laid, in order to drive out the Demon which they imagined was got into
it. After mass they took up the body, and got every thing ready for
pulling out its heart. The butcher of the town, an old clumsy fellow,
first opens the belly instead of the breast, he groped a long while
among the entrails, but could not find what he looked for; at last
somebody told him he should cut up the Diaphragm. The heart was then
pulled out, to the admiration of all the spectators. In the mean time
the Corpse stunk so abominably that they were obliged to burn
frankincense; but the smoke mixing with the exhalations from the carcass
increased the stink, and began to muddle the poor people's pericranies.
Their imagination, struck with the spectacle before them, grew full of
visions. It came into their noddles, that a thick smoke came out of the
body; we durst not say 'twas the smoke of the incense. They were
incessantly bawling out Vroucolacas in the chapel and place before it;
this is the name they give to these pretended Redivivi. The noise
bellowed thro' the streets, and it seemed to be a name invented on
purpose to rend the roof of the chapel. Several there present averr'd
that the wretches blood was extremely red; the Butcher swore the body
was still warm, whence they concluded that the Deceas'd was a very ill
man for not being thoroughly dead, or in plain terms for suffering
himself to be re-animated by Old Nick; which is the notion they have of
Vroucolacas. They then roar'd out that name in a stupendous manner. Just
at this time came in a flock of people loudly protesting they plainly
perceived the Body was not grown stiff when it was carried from the
fields to Church to be buried, and that consequently it was a true
Vroucolacas; which word was still the burden of the song.
I don't doubt they would have sworn it did not stink, had not we been
there; so mazed were the poor people with this disaster, and so
infatuated with their notion of the Dead being re-animated. As for us,
who were got as close to the corpse as we could, that we might be more
exact in our observations, we were almost poisoned with the intolerable
stink that issued from it. When they asked us what we thought of this
body, we told them we believed it to be very thoroughly dead: but as we
were willing to cure, or at least not to exasperate their prejudiced
imaginations, we represented to them, that it was no wonder the butcher
should feel a little warmth when he groped among Entrails that were then
rotting, that it was no extraordinary thing for it to emit fumes, since
dung turned up will do the same; that as for the pretended redness of
the blood, it still appeared by the butcher's hands to be nothing but a
very stinking nasty smear.
After all our reasons they were of opinion it would be their wisest
course to burn the dead man's heart on the sea-shore: but this execution
did not make him a bit more tractable; he went on with his racket more
furiously than ever; he was accused of beating folks in the night,
breaking down doors, and even roofs of houses, clattering windows,
tearing clothes, emptying bottles and vessels. 'Twas the most thirsty
Devil! I believe he did not spare any body but the Consul in whose house
we lodged. Nothing could be more miserable than the condition of this
island; all the inhabitants seemed frighted out of their senses: the
wisest among them were stricken like the rest; 'twas an epidemical
disease of the brain, as dangerous and infectious as the madness of
dogs. Whole families quitted their houses, and brought their tent beds
from the farthest parts of the town into the public place, there to
spend the night. They were every instant complaining of some new insult;
nothing was to be heard but sighs and groans at the approach of night:
the better sort of people retired into the country.
When the prepossession was so general, we thought it our best way to
hold our tongues. Had we opposed it, we had not only been accounted
ridiculous blockheads, but Atheists and Infidels, how was it possible to
stand against the madness of a whole people? Those that believed we
doubted the truth of the fact, came and upbraided us with our
incredulity, and strove to prove that there were such things as
Vroucolacasses, by citations out of the Buckler of Faith, written by F.
Richard a Jesuit Missionary. He was a Latin, say they, and consequently
you ought to give him credit. We should have got nothing by denying the
justness of the consequence: it was as good as a Comedy to us every
morning to hear the new follies committed by this night bird; they
charged him with being guilty of the most abominable sins.
Some Citizens, that were most zealous for the good of the public,
fancied they had been deficient in the most material part of the
ceremony. They were of opinion that they had been wrong in saying mass
before they had pulled out the wretches heart: had we taken this
precaution, quoth they, we had bit the Devil as sure as a gun; he would
have been hanged before he would ever have come there again: whereas
saying mass first, the cunning Dog fled for it awhile and came back
again when the danger was over.
