Lama, or Sikkim priest, having in his hand a _dorge_, or double-headed
thunderbolt; next to him, a monk; next to the monk, a priest, with a
praying cylinder; and at the extreme right, another monk.
A HEAD-BREAKER.
[Illustration: [++] Head-Breaker.]
With many savage nations it is a custom when prisoners have been
captured in war, to keep them in confinement for some time, till the
preparations for a grand festival have been completed, and then to put
them to death in the presence of the great men and chief priests of the
country. They were slaughtered, sometimes as offerings to the gods,
sometimes as sacrifices to the spirits of those slain in the war in
which they were captured, and at other times as incentives to the young
warriors who were to be the future defenders of the nation. In all
these cases, appropriate and peculiar ceremonies were prescribed, and
the victims were generally despatched by a particular official, whose
especial duty it was to perform the bloody deed. A particular weapon
was also used, and one of these is sketched at the head of our article.
It was used by one of the tribes which inhabit the shores of Nootka
Sound. It is intended to represent the sacred bird of their nation, and
is made of wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, with a blade of basalt.
The lower end is hollow for the insertion of a handle.
ANCIENT STONE COLLARS.
Perhaps the most singular relics of that Pagan period in Scotland
when the use of metals was in a great measure unknown, are two stone
collars, found near the celebrated parallel roads of Glenroy, and now
preserved at the mansion of Tonley, Aberdeenshire. We here give an
engraving of them.
[Illustration: [++] Stone Collars.]
They are each of the full size of a collar adapted to a small Highland
horse; the one formed of trap or whin-stone, and the other of a
fine-grained red granite. They are not, however, to be regarded as
the primitive substitutes for the more convenient materials of later
introduction; on the contrary, a close imitation of the details of a
horse collar of common materials is attempted, including the folds, the
leather, nails, buckles, and holes for tying particular parts together.
They are finished with much care and a high degree of polish, and
are described as obviously the workmanship of a skilful artist. Mr.
Skene, who first drew attention to these remarkable relics, suggests
the peculiar natural features of Glenroy having led to the selection
of this amphitheatre for the scene of ancient public games, and that
these stone collars might commemorate the victor in the chariot race,
as the tripods, still existing, record the victor in the Choragic games
of Athens. But no circumstances attending their discovery are known
which could aid conjecture either as to the period or purpose of their
construction.
THE OFFSPRING OF DRUNKENNESS.
From an interesting lecture on drunkenness, and on popular investments,
recently delivered by the Rev. J. B. Owen, M.A., of Bilston, we
select this impressive enumeration of the crimes mainly springing
from drunkenness. Drink was the desolating demon of Great Britain.
They had spent in intoxicating drinks during the present century as
much as would pay the national debt twice over! There were 180,000
gin drinkers in London alone, and in that city three millions a year
are spent in gin! In thirteen years 249,006 males and 183,921 females
were taken into custody for being drunk and disorderly. In Manchester
no less than a million a-year were spent in profligacy and crime. In
Edinburgh there were 1,000 whisky shops--160 in one street--and yet
the city contained only 200 bread shops. Of 27,000 cases of pauperism,
20,000 of them were traceable to drunkenness. In Glasgow the poor rates
were L100,000 a-year. "Ten thousand," says Alison, "get drunk every
Saturday night--are drunk all day Sunday and Monday, and not able to
return to work till Tuesday or Wednesday." Glasgow spends L1,200,000
annually in drink, and 20,000 females are taken into custody for being
drunk. And what were some of the normal results of such appalling
statistics? insanity, pauperism, prostitution, and crime. As to the
insanity affiliated on drink, the Bishop of London stated, that of
1,271 maniacs, whose previous histories were investigated, 649, or
more than half of them, wrecked their reason in drinking. As to its
pauperism, it is estimated that not less than two-thirds of our paupers
were the direct or indirect victims of the same fatal vice. As to
its prostitution, its debauching influence was remotely traceable in
the 150,000 harlots of London, and in their awful swarms in all our
large towns and cities. Its relation to crime was equally conclusive.
