others of wood, which they call Taboat, and bury all alike with the same
magnificence. In this manner they delude the curiosity of the people,
who cannot discern by the outside in which of the coffins the real body
should be. Not but it might be discovered by such as would put
themselves to the expence and trouble of doing it. And thus it shall be
related in the life of Habas the great, that twelve of these coffins
were conveyed to twelve of the principal Mosques, not for the sake of
their riches, but of the person which they enclosed; and yet nobody knew
in which of the twelve the King's body was laid, tho' the common belief
is, that it was deposited at Ardevil.
It is also said in the life of Sefie I. that there were three coffins
carried to three several places, as if there had been a triple
production from one body, tho' it were a thing almost certainly known,
that the coffin where the body was laid, was carried to this same city
of Kom, and to the same place where the deceased King commanded the body
of his deceased father to be carried.
_Chardin._
They imagine the dead are capable of pain, a Portugueze gentleman had
one day ignorantly strayed among the tombs, and a Moor, after much
wrangling obliged him to go before the Cadi. The gentleman complained of
violence and asserted he had committed no crime, but the judge informed
him he was mistaken, for that the poor dead suffered when trodden on by
Christian feet. Muley Ishmael once had occasion to bring one of his
wives thro' a burial ground, and the people removed the bones of their
relations, and murmuring said he would neither suffer the living nor the
dead to rest in peace.
_Chenier. additional chapt. by the Translator._
Were this Moorish superstition true, there would have been some monkish
merit in the last request of St. Swithin, "when he was ready to depart
out of this world, he commanded (for humilityes sake) his body to be
buried in the Church-yard, whereon every one might tread with their
feet.
_English Martyrologe._
There is a story recorded, how that St. Frithstane was wont every day to
say masse and office for the dead; and one evening as he walked in the
Church-yard reciting the said office, when he came to _requiescant in
pace_, the voyces in the graves round about made answere aloud, and said
_Amen_.
_English Martyrologe._
[157] The Mohammedan tradition is even more horrible than this: The
corpse of the wicked is gnawed and stung till the resurrection of
ninety-nine Dragons, with seven heads each, or as others say, their sins
will become venomous Beasts, the grievous ones stinging like Dragons,
the smaller like Scorpions, and the others like Serpents; circumstances
which some understand in a figurative sense.
_Sale's preliminary discourse._
This Mohammedan tale may be traced to the Scripture; "whose worm dieth
not."
[158] The night Leileth-ul-cadr is considered as being particularly
consecrated to eneffable mysteries. There is a prevailing opinion, that
a thousand secret and invisible prodigies are performed on this night;
that all the inanimate beings then pay their adoration to God; that all
the waters of the sea lose their saltness and become fresh at these
mysterious moments; that such in fine, is its sanctity, that prayers
said during this night are equal in value to all those which can be said
in a thousand successive months. It has not however pleased God, says
the author of the celebrated theological work entitled _Ferkann_, to
reveal it to the faithful: no prophet, no saint has been able to
discover it: hence this night, so august, so mysterious, so favoured by
Heaven, has hitherto remained undiscovered.
_D'Ohsson._
[159] In Persia, when the King is in his _Megeler_, that is in his
Council Chamber, with the Lords whose right it is to be present, there
is a sort of half-curtain suspended from a plank, which certain officers
wave backward and forward with cords, as a fan, to freshen the air. This
is called _Badzen, wind for the women_.
