turned on the history of Moses, my aunt observed, that the entire
account of his life is told in the most plain and artless manner,
unmixed with any circumstances likely to exalt his personal character,
and is throughout distinguished by that candour and impartiality, with
which Moses always speaks of himself.
I asked her, how soon after the death of Joseph, the destruction of the
first-born of the Israelites was decreed by Pharaoh.
“There is reason to think,” said my aunt, “that it was about sixty-four
years after the death of Joseph; probably soon after the birth of Aaron,
who had not been subject to this decree; and about one hundred and
thirty-three years after their settlement in Egypt.
“You are of course aware, Bertha,” continued she, “that Pharaoh was the
title of all the Egyptian sovereigns at that ancient period; the Pharaoh
who had favoured Joseph was dead, and his successors were ill-disposed
towards the Israelites, who had increased so much, that the Egyptian
kings began to fear them, for they still recollected the thraldom in
which they had for a long time been held by the Cushite or Shepherd
invaders. And besides, Egypt was still subject to incursions from the
Arabians, on that very side where the Israelites dwelled; which accounts
at once both for their jealousy of the Israelites, who had the power of
betraying them, by admitting the invaders, and also for the fear
expressed by Pharaoh, lest they should ‘get them up out of the land;’
because, as long as they were in Goshen, they were, if faithful, a sort
of defence to his kingdom, by being thus situated on its frontiers.
“But to return to the history of Moses--the ark of rushes which his
mother ‘took for him,’ was a little vessel or basket, made of reeds, and
daubed with slime or pitch, to keep out the water; it was probably of
the form of one of those boats, with which the river was always covered,
and made, like them, of ‘bulrushes,’ by which is meant the papyrus of
which the Egyptians made their paper, and which grew in abundance on the
banks of the Nile. This papyrus was strong enough to resist the water,
and well adapted by its lightness to swim with a child’s weight. The
vessels of bulrushes mentioned in both sacred and profane history were
made in the same manner on a larger scale. Bruce, the traveller, saw
them in common use in Abyssinia; and even at this day they are to be
seen on the Nile; though the introduction of plank and stronger
materials has caused them to be laid aside in a great degree.
“It was customary for the Egyptian females to express their veneration
for the Nile, by plunging into it, when it began to overflow the
country; and it is probable, that when the daughter of Pharaoh bathed,
it was in compliance with some such custom. Modern travellers tell us,
that a ceremony is still observed by the Egyptian females, of going to
solemnize with songs, and dance, and bathing, the first visible rise of
the Nile.
“Observe here, my dear children,” continued my aunt, “the chain of small
circumstances by which God leads mankind to the accomplishment of his
high decrees. When the daughter of Pharaoh goes to celebrate a heathen
ceremony--when she finds the babe, and calls the Hebrew woman to be his
nurse, and when that nurse turns out to be his own mother--what a
singular concurrence of events, simple and obvious in themselves, but
wonderful in their combinations!
“Josephus, the Jewish historian, states that Pharaoh’s daughter was
married but had no children, and therefore adopted Moses, and gave him a
princely education; that he became a man of eminence amongst the
Egyptians, was made a general and leader of their armies, and fought
some battles with success. While he was instructed in all the wisdom of
the Egyptians, he was taught at home a knowledge of God; his father
Amram imparted to him the promised redemption of Israel, and his mother
fixed the true faith in his heart; so that it became the guide and the
principle of all his actions.
“The land of Midian, to which Moses fled when he killed the Egyptian in
defence of the ill-treated Israelite, was a part of Arabia Petræa,
where some of Abraham’s posterity were settled; it lay upon the further
side of the Red Sea, to the east of the wilderness of Sin. During his
long absence from Egypt, Moses never forgot that he was separated from
his family and his nation; and to mark his feelings he called his son
Gershom, a desolate stranger. While he was thus an exile, he was trained
in the school of adversity; his faith was strengthened, so that it
prepared him for the arduous mission which he was born to undertake; and
he became ‘meek above all the men which were on the face of the earth.’
No man, indeed, had greater trials--but about them and the important
part he afterwards performed, I will take some other opportunity of
conversing with you.”
_14th._--I had so many questions to ask about papyrus, that I thought it
better not to interrupt my aunt yesterday, when Moses was more
particularly the subject of our conversation. This morning, however, I
begged of her to tell me some particulars about the paper made from that
plant, and I will now put down here the substance of what she told me.
“The _papyrus_, or Egyptian reed, as it is called, grows in the marshy
ground, caused by the overflowing of the Nile, and rises to the height
of six or seven cubits above the water. The stalk is triangular, and
terminates in a crown of small filaments, resembling hair, which the
ancients used to compare to a _thyrsus_.--It was very useful to the
inhabitants of the country where it grew, for the stem not only served
for building small boats, but was likewise used for making cups and
other utensils. The pith of the plant was eaten as food, and the root,
being full of a sweet juice, was frequently chewed.