Notwithstanding these wise reflections, they remained in as much
perplexity as they were the first day: they meet night and morning, they
debate, they make professions three days and three nights, they oblige
the Papas to fast; you might see them running from house to house,
holy-water-brush in hand sprinkling it all about, and washing the doors
with it; nay they poured it into the mouth of the poor Vroucolacas.
We so often repeated it to the Magistrates of the town, that in Xtendom
we should keep the strictest watch a nights upon such an occasion, to
observe what was done; that at last they caught a few vagabonds, who
undoubtedly had a hand in these disorders: but either they were not the
chief ringleaders, or else they were released too soon. For two days
afterwards, to make themselves amends for the Lent they had kept in
prison, they fell foul again upon the wine tubs of those who were such
fools as to leave their houses empty in the night: so that the people
were forced to betake themselves again to their prayers.
One day as they were hard at this work, after having stuck I know not
how many naked swords over the grave of this corpse, which they took up
three or four times a day, for any man's whim; an Albaneze that happened
to be at Mycone, took upon him to say with a voice of authority, that it
was to the last degree ridiculous to make use of the swords of Xtians in
a case like this. Can you not conceive, blind as ye are, says he, that
the handles of these swords being made like a cross, hinders the Devil
from coming out of the body? Why do you not rather take the Turkish
sabres? The advice of this learned man had no effect: the Vroucolacas
was incorrigible, and all the inhabitants were in a strange
consternation; they knew not now what Saint to call upon, when of a
sudden with one voice, as if they had given each other the hint, they
fell to bawling out all thro' the city, that it was intolerable to wait
any longer; that the only way left was to burn the Vroucolacas intire;
that after so doing, let the Devil lurk in it if he could; that 'twas
better to have recourse to this extremity than to have the island
totally deserted, and indeed whole families began to pack up, in order
to retire to Syre or Tinos. The magistrates therefore ordered the
Vroucolacas to be carryed to the point of the island St. George, where
they prepared a great pile with pitch and tar, for fear the wood, as dry
as it was, should not burn fast enough of itself. What they had before
left of this miserable carcass was thrown into this fire and consumed
presently: 'twas on the first of January, 1701. We saw the flame as we
returned from Delos; it might justly be called a bonfire of joy, since
after this no more complaints were heard against the Vroucolacas; they
said that the Devil had now met with his match, and some ballads were
made to turn him into ridicule.
_Tournefort._
[142] In these lines I have versified a passage in Bishop Taylor's
Sermons, altering as little as possible, his unimproveable language.
"For so have I known a luxuriant Vine swell into irregular twigs and
bold excrescencies, and spend itself in leaves and little rings, and
afford but trifling clusters to the wine-press, and a faint return to
his heart which longed to be refreshed with a full vintage: but when the
Lord of the vine had caused the dressers to cut the wilder plant and
made it bleed, it grew temperate in its vain expence of useless leaves,
and knotted into fair and juicy branches, and made accounts of that loss
of blood by the return of fruit."
[143] My readers will recollect the Lenora. The unwilling resemblance
has been forced upon me by the subject. I could not turn aside from the
road because Burger had travelled it before. The "Old Woman of Berkely"
has been foolishly called an imitation of that inimitable Ballad: the
likeness is of the same kind as between Macedon and Monmouth. Both are
Ballads, and there is a Horse in both.
[144] How came Mohareb to be Sultan of this Island? Every one who has
read Don Quixote knows that there are always Islands to be had by
Adventurers. He killed the former Sultan and reigned in his stead. What
could not a Domdanielite perform? The narration would have interrupted
the flow of the main story.
[145] In this valley, we found plenty of provender for our cattle:
rosemary bushes, and other shrubs of uncommon fragance, which, being
natives of the desert, are still perhaps without a name. Though these
scented plants are the usual food of the camel, it is remarkable that
his breath is insufferably nauseous. But when he is pushed by hunger, he
devours thistles and prickles indiscriminately, without the least damage
to his mouth, which seems proof to the sharpest thorns.
