Part 74

In 1685 a rhinoceros was captured and brought to England. In 1739 and 1741 two others were exhibited in various parts of Europe. In 1800 a young one was brought from India, intended for a menagerie at Vienna, but died at London on the way, and was dissected by Mr. Thomas, who published the results of his investigations, and thus gave the public a better idea of the animal than they ever had before.

TURKISH CARRIAGE.

The curiously-shaped vehicle which we have engraved on the next page, is a Turkish _araba_, a carriage chiefly used by ladies. An account of one of them is pleasantly introduced by Mr. Albert Smith in his "Month at Constantinople" when describing the visit of the Sultan to one of the mosques:--

"Every Friday the Sultan goes to mosque publicly. It is not known until the very morning which establishment he means to patronise; but your dragoman has secret channels of information, and he always informs you in time to 'assist' at the ceremony.

"The first time I went, Abdul Medjid had selected for his devotions the mosque of Beglerbeg, a village on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, the temple of which stands in the same relation and bearing to St. Sophia--to use a very familiar simile--as Rotherhithe Church does to St. Paul's. It was a perfect English morning--foggy and cold (Oct. 7) with muddy streets and spitting rain. I crossed into Asia--one learns to speak of Asia, at Constantinople, as he would do of the borough--in a two-oared caique, and on landing went up to the mosque, which is close to the shore.

A crowd of people, consisting principally of females, had collected before the mosque, and a square space was kept by the soldiers. Some little courtesy was shown to visitors, as the Franks were permitted to cross this enclosure to a corner close to the door, by which the Sultan was to enter.

He was not very punctual to his time, but there was enough to amuse the visitors; more especially in the arrival of the women, who came up as near as they could to the building, in all sorts of odd vehicles. Several were like those I had seen on the bridge at Pera, but one was very fine indeed. It was more like a waggon than a carriage, and painted bright blue, with red wheels and awning. In it were five ladies of the Sultan's harem, very gaily dressed, and laughing loudly as the vehicle shook them about over the rugged road. It was drawn by two buffaloes, and they had a singular arrangement of worsted tufts over their heads, of various bright colours. This was the first waggon of the kind I had seen, but I afterwards found them very common. Other women were on foot, and a number of these had collected upon a hillock under a tree, where they talked and quarrelled incessantly. One very pale and handsome girl arrived alone, in a car, preceded by two or three attendants: and, whilst trying to pass a narrow thoroughfare amongst the other vehicles, the wheel of her own got smashed to pieces. She was then close to the Frank visitors, and, as she appeared likely to be overturned, two or three gentlemen from Misseri's hotel, ran forward to offer their assistance. In a minute they were put back by the attendants, who could not think of allowing their mistress to be touched, even from chance, by a Christian. The carriage was propped up, as well as it could be; and its inmate, who had remained perfectly tranquil during the accident, fixed her large eyes on the enclosure, and never moved them again, to the right or left."

CURIOUS INDIAN COMB.

At the foot of the Himalayas, and not far from the European station of Darjeeling, there is a tract of country which is still inhabited by a tribe of very ancient origin, called the Mechs; they are rapidly degenerating, and indeed may be said to be even now almost worn out as a distinct tribe. They are but rarely visited by Europeans; but Dr. Hooker inspected their district in 1850, and gives the following brief description of its appearance:--

"We arrived on the third day at the Mechi river, to the west of which the Nepal Morung begins, whose belt of Sal forest loomed on the horizon, so raised by refraction as to be visible as a dark line, from the distance of many miles. It is, however, very poor, all the large trees having been removed. We rode for several miles into it, and found the soil dry and hard, but supporting a prodigious undergrowth of gigantic harsh grasses that reached to our heads, though we were mounted on elephants. Tigers, wild elephants, and the rhinoceros are said to be found here; but we saw none.