“But the manufacture of paper was the most important of all its uses;
for I need not tell you, Bertha, that before mankind had some means of
noting events, the recollection of them was either lost, or became so
mixed with error, in being preserved by mere oral tradition, that we
have no records of the ancient transactions of the inhabitants of the
globe; except those contained in the Bible, which were, you know,
written by Moses retrospectively. Before the invention of letters,
mankind may be said to have been perpetually in their infancy, as the
arts of one age or country generally died with their inventors.
“When the outer skin or bark of the stem of the papyrus,” continued my
aunt, “was taken off, several slender films or pellicles were found one
within the other. These pellicles were carefully separated with a
pointed instrument, and spread on a table so that the thickest parts
were all ranged together. On these, another layer of pellicles was then
transversely placed in a similar manner, and moistened with Nile water;
the whole was heavily pressed, and when dried in the sun, formed a
smooth substance well fitted for writing upon with pens made of hollow
reeds, through which a coloured liquid was allowed to flow. The
saccharine juice in the bark helped to make the adhesion perfect, but
sometimes a thin coat of gum was laid upon the first layer. Thus large
sheets were prepared for writing, and when formed into books, the boards
or covers, we learn from some of the early Greek writers, were made from
the woody parts of the same plant.
“The Egyptian name of this plant is _Babr_, from whence both _papyrus_
and our word _paper_, seem to have been derived. The bark of a species
of mulberry tree was afterwards used for paper; and _liber_, which
properly meant the bark of a tree, was, therefore, applied to signify a
book.”
Caroline, whose memory always serves her at the right moment,
immediately repeated these lines,--
Papyrus, verdant on the banks of Nile,
Spread its thin leaf, and waved its silvery style;
Its plastic pellicles Invention took,
To form the polished page and lettered book;
And on its folds, with skill consummate taught
To paint, in mystic colors, sound and thought.
My aunt smiled, and then added: “To form those little bulrush vessels
that are alluded to in the Bible and elsewhere, the papyrus was made up
in bundles, and by tying these bundles together, and placing a piece of
timber at the bottom to serve as a keel, they gave their vessels the
necessary shape. Several ancient writers describe them; Lucan speaks of
the Memphian or Egyptian boat, made of the _thirsty_ papyrus; which
corresponds exactly with the nature of the plant, as well as with its
Hebrew name, which signifies, to drink or soak up.
“This plant requires so much water that it perishes when the river on
whose banks it grows is much reduced; and it is for that reason that Job
mentions it as the image of transient prosperity.”
_15th._--My uncle has returned, to the joy of the whole family; he looks
a little tired, but seems rejoiced to be at home. He has seen numbers of
curious things, and has already told us some of them.
One thing that he mentioned was very interesting to me; he met a
gentleman who had lately arrived from our southern regions, and who had
seen that wonderful luminous creature of those seas which I mentioned to
you in my journal when on board the Phaeton. According to this
gentleman’s account, each of these brilliant animals diffused a sphere
of light of eighteen inches in diameter; “Think then,” said he to my
uncle, “what the effect must be on the spectator, when the sea is
absolutely full of them as far as the eye can reach, and to many yards
in depth. One evening, in particular, from seven to eleven o’clock, the
ship sailed upwards of twenty miles through these living lamps; and the
strong light they gave enabled him to distinguish many fishes, even ten
or twelve feet beneath the surface of the water, that appeared to be
accompanying the ship.”
My uncle then gave us a very entertaining account of an experiment he
witnessed on the common house-spider, which proves that it possesses a
natural diving-bell, to assist it in crossing water. The spider was
placed on a small platform in the middle of a large tumbler full of
water, the platform being about half an inch above the edge of the
glass, and two inches above the water. It first descended by the stick
that supported the platform, till it reached the water, but finding no
way to escape, it returned to the platform, and for some time employed
itself in preparing a web, with which, by means of its hinder legs, it
loosely enveloped its body and head. It again descended, and without
hesitation plunged into the water, when my uncle observed, that the web
with which it was covered contained a bubble of air, probably intended
for respiration. The spider, wrapped up in this little diving-bell,
endeavoured on every side to make its escape; but in vain, on account of
the slipperiness of the glass; and after remaining at the bottom for
about thirteen minutes, it returned, apparently much exhausted, as it
coiled itself closely under the platform, and remained there for some
time without motion.
Another beautiful thing that my uncle was shewn by Dr. W., was a veil
woven by caterpillars--actually a gossamer veil. The ingenious person, a
German I believe, who had managed those little manufacturers, spread
them over a large glass, and contrived to place them so that the work of
each was connected with that of its neighbour. As he could direct or
change their progress at pleasure, he was not only able to form the veil
of a tolerably regular shape, but by sometimes inducing them to go two
or three times over the same spot, to give it the appearance of flowered
lace. The whole veil, though of a large size, weighed only three grains
and a half; and a breath blew it up into the air, where it floated like
a cloud.