_Tavernier._
[160] A Physician of Ragusa was deputed by that little Republic to
negotiate with the Emperor of the Turks. Before he embarked on this
voyage he took into his service a boy of a red complection, the only son
of a widow, a poor woman, but a woman of honour and virtuous. This Envoy
on his arrival at Constantinople immediately addressed himself to the
first Physician of his imperial highness, that thro' his favour he might
have more access to negociate for his country. The Mahometan had no
sooner set eyes on the young Ragusan, than he employed every artifice to
induce his master to leave him. The boy himself, at last, wishing to
remain at Constantinople, flattered by the fair prospects that were held
out to him, and touched with a tender and heroic compassion for her who
had given him birth, prayed his protector to leave him with the
Barbarian, and carry to his mother the money which on that account he
would receive: So that the Ragusan physician left his servant to the
Byzantian, and received from him a purse of a thousand sequins. After
some days the Italian went to take leave of the Mohammedan Physician,
and to thank him for his favours; and he requested earnestly to see the
red-headed boy before his departure. The Turk was obliged to own he had
made poison of him, and led him into a chamber where the naked body of
the boy was still suspended by the feet. The first master of the
red-headed boy was greatly surprized at the sight and still more so when
he heard that the boy had been beaten upon the belly for six hours, by
slaves who relieved one another, till he died: and that a poison was
made of the last foam that came from his mouth, so penetrating, that if
the stirrup of a horse were touched with the point of a pin that had
been dipt in it, he who should mount would immediately die.
_Plaidoyers Historiques par M. Tristan._ 1650.
In this volume the pleadings of the Mother against the Ragusan
physician, and his defence are given. The Mother says, it is impossible
that he, being a Physician himself, should not have known for what the
Infidel Physician wanted to purchase a red-headed boy, as he himself
would have made the same use of him had he not been afraid of the laws,
the rest is in the usual stile of Tristan's rhetoric.
As the Moslem employed a red-headed Christian in this manufactory, it
should seem that a Turk ought to be used in Christendom. But as Turks
are not easily caught, a Jew might do.
In the Islands of Barlovento and in all the country of Brazil, in Santa
Marta and in the new kingdom, and in other countries, where a cruel sort
of Indians inhabited, they used another sort of poison; for they would
take the leg of an Indian whom they had killed, and hang it up in the
air against the sun, and fill it with many barbs of poisoned arrows,
which were taken out of the flesh of an Indian, which after some days
they took out, and without cleansing of them, they dried them in the air
where the sun did not come, and then they headed their arrows with them;
and that became the most malevolent poison, and the most hard to be
cured in the world. After the Spaniards came into that country and waged
war upon the Indians, they then made it with the flesh of Spaniards,
whom they killed or took; but more particularly they desired the flesh
of some red-headed Spaniard, whose hairs were of a deep saffron colour;
for they were of opinion that there was more heat in that flesh, and
consequently more virulency in the poison which it produced: but perhaps
they may have heard it often said amongst the Spaniards themselves, that
red-headed men are fit to make a composition of poison.
_Garcilasso's Royal Commentaries of Peru._
"Three ounces of a red-haired wench" were among the ingredients of the
witch-caldron in Macbeth. Why red-hair was supposed to be a symptom of
leprosy, was one of the questions proposed by Michaelis to Niebuhr and
his fellow-travellers for investigation. It is singular that at the time
when these opinions prevailed universally, golden locks should enter
into almost every description of female beauty. If the word of a poet
may he taken (and the rhymer now quoted cannot be suspected of invention
enough for a lie,) the ladies even wore red wigs, for he says of Absalom
Hasta los hombros pende su cabello
Mas que el oro de Arabia roxo y bello.
Cada ano qual renuevo lo cortava
A damas se vendia para ornato.
_David, del Doctor Jacobo Uziel._
Adown his shoulders his long tresses roll'd,
More beautiful and red than Eastern gold,
And annual as he cropt, the envied hair
Was yearly sold to ornament the fair.
The Javanese had a method of procuring poison similar to the Turkish
receipt which I have employed.
The Cameleon, or Indian Salamander, otherwise called Gekko.
This creature, which is not only found in Brasil, but also in the Isle
of Java, belonging to the East Indies, and which by our people is called
Gekko, from its constant cry, (like among us that of the Cuckoe) is
properly an Indian Salamander. It is about a foot long, its skin of of a
pale or sea green colour, with red spots. The head is not unlike that of
a tortoise, with a streight mouth. The eyes are very large, starting out
of the head, with long and small eye-apples. The tail is distinguished
by several white rings; its teeth are so sharp as to make an impression
even upon steel. Each of its four legs had five crooked claws aimed on
the end with nails. Its gait is very slow, but wherever it fastens it is
not easily removed. It dwells commonly upon rotten trees, or among the
ruines of old houses and churches; it oftentimes settles near the
bedsteads, which makes sometimes the moors pull down their huts.
