fragrant flowers of the
hhen'na-tree (or Egyptian privet) are carried about for sale, and the
seller cries, "Odours of paradise! O flowers of the hhen'na!" A kind of
cotton cloth, made by machinery which is put in motion by a bull, is
announced by the cry of "The work of the bull! O maidens!"
THE BLACK PESTILENCE.
The black pestilence of the fourteenth century caused the most terrific
ravages in England. It has been supposed to have borne some resemblance
to the cholera, but that is not the case; it derived its name from
the dark, livid colour of the spots and boils that broke out upon
the patient's body. Like the cholera, the fatal disease appeared to
have followed a regular route in its destructive progress; but it did
not, like the cholera, advance westward, although, like that fearful
visitation, it appears to have originated in Asia.
The black pestilence descended along the Caucasus to the shores of the
Mediterranean, and, instead of entering Europe through Russia, first
appeared over the south, and, after devastating the rest of Europe,
penetrated into that country. It followed the caravans, which came
from China across Central Asia, until it reached the shores of the
Black Sea; thence it was conveyed by ships to Constantinople, the
centre of commercial intercourse between Asia, Europe, and Africa. In
1347 it reached Sicily and some of the maritime cities of Italy and
Marseilles. During the following year it spread over the northern part
of Italy, France, Germany, and England. The northern kingdoms of Europe
were invaded by it in 1349, and finally Russia in 1351--four years
after it had appeared in Constantinople.
The following estimate of deaths was considered far below the actual
number of victims:--
Florence lost 60,000 inhabitants
Venice " 10,000 "
Marseilles " in one month 56,000 "
Paris " " 50,000 "
Avignon " " 60,000 "
Strasburg " " 16,000 "
Basle " " 14,000 "
Erfurth " " 16,000 "
London " " 100,000 "
Norwich " " 50,000 "
Hecker states that this pestilence was preceded by great commotion
in the interior of the globe. About 1333, several earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions did considerable injury in upper Asia, while in the
same year, Greece, Italy, France, and Germany suffered under similar
disasters. The harvests were swept away by inundations, and clouds of
locusts destroyed all that floods had spared, while dense masses of
offensive insects strewed the land.
As in the recent invasion of cholera, the populace attributed this
scourge to poison and to the Jews, and these hapless beings were
persecuted and destroyed wherever they could be found. In Mayence,
after vainly attempting to defend themselves, they shut themselves up
in their quarters, where 1,200 of them burnt to death. The only asylum
found by them was Lithuania, where Casimir afforded them protection;
and it is, perhaps, owing to this circumstance that so many Jewish
families are still to be found in Poland.
THE DUCHESS OF LAUDERDALE.
Few mansions are more pleasantly situated than Ham House, the dwelling
of the Tollemaches, Earls of Dysart. It stands on the south bank of
the Thames, distant about twelve miles from London, and immediately
opposite to the pretty village of Twickenham. It was erected early in
the seventeenth century; the date 1610 still stands on the door of
the principal entrance. Its builder was Sir Thomas Vavasour, and it
subsequently came into the possession of Katherine, daughter of the
Earl of Dysart, who married first Sir Lionel Tollemache, and for her
second husband Earl, afterwards Duke, of Lauderdale.
The Duchess of Lauderdale was one of the "busiest" women of the busy
age in which she lived. Burnet insinuates that, during the life time
of her first husband, "she had been in a correspondence with Lord
Lauderdale that had given occasion for censure." She succeeded in
persuading him that he was indebted for his escape after "Worcester
fight" to "her intrigues with Cromwell. She was a woman," continues
the historian, "of great beauty, but of far greater parts. She had
a wonderful quickness of apprehension, and an amazing vivacity in
conversation. She had studied, not only divinity and history, but
mathematics and philosophy. She was violent in everything she set
about,--a violent friend, but a much more violent enemy. She had
a restless ambition, lived at a vast expense, and was ravenously
covetous, and would have stuck at nothing by which she might compass
her ends." Upon the accession of her husband to political power after
the Restoration, "all applications were made to her. She took upon her
to determine everything; she sold all places; and was wanting in no
method that could bring her money, which she lavished out in a most
profuse vanity."
