Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

Old Authors, selections from, recom-
mended, 232

Organs of Voice in Man and Animals.
236

Origin and progress of written cha-
racters, 51

Papyrus Manuscript of the Psalms, 3
Passenger-Pigeon of America, 15
Past-present-future, 151
Peasantry, Russian, 89
Pedantry in what consisting,
Pepys, the family of, 243

231

Pfaltz, or Castle of the Palatinate, 98
Pins, remarks on, 32
Plague of Flies, 237

Planetary System, grandeur of, 120
Plants, Repose or Sleep of, 168
Pleasure, Religious, remark on, by
South, 76

its lawfulness or unlawful-
ness, 221

Plumage of Birds, 116
Poisonous Plants, II., Monk's-hood,
or Wolf's-bane, 76-III., Helle-
bore, 96-IV., The common Thorn-
apple, 148-V., Black Henbane,
200

Popular Errors and Superstitions, 220
228

Pottery and Porcelain 31, 135
Praise sharpens Wit, 228

how to appreciate, 239
Prayer, the sum of duty, 222
Presumption the offspring of Folly,

115

Proper modes of taking Exercise, 102
Psalms, Papyrus Manuscript of the, 3
Quartetts of Haydn, 60
Quills and Pens, 157
Raghery, Island of, some account of
209-situation and difficulty of
access, 209-historical notices of,
211-excursion to the western side
of, 212-the Bull Rocks, 213-
superstitions, 214

Raikes, Robert, anecdote of, 167
Ramazan, or Mohammedan Lent, 105
Reading and Rumination, 186
Reason and Instinct compared, 223
Religion the basis of happiness, 23
Repose or Sleep of Plants, 168
Results of Commerce, 100
Retirement, 7

Robert Hall on the neces-
sity of, 199

Retrospection, advantages of, 93
Rhinoceros attacked by Elephants, 2
Rhine, No. I., The Pfaltz, or Castle
of the Palatinate, 98

[blocks in formation]

Rhine, No. II., The Hochkreuz, or
High Cross, at Godesberg, 114
Riches and Happiness, 11

Rich and great men not always happy,
76

Ripon Minster, 234

Rogers, remark by, on Travelling, 108
Roman Bridges and Aqueducts, 122
Rooks, their relish for walnuts, 235
Roses, Attar or Otto of, 143
Roslyn Castle and Chapel, 207
Rouen, II., The Grosse Horloge, or
Great Clock of, 18
173

Rural Funerals, 204

Russia, I., Winter Travelling in, 49
II., Russian Peasantry, 89
III., Church of Basil the
Blessed, in Moscow, 185

Satire and Ridicule, dangerous, 243
Savings, Banks for, 199
Saxeln, the Hermit of, 141
Scio, or Chios, account of, 226
Seal-fishery, 198

Secret Writing, the Art of, 224
Self, on the love of, 35
Self-denial, remark on, 167
Seven-eared Wheat, 7
Ship and Sea, Moving Model of, 151
Siege of Londonderry, 25
Sinjonides, anecdote of, 200
Simplicity, remark on, 246
Sincerity and Simplicity, 223
Singularity, affectation of, 100
Skating Soldiers of Norway, 9
Skelton, extract from, 27
Sketches of New South Wales, I.,

Scenery of the Blue Mountains,
177-II., The Aboriginal Natives,
201-111., Manners, customs, &c.
of the Natives, 217-IV., The
Corroboree, 241

Snowdon, 247
Soap-wort, its uses, 159

Solar System, the, lines on, 8
Soliloquy, the Crocus's, 63
Sonnet to a Child playing in a Church-.
yard, 78

Soul, the, 35

South American Slave-market, 69
Southey, selections from, 54, 142, 221,
235, 243

lines by, on his Library, 142
Spanish Proverb, 222

Stormy Petrels, immense stream of, 157
Sturgeon-fishery on the Volga, 151
Success, one of the worst uses of, 235
Sugar Maple-tree, 132

Swamp in the Southern States of
America, 11

Swan River, natives of, 29
Swift, extract from, 35-on Vanity, 232
Swiss Valley, 246

