,
3
s I
KODNII AM.
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
PRESENTED BY
PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID
POPULAR
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS,
THROUGHOUT THE
CONTINENT & ISLANDS OF EUROPE
IN WHICH THE
GEOGRAPHY, CHARACTER, CUSTOMS,
AND
MANNERS OF NATIONS ARE DESCRIBED;
AND
THE PHENOMENA OF NATURE,
MOST WORTHY OF OBSERVATION,
ARE ILLUSTRATED ON SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES.
BY MRS. JAMIESON, (LATE MISS THURTLE,)
AUTHOR OF ASHFORD RECTORY; A HISTORY OP FRANCE;
A HISTORY OF 8PAIN, &.C. &C.
EMBELLISHED WITH ENGRAVINGS.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR G. & W. B. WHITTAKER;
13, AVE-MARIA-LANE, LUDGATE-STREET ;
AND N. HAILES, MUSEUM, PICCADILLY.
1820.
Printed by R. Gilbert, St, John's Square.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER T.
SECT. PACK
L INTRODUCTION
II. Geological Survey of the Earth. , 4
CHAPTER II.
ENGLAND.
I. Oxford and Blenheim 11
II. Coal Mines 13
III. The Scilly Isles and Cornish Mines 17
IV. The Eddystone Light-House 22
V. ^Erial Phenomena Rainbows the Fairy Morgana .... 2o
VI. Worcester the Manufacture of Porcelain 30
VII. The Manufacture of Glass its various Properties re-
markable Phenomena explained by Glass Tubes 36
VIII. Derbyshire the Peak Buxton Devil's Hole 42
IX. Salt-mines Northwitch 49
X. Chester Antiquities St. Winifred's Well' Conway
Castle 51
XI. Wales Lunar Rainbow Snawdon Llewellyn's Grey-
hound Beth Gelert ., 55
XII. Beaumaris Druidical Worship 58
XIII. Druidical Remains 59
CHAPTER III.
IRELAND.
I. Dublin The Gold Mines of Wieklow The Cavern of
Dunmore 62
II. Waterford Cork 65
III. The Lake of Killarney The enchanting Echo Cavern,
&c 66
IV. Killaloe Limerick Salmon 72
V. Westmeath and Longford Irish Bogs the Mouse Deer 73
VI. Irish Wake 76
VII. The Giants Causeway Basaltic and Granite Rocks .... 78
VIII. Loch Neagh its petrifying Qualities petrifying Springs 82
IX. Sketch of the Surface, Climate and Productions of Ire-
land 85
CHAPTER IV.
SCOTLAND.
I. The Hebrides Loch Lomond The Grampian Hills-
Ben Lomond and Ben Nevis .,..,,. , . . , 87
383
iv CONTENTS.
SECT. PAGE
II. Highland Wedding. . .. . . c ... 92
III. Mull St. Columbo FingaPs Cave * 94
IV. Twilight The Physical Properties of Light 9&
V. The Isle of Sky The Orkneys Preparations for Iceland 100
CHAPTER V.
ICELAND.
I. Introduction Aurora Borealis Seasons Climates. . . . 102
II. now The Polar Ice Heat Cold Evaporation...... 104
III. The Whale Fishery ..... 117
IV. Natural Phenomena of Iceland Hot Springs TheGey-
zers . . . . ... ..... ..:... 120
V. Mount Hekla Sulphur Mountain. *...... ,. . . . 129
VL Voyage back to Scotland Tides Saltness of the Sea. . 134
CHAPTER VI.
SCOTLAND.
I. North of Scotland , 139
II. Edinburgh and its Environs .... ..... . ,, 141
III. General Survey of Scotland, ....... 145
IV. Glasgow and the Falls of the Clyde Melrose Abbey 147
V. Chief Towns of Scotland 149.
CHAPTER VII.
NORWAY.
I. Voyage Storm at Sea ,. % *.., K . .. *..,....... ...... f .... 162'
II. Chief Towns of Denmark 157
III. Electric and Aeriform Phenomena Lightning The At-
mosphereWind and the Colour of the Sky. . . 157
IV. The Mariner's Compass ^its History and Properties. . 165
V. The Maelstroom Survey of Norway ......... 168
VI. Dolstein Cavern The Silver Mines at Kongsberg
Blasting Rocks . . . . 172.
CHAPTER IX.
DENMARK AND SWEDEN.
I. Copenhagen Mode of Travelling in Holstein Museum 179
II. General View of Denmark 180
III. Voyage to Sweden 181
IV. Swedish Manners 184
V. Journey to Upsal Mode of Travelling in Sweden
Swedish Houses and Manner of Living 186
VI. The Mines of Sweden The Manufacture of Iron 188
VII. The Mines of Dalecarlia 196
VIII. Customs and Manners of the Swedes North of Sweden
General View of this Country 201
IX. The Falls of Dalh ... .; . .. . . . 205
CONTENTS. v
CHAPTER X.
SECT. RUSSIA. PAGE
I, Journey into Russia Its Governments-^Face of Coun-
try Exports and ImportsRivers and Inland Naviga-
tion . * . * . , . 207
II. Journey continued Places of Worship Petersburgh
Palace of Ice Russian Peasantry Travelling on
Sledges, &c.. 216
III. Russian Nobility- Affecting Tale of a Young Princess
Baseness of Count Orloff 221
IV. Journey continued Dimness of Sight Spectacle-
Glasses, their Use 22&
V. Twer Fable of the Phoenix Moscow Invasion of Buo-
naparte . . ....... ..^ ... * 229
VI. The Principal. Towns in the Russian Empire Their
Traffic The Forest of Volonski 233
VII. Wilna Peculiarities in the Russian Manners Odin (the
Noah of the North) Proofs of an Universal Deluge
Polish NobJemen ,.... 23G
CHAPTER XI.
PRUSSIA.
1^ Koningsberg Thorn Great Poland Dress Customs 239
H. Frankfort Dresden Berlin t . . 244
CHAPTER XII.
GERMANY.
I. Its Productions--Table d'Hote Account of the Crimea
from a fellow Traveller Cape of the Winds Garnets 246
II. Prague Vienna 253.
III. Austrian Customs and Manners Nobility 25&
IV. Hungary Peasantry -*~ Mines of Kremnitz Gipseys
Buda-^Hun gar ian.' Army Militia, singular Mode of
Levying Exercise and Public Employment Modes
of Punishment Prison of Keszthley Free Villages 2o8
V. Caves Collections of Fossil Bones in the Mountains of
the Hartz Mode of extinguishing Fire ...........,, 268
VI. Productions of the Austrian Dominions Towns Rivers
Lakes Minerals Mountains. ...*..... ^ . . 271
VII. Quicksilver Mines tdria Aflecting Tale of Count Al-
berti */. ,. , .. , 273
VIII. Chief Towns and Products of Germany Proper Hun-
gary and Bohemia Gunpowder Fulminating Silver
Munich Its Cathedral Lindau 27B
CHAPTER XIII.
SWITZERLAND.
I. Journey Canton of Gallon Lake of Constance Gran-
deur'of the Scenery Abbots of St,G#ll Benedictines
vi CONTENTS.
SECT. PAGE
BathofPreflers Zurich Arsenal Superstitions
Costume Fire of St. Elam Zug Seweitz 231
II. Fall of Rosenberg Valley of Mutt a Paradise of Swit-
zerlandAvalanchesThe Chapel of William Tell
Altorf Mount St. Gothard 288
III. The Rhone Glaciers Lake of Geneva Mount Ger-
mini National Airs 292
IV. Swiss Festivities Vines Making of Wines from Grapes,
Currants, &c 295
V. Alpine Travelling Forests Larch Trees Poisonous
Flowers 299
VI. Swiss Local Distinctions -Funerals Weddings Tomhs
The Fribengers The Convent of Haute v ire the
Cypress 301
VII. Aquatic Phenomena Clouds Rain Vapours Veloy
Castle of Blenai Medicinal Spring Lausanne En-
virons of Geneva 306
VIII. Mount Blanc Wetterhorn Valley of Ice Neufchatel
Isle of Rousseau Roman Ruins General View of
Switzerland 310
CHAPTER XIV.
BANKS OF THE RHINE HOLLAND.
J. Journey Singular Bridge of Schaufhausen, by Ulric
GUrubenham Cassel Frankfort Disparities of Rank
-. Amusements^ Coblentz 'The wonderful Spectre of
the Broken 31
II. Holland General View of this Country Chief Towns
Productions Climate Customs Manners
Cleanliness of the Dutch Moravians 320
III. Smoking Cultivation of Tobacco Inundation of the
Sea in 1421 Destruction of 100,000 Souls Rhenish
Wines The Making of Hollands, or Gin 324
IV. Inundations of Holland 327
V Antwerp, Brussels, &c 330
CHAPTER XV.
FRANCE.
I. Rheims Face of the Country Productions Canals
Population Wines 331
II. Sagacity of Swine Ice Cavern Paris Jar dins des.
Plantes Studies of the French Youth 335
III. St. Denis 341
IV. Bois de Boulogne St. Cloud 345
V, The Thuilleries English Economists Royal Library..
Charlatans Theatres 347
VI. The Catacombs St. Germain Auxerrois Massacre of
St. Bartholomew * 354
VII. General Survey of Chief Towns Rouen Jts Ma,ufac-
CONTENTS. vii
SECT. PAGE
lures Versailles Orleans Joan d'Arc Blois
Tours Poitiers Angouleme La Diligence Bour-
deaux Toulouse Clemen ti Isaure Troubadours
Knighthood 366
VIII. Journey Southward The Banks of the Garonne Le-
gendary Tale attached to the Castle of Orthes 376
IX. Journey of the Pyrennees Sagacity of the Mules 379
CHAPTER XVI.
SPAIN.
I. Biscay St. Sebastian Early History of Spain History
of Gorgorious 380
II. Surface Possessions Climate ~- Mountains Mount
Serrat Merino Sheep Cadiz Carthagena Co-
runna 384
III. The General Character of the SpaniardsBull Fights
Games Police Tolosa Victoria 388
IV. Valladolid Cultivation of Madder Spanish Manners-
Gravity Gardens Inns Salamanca 393
V. General Sketch of Portugal Almeida Abrantes Lis-
bonEarthquake of 1755 397
VI. Portuguese Character Gaming Oporto Voyage to
Cadiz 402
VII. Gibraltar St. Michael's Cave The Fortifications of
Gibraltar 405
VIII. Granada The Palace of Alhambra Cordova Toledo
Manufacture of Sword Blades Madrid Palace
Gallery of Paintings 410
IX. Story ofOlivade The Theatre of Retiro The Prado
The Escurial St. Ildefonso Saragossa ^Barcelona
Voyage to Marseilles .................. 414
CHAPTER XVII.
VOYAGE FROM FRANCE TO ITALY.
I. Marseilles Frejus Val Ruins of Cumia Festivals
Mountainous Alpine Journey Nice Clocks going 24
Hours 422
II. General Survey of Italy Marble of Carrara Phospho-
ric Stones Mountain Flax Manufacture of Asbestos
Cloth 428
III. Geography of Italy continued Excursion to Montea
Milan Cathedral Lodi Buonaparte Mantua-^-
Virgil Church of St. Justina Padua Verona 431
IV. Venice Manners of the Venetians Theatres Panto-
mime Remarkable Arlequino and Signor Grimaldi
Venetian Ladies Interesting Fate of Foscari Church
of St. Mark , . 437
V. Ferrara Padua Italian Town and Farm Bologna
The Appenines Inflammable Exhalations, ...,,... 440
viii CONTENTS.
SECT. PAGE
VI. Splendour of Italian Scenery FlorenceChurch of the
Holy Cross The Gallery of Florence Sienna- Beg-
gars St. Catherine of Sienna 443
VII. Journey to Rome The Coliseum Prison Scene 447
VIII. Pantheon St. Peter's Vatic an The Catacombs at
Rome: Banditti Loss of their Servant-^-Terracina
Voyage to Naples Scenery of its Bay Manners
Lazeroni Bai<e 461
IX. Itinerant Monk Messina Scylla Charibdis
X. Mount Etna ^yracuse Archimedes Dionysius's Pri-
son, built like a Human Ear. 464
CHAPTER XV1I1.
VOYAGE THROUGH THE ISLANDS OF THE MEDITER-
RANEAN, AND JOURNEY IN GREECE.
I. Malta Rhodes Mountains of Greece Rivers Nauti-
lus Republic of the Seven Islands 468
II. Parga Its Evacuation by the Ancient Inhabitants The
PJains ofActium Zante Curious Method of catching
Fish 469
III. Mountains of Arcadia the Terrific Mainiotes Maina
Manners The Heroine Cap itanessa 473
IV, Mountain of Tegetus Extraordinary Journey The
Fountain of Esculapius * 478
V. Journey to Sparta Argos Corinth Curious Method
of Fishing Parps Antiparos 482
VI. Athens Field of Marathon Convent of Daphne Plains
ofPlatea Delphos Leuctra Thebes Mountains of
Eubcea Methods of procuring Fire 487
VII. Ancient Cephisus The Lake of CopaVs Daulis The
Castiliaji Spring Thessaly The Vale of Tempe
The Plains of Pharsalia Opium used by the Turks
Greek Funeral . . . . 493
VIII. The Mines of Nisvoro Albanians Manners Face of
the Country Mount Athos The ^Egean Sea Cha-
riess The C orivent of Batopaida 498
IX. Lemnos Greek Priests Adrianople Constantinople-
Customs Manners Royal Apartments Conclusion 501
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
MONTAGUE was an only son ; he with two
daughters engrossed the whole attention of Mrs. Montague,
who had been for some years a widow. Her son had never
left her roof, and her maternal indulgence, which at times
bordered upon weakness, had greatly impeded the benefit
he might otherwise have derived from the instructions of
a young man of considerable abilities, who had undertaken
the arduous task of tutor in Mrs. Montague's family.
Time however passed rapidly away, and Edward ap-
proached his seventeenth year with a superficial knowledge
of Greek and Latin, but without possessing even the requi-
sites for the ordinary topics of conversation. His cousin, a
boy about two years younger than himself, having spent the
Midsummer holidays at Montague House ; Mrs. Montague
could not help remarking the difference between the two
boys. For the first time in her life she saw her son's defi-
ciencies, and with a sigh regretted she had not sent Edward
to school with his cousin. Her affection at length submit-
ted to her good sense, and she wrote to Dr. Walker upon
the Subject, and begged he would point out the path she
should pursue, in order before it was too late to repair her
errors.
Dr. Walker was a gentleman of considerable literary
but very extensive scientific knowledge. He had been the
intimate friend of Mr. Montague, and in a very friendly
manner answered this letter in person, when after a very long
and interesting conversation, he proposed taking charge of
Edward himself, provided Mrs. Montague would consent to
their going abroad. Heart-breaking as was this proposal,
B
2 INTRODUCTION.
after a few moments of painful silence she gave a trembling
assent; and leaving the Doctor to communicate the plan to
her son, she retired to her own chamber for about an hour,
and then joined her family.
Preparations were immediately made for the departure of
the travellers, and in the course of a fortnight all was ready.
" Heaven preserve you, my dear boy," said Mrs Montague,
as she kissed Edward's cold cheek, " Heaven preserve you."
So far she had commanded her feelings, but fearing to agitate
Edward, who appeared really palsied as she spoke, she gave
her hand to Dr. Walker and hastily quitted the room.
Edward was roused from his reverie by the more demon,
strative sorrow of his sisters at parting with him ; and Dr.
Walker having intimated to the young ladies, that their
mother might perhaps require their attendance, they obeyed
the hint, and with tearful eyes withdrew.
Dr. Walker allowed his young friend half an hour's silent
meditation, and then ringing the bell, he enquired if all were
ready for their departure. Being answered in the affirma-
tive, " Come Edward," said the good man, " we shall be
later than I intended."
Edward took up his hat with a sigh, and observing a mini-
ature of his mother which had been brought home that
morning, he put it in his pocket, and bidding the servant say
lie had taken it, he followed the Doctor down stairs, and for
the first time in his life quitted the paternal mansion unac-
companied by any of his family.
" We will not be laughed at when we get to Rome, for
our ignorance respecting our native land/' said Dr. Walker
to his pupil, as the carriage drove through Portland. place.
" We will make an excursion through the British Isles, and
we shall then have the pleasure of judging, whether we may
not reap both profit and advantage from our peregrinations
at home, as well as from more extensive rambles abroad.
You have visited the principal buildings in London, and you
will not be less pleased with some other cities of your native
isle."
" We shall go through Oxford, shall we not, sir?" en-
quired Edward, as his eye glanced over a travelling map of
England, which the Doctor held in his hand, " and so on to
Worcester. But," continued he, " I should like sometimes
to deviate from the direct road/*
D R . W. " You shall be gratified in this request, although
INTRODUCTION. 3
our perambulations must not extend far out of the beaten
track. I cannot, however, help observing, that in the ardu-
ous undertaking we have commenced, you will understand it
is not my intention to run from London to Oxford, and from
Oxford to Edinburgh, from Edinburgh to Paris, and so on, in
so many days ; nor simply to calculate as to the probability of
our reaching a particular place in so many hours. We travel
for mental improvement ; to study men and manners ; to in-
spect minutely the wonderful phenomena of nature, the in-
genious productions of art, and, above all, to know ourselves.
In the various countries we shall traverse there will be many
subjects for contemplation, many calls upon our patience and
forbearance ; many incentives to that charity, which * bear-
eth all things ;' and many demands upon our liberality both
of purse and mind. The man who travels need noijbrget
his country, but he should forget its prejudices ; he should,
in fact, become a citizen of the world. The man who can-
not accommodate himself in some degree to the customs and
manners of the different nations through which he travels ;
who is disgusted in one place at the light-hearted gaiety of
this people ; at the gravity of another; the superstition of a
third, and so on, had much better remain at home. Sterne
has given a humourous list of travellers. If I recollect right,
he mentions " idle travellers, inquisitive travellers, lying
travellers, proud travellers, vain travellers, and splenetic
travellers;" to which he subjoins the following " Travellers
tf necessity," as he calls them. " Delinquent and felonious
travellers, unfortunate and innocent travellers, simple tra-
vellers, and sentimental travellers ;" to which, with his per-
mission, we will add, intelligent travellers. Under this last
class, dear Edward, we will endeavour to arrange ourselves ;
our time must not be wasted either in merely seeing sights,
as some would call the inspection of the phenomena of na-
ture, or the productions of art. Our mornings must be de-
voted to study ; your classical learning will be kept up, but
I shall begin you with a course of mathematical instruc-
tion ; from that we will proceed to scientific inquiries, which
depend on a knowledge of mathematical learning ; nor
will theology, political economy, and other subjects that
comprise the education of a gentleman, be neglected.
But I am not now detailing the prospectus of a boarding-
school.
4< You have then made up your mind to endure with for-
B2
4 INTRODUCTION.
titude all the hair breadth 'scapes we are doomed to encoun-
ter, as I dare say, we shall hardly quit the British Isles with,
out putting your courage to the proof." " Indeed," replied
Edward, " I flatter myself I shall not be a troublesome,
though I fear you will find me an inquisitive traveller/'
DR. WALKER. " I shall be always happy to answer your
questions, whenever their solutions lie within my knowledge;
and in order to convince you how anxious I am, that you
should possess that sort of general information, which will
add considerably to the pleasure of our present intended
tour, and which will so greatly enlarge your understanding,
I shall volunteer a geological description of the earth upon
the surface of which we are about to peregrinate ; as to its
productions they will present themselves to our view on every
side, and then we will descant on their nature and properties*"
SECTION IL
" INDEPENDENT of the practical utility of geology, to min-
ing andfanring," pursued Dr. Walker, " it is a study which
opens to the traveller new sources of amusement and delight ;
for amidst the sublime imagery of a mountainous country, the
feelings naturally exalted, are yet more raised and refined by
the contemplation of its uses and subserviency to life.
" We learn that certain rocks are more prolific in mineral
treasures than others; that some yield nothing useful ; that
veins of the metals pursue certain courses ; that coal is ac-
companied by favourable and unfavourable indications. The
farmer is enabled by geology, to ameliorate his land ; for it
teaches him whence to procure mineral manures, and where
to look for those associations of strata which are called for in
agricultural improvements. The architect who knows any
thing of geology will not construct a monument intended to
last for ages, with a perishable stone, when he can select d
material of lasting durability. In order to explain the sub-
ject of geology according to the several opinions of different
men, I shall give you an outline of < Burnet's Sacred Theory
of the Earth/ which begins with the separation of elements
from a fluid mass; the heaviest particles are supposed to
have sank and formed a nuckm ; Jthe water and air took their
INTRODUCTION. 3
respective stations; and upon the water the air afterwards
deposited a rich unctuous shell or crust that contained in
itself the elements of vegetation, and clothed the whole with
a beautiful verdure. Mountains, seas, protuberances, or in-
equalities were then unknown ; the equator was coincident
with the plane of the ecliptic, and all the charms of spring
were perpetual. Many centuries, however, did not glide
away before the sun tore the aforesaid crust, or exterior, into
large cracks and fissures, which gradually increased till they
extended themselves to the great aqueous abyss. The con.
sequences may be easily anticipated. The waters finding
vents thus made, rose higher and higher ; the shell was ut-
terly broken up and destroyed, and that universal deluge
took place, of which we have an awful description in Gen.
vi. and vii. From this flood, the state of the world is divided
into Diluvian and Antediluvian. By this catastrophe, the
globe of the earth was not only shook and broke in a thou-
sand places, but the violence of the shock it then underwent,
shifted its situation ; so that the earth which before was
placed directly under the zodiac, became thenceforth oblique
to the same ; whence arose the difference of seasons, which
the antediluvian earth was not exposed to. But at length
dry land began to appear, owing to a gradual subsidence of
the waters, which retired into caverns and crevices origi-
nally existing in the nucleus, or formed by the disruption of
the crust. Upon the increasing dry land, vegetation began
again to exist ; and our present islands and continents were
formed, while the sea still occupies in parts its original bed.
Such is a brief outline of Burnet's romance, which will still be
read with some profit, though certainly with more pleasure,
even in these times of advanced physical knowledge. It may
not be improper to notice to you, that the theory of Burnet,
who may be justly said to have adorned the latter half of the
17th century, is nothing more than DCS Cartes primitive
world of concentric strata of divers heterogeneous matter.
" Leibnitz about this time published' his < Protogoaa/ in
which he supposes the earth to have been in a state of com-
bustion for many ages, and at length to have gone out for
want of fuel. A glassy crust was thus formed, which gave
rise to sand and gravel ; other kinds of earth resulted from
sand and salt ; and as the globe cooled, the water which had
before been kept in the state of steam, assumed fluidity,
and falling to the earth, produced the ocean.
B 3
6 INTRODUCTION.
"Winston's < New Theory of the Earth/ leaves us bewil-
dered and perplexed, and is principally deserving notice as
accounting for the deluge by the approach of a comet to-
wards the earth. This comet coming below the moon*
would raise a prodigious and strong tide in the small seas,
which, on his hypothesis, were in the antediluvian globe of
the world; and also in the abyss,, which was under the upper
crust of the earth. This tide would rise during the approach
of the comet, and would be greatest when the comet was at
its least distance from the earth. By the force of the tide
and the attraction of the comet, the abyss put on an elliptic
figure; the outward crust of the earth, incumbent on the
abyss, accommodating itself to that figure, which it would
not do while it held solid and conjoined, at last broke, and
hence the words of Moses, thefountains of the great deep being
broke up.
" The same comet, in its descent towards the sun, passed so
close by the body of the earth, as to involve her in its atmos-
phere and tail for a considerable time ; and, of consequence,
left a vast quantity of its vapours both expanded and con-
densed on her surface ; but a great part of these being after-
wards rarefied, by the solar heat, would be drawn up again
into the atmosphere, but afterwards returning in violent rains,
make good what Moses intimates by the tvindoivs of heaven be-
ing opened^ and particularly by the forty days rain ; for, as to
the following rain which with this made the whole time of
raining 150 days, Whiston attributes it to the unlucky earth
coming a second time within the atmosphere of the persecut-
ing comet, on its return/rom the sun.
" Lastly, to remove the waters, he supposes a mighty wind
to have arisen, which dried up some, and forced the rest
into the abyss again, through the clefts by which they had
come up ; only a good quantity remained in the alveus of the
great ocean, now first made, and in the smaller seas, lakes,
&c. Whiston only proposed this theory hypothetically at
first; that is to say, he only supposed such a comet, because
if would feasibly and philosophically account for the pheno-
menon of the deluge ; but upon reconsideration, he thinks
there actually was such a comet near the earth at that time,
and that the great comet of 1688 is the same.
"But no one has proceeded to the forming a theory of the
earth, with the pomp and circumstance of Biiffbn. It merits
attention, as Mr. Brande says,, not on account qf its ac-
INTRODUCTION. 7
cordance with present appearances, or as affording plausible
solutions of observed phenomena, but from the eloquence
with which it is adorned, the extent of information it displays,
and the popularity it derived from these sources.
" Buffon supposes the planets in general to have been struck
off from the sun by a comet ; that they consisted of fluid
matter, and thence assumed a spherical form : and that by
the union of centrifugal and centripetal forces, they are re-
strained in their present orbits. The earth gradually cooled,
and the circumambient vapours condensed upon its surface,
while sulphureous, saline, and other matters penetrated its
cracks and fissures, and formed veins of metallic and mineral
products. The scorified, or pumice-like surface of the earth,
acted upon by water, produced clay, mud, and loose soils,
and the atmosphere was constituted of subtle effluvia, floating
above all the ponderous materials. Then the sun, the winds,
the tides, the motion of the earth, and other causes, became
effective in producing new changes. The waters being
greatly elevated in the equatorial regions, and mud, gravel,
and fragments being transported thither from the poles, the
highest mountains were formed between the tropics, the
lowest towards the poles ; and the tropical seas were studded
with an infinity of islands. The surface of the earth, once
even and regular, became now rough, and irregular ; exca-
vations were formed in one part, and land was elevated in an-
other; and during a period of ages, the fragments of the ori-
ginal materials, the shells of various fish, and different other
exuviae, were ground up by the ocean, and produced cal-
careous strata, and other lowland depositions ; these relics of
marine animals which we find at such heights above the pre-
sent level of the sea, as to render it more than probable, that
the ocean once entirely overwhelmed the earth.
" From these phenomena, Buffon draws a series of curious
and minute conclusions, which our limits forbid us even to
particularize; but every one who now contemplates the
earth's surface, traces upon it marks of the direst and most
unsparing revolutions, which, from the present order of
things, it appears impossible should re-occur, except by the
united and continuous agency of the most active powers of
destruction. Buffon says this arose from the soft state of
the former crust of the earth, and those causes, now imbecile
and slow in their operation, were then more effectually ex-
erted, and results were obtained in a few years, for which
B 4
8 INTRODUCTION.
ages would now be insufficient. In contemplating the pro*
duction of rivers, he regards them as having cut their own
way to the sea, and in their course gradually wearing down
the mountainous lands, filling up vallies, and choaking their
exits into the ocean by finely divided materials : thus every
thing is slowly returning to its former state ; all mountains
shall be levelled, every valley raised up, excavations filled
up, and the ocean will again cover the earth. I shall not
enter into the various confutations which these speculative
notions have met with, nor dwell upon many modern theories
to which they have given rise ; for though the authors of
these theories have sometimes clothed their fictions in new-
dresses, we have no sooner removed the mask, than Burnet
or Buffon is instantly recognized.
" The prevailing theories of the present day are the inven-
tions of Professor Werner, of Freyburgh, and Dr. James
Hutton, of Edinburgh ; each of these ha&been ably supported
and elucidated by the proofs, illustrations, and comparative
views of acute and eloquent controversialists, and two sects
of geologists have been formed under the appellation ofWer-
nerians and Huttonians.
" The first principle which the Wernerian theory assumes,
is, that our globe was once covered with a sort of chaotic
compost, holding, either in solution or suspension, the various
rocks and strata which now present themselves to us as its
exterior crust. From some unexplained cause, this fluid
began first to deposit those bodies which it held in chemical
solution, and thus a variety of crystallized rocks were
formed. In these we find no vegetable or animal remains,
nor even any rounded pebbles ; but in the strata, which lie
upon the crystalline, or first deposits, shells and fragments
occasionally occur : these therefore have been termed tran*
sition strata ; and it is imagined, that the peopling of the
world commenced about this period. The waters upon the
earth began now more rapidly to subside, and finely divided
particles, chiefly resulting from disintegration of the first
formations, were its chief contents ; these were deposited
upon the transition rocks, chiefly in horizontal layers. They
abound in organic remains, and are termed by Werner,
Floetz, or secondary rocks.
' It is now conceived, that the exposure of the primitive
transition, and secondary rocks to the agencies of the wind
and weather, and to the turbulent state of the remaining
ocean, produced inequalities of surface, and that the water
INTRODUCTION. 9
retreated into low lands and vallies, where a further deposi-
tion took place, constituting clay, gravel, and other alluvial
formations.
" There are also certain substances which instead of being
found in regularly alternating layers over the earth, are met
with in patches; as Rock-salt, coal, basalt, and some other
bodies, which Werner hath called subordinate formations.
Lastly, subterraneous fires have sometimes given birth to
peculiar and very limited products ; and these are called
volcanic rocks. Such is Werner's account of the production
of rocks, which he arranges under the terms primary tran-
sition, secondary, alluvia/, subordinate ,and voicanicformations.
" Hutton, looking upon the face of nature, gives a very
different account of the present order of things, and observes
every thing in a state of decay ; but as she has obviously
provided for the regeneration of animal and vegetable tribes,
the philosopher descries in this apparent destruction of the
surface of the earth, the real source of its renovation.
" The stupendous mountains exposed to the action of the
varying -temperature of the atmosphere, and the waters of
the clouds, are, by slow degrees, suffering constant diminu-
tion ; their fragments are dislodged, masses are rolled into
the valley, or carried by the rushing torrent into rivers ;
whence they are transported to the sea. The lower and
softer^-ocks are undergoing similar but more rapid destruc-
tion. The result of all this must be, the accumulation of
new matter in the ocean, which will be deposited in horizon-
tal layers.
" Hutton perceives the transition rocks of Werner, though
not strictly crystalline, made up apparently of finely divided
matter, more or less indurated; sometimes very hard in tex-
ture, and of a vitreous fracture ; that this hardening is most
perceptible when in contact with the primitive or inferior
rock, which often pervades the transition rocks in veins, or
appears to have broken up or luxated the superincumbent
masses.
* The transition or secondary rocks of Werner, were, ac-
cording to Hutton, deposited at the bottom of the ocean, in
consequence of operations similar to those which are now
active, and the primary rocks were formed beneath them
by the operation of subterraneous fires ; their crystalline
texture, their hardness, their shape and fracture, and the al-
terations they have produced upon their neighbours, are the
B 5
10 INTRODUCTION.
proofs of the correctness of these views. It is by the action
of fire then, that rocks have been elevated, that strata have
been hardened, and that those changes have resulted, which,
an examination of the earth's surface, unfolds. The produc-
tion of soils and of alluvial lands, is considered as dependant
upon causes the same as those referred to in the other
theory. To conclude this introduction, you will observe, that
Button refers to fire as well as water, for the production of
our present rocks ; the former, consolidating, hardening, and
elevating ; the latter, collecting and depositing the strata.
" These, my dear Edward, are the principal systems of
geology that have excited the attention and study of the
learned of late years. It remains now for us to take a gene-
ral survey of the earth as to its superficial contents and po*
pulation.
" The surface of the earth then contains about 198,956,786
square miles, more than two -thirds of which are covered
with water, as may be proved by taking a map of the
world, and cutting out all that part of it, which is assigned
to the continents and islands, from what is allotted to the
oceans, seas, gulfs, bays, aod lakes. Then, putting the land
in one scale, and the water in another, we shall find the latter
one-third heavier than the former.
" The seas and unknown parts are said to contain
159,966,217 square miles, and the inhabited parts 38,990,569,
of which
Europe contains - 4,456,065 square miles.
Asia - - - 10,768,823
Africa - - 9,654,807
America - - 14,110,874
38,990,569
" Now as respects the human beings who inhabit the earth,
the following table has been given as an estimate of their
numbers.
Asia contains - 500,000,000 of souls..
Europe - - 150,000,000
Africa - - - 30,000,000
America - - - 20,000,000
Austral Asia, Polynesia, and") 500000
Isles in the Pacific ocean J
Total, -- - 700,500,000
ENGLAND. 11
" And now, Edward, can you tell me how many persons
there will be to every square mile of ground in each of the
quarters of the globe ?"
" Admitting your calculations to be accurate, Sir," re-
plied Edward, " the population to every square mile will be,
to Europe 34 nearly, to Asia 46, to Africa 3, and in Ame-
rica there are only 3 inhabitants to every 2 square miles."
CHAPTER II.
ENGLAND.
SECTION I.
OXFORD BLENHEIM.
DR. WALKER and his pupil pursued the route to Oxford,
without any interruption : it was evening when they entered
this city of palaces, and the next day Dr. Walker purposed
continuing their journey. "fi*to attempt a description of
this beautiful city and its colleges," continued he, " jyould
be to attempt an Herculean task ; a volume, indeed, would
scarcely suffice to detail the beauties and wonders it con-
tains. As to the foundations *>f the different colleges, by
whom, and when, any geographical book will give you that.
Months might be profitably occupied in inspecting the dif-
ferent libraries, cfturches, and colleges; and, as I hope, when
we return from our tour, we shall spend many pleasant days
together within the walls of Christ-church, I do not chuse
you should take a superficial glance of what is deserving a
very large portion of your time and attention. I myself was
brought up at Cambridge, and I confess I feel anxious you
should also visit that University; though you must pro-
secute your studies at Oxford, because I am well acquainted %
with the partiality your father had for Oxford. We used, in
days of yore, to have many amicable disputes, together as to
the superiority of the two colleges. I am vvell aware that
Cambridge must yield to Oxford, as far as outward splendour
goes, but, being a Cantab, I am bound to support the repu-
tation of that University, to which I am so much indebted,
against all who shall dare to dispute it,
B 6
12 ENGLAND.
" Thus you see Edward, how we are beset with preju-
dices."
Early on the following morning our travellers quitted Oxford
for Woodstock, which is celebrated for having been the resi-
dence of many of our English monarchs, and for being the spot
where Henry II. concealed Rosamond, daughter of Lord Clif-
ford, his favourite mistress. There is still pointed out a qua-
drangular receptacle of pure water, flowing from a little spring
under the hill, which is called her yoell. There are now no
remains of the labyrinth, though so late as the middle of
the last century part of that, as well as of the old palace,
were then in existence. In the year 1705, the manor
was settled on John, Duke of Marlborough, by act of Par-
liament, and the present superb house, called Blenheim, was
erected for his use. This estate is held by the deposit of a
small square pale-blue flag in Windsor castle, which must be
sent every year, on a particular day, before twelve o'clock.
On this slender offering depends the estate. An omission of
this flag would forfeit the whole magnificent tenure. Wood-
stock has a very fine manufacture of gloves, and formerly it had
one of steel watch chains* which are now totally <5ut of date.
Upon arriving at Bicestre, ourtravellers were not a little dis-
appointed at hearing there were no horses at the inn ; but
the landlord assured them he expected a pair in every mo-
ment. When the poor animals arrived, they looked knocked
up, and neither the doctor nor his pupil could bear the idea
that they should go out again. They accordingly ordered
beds, and proposed strolling about the environs of the town
in the evening. It, however, proved wet, and they were
obliged to content themselves at home, when the following
conversation took place.
DR. WALKER. " Come, Edward, ring for the landlord,
perhaps he can lend us some old Magazines, which would
while away an hour pleasantly, for it is not worth our pains
to unpack our poetic library to night.''
The landlord said, he would do his best, and soon made
his appearance, bringing in a large parcel of old magazines,
pamphlets, newspapers, and so forth. Dr. Walker. " We
shall not lack amusement I perceive, and we are much in-
debted to you, landlord."
LANDLORD. " Not at all, Sir. I am very glad I have been
able to accommodate you. I am sorry you could not take
your walk, for I should have been proud of pointing out to
COAL MINES. 13
you the scite of the ancient town of Alcestre, which formerly
stood close to this place. I have got some coins that were
dug up there in a field of mine, which are quite fresh ; per-
haps you would like to see them/'
DR. WALKER. " Very much indeed.'*
Upon inspecting them they were found to be Roman
coins, bearing the effigies of Titus Vespasian.
DR. WALKER. "What have you there, Edward, that
seerns to have so fixed your attention.
EDWARD. " An account of the coal mines of England,
Sir/'
DR. WALKER. " Read it to me, I shall like very much
to hear a description of them, as they lay completely out of
our beat, and therefore, except from books, we are not likely
to know much about them."
SECTION II.
OF COAL MINES.
EDWARD (reading.} " Coals are scattered, with a more
or less sparing hand, over every continent, and almost over
every kingdom of the globe. But in no country are coal
mines so rich and frequent as in our native soil. M. Fau-
gas de St. Fond, has ascribed the whole opulence of Eng-
land to her coals, as being the very soul of her manufac-
tures and consequent commerce. The coals of Whitehaven
and Wigan are the most pure ; and the cannel, or peacock,
coal of Lancashire, are so beautiful, that they are suspected
by some to have constituted the gagates, or jet, which the an-
cients ascribed to Britain. It is occasionally met with in
Devonshire, as at Bovey-heath, resembling wood impregna-
ted with bituminous matter of turf or peat.
" It is a common opinion among geologists, that pit coal
is of a vegetable origin, and that it has been brought to its
present state by means of some chemical process, with
which we are still unacquainted. There is one circumstance
which gives this opinion, though it may at first appear ex-
travagant, considerable plausibility, we mean the existence
14 ENGLAND.
of vast depositions of matter, halfway, as it were, between
perfect wood and perfect pit coal ; betraying obviously its
vegetable nature, and yet so nearly approximating to pit
coal in several respects, that it has been generally distin-
guished by the name of coal. One of the most remarkable
of these depositions exists in Devonshire, about 13 miles
south west of Exeter, and is well known by the name of
Bovey coal. It has been very well described by Dr. Mills, in
the Philosophical. Transactions ; and its vegetable nature has
been ascertained by Mr. Hatchett, by a process of chemical
experiments, by means of which he found both extractive
and resin ; substances peculiar to the vegetable kingdom/'
EDWARD, (putting dawn the book.) " What was it defined
before it was classed among the vegetable substances, Sir ? r
DR. WALKER. " Mineral. But, my dear Edward, you
must glance over the subject, and chuse some one particular
colliery, and that will give us some idea of all."
Edward having slightly skimmed over the subject, selected
the coal mines at Whitehaven, for their evening's amuse-
ment, and he began as follows :-
** The coal mines at this place are perhaps the most ex-
traordinary of any in the known world. Sir John Lowther
was the first that wrought them for foreign consumption ;
and it has been computed, that this gentleman and his son,
Sir James, in the compass of a century, expended in one of
them only, upwards of half a million sterling.
" The principal entrance into these mines, for men and
horses, is by an opening at the bottom of a hill, through a
long passage hewn in the rock; which by a steep descent
leads down to the lowest vein of coal. The greatest part of
this descent is through spacious galleries, which are continu-
ally intersected by other galleries ; all the coal being cut
away except large pillars, which, in deep parts of the mine,
are three yards high, and about twelve yards square at the
base ; such great strength being there required to support
the ponderous roof.
