Ten Thousand Wonderful Things Comprising whatever is marvellous and rare, curious, eccentric and extraordinary in all ages and nations (part 5 of 5)
"The model is nearly the same for all sizes, from the merest dinghy upwards. The keel-piece is a single tree hollowed out, and stretched by the aid of fire when green, a complete canoe, in fact. From this, ribs and planking are carried up. The bow is low with beautiful hollow lines, strongly resembling those of our finest modern steamers. The stern rises high above the water, and below the run is drawn out fine to an edge. A high bench or platform for the steersman, elaborately carved, is an indispensable appendage. The rudder is a large paddle lashed to the larboard quarter, and having a short tiller passing athwart the steerman's bench.
"The most peculiar part of the arrangement of these vessels is in the spars and rigging. The mast consists of two spars; it is, in fact, a pair of shears, bolted and lashed to two posts rising out of the keel-piece, so that it can be let down, or unshipped altogether, with little difficulty. Above the mainyard the two pieces run into one, forming the topmast. Wooden rounds run as ratlines from one spar of the mast to the other, forming a ladder for going aloft.
"The yard is a bamboo, or a line of sliced bamboos, of enormous length, and, being perfectly flexible, is suspended from the mast-head by numerous guys or halyards, so as to curve upwards in an inverted bow. A rope runs along this, from which the huge mainsail is suspended, running on rings like a curtain outwards both ways from the mast. There is a small topsail of similar arrangement.
"The sail-cloth used is the common light cotton stuff for clothing. Of any heavier material it would be impossible to carry the enormous spread of sail which distinguishes these boats. At Menh'la one vessel was lying so close to the shore that I was enabled to pace the length of the half-yard. I found it to be 65 feet, or for the length of the whole spar, neglecting the curve, 130 feet. The area of the mainsail in this case could not have been very much less than 4,000 square feet, or one-eleventh of an acre.
"These boats can scarcely sail, of course, except before the wind. But in ascending the Irawadi, as on the Ganges during the rainy season, the wind is almost always favourable. A fleet of them speeding before the wind with the sunlight on their bellying sails has a splendid though fantastic appearance. With their vast spreading wings and almost invisible hulls, they look like a flight of colossal butterflies skimming the water."
DANCING DERVISHES.
The Dancing Dervishes at Constantinople are a remarkable instance of the lengths to which superstition and credulity will proceed. The saltatory ceremony which they perform at their religious services is thus admirably described by Mr. Albert Smith in his "Month at Constantinople:"--
"I have said it was Friday; and so, on my return, I had an opportunity of seeing the Dancing Dervishes at Pera. They exhibit--for it is rather a sight than a solemnity--on this day, as well as on Tuesday, in every week. Their convent is facing the scrap of burying-ground on the road from Galata to Pera, and any one may witness their antics. Having put off our shoes, we entered an octagonal building, with galleries running round it, and standing places under them, surrounding the railed enclosure in which the Dervishes were to dance, or rather spin. One division of this part of the building was put aside for Christians, the others were filled with common people and children. When I arrived, one old Dervish, in a green dress, was sitting at one point of the room, and twenty-four in white, were opposite to him. A flute and drum played some very dreary music in the gallery. At a given signal they all fell flat on their faces, with a noise and precision that would have done honour to a party of pantomimists; and then they all rose and walked slowly round, with their arms folded across their breasts, following the old green Dervish, who marched at their head, and bowing twice very gravely to the place where he had been sitting, and to the spot opposite to it. They performed this round two or three times. Then the old man sat down, and the others, pulling off their cloaks, appeared in a species of long petticoat, and one after the other began to spin. They commenced revolving precisely as though they were waltzing by themselves; first keeping their hands crossed on their breast, and then extending them, the palm of the right hand and the back of the left being upwards. At last they all got into play, and as they went round and round, they put me in mind of the grand party we have seen on the top of an organ, where a cavalier seul revolves by himself, and bows as he faces the spectators.
"They went on for a long time without stopping--a quarter of an hour, perhaps, or twenty minutes. There was something inexpressibly sly and offensive in the appearance of these men, and the desire one felt to hit them hard in the face became uncomfortably dominant. At the end of their revolutions they made another obeisance to the old man, and all this time the players in the orchestra howled forth a kind of hymn. This ceremony was repeated three or four times, and then they all sat down again and put their cloaks on, whilst another Dervish, who had walked round and round amongst the dancers, whilst they were spinning, sang a solo. During this time their faces were all close to the ground. This done, they rose and marched before the old green Dervish once more, kissing his hand as they passed, and the service concluded, occupying altogether about three-quarters of an hour."
EXTRAORDINARY MALADY.