Switzerland, Hermit of, 141

Tale of the Indian Wars, 155
Tapioca and Cassava, 103
Taste, remarks on, 199
Taylor, Jeremy, selections from, 30,
222, 232
Temperature of the Weather, effects
of, 157

Testimony, remark on its weight, 54
Thanksgiving, verbal, 38
Thebes, Egyptian, some Account of,
42-origin and rise, 43-its hun
dred gates, 43-its situation, 43—
its extent and internal arrange-
ment, 44-ancient contracts for the
sale of land in, 45—its splendour,
decline, and ruin, 45-Luxor, 46-
its inhabitants, 47-Christianity
in modern Thebes, 47-grandeur
of the ruins, 47--the ruins of
Luxor 82-sculptures at Luxor, 83
-ruins and great temple at Kar-
nak, 84-ruins at Medeenet Ha
bou, 86-the Memnonium, or palace
of Osymandyas, 86-Goornoo and
its cavern-tombs, 87-the sitting
Colossi, 88

Thorn-Apple, common, 149
Tieck, on the exercise of Benevo
.lence, 230

Tillotson, extract from, 31
Time and distance, tendency of, 115
Time and Eternity, 166

dissipation of, 199

Trade, beneficial effects of, 142

Travelling, enjoyment of, 50
results of, 108
Trees, Economy of-Jesse, 103
Trimmer, Mrs., extract from, 23
Try, 167

Turkey, Rites of Burial and Cemete-

ries in, 36

Turks, Manners and Customs of the,
105, 129

Turner, Sharon, extract from, 157
Tyrol, Capital of the, 138

Ultramarine and Cobalt, how pre-
pared, 111

Useful Arts; The Sheep, the Hog, 14
Domesticated Birds, 23
Capture of Wild Animals,
Traps, Snares, Nets, &c. 39

Sumner, Bishop J. B., extract from, 35
Suspicions, necessity of repressing, 199

28

INDEX TO THE ENGRAVINGS.

Egyptian Hieroglyphics, 52, 53
Ely Cathedral, 33

Etruscan Vases, 32

Fairhead, view of, 209

Fowl, varieties of the common, 24

Godesberg on the Rhine, Cross at, 113
Grand Vizier entertaining the officers
of state, 105

Grass-tree, and Natives of New South
Wales kindling a fire, 184
Greyhound, 56

Grose River, from Govatt's Leap, 177
Grosse Horloge, or Great Clock at
Rouen, 17

Havre, entrance to the harbour of, 176
Head, section of the Human, 236

Hellebore, white, fetid, and black, 96
Human Heart, situation of the 229

Innspruck, the capital of the Tyrol, 137

Karnak, Ruins of the Temple of, 48

Lasso, mode of throwing the, in South
America, 40

25

Londonderry Cathedral,
Luxor, Colonnade in the Great Tem-
ple at, in Egypt, 41

Mandrake, forked roots of the, 228
Mastiff, Greyhound, and Pointer, 56
Mechanical Arithmetic, illustrations
of, 160

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

Whately, Archbishop, on the admis-
ture of Good and Evil, 204
Wheat, the Seven-eared, 7
Wilberforce, extract from, 35
Wild Bird Catching, 164
Winter Travelling in Russia, 49
Wisdom, Truth, and Genius, 14
Woman compared to a Vine, 63

the stay and solace of Man in
adversity, 134
Women, their fortitude, 63
Workman, the careless, 32
World, the Field of, liues on, by
Montgomery, 23

Wreck at Sea, 37
Written characters, their origin and
progress, 51

Young Chemist, the, 8, 167, 183

Russian Serf, Cottage of the, 89

Scio, Fountain in the Island of, 225
Scythian Lamb, 220

Seal, common, 198

Sedge, Great Panicled, 4
Seven-eared Wheat, 7

Skating Soldiers of Norway, 9

168

Sleep of Plants, illustrations of the
Snowdon, and Village of Beddgelart,
248

Southwark Bridge, 128
Spoonbill, Windpipe of, 237
Sugar Maple (Acer saccharinum), 132
Takhaize, a large African Antelope, 80
Thebes, Colossal Statues at, 88
Thorn-Apple, common, 148
Tiger-shooting from a Platform, 112
Trial of a Native of New South
Wales, 217

Turkish Funeral, Procession to a, 36

Venice, Ducal Palace at, 249

Colounade and Library in the
Procuratorie Nuove, 253
Bridge of Sighs at, 256

Whale, common Greenland, 156
tossing a Boat, 188
Fishery, Implements used in
the, 157

Wild Bird Catching, 164
Windpipes of various Birds, 237
Winter Travelling in Russia, 49

[blocks in formation]

UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION, APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.

