detached buildings. A little to the north is the "Palace," or state
apartment, of the Lord White Elephant, with his highness's humbler
every-day residence in rear. To the south are sheds for the vulgar
herd of the same species, and brick godowns in which the state
carriages and golden litters (the latter massive and gorgeous in great
variety of design) are stowed away. Temporary buildings, used as
barracks and gunsheds, run along the wall. The present white elephant
has occupied his post for at least fifty years. I have no doubt he
is the same as Padre San-germano mentions as having been caught in
1806, to the great joy of the King, who had just lost the preceding
incumbent, a female, which died after a year's captivity. He is a very
large elephant, close upon ten feet high, with as noble a head and pair
of tusks as I have ever seen. But he is long-bodied and lanky, and not
otherwise well made as an elephant. He is sickly and out of condition,
and is, in fact, distempered during five months of the year, from April
to August. His eye, the iris of which is yellow with a reddish outer
annulus, and a small clear black pupil, has an uneasy glare, and his
keepers evidently mistrust his temper. We were always warned against
going near his head. The annulus round the iris of the eye is pointed
out as resembling a circle of the nine gems. His colour is almost
uniform all over; nearly the ground-tint of the mottled or freckled
part of the trunk and ears of common elephants, perhaps a little
darker. He also has pale freckles in the same parts. On the whole, he
is well entitled to his appellation of white. His royal paraphernalia,
which are set out when visitors are expected, are sufficiently
splendid. Among them was a driving-hook about three feet long, the stem
of which was a mass of small pearls, girt at frequent intervals with
bands of rubies, and the hook and handle of crystal tipped with gold.
His headstall was of fine red cloth, plentifully studded with fine
rubies, and near the extremity having some valuable diamonds. To fit
over the two bumps of the forehead were circles of the nine gems, which
are supposed to be charms against evil influences. When caparisoned he
also wore on the forehead, like other Burmese dignitaries, including
the King himself, a golden plate inscribed with his titles, and a
gold crescent set with circles of large gems between the eyes. Large
silver tassels hung in front of his ears, and he was harnessed with
bands of gold and crimson set with large bosses of pure gold. He is a
regular "estate of the realm," having a woon or minister of his own,
four gold umbrellas, the white umbrellas which are peculiar to royalty,
with a suite of attendants said to be thirty in number. The Burmese
who attended us removed their shoes before entering his 'Palace.' The
elephant has an appanage or territory assigned to him 'to eat,' like
any other dignitary of the empire. I do not know where his estate is at
present, but in Burney's time it was the rich cotton district of Taroup
Myo."
SUPERSTITION IN 1856.
In April, 1856, a poor woman, residing in a village about three miles
from Pershore, acting upon the advice of her neighbours, brought her
child, who was suffering from whooping cough, to that town, for the
purpose of finding out a married couple answering to the names of
Joseph and Mary, and soliciting their interference on behalf of her
afflicted child, as she had been informed that if two married persons
having those names could but be induced to lay their hands on her
child's head, the whooping cough would be immediately cured. After
scouring the town for a considerable time in search of "Joseph and
his fair lady," they were at length discovered in the persons of a
respectable tradesman and his wife residing in Bridge Street, to whom
the poor silly woman made known her foolish request, which at first
excited a smile from the good woman of the house, but was quickly
followed, not by "the laying on of hands," but by good advice, such as
mothers only know how to give in these matters. The poor mother then
thankfully departed a wiser woman.
PRAYING BY WHEEL AND AXLE.
