428 REVIEW.-Waddington's Travels in Ethiopia. about; they collected in numbers to look at it, and were much amused by its motions, till it burst and wounded several; it was then that they fled, exclaiming, that the spirits of Hell were come against them, and were too strong for them.' To the last they had no fear of man or his invention; but, astounded by the power and novelty of the means employed to destroy them, they came to the natural but hopeless conclusion, that the spirits of Hell were come against them. They were pursued by the cavalry and artillery for the whole night; and with what effect, we had afterwards an opportunity of observing. The first halt of the army was at the spot where we found it encamped, about twelve hours from Djebel Dager. In the mean time, the Cavaliere, who is also a poet, has already celebrated, in Tuscan rhyme, the glory of the conqueror; and whatever be the merit of his composition, it was at least a singular incident to have found the Muse of Italy singing the exploits of a Turk among the mountains of Africa." The natives of Dar Sheygy'a having been entirely subdued, Mr. Waddington and his companions had an opportunity of pursuing their researches, and examining many curious remains. "We came at last to the city of Malek Chowes, MERAWE; it is singularly built, but much larger than Kádjeba. It was now nearly dark, and in passing through its long and gloomy streets, between the thick mudwalls, we were assaulted by multitudes of half-starved dogs, whose howling in the absence of all other sound, and whose adherence to the habitations which their masters had deserted, increased the dreariness, if not the solitude of the place. Our guides here desired us to keep close together, and we advance for nearly an hour towards Djebel el Berkel, whose outlines are visible in the moonlight. At such an hour as this, and under such circumstances, we would willingly have made our first visit to the sacred Rock, which we had long hoped was to be the reward, and perhaps the termination of our labours. We approached near enough to see some of its fragments and projections, which, by the uncertain light, we mistook for columus and colossi; but all Dearer examination was prevented by our guides, who obliged us to avoid the mounLain, as well as the trees by the river side; as two soldiers had been murdered two nights ago by some of the natives, concealed there for purposes of plunder or revenge, and who might still be hid among the ca verns of the rock. We therefore steered a middle course, and soon after heard the cannon from the camp, which we entered by the quarter of the Ababde, in five hours and a quarter from our leaving the boat. The [May, distance is about sixteen miles in a N.N.E. direction. "We found the land universally rich and well cultivated, and nowhere more so than near the camp, where the water from the sakies is frequently distributed by four chan nels, side by side, generally elevated by woodwork or stones, as neatly put together as in Egypt. "Happening to go out late at night, to breathe a little fresh air in the court before the door, I heard, to my unspeakable surprise, some people in a neighbouring hut singing and playing "God save the King." In the heart of Africa, in the centre of Mahometan army, surrounded by Turks and Greeks, and slaves and renegades, to hear the song of my country; and thus, and so suddenly, to be reminded of the land which contains all that is most dear to myself, all that is most noble in the world; I could only lean and, listen by the soft moonlight, till the rude minstrelsy was finished, and then retire, with the consolation that to-day at least had not been lost to happiness." On the 14th of December, it was agreed to pay a visit to the Pasha, who was encamped on the other side of the river. They were treated with the greatest urbanity; the Pasha requesting them to sit on the same sofa with himself. "The conversation commenced, of course, tories, his humanity, and his courage; and with compliments to the Pasha on his victhis subject gradually led to a comparison of European with Turkish warfare; the numbers generally engaged in the former rather confounded him, and it would have been difficult to persuade him that his own battles leon. He asked some sensible questions, were at all comparable to those of Napo and had an evident desire to be well informed on European politics; and this he will find extremely difficult, as he can scarcely propose any question to which he will receive the same answer from the natives of different kingdoms." The following extract affords considerable information on the geography of this hitherto little known portion of the globe: "The geographical information that we were able to collect about this country, was