the grotto, known in this part of the country as _la Baume de las
Donmaisellas_, or _des Fees_. This grotto consists of many large, deep
apartments, some of which are indeed inaccessible; the second (and
they are all one below the other), presents to the eye of the beholder
four beautiful pillars, about thirty feet high, terminating at the top
like palm trees; they are detached from the roof, which is only to be
accounted for by supposing that the _bottom_, or _floor_, has, in some
concussion of nature, sunk from its original level: the third chamber,
still descending, and like the former only to be reached by ropes and
ladders, presents, at the farther end, one vast curtain of crystal, to
which the lights, carried on such occasions, give the appearance of all
manner of precious stones. Some of the stalactites of this apartment
are solid and white as alabaster, some clear and transparent as glass;
they are of every fantastic form and description, as well as displaying
perfect representations of cascades, trees, festoons, lances, pillars,
fruits, flowers, and even the regular arrangement of architecture in
a cathedral. The fourth chamber is a long gallery covered with fine
sand: beyond this three great pillars present themselves, and behind,
there is a lake of thick muddy water. All these grottoes have been
long known to the peasantry, but another was lately penetrated, in
which every former variety of stalactite was seen, but, in addition
to these was found an altar, white, like fine china, having regular
steps to it, of the same material: it is composed apparently of layers
of the opaque stalactite, of a dazzling white and exquisite polish:
four twisted columns, of a yellow colour and transparent, whose height
is lost in the vast roof; an obelisk, perfectly round, of a reddish
colour, of a great height, and a colossal figure of a woman, holding
two children in her arms, and placed upon a pedestal, completed the
astonishment of the daring explorers of this subterraneous cavern. But
alas! this astonishment was changed into feelings of a more melancholy
description, when they recalled the circumstance, still current in
the neighbourhood, that, during the religious wars, a family (whether
Protestant or Catholic is not ascertained), consisting of a father and
mother and one or two children, sought refuge in these subterraneous
grottoes from the persecution of their enemies, and there preserved a
miserable existence, far from the cruelty of
Man, whom Nature formed of milder clay,
With every kind emotion in his heart,
And taught alone to weep.
For some years they supported themselves with berries, and now and
then they were seen endeavouring to secure a stray kid or goat for
food. The solitude and silence of their almost inaccessible dwelling,
imbued them and their fate with an awful character; and from being
objects of _pity_, they became at length objects of _terror_, to the
neighbouring peasantry, who told strange stories of the unfortunate
beings thus consigned to cold and hunger, and compelled to seek a
wretched home within the bowels of the earth. Their spare forms, their
pale countenances, their tattered garments waving in the breeze, all
threw a mystic feeling over their appearance, and they were transformed
into fairies and spectres. The shepherds fled when they appeared, and
the children, as they clung affrighted to their parents, with strained
eyes and parted lips, followed the rapid movements of the mountaineers,
as they in their turn, alarmed at the sight of their fellow-creatures,
fled from height to height, until they gained their rocky asylum. Such
an accumulation of suffering and misery was not, however, calculated
to prolong existence: terror and fear destroyed the mind, as hunger
and cold destroyed the body, and after the lapse of a few years, one
by one, these _spectres_ disappeared: but still they figure in all the
local stories and traditions peculiar to the neighbourhood, under the
form of witches, fairies, and sorcerers. The question is, whether the
altar and the figure are not the work of these unfortunate beings, who
might find in this employment a transitory solace for their misery.
CRUELTY OF HINDOO RITES.
We extract the following account from "The Land of the Veda," as
it affords an extraordinary instance of the lengths to which the
fanaticism of a gross superstition will induce men to proceed:--
"To satisfy ourselves of the sanguinary character of some of the Hindoo
deities, and of the influence they exert over the deluded victims of
superstition, we must witness some of the cruel practices which the
popular goddess, Kali, imposes on her worshippers. The most remarkable
festival is the one called _Charak Puja_.