The Japanese, like the inhabitants of Thibet, are not content with
devout prayers, pilgrimages, prostrations, offerings to the gods
in order to secure blessings here and hereafter; they also pray by
machine, by _wheel and axle_. There is a square post, nearly eight feet
in length, and near the centre, at a convenient height to be reached
by the hand, is fixed vertically a wheel, which moves readily on an
axle passed through the post. Two small rings are strung upon each of
three spokes of the wheel. Every person who twists this instrument in
passing is supposed to obtain credit in heaven for one or more prayers
inscribed on the post, the number being graduated according to the
vigour of the performer's devotion, and the number of revolutions
effected. The jingle of the small iron rings is believed to secure
the attention of the deity to the invocation of the devout, and the
greater the noise, the more certain of its being listened to. Some of
the inscriptions on this post are worth remembering:--"The great round
mirror of knowledge says, 'wise men and fools are embarked in the same
boat;' whether prospered or afflicted, both are rowing over the deep
lake; the gay sails lightly hang to catch the autumnal breeze; then
away they straight enter the lustrous clouds, and become partakers of
heaven's knowledge."
"He whose prescience detects knowledge says:--'As the floating grass is
blown by the gentle breeze, or the glancing ripples of autumn disappear
when the sun goes down, or as the ship returns home to her old shore,
so is life: it is a smoke, a morning tide.'"
"Others are more to the point--as to the machine--'Buddha himself
earnestly desires to hear the name of this person (who is buried), and
wishes he may go to life.'"
NOVEL WAY OF DESIGNATING A HOUSE.
In the "New View of London," published in 1708, it is mentioned as a
remarkable circumstance attaching to the history of Prescott Street,
near the Strand, that instead of signs, the houses were distinguished
by numbers, as the stair-cases in the Inns of Court, and Chancery. The
following advertisement, taken from newspapers a century and a half
old, is interesting at this distance of time, as it shows the shifts
to which advertisers were reduced, to point out their houses to their
customers:--
"Doctor James Tilborgh, a German doctor, states that he liveth at
present over against the New Exchange, in Bedford Street, at the sign
of the 'Peacock,' where you shall see at night two candles burning
within one of the chambers before the balcony; and a lanthorn with a
candle in it upon the balcony: where he may be spoke with all alone,
from 8 in the morning till 10 at night."
DYAK WAR-BOAT IN BORNEO.
The Malay war-boat, or _prahu_, is built of timber at the lower part;
the upper is of bamboo, rattan, and kedgang (the dried leaf of the Nepa
palm). Outside the bends, about a foot from the water line, runs a
strong gallery, in which the rowers sit cross-legged. At the after-part
of the boat is a cabin for the chief who commands, and the whole of
the vessel is surmounted by a strong flat roof, upon which they fight,
their principal weapons being the kris and spear, both of which, to be
used with effect, require elbow-room.
[Illustration: [++] Dyak War-Boat.]
The Dyak war-boat, as represented in the annexed sketch, is a
long-built canoe, more substantially constructed than the prahu of the
Malays, and sufficiently capacious to hold from seventy to eighty men.
This also has a roof to fight from. They are generally painted, and the
stern ornamented with feathers.
Both descriptions of war-boats are remarkably swift, notwithstanding
such apparent top-weight.
WAR-DANCE OF THE DYAKS OF BORNEO.
Almost every savage nation has its peculiar war-dance, and the
different steps, movements, and cries, in each depict different stages
in the supposed fight. An account of the various kinds of dances
would form an interesting work, and as a contribution to it we here
call attention to the following description of a war-dance which was
practised for the entertainment of the officers of the Semarang, on
the occasion of their visiting a Dyak Chief. It is taken from Captain
Marryat's "Borneo:"--
[Illustration: [++] Dyak War-Dance.]
"A space was cleared in the centre, and two of the oldest warriors
stepped into it. They were dressed in turbans, long loose jackets,
sashes round their waists descending to their feet, and small bells
were attached to their ankles. They commenced by first shaking hands
with the rajah, and then with all the Europeans present, thereby giving
us to understand, as was explained to us, that the dance was to be
considered only as a spectacle, and not to be taken in its literal
sense, as preparatory to an attack upon us, a view of the case in which
we fully coincided with them.
