ordinary country will be looked back upon, through the dim medium of elapsed centuries, with thoughts of veneration and affection. Her characters and institutions will then assume the aspect of glorious constellations, to which imagination will give brightness, and natural feeling divinity. The names of Shakspeare, and Bacon, and Newton, pronounced in Australasia, ten centuries after their existence, will be re-echoed back from the mountains of Alleghany, and prolonged over the prodigious range of Thibet. What other people can fairly cherish a hope of fame so extended and enduring? SHABEENEY'S TIMBUCTOO, &c. I Leprosity, it appears, is still as prevalent in this part of Africa, as it was once in Europe. "There is (says our author,) near to the walls of Marocco, about the north-west point, a village, called (Deshira el Jeddam) i. e. the Village of Lepers. I had a curiosity to visit this village; but I was told that any other excursion would be preferable; that the Lepers were totally excluded from the rest of mankind; and that, although none of them would dare to approach us, yet the excursion would be not only unsatisfactory, but disgusting. I was, however, determined to go; I mounted my horse, and took two horse guards with me, and my own servant. We rode through the Lepers' town; the inhabitants collected at the doors of their habitations, but did not approach us; they, for the most part, showed no external disfiguration, but were generally sallow; some of the young women were very handsome; they have, however, a paucity of eyebrow, which, it must be allowed, is somewhat incompatible with a beauty; some few had no eyebrows at all, which completely destroyed the effect of their dark animated eyes. They Ath. vol. vii. p. 469 are obliged to wear a large straw hat, with a brim about nine inches wide; this is their badge of separation, a token of division between the clean and unclean, which when seen in the country, or on the roads, prevents any one from having personal contact with them. They are allowed to beg, and accordingly are seen by the side of the roads, with their straw hat badge, and a wooden bowl before them, to receive the charity of passengers, exclaiming, (attame m'ta Allah) bestow on me the property of God:' (kulshie m'ta Allah) all belongs to God!' reminding the passenger that he is a steward of, and accountable for the appropriation of his property; that he derives his property from the bounty and favour of God. When any one gives them money, they pronounce a blessing on him; as (Allah e zeed kherik) may God increase your goods,' &c. The province of Haha abounds in lepers; and it is said that the Arganic oil which is much used in food throughout this picturesque province, promotes this loathsome disease!" · In another journey to Mequinas, by way of Rabat, it is stated 66 On the morning of the 15th, we pursued our journey to Mequinas, passing through a very fine country, inbabited by a Kabyl of Berebbers, called Ait Zemurh. We halted, at four o'clock, P. M. at a circular Douar of these Berebbers, in a fine campaign country. The next morning, at five o'clock, we struck the tents, and proceeded through a dangerous country, infested by artful robbers, and the occasional depredations of the lion and other wild beasts, whose roaring we heard at a distance. We saw several squae buildings, which our guides informed us were built by the Berebbers, for the purpose of destroying the lion. The patient hunter will conceal himself in one of these buildings, which are about five feet by seven, and will wait whole days for an opportunity to get a shot at the lion: these noble beasts are here said to be the largest in all Africa. After travelling this day ten hours, we pitched our tents at another circular encampment of the Zimurite Berebbers. These people drive in stakes, and place thorny bushes round their encampment, eight feet high, and fill up the entrance every night with thorns, as the fiercest lions of Africa abound in the adjacent forests, and sometimes attack their habitations, accordingly they keep a large fire all night to deter the lions and other wild beasts from approaching." I have repeatedly heard reports of the (Hel el Killeb,) dog-faced race; of the (Hel Shual,) tailed race; and of the race having one eye, and that in the breast. It is extremely difficult to ascertain the origin of these reports, which are so involved in metaphor that the signification is not intelligible to Europeans; their existence is not doubted, however, in Africa. Of the Hel el Killeb, some ignorant people affirm that the Almighty transformed one of the tribes of the Jews into these people, and that these are their descendants; others report them to be a mongrel