derived from such of the natives as we had opportunities of questioning. The kingdom of Malek Zobeyr extends from Djebel Dager to Zoom, and contains Wady Baheet, Machfoor, Hanneck (the capital), Magásh (the name of the wady and town), and Zoom. Then comes the district of Mek Medineh, which contains Choorro, Dette, where the large castle is, and Kadjeba, the capital. The next place is Toraif, the first town of Malek 1822.] REVIEW. Waddington's Travels in Ethiopia. Malek Chowes, King of Mérawe, which extends as far as Kasinger the other way; the chief towns in it are Toraif, Wallad Grait, Dabazzeit, Merawe, Wallad Ali, Assoon, Shibbah (the residence of the magicians), Berkel, Kereen (where was our encampment), Gerfel Hamdow, and Kasinger. After this comes the kingdom of Malek Hamet Wallad Asla, called, like its capital, Amri; it is a rocky district, and extends three days to the frontiers of Berber. Its chief towns are Zowera, Amri, and Doum el Goozár. There is a cataract near Zowera, and above the cataract is the little island of Doulga, where the buildings (as a Shey gya told me) reach to Heaven.' We were afterwards informed that it is quite sur rounded by these buildings, and itself perforated like the Grotto of Pausilipo at Naples. From all accounts, I should suspect that these buildings are rather fortifications than temples, and that this is the island where the King of Dóngola, Samamoum, took refuge, in 688, A. H. against the troops of the Sultan of Egypt, whose five hundred boats were prevented from pursuing him by the rocks, the first that exist above Dóngola." We now enter on the antiquities existing in the vicinity of the Camp. The place of these remains is called, by way of distinction, El Djebel, or El Djebail. Here several temples and pyramids were discovered. "The remains of antiquity which lie at the foot of Djebel el Berkel, are of two kinds -temples, or rather public buildings, and pyramids; the former, which have ornamented the city of the living, are situated towards the river, on the S. E. side of the mountain, and all the ground about them, for several acres, is scattered over with broken pottery; the latter, which have been the receptacles and monuments of the dead, are on the W. and N. W. side, farther from the Nile, among the sands and rocks of the Desert. "The mountain itself is about a mile and a half from the river, whose banks are no where more fertile than here; it is of considerable height and solitary; and there is an irregularity in its outline, and a boldness in its precipitous side, which strongly fix the attention, and render it worthy to have furnished materials for the industry of an enlightened people, and habitations for the gods of Ethiopia." In describing the temples of Djebel el Berkel, Mr. Waddington states, that one temple was 450 feet long, and 159 wide; but unfortunately so much ruined as to retain nothing of its antient grandeur and beauty. He considers, from the discovery of a sculptured stone among the mortar of the thick 429 outer wall, and other appearances, traced in the inside of the second portail, "The granite pedestals are extremely well sculptured, as are some broken sphinxes lying in different parts of the ruins. The statues which have ornamented this temple, may still be buried under the ruins, and would be found near the pedestals where they have stood. We saw nothing whence we could decide, with any certainty, to what divinity the temple was dedicated." It is possible that these temples may have been rebuilt from the materials of some splendid edifice that surpassed in antiquity, as the ingenious author suggests, the venerable remains of Egypt, and even the time-hallowed remains of Nubia. As this idea presents itself to our feelings and understanding, it annihilates the vast space of time between ourselves and the æra of their existence. The heart flows forth in eager surmise, and would learn the dread secrets of those mystic days of yore. Every portion of the varied sculptures of antiquity contains something to engage our contemplation; by which we may examine and compare. The times indeed are passed away. The antique remains and the vast piles themselves stand alone in the solitudes of space. The whistling winds bear around them mystic sounds, as if whispering the secrets for which they were formed; yet the curtain that hides their dark language cannot be withdrawn. Although wrapt in obscurity, the inquiring mind still clings to the fond hope that the veil may be pierced; some faint gleamings of light encourage and stimulate us to persevere in the laborious task. We now proceed with Mr. Waddington's description of another temple. Our limits allow us to extract only 430 REVIEW.