" The mines are sunk to the depth of one hundred and
thirty fathoms, and are extended under the sea to places
where there is above them, sufficient depth of water for ships
of large burthen."
" Astonishing !" exclaimed Edward.
" These are the deepest coal mines that have been hitherto
wrought; and, perhaps, no other miners have penetrated
COAL MINES. 15
to so great depth below the sea, as those of Whitehaven.
The very deep mines in Hungary, Peru, and elsewhere,
being situated in mountainous regions, where the surface of
the earth is elevated to a great height above the level of the
ocean.
" There are here three strata of coal, which lie at a
considerable distance above the other, and there is a com-
munication by pits between one of these parallel strata and
another. But the vein of coal is not always regularly con-
tinued in the same inclined plane, but instead thereof, the
miners meet with hard rock, which interrupts their further
progress. At such places there seem to have been breaks
in the earth, from the surface downwards ; and in some of
them it may have sunk ten or twenty fathoms, or even more*
These breaks the miners call Dykes ; and when they meet
with one of them, their first care is to discover whether the
strata in the part adjoining be higher or lower than in the
part where they have been working ; or, to use their own
terms, whether the coal be cast down or up. If it be cast
down, they sink a pit to it ; but if it be cast up to any con-
siderable height, they are oftentimes obliged, with great
labour and expence, to carry a level and long gallery through
the rock, until they again arrive at the strata of coal.
" Those who have the direction of these deep and exten-
sive works, are obliged, with great art and care, to keep
them continually ventilated with perpetual currents of fresh
air. In the deserted works which are not ventilated with
perpetual currents of fresh air, large quantities of damps
and noxious exhalations are frequently collected; and in
such works they often remain for a long time, without doing
any mischief. But when by some accident they are ignited,
that is to say set on fire, they then produce dreadful explo-
sions, and bursting out of the pits with great impetuosity,
like the fiery eruption from burning mountains, they force
along with them ponderous bodies to a great height in the air.
" The coal in these mines has several times been ignited
by these fulminating damps, anci has continued burning for
many months, until large streams of water were conducted
into the mines, and suffered to fill those parts where the
coal was burning. By such fires several collieries have been
totally destroyed, of which there are instances near New-
castle, and in other parts of England, as well as at Fife in
W ENGLAND.
Scotland ; in some of which places the fire has continued
burning for ages.
" In order to prevent as much as possible, the collieries
from being filled with those pernicious damps, it has been
found necessary, carefully to search for those crevices in
the coal, from whence they issue out, and at those places
to confine them within a narrow space : and from those
narrow spaces in which they are confined, to conduct them
through long pipes into the open air, where being set on
fire, they consume in perpetual flames, as they continually
arise out of the earth.
" The late Mr. Spedding, who was the great engineer of
these works, having observed that the fulminating damp
could only be kindled byjlame, and that it was not liable
to be set on fire by red hot iron, nor by the sparks produced
by the collision of flint and steel, invented a machine, in
which a steel wheel is turned round with a very rapid mo-
tion, and flints being applied thereto great plenty of fiery
sparks are emitted, that afford the miners such a light as
enables them to carry on their work in close places, where
the flame of a candle or a lamp would occasion a dreadful
explosion."
DR. WALKER. " Sir Humphrey Davey has invented a
safety lamp upon such an ingenious principle that no dan-
ger is now apprehended from accidents of this kind."
EDWARD, ( resuming his reading.}" But not so many
mines have been ruined by fire, as by inundations ; and here
that noble invention the steam engine displays its beneficial
effects. It appears from pretty exact calculations, that it
would require about 550 men, or a power equal to that of 1 10
horses to work the pumps of one of the largest steam engines
now in use, and thrice that number of men to keep an en-
gine of this size constantly at work, and that as much water
may be raised by an engine of this size, kept constantly at
work, as might be drawn up by 2520 men by rollers and
buckets, after the manner now daily practised in mines ; or
as much as can be borne up on the shoulders of twice that
number of men, as is said to be done in the mines of Peru.
So great is the power of the elastic steam of the boiling
water in those engines, and of the outward atmosphere,
which by their alternate actions give force and motion to the
beam of this engine, and by it to the pump rods, which
SCILLY ISLANDS. 17
elevate the water through tubes, and discharge it out of the
mine."
DR. WALKER. " You have heard what the Negro said
upon seeing one of those steam engines at work. c White
man make every thing work, fire, water, earth, and air,,
and he boil water to make it work harder.' "
SECTION III.
THE SCILLY ISLANDS, AND TIN MINES OF CORNWALL.
" So much for the coal mines ;" said Dr. Walker, <c now
turn over, perhaps we may find something relating to the
tin mines."
EDWARD. " Yes, Sir, here is an account of them, shall
I read it ?"
DR.WALKER. " Pray begin ; but one word upon the an-
tiquity of these Cornish mines. The Cornish tin mines were
well known to those great navigators of antiquity, the Phoe-
nicians, who visited the British Isles for the purpose of
procuring this useful, beautiful, and valuable metal. Hence
the Greek name Cassiterides, or the Islands of Tin, which they
bestowed upon Great Britain and Ireland. The Scilly Isles
alone have retained the name of the Cassiterides, although
they no longer exhibit symptoms of the precious metal, from
whence the name is derived. Shut your book for the pre-
sent, and order tea, and while we sip the fragrant beverage,
we will make an ideal tour to those barren isles, after which
we will resume our studies upon mineralogy.
" The inhabitants of this unkindly spot are all new comers ;
these isles contain no habitations worth notice ; no remains
of any Phoenician, Grecian, or Roman art, either in town,
castle, port, temple, or sepulchre. All are vanished. The
few antiquities that remain are DruidicaL Upon all the
islands, (several of which are now without cattle or inhabi-
tants) are the remains of hedges, walls, foundations of
houses, and a great number of sepulchral burrows, which
clearly prove that they have been cultivated, and conse-
quently inhabited. That they were inhabited by Britons,,
18 ENGLAND.
is past all doubt, for they have not only British names for
their little islands, tenements, and creeks, but there are
many remains of circles of stones, erect rude stone pillars,
cairns, &c. all monuments common in Cornwall and Wales,
M'here the ancient Britons fled for refuge during the invasion
of the Danes, Romans, and Saxons. How these ancient
inhabitants disappeared has been matter of much specu-
lation ; to which it has been answered, the manifest en-
croachments of the sea, and as manifest a subsidence of
some parts of the land, are the causes of this depopulation.
The sea is the insatiable monster which devours these little
islands, satiates itself with the earth, sand, clay, and all the
yielding parts, and leaves nothing where it can reach, but
the skeleton, the bared rocks. The continual advances the
sea has made during the last thirty years is obvious* What
is seen to happen every day, may be supposed to have hap.
pened in ancient times, and fronr the banks and sand giving
way to the sea, and the breaches becoming still more open
and irrecoverable, it appears that repeated tempests have
occasioned a gradual dissolution of the solids, for many
ages, and as gradual and progressive an ascendancy of the
iuicls.
" Again, the flats stretching from one island to another^
are plain evidences of a former union subsisting between manj
now distinct islands. The flats between Trescow, Brehar,
and Sanipson, are quite dry at a spring tide, and men easily
cross them dry shod at such times ; on the shifting of the
sands, walls and ruins are frequently discovered, on those
spots which at a full sea are covered with water ten or twelve
feet deep. History confirms their former union. * The
isles Cassiterides/ says Strabo, * are ten in number, close
to one another ; one of them is desert and unpeopled, the
rest are inhabited/ But the sea has wonderfully multi-
pied these ten islands, for there are now one hundred and
forty; into so many fragments are they divided, and yet
there are but six inhabited.
" But no circumstance can show the great alterations
which have taken place in the number and extent of these
islands, more than the following : -the Isle of Scilly from
which the little cluster derives its name, is nothing more at
present than a high rock, of about a furlong over, the
summit of whose arid cliffs can hardly be attained but by
SCILLY ISLANDS, 19
birds, and whose surface is so totally barren that it is inha-
bited by those birds only which feed upon fish.
" The land, or rather sands, between Sanipson and Tres-
cow, which were formerly covered with dwellings, are now
in many parts sunk sixteen feet below water; for we cannot
suppose the ocean to have risen to that extraordinary height.
This subsidence of the land must have been followed by an
immense inundation, and this inundation is likely not only
to have destroyed a great part of the inhabitants, but also
to have terrified others into a total desertion of their shat-
tered islands. This subsidence might have been caused by
an earthquake very possibly, and thus is the extirpation of
the Aborigines, or original inhabitants, who carried on so
large a traffic with the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans,
accounted for. There is one load or working of tin on
Trescow, but this is so very trifling, and so lately worked,
that except for the historical records upon that subject, no
one would have supposed that these were the islands so
fertile in tin, so much coveted by the Romans, and so
long concealed by the Phoenicians."
DR. WALKER. " You know the story of the Phoenician
captain, who ran his vessel on shore purposely, and thus
lost his ship rather than discover the trade of these islands
to the Romans. That these mines are now sunk into the
sea, there is but little doubt; for there is a tradition in
Cornwall, that formerly there existed a large country be-
tween the Land's End and Scilly, now laid many fathoms
under water. Now in all national traditions, however im-
probable they may seem, or however they may be enveloped
in fable, there must have been originally some foundation
from which they arose ; invention and the love of the mar-
vellous, may have adorned or even disfigured them, but to
truth, though hard to be discovered, their origin must be
attributed. Now although there is no evidence to be de-
pended upon, of any ancient connection of the Land's End
and Scilly, or at least of their proximity to each other, yet
that the cause of that inundation, which destroyed much
of these islands, might reach also to the Cornish shore, is ex-
tremely probable ; there being several evidences of a like
subsidence of the land in Mount's bay, where the principal
anchoring place, formerly called a lake, is now a haven or
open harbour. The Mount, from its Cornish name Guavas
Lake, signifying, the grey rock in a ivood,, we must natu.
20 ENGLAND.
rally imagine to have stood formerly in a wood; but now at
full tide, it is Haifa mile in the sea, and not a tree near it."
EDWA RD. " I wish my memory was as good as your's
Sir."
Du. WALKER. " Nature has not been sparing of her gifts
to you, and it remains with yourself, whether you chuse to
wrap your talent in a napkin, or whether you chuse to make
it ten, Sancho would tell you, * Rome was not built in a
day,* and it would be hard indeed, if at your time of life,
you should be equal in information to me, who have been
cultivating my talent for these last forty years, I may say
with unwearied dilligence ; but the same field is before you,
and at my age you will, I hope, be a wiser man than your
tutor. Having satisfied our curiosity with our imaginary
trip to the Scilly Islands, you may now resume your book."
EDWARD, f reading.) " The tin works are of different sorts,
on account of the different forms in which that metal appearsj
for in many places it so strongly resembles common stones,
that it can be only distinguished from them by its superior
weight. It sometimes appears mixed with earth, forming a
substance as hard as stone, and this ore is always found in
a continued stratum which the miners call load, running
through the hardest rocks, beginning in small veins near the
surface, perhaps not above half an inch or an inch wide, and
gradually increasing in size, stretch out in extraordinary
ramifications, and bending downwards in a position which
generally lies east and west. These loads are sometimes
white, very wide, and occasionally so thick that large lumps
of the ore are drawn of more than twenty pounds weight.
The loads of tin ore are not always continuous, but some-
times break off so abruptly that they appear to terminate.
But the sagacious miner knows that by digging at a small
distance, on one side he shall meet with a separated part of
the load, appearing to tally so exactly with that which is
so suddenly interrupted, that it appears as if it had been
broken off by some violent shock of the rock. The miners
of this country follow the load in all its meandering
curves, through the bowels of the rocky earth. Sometimes
the waters are drained from these mines by subterraneous
passages, formed from the body of the mountain to the level
of the country : these are called adits, and occasionally
prove the labour of many years ; but when effected, save
fche constant expence of large water works and fire engines.
TIN MINES. 121
* c In order to convey the ore above ground, they sink a
passage to the mine, from the surface of the earth, which they
call a shaft, and over it place a large winch ; but in greater
works a wheel and axle, by which means they draw up large
quantities of the mineral at a time, in vessels called kibbuls.
This ore is thrown into heaps, which great numbers of poor
people are employed in breaking to pieces, and fitting the
ore for the stamping mills.
" A third form in which tin appears is that of crystals ;
for tin will, under proper circumstances, readily crystallize;
and hence, in many parts of the mineral rocks, are found the
most perfectly transparent and beautiful crystals of pure tin/'
DR. WALKER. " Does it say nothing of its properties ?"
EDWARD. * 4 No, Sir, not a word."
DR. WALKER. " Then I will give you a brief sketch of
them. Tin is of a colour approaching to that of silver, but
somewhat duller ; next to lead, it is the softest and least
elastic of all the metals. In tenacity it is superior to lead,
and though not very ductile, it may be reduced to very thin
leaves. It is less sonorous than copper, iron, or silver, and
it is the lightest of all the metals, except cast-iron.
" The putty of tin is used for polishing mirrors, lenses,
&c. and for rendering glass white and opaque, or converting
it into enameL It is soluble in sulphuric acid, and with mu-
riatic acid it forms muriate of tin, which is of great use in
dyeing. Tin combined with sulphur, forms aurum musicum,
used by the japanners. It alloys with other metals forming
solder. W T ith lead and antimony it constitutes pewter ; and
with mercury, it is employed for silvering mirrors.
" Tin formed a part of the composition of the ancient
bronze ; for, according to Pliny, new copper was first melted,
into which was poured a third of its weight of copper which
had been long in use. To every hundred pounds weight of
this mixture they added twelve pounds and a half of a mix.
ture, composed of equal parts of lead and tin. Bell metal is
also composed of tin and copper. And the best specula of
the ancients were composed of these two metals, and made
at Brundusium.
" The purity of tin in Cornwall is ascertained, before it
is exposed to sale, by what is called its coinage ; the tin,
when smelted from the ore, is poured into quadrangular
moulds of stone, containing about 320 pounds weight of me-
tal, which, when hardened, is called a block of tin ; each
22 ENGLAND.
block of the tin is coined in the following manner. The officers
appointed by the Duke of Cornwall assay it, by taking off a
piece of ore of the under corners of the block, partly by cut-
ting, and partly by breaking, and if well purified, they stamp
the face of the block with the seal of the duchy, which
stamp is a permission for the owner to sell, and at the same
time an assurance that the tin so marked has been properly
examined and found merchantable.
" The Dutch tin founders have all these marks, so that
this stamp is no security for foreigners, who purchase what
they think assayed English tin in Holland.
" Our evening has not appeared very long," said the doc*
tor, as he looked at his watch, " yet it is just upon the
stroke often. But we will not order supper just now, as I
have one mare subject I wish to discuss ; 1 mean the Eddystone
Light-House, to which my imagination has wandered upon
quitting the Scilly Isles."
SECTION IV.
THE EDDYSTONE LIGHT- HOUSE.
" LIGHT-HOUSES are a very ancient invention. Near Alex-
andria, in the island of Pharos, stood one particularly cele-
brated ; it was ranked as one of the Seven Wonders of the
World, and was a building of extraordinary beauty, as well
as of incalculable utility. Sostratus, the Cnidian, was the
architect, under the patronage of Ptolemy Philadelphus, who
expended upon its erection, the sum of 1 80, GOO/, sterling.
Ptolemy anxious to immortalize himself by so useful and
magnificent a work, ordered his name to be placed upon it ;
but the architect, although he apparently obeyed the com-
mands of his master, yet contrived to make his own name
the more lasting of the two. Having engraved the following
inscription upon it 4t Sostratus the Cnidian, son of Tezipha-
ncs, to the protecting deities, for the use of seafaring people"
He then covered this sculpture with lime, upon which he
traced the name of Ptolemy. In the course of a few years
the lime wore away, and beneath it appeared the artist's
own inscription. Amongst the modern light-houses JSddy-
LIGHT-HOUSES. 23.
stone stands conspicuous. The Eddystone rocks are almost
in the line, but somewhat within it, which joins the Start
and the Lizard points ; and as they lie nearly in the direction
of vessels coasting up and down Channel, they were formerly
very dangerous, and often fatal to ships, until the erection
of this light-house.
" Their situation, with regard to the Bay of Biscay and At-
lantic Ocean, is such that they lie open to the swells of the
bay and ocean from all the south-western points of the com-
pass ; which swells are generally allowed by mariners to be
very great and heavy in those seas, particularly in the bay of
Biscay. The soundings from the south-westward to these
rocks are from eighty to forty fathoms, and until you come
very near the rock they are no where less than thirty, so that
all the heavy seas from the south-west rush uncontrouled
upon them with the utmost fury. The force and height of
these seas is increased by the circumstance of the rocks
stretching across the Channel in a north and south direction,
to the length of some hundred fathoms, and also by their
lying in a sloping manner to the south-west quarter. The
effect of this slope on the rush of waters in stormy weather is
terrific ; and after a heavy gale, where all appears superfi-
cially calm, the ground swell in the neighbourhood of these
rocks is so prodigious, as to cause so rough a sea that no boat
can land upon them. These difficulties appeared almost in.
superable, but the daring genius of man has surmounted
them all. Another circumstance, which considerably damp-
ed all hopes of working upon these rocks, was a sudden drop
of their surface, forming a step between four and five feet
high : so that the seas, which even in moderate weather beat
with a heavy swell against this part, meeting with so sudden
a check, the sprays are frequently impelled thirty or forty
feet upwards. The Eddystone rocks, therefore, remained
for ages an object of the mariner's fears, but at length, in the
year 1696, a gentleman of Littlebury, in Essex, whose name
was Henry Winstanley, undertook to erect a lighthouse on
this fearful spot. In the course of four years the edifice was
completed, and the architect felt so assured of its stability,
that he wished he might be within it " during the greatest
storm that ever blew under heaven." His wish was unfor-
tunately gratified : on the 26th of November, 1703, the most
tremendous storm that is detailed in the records, not only of
this, but of any other country, swept away, in a few short
24 ENGLAND.
hours, the perishable and boasted work of man, and left only
the bare rock, standing proudly erect. Mr. Winstanley and
all his people were buried in the tempestuous deep, and no
trace of the unwearied and dangerous labour of four years
remained, except a few large irons which fastened the build-
ing to the rock!"
EDWARD. " Poor creatures ! What a fate ! I am sur-
prized that any body, after such an accident, would venture
to erect a second." ^
DR. WALKER. " Patience and perseverance conquer most
things> In the year 1709, Mr. John Rudyerd, a silk mercer,
undertook the dangerous task ; and although the light-house
was erected only of wood, it yet resisted the fury of the
winds and waves during forty -six years, and was at last de-
stroyed by fire.
" Mr. Smeaton, the celebrated engineer, was then chosqn
as a person well calculated to repair so important and na-
tional a loss. On the 2nd of April, 1757, he laid the foun-
dation of the present structure. The rock which slopes to-
wards the south-west, is cut into horizontal steps, into which
are dove-tailed and united by a strong cement Portland stone
and granite. The whole to the height of thirty feet, from
the foundation is a solid mass of stones, engrafted into each
other, and united by every means of additional strength.
The building has four rooms, one over the other, and at
the top a gallery and lantern. The stone floors are flat
above, but concave beneath, and are kept from pressing
against the sides of the building by a chain let into the walls.
It is nearly eighty feet high, and since its completion has
been repeatedly assailed by the fury of the elements without
suffering the least injury.''
EDWARD. " What a life the poor men must have who at.
tend to the light. In what manner are these light-houses
illumined?"
DR. WALKER. " By means of lamps and reflectors. For-
merly they were lighted by immense coal fires ; but the pre-
sent plan has many and great advantages. The light, in the
first place, is much more brilliant, is less expensive, and is
not so liable to be affected by the weather, while the man
who has the charge of it is neither exposed to wet or cold.
And now, Edward, ring the bell : it grows late, and we must
rise early in the morning,"
AERIAL PHENOMENA.
SECTION V.
OF AERIAL PHENOMENA.
'Qu ii travellers began their journey with the sun on the
following day ; and, after a pleasant ride, they arrived to-
wards evening at Upton, and from thence proceeded to Great
Malvern. The picturesque beauty of the surrounding sce-
nery, glowing with an evening sunset, was considerably
heightened by the gradual appearance of the resplendent
arch of heaven; while the sweet south, upon a bank of vio-
lets, refreshed and perfumed by a vernal shower, came waft-
ing to them, and regaled their senses with all the sweets of
spring. " How resplendent are those colours !" said Ed-
ward, as the rainbow became every instant more distinct and
brilliant.
" Yes," replied the Doctor, " and of all the instances of
refrangibility of light, or, in other words, the separation of
its primary colours, none is more remarkable, than that of
the Iris, or rainbow. It is formed, in general, by the re-
flection of the rays of the sun's light from the drops of fall-
ing rain, though frequently it appears among the waves of
the sea, whose heads, or tops, are blown by the wind into
spray and small drops, and it is sometimes seen on the
ground, when the sun shines on a very thick dew.
" The immediate cause of this refractibility is this. When
rays of light pass through one medium and enter another of
different density, they are diverted from their former course,
and are then said to be refracted. Hence a ray of light en-
tering a globule of rain, instead of passing through the cen-
tre of the globule, and out at the opposite point by which it
entered, it will be driven towards another marginal position,
and form an angular line coequal to the obliquity, with
which it deviates from a right line on its entering the glo-
bule, just as a stake or oar, plunged obliquely into a river,
appears to be broken at the ;point at which it enters the wa.
ter. Now this ray of light does not, of course, illumine the
whole globule, and the unillumined part of the rain drop
forming a dark back ground to the ray of light, the globule
C
26 ENGLAND.
has the property of a mirror. The ray which is thus form-
ed is again reflected by the mirror thus produced, and it as-
sumes a triangular figure. This angle of light has the pro-
perty of a prism, and exhibits what are called prismatic co-
lours. The spread of this angle must depend upon the dia-
meter of the globule which produces it, and its point being
obtuded or softened to the eye by the distance
through which it is beheld, the angle must
be converted into an arch, thus, and hence a
beautiful and variegated bow is produced.
The drops of rain falling continually, a
new rainbow is produced every moment : and as each spec-
tator has his particular situation from which he observes this
phenomenon, it so happens that no two persons, properly
speaking, can see the same rainbow.
" The beautiful colours of the rainbow, to Pliny and Plu-
tarch, appeared an object we might admire, but could never
explain ; arid the priests of antiquity always preferred the
wood, on which the rainbow had appeared to rest, for their
sacrifices, religiously supposing this wood had a perfume pe-
culiarly agreeable to the gods.
" Cascades and fountains, whose waters are in their fall
divided into drops, exhibit rainbows to a spectator, if pro-
perly situated during the time of the sun's shining ; and \va.
,ter blown violently from the mouth of an observer, whose
back is turned to the sun, never fails to produce the same
phenomenon.
" This appearance is also seen by moon-light, though sel-
dom vivid enough to render the colours distinguishable ; and
the artificial rainbow may be produced even by candle-light,
on the water which is ejected by a small fountain, or jet-
d'eau. All these are of the same nature, and dependent on
the same causes, viz. the various refrangibility of the rays of
light.
u The colours observable on soap bubbles, and the halos
which sometimes surround the moon, are also referable to
the -same origin.
" We shall prove this if we darken a room, and permit
the sun to shine into it through a small hole in the window-
shutter, so that the rays of light be made to fall upon a glass
prism : then will these rays, in passing through this prism,
suffer different degrees of refraction, and by that means be
parted into different rays, which being received upon a sheet
AERIAL PHENOMENA. 7
of white paper, will exhibit the following colours, viz. red,
orange, yelloiv, green, blue, indigo, and violet ; and if the
whole spectrum, or image, be divided into 360 equal parts,
the red will occupy 45 of these parts, the orange 27, the yel-
low 48, -the green 60, the blue 60, the indigo 40, and the
violet 80.
" As a ray of the sun may be separated into these seven
primitive colours, so, by their mixture in due proportions,
may white be produced. White, therefore, is the mixture
of all the colours, as black is the want, or deprivation, of
colour : and this may be proved, by fixing pieces of cloth of
all the seven different colours, on the rim of a wheel, and
whirling it round with great velocity ; when it will appear to
be white. Though seven different colours are distinguish-
able in the prismatic spectrum, yet, upon examining the
matter with more accuracy, we shall see that there are, in.
fact, only three original colours, red, blue, and yellow ; for
the orange being situated between the red and yellow, is
only the mixture of these two : the green in like manner,
arises from blending the blue, and yellow, and the violet re-
sults from the blue and red."
Before our travellers reached the principal inn at Malvern,
it was nearly dark, and by the titae dinner was over, evening
was too far set in to allow them to walk ; they therefore
drew their chairs to the fire-side, and Dr. Walker renewed
the conversation upon some of the various phenomena of the
air.
. " You have heard, I dare say, of the Fata Morgana, Ed-
ward," enquired the Doctor. " But you never, perhaps,
thought of enquiring into its causes. In Scotland these gro-
tesque and sometimes beautiful illusions, are .called Glamer ;
the English sailors call them Fog-banks, and the French Mi-
rage. In order to illustrate this delusion as clearly as may
be, it is necessary first of all to call your attention to the
variable state of the atmosphere ; which is commonly of an
homogeneous, or equable tenuity, and consequently suffers
the sun's rays to penetrate it without any obstruction or
change ; but it is occasionally irregular, and composed of
parts or bodies of a denser medium than its general texture
and constitution, in which case the fluent ray, if it do not
enter the denser medium in a direct or perpendicular line,
will be either reflected, or refracted, or both ; and the object
surveyed through it assumes a new, and not unfrequently
c2
28 ENGLAND.
grotesque appearance. We have seen that in the descent
of rain, the globules, when opposed to the sun or moon, at
their rising or setting, in a clear sky, produce this effect as
in the rainbow. But a globule of rain is not the only sub.
stance in the atmosphere capable, at times, of producing the
same effect. Nor since we are told that the mirage usually
occurs when the sky is peculiarly serene and tranquil, could
it be the cause of this singular phenomenon. It is mostly to
be seen in the morning, and principally upon the coasts, or
banks of large rivers. It has been observed, not unfre-
quently, at the back of the Isle of Wight, and on the Scot-
tish coasts, where it never fails to excite superstitious sensa-
tions ; its appearance being always looked upon by the
Highlanders as a most portentous omen.: while at Messina
it no sooner begins to unfold its magical beauties, than
shouts of joy from the delighted populace announce its ap-
pearance, exclaiming with exultation Fata Morgana ! Fata
Morgana !
" When the weather is perfectly calm, and consequently
the sea almost without motion, the atmosphere, more espe-
cially in a dry and hot season, imbibes a considerable por-
tion of the water upon which its lower stratum presses, and
hence in the night-time becbmes condensed and hazy. As
the morning rises, however, and the sun-beams resume their
vigour, the atmosphere once more rarefies and re-acquires
its transparency. If it rarefy equally and homogeneously,
every object beheld through it, must necessarily be exhi-
bited in its real proportion and figure ; but it happens occa-
sionally, that in some parts of its texture it seems to be more
closely interwoven than in others; and hence in its general
expansion, veins, or stria?, like those often discovered in
glass, make their appearance of different densities and dia-
meters. In this case every striae, like every globule of rain,
in consequence of the variation of its density, from the com-
mon density of the atmosphere, becomes a refracting, or a
reflecting body ; in other words, a prism, or mirror, or per-
haps both. If then a single globule of rain, properly dispo-
sed, be able to produce so marvellous a phenomenon as the
rainbow, what phenomena may we not expect, what varia-
tion, contortion, and grotesque and monstrous representa-
tion of images, beheld through a column of the atmosphere,
intersected by so many aerial prisms of different densities,
and mirrors of different surfaces, in whiqh the catheti may
be innumerable, and for ever varying.
AERIAL PHENOMENA. 29
P. Minasi describes three different spectacles of this kind,
as appearing at the Toro of Messina, to which he gives the
following names : Marine Morgana, which is seen on the
surface of the sea; Aerial Morgana, which appears in the
air; and the third he denominates, the Morgana fringed luitk
prismatic colours.
" When the rising sun shines from that point whence its
incident ray forms an angle of about forty-five degrees- on
the sea of Reggio, and the bright surface c&the water in the
bay is not disturbed either by the wind or current, when the
tide is at its height,, and the waters pressed up by currents
to a great elevation in the middle of the channel ; the spec-
tator being placed on an eminence with his back to the sun,
and his face to the sea, the mountains of Messina rising like
a wall behind it, and forming the back ground of the pic-
ture ; on a sudden there appears in the water, as in a catop-
tric theatre, various multiplied objects ; that is to say, num-
berless series of pilastres, arches, castles well delineated,
regular columns, lofty towers, superb palaces, with balconies
and windows, extended allies of trees, delightful plains, with
herds and flocks, armies of men on foot, on horseback, and
many other strange images, in their natural colours, and
proper actions, passing rapidly in succession along the sur-
face of the sea, during the whole of the short period of time
while the above-mentioned causes remain. All these ob-
jects, which are exhibited in the Fata Morgana, are proved
by the accurate observations of the coast and town of Ileggio,
by P. Minasi, to be derived from objects on shore/ 1
EDWARD. " It must be a beautiful as well as extraordi-
nary scene. From what is the name derived?"
DR. WALKER. " The name is probably derived from art
opinion, that the whole spectacle is produced by a fairy or
a magician.
"If, in addition to the circumstances I before described, the
atmosphere be highly impregnated with vapour, and dense
exhalations, not previously dispersed by the action of the
wind and waves, or rarefied by the sun, it then happens, that
in this vapour, as in a curtain extended along the chan-
nel to the height of above forty palms, and nearly down to
the sea, the observer will behold the scene of the same ob-
jects not only reflected from the surface of the sea, but like-
wise in the air, though not so distinctly or well defined as the
former objects from the sea.
c 3
30 ENGLAND.
" Lastly, if the air be slightly hazy and opaque, and at the
same time dewy and adapted to form the Iris, then the above-
mentioned objects will appear only at the surface of the sea,
as in the first case, kit ail vividly coloured or fringed with
red, green, blue, and other prismatic colours *.
" As the day advances, the fairy scene gradually disappears.
But the most singular instance of atmospherical refraction I
ever heard of, was that described in the Philosophical Trans-
actions, as having taken place at Hastings. The coast of
Picardy, which is between forty and fifty miles distant from
that of Sussex, appeared suddenly close to the English shore.
The sailors and fishermen crowded down to the beach,
scarcely believing their own eyes ; but at length they began
to recognize several of the French cliffs, and pointed out
places they had been accustomed to visit. From the sum-
mit of the eastern cliff or hill, a most beautiful scene pre-
sented itself, for at one glance the spectators could see Dun-
geness, Dover cliffs, and the French coast, all along from
Calais to St. Valleroy ; and, as some affirmed, as far to the
westward, even as Dieppe. By the telescope^ the French
fishing boats were plainly seen at anchor ; and the different
colours of the land on the heights, with the buildings, were
perfectly discernible."
EDWARD. " How was this very extraordinary phenome-
non accounted for, Sir ?' y
DR. WALKER. " Why the refractive power of the atmos-
phere was probably produced by a diminution of the density
of its lower stratum, in consequence of the increase of heat
communicated to it by the rays of the sun, powerfully re-
flected from the surface of the earth. The delusion in the
desert, between Alexandria and Cairo, mentioned by M.
Monge, which represented villages surrounded by water;
when they were, in fact, in the midst of burning sands, is
attributed to this same cause."
SECTION VI.
THE MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN.
WHEN Edward rose the next morning, Malvern hills being
covered with a white frost, and illumined by the rising sun,,
* P. Milasi.
MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 31
presented a magnificent appearance ; he quickly dressed
himself, in order to inhale the pure breezes of the mountain;
and when he met the Doctor at breakfast, his countenance
glowed with the effects of his morning walk.
" These hills/' said the Doctor, " should be denominated
mountains ; for the strata is placed in a perpendicular di-
rection, which is the distinguishing characteristic of moun-
tains. The Worcestershire Beacon is the highest point of the
hills; it is 1300 feet perpendicular from the plains. The
component parts of these hills are stone of various kinds, but
so rugged and brittle as to be unfit in general for any orna-
mental work; yet chimney pieces are sometimes made from
it, and, when highly polished, they are by no means con-
temptible.
" Malvern, some twenty or five and twenty years ago, was
a thinly inhabited village, perfectly isolated. But since that
time, fashion, as well as the salubrity of its air and waters,
has rendered it, during one time of the year (the autumn), a
place of great resort ; and those who visited it formerly as a
comfortable and retired place, must now seek elsewhere an
asylum from the gay world. We are not likely to be mo-
lested, Edward, for the gay season, which commences after
that of Cheltenham is concluded, will not begin for these two
or three months. Come, let us see the church.
"This church was bought, I understand, by the inhabitants,
of John Knotsforde for the sum of two hundred pounds. He
was the second possessor, for Henry VIII. gave the priory
to William Pinnocke, who alienated it to John Knotsford.
Before the conquest, this place was a wilderness, and some
of the monks from Worcester Priory retired within its woody
recesses, in order to lead an hermetical life. They agreed to
follow the order of St. Benet ; and from this small be-
ginning, the Priory arose, and became, in the course of time,
wealthy ; for at the Reformation, its revenues were worth
about 3751. a year: a considerable sum in those days.
Malvern Priory, from the benefits conferred upon it by Gi-
selbert, abbot of Westminster, was very much subservient to
that abbey, and was in fact looked upon as a cell belonging
to it. We must not quit this neighbourhood without visit-
ing Little Malvern ; and as it is but three miles and a half
off, we will walk there. J> Upon arriving at Little Malvern,
our travellers were charmed with the romantic scenery which
presented itself. The irregular form of this part of the hill,
c 4?
32 ENGLAND.
adds greatly to its picturesque effect. "Here too there
was a monastery," said the Doctor, u a cell to Great Mal-
vern. What a strange association of ideas does this small
wood excite. In this spot wandered the holy monks, per-
fectly secluded from the world, in the midst of rocks, and
woods, and mountains. On the top of that hill above us,
where there are now the remains of a camp, the Britons are
supposed to have made their last stand against the Romans.
Strange contrasting figures these: the cowl-clad monks, the
naked Britons, and the Romans cased in steel. These were
a very different group to that gay assembly now entering
the little wicket : let us proceed, there is a warren be} 7 ond
this ; and J. think WQ can reach the summit of the hill by this
path." They were, however, obliged to retrace their steps ;
and after ascending a road to Ledbury, which is cut in the
side of the rock, they at length gained the summit, where
they were gratified with the most lovely view of the sur-
rounding country. The apple trees were in full blossom,
and the whole country,, on each side of the hill, had the ap-
pearance of a richly cultivated flower garden. Having visited-
the Holy Well, which is about halfway between the two Mal-
verns, they retired to rest, not a little, fatigued with their
day's excursion, which had been performed on foot. About
eleven o'clock on the following day, they arrived at Wor-
cester ; and having viewed the cathedral, in which are seve-
ral fine monuments, they proceeded to inspect the Porcelain
Manufactory. Before^ however, they prosecuted this inten-
tion, Dr. Walker gave the following paper to his pupil to
read.
" Porcelain may be regarded the finest kind of pottery ;
the art of which consists in working and moulding plastic
earths into various kinds, and forms, and uses.
" The essential material of pottery is clay, which alone
possesses the two requisites for this manufacture, viz. in its
natural state it is of so plastic a nature, as to become
uniformly soft and pliable, and therefore it can be
moulded into any form ; and when thoroughly dried, and
after having undergone red heat for some time, of losing this
plasticity, becoming firm. and hard, and capable of retaining
liquids within its hollow. Clay, however, is in. all instances
a very compound material ; it owes its plasticity to alumine,
one of the nine primitive earths. It may hence be supposed,
that many of the natural clays are sufficiently mixed with
MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 33
other earths, for the potters use without any addition ; but
the white and finer clays mostly require dilution with silex;
(Hint-sand) in some form or other, which may be done to a
considerable extent, without doing away the plasticity re-
quisite for working.
" The most important circumstances in clay for the pur-
pose of making pottery, are these : plasticity, contractility,
solidity, and compactness, for drying colours and fusibility.
The colour of the earth is also of essential importance in the
finer pottery ; but this part of the manufactory is always, and
properly, a secret. The whitest looking clays do not always
burn white : there is in Staffordshire, at the foot of a range
of hills, overlooking the potteries, a stratum of clay, equal
apparently in whiteness and texture to the Devonshire clays,
but it cannot be used in the finest departments of the manu-
factory, because it acquires a cream colour in burning, which
no art can correct.
" We have defined porcelain to be a species of pottery
ware, composed of an earthy mixture, which resists complete
fusion in a very considerable heat, but has been brought by
a less heat than its melting point r to a state of incipient fu-
sion, and is thereby rendered extremely hard, sonorous, and
semi-transparent, and possessing a semi-conchoidal splene-
tery fracture, approaching to the vitreous, which is com-
pletely conchoidal. This last is quite a distinctive character
between porcelain and pottery, for the fracture of pottery is
extremely granular ; and hence porcelain may be considered
as a substance of a middle nature between pottery and
glass.
" From this circumstance, it appears probable, that no
chemical action takes place in pottery, till it arrives at the
state of porcelain. The most perfect and beautiful porce-
lains of Japan in China, are composed of two distinct earths;
one in which silex predominates, and which melts in a strong
heat; and another which is infusible PER SE, or by itself:
and by the union of these two earths, a porcelain is produced
which scarcely vitrifies at the utmost furnace heat, which
art can excite. Of the beautiful European porcelains, which
have been made in imitation of the original, it does not ap-
pear, that any of them unite all its excellencies. The infu-
sibility of the Nankin and Japan china, which is not affected
by the intense heat of a wind furnace, is not to be met wittr,
in the finer porcelains of Europe,"
c5
34 ENGLAND.
EDWARD. I think that is of very little consequence ; and
while we can produce the beautiful Worcester, Colebrook-'
dale, and Swansea porcelain, the Chinese may keep then'
dragon and uncouthly ornamented China.'*
DR.WALKER. " You would then rather have a beautifuf
set of painted Worcester porcelain, than a real set of
Nankin."
EDWARD " Iwould indeed, Sir. I have yet one question
to ask you. You said alumine was one of the original earths.
What are the others ?"
Dn. WALKER. " Notwithstanding the varied appearance-
of the earth under our feet, and of the mountainous
parts whose diversified strata present to our view sub-
stances of every texture and every shade, the whole is com-
posed of only nine primitive earths ; and as three of these
occur but seldom, the variety which is produced by the
other six become more remarkable. To give a still greater 1
variety to the works of nature, these earths are endowed
with an affinity for acids and metallic oxydes, whence arise
the spars, gems, and precious stones of every colour and
every species. These nine earths are silica, alumina, lime,
barytes, magnesia, strontian, yttria, glucino, and zirconia.
Five of these are particularly useful. Lime is the basis of
all mortars and cements ; silica, or silex, is a necessary in-
gredient in earthenware arid glass ; barytes is employed in
chemical laboratories as a re-agent, and for the formation of
salts ; magnesia being the basis of several salts, is of great'
use in medicine ; and alumina, by a due mixture with silex,
is capable of forming vessels for chemists, that will resist the
action of the most concentrated acids, and it is the material
of which bricks are formed."