_Eyles Irwin._
[146] The hawk is used at Aleppo in taking the hare. "As soon as the
hare is put up, one, or a brace of the nearest greyhounds are slipped,
and the Falconer galloping after them, throws off his hawk. The hare
cannot run long where the hawk behaves properly, but sometimes getting
the start of the dogs, she gains the next hill and escapes. It now and
then happens when the hawk is fierce and voracious in an unusual degree,
that the hare is struck dead at the first stroke, but that is very
uncommon; for the hawks preferred for hare hunting are taught to pounce
and buffet the game, not to seize it, and they rise a little between
each attack, to descend again with fresh force. In this manner the game
is confused and retarded, till the greyhounds come in.
_Russell._
The Shaheen or Falcon Gentle, flies at a more dangerous game. Were there
not, says the elder Russell, several gentlemen now in England to bear
witness to the truth of what I am going to relate, I should hardly
venture to assert that with this bird, which is about the size of a
pigeon, they sometimes take large Eagles. The Hawk in former times was
taught to seize the Eagle under his pinion, and thus depriving him of
the use of one wing, both birds fell to the ground together: but I am
informed the present mode is to teach the Hawk to fix on the back
between the wings, which has the same effect, only that the bird
tumbling down more slowly, the Falconer has more time to come in to his
Hawk's assistance; but in either case, if he be not very expeditious,
the Falcon is inevitably destroyed.
Dr. Patrick Russell says, this sport was disused in his time, probably
from its ending more frequently in the death of the Falcon than of the
Eagle. But he had often seen the Shaheen take Herons and Storks. "The
hawk when thrown off flies for some time in a horizontal line not six
feet from the ground, then mounting perpendicularly with astonishing
swiftness, he seizes his prey under the wing, and both together come
tumbling to the ground. If the Falconer is not expeditious the game soon
disengages itself.
We saw about twenty antelopes, which, however, were so very shy, that we
could not get near enough to have a shot, nor do I think it possible to
take them without hawks, the mode usually practised in those countries.
The swiftest greyhounds would be of no use, for the antelopes are much
swifter of foot than any animal I ever saw before.
_Jackson's Journey over Land._
The Persians train their hawks thus. They take the whole skin of a stag,
of the head, body, and legs, and stuff it with straw to the shape of the
animal. After fixing it in the place where they usually train the bird,
they place his food upon the head of the stuffed stag, and chiefly in
the two cavities of the eyes, that the Bird may strike there. Having
accustomed him for several days to eat in this manner, they fasten the
feet of the stag to a plank which runs upon wheels, which is drawn by
cords from a distance; and from day to day they draw it faster,
insensibly to accustom the Bird not to quit his prey; and at last they
draw the stag by a horse at full speed. They do the same with the wild
boar, the ass, the fox, the hare, and other beasts of chase.--They are
even taught to stop a horseman at full speed, nor will they quit him
till the Falconer recalls them and shows them their food.
_Tavernier._
As the Persians are very patient and not deterred by difficulty, they
delight in training the Crow in the same manner as the Hawk.
_Tavernier._
I do not recollect in what history or romance there is a tale of two
dogs trained in this manner to destroy a Tyrant. But I believe it is an
historical fiction. The farmers in Norway believe that the Eagle will
sometimes attack a deer, in this enterprize he makes use of this
stratagem; he soaks his wings in water, and then covers them with sand
and gravel, with which he flies against the deer's face, and blinds him
for a time; the pain of this sets him running about like a distracted
creature, and frequently he tumbles down a rock or some steep place, and
breaks his neck; thus he becomes a prey to the eagle.
_Pontoppidan._
[147] I saw this appearance of death at a bull-fight--the detestable
amusement of the Spaniards and Portugueze. To the honour of our country,
few Englishmen visit these spectacles a second time.
[148] They have a beast called an Ounce, spotted like a Tyger, but very
gentle and tame. A horseman carries it, and on perceiving the Gazelle
lets it loose: and tho' the Gazelle is incredibly swift, it is so nimble
that in three bounds it leaps upon the neck of its prey. The Gazelle is
a sort of small antelope, of which the country is full. The Ounce
immediately strangles it with its sharp talons, but if unluckily it
misses its blow and the Gazelle escapes, it remains upon the spot
ashamed and confused, and at that moment a child might take or kill it
without its attempting to defend itself.