"This ceremony being over, they rushed into the centre, and gave a
most unearthly scream; then poising themselves on one foot, they
described a circle with the other, at the same time extending their
arms like the wings of a bird, and then meeting their hands, clapping
them and keeping time with the music. After a little while the music
became louder, and suddenly our ears were pierced with the whole of
the natives present joining in the hideous war-cry. Then the motions
and screams of the dancers became more violent, and every thing was
worked up to a state of excitement, by which even we were influenced.
Suddenly, a very unpleasant odour pervaded the room, already too
warm, from the numbers it contained. Involuntarily we held our noses,
wondering what might be the cause, when we perceived that one of the
warriors had stepped into the centre, and suspended round the shoulders
of each dancer a human head in a wide-meshed basket of rattan. These
heads had been taken in the late Sakarron business, and were therefore
but a fortnight old. They were encased in a wide network of rattan, and
were ornamented with beads. Their stench was intolerable, although,
as we discovered upon after examination, when they were suspended
against the wall, they had been partially baked and were quite black.
The teeth and hair were quite perfect, the features somewhat shrunk,
and they were altogether very fair specimens of pickled heads; but our
worthy friends required a lesson from the New Zealanders in the art of
preserving. The appearance of the heads was the signal for the music
to play louder, for the war-cry of the natives to be more energetic,
and for the screams of the dancers to be more piercing. Their motions
now became more rapid, and the excitement in proportion. Their eyes
glistened with unwonted brightness. The perspiration dropped down
their faces, and thus did yelling, dancing, gongs, and tom-toms become
more rapid and more violent every minute, till the dancing warriors
were ready to drop. A farewell yell, with emphasis, was given by
the surrounding warriors; immediately the music ceased, the dancers
disappeared, and the tumultuous excitement and noise was succeeded by
a dead silence. Such was the excitement communicated, that when it was
all over we ourselves for some time remained panting to recover our
breath. Again we lighted our cheroots, and smoked for a while the pipe
of peace."
WONDERFUL FISH.
The Greek Church of Baloukli contains an extraordinary instance of the
credulity of superstition. Some wonderful fish are there preserved,
which are thus described by Mr. Curzon in his admirable book on the
"Monasteries of the Levant:"--
"The unfortunate Emperor Constantine Paleologus rode out of the city
alone to reconnoitre the outposts of the Turkish army, which was
encamped in the immediate vicinity. In passing through a wood he found
an old man seated by the side of a spring, cooking some fish on a
gridiron for his dinner; the emperor dismounted from his white horse,
and entered into conversation with the other; the old man looked up at
the stranger in silence, when the emperor inquired whether he had heard
anything of the movement of the Turkish forces: 'Yes,' said he, 'they
have this moment entered the city of Constantinople.' 'I would believe
what you say,' replied the emperor, 'if the fish which you are broiling
would jump off the gridiron into the spring.' This, to his amazement,
the fish immediately did, and, on his turning round, the figure of the
old man had disappeared. The emperor mounted his horse and rode towards
the gate of Silivria, where he was encountered by a band of the enemy,
and slain, after a brave resistance, by the hand of an Arab or a Negro.
"The broiled fishes still swim about in the water of the spring, the
sides of which have been lined with white marble, in which are certain
recesses in which they can retire when they do not wish to receive
company. The only way of turning the attention of these holy fish to
the respectful presence of their adorers is accomplished by throwing
something glittering into the water, such as a handful of gold or
silver coin: gold is the best; copper produces no effect; he that sees
one fish is lucky, he that sees two or three goes home a happy man;
but the custom of throwing coins into the spring has become, from its
constant practice, very troublesome to the good monks, who kindly
depute one of their community to rake out the money six or seven times
a day with a scraper at the end of a long pole. The emperor of Russia
has sent presents to the shrine of Baloukli, so called from the Turkish
word Balouk, a fish. Some wicked heretics have said that these fishes
are common perch: either they or the monks must be mistaken; but of
whatever kind they are, they are looked upon with reverence by the
Greeks, and have been continually held in the highest honour from the
time of the siege of Constantinople to the present day."