Our travellers experienced much amusement from the in-
spection cf the porcelain work ; but the various processes in"
the formation of this beautiful article, would be but little un-
derstood by description, and we shall therefore not attempt*
So difficult and discouraging a task.
Having strolled over the field on which the celebrated
battle of Worcester was fought, so fatal to the interests of
Charles II., they returned to their inn where they were to
pass the night. After dinner having seated themselves
comfortably by the fire-side, " Now tell me, Edward/'
Said the Doctor, " what is the cause of the steam round that:
battle of wine which is just placed on the table/'
MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. 35
EDWARD. " I cannot tell you the cause, Sir, although I
have often observed, that when a decanter containing any
thing cold is brought into a warm room, it is always covered
with dew/'
DR. WALKER. " Well then, I will explain it to you : but
this explanation will lead me first of all to define the word
Caloric, which would be scientifically applied in the descrip-
tion of this phenomenon. The word caloric is synonymous
with fire, or that substance which produces the sensation we
call heat, but reverts the sensation itself, or the effect pro-
duced by fire. Animal heat is preserved chiefly by the in-
spiration of atmospheric air. If the hand be put upon a hot
body, part of the caloric leaves the hot body and enters the
hand ; this produces the sensation of heat. On the con.
trary, if the hand be put upon a cold body, part of the ca-
loric contained in the hand, leaves the hand to unite with the
cold body ; this produces the sensation of cold. Caloric
comes to us from the sun, at the rate of 200,000 miles in a
second of a minute. It may also be procured by combustion,
percussion, friction, the mixture of different substances, and
by means of electricity and galvanism. The absorption of
the atmosphere by caloric, cannot be better seen than in the
example before us. The bottle being colder than the sur-
rounding air, absorbs caloric from it, and the moisture which
that air held in solution, becomes visible, and forms the dew
which is deposited on the bottle."
From Worcester our travellers proceeded to Kiddermins-
ter, where they stopped one day in order to view the carpet
manufactory in that place.
" The first carpet made in England/' said Doctor Walker,
" was manufactured under the direction of Anthony Du-
foysy, who was brought from France by Lord Pembroke,
the present earl's grandfather. The manufacturers of Wil-
ton, about twenty years ago, obtained a patent, which among
other particulars, specified, that the carpets should be made
'with bobbin and anchor. Some persons, however, at Kidder-
minster, having obtained an insight into the process of the
manufactory, procured some looms on the same principle,
with this trifling difference, that they were worked with
bobbins and balls, instead of anchors, and thus they eluded
the infringement of the patent* The carpets at Axminster
are woven in one entire piece; and although the genuine
Turkey and Persian carpets are most valued, yet the imita-
c 6
36 ENGLAND.
tions of them by English manufacturers^ are brought to great
perfection, they are so far improved as to be little inferior to
the far-famed Parisian manufacture ; English carpets are
indeed, superior to those of foreign countries in beauty of
colours, and neatness and taste in the patterns."
From Kiddermister they proceeded to Stourbridge, cele-
brated in particular for its glass manufactory. On their
way thither, the conversation turned upon the formation and
origin of this beautiful article.
SECTION VII...
THE MAKING OF GLASS,
"GLASS," said Dr. Walker, " is, strictly speaking, a
chemical substance : you know the discovery of glass is atr
tributed to chance/'
EDWARD. " Yes : some Phcenecean merchants, as Pliny
relates, having been driven by a storm at sea to the mouth of
the river Belus, kindled a fire on the shore, in order to dress
their food. They were greatly surprised after their meal
was finished, at observing a transparent substance round the
spot where their fire had been lighted."
DR. WALKER.-" True : but you have not said what com-
posed the shining transparent substance. It was a mixture
of the herb pali,. and the siiicious particles, or sand on the
shore, the glittering nature of which was peculiarly adapted
for composing this useful and beautiful material. Certainly
the first glass-houses mentioned in history were those at
Tyre. The word glass is formed of the Latin glastum, a
plant ; called by the Greeks istatis ; by the Romans vitrum ;
by the Ancient Britons, guadorn ; and by the English,
iword. The ancient writers make frequent mention of this
plant, as one from which the Britons dyed their bodies blue,
and hence the fictitious matter of which we are speaking,
obtained the name of glass, as having always somewhat of
this blueishness in it. There was a plate of glass found
amidst the ruins of Herculaneum, and this place you know
was destroyed so long ago as the year 80. As to the use to
which this plate was applied, that is not ascertained, aU
MAKING OF GLASS. 37
though the most probable speculation refers to its applica-
tion as a mirror. Before the Romans invaded Britain, glass-
houses had been erected in this country, as well as in Gaul,
Spain, and Italy. In many parts of the country glass amu-
lets have been found, called by the Britons glieneu reigreedh^
or glass adders; these were probably used by the Druids as
amulets^ or charms. In the time of Tiberius, we hear of
glass being made among the Romans ; and by the time of
Nero, the art had arrived at a considerable degree of per-
fection ; for the glass bowls rivalled those of porcelain in
value, and equalled the cups of crystal in their transparency.
The venerable Bede mentions, that glass-makers came into
England in the year 674*, under the protection of the Abbot
Benedict, who were employed in glazing the church and mo>
nastery of Weremouth. Other authors say, they were
brought over by Wilfrid, bishop of Worcester, much about
the same time. In the year 1180, glass windows became
Vry general, but previous to this period glass was considered
as an extraordinary mark of magnificence. Venice for
many years excelled all Europe in the fineness of its glasses ;
and in the thirteenth century the Venetians were the only
people that had the secret of making crystal looking-glasses.
"The glass manufacture was first set up in England in the
year 1557, at Crutch ed Friars, and at the Savoy the fine
Hint glass was first manufactured. Glass plates for looking-
glasses were not made in this country until the year 1673,
at Lambeth, by the encouragement of the then Duke of
Buckingham, who brought over some Venetian artists for
that purpose. The French soon learnt the art, and cast
plates of an immense size.
"Thus much, Edward, for its origin, and the time in
which it was discovered. Now for its properties.
" Glass is one of the most elastic bodies in nature. If the
force with which glass bells strike each other be reckoned
sixteen, that wherewith they recede by virtue of their elas-
ticity, will be nearly jifieen.
"When glass is suddenly, cooled, it becomes exceeding
brittle ; and this brittleness is sometimes attended with very
surprising phenomena. Hollow bells made of annealed
(suddenly cooled) glass, with a small hole in them, will fly to
pieces by the heat of tire hand only, if the hole by which
the internal and external air communicate, be stopped with
a finger. Lately however, some vessels made of such an-
38 ENGLAND.
nealed glass have been' discovered, which have the remark-
able property of resisting very hard strokes given from with,
put, . though they shiver to pieces by the shocks received
from the fall of verj' light and minute bodies dropped into
their cavities. These glasses may be made of any shape ;
all that is necessary in their formation is, that the bottom
should be thicker than the sides. The thicker the bottom is,
the easier do the glasses break. A glass having the bottom
three inches in thickness, flies with as much ease as the
thinner glass would do. Some of these vessels have been
struck by a mallet with force sufficient to drive a null into
wood tolerably hard, and have not been broken : they have
also resisted the shock of heavy bodies let fall into their ca-
vities, from the height of two or three feet, such as musket-
balls, pieces of iron, and other metals, jasper wood, bone,
and so forth. But this is not surprising, because other
glasses will do the same, but the wonder is, that taking a
shiver of flint of the size of a small pea, and letting it fall
into the glass, only from the height of three inches, in about
two minutes the glass flies, and sometimes at the moment of
the shock ; a bit of flint no larger than a grain of sand drop-
ped into several glasses successively, though it did not im-
mediately break them, yet when set by, they all flew in less
than three quarters of an hour.
" Sapphire, diamonds, porcelain, hard-tempered steel,
pearls, and marbles, such as boys play with, produce the
same extraordinary effect. It is also remarkable, that the
glasses broke upon having the bottoms rubbed with the
finger, though some of them did not break till half an hour
afterwards. If the glasses are every where thin alike, they
do not break under these circumstances."
EDWARD " How very extraordinary. Can you account
for this curious phenomenon, Sir ?*'
DR.WALKER. " Not very satisfactorily. Some have pre-
tended to account for these circumstances, by attributing
them to the concussion produced, by dropping the articles-
into the cavities of the glasses, which being stronger than
the cohesive powers of the glass, a rupture must necessa-
rily ensue ; but this reason is by no means conclusive,
unless they could tell us what principle it is which
makes the small piece of flint, weighing about two grains,
more powerfully concussive than iron, copper, gold,
and so forth, which are a thousand times heavier than -the
MAKING OP GLASS. 30
fflnt. Perhaps the most plausible cause may be that of
electricity ; for if the effect were produced by the mere
force of percussion, the fracture would take place instantly,
but that is not always the case. It is evident, therefore,
that this effect is occasioned by the putting in motion some
subtile fluid with which the substance of the glass is filled,
and that the motions of this fluid, when once excited in a
particular part of the glass, soon propagate themselves
through the whole, or greatest part of it, by which means the
cohesive powers- become too weak to resist them. There
can be little doubt but that this fluid is electricity. Glass is
known to contain a large quantity of this powerful fluid,
which possesses the power of breaking glasses, even when an-
nealed with the greatest care ; if put into too violent motion.
Probably the cooling of glass hastily, may make it more
electric than is consistent with its cohesive power, so that
it is broken by the least increase of motion in the electric
fluid, by friction or otherwise. This is evidently the case,
when it is broken by the touch of the finger ; but why it
should also break by the mere contact of the flint, and the
other bodies I have mentioned, has not yet been satisfacto-
rily accounted for.
" I can tell you of another phenomenon equally remark-
able, and which has never yet been explained, neither does
it appear probable that it should. When glass tubes are
laid before a fire, in an horizontal position, having their ex-
tremities properly supported, they acquire a rotatory motion
round their axis, and also a progressive motion towards the
ftre, even when their supports are declining from the fire, so
that the tubes will move a little way up hill towards the fire;
When the tubes are placed in nearly an upright posture,
leaning to the right hand, the motion will be from east to
west, but if they lean to the left hand, their motion will be
from west to east; and the nearer they are placed to the
upright posture, the less will the motion be either way. If
the tube be placed horizontally on a glass plane, the frag-
ment for instance of a coach*window glass ; instead of moving
towards the fire, it will move from it, and about its axis in a
contrary direction to what it had done before, nay it will'
even recede from the fire, and move a little up hill when the
plane inclines towards the fire. Now, these are most extra-
ordinary and most unaccountable experiments which*
are all recorded in the Philosophical Transactions. The
philosophers who made these experiments, succeeded
40 ENGLAND,
best with tubes, about twenty or two and twenty inches-
long, which had in each end a pretty strong pin, fixed in a
cork for an axis.''
EDWARD. u How exceedingly curious !'*
DR.WALKER. "Having thus discussed its wonders, we will
proceed to a more minute description of its formation. The
materials employed in the manufactory of glass, are by che-
mists reduced to three classes, viz. alkalies, earths, and me-
tallic oxydes. Alkalies possess the following properties : they
have the power of converting a vegetable blue to a green co-
lour ; manifest a hot and caustic taste; and are soluble in
water. They are divided into classes fixed and volatile, and
are again subdivided into vegetable and mineral ; the former
being the production of vegetables burnt in the open air,
and the latter has sometimes been found in a natural state
in the earth. Marine plants however, furnish the largest
quantity, of this valuable article. There are but three alka-
lies known at present Potash, Soda, and Ammonia. Pot-
ash and soda are termed fixed alkalies, but ammonia is a vo-
latile alkali ; when dissolved in caloric in the form of gas, it
has a pungent and suffocating smell. Ammonia is procured
by burning animal substances. Formerly it was imported in
large quantities from Egypt, as contained in sal ammoniac.
This was prepared from camel's dung, but it is now obtained
from a distillation of bones, and is called hartshorn. These
digressions will arise from the description of all chemical-*
processes. As you wish thoroughly to comprehend the sub-
ject under discussion, I shall therefore have no scruples in;
making them they are by far too curious to weary your
attention.''
EDWARD. " Indeed they are, Sir.'M
DR.WALKER. " The fixed alkalies may be employed in-
differently, but soda is preferred in this country. The soda
of commerce is usually mixed with common salt and car-
bonic acid, from both of which it must be purified, before it
can be used in making glass. The earths are sdicia, the
basis of flints, lime, and a little alumina, the basis of clay.
Rock crystal is sometimes used when the glass is to be par-
ticularly fine.
" The metallic oxydes employed, are the red oxydeof lead
called minium, or litharge, and the white oxydeof arsenic. The
oxyde of lead, when added in sufficient quantities, enters into
fusion with lead, and forma a glass without the addition o
MAKING OF GLASS. 41
any other ingredient. This oxyde renders glass less brittle
and more fusible, but if added in too large quantities, it in-
jures its transparency. The oxyde of arsenic is not much
used on account of its poisonous qualities/'
EDWARD. " How do they produce the beautiful colour-
ed glasses."
DR. WALKER. " Blue glass is formed by means of oxyde
of cobalt; cobalt is a fossil, of the morcasite species, con-
taining a large quantity of arsenic.
" Green glass, by the oxyde of iron, or copper.
" Violet glass^ by oxyde of manganese. Manganese is a bril-
liant metal, of a dark grey colour, of considerable hardness,
and difficult fusibility. It is very brittle, and when in powder
it has the peculiar property of being attracted by the magnet.
The oxydes of manganese are also used in blacking, and in
purifying glass, as well as colouring it; it is likewise employ-
ed in glazing black earthenware. The black oxyde is also
much used by chemists, for producing oxygen gas, which by
the application of a red heat, it yields in great abundance.
" lied glass, by a mixture of the oxydes of copper and iron.
" Purple glass, by the purple oxyde of gold.
" White glass, by the oxyde of arsenic and zinc : and
" Yellow glass, by the oxyde of silver, and by com*
bustible bodies.
" These, my dear Edward, are the principal properties and
articles used in the composition of glass ; as to the manner of
its formation into plates,. &c. that you will see at Stour-
bridge.
" You will do well to make a memorandum of what I have
told you."
Our travellers having taken some refreshment, were im-
patient to view the glass-houses, where they were greatly
amused with the dexterity with which the men blew the
glass into such various shapes and forms. Those des-
tined for watch glasses are blown into a globular form ; one
globe making many glasses, which are cut by an iron ring.
All glass, except plate glass, is formed by dipping the end
of a very long iron pipe, when red hot, into the boiling glass,
and blowing through it, till the bladder of glass is of the
size necessary for the purpose to which it is destined, it is
then cut up the middle with a pair of shears, if for window
glass, or separated by means of cold water, if destined to be
of a circular, or any such form,.
43 ENGLAND.
Plate-glass is cast ; that is to say, the liquid is conveyed
from the mouth of the furnace to a large taWe, on which it
is poured, and the excrescencies, or bubbles, are immedi-
ately removed by a roller, that is swiftly passed over it ;
it is then cooled, or annealed in the usual way, by being re-
moved by degrees to the coolest part of the annealing
chamber.
SECTION VIII.
DERBYSHIRE.
OUR travellers pursued their journey rapidly till they
came to Derby, where they made a short stay, previous to
their visit to the Peak.
Derby is situated on the west bank of the Derwent, over
which it has a fine stone bridge, well built, upon which
there was formerly a chapel^, now converted into a dwelling-
house. The celebrated silk mill, erected by Sir Thomas
Lambe about the middle of the last century, afforded much
entertainment to our travellers. Sir Thomas brought the
model from Italy, where he ran great risks in procuring it;
but having accomplished his end, he embarked for his na-
tive country, bringing with him so great a treasure. There
are nearly 100,000 movements turned by a single wheel, any
one of which may be stopped independent of the rest.
Every time this wheel goes round, which is three times in
every minute, it works 73,728 yards of silk.
Tile money given by strangers who inspect this mill, is
put into a box, which is opened the day after Michaelmas
day, and a feast is made for the men, women, and children,
who are employed in the works. This is a holiday fondly
anticipated by this part of the community. Drest in their best
attire, they gaily assemble to partake of a whole roasted ox,
and other good fare, which is provided for them. Singing
and dancing conclude the evening's amusement, and the
town is illuminated. Derby contains also a china manufactory,
and the Derbyshire spars are worked into every kind of
WIRKS WORTH. 43
gtiape art can devise, for ornamental purposes. There are
many fine seats in this neighbourhood, but our travellers
had no time for their inspection. They stopped indeed at
Ham to view its romantic gardens, in which two rivers rise^
from the bottom of the mountain called Thorpe Cloud. The
one called the Manifold, which runs under ground seven
miles. Chaff thrown in at Wetton rises here; it boils up
like a vast spring, and soon afterwards falls into the Dove.
From Ham they proceeded to Dove Dale, a narrow winding
glen, among a variety of rocks, through which the river
Dove cakes its irriguous course for about two miles. It is
bounded in a very romantic manner by hills, rocks, and
hanging woods, forming altogether a most lovely picture.
This river, which in summer represents a crystal mirror, re-
flecting the wild beauties of its romantic banks* assumes,
in winter, that of a rapid stream, whose course, interrupted
by fragments of the fallen rocks, is beautifully diversified by
cascades, which though not stupendous enough to lay any
claims to the sublime, are yet extremely beautiful.
Passing through Ashborne, Ulcester, and Kiddleton,
they left the Derwenton the right, which from the accession
of the waters from the Peak Hills, assumed a most formid-
able appearance, and its roar was heard at a considerable
distance. They at length arrived at Quarn, or Quarendon,
where is a famous chalybeate spring, and from thence ad-
vancing due north, they began to view the dismal mountains
of the Peak, although still at some distance.
At Wirksworth they slept, and the next day arrived at
Matlock, seated upon the edge of the Derwent. The en-
virons of this beautiful spot form a winding vale of about
three miles through which the river runs. The Derwent is
extremely varied, both as to breadth and force; in some
places it is broad, clear, and smooth, in others it breaks
upon the rocks, and forms innumerable cascades, whose
light foam falls like showers of mist upon the admiring spec-
tator. Our travellers crossed the river at the turnpike, and
took the winding path up the rock, which led to a luxuri-
ent range of fields at the top, when turning to the left they
reached the point called Hag Roek. From this spot they
had a perpendicular view down a vast precipice to the river,
which here forms a fine sheet of water fringed with wood on
the opposite side; it falls twice ove,r the rocks, and the
beauty of the scenery receives additional effect from the
44; ENGLAND.
roar of the falling, waters. To describe minutely the lovely
and wildly beautiful country which surrounds Matlock,
would encroach too much upon the limits of this work, it
is sufficient to say, that few places excel it, but we cannot
omit the mention of three caverns which lie to the west
and north-west of this romantic place, that most particularly
interesting is called Cumberland Cavern, the entrance to which
is partly artificial, to afford a greater facility to the curious;
traveller, who has to descend fifty. four steps, when the
cavern opens in solitary grandeur. Huge masses of stone
are piled on each other, with tremendous carelessness, evi-
dently produced by some violent concussion, though at an
unknown period. " With what regularity is the cieling
formed," said the Doctor, as they passed through a long
and wide passage, the roof of which is bespangled by spars
of various description. From above, from beneath, and
from the sides, the rays of the light are reflected in every
direction. The next apartment is composed of rocks heaped
on rocks, in terrible array, while the adjoining chamber
presents the appearance of a rocky country, in which
the snow has been drifted. Near the extremities of the
cavern are to be seen fishes petrified, and fixed in the seve-
ral strata which form the surrounding recess. Several of
these have their backs jutting out of the side of the earth, as
if they had been petrified in the act of swimming.
Upon arriving at Buxton, " These baths," said Dr. Walker,
<c were eminent in. the time of the Romans, and are men-
tioned by Lucan. This is confirmed by the high road called
the Roman Bath-gate, close by St. Ann's Well, where I,
am told we may still see the ruins of the old bath, its dimen-
sions and length. The plaister is red and hard as brick; and
appears as if it were burnt, exactly resembling tiles. The
water of Buxton is sulphureous and saline, yet not foetid
but very palatable, because the sulphur is not united with
any vitriolic particles, or but very few saline; it does not
tinge silver.
" The great curiosity attached to St. Anne's Well, is that,
within five feet of it a cold spring rushes out. Mary, Queen,
of Scots, wrote a distich of Julius Caesar, with a little alter-
ation, on a square of glass at this place, which is still shewn/*
Buxton, whose fame thy Baths shall ever tell,
Whom I perhaps shall see no more, farewell I
POOLERS HOLE, 45
The environs of Buxton abound in romantic sights, among
the most striking of which is the dale called Lover's Leap,
on account of a vast precipice which forms one side of a
narrow chasm, and from the summit of which a love-lorn
female is said to have precipitated herself. Each side of this
beautiful dale is bounded by elevated rocks, the proximity
of which is such, that for a considerable space there is
scarcely passage for the bubbling current of the Wye.
Several of these rocks are bare, while others are partially
ornamented by rich spots of vegetation. At the southern
extremity the scene assumes a milder character. A rude
bridge, a mountainous path, and a busy mill, with other
rural objects, form a striking contrast to that presented by
a lofty rock, called Sivalhxv Tor, which soaring over a mass
of wood, has the river at its base, foaming and roaring over
broken masses of lime-stone.
Poole's Hole, lying about a mile to the westward of
Buxton, was the next place our travellers visited. This vast
cavern receives its name, according to tradition, from an
outlaw, of the name of Poole, who found an asylum within
its wonderful recess. The entrance is low and contracted,
and the passage narrow ; by degrees, however, it becomes
wider, and at length opens into a lofty cavern, from the
roof of which are suspended stalactites, or transparent crys-
tals, formed by the constant dropping of water laden with
calcareous matter. These petrefactions rise also from the
floor, and are then called stalagmites ; these are also pro-
duced by the droppings from the roof. The most remark-
able of these masses of stalactites, is that called Mary,
Queen of Scot's pillar, from a tradition that while that un-
fortunate Queen was dwelling at Chatsworth, she paid a
visit to these subterraneous regions, but penetrated no far-
ther than to this very spot, although the cave extends
nearly three -hundred feet beyond it.
" We must see the Devil's Hole, and the lately discovered
crystallized cavern," said the Doctor, as they quitted Poole's
Hole, " and then we really must make the best of our way
into Cheshire, for we have made so long a stay in this
neighbourhood, we shall not be in time to cross the Irish
channel at a seasonable time c* the year."
The Devil's Hole, lies in the vicinity of Castleton, and
is approached by a path on the side of a clear rivulet, which
issues from it, leading to the fissure or separation of the
46 ENGLAND.
rock, at the extremity of which the cavern is situated. It
would be difficult to imagine a scene more magnificent than
that which presents itself to a visitor at the entrance of the
cavern. On each side the huge grey rocks, rise almost
perpendicularly to the height of nearly three hundred feet. A
vast canopy of rock forms the mouth of this tremendous
excavation, assuming the form of a depressed arch, which
extends one hundred and twenty feet in breadth, forty-two
in height, and about ninety in receding depth.
At their first entrance into this extraordinary cavern, our
travellers uttered an exclamation of surprize, at perceiving
a number of twine makers, who have taken up their resi-
dence and established a manufactory within its gloomy re-
cess. After proceeding about ninety feet, the roof becomes
lower, and a gentle descent conducted them by a detached
rock to the interior entrance, where they bade adieu to the
cheerful light of day, and pursued their researches by torch
light. After continuing along a narrow passage, so low that
they were frequently obliged to stoop, they arrived at a
spacious opening called the Bell House, where a small lake
presents itself, on which appeared
An empty boat, that slowly to the shore
Advacc'd, without the aid of sail, but not of ear.
And here it needed some little encouragement to induce the
strangers to enter " this bark supine," for the overhanging
rock reaches within twenty inches of the water. The light
of the torches which was considerably dimmed by the va.
pours of the stream, gave a ghastly hue to their countenances,
and as Edward stoml by the lake gazing on its clear though
dusky waters, he exclaimed, " this is indeed an awful place,
see Sir, how like a group of spectres we look, as reflected
in these dark waters!" " Gloomy as is this scene,'' re-
plied the Doctor, " your observation has conjured up one
of the sweetest scenes in Paradise Lo&t ; guess it Edward."
" Oh, there needs no ghost to tell us what scene you allude
to, Sir," said the youth, " it is that where Eve sees herself
for the first time reflected in the lake."
DR.WALKER. " Just so ; but our guides appear impatient.
Let us cross this Stygian lalrc, and further explore the won-
ders of the cavern."
Having safely landed on the opposite shore, they entered
a spacious vacuity of immense depth, length, and breadth ;
DEVIL'S HOLE. 47
it is indeed so extensive, that neither its roof or sides can
be seen by persons standing in the middle of it. At the
further extremity, the stream which flows through the
whole of this cavern, opens into a second lake, which ter-
minates near that point called Roger Rain's House, from
the constant dropping of water, and beyond this is the chan-
cel. Here the rocks, broken into wild and irregular
forms, and covered with stalactal or petrified incrustations,
present a scene of rude magnificence. Scarcely had our
travellers expressed their surprize at the grandeur with which
they were surrounded, when a choir of voices burst upon
them, and the Doctor involuntarily exclaimed, " Where
should this music be ! i* th' air, or the earth."
** 'Tis like enchantment," said Edward, as the voices
echoed through the cavern, now soft, now loud, till at
length their pleasing song, though rude, gradually ceased,
and silence fora time added its awful effect to the already
imposing scene.
The guide having pointed out, as the vocal performers,
eight or ten women and children, ranged purposely in a
hollow of the rock, about fifty feet above the floor, they
followed him to the Devil's Cellar, and the Half Way House,
neither of which present any .object of importance, till they
came to that part of the cavern called Great Tom of Lincoln,
from its resemblance to a bell. From hence the cavern
gradually becomes so narrow as only to admit a passage for
the stream. The guide having put a small quantity of gun-
powder into a fissure of the rock, the effect produced
by the explosion when it was ignited, was that of loud
and repeated peals of thunder, rolling majestically
along the sides and roof .of the cavern. As our tra-
vellers retraced their steps, and approached the entrance of
this subterraneous place of wonders, their admiration was
wonderfully excited by observing the dawn of day-light f s
it gradually illumined the de.ep recesses of the cavern ; the
extraordinary beauty of this scene may be imagined, but
cannot be described. The entire length of this cavern is
2250 feet, and its depth, from the surface of the Peak
mountain, 600 feet.
" The scene we have just witnessed, certainly partakes of
ifi sublime." said Dr. Walkpr. thaf ^ <*r& oKnut fn
the sublime, said Dr. Walker, " that we are about to
visit, is, I understand, classed as more belonging to the
beautiful/'
The crystallized cavern is near Bradwell, and has been
48 ENGLAND.
but lately discovered. The entrance to this fairy-scene is
rather terrific, the descent for about thirty paces being very
abrupt, and the passage for nearly a quarter of a mile so
low, that in many parts it is impossible to proceed in an
erect posture.
" II faut passer par les peines pour arriver aux plaines,"
said the Doctor, as the splendour of that cavern denomi-
nated the Music Chamber, burst upon their astonished sight.
The regularity of the stalactites assume at one end of the
cavern the appearance of organ pipes, while at the other
they are of so delicate and regular a form, that they re-
semble the finest specimens of Gothic architecture, pre-
senting innumerable light and elegant colonnades. Proceed-
ing further onwards, our travellers arrived at the Grotto of
Paradise. This cavern is about twenty feet long, and
twelve feet high, terminating at the top in a pointed Gothic
arch, from which are suspended innumerable stalactites;
candles judiciously placed give it the appearance of being
lighted with magnificent chandeliers. The sides are bril-
liantly incrusted with spar, and this enchanting spot, in
which is realized the splendour of fairy land, is paved with
black and white spar.
As they continued to explore the beauties of this enchant-
ing place, no sound met their ear, save that produced by
the soft droppings of the water, which, suspended at the end
of each stalactite sometimes fell softly on the crystal floor,
and formed the foundation of staglamites. The Grotto of
Calypso, next claimed their attention, and Calypso herself,
could not have required a more brilliant abode, than that
which this cavern, 2000 feet from the entrance presented.
The guide having desired them to mount a recess, about
six feet from the floor, they had a fine view of the different
stalactites, which were here extremely long, and varied in
colour. Gentle echoes, too, reverberated from side to side,
and Dr. Walker and his pupil, indulging those calm and
sweet sensations which the nature of the scene they had
quitted was calculated to inspire, returned in silence to the
bright and .glowing regions of the day.
SALT MINES. 49
SECTION IX.
SALT MINES.
HAVING viewed the principal of the subterraneous won-
ders of the Peak, they quitted this dreary part of the
country, and entering the rich and luxuriant plains of
Cheshire, they at length arrived at Northwich, where they
resolved to stay some few days in order to view the salt mines
of that place.
Having seated themselves in a basket, they were let down
a considerable distance, and upon arriving at the bottom, a
crystal cathedral appeared illumined by many lights, and
glittering on all sides with the splendour of a fairy palace.
Some of the salt pits are worked in regular aisles or streets,
supported by pillars six and eight yards square. The strata
passed through in going down to the upper bed of rock, are
nearly horizontal in position, and very uniform in their struc-
ture, consisting, in every instance, of beds of clay and
marie ; and these, with the exception of a few of the most
superficial, appearing in similar progression in each mine,
and there are eleven or twelve. The clays or argillaceous
stone of which these beds are composed, are indurated or
hardened in different degrees, tinged with various shades of
red, blue, brown, &c. and usually contain a sulphate of
lime ; they are known to the miners by the names of metals.
Although the generality of these clays are sufficiently in-
durated to repel water, yet there are instances where it is
not so, and it is then called shaggy metal, and the fresh
water which makes its way through the pores, has the ex-
pressive appellation of roaring Meg. In one mine in which
the shaggy metal was found at twenty-six yards depth, it
discharged three hundred and sixty gallons in one minute.
This mine was discovered by some coal-mitters, searching
for coal, in the year 1670. The first stratum of salt, ap-
peared at different spots, from twenty-eight to forty-eight
feet beneath the surface of the earth, and is from fifteen to
twenty-one yards in thickness. That of the lower bed has
never been ascertained in any one of the mines in this dis-
trict. The workings in the lower stratum are usually begun
at the depth of from twenty to twenty-five yards, and are
P
50 ENGLAND.
carried down for five or six yards. In one of the mines a
shaft has been sunk to a level of fourteen yards still lower,
without passing through the body of rock salt. This bed,
therefore, has been ascertained to be forty yards in thick-
ness, and as yet there is no end to it. In the mines of Po-
land and Hungary, the salt seldom exceeds one or two
inches in thickness, being then divided by layers of clay, a
few inches thick. Thus we see how superior the veins of
salt are in Northwich to those in the celebrated mines of
Cracow; " and its superiority in other respects, 5 ' said Dr.
Walker, " cannot be better proved, than by the absolute
fact, that many thousand tons of Cheshire salt are annually
exported to the Baltic, for the consumption o'f Russia and
Prussia, which are so much nearer Cracow. The salt mines
of Northwich have indeed been proved by Dr. Wat-
son, in his Chemical Essays, to be superior to those in Po-
land."
This salt is not very unlike brown sugar candy, and it
is so hard, that gunpowder is employed to blast it. The
pick axes used to divide the larger portions which are thus
separated, are made of steel.
On the horizontal surface of Northwich rock salt, a cu-
rious arrangement of the mineral may be observed in various
parts. On this surface may be traced a great variety of
figures, more or less distinctly marked, and differing consi.
derably in the forms which they assume, some appearing
nearly circular, others perfectly pentagonal, and others
again having an irregular polyhedral figure. The lines
which form the -boundary of these figures are composed of
extremely pure white salt, forming a division between the
coarse red rock which is exterior to the figure, and equally
coarse rock which is within it. These figures differ much
in size, some being less than a yard in diameter, others
as much as three or four yards ; and they are frequently ob-
served one within the other.
When they quitted the salt mine, they directed their steps
towards the salt springs in the neighbourhood, where they
were gratified with viewing the whole process of extracting
j the salt from the water. These briny springs lie at about 20
or 30 yards from the surface of the earth, and are raised by
a steam engine, and conveyed through very long troughs to
the brine pits. The process of extracting the salt is accom-
plished by heating the liquid in iron pans, of about twenty
CHESTER. 51
or thirty feet square, and about fourteen inches deep. When
it boils, a light scum rises to the top, which is taken off, and
the liquor reduced to a lower degree of heat : the steam
arising is made to evaporate as quickly as possible, and the
salt collecting into crystals, forms a crust on the surface, and
afterwards sinks to the bottom of the pans, from whence it is
removed once or twice in every four and twenty hours.
That salt which is procured from die sea by evapora-
tion, is called bay salt, and is of a brown colour ; when re-
fined by boiling in large flat cauldrons, which not only takes
away its acrimony, but is found to increase its quantity : it is
of a pure white. The word salt was originally confined to
common salt* a substance which has been known and in use
from time immemorial ; but the term is now applied to all
the compounds which the acias form with alkalies, earths,
and metallic oxydes. The number of salts is now probably
somewhere about two thousand. Chemists have agreed to
denominate the salts from the acids they con tain.
SECTION X,
FROM Northwich Dr. Walker and his pupil proceeded
by Middlewich to Chester, where they visited the great
church, said to have been founded by king Edgar, who con-
quered all this part of Britain, and was rowed up the Dee,
by seven or eight kings, himself steering the helm.
" He was as bad as Sesostris, Sir/' said Edward, as the
man who attended them concluded his narration.
" Yes," replied the Doctor, " and that which he fancied
would hand his name down to posterity covered with glory,
has, on the contrary, excited only feelings of contempt and
pity for the weakness it betrayed."
" The church," resumed their guide, " was finished by
Hugh Lopus, the famous earl of Chester, nephew to Wil-
liam the Conqueror. His body was discovered, in the year
1525, in the old chapter house, belonging to Flint castle.
The bones were all firm and in their proper place; and what
is more remarkable, the string which tied the ankles was
whole and entire."
CD 2
52 ENGLAND.
" Chester was, if I recollect right, Sir, a colony of the
Romans ?'* said Edward, in the tone of enquiry.
" Yes," replied his tutor, " the twentieth'legion, called
Victrix, was here quartered, as is evident from the inscrip-
tion of several coins and medals that have been found in the
neighbourhood of this city." The long galleries, or rotus, as
they are called, which form a line of piazza along the street,
did not, in the opinion of our travellers, increase the beauty
of the city, although they were pointed out by the inhabi-
tants as very ornamental, and forming an agreeable shelter for
foot passengers in rainy weather. The streets are, however,
broad and good, and cross each other in the middle of the
city, as they do at Chichester. At Bangor, Dr. Walker en-
deavoured in vain to obtain some information respecting a
monastery that once stood in this neighbourhood, in which
2400 monks performed divine service, night and day. But
no trace was to be found of this once celebrated establish-
ment.
From Bangor they turned a little out of their way to see
an old British post, at Gresford, which is situated on a lofty
eminence, commanding an extensive view over a beautiful
little valley, which terminates in the fine plains of Cheshire.
Continuing their journey to Holywell, they paid their re-
spects to St. Winifred's well. This spring boils with vast
impetuosity out of a rock, and is formed into a polygonal
well, covered by a rich arch, supported by pillars. The
roof is most exquisitely carved in stone ; immediately over
the fountain is the legend of the saint, on a pendant
projection, with the arms of England at the bottom. In the
7th century, a virgin of extraordinary beauty, of the name
of Winifred, being placed under the care of her uncle, Bru-
no, a monk, who had erected a church near the spot, a neigh-
bouring prince became enamoured of her charms. The lady,
however, rejecting his offer of love with scorn, he drew out
his sword, and-- cut off her head, in a fit of rage and dis-
appointment. But he instantly received the reward due to
his enormous crime, for he dropped down dead, and the
earth opened and swallowed him up, while the revered head
of the beautiful Winifred took its way down the hill, nor did
it stop till it reached the church. The valley, in which this
church stood was, from its dryness, called Sych-nout, but it
now lost the name, for a spring of uncommon size burst out
where the head rested ; the moss on its sides diffused a fra-
CHESTER. 53
grant smell ; her blood spotted the stones, which, like the
flowers of Adonis, annually commemorate this fact, by as-
suming a colour unknown to them before. But the most
wonderful part of the story is yet to come. St. Bruno con-
templated with dismay the approach of his niece's head, and
when it stopped, after gazing at it for some time, he stooped
and deliberately picking it up, he carried it to the spot, where
the body still lay, and very nicely replaced it : strange to re-
late, the severed member reunited itself to the body, and St.
Winifred arose blooming as before, after which she lived
fifteen years, and was buried, when she died, at Gwytherin,
where her bones rested, till king Stephen surrendered them
to the abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, at Shrewsbury.
" There now, Edward," said Dr. Walker, " is a legend you
may repeat in Italy, when the wonderful story of our Lady of
Lorettois related to you."
The road from St. Winifred's well to St. Asaph, is re-
markably picturesque, along a little valley bounded on one
side by hanging woods, beneath which the stream hurries
towards the sea.
The northern part of the county of Flint, is washed by
the river Dee, and the land rises suddenly from its banks in
fine inequalities, clayey and fruitful in corn and grass, for
near four miles, to a mountainous tract, that runs parallel to
it for a considerable way. The lower part is diversified by
picturesque dingles, enriched with oaks, which run from the
mountains, and open to the sea. The inferior part abounds
with coal and freestone ; the upper with minerals of lead and
calamine, and immense strata of lime-stone and cherl. The
principal trade of the county is mining, and smelting. A
lofty range of mountains rises upon the west, and forms a
bold frontier. Upon quitting St. Asaph, our travellers en-
tered the beautiful vale of Clwyd, adorned with villages and
small towns, luxuriant corn fields, extensive meadows, wa-
tered by a fine and gentle stream, extending about twenty
miles in one direction, and from five to seven miles in the
other. The prospect of this luxuriant vale, from the castle
of Denbigh, is beyond description beautiful.
" We must see Conway castle,'' said the Doctor, " but it
is not in the direct road to Bangor."
" Oh never mind that, Sir," replied Edward, " I should
like to see it very much."
D 3
54 ENGLAND.
" And Penmoenmawr too;" resumed his tutor; "Well-
then give orders for our departure, and let's be gone."
As they advanced into Denbighshire, the country assumed
a more mountainous and Alpine aspect. " I could almost
fancy myself in Switzerland/' said Dr. Walker, as they
wound through the different defiles of the mountains leading
to Penmoenmawr. " See, Edward, how yon tall rock
towers proudly above the neighbouring mountains. Pen-
moenmawr is next to Snowdon in height."
Edward gazed with delight on the huge precipices and
rocky fragments, which projecting above and below the road
they were passing, presented alternate masses of deep em-
browned shade, and huge projections glowing with the rich
tint of an autumnal sunset. As they ascended the side of
the mountain next the sea, the features of the scene were
changed, for here all was calm and tranquil. Not a breeze
ruffled the ocean, which, like a mirror, reflected back dis-
tinctly the small fishing vessels, whose sails flapped idly for
lack of wind, while the sturdy fishermen put forth all their
strength and rowed for land. The sun at length set gloom-
ily magnificent, and the sky gradually assuming a deeper
hue, the driver quickened his pace, and pointing to the sea-
fowl, which skimmed lightly over the gloomy deep,
" 'Twill be a tempest to night," said he, " for this dead
calm and those birds foretel it."