Digne, the principal town in the department of the Basses Alpes in France might be passed by the traveller without exciting one observation, its walks and its warm mineral waters being the only objects worthy of notice. Its inhabitants do not now exceed 3,500; but, in the year 1629, 10,000 industrious citizens followed their numerous avocations within its precincts. At that period, however, an extraordinary plague broke out, in the month of June, which lasted till October, committing the most awful ravages, so that in that short space of time the wretched inhabitants were reduced to the number of 1,500, among whom six only had escaped this very singular malady, the effects of which are thus described by a French writer:--"This malady strangely affected the invalids; some fancied they could fly; others, climb from one object to another like squirrels; some sunk into a profound lethargy, even for so long a time as six days; and one young woman who had been hastily interred in a vineyard, rose three days afterwards, for the grave-diggers were content just to cover the bodies. During these four months the town was covered with a thick fog: the heat was suffocating, accompanied by frequent and dreadful storms; and in order to complete the horrors of such a situation, the parliament forbade any of the inhabitants to quit the city, or the small territory belonging to it. Guards placed upon the Bleonne fired upon those who attempted to escape. The magistrates abandoned their functions; the clocks no longer sounded the hours; the neighbouring springs dried up, so that the mills could not work; and famine began to add its fearful horrors to the miseries which already desolated the city, now become a living sepulchre, for the dead bodies lay in the streets unburied, and the few remaining persons who still paraded the streets appeared more like the spectres of those departed than living beings. Many persons not only prepared but put on the habiliments of death, and quietly awaited the approach of the king of terrors. A new edict condemned the pestilential city to the flames; but this inhuman decree was countermanded, after the destruction of one country house, with all its inhabitants. The disease having somewhat abated in the surrounding villages, humanity at length dictated the necessity of making some efforts to save the remaining few, who had escaped the contagion, from the no less frightful evil of famine. The scene that presented itself was appalling; several little children, whose parents were dead, were found sucking goats; in short, the desolation was so great that, although two centuries have passed away since this fatal scourge devastated the country, Digne has never recovered its effects."
QUACKERY IN THE OLDEN TIME.
In the reign of Henry VIII. many of the medical practitioners were mere horse-farriers. A distinguished patient, the great Lord Burghley, secretary of state to Queen Elizabeth, was addressed by one Audelay, on a certain occasion, in this wise, "Be of goode comfort, and plucke up a lustie, merrie hearte, and then shall you overcome all diseases: and because it pleased my good Lord Admiral lately to praise my physicke, I have written to you such medicines as I wrote unto him, which I have in my boke of my wyffe's hand, proved upon herselfe and mee both: and if I can get anything that may do you any goode, you may be well assured it shall be a joye unto me to get it for you." "A good medicine for weakness or consumption:--Take a pig of nine days olde, and slaye him, and quarter him, and put him in a skillat, with a handfull of spearment, and a handfull of red fennell, a handfull of liverwort, half a handfull of red neap, a handfull of clarge, and nine dates, cleaned, picked, pared, and a handful of great raisins, and picke out the stones, and a quarter of an ounce of mace, and two stickes of goode cinnamon, bruised in a mortar, and distill it with a soft fire, and put it in a glass, and set it in the sun nine days, and drinke nine spoonfulls of it at once when you list!" "A compost:--item--take a porpin, otherwise called an English hedgehog, and quarter him in pieces, and put the said beast in a still, with these ingredients: item--a quart of redde wyne, a pinte of rose-water, a quarter of a pound of sugar--cinnamon and two great raisins." "If thore be any manner of disease that you be aggrieved withal, I pray you send me some knowledge thereof, and I doubt not but to send you an approved remedie. Written in haste at Greenwiche, y{e} 9 of May, 1553, by your trewe heartie friend, JOHN of AUDELAY."
A POISON WEAPON.
The instrument sketched forms one of the curiosities in the splendid museum of the late Sir S. R. Meyrick, and is a singular instance of that refinement of cruelty which is too prominent a characteristic of the sixteenth century. It is a weapon for throwing poisoned needles among a crowd. Where the lid at the top is seen lifted up, is the chamber in which the needles are kept stuck into a cork at the bottom. On the opposite side a needle is seen put through a hole in a strong spring, held in its place by a catch above, which, when pressed by the thumb disengages it and ejects the needle with considerable force. As the fore-finger goes through the centre ring, and the thumb is at the top, the weapon is almost entirely concealed by the hand. The spring can be adjusted by a screw at the side. This cruel instrument was used by men on horseback, or from a window, and as the needles were poisoned, many painful injuries must have been inflicted without the sufferers being able to discover by whom their wounds were caused.
ANCIENT SWORD-BREAKER.