_16th._--When my uncle was in town, he was present at the opening and
examination of an Egyptian mummy, along with several members of the
Royal Society. Some mummies, he says, have two cases; in these, the
outer one is ornamented with stripes of painted linen, and the inner
case is covered with a kind of paper on which figures and hieroglyphics
are painted with great brilliancy of colour.
The one which he saw had but a single case, which appeared to be made of
sycamore-wood, two inches in thickness; the back and the front being
fastened together by pegs. The case is made to stand upright, and is
covered, inside and out, with a kind of shell or coat of plaster, to a
considerable thickness. This coat is painted outside with hieroglyphics
in horizontal lines on a deep orange ground; and the whole is highly
varnished. The internal surface is likewise divided into broad stripes,
alternately white and yellow; and on both are inscribed hieroglyphics
and other characters about an inch long, probably consisting of prayers
or invocations for the dead, or perhaps of some biographical notice.
My uncle told us that the embalmed body was most carefully secured from
the air, by a covering of cerecloth, and by bandages that were applied
with a neatness and precision that would have done honour to the most
skilful surgeon of modern times. Of the many species of bandages which
are employed in surgery, there is not one that did not appear to have
been used; and they were so many times repeated, that after their
removal, they were found to weigh twenty-eight pounds. Each limb, nay,
each finger and toe had a separate one; and over all, another of great
length, which, though without stitch or seam, after making a few turns
round both feet, ascended spirally to the head, from whence it returned
as far as the breast, and terminated there in loose threads like a
fringe. In unravelling all these bandages, my uncle and everybody were
struck with the judicious selection of their size and form, so as to
adapt them to the different parts, and to give the whole a smooth
surface, without a wrinkle.
They appeared to be made of a strong compact kind of linen, and were all
of a dark brown colour, the result probably of some vegetable solution
that contained a large proportion of the _tannin_ principle. Many of
them were daubed with wax and some resinous or bituminous substance; and
some little crystals were found, from which a chemist who was present
seemed to think that lime had been used in preparing the skin.
The circumstance that most astonished my uncle was that some of the
sinews were still elastic and flexible, and that the joints moved as
easily as in a living body. My aunt and he afterwards had a long
conversation on the origin of the ancient Egyptians; the principal
circumstance that I picked up was that the celebrated Cuvier has
examined the skulls of above fifty mummies, and that, in his opinion,
they have the same characters as those of the Armenians, Georgians, and
Europeans; or, to use his expression, that the common origin of them all
was Caucasian. The skull of that which my uncle saw leads to the same
conclusion, and differed essentially from the form of the negro head. It
is a curious fact, which he says has been noticed by more than one
traveller, that whole families are still to be found in Upper Egypt, in
whom the general character of the head and face strongly resembles that
of the mummies discovered in Thebes, as well as the figures represented
in the ancient monuments of that country.
_17th._--A friend of my uncle’s, Colonel Travers, who has lately
returned from India, where he served for many years, arrived here
yesterday. He has been in various parts of the East, and is so
entertaining, that I am sure I shall forget to note down half the
curious things which I have heard him mention.
The conversation turned on bees, and he told us that in Mysore, where he
was for a long time stationed, he saw four different kinds. That which
makes the finest honey is a beautiful little bee of very small size, and
which does not sting. It is called the _cadi_. It forms its combs round
the branches of trees; the honey is excellent, and can be procured with
very little trouble, as the bees are easily driven off with a switch.
But the bee from which the greatest quantity of honey is procured is
large and fierce, and builds under projecting ledges of rock, or in
caverns. The honey is gathered twice a year, for which purpose the
people kindle a fire at the foot of the rock, and throw into it the
leaves of a species of _cassia_, which emit a smoke so acrid that
nothing can endure it--even the bees are forced to retire. As soon as
the smoke subsides, a man is quickly lowered by a rope from the top of
the rock; he knocks off the nest, and is immediately drawn up again, for
were he to make any delay the bees would return, and their stinging is
so dreadful as to endanger life.
In a tour which Colonel Travers made through a part of Ceylon, he found
a species of bees which might at first be mistaken for black flies.
Their heads, compared with their bodies, are extremely large. The honey
is very liquid, and has a disagreeable flavour. I asked him if he had
ever seen the honey-bird or Indicator, when he was at the Cape?--he did
see it,--and heard its shrill note of _cherr, cherr_, which announces
the discovery of a bees’ nest. He followed this sagacious bird along
with a party of bee-hunters, and it soon pointed out a bees’ nest, by
redoubling the frequency of its cries, and by hovering over the place.
