Et sociis aeger pluribus unus erat,
Ille suum extincto, Phoebi quia lampadis aestu
Occultoque uri, questus ab igne caput
Quaesiit in prora, si quam daiet angulus umbram,
Nulla sed in prorae partibus umbra fuit.
Quaesiit in puppi, nihil umbrae puppis habebat,
Summa sed urebant solis, & ima faces.
His cupiens Anchieta malis succurrere, solam
Aera per medium tendere vidit avem.
Vidit, ei socias, ait, i, quaere cohortes
Aliger atque redux cum legione veni.
Dicta probavit avis, celerique citatior Euro,
Cognatum properat, quaerere jussa gregem.
Milleque mox sociis comitata revertitur alis,
Mille sequi visae, mille praeire ducem.
Mille supra, & totidem, juxtaque, infraque volabant,
Omnis ad Anchietae turba vocata preces.
Et simul expansis facta testudine pennis,
Desuper in tostas incubuere rates.
Et procul inde diem, & lucem pepulere diei,
Debile dum molis conderet umbra caput.
Scilicet haec fierent, ut canopea repente
Anchieta artifices, esse coegit aves.
_Vida do Veneravel Padre Joseph de Anchieta, da companhia de Jesu,
Taumaturgo do Novo Mundo, na Provincia do Brasil. composta pello P.
Simam de Vasconcellos, da mesma companhia._
_Lisboa. 1672._
Father Simam de Vasconcellos probably stole this miracle from the
Arabian story of Solomon, not that he is deficient in invention, but a
Jesuit cannot be suspected of ignorance.
In a very old book, the _Margarita Philosophica_, is an account of a
parasol more convenient, tho' not in so _elegant a taste_ as that of the
wonder worker Anchieta. There is said to be a nation of one legged men,
and one of these unipods is represented in a print lying on his back,
under the shade of his own great foot. It is probably a classical lie.
The most quaint account of Solomon's wisdom is in Du Bartas.
Hee knowes----
Whether the Heavens sweet-sweating kisse appear
To be Pearls parent, and the Oysters pheer,
And whether, dusk, it makes them dim withall,
Cleer breeds the cleer, and stormy brings the pale:
Whether from sea the amber-greece be sent,
Or be some fishes pleasant excrement.
He knowes why the Earth's immoveable and round,
The lees of Nature, center of the mound;
Hee knows her mesure: and hee knows beside
How _Coloquintida_ (duely apply'd)
Within the darknesse of the Conduit-pipes,
Amid the winding of our inward tripes,
Can so discreetly the _white humour_ take.
_Sylvester's Du Bartas._
[77] In places where there was water we found a beautiful variety of the
plover.
_Niebuhr._
[78] The Camels of the hot countries are not fastened one to the tail of
the other as in cold climates, but suffered to go at their will like
herds of cows. The Camel driver follows singing, and from time to time
giving a sudden whistle. The louder he sings and whistles, the faster
the Camels go, and they stop as soon as he ceases to sing. The
Camel-drivers to relieve each other sing alternately, and when they wish
their beasts to brouze for half an hour on what they can find, they
amuse themselves by smoking a pipe, after which beginning again to sing,
the Camels immediately proceed.
_Tavernier._
[79] At four in the afternoon we had an unexpected entertainment, which
filled our hearts with a very short-lived joy. The whole plain before us
seemed thick covered with green grass and yellow daisies. We advanced to
the place with as much speed as our lame condition would suffer us, but
how terrible was our disapointment, when we found the whole of that
verdure to consist in senna and coloquintida, the most nauseous of
plants, and the most incapable of being substituted as food for man or
beast.
_Bruce._
[80] The girdles of these people are usually of worsted, very artfully
woven into a variety of figures, and made to wrap several times about
their bodies, one end of them, by being doubled and sown along the
edges, serves them for a purse, agreable to the acceptation of the word
[Greek: Zone] in the Holy Scriptures, the Turks and Arabs make a further
use ot their girdles by fixing their knives and poiniards in them;
whilst the Hojias, i. e. the writers and secretaries, are distinguished
by having an inkhorn, the badge of their office, suspended in the like
situation.