The immense two-handed swords of former times were most fearful weapons, and far more easily used than the appearance of them would lead us to suppose. They were admirably poised, and the position in which they were held may be learned from various writers of their times. One hand was placed close to the cross-bar, while the other held the pommel. De Grassi, in 1594, tells us that those who use them contrive to "amase with the furie of the sword, and deliver great edge blows down-right and reversed, fetching a full circle or compass therein with exceeding great swiftness, staying themselves upon one foote, sometimes on the other, utterlie neglecting to thrust, and persuading themselves that the thrust serveth to amaze one man onlie, but those edge blows are of force to incounter many. The hand towards the enemie must take hold fast of the handle neere the crosse and underneath, the other hand above and near the pomell."
Silver, in his "Paradox" gives the following as the proportions of a two-handed sword in his day: "The perfect length of your two-handed sword is the blade to the length and hilt of your single sword."
The instrument which we have sketched on previous page, was used in the time of Henry VIII., for the purpose, not only of defence against one of those "great edge-blows down-right" but of catching the blade between the teeth, and then breaking it by a sharp turn of the wrist.
ORIGIN OF THE BALLOT.
The origin of electing members by balls may be traced to the Grecians. When a member was to be elected, every one threw a little pellet of bran, or crumb of bread into a basket, carried by a servant on his head round the table, and whoever dissented flattened their pellet at one side.
ANCIENT DAGGER.
The weapon which forms the subject of the woodcut is a dagger of the time of Philip and Mary, ornamented with engraving. After being thrust into a person, by pulling a little catch, it is made to open within him, and the prolongation of the blade allows means for a second blow. The two small hooks at the inner side of the two blades would admit of the dagger being thrust deeper in, but would prevent its being drawn out.
At the period these daggers were most in vogue, personal combats were very sanguinary and determined, seldom terminating without the death of one, and in some cases of both, of the parties engaged. They first used the long sword, and when that weapon was broken, they closed with one another, and used their daggers by stabbing at the most mortal part of their foe they could manage to reach.
THE TEMPLE OF POU-TOU.
Pou-tou is an island of the great archipelago of Chusan, on the coasts of the province of Tche-kiang. More than 100 monasteries, more or less important, and two of which were founded by Emperors, are scattered over the sides of the mountains and valleys of this picturesque and enchanting island, which nature and art have combined to adorn with their utmost magnificence. All over it you find delightful gardens, full of beautiful flowers,--grottoes cut in the living rock, amidst groves of bamboo and other trees, with aromatic banks. The habitations of the Bonzes are sheltered from the scorching rays of the sun by umbrageous foliage, and scattered about in the prettiest situations imaginable. Thousands of winding paths cross the valleys in various directions, and the brooks and rivulets, by means of pretty bridges of stone or painted wood, and for the communications between the scattered dwellings. In the centre of the island rise two vast and brilliant edifices--Buddhist temples--the yellow bricks of which announce that their construction is due to imperial munificence. The religious architecture of the Chinese does not at all resemble ours. They have no idea of the majestic, solemn, and perhaps somewhat melancholy style, that harmonizes so well with the feelings which ought to be inspired by a place devoted to meditation and prayer. When they wish to build a pagoda, they look out for the most gay and smiling site they can find on the declivity of a mountain or in a valley; they plant it with great trees of the evergreen species; they trace about it a number of paths, on the sides of which they place flowering shrubs, creeping plants, and bushes. It is through these cool and fragrant avenues you reach the building, which is surrounded by galleries, and has less the air of a temple than of a rural abode charmingly situated in the midst of a park or garden.
The principal temple of Pou-tou is reached by a long avenue of grand secular trees, whose thick foliage is filled with troops of crows with white heads; and their cawings and flapping of wings keep up a continual clamour. At the end of the avenue is a magnificent lake, surrounded with shrubs that lean over its waters like weeping willows. Turtle and gold-fish gleam through them; and mandarin-ducks, in their gaily-coloured plumage, play over their surface, amidst the splendid water-lilies whose rich corollas rise majestically upon tender green stalks spotted with black. Several bridges of red and green wood are thrown over this lake, and lead to flights of steps, by which you ascend to the first of the temple buildings--a kind of porch, supported upon eight enormous granite columns. On the right and left are stationed, like sentinels, four statues of colossal size, and two side gates lead to the vestibule of the principal nave, where is enthroned a Buddhist Trinity, representing the Past, the Present, and the Future. These three statues are entirely gilt, and, although in a crouching posture, of gigantic dimensions--at least twelve feet high. Buddha is in the midst, his hands interlaced, and gravely placed on his majestic abdomen. He represents the Past, and the unalterable and eternal quiet to which it has attained; the two others, which have the arm and the right hand raised, in sign of their activity, the Present and Future. Before each idol is an altar covered with little vases for offerings, and cassolets of chiselled bronze, where perfumes are constantly burning.
A crowd of secondary divinities are ranged round the hall, the ornaments of which are composed of enormous lanterns of painted paper or horn--square, round, oval--indeed, of all forms and colours; and the walls are hung with broad strips of satin, with sentences and maxims.