breed, between the human and ape species; their strength is said to be very great. The Africans assert with considerable confidence, which is corroborated, that the Hel Shual have a tail half a cubit long; that they inhabit a district in the desert at an immense distance south-east of Marocco; that the Hel El Killeb are in a similar direction; that the latter are diminutive, being about two or three cubits in height; that they exclaim bak, bak, bak, and that they have a few articulate sounds, which they mutually understand among themselves; that they are extremely swift of foot, and run as fast as horses. The Arimaspi of Herodotus, are called by the Arabs Hel Ferdie, these are represented by the Arabs of the desert, as living at the foot of the lofty mountains of the Moon, near Abyssinia: the male and female are equally without hair on their head, having large chins and nostrils, like the ape species; they are said to have a language of their own; their costume is a jelabea, and a belt, without shoes or head dress; their country is said to abound in gold. The following is a singular fact= "Every house in Marocco has, or ought to have, a domestic serpent: I say ought to have, because those that have not one, seek to have this inmate, by treating it hospitably whenever one appears; they leave out food for it to eat during the night, which gradually domiciliates this reptile. These serpents are reported to be extremely sagacious, and very susceptible. The superstition of these people is extraordinary; for rather than offend these serpents, they will suffer their women to be exposed during sleep to their performing the office of an infant. They are considered, in a house, emblematical of good, or prosperity, as their absence is ominous of evil. They are not often visible; but I have seen them passing over the beams of the roof of the apartments. A friend of mine was just retired to bed at Marocco, when he heard a noise in the room, like something crawling over his head, he arose, looked about the room, and discovered one of these reptiles about four feet long, of a dark colour, he pricked it with his sword, and killed it, then returned to bed. In the morning he called to him the master of the house where he was a guest, and telling him he had attacked the serpent, the Jew was chagrined, and expostulated with him, for the injury he had done him : apprehensive that evil would visit him, he intimated to his guest, that he hoped he would leave his house, as he feared the malignity of the serpent; and he was not reconciled until my friend discovered to him that he had actually killed the reptile." VOL. 8.] Munners and Customs-Shabeeny and Jackson's Travels. "The preparation of leather at Ma rocco surpasses any thing known in Europe: lion and tiger skins they prepare white as snow, and soft as silk. There are two plants that grow in the Atlas mountains, the leaves of which they use in the manufacture of leather; they are called tizra and tasaya. Whether these render the leather impervious, I am not competent to say; every inquiry that I have made at Marocco respecting this beautiful manufacture, has been unsatisfactory. I have always found the manufacturers very guarded, and extremely jealous; but I have often thought that two or three of our leather manufacturers, well versed in their art, and withal of penetrating minds, might contrive to extract the secret from them." In the way of etymology, &c. we find the following curious particulars. “Horam.—This word is called by Europeans haram or seraglio; but haram, thus applied, is a barbarism: it signifies vicious. Horam is the correct pronunciation: it signifies a place of safety, that admits of no intrusion. "The etymology of mussulman is, a man of peace; from salem, peace. "The word Koran conveys the same signification as Bible: it means 'the reading,' or the book;'-hora, 'to read' el Kateb el Aziz, i. e. the dear beloved book,' meaning the Koran. "Nile is a French term, and loses its proper pronunciation and is unintelligible when pronounced by an Englishman to an African ; but if written Neel, and pronounced by an Englishman, it is intelligible." 66 Antithesis, a favourite Figure with the Arabs.-Mahmoud, sultan of Ghezna in the beginning of the eleventh century, though the son of a slave, was very powerful. He sent to the khalif Alkader, requesting a title suited to his exalted dignity. The latter hesitated; but fearing the power of the sultan,sent him at the expiration of a year the ambiguous title Üly, i.e. a prince, a friend, a slave. Mahmoud penetrated the khalif's meaning, and sent him immediate ly 100,000 pieces of gold, with a wish to know whether a letter had not been 2M ATHENEUM VOL. 8. 