-Titsingh's Illustrations of Japan. only a very small portion of his curious and ample details: "About forty yards N. W. of (D) are the remains of a temple, of which all the inner chambers appear to have been crushed by the fall of part of the mountain. The portail is in better preservation than that of the large temple, and is in one part perfect to the top. It has been dedicated to Jupiter Ammon. We distinguished the figure of the ram sitting on an altar-piece; and on the front of the portail, on the right side, is a thirteen-headed Briareus, under the hand of the victor; they are in with the presence of a young divinity a thin beard, and not of the hawk-headed Osiris, as is usual in Egypt. The weapon in the hand of the god is of the same form with that which he is represented as extending in Egyptian and Nubian sculptures, with this difference, that it has here the ram's head with the ball on it, at the end. We observed, in another place, a figure bringing offerings of vases, as is common in Egypt and Nubia. "The first chamber only can be traced, and it appears to have been thirty-one feet two inches in length, and forty-one feet five inches in width; the ground beyond, where the rest of the temple has stood, is covered with immense fragments of rock." Some interesting lithographic views of the pyramids are given, accompanied by faithful descriptions. At El Bellal there were the remains of nearly forty pyramids of different sizes. The base of the most important one was 150 feet square, and the height 103 feet. It was built in stories, and contained within itself another pyramid of a different age, stone, and architecture. Mr. Waddington discusses, with considerable learning, the great antiquity of these monuments. Among other opinions he remarks, "A people little removed from the Deluge, and living in dread of its return, sought the sides of the mountains, and built their habitations in the solid rock: such were the oldest dwelling-places of men, the places of their labours, their studies, and their worship; and when they began in aftertimes to build temples for their gods, would they not naturally make for them some larger excavation in the rock, that had so long afforded shelter to themselves? If so, and I think it indisputable, the sculptured caverns of Gyrshe, of Derr, and Ebsámbal, are of higher antiquity than the columns of Thebes, and have received the Gods of Ethiopia in their progress towards the North. I believed at the time, and do still believe, as far as can be judged from rudeness of masonry and sculpture, and from the mere effect of time on colours, figures, and even the surface of the hard [May, and solid rock, that the smaller of the two excavated temples at Djebel el Berkel is much the oldest that I ever saw; older by centuries than those of Nubia, or than the temple of Bacchus by its side: now the few figures and hieroglyphics yet visible there, are exactly such as are found in greater perfection in Egypt. "By the same reasons I am led to suppose that the pyramid, as a sepulchral building, had also its origin in Ethiopia. The first pyramid is naturally of a later date than the first temple. Not that tombs or cairns were not numerous before temples were ever thought of, but because the construction of a pyramid requires more skill and labour than a mere excavation in a rock. The one, however, would probably follow the other at no great interval: it is the most natural kind of monument, and, int land of astronomers, such an elevation might be of use to them in taking their observations. Now, the utter destruction and shapelessness of many of those at Berkel and El Bellál attests their antiquity; while those of Egypt do not appear to have been erected above eleven or twelve hundred years before Christ, when that country had been frequently overrun by the Ethiopians. The pyramids of Memphis are of a later date than the ruins of Thebes." (To be concluded in our next.) 70. Illustrations of Japan; consisting of Private Memoirs and Anecdotes of the reigning Dynasty of the Djogouns or Sovereigns of Japan; a Description of the Feasts and Ceremonies observed throughout the year at their Court; and of the Ceremonies customary at Marriages and Funerals: to which are subjoined Observations on the Legal Suicide of the Japanese, re marks on their Poetry, an explanation of their mode of reckoning Time, particulars respecting the Dosia powder, the Preface of a work by Confoutzee, on Filial Picty, &c. By M. Titsingh, formerly Chief Agent to the Dutch East India Company at Nangasaki. Translated from the French by Frederick Shoberl. With Coloured Plates, faithfully copied from Japanese original designs. London, 4to, pp. 325. Ackermann. UNLESS we are acquainted with the manners of a nation, it is impossible to know the proper method of doing business with them. Mistake and unintentional offence, accompanied with mutual dislike, may be perpetual. Books of this kind are therefore very useful to Diplomatists and Merchants in particular, as well as curious and interesting to readers of all classes. For instance, we have generally ascribed the failure of Chinese Embassies to political jealousy, but the following extract 1822.] REVIEW.