In Parkhurst prison, it was calculated, that 400 out of 500 juvenile
prisoners, were immured there, as the incidental results of parental
debauchery. The Chaplain of the Northampton County Gaol, lately
informed the lecturer, that, "of 302 prisoners in this gaol, during the
last six months, 176 attributed their ruin to drunkenness; 64 spent
from 2s. 6d. to 10s. a week in drink; 15 spent from 10s. to 17s.; and
10 spent all their savings. Is it not remarkable," he added, "that
out of 433 prisoners in this gaol, I have not had one that has had
one sixpence in a saving's bank, nor above six that ever had sixpence
in one? On the contrary, I have many members of friendly societies,
of course of unsound ones, which with two or three exceptions, all
met at public houses; and there they learned to drink, and became
familiarised with crime." Judge Erskine declared at the Salisbury
Assizes in 1844, that 96 cases out of every 100 were through strong
drink. Judge Coleridge added, at Oxford, that he never knew a case
brought before him, which was not directly or indirectly connected with
intoxicating liquors; and Judge Patteson capped the climax, at Norwich,
by stating to the grand jury, "If it were not for this drinking, you
and I should have nothing to do!" Of the 7,018 charges entered at Bow
Street Police Office, in the year 1850, half of them were for being
drunk and incapable; and if they added to these the offences indirectly
instigated by intoxication, the proportion rose at least to 75 per cent.
AN OLD PIKE.
In the year 1497 a giant "Jack-killer" was captured in the vicinity
of Mannheim, with the following announcement in Greek appended to
his muzzle:--"I am the first fish that was put into this pond by the
hands of the Emperor Frederic the Second, on this 3rd day of October,
1262." The age of the informant, therefore, if his lips spoke truth
(and the unprecedented dimensions of the body left little doubt on that
point), was more than two hundred and thirty-five years. Already he
had been the survivor of many important changes in the political and
social world around, and would have swam out perhaps as many more had
the captors been as solicitous to preserve his life as they were to
take his portrait. This, on the demise of the original, was hung up in
the castle of Lautern, and the enormous carcase (which, when entire,
weighed three hundred and fifty pounds, and measured nineteen feet)
was sent to the museum at Mannheim, where, deprived of its flesh, and
caparisoned _de novo_, it hung, and haply yet hangs, a light desiccated
skeleton, which a child might move.
BURMESE BOAT.
The curious boat which is here depicted in full sail is one of those
which is used by the Burmese on the river Irawadi. They are called
_hnau_, and Captain Yule gives the following description of them in his
"Mission to Ava:"--
"The model is nearly the same for all sizes, from the merest dinghy
upwards. The keel-piece is a single tree hollowed out, and stretched
by the aid of fire when green, a complete canoe, in fact. From this,
ribs and planking are carried up. The bow is low with beautiful hollow
lines, strongly resembling those of our finest modern steamers. The
stern rises high above the water, and below the run is drawn out fine
to an edge. A high bench or platform for the steersman, elaborately
carved, is an indispensable appendage. The rudder is a large paddle
lashed to the larboard quarter, and having a short tiller passing
athwart the steerman's bench.
"The most peculiar part of the arrangement of these vessels is in the
spars and rigging. The mast consists of two spars; it is, in fact,
a pair of shears, bolted and lashed to two posts rising out of the
keel-piece, so that it can be let down, or unshipped altogether, with
little difficulty. Above the mainyard the two pieces run into one,
forming the topmast. Wooden rounds run as ratlines from one spar of the
mast to the other, forming a ladder for going aloft.
"The yard is a bamboo, or a line of sliced bamboos, of enormous length,
and, being perfectly flexible, is suspended from the mast-head by
numerous guys or halyards, so as to curve upwards in an inverted bow.
A rope runs along this, from which the huge mainsail is suspended,
running on rings like a curtain outwards both ways from the mast. There
is a small topsail of similar arrangement.
[Illustration: [++] Burmese Boat.]
"The sail-cloth used is the common light cotton stuff for clothing.