_Tavernier._
The Kings of Persia are very fond of the chase, and it is principally in
that, that they display their magnificence. It happened one day that
Cha-Sefi wished to entertain all the Ambassadors who were at his court,
and there were then ministers there from Tartary, Muscovy and India. He
led them to the chase, and having taken in their presence a great number
of large animals, stags, does, hinds and wild boars, he had them all
dressed and eat the same day, and while they were eating an Architect
was ordered to erect a tower in the middle of Ispahan, only with the
heads of these animals: the remains of it are yet to be seen. When the
Tower was raised to its proper height, the Architect came exultingly to
the King who was then at the banquet with the Ambassadors, and informed
him that nothing was wanting to finish the work well, but the head of
some large beast for the point. The Prince in his drunkenness, and with
a design of showing the Ambassadors how absolute he was over his
subjects, turned sternly to the Architect--_You are right_, said he,
_and I do not know where to find a better head than your own_. The
unhappy man was obliged to lose his head, and the royal order was
immediately executed.
_Tavernier._
[149]
A serpent which that aspidis
Is cleped, of his kinde hath this,
That he the stone noblest of all
The whiche that men carbuncle call,
Bereth in his head above on high.
For whiche whan that a man by slight
The stone to wynne, and him to dante,
With his carecte him wolde enchante,
Anone as he perceiveth that
He leyth downe his one ear all plat
Unto the ground, and halt it fast,
And eke that other eare als faste
He shoppeth with his taille so sore,
That he the wordes, lasse or more
Of his enchantement ne hereth.
And in this wise himself he skiereth,
So that he hath the wordes wayved,
And thus his eare is nought deceived.
_Gower._
Does not "the deaf adder, that heareth not the voice of the charmer,
charm he never so wisely," allude to some snake that cannot be enticed
by music, as they catch them in Egypt?
[150] As for the wax it is the finest and whitest that may be had tho'
of bees: and there is such plenty as serves the whole empire. Several
provinces produce it, but that of Huquam exceeds all the others, as well
in quantity as whiteness. It is gathered in the province of Xantung upon
little trees; but in that of Huquam upon large ones, as big as those of
the Indian Pagods, or chesnut-trees in Europe. The way nature has found
to produce it, to us appears strange enough. There is in this province a
creature, or insect of the bigness of a flea, so sharp at stinging, that
it not only pierces the skins of men and beasts, but the boughs and
bodies of the trees. Those of the province of Xantung are much valued;
where the inhabitants gather their eggs from the trees, and carry them
to sell in the province of Huquam. In the spring, there come from these
eggs certain worms, which about the beginning of the summer they place
at the foot of the tree, whence they creep up, spreading themselves
wonderfully over all the branches. Having placed themselves there, they
gnaw, pierce, and bore to the very pith, and their nourishment they
convert into wax as white as snow, which they drive out to the mouth of
the hole they have made, where it remains congealed in drops by the
wind, and cold. Then the owners of the trees gather it, and make it into
cakes as we do, which are sold about China.
_Gemelli Careri._
Du Halde's account is somewhat different from this, the worms, he says,
fasten on the leaves of the tree, and in a short time form combs of wax,
much smaller than the Honey Combs.
[151] It being notorious that fire enters into the composition of a
Devil, because he breathes smoke and flames, there is an obvious
propriety in supposing every Witch her own tinder-box, as they
approximate to diabolic nature. I am sorry that I have not the
Hierarchie of the Blessed Angels to refer to, otherwise by the best
authorities, I could show that is the trick of Beelzebub to parody the
costume of religion, the inflammability of Saints may be abundantly
exampled.
It happened upon a time, before St. Elfled was chosen Abbesse, that
being in the Church at mattins, before day, with the rest of her
sisters, and going into the middest according to the custome, to read a
lesson, the candle wherewith she saw to read, chanced to be put out, and
thereupon wanting light, there came from the fingers of her right hand
such an exceeding brightnesse upon the suddaine, that not only herselfe,
but all the rest of the Quire also might read by it.
_English Martyrologe._ 1608.
Dead Saints have frequently possessed this phosphoric quality like
rotten wood or dead fish. "St. Bridget was interred at the towne of
Dunne in the province of Ulster, in the tombe, togeather with the
venerable bodyes of S. Patricke and S. Columbe, which was afterward
miraculously reveyled to the Bishop of that place, as he was praying one
night late in the church, about the yeare of Christ 1176, over which,
there shined a great light."