_Shaw._
[81] On the road we passed the skeleton of a camel, which now and then
happens in the desert. These are poor creatures that have perished with
fatigue: for those which are killed for the sustenance of the Arabs, are
carried away bones and all together. Of the hides are made the soles of
the slippers which are worn in Egypt, without any dressing, but what the
sun can give them. The circumstances of this animal's death, when his
strength fails him on the road, have something in them affecting to
humanity. Such are his patience and perseverance, that he pursues his
journey without flagging, as long as he has power to support its weight;
and such are his fortitude and spirit, that he will never give out,
until nature sinks beneath the complicated ills which press upon him.
Then, and then only, will he resign his burden and body to the ground.
Nor stripes, nor caresses nor food, nor rest, will make him rise again!
His vigor is exhausted, and life ebbs out apace! This the Arabs are very
sensible of, and kindly plunge a sword into the breast of the dying
beast, to shorten his pangs. Even the Arab feels remorse when he commits
this deed: his hardened heart is moved at the loss of a faithful
servant.
_Eyles Irwin._
In the Monthly Magazine for January 1800, is a letter from professor
Heering recommending the introduction of these animals at the Cape, but
the Camel is made only for level countries. "This animal is very ill
qualified to travel upon the snow or wet ground; the breadth in which
they carry their legs, when they slip, often occasions their splitting
themselves; so that when they fall with great burdens they seldom rise
again."
_Jonas Hanway._
The African Arabs say, if one should put the question _which is best for
you, a Camel, to go up hill or down?_ he will make answer, _God's curse
light on 'em both, wheresoever they are to be met with_.
_Morgan's Hist. of Algiers._
No creature seems so peculiarly fitted to the climate in which it
exists. We cannot doubt the nature of the one has been adapted to that
of the other by some _disposing intelligence_. Designing the Camel to
dwell in a country where he can find little nourishment, Nature has been
sparing of her materials in the whole of his formation, She has not
bestowed upon him the plump fleshiness of the ox, horse, or elephant;
but limiting herself to what is strictly necessary, she has given him a
small head without ears, at the end of a long neck without flesh. She
has taken from his legs and thighs every muscle not immediately
resquisite for motion; and in short has bestowed on his withered body
only the vessels and tendons necessary to connect his frame together.
She has furnished him with a strong jaw, that he may grind the hardest
aliments; but lest he should consume too much, she has contracted his
stomach, and obliged him to chew the cud. She has lined his foot with a
lump of flesh, which, sliding in the mud, and being no way adapted for
climbing, fits him only for a dry, level, and sandy soil, like that of
Arabia. She has evidently destined him likewise to slavery, by refusing
him every sort of defence against his enemies. Destitute of the horns of
the bull, the hoofs of the horse, the tooth of the elephant, and the
swiftness of the stag, how can the camel resist or avoid the attacks of
the lion, the tyger, or even the wolf? To preserve the species
therefore, Nature has concealed him in the depths of the vast deserts,
where the want of vegetables can attract no game, and whence the want of
game repels every voracious animal. Tyranny must have expelled man from
the habitable parts of the earth, before the Camel could have lost his
liberty. Become domestic, he has rendered habitable the most barren soil
the world contains. He alone supplies all his master's wants. The milk
of the Camel nourishes the family of the Arab, under the various forms
of curds, cheese, and butter; and they often feed upon his flesh.
Slippers and harness are made of his skin, and tents and clothing of his
hair. Heavy burthens are transported by his means, and when the earth
denies forage to the horse, so valuable to the Bedouin, the she-camel
supplies that deficiency by her milk, at no other cost, for so many
advantages, than a few stalks of brambles or wormwood, and pounded date
kernels. So great is the importance of the Camel to the desert, that
were it deprived of that useful animal, it must infallibly lose every
inhabitant.
_Volney._
[82] Where any part of these Deserts is sandy and level, the Horizon is
as fit for astronomical observations as the sea, and appears at a small
distance, to be no less a collection of water. It was likewise equally
surprising to observe, in what an extraordinary manner every object
appeared to be magified within it; insomuch that a shrub seemed as big
as a tree, and a flock of Achbobbas might be mistaken for a caravan of
Camels. This seeming collection of water, always advances, about a
quarter of a mile before us, whilst the intermediate space appears to be
in one continued glow, occasioned by the quivering undulating motion of
that quick succession of vapours and exhalations, which are extracted by
the powerful influence of the sun.