Of any heavier material it would be impossible to carry the enormous
spread of sail which distinguishes these boats. At Menh'la one vessel
was lying so close to the shore that I was enabled to pace the length
of the half-yard. I found it to be 65 feet, or for the length of the
whole spar, neglecting the curve, 130 feet. The area of the mainsail in
this case could not have been very much less than 4,000 square feet, or
one-eleventh of an acre.
"These boats can scarcely sail, of course, except before the wind. But
in ascending the Irawadi, as on the Ganges during the rainy season,
the wind is almost always favourable. A fleet of them speeding before
the wind with the sunlight on their bellying sails has a splendid
though fantastic appearance. With their vast spreading wings and
almost invisible hulls, they look like a flight of colossal butterflies
skimming the water."
DANCING DERVISHES.
[Illustration: [++] Dancing Dervishes.]
The Dancing Dervishes at Constantinople are a remarkable instance of
the lengths to which superstition and credulity will proceed. The
saltatory ceremony which they perform at their religious services
is thus admirably described by Mr. Albert Smith in his "Month at
Constantinople:"--
"I have said it was Friday; and so, on my return, I had an opportunity
of seeing the Dancing Dervishes at Pera. They exhibit--for it is rather
a sight than a solemnity--on this day, as well as on Tuesday, in every
week. Their convent is facing the scrap of burying-ground on the road
from Galata to Pera, and any one may witness their antics. Having put
off our shoes, we entered an octagonal building, with galleries running
round it, and standing places under them, surrounding the railed
enclosure in which the Dervishes were to dance, or rather spin. One
division of this part of the building was put aside for Christians, the
others were filled with common people and children. When I arrived, one
old Dervish, in a green dress, was sitting at one point of the room,
and twenty-four in white, were opposite to him. A flute and drum played
some very dreary music in the gallery. At a given signal they all fell
flat on their faces, with a noise and precision that would have done
honour to a party of pantomimists; and then they all rose and walked
slowly round, with their arms folded across their breasts, following
the old green Dervish, who marched at their head, and bowing twice
very gravely to the place where he had been sitting, and to the spot
opposite to it. They performed this round two or three times. Then the
old man sat down, and the others, pulling off their cloaks, appeared
in a species of long petticoat, and one after the other began to spin.
They commenced revolving precisely as though they were waltzing by
themselves; first keeping their hands crossed on their breast, and then
extending them, the palm of the right hand and the back of the left
being upwards. At last they all got into play, and as they went round
and round, they put me in mind of the grand party we have seen on the
top of an organ, where a _cavalier seul_ revolves by himself, and bows
as he faces the spectators.
"They went on for a long time without stopping--a quarter of an hour,
perhaps, or twenty minutes. There was something inexpressibly sly and
offensive in the appearance of these men, and the desire one felt to
hit them hard in the face became uncomfortably dominant. At the end of
their revolutions they made another obeisance to the old man, and all
this time the players in the orchestra howled forth a kind of hymn.
This ceremony was repeated three or four times, and then they all sat
down again and put their cloaks on, whilst another Dervish, who had
walked round and round amongst the dancers, whilst they were spinning,
sang a solo. During this time their faces were all close to the ground.
This done, they rose and marched before the old green Dervish once
more, kissing his hand as they passed, and the service concluded,
occupying altogether about three-quarters of an hour."
EXTRAORDINARY MALADY.