"This festival derives its name from _chakra_, a wheel or discus; in
allusion to the circle performed in the act of rotating, when suspended
from the instrument of this horrible superstition. Being desirous of
witnessing the ceremony in all its parts, I went to the spot where one
of these ceremonies was about to take place. An upright pole, twenty
or thirty feet in height, was planted in the ground, across the top of
which, moving on a pivot, a long pole was placed. From one end of this
transverse beam a long rope was suspended and left to hang loosely,
whilst a shorter rope was attached to the other end, bearing a couple
of strong iron hooks. A good-looking man, perhaps thirty years of age,
came from the midst of the crowd, and doing obeisance beneath the
instrument of torture, presented himself as a candidate for the honour
he aspired to. The attendant, before whom he stood erect, struck a
smart blow on the small of the back, and fixed one of the hooks in the
flesh, and then did the same on the other side. The man then laid hold
of the rope just above the hooks and held it, whilst certain persons
in the crowd, seizing the loose rope, pulled him up, by depressing the
other end of the beam. As he rose he relinquished his hold of the rope
by which he was suspended, and resigned himself to the rotary motion,
by which he was whirled round and round in mid air, suspended by the
flesh of his own body. Whilst he was thus enduring the torture incident
to this horrid service, at once gratifying the cruel goddess Kali and
the crowd of admiring spectators, he drew from his girdle fruits and
flowers, which he scattered among the attendants. These were picked
up by the crowd, with the greatest eagerness, as precious relics that
might avail as charms in cases of personal or domestic extremity. This
wretched dupe of a foul superstition remained in the air at least a
quarter of an hour, and, of course, in his own estimation and in that
of the spectators, gained by this brief infliction a large amount of
merit, and consequent title to certain rewards to be reaped in a future
state of being. No sooner had he descended, than another was ready for
the ceremony. These cruel practices are carried on in various parts of
the native town, from day to day, as long as the festival lasts. It
not unfrequently happens that the ligaments of the back give way, when
the man, tossed to an immense distance, is dashed to pieces. In such
cases, the inference is, that the victim of such accident, by virtue
of demerit in a former state of existence, was not merely unworthy of
the privileges attached to this privileged ceremonial, but destined to
expiate his evil deeds by this dreadful accident."
CURIOUS MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.
The musical instrument which we engrave below, is used in the Burman
empire, and is thus described by Captain Yule, in his "Mission to Ava,"
writing from the town of Magwe, in Burmah. The Captain says;--
[Illustration: [++] Drum-Harmonicon.]
"This evening the members of the mission made their first acquaintance
with the Burmese drama; an entertainment which from this time would
occupy a very large place in the daily history of our proceedings if
all were registered.
"The Governor had provided both a puppet play and a regular dramatic
performance for our benefit, and on this first occasion of the kind the
Envoy thought it right that we should visit both.
"Each performance was attended by a full Burmese orchestra. The
principal instruments belonging to this are very remarkable, and, as
far as I know, peculiar to Burmah.
"The chief instrument in size and power is that called in
Burmese _pattshaing_, and which I can only name in English as a
drum-harmonicon. It consists of a circular tub-like frame about thirty
inches high and four feet six inches in diameter. This frame is formed
of separate wooden staves fancifully carved, and fitting by tenon into
a hoop which keeps them in place. Round the interior of the frame
are suspended vertically some eighteen or twenty drums, or tom-toms,
graduated in tone, and in size from about two and a-half inches
diameter up to ten. In tuning the instrument the tone of each drum is
modified as required by the application of a little moist clay with a
sweep of the thumb, in the centre of the parchment. The whole system
then forms a sort of harmonicon, on which the performer, squatted in
the middle, plays with the natural plectra of his fingers and palms,
and with great dexterity and musical effect."
BURMESE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.
[Illustration: [++] Burmese Musical Instruments.]
The two Burmese musical instruments which we here engrave are thus
described by Captain Yule in his "Mission to Ava:"--
"The bamboo harmonicon or staccato is a curious example of the
production of melody by simple and unexpected means. Its use, though
unknown in India, extends throughout the Eastern Archipelago; and
something similar is possessed, I believe, by the negro slaves in
Brazil. Eighteen to twenty-four flat slips of bamboo, about an inch and
a half broad, and of graduated length, are strung upon a double string
and suspended in a catenary over the mouth of a trough-like sounding
box. The roundish outside of the bamboo is uppermost, and whilst the
extremities of the slips are left to their original thickness, the
middle part of each is thinned and hollowed out below. The tuning is
accomplished partly by the regulation of this thinning of the middle
part. The scale so formed is played with one or two drumsticks, and
the instrument is one of very mellow and pleasing tone. Though the
materials are of no value, a good old harmonicon is prized by the
owner, like a good old Cremona, and he can rarely be induced to part
with it.