_Shaw._
In the Bahar Danush is a metaphor drawn from this optical deception. "It
is the ancient custom of Fortune, and time has long established the
habit, that she at first bewilders the thirsty travellers in the path of
desire, by the misty vapour of disappointment; but when their distress
and misery has reached extremity, suddenly relieving them from the dark
windings of confusion and error, she conducts them to the fountains of
enjoyment."
"The burning heat of the sun was reflected with double violence from the
hot sand, and the distant ridges of the hills, seen thro' the ascending
vapour, seemed to wave and fluctuate like the unsettled sea."
_Mungo Park._
"I shake the lash over my Camel, and she quickens her pace, while the
sultry vapour rolls in waves over the burning cliffs."
_Moallakat. Poem of Tarafa._
[83] Perhaps no traveller but Mr. Park ever survived to relate similar
sufferings.
"I pushed on as fast as possible, in hopes of reaching some
watering-place in the course of the night. My thirst was by this time
become insufferable; my mouth was parched and inflamed; a sudden dimness
would frequently come over my eyes, with other symptoms of fainting; and
my horse being very much fatigued, I began seriously to apprehend that I
should perish of thirst. To relieve the burning pain in my mouth and
throat, I chewed the leaves of different shrubs, but found them all
bitter and of no service to me.
A little before sunset, having reached the top of a gentle rising, I
climbed a high tree, from the topmost branches of which I cast a
melancholy look over the barren wilderness, but without discovering the
most distant trace of a human dwelling. The same dismal uniformity of
shrubs and sand every where presents itself, and the horizon, was as
level and uninterrupted as that of the sea.
Descending from the tree, I found my horse devouring the stubble and
brushwood with great avidity; and as I was now too faint to attempt
walking, and my horse too much fatigued to carry me, I thought it but an
act of humanity, and perhaps the last I should ever have it in my power
to perform, to take off his bridle and let him shift for himself: in
doing which I was suddenly affected with sickness and giddiness, and
falling upon the sand, felt as if the hour of death was fast
approaching. Here then, thought I, after a short but ineffectual
struggle, terminate all my hopes of being useful in my day and
generation; here must the short span of my life come to an end.--I cast
(as I believed) a last look on the surrounding scene, and whilst I
reflected on the awful change that was about to take place, this world
with its enjoyments seemed to vanish from my recollection. Nature
however, at length resumed its functions; and on recovering my senses, I
found myself stretched upon the sand with the bridle still in my hand,
and the sun just sinking behind the trees. I now summoned all my
resolution, and determined to make another effort to prolong my
existence. And as the evening was somewhat cool, I resolved to travel as
far as my limbs would carry me, in hopes of reaching (my only resource)
a watering place. With this view I put the bridle on my horse, and
driving him before me, went slowly along for about an hour, when I
perceived some lightning from the north east, a most delightful sight,
for it promised rain. The darkness and lightning increased very rapidly;
and in less than an hour I heard the wind roaring among the bushes. I
had already opened my mouth to receive the refreshing drops which I
expected, but I was instantly covered with a cloud of sand, driven with
such force by the wind as to give a very disagreeable sensation to my
face and arms, and I was obliged to mount my horse and stop under a
bush, to prevent being suffocated. The sand continued to fly in amazing
quantities for near an hour, after which I again set forward, and
travelled with difficulty, until ten o'clock. About this time I was
agreeably surprized by some very vivid flashes of lightning, followed by
a few heavy drops of rain. In a little time the sand ceased to fly, and
I alighted, and spread out all my clean clothes to collect the rain,
which at length I saw would certainly fall.--For more than an hour it
rained plentifully, and I quenched my thirst, by wringing and sucking my
clothes.
_Park's Travels in the Interior of Africa._
[84] All the time I was in Barbary I could never get sight of above
three or four Dromedaries. These the Arabs call Mehera, the singular is
Meheri. They are of several sorts, and degrees of value, some worth many
common Camels, others scarce worth two or three. To look on, they seem
little different from the rest of that Species, only I think the
Excrescence on a Dromedary's Back is somewhat less than that of a Camel.
