four feet, without any bitumen. The bottom of the pit was nearly three feet deeper in the peat. Here some gallons of bitumen bad collected; but no particle of it was seen in the substance of the peat. Mr. Hawkins, therefore, inferred that it oozes in minute portions from the substratum of rock. The quantity of bitumen annually extracted from this pit, is about twenty barrels; and its reproductive faculty increases with the quantity taken out. When first taken out of the water, it is of the consistence of honey, and in colour, opacity, and smell, resembles melted pitch. Although in the present advanced state of geological science, the tar-springs of Zante have ceased to excite astonishment, they may still be classed among the rarest phenomena of the earth. But they derive, probably, their chief importance from their classical celebrity, having been visited and described, not only by the Father of history, but by Dioscorides, Vitruvius, and Pliny. Mr. Schmeiner, at the instance of Mr. Hawkins, made the subjoined analysis of two pounds weight of the saline water. Sulphate of magnesia 90 grains. Sulphate of soda Selenite Muriate of lime Muriate of magnesia Muriate of soda 40 10 28 24 172 8 372 loss 4 grains. Dr. Sibthorp's voyage in the Grecian seas and along the western shore of Greece, discloses several interesting botanical and zoological facts relative to the seven islands called the Prince's Islands, about six leagues from Constantinople, the Dardanelles, Cyprus, Lero, Patmos, Stenosa, and Argentiera. We could wish, however, that the Editor had not omitted the list of plants inserted in the original MS., because Dr. Sibthorp's communication is almost wholly of a scientific character. Lemnos, we believe, has been seldom visited. Mr. Walpole has inserted an extract from Dr. Hunt's journal, who, with the late Professor Carlyle, spent a few days on the island in the course of their voyage to Athos. It proved to be wholly barren of the remains of its former greatness of its memorable labyrinth, not a vestige could be traced. Our classical readers will no doubt recollect the one hundred and fifty columns of this labyrinth, its massive gates and numerous statues. But ipsæ periere ruinæ. For our parts, we cannot solve the strange and inexplicable problem, that a place so celebrated, from the fabulous ages down to the time of Strabo, should not present to the eye of the anti quary, one valuable vestige of ancient art. We are not, indeed, surprised, that the caverns of Vulcan and his Cyclops were no longer discernible; but, that not one Pelasgic fortress, or Doric or Ionic edifice, the work of Athenian or Carian colonists, nay, that not so much as an ancient medal, was to be found in the whole range of the island, has considerably perplexed us. We can assign no other cause for the desolation, than the volcanic composition of the island; and we are induced to infer, therefore, that the true Lemnian ills' Anna xaxa, have been volcanoes and earthquakes. We were much disappointed at perceiving so jejune a notice of the ruins of Nicopolis, visited by Dr. Sibthorp, the celebrated city founded by Augustus in commemoration of his Actian victory, and not a syllable dedicated to the elucidation of the geographical mystery in which the relative site of Actium and its bay are still involved. But the learned Doctor thought more of a lichen or a moss, than of aqueducts and thermæ, or of Strabo and Pausanias. It is remarkable, how the ruling passion breaks out in a thorough-bred botanist. The ruins of the amphitheatre at Nicopolis, are the most perfect relics of an ancient theatre now existing; every part, even to the proscenium, being nearly perfect. It excites, however, no other observation than the following: There are considerable remains of a theatre. I gathered on the walls of it the Asplenium Hemionitis. Near the gate-way I observed the Celtis Australis." When Dr. Sibthorp was at Zante (1795), the island was under the Venetian government. He describes in the strongest terms, the depravity and licentiousness of its manners. It is pleasing to an Englishman, to reflect that these disorders were repressed, when it passed under the protection of the British government. The following sketch of its former condition, will enable our readers to estimate the amount of the blessings which have been thus conferred upon that beauteous island. The great object of the republic of Venice is to provide for its poor nobility. The proveditor of Zante exercises his office for three years, and then carries off from 6 to 20,000 sechins. Part of this is made by fines or liberation money, that is the money paid by criminals to escape from prison; and the Zantiote, not finding the sword of justice lodged in the hands of an active government, becomes his own executioner, and makes no distinction in the measure of crimes. Hence the massacres which disgrace the island, and carry off the flower of the Zantiote youth. So low is the estimate of murder, that 30 piastres are considered as the price of blood. "I would shoot you," says one Zantiote to another, "but I have not 30 piastres to pay for your skin." During my stay at Zante, I heard frequently the discharge of firearms in the streets, and was informed of several murders. The idea of consumption being contagious, is very prevalent at Zante. A sick person accidentally discovered that his brother had died of a consumption, and the malady had been carefully concealed from him by the doctor. The patient enraged at the supposition of his having caught the disorder from his brother, in consequence of not being advised of it, loaded his pistols, and when the doctor, in one of his visits, approached the bed side of his patient, the latter discharged the contents into his body. This happened while the philanthropic Howard was at Zante, who was shocked with horror at the scene.' Vol. II. pp. 104, 105. The most interesting portion of this volume, is the selection. from the papers of the late lamented Mr. Browne, who fell a victim to his zeal in the prosecution of geographical discovery; a science whose bounds have been considerably extended by his labours. An account of the murder of this unfortunate traveller, has already appeared in our journal, as related by Sir Robert Ker Porter in his Persian travels. But the biographical memoir of Mr. Browne which Mr. Walpole has inserted in the volume before us, is an invaluable contribution. We learn that it is from the pen of the same accomplished writer to whom the public is already indebted for the life of Mr. Mungo Park. Need we mention the name of Mr. Wishaw? We can present our readers only a concise abstract of it. William George Browne was born in London in 1768. His education was private, till he went to Oxford, where he applied himself with great diligence to classical reading, and went carefully through the whole of the Greek and Latin historians. He took