CURIOUS MARRIAGE CUSTOM.
At Petze, in the department of Finisterre, in France, the following
singular marriage custom still prevails:--"On an appointed day, the
_paysannes_, or female pretenders to the holy state of matrimony,
assemble on the bridge of the village, and, seating themselves upon the
parapet, there patiently await the arrival of the intended bridegrooms.
All the neighbouring cantons contribute their belles to ornament this
renowned bridge. There may be seen the peasant of _Saint Poliare_, her
ruddy countenance surrounded by her large muslin sleeves, which rise
up and form a kind of framework to her full face; by her may be seated
the heavy _Touloisienne_, in her cloth _caline_, or gown; the peasant
of _la Leonarde_, in a Swiss boddice, bordered with different coloured
worsted braid, and a scarlet petticoat, may next appear, presenting
a gaudy contrast to her neighbour from _Saint Thegonnec_, in her
nun-like costume. On one side extends _la coulie de Penhoat_, bordered
with willows, honeysuckles, and the wild hop; on the other, the sea,
confined here like a lake, between numerous jets of land covered with
heath and sweet broom; and below the bridge, the thatched town, poor
and joyous as the beggar of _Carnouailles_. The bay is here so calm,
that the whole of this gay scene is reflected in its still waters; and
a few scenes of rural festivity present a more animated or diverting
picture.
"The arrival of the young men, with their parents, is the signal for
silence among the candidates for a husband. The gentlemen advance, and
gravely parade up and down the bridge, looking first on this side,
and then on that, until the face of some one of the lasses strike
their fancy. The fortunate lady receives intimation of her success
by the advance of the cavalier, who, presenting his hand, assists
her in descending from her seat, making at the same time a tender
speech; compliments are exchanged, the young man offers fruit to his
intended bride, who remains motionless before him, playing with her
apron strings. In the mean while the parents of the parties approach
each other, talk over the matter of their children's marriage, and if
both parties are agreeable they shake hands, and this act of friendly
gratulation is considered a ratification of the treaty between them,
and the marriage is shortly afterwards celebrated."
FOREIGN COSTUME IN 1492.
[Illustration: [++] Count Eberhard the Elder.]
The nobleman portrayed here is Count Eberhard the elder, first Duke
of Wurtemberg, in a festival habit at Stuttgardt, in the year 1492,
on the occasion of his receiving the order of the Golden Fleece, the
first which Austria instituted for herself (King Maximilian inherited
it from Burgundy) and which he received together with King Henry VIII.
of England. His costume is taken from an old illumination which, in
the year 1847, was copied for King William of Wurtemberg, and which is
now preserved in his private library at Stuttgardt. This exemplifies
the quilled doublet, made of a kind of damasked black velvet, which
appears to have been worn over the defensive armour improved by King
Maximilian. Upon the black surcoat appear the orders of the Golden
Fleece and the Holy Sepulchre. According to contemporary statues and
monuments, Georg von Ekingen and Heinrich von Waellwerth, officers of
the court of Eberhard, wore this kind of doublet. The former, according
to a portrait, of a red colour; the latter authority is in the
Waellwerth Chapel, in the cloister of Lorch near Schw. Gmuend.
PETER THE GREAT AT ZAANDAM.
We learn from authentic records that Peter the Great, Czar of Russia,
entered himself, in the year 1697, on the list of ship's carpenters at
the Admiralty Office of Amsterdam, in Holland. This is true; but before
Peter so enrolled himself, he had made an attempt to fix his abode, for
the purpose of study, at Saardam, or Zaandam, a little town situated
on the river Zaan, about half an hour's voyage, by steam, from the
populous and wealthy city of Amsterdam.