"The old and new Mechi rivers are several miles apart, but flow in the same depression, a low swamp many miles broad, which is grazed at this season, and cultivated during the rains. The grass is very rich, partly owing to the moisture of the climate, and partly to the retiring waters of the rivers; both circumstances being the effects of proximity to the Himalayas. Hence cattle (buffaloes and the common humped cow of India) are driven from the banks of the Ganges 300 miles to these feeding grounds, for the use of which a trifling tax is levied on each animal. The cattle are very carelessly herded, and many are carried off by tigers."

We give a sketch on previous page of a pocket-comb which Dr. Hooker obtained from one of the natives: it is, at all events, much more tasteful in its form and ornamentation than the usual run of English pocket-combs.

SINGULAR HINDOO VOW.

The following extraordinary vow is performed by some of the Hindoo at their festival of _Charak Puja_:--Stretching himself on the earth on his back, the devotee takes a handful of moist earth, and placing this on his under lip, he plants in it some mustard-seed, and exposes himself to the dews of the night and the heat of the day till the seed germinates. In this posture the man must lie in a fixed motionless condition, without food or drink, till the vegetable process liberates him, which will generally be about the fourth day.

THE ARRANGEMENT OF ABBEY BUILDINGS.

At the dissolution of the Abbeys in England, under King Henry VIII., 190 were dissolved, of from L200 to L35,000 a year; amounting to an aggregate sum of L2,853,000 per annum. The principal buildings of an Abbey, were, first, the church, differing little from one of the cathedrals of the present day. Attached to one side of the nave, commonly the southern, was, secondly, the great cloister, which had two entrances to the church, at the eastern and western ends of the aisles of the nave, for the greater solemnity of processions. Over the western side of the cloister, was, thirdly, the dormitory of the monks; a long room, divided into separate cells, each containing a bed, with a mat, blanket, and rug, together with a desk and stool, and occupied by a monk. This apartment had a door, which opened immediately into the church, on account of midnight offices. Attached to the side of the cloister, opposite to the church, was fourthly, the refectory, where the monks dined; near to which, was the locutorium, or parlour, an apartment answering to the common room of a college, where in the intervals of prayer and study, the monks sat and conversed. Beyond, was the kitchen and its offices; and, adjoining to it, the buttery, &c. On the eastern side of the cloisters was, in the centre, the chapter-house, where the business of the Abbey was transacted; and near it, the library, and scriptorium, where the monks employed themselves in copying books. On this side, also, was the treasury, where the costly plate and church ornaments were kept. The abbot and principal officers of the convent, had all separate houses, to the eastward of the cloister; in which part of the building, were usually the hostelry and question hall--rooms for the entertainment of strangers; and, also, the apartment of novices. Westward of the cloister was an outward court, round which was the monks' infirmary, and the almery. An embattled gatehouse led to this court, which was the principal entrance of the Abbey. The whole was surrounded with a high wall, including in its precincts, gardens, stables, granary, &c. Some of the great Abbeys--as Glastonbury, and Furness--covered sixty acres of ground. The situation chosen for the site of an Abbey was as different from that of the castle as the purpose to which it was applied. The one meant for defence stands boldly on the hill; the other, intended for meditation, is hid in the sequestered valley. The abbots were originally laymen and subject to the bishop.

TAME FISH.

In sailing down the river Irawadi, in the neighbourhood of Amarapoora, the capital of the empire of Burmah, Captain Yule met with some tame fish, which he thus describes:--

"Having gone over the little island, I returned to my boat, where a sight awaited me, that I confess astonished me more than anything I have ever seen before.