[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][merged small]

man.

A RHINOCEROS ATTACKED BY

ELEPHANTS.

THE Rhinoceros * is the least intelligent of the larger quadrupeds. Fierce and intractable, it is at all times very formidable, as well to animals as to Being protected by nature with a skin like a coat of armour, it commits the greatest devastations with impunity. It is a native both of Asia and of Africa, though the species found in the two countries greatly differ; the Rhinoceros of Africa having two horns on the snout, while that of Asia has only one. Of the former, Mr. Bruce says, "When pursued, and in fear, the Rhinoceros possesses an astonishing degree of swiftness, considering his size, the apparent unwieldiness of his body, his great weight before, and the shortness of his legs. He is long, and has a kind of trot, which, after a few minutes, increases, in a great proportion, and takes in a great distance. It is not true that on a plain he beats the horse in swiftness. I have passed him with ease, and seen many more mounted do the same; and though it is certainly true that a horse can very seldom come up with him, this is owing to his cunning, not to his swiftness. He passes constantly from wood to wood, and forces himself into the thickest parts of them. The dry trees are broken down as with a cannon-shot, and fall about him in all directions. Others that are more pliable, greener, and fuller of sap, are bent back by his weight and the velocity of his motion; and, after he has passed, restoring themselves like a green branch to their natural position, they sweep the incautious pursuer and his horse from the ground, and dash them in pieces against the surrounding trees."

Of the two species of this animal, one is called the bicornis, or two-horned, and the other the unicornis, or one-horned: the latter has been supposed to be the unicorn of Scripture. The former is, I believe, peculiar to Africa: it is never known in India, where the onehorned Rhinoceros alone is found. Its size is only inferior to that of the elephant, although it is considerably smaller. Its bulk, however, is greater in proportion to its height; and, from its superior courage and activity, it is a much more formidable creature. Its head resembles that of a pig; and it has two small, dull eyes, which give it an appearance at once stupid and intractable. Its length, not including the tail, is from eleven to twelve feet, and the circumference of its body about the same; though it is said sometimes to exceed this standard. It occasionally, though rarely, attains to the height of seven feet, and is amazingly strong; while its skin is so hard and thick, as to be generally impervious to a musket-ball. The hide is curiously divided into sections, and the different divisions are adapted with such exquisite precision, as to have the appearance, at a short distance, of a beautiful coat of mail. It is extremely rough, and offers so complete a resistance to the touch, as not to yield in the slightest degree to the strongest pressure. The only vulnerable parts are the belly, the eyes, and near the ears.

bone, but when the Rhinoceros is in its ordinary state, stands loose between the nostrils; the moment, however, the animal is excited to resistance by the approach or attack of a foe, the muscular tension is so great that the horn instantly becomes immoveably fixed, and he is able to dart it into the trunk of a tree to the depth of several inches.

The upper lip of the Rhinoceros is of great length, and remarkably pliant, acting like a sort of proboscis, by which he grasps the roots of trees, and other esculent substances, and it is capable of contraction or expansion, as circumstances may require. "With this lip," says Bruce, "and the assistance of his tongue, he pulls down the upper branches which have most leaves, and these he devours first. Having stripped the tree of its branches, he does not directly abandon it; but, placing his snout as low in the trunk as he finds his horn will enter, he rips up the body of the tree, and reduces it to thin pieces, like so many laths; and when he has thus prepared it, he embraces as much as he can of it in his monstrous jaws, and twists it round with as much ease as an ox would do a root of celery."