-Titsingh's Illustrations of Japan. extract will show that this opinion can be only correct in part. "The inhabitants [of Nangasaki] are considered as having degenerated, in consequence of their intercourse with foreigners. The presence of strangers is almost an abomination in the rest of Japan. When, in my journeys to Court, I passed through Sanagosta, and certain hamlets dependent on it, none of my retinue could procure either fire, tea, or the most trifling necessary." P. 237. In the mechanical arts, the Asiaticks have obtained considerable excellence, but in the grand European tests of intellectual civilization, they are lamentably defective. They have no ingenious machinery, no Greek taste, no philosophy, no political, military, or naval science, and no jurisprudence, founded on reason or justice. Except in considerable assimilations to the feudal system, and some matters of universal use and compact, they have little or no resemblance to us in manners and habits; nor can any change of moment be expected, until they shall be newly cast in the mould of Christianity, which produces a general conforinity of character. Of course we can therefore have little to offer to our Readers, than curiosities, which, as being such, are interesting. The largeness of the front door of a palace, denoted the rank of the inhabitant (p. 76). The beauty of Japanese poetry consists in the verses having a double meaning (p. 90). Houses were built on the very edge of volcanick craters, so that the flames broke out from under them (p. 100). No respectable man is to be seen without a fan, which sometimes serves for a parasol, memorandum-book, or as a map of a road, and site of the inns. The etiquette to be observed in regard to the fan requires profound study and close attention (p. 123, 329). Instead of carpets, rugs are used, which fit accurately together (p. 130). The Feast of Dolls, by means of toys, teaches girls whatever is necessary for housekeeping (p. 133). Plumb and cherrytrees are cherished as shrubs, for the flower (154). The mechanism of the Japanese clocks, very dear articles, consists in a horizontal balance, moving upon a pin, forward and backward, with a weight on each side. This clock accurately marks the duration of day or night, by the approach or recession of these weights (p. 159). The 431 partitions of rooms, slide in grooves, so that large or small apartments may be formed at option (p. 187). The teeth are blackened by way of improvement (p. 193). Three things are especially noticeable. One is an effectual mode of preventing duels. If a man receives an insult he is either to fight, and afterwards to commit suicide; or, if he does not fight, he is to be killed for cowardice. The result is, that which might be expected; viz. that 66 Owing to this summary mode of proceeding, the people of the lower class treat one another with the greatest politeness, and are careful to avoid, as much as possible, whatever is likely to generate quarrels." P. 80. The second remarkable is this, and as Asiatick customs are ancient, may seem to show, that the butterfly, deemed a symbol of the soul, so common on Greek monuments (at least the butterfly wings of Cupid and Psyche in particular), had not the usual meaning ascribed to them. At the Japanese marriages, “The zakki (a kind of strong beer) is poured out by two girls, one of whom is called the male butterfly, and the other the female butterfly. These appellations are derived from their sousous or zakki jugs, each of which is adorned with a paper butterfly, to denote that, as those insects always fly about in pairs, so the husband and wife ought to be continually together." P. 199. The third particular is, the bridal dress of white, which we consider to be adopted, as merely emblematick of purity, white being ancient mourning, "the bride is dressed in white, being considered, thenceforward, dead to her parents.' P. 202. 