"There was one example at the capital, of a similar instrument formed
of slips of iron or steel. It was said to have been made by the august
hands of King Tharawadee himself, who, like Louis Seize, was abler as
a smith than as a king. The effect was not unpleasing, and strongly
resembled that of a large Geneva musical box, but it was far inferior
in sweetness to the bamboo instrument.
"Another instrument used in these concerts is a long cylindrical guitar
of three strings, shaped like an alligator and so named. It is placed
on the ground before the performer."
DRESS REGULATED BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT.
The foreign knights and visitors who came to Windsor in Edward
the First's reign, and brought with them a continual succession
of varying fashions, turned the heads of the young with delight,
and of the old with disgust. Douglas, the monk of Glastonbury, is
especially denunciative and satirical on this point. He says that in
the horrible variety of costume,--"now long, now large, now wide, now
straight,"--the style of dress was "destitute and devert from all
honesty of old arraye or good usage." It is all, he says, "so nagged
and knibbed on every side, and all so shattered and also buttoned, that
I with truth shall say, they seem more like to tormentors or devils in
their clothing, and also in their shoying and other array, than they
seemed to be like men." And the old monk had good foundation for his
complaint; and the Commons themselves having, what the Commons now have
not, a dread of becoming as extravagant as their betters in the article
of dress, actually sought the aid of Parliament. That august assembly
met the complaint by restricting the use of furs and furls to the royal
family and nobles worth one thousand _per annum_. Knights and ladies
worth four hundred marks yearly, were permitted to deck themselves in
cloths of gold and silver, and to wear certain jewellery. Poor knights,
squires, and damsels were prohibited from appearing in the costume of
those of higher degree. As for the Commons themselves, they could put
on nothing better than unadorned woollen cloth; and if an apprentice or
a milliner had been bold enough to wear a ring on the finger, it was in
peril of a decree that it should be taken off,--not the finger, but the
ring,--with confiscation of the forbidden finery.
The consequence was that the Commons, being under prohibition to put
on finery, became smitten with a strong desire to assume it; and much
did they rejoice when they were ruled over by so consummate a fop as
Richard of Bordeaux. All classes were content to do what many classes
joyfully do in our own days,--dress beyond their means; and we find in
old Harding's "Cronicle" that not only were
"Yemen and gromes in cloth of silk arrayed,
Sattin and damask, in doublettes and in gownnes."
but that all this, as well as habits of "cloth of greene and
scarleteen,--cut work and brodwar, was all," as the Chronicler
expresses it, "for unpayed;" that is, was _not paid for_. So that
very many among us do not so much despise the wisdom afforded us by
the example of our ancestors as didactic poets and commonplace honest
writers falsely allege them to do. And those ancestors of Richard
the Second's time were especially given to glorify themselves in
parti-coloured garments of white and red, such being the colours of the
King's livery (as blue and white were those of John of Gaunt); and they
who wore these garments, sometimes of half-a-dozen colours in each, why
they looked, says an old writer, "as though the fire of St. Anthony, or
some such mischance," had cankered and eaten into half their bodies.
The long-toed shoes, held up to the knee by a chain and hook, were
called _crackowes_, the fashion thereof coming from Cracrow in Poland.
The not less significant name of "devil's receptacles" were given to
the wide sleeves of this reign, for the reason, as the Monk of Evesham
tells us, that whatever was stolen was thrust into them.
A CAT-CLOCK.
The following curious incident is to be found in Huo's "Chinese
Empire:--
"One day when we went to pay a visit to some families of Chinese
Christian peasants, we met, near a farm, a young lad, who was taking
a buffalo to graze along our path. We asked him carelessly, as we
passed, whether it was yet noon. The child raised his head to look at
the sun, but it was hidden behind thick clouds, and he could read no
answer there. "The sky is so cloudy," said he; "but wait a moment;" and
with these words he ran towards the farm, and came back a few minutes
afterwards with a cat in his arms. "Look here," said he, "it is not
noon yet;" and he showed us the cat's eyes, by pushing up the lids with
his hands. We looked at the child with surprise, but he was evidently
in earnest; and the cat, though astonished, and not much pleased at the
experiment made on her eyes, behaved with most exemplary complaisance.
"Very well," said we; "thank you;" and he then let go the cat, who made
her escape pretty quickly, and we continued our route.
To say the truth, we had not at all understood the proceeding; but we
did not wish to question the little pagan, lest he should find out that
we were Europeans by our ignorance. As soon as ever we reached the
farm, however, we made haste to ask our Christians whether they could
tell the clock by looking into the cat's eyes. They seemed surprised
at the question; but as there was no danger in confessing to them our
ignorance of the properties of the cat's eyes, we related what had
just taken place. That was all that was necessary; our complaisant
neophytes immediately gave chase to all the cats in the neighbourhood.