The female generally produces only a single young one at a birth, which attains to a full state of maturity in about fifteen years. The Rhinoceros is so stupid, and of so savage a disposition, that it seems to exist merely to gratify a voracious appetite. It is the terror of its native woods, and if it had been a gregarious animal, would have been a terrible scourge to the countries in which it is found. When excited, it displays paroxysms of fury which render it highly dangerous for any one to approach. As it is of a temper much less mild than the elephant, it is far more formidable when exasperated, on account of its greater activity and more desperate ferocity.

The voraciousness of this creature is extraordinary; it will consume as much as an elephant, and is always very fierce if intruded upon whilst feeding. A young Rhinoceros, only two years old, sent from Bengal in 1739, cost a thousand pounds sterling for food, including the expenses of its passage.

When the Rhinoceros and Elephant meet, which is not very often the case, the conflict is terrific. The former will stand his ground, even though surrounded by a herd of elephants, by which indeed he is generally destroyed, though not without making a desperate resistance. He will frequently inflict a mortal wound upon one or two before he is subdued. The Elephant, therefore, always approaches him with extreme reluctance: if the Rhinoceros succeeds in making good his stroke at his huge adversary, it generally proves fatal; his horn, ploughing through the side, exposes the intestines, and the gigantic creature falls dead. If, however, the Elephant is successful in preventing the rush of his enemy, he receives him upon his tusks, which inflict too severe a wound to enable the Rhinoceros to renew the encounter. The timidity of the Elephant generally causes it to have the worst in conflicts with this mailed foe, so that the latter is seldom molested, and consequently roams at large as the monarch of the jungle; even the tiger and the lion shun him, as an enemy not to be provoked without peril.

This animal is of very sequestered habits: it traverses the most impenetrable jungles alone, and is the terror of every creature with which it comes in contact, although it seldom attacks unless provoked by aggression. The horn upon its nose, which is thick and pointed, curves upwards towards the forehead, forming an acute angle with the bone of the snout, and projecting from it about thirty inches. It is a most fearful weapon; so much so, that even the colossal elephant has been frequently laid prostrate" by a well-directed stroke from the armed head of this terrible adversary. The horn does not adhere to the * See Saturday Magazine, Vol. I., p. 224..

The following account of the Rhinoceros is extremely curious, being by the celebrated Baher, Emperor of the Moguls, and is to be found in his autobiography, translated by Dr. Leyden and Mr. Erskine. "The Rhinoceros," writes this remarkable man, is a huge animal; its bulk is equal to that of three buffaloes. The opinion prevalent in our countries, that a Rhinoceros can lift an Elephant on its horn, is probably a mistake. It has a single horn over its

NATURE, USES, AND MANUFACTURE OF
CHARCOAL. I.

THE various processes by means of which natural productions become available to the arts of life, deserve inquiry on the part of all persons who desire an insight into the general adaptation of matter to man. The changes undergone by almost all substances, as they pass through the hands of industry to their destined uses, as, for instance, the progressive transition of the ore of lead, from the dark recesses of the mine, through the fire of the furnace, to the brilliant pigment ready to the painter's brush; such changes, so variously and craftily wrought, are found to be not unworthy of notice, even when the subject is one of such familiar and universal occurrence as white paint. Trusting, therefore, to that interest which usually attends the detail of operations carried on remotely from the sphere in which we daily move, it is our intention to collect a few particulars respecting the manufacture of a more equable substance than the above, namely, that which is at the head of our present article.

nose, upwards of a span in length, but I never saw one of two spans. Out of one of the largest of these horns I had a drinking-vessel* made, and a dice-box, and about three or four fingers' bulk of it might be left. Its hide is very thick: if it be shot at with a powerful bow, drawn up to the arm-pit with much force, and if the arrow pierces at all, it enters only three or four fingers' breadth. They say, however, that there are parts of his skin that may be pierced, and the arrows enter deep. On the sides of its two shoulder-blades and of its two thighs, are folds which hang loose, and appear at a distance like cloth housings dangling over it. It bears more resemblance to the horse than to any other animalt. As the horse has a large stomach, so has this ;- -as the pastern of the horse is composed of a single bone, so also is that of the Rhinoceros ;- -as there is a gumek‡ in the horse's fore-leg, so is there in that of the Rhinoceros. It is more ferocious than the elephant, and cannot be rendered so tame or obedient. There are numbers of them in the jungles of Pershâwer and Hashnaghar, as well as between the rivers Sind and Behreh, in the jungles. In Hindostan too they abound, on the But our readers will not perhaps object to accombanks of the river Sirwu§. In the course of my pany us to the rural scene, with which we would assoexpedition into Hindostan, in the jungles of Per-ciate our recollections of the Charcoal-burner and his shawer and Hashnaghar, I frequently killed the Rhinoceros. It strikes powerfully with its horn, with which, in the course of these hunts, many men and horses were gored. J. H. C.