Its constant cry is _gekko_, but before it begins it makes a kind of
hissing noise. The sting of this creature is so venomous, that the wound
proves mortal, unless it be immediately burnt with a red hot iron, or
cut off. The blood is of a palish colour, resembling poison itself.
The Javanese use to dip their arrows in the blood of this creature; and
those who deal in poisons among them, (an art much esteemed in the
island of Java, by both sexes) hang it up with a string tied to the tail
on the cieling, by which means it being exasperated to the highest pitch
sends forth a yellow liquor out of its mouth, which they gather in small
pots set underneath, and afterwards coagulate into a body in the sun.
This they continue for several months together, by giving daily food to
the creature. It is unquestionably the strongest poison in the world;
its urine being of so corrosive a quality, that it not only raises
blisters, wherever it touches the skin, but turns the flesh black, and
causes a gangrene.
_Nieuhoff._
Is there any analogy between a foam thus procured and the saliva of a
mad dog?
[161] The fiction of the Upas is too well known from the Botanic Garden,
to need repetition. Suffice it here to remark that the Tree is said to
have sprung up as a punishment to the guilty Islanders.
None of our early travellers mention this Tree, and they were too fond
of wonders to omit so monstrous a tale, had it been true. It is curious
that such a story should have been invented by a Dutchman.
Perhaps the seed of the Upas is contained in the following passage.
Neere unto the said Iland (Java) is another countrey called Panten, or
Tathalamasin. In this land there are trees yeelding meale, hony and
wine, and the most deadly poison in all the whole world: for against it
there is but one onley remedy; and that is this; if a man hath taken of
the poyson, and would be delivered from the danger thereof, let him
temper the dung of aman in water, and so drinke a good quantity thereof
and it expels the poyson immediately.
_Odoricus the Minorite Frier. In Hakluyt._
[162] When any person is to be buried, it is usual to bring the corpse
at mid-day or afternoon prayers, to one or other of these Mosques, from
whence it is accompanied by the greatest part of the congregation, to
the grave. Their processions, at these times, are not so slow and solemn
as in most parts of Christendom: for the whole company make what haste
they can, singing as they go along, some select verses of their Coran.
That absolute submission which they pay to the will of God, allows them
not to use any consolatory words upon these occasions: no loss or
misfortune is to be hereupon regretted or complained of: instead
likewise of such expressions of sorrow and condolence, as may regard the
deceased, the compliments turn upon the person, who is the nearest
concerned, a blessing (say his friends) be upon your head.
_Shaw._
All Mahometans inter the dead at the hour set apart for prayer; the
defunct is not kept in the house, except he expires after sunset, but
the Body is transported to the Mosque, whither it is carried by those
who are going to prayer; each from a spirit of devotion is desirous to
carry in his turn. Women regularly go on Friday to weep over, and pray
at the sepulchres of the dead, whose memory they hold dear.
_Chenier._
This custom of crowding about a funeral contributes to spread the plague
in Turkey.--It is not many years since, in some parts of Worcestershire,
the mourners were accustomed to kneel with their heads upon the coffin
during the burial service.
The fullest account of a Mohammedan funeral is in the Lettres sur la
Grece, of M. Guys. Chance made him the spectator of a ceremony which the
Moslem will not suffer an Infidel to prophane by his presence.
"About ten in the morning I saw the grave-digger at work; the slaves and
the women of the family were seated in the burial ground, many other
women arrived, and then they all began to lament. After this prelude
they one after the other embraced one of the little pillars which are
placed upon the graves, crying out _Ogloum, ogloum, soena Mussaphir
gueldi_, My Son, my Son, a guest is coming to see thee. At these words
their tears and sobs began anew; but the storm did not continue long;
they all seated themselves, and entered into conversation.
At noon I heard a confused noise, and cries of lamentation, it was the
funeral which arrived. A Turk preceded it, bearing upon his head a small
chest; four other Turks carried the bier upon their shoulders, then came
the father, the relations and the friends of the dead in great numbers.