Zaandam, though then, as now, one of the most primitive, original
little towns in Europe, had for some time held important commercial
intercourse with Russia; and Peter had long seen the advantage to be
derived from studying at its head-quarters the art which he felt sure
would elevate his country in an extraordinary way. He therefore opened
a private correspondence with some trusty friends in Holland, and set
forth, with his hand of intelligent companions, early in the summer of
1697; in the autumn of the same year he disembarked at Zaandam, and,
alone and unattended, sought an humble lodging from a man of the name
of Gerrit Kist, who had formerly been a blacksmith in Russia, and who,
as may well be imagined, was astonished at the "imperial apparition;"
indeed he could not believe that Peter really wished to hire so humble
an abode. But the Czar persevered, and obtained permission to occupy
the back part of Kist's premises, consisting of a room and a little
shed adjoining, Kist being bound to secresy as to the rank of his
lodger: Peter's rent amounted to seven florins (about eleven shillings)
a week.
[Illustration: [++] The Maisonnette of Peter the Great.]
The _maisonnette_, or hut, of Peter the Great now stands alone, and has
been encased in a strong wooden frame in order to preserve it. It is in
much the same state as when occupied by the Czar. The chief apartment
is entered by the door you see open, the projecting roof covers the
room probably occupied by Peter's servant, and on the left of the
larger room is the recess or cupboard in which Peter slept. Formerly
the rear of this abode was crowded with inferior buildings; it is now
an airy space, with trees waving over the wooden tenement, and a garden
full of sweet-scented flowers embalms the atmosphere around it. A civil
old Dutchwoman is the guardian of the property, which is kept up with
some taste, and exquisite attention to cleanliness.
The _maisonnette_ has but one door. In Zaandam the old Dutch custom of
closing one entrance to the house, except on state occasions, is still
kept up; the purpose of the other, the _porte mortuaire_, or _mortuary
portal_, is sufficiently explained by its name.
After Peter's departure, his dwelling passed from hand to hand, and
would have fallen into oblivion had not Paul the First of Russia
accompanied Joseph the Second of Austria and the King of Sweden to
Zaandam, on purpose to visit the Czar's old abode. After this it became
a sort of fashion to make pilgrimages to the once imperial residence;
and it acquired a still greater celebrity when the Emperor Alexander
visited it in 1814, and made a great stir in the waters of the Zaan
with a fleet of three hundred yachts and innumerable barges, gaily
decked with flying pennons. In 1818, William the First of Holland
purchased the property, and gave it to his daughter-in-law, the
Princess of Orange and a royal Russian by birth: it is to her care the
building owes its present state of preservation. Her royal highness
appointed a Waterloo invalid as first guardian of the place.
Bonaparte brought Josephine here in 1812. Poor Josephine had no idea of
old associations; she jumped from the sublime to the ridiculous at once
on entering the "mean habitation," and startled the then proprietor by
a burst of untimely laughter.
Many royal and illustrious names may be read on the walls of the
principal chamber, and in the book in which the traveller is
requested to write his name. Verses and pictures challenge, somewhat
impertinently, the attention of the wayfarer; but as we sat down in
the triangular arm-chairs, and turned from the dark recess in which
Peter slept, to the ingle-nook of the deep chimney, and from the ingle
to the dark recess again, we could realize nothing but Peter in his
working dress of the labours of the day. There he was in the heat of an
autumnal evening still at work, with books and slates, and instruments
connected with navigation, before him on the rude deal table, and he
plodding on, as diligently as a common mechanic, in pursuit of that
knowledge by which nations are made great.
SUPPLY OF WATER FOR LONDON IN OLDEN TIMES.
In 1682 the private houses of the metropolis were only supplied with
fresh water twice a-week. Mr. Cunningham, in his "Handbook of London,"
informs us that the old sources of supply were the Wells, or Fleet
River, Wallbrook and Langbourne Waters, Clement's, Clerk's, and Holy
Well, Tyburn, and the River Lea. Tyburn first supplied the city in the
year 1285, the Thames not being pressed into the service of the city
conduits till 1568, when it supplied the conduit at Dowgate. There were
people who stole water from the pipes then, as there are who steal gas
now. "This yere" (1479), writes an old chronicler of London, quoted
by Mr. Cunningham, "a wax charndler in Flete-stre had bi craft perced
a pipe of the condite withynne the ground, and so conveied the water
into his celar; wherefore he was judged to ride through the citee with
a condite upon his hedde." The first engine which conveyed water into
private houses, by leaden pipes, was erected at London-bridge in 1582.