Our travellers were, however, so fortunate as to reach Con-
way just as the first heavy drops began tofall, and from their
inn they anxiously watched its progress. About 11 o'clock the
clouds began to disperse, and the moon was seen peeping oc-
casionally through the midnight gloom, till at length she
burst upon them in silvery splendour. Yet the rain still fell
violently, when, to the surprise of Edward, on turning sud-
denly round, he beheld a magnificent luminous arch. He
uttered an exclamation of surprise. " 'Tisa lunar rainbow,"
said the Doctor, " observe it well ; you see it has no pris-
matic colours except at one end, and those are so faint we
can hardly distinguish them. And do you not perceive that
the sky within it is considerably paler than any other part of
the atmosphere ? It is really an immense arch ! We are
very fortunate, Edward, to see this curious phenomenon, for
though this is not the first that has been seen, yet many clever
and observing men never saw Iris lunaris in their lives ; and
WALES, 55
Aristotle himself only observed two in the course of fifty
SECTION XI.
WALES.
ON the following morning our travellers visited the cele-
brated castle of Conway, buiit by Edward I. Conway cas-
tle is built on a high rock, overhanging the sea, and for
strength and grandeur stands unrivalled, at least in Wales.
It is strengthened by ten round towers, and four turrets that
are considerably higher than the towers. The walls are
battlemented, and are from twelve to fifteen feet in breadth.
One of the towers has fallen into the sea, the rock on which
it stood having given way. In the interior, the hall is the
principal object of attraction ; it is beautifully arched, and
its extensive roof is supported by nine stone pillars. It is one
hundred feet long, thirty feet high, and as many broad.
From Conway our travellers bent their steps towards the
South, and arrived at Llanwrst, after a most romantic drive
through a beautiful valley bordered on each side by lofty
mountains. Here is an elegant bridge built by Inigo Jones,
to adorn and benefit his native place. Having breakfasted
at Llanwrst, Dr Walker procured a guide to lead them across
the country to Snowclon, the boast and wonder of Wales*
Upon arriving at the foot of the mountain, they left their
horses at a small hut, and their guide presented them with
spiked sticks, to assist them in ascending : with some little
difficulty they passed the two first miles, the ground being
rather boggy, but as every step now gave them a more ex-
tensive prospect, they cheerfully continued their route, and
at length arrived on the summit of Snowdon, where a pros-
pect of such extent and grandeur opened to their view, as to
render Edward for a time speechless. The top of Snowdon is
* The lunar Iris described above, was seen at Brompton, bv the
Author, on Monday the 5th of July, 1819, between 11. and 12 o'clock,
The moon was at the fall on the following- Wednesday, at 3 in the
afternoon.
D 4
56 WALES.
called Y Widdfa, or the Conspicuous ; it nearly terminates in
a point, for the highest plain is about six yards in circum-
ference only. From this elevated spot may be seen, hills
and dales, rocks and mountains, lakes, rivers, and seas. The
distant mountains of Yorkshire, Scotland, Ireland, and the
Isle of Man, are all visible, while the surrounding country,
which from the plains appears covered with stupendous
rocks, loses its appearance of grandeur, assuming that of the
beautiful only. It is called in Welch, Eryri, which signifies
the hill of Eagles.
" Snowdon was held as sacred by the ancient Britons, as
Parnassus was by the Greeks, and Ida by the Cretans," said
the Doctor : " and even now, Edward, if you will but sleep
one night upon its summit, (and the air is mild and
serene,) you will awake to-morrow inspired, full as much as
if you had taken a nap on the hill of Apollo."
EDWARD. " I dare say I should, Sir, but I have no wish
to court inspiration at so great a risk. Pray, Sir, what is
the nature of this huge mountain ?"
DR.WALKER. " Granite most probably. See in that fis-
sure is a large coarse crystal and there are cubic pyrites,
the usual attendants on Alpine tracts. I observed too, as
we ascended, near the top several large columnar stones,
and some pieces of lava. You know the pagan Britons wor-
shipped rivers and mountains/ '
On their descent, their paths were again crossed by flocks
of sheep ; and, peeping over an inaccessible precipice, they
often observed goats, which, upon being discovered, would
bound from rock to rock, till they were completely out of
sight.
" What is the name of the village at the bottom of the
mountain," said Edward, addressing the guide.
u That," replied the mountaineer, " is Beth Gelert."
Indeed !" ejaculated the Doctor, " poor Gelert !"
" Who was Gelert, Sir, that appears to excite your sym-
pathy so much ?" asked Edward.
DR.WALKER. " A greyhound. Come sit down on this
rock, for I am rather weary, and while we rest ourselves, I
will relate to you his sad story, which I dare say is familiar
to our guide.
" Llewellyn having received the present of a beautiful
greyhound from his father-in -law, king John, this animal be-
came his constant and favourite companion. One day,
SNOWDON. 57
ever, when Llewellyn blew his horn, and the hounds came
bounding from every quarter at the well-known sound, Ge-
lert, (that was the greyhound's name,) was not to be found;
after waiting some little time for ' the flower of all his race/
' the chace rode on,' but the chief, who missed his fa-
vourite received but little pleasure from the sport * for Ge-
lert was not there.'
" Upon returning to his castle, his favourite dog was at
the door, and as soon as he saw his lord, he sprang forward
to meet him, Llewellyn gazed with astonishment at the ani-
mal, which was almost covered with blood. Passing quickly
on, he entered the chamber, where his son lay, (Princes
were not then attended as they are now,) and there he saw
on all sides blood but not his child. Turning over a heap
of blood-stained vestments, he called franticly on his son,
and receiving no answer, he plunged his sword up to the hilt
in Gelert's side, supposing he had killed him. The dying
yell of the greyhound waked the child, which, hidden under
some part of the clothes, the chief had in his haste passed
by, now explained the secret of Gelert's absence/What words
can paint this chieftain's grief, when under the same heap
he spied a grim and enormous wolf dead, which he was now-
convinced his faithful dog had killed in order to preserve his
son. He erected a tomb on the spot to his memory, which
is to this day called Beth Gelert, or the grave of Gelert."
EDWARD. " Oh poor Gelert ! I could almost be very
silly upon the occasion."
DR. WALKER. " Why I confess I think a tear would be no
disgrace upon such an occasion. But come, let us resume
our descent, and learn one thing from this traditional fact
to curb our passions. iHad Llewellyn been less precipitate,
think what feelings of boundless pleasure would have at-
tended the discovery of his child,, instead of those of deep
remorse. Of this be sure, excess of passion needs but its
own effects as punishment."
From Snowdon our travellers proceeded to Caernarvon,
across a mountainous country, which, as they drew near the
town, became more fertile and populous, and there they re-
solved to remain a day or two. Caernarvon is a walled
town, opposite the Isle of Anglesea, about 8 miles from
Bangor, and stands pleasantly situated on the banks of the
Menai. Its castle was built by Edward I. ; and the queen^
bed chamber, in which the unfortunate Edward the Second
D 5
58 WALES.
was born, is still shewn to travellers. It is built in the Ko*
man style of architecture, and has one tower eminent above
the rest, called the eagle's tower, from the circumstance of
an eagle being garved upon it. The town is surrounded by
a wall, and appears to have been formerly well fortified : in
its neighbourhood large flocks of sheep arfc fed. From the
sea-shore they saw Harlech castle, and Kader-Idris, by some
persons reckoned higher than Snowdon. Dr. Walker hav-
ing, when wandering on the beach, met with one of the na-
tives who appeared extremely intelligent, he asked him re-
specting that strange phenomenon a livid fire , which appeared
to rise from the sea, and which, as he had heard, committed
such terrible devastation in the neighbourhood.
" It is but too true," replied the stranger, " houses, barns,
stacks of hay and corn, fall a prey to this devouring and
novel element ; while the grass in the neighbourhood was
poisoned by the effects of the conflagration V
DR. WALKER. " How very extraordinary, and how very
terrific !"
SECTION XII,
BEAUMARIS.
FROM Caernarvon, our travellers proceeded to Baugoiv
from whence they embarked for Beaurnaris, From a fine
lawn in the front of this town the mountains of Caernarvon
present a beautiful outline, and after strolling in its environs
for some time, the Doctor suddenly recollected that there
was a church about three miles north-west of Beaumaris, de-
dicated to St. Justin Geraint, and that his tomb was still to
be seen at Llaniestin ; thither, therefore, they bent their
steps, in order to inspect this curious relic of antiquity. St.
Justin was the son of a Devonshire Prince, and retired with
his three brothers into the congregation of Germanus, or
German, at St. Germain's, in Devonshire ; but St. Justin
* This remarkable phenomenon is recorded in the Philosophical
Transactions.
DRUIDICAL REMAINS. 59
withdrew to North Wales, about the end of the sixth cen-
tury. The effigy of the saint is habited in a cope, fastened
at the breast with a rich fibula, or broach ; beneath this gar-
ment he has a short mantle, or scapular, over his tunic.
This mode of dress was of the highest antiquity, and re-
mained in vogue, for royal personages, until the time of
Henry V.
SECTION XIII.
DRUIDICAL REMAINS.
OUR travellers did not fail to visit those remains of Druid-
ical antiquity which are still enveloped in the gloom of thick
oaks.
Upon inspecting one of those large stones of memorial,
which are found in various parts of the British Isles, placed
on three others of considerable magnitude, Edward expressed
much surprize, how the large one could be raised by a peo-
ple so little acquainted with the iaws of mechanics as the
ancient Britons.
DR. WALKER. "I would not advise you to fancy the Dru-
idical part of the community, at least, as so very ignorant.
They were, on the contrary, well informed upon many sub-
jects. Their initiation into the sacred priesthood, demanded
abilities of no common order, and their noviciate was long
and attended with trials both of judgment and virtue. That
they were in the possession of many useful arts and sciences
there is little doubt. Some one of the Roman writers, I for-
get at this moment whom, mentions that they had the power
of drawing the sun and moon close to them, and by means
of a crystal lens they always set fire to their sacrifices. As
tbey kept ail knowledge confined entirely to their own order,
tJheir extraordinary influence over the vulgar, is no object of
wonder, for, independently of their sacred character as
priests, who in all ages and in all countries have acquired a
powerful ascendancy over the human mind, their know-
ledge enveloped in mystery, in outward signs and wonders,
was calculated deeply to impress their votaries with high
ideas of their superiority and supernatural power.
i) G
60 WALES.
" As a proof of this I shall only mention one instance,
of their cruel application. Llogans *, or rocking stones,
are found in different parts, the most noted of which
is that near Drew Steington, in Devonshire. It is seated in
the channel of a river, is of granite, and is ten feet high.
These stones the Druids persuaded their votaries were inha-
bited by the spirit of the indwelling deity, and to this awful
test they brought the supposed criminal, over whose head
the sword of justice was suspended, and the descent of
which was alone delayed, till the animated mass as he ap-
proached to touch it, declared by its tremulous motion that
he was guilty"
EDWARD. u How very shocking, that they should thus
abuse their power, and pervert the use of knowledge."
DR.WALKEU. " So it is : but the mysteries of the inquisi-
tion are a proof that we need not go back to the times of
Druidism, in order to prove, that the mind of man is scarcely
equal to bear with moderation and ' meekness* superiority
either of power or abilities.
" In the first early ages of Druidism, one called Cwydcl,
ar Gwydd, held the supreme office of Druid, instructor, and
lawgiver ; in the course of time this office was divided
into two, viz. the one called Derwydd (druid) or superior
instructor; the other O-vydd (Ovate) or subordinate in-
structor, both going by the name of bards. Again, another
division was made, into Druids, Bards-braint, or privileged
bards, and Ovates. No one could become Druid unless he
had been Bard-braint. The dress of the Druids was white,
and that of the Druid in his habit of ceremonial judgment
was very grand. On his head he wore a golden tiara i, and
his neck was encircled by a breast-plate of judgment, which
according to Irish tradition, had the power of squeezing his
neck if the Druid gave false judgment : beneath this hung
the glain-neidr, or serpent's egg, and the girdle which con-
fined his dress is supposed to have been fastened by the
magic lensj. The glain-neidr were fabricated by the
* L!ogan seems to have a connection with Llog, the stone of the co-
venant and the stone of the ark. Valancey thinks rocking is a corruption
of Ruachan, i. e. divining, or augury.
t One of these tiaras was dg up at Limerick, in Ireland ; it was of
gold, and neatly chased.
J A Lens of this description was found in Ireland. It is six inches
long by four and a half broad j it is surrounded by stones of various
colours, and get io brass mixed with silver.
DRUID1CAL REMAINS. 61
Druids in council, and hence arose the proverb in Wales,
when several people appear plotting together " What 1
they are blowing the glain 1" These eggs were of different
colours, according to the class of the Druids for which they
were destined. Those for the Druids being white ; those
for the Bards blue ; the colour of their dress being emblema-
tical of truth and peace ; and those for the Ovates green, the
symbol of learning.
u Of their sacrifices and Driiidical rites, I cannot venture
a description ; but I am sure I have told you enough to ex-
cite your curiosity, and this is a subject that cannot be lightly
scanned. If you wish for any further information upon the
subject, you must do as I have done before you, read* ."
Having returned to Beaumaris for the night, they on the
next, morning directed their steps northward, in order to in-
spect the Parys mountain, which contains the most consider-
able quantity of copper ore ever known. The outward ap-
pearance of the mountain is extremely rude, and the country
around it wild and desolate in a great degree. On every
side enormous rocks of coarse white quartz arise ; and over
the small lake which is contigues to it, no bird is ever
known to pass, for it is equally fatal with the waters of the
Avernus to the feathered tribe. The pestilential fumes from
the burning heaps of copper, extend for many miles round:
and this part of the island presents a scene of desolation
scarcely to be equalled in the British Isles. From this
dreary spot our travellers gladly proceeded to Holyhead,
where they embarked for Dublin.
* For this very slight sketch relating to the Druids, the author is in-
debted to a Work written by Dr. Meyrick on the costumes of the an-
sient Britons,
CHAPTER III.
IRELAND.
SECTION I.
THE GOLD MINES OF WICK LOW.
DUBLIN is the second city in the British dominions, and
presents a no|>le object when approached from the sea. The
parliament-house is a magnificent structure, and the linen-
hall js a noble building. Dublin contains about 200,000 in-
habitants, and its views from Merion-square are extremely
beautiful. As however our travellers were anxious to make
the tour of Ireland speedily, they devoted but two or three
days to its capital, and accordingly on the fourth day after
their arrival they recommenced their journey.
" Prav, Sir, as we pass through Wicklow, shall we not,
see the copper mine at Cronbane/' " Why no, for we shall
be pressed for time in our Irish tour, and must, therefore,
confine ourselves to visiting the most prominent features of
Ireland, and you must in many instances content yourself with
brief sketches of those of minor importance. The county of
Wicklow produces gold as well as copper. Some consider-
able masses of this precious metal, were found in a brook run-
ning from west to east to the river of Avonmore, about seven
English miles west of Arklow, and on the declivity of the
mountain called Croughan Kinshelly. This mine is now
worked for government, and it is said that a very massy vein
has lately been discovered/'
Upon arriving at Wicklow, our travellers did but stay to-
refresh themselves with some of its celebrated ale, which in-
deed forms a ; principal part of its trade, and then continued i
1RELANIX 63
their journey through this mountainous and romantic coun-
try, which, though it is in many parts intercepted by bogs, is
nevertheless extremely beautiful. The valleys are richly
cultivated and particularly fertile, and the hills produce a va-
riety of minerals and metals. From Wicklow they pro-
ceeded to Arklow ; and upon quitting that town, they soon
perceived a considerable difference in the face of the country,
for the soil of the county of Wexford, though it produces
corn and grass in many parts ; is principally composed of a
coarse cold land, and stiff clay. The capital is however po-
pulous and large, and was anciently reckoned, the principal,
city of Ireland.
From Wexford they made an excursion into Kilkenny, in
order to visit the celebrated cavern of Dunmore Park, and
they were amply repaid for this deviation from the direct
road to Waterford. This cavern is situated in a fine plain,
rising indeed here and there into small hills. The country
all around abounds with lime-stones, and quarries of beautiful
black marble, variegated with white shells. Unlike those of
Derbyshire and Mendip, this cave descends perpendicularly
thirty yards from the top of a small hill, through an opening
forty yards in diameter.; The sides of this pit are composed
of limestone rock, adorned with various kinds of shrubs and^
trees ; and during the travellers descent into this cave, which
is an arduous undertaking, he is amused with flights of
pigeons and jackdaws, which, disturbed in their peaceful
retreats, fly for safety to the purer regions of day.
When he reaches the bottom, he sees one side of this pit
supported by a natural arch of rock above twenty-five yards
wide. On passing under this arch, two subterraneous pas^
sages present themselves. That leading to the right is co-
vered with rocks- and stones, coated with spar in the most
whimsical shapes, and formed from the droppings of the
roof.\ These stones are transparent, and take a fine polish,
and being extremely ornamented with different colours, they
are quite as beautiful as moco. In many places the petrifac-
tions from above having met those on the ground, a variety of
gothic arches of all sizes and shapes are formed, which' pre.
sent a very picturesque and pleasing appearance. The pas-
sage on the left is not so high as that on the right ; it is wa-
tered by a purling rill, which adds considerably to its beauty ;
its soft murmurs agree with the awful solemnity of the place,
which though faintly glittering with spangles, is nevertheless-
64 IRELAND.
sombre to a great degree. The heaviness of the atmosphere
preventing the lights from giving a brilliant lustre to the
crystallized roof,
" A few years ago,'* said their guide, " some travellers
found in the bed of this stream, the bones of a hundred
human beings at least. Some of them were very large, and
upon being taken out of the water instantly crumbled away."
" 1 suppose/' said Dr. Walker, " there was some inscrip-
tion in the cavern which led to an opinion as to how they
came there."
GUIDE. " No, in none at all, nor is there any tradition
in the neighbourhood about them; but they might, I think,
be the bones of persons who fled in the civil wars to
these caverns for shelter, and perhaps could not find their
way out, for you see, Sir, they are very intricate, and if I go
beyond a certain distance, I always make some kind of mark
as a guide for my return."
Many of the rocks, on the roof and sides of this cavern,
are black marble full of white spots, of a shell like figure ;
which takes a beautiful polish, and is much used for slabs,
chimney-pieces, &c. In some deep and wet parts of the sur-
rounding quarries, this elegant fossil is seen in the first stages
of its formation ; the shells are real, but so softened by time
and their moist situation, as to be capable of receiving the
stony particles into their pores, by whose cohesive quality,
they in time become those hard white curls that give value
to the marble ; and it is very remarkable, and a proof that
these white spots have been real shells, and thus formed, that
the longer a chimney piece or slab is used, the more of these
spots ripen into view.
When our travellers parted from their guide, Edward ob-
served, " that the cavern of Dunmpre Park was very beau-
tiful, but after seeing those in Derbyshire, Sir, it does not
appear to us with very great advantage."
Edward was much delighted with the woollen manufac-
tory, and our travellers had the curiosity to visit the Barony
of Forth, the inhabitants of which are the descendants of a
British colony, and retain their native language, manners
and many singular customs to this day.
WATERFORD AND CORK. 65
SECTION II.
WATERFORD AND CORK.
UPON arriving at Waterford they were charmed with its
beautiful harbour, in which ships of great burden ride, even
at the quay, which is about half a mile in length, and of a
considerable breadth. The Suir on which the town stands
Is broad, deep, and rapid, and few towns in Ireland present
a more busy scene than Waterford. Packet-boats sail re-
gularly between this port and Milford Haven, and it carries
on a large trade with Newfoundland. Here our travellers
staid one day, in order to visit the white glass manufactory,
and to witness the departure of a number of vessels bound
for America, laden with hogs, butter, beef, &c.
The country leading to the city of Cork, drew forth expres-
sions of admiration from Edward; from many of the adjacent
hills the views are extremely diversified and beautiful, and
extend to a considerable distance. The city itself is reck-
oned the next in size and importance to Dublin, and carries
on a very lucrative trade with various parts of the world.
" We shall no longer continue our journey along the
coast," said Dr. W. " for we should by so doing lose a great
deal of time/' " Ireland is not, I perceive,'' said Edward,
" a country made up of bogs and heaths, as I have heard
many people represent it ; I am quite sure that some of the
scenes we have viewed, would really make very beautiful
sketches ; and nothing can exceed the hospitality of its inha-
bitants." \ " Very true," replied his tutor, " but we have not
as yet, traversed Ireland ; you will remember, and I dare say
before we quit it, you will have reason to point out to your
mother, many parts she would not perhaps find so agreeable
as those described in your last letter. We are indeed ap-
proaching the celebrated lakes of Killarney, and your pen
and pencil will have ample scope for their descriptive powers ;
the Country we are now passing is fertile and pleasing, but
many parts of Kerry are full of almost inaccessible mountains,
where agriculture is totally out of the question. Still how-
ever, as many of these mountains are not wholly barren.
6$ IRELAND;
grazing is much attended to; and here many of the black
cattle are fed, which are cured, salted, and shipped off in
such prodigious quantities at Cork. Between the months of
August and January, 100,000 head of black cattle are said
to be killed in that city for exportation. As our travellers
advanced, the road became more mountainous ; but the
view, as they gradually approached the lakes, amply repaid
them the trifling inconveniences they had encountered in
reaching them. Few scenes indeed present such a variety
of prospects. Perpendicular rocks, hanging woods, magni-
ficent cascades; in short, nature appears to have poured
forth her various beauties with such a boundless profusion >
that the most fastidious taste, may in vain endeavour to
point out a deficiency, or attempt to supply a defect. v
SECTION III.
THE LAKE OF KILLARNEY.
THE Lake of Killarney is surrounded by high mountains,
and it is properly divided into three parts, called the lower,
middle, and upper lakes. The northern, or lower lake, is
about six miles in length, and from three to four in breadth.
The country on this and the eastern boundary, is diversified
with gentle swells, many of which afford beautiful prospects
of the lake and surrounding scenery. The southern shore
is composed of immense mountains, rising abruptly from the
water, and covered with woods of the finest timber. From
the centre of the lake, the view of this range is wonderfully
sublime, presenting to the eye an extent of forest six miles
in length, and nearly a mile in breadth, hanging as a robe of
rich luxuriance on the sides of two mountains, whose bare
tops, rising above the whole, form a perfect contrast to the
verdure of the lower region. On the side of one of these
mountains, is O'Sullivan's cascade, which falls into the lake
with -a roar that strikes the timid with awe. The view of
this sheet of water is uncommonly fine, appearing as *if it
were descending from an arch of wood, which overhangs it
above, seventy feet above the level of the lake. Coasting
along this shore, affords an almost endless entertainment,
LAKE OF EILLARNEY. 67
every change of position presenting a new scene ; the rocks,
hollowed, and worn into a variety of forms by the waves,
and the trees and shrubs bursting from the pores of the sap-
less stone, forced to assume the most uncouth shapes, to
adapt themselves to their fantastic situations.
The islands are not so numerous in this as in the upper
lake ; but there is one of uncommon beauty, namely, Inis.
follan, nearly opposite O'Sullivan's cascade. When our
travellers landed upon this enchanting spot, Edward: was lost
in astonishment as he viewed its beautiful bays, and project-
ing promontories, skirted and crowned with arbutus, holly,
and other shrubs and trees. The interior parts are diversi-
fied with hills and dales, and gentle declivities> on which
every tree and shrub appears to advantage ; the soil is rich,
even to luxuriance, and trees of the largest size incline across
the vales, forming natural arches, with ivy entwining in the
branches, and hanging in festoqns of beautiful folhge. Under
the shade of these natural arches, Edward proposed they
should take their frugal meal, to which the doctor con.
sented ; they accordingly seated themselves on the project-
ing roots of a huge oak, and there, soothed by the soft mur-
murs of the waters of the lake, together with the melody of
the feathered tribe, which found a peaceful asylum in these
calm retreats, they rather mused than talked away the sultry
hours of noon.
" Well," said Dr. Walker to his pupil, " are you inclined
to continue our excursion, or are we to be hushed to our
evening repose by the soothing lullabies which surround us.
I confess, that although alive to the witchery of this lovely
scenery, I vote for our departure. We have not yet seen
the Promontory of Mucruss, which divides the Upper from
the Lower Lake, and which is indeed a perfect land of en-
chantment you will find it equals, if it does not excel, the
scene before us.''
Upon arriving at the promontory in question, they tra-
versed the road which is carried through the centre of it,
and which unfolds all the interior beauties of the place.
Among the distant mountains, that called Tark, appears an
object of magnificence, while Mangerton's more lofty,
though less interesting summit, soars above the whole. At
the extremity of Mucruss, is that celebrated rock, called the
Eagle's Nest, which produces wonderful echoes.
" Pray, Sir/' said Edward, after listening for some time
68 IRELAND.
to the different vibrations which met his ear in various direc-
tions, " how are echoes described or accounted for ?"
" Your question will first of all demand the explanation
of sound in general, which you should thoroughly understand
before you can possibly comprehend the nature of echoes.
I shall therefore endeavour to give you a perfect idea of the
phenomenon of sound.
" When bodies move in elastic fluids, they condense that
part towards which they move, at the same time that the
part they recede from is rarefied. This condensation or
rarefaction must produce an undulatory or vibratory motion
in the fluid.
" Thus, if a body, by percussion or otherwise, be put into
a tremulous motion, every vibration of the body will excite a
wave in the air, which will proceed in all directions, so as to
form a hollow sphere ; and the quicker the vibrations of the
body succeed each other, the less will be the distance be-
tween each successive wave. The sensation excited in the
mind by means of these waves, which enter the ear, and pro-
duce a like motion in a thin membrane stretched obliquely
across the auditory passage is called sound.
" That bodies move or tremble when they produce sound,
requires no particular proof: it is evident in drums, bells,
and other instruments, whose vibrations being large and
strong, are therefore more perceptible ; and it is equally clear,
that a similar vibration is excited in the air, because this vi-
bration is communicated through the air to other bodies that
are adapted to vibrate in the same manner : thus bells, glasses,
basons, and musical strings, will sound merely by the action
propagated from other sounding bodies.
" It is established, as well by mathematical reasoning,
from the nature of an elastic fluid, whose compression is as
the weight, as from experiment, that all sounds whatever,
arrive at the ear in equal times, from sounding bodies equally
distant. This common velocity is 1142 English feet in a
second of time. The knowledge of the velocity of sound, is
of use in determining the distances of ships, or other objects:
for instance, suppose a ship fires a gun, the sound of which
is heard five seconds after the flash from the ignition of the
powder is seen ; then 1142 multiplied by five, gives the dis-
tance 5710 feet, or one English mile and 330 feet.
" When the aerial waves meet with an obstacle which is
LAKE OF KILLARNEY. 69
hard, and of a regular surface, they are reflected ; and con-
sequently, an ear placed in the course of these reflected
waves, will perceive a sound similar to the original sound, but
which will seem to proceed from a body situated in like posi-
tion and distance behind the plane of reflection, as the real
sounding body is before it. This reflected sound is called
an echo. i^-
" The waves of sound being thus reflexible, nearly the
same in effect as the rays of light, may be deflected or mag-
nified by much the same contrivances as are used in optics.
From this property of reflection, it happens, that sounds ut-
tered .in one focus of an elliptical cavity, are heard much
magnified in the other focus ; instances of which are found in
several domes and vaults, particularly the whispering gallery
of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, where a whisper uttered at
one side of the dome is reflected to the other, and may be
very distinctly heard. On this principle also are constructed
the speaking-trumpet and the hearing. trumpet, which either
are, or ought to be, hollow parabolic conoids, having a perfo-
ration at the vertex, to which the mouth is to be applied in
speaking, or the ear in hearing.
" There is a remarkably fine echo in Westmoreland, on
the lake of Ulswater, which I once heard. Our barge hav-
ing taken up a station where the finest echoes were to be
obtained from the surrounding mountains, one of the cannon
on board was discharged ; the report was echoed from the
opposite rocks, where, by reverberation, it seemed to roll
from cliff to cliff, and return through every cave and valley,
till the decreasing tumult gradually died away upon the air.
. The instant it ceased, the sound of every distant waterfall
was heard ; but before I could express my pleasure and ad-
miration, the returning echo from the hill behind, again
claimed my attention. The report was then repeated like
a peal of thunder bursting over our heads, continuing for
several seconds, flying from point to point, till, once more,
the sound gradually declined. Again the voice of waterfalls
.stole upon mine ear, till to the right the more distant thun-
der arose from other mountains, and seemed to take its way
up every winding dell and creek, sometimes behind, some-
times on this side, then on that, passing with incredible swift-
ness. When the echo reached the mountains within the line
and channel of the breeze, it was heard at once on the right
70 IRELAND.
and on the left, at the extremities of the lake, in this man-
ner was the report of the discharge repeated seven times
distinctly.
" At intervals we were relieved from this entertainment,
which united tumult and grandeur, by the music of two
French. horns, whose harmony was repeated from every re-
cess, which echo haunted on the borders of the lake. Here
we appeared to have a whole band at our command. Some-
times we heard the full-toned breathings of the organ; then
the hoarser notes of the bassoon burst on our delighted ears ;
while the caves, the wooded creek, and trilling waterfalls
gave back the soft and gentle tones of the melting lute. In
the midst of this entrancing concert, our boatmen fired off
six brass cannon : it is impossible to describe to you the ex-
traordinary sensation produced by the sudden uproar which
followed this discharge. It appeared to me, as if the rocks,
the mountains, the woods, the vales, were all uprent, and
thrown together in horrible confusion. Nothing short of a
general wreck of nature, could, to my imagination, have
produced such a wild and awful tumult. I confess I was for
a few minutes speechless, and that something very like the
sensation of fear, glanced across my mind, at the wild and
tumultuous uproar, which interrupted the harmony that had
given me so much delight *."
The upper lake, which they now approached, is about four
miles in length, and from two to three in breadth : it is al-
most surrounded by mountains, from which descend a num-
ber of beautiful cascades. The islands in this lake are nu-
merous, and afford an amazing variety of picturesque views.
* Travellers and Natural Historians have furnished us with many
accounts of Echoes, which repeat words very often, or have some
singularity. Misson, in his Description of Italy, speaks of an Echo
in the vineyard of Simonetta, which repeats the same word 40 times.
At Milan an Echo reiterates the report of a pistol 56 times; and if
the report be very loud, 60 reiterations may be counted. But the
most singular Echo is that near Rosneath, a few miles from Glasgow.
If a person, placed in a proper situation for the sound to take effect,
plays 8 or 10 notes on a trumpet, they are faithfully repeated by the
Echo, but a third lower ; after a short silence another repetition is
heard, in a still lower tone ; and another interval of silence is followed
by a third repetition, in a tone a third lower.
LAKE OF KILLARNEY. 71
The middle lake is small, when compared with the upper
and the lower; nor does it present so much variety of pros-
pect ; but it boasts of the lofty Mangerton as its eastern
boundary, down whicn descends a cascade of 150 feet per-
pendicular. This fall of water is supplied by a circular lake
on the summit of the mountain, called the Devil's Punch
Bowl, which, on account of its immense depth, and conti-
nual overflow of water, is reckoned one of the greatest curio-
sities of Killarney.
Between the lakes of Killarney and Limerick stood an
ancient castle, which had belonged, from time immemorial,
to the family of Montague ; and, though not in the direct
road, Dr. Walker desired the postillions to drive to Monta-
gue castle : the man eagerly asked, if they were acquainted
with the owner, to which the doctor, having answered in the
affirmative, he began making innumerable questions, flo"--
jmg bis horses violently one moment, and then almost stop-
ping them, to enable him to make some new enquiry re-
specting the family. When Dr. Walker told him, that
fcdward was the heir, he burst into a long congratulatory
apostrophes Long life to your honour, and good luck to
your honour ; and sure now," said the man, " you shall
drive to your own castle as ye ought." With that he re-
umes his favourite occupation of flogging, hailing the few
straggling individuals he met with, telling them of the honour
he had m driving the young heir. Upon approaching the
ancient seat of his ancestors, Edward was not much struck
by its appearance, and having gone over the deserted apart-
ments ot what had been formerly the scene of feudal splen-
dour, Doctor Walker and his pupil resumed their seat in the
ihaise. The latter, though but seventeen, remained for
iome time absorbed in profound thought, which the Doc-
tor did not choose to interrupt.
The country about Limerick is fertile, and particularly
ich in pasture. The town is divided into two divisions, the
one called the Irish, and the other the English town. In
the latter, our travellers took up their abode for a few days
they were anxious to inspect the woollen, linen, and
paper manufactories, which are carried on to a great extent
IMS place. They were not a little surprized at the hand-
streets and extensive quays, which have been lately
72 IRELAND.
erected; and much pleased with the number of hospitals and
public structures that adorn the city, and at the same time
powerfully display the humanity and public spirit of the
inhabitants.
SECTION IV.
KILLALOfe.
" WE will to-morrow view the cascade on the Shannon/'
said Dr. Walker, as they returned from the linen manufac-
tory : " it is only about six miles above Limerick, and it is,
I understand, very beautiful. The celebrated and unfortu-
nate Earl of StrafFord, to whom Ireland is indebted for her
linen manufactory, had formed some idea of removing the
rock, which impedes the navigation of this fine river, and
forms the cascade : whether he found this undertaking im-
practicable, or whether he was interrupted in his design by
the disasters which recalled him to his native country, I do
not know ; but the rock still remains, and of late years the
upper and lower part of the river have been connected by a
canal. This noble river rises in the county of Leitrim, and
after a course of upwards of one hundred and fifty miles, it
falls into the Atlantic, between Kerry Head and Cape Lean.
Between Killaloe and Limerick, just above the cascade, is a
very fine salmon and eel fishery. The banks of this river
are fertile, and it contains several beautiful islands. " 1
should like extremely," replied Edward, " to follow the
course of the Shannon. Do you think we could, Sir/*
" We will see what can be done," said Dr. W. ; " I have
not the least objection to this arrangement ; for there are
many towns seated on its banks, the first of which is Kil-
laloe."
Edward was delighted with the plan ; and on the follow-
ing morning, the travellers pursued their journey, following
the course of the river until they reached Killaloe. The
bridge over the Shannon, consisting of nineteen arches,
being the only object worthy of attention, they took an early
dinner, and, hiring a boat, desired their servant would meet
them at Bannaghar.
5
BOGS OF IRELAND. 73
Our travellers were charmed with the view of the countr} r
through which they passed. The river had now assumed,
the form of a lough or lake, called Loch Derg ; and as the
weather was very fine and temperate, they were sorry when
they approached Bennaghar. Here they staid a short time
to view the canal, which opens an inland communication be.
tween Dublin and Limerick. " I see nothing to detain us
here," said Edward, as they returned to the town of Ben-
naghar, " and I am anxious to reach Athlone:" but he was
quite disappointed as he approached that place. He had
pictured Athlone as a large, strong, well built city, since its
capture by Baron de Ginckle, in the reign of William III.
as described as " an effort of boldness and vigour, to which
history scarcely furnishes a parallel." Dr. Walker was
amused at the expression of his intelligent countenance.
<c Why/* said the doctor, " what did you expect to find ?
There, you see, is a bridge composed of many arches, and
bearing marks of antiquity upon the very face of it. There,
you perceive, are many beautiful figures and inscriptions,
which will afford you some amusement perhaps : they relate
to the great successes of Queen Elizabeth, of renowned
memory, and are meant to perpetuate the recollection of her
clemency. You recollect, I suppose, the numbers she caused
to be executed, and their heads to be placed upon conspicu-
ous situations, in order to deter others from incurring her
displeasure. From the disappointment your countenance
expresses, I suppose you will have no objection to quit this
great town, and proceed immediately to Carrick." " None
at all," replied Edward, " this is indeed a poor miserable
place, and appears doubly so, from the idea I had formed of
its importance." And the travellers accordingly pursued
their journey, but not with quite so much ease and pleasure
as hitherto.
SECTION V.
THE BOGS OF IRELAND.
THE counties of West Meath and Longford are much in-
terrupted by bogs ; and Edward began at length to discover,
that his mother might possibly be inconvenienced by travel-
E
74 IRELAND. .
ing in Ireland. The roads were now become very serpen-
tine, and it often happened, that in order to get forwards one
wile, they were obliged to retreat two. Edward became
impatient more than once, as their guide prevented his tak-
ing what appeared a very sure, gentle, undulating road,
covered with moss, and looking far more inviting than that
he was compelled to follow. " Sure now and you sink,"
said the man, " if you go there; 'tis a bog.*' The bogs in
many parts of Ireland rise and fall in alternate hills and val-
leys, and the deceitful appearance they present of a smooth
green surface, has often proved fatal to strangers. Indeed
many cattle are lost in these bogs, in the spring ; for as the
grass generally grows very luxuriantly near their edges, ani-
mals sometimes approach too near, and fall into the pits or
sloughs, and are drowned.
Carrick, although a place neither possessing amusement
or profit, was a welcome asylum to the weary travellers.
" I wish the good people, possessing land in the country
through which we have just passed, would adopt the drain-
ing system," said Dr. Walker, as he took his seat by a turf
fire. " The inconvenience of these bogs is very great ; a
considerable part of the kingdom being rendered entirely
useless by them, to say nothing of the dangers to which they
expose ignorant travellers. Every barbarous and ill-inha-
bited country abounds in bogs : now, although Ireland is
neither in a state of barbarism, nor is there any lack of in-
habitants, yet there are few countries where there are so
many persons destitute of employment; many who live no*
body knows how, and so many whose intelligent minds,
which are susceptible of as much improvement as those of any
other people in the world, are so obscured by poverty and
oppression. In former times, these bogs served as a place
of refuge to the inhabitants, when they were first invaded
by the Danes and Britons ; and indeed they are now made
use of often as places of security, not against foreign inva-
ders, but against custom-house officers. The natives are
well acquainted with the different natures of these bogs, some
parts of which will bear a man, while the spot close to it
would apparently engulph him. When the Irish peasants
receive intimation, and they have generally pretty accurate
informers upon these occasions, that they are likely to be
disturbed in the formation of their favourite liquor, Whiskey
BOOS O^IRELAND. 75
they plunge the still into 4 bog, and are soon beyond the
reach of their pursuers."
" But how, Sir," enquired Edward, " do you suppose
these bogs were originally formed ?*' " That is not a very
easy question to answer ; for there are different opinions
upon the subject. Ireland abounds in springs, but these
springs are mostly dry in summer, and the grass and weeds
grow thick about these places. In the winter, the water
swells prodigiously, and softening the loose earth, the grass
floats on their surface, the roots of which, becoming spongy,
form a kind of mat. As it collects loose particles of earth
or seeds, or leaves, it assumes, by degrees, a substantial form.
In the spring it dries and withers, and becomes turf; but
new grass springing up through this turf, from the seeds of
the last year's crop, this surface, which is again lifted up in
the following winter, accumulates, and becomes thicker and
thicker, until it acquires such a consistency, that the spring
which formed it, has no longer the power of acting upon it.