Their cries ceased at the entrance of the burial ground, but then they
quarrelled--and for this. The man who bore the chest opened it, it was
filled with copies of the Koran, a croud of Turks, young and old, threw
themselves upon the books and scrambled for them. Those who succeeded
ranged themselves around the Iman, and all at once began to recite the
Koran, almost as Boys say their lesson. Each of the readers received ten
parats, about fifteen sols, wrapt in paper. It was then for these
fifteen pence that these pious assistants had quarrelled, and in our own
country you might have seen them fight for less.
The bier was placed by the grave, in which the grave-digger was still
working, and perfumes were burnt by it. After the reading of the Koran
the Iman chanted some Arabic prayers, and his full-chant would, no
doubt, have appeared to you, as it did to me, very ridiculous. All the
Turks were standing; they held their hands open over the grave, and
answered _Amen_ to all the prayers which the Iman addressed to God for
the deceased.
The prayers finished, a large chest was brought about six feet long and
three broad; its boards were very thick. The coffin is usually made of
cypress; thus literally is verified the phrase of Horace that the
cypress is our last possession.
Neque harum, quas colis, arborum,
Te, praeter invisas cupressus,
Ulla brevem dominum sequetur.
The cemeteries of the Turks are usually planted with these trees, to
which they have a religious attachment. The chest which was in loose
pieces, having been placed in the grave, the coffin was laid in it, and
above planks, with other pieces of wood. Then all the Turks, taking
spades, cast earth upon the grave to cover it. This is a part of the
ceremony at which all the bystanders assisted in their turn.
Before the corpse is buried it is carried to the Mosque. Then after
having recited the _Fatka_ (a prayer very similar to our Lord's prayer,
which is repeated by all present) the Iman asks the congregation what
they have to testify concerning the life and morals of the deceased.
Each then in his turn relates those good actions with which he was
acquainted. The body is then washed, and wrapped up like a mummy, so
that it cannot be seen. Drugs and spices are placed in the bier with it,
and it is carried to interment. Before it is lowered into the grave, the
Iman commands silence, saying, "Cease your lamentations for a moment,
and let me instruct this Moslem how to act, when he arrives in the other
world." Then in the ear of the corpse, he directs him how to answer the
Evil Spirit who will not fail to question him respecting his religion,
&c. This lesson finished, he repeats the _Fatka_ with all the
assistants, and the body is let down into the grave. After they have
thrown earth three times upon the grave, as the Romans used, they
retire. The Iman only remains, he approaches the grave, stoops down,
inclines his ear, and listens to hear if the Dead disputes when the
Angel of Death comes to take him: then he bids him farewell, and in
order to be well paid, never fails to report to the family the best news
of the dead.
[163] The Turks bury not at all within the walls of the city, but the
great Turkish Emperors themselves, with their wives and children about
them, and some few other of their great Bassaes, and those only in
chappels by themselves built for that purpose. All the rest of the Turks
are buried in the fields; some of the better sort in tombs of marble,
but the rest with tomb-stones laid upon them, or with two great stones,
one set up at the head and the other at the feet of every grave; the
greatest part of them being of white marble, brought from the Isle of
Marmora.
They will not bury any man where another hath been buried, accounting it
impiety to dig up another man's bones: by reason whereof they cover all
the best ground about the city with such great white stones: which, for
the infinite number of them, are thought sufficient to make another wall
about the city.
_Knolles._
The Turks bury by the way-side, believing that the passengers will pray
for the souls of the dead.
_Tavernier._
[164] All that day we travelled over plains all covered with snow as the
day before, and indeed it is not only troublesome but very dangerous to
travel thro' these deep snows. The mischief is that the beams of the sun
which lie all day long upon it, molest the eyes and face with such a
scorching beat as very much weakens the sight, whatever remedy a man can
apply, by wearing as the people of the country do, a thin handkerchief
of green or black silk, which no way abates the annoyance.
_Chardin._
When they have to travel many days thro' a country covered with snow,
Travellers to preserve their sight, cover the face with a silk kerchief
made on purpose, like a sort of black crape. Others have large furred
bonnets, bordered with goat skin, and the long goat-hair hanging over
the face is as serviceable as the crape.