_English Martyrologe._
So when the nurse of Mohammed first entered the chamber of Amena his
mother, she saw a coruscating splendour, which was the light of the
infant prophet, so that Amena never kindled her lamp at night.
_Maracci._
Another Mohammedan miracle of the same genus is no ways improbable. When
the head of Hosein was brought to Couffah, the Governor's gates were
closed, and Haula the bearer took it to his own house. He awoke his wife
and told her what had so speedily brought him home. I bring with me,
said he, the most valuable present that could possibly be made to the
Caliph, and the woman asking earnestly what it could be, the head of
Hosein, here it is, I am sent with it to the Governor. Immediately she
sprung from the bed, not that she was shocked or terrified at the sight,
for the Arabian women were accustomed to follow the army, and habituated
to the sight of blood and massacre. But Hosein by Fatima his mother was
grandson of the prophet, and this produced an astonishing effect upon
the mind of the woman. By the Apostle of God, she exclaimed, I will
never again lie down with a man who has brought me the head of his
grandson. The Moslem who according to the custom of his nation had many
wives sent for another who was not so conscientious. Yet the presence of
the head which was placed upon a table prevented her from sleeping,
_because_ she said _she saw a great glory playing around if all the
night_.
_Marigny._
After Affonso de Castro had been martyred in one of the Molucca Islands
his body was thrown into the sea. But it was in a few days brought back
by Providence to the spot where he had suffered, the wounds fresh as if
just opened, and so strange and beautiful a splendour flowing from them,
that it was evident the fountain of such a light must be that body,
whose spirit was in the enjoyment of eternal happiness.
The Moors interpreted one of these phosphoric miracles with equal
ingenuity to favour their own creed, a light was seen every night over
the tomb of a Maronite whom they had martyred, and they said the Priest
was not only tortured with fire in hell, but his very body burnt in the
grave.
_Vasconcellos._
[152] A well known ceremony of witchcraft, old as classical
superstition, and probably not yet wholly disbelieved.
[153] On mount Ararat, which is called _Lubar_, or the descending place,
is an Abbey of St. Gregorie's Monks. These Monkes if any list to believe
them, say that there remaineth yet some part of the Arke, kept by
Angels; which, if any seeke to ascend, carrie them backe as farre in the
night as they have climbed in the day.
_Purchas._
[154] A thicket of balm trees is said to have sprung up from the blood
of the Moslem slain at Beder.
AElianus avoucheth, that those vipers which breed in the provinces of
Arabia, altho' they do bite, yet their biting is not venomous, because
they doe feede on the baulme tree, and sleepe under the shadow thereof.
_Treasury of ancient and modern Times._
The balsam tree is nearly of the same size as a sprig of myrtle, and its
leaves are like those of the herb sweet-marjoram. Vipers take up their
residence about these plants, and are in some places more numerous than
in others; for the juice of the balsam tree is their sweetest food, and
they are delighted with the shade produced by its leaves. When the time
therefore arrives for gathering the juice of this Tree, the Arabians
come into the sacred grove, each of them holding two twigs, by shaking
these, they put to flight the Vipers; for they are unwilling to kill
them, because they consider them as the sacred inhabitants of the
balsam. And if it happens that any one is wounded by a Viper, the wound
resembles that which is made by iron, but is not attended with any
dangerous consequences; for these animals being fed with the juice of
the balsam tree, which is the most odoriferous of all trees, their
poison becomes changed from a deadly quality into one which produces a
milder effect.
_Pausanias._
The inhabitants of Helicon say that none of the herbs or roots which are
produced in this mountain are destructive to mankind, they add that the
pastures here even debilitate the venom of serpents; so that those who
are frequently bit by serpents in this part, escape the danger with
greater ease than if they were of the nation of the Psylli, or had
discovered an antidote against poison.
_Pausanias._
[155] The common people of England have long been acquainted with this
change which muscular fibre undergoes. Before the circumstance was known
to philosophers, I have heard them express a dislike and loathing to
spermaceti.--"because it was dead-men's fat."
[156] The Persians are strangely superstitious about the burial of their
Kings. For fearing lest by some magical art any enchantments should be
practised upon their bodies to the prejudice of their children, they
conceal, as much as in them lies, the real place of interment.