The third hall is consecrated to Kouang-yu, whom the greater number of accounts of China persist in regarding as a goddess of porcelain, and sometimes also of fecundity. According to the Buddhist mythology, Kouang-yu is a person of the Indian Trimourti, or Triune God, representing the creative power.
Finally, the fourth hall is a pantheon, or pandemonium, containing a complete assortment of hideous idols, with ogres' and reptiles' faces. Here you see, huddled together pell-mell, the gods of heaven and earth; fabulous monsters, patrons of war, of the silk manufacture, of agriculture, and of medicine; the images of the saints of antiquity, philosophers, statesmen, warriors, literary men--in a word, the most heterogeneous and grotesque assembly conceivable.
ORACLES OF APOLLO IN FRANCE.
Towards the frontiers of Auvergne and Velay, upon the high rock of Polignac, there was formerly a temple of Apollo, famous for its oracles. The time of its foundation ascends to the first years of the Christian era, since, in the year 47, the Emperor Claudius came hither in great pomp, to acknowledge the power of the god; and he left proofs of his piety and munificence. The debris and mysterious issues that are found even now upon the rock, in the heart of its environs, reveal the secret means employed by the priests to make their divinities speak, and to impose upon the people. At the bottom of the rock was an aedicula: it was on this spot that the pilgrims took up their first station, and deposited their offerings and made their vows. A subterranean passage communicated from this aedicula to the bottom of a great excavation, pierced, in the form of a tunnel, from the base to the summit of the rock. It was by this enormous opening that the vows, the prayers and questions, pronounced in the very lowest voice by the pilgrims, reached instantly the top of the rock, and were there heard and collected by the college of priests; the answers were then prepared, while the believers, by a sinuous and long path, slowly arrived at the end of their pilgrimage. The answers being ready, the priests commissioned to transmit them repaired to profound and deep apartments, contiguous to a well, the orifice of which terminated in the temple. This well, crowned by an altar, being enclosed by a little hemispherical roof, supported in its external parts the colossal figure of Apollo; the mouth of this statue being half open, in the middle of a large and majestic beard, appeared always ready to pronounce the supreme decrees. It was also through this opening, by the means of a long speaking-trumpet, that the priests at the bottom of this den of mystery and superstition made known those famous oracles so imposing and so powerful in their effects upon the human soul as to impede for centuries the substitution of the more pure and holy precepts of the gospel.
BEST POSITION FOR SMOKING OPIUM.
Opium is not smoked in the same manner as tobacco. The pipe is a tube of nearly the length and thickness of an ordinary flute. Towards one end of it is fitted a bowl of baked clay or some other material, more or less precious, which is pierced with a hole communicating with the interior of the tube. The opium, which before smoking is in the form of a blackish viscous paste, is prepared in the following manner:--A portion, of the size of a pea, is put on a needle, and heated over a lamp until it swells and acquires the requisite consistence. It is then placed over the hole in the bowl of the pipe, in the form of a little cone that has been previously pierced with a needle so as to communicate with the interior of the tube. The opium is then brought to the flame of the lamp, and after three or four inspirations the little cone is entirely burnt, and all the smoke passes into the mouth of the smoker, who then rejects it again through his nostrils. Afterwards the same operation is repeated, so that this mode of smoking is extremely tedious. The Chinese prepare and smoke their opium lying down, sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other, saying that this is the most favourable position; and the smokers of distinction do not give themselves all the trouble of the operation, but have their pipes prepared for them.
EXECUTIONER'S SWORD.
The weapon engraved below forms one of the curiosities in the superb collection of ancient armour belonging to the late Sir Samuel R. Meyrick, at Goodrich Court, Herefordshire. It is the sword of an executioner, having on it the date 1674. The blade is thin, and exceeding sharp at both edges; and engraved on it is a man impaled, above which are the words, in German, of which the following is a translation:--
"Let every one that has eyes Look here, and see that To erect power on wickedness Cannot last long:"
a man holding a crucifix, his eyes bandaged, and on his knees; the executioner, with his right hand on the hilt, and his left on the pommel, is about to strike off his head; above is written--
"He who ambitiously exalts himself, And thinks only of evil, Has his neck already encompassed By punishment."
On the other side, a man broken on the wheel; over which is--
"I live, I know not how long; I die, but I know not when:"
and a man suspended by the ribs from a gibbet, with the inscription--
"I move, without knowing whither; I wonder I am so tranquil."
ORIGIN OF EXCHEQUER BILLS.
In the year 1696 and 1697, the silver currency of the kingdom being by clipping, washing, grinding, filing, &c., reduced to about half its nominal value, Acts of Parliament were passed for its being called in and recoined, and whilst the recoinage was going on, Exchequer bills were first issued to supply the demands of trade.
ANCIENT ETRURIAN BUST.