This water, as it is thus prevented from rising beyond a cer-
tain degree, extends itself in every direction, and thus in-
creases the size of the bog. When first formed, it is called
a quaking bog; but when, in the course of years, it becomes
an elastic substance, it is called a turf bog. This turf is
used, as you perceive, for firing. The bottom of bogs is
generally a kind of white clay, or rather I should say, sandy
marie : so that a little water makes it exceedingly soft ; and
when dry, it forms a light dust ; the grass has therefore no
hold upon this uncertain tenure, and is therefore easily
loosened, and then floats as we have described. Although
the neighbourhood of these bogs is very unwholesome, yet
the Irish build their cabins very much in their neighbour-
hood. Turf is a most impenetrable substance, the rain
makes no impression upon it ; but stagnates on the surface,
except that part which is exhaled by the sun ; the vapour
therefore that is thus drawn from the bogs is often putrid
and stinking, and consequently the air in their vicinity must
be infectious. In the turf bogs of Ireland, large quantities
of timber have been found, which may be accounted for
thus : the Earl of Cromartie mentions a curious circum-
stance, which fell under his own immediate observation in
Scotland. Passing between Achidiscald and Gonnazd, in
the neighbourhood of Lochbrun, he observed a firm stand-
ing wood so very old, that the trees were leafless and bark-
2
7(5 IREL.YND.
less : this, he was told, by a peasant, was the usual way in
which firs decay ; and that, in process of time, they would
gradually throw themselves up from the roots, and thus pe-
rish. Some fifteen years afterwards, he was much surprized
at finding the wood totally gone, and the spot on which it
stood covered with a green moss. Having made enquiries
upon the subject, he found the trees had fallen, as the pea-
sant had foretold, and that nobody had been at the pains to
carry it away ; the green moss or fog had overgrown the
whole of the timber; and that this moss, being nourished by
the moisture which came down from the hill above it, had
stagnated on the plain, and formed a regular bog : he was
also told, that it was perfectly impassable: doubting the truth
of the latter assertion, he immediately jumped upon it, and
sunk up to the neck, as you would have done to-day, Ed-
ward, had it not been for our guide."
The Morse deer, which is very plentiful in America, ap-
pears to have been numerous in Ireland ; for in the particular
neighbourhood we have just traversed, and about Ferma-
nagh, many horns, and even heads, and in some places whole
skeletons of that animal have been discovered at the depth of
from four to fourteen feet, under ground. This part of
Ireland produces very fine ambergris. At Sligo, and along
the coast of Mayo, Kerry, and the isles of Arran, it is found
in considerable quantities. " I think," said Edward, " it
is a very great pity, that so fine a country as this might be
made, if properly attended to, should be so neglected."
" I think so too,'/ replied Dr. Walker: " perhaps when you
return from your travels, and have made yourself well ac-
quainted with human nature in its various forms, you will be
able to do that, the necessity of which all seem willing to
allow ; though as yet no one has had the courage or the
skill to point out how it should be effected." *' 1 will begin
with my own castle," said his pupil.
SECTION VI.
WAKES IN IRELAND.
FROM Carrick, the travellers proceeded to Leitrim ; on
the road thither, they were no! a little inconvenienced by the
WAKES IN IRELAND. 77
funeral of some cousin of their postillion. Upon stopping
their pooiv lean,, hall-starved animals, at a wretched inn, or
rather hovel, by the road side, to give them a little water,
Blarney learnt that a relation of his. was dead ; and upon
being asked to attend his wake, he said, " he couldn't re-
fuse," and so very quietly begged Dr. Walker and his pupil
would just be so kind as to stop till the morning. In vain
the travellers remonstrated ; Blarney was positive ; and Dr.
Walker was obliged to get out of his chaise, and follow the
postillion into the inn. There, to the great surprize of Ed-
ward, they found the corpse laid out upon the table, with
candles, and plates of salt all about him. The host was very
busy, as well as his dame ; and two girls, their daughters,
appeared to be making great preparations for some sort of
entertainment, rather than a. funeral.
" Sure and you'll dance,'* said one of them to Edward,
who being but little acquainted with the manners of the
poorer Irish, stared at the question ; but Dr. Walker, who
knew the customs of the Irish peasantry well, answered for
him, " He likes blind man's buff best.'* The girl replied,
" that they should play blind man's buff, and hunt the slip-
per too, as soon as her brother came back, who was gone to
fetch the piper/' When this youth returned, he brought
the melancholy intelligence, that the piper was sick, and
could not come, but that he had brought a host of friends to
lament over the dead. To say the truth, the friends came
in so fast, and brought with them so strong a perfume of
whiskey, that the travellers gladly accepted an invitation,
given them by the girls, to go to the barn, where they
soon heard sounds of doleful lamentations issuing from the
house, which gradually increased, till they became a dread-
ful howl " Ah why did ye die ;" forming the burthen of the
funeral song. The barn, in the mean while, presented a
scene of joyous mirth ; blind man's buff, and hunt the slip-
per, were followed up with great spirit. Towards morning,
Dr. Walker, as the sounds from within the inn gradually
subsided, thought perhaps the postillion would now continue
his journey : but he was mistaken ; he protested he would
not move a step till his cousin was safely lodged in the
ground ; and as our travellers were totally unacquainted
with the road, they were obliged to make a virtue of neces-
sity, and stay quietly till the middle of the day, when Blarney
assured them he would make up for lost time. He was as
E 3
78 IRELAND.
good as his word; for he flogged the wretched animals till he
got them into a gallop ; and, regardless of the entreaties of
his passengers, and the cracking of his crazy vehicle, Blar-
ney drove on, and at length safely landed them at Lei-
trim.
Having thus followed the course of the Shannon to its
sourcfc, they traversed the counties of Fermanagh, Tyrone,
and Londonderry. They made some short stay at the capi-
tal of the last mentioned county, the siege of which, in the
dispute between James II. and William III. for the crown of
Great Britain, is deservedly celebrated. Londonderry stands
on the Foyle, over which there is a wooden bridge of sin-
gular construction, one thousand and sixty-eight feet in
length.
" Now for the Giant's Causeway," said Edward joyfully,
as they prepared to quit Londonderry : " I really quite long
to see it ; for I think I have heard that it is the finest exhi-
bition of basaltic columns in the universe." " You have
heard right/' replied Dr. Walker.
F
SECTION VII.
THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY BASALTIC, AND (GRANITE
KOCKS.
THE British dominions present the noblest specimens in
the known world of columnar basalt ; amongst which, the
Giant's Causeway stands conspicuous, it consists of three
piers of basalt columns, which extend some hundred feet
into the sea; It is surrounded by precipitous rocks, from
200 to 400 feet high, in which there are several striking as-
semblages of columns, some vertical, some bent or inclined,
and some horizontal, and as it were mortised or driven into
the rock. Bengore, which bounds the Causeway on the
east, consists of alternate ranges of tabular and massive,
with columnar basalt.
But among the various and grand objects on this coast,
Pleskin is perhaps the most striking : it presents several co-
lonnades of great height and regularity, separated from each
other by tabular basalt; and at Fairhead, the north-east
BASALT ROCKS. 70
cape of Ireland, and forming the east side of Ballycastle
Bay, there is a range of columns of from ten to twenty feet
diameter, and between 200 and 300 feet high, supported
upon a steep declivity, and offering to the mariner at sea
the spectacle of a terrace, which towers nearly 600 feet
above the waves that roll beneath.
Another Basalt district, which even exceeds the former
in magnificent peculiarities, is that which presents itself in
sailing down Loch Nagaul, in Mull. The coast of this
island upon the right and left exhibits the step.like appear-
ance of basaltic rocks in great proportion, with yawning ca-
verns and fine columns.
The isles of Ulva and Gometra rise with the abrupt and
irregular precipices common to this formation. The Tre-
shamish Isles exhibit columnar and massive basalt, and in
the midst of this grand panorama, Staffa presents itself.
The columns, which are from sixty to ninety feet high, are
approached by a fine causeway, rising gently from the deep,
and an immense weight of tabular basalt appears supported
by these columns. The pillars are perpendicular, inclined,
and in some places extremely curved. In Fingal's Cave, the
ranges of columns extend, in deep perspective, into the
interior of the rock, presenting a scene of such unrivalled
grandeur, as hitherto to have scorned the descriptive pen of
the poet, or the pencil of the painter, to represent,
" Pray, Sir/' said Edward, " Of what are the Basaltic
columns composed ?"
DR. WALKER, " Basalt is always a homogeneous rock,
and abounds in black oxyde of iron ; and a piece of basalt
presented to a common observer, would immediately be pro-
nounced the product of a volcano, the analogy between it
and the lava being most striking."
Upon reaching Fairhead, Edward was lost in astonish-
hfient. Even his glowing imagination had fallen short in the
picture of the Giant's Causeway. He was perfectly speech,
less. " Was I wrong when I described the grandeur of this
scene," said Dr. Walker, as his pupil gazed with astonish-
ment and delight at the magnificent scene before him.
" Oh no, Sir," replied Edward, " Oh how I wish my mo.
ther and sisters could see this grand view ! I hope you will
not quit Fairhead to day, Sir, I could gaze for ever."
i( No," replied Dr. Walker, " You shall pass one more day
80 IRELAND.
here ; but we have, you must remember, a finer prospect of
this kind in reservethe Isle of Staffa.''
Edward was unwilling to allow any view could be finer
than the one before him. The next day unfortunately
proved very stormy, and the travellers, although they re-
ceived much gratification in contemplating the majesty of
the waves as they broke against the Basaltic columns, were
compelled to pass the greater part of the day in the inn
where they had taken up their abode, and where they
amused themselves with the following short dissertation upon
rocks.
EDWARD. " In the book you gave me, Sir, upon the
formation, or rather nature of mountains, it says that green
stone is often found upon primary rocks."
DR. WALKER. " Exactly so.
" And," pursued Edward, " Primitive rocks are generally
found in large masses or blocks, not regularly stratified,
and affecting a vertical arrangement in their fractures and
fissures. Sometimes they are of a perfectly homogeneous
texture, commonly hard and durable, and sometimes com-
posed of two or three ingredients blended together; they
are generally crystalline in their texture, and usually con-
stitute the loftiest mountains.
" The transition series of rocks, or those deemed by the
Wernerians, next in point of antiquity, to the primitive,
are less lofty than the former. In many instances, they
present a slaty texture ; and they seem to have been depo-
sited in strata, or layers, which are seldom either vertical
or horizontal, but variously inclined to the horizon.
'* The secondary rocks, or the more recent series, are
nearly, if not quite, horizontal in their position. In their
texture they are soft, and, consequently, easy of decay ; and
they appear rather as mechanical deposits than as chemical
compounds which have resulted from fusion, crystallization,
or solution. But I think I can recollect the exaot divisions
of mountains into four classes, as arranged by Werner and
his disciples, namely, 1. Primitive ; 2. Intermediate ; 3. Se-
condary; 4. Tertiary; to which may be added Volcanic
mountains, as a 5th class.
" I. Primitive mountains are composed of 1. Granite;
2. Gneiss ; 3. Micaceous shistus ; 4. Argillaceous shistus ;
5. Primitive lime-stone ; 6. Trap ; 7. Porphyry ; 8, Sienite ;
BASALT AND GRANITE ROCKS. 81
9. Serpentine ; 10. Topaz rock; 11. Quartz; 1 1 2. Silicious
shistus.
" II. Intermediate mountains are composed of, 1. Lime-
stone; 2. Trap; 3. Amygdaloid; 4. Wacken.
" III. Secondary mountains are composed of, 1. Sand,
stone; 2. Limestone; 3. Gypsum; 4. Chalk; 5. Coal ; 6.
Common Salt; 7. Argillaceous Iron-stone and Calamine;
8. Trap.
" IV. Tertiary mountains are composed of, 1. Sand and
and Pebbles ; 2. Clays and Mud ; 3. Bituminous Tufa.
" V. Volcanic mountains emit, 1. Lava; 2. Pumice; 3.
Scoria?. The lava is sometimes mingled with felspar, quartz,
or granite. If the mountain be a secondary mountain,
marble, calcareous spar, gypsum, and similar substances are
ejected. '
DR. WALKER. " These different series are tolerably ar-
ranged in regard to each other ; the primary rocks forming
the basis upon which the others rest : the transition rocks
upon these primaries, are immediately recumbent, which
are succeeded by the varieties of the secondary rocks, and
by their detritus, constituting alluvial matters and soils. If
the wind does not abate to-morrow, we may, perhaps, have
time to go to Loch Neagh. This lake is worthy of notice
from its peculiar qualities of turning wood into stone. Some
of the ancient writers have gone so far as to say, that it
would turn that part of the wood which was in the mud,
into iron ; the part in the water, into stone, while the part
above the water still remained as wood. Mankind delight in
the marvellous, and in the early periods of the history of man,
we have innumerable instances of the union of great wisdom .
and of great folly. Men, unaccustomed to search for natural
causes, as in the earliest ages of the world, have invariably
attributed every uncommon appearance, to the production
of invisible beings, such as fairies, genii, and so- forth. As
they advance in knowledge, they are apt to rush into the
opposite extreme, and suppose that every thing contains
within itself an all-sufficient power or cause, whereby it acts
or is acted upon, without the interference of an all-wise
and mighty Creator. I would wish you, Edward, not to rest
content with hearsay intelligence, where you can from your
own observation have the opportunity of judging for yourself.
The most patient investigators have always been the most
successful enquirers. Two of the greatest philosophers the
E5
82 IRELAND,
world ever saw, Lord Bacon, and Sir Isaac Newton, are m
nothing so much superior to all other philosophers as in the
deliberation and patience with which they pursued their en-
quiries. They sought for truth with the most unwearied
diligence, they never adopted speculation for fact, nor were
they satisfied with the semblance in place of the reality.
SECTION VIII.
THE PETRIFYING QUALITIES OF LOCH NEAGH.
" BUT to return to Loch Neagh," said the Doctor,
'* from which I have unconsciously wandered, this lake
is the largest in Ireland ; being twenty miles in length
from the north-west to the south-east point, and nearly
fifteen miles from the north-east to the south-west point.
As to its petrifying qualities already mentioned, many
writers suppose it consists, not so much in the lake as
in the ground near it ; that the earth in the vicinity of the
lake does produce these petrifactions there is little doubt.
The great Dr. Robert Boyle has observed that * the earth
harbours different kinds of petrescent liquors, and many
of them impregnated with some sort of mineral or other/
But this petrified wood is found in the lake, and as there are
no springs, or waters, but are more or less impregnated with
such sort of mineral and saline particles, (this is proved by
analyzing the most limpid streams) which after evaporation,
still in the residuum, give some particles of salt, with gome
stones and mineral ores, Loch Neagh may produce these
petrifactions as well as the earth in its environs.
" Petrifying springs are generally impregnated, some with
calcareous particles of stones, and others with ferruginous
and vitriolic particles. Those of the stony and calcareous
kind, when they drop on wood, or other vegetables, act on
them for the most part by incrustations and coalitions, which
yet adhere close together ; they seldom turn the wood into
stone ; but sticking to it coagulate on it, and by degrees
co\er them with a crust of a whitish substance, of different
thickness, by which the wood is wrapped in a stony coat,
this coat being broken before the wood is rotten, you will
LOCH NEAGH. 33
find a cavity in the stone, which is very often filled by a
subsequent incrustation or petrifaction, the stony particles
then taking the place of the rotten wood. Sometimes, in-
deed, these waters fermenting the pores of the wood, either
longitudinally or transversely, insinuate themselves into
them or fill them up with thin stony particles, and by their
burning or corroding qualities proceeding from limestone,
destroy the wood, and assume the shape of the plant they
have thus destroyed.
" These petrifactions generally ferment with acids and
spirit of vitriol, and by calcination may be reduced to lime,
" Again, ferruginous or metallic petrifying springs, mostly
act by insinuating their finest particles through the pores
rad vessels of the wood, or other vegetables, without en-
creasing their bulk or altering their texture, though they
greatly increase their specific gravity; and such is the petri-
fied wood on the shores of Loch Neagh ; for it does not
show any outward addition or coalition of matter covering
it, but preserves the grains and vestiges of wood ; the only
alteration perceptible is in the weight and closeness, and
this is caused by the mineral particles which have filled up
the pores.
*' Though mines have not been discovered in the vicinity
of the Loch, there is reason to believe there are such in its
neighbourhood, from the great quantity of iron-stones found
on it's shores, and places adjacent to it, and from the yel-
lowish ochre and clay to be met with in many places near it.
If these iron-stones, which are very ponderous, and are of
an ochrtsh yellow on the outside, and inwardly of a reddish
brown, be calcined, they yield strongly to the magnet.
That mines are generated, and found in the bowels of hills
and mountains, is obvious to any person who has the least
knowledge of metallurgy, and that springs also proceed
from the same sources, is no less obvious ; therefore should
a spring happen in any of these mountains to run through a
vein of mineral ore of^any kind whatever, it will wash and
dilute some parts of such mineral, impregnate itself with
unctuous, saline, and metallic particles, if in its way, whe-
ther under ground, or at its issuing out of the cliffis of the
mountains, of the sides of the river, or of the lake in ques-
tion, it meets with wood, vegetables, or any lax bodies,,
lodged in the mud or gravel, whose pores by the natural
6
84 IRELAND.
heat of the mineral streams, or any other accident, being
open and duly prepared, these metallic moleculae and saline
particles will penetrate through, insinuate and lodge them-
selves into the pores and vessels of such wood, and fill them
up, and by degrees turn them into stone. There are some
of these lapidescent juices of so fine a substance, yet of so
petrifying a nature, that they will penetrate bodies of very
different kinds, and yet scarcely, if at all, visibly increase
their bulk, or change their shape and colour.
" That such springs there are, hidden under this lake will
appear probable, from what has been said, and perhaps evi-
dent, from the accounts since received, that in the great
frost of 1780 the lake was frozen over so as to bear men on
horseback, yet several circular spaces remained unfrozen.
Mineral streams, or exhalations, highly saturated with stony
and mineral particles, are often found to have a petrifying
quality, as is seen at the bath called Green Pillars, in the
city of Buda, in Hungary. If such streams should in certain
places find or force their way through the sand or pores of
the earth, they may operate on wood, &c. buried in the ground,
permeate its vessels, and by degrees turn it into stone ; and
such is the most probable, if not the only reason, that can
be assigned for those petrifactions of wood found in sand.
" Thus much for Loch Neagh, Edward, but I cannot quit
this subject without mentioning those extraordinary petri-
factions which are to be met with in a great desert to the
west of Cairo in Egypt, mentioned by Mr. Horneman.
He says, * that in the desert which forms a natural boun-
dary to Egypt, on the west, extending from the Natron
valley to the mountains Ummesogier, petrified wood is found
of various sizes and forms ; sometimes are seen whole trunks
of trees of twelve feet in circumference, or more ; sometimes
only branches and twigs, scarcely any of a quarter of an inch in
diameter, and sometimes merely pieces of bark of various
kinds, and in particular of the oak. Many of the great
stems yet retain their side branches, and in many the natural
timber has undergone so little change, that the circular
ranges of the wood are discernible. The colour of this pe-
trified wood is in general black, or nearly so, but in some
Instances it is of a light grey, and then so much resembling
wood in its natural state, that their slaves would often col-
lect it arid bring it in for firing.*
GENERAL VIEW OF IRELAND. 85
C5 These petrifactions are sometimes scattered in single
pieces, but are oftener found in irregular layers or strata,
covering a considerable space of ground.
" The appearance of this desert waste in which these pe-
trifactions are found, is that of a lee shore, over which the
waters streaming before the storm have on their ebb depo-
sited timber, or what else was carried away by the tide.
No part of it has the appearance of having been worked by
any kind of tool, and those trunks of trees which have been
hastily pronounced by travellers masts of vessels, are nothing
more than the branchless bodies of trees, thirty or forty feet
long, which are in many parts splintered, but not by human
workmanship. How this vast deposition of petrified timber
came there, has not been decided, nor, most probably, will
it ever be decided.
" Many parts of these deserts are supposed to have been
submerged at a period subsequent to the deluge, for there
are in many parts marine shells of various kinds, found in
the mountains which border upon it."
EDWARD. " I think I should like to travel in Africa very
much."
DR. WALKER. " You must then arm yourself with un-
common fortitude, the danger of traversing the interior of
Africa is very great, and the fatigue such as those only ac-
customed to live like the hardy Bedoweens can scarcely en-
dure. Nevertheless, what has been done may still be done,
and I do think I should have some pleasure in accompanying
you. And now before we leave Ireland let us take a slight
sketch of its surface, climate, and productions."
SECTION IX.
GENERAL VIEW OF IRELAND.
THE face of the country is mostly level, containing
many bogs and lakes ; it is well watered with rivers, and has
a small chain of mountains in Kerry, in Wicklow, in the
south-east of Ulster, and in the north-west of Connaught ;
Croagh Patrick mount, on the south-east of Clew Bay, rises
to 2666 feet above the level of the sea j Mount Nephin, in
86 IRELAND.
Mayo, 2640 ; Mangerton in Kerry, 2500 feet. The climate
is very mild, and favourable to vegetation ; hence the grain
for exportation, and the numerous herds of cattle with which
it supplies England and the navy.
By a recent survey, Ireland is found to contain 19,436,960
acres, English measure; of which 14,932 are cultivated,
3,500,000 waste, but susceptible of cultivation ; and 1,000,000
uncultivatable, consisting of roads, lakes, rivers, and sterile
ground. The most elevated part of Ireland is a curved line
extending from the west of Munster to the north-east, thence
through the west of Leinster, and the south and north-west
of Ulster. In Connaught the greatest elevation is a straight
line from the south of Galway to the north of Sligo.
Ireland is also rich in minerals and metals. Lead, cop-
per, iron, silver, coal, marble, slate, ochres, and clays, are
found in all the provinces. Manganese, granite, crystals,
pebbles, and garnets, in Ulster. Connaught, and Leinster ;
fullers' earth, sulphur, and jasper, in Ulster and Leinster;
amethysts, in Ulster and Munster; antimony, in Monaghan ;
calcedony, in Donegal ; cobalt, in Kerry ; gypsum, abun-
dant in Antrim; talc, in Carlow and Sligo; porphyry, in
Dublin ; pearls, in Galway and Kerry ; petrifactions, in Cork
and Londonderry ; gold and tin, in Wicklow ; pearls are
found in Lough Corrib and the Lake of Killarney ; silicious
sand, in Donegal ; steatite, in Down ; serpent stone, abun-
dant in Sligo ; spar, in Clare, beautiful like that of Derby-
shire.
Its exports are, yarn, live cattle, the produce of slaugh-
tered cattle, fish, copper ore, lead ore, flax, paper, grain,
and the annual amount of linen cloth exported, is estimated
at 2,000,000/. of linen yarn, 500,000/. The export of corn,
meal, and flour to England in 1812, was l,64l,681/.
Its imports are, coal, hemp, flax, East and West In-
dian produce. And the chief ports are, Dublin, Cork, Wa-
terford, Wexford, Londonderry, Limerick, Belfast, and
Newry.
Belfast has a stately bridge of twenty. one arches over
the Lagan : the inhabitants may be almost considered a
Scottish colony. This town is in the centre of the linen
trade, besides which, it manufactures cotton, sail cloth,
sugar, glass, and earthenware : exports chiefly to America
and the West Indies.
Kilkenny is said to be the neatest town in Ireland j it
HEBRIDES. 87
manufactures woollens and starch. This part of the king-
dom produces plenty of corn, wool, and marble ; has fine
plantations, and is noted for its minerals, and the salubrity
of the air.
Gal way is eligibly situated for commerce, the salmon
and herring fisheries are carried on with spirit, the manufac-
ture of cotton goods is encouraged, and great quantities of
prepared kelp exported.
Drogheda exports much grain ; imports coals, and goods
from England.
Wexford is large, handsome, and manufactures good
woollen ; it was here that the first English colony was
planted.
Kinsale is a populous and strong port, has a good trade,
and is occasionally a station for the royal navy.
The export trade of Sligo is equal to that of Galway.
Newry increases in trade and population, the canal com-
municates with Loch Neagh, and the Bay of Carlingford.
Colerain has a great salmon fishery, and near it is that
astonishing ridge of rocks called the Giant's Causeway.
CHAPTER IV.
SCOTLAND.
SECTION I.
THE HEBRIDES.
ON the following morning as the wind had abated, and the
weather appeared to be tolerably settled, our travellers em-
barked at Fairhead for Cantyre. They had a remarkably
pleasant sail, and as they sat upon deck watching the receding
columns of the Giant's Causeway, Dr. Walker briefly pointed
out to his pupil the most striking features in the character
of the Irish. " In their manner/' said the Doctor, " among
the higher classes they resemble the English in many re-
88 SCOTLAND.
spects ; although it must be confessed, that there is now one
striking difference between the two nations. The Irish are
still given to a great excess in wine ; a vice which has al-
most disappeared in the sister island. Hunting, and other
robust exercises, occupy mudh of the time of the Irish gen-
try; hence they enjoy an unusual flow of health and spirits;
and although they possess from nature, minds of the most
intelligent cast, yet, from the warmth with which they pursue
their favourite sports, little time is allowed them for culti-
vating and improving their intellectual faculties. I am, of
course, speaking generally upon this subject. There are
numerous instances, in which the Irish equal, if they do not
surpass, the literary character of any other nation. But for
the celebrated men of this island, 1 must refer you to the
Biographical Dictionary of distinguished Irishmen. The
character of the people we are about to visit, I mean the
Scotch, is, in most respects, totally different from that of the
Irish. The peasantry are equally hardy, can endure fatigue
and privations with the same unwearied patience as the Irish
peasant ; but they are laborious and industrious, and ex-
trepiely attached to their superiors. The elder branch of
the family generally inherits the whole, or at least the greater
part of the family property, so that the younger parts are
compelled to provide for themselves, by their own exertions.
Hence the numbers that quit their country, and seek their
fortunes in foreign climes. Few men are more successful in
life than the Scotch ; this success must be attributed not to
their being Scotchmen, but to the patient and persevering
diligence with which they generally pursue all their under-
takings.
" Scotland can boast of many literary characters of the
first class. Robertson, Hume, Blair, Beattie, Dugald
Stuart, Kaimes, Jeffrey, and many others have added greatly
to the stock of human knowledge ; while her poets, Thom-
son, Walter Scott, Burns and others, have almost exhausted
pleasures of imagination.
" I shall say nothing of the Highlanders, who are at
most a distinct race of beings from the Lowlanders, as we
shall have many opportunities of judging of their character
and manners, as we travel through their wild, romantic, and
beautiful country."
Upon reaching Cantyre, our travellers staid but to refresh
themselves, and then hired a boat to take them to the beau-
HEBRIDES. 89
tiiul Isle of Arran, having traversed the southern parts of
the island, which are low and highly cultivated, they con-
tinued their journey towards the north, where the scenery
becomes more picturesque. Among the mountains which
adorn this part of Arran, that of Goatfell, which is 3,000
feet in height, stands conspicuous. From Arran they pro-
ceeded to the rocky isle of Bute, once so celebrated for its
wood. crowned heights, which are mentioned even at so re-
mote a period as the time of the Roman Emperors. The
island has lost much of its beauty in consequence of the
great quantity of timber which has been cut down very lately.
The Marquis of Bute has a very fine seat here, called Mount
Stewart, lying directly opposite to the Larges, where the
Spanish Armada was wrecked. The capital, Rothsay, gives
the title of Duke of Rothsay to the eldest sons of the kings
of Great Britain. From Rothsay they embarked for Dum-
barton in order to take a survey of the beautiful Loch Lo-
mond.
The first view of it from Tarbat, presents some extensive
serpentine winding, amidst lofty hills : on the north, bar-
ren, black and rocky, which darken with their shade that
contracted part of the water. Near this gloomy tract, be-
neath the craig Roston, was the principal seat of the
McGregors, who, for a massacre of the Colquhouns, or Ca-
houns, were proscribed and hunted down like wild beasts ;
their very name was suppressed by act of Council ; so that
the remnant, now dispersed like Jews, dare not even sign
to any deed. Their posterity are still said to be distin-
guished among the clans in which they have incorporated
themselves, not only by the redness of the hair, but by their
still retaining the mischievous disposition of their ancestors.
On the east sides, the mountains are equally high, but
the tops form a more even ridge, parallel to the lake,
except where Ben Lomond overtops the rest. The upper
parts are black and barren ; the lower exhibit the rich
tints of cultivation. The eastern boundary is part of the
Grampian hills, which take their name from a single hill,
the Mons Grampius of Tacitus, where Galgacus waited the
approach of Agricola, and where the battle was fought so
fatal to the brave Caledonians. Antiquarians have not
agreed upon the particular spot, but it is by some placed
near Comrie, at the upper end of Strathern, at a place to.
this day called Galgachan Moor.
90 SCOTLAND.
On passing the point of Fiskin, an expanse of water bursts
upon the sight, varied with all the softer beauties of nature,
and presents a fine contrast to that on the east, where the
Grampian hills present a bold and rugged outline. Immedi-
ately is a flat, covered with wood and corn ; beyond, the
headlands stretch far into the water, and consist of gentle
risings ; many have their surfaces covered with wood, others
adorned with trees, loosely scattered over a brilliant verdure,
or the more sombre, but not less pleasing, hue of the purple
heath. Numbers of islands are dispersed over the lake of
the same elevated nature as the little capes, and wooded in
the same manner: others just peep above the surface, and
are tufted with trees ; and numbers are so disposed as to
form magnificent vistas.
Opposite Luss, where is the seat of the Colquhouns, at a
small distance from shore, is a mountainous isle, almost covered
with wood ; it is nearly half a mile long, and has a most fine
effect. There are somewhat about twenty-eight islands in
the lake, some of which are well stocked with deer.
The length of this beautiful Lake, is twenty-four miles,
and its greatest breadth eight; its greatest depth, which is
between the point of Fiskin and Ben Lomond, is a hundred
and twenty fathoms. Our travellers having leisure, rode to
the eminence of Millegs, to see the rich prospect between
Loch Lomond and the Clyde. One way is seen the beau-
tiful lake, Ben Lomond, and the vast mountains above Glen
Crow. On the other hand appears a fine reach of the
Clyde, enlivened with shipping, a view of the romantic and
beautiful seats of Roseneath, and Ardin-chapel, and the busy
towns of Port Glasgow and Greenock.
" The Grampian Hills," said Dr. Walker, " may be con-
sidered as a grand frontier chain, extending from Loch Lo-
mond to Stonehaven, forming pretty nearly the boundary
between the Highlands and the Lowlands ; though four or
five counties, on the north-east of that chain, have in their
northern and eastern parts the advantages and names of
Lowlands. The mountainous tract of the Highlands, com-
prehends the counties of Bute, Argyle, Inverness, Nairne,
Ross, Cromarty, Sutherland, Caithness, and the Hebrides ;
together with part of Dumbartonshire, Morayshire, Batfff-
shire, Aberdeenshire, Kincardineshire, Angus-shire, and
Perthshire. Population about 250,000. The language is
Gaelic or Erse, The rest of Scotland is called the Low.
HEBRIDES. 91
lands. Besides this division, Scotland is divided, by nature,
by its friths, lakes, and rivers, into three parts, viz, the north-
ern, the middle and the southern. The middle is separated
from the northern by a loch and a chain of lakes, extending
from the Moray Frith to the Isle of Mull ; and from the
southern part by the Frith of Clyde, Loch Lomond, the river
Forth, and the Frith of Forth. The northern is chiefly an
assembly of vast dreary mountains; mountainous chains
traverse the middle, in different directions, and excepting its
eastern coast, arable land is in disproportion : the scenery
is very romantic. The southern part resembles England ia
its general aspect and state of cultivation.
" I hope, Edward, you are already convinced we need not
quit the British Isles to search for beautiful or sublime pros-
pects. Even among the gardens of Italy, we may talk of
Loch Lomond, and amidst the inferior mountains of Switzer-
land, we may mention Ben Lomond, and Ben Nevis, the lat-
ter of which we shall see as we pass the borders of Argyle-
shire. It is 4,250 feet above the level of the sea, but even
this mountain, by the side of the stupendous Mont Blanc,
would hide its diminished head, and appear but a hillock.
The height of Mont Blanc is 15,550 feet. In speaking of
the height of mountains, you must understand that it is al-
ways calculated from the level of the sea. The Barometer
has been applied with great success in measuring mountains;
for every 103 feet which you ascend with the barometer, the
mercury in its tube falls ^ of an inch, 1 03 feet of air being
equal to T *o of an inch of mercury on the surface of the earth.
The barometer on the top of Snowdon, in Wales, sinks 3,67
inches ; therefore that mountain is 3,780 feet in perpen-
dicular height. Do you understand that, Edward."
EDWARD. Perfectly, Sir."
DR. WALKER. " Have you sufficiently contemplated
the beauties of this charming lake ? If so, we will resume
our journey, and get a peep at Ben Nevis, in Argyllshire.
Kelvin Bridge is but eight miles from hence, but we will see
that in our southern tour."
After traversing the mountainous region, and experiencing
the well-known hospitality of the Highlanders, our travellers
approached the object of their curiosity ; they had for a
length of time seen its lofty head towering above the sum-
mits of the neighbouring mountains. On the north. east side
it rises perpendicularly nearly 1,500 feet, presenting the
92 SCOTLAND.
view of a frightful precipice. The upper half of the mountain
is destitute of all vegetation. After much labour and fatigue
our travellers reached the summit where the extensive view-
surpassed even their expectations. The tops of Jura and
hills of Cullan, in the isle of Skey, formed the boundary of
sight on the west, while on the east it extended to Ben
Lawres, in Pertshire,. and the river Ness.
"What a superb view !" exclaimed Edward, as his eye
wandered over the extensive scene. " How much I am in-
debted to you, Sir, for proposing to make the tour of the
British Islands previous to our visiting the Continent. I
would not but have seen the beauties of our own country for
the world."
SECTION II.
JOURNEY IN THE HIGHLANDS.
THE Highlander, who had accompanied them as a guide,
warned them of an approaching storm, and the travellers be-
gan hastily to descend, but they did not reach the level
ground, before the heavy clouds, which now enveloped the
top of Ben Nevis, had begun to discharge their watery
stores. The thunder reverberating from mountain to moun-
tain, produced an awful sensation, while the livid flashes of
lightning, which penetrated and illumined the deep recesses
of the rocks, added considerably to the grandeur of the
scene. Dr. Walker and his pupil were not a little delighted
at finding themselves once more safely seated by the side of
the bright cottage fire of their friendly guide, who had ac-
companied them in their mountain excursion, and having
intimated, that it was their intention to take a view of the
Hebrides, and even the Orkneys, he entreated he might be
allowed to accompany them. As their English servant had
more than once expressed a wish to return home, they ac-
cepted his offer, and Colin was immediately invested in his
new office. Colin was a shrewd clever fellow, and our tra-
vellers found him a very useful companion, particularly so
in their immediate travels in Scotland. He feared neither
cold or hunger. Whether he climbed the mountain's brow,
or wandered along the peaceful valley, Colin was equally
happy ; he possessed, in a large degree, that temper of ac-
HEBRIDES. 93
commodation to their circumstances which is so conducive
to happiness, and which is so generally met with among the
Highlanders. He could sing all the favourite national airs
of his country, and although not bred to arms, fire flashed
from his eye at the well known sound of " Up and war them
a' Willie;" and Colin lacked hut the opportunity, not the
spirit, to prove himself the brave defender of his country's
cause. The day after the storm, he entreated the Doctor would
allow him to attend the wedding of one of his cousins ; the
good man not only consented, but begged that himself and
Edward might be admitted as guests upon the happy occa-
sion. Proud of so flattering an offer, Colin hastened to give
notice of their approach, and Dr. Walker and his pupil were
received at the door of the Highland cottage by the vener-
able father and mother of the bride. Every thing at this
numerous meeting was conducted with the greatest decorum,
and the presents made to the new married couple were so
considerable, as to enable them to furnish a cottage with
some degree of comfort. A good dinner, and a dance in the
evening, closed the festivities of the day ; in the latter Colin
figured away with great eclat, and both the Doctor and his
pupil were not a little astonished at the agility displayed by
the company, and the length of time which they continued
the reel without the lea/t appearance of fatigue. The party
separated in perfect good humour ; they were merry, not
riotous ; their characteristic sobriety having outweighed the
temptation even of their favourite whiskey ; not one of the
party exhibited the least symptoms of intoxication.
" What is whiskey made of, Sir ?"
" Why of malt, and it is distilled by a very common che-
mical process. The malt is dried, mashed, boiled, and from
the liquor thus made, the alkohol, or pure spirit, is distilled.
Proof spirit consists of half water and half pure spirit ; that
is, such as when poured on gunpowder, and set on fire, will
burn all away ; and permit the powder to take fire and flash,
as in open air. But if the spirit be not so highly rectified,
there will remain some water, which will make the powder
wet, and unfit to ta.ce fire. Proof spirit of any kind weighs
seven pounds twelve ounces per gallon. "
EDWARD. " And pray, Sir, how is the strength of spirits
known ?''
DR. WALKER. " By the improved hydrometer, which
is calculated to ascertain the specific gravity of fluids to the
04 SCOTLAND.
greatest precision possible. This instrument, which you saw the
exciseman use in Arran, consists of a large hollow bail, with a
smaller bolt, screwed on to its bottom, partly filled with mer-
cury, or small shot, in order to render it but little specifically
lighter than water. The larger ball has also a short neck,
into which is screwed the graduated brass wire, which, by a
small weight, causes the body of the instrument to descend
in the fluid with part of the stem.
" The common method of shaking the spirits in a phial, and
raising a head of bubbles, to judge, by their manner of rising
or breaking, whether the spirit be proof or near it, is very
fallacious.
" There is no way so certain, and at the same time so
easy and expeditious, as this by the hydrometer ; which will
infallibly demonstrate the difference of bulks, and conse-
quently the specific gravities in equal weights of spirits, to
the thirty, forty, or fifty thousandth part of the whole ;
which is a degree of accuracy few people wish to exceed.'*
SECTION III.
MULL, ST. COLUMBO AND F1NGAL*S CAVE.
THE county of Argyle presents no object worthy of re-
cord ; the capital town, Inverary, is a neat and pleasant
place, and in its environs the marine cataract of Loch Etif,
and the beautiful lake of Awe present the chief objects of
curiosity in this county, for the traveller may, in some parts,
traverse miles without seeing a single hamlet.
Dr. Walker engaged a fisherman to take them to the Isle
of Mull, the largest of the Hebrides, where having inspected
every thing that'was interesting, they at passed on to the small
island of lona, or Icolm kill, the ancient burial place of the
kings of Scotland. It contains also the ruins of a cathedral,
and a monastery. Our travellers passed one night in the
solitary village it contains, and the next day they proceeded
to view the church of St. Mary's.
" I cannot enter into the origin or history of the religious
erections upon this Island, 5 ' said Dr. Walker, as they ap-
proached St. Mary's, " it is sufficient to say that it seems to
FiNGAL'S CAVE. 95
have served as a sanctuary for St. Columbo> and other holy
men oflearning, while England, Ireland, and Scotland were
desolated by barbarism. It appears that the northern pa-
gans often landed here, and paid no regard to the sanctity
of the place. The church of St. Mary, which is built in the
form of a cathedral, is a beautiful fabric. It contains the
bodies of some Scotch, Irish, and Norwegian kings, on whose
tombs there are Gaelic inscriptions, but the tomb of Co-
lumbo, who lies buried here, is uninscribed. The steeple is
large, the cupola 21 feet square, the doors and windows are
curiously carved, and the altar is of the finest marble.
There are innumerable inscriptions of ancient customs and
ceremonies in this Island, which are a sufficient proof that
in former times when the continent of Europe was enveloped
in ignorance, the Islands, if not Scotland itself, were the
asylum oflearning and learned men."