The Rhinoceros' horn was supposed to sweat on the approach of poison, a quality which fitted it, in a peculiar manner, for being made into a drinking-cup for an eastern king.

It has more the appearance of a huge over-grown hog.

A marginal note on the Tûrki copy, translates gumek, marrow.
The Goggra.
The Rhinoceros is now almost entirely expelled from the coun-
tries about the Indus.

PAPYRUS MANUSCRIPT OF THE PSALMS. A PORTION of the Book of Psalms, written on papyrus, probably the earliest fragment of Sacred Writ known to exist, has recently been brought into this country, from Egypt, by Dr. Hogg, who gives the following account of it.

"Among the various objects of antiquity which were purchased from the Arabs, at Thebes, were two papyri, the one in Coptic, the other in Greek; both in the form of books. The subject of the Coptic papyrus, now in the possession of Sir William Gell, at Naples, has not yet been ascertained; but since my return to England, the Greek papyrus has been discovered to contain a portion of the Psalms. The leaves, of about ten inches in length, by seven in width, are arranged, and have been sown together like those of an ordinary book. They are formed of strips of the papyrus plant, crossing each other at right angles. The writing, continued on both sides, is perfectly legible, the letters partaking both of the uncial and cursive forms, sometimes standing quite apart, unconnected by cursive strokes, with accents, occasionally, but not regularly, inserted.

"The beginning of the manuscript is imperfect, and it concludes with the second verse of the thirtyfourth Psalm. The text, as far as it has been collated, has been found to be a good one, and to possess some interesting variations not found in other ancient versions. These papyri were both discovered among the rubbish of an ancient convent at Thebes, remarkable as still presenting some fragments of an inscription, purporting to be a pastoral letter from Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria, who died A.D. 371, which has been conjectured to be the age of the manuscript."

[DR. HOGG's Visit to Alexandria, Damascus, and Jerusalem.]

fiery craft. Indeed, if it be possible for language to describe faithfully such a spot as that to which we allude, the charm imparted to our detail by the contemplation of its beauties, will not fail to draw on the attention of any reader whose mind is capable of appreciating the graces of a woodland scene.

Newington Moor opened unexpectedly upon our view, during a ramble over the picturesque country about the coast of South Kent. We had already explored more than one of those valleys, or perhaps salt-water inlets, which agreeably diversify the walks in the neighbourhood of Hythe and Saltwood; but we had met with nothing which could compare with the peculiar features of the moor. Leaving the road from Newington to Beachborough village, by a narrow footway, which presents itself opposite the sandy banks to the left, we were at once struck with the lively characters of a marshy tract, overshadowed by alders and lofty ashes, which appeared to extend far into the bosom of some low hills, partly occupied by hop-gardens, and partly by variably productive crops of mangel-wurzel, lucerne, and wheat. Immediately before us was a flour-mill, turned by the water of a stream which takes its rise a mile to the north, at the base of the chalk-downs, and enters the moor beneath a brick arch, broadly stretched above where the road intersects its course. At this moment, the scene, circumscribed by a few yards, was our principal inducement to deviate from the road; the stroke of a water-mill, indeed, seldom fails to arrest one's step for a moment: the simple ingenuity of the machine, the lively sound, and agreeable sense of falling waters, especially in summer-time, conspiring to recommend it to the respect of a moment's regard. Upon advancing farther into the valley, a rude plankbridge offered us safe conduct towards the mill and the rustic cottage at its side; but we preferred entering the vale, for its wildness had already attracted our attention through the trees which overshadowed the path. The vegetation of this moor (which, by means of obstruction offered to the streamlet in its bosom, has become, in the greater part, a poachy morass,) is unusually luxuriant. The gladwyn (Iris pseudacorus) bar-reed, (Sparganium rainasum,) the rush and sedge-tribes, rise around in giant proportions; but there was one species of sedge (Carex paniculata,) which we had not observed elsewhere, but which on this spot presented a novel and very interest