If we look backwards to the most remote times of Greek industry, we find that long before fire-casting became customary, almost every kind of work was carried out by the simple means of the hammer and tongs, wielded by skilful hands. Even products of art were created in this manner; and as statues, vases, and the like could not be put together by the process of soldering, nails were used for the purpose, as we learn not only from ancient writers, but even from monuments which have lately been discovered in Etruria, and the most important specimens of which are now possessed by the British Museum. In one of the tombs belonging to the vast necropolis of Vulci were discovered, about twenty years ago, a great many bronzes of this very ancient workmanship; one of them represents a bust placed on a basement covered with thin copper plates, and adorned by a row of figures, which are likewise chased; long curls fall down over the neck and shoulders, and these parts especially are formed in the most simple manner: one would be tempted to call it child-like, did not the whole composition show a certain character which enables the experienced eye of the art-philosopher to distinguish in these rude attempts at plastic metal work the very germ of those wonderfully-styled productions of a later period. The engraving here annexed, giving a side view of this remarkable, and as yet unique monument, is intended to show the arrangement of the hair, which, in spite of its simple treatment, presents as a whole some trace of grace, and principles of fine proportions. We perceive that the curls are formed by rolling and twining together small strips of bronze plate, connected with the head itself by the mechanical means we have alluded to. There is no trace of soldering; and we may be sure that we possess in this figure a good specimen of those hammer-wrought sculptures of old which were spoken of by the Greeks themselves as belonging to a fabulous period.
THE HAIRY WOMAN OF BURMAH.
The following account of this remarkable freak of nature is taken from Captain Yule's "Mission to Ava." Writing from the city of Amarapoora, the capital of Burmah, the Captain says:--
"To-day we had a singular visitor at the residency. This was Maphoon, the daughter of Shwe-maong, the "Homo hirsutus" described and depicted in Crawfurd's narrative, where a portrait of her, as a young child, also appears. Not expecting such a visitor, one started and exclaimed involuntarily as there entered what at first-sight seemed an absolute realization of the dog-headed Anubis.
"The whole of the Maphoon's face was more or less covered with hair. On a part of the cheek, and between the nose and mouth, this was confined to a short down, but over all the rest of the face was a thick silky hair of a brown colour, paling about the nose and chin, four or five inches long. At the alea of the nose, under the eye, and on the cheek-bone, this was very fully developed, but it was in and on the ear that it was most extraordinary. Except the extreme upper tip, no part of the ear was visible: all the rest was filled and veiled by a large mass of silky hair, growing apparently out of every part of the external organ, and hanging in a dependent lock to a length of eight or ten inches. The hair over her forehead was brushed so as to blend with the hair of the head, the latter being dressed (as usual with her countrywomen) a la Chinoise. It was not so thick as to conceal altogether the forehead.
"The nose, densely covered with hair so as no animal's is that I know of, and with long fine locks curving out and pendent like the wisps of a fine Skye terrier's coat, had a most strange appearance. The beard was pale in colour, and about four inches in length, seemingly very soft and silky.
"Poor Maphoon's manners were good and modest, her voice soft and feminine, and her expression mild and not unpleasing, after the first instinctive repulsion was overcome. Her appearance rather suggested the idea of a pleasant-looking woman masquerading than that of anything brutal. This discrimination, however, was very difficult to preserve in sketching her likeness, a task which devolved on me to-day in Mr. Grant's absence. On an after-visit, however, Mr. Grant made a portrait of her, which was generally acknowledged to be most successful. Her neck, bosom, and arms appeared to be covered with fine pale down, scarcely visible in some lights. She made a move, as if to take off her upper clothing, but reluctantly, and we prevented it. Her husband and two boys accompanied her. The elder boy, about four or five years old, had nothing abnormal about him. The youngest, who was fourteen months old and still at the breast, was evidently taking after his mother. There was little hair on the head, but the child's ear was full of long silky floss, and it could boast a moustache and beard of pale silky down that would have cheered the heart of many a cornet. In fact, the appearance of the child agrees almost exactly with what Mr. Crawford says of Maphoon herself as an infant. This child is thus the third in descent exhibiting this strange peculiarity; and in this third generation, as in the two preceding, this peculiarity has appeared only in one individual. Maphoon has the same dental peculiarity also that her father had--the absence of the canine teeth and grinders, the back part of the gums presenting merely a hard ridge. Still she chews pawn like her neighbours.
Mr. Camaretta tells some story of an Italian wishing to marry her and take her to Europe, which was not allowed. Should the great Barnum hear of her, he would not be so easily thwarted.
According to the Woundouk, the King offered a reward to any man who would marry her, but it was long before any one was found bold enough or avaricious enough to venture. Her father, Shwe-maong, was murdered by robbers many years ago."
A TRAVELLER'S PASSPORT.