This Duchess of Lauderdale--famous during the reigns of four
monarchs--the First and Second James, and the First and Second Charles,
and through the Protectorship of Cromwell--refurnished the house at
Ham, where she continued to reside until her death at a very advanced
age.
Among other untouched relics of gone-by days, is a small ante-chamber,
where, it is said, she not only condescended to receive the second
Charles, but, if tradition is to be credited, where she "cajoled"
Oliver Cromwell. There still remains the chair in which she used to
sit, her small walking cane, and a variety of objects she was wont to
value and cherish as memorials of her active life, and the successful
issue of a hundred political intrigues.
[Illustration [++] Chair of the Duchess of Lauderdale.]
MODERN EGYPTIAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.
[Illustration: Sa'ga't (1), Ta'r (2), and Dar'abook'keh (3).]
The durwee'shes, who constitute a sort of religious mendicant order in
Egypt, often make use of, in their processions and in begging, a little
tubl, or kettle-drum, called _ba'z_; six or seven inches in diameter;
which is held in the left hand, by a little projection in the centre
of the back, and beaten by the right hand, with a short leather strap,
or a stick. They also use cymbals, which are called _ka's_, on similar
occasions. The ba'z is used by the Moosahh'hhir, to attract attention
to his cry in the nights of Rum'ada'n. Castanets of brass, called
_sa'ga't_ are used by the public female and male dancers. Each dancer
has two pairs of these instruments. They are attached, each by a loop
of string, to the thumb and second finger, and have a more pleasing
sound than castanets of wood or ivory. There are two instruments which
are generally found in the hharee'm of a person of moderate wealth,
and which the women often use for their diversion. One of these is
a tambourine, called _ta'r_, of which we insert an engraving. It is
eleven inches in diameter. The hoop is overlaid with mother-of-pearl,
tortoise-shell, and white bone, or ivory, both without and within, and
has ten circular plates of brass attached to it, each two pairs having
a wire passing through their centres. The ta'r is held by the left or
right hand, and beaten with the fingers of that hand and by the other
hand. The fingers of the hand which holds the instrument, striking only
near the hoop, produce higher sounds than the other hand, which strikes
in the centre. A tambourine of a larger and more simple kind than that
here described, without the metal plates, is often used by the lower
orders. The other instrument alluded to in the commencement of this
paragraph is a kind of drum, called _dar'abook'keh_. The best kind is
made of wood, covered with mother-of-pearl and tortoise-shell, &c. One
of this description is here represented with the ta'r. It is fifteen
inches in length, covered with a piece of fishes' skin at the larger
extremity, and open at the smaller. It is placed under the left arm;
generally suspended by a string that passes over the left shoulder; and
is beaten with both hands.
REMARKABLE OAKS.
The oaks most remarkable for their horizontal expansion, are, according
to Loudon, the following:--"The Three-shire Oak, near Worksop, was
so situated, that it covered part of the three counties of York,
Nottingham, and Derby, and dripped over seven hundred and seventy-seven
square yards. An oak between Newnham Courtney and Clifton shaded a
circumference of five hundred and sixty yards of ground, under which
two thousand four hundred and twenty men might have commodiously
taken shelter. The immense Spread Oak in Worksop Park, near the white
gate, gave an extent, between the ends of its opposite branches, of
an hundred and eighty feet. It dripped over an area of nearly three
thousand square yards, which is above half an acre, and would have
afforded shelter to a regiment of nearly a thousand horse. The Oakley
Oak, now growing on an estate of the Duke of Bedford, has a head of an
hundred and ten feet in diameter. The oak called _Robur Britannicum_,
in the Park, at Rycote, is said to have been extensive enough to cover
five thousand men; and at Ellerslie, in Renfrewshire, the native
village of the hero Wallace, there is still standing 'the old oak
tree,' among the branches of which, it is said, that he and three
hundred of his men hid themselves from the English."
CURIOUS ADVERTISEMENT.
A few years ago the following actually appeared in one of the London
papers: certainly a most economical speculation for the use of soul and
body:--
"Wanted, for a family who have bad health, a sober, steady person,
in the capacity of doctor, surgeon, apothecary, and man-midwife. He
must occasionally act as butler, and dress hair and wigs. He will
be required sometimes to read prayers, and to preach a sermon every
Sunday. A good salary will be given."
