Part 71

"This festival derives its name from _chakra_, a wheel or discus; in allusion to the circle performed in the act of rotating, when suspended from the instrument of this horrible superstition. Being desirous of witnessing the ceremony in all its parts, I went to the spot where one of these ceremonies was about to take place. An upright pole, twenty or thirty feet in height, was planted in the ground, across the top of which, moving on a pivot, a long pole was placed. From one end of this transverse beam a long rope was suspended and left to hang loosely, whilst a shorter rope was attached to the other end, bearing a couple of strong iron hooks. A good-looking man, perhaps thirty years of age, came from the midst of the crowd, and doing obeisance beneath the instrument of torture, presented himself as a candidate for the honour he aspired to. The attendant, before whom he stood erect, struck a smart blow on the small of the back, and fixed one of the hooks in the flesh, and then did the same on the other side. The man then laid hold of the rope just above the hooks and held it, whilst certain persons in the crowd, seizing the loose rope, pulled him up, by depressing the other end of the beam. As he rose he relinquished his hold of the rope by which he was suspended, and resigned himself to the rotary motion, by which he was whirled round and round in mid air, suspended by the flesh of his own body. Whilst he was thus enduring the torture incident to this horrid service, at once gratifying the cruel goddess Kali and the crowd of admiring spectators, he drew from his girdle fruits and flowers, which he scattered among the attendants. These were picked up by the crowd, with the greatest eagerness, as precious relics that might avail as charms in cases of personal or domestic extremity. This wretched dupe of a foul superstition remained in the air at least a quarter of an hour, and, of course, in his own estimation and in that of the spectators, gained by this brief infliction a large amount of merit, and consequent title to certain rewards to be reaped in a future state of being. No sooner had he descended, than another was ready for the ceremony. These cruel practices are carried on in various parts of the native town, from day to day, as long as the festival lasts. It not unfrequently happens that the ligaments of the back give way, when the man, tossed to an immense distance, is dashed to pieces. In such cases, the inference is, that the victim of such accident, by virtue of demerit in a former state of existence, was not merely unworthy of the privileges attached to this privileged ceremonial, but destined to expiate his evil deeds by this dreadful accident."

CURIOUS MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

The musical instrument which we engrave below, is used in the Burman empire, and is thus described by Captain Yule, in his "Mission to Ava," writing from the town of Magwe, in Burmah. The Captain says;--

"This evening the members of the mission made their first acquaintance with the Burmese drama; an entertainment which from this time would occupy a very large place in the daily history of our proceedings if all were registered.

"The Governor had provided both a puppet play and a regular dramatic performance for our benefit, and on this first occasion of the kind the Envoy thought it right that we should visit both.

"Each performance was attended by a full Burmese orchestra. The principal instruments belonging to this are very remarkable, and, as far as I know, peculiar to Burmah.

"The chief instrument in size and power is that called in Burmese _pattshaing_, and which I can only name in English as a drum-harmonicon. It consists of a circular tub-like frame about thirty inches high and four feet six inches in diameter. This frame is formed of separate wooden staves fancifully carved, and fitting by tenon into a hoop which keeps them in place. Round the interior of the frame are suspended vertically some eighteen or twenty drums, or tom-toms, graduated in tone, and in size from about two and a-half inches diameter up to ten. In tuning the instrument the tone of each drum is modified as required by the application of a little moist clay with a sweep of the thumb, in the centre of the parchment. The whole system then forms a sort of harmonicon, on which the performer, squatted in the middle, plays with the natural plectra of his fingers and palms, and with great dexterity and musical effect."

BURMESE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

The two Burmese musical instruments which we here engrave are thus described by Captain Yule in his "Mission to Ava:"--

"The bamboo harmonicon or staccato is a curious example of the production of melody by simple and unexpected means. Its use, though unknown in India, extends throughout the Eastern Archipelago; and something similar is possessed, I believe, by the negro slaves in Brazil. Eighteen to twenty-four flat slips of bamboo, about an inch and a half broad, and of graduated length, are strung upon a double string and suspended in a catenary over the mouth of a trough-like sounding box. The roundish outside of the bamboo is uppermost, and whilst the extremities of the slips are left to their original thickness, the middle part of each is thinned and hollowed out below. The tuning is accomplished partly by the regulation of this thinning of the middle part. The scale so formed is played with one or two drumsticks, and the instrument is one of very mellow and pleasing tone. Though the materials are of no value, a good old harmonicon is prized by the owner, like a good old Cremona, and he can rarely be induced to part with it.

"There was one example at the capital, of a similar instrument formed of slips of iron or steel. It was said to have been made by the august hands of King Tharawadee himself, who, like Louis Seize, was abler as a smith than as a king. The effect was not unpleasing, and strongly resembled that of a large Geneva musical box, but it was far inferior in sweetness to the bamboo instrument.