From lona they embarked for Staffa, in a small boat, and
the day being remarkably fine they had a most delightful sail,
and reached the entrance of the cave without the least in-
convenience. This was particularly fortunate, for the Island
being open to the swell from the Atlantic, the sea which sur-
rounds it is often extremely rough.
The mind can hardly form an idea more magnificent than
such a space as that occupied by the cave of Fingal, sup-
ported on each side by ranges of columns, and roofed by the
bottoms of those which have been broken off in order to
form it ; between the angles of which a yellow stalagmitic
matter has exuded, which serves to define the angles pre-
cisely, and at the same time to vary the colour with a great
deal of elegance. The whole of this cavern is lighted from
without, so that the farthest extremity is visible from the
mouth of the cave. The air within being agitated by the
flux and reflux of the tides, it is perfectly dry and whole-
some, being free from the damp vapours with which natural
caverns generally abound.
" Why is it called Fingal's cave, Sir ?" enquired Edward.
Du. WALKER. " When Sir Joseph Banks first visited
this cave, and indeed brought it into notice, he asked his
guide what was the name of it ? The cave of Fihn Co*/,
was his reply, whom the translator of Ossian has called Fin-
gal. Sir Joseph was delighted at meeting in this cave the
remembrance of a hero, whose existence has been almost
doubted in England. As to the name of the island itself, it
96 SCOTLAND.
is of Norwegian origin, Staffa being derived from
staff, or prop, or, figuratively, a column.
" The little island of Staffa is about three leagues north-
east from Columb-kill; its greatest length is about an Eng-
lish mile, and its breadth is not more than half an one. On
the west side of the island is a small bay, where boats gener-
ally land. At a short distance from Staffa, is a small
island, called Buachaille, or the herdsmen, which is
wholly composed of pillars, without any stratum above them.
" On proceeding to the north-west, you meet with the
highest range of pillars, the magnificent appearance of which
is past all description ; here they are bare to their very base,
and the stratum below them is also visible; in a short time
it rises many feet above the water, the whole of this stratum
slips gradually to the south-east, beyond this the pillars to-
tally cease, and a brown rock appears until you approach the
celebrated cave/'
SECTION IV.
TWILIGHT PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF.
OUR travellers staid so long in the interior of the natural
columnar hall, that they thought it advisable not to return to
Mull that evening, and accordingly the boatman rowed round
towards the north of the island, and they took up their
abode at the only house it contained. The evening being
remarkably fine, Doctor Walker and his pupil amused them
selves till a late hour, in wandering over the small but extra-
ordinary isle of Staffa.
" I like tcr walk in the twilight,*' said Edward, as they
slowly returned to their inn. " Every thing is so quiet and
so still. Pray, Sir, when is twilight said to begin ? I have
often wondered, when the sun was quite gone down and
there was no moon, why it was not quite dark. I know it is
so in stoi'my weather but I mean now, in summer, when
there is neither sun or moon, it is still light enough to walk
about/'
DR. WALKER. " The Crepusculum, or Twilight, is
that faint light which we perceive before the sun rises and
after he sets. It is produced by the rays of light being re-
fracted in their passage through the earth's atmosphere, and
TWILIGH1. 97
rejected from the different particles thereof. The twilight
is supposed to end in the evening when the sun is 18 below
the horizon, or when stars of the sixth magnitude (the
smallest that are visible to the naked eye) begin to appear;
and the twilight is said to begin in the morning, or it is day-
break, when the sun is again within 18 of the horizon. The
twilight is the shortest at the equator, and longest at the
poles ; here the sun is near two months before he retreats
18* below the horizon, or to the point where his rays are first
admitted into the atmosphere ; and he is only two months
more before he arrives at the same parallel of latitude.
" The benefits of twilight are obvious. A change so
great, as from the darkness of midnight to the splendour of
noon-day, would probably be injurious to the sight ; and it
would be unpleasant to all, and in many cases very danger.
ous to travellers, to be involved in darkness without timely
notice of its approach.
EDWARD. " I can understand how in all countries situated
near the equator, twilight is of much shorter duration than it
fs in countries of high latitudes ; for at the equator the sun
rises and sets perpendicularly, but to places at a great dis-
tance from the equator, it rises and sets very obliquely ; and
hence it requires a longer time to go 18 below the horizon.
DR. WALKER. " At the latitude of 49 N. twilight con-
tinues the whole night on June 21st ; and, at places still far-
ther north, it continues the whole night, for a certain number
of days before and after the summer solstice. At London
there is no total darkness from May 28th till July 20th.
" Twilight continues, at the north pole, from September
22d, when the sun sets, to November 12th, a space of 51
days. Twilight first appears again there about the 30th of
January, and continues till sun-rise on March 21st. Thus,
though the inhabitants (if any) at the north-pole never see
the sun for 6 months, yet out of that time, they have twi-
light for 14? weeks. The time that they receive no light
from the sun is only 12 weeks; and, during that time, the
moon is 6 weeks above the horizon.
" Now we are upon this subject," continued the Doctor,
" I will pursue it, while our lady hostess prepares our frugal
supper; and first of all it will be proper to treat of the phy-
sical properties of light.
" The physical properties of light are easily understood ;
and I will therefore now take leave to notice such of
F
98 SCOTLAND.
as are most common ; leaving, till we study optics, such as
are usually discussed in treating of that science.
" It is generally allowed, that light consists of inconceiv-
ably small particles, which are projected, in all directions,
with an amazing velocity, from the luminous or radiant
body.
" This, however, is only an hypothesis, for the materiality
of light is denied by some. But the theory of light which
we have adopted, appears to be the most simple of any, and
serves best to dxplain the phenomena of vision.
" M. Homer was the first who observed the velocity with
which light moves. He discovered that it took but seven or
eight minutes in passing from the sun to the earth. It must
travel, therefore, at the rate of 150,000 miles in a second of
time; a velocity so great, that, were it not for the extreme
minuteness of its particles, our organs of vision would be de-
stroyed by its impulse upon them.
" The rarity of this fluid, and the minuteness of its par-
ticles, are not less matter of wonder than its velocity ; for its
rays- cross each other in all possible directions, without the
least apparent disturbance.
" Make a small pin-hole in a piece of paper, and all the
objects, such as the sky, trees, houses, &c. which you
could see without the paper, will be distinctly seen through
this tiny hole. The light proceeding from all these objects,
passes at the same time through the hole in a great variety
of directions, before it can arrive at the eye ; yet it does not
appear that vision is disturbed by that means.
u Set by night, a lighted candle on an eminence, it will
be seen all round to the distance of half a mile ; there is
therefore no place within a sphere of a mile in diameter, in
which the eye can be placed, where it will not receive some
rays from this small flame,
* c The rays of light move always in straight lines, as may
be evinced by the impossibility of seeing through a crooked
tube.
" Hence it follows, that the intensity of light decreases,
as the square of the distance from the luminous body in-
creases ; that is to say, if you remove an object to twice
the distance from the luminous body, it will be enlightened
only q,ne- fourth part as much as before ; if to three times
the distance, it will be illuminated only one-ninth as much,
and so on, in Geometric progression.
PROPERTIES OF LIGHT. 99
" The chemical properties of light are not less astonish-
ing than its physical properties ; and it is now beyond doubt
that light does have considerable influence upon many che-
mical processes, in the great laboratory of nature.
" The effect of light upon vegetation, is well known.
Many flowers follow the course of the sun ; and plants that
grow in houses, seem solicitous, as it were, to get at the light*
Plants that grow in the shade, or in darkness, are pale, and
without colour, and when this is the case they are said to be
etiolated or blanched. Gardeners avail themselves of this
fact, to render vegetables white and tender. The more
plants are exposed to the light, the more colour they ac-
quire.
" Vegetables are not only indebted to light for their co-
lour : their taste and odour are derived from the same source :
frence hot climates are the native countries of perfumes^
odoriferous fruits, and aromatic resins.
" The action of light on the organs of vegetables, causes
them to pour out streams of pure air from the surfaces of
their leaves, while exposed to the sun ; whereas, on the con-
trary, when in the shade, they emit air of a noxious quality.
Even animals/ in general, droop when deprived of light ; and
it appears to be of great importance to the health and hap-
piness of human beings. The darkness I lived in was the
only thing I could not accustom myself to, says Trenck, in
his description of his confinement.
" Birds that inhabit tropical countries, have much brighter
plumage than those of the North. This is also the case
with insects ; and the parts of fishes which are exposed tor
the light, such as the back, fins, &c. are uniformly coloured;
but the belly, which is deprived of light, is white in all of
them.
" Light has considerable influence upon the crystalliza-
tion of salts. Many of which will not crystallize, except
exposed to the light. Camphor kept in glass bottles ex-
posed to light, crystallizes in symmetrical figures, on that
side which is turned towards the light.
" Many bodies, if exposed to light, either at high or low
temperatures, combine with it, and emit it again, under cer-
tain circumstances. These are called solar phosphori. Sub-
stances of this kind have been prepared by chemists, and
have the property of shining in the dark.
" But I must observe, that besides preparations of art*
F 2
100 SCOTLAND.
various animal and vegetable substances seem to possess a
great deal of this phosphorus. The glow-worm is a re-
markable instance. Dead fish, rotten sea-weeds, and great
numbers of insects, have this property in a great degree.
Phosphorus is never met with pure in Nature. It is com-
monly found united to oxygen, in the state of phosphoric
acid, which is found plentifully in different animal, vegetable,
and mineral substances. You observe this piece of phos-
phorus is a yellowish semi-transparent substance, of the con-
sistence of wax. It is luminous in the dark, at the common
temperature of the atmosphere. You see it takes fire spon-
taneously, and burns rapidly in the open air, at 122 of Fah-
renheit, with a brilliant white flame, and is converted into
phosphoric acid.
" The combustibility and luminous property of phos-
phorus, have given birth to various experiments, and the
following will evince its characteristic properties in a pleas-
ing manner.
" That phosphorus burns at the usual temperature, ap-
pears by writing with it upon black or purple paper, or any
other smooth surface. The writing will be luminous in the
dark, as if on fire. The fiery appearance vanishes by blow-
ing upon it, but becomes visible again after a few seconds.
4< All this you perceive is very plain, and I therefore trust
you will not forget it. Make a brief entry of it into your
journal, and I will revise it for you."
" Ten thousand thanks, Sir/' replied Edward, " I shall
certainly note down, as far as I am able, the particulars of
all you are so kind as to relate or explain to me/'
SECTION V.
THE ISLES OF SKYE AND ORKNEYS.
HAVING partaken of their frugal meal they retired to rest,
'and Colin, early in the morning having roused the travel-
lers, led them with exultation to the parlour, where a Scotch
breakfast awaited them. He had at Torbimore, a fine har-
bour in the island of Mull, laid in a little store of provision,
which he had reserved for the isle of Staffa, as he concluded
that an island made of pillars could not be very productive
ORKNEYS. 101
either of eggs or orange marmalade. The surprise express-
ed by his master at their sumptuous repast, gave great de-
light to the servant, who seemed to let no opportunity slip
of making himself useful, or agreeable. On their return to
Mull, a vessel was hired to take them on to the isle of Skye,
one of the best cultivated of the Western Isles. Here they
were hospitably entertained by an old friend of the Doctor,
who undertook to shew them the basaltic cave, at the east
end of the island, in which the unfortunate and ill-advised
Pretender found shelter with his faithful guide, after his dis-
astrous defeat at Culloden. This island abounds in deer
and black cattle ; and though in many parts mountainous,
it contains many fine tracts of level country. It also pro-
duces limestone, marble, and so forth. The narrow chan-
nel which divides it from Inverness,, to which it belongs, is
so shallow at low water, that the cattle are made to swim
across it. It was the intention of our travellers to have
visited Lewes, but having learnt that it contained nothing
particularly attractive, that the country was wild, barren of
wood, and but little cultivated, they resolved on sailing im-
mediately for the Orkneys. Upon arriving at Pomona, they
resolved on making some stay in these islands. The ancient
Gothic cathedral at Kirkwall, which is now converted into
imiisii ciiurcn, is a particularly fine building, it* >wc t*
supported by 14 pillars on each side, and its steeple, in
which is a good ring of bells, by four large pillars ; the
three gates of the church are chequered with red and white
ct^o e , ^mhossed and elegantly flowered. While they were
in Pomona, they heard that a vessel, oouna ror Iceland and
Greenland, had been obliged to put into one of the Orkneys
to refit.
" I do not say this is ^fortunate circumstance for the cap-
tain of that vessel or his passengers, but it is so for us, Ed-
ward," said Dr. Walker, when he heard this intelligence.
" You know the old saying, It is an ill wind that blows no-
body any good:' now, if you have any inclination to see the
wonders of Iceland, we will be off immediately."
; < With all my heart, Sir," replied his pupil, " I am ready
to attend you wherever you will go/'
" And what says Colin ?" added the Doctor.
" Colin will gang a' the world o'er wi' ye," replied the
Highlander.
F 3
102 VOYAGE TO ICELAND.
" As we are all agreed then," resumed his master, " pack
up our goyds, Colin, and for fear of accidents, let us pay
our reckoning and depart/'
The captain of the vessel very willingly consented to take
them on board. They were not provided with furs and par-
ticularly warm clothing, but the master of the vessel having
a good store on board, he said he could supply them as tht-y
advanced towards the arctic regions.
CHAPTER V.
VOYAGE TO ICELAND.
SECTION I.
INTRODUCTION AURORA BOREALIS SEASONS AND-
CLIMATES.
EVERY thing being thus amicably arranged, and the wind
rpttinfir fill**, *h<=*y <J"ittfrl tViP Oi-knc^o, and propurovl tr Pri-
counter the piercing cold of Iceland. " You of course
know,'' said Doctor Walker to his pupil, "that Iceland ex-
tends as far north as the sixty-seventh degree of N. lat. that
it belongs to Denmark, and that it is only accessible at nn^
season ot me yctu. AUUUL me nmtn century, a Norwegian
colony settled in this island ; upon their arrival they found it
. inhabited by Christians, whom they callec^jP apas ; it is also
said that these Norwegians found arnor^ the inhabitants
Irish books, bells and crosiers ; and it is therefore conjee*
tured, that Iceland was peopled by the inhabitants of the
British isles. The Icelanders are an honest well-informed
people ; industrious, and very faithful and obliging. Thus
you see, Edward, that although the climate we are about to
visit is cold and inhospitable^ yet the human beings who in-
habit it, are not deficient in those points of character, which
tend to the comfort and well being of society. Their chief
employment is that of fishing and taking care of their cattle,
and the women prepare the fish, and sew and spin. Some
of the men work at mechanic trades* and a very few in gold
AURORA BOREALIS. 103
and silver. Their love of their country is so great that 'the
most advantageous offers will not tempt them to settle at
Copenhagen. They are also most religiously inclined, and
never cross a river, or any dangerous place, without taking
off their hats, and imploring the Divine protection. They
are extremely fond of the study of history, and in their so-
cial meetings, the master of the house begins, and when he
is tired another continues the reading. They also play chess
remarkably well, and one of their pastimes consists in recit-
ing verses. The dress of the lower order is composed of a
coarse black cloth, called Wambol, tnai of superior classes
of fine broad cloth, ornamented with silver.'*
About the third evening of their voyage, as they were
upon deck, Edward was surprised and delighted with an ex-
traordinary illumination in the heavens, which darting in
various directions from the horizon up towards the centre of
the vast concave above them, presented a scene totally new
to our youthful traveller. " See, Sir,' 1 said he, " what
beautiful colours, and how rapidly they change their hue,
and dart in such fantastic forms over th^t calm deep blue
ether !" " Why," said the Doctor smiling, " the aurora bo-
realis appears to have given you a new language. You have
heard of the Northern Lights ?"
" Yes/' replied his pupil, " but I had formed no idea of
their exquisite beauty. Pray, Sir, will you have the good-
ness to explain the cause of them ?"
Du. WALKER. " The aurora borealis is that shining
light which is often seen by night in the heavens, and which
the vulgar call northern lights, or streamers.
" This phenomenon was thought to be the result of cer-
tain nitrous and sulphureous vapours, thinly spread through
the atmosphere above the clouds, where they ferment, and
taking fire, the explosion of one portion kindles the next, and
the flashes succeed one another, till all the vapour is set on
fire, the streams whereof seem to converge towards the
zenjth of the spectator, or that point of the heavens which
is immediately over his head. But the aurora borealis is
now supposed to be an electrical phenomenon ; and its flashes
of light seem to proceed from the electric fluid, while it is
condensed in passing in the columns of elevated vapour.
" The spectacle has vanished, Sir, with your description,"
observed Edward, as the Doctor concluded his remarks,
F 4
104 VOYAGE TO ICELAND.
" Yes," replied his tutor, " and as I begin to feel rather
colder than is agreeable, we will retire to our cabin if you
please."
SECTION II.
CLIMATES AND SEASONS.
DR. WALKER. " You are aware that no vessel has ever
yet penetrated to the north or south polps, but you are not
perhaps awarp that tbc ecmthern latitudes are considerably
roJctcr than those of the same latitude in the north. For in.
stance* Glasgow is situated just about the same latitude
north, as that in which Cape Horn is found in the south.
And yet, the winter days of the former are not, in general,
so cold as the summer days of the latter. This difference 18"
hardly to be accounted for, unless we attribute the intense
cold of the south frigid zone to the entire absence of land, at
least as far as we know, in those regions, or even in the south
temperate zone, compared to the vast continents which
are found in the northern hemisphere. One other reason
may contribute, in some degree, to this difference. The
north pole from the eccentricity of the earth's orbit, is
turned towards the sun eight or ten days longer than the
south pole. But this reasoning is little better than an hypo-
thesis. But it may not be amiss, as we are about to visit
the different regions of the earth, to take a more accurate
survey of its climates and seasons.
" The axis of the earth makes an angle of 23 28' with a
perpendicular to the plane of its orbit ; and keeps always
the same oblique direction throughout its annual course ;
hence it follows, that during one part of its course, the north
pole is turned towards the sun, and, during another part of
its course, the south pole' is turned towards it in the same
proportion ; which is the cause of the different seasons, as
spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
" The seasons in the torrid zone are very different from
what we observe in the temperate zone.
" As it is summer with us when the sun is nearest our
zenith, it has by some been imagined that the inhabitants of
the torrid zone have double seasons ; namely, two summers,
because the sun is twice vertical to them, two autumns,
when he is returning, &c. But in many places a torrent of
rain follows the course of the sun, and the worst season is
CLIMATES AND SEASONS. 105
the sun is vertical : the only distinction of seasons
within the tropics, therefore, is from hot and dry, to hot and
rainy ; most countries in the torrid zone having six months
inclining to a wet, and six months inclining to a dry air.
" On the western coast of Africa, at Sierra Leone, the
dry season is from September to June, and the wet from
June to October. About the end of June the rains in-
crease, accompanied with dreadful storms of thunder and
lightning.
" On the gold coast, the rainy seasons last from April to
October; and in the kingdom of Congo, from the end of
March to the middle of September. The greatest quantity
of rain generally falls about mid. day.
" The seasons on the eastern coast are the reverse of
those on the western : the winter, or rainy season, in Sofala,
Mozambique, and Zanguebar, is from September to Febru-
ary. In Egypt rain is a very uncommon phenomenon, yet a
large portion of Grand Cairo was lately (1817) washed away
by a dreadful torrent of rain.
" In Abyssinia, the climate, though hot, is tempered by
the mountainous nature of the country. From April to Sep-
tember there are heavy rains. These rains, added to the
melting of the snows on the mountains, occasion the over-
flowing of the Nile.
" In Bengal, the hot or dry season begins with March,
and continues to the end of May : the intense heat is some-
times interrupted by violent thunder storms. The rainy
season continues from June to September ; the three last
months of the year are generally pleasant, but excessive fogs
prevail in January and February. By the latter end of July,
all the lower parts of Bengal are overflowed, and form an in-
undation of more than a hundred miles in width, nothing ap-
pearing but villages and trees, excepting, very rarely, the
top of an elevated spot appearing like an island.
" The chains of the Gauts, running from north to south
along the western peninsula of India, intercept great masses
of clouds, and produce opposite seasons on the coasts of
Malabar and Coromandel. The rainy season, on the coast
of Coromandel, is with the N. E. monsoon, or from October
to April; and on that of Malabar with the S. W. monsoon,
or from May to September. In the month of September
the navigation on the Malabar coast is open, and ships begin
to sail from the Malabar shore to all parts of the world.
F 5
106 VOYAGE TO ICELAND,
The rains are not continual during the wet season, but pour
down in floods for several days together, or for several hours
in a day.
<* Peru is divided into two different climates by the An-
des, for whilst it is summer in the mountainous parts, it is
winter in the vales. Winter, on the mountains, begins in
December, but this in the vales is the first summer month ;
and a journey of four hours conducts the traveller from one
season to another.
" In general the confined regions on the west of the An-
des are dry, whilst the wide countries on the east of that
chain are deluged with torrents of rain, from the trade winds
blowing over the Atlantic.
" Travellers, on the Andes, have sometimes enjoyed a de-
lightful serenity in these elevated regions, at the same time
that they have heard the horrid noise of tempests discharg-
ing themselves on the level country : they have seen light-
nings issue from the clouds, and heard the thunders roll far
beneath their feet.
" At Lima, rain is seldom or never seen, but a strong dew
falls and waters the vallies. The country is much subject to
earthquakes ; the most dreadful seems to have been that of
174?7, when the port of Callao was submerged, and out of
4,000 inhabitants only 200 escaped.
" In Brazil the wet season commonly begins in March or
April, and is over in August ; when the spring, or rather
the summer, begins. The nights are very cold; and the
nights in summer are colder than in winter.
" In Jamaica the rain commonly begins in May. July is
always very wet ; and toward the end of that month, and the
beginning of August, the weather is very close. In Sep-
tember and October hurricanes are frequent.
" In Nicaragua it rains six months, from the first of May
to the first of November ; in the other six months it is hot
and dry,
" That part of the frigid zone which is inhabited, viz,
Greenland, Lapland, &c. has only two seasons, winter and
summer. Their night of winter, the sun never appearing
above the horizon, is extremely severe. The most rapid
rivers are sometimes frozen five or six feet deep or more ;
the largest lakes and bays are frozen to bear any weight,
and rocks often burst by the intensity of the frost. The
brilliancy of the stars, the aurora borealis, and the full mooiv
CLIMATES AND SEASONS. 107
which never sets, make some atonement for the absence of
the sun. The long twilight also, which they enjoy before
the sun rises and after he sets, considerably diminishes the
time of their total darkness.
" The transition from winter's frost to summer's heat is
very rapid in the frigid zone. The short summer is very
warm, but foggy. The continual sunshine now enables the
inhabitants to lay up a store of provisions for winter.
" The hottest part of the earth is in the middle and wes-
tern parts of Africa. The trade winds, in passing over the
extensive sandy deserts of this continent, become heated to
an extreme degree before they arrive at the western coast.
" The climate, on the western continent, is much colder
than it is in similar parallels on the eastern continent.
" Canada, in North America, which is nearly in the same
parallel with France, has the winters almost as severe as at
Petersburgh : the river St. Laurence, notwithstanding its
breadth, is frequently frozen the whole of the winter, strong
enough to bear even carriages upon it. Philadelphia and
New York, nearly in the same parallel with Madrid, have
often severe winters, but the heat of the summer is ex-
cessive.
" The cold, as I before observed, in the southern hemis-
phere is much greater than in the northern. The climate of
Terra del Fuego is an instance of this: situated as far south
as Newcastle is north of the equator ; and, therefore, were
the degrees of heat and cold proportionable to the latitude,
we might expect the summers of Terra del Fuego as warm
as those on the banks of the Tyne; yet Captain Cook, who
was there at Midsummer, found the cold so excessive, that a
party, botanizing on the hills, was in danger of perishing by
cold.
" The mountains and vast fields of ice, around the south
pole, extend to a much greater distance than those around
the north pole. Navigators have penetrated to within 9 de-
grees of the north pole; yet Captain Cook could not get
nearer the south pole than within 18 degrees.
" In great continents the weather is more settled than it
is in islands: the summer's heat is greater, and the winter's
cold is more intense.
" In islands the heat is tempered by clouds and vapours
from the surrounding sea; but the weather is inconstant.
s 6
108 VOYAGE TO ICELAND.
The cold of winter is also mitigated from the same cause, and
the frost is generally of short duration. This is particularly
the case with respect to Great Britain/*
SECTION III.
OF SNCfW AND THE POLAR ICE.
DR. WALKER. " Pray, Edward, did you ever attentively
examine a flake of snow ? We are going to the land of snow
and ice, and I wish you to understand, as well as view, the
phenomena of nature, as far as human knowledge can account
for them, but there are bounds the mind of man cannot pass.
Dr. Grew, in speaking of the nature of snow, observes, that
if a person will attentively view a thin, calm, and still flake of
snow, he will find that many parts of it are of a regular figure ;
for the most part, as it were, so many little rowels or stars of
six points : being as perfect and transparent ice, as any we
see on a pool of water. On each of these six are set other
collateral points, and those always at the same angles as are
the main points themselves. Next, among these irregular
figures, though many of them are large and fair, yet from
these taking our first item> many others alike irregular,
but much smaller may be discovered. Again, among these
not only regular but entire parts of snow, looking still more
warily, it will be perceived that there are divers others in-
deed irregular, yet chiefly the broken points, parcels, and
fragments of the regular ones. Lastly, that besides the
broken parts, there are some others which seem to have lost
their regularity, not so much by being broken, as by various
winds, first gently thawed and then frozen into little irregu-
lar clumps again.
" From hence the true notion and external nature of
snow seems to appear, viz. that not only some few parts of
snow, but originally the whole body of it, or of a snowy
cloud, is an infinite mass of icicles regularly figured ; that is,
a cloud of vapours being gathered into drops, the said drops
forthwith descend ; in which descent, meeting with a soft
freezing wind, or at least passing through a colder region of
SNOW AND POLAR ICE. 109
mr, each drop is instantly transformed into an icicle, shoot-
ing itself forth into several points on every side from its cen-
tre ; but still continuing their descent, and meeting with
some sprinkling and intermixed gales of warmer air, or by
their continual motion wafting to and fro, touching each
other, some are a little thawed, blunted, and frosted, others
broken, but the greater part clinging in parcels together,
which we caNJlakes of snow.
" You now know what snow is, and though it appears so
soft, yet it is truly hard, because it is, in fact, really and truly
ice. On the first touch of the finger, the extreme points
thaw; else would these small but sharp particles pierce our
fingers. As for the whiteness of snow, it is thus easily ac-
counted for ; snow consists of many parts, all transparent
singly, but, being mixed together, they appear white, as
the parts of froth, glass, ice, and other transparent bodies.
The appearance of a mass of ice led to the following dia-
logue on its formation " The expansion of water, during
its conversion into ice, is shewn by the circumstance of ice
swimming upon water ; and if water in a deep vessel be ex-
amined, at the time ice is forming, it will be found a little war-
mer at the bottom than at the top ; and these circumstances
are of great importance in the economy of nature. Water
congeals only on the surface where it is liab! o to be acted
upon by the sun, and by warm currents of air, which tend to
restore it to a fluid state again ; and when water approaches
near the point of freezing, it begins to descend, so that no
ice can be formed till the whole of the water has been cooled
to the point where it preserves the greatest density ; and in
the deep parts of the sea and lakes, and even in some of the
northern latitudes, the duration of the long winter is insuffi-
cient to cool the water to the degree at which ice forms."
EDWARD. u At what degree does water freeze, Sir ?'*
DR. WALKER. " At a temperature below 32 of Fahren-
heit it becomes solid, or ice, and when heated to the degree
of 212 it boils. The stupendous masses of ice, known by the
names of Ice Islands, Floating. Mountains, or Icebergs, com-
mon to Davis's Straits, and sometimes met with near Green-
land, from their height, various forms, and the depth of
water in which they ground, are calculated to strike the be-
holder with wonder: yet the fields of ice, more peculiar to
Greenland, are not less astonishing. Their deficiency in
elevation is sufficiently compensated by their amazing extent
110 VOYAGE TO ICELAND.
of surface* Some of them have been observed near a hun-
dred miles in length, and more than half that breadth ; each
consisting of a single sheet of ice, having its surface raised in
general, four or six feet above the level of the waters, : and
its base depressed to the depth of nearly twenty feet beneath
" When the sea freezes, the greatest-part of the salt it con-
tains is deposited, and the frozen spongy mass probably con-
tains no salt, but what is natural to the sea- water filling its
pores." The Captain of the ship here observed that, " the
ice frozen from sea- water is not so solid and transparent as
that procured from snow or rain-water, and that sailors dis-
tinguish it into two kinds, accordingly as it seems to have
been formed from one or the other.
" When salt-water ice floats in the sea at a freezing tem-
perature, the proportion above, to that below the surface, is
as 1 to 4? nearly ; and in fresh water, at the freezing point, as
10 to 69, or ] to 7 nearly. Hence, its specific gravity ap-
pears to be about 0.873. Of this description is all young
ice, as it is called, which forms a considerable proportion of
packed and drift ice ; in general it occurs in flat pieces com-
monly covered with snow of various dimensions, but seldom
exceeding fifty yards in diameter.
" Fresh-water ice is distinguished by its black appearance
when floating in the sea, and its beautiful green hue and
transparency when removed into the air. Fresh water ice is
fragile, but hard ; the edges of a fractured part are fre-
quently so keen as to inflict a wound like glass.
" The most dense kind of ice, which is perfectly transpa-
rent, is about one-tenth specifically lighter than sea-water at
a freezing temperature. Plunged into pure water, of tempe-
rature 32, the proportion floating above to that below the
surface, is as 1 to 15, and placed in boiling fresh water, it
barely floats. Its specific gravity is about 0.937. Fields,
bergs, and other large masses chiefly consist of fresh-water
ice. Brash-ice, likewise affords pieces of it, the surfaces of
which are always found crowded with conchoidal excavations
when taken out of the sea. Some naturalists have been at
considerable pains to endeavour to explain the phenomena
of the progressive formation of the ice in high latitudes, and
the derivation of the supply, which is annually furnished, for
replacing the great quantities that are dissolved and dissi-
pated by the power of the waves, and the warmth of the cli-
mate into which it drifts. It has. frequently been urged that
SNOW AND POLAR ICE. m
the vicinity of land is indispensable for its formation. This
opinion is now considered erroneous, for however dependant
the ice may have been on the land, from the time of its first
appearance, to its gaining an ascendancy over the waves of
the ocean, sufficient to resist their utmost ravages, and to ar-
rest the progress of maritime discovery, at a distance perhaps
from six hundred to a thousand miles from the Pole ; it is now
evident, that the proximity of land is not essential either for
its existence, its formation, or its increase.
" The first appearance of ice whilst in the state of detached
crystals, is called by the sailors sludge, and resembles snow
when cast into water that is too cold to dissolve it. This
smooths the ruffled sea, and produces an effect like oil in
stilling the breaking surface. These crystals soon unite, and
would form a continuous sheet, but, by the motion of the
waves, they are broken into very sfnall pieces, scarcely three
inches in diameter, As they strengthen, many of them co-
alesce and form a larger mass, The undulations of the sea
still continuing, these enlarged pieces strike each other on
every side, whereby they become rounded, and their edges
turned up, whence they obtain the name of pancakes ; several
of these again unite, and thereby continue to increase, form-
ing larger pancakes, until they become perhaps a foot in
thickness, and many yards in circumference."
EDWARD. U I suppose the sea freezes quicker when it is
calm and smooth, than when it is rough.'*
THE CAPTAIN. " When the sea is perfectly smooth, the
freezing process goes on more regularly, and perhaps more
rapidly. The commencement is similar to that just de-
scribed ; it is afterwards continued by constant additions to
its under surface. During twenty-four hours keen frost, it
will have become two or three inches thick, and in less than
forty-eight hours time, capable of sustaining the weight of a
man. This is termed bay -ice, whilst that of older formation
is distinguished into light and heavy ice ; the former being
from a foot to about a yard in thickness, and the latter from
about a yard upwards.
" Fields of ice commonly make their appearance about the
month of June, though sometimes earlier ; they are fre-
quently the resort of young whales ; strong north and wes-
terly winds expose them to the Greenlandmen, by driving off
the loose ice. Some fields exhibit a perfect level plain, with-
out a fissure or hummock, so clear indeed, that I imagine^
VOYAGE TO ICELAND.
upon one which I saw, a coach might be driven a hundred
miles in a direct line, without any obstruction Most com-
monly, however, the surface contains some hummocks *,
which somewhat relieve the uniformity of intense light, by a
tinge of delicate green, in cavities where the light gains ad-
mittance in an oblique direction, by passing through a por-
tion of ice."
EDWARD.-" Do not two of these fields sometimes meet ?"-
THE CAPTAIN. " Yes : and their occasional rapid mo-
tion with the strange effects produced on any opposing sub-
stance, exhibited by such immense bodies, is one of the most
striking objects this country (Greenland, I mean) pre-
sents, and is certainly the most terrific. They not unfre-
quently acquire rotatory movement, whereby their circum-
ference attains a velocity of several miles per hour. A field,
thus in motion, coming in contact with another at rest, or
more especially with a contrary direction of movement, pio-
duces a dreadful shock. The weaker field is crushed with an
awful noise ; sometimes the destruction is mutual : pieces of
huge dimensions and weight, are notunfrequently piled upon
the top, to the height of twenty or thirty feet, whilst doubt-
less a proportionate quantity is depressed beneath. The view
of those stupendous effects in safety, exhibits a picture sub/-
limely grand; but where there is danger of being overwhelm-
ed, terror and dismay must be the predominant feelings.
4< On arriving at the point of collision of two fields of
ice, which had been driven together, I have discovered,
that the two points had but recently met ; that already a pro.
digious mass of rubbish had been squeezed upon the top, and
that the motion had not abated. The fields continued to
overlay each other with a majestic motion, producing a noise
resembling that of complicated machinery, or distant thunder.
The pressure was so immense, that numerous fissures were
occasioned ; and the ice repeatedly rent beneath my feet. In
one of the fissures, I found the snow on the level to be three
and a half feet deep, and the ice upwards of twelve. In one
place, hummocks had been thrown up to the height of twenty
feet from the surface of the field, and at least twenty-five
feet from the level of the water; they extended fifty or sixty
yards in length, and fifteen in breadth, forming a mass of
about two thousand tons in weight. The majestic unvaried
* A hummock is a protuberance raised upon a plain of ice above the
common level.
SNOW AND POLAR !. 11*
movement of the ice, the singular noise with which it was
accompanied, the tremendous power exerted, and the
wonderful effects produced,~were calculated to excite sensa-
tions of novelty and grandeur, in the mind of even the most
I careless spectator!"
EDWARD. " It must indeed be a most magnificent scene.
Pray, sir, are the icebergs of any particular form ?"
THE CAPTAIN. " No : the term icebergs has com-
monly been applied to those immense bodies of ice, situated
on the land, * filling the valleys between the high mountains/
and generally exhibiting a square perpendicular front towards
the sea.
" Large pieces may be separated from those icebergs in
the summer season, when they are particularly fragile, by
their ponderous overhanging masses, overcoming the force of
cohesion : or otherwise, by the powerful expansion of the
water, filling any excavation or deep-seated cavity, when its
dimensions are enlarged by freezing, thereby exerting a tre-
mendous force, and bursting the whole asunder.
" Pieces thus, or otherwise detached, are hurled into the
sea with a dreadful crash ; if they are received into deep
water, they are liable to be drifted off the land, and, under
the form of ice-islands, or ice-mountains, they likewise still re-
tain their parent name of icebergs.
" These icebergs generated on the land between the
mountains of the sea. coast, are consequently the product of
snow or rain water. A considerahlp portion of these icebergs
are funned in the deep-sheltered bays abounding on the east
coast of Spitzbergen. These have their bed in the waters of
tl^ ocean, and are partly the product of sea-water, and partly
that of snow and rain water. And it is highly probable
that a continent of ice mountains may exist in regions near
the Pole, yet unexplored, the nucleus of which may be
as ancient as the earth itself, and its increase derived from
the sea and atmosphere combined. The profusion of ice
in the polar regions, produces peculiar and marked effects
on the surrounding elements. The sea, in consequence,
exhibits some interesting characters, and the atmosphere,
some striking phenomena. Of these, the power the ice
exerts on the wind, on aqueous vapour, on the co-
lour of the sky, and on the temperature of the air, are the
most prominent; and of those, accordingly as the ice or swell
has the ascendancy, the results are varied and remarkable*
114 VOYAGE TO ICELAND.
1. " When the wind blows forcibly across a solid pack or
field of ice, its power is much diminished ere it traverses
many miles : insomuch, that a storm will frequently blow for
several hours on one side of a field, before it be perceptible
on the other ; and, while a storm prevails in open water, ships
beset within sight, will not experience one-half of its severity. '
" It is not uncommon for the ice to produce the effect of
repulsing and balancing an assailing wind. Thus, when a
severe storm blows from the sea, directly towards the main
body of ice, an opposite current will sometimes prevail on
the borders of the ice; and such conflicting winds have been
observed to counterpoise each other, a few furlongs distant
from the ice, for several hours : the violence of the one, be-
ing, as it were, subdued by the frigorific repulsion and lesser
force of the other. The effect resulting, is singular and ma-
nifest.
2. " The moist and temperate gale from the southward,
becomes chilled on con>nixture with the northern breeze, and
discharges its surplus humidity in the thickest snow. As the
quantity of the snow depends considerably on the difference
of temperature of the two assimilating streams of air, it fol-
lows, that the largest proportion must be precipitated on the
exterior of the main body of ice, where the contrast of tem-
perature is the greatest : arid since that contrast must be
gradually diminished, as the air passes over the gelid surface
of the ice, much of its superabundant moisture must gene-
rally be discharged before it reaches the interior. Hence,
we can account for the fewness of the clouds, the conse-
quent brightness of the atmosphere, and the rareness of
storms, in situations far immured among the northern ice.
" Among the curious phenomena of these northern re-
gions, I must not omit the ice-blink.
" On approaching a pack*, field, or other compact aggrega-
tion of ice, the phenomenon of the ice-blink is seen when-
ever the horizon is tolerably free from clouds, and in some
cases even under a thick sky. The ice-blink consists in a
stratum of a lucid whiteness, which appears in that part of
the atmosphere next the horizon. It is evidently occasioned
thus : those rays of light which strike on the snowy surface of
the ice, are reflected into the superincumbent air, where they
* A number of pieces of ice closely connected together, so that they
cannot, from the top of a ship's nrasti>e seen over, is called a pack.
SNOW AND POLAR ICE. 115
become visible ; but the light which falls on the sea is in a
great measure absorbed, and the superincumbent air retains
I its native ethereal hue. Hence, when the ice blink- occurs
I under the most favourable circumstances, it affords to the
eye a beautiful and perfect map of the ice, twenty or thirty
miles beyond the limit of direct vision, but less distinct in
proportion as the air is hazy. The ice-blink not only shews
the figure of the ice, but enables the experienced observer ta
judge, whether the ice thus pictured be field or packed ice ;
if the latter, whether it be compact or open, bay or heavy
ice. Field ice affords the most lucid blink, accompanied with
a tinge ofyellow; that of packs is more purely white; and of
bay-ice, greyish. The land, on account of its snowy cover-
ing, likewise occasions a blink, which is yellowish, and not
much unlike that produced by the ice of fields.