CHANGES OF MOUNT ETNA.
Signor Maria Gemmellario has given, from a meteorological journal kept
at Catania, a very interesting view of the successive changes of Mount
Etna, at a period in which it was in the phase of moderate activity;
and no description could convey so accurate a conception of the
ever-changing phenomena.
On the 9th of February, 1804, there was a sensible earthquake. Etna
smoked ninety-seven days, but there was no eruption nor any thunder.
On the 3rd of July, 1805, there was an earthquake. Etna smoked
forty-seven days, and emitted flame twenty-eight days. There was an
eruption in June, but no thunder.
There were earthquakes on the 27th of May and 10th of October, 1806.
The mountain smoked forty-seven days, flamed seven, and detonated
twenty-eight: little thunder.
On the 24th of February and 25th of November, 1807, there were
earthquakes. Etna smoked fifty-nine days: little thunder.
In August, September, and December, 1808, earthquakes were frequent.
Etna smoked twelve days, flamed one hundred and two, and often
detonated. Thunder storms were frequent.
From January to May, and during September and December, 1809, there
were thirty-seven earthquakes. The most sensible shock was on the 27th
of March, when the mountain ejected lava on the western side. This
eruption lasted thirteen days, and part of the Bosco di Castiglione was
injured. The mountain smoked one hundred and fifty-two days, flamed
three, and detonated eleven. Little thunder.
On the 16th and 17th of February, 1810, there were four earthquakes.
On the 27th of October, Etna was in a state of eruption on the eastern
side, and the lava flowed into the Valle del Bue. There were about
twenty thunder storms.
1811, no earthquakes, but the mountain continued until the 24th of
April to eject lava from the east. At this time the Mount St. Simon was
formed. No thunder.
Earthquake on the 3rd and 13th of March, 1813. The mountain smoked
twenty-eight days. On the 30th of June, and on the 5th of August, St.
Simon smoked. There were twenty-one thunder storms.
On the 3rd of November, 1814, there was an earthquake, preceded by a
discharge of sand from that part of the mountain called Zoccolaro.
There were twelve thunder storms.
On the 6th of September, 1815, there was an earthquake. The mountain
smoked forty-two days, and there were eleven thunder storms. On the
6th, 7th, and 11th of January the lightning was tremendous.
1816, no earthquakes. On the 13th of August a part of the interior side
of the crater fell in. Ten thunder storms.
There was an earthquake on the 18th of October, 1817. The mountain
smoked twenty-two days. There were eight thunder storms.
During 1818 there were twenty-five earthquakes. The most violent was
in the neighbourhood of Catania, on the 20th of February. The mountain
smoked twenty-four days. No thunder.
CHARITY INSTEAD OF POMP.
According to the "Annual Register" for August, 1760, there were
expended at the funeral of Farmer Keld, of Whitby, in that year, one
hundred and ten dozen of penny loaves, eight large hams, eight legs
of veal, twenty stone of beef (fourteen pounds to the stone), sixteen
stone of mutton, fifteen stone of Cheshire cheese, and thirty ankers of
ale, besides what was distributed to about one thousand poor people,
who had sixpence each in money given them.
THE BEDFORD MISSAL.
One of the most celebrated books in the annals of bibliography, is the
richly illuminated Missal, executed for John, Duke of Bedford, Regent
of France, under Henry VI.; by him it was presented to that king, in
1430. This rare volume is eleven inches long, seven and a-half wide,
and two and a-half thick; contains fifty-nine large miniatures, which
nearly occupy the whole page, and above a thousand small ones, in
circles of about an inch and a-half diameter, displayed in brilliant
borders of golden foliage, with variegated flowers, etc.; at the bottom
of every page are two lines in blue and gold letters, which explain the
subject of each miniature. This relic, after passing through various
hands, descended to the Duchess of Portland, whose valuable collection
was sold by auction, in 1786. Among its many attractions was the
Bedford Missal. A knowledge of the sale coming to the ears of George
III., he sent for his bookseller, and expressed his intention to become
the purchaser. The bookseller ventured to submit to his majesty the
probable high price it would fetch. "How high?" exclaimed the king.