They brought us three or four, and explained in what manner they might
be made use of for watches. They pointed out that the pupil of their
eyes went on constantly growing narrower until twelve o'clock, when
they became like a fine line, as thin as a hair, drawn perpendicularly
across the eye, and that after twelve the dilation recommenced.
When we had attentively examined the eyes of all the cats at our
disposal, we concluded that it was past noon, as all the eyes perfectly
agreed upon the point.
We have had some hesitation in speaking of this Chinese discovery, as
it may, doubtless, tend to injure the interest of the clock-making
trade, and interfere with the sale of watches; but all considerations
must give way to the spirit of progress. All important discoveries
tend in the first instance to injure private interests, and we hope,
nevertheless, that watches will continue to be made, because, among
the number of persons who may wish to know the hour, there will, most
likely, be some who will not give themselves the trouble to run after
the cat, or who may fear some danger to their own eyes from too close
an examination of hers."
EARLY ENGLISH HELMET.
[Illustration: [++] Twelfth Century English Helmet.]
The above is a correct representation of a helmet of the latter part
of the twelfth century, resembling those seen on the great seals of
Richard I. The _aventaille_, or moveable grating for covering the face,
has been lost, but the hinges, staples, and other means of fastening it
still remain. Its form may be seen on the great seals of Henry III. and
Edward I.
ILLUSTRIOUS FARMERS.
Adam was a farmer while yet in Paradise, and after his fall was
commanded to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. Job, the honest,
upright, and patient, was a farmer, and his firm endurance has passed
into a proverb. Socrates was a farmer, and yet wedded to the glory of
his immortal philosophy. Cincinnatus was a farmer, and the noblest
Roman of them all. Burns was a farmer, and the Muse found him at his
plough, and filled his soul with poetry. Washington was a farmer, and
retired from the highest earthly station to enjoy the quiet of rural
life, and present to the world a spectacle of human greatness. To these
names may be added a host of others, who sought peace and repose in the
cultivation of their earth. The enthusiastic Lafayette, the steadfast
Pickering, the scholastic Jefferson, the fiery Randolph, all found an
El Dorado of consolation from life's cares and troubles, in the green
and verdant lawns that surrounded their homestead.
ANCIENT COUTEAU-DE-CHASSE.
[Illustration: [++] Couteau-de-Chasse.]
As the chase was regarded as the honourable and most instructive
occupation of an age in which warlike prowess was deemed the principal
object of emulation and applause, every respectable mansion had, in
former times, its hall decorated with hunting implements. One of these
we here present to our readers. It is a couteau-de-chasse of the time
of William III. The left-hand figure represents it in its sheath, which
is highly ornamented; the other figures represent the blade drawn, and
the three knives, fork, and bodkin, which the sheath also contains. The
form is precisely like those engraved in the "Triumph of Maximilian,"
which shows that no variation had taken place since the commencement of
the sixteenth century. Erasmus, in his "Praise of Folly," thus alludes
to this weapon, Kennet translating it "a slashing hanger." Speaking of
those engaged in the chase, he says, "When they have run down their
game, what strange pleasure they take in cutting it up! Cows and sheep
may be slaughtered by common butchers, but what is killed in hunting
must be broke up by none under a gentleman, who shall throw down his
hat, fall devoutly on his knees, and drawing a slashing hanger (for
a common knife is not good enough), after several ceremonies, shall
dissect all the parts as artistically as the best skilled anatomist;
while all that stand round shall look very intently and seem to be
mightly surprised with the novelty, though they have seen the same an
hundred times before; and he that can but dip his finger and taste of
the blood shall think his own bettered by it."
DIVISION OF TIME IN PERSIA.
Time is of no value in Persia, from which reason it must be that
so complicated a system has been maintained as that of counting by
solar time, lunar time, and the Toork cycle. The first is observed by
astronomers, and was in general use in Persia until it was superseded
by Mahommed's lunar year. It consists of twelve months of thirty days
each, with the required number of intercalary days. The second, which
is now in general use, consisting of three hundred and fifty-four days,
is therefore perpetually changing: an event commemorated in one year
will come round ten days earlier the succeeding year. The third is a
curious method of counting introduced by the Toorks into Persia, but
which we are told has been forgotten in Turkey. They divide time into
cycles of twelve years, each year having a separate name, but they
have no designation for the cycles. Thus, if they wanted to describe
an event which happened sixty-five years ago, they could only mention
the name of the fifth year. These years are solar, and are thus
designated:--
Sichkan eel Year of the Mouse.
