imitation than invention, therefore if a model be laid before them, they will copy it with sufficient dexterity. The advantages of the division of labour have not yet occurred to them. Every family supplies its own domestic wants. They have no bakers, and they still grind their corn by hand. Their implements are all defective, which, however, they supply in a great measure by dexterity. Their paper is made of the bark of various trees, which they macerate, and work into a paste, and having added some glue, 'spread it on the wire frame; the sheets are then dipped in alum water and dried. With lard and lamp-black they prepare a durable ink, and instead of pens they use hair pencils.-Silks and cottons are the manufactures in which their skill appears pre-eminent, and in which women are chiefly employed: an example which it were well if Europe would imitate. They are not yet acquainted with the vitrification of sands and other silicious substances. They have no clocks or watches, but such as are brought from Europe; and these, when out of order, they know not how to repair. The great impediment to the improvement of their arts and manufactures is the most impolitic oppression of the government, which, whenever an artist excells in his profession, calls upon him to deliver gratuitously, a certain part of his work to the emperor, the governor of a province, or some mandarin. The fine Arts. The author of this work admits, that although taste be founded on invariable rules, deriv. ed from the nature of our perceptions, and a due comparison of the effects produced upon them, yet the incidental varieties of climate, soil, deit, and government, but above all, the wealth or penury of individuals, may so influence those perceptions as to produce a seeming deviation in the superstruc ture; which, however, if rightly considered, may still be reducible to the fundamental principles of the theory.With this prefatory reservation, the author enters upon a detail of the state of music, eloquence, painting, sculpture, architecture, and dancing, without being shackled by the trammels of system. Although the Tung-quinese have unquestionably very delicate ears, yet their music is as yet so defective, that it hardly deserves the name of an art. So little do they seem to have cultivated harmony, that the voice is never accompanied by instruments, but the two parts succeed each other alternately. The violin and the guittar, each with only one string; a fife, a hautboy, a cymbal, and a kind of drum, are their principal instruments. Noise is the great object of their performances, and the softer airs which we admire have no effect whatever upon them. They have no notation, and the musicians perform their parts extempore, without any preparation whatever. There being no debating senate, no pulpit oratory, and no pleadings, the parties being called upon to state their cases personally, it follows, that eloquence can meet with little encouragement among these people: nor are they at all susceptible of its persuasive impressions. The effects of the modulations of the voice, which, with us, produce striking emotions, remain unperceived by them. Their actors have the reputation of being the best in India; but their excellence consists chiefly in gesticulation. As to the painting; they are perfect strangers to the rules of design, to perspective, and the chiaro-oscuro. Hence their delineations are more remarkable for their deviation from, than their resemblance to nature. Engraving, except for seals, is unknown among them. In one province, (Xu thanh) a few families have addicted themselves to sculp ture: tore: they carve animals in wood; but so far from attempting to imitate nature, their endeavours seem to be to distort the beautiful forms they see daily before them. They seldom at-、 tempt to represent the human figure. Being strangers to the rules of mensuration, none of them are capable of delineating a plan. Hence in some measure, and for want of taste and genius, are there no edifices in this country that bespeak the least knowledge of the principles of architecture, or taste for the application of any correct rules. The restrictions of government are likewise a bar to any progress in this art. The emperor's palace at Phu-xuam, and the remains of his former residence at BacKiah, bespeak a considerable degree of magnificence, but this is chiefly the effect of territorial extent; the Etter spreading over a space no less than 5 or 6 miles in circumference: -the habitation is a square building, two stories high; a distinction reserved for the sovereign. The Pagodas of Tung-quin are larger and more magnificent than those of CochinChina, Their public works, their harbours, bridges, roads, and canals, are all defective. The part of the great wall which separates this ceuntry from China, is 15 feet high, and about 20 in breadth; it is built partly of stone and partly of earth, but so ill constructed as to require continual repairs. Dancing, in this country, is a mere profession, and by no means a mode of social recreation. The people have no perception of the pleasures of an animated ball. The skill of the mercenary dancers consists chiefly in the twistings of the arms, while the body remains motionless and erect. A dancer who, while he performs his gestures, can carry a vessel full of liquor on his head without spilling one drop, is the object of the greatest admiration. (To be continued.) Account of Quarries of Marble in the North of Scotland, in a letter from Mr Isaac Jopling of Gateshead, Durham, to the Secretary of the Society of Arts, Sc. From Survey of the County of Sutherland. IN a letter of last June, from my good friend Mr Charles Waistell, of High Holborn, I received, inclosed, a List of Premiums, offered by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, in pages 18 and 19, he had marked for my notice the Society's resolutions and regulations concerning specimens of British Marbles. So far back as 1780 I began the business of marblemason