"Probably, two hundred guineas," replied the bookseller. "Two hundred
guineas for a Missal!" exclaimed the queen, who was present, and
lifted her hands up with astonishment. "Well, well," said his majesty,
"I'll have it still; but since the queen thinks two hundred guineas
so enormous a price for a Missal, I'll go no further." The biddings
for the Royal Library did actually stop at that point; a celebrated
collector, Mr. Edwards, became the purchaser by adding three pounds
more. The same Missal was afterwards sold at Mr. Edwards' sale, in
1815, and purchased by the Duke of Marlborough, for the enormous sum of
L637 l5s. sterling.
CALICINATED RINGS.
[Illustration [++] Calicinated Ring.]
There is a particular class of antique gold ornaments, belonging to
the Bronze Period, which is deserving of especial attention, from
the circumstance that the British Isles is the only locality in
which it has yet been discovered. These ornaments consist of a solid
cylindrical gold bar, beat into a semicircle or segmental arc, most
frequently tapering from the centre, and terminated at both ends with
hollow cups, resembling the mouth of a trumpet, or the expanded calix
of a flower. A remarkable example of these curious native relics is
engraved in the "Archaeological Journal." The cups are formed merely by
hollows in the slightly dilated ends; but it is further interesting
from being decorated with the style of incised ornaments of most
frequent occurrence on the primitive British pottery. It was dug up at
Brahalish, near Bantry, county Cork, and weighs 3 oz. 5 dwts. 6 grs.
In contrast to this, another is engraved in the same journal, found
near the entrance lodge at Swinton Park, Yorkshire, scarcely two feet
below the surface. In this beautiful specimen the terminal cups are
so unusually large, that the solid bar of gold dwindles into a mere
connecting-link between them. The annexed figure of a very fine example
found by a labourer while cutting peats in the parish of Cromdale,
Inverness-shire, somewhat resembles that of Swinton Park in the size of
its cups. It is from a drawing by the late Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, and
represents it about one-half the size of the original. Similar relics
of more ordinary proportions have been brought to light, at different
times, in various Scottish districts.
EXTRAORDINARY CRICKET MATCHES.
Every day in summer wagers are made at Lord's cricket ground, upon
matches there to be played; but there have been more extraordinary
matches elsewhere relative to this exercising game; for a cricket match
was played on Blackheath, in the year 1766, between eleven Greenwich
pensioners who had lost each an arm, and eleven others who had lost
each a leg. The former won with ease. And again, on the 9th of August,
1796, a cricket match was played by eleven Greenwich pensioners with
one leg, against eleven with one arm, for one thousand guineas, at the
new cricket ground, Montpelier gardens, Walworth. At nine o'clock
the men arrived in three Greenwich stages; about twelve the wickets
were pitched, and they commenced. Those with but one leg had the first
innings, and got 93 runs; those with but one arm got but 42 runs
during their innings. The one-leg commenced their second innings, and
six were bowled out after they had got 60 runs; so that they left off
one hundred and eleven more than those with one arm. Next morning the
match was played out; and the men with one leg beat the one-arms by
one hundred and three runs. After the match was finished the eleven
one-legged men ran a sweep-stakes of one hundred yards distance for
twenty guineas, and the three first had prizes.
MUMMY CASES.
[Illustration [++] Mummy Cases.]
The annexed engraving represents a set of Egyptian mummy cases, several
of which were used for the interment of one body, the smaller one being
enclosed within the larger. On the death of a king in Egypt, "three
score and ten days" was the period that intervened from his departure
to the termination of the embalming operations; the earlier and more
important of which, exclusive of the soaking in natron, occupied forty
days. The coffin, or wooden case, in which the embalmed body of Joseph
was preserved, till at the exodus it was carried from Egypt, was,
doubtless, of such a form and appearance as those with which we are
familiar at our museums. An account of some specimens of these, and
of the internal shells which were considered requisite for persons of
rank, will be read with interest.
Before the better kind of mummies were put into their wooden cases,
they were placed in a shell in the following manner:--Nine thick layers
of hempen or linen cloth were well gummed together, so as to make a
strong flexible kind of board, something like a piece of papier mache.