Digne, the principal town in the department of the Basses Alpes
in France might be passed by the traveller without exciting one
observation, its walks and its warm mineral waters being the only
objects worthy of notice. Its inhabitants do not now exceed 3,500;
but, in the year 1629, 10,000 industrious citizens followed their
numerous avocations within its precincts. At that period, however, an
extraordinary plague broke out, in the month of June, which lasted till
October, committing the most awful ravages, so that in that short space
of time the wretched inhabitants were reduced to the number of 1,500,
among whom six only had escaped this very singular malady, the effects
of which are thus described by a French writer:--"This malady strangely
affected the invalids; some fancied they could fly; others, climb
from one object to another like squirrels; some sunk into a profound
lethargy, even for so long a time as six days; and one young woman who
had been hastily interred in a vineyard, rose three days afterwards,
for the grave-diggers were content just to cover the bodies. During
these four months the town was covered with a thick fog: the heat was
suffocating, accompanied by frequent and dreadful storms; and in order
to complete the horrors of such a situation, the parliament forbade any
of the inhabitants to quit the city, or the small territory belonging
to it. Guards placed upon the _Bleonne_ fired upon those who attempted
to escape. The magistrates abandoned their functions; the clocks no
longer sounded the hours; the neighbouring springs dried up, so that
the mills could not work; and famine began to add its fearful horrors
to the miseries which already desolated the city, now become a living
sepulchre, for the dead bodies lay in the streets unburied, and the
few remaining persons who still paraded the streets appeared more
like the spectres of those departed than living beings. Many persons
not only prepared but put on the habiliments of death, and quietly
awaited the approach of the _king of terrors_. A new edict condemned
the pestilential city to the flames; but this inhuman decree was
countermanded, after the destruction of one country house, with all
its inhabitants. The disease having somewhat abated in the surrounding
villages, humanity at length dictated the necessity of making some
efforts to save the remaining few, who had escaped the contagion,
from the no less frightful evil of famine. The scene that presented
itself was appalling; several little children, whose parents were
dead, were found sucking goats; in short, the desolation was so great
that, although two centuries have passed away since this fatal scourge
devastated the country, _Digne_ has never recovered its effects."
QUACKERY IN THE OLDEN TIME.
In the reign of Henry VIII. many of the medical practitioners were
mere horse-farriers. A distinguished patient, the great Lord Burghley,
secretary of state to Queen Elizabeth, was addressed by one Audelay, on
a certain occasion, in this wise, "Be of goode comfort, and plucke up
a lustie, merrie hearte, and then shall you overcome all diseases: and
because it pleased my good Lord Admiral lately to praise my physicke,
I have written to you such medicines as I wrote unto him, which I have
in my boke of my wyffe's hand, _proved upon herselfe and mee both_:
and if I can get anything that may do you any goode, you may be well
assured it shall be a joye unto me to get it for you." "A good medicine
for weakness or consumption:--Take a pig of nine days olde, and slaye
him, and quarter him, and put him in a skillat, with a handfull of
spearment, and a handfull of red fennell, a handfull of liverwort,
half a handfull of red neap, a handfull of clarge, and nine dates,
cleaned, picked, pared, and a handful of great raisins, and picke out
the stones, and a quarter of an ounce of mace, and two stickes of
goode cinnamon, bruised in a mortar, and distill it with a soft fire,
and put it in a glass, and set it in the sun nine days, and drinke
nine spoonfulls of it at once when you list!" "A compost:--item--take
a porpin, otherwise called an English hedgehog, and quarter him in
pieces, and put the said beast in a still, with these ingredients:
item--a quart of redde wyne, a pinte of rose-water, a quarter of a
pound of sugar--cinnamon and two great raisins." "If thore be any
manner of disease that you be aggrieved withal, I pray you send me
some knowledge thereof, and I doubt not but to send you an approved
remedie. Written in haste at Greenwiche, y{e} 9 of May, 1553, by your
trewe heartie friend, JOHN of AUDELAY."
A POISON WEAPON.
[Illustration: [++] Poison Weapon.]
The instrument sketched forms one of the curiosities in the splendid
museum of the late Sir S. R. Meyrick, and is a singular instance of
that refinement of cruelty which is too prominent a characteristic of
the sixteenth century. It is a weapon for throwing poisoned needles
among a crowd. Where the lid at the top is seen lifted up, is the
chamber in which the needles are kept stuck into a cork at the bottom.
On the opposite side a needle is seen put through a hole in a strong
spring, held in its place by a catch above, which, when pressed by the
thumb disengages it and ejects the needle with considerable force. As
the fore-finger goes through the centre ring, and the thumb is at the
top, the weapon is almost entirely concealed by the hand. The spring
can be adjusted by a screw at the side. This cruel instrument was
used by men on horseback, or from a window, and as the needles were
poisoned, many painful injuries must have been inflicted without the
sufferers being able to discover by whom their wounds were caused.