ing appearance. Its roots, continually decaying from below, and advancing from above, form, in the course of years, solid cones of vegetable earth, from the summit of which spring forth plenteous crowns of slender leaves and flowers; the whole group of a single plant, or rather family of plants, frequently mea20 24 ilmene bot

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors]

quarters in which the burner and his family were lodged. A spacious caravan occupied the ground in front of the burning; a little to the left was a green cone of turf, about eight feet in height, which, upon our walking round it, proved to be a chamber so constructed for temporary use. These dwellings, with the familiar appendages of a line of drying clothes, a water-tub, a rough-haired and much-besooted dog, tied up to a beech, groups of black bags of the coal, and various "lots" of cleft billets, together with the decent presence of the matron and newly-married wife of the burner and his son, constituted a picture which would have tempted the pencil of a far more able draughtsman than either of the observers, whose rude sketches, however, may convey some notion of the scene. The hut, indeed, took our attention very much, being such a bride-chamber as could have wowong wadi gratified the ambition of the most romantic lovers. Its

[graphic]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

turfy sides were verdantly clad with grass; a rough piece of canvas, suspended over the entrance, sufficed as a door, at the same time that it admitted air and light ad libitum, performing, in fact, the threefold duty of ventilator, window, and door. Averse as my lady of the hut might have been to such a comparison, her simple chamber at once recalled to our memories the almost as simple huts of the natives of New Caledonia, and of the Esquimaux, the most readily available materials being employed upon the construction of each of the three dwellings. The hut of the New Caledonian is finished upon a frame-work of strong reeds, the interlacing of which within the conical roof, would seem likely at once to suggest a style of art having much resemblance to our gothic architecture: the exterior is thatched with the foliage of grasses, &c., and attention is carefully directed to the

[graphic][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

did.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

suring eight feet from the base of the cone to the summit of the foliage. These cones, accumulating fast and contiguously upon the impracticable face of a barren morass, and gradually approximating through the farther access of vegetable matter upon their sides, as well as upon their heads, eventually prove, in many cases, the means of converting the most unproductive tracts into land capable of tillage, and offering singular advantage to the judicious hand of the agriculturist.

Pursuing the course of the stream by the most practicable path which we could find, and having crossed it at length by a plank lying upon the oozing moor-soil, beneath a group of young alders, we at last reached the spot with which we associate our recollections of the Charcoal-burner. Upon first descrying the gloomy and mysterious cloud of dusky smoke, which arose from the burning heap and obscured the hill side, beneath the shelter of which the manufacture was carried on, our contemplations were immediately exchanged for all the variety of recollections of handicraft and household economy, revived in us by the very thought of charcoal.

On approaching the heap, which, indeed, except by that dense, gray column of smoke, did not at once meet observation, being three parts surrounded by a rude hurdle-fence, and open only in that direction towards which the current of the valley seldom bure the wind, we were struck with the substantial

[ocr errors]

preservation, and probably the defensibility, of the structure, by means of a strong fence, also of reeds, which, encircling the hut, is open only where a narrow passage is found opposite to the door-way. See Cut in page 8.

icebound storms of heaven, the faithful witness of The hut of the Esquimaux*, the offspring of the dence, is constructed of squared masses of snow, the unfailing resources of reason guided by Provirudely arranged in the form of a dome; the interior being ventilated by means of an aperture from above; and being approached from below by a long and narrow passage composed of the self-same material. :

Charcoal, as must be familiar to most of our readers, proves of various and very important use in the arts and manufactures, as well as in domestic economy. Two of the most conspicuous advantages, See Saturday Magazine, Vol. III., p. 209.

« PoprzedniaDalej »