Ood eel " Bull.
Bars eel " Leopard.
Tavishkan eel " Hare.
Looee eel " Crocodile.
Eelan eel " Snake.
Yoont eel " Horse.
Kooree eel " Ram.
Beechee eel " Monkey.
Tekhakoo eel " Cock.
Eet eel " Dog.
Tenkooz eel " Hog.
It seems strange their number should be twelve, as if there were a
zodiac of years, instead of months.
This method of marking time is preserved only in government documents,
such as firmans, grants, &c. No one seems able to account for its
origin, excepting that, according to tradition, the Toorks of old
brought it from Tartary.
DIFFERENT SORTS OF HORSES IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
The different sorts of horses in use among the nobility and others,
may be collected from the following entry in the Northumberland
household-book, first printed in the year 1768. It is entitled
the regulations and establishment of Algernon Percy the Earl of
Northumberland, 1512.
"This is the ordre of the chequir roule of the nombre of all the horsys
of my lordis and my ladys, that are apoynted to be in the charge of the
hous verely, as to say gentill hors, palfreys, hobys, naggis, clothsek
hors.
"First, gentill hors, to stand in my lordis stable, six. Item, palfreys
of my ladys, to wit, oone for my lady, and two for her gentill-women,
and oone for her chamberer. Four hobys and naggis for my lordis oone
saddill, viz. oone for my lorde to ride, oone to led for my lorde,
and oone to stay at home for my lorde. Item, chariot hors to stand in
my lordis stable yerely: Seven great trottynge hors to draw in the
chariott, and a nagg for the chariott-man to ryde, eight. Again, hors
for my lorde Percy, his lordis sonne. A great doble trottynge hors to
travel on in winter. Item, double trottynge hors, called a curtal, for
his lordship to ryde on out of townes. Another trottynge gambaldyn
hors, for his lordship to ryde upon when he comes into townes. An
amblynge hors, for his lordship to journey on daily. A proper amblyng
little nag, for his lordship when he gaeth on hunting or hawkin. A gret
amblyng gelding to carry his male."
The _gentill_ horse was one of superior breed, so called in contrast to
such as were of ordinary extraction.
_Palfreys_, were an elegant and easy sort of horses, used upon common
occasions by knights, and others, who reserved their great and managed
horses for battle and the tournament.
_Hobys_, were strong, active horses, of rather a small size. They are
said to be originally natives of Ireland.
_Nags_ were of the same description.
_Clothseck_, was a cloak-bag horse; as a _male horse_ was one that
carried the portmanteau. Horses to draw the _chariots_, were waggon
horses; from the French word _charrette_, whence, the English word
_cart_.
_A great double trottynge_ horse, was a tall, broad horse, whose best
pace was the trot, being too unwieldly to be able to gallop.
_A curtail_, was a horse whose tail was cut, or shortened.
_A gambaldynge_ horse, was one of shew and parade; a managed horse.
_An amblynge_ horse, received this appellation, from the ease and
smoothness of its pace. In former times almost all saddle horses were
broke to perform it.
THE NAORA.
The Oasis of Tagius or Wodian, in the Desert of Sahara, in Africa,
comprehends these villages--D'kash, Krees, Wozorkan, Owlad, Majed,
Sedadah, Zowiat Elarab, and Sidy Bohlan.
These villages are situated at short distances from each other,
numbering together a population of between 25,000 and 30,000, whose
chief employment consists in cultivating the palm, or date tree. At
Kreez they have an excellent spring, but which does not suffice to
water all their plantations, and hence they are forced to have recourse
to the _naora_, so common on the coast. The naora is the name given
to the rude, though ingenious contrivance, by means of which, through
the agency of either a camel, a mule, or a horse, water is raised
from a deep well in earthen jars, which, as soon as they have emptied
their contents into a wooden trough, descend for fresh supplies. The
water from the trough is then conducted by the planters into channels
and trenches, as occasion requires. These are again easily diverted,
and as soon as it is considered that the trees in one particular
direction have had a sufficient supply, fresh trenches are opened in
another direction, and in this manner the whole plantation receives the
requisite moisture and nourishment. We here engrave the naora.