The following document, included among the rolls, is dated 1680, from Whitehall:--
"Dame Mary Yate, having asked his majesty's permission to pass beyond the seas, for the recovery of her health, his majesty was most graciously pleased to grant her request, under the usual clauses and provisoes, according to which ye said Dame Mary Yate having given security not to enter into any plott or conspiracy against his majesty or his realms, or behave herself in any such manner as may be prejudicial to his majesty's government, or the religion here by law established, and that she will not repaire to the city of Roome, or return unto this kingdome without first acquainting one of his majesty's principal secretaries of state, and obtaining leave for the same, in pursuance of his majesty's commands in council hereby will and require you to permit and suffer the said Dame Mary Yate to imbarque with her trunkes of apparel and other necessaries not prohibited at any port of this kingdom, and from thence to pass beyond the seas, provided that shee departe this kingdom within 14 days after the date hereof."--April 14.
If the above refers to the celebrated Lady Mary Yate (a daughter of the house of Pakington) who is commemorated on a monument in Chaddesley Church, Worcestershire, as having died in 1696, at the age of 86, she must have been 70 years old when these precautions were taken by the Government against the poor old lady attempting to invade the country, or to comfort the Pope with her presence and support. Dame Mary Yate was no doubt a Roman Catholic, and the permission above referred to was granted under the seventh section of the statute 3rd James I, chap. 5, which was virtually repealed by the statute 33rd George III, chap. 30, which exempted Roman Catholics from all the penalties and restrictions mentioned and enjoined in the older acts, if in one of the Courts at Westminster or at the Quarter Sessions they made a declaration which to them was unobjectionable.
CURIOUS PROVINCIAL DANCE IN FRANCE.
The inhabitants of Roussillon are passionately fond of dancing; they have some dances peculiar to themselves. The men generally commence the country dance by a contre-pas, the air of which is said to be of Greek origin; the women then mingle in the dance, when they jointly perform several figures, passing one among the other, and occasionally turning each other round. At a particular change in the air, the male dancer must dexterously raise his partner and place her on his hand in a sitting posture. Accidents sometimes happen upon these occasions, and the lady falls to the ground amidst the jokes and laughter of her companions. One of these dances, called lo salt, is performed by four men and four women. At the given signal, the cavaliers simultaneously raise the four ladies, forming a pyramid, the caps of the ladies making the apex. The music which accompanies these dances consists of a lo flaviol, a sort of flageolet, a drum, two hautboys, prima and tenor, and the cornemuse, called in the country lo gratla: this instrument, by its description, must somewhat resemble the bagpipes. The dance called Segadilles is performed with the greatest rapidity: at the end of every couplet, for the airs are short and numerous, the female dancers are raised, and seated on the hands of their partners.
ANCIENT INSTRUMENT OF PUNISHMENT.
The instrument which we here engrave is a whip of steel that was made and used as an engine of punishment and torture about the middle of the sixteenth century. It is composed of several truncated cones, grooved with sharp edges, and held in opposite directions, so as to give sufficient oscillation without rising so far as to strike the hand of the executioner. It seems to have been held by a strap; but its barbarity is evident.
PUNISHING BY WHOLESALE.
Henry VIII. is recorded, in the course of his reign, to have hanged no fewer than 72,000 robbers, thieves, and vagabonds. In the latter days of Elizabeth scarcely a year passed without 300 or 400 criminals going to the gallows. In 1596, in the county of Somerset alone, 40 persons were executed, 35 burnt in the hand, and 37 severely whipped.
MONKS AND FRIARS.
There was a distinction between the Monks and Friars, which caused the latter to become the object of hatred and envy. Both the monastic, or regular, and parochial clergy, encouraged the attacks made upon them. The Monks were, by most of their rules, absolutely forbidden to go out of their monasteries, and, therefore, could receive only such donations as were left to them. On the contrary, the Friars, who were professed mendicants, on receiving notice of the sickness of any rich person, constantly detached some of their members, to persuade the sick man to bequeath alms to their convent; thus often, not only anticipating the Monks, but, likewise the parochial clergy. Besides, as most of them were professed preachers, their sermons were frequently compared with those of the clergy, and in general, not to the advantage of the latter. In these sermons, the poverty and distress of their order, were topics that, of course, were neither omitted, nor slightly passed over. Considering the power of the Church, before the Reformation, it is not to be supposed that any of the Poets, as Chaucer, &c., would have ventured to tell those rediculous stories of the Friars, with which their works abound, had they not been privately protected by the superior clergy.
CURIOUS TURKISH CONTRIVANCE.
Wonderful are the appliances by which ingenuity contrives to supply the evasions of idleness. We give one of them, as described by Mr. Albert Smith, in his "Month at Constantinople."