"Another instrument used in these concerts is a long cylindrical guitar of three strings, shaped like an alligator and so named. It is placed on the ground before the performer."

DRESS REGULATED BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT.

The foreign knights and visitors who came to Windsor in Edward the First's reign, and brought with them a continual succession of varying fashions, turned the heads of the young with delight, and of the old with disgust. Douglas, the monk of Glastonbury, is especially denunciative and satirical on this point. He says that in the horrible variety of costume,--"now long, now large, now wide, now straight,"--the style of dress was "destitute and devert from all honesty of old arraye or good usage." It is all, he says, "so nagged and knibbed on every side, and all so shattered and also buttoned, that I with truth shall say, they seem more like to tormentors or devils in their clothing, and also in their shoying and other array, than they seemed to be like men." And the old monk had good foundation for his complaint; and the Commons themselves having, what the Commons now have not, a dread of becoming as extravagant as their betters in the article of dress, actually sought the aid of Parliament. That august assembly met the complaint by restricting the use of furs and furls to the royal family and nobles worth one thousand _per annum_. Knights and ladies worth four hundred marks yearly, were permitted to deck themselves in cloths of gold and silver, and to wear certain jewellery. Poor knights, squires, and damsels were prohibited from appearing in the costume of those of higher degree. As for the Commons themselves, they could put on nothing better than unadorned woollen cloth; and if an apprentice or a milliner had been bold enough to wear a ring on the finger, it was in peril of a decree that it should be taken off,--not the finger, but the ring,--with confiscation of the forbidden finery.

The consequence was that the Commons, being under prohibition to put on finery, became smitten with a strong desire to assume it; and much did they rejoice when they were ruled over by so consummate a fop as Richard of Bordeaux. All classes were content to do what many classes joyfully do in our own days,--dress beyond their means; and we find in old Harding's "Cronicle" that not only were

"Yemen and gromes in cloth of silk arrayed, Sattin and damask, in doublettes and in gownnes."

but that all this, as well as habits of "cloth of greene and scarleteen,--cut work and brodwar, was all," as the Chronicler expresses it, "for unpayed;" that is, was _not paid for_. So that very many among us do not so much despise the wisdom afforded us by the example of our ancestors as didactic poets and commonplace honest writers falsely allege them to do. And those ancestors of Richard the Second's time were especially given to glorify themselves in parti-coloured garments of white and red, such being the colours of the King's livery (as blue and white were those of John of Gaunt); and they who wore these garments, sometimes of half-a-dozen colours in each, why they looked, says an old writer, "as though the fire of St. Anthony, or some such mischance," had cankered and eaten into half their bodies. The long-toed shoes, held up to the knee by a chain and hook, were called _crackowes_, the fashion thereof coming from Cracrow in Poland. The not less significant name of "devil's receptacles" were given to the wide sleeves of this reign, for the reason, as the Monk of Evesham tells us, that whatever was stolen was thrust into them.

A CAT-CLOCK.

The following curious incident is to be found in Huo's "Chinese Empire:--

"One day when we went to pay a visit to some families of Chinese Christian peasants, we met, near a farm, a young lad, who was taking a buffalo to graze along our path. We asked him carelessly, as we passed, whether it was yet noon. The child raised his head to look at the sun, but it was hidden behind thick clouds, and he could read no answer there. "The sky is so cloudy," said he; "but wait a moment;" and with these words he ran towards the farm, and came back a few minutes afterwards with a cat in his arms. "Look here," said he, "it is not noon yet;" and he showed us the cat's eyes, by pushing up the lids with his hands. We looked at the child with surprise, but he was evidently in earnest; and the cat, though astonished, and not much pleased at the experiment made on her eyes, behaved with most exemplary complaisance. "Very well," said we; "thank you;" and he then let go the cat, who made her escape pretty quickly, and we continued our route.

To say the truth, we had not at all understood the proceeding; but we did not wish to question the little pagan, lest he should find out that we were Europeans by our ignorance. As soon as ever we reached the farm, however, we made haste to ask our Christians whether they could tell the clock by looking into the cat's eyes. They seemed surprised at the question; but as there was no danger in confessing to them our ignorance of the properties of the cat's eyes, we related what had just taken place. That was all that was necessary; our complaisant neophytes immediately gave chase to all the cats in the neighbourhood. They brought us three or four, and explained in what manner they might be made use of for watches. They pointed out that the pupil of their eyes went on constantly growing narrower until twelve o'clock, when they became like a fine line, as thin as a hair, drawn perpendicularly across the eye, and that after twelve the dilation recommenced.

When we had attentively examined the eyes of all the cats at our disposal, we concluded that it was past noon, as all the eyes perfectly agreed upon the point.