277 omitted. Alkáder received the treasure and took the hint, inantly despatching letters patent in full form, creating him Ualy, which signifies, without equivocation, a sovereign independent prince. "Itinerant (lebeebs) doctors travel through the country to administer to the sick; which, however, are seldom found. They carry over their shoulders a leathern bag, containing their surgical apparatus, which consists of a lancet, a scarifying knife, and a caustic knife, or knife for burning: they scarify the neck, the forehead, or the wrists. The caustic knife is an instrument of very general application. They convert all gun-shot and other wounds, as well as sores, into burns, by heating the knife in the fire, and gently touching the circumference of the wound with it. This produces acute pain; but the Africans bear pain heroically they say that this method prevents inflammation and, festering. They perform, by caustic, extraordinary cures. I imagine this method would not agree with an European body, pampered with a variety of high food and luxurious living." Ancient Arabian Anecdotes. Al Mohdi made his son Harun a present of a most beautiful ruby-ring, which he wore himself, as an earnest of the succession, to which he was called after his brother, Al Hâdi. Al Hádi, immediately after his accession, sent an eunuch to Harun to demand the ring, as of right belonging to him. This unreasonable demand so incensed Harûn, that, in the eunuch's presence, he pulled it off his finger, and threw it into the Tigris, where it remained till Al Hadi's death. But no sooner had he taken possession of the Khalifat, than he commanded some divers to search for it; casting a lead ring, in order to direct them, from the same part of the bridge where he stood before, when the eunuch demanded AI Mohdi's ring of him, into the liver. The divers were so fortunate on this occasion, as to find the ring sought for, without any difficult toil; which accident was considered as a certain prognostic of a happy and auspicious reign. The Provost Baghdad having one day stopped in th hands of a merchant the sum of 30,000 dinârs, sent by Mohammed Ebn Zeid, prince of Mazanderan, or Tabrestân, of the race of Ali, to the chiefs of the descendants of that Imân, according to annual custom, residing there; they immediately carried their complaint to the Kkalif. That prince very generously gave them the money that had been seized, and, in order to justify this action of Ali, he related to them the fool's dream. "I thought," said he, "that I formerly saw in a dream a man standing at the end of a bridge that I was to pass, who seemed at first to have an intention to oppose my passage; but afterwards, all of a sudden, he approached me, and presented me a spade that he held in his hand; commanding me at the same time to break with it the ground on which we stood. I obeyed his order, and after I had given some strokes with the spade, he told me he was Ali, and that as many of my sons should enjoy the Khalifût as I had given strokes upon the ground with the spade. Then he enjoined me to be kind to his family, and particularly those members of it that lived under my government. In consequence therefore of the promise I made him, as well as in point of justice, I ought to restore the 30,000 dinûrs to the descendants of that Imán, to whom they properly belonged." A soldier having once by force picked some bunches of grapes of a certain Moslem's Vine, the man immediately carried his complaint to the Khalif; who commanded both the soldier and his captain to appear before him, in order to receive the punishment he should think fit to inflict upon them. Some of the people about him demanded what crime the captain had committed; he answered, I saw bim kill a man unjustly in my uncle's reign, and then made a vow to punish him for so enormous a crime, if ever the Khalifat should fall into my hands, and he should be found guilty of any other fault." A Turk attempted to ravish by force a girl in the city of Bagdad, she found herself obliged to call in all her neighbours to her help. At the cries of this girl, Sheikb Khaiath ran to her relief, and begged the Turk, in the most pressing terms, not to offer her any violence. But the brute was so far from paying any regard to his entreaties, that be insulted him, and treated him in a very injurious manner. The Sheikb, not being able to think of any other expedient to prevent him from accomplishing his design, mounted the minárch, or steeple, of the great mosque, and from thence called the people together to prayer, though it was out of the stated times of prayer, in order to excite the Moslems so assembled to succour the poor girl, and deliver her effectually out of the hands of