'The assimilations to our ancient or modern customs are these. Stones for sepulchral monuments (p. 83). Conspirators signing engagements with their blood (p. 89). Houses built of planks, and covered with shingles (p. 106). Handing the cup in drinking, from one to another, in token of amity, like the grace-cup (p. 116). Flowerpots, screens (p. 187), scented tapers or pastels (p. 138). Almanacks with lucky and unlucky days (p. 167). Paper-hangings for rooms (p. 171.) [See Beckmann's Inventions.] Paper instead of glass for windows (187). Iron for ironing linen (p. 193), [formerly we used stone]. Sandals mounted on pattens (p. 195). Green tea used, ground into powder (p. 209), and cloaths' 432 REVIEW. cloaths' horses like our own. pl. 3. Parga and the Ionian Islands. Pt. ii. We shall now notice two things, especially to be regarded by the Philosopher and the Antiquary. The former well knows, that nations may be fanaticized for ages, without moral improvement, because means are not adapted to ends, and because miracles only can, in any other form, effect the object desired. Habits, manners, and customs, favourable to virtue, should, if possible, be absolutely created. Indolence, a mere providential propensity, has been found to check more vices, than all the principles ever inculcated. Boxing, however to be reprobated, prevents murder: and our introduction of the fair sex into society has, among other civilizing effects, those of infants being trained up in religious and moral habits, at least in the higher and middling orders (Turner's Anglo-Saxons, iii. 83), and the prevention of a most odious criminality. We find, that a most detestable vice is universal in Japan, because women are excluded from society (p. 251). Wales has been deeply fanaticized for more than a century, yet through neglect of education and knowledge, we find perjury still common; women wading through rivers in the sight of men, with their petticoats up to their hips; and Scotchmen rising to wealth and eminence, in the proportion to Welchmen of a hundred to one. The Antiquary has been accustomed 10 admire the elegant manner in which the handles of vases are formed from the parts of animals. The fashion was borrowed from the Asiaticks, for we find among the Japanese, perfuming pans of brass or copper, in the shape of cranes, lions, or other animals. P. 187. We have now said enough of the Work, to give the publick a favourable idea of its meritorious character, which character is, in our judgment,due on such subjects to all patient accumulations of information, confined to the topick; for numerous travellers, in works about foreign countries, give us little more than journals of their adventures, and leave the reader without any increase of knowledge. As to the particulars specified in the title; viz. 1. the legal suicide;-2. the Dosia powder;-3. the preface of Confucius, we find, that the first consisted in coolly ripping up the [May, belly, at an order from the Sovereign, which favour the people, from infancy, are tutored to expect, and to die game accordingly. The philosopher will see how convenient a doctrine it is for despots to quash rising rebellions, to perpetuate fear, and summarily to dispatch offenders. The second is a pow der, which is pretended to have the power of rendering flexible the stiff limbs of a corpse, and of being a most infallible quack medicine; and the third, in filial piety, being the chief and most important of the injunctions of Confoutzee or Confucius. The Work is elegantly printed; the plates are interesting, and finely coloured; in short, the whole is got up in a style fit for a luxury book; a li terary Bond-street book of fashion. 71. Parga and the Ionian Islands; comprehending a refutation of the various misstatements on the subject; with a report of the Trial between Lieut.-Gen. Sir Thomes Maitland, Lord High Commissioner, and the Author. With Maps. 2d. Edit, with alterations and additions. By Lieut.-Col. C. P. de Bosset, K. R. H. Order (of Guelph) C. B. &c. 8vo, pp. 542. THE occupation of the Ionian islands is a measure of the first policy, on account of the prospective fall of the Ottoman empire. It provides a secure means of communication, either with regard to war or commerce, should circumstances require such an aid. But Parga not being insulat, could not have been cheaply or easily retained; and the cession was a matter the inhabitants of the West India of necessity. We know how hardly Islands feel, at being transferred from nation to nation; and under admission of the political necessity, provision ought to be made, that the transfer should have no other operation than the mere exchange of garrisons. Unfortunately, in the case of Parga, the alienation was made to a barbarous power (it could be to no other), and the consequences were as follows: "Landholders would no longer incur ex pences in cultivating ground, of which they were not certain of gathering the produce. Every one sought to realize and to conceal mercial undertakings were suspended; and the money which belonged to him; all comin a short time, that class of persons who depend for subsistence on the passing day, and those who rely on the future products of their property, were reduced to the greatest distress. Provisions were exhaust ed: |