We have had some hesitation in speaking of this Chinese discovery, as it may, doubtless, tend to injure the interest of the clock-making trade, and interfere with the sale of watches; but all considerations must give way to the spirit of progress. All important discoveries tend in the first instance to injure private interests, and we hope, nevertheless, that watches will continue to be made, because, among the number of persons who may wish to know the hour, there will, most likely, be some who will not give themselves the trouble to run after the cat, or who may fear some danger to their own eyes from too close an examination of hers."

EARLY ENGLISH HELMET.

The above is a correct representation of a helmet of the latter part of the twelfth century, resembling those seen on the great seals of Richard I. The _aventaille_, or moveable grating for covering the face, has been lost, but the hinges, staples, and other means of fastening it still remain. Its form may be seen on the great seals of Henry III. and Edward I.

ILLUSTRIOUS FARMERS.

Adam was a farmer while yet in Paradise, and after his fall was commanded to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. Job, the honest, upright, and patient, was a farmer, and his firm endurance has passed into a proverb. Socrates was a farmer, and yet wedded to the glory of his immortal philosophy. Cincinnatus was a farmer, and the noblest Roman of them all. Burns was a farmer, and the Muse found him at his plough, and filled his soul with poetry. Washington was a farmer, and retired from the highest earthly station to enjoy the quiet of rural life, and present to the world a spectacle of human greatness. To these names may be added a host of others, who sought peace and repose in the cultivation of their earth. The enthusiastic Lafayette, the steadfast Pickering, the scholastic Jefferson, the fiery Randolph, all found an El Dorado of consolation from life's cares and troubles, in the green and verdant lawns that surrounded their homestead.

ANCIENT COUTEAU-DE-CHASSE.

As the chase was regarded as the honourable and most instructive occupation of an age in which warlike prowess was deemed the principal object of emulation and applause, every respectable mansion had, in former times, its hall decorated with hunting implements. One of these we here present to our readers. It is a couteau-de-chasse of the time of William III. The left-hand figure represents it in its sheath, which is highly ornamented; the other figures represent the blade drawn, and the three knives, fork, and bodkin, which the sheath also contains. The form is precisely like those engraved in the "Triumph of Maximilian," which shows that no variation had taken place since the commencement of the sixteenth century. Erasmus, in his "Praise of Folly," thus alludes to this weapon, Kennet translating it "a slashing hanger." Speaking of those engaged in the chase, he says, "When they have run down their game, what strange pleasure they take in cutting it up! Cows and sheep may be slaughtered by common butchers, but what is killed in hunting must be broke up by none under a gentleman, who shall throw down his hat, fall devoutly on his knees, and drawing a slashing hanger (for a common knife is not good enough), after several ceremonies, shall dissect all the parts as artistically as the best skilled anatomist; while all that stand round shall look very intently and seem to be mightly surprised with the novelty, though they have seen the same an hundred times before; and he that can but dip his finger and taste of the blood shall think his own bettered by it."

DIVISION OF TIME IN PERSIA.

Time is of no value in Persia, from which reason it must be that so complicated a system has been maintained as that of counting by solar time, lunar time, and the Toork cycle. The first is observed by astronomers, and was in general use in Persia until it was superseded by Mahommed's lunar year. It consists of twelve months of thirty days each, with the required number of intercalary days. The second, which is now in general use, consisting of three hundred and fifty-four days, is therefore perpetually changing: an event commemorated in one year will come round ten days earlier the succeeding year. The third is a curious method of counting introduced by the Toorks into Persia, but which we are told has been forgotten in Turkey. They divide time into cycles of twelve years, each year having a separate name, but they have no designation for the cycles. Thus, if they wanted to describe an event which happened sixty-five years ago, they could only mention the name of the fifth year. These years are solar, and are thus designated:--

Sichkan eel Year of the Mouse. Ood eel " Bull. Bars eel " Leopard. Tavishkan eel " Hare. Looee eel " Crocodile. Eelan eel " Snake. Yoont eel " Horse. Kooree eel " Ram. Beechee eel " Monkey. Tekhakoo eel " Cock. Eet eel " Dog. Tenkooz eel " Hog.

It seems strange their number should be twelve, as if there were a zodiac of years, instead of months.

This method of marking time is preserved only in government documents, such as firmans, grants, &c. No one seems able to account for its origin, excepting that, according to tradition, the Toorks of old brought it from Tartary.

DIFFERENT SORTS OF HORSES IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

The different sorts of horses in use among the nobility and others, may be collected from the following entry in the Northumberland household-book, first printed in the year 1768. It is entitled the regulations and establishment of Algernon Percy the Earl of Northumberland, 1512.

"This is the ordre of the chequir roule of the nombre of all the horsys of my lordis and my ladys, that are apoynted to be in the charge of the hous verely, as to say gentill hors, palfreys, hobys, naggis, clothsek hors.