Having taken most of the honey, they left only a small portion for
their little guide, so that not having enough to satisfy him, he
immediately flew off to find more. These birds construct very singular
nests: they are composed of slender filaments of bark, woven together in
the form of a bottle; the neck and opening hang downwards, and a string
is loosely fastened across the opening, on which they perch.
Colonel Travers told us, that the skin of these birds is so extremely
thick, that it can scarcely be pierced by a pin; and the bees therefore
attack them by endeavouring to sting their eyes.
_18th._--Colonel Travers was describing to-day the areca or betel nut
palm. The berry of this tree is, you know, constantly used by the
Indians, who chew it both green and dry.
The preservation of the fruit during the rainy season, and the cutting
it down when ripe, require much expertness and agility. He says, that
from the middle of winter to the middle of spring, the leaves fall off:
each leaf is attached to a broad leathern petiole or leaf-stalk; and
these membranes, which are about three feet long, and half that breadth,
are preserved for the rainy season as covers for the young bunches of
fruit. This business is performed by a particular set of people; for the
stem of the tree, which is about fifty feet high, straight, smooth, and
without branches, like most of the palm tribe, is very difficult to
ascend. Round his ancles, and under the soles of his feet, the climber
fixes a rope; his feet, thus bound together, he places against the stem,
and while he holds on steadily with his hands, he gently draws up his
feet. He thus moves one hand forward and then the other hand, and
afterwards again draws up his feet. In this manner he slowly reaches the
top of the tree, where he makes fast a rope, the end of it being tied to
the middle of a short stick on which he seats himself and performs his
work; drawing up whatever he wants from below, by means of a line
hanging from his girdle. When he has covered all the fruit, he unties
his seat, secures it round his neck, and swings the tree backwards and
forwards, till he can reach another tree, upon which he throws himself,
and again makes fast his seat. In this way he swings from tree to tree,
and covers or cuts the fruit in the whole garden without once descending
to the ground.
_19th._--I hear such quantities of amusing things from this East Indian
friend of my uncle’s, that I scarcely know how to select from them. I
wish you were here to listen to his adventures and to see his beautiful
drawings. He lent me a sketch of the famous talipot tree of Ceylon,
which I have been trying to copy. What a magnificent object it appears,
crowned at the top by those immense leaves, one of which, it is said,
can shelter fifteen or twenty men from the rain! They seem to be formed
purposely for this use, for they fold up like a fan, so that the whole
leaf, or any portion of it, becomes portable; and though tough and
impenetrable to water, they are easily cut with a knife. When a leaf is
spread out, it is nearly circular; but it is cut for use into triangular
pieces, one of which every Singhalese soldier carries as his parasol or
umbrella by day, and his tent at night. The fruit is not eaten; but the
pith, like that of the sago tree, is very good, if the tree be cut down
before the seed ripens; when beaten in a mortar, it produces a kind of
flour, from which cakes are made, that taste something like wheaten
bread.
Colonel Travers made an excursion into the interior of Ceylon, and he
described to us to-day a very curious mode of hunting which they have
there. Near the side of a large pond, a hole is dug four feet deep, and
wide enough to contain two or three persons. It is covered with leaves,
branches, and earth, except a small opening, through which the hunters
can keep a look out, and when necessary point their guns. Before dark
they conceal themselves there, in order to watch the wild beasts, which
come from the woods to drink, and the different species of which always
come in separate herds. The elephants come first, and stay longest, as
they usually bathe before they drink, and when the water is not deep
enough, they draw it up into their trunks, and refresh themselves, by
spouting it over their bodies. The buffaloes come next; after having
satisfied their thirst, they amuse themselves by lying down in the
water, and playing and tumbling about. The tigers and the bears also
take their separate turns, and towards morning, the wild boars and deer,
and other smaller beasts. It is for these that the hunters generally
adopt this plan, which, however, is exposed to more dangers than one,
for there are instances of elephants falling into the pits and crushing
the people; and even of tigers and buffaloes having discovered them by
their scent. To avoid such misfortunes, the hunters go in parties, and
one person is placed in some secure position, to warn the others, and to
frighten away the straggling animals that come too near, by firing upon
them, or throwing rockets. Colonel Travers and his companions joined a
party of this kind, and here is his history of it.
“We were called at two o’clock, and having carefully loaded our pieces,
and filled our pouches with cartridges, we slowly advanced along the
river. At a distance on the other side, the noise of various animals was
echoed deep and terrible through the forest; and we heard, in almost
every watery place around us, rustling and motion. We pitched upon one
of the largest of these places, and crept softly, but at a little
distance from each other, into the bushes and thorns with which it was
surrounded. This pool seemed to be about five or six hundred yards in
circumference, and we all agreed not to fire at an elephant, or at any
of the large fierce beasts, but to wait patiently the arrival of the
smaller animals.