" The ice operates as a powerful equaliser of temperature.
In he 80th degree of north latitude, at the edge of the main
body of ice, with a northerly gale of wind, the cold is not sen-
sibly greater than in the 70th degree, under similar circum-
stances.
" The reciprocal action of the ice and the sea on each
other, is particularly striking, whichever may have the as-
cendancy. If, on the one hand, the ice be arranged with a
certain form of aggregation, and in due solidity, it becomes
capable i,r *^:~4.:~ & f v, Mn-hnlencc of the ocean, and can,
with but little comparative diminution or breaking, ^ lf[JVCOO
its most violent surges. Its resistance is so effectual, that
ships sheltered by it, rarely find the sea disturbed by swells.
On the other hand, the most formidable fields yield to the
slightest grown swell, and become disrupted into thousands
of pieces ; and ice of only a few weeks growth, on being as-
sailed by a turbulent sea, is broken and annihilated with in-
credible celerity. Ice, which for weeks has been an, increas-
ing pest to the whale fisher, is sometimes removed in the
space of a few hours. The destruction is in many cases so
rapid, that to an inexperienced observer,, the occurrence
seems incredible, and rather an illusion of fancy, than a
matter of fact. Suppose a ship immoveably fixed in bay ice,
and not the smallest opening to be seen : after a lapse of time
sufficient only for a moderate repose, imagine a person rising
from his bed, when, behold, the insurmountable obstacle has
vanished! Instead of a sheet of ice expanding unbroken to
the verge of the horizon on every side, an undulating sea re-
116 VOYAGE TO ICELAND*
Keves the prospect, wherein floats the wreck of the ice* re-
duced apparently to a small fraction of its original bulk.
The Captain was now called Upon deck, and Dr. Walker
observed, " that ice was an article they were not in danger
of wanting, though there are countries where from its
scarcity ice is a luxury* In all hot climates ice is made. 1 '
" Made!" ejaculated Edward* " Yes/' replied the doc-
tor. The greatest degrees of heat which are known, have
been produced by concentrating the solar rays with a mir-
ror, or lens, or by supplying a blow-pipe with oxygen gas.
A very great degree of cold is produced by mixing snow with
certain salts. The best salt for this purpose, is muriat of
lime. If this be mixed with dry, light snow, and stirred well
together, the cold produced will be so intense, as to freeze
mercury in a few minutes. Salt and snow also produce a
great degree of cold.
" Evaporation likewise produces cold. The method of
making ice artificially in the East Indies, depends upon this
principle. The ice makers at Benares dig pits in large open
plains, the bottom of which they strew with sugar. canes, or
dried stems of maize, or Indian corn. Upon this bed they
place a number of unglazed pans, made of so porous an
earth, that the water oozes through their substance. These
pans are filled towards evening, in the winter season, with
water which has been boiled. <* f nA p J - ft ii1 lllitl - situation
till illuming, when more or less ice is found in them, accord-
ing to the temperature of the air ; there being more formed
in dry and warm weather, than in cloudy weather, though It
may be colder to the human body.
"Everything in this operation is calculated to produce
cold by evaporation ; the beds on which the pans are placed,
suffer the air to have a free passage to their bottoms, and the
pans constantly oozing out water to their external surface,
are cooled by the evaporation of it.
" In Spain, they use a kind of earthen jars, called buxaros,
the earth of which is so porous, being only half-baked, that
the outside is kept moist by the water which filters through it ;
and, though placed in the sun, the water in the jar becomes
as cold as ice.
" It is a common practice in China, to cool wine or other
liquors, by wrapping a wet cloth round the bottle, and hang-
ing it up in the sun. The water in the cloth evaporates, aiul
thus cold is produced,
WHALE FISHERY. 117
" Ice may be produced at any time, by the evaporation of
el her.
" Professor Leslie has latety discovered that porphyritic
trap, pounded and dried, will absorb one-tenth part of its
weight of moisture, and can hence be easily made to freeze
the eighth part of its weight of water. In hot countries the
powder will after each process recover its power by drying
in the sun. This curious and beautiful discovery of artificial
congelation, will therefore produce ice in the tropical climes,
or even at sea, with very little trouble, and no sort of risk or
inconvenience.
" And now my dear Edward, you are already convinced
of the wonderful power of chemistry. This one discovery
which enables man in the hottest climate, even in the torrid
zone, to compose artificially, and by such a simple process
the product of the frigid zones is but a single instance, but it
is sufficient to rank that noble science among one of the most
important to man. Even in our every day meals, our tea,
our coffee, every process of cookery, of medicine, in short, al-
most all the operations of nature and art, are carried on by
the means either of chemical, electric, or magnetic processes,
with all of which I wish you to be acquainted in some degree.
SECTION IV.
THE WHALE FISHERY.
The Captain had now returned to the cabin, and Edward
asked him " in what latitude are whales most generally
found ?"
THE CAPTAIN. " The place where whales occur in the
greatest abundance, is generally found to be in the 78th or
79th degree of north latitude, though from the ?2d to the
81st degree they have been met with. - They seem to prefer
those situations which afford them the most secure retreats.
Among the ice, they have an occasional shelter ; but so far
as it is permeable, the security is rather apparent than real.
That they are conscious of its affording them shelter, we can
readily perceive, from observing that the course of their flight
when scared or wounded, is generally towards the nearest or
most compact ice. At one time, their favourite haunt is
118 VOYAGE TO ICELAND.
amidst the huge and extended masses of ihe field ice; at an-
other, in the open seas adjacent. Sometimes the majority oi
the whales inhabiting those seas, seem collected within a
small and single circuit ; at others, they are scattered in va-
rious hordes, and numerous single individuals, over an amaz-
ing extent of surface. To discover and reach the haunts oi
the whale, is an object of the first consideration in the fishery,
and occasionally the most difficult and laborious to accom-
plish. In close seasons, though the ice joins the south oi
Spitzbergen, and thereby forms a barrier against the fishing-
stations, yet this barrier is often of a limited extent, and ter-
minates on the coasts of Spitzbergen in an open space, either
forming, or leading to, the retreat of the whales. Such space
is sometimes frozen over until the middle or end of the month
of May, but not unfrequently free of ice. The barrier here
opposed to the fisher, usually consists of a mass of ice from
20 to 30 or 40 leagues across in the shortest diameter.
It is generally composed of packed ice, and often cemented
into a continuous field by the interference of bay ice, which
incredibly augments the difficulty of navigating among it.
" As the time that can be devoted to the whale-fishery, is,
by the nature of the climate, limited to three or four months
in the year, it is of importance to pass this barrier of ice as
early as possible in the season. The fisher here avails him-
self of every power within his command. The sails are ex-
panded in favourable winds, and withdrawn in contrary
breezes. The ship is urged forward amongst the drift ice
through the force of the wind, assisted by ropes and saws. -
Whenever a vein of water, as it is called, appears in the re-
quired direction, it is if possible attained. It always affords
a temporary relief, and sometimes a permanent release, by
extending itself through intricate mazes, amidst ice of various
descriptions, until at length it opens into the desired place,
void of obstruction, and the retreat of the whales.
" The formidable barrier before described, is regularly en-
countered on the first arrival of Greenland ships in the month
of April, but is generally removed by natural means as the
season advances. However extensive, huge, and compact it
may be, it is usually found separated from the land, and di-
vided asunder by the close of the month of June ; and hence
it is, that however difficult and laborious may have been the
ingress into the fishing country, the egress is commonly ef-
fected without particular inconvenience.
WHALE FISHERY. 119
' That the ice should envelope the whole coasts of Spitz-
bergen in the winter season, and expose the western shore
about the month of June; that the ocean should be almost
annually navigable on the meridians of 5 to 10 E., to the
8()th degree of north latitude, whilst the ice in every other
part of the world, can rarely be penetrated beyond the 74th
i degree, are facts highly curious, and certainly worthy of con-
sideration.
" In the month of May, the severity of the frost relaxes,
and the temperature occasionally approaches within a few
degrees of the freezing point : the brine then exerts its lique-
fying energy, and destroys the tenacity of the bay ice, makes
inroads in its parts by enlarging its pores into holes, di-
minishes its thickness, and, in the language of the whale-
fisher completely rots it. The packed drift ice is then
loosed ; it submits to the laws of detached floating bodies,
and obeys the slightest impulses of the winds or currents.
The heavier having more stability than the lighter, an appa-
rent difference of movement obtains among the pieces.
Holes and lanes of water are formed, which allow the en-
trance and progress of the ships, without that stubborn re-
sistance offered earlier in the spring of the year.
" Bay ice is sometimes serviceable to the whale-fishers, in
preserving them from the brunt of the heavy ice, by embed-
ding their ships, and occasioning an equable pressure on
every part of the vessel : but, in other respects, it is the
greatest pest they meet with in all their labours : it is trou-
blesome in the fishery, and in the progress to the fishing
ground ; it is often the means of besetment, as it is called,
and thence the primary cause of every other calamity.
Heavy ice, many feet in thickness, and in detached pieces of
from 50 to 100 tons weight each, though crowded together
in the form of a pack, may be penetrated, in a favourable
gale, with tolerable dispatch; whilst a sheet of bay ice, of a
few inches only in thickness, with the same advantage of
wind, will often arrest the progress of the ship, and render
her in a few minutes immoveable. If this ice be too strong
to be broken by the weight of a boat, recourse must be had
to sawing, an operation slow and laborious in the extreme.
, " When the warmth of the season has rotted the bay ice,
the passage to the northward can generally be accomplished
with a very great saving of labour. Therefore it was, the
older fishers seldom or never used to attempt it before the
120 VOYAGE TO ICELAND.
10th of May, and foreigners are in general late. Sometimes
late arrivals are otherwise beneficial ; since it frequently
happens, in close seasons, that ships entering the ice about
the middle of May, obtain an advantage over those preced-
ing them, by gaining a situation more eligible, on account
of its nearness" to the land. Their predecessors, meanwhile,
are drifted off to the westward with the ice, and cannot re-
cover their easting ; for, they are encompassed with a large
quantity of ice, and have a greater distance to go than when
t4iey first entered, and on a course precisely in opposition to
the direction of the most prevailing winds. Hence it appears,
that it would be economical and beneficial to sail so late, as
not to reach the country before the middle of May, or to
persevere on the seal catching stations until that time.
There are, however, some weighty objections to this method.
Open seasons occasionally occur, and great progress may
sometimes be made in the fishery before that time.
" The change which takes place in the ice amidst which
the whale-fisher pursues his object, is, towards the close of
the season, indeed astonishing.
" As to the mode of catching, or rather killing whales, I
need not describe that to you, for it is a subject upon which
you are likely to be informed by sight."
SECTION V.
NATURAL PHENOMENA OF ICELAND, ITS SPRINGS, &C.
As our travellers approached Iceland, they were glad to
accept the captain's offer of warmer cloathing, and about the
middle of July they anchored on the south-west shores of
Iceland. From Ryhiabick, a town on this part of the coast,
they proceeded across the valley of Ryham, which appeared
to great advantage from a comparison with the dreary coun*
try by which it was surrounded. The roads which led to it
were composed of tracks made by the farmers in the lava and
other volcanic matter. The valley of Ryham is richly culti-
vated and watered by a fertile stream, but what principally
arrested the attention of our travellers was, the clouds of
steam which ascended in various parts of the valley from the
RYKUM. 121
feot springs, and the jets d'eau which darted into the air on
every side, and they resolved not to quit this curious
island, without taking an accurate survey of the most pro-
minent of these natural boiling springs.
Of the antiquity of these springs little can be said, except
that Saxo Grammaticus in the Preface to the History of
Denmark, which was written in the twelfth century, men-
tions the great height to which they ejected water. The
operations of subterraneous heat, seem indeed to be of great
antiquity in Iceland; and the whole country probably owes
its existence to the fires which burn beneath its surface.
Every hill proves, at least, with what violence these fires
have acted for ages ; and the terrible eruptions of lava which
burst from the mountain of Skoptefield in 1783, show that
they are as yet far from being extinguished.
The springs of Rykum they first visited, among which
the most remarkable is that distinguished by the people
of the neighbourhood by the name of the Little Geyzer.
The water of it boils with a loud and rumbling noise, in a
well of an irregular form, of about six feet in its greatest
diameter ; from thence it bursts forth in the air and subsides
again, nearly every nainute. The jets are dashed into spray
as they rise, and are from twenty to thirty feet high. Vo-
lumes of steam or vapour ascend with them, and produce a
most magnificent effect, particularly as the dark hills, which
almost hang over the fountain, form a back ground to the
picture. The jets are forced in rising to take an oblique
direction, by two or three large stones, which lie on the
edge of the bason. Between these and the hill, the ground,
(to a distance of eight or nine feet) is remarkably hot, and
entirely bare of vegetation. If the earth is stirred a steam
instantly rises, and in some places it was covered with
a thin coat of sulphur, or rather, loose stones only were
covered with flakes of k. In one place there was a slight
efflorescence on the surface of the toil, which by the taste
eemed to be all urn.
The spray fell towards the valley, and in that direction
covered the ground with a thick incrustation of matter which
it deposited. Close to this, and in one spot very near the
well itself, the grass grows with great luxuriance.
The village of Rykum or Ryka, called either indiscrimi-
nately, from Ryk, an Icelandic word, signifying smoke,
situated in the middle of the valley, and, by an observation
G
122 VOYAGE TO ICELAND.
made by Dr. Walker, is in latitude 54> 6 4' SB" N. About
twenty miles from Rykiavick, and eight or ten from Oreback,
a small harbour on the southern coast of the island. The
village consists of the' farmer's house, and the houses of his
servants or dependents, and a small church. All the adja-
cent lands belong to him, and he keeps a considerable num-
ber of sheep and cattle, and some few horses. These con-
stitute his riches; and he purchases at Rykiavick, with
skins, wool, and butter, whatever he requires, of which
the chief article is fish for his winter's provision.
" The springs at Hankadai are more magnificent than this
Edward," said Dr. Walker, " and we will not quit Iceland
without seeing them."
The springs known by the name of Geyzers, are situated
about six and thirty miles from Mount Heckla, and about
twelve miles, in a north-east direction, from the village of
Skalholt. The road from thence to the springs is over a
flat country, which although marshy in several places, is
not unpleasant to the $ye, and abounds in excellent pas-
turage.
The steam ascending from the principal springs during
their eruptions, may be seen from a considerable distance.
When the air is still it rises perpendicularly, like a column,
to a great height; then spreads itself into clouds, which
roll in successive masses over each other, until they are lost
in the atmosphere. Our travellers perceived one of these
columns when distant sixteen miles at least, in a direct line
from Hankadai.
The springs mostly rise in a plain, between a river that
winds through it, and the base of a range of low hills, and
some very njar their summits. They are all contained, to
the number of 100 or more, within a circle of two miles.
The most wonderful and beautiful spring rises nearly in
the midst of the other springs, close to the hills. It is called
Geyzer, the name probably in the old Scandinavian lan-
guage, for a fountain, from the verb geysa, signifying to
gush, or to rush forth.
The next most remarkable spring rises at a distance of
140 yards from it, on the same line, at the foot of the hills.
It is called the New Geyzer, on account of its having but
lately played so violently as at present.
There are others of consequence in the place, but none
that approach to these in magnificence, or that when com-
THE GEYZERS. 123
pared with them, deserve much description. The genera-
lity of the springs are in every respect similar to those near
Rykum ; boiling in cauldrons of three or four feet diameter,
and some of them throwing their water, from time to time,
by sudden jets into the air. Many springs in this place, as
in the other, boil through strata of coloured clay, by which
they were rendered turbid. Here, however, the red clays
were brighter, and in a greater proportion to the clays of
other colours. Here also, as in the valley of Rykum, are
many small springs, which throw out a sulphureous vapour,
and near which the ground, and the channel of the water
are covered and lined with a thin coat of sulphur.
The farm of Hankadal, and the church of the parish,
stand near one another, about three quarters of a mile be-
yond the great spring. The house is one of the best built
in Iceland. It occupies a large space of ground, and con-
sists of several divisions, to each of which there is an en-
trance from without. Some of these are used as barns and
stables for the cattle, and others as workshops. The dwell-
ing part of this house was small, but comfortable. There
was a parlour with glass windows, a kitchen, and separate
bed- chambers for the family. The building was partly of
stone, partly of wood, and covered with sods, under which
the bark of birch trees on boards are generally placed, as a
greater security against rain.
Dr. Walker and his pupil were obliged to the mistress of
this farm, who was a rich widow, for a very hospitable re-
ception, although at first she seemed to consider them rather
unwelcome guests, and left them, though they had requested
admittance into her house, as they were drenched with rain,
and their tents and baggage were not yet arrived, to take up
thek lodging in the church. They had not been Jong
there, however, before she invited them to her house, and
by her kindness made ample amends for her former inatten-
tion. She put them in possession of her best room, and
set before them plenty of good cream, some wheat cakes ?
sugar, and a kind of tea made of the dryas octopetela, called
in English the mountain avens.
The view from near the Church was very beautiful. It
extended towards the south, along the plain into an open
country. On the other -sides, it was bounded by hills,
which had not the barren and rugged appearance that deform
almost every scene in this division of the island. It was
G2
124 VOYAGE TO ICELAND.
however, still finer from some of the eminences near the
springs. The plain and surrounding mountains, seen from
a height, appeared to more advantage ; and the eruptions
from the great wells breaking from time to time the general
stillness that prevailed, were much more distinct.
The course of the river, winding under the eye could be
traced with great accuracy. It flows through the plain into
an open country, where, being increased by the waters of
numerous streams and rivulets, it bends to the westward,
and near Skalholt falls into a considerable river, called the
Huit-au.
The pleasant and fertile pastures near its banks, were en-
livened by many herds of cattle and sheep, the united riches
of three or four farmers in the neighbourhood of Hankadal,
The mowers also at work in the different fields surrounding
each house, gave, at this season, additional beauty to the
prospect. High hills to the westward were separated from
the eminences immediately above the springs by a narrow
valley. They were partly clothed with bushes of birch,
which, although in no place above five feet high, were gra-
tifying to the sight, which so seldom in Iceland can rest on
-any appearance even of underwood. Above these, some
vegetation still continued to cover the sides of the hills, and
our travellers found a variety of plants near their summits,
which were certainly, in some places, not less than 1,600
feet above the plain.
To the eastward, the plain, several miles in breadth, is
hounded by a long range of blue mountains, extending con-
siderably to the south. Beyond these, the triple summit of
Held a may be seen from the western hills, but it could not
be distinguished from the plain, or even from the heights, in
the country just described.
But to return to the account of the springs which break
out iii different places from the sides of a hill, and the space
enclosed between its base and the windings of a river. The
soil through which they rise is a mixture of crumbled ma-
terials, washed by degrees from the higher parts of the hill.
In some places these have been reduced into a clay, or
earth ; in others they still remain in loose and broken frag-
ments of the rock from whence they have fallen, or as dust
produced by their friction against each other. Above the
great spring, the hill terminates in a double pointed rock,
which our travellers found, by measurement, to be 310 feet
THE GEYZERS. V25
higher than the course of the river ; the rock is split very
strangely into lamina, and at first sight has much of the ap-
pearance of a schistus, or thick slate. It consists, however,
of a grey coloured stone, of a very close grain, the sepa-
rate pieces of which although divided as they lay, do not
break in the hands in any particular direction. It is sup-
posed that the substance of the rock is chiefly argillaceous,
and that like every other stone in the island, it has suffered
some change by the action of fire. It is not precisely lava,
as it bears no mark of having been once in a melted state,
whatever baking or induration it may have sustained in the
neighbourhood of subterranean heat. It contains no hete-
rogeneous matter or cavities, in which agates, or zeolites,
or vitrified substance could have been, formed.
The attention of our travellers during the four days they
remained in this place, was so much engaged with the beau-
ties and remarkable circumstances of the two principal
springs, that they had no time for inspecting those of infe-
rior note.
The springs in general resemble those at Rykum, but
there are five or six which have their peculiarities, and
throw up their waters with violence, to a considerable height.
Their basons are of irregular forms, four, five, or six feet
in diameter, and from some of them the water gushes out
in all directions, from others obliquely. The eruptions are
never of long duration, and the intervals are from fifteen to
thirty minutes.
The periods of both are exceedingly variable. One of
the most remarkable of these springs throws out a great
quantity of water, and from its continual noise, it is called the
Roaring Geyzer. The eruptions of this fountain are inces-
sant. The water darts out with fury every four or five mi-
nutes, and covers a great space of ground with the matter
it deposites. The jets are from thirty to forty feet in height.
They are shivered into the finest particles of spray, and sur-
rounded by great clouds of steam. The situation of this
spring was eighty yards distant from the Geyzer, on the rise
of the hill. By a gradual deposition of the substances dis-
solved in its water for a long succession of years, perhaps
of ages, a mound of considerable height has been formed,
from the centre of which the Geyzer issues. It rises through
a perpendicular and cylindrical pipe or shaft, seventy feet
I n depth, and eight feet and a half in diameter, which opens
G 3
126 VOYAGE TO ICELAND.
into a bason or funnel, measuring fifty-nine feet from one
edge to the other.
The bason is circular, and the sides of it, as well as those
of the pipe, are polished quite smooth by the continual fric-
tion of the water, and they are both formed with such ma-
thematical truth, as to appear constructed by art. The de-
clivity of the mound begins immediately from the borders
of the bason. The incrustations are in some places worn
smooth by the overflowing of the water ; in most, however,
they rise in numberless little tufts, which bear a resem-
blance to the heads of cauliflowers, except that they are
rather more prominent, and are covered by the falling of
the finer particles of spray, with a crystalline efflorescence
so delicate as scarcely to bear the slightest touch. Unmo-
lested the efflorescence gradually hardens, and although it
loses its first delicacy, it still remains exceedingly beautiful.
When the guides first led our travellers to the Geyzer,
the bason was filled to within a few feet of its edge. The
water was transparent as crystal : a slight steam only arose
from it, and the surface was ruffled but by a few bubbles,
which now and then came from the bottom of the pipe.
They waited with anxiety for several minutes, expecting
at every instant some interruption to this tranquillity. On
a sudden, another spring, immediately in front of the place
on which they were standing, darted its waters above an
hundred feet into the air, with the velocity of an arrow,
and the jets succeeding this first eruption were still higher.
This was the spring already mentioned under the name of
the New Geyzer.
While gazing in silence and wonder at this unexpected
and beautiful display, they were alarmed by a sudden shock
of the ground under their feet, accompanied by a hollow
noise, not unlike the distant firing of a cannon. Another
shock soon followed, and they observed the water in the
bason to be much agitated. The Icelanders hastily laid
hold of them and forced them to retreat some yards. The
water in the mean time boiled violently, and heaved as if
some expansive power was labouring beneath its weight,
and some of it was thrown up a few feet above the bason.
Again there were two or three shocks of the ground, and a
repetition of the same noise. In an instant the surrounding
atmosphere was filled with volumes of steam rolling over
each other as they ascended, in a manner inexpressibly
THE GEYZERS. 127
beautiful, and through which, columns of water shivering
into foam, darted in rapid succession to heights which, at
the moment, the spectators were but little qualified to esti-
mate. Indeed, the novelty and splendour of such a scene
had affected their imaginations so forcibly, that they believed
the extreme height of the jet to be much greater than it
'was afterwards determined to be. In a subsequent eruption,
a gentleman ascertained by means of a quadrant, the great-
est elevation to which the jets of water were thrown, to be
ninety-six feet.
Much of the water began to descend again at different
heights, and was again projected by other columns, which
met it as they arose. At last, having filled the bason, it
rolled in great waves, and in numberless rills, made its
way down the sides of the mound. Much was lost in
vapour only, and still more fell to the ground in heavy
showers of spray. The intervals at which the several jets
succeded each other, were too short for the eye to distin-
guish them. As they rose out of the bason, they reflected
by their density, the purest and most brilliant hue. In cer-
tain shades the colour was green like that of the sea ; but
in their further ascent, all distinction of colour was lost, and
the jets broken into a thousand parts appeared as white as
snow. Several of them were forced upwards perpendicu-
larly ; but many receiving a slight inclination as they burst
from the bason, were projected in beautiful curves, and the
spray which fell from them, caught by a succeeding jet,
was hurried away still higher than it had been, perhaps,
before.
The jets were made with inconceivable velocity, and those
which escaped uninterrupted terminated in sharp points, and
lost themselves in the air. The eruption., changing its
form at every instant, continued for ten or twelve minutes;
the water then subsided through the pipe, and disappeared.
The eruptions of the Geyzer succeed each other with a
degree of regularity, but they are not equally violent, or of
equal duration. Some lasted eight or ten, while others con-
tinued, with unabated violence, fifteen or eighteen minutes.
Between the great eruptions, while the pipe and bason were
filling, the water burst several times into the air to a consi-
derable height. These partial jets, however, seldom exceeded
a minute, and sometimes not a few seconds in duration.
After the eruption of it had been violent, the water sank
128 VOYAGE TO ICELAND*
into the subterraneous caverns, and left the pipe quite empty,
If the eruption had been moderate, the subsidence of the
water would have been proportionably less. The first time
the pipe was perfectly emptied, they sounded its depth, and
found it very rough and irregular. The pipe remains but a
short time empty. After a few seconds, the water rushes
into the pipe again with a bubbling noise, and during the
time that it is rising, it is frequently darted suddenly into
the air to different heights, sometimes to two or three, some-
times sixty feet above the sides of the bason. By a surprize
of this kind, while our travellers were engaged measuring
the diameter of the well, they had nearly been scalded,
and although they were able to withdraw themselves from
the great body of water as it ascended, yet they remained
exposed to the falling spray, which fortunately was so much
cooled in the air as to do them no mischief.
Of these jets they counted twenty in an hour and a half,
during which the waters had filled the pipe, and part of the
bason. It then seemed oftentimes agitated and boiled with
great violence. The jets were more beautiful, and con-
tinued longer, as the quantity of water in the bason in.
creased. The resistance being greater, their force was in
some degree broken, and their form, more divided, pro-
duced a greater display of foam and vapour.
While the pipe was filling, they threw into it several
stones of considerable size, and amidst these they rose and
fell repeatedly. They were easily distinguished in the white
foam, and contributed much to the novelty and beauty of
this extraordinary phenomenon.
When the bason was nearly full these occasional eruptions
were generally announced by shocks of the ground, similar
to those preceding the great eruptions. Immediately after
the shocks, the whole body of water heaved exceedingly ;
a violent ebullition then took place, and large waves spread
themselves in circles from the centre, through which the
column forced its way.
When the water had been quiet in the bason for some
time, the thermometer placed in it stood at 180 only, but
immediately after an eruption, it rose to 200. The party
boiled a piece of salmon in it which was exceedingly well
tasted.
Crater 0f Vesuvius.
MOUNT HEKLA. 120
SECTION Vf.
"MOUNT KEKLA, AND THE SULPHUR MOUNTAIN.
HAVING viewed the wonders of the valley of Rykum and
Hankadal, our travellers at length arrived in the plain from
which Hekla rises; but they had no view of the mountain as
they approached, for it was unfortunately enveloped in thick
clouds. Their road lay through lava which had been exposed
to view by the blowing of the sand that covers so great an
extent of country. Storavellir is situated in the midst of
this tract ; and round it there is a great deal of excellent
grass. The provost had a large stock of hay, which, with-
out any report in his favour as a good moral economist,
would have been a sufficient proof of his merit.
On their road as they drew near Hekla, they traversed the
river Wester Rangua, the water of which is perfectly trans-
parent, and flows along the foot of the mountain on the
west side. The bed of this river is very remarkable, being
formed of rugged masses of lava, which is here and there
elevated in peaks, and causes a great rapidity in the stream.
Owing to the clefts in this lava it is very dangerous to at-
tempt crossing the river at this place, without a guide.
On the end of a long ridge, running nearly north and
south, close to the base of Hekla, is a small farm called
Naifurbolt. Near this tenement our travellers halted ^and
pitched their tent. The cottager owning this farm was an
active intelligent man, and he undertook to be their guide in
their expedition to mount Hekla. They rose the day after
their arrival at an early hour, and highly delighted at perceiv-
ing the mountain free from clouds, began their arduous
undertaking. Their route lay though sand and lava for
about three miles, when the surface became too rugged and
steep for horses. Their guide proposed they should leave
the poor animals standing till their return ; but though they
would not have stirred from the spot, Dr. Walker sent them
back not chusing that such valuable and steady servants
should remain a whole day without food. They now pro-
ceeded a considerable way along the edge of a stream of
lava, and then crossed it where it was not very broad, and
gained the foot of the south end of the mountain.
From this place they saw several mounts and hollows from
which the streams of lava below appeared to have issued.
G 5
130 VOYAGE TO ICELAND;
Their journey had hitherto been attended with little difficulty,
but when they arrived at the steepest part of the mountain
which was covered with loose slags, they sometimes lost at
one step, by the yielding of these loose masses, a space that
had been gained by several. In some places they saw
black sand collected in heaps, which, had the wind been
high, they would have found very troublesome.
Beautiful as was the morning, before they reached the
first summit, they were surrounded by clouds, which pre-
vented their seeing beyond the distance of a few yards.
Placing, however, implicit confidence in their guide they
proceeded, and having attained what they thought was the
nearest of the three summits, they sat down to refresh
themselves, when their guide informed them, that he had
never been higher up the mountain, than the spot on which
they then rested. As the clouds divided, they were soon
convinced they had not reached even the southern summit ;
they therefore resumed their labour, and after leaping over
some fissures and stepping carefully along masses of slags y
that lay over others, they at last arrived at the first peak.
Here they were so enveloped in clouds that they began to
imagine they should proceed no further, for the peak con.
sists of a very narrow ridge of slags, not more than two feet
broad, having a precipice on each side many hundred feet
high, and to attempt to move in the dark under such cir-
cumstances, would have been the height of presumption.
One of these precipices forms the side of a vast hollow,
which seems to have composed a section of the craters. At
length, however, the sky cleared gradually and enabled them
to discover a ridge below them, that semed to connect the
peak they were on, with the middle one.
" Now you must keep the centre of gravity, Edward,"
said the Doctor, " with as much precision as a rope-dancer
while we pass this narrow ridge of slags, which appears
scarcely wide enough for our feet.'*
Having surmounted this difficulty they at length attained
the highest point of this celebrated mountain ; and the sky
having resumed its former brilliancy, they had a full view of
the surrounding country. Towards the north it is low ex-
cept where a jokal here and there towers into the regions
of perpetual snow. Several large lakes appear in different
places, and among them the Fiske Vata was the most con-
spicuous. In this direction our travellers saw nearly two
MOUNT HEKLA. 131
thirds across the island. The middle peak of Hekla forms
t)ne side of a hollow, which contains a large mass of snow
at the bottom ; and is evidently another crater. The whole
summit of the mountain is a ridge of slags, and the hollows
on each side appear to have been so many different vents,
from which the eruptions from time to time have issued.
The fog again returning, they were prevented from ex-
amining, to the extent they wished, whether there were
any indication that lava had flowed from the upper part of
the mountain,
Edward, who was engaged in collecting a few slags, as
curiosities for his sisters; having removed some from the sur-
face, in order to get what he thought better specimens, burnt
his ringers in attempting to pick up one which he thought
particularly valuable. Dr. Walker immediately placed a
thermometer among these stones, and it rose suddenly to
144?. It had been remarked to them by several of the inha-
bitants, that there was less snow on Hekla at that time, than
had been observed for many years. The heat therefore
which the Doctor had ascertained, he concluded was rather
the symptom of reactivity in the mountain, than the remain-
ing effects of the last eruption. The crater, of which,
the highest peak forms a part, does not much exceed
a hundred feet in depth. The bottom is filled by a large
mass of snow, in which various caverns have been formed by
its partial melting. In these, the snow had become hard
and transparent, reflecting a bluish tinge, and their whole
appearance was extremely beautiful, reminding our travellers
of the description of magic palaces in the eastern isles.
Their descent from their elevated situation was greatly re-
tarded by a thick fog ; and their task was much more dange-
rous than in their ascent. They missed their way, and were
under the necessity of crossing the lava they had passed in
their way up, at a place where it had spread to a much
greater breadth ; and from the rapidity of the slope along
which it had flowed, had become frightfully terrific. " WeU,
Edward/' said Doctor Walker, as they directed their steps
towards their temporary home, " What think you of Mount
Hekla?"
EDWARD " Thatit is a very wonderful mountain,but not
so much so, as Vesuvius or Etna, I should think/'
DR. WALKER. " You are right : it is far behind those
two mountains, both in the frequency and magnitude of its
132 VOYAGE TO ICELAND.
eruptions. Its reputation arises perhaps from being placed
in so cold a region, and from the difficulties which must be
surmounted before it can be visited.
" Iceland, however, independent of its burning mountains,
and boiling springs, possesses yet a greater curiosity. I mean
its sulphur mountain, which I intend you shall visit, al-
though it is perhaps more wonderful than beautiful, but it
is surrounded by that fascinating attraction danger.
" You smile, Edward, at that expression, but it is a very
just one -that which calls all our powers into action, is dan-
ger and difficulty, at least with minds of any sort of tone.
There are beings indeed who are content to sit down and ex-
claim ' I never can endure it,' * I never can attempt such
an undertaking,' but, generally speaking, danger and diffi-
culty enhance the pleasures of life. Have you never ob-
served your cousin George, attempting to imitate you when
you were climbing a tree to get him an apple, and if per-
chance, some one has endeavoured to stop his efforts, has he
not burst from them, and exclaimed, * Ah, but I'll try
though.' What a look of exultation has accompanied his
animated countenance, when descending in triumph with the
apple in his pocket! Was the apple not sweeter, think you,
than if it had been given to him ? Would you have felt half
the pleasurable sensations at the retrospection of your late
excursion, if it had been unattended by difficulty or danger?
Oh, no. But it is time to retire to rest, and to-morrow we
wUl bend our steps towards the sulphur mountain."
On the following morning Dr. Walker and his pupil re-
sumed their journey, and upon arriving at the village of Kris-
wick, three miles distant from the mountain they intended to
inspect, they pitched their tent, and rested for that night in
the vicinity of this wonderful phenomenon. " Now Sir,''
said Edward, gaily, " for our dangerous and pleasurable ex-
cursion," as they started for the sulphur mountain.
At the foot of this mountain was a small bank, composed
chiefly of white clay and some sulphur, from all parts of
which steam issued. Having ascended a ridge immediately
above a deep hollow, from which a profusion of vapour arose,
they heard a confused noise of boiling and splashing joined
to the roaring of steam, escaping from narrow crevices in
the rock. This hollow, together with the whole side- of the
mountain opposite, as far up as they could see, was covered
with sulphur, and chiefly of a white and yellowish colour.
THE SULPHUR MOUNTAIN.
As they walked over this soft and steaming surface, the va-
pour rose so thick that they frequently could not see each
other at a very short distance. The day however being dry
and warm, the footing was not so very uncertain as it wonld
have been, had the weather been wet.
Dr. Walker almost repented having brought his pupil to
this terrific spot, for the danger in the present instance was
so great, as very much to deaden the sensation of pleasure.
One of the company suffered extreme pain from having
plunged his leg into the hot clay. Wherever the sulphur is
removed, steam instantly escapes, and in many places the
sulphur was so hot as not to be handled. The sulphureous
smell of the steam was mixed with hydrogen gas. When
Dr. Walker plunged the thermometer into the clay, it rose
gradually to within a few degrees of the boiling point. The
guide gave them a particular caution to avoid stepping on
the smallest hole from whence steam issued ; indeed he was
provided with planks, which were laid over from bank to bank,
and greatly facilitated the peregrinations of our travellers.
At the bottom of this hollow they found a cauldron of boiling
mud, about fifteen feet in diameter ; they approached within
a few yards of it, the wind blowing the steam to the opposite
side. The mud was in constant agitation, and often thrown
up to the height of five or six, or even eight feet. Near this
spot was an irregular space filled with water boiling briskly,
and at the foot of the hill, is a cavity formed by a bank of
clay and sulphur, from whence steam rushes with a great
force and hideous noise from among the fragments of the
rock.
As they ascended the mountain they met with a spring of
cold water. " This is indeed a place of wonders/* exclaimed
Edward. " Who would have thought of meeting with cold
water in such a place as this, which is a fit habitation for a
fire king only."
The higher they ascended the thicker they found the
sulphur ; it was from one to several inches in thickness. The
crust was beautifully crystalised, and immediately beneath
it they found a quantity of loose granular sulphur, which ap-
peared to be collecting and crystalising as it was sublimed
along with the steam. Sometimes they met with clay of va-
rious colours, white, red, and blue, under this crust ; but
they could not examine this place, as the moment the criut
134 VOYAGE FROM ICELAND TO SCOTLAND.
was removed, steam came forth, and was exceedingly an*
noying.
Below the ridge, on the further side of this vast great -bed
of sulphur, they saw a great deal of vapour escaping witli
much noise. Having crossed to the opposite side of the
mountain, they found the surface sufficiently firm to permit
their walking cautiously upon it. They had not, however,
as yet, visited the principal spring, as it is called, and this
was a task of much apparent danger, as the side of the moun-
tain in which it lies for nearly half a mile, is covered with
loose clay, into which their feet sunk at every step. In many
places there was only a very thin crust, below which the clay
was wet and very hot. At a small distance, a dense column
of steam mixed with a little water, was forcing its way impe-
tuously through a crevice in the rock at the head of a narrow
valley, or break in the mountain. The violence with which
it rushes out is so great, that the noise it produces is some-
times heard at several miles distance. Behind this column
of vapour is a dark- coloured rock, which forms an advan-
tageous back-ground to this wonderful scene.
But it is quite beyond the power of words to convey any
adequate idea of the wonders and terrors of this extraordinary
place. The sensations of a person, even of firm nerves,
standing on a support which but feebly sustains him, over an
abyss where literally fire and brimstone are in incessant ac-
tion ; having before his eyes tremendous proofs of what is
going on beneath him; enveloped in thick vapours; his ears
stunned with thundering noises ; all these terrifying and
awful phenomena united, must be experienced to be under-
stood. Our young traveller, Edward, may therefore be ex-
cused at rejoicing most heartily when he once more gained
the firm ground ; nor was the Doctor less pleased when he
again entered their tent, free from harm.
SECTION VII.
VOYAGE BACK TO SCOTLAND THE TIDES AND SALTNESB
OF THE SEA.
OUR travellers having thus gratified their curiosity, in see-
ing the most remarkable phenomena of Iceland, re-embarked
for Scotland, Pray Sir," said Edward, as they sat one
SALTNESS OF THE SEA, &c. EXPLAINED. 1
evening upon deck, " how is the saltness of the sea accounted
for?"
DR. WALKER. " Why this is a subject which has been
variously discussed, and I will give you some of the different
opinions upon the subject. There are persons who suppose
that this saltness arises from great beds of salt lying at the
bottom of the sea. But others more rationally suppose it is
owing to the following cause. Salt is one of the original
principles of nature, and is mixed, in greater or less quanti-
ties, with most other bodies. Now all rivers run into the
sea, and carty some salt with them ; but no rivers run out of
it, nor is any water taken from it, except by exhalation or
evaporation. But chemists have demonstrably proved, that
no salt can ascend in either of these ways ; and, conse-
quently, all the salt carried into the sea, by the immense
numbers of rivers that run into it, remains behind, and occa-
sions its saltness.