"First, gentill hors, to stand in my lordis stable, six. Item, palfreys of my ladys, to wit, oone for my lady, and two for her gentill-women, and oone for her chamberer. Four hobys and naggis for my lordis oone saddill, viz. oone for my lorde to ride, oone to led for my lorde, and oone to stay at home for my lorde. Item, chariot hors to stand in my lordis stable yerely: Seven great trottynge hors to draw in the chariott, and a nagg for the chariott-man to ryde, eight. Again, hors for my lorde Percy, his lordis sonne. A great doble trottynge hors to travel on in winter. Item, double trottynge hors, called a curtal, for his lordship to ryde on out of townes. Another trottynge gambaldyn hors, for his lordship to ryde upon when he comes into townes. An amblynge hors, for his lordship to journey on daily. A proper amblyng little nag, for his lordship when he gaeth on hunting or hawkin. A gret amblyng gelding to carry his male."

The _gentill_ horse was one of superior breed, so called in contrast to such as were of ordinary extraction.

_Palfreys_, were an elegant and easy sort of horses, used upon common occasions by knights, and others, who reserved their great and managed horses for battle and the tournament.

_Hobys_, were strong, active horses, of rather a small size. They are said to be originally natives of Ireland.

_Nags_ were of the same description.

_Clothseck_, was a cloak-bag horse; as a _male horse_ was one that carried the portmanteau. Horses to draw the _chariots_, were waggon horses; from the French word _charrette_, whence, the English word _cart_.

_A great double trottynge_ horse, was a tall, broad horse, whose best pace was the trot, being too unwieldly to be able to gallop.

_A curtail_, was a horse whose tail was cut, or shortened.

_A gambaldynge_ horse, was one of shew and parade; a managed horse.

_An amblynge_ horse, received this appellation, from the ease and smoothness of its pace. In former times almost all saddle horses were broke to perform it.

THE NAORA.

The Oasis of Tagius or Wodian, in the Desert of Sahara, in Africa, comprehends these villages--D'kash, Krees, Wozorkan, Owlad, Majed, Sedadah, Zowiat Elarab, and Sidy Bohlan.

These villages are situated at short distances from each other, numbering together a population of between 25,000 and 30,000, whose chief employment consists in cultivating the palm, or date tree. At Kreez they have an excellent spring, but which does not suffice to water all their plantations, and hence they are forced to have recourse to the _naora_, so common on the coast. The naora is the name given to the rude, though ingenious contrivance, by means of which, through the agency of either a camel, a mule, or a horse, water is raised from a deep well in earthen jars, which, as soon as they have emptied their contents into a wooden trough, descend for fresh supplies. The water from the trough is then conducted by the planters into channels and trenches, as occasion requires. These are again easily diverted, and as soon as it is considered that the trees in one particular direction have had a sufficient supply, fresh trenches are opened in another direction, and in this manner the whole plantation receives the requisite moisture and nourishment. We here engrave the naora.

The pain and labour which the inhabitants of such an oasis take with their vast date plantations are immense, but their toil is amply repaid by the "lord of the vegetable world." Independent of its picturesque appearance, grateful shade, luscious fruit, and agreeable beverage, it supplies them with fuel, and wood for the construction of their houses. From its leaves they manufacture baskets, ropes, mats, bags, couches, brushes, brooms, fans, &c. From the branches they make fences, stools, and cages. The kernels, after being soaked in water for two or three days, are eagerly eaten by camels.

Every palm-tree shoots forth a number of suckers, which are removed at the proper season and transplanted. With care, these will produce fruit in about ten years, whereas those raised from kernels will only yield dates when they reach to the age of twenty. The tree reaches its vigour at thirty, and continues so till a hundred years old, when it begins to decline, and decays about the end of its second century. During its vigorous years, a good tree will produce between twenty and thirty clusters, each weighing about thirty pounds.

Mr. Morier relates an anecdote, which greatly illustrates how highly the date-tree is appreciated by those who are from their infancy taught to value it. An Arab woman who had been in England, and who returned in the suite of the English ambassador to Persia, on her reaching home, told her countrywomen of the riches and beauty of the country she had visited, and described the roads, the carriages, the scenery, the splendour of the cities, and the fertility of the well-cultivated soil. Her audience were full of admiration, and had almost retired in envy, when she happened to mention that there was but one thing wanting to make the whole almost a Paradise. "And what is that?" said they. "Why, it has not a single date-tree. All the time that I was there, I never ceased to look for one, but I looked in vain." The charm was instantly broken; the Arabs turned away in pity for men, who, whatever might be their comforts, or their magnificence, were doomed to live in a country where there are no date-trees.

PRIMITIVE PAIR OF BELLOWS.