What is reported of their sleeping, or rather seeming scarce alive, for
some Time after coming into this World, is no Fable. The longer they lie
so, the more excellent they prove in their Kind, and consequently of
higher Price and Esteem. None lie in that Trance more than ten Days and
Nights. These that do, are pretty rare, and are called Ashari from
Aashara, which signifies ten in Arabick. I saw one such, perfectly white
all over, belonging to Lella Oumane Princess of that noble Arab Neja,
named Hayl ben Ali, I spoke of, and upon which she put a very great
Value, never sending it abroad but upon some extraordinary Occasion,
when the greatest Expedition was required; having others, inferior in
swiftness, for more ordinary Messages. They say that one of these
Aasharies will, in one Night, and thro' a level Country, traverse as
much Ground as any single Horse can perform in ten, which is no
Exaggeration of the Matter, since many have affirmed to me, that it
makes nothing of holding its rapid Pace, which is a most violent Hard
Trot, for four and twenty Hours upon a Stretch without shewing the least
Sign of Weariness, or Inclination to Bait; and that having then
swallowed a Ball or two of Sort of a Paste, made up of Barley-Meal, and
may be a little Powder of Dates among it, with a Bowl of Water, or
Camel's Milk, if to be had, and which the Courier seldom forgets to be
provided with, in Skins, as well for the Sustenance of himself as of his
Pegasus, the indefatigable Animal will seem as fresh as at first setting
out, and ready to continue running at the same scarce credible Rate, for
as many Hours longer, and so on from one Extremity of the African
Desarts to the other; provided its Rider could hold out without Sleep,
and other Refreshment. This has been averred to me, by, I believe more
than a thousand Arabs and Moors, all agreeing in every Particular.
I happened to be, once in particular, at the Tent of that Princess, with
Ali ben Mahamoud, the Bey, or Vice-Roy of the Algerine Eastern Province,
when he went thither to celebrate his Nuptials with Ambarca, her only
Daughter, if I mistake not. Among other Entertainments she gave her
Guests, the favourite white Dromedary was brought forth, ready Saddled
and Bridled. I say Bridled, because the Thong, which serves instead of a
Bridle, was put thro' the Hole purposely made in the Gristle of the
Creature's Nose. The Arab appointed to mount, was straightly laced, from
the very Loins quite to his Throat, in a strong Leathern Jacket; they
never riding these Animals any otherwise accoutred, so impetuously
violent are the Concussions the Rider undergoes, during that rapid
Motion, that were he to be loose. I much question whether a few Hours
such unintermitting Agitation would not endanger the bursting of some of
his Entrails: And this the Arabs scruple not to acknowledge. We were to
be diverted with seeing this fine Ashari run against some of the
swiftest Barbs in the whole Neja, which is famed for having good ones,
of the true Libyan Breed, shaped like Greyhounds, and which will
sometimes run down an Ostridge; which few of the very best can pretend
to do, especially upon a hard Ground, perfectly level. We all started
like Racers, and for the first Spurt, most of the best mounted among us
kept up pretty well, but our Grass fed Horses soon flagged: Several of
the Libyan and Numidian Runners held Pace till we, who still followed
upon a good round Hand Gallop, could no longer discern them, and then
gave out; as we were told after their Return. When the Dromedary had
been out of our Sight about half an Hour, we again espied it flying
towards us with an amazing Volocity, and in a very few Moments was among
us, and seemingly nothing concerned; while the Horses and Mares were all
on a Foam, and scarce able to breathe, as was, likewise, a fleet, tall
Greyhound Bitch, of the young Prince's, who had followed and kept Pace
the whole Time, and was no sooner got back to us, but lay down panting
as if ready to expire. I cannot tell how many Miles we went; but we were
near three Hours in coming leisurely back to the Tents, yet made no Stop
in the Way. The young Prince Hamet ben al Guydom ben Sakhari, and his
younger Brother Messoud, told their new Brother-in-Law, that they defied
all the Potentates of Africa to shew him such an Ashari; and the Arab
who rode it, challenged the Bey to lay his Lady a Wager of 1000 Ducats,
that he did not bring him an Answer to a Letter from the Prince of
Wargala, in less than four Days, tho' Leo Africanus, Marmol, and several
others assure us, that it is no less than forty Spanish Leagues, of four
Miles each, South of Tuggurt to which Place, upon another Occasion, as I
shall observe, we made six tedious Days March from the Neighbourhood of
Biscara, North of which we were then, at least thirty Hours riding, if I
remember rightly. However the Bey, who was a Native of Biscara, and
consequently well acquainted with the Sahara, durst not take him up. By
all Circumstances, and the Description given us, besides what I know of
the Matter my self, it could not be much less than 400 Miles, and as
many back again, the fellow offered to ride, in so short a Time; nay
many other Arabs boldly proffered to venture all they were worth in the
World, that he would perform it with all the Ease imaginable.