The pipes were laid over the steeple of St. Magnus; and the engineer
was Maurice, a Dutchman. Bulmer, an Englishman, erected a second engine
at Broken Wharf. Previous to 1656, the Strand and Covent Garden, though
so near to the river, were only supplied by water-tankards, which were
carried by those who sold the water, or by the apprentice, if there
were one in the house, whose duty it was to fill the house-tankard at
the conduit, or in the river. In the middle of the seventeenth century,
Ford erected water-works on the Thames, in front of Somerset House; but
the Queen of Charles II.--like the Princess Borghese, who pulled down
a church next to her palace, because the incense turned her sick, and
organ made her head ache--ordered the works to be demolished, because
they obstructed a clear view on the river. The inhabitants of the
district depended upon their tankards and water-carriers, until the
reign of William III., when the York-buildings Waterworks were erected.
The frequently-occurring name of Conduit-street, or Conduit-court,
indicates the whereabout of many of the old sources whence our
forefathers drew their scanty supplies.
DRINKING BOUTS IN PERSIA.
In their drinking parties the Persians are reported, among even the
highest classes, to exceed all bounds of discretion. Half a dozen
boon companions meet at night. The floor is covered with a variety
of stimulating dishes to provoke drinking, for which no provocation
whatever is required; among these are pickles of every possible
variety, and salted prawns or cray-fish from the Persian Gulf--a
food which ought to be an abomination to a true Sheeah. Singers and
dancing-boys enliven the scene. A Persian despises a wine-glass; a
tumbler is his measure. He has an aversion to "heeltaps," and he
drains his glass to the dregs, with his left hand under his chin to
catch the drops of wine, lest he should be detected next morning
in respectable society by the marks on his dress. They begin with
pleasant conversation, scandal, and gossip; then they become personal,
quarrelsome, abusive, and indecent, after the unimaginable Persian
fashion. As the orgies advance, as the mirth waxes fast and furious,
all restraint is thrown aside. They strip themselves stark naked,
dance, and play all sorts of antics and childish tricks. One dips his
head and face into a bowl of curds, and dances a solo to the admiring
topers; while another places a large deeg, or cooking-pot, on his head,
and display his graces and attitudes on the light fantastic toe, or
rather heel.
GERMAN COSTUMES OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
The costume-sketch which we give on next page, is taken from an
original drawing, having the following superscription:--
"Varium et mutabile semper foemina
Faec suo quem amat scripsit.
Georgius Wolfgang Von Kaltenthal. 1579."
[Illustration: [++] German Costumes of the Sixteenth Century.]
The group represents the above-named young knight, with his youthful
wife, taking a ride. She wears a blue silken dress, with a boddice of
gold brocade, trimmed with fur, and a rose-coloured silk scarf; the
head-dress is quite plain, the hair being fastened with a golden dagger
set in jewels. The knight's dress consists of a light green doublet,
with dark green stripes; slashed hose, edged with white; yellowish
leather surcoat without sleeves, riding boots of untanned leather,
and grey felt hat with red and white plume, dagger, and sword. The
accoutrements of the horse are simply black, with some metal ornaments.
The young lady is the beautiful Leonora Caimingen, who was at that time
a great favourite of the Court at Wurtemberg. In travelling thus (which
was at that time the only mode), females of the higher rank only were
accustomed to make use of masks, or veils, for the preservation of
their complexions, that custom being generally unusual. The ancestral
castle of the knights of Kaltenthal was situated between Stuttgardt and
Boeblingen, on the summit of a rock overhanging the valley of Hesslach.
It exists no longer.