ANCIENT SWORD-BREAKER.
[Illustration: [++] Sword-Breaker.]
The immense two-handed swords of former times were most fearful
weapons, and far more easily used than the appearance of them would
lead us to suppose. They were admirably poised, and the position in
which they were held may be learned from various writers of their
times. One hand was placed close to the cross-bar, while the other
held the pommel. De Grassi, in 1594, tells us that those who use them
contrive to "amase with the furie of the sword, and deliver great
edge blows down-right and reversed, fetching a full circle or compass
therein with exceeding great swiftness, staying themselves upon one
foote, sometimes on the other, utterlie neglecting to thrust, and
persuading themselves that the thrust serveth to amaze one man onlie,
but those edge blows are of force to incounter many. The hand towards
the enemie must take hold fast of the handle neere the crosse and
underneath, the other hand above and near the pomell."
Silver, in his "Paradox" gives the following as the proportions of a
two-handed sword in his day: "The perfect length of your two-handed
sword is the blade to the length and hilt of your single sword."
The instrument which we have sketched on previous page, was used in
the time of Henry VIII., for the purpose, not only of defence against
one of those "great edge-blows down-right" but of catching the blade
between the teeth, and then breaking it by a sharp turn of the wrist.
ORIGIN OF THE BALLOT.
The origin of electing members by balls may be traced to the Grecians.
When a member was to be elected, every one threw a little pellet of
bran, or crumb of bread into a basket, carried by a servant on his head
round the table, and whoever dissented flattened their pellet at one
side.
ANCIENT DAGGER.
The weapon which forms the subject of the woodcut is a dagger of the
time of Philip and Mary, ornamented with engraving. After being thrust
into a person, by pulling a little catch, it is made to open within
him, and the prolongation of the blade allows means for a second blow.
The two small hooks at the inner side of the two blades would admit of
the dagger being thrust deeper in, but would prevent its being drawn
out.
[Illustration: [++] Ancient Dagger.]
At the period these daggers were most in vogue, personal combats were
very sanguinary and determined, seldom terminating without the death of
one, and in some cases of both, of the parties engaged. They first used
the long sword, and when that weapon was broken, they closed with one
another, and used their daggers by stabbing at the most mortal part of
their foe they could manage to reach.
THE TEMPLE OF POU-TOU.
Pou-tou is an island of the great archipelago of Chusan, on the coasts
of the province of Tche-kiang. More than 100 monasteries, more or less
important, and two of which were founded by Emperors, are scattered
over the sides of the mountains and valleys of this picturesque and
enchanting island, which nature and art have combined to adorn with
their utmost magnificence. All over it you find delightful gardens,
full of beautiful flowers,--grottoes cut in the living rock, amidst
groves of bamboo and other trees, with aromatic banks. The habitations
of the Bonzes are sheltered from the scorching rays of the sun by
umbrageous foliage, and scattered about in the prettiest situations
imaginable. Thousands of winding paths cross the valleys in various
directions, and the brooks and rivulets, by means of pretty bridges of
stone or painted wood, and for the communications between the scattered
dwellings. In the centre of the island rise two vast and brilliant
edifices--Buddhist temples--the yellow bricks of which announce that
their construction is due to imperial munificence. The religious
architecture of the Chinese does not at all resemble ours. They have no
idea of the majestic, solemn, and perhaps somewhat melancholy style,
that harmonizes so well with the feelings which ought to be inspired
by a place devoted to meditation and prayer. When they wish to build a
pagoda, they look out for the most gay and smiling site they can find
on the declivity of a mountain or in a valley; they plant it with great
trees of the evergreen species; they trace about it a number of paths,
on the sides of which they place flowering shrubs, creeping plants, and
bushes. It is through these cool and fragrant avenues you reach the
building, which is surrounded by galleries, and has less the air of a
temple than of a rural abode charmingly situated in the midst of a park
or garden.