"On nearing the island as we descended the river, the headman in the boat had commenced crying out _tet-tet! tet-tet!_ as hard as he could, and on my asking him what he was doing, he said he was calling the fish. My knowledge of Burmese did not allow me to ask him further particulars, and my interpreter was in the other boat, unwell. But, on my coming down to the boat again, I found it surrounded on both sides with large fish, some three or four feet long; a kind of blunt-nosed, broad-mouthed dog-fish. Of these there were, I suppose, some fifty. In one group, which I studied more than the others, there were ten. These were at one side of the boat, half their bodies, or nearly half, protruded vertically from the water, their mouths all gaping wide. The men had some of the rice prepared for their own dinners, and with this they were feeding them, taking little pellets of rice, and throwing these down the throats of the fish. Each fish, as he got something to eat, sunk, and having swallowed his portion, came back to the boatside for more. The men continued occasionally their cry of _tet-tet-tet!_ and, putting their hands over the gunnel of the boat, stroked the fish on the back, precisely as they would stroke a dog. This I kept up for nearly half an hour, moving the boat slightly about, and invariably the fish came at call, and were fed as before. The only effect which the stroking down or patting on the back of the fish seemed to have, was to cause them to gape still wider for their food. During March, I am told, there is a great festival here, and it is a very common trick for the people to get some of the fish into the boat, and even to gild their backs by attaching some gold leaf, as they do in the ordinary way to pagodas, &c. On one of these fish remains of the gilding were visible. I never was so amused or astonished. I wished to have one of the fish to take away as a specimen, but the people seemed to think it would be a kind of sacrilege, so I said nothing more on the point. The Phoongyis are in the habit of feeding them daily, I was informed. Their place of abode is the deep pool formed at the back of the island, by the two currents meeting round its sides. And it is, it appears, quite a sight, which the people from great distances come to see, as well as to visit the Pagoda, which is said to be very ancient and much venerated."

ANCIENT WEAPON.

The formidable weapon which we here engrave, is a concealed ranseur of the time of Henry VIII., from Genoa. It forms one long instrument, but our limits have compelled us to divide into three parts. 1, is the butt: 2, the middle; and 3, the point. The upper part is an iron cylinder, with a cap on the top. This is opened by touching the bolt seen a little below it in front, and then, by giving the weapon a jerk forwards, the blades fly out, and produce the form of the partisan. Upon those, on each side, is written, "Al Segno Del Cor"--"To the mark of the heart." When in the state seen in the engraving, the blades are held so firmly that they cannot be thrust back; and the only mode of returning them into the cylinder is by striking the butt end against the ground, when they instantly fall in.

This weapon, we apprehend, must have been more formidable in appearance than useful in action. Once let a man get a fair thrust with it at his enemy, and, it is true, the effect of that one stroke would be fatal, but in battle it would most probably prove fatal also to the man who wielded the weapon, for before he could have time to draw it back, a comrade of the wounded man would have plenty of opportunity to rush in and cut the striker of the blow down. On seeing this and other clumsy weapons which were so much in vogue in former times, we cannot be surprised that none of them have continued in use to the present day. Weapons such as the one we here engrave, have long been thrown aside, and short weapons are now only used for all hand to hand encounters.

THE BABES OF BETHLEHEM.

It is an ancient custom at Norton, near Evesham, Worcestershire, on the 28th of December (Innocents' Day) to ring a muffled peal, in token of sorrow for the slaughter of the hapless "babes of Bethlehem," and, immediately afterwards, an unmuffled peal, in manifestation of joy for the deliverance and escape of the infant Saviour.

GAUNTLET OF HENRY PRINCE OF WALES.