"Passing some cemeteries and public fountains, we came to the outskirts of the city, which consist chiefly of gardens producing olives, oranges, raisins and figs, irrigated by creaking water-wheels worked by donkeys. To one of these the droll contrivances which attracted our notice was affixed. The donkey who went round and round was blinded, and in front of him was a pole, one end of which was fixed to the axle and the other slightly drawn towards his head-gear and there tied: so that, from the spring he always thought somebody was pulling him on. The guide told us that idle fellows would contrive some rude mechanism so that a stick should fall upon the animal's hind quarters at every round, and so keep him at work whilst they went to sleep under the trees."
FIGURES OF DOGS ON ANCIENT TOMBS.
In attempting to assign a reason for the frequent occurrence of dogs at the feet of tombs, we shall most probably be right if we simply attribute the circumstance to the affection borne by the deceased for some animal of that faithful class. That these sculptured animals were sometimes intended for likenesses of particular dogs is evident. Sir Bryan Stapleton, on his brass at Ingham, Norfolk, rests one foot on a lion, the other on a dog; the name of the latter is recorded on a label, Jakke. Round the collar of a dog at the feet of an old stone figure of a knight, in Tolleshunt Knight's Church, Essex, letters were formerly traced which were supposed to form the word Howgo.
In a dictionary of old French terms, we find that the word Gocet means a small wooden dog, which it was customary to place at the foot of the bed. Now it has been thought that something of this kind was intended in the representation of dogs on tombs, and that this support of the feet merely indicates the old custom of having that sort of wooden resting-place for the feet when in a recumbent position. But our first supposition appears the more natural, and is supported by the fact that a large proportion of these sculptured dogs, instead of being placed beneath the feet, are seated on the robe or train, looking upwards with the confidence of favourite animals. Judith, daughter of the Emperor Conrad, is represented on her tomb (1191) with a little dog in her right hand.
On the tomb of Sir Ralph de Rochford, in Walpole Church, Norfolk, his lady is by his side, dressed in a reticulated head-dress and veil, a standing cape to her robe, long sleeves buttoned to her wrists, a quatrefoil fastens her girdle, and a double necklace of beads hangs from her neck. At her feet is a dog looking up, and another couchant. In the chancel at Shernborne, Norfolk, the figure of Sir Thomas Shernborne's lady (1458) has at the right foot a small dog sitting, with a collar of bells.
On a large antique marble in the chancel at Great Harrowden, Northamptonshire, are the portraits of a man in armour, and his wife in a winding sheet. The man stands on a greyhound, and the woman has at her feet two little dogs looking upwards, with bells on their collars. This monument is that of William Harwedon and Margery, daughter of Sir Giles St. John of Plumpton. She died in the twentieth year of Henry VI.
THE FATE OF THE LAST MAY-POLE IN THE STRAND.
The May-pole, which had been set up in 1641, having long been in a state of decay, was pulled down in 1713, and a new one, with two gilt balls and a vane on the top of it, was erected in its stead. This did not continue long in existence; for, being in 1718 judged an obstruction, to the view of the church then building, orders were given by the parochial authorities for its removal. Sir Isaac Newton begged it of the parish, and it was conveyed to Wanstead Park, where it long supported the largest telescope in Europe, belonging to Sir Isaac Newton's friend, Mr. Pound, the rector of Wanstead. It was 125 feet long; and presented to Mr. Pound by Mr. Huson, a French member of the Royal Society.
MEANS OF ATTRACTING CUSTOM.
Before houses were numbered, it was a common practice with tradesmen not much known, when they advertised, to mention the colour of their next neighbour's door, balcony, or lamp, of which custom the following copy of a handbill will present a curious instance:--
"Next to the GOLDEN DOOR, opposite Great Suffolk Street, near Pall Mall, at the Barber's Pole, liveth a certain person, Robert Barker, who having found out an excellent method for sweating or fluxing of wiggs; his prices are 2s. 6d. for each bob, and 3s. for every tye wigg and pigtail, ready money."
MUSIC OF THE HINDOOS.
Among the fine arts of India, music holds a distinguished place; and although its cultivation has declined, and but few are now found who have attained to eminence either in the science or art of this unequalled source of recreation, refinement, and pleasure, yet no people are more susceptible of its charms than the Hindoos. Reading is with them invariably, as with the Arabians and other Eastern nations, a species of recitativo, a sort of speaking music, delivered in dulcet though not measured tones. The recitation of lessons in a school or academy always takes this form. The man at the oar, women beating lime, the labourer engaged in irrigation, alike accompany their toil with song.
The word sangita, symphony, as applied to music by the Hindoos, conveys the idea of the union of voices, instruments, and action. Musical treatises accordingly treat of gana, vadya, uritya, or song, percussion, and dancing; the first comprising the measures of poetry; the second, instrumental sounds; and the third, theatrical representation. The ancient dramas of the Hindoo exhibited the union of these in their unequalled poetry, modulated with the accompaniments of voice, and instruments, and the attractions of appropriate scenery.