also a wide range in general literature. Such was his industry at this time, that he read from twelve to fifteen hours a day. After the usual period of academical residence, it was necessary to think of some plan for his future life. The instinct of adventure, and a certain passion for enterprise, at first suggested to him the army; but a little reflection convinced him how ill he was suited by character and habit for such a profession. He for a short time attempted the study of the law, but resolved at last to content himself with his small patrimony, on which he lived afterwards without any regular employment. He improved himself in modern languages, and acquired a correct taste for the fine arts. Botany, chemistry, and mineralogy, which were afterwards of the greatest use to him in his travels, he also cultivated with great assiduity. From a very early period, he felt anxious to distinguish himself as an explorer of remote countries, and had, from his youth, been a diligent reader of Travels; but it was the publication of Bruce's work on Abyssinia, that gave the immediate impulse to his long cherished ambition. He became impatient to follow the same course, and to struggle with the same difficulties. He read likewise at the same time, and with similar emotions, the proceedings of the African Association, then first published; a book abounding with new and interesting views of the vast continent of Africa, and opening an unbounded field for research and enterprise. He was now determined to attempt a passage into the interior of Africa, and a paper which he has left upon this subject, thus shortly describes his own idea of the physical and moral qualities requisite for the undertaking: Among the requisites for my journey, of which self-examination induced me to believe myself possessed, were, a good constitution, which, though far from robust, was, I knew, capable of enduring fatigue and change; steadiness to my purpose, and much indifference to personal accommodations and enjoyments; to'gether with a degree of patience which could endure reverses and disappointments without murmuring.' In 1791, Mr. Browne left England, and after residing two months at Alexandria, he proceeded westward into the Desert, to explore the unknown site of the temple of Jupiter Ammon. For this purpose he proceeded to the Oasis of Siwah; but, after experiencing great difficulty and danger from the inhabitants, and finding nothing satisfactory as to the object of his search, he returned early in 1792 to Alexandria. He afterwards visited Rosetta, Damietta, and the Natron Lakes, and established himself for some time at Cairo, where he applied with redoubled diligence to the Arabic language and the study of Oriental customs and manners. Having sailed up the Nile as far as the celebrated ruins of Thebes, he visited Syene, the ancient boundary of the Roman empire, and the famous cataracts of that river. Hence he endeavoured to penetrate into Nubia, but a war having broken out between the Mamalûks of Upper Egypt and a neighbouring chief, no person was suffered to pass into that country from Egypt, and he was reluctantly obliged to abandon all hopes of reaching Abyssinia during that season. At Genné on the Nile, recollecting the striking description given by Bruce of the great quarries between that place and the Red Sea, he directed his course thither by a journey of considerable danger, and performed it in safety by means of a successful assumption of the Oriental dress and manners. His curiosity was aimply rewarded by those immense excavations formed in the earliest ages, from which the great Egyptian monuments were obtained, and which furnished statues and columns to Rome in her wealthy and luxurious days. Having now seen the whole of Egypt, he began to form his plan for visiting the interior of Africa. He determined, however, to limit his views to Abyssinia, and to go carefully and with geographical exactness, over the ground traversed by Bruce. But insurmountable obstacles still opposing his journey through Nubia, Mr. Browne thought he had no alternative but to accompany the great Soudân caravan to Dar- Fûr, a Mahominedan country west of Abyssinia, whence he might, as there was reason to believe, penetrate into Abyssinia, and obtain some information as to that unknown branch of the Nile, which had occupied so much of his attention. At any rate, it was a new track, wholly untrodden by European travellers. The caravan left Egypt in May 1793, the hottest season of the year, the thermometer being occasionally during the journey, 116 in the shade; and after inconceivable hardships it reached Dar-Fûr in July. Here he was treated by the reigning sovereign with the utmost harshness and cruelty; a circumstance which, combined with the fatigues of his journey and the effects of the rainy season, produced a dangerous and alarming illness, from which he slowly recovered. Not being permitted to quit the country, plundered, too, of the greater part of his effects, he resigned himself to his fate, and cultivated an intercourse with the principal inhabitants, by means of which he obtained such a knowledge of the Arabic dialect which prevailed there, as to partake of their society and conversation. For more than two years, he remained an ineffectual suitor for leave to depart. It is wonderful that in this dreadful state, surrounded by dangers, and hopeless of escape, his health and spirits did not desert him. That in such a state of accumulated suffering, he collected much curious and minute information respecting the country, can be attributed only to that invincible serenity and firmness of mind, which exalt him above the most distinguished travellers. At length, he obtained permission to quit Dar-Fûr, after a constrained residence of three years, and returned in the Spring of 1796, to Egypt. He resided at Cairo till the December following, when, having visited Syria, Palestine, Aleppo, and Damascus, he proceeded through Asia Minor to Constantinople, where he arrived in December, 1797, and proceeded thence by Vienna, Berlin, and Hamburgh, to England, after an absence of nearly seven years. In 1800, he published his work, under the title of Travels in Africa, Egypt, and Syria, from the year 1792 to 1798. It excited much expectation, and the Author bad spared no pains to fit it for the public eye; but it never became popular. He had adopted an erroneous theory of style; his composition was abrupt, artificial, and affected; some of the passages in his work offended against good taste, others against strict morality. It was written,' says his Biographer, with a certain coldness and languor, and was deficient not only in that spirit with which great enterprises ought to be described, but in those picturesque touches which give life and reality to a book of Travels.' It contained, however, much new and valuable information; and many of the details |