_Morgan's History of Algiers._
Chenier says "the Dromedary can travel 60 leagues in a day, his motion
is so rapid that the rider is obliged to be girthed to the saddle, and
to have a handkerchief before his mouth to break the current of the
wind."--These accounts are probably much exaggerated.
"The royal couriers in Persia wear a white sash girded from the
shoulders to their waist many times round their bodies, by which means
they are enabled to ride for many days without great fatigue."
_Hanway._
[85] We were here at once surprised and terrified by a sight surely the
most magnificent in the world. In that vast expanse of desert, from W.
and to N. W. of us, we saw a number of prodigious pillars of sand at
different distances, at times moving with great celerity, at others
stalking with a majestic slowness: at intervals we thought they were
coming in a very few moments to overwhelm us, and small quantities of
sand did actually more than once reach us. Again they would retreat so
as to be almost out of sight, their tops reaching to the very clouds.
There the tops often separated from the bodies, and these once
disjoined, dispersed in the air and did not appear more. Sometimes they
were broken near the middle, as if struck with a large cannon shot.
About noon they began to advance with considerable swiftness upon us,
the wind being very strong at north. Eleven of them ranged alongside of
us about the distance of three miles. The greatest diameter of the
largest appeared to me at that distance as if it would measure ten feet.
They retired from us with a wind at S. E. leaving an impression upon my
mind to which I can give no name; though surely one ingredient in it was
fear, with a considerable deal of wonder and astonishment. It was in
vain to think of flying, the swiftest horse, or fastest sailing ship
could be of no use to carry us out of this danger, and the full
persuasion of this rivetted me as if to the spot where I stood.
On the 15th the same appearance of moving pillars of sand presented
themselves to us, only they seemed to be more in number, and less in
size. They came several times in a direction close upon us; that is, I
believe, within less than two miles. They began immediately after
sun-rise, like a thick wood, and almost darkened the sun. His rays
shining through them for near an hour, gave them an appearance of
pillars of fire. Our people now became desperate: the Greeks shrieked
out, and said it was the day of judgement. Ismael pronounced it to be
hell, and the Tucorories that the world was on fire.
_Bruce._
[86] The Pelican makes choice of dry and desert places to lay her eggs,
when her young are hatched, she is obliged to bring water to them from
great distances, to enable her to perform this necessary office Nature
has provided her with a large sack which extends from the tip of the
under mandible of her bill to the throat, and holds as much water as
will supply her brood for several days. This water she pours into the
nest to cool her young, to allay their thirst, and to teach them to
swim. Lions, Tygers, and other rapacious animals resort to these nests,
and drink the water and are said not to injure the young.
_Smellie's Philosophy of Natural History._
[87] These prominent features of an Oriental city will be found in all
the views of Sir John Chardin.
The mosques, the minarets, and numerous cupolas form a splended
spectacle; and the flat roofs of the houses which are situated on the
hills, rising one behind another, present a succession of hanging
terraces, interspersed with cyprus and poplar trees.
_Russel's Nat. Hist. of Aleppo._
The circuit of Ispahan taking in the suburbs is not less than that of
Paris, but Paris contains ten times the number of its inhabitants. It is
not however astonishing that this city is so extensive and so thinly
peopled, because every family has its own house, and almost every house
its garden; so that there is much void ground. From whatever side you
arrive you first discover the towers of the Mosques, and then the trees
which surround the houses; at a distance Ispahan resembles a forest more
than a town.
_Tavernier._
Of Alexandria Volney says, "the spreading palm trees, the terraced
houses which seem to have no roof, the lofty slender minarets, all
announce to the traveller that he is in another world."
[88] Almanzor riding one day with his courtiers along the banks of the
Tigris, where Seleucia formerly stood, was so delighted with the beauty
of the country, that he resolved there to build his new Capital. Whilst
he was conversing with his attendants upon this project, one of them
separating from the rest met a hermit whose cell was near, and entered
into talk with him and communicated the design of the Caliph. The Hermit
replied, he well knew by a tradition of the country that a city would
one day be built in that plain, but that its founder would be a man
called Moclas, a name very different from both those of the Caliph,
Giaffar and Almanzor.