The music of the Hindoos includes eighty-four modes, each supposed to have a peculiar expression, capable of moving some particular sentiment or affection. The modes take their denomination from the seasons, or from the hours of day or night. Musical composition is supposed capable of adaptation to the different periods of the day, and therefore its provisions are regulated by the hours. The ideas of the Hindoos on music, as promoting the pleasures of imagination, may be inferred from the names applied by ancient authors to their musical treatises. One is called Ragarnava, the Sea of the Passions; another, Ragaderpana, the Mirror of Modes; and a third, Sobhavinoda, the Delight of Assemblies; a fourth, Sangitaderpana, the Mirror of Song; and another, Ragavibodha, the Doctrine of Musical Modes. Some of these works explain the law of musical sounds, their divisions and succession, variations of scales by temperament, and the enunciation of modes; besides a minute description of the different vinas (lute), and the rules for playing them. This is a fretted instrument of the guitar kind, usually having seven wires or strings, and a large gourd at each end of the finger-board. Its extent is two octaves, and its invention is attributed to Nareda, the son of Brahma. There are many varieties, named according to the number of their strings. Of one of them we give an engraving below.
Music, like everything else connected with India, is invested with divine attributes. From the sacred Veda was derived the Upaveda, or subsidiary Veda of the Gandharbas, the heavenly choristers. The art was communicated to mortals by Sarasvati, the consort of Brahma. She, as before stated, is the patroness of the fine arts, the goddess of speech. Their son, an ancient lawgiver and astronomer, invented the Vina. The first inspired man, Bherat, invented the Drama.
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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.
Mid-paragraph illustrations have been moved between paragraphs and some illustrations have been moved closer to the text that references them. The Index to Engravings paginations were not corrected.
Superscripts are enclosed in brackets.
[++] indicates a caption added by the transcriber.
VARIANTS UNCHANGED:
-- Pages xiii and 201: Colebrook and Colebroke.
-- Page 51: Tchang-tchin and Tchang-tching.
-- Pages 108, 390 and others: Southwark and Southwarke.
-- Pages 498 and 571: Mahomed, Mahommed and Mahomet.
-- Pages 298, 306 and others: Hindostan and Hindoostan.
-- Pages 322 and 452: Rossellina, Rosselini and Rossellini.
-- Pages 370 and 371: ivil and ivel.
-- Pages 432, 537 and others: Brama and Brahma.
-- Pages 416 and 422: Bolinbroke and Bollinbroke.
-- Pages 634 and 635: Clothseck and clothsek; Gambaldyn and gambaldynge.
-- Page 635: Krees and Kreez.
-- Multiple pages: Shakespere/Shakspeare/Shakspere.
OTHER NOTES:
-- Pages v and xi: Removed entry "Architecture for Earthquakes" as no such engraving or description could be found.
-- Page 85: beneficiare changed to beneficiaire.
-- Page 128: Hatherly changed to Hatherley.
-- Page 246: Sackvile changed to Sackville.
-- Page 250: Clarencieux changed to Clarenceux.
-- Page 330: Shaftsbury to Shaftesbury.
-- Page 339: Hasselquiet changed to Hasselquist.
-- Page 346: + IONA + IHOAT + IONA + HELOI + YSSARAY + 11 + MEPHENOLPHETON + AGLA + ACHEDION + YANA + BACHIONODONAVALI M ILIOR + 11 BACHIONODONAVLI M ACH +
changed to
+ IONA + IHOAT + LONA + HELOI + YSSARAY + || + MEPHENOLPHETON + AGLA + ACHEDION + YANA + BACHIONODONAVALI [M*] ILIOR + || BACHIONODONAVALI [M**] ACH +
[M*] denotes counter-clockwise rotated M and [M**] clockwise rotated M. Also rendered in other texts as the letter Z or the number 3. Sources: Thomas R. Forbes, "Verbal Charms in British Folk Medicine." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vo. 115, August 20, 1971, p. 308. And Frederick W. Fairholt, Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance Remains in the Possession of Lord Londesborough. Drawn, Engraved and Described by Frederick W. Fairholt. London: Chapman and Hall, 1857, p. 83.
-- Page 451: Strasburgh changed to Strasburg.
-- Page 502: "drake coloured satin, and [illegible word] coloured satin." Changed to "drake coloured satin, and [...] coloured satin."
-- Page 546: "into his elar;" changed to "into his celar.
-- Pages 549-550: "the slaughtered sun hulls become...." "hulls" changed to "bulls."
-- Page 550: "according the the indication" changed to "according to the indication."
-- Page 558: "as with the [illegible word]" changed to "as with the [...]."
-- Page 630: "It said to have been made...." changed to "It was said to have been made...."