here, at Gateshead, in the county of Durham, which I have carried on ever since with some degree of success. In the year 1789 I was informed by my marble-merchant, who supplied me with foreign marble, that the French had got possession of Carrara, and that it was not likely that marble could be again imported into England from Italy for many years. As I had, from the writings of Camden, Knox, Pennant, Williams, and others, obtained a knowledge that there was white marble in Sutherlandshire, I made an agreement with the Countess of Sutherland, and the Earl Gower, for a lease of the marble quarries to be found in the county of Sutherland; and in May, 1799, I carried several Englishmen. north, to search for marble. I spent seven summers and two winters in Assynt, a parish situated in the northwest corner of Sutherlandshire, not less than fifty miles from a market-town, where there had never been a road, a cart, or a smith who could shoe a horse; during which time I opened many quarries of marble, and made, at least, fourteen miles of road, through heretofore impassable mosses, bogs, and rocks, to the sea. The difficulties and disadvantages I have laboured under under were innumerable meat, coals, iron, and every article, were to fetch from such a great distance; and the people, "torpid with idleness," as Mr Pennant expresses it in his Tour, and to which I refer for a description of this place, would do nothing for me without an exorbitant price, and never till it suited their own convenience; and from having no markets, and not being in the habit of selling, they could never be persuaded to part with any article at less than nearly double its worth. To help forward the road, I was, indeed, allowed the statute labour of the parish; but after trying them a-while, so averse were they to work, that I refused to receive them, rather choosing to finish the road with my own men. The first summer was spent in trying and searching after quarries; the second, third, and fourth, were spent in making this road, which road Lord Reay passed about seven years ago, and last summer Mr Anderson, a son of Dr Anderson who published the Bee; each of these can tell what an arduous task it was to make a road in such a country; and I believe they are both members of your's, or the Royal Society. In 1806 I visited Ashford, in Derbyshire, to see the machinery there for sawing and polishing marble, and had a model made in London, like one which I saw that year in your rooms, said to be the model of a machine working at Torbay : my intention was to have had such like machinery erected near the quarries, and to have dwelt there, and superintend the works; but not meeting with the encouragement which I needed, I did not afterwards return to Assynt, as I saw clearly it was only throwing away more money where I had already expended far too much for one individual to venture. I however still kept men at the quarries, and have since that time got one sloop-load of marble brought away, and have another nearly ready, and have yet ten years of my lease unexpired. I have sent you a set of specimens, the produce of these quarries, and several other kinds of British marbles which I had by me. They are made 8 inches by 6, and 1 inch thick, except some that have been cut for veneers; yet, nevertheless, I backed them to the thickness with stone, and sent them also; they are as follows: No. 1. A white marble that will saw and work with a tool, but takes a bad polish. I sunk several yards deep in this quarry, but could not find it better. About ten years ago, I proposed this marble to A. Davison, Esq. for building the Naval Pillar then subscribing for, and he and I exchanged two or three letters upon the subject; since that time I got Mr James Smith, who is now making Lord Nelson's monument, to carve asmall head of this marble, which I believe is now in the possession of Mr Atkinson, architect. This may prove a useful stone, but cannot be got in large blocks; and it has some narrow blue veins scattered through it. Nos. 2, 6, 8, 12, 14, and 16, are the produce of those quarries near No.1; these all saw, work, and polish easily, and can be got pretty large, and are all situated near half a mile up the sloping side of a hill. No. 4, is from a quarry close by, and under a small river, near half a mile from the former seven. In dry weather I have seen this marble bare six or seven yards by four or five, but it bad all the appearance of being cracked. Although I have sent but one specimen of this kind, yet there is considerable diversity in the quarry, andit is compact, fine and easy to work and polish, and is the very marble Williams described in his Mineral Kingdom, as pure white marble, fine as the Parian, and to be had of any size, without cracks or flaws, and si tuated under the bed of a small river HOR near a quarter of a mile from the house of Ardloch: this is exactly the situation; but for its being pure white, large, and solid, no doubt he fell into these errors by seeing its surface bleached by the weather, and making no further examination. I had people working here above a year, but never could get sound blocks of it large enough for chimneyhearths; no doubt, larger blocks might be had going deeper. I have seen some of this burnt to very fine lime, and because it would make lime, the inhabitants laughed heartily, to think a man should travel so far, and mistake his aim so much, as to take limestone for marble; for though they have a burn called in Gaelic, Ault na Marable, (Marble River), they had no idea of marble when they saw it. N. 10, is got near a quarter of a mile further down the river, and is very hard to saw, work, and polish: this water is called Lyne, and the place Ledbeg, and I suppose it is fourteen miles from hence to the sea at Ullapool, where there is a very safe natural harbour, where sloops may lie secure in any weather, and take in a cargo from the end of a rock which projects a little into the sea; the surface of this rock I levelled