This was formed into the shape of the swathed mummy, which was inserted
in it by means of a longitudinal aperture on the under side, reaching
from the feet to the head. The two sides of this long aperture were
then drawn together by a coarse kind of stitching, done with a large
needle and thin hempen cord. The inside of this hempen case was covered
with a thin coating of plaster, and the outside was also covered with
a similar sort of plaster, on which were painted rude figures of
beetles, ibides, &c., &c., apparently with ochrous earths tempered
with water; they could be easily rubbed off with the finger, except
where they were fixed by an outer coating of gum. On the upper part of
this case a human face was represented, and for the purpose of giving
additional strength and firmness to that part of the hempen covering, a
considerable quantity of earth and plaster was stuck on the inside, so
that it would be more easy to mould the material on the outside, while
still flexible, into a resemblance of the human form. The face was
covered with a strong varnish, to keep the colour fixed. The outer case
was generally made of the Egyptian fig-sycamore wood, and the parts of
it were fastened together with wooden pegs. This wood was used by the
Egyptians for a variety of purposes, as we find even common domestic
utensils made of it. The pegs of the sycamore cases were not always of
the sycamore wood, which, when cut thin, would hardly be so suitable as
some more closely-grained wood; the pegs, therefore, of the inner cases
were of a different wood, generally of cedar. Bodies embalmed in the
highest style of fashion, had, in addition to the inner coffin which we
have described, an outer wooden box, such as Herodotus mentions, with
a human face, male or female, painted on it. Some of these cases were
plain, and others highly ornamented with figures of sacred animals, or
with paintings representing mythological subjects.
The wooden case which contained the body was sometimes cut out of
one piece of wood, and the inside was made smooth, and fit for the
reception of the painted figures, by laying on it a thin coat of fine
plaster. This plaster was also used as a lining for the wooden cases
which were not made of a single piece. There was often a second wooden
case, still more highly ornamented and covered with paintings secured
by a strong varnish. These paintings were intended to embody the ideas
of the Egyptians as to the state of death, the judgment or trial which
preceded the admission into the regions below, and other matters
connected with the ritual of the dead and the process of embalming.
The upper part of each of the wooden cases was made to represent a
human figure, and the sex was clearly denoted by the character of
the head-dress, and the presence or absence of the beard. Both the
head-dress and the ornaments about the neck, as far as the bosom, were
exactly of the same character as those which we see on the sculptures
and paintings. The brief remark of Herodotus, that the friends put the
swathed mummy "into a wooden figure made to resemble the human form,"
is amply borne out.
INSTINCT OF ANIMALS.
Gall and various observers of animals have fully ascertained that the
attention of dogs is awakened by our conversation. He brought one
of these intelligent creatures with him from Vienna to Paris, which
perfectly understood French and German, of which he satisfied himself
by repeating before it whole sentences in both languages. A recent
anecdote has been related of an old ship-dog, that leaped overboard
and swam to shore on hearing the captain exclaim, "Poor old Neptune! I
fear we shall have to drown him!" and such was the horror which that
threat inspired, that he never afterwards would approach the captain
or any of the ship's company, to whom he had previously been fondly
attached. It must, however, be observed that in the brute creation, as
in ours (sometimes more brutal species), peculiar attributes, that do
not belong to the race, distinguish individuals gifted with what in
man we might call a superior intellect, but which in these animals
shows a superiority of what we term instinct. Spurzheim relates an
instance of a cow belonging to Mr. Dupont de Nemours, which, amongst
the whole kindred herd, was the only one that could open the gate
leading to their pastures; and her anxious comrades, when arriving
at the wished-for spot, invariably lowed for their conductor. It is
also related of a hound, who, unable to obtain a seat near the fire
without the risk of quarrelling with the dozing occupants that crowded
the hearth, was wont to run out into the court-yard barking an alarm
that brought away his rivals in comfort, when he quietly re-entered
the parlour, and selected an eligible stretching-place. This animal
displayed as much ingenuity as the traveller who, according to the
well-known story, ordered oysters for his horse for the purpose of
clearing the fireside.
BELL OF ST. MURA.
[Illustration [++] Bell of St. Mura.]