the insolent Turk. The Khalif, having been apprized of the action, but being ignorant of the motive to it, commanded the Shrikb to be brought before him, and severely reprimanded him for convening peo ple to prayer at an unlawful hour being afterwards informed of the whole affair, he ordered the Turk to be punished according to his demerits, and at the same time commanded the Sheikb, as often as he should see any violence or injustice committed, to punish it in the same manner, that by this means the author of it might meet with the treatment he deserved. VARIETIES. THE We hear of no other very remarkable works on the anvil. Belzoni seems to be retarded, like every thing else, till the public mind is more suited to rational objects. And in short (Heaven mend us the while) the labours of the literary bours of the engrossing political press are every where standing still till the lawill admit "a rival near the throne." Lit. Gaz. Oct. NATURAL HISTORY. A curious anecdote is related of the screech owl, by a gentleman who resides in Yorkshire, and who is well acquainted with Ornithology. Having observed the scales of fishes in the nest of a pair, which had built near a lake, upon his premises, he was induced one moonlight night to watch their motions; when he was agreeably surprized to see one of them plunge into the water, and seize a perch, which it bore to its nest, whence the gentleman took it. THE HOODED CROW. This bird, my assistant observed in Orkney, to break shell-fish, by letting them fall upon the rocks from a great height. A remarkable instance of a male of this species, pairing with the female carrion crow, (corvus corone) we wit nesed at Aroqubar, on Lock Long, and this singular attachment, had subsisted three or four years; their nest was like that of carrion crow, in the fork of a tall pine, and the young brood had already flown, but we were unable to procure one of them, or to ascertain which of the parents they most resembled. BEES. A large swarm of bees lately visited the Market-square at Shrewsbury, and many of them settled on the head of one of the dealers in vegetables. A serjeant of the militia immediately procured a broom, which he hoisted on his halbert, whilst a female sounded the usual music on such occasions; and in about half an hour the whole of the swarm were collected on the broom, to the great joy of the market people, and hived. A dispute then arose between the serjeant and the woman, respecting which had a right to the new colony, and the latter in a passion upset the whole, iu consequence of which many of the bees were killed, but fortunately no person was stung. The serjeant again, with other assistance, restored the bees to the hive; after which it was taken to the Mayor, the Rev. H. O ven, by the contending parties; when it was claimed by his Worship as Lord of the Manor of the town, to the mutual disappointment of the serjeant and his opponent. THE ABBOT AND THE MILLER. Messire Barnabas, sovereign of Milan, was feared beyond any other prince of his time. Yet though extremely cruel, he observed in his severities a species of justice, of which the following anecdote may serve as an illustration. A certain rich Abbot, who had the care of his dogs, having suffered two of them to get the mange, was fined four florins for his negligence. He begged very hard to be let off; on which the Duke said to him, "I will remit your fine, on condition that you answer the following questions:-1, How far is it to the sky? 2. How much water is there in the sea? 3. What are they doing in Hell? What am I worth?" The Abbot's heart sunk within him on hearing these propositions, and he saw that he was in worse case than before. However, to get rid of the matter for the present, he begged time for consideration, and the Duke gave him the whole of the next day : but, desirous of seeing how he would get out of the difficulty, he compelled him to give security for his re-appearance. As the Abbot was returning home, in melancholy mood, he met a man who rented a mill under him. The miller, seeing him cast down, said, "What is the matter,sir? what makes you sigh so?" "I may well sigh," replied the Abbot," for his Highness threatens to play the deuce with me if I do not answer four questions, which neither Solomon nor Aristotle could solve :" and he told the miller what they were. The latter stood thoughtful a few minutes, and then said, " Well, if you have a mind, I will get you out of the scrape." "Would to Heaven you could," exclaimed the Abbot; "there is noth ing I have that I would not give you." I am willing to leave that to you,' said the miller," but it will be necessary that you should lend me your tunic and cowl; I must get myself shaved, |