to serve as a pier, and to it I made the road. Nos. 3, 5, 7, 9, 13, and 15, are from quarries at Coubin, a place upon the said road about seven miles from the sea these marbles, with some others in their vicinity, I discovered entirely myself, as it was never supposed there was any marble there, and that at Ledbeg it was, by those who wrote, supposed to be white. When I showed this Coubin marble to workmen in London, and fell into conversation with them about it, they seemed all to think it unique: it is hard to work and polish, but beautiful, and when polished, will retain it much better than softer marble; and I hope the public will rank these among the best foreign coloured marbles. All these sixteen are specimens of the quarries I have opened: there are several other kinds in the district, but not so well situated for bringing away. Of these marbles I have made many chimney-pieces, particularly for Donald M'Leod, of Geanies, Esq. Sheriff of Ross-shire; Sir George Mackenzie, of Coul, Ross-shire; Colonel Duff, of Fetteressoe, Aberdeenshire; Colonel Mitford, Exbury, near Southampton; and Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, London. I sent also several other chimney-pieces, made of it, to London, of which I believe the Duke of Athol got one to send to the Isle of Man; but for an account of the others, and of several that were made of it by workmen in London, I beg leave to refer to William Atkinson, Esq. Architect, No. 20, Bentinckstreet, Cavendish-square, to whom I am much indebted for having recom. mended it. Nos. 17, 18, 19, 21, and 22, are varieties of serpentine from Portsoy, in Banff-shire, which place I visited before I went to Assynt: this rock runs right into the sea, and I was of opinion that large blocks were not to be procured. In the middle of this serpentine runs a very coarse marble, a specimen of which I have sent, marked 20. No. 23 is a specimen of the Duke of Argyle's marble from the Isle of Tyrie; this is a beautiful marble, and I once, long ago, went from this place to Edinburgh, on purpose to see a sloop-load of it; but they would not sell it under three guineas and a half per solid foot, for which reason it never made its way into use. I am exceedingly sorry that I was so late in obtaining a knowledge, that the Society had a wish to encourage a search after British marbles: these specimens might have been produced ten years ago, and perhaps such a sale for this marble might have been promoted, as would have reimbursed me for the expences I have been at, the hardships I suffered in seven years' personal personal attendance upon a search for marble, in such a country, where, from bad houses and a wet climate, I was seldom dry, day or night, except in fine weather, of which there is but little, and for the loss busimy own ness has sustained here in my absence. To this account of expense, hardships, and loss, I might add a little of vexation, in having my tools broken, and frequently thrown into bogs; corn sown in my road; my oxen hunted before my face, for miles, with their dogs, and my grass eaten by their cattle for whole summers together. This sketch may show how anxious I have been to bring forward this marble, though only an individual, having no funds but the savings made, during twenty years, from a business not very extensive. An Account of BENGAL, by IBKAHIM, the Son of CANDU the Merchant. Translated from the Malay, by the late Dr Leyden. From Graham's Journal of a Residence in India. THIS is the account of what I, Ibrahim, the son of Candu the merchant, have seen; this is what I have been present at, and a witness to; where is the Malay who has seen the like that I, Ibrahim, the son of Candu, have seen since I arrived in the great country of Bengal? How long was I on my passage from the Malay countries! but how much was I rejoiced, to see the beauty of Bengal, which shines like the sun on all nations; for this country of Bengal, is so large, that, were I to walk for three months, I should not reach the end of the stone houses, which are every where so high, that I could not see the hills for them: this accounts for people saying the hills cannot be seen from Bengal.Alas! I have not forgotten the day when I ventured into the bazar, and, having no one to direct me, lost the way. How many days was it painful for me to put the soles of my feet to the ground! how rejoiced was I to reach the house of Tuan Dr Layten, and afterward to think of the wonders I had seen! How perfect and beautiful is the fort! how exact all its proportions, its four sides, and all its angles!— This is a proper fort; but who would suppose it so large, when, it can hardly be seen from without ?— This is a fault; but why should I, Ibrahim, the son of Candu, the poor merchant of Keddah, pretend to give my opinion in this place, all is so wonderful, and much beyond what I before knew? But yet I must describe what I have seen, that Malays may no longer be ignorant of this great country, but be acquainted with all its wonders and all its beauties, so that their hearts may be glad, and they may no longer be ignorant! Inside of the fort there is a ditch larger than that on the outside, and at the bottom of both it is level and smooth, like unto a mat fresh spread out, and the colour is like that of young paddy; for such is the management of this place, that when the Rajah pleases, the water can be let in from the river, and, when the rains are heavy, the water can be let out. Within this fort, which is like a large city, how many are the stone storehouses for arms, for gun powder, for small-arms, cannon-balls, and every thing required in war? and how many store-houses are there for wine, because there are many white men, and so many sepoys, that who can count them! It was in this great country, in this country of Bengal, which is in this place called Calcutta, how many months journey from Penang!--on the fifteenth day of the month of Shaaban, in the year of the Hegyra, one thousand two hundred and twen ty |