_Tavernier._
An Abyssinian historian says, that the village, called Zinzenam, _rain
upon rain_, has its name from an extraordinary circumstance that once
happened in these parts, for a shower of rain fell, which was not
properly of the nature of rain, as it did not run upon the ground, but
remained very light, having scarce the weight of feathers, of a
beautiful white colour like flower; it fell in showers, and occasioned a
darkness in the air more than rain, and liker to mist. It covered the
face of the whole country for several days, retaining its whiteness the
whole time, then went away like dew, without leaving any smell, or
unwholsome effect behind it.
So the Dutch were formerly expelled from an East Indian Settlement,
because their Consul, in narrating to the Prince of the Country the
wonders of Europe, chanced to say that in his own Country, Water became
a solid body once a year, for some time: when Men or even Horses might
pass over it without sinking.--The prince in a rage said that he had
hitherto listened to his tales with patience, but this was so palpable a
Lie, that he would never more be connected with Europeans, who only
could assert such monstrous falshoods.
[165] A strange account of the Cedars of Lebanon is given by De la
Roque. _Voyage de Syrie & du Mont Liban._ 1722.
"This little forest is composed of twenty Cedars of a prodigious size,
so large indeed that the finest Planes, Sycamores, and other large trees
which we had seen could not be compared with them. Besides these
principal Cedars, there were a great number of lesser ones, and some
very small, mingled with the large trees, or in little clumps near them.
They differed not in their foliage, which resembles the Juniper, and is
green throughout the year: but the great Cedars spread at their summit
and form a perfect round, whereas the small ones rise in a pyramidal
form like the Cypress. Both diffuse the same pleasant odour; the large
ones only yield fruit, a large cone in shape almost like that of the
Pine, but of a browner colour, and compacter shell. It gives a very
pleasant odour, and contains a sort of thick and transparent balm, which
oozes out thro' small apertures, and falls drop by drop. This fruit
which it is difficult to separate from the stalk, contains a nut like
that of the Cypress; it grows at the end of the boughs, and turns its
point upwards.
The nature of this tree is not to elevate its trunk, or the part between
the root and the first branches; for the largest Cedars which we saw did
not in the height of their trunks exceed six or seven feet. From this
low but enormously thick body, prodigious branches rise, spreading as
they rise, and forming by the disposition of their boughs and leaves
which point upward, a sort of wheel which appears to be the work of art.
The bark of the cedar, except at the trunk, is smooth and shining, of a
brown colour. Its wood white and soft immediately under the bark, but
hard and red within, and very bitter, which renders it incorruptible and
almost immortal. A fragrant gum issues from the tree.
The largest Cedar which we measured was seven feet in circumference,
wanting two inches, and the whole extent of its branches, which it was
easy to measure from their perfect roundness, formed a circumference of
about 120 feet.
The Patriarch of the Maronites, fully persuaded of the rarity of these
Trees, and wishing by the preservation of those that remain to shew his
respect for a forest so celebrated in Scripture has pronounced canonical
pains, and even excommunication against any Christians who shall dare to
cut them; scarcely will he permit a little to be sometimes taken for
Crucifixes and little tabernacles in the chapels of our Missionaries.
The Maronites themselves have such a veneration for these Cedars, that
on the day of Transfiguration they celebrate the festival under them
with great solemnity, the Patriarch officiates and says Mass
pontifically, and among other exercises of devotion they particularly
honour the Virgin Mary there, and sing her praises, because she is
compared to the Cedars of Lebanon, and Lebanon itself used as a metaphor
for the mother of Christ.
* * * * *
The Maronites say that the snows have no sooner begun to fall than these
Cedars, whose boughs in their infinite number are all so equal in height
that they appear to have been shorn, and form, as we have said, a sort
of wheel or parasol,--than these Cedars, I say, never fail at that time
to change their figure. The branches which before spread themselves rise
insensibly, gathering together it may be said, and turn their points
upward towards Heaven, forming altogether a pyramid. It is Nature, they
say, who inspires this movement, and makes them assume a new shape,
without which these Trees never could sustain the immense weight of
snow, remaining for so long a time.