The highly interesting relic of which we here give a sketch is of a russet colour, engraved and gilt, the ornamental parts being sunk lower than the surface. The initials of the owner, surmounted by a coronet, occur in two places, as do also the rose and thistle. Henry was born on the 19th of February, 1594 and was nine years of age when his father ascended the throne of England. When seven, he commenced the acquirement of martial exercises--as the use of the bow, pike, firearms, and the art of riding; and at ten applied to Colonel Edmondes to send him a suit of armour from Holland. On the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot, Lord Spencer made him a present of a sword and target; and, in 1607, Louis, the Dauphin, son of Henry IV. of France, sent him a suit of armour, well gilt and enamelled, together with pistols and a sword of the same kind, and the armour for a horse. His martial and romantic disposition displayed itself on the occasion of his being created Prince of Wales in 1610, when he caused a challenge to be given to all the knights in Great Britain, under the name of Maeliades, Lord of the Isles; and on the day appointed, the Prince, assisted only by the Duke of Lenox, the Earls of Arundel and Southampton, Lord Hay, Sir Thomas Somerset, and Sir Richard Preston, who instructed his Highness in arms, maintained the combat against fifty-six earls, barons, knights, and esquires. Henry himself gave and received thirty-two pushes of the pike, and about three hundred and sixty strokes of the sword, not being yet sixteen years of age. From the size of the gauntlet, the initials H. P., and a prince's coronet, if not made on this occasion, it could not have been much anterior; and, from most of his armour being sent from abroad, the impression would be that it is of foreign manufacture. Yet there is in the State Paper Office an original warrant ordering the payment of L200, the balance of L340, for a rich suit of armour made for Henry Prince of Wales, dated July 11, 1614, he having died on the 6th of November, 1612. This document is directed by King James I. to the Commissioners for the exercise of the office of High Treasurer of England, and states that, "Whereas there was made, in the office of our armory of Greenwich, by William Pickeringe, our master workman there, one rich armour with all peeces compleate, fayrely gilt and graven, by the commaundement of our late deere sonne Prince Henry, which armour was worth (as we are informed) the somme of three hundred and forty poundes, whereof the said William Pickeringe hath receaved of our said late deere sonne the somme of one hundred and forty poundes only, soe as there remayneth due unto him the somme of two hundred poundes"--therefore they are ordered to discharge the same forthwith.

THE SIMOOM.

Arabia is frequently visited by the terrible simoom, called by the natives _shamiel_, or the wind of Syria, under whose pestilential influence all nature seems to languish and expire. This current prevails chiefly on the frontiers, and more rarely in the interior. It is in the arid plains about Bussora, Bagdad, Aleppo, and in the environs of Mecca, that it is most dreaded, and only during the intense heats of summer. The Arabs, being accustomed to an atmosphere of great purity, are said to perceive its approach by its sulphureous odour, and by an unusual redness in the quarter whence it comes. The sky, at other times serene and cloudless, appears lurid and heavy; the sun loses his splendour, and appears of a violet colour. The air, saturated with particles of the finest sand, becomes thick, fiery, and unfit for respiration. The coldest substances change their natural qualities; marble, iron, and water, are hot, and deceive the hand that touches them. Every kind of moisture is absorbed; the skin is parched and shrivelled; paper cracks as if it were in the mouth of an oven. When inhaled by men or animals, the simoom produces a painful feeling as of suffocation. The lungs are too rarefied for breathing, and the body is consumed by an internal heat, which often terminates in convulsions and death. The carcases of the dead exhibit symptoms of immediate putrefaction, similar to what is observed to take place on bodies deprived of life by thunder, or the effect of electricity.

When this pestilence visits towns or villages, the inhabitants shut themselves up, the streets are deserted, and the silence of night everywhere reigns. Travellers in the desert sometimes find a crevice in the rocks; but if remote from shelter, they must abide the dreadful consequences. The only means of escaping from these destructive blasts, is to lie flat on the ground until they pass over, as they always move at a certain height in the atmosphere. Instinct teaches even animals to bow down their heads, and bury their nostrils in the sand. The danger is most imminent when they blow in squalls, which raise up clouds of sand in such quantities, that it becomes impossible to see to the distance of a few yards. In these cases the traveller generally lies down on the lee side of his camel; but as the desert is soon blown up to the level of its body, both are obliged frequently to rise and replace themselves in a new position, in order to avoid being entirely covered. In many instances, however, from weariness, faintness, or sleepiness, occasioned by the great heat, and often from a feeling of despair, both men and animals remain on the ground, and in twenty minutes they are buried under a load of sand. Caravans are sometimes swallowed up; and whole armies have perished miserably in these inhospitable deserts.

BOILING TO DEATH.

One Rouse, who had attempted to poison Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, who was afterwards murdered in his 77th year, (by Henry VIII.)--was actually boiled to death in Smithfield, for his offence. The law which thus punished him, was afterwards repealed.

SIKKIM PRIESTS.

The Sikkim country is situated on the frontiers of Thibet and Nepal and on a portion of the Himalayas. Dr. Hooker, who visited it a few years ago, gives the following account in his Journal of some of its scenery:--"January 1st, 1849.--The morning of the new year was bright and beautiful, though much snow had fallen on the mountains; and we left Sunnook for Pemiongchi, situated on the summit of a lofty spur on the opposite side of the Ratong.

"The ascent to Pemiongchi was very steep, through woods of oaks, chesnuts, and magnolias, but no tree-fern, palms, pothos, or planntain, which abound at this elevation on the moister outer ranges of Sikkim. The temple is large, eighty feet long, and in excellent order, built upon the lofty terminal point of the great east and west spur, that divides the Kulhait from the Ratong and Rungbee rivers; and the great Changachelling temple and monastery stands on another eminence of the same ridge, two miles further west.

"The view of the snowy range from this temple is one of the finest in Sikkim; the eye surveying at once glance the vegetation of the tropics and the poles. Deep in the valleys the river beds are but 3,000 feet above the sea, and are choked with fig-trees, plantains, and palms; to these succeed laurels and magnolias; and still higher up, oaks, chesnuts, birches, &c.; there is, however, no marked line between the limits of these two last forests, which form the prevailing arboreous vegetation between 4,000 and 10,000 feet, and give a lurid hue to the mountains. Fir forests succeed for 2,000 feet higher, when they give place to a skirting of rhododendron and barberry. Among these appear black naked rocks, between which are gulleys, down which the snow now descended to 12,000 feet. The mountain flanks are much more steep and rocky than those at similar heights on the outer ranges, and cataracts are very numerous, and of considerable height, though small in volume.

"Pemiongchi temple, the most ancient in Sikkim, is said to be 400 years old; it stands on a paved platform, and is of the same form and general character as that of Tassisuding. Inside, it is most beautifully decorated, especially the beams, columns, capitals, and architraves, but the designs are coarser than those of Tassisuding. The square end of every beam in the roof is ornamented either with a lotus flower, or with a Tibetan character, in endless diversity of colour and form, and the walls are completely covered with allegorical paintings of Lamas and saints with glories round their heads, mitred, and holding the dorje and jewel.

"The principal image is a large and hideous figure of Sakya-thoba in a recess under a blue silk canopy, contrasting with a calm figure of the late Rajah, wearing a cap and coronet.

"Pemiongchi was once the capital of Sikkim, and called the Sikkim Durbar: the Rajah's residence was on a curious flat to the south of the temple, and a few hundred feet below it, where are the remains of (for this country) extensive walls and buildings. During the Nepal war, the Rajah was driven east across the Teesta, whilst the Ghorkas plundered Tassisuding, Pemiongchi, Changachelling, and all the other temples and convents to the west of that river. It was then that the famous history of Sikkim, compiled by the Lamas of Pemiongchi, and kept at this temple, was destroyed, with the exception of a few sheets, with one of which Dr. Campbell and myself were each presented. We were told that the monks of Changachelling and those of this establishment had copied what remained, and were busy compiling the rest from oral information, &c.: whatever value the original may have possessed, however, is irretrievably lost. A magnificent copy of the Buddhist Scriptures was destroyed at the same time; it consisted of 400 volumes, each containing several hundred sheets of Daphne paper."

Of the figures given in our article, the one on the extreme left is a Lama, or Sikkim priest, having in his hand a _dorge_, or double-headed thunderbolt; next to him, a monk; next to the monk, a priest, with a praying cylinder; and at the extreme right, another monk.

A HEAD-BREAKER.