" That no salt ascends from the sea, either by exhalation
or evaporation, is evident from this, that rain-water, which
falls from the clouds, and which was originally exhaled from
the sea, is, of all kinds of water, the sweetest, purest, and
lightest, and is made the standard by which philosophers
judge of all other waters."
** I think the last conclusion most satisfactory," replied
Edward, " and now Sir, if you will not think me very trou-
blesome, will you have the goodness to explain the nature
and cause of the tides of the sea."
DR. WALKER. " Most willingly. As rivers flow and
swell, so also does the sea. Like them it has its currents,
which agitate its waters, and preserve them from putrefac-
tion. That regular motion of the sea, according to which it
ebbs and flows twice in about twenty-four hours, is called its
tide**
< In its flux, the sea generally rises for about six hours,
when it remains, as it were, suspended, and in equilibrio, for
some minutes. At that time it is called high water.
" In its reflux, the sea falls for about six hours, when it
remains, as it were, in a like manner, suspended, and in equi-
librio, for some minutes* At that time it is called low water.
" We are told that Aristotle, despairing to discover the
true cause of these wonderful appearances, had the folly, in
spite of his philosophy r to throw himself headlong into the
sea.
136 VOYAGE FROM ICELAND TO SCOTLAND.
" The tides are occasioned by the attraction of the moon.
This doctrine remained in obscurity, till Newton explained
it by his great principle of gravity or attraction.
" The tides are greatest at the new and full moons, and
are thence called spring tides, and least at the first and last
quadratures, and are thence called neap tides, and the highest
tides are near the time of the equinoxes.
" When the moon is in conjunction or opposition with the
sun, as the tides, which each endeavours to raise are in the
same place ; whereas, when the moon is in the first or last
quarter, the sun being in the meridian when tb<* moon is iu
the horizon, depresses the water where the moon raises it ;
whence the tides are then the least of all. On the full and
new moons, which happen about the equinoxes, when the
luminaries are both in the equator or near it, the tides are
the greatest ; for example, the two eminences of water are at
the greatest distance from the poles, and hence the diffe-
rence between ebb and flood tide is more sensible ; for if
those eminences were at the poles, it is obvious we should
not perceive any tide at all : again, if the equatorial diameter
of the earth be produced, it passes through the moon, which
diameter is longer than any other, and, consequently^ there
is a greater disproportion between the distances of the zenith,
centre, and nadir, from the centre of gravity of the earth and
moon, in this situation, than in any other ; finally, the water
rising higher in the open seas, rushes to the shores with
greater force, where being stopped, it rises higher still ; for
it not only rises at the shores in proportion to the height to
which it rises in the open seas, but also according to the ve-
locity with which it flows from thence against the shore. The
spring tides, which happen a little before the vernal and after
the autumnal equinox, are the greatest of all, because the
sun is nearer the earth in the winter than in the summer.
" When the moon is in the northern hemisphere, it pro-
duces a greater tide while it is in the meridian above the ho-
rizon, than when it is in the meridian below it; when in the
southern hemisphere, the reverse is the case.
'* For the like reason, when the moon is in the southern
signs, the greatest tides on the other side of the equator will
be when it is below our horizon, and the least tides when it
is above it.
41 These things would happen uniformly, were the whole
surface of the earth covered with water ; but since there is a
THE TIDES EXPLAINED. 137
a multitude of islands and two vast continents, which inter-
rupt the natural course of the water, a variety of appearances
are to be met with in different places, which cannot be ex-
plained, without regarding the situation of shores, shoals, and
other objects, which contribute in producing those ap-
pearances.
" There are frequently streams or currents in the ocean,
which set ships a great way beyond their intended course.
There is a current between Florida and the Bahama islands,
which always run from north to south. A current runs con-
stantly from the Atlantic, through the straits of Gibraltar,
into the Mediterranean. A current sets out of the Baltic
sea, through the sound or strait between Sweden and Den-
mark, into the German ocean ; so that there are no tides in
the Baltic.
" About small islands and head-lands in the middle of the
ocean, the tides rise very little ; but in some bays, and about
the mouths of rivers, they rise from twelve to fifty feet.
" Perhaps it may be said, that as a current constantly
runs from the Atlantic into the Mediterranean, the waters
of that sea ought to increase. By no means. The water
extracted from it in vapours, is more than sufficient to coun-
terbalance the influx. It has been found by calculation, that
in a summer's day, there may be raised in vapours, from the
Mediterranean, 5280 millions of tuns of water. Yet this sea
does not receive, from all its nine great rivers, above 1827
millions of tuns per day, which is but one third of what is
exhausted in vapours ; so that, were it not for the influx from
the Atlantic, the Mediterranean would soon be rendered dry.
" The tides flow from east to west, for they must neces-
sarily follow the moon's motion, which is from east to west.
" The course of the tides, however, is sometimes interrupt-
ted by continents, and other large tracts of land. The tide,
for instance, in the Indian ocean, being stopped by the
eastern coast of Africa, must necessarily flow south, towards
the Cape of Good Hope, which having passed, it then runs
northward along the Western coast of Africa, to that of Spain,
Portugal, and France, till it enters the English channel ;
there meeting the tide from the German ocean, running a
contrary way, it is necessarily stopped, and produces a very
great swell of water.
" These two tides, thus flowing in opposite directions, and
meeting a little irregularly, have sometimes occasioned tivu
138 VOYAGE FROM ICELAND TO SCOTLAND,
tides, the one immediately after the other, in the river
Thames, which, though proceeding from a natural cause, and
consequently very easy to be explained, has been looked
upon as a prodigy.
" So much for the tides, Edward. Now I dare say, al-
though you were inquisitive as to the saltness of the sea, you
never reflected upon another of its properties. I mean its
fluidity. How would you describe a fluid ?"
EDWARD. " Why I do not exactly know; but I think I
should define it as something which always eluded my grasp.*'
DR. WALKER. " That is no bad definition. A fluid is
scientifically defined to be a body whose parts yield to any
impression, and in yielding, are easily moved amongst each
other.
" Fluids are of two kinds : non-elastic and incompressible
fluids, such as water, oil, mercury, &c. ; and elastic and com-
pressible fluids, as air of different sorts.
" The cause of fluidity is not perfectly known. Some are
of opinion, that the particles of fluids are spherical, and in
consequence of their touching each other, in few points only,
cohere very slightly, and easily slip or slide over each other,
But that the particles of fluids are of the same nature or
figure as those of solids, seems probable from the very fre.
quent conversion of the one into the other. Some have not
thought it rational to suppose, that the particles of gold, lead,
glass, &c. when in fusion, are rendered spherical by the ac-
tion of the fire, but the sparks of steel, when struck with a
flint, if caught on a piece of white paper, and examined with
a microscope, will be found spherules, which could only re-
sult from their having been in a state of fusion. The origi-
nal cause of fluidity may not, after all, consist in the figure
of the particles, but simply in their want of cohesion.
" If the particles of a body cohere strongly together, it is
evident that they will not easily move amongst each other.
An imperfect cohesion must, therefore, be one of the proper-
ties of a fluid mass.
" Modern philosophers suppose, that a certain portion of
heat combined in some way or other with bodies, occasions
fluidity, arid that the relative proportions of heat contained
in fluids and solids, is the cause of the difference between
them.
" It is from the imperfect cohesion of fluidf, that, when in
LOCH NESS. 131K
small quantities, they arrange themselves in a spherical man-
ner, and form drops.
" This, I believe, is the sum of all that has been said upon
this subject, and the sum total of all I shall say to-night, for I
am rather inclined to be weary. "
CHAPTER VI.
SCOTLAND.
SECTION I.
THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND.
OUR travellers had a very pleasant voyage until they came
off the coast of Scotland, when a strong east wind setting in,
with a heavy swell of the sea, the captain was glad to take
shelter in the frith of Cromarty, the most safe, extensive, and
commodious bay or harbour of Scotland, and one of the finest
in Europe, perhaps in the world. This truly excellent but
much neglected harbour, the Portus Salutis of the Romans,
is about twenty two miles in length, and in some parts four
in breadth ; the entrance is narrow and bold, being formed
by two huge lofty rocks, which project into the sea, till they
approach within a mile of each other, and therefore defend
this fine bay completely from winds and storms. These
rocky promontories, or islands, thus approaching each other,
and being very nearly alike in form, are called by the natives,
the Sooters of Cromarty, meaning the wooers. Such in fact
is the vast extent of sea room in this bay, and such its
length, breadth, and depth, that almost the whole of the
British navy might ride with safety within it ; besides which
the anchorage ground for many miles up is so smooth, and
so perfectly desirable, that were a vessel even driven from
her cable, little or no damage would be incurred.
Dr. Walker resolved, now that they were so near Loch
Ness, to take a survey of that lake; and on their road
visited Inverness, where there is a manufactory of ropes and
canvass. Having partly dined on some of the celebrated
salmon caught in the river Ness, they strolled to Craig
140 SCOTLAND.
Phadraik, a vitrified fort, as it is called ; the stones compos-
ing its walls, have every appearance of having been partly
melted by fire. " Are we far from Forres, Sir,'' said Ed-
ward, as they returned to Inverness, " Shakspeare has almost
made that classic ground ?"
u Too far for us to visit it just now," replied the
Doctor. " But you will have nothing to regret, for it is pic-
turesque only in the < mind's eye,' to apply a quotation from
the poet who threw a charm round every thing he touched.
Forres has at present but little to boast of. It has indeed
a remarkable column in its neighbourhood, said to have been
erected to commemorate the expulsion of the Danes in the
reign of Malcolm II. about the year 1008.
EDWARD. " Did you ever see it, Sir ?"
DR. WALKER. " No : I never did ; but I understand it is
rather a curiosity. It is twenty five feet in height, and three in
breadth, and is covered to the top with figures on horseback.
" And now for Loch Ness.
" The great curiosity of Loch Ness is, that it never freezes ;
the river of the same name into which it discharges itself, is
six miles in length; no ice is ever seen upon it, but it smokes
in frosty weather. About seventeen miles, perhaps more
from this place, is a lake called Lochan Wyn, or Green Lake,
which is always covered with ice, winter and summer. " I
cannot account,'' said Dr. Walker, " for this last phenome-
non ; now the number of springs and fountains in Loch Ness,
may prevent its waters freezing. This lake has been
sounded in many parts with a line of 500 fathoms, but no
bottom found."
" Loch Ness is surrounded by rocks and woods, and is
particularly wild and romantic. On the north side stands
the remains of the famous castle of Urquart, seated on a rock
and surrounded by a great ditch, which was formerly sup-
plied with water from the lake.
" I suppose you ken why 'tis called Loch Ness," said
their guide ? " No, indeed," replied the Doctor, " I do not."
" Why then I'll tell ye," rejoined the Highlander. " Nisus,
an Irish Chief, wi his wife Donadilla, settled a colony on
Stratharig, and yon promontory, where he took up his resi-
dence is to this day called Down Dearmill. He being the
first man who ever launched a boat upon the loch. It was
called Loch Nisus after him, and so in time it was changed
to Loch Ness."
EDINBURGH. 141
Thank you my good friend,'' said Dr. Walker. " Can
you tell us the name of that high mountain in the distance. "
GUIDE. " Meal-fuor- voury. It is about four miles west of
the castle, and it is said to be two miles perpendicular from
the lake. On the top of it is a lake of cold fresh water,
about thirty fathoms in length, and six broad. No stream
uns to or from it, and it has never yet been fathomed. 'Tis
always full, and never freezes."
Having gratified their curiosity with the picturesque sce-
nery in its environs, they continued their journey, and pass-
ng over the beautiful bridge which crosses the Fyers, they
n-oceeded to the stupendous falls of that river. " What a
>eautiful object is that bridge," observed Edward, as they
caught a view of it in one of the windings of the road. " How
!ijgh is it, Sir ? It appears to hang in the air."
DR. WALKER. " It is 100 feet above the level of the
water, and its being composed but of one arch, and uniting
those two enormous rocks, it has indeed a surprising as well
as beautiful effect."
SECTION II.
EDINBURGH,
** WE must not," said Dr. Walker, " stay much longer
in Scotland ; for really Edward some months have elapsed
since we left Dublin, and here we are still in the British
Isles. Edinburgh must be the next and last place, that
must detain us on this side of the Tweed."
On their road to the capital of Scotland, they did but stop
to take a view of the interesting Loch Leven, where the un-
fortunate Mary Queen of Scots, was confined in a castle on a
small island in the middle of the lake. It was night when our
travellers entered Edinburgh, and Edward was up early the
next morning, being anxious to view a city of which he had
heard a great deal during his travels in Scotland. The first
j place our travellers visited was the castle. Having crossed
:the High-street, they entered the parade which is 350 feet in
length and 300 in breadth, and divides the castle from the
town, Having passed the draw-bridge, they mounted the
142 SCOTLAND.
rock by the winding path which leads to its summit, and
which is defended at an angle where the road turns towards
the west by a battery mounted with twelve and eighteen
pounders, which point to the north-west; indeed these formi-
dable engines of war, face you very generally on all sides*
Here are the guard and store- houses. Further on, the de-
clivity of the hill is occupied by the powder-magazine (which
is bomb-proof) houses for the governor and other officers,
and the new barracks. The area of the castle is occupied
by a chapel, and. on the east side stand the apartments for-
merly occupied by royalty. In the south. east angle of the
square, is shewn an apartment in which James VI. was born.
A small aperture is pointed out as communicating through a
long passage to the grass market. When Mary was near her
confinement, a string, to which a bell was fastened, was con-
veyed through this passage, which was to have announced to
the Roman Catholic friends of the Scottish queen, the birth
of her child, in order that they might convey it away to be
educated in the faith of its mother. In an apartment of this
part of the castle, the regalia of Scotland is preserved. In
the year 1818, the Prince Regent granted a commission to
some of the principal inhabitants of the city, empowering
them to break open the room in which they were deposited,
and ascertain whether they were there or not, as many re-
ports had spread abroad that they had been secretly re-
moved. They were however found in a high state of pre-
servation, and were replaced in the chest which had con-
tained them.
The castle not only overlooks the city, its environs, gar-
dens, the new town, and a fine rich neighbouring country,
but commands a most extensive prospect of the river Forth,
the shipping, the opposite coast of Fife, and even some hills
at the distance of 40 or 50 miles, which border upon the
Highlands.
" The castle," said Doctor Walker, as they descended its
serpentine road, " was deemed impregnable before the use of
artillery. It was probably built by the Saxon king, Edwin,
whose territories reached to theFrith of Forth, and who gave
bis name to Edinburgh, as it certainly did not fall into the
hands of the Scots, till the reign of Indulphus, who lived in
the year 953.
" The town was built for the benefit of protection from
the castle, and a more inconvenient situation for a capital can
EDINBURGH. 143
scarcely be conceived, though few excel it in point of beauty.
The High. street is on the ridge of a hill, lying east and
west, and on each side of it are lanes or streets running down
towards it from the north and from the south. It is full a
mile long, is broad and well paved, and the houses being
lofty and of hewn stone, it has certainly an imposing ap-
pearance ; it is built on a rising ground, and gradually as-
cends from the Holyrood House, until it reaches the base of
the rock on which the castle is placed, and which is inacces.
sible on all sides, but one. When Mary landed, the French
who accompanied her, called it Lislebourg, from its being sur-
rounded on all sides but one with water.
From the castle they proceeded to Holyrood House, the
inner quadrangle of which w#s planned by Sir Robert Bruce,
and built under his immediate direction in the reign of
Charles I. It is very magnificent, and of modern architec-
ture, round this quadrangle runs an arcade, adorned with pi-
lasters ; and the interior contains a superb suite of apart-
ments for the Duke of Hamilton, who is hereditary keeper
of the palace, and for other noblemen. Its long gallery con-
tains portraits of all the kings of Scotland, down to the time
of the revolution ; the greater part of them are copies by
modern artists. James VII. when Duke of York, intended
to have made considerable improvements in and about this
palace, and truly it stands much in need of them, for at pre-
sent nothing can be more uncomfortable than its situation ;
at the bottom of bleak and craggy mountains, without a single
tree near it to enliven or vary the scene. At the time of the
revolution the fury of the lawless mob, destroyed the beau-
tiful chapel which James had built ; it is said to have been a
most perfect specimen of gothic architecture. During this
time of confusion, the rabble penetrated into the silent and
sacred repositories of the dead, where they exposed to view a
vault which had been hitherto undiscovered, and in which
were found the bodies of James V. and his first queen, and
that of Henry Darnley.
Heriot's hospital next attracted their attention. It is
built on a rising ground to the south-east of the castle. It
is of a quadrangular form, the sides being 40 feet square. It
is of the gothic order, and its angles are mounted by turrets.
The arms of the founder, George Heriot, goldsmith to
James VI. are placed over the north gateway ; and in the
centre of the quadrangle stands his statue in the costume of
144 SCOTLAND.
his age. " We must not omit taking a view of Hume's mo-
nument, said Dr. W. to his pupil. " It was erected to his
memory/'
" This monument stands on the south-west end of the
Calton-hill, it is of a circular form, and of Grecian architec-
ture. The roof is concealed by the top of the wall, which
is enriched by a Doric entablature. You have read his His-
tory of England,'' continued the Doctor.
The new town of Edinburgh is united to the old town by
a handsome bridge, called the North-bridge. The houses
erected on the side of the North bridge, though in them-
selves elegant and highly ornamented buildings, greatly ob-
struct several of the finest views, both from the old and new
town. So much is it in the power of a few wealthy indivi-
duals to mar the better taste and judgment of the more ju-
dicious and patriotic part of the community. A consider-
able degree of sensation was excited upon the building of
these houses, and a most respectable and numerous meeting
of gentlemen protested against it, but all in vain. Some of
these houses are four stories high.
Having visited the romantic environs of this city, as well
as its principal public buildings, Dr. Walker began to make
preparations for their journey, and early next morning they
commenced their route. On their way to Glasgow, they
were very much gratified by the view of the aqueduct
bridge over the Kelvin. u And now,'' said Doctor Walker,
as they resumed their seat in the carriage, " as this canal is
the principal one in Scotland, and connects the Frith of
Forth and Clyde, I will describe its course.
r " Its length is 35 miles, beginning at the mouth of the
Carron, and ending at Dalmuir-Burnfoot on the Clyde,
about six miles below Glasgow. It admits vessels drawing-
eight feet water.
" This canal was begun in 1768, under that celebrated
engineer, Mr. Smeaton. It was attended with great diffi-
culties. In its course there are several aqueduct bridges :
that over the great road, to the west of Falkirk, is a very
fine one; and that we have just seen over the Kelvin, is
considered one of the finest pieces of workmanship in the
world. It is built on the solid rock, and consists of four
arches, carrying the canal over a valley 65 feet high, and
420 feet long.
" There is another canal now constructing at the ex-
SURVEY OF SCOTLAND. 14T,
pense of Government, called the Caledonian Canal, to open
a communication between the Murray Frith and the Western
Sea. It proceeds along a line oflakes from Inverness, by
Fort Augustus and Fort William : length about 80 miles.
c< The plan of this canal, executed for the Houses of Par-
liament, is a very fine piece of topographical delineation.
And now we will briefly skim over whatever is most remark-
able in the geography of Scotland ; beginning with the sur-
face and climate, as contrasted with that of England."
SECTION III.
GENERAL SURVEY OF SCOTLAND.
IN Scotland are more lakes, more streams, a coast more
mdented ; more rain and more mountains, especially in the
north ; the air is colder, the soil not so rich, and the harvests
are later ; neither is it decorated with so luxuriant a va-
riety of woods and hedges, nor a surface so susceptible of
cultivation as that of England. The Grampian chain of
mountains extends from Loch Lomond to the north-west of
- Aberdeenshire. The Ochill hills run through the county of
Clackmannan, the south of Perth, and the north of Fife.
Scotland is 260 miles in length, by about 160 miles at its
greatest breadth ; it extends from the 55th degree of north
latitude, to more than 58^ degrees north.
The superficial contents of Scotland have been com-
puted at 27,793 square miles, a little exceeding that of Ire-
land, and considerably more than half that of England.
The population being estimated at 1,600,000 souls, there
will, of course, be only 57 inhabitants for every square mile,
Scotland is divided into 33 counties, which, according to
their situations, Geographers have arranged in three divisions.
Scotland abounds in coals, iron, lead, fuller's earth, and
potter's clay, in Stirling, Lanark, Fife, Edinburgh, and the
adjoining counties. Antimony in Dumfrieshire. Iron,
lead, copper, silver, and fine cobalt, in the Ochill hills ; the
Grampian mountains produce fine rock crystal, granite, ser-
pentine, and steatites ; and the Hebrides most beautiful
marble.
H
146 SCOTLAND.
The minerals in the city and vicinity of Edinburgh are,
trapp, porphyry, whinstone, basalt, felspar, sandstone, brec-
cia. Zeolite, tremolite, prehnite, radiated hematites, stea-
tite, green fibrous iron-ore, clay iron-stone approaching to
ruddle. Masses of heavy spar (sulphate of baryt,) amethes-
tine, quartz crystal. Upon Leith shores are nodules of agate,
cornelian, calcedony, and occasionally masses of chlorite,
imbedded in quartz. St. Catherine's well, about three
miles southward, is constantly covered with a scum of naph-
tha or petroleum. ,
It produces in the north, cows, sheep, and horses which
are small, but very numerous; on the Clyde the horses are
large and valuable ; Ayreshire furnishes most of the fine
greys that give name to a celebrated Scotch regiment of
Dragoons. Timber is plentiful in the Highlands, fish abun-
dant in the Orkney and Western Seas.
Its chief ports, in the east, are Dunbar, Leith, Perth,
Dundee, Montrose, Aberdeen, Inverness, and Dornoch.
Thurso, in the north. In the west are Portpatrick, Ayr, Ir-
vine, Greenock, and Glasgow. In the south are Wigton,
Kirkcudbright, and Dumfries.
Scotland has four Universities, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aber-
deen, and St. Andrew's.
Its principal Islands we have seen, but we will just men-
tion them in order to make our geography of this country
complete. Bute and Arran, are two beautiful islands,
which adorn the Frith of Clyde ; and west of the
peninsula of Cantyre begin the Hebrides, the principal of
which are Hay, Jura, Mull, Tiree, Col, Sky, and Lewis.
The Orkney Isles are separated from the continent by a
strait called the Pentland Frith. Of these the inhabited
isles are about 26 in number: the chief is Mainland, fre-
quently called Pomona. Kirkwall and Stromness are the
principal towns. The Shetland isles are to the north of the
Orkneys : they are 46 in number, 26 of which are said to be
inhabited. Mainland is the largest. The principal town is
Larwick.
The principal Scottish Lakes and Friths are Loch Ness,
Loch Lochy, Loch Lomond, Loch Tay, and Loch Awe;
and those arms of the sea, called Friths, are the Frith of Dor-
nock, the Murray Frith, the Frith of Tay, and the Frith of
Forth, on the east ; the Solway Frith, on the south ; the
Frith of Clyde, and Loch Fyn, with several other inlets, on
the west.
GLASGOW AND CLYDE. 147
SECTION IV.
GLASGOW AND THE FALLS OF CLYDE.
AFTER a delightful journey through a beautiful and ro-
mantic country, they reached Glasgow, which is situated on
a gentle declivity, sloping towards the river Clyde, 44 miles
west of Edinburgh. Glasgow is the second city of Scotland,
and, considering its size, not inferior to any in Great Bri-
tain as to elegance, regularity, and the beautiful materials ot
its buildings. The streets cross each other at right angles,
and are broad, straight, well paved and consequently clean.
The houses have a grand appearance from their height, for
they are generally four or five stories high, and many of them
towards the centre of the city are supported by arcades,
which give the whole an air of magnificence. The first cot-
ton mill set up in Scotland was in this city, and the second
was in the small isle of Bute.
" We will to-morrow get on to Lanark," said Dr. Walker,
" for our stay in Scotland has already exceeded my inten-
tions." Upon arriving at Lanark, they went to visit its cot-
ton manufactory, and from thence to take a view of the ce-
lebrated falls of the Clyde, which are near that town. The
most distant falls are about half an hour's ride from the town,
at a place called Cory-Lin, and are seen to most advantage
from a ruinous pavilion, in a neighbouring garden, placed in
a lofty situation. The cataract is full in view, seen over the
tops of trees and bushes, precipitating itself for an amazing
way from rock to rock, with short interruptions, forming a
rude slope of furious foam. The sides are bounded by vast
rocks, fringed with wood. On the summit and very verge
of one is a ruined tower.
Our travellers now followed a winding path, which led
them to the beginning of the fall, into which projects a high
rock, and here they had a full view of the rushing torrent.
In the cliffs of this wild retreat, the brave Wallace is said to
have concealed himself, when meditating revenge for his in-
jured country. Having remounted the rock they pursued
their walk along the edge of the precipice, about half a mile,
when the grand fall of Boniton, in one vast foaming sheet,
presented itself. Further on, there is another great fall*
H2
148 SCOTLAND.
which is succeeded by two smaller ones. Beyond them the
river widens, grows more tranquil, and is seen for a consid-
erable distance, bounded on one side by wood-crowned
heights, and .on the other by rich and swelling fields.
The county of Lanark is in the northern parts hilly, and
fit for pasture ; while those on the south of the Clyde are
level, and produce excellent corn. It abounds with coal
and lime-stone ; has some lead mines, and quarries of lapis
lazuli. As our travellers continued their route through
Dumfries, the country became more mountainous, and its
capital of the same name is surrounded, at the distance of a
few miles, by one continued chain of 'hills, forming altogether
one of the grandest natural amphitheatres in Britain. Dum-
fries is a well built town, and carries on some trade with the
Baltic. Lochmaben was the next town they visited, and
from thence they continued their journey to Moffat, in the
neighbourhood of which are some celebrated medicinal
springs. These springs are situated on the brow of a preci-
pice, surrounded on all sides by high mountains. A vein
of spar runs for several miles on this range of hills, and
forms the bottom of the wells. This spar is of a greyish co-
lour, interspersed with large and glittering particles of a
golden hue. The lofty mountain of Hartfield is in their vi-
cinity, by some supposed to be the second in height in Scot-
land. Pursuing their romantic route, they at length ar-
rived at Peebles, a town of no great importance, where they
only staid to change horses, and from thence directing
their course to the south-east, they paid a visit to Melrose
Abbey. There is still enough left of this once superb build-
ing, magnificent even in ruins, to convince the spectator
that it formerly ranked among the first monastic establish-
ments in Scotland. You remember Walter Scott's lines
upon this abbey :
" If thou wonldst view fair Melrose aright
Go visit it by the pale moonlight ;
For the gay beams of lightsome day
Gild, but to flout the ruins grey.
"When the broken arches are black in night,
And each shaded oriel glimmers white ;
When buttress and buttress alternately,
Seemed formed of ebon and ivory ;
When silver edges the imagery,
And the scrolls that teach thee to live or die ;
TOWNS OP SCOTLAND. 149
When distant Tweed is heard to rave,
And the owlet hoots o'er the dead man's grave ;
Then go but go alone, the while.
Then view St. David's ruined pile,
And home returning soothly swear,
Was never scene so sad and fair !"
" Yes," replied Edward, " and I think, Sir, if you would
stay but half an hour longer we might have the pleasure he
describes ; for the moon is up, and the sun is fast declining. 5 '
" Agreed," said the Doctor, "though I very much doubt
whether any view we can have of it, will exceed the present
beauty, glowing as it now is with the rich colouring of a
Claude.'"
As, however, the warm evening tints gave place to the
cold silvery hue of the moon beams, Dr. Walker confessed
the Poet was right. "' Melrose must be visited by * the
pale moonlight,' " said he, as they paced the choir, " for
in good truth, never saw I scene so fair." They were in-
terrupted in their musings by the driver reminding them
they had still some miles to go that night, and that there-
fore it would be necessary they should set out. Our travel,
lers reluctantly quitted the lovely scene, and wrapt in that
pleasing melancholy which is always produced by the con-
templation of. monastic ruins, they continued their journey
in silence till they arrived at Lauder, and the next day they
passed through Dalkeith, on their road to Leith, from whence
$h,ey were to embark for the Baltic.
SECTION V.
THE PRINCIPAL TOWNS OF SCOTLAND.
THE evening previous to their departure, Dr. Walker
gave Edward a short account of the chief towns of Scotland,
some of which they had not" visited. " I shalh begin with
the part we are now at, Edward," said the Doctor.
" Leith, situated about two miles to the north, is
now nearly connected with Edinburgh : the principal
exports to Germany, Holland, and the Baltic, are
lead, glass-ware, linen and woollen stuffs, whence it im-
H3
150 SCOTLAND.
ports timber, oak bark, hides, linen-rags, ashes, flax, hemp
and tar. It also shares in the West India trade, and sends
ships to the Greenland whale fishery.
" We have also visited the beautiful city of Glasgow,
which is said to rival Manchester in the fabrication of cot-
ton goods, of which it manufactures to the value of
2,000,000^. annually ; its other great branches are glass-
ware, pottery, printing types, and cudbear. In the univer-
sity, natural philosophy, chemistry, and the mathematics
are its principal subjects. The environs produce plenty of
coal, good free-stone, and brick clay. The Clyde and Great
Canal confer on it all the advantages of a port and an inland
town ; it may be considered as the emporium of Scotland.
" Paisley which is another town of importance, seven
miles west of Glasgow ; is a handsome thriving town, and has
gradually risen to importance since the union. It manufac-
tures checked linen, thread, lawns, silk^ gauze, and muslin ;
its fancy muslin is said to be unequalled. Here are also
considerable tanneries, soap-works, and manufactories of
ribbands, inkles, &c. It has a populous neighbourhood,
with numerous cotton-mills, print-fields, and bleaching-
grounds, and its local advantages are great, consisting of
good water-carriage, an abundance of coal, lime-stone, free-
stone, and coarse granite.
" The chief manufactures of Dundee, which stands on
' the Frith of Tay, are glass, linen, sail-cloth, cordage, buck-
ram, thread, and leather.
" Next comes Aberdeen, which is chiefly situated be-
tween the Dee and Don. It is handsome, well built, and
for trade and extent is said to be the third in Scotland. Its
manufacture of stockings, thread, cottons, sail cloth> and
veils, is extensive. The rivers yield an abundance of sal-
mon, and the vicinity good quarries of lime-stone and
granite.
" Greenock, comparatively a new town, is much resorted to
by shipping, for which it has suitable manufactures, it par-
ticipates largely in the herring fishery, of which upwards of
45 thousand barrels have been cured and exported in a sea-
son.
" Perth is an increasing well-built town, pleasantly situ-
ated on the Tay, which admits vessels of 200 tons. The
bridge, a fine specimen of modern architecture, is 500 yards
in length, and of great importance, being the principal tho-
TOWNS OF SCOTLAND. 151
roughfare between the north and south of Scotland. It manu-
factures linens, cottons, and gloves. The adjacent country
is fertile ; the rented fisheries amount to 700(W. yearly.
" Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, is increasing
and populous, has an excellent salmon fishery, a bridge of
seven arches over the Ness, a good harbour, and a moderate
foreign trade : it is also the chief market to a wide tract of
the surrounding country. Manufactures ropes, linen, can-
vas, and cottons. An academy, on an extensive scale, has
lately been erected. The minerals of this district are lime-
stone, marble, iron-ore, and rock-crystal.
" Montrose, on the Esk, is neat, healthy, and has a fine
harbour, a good foreign trade, and valuable salmon fisheries,
both in the North and South Esk. And there is a chaly-
beate spring, nearly equal in quality to that of Harrowgate.
Its manufactures are canvas, linen, thread ; and here it makes
a great quantity of malt.
" Campbeltown has a considerable trade : here the fish-
ing vessels rendezvous that annually visit the Western Isles.
" Stirling, south of the Frith of Forth, is situated on a
hill which terminates abruptly in a steep rock. It enjoys a
a very extensive prospect, and it boasts of an ancient castle,
in which the kings of Scotland often resided. The manu-
factures of this town are carpets, woollens, and tartans. On
the banks of the Carron, in the south of the county of Stir-
ling, is the largest iron foundry in Europe ; upwards of 1000
men being constantly employed in it.
" Falkirk is chiefly supported by the fairs ; which are held
thrice a-year, for Highland cattle, of which above 45,000
are annually disposed of: the greater part of them is sent to
^England.
" St. Andrew's, formerly the metropolis of the Pictish
kingdom, has an elevated situation, and commands a fine
view of the British ocean. The cathedral, a large Gothic
structure, founded in 1161, was 157 years in building; but
was so demolished in one single day by the rude fanaticism
of John Knox and his adherents, that little of it now re-
mains. The university contains two colleges. 5 '
H
NORWAY.
CHAPTER VII.
VOYAGE TO NORWAY
SECTION I.
STORM AT SEA.
OUR Travellers had been at sea but three days when they
were overtaken by a storm, which drove them on the coast
of Norway. The preceding evening had been remarkably
calm and oppressive, and the vessel lay-to for some hours.
About midnight a brisk wind arose, which rapidly became
whsft the sailors call a stiff breeze. Towards morning the
thunder muttered in the distance, and every symptom of an
approaching storm became very evident. Our travellers
were, at their earnest entreaty, allowed to be on deck, where
they had not been long, before Doctor Walker directed the
attention of the captain to an extraordinary large ball of blue
fire, which appeared to the windward of the vessel, rolling
on the surface of the water, at about three miles distant
from them. The captain viewed with dismay this portentous
ball, which came down upon them so fast, that before
they could raise the main tack they observed the ball to
rise almost perpendicularly, and not above 40 or 50 yards from
the main chains : it went off with an explosion as if hundreds
of cannon had been fired at once ; and left so great a smell
of sulphur that the ship appeared to be loaded with that mi-
neral. After the noise was over, which did not last half a
second, they found the main. top-rnast shattered into above a
hundred pieces, and the main-mast rent quite down to the
keel. There were some of the spikes, that nailed the fish of
the main-mast, drawn with such force out of the mast, that
they stuck so firmly in the deck, that the carpenter was
obliged to extract them with an iron crow ; five men were
knocked down, and one of them greatly burnt by the explo-
sion, and one other was killed. To our travellers the whole
of this scene appeared so new, so terrific, and so awful, that
their feelings amounted almost to agony. The poor fellow
who had been killed by the explosion of the fatal ball, was
hastily committed to the silent deep, with "maimed rights/*
STORM AT SEA. 153
the danger became ever} r moment more pressing, and to-
wards night it blew a tremendous hurricane. A difference
between the steersman and the master of the vessel added
not a little to the dismay which began to evince itself in the
\veather-beaten countenances of his crew. The captain de-
sired they might tack and make for some of the British ports.
The steersman pointing to the compass, declared they were
then sailing direct for the northern coast of GreatBritain, Capt.
Welch did not deny but that the steersman was right as far
as related to the compass ; but he could not account for a
circumstance which appeared in direct opposition to his own
observation with regard to the movements of the vessel.
" How terrific but how sublime, is the scene before us,"
said the Doctor, as they gazed with fearful delight on the
stormy ocean powdered with foam, while its fierce wave
crested with fire, now heaved the vessel mountains higfe, now
plunged her in the yawning gulf below, till impelled by a
succeeding billow, again she rose, and then again rushed
down from its precipitous height.
As the storm increased every moment, the captain en-
treated Dr. Walker, and his pupil, would withdraw to their
cabins, whither they unwillingly retired. Colin remained
on deck. In the short pauses which elapsed between the
peals of thunder and the howling of the blast, the master's
voice was indistinctly heard, and added considerably to the
melancholy feelings of the travellers. The heavy roll of the
vessel prevented them from keeping their seats, they were
obliged to lie down in their hammocks. A tremendous clap
of thunder, and a frightful crash on the deck, was followed
by an awful, but momentary, calm, and they both sprang
from their position, just time enough to make their escape ;
for the cabins on one side of the steerage, were all driven in
by the lightning striking between the decks. The vessel
now became unmanageable ; in the course of ten or fifteen
minutes, there was four feet water in the hold ; and one of
the pumps was so choaked, as to be unfit for actlonv All
idea of saving the vessel was now hopeless, and instead of
approaching land, they appeared, from their last sounding,
to be far from any haven ; having therefore collected a little
fresh water, and a small quantity of provisions, which they put
on board the boats, they quitted the vessel, and committed
themselves to -the boisterous deep, without knowing which
way to guide their fragile barks. Soon after they left the ves-
n5
154 NORWAY.
sel, they saw her pitch on her boom's end; and then suddenly
recovering herself, she regained her equilibrium, and in a few
moments she gradually sunk to the bottom: the sensations
of the anxious sailors, as almost breathless they watched her
majestic disappearance, may be conceived, but cannot be
described. Towards evening the weather became a little
more temperate, and as night came on, they could discover
a star or two twinkling occasionally through the gloomy sky.
About midnight the clouds began to disperse, and the cap-
tain then observed, from the position of the stars, that they
were steering towards the north-east, instead of the south-
west. This discovery caused an unusual sensation among
the people, and a consultation followed as to the course they
should pursue, when it was agreed, that as they had been
driven sd far in that direction, it would perhaps be as well
to continue it, hoping they might fall in with some vessel
which might take them on board, before their slender stock
of provisions should be exhausted. Having rowed all night
and great part of the next day, Edward pointed out, in the
distance, a small speck, which he found increased in size,
and in a short time it was pronounced by the exhausted ma*
riners, to be a ship. They now redoubled their exertions,
and Edward, who had never pronounced one single word in-
dicative either of fear or apprehension, but had preserved
the most calm and composed manner, during the whole of
their perilous situation, threw down his oar, and burst into
tears, as a universal shout from the sailors proclaimed, that
their signal was observed, and that the vessel was bearing
down to their assistance. " Thank God, you are safe," ex-
claimed the agitated youth, as he grasped the hand of his
tutor. " My poor mother, you don't know what I have
suffered on her account too." The sailors, in the rude but
glowing language of nature, expressed their joy in the
strongest terms, upon their providential escape, and upon
discovering the British ensign, as the vessel drew near, their
satisfaction was complete. They found she was bound for
Drontheim in Norway, and thither the captain safely con-
veyed our travellers. He too had been in the storm, but
appeared to have escaped its most violent effects. When
the Dr. mentioned how much they had been deceived in
their route, the captain said the compass had no doubt been
aftected by the lightning, a circumstance which had once
happened to him on a voyage to Barbadoes.
TOWNS OF DENMARK. 155
He and his pupil had lost every thing, and but for the
kindness of Captain Welch, who spoke of them to the mas-
ter of the vessel who had taken them up, they would have
been a little distressed. They, however, wrote immediately
to England ; and while they waited for an answer, they took
up their quarters at an inn, and, except in small excursions
round the town, they remained stationary at Drontheim.
" We can embark for Sweden ; but we must not quit Sles-
wick without visiting the village of Anglen, as it gave name
to the Anglos or Anglo-Saxons, the ancient possessors of
England," said Dr. W r alker.
Their mode of travelling in Holstein, was in what is
called a post waggon, a vehicle without springs, drawn stvift-
3y by four horses over abominable roads, varied by deep, un-
even sands, and wretched layers of large rough stones, placed
by way of pavement. But the discomforts of such a con-
veyance could not destroy the pleasure of travelling through
so fine a country. There is no part of the continent of
Europe so like many of the more beautiful districts in Eng-
land. It reminded our travellers of many parts of Kent,
Surrey, and Sussex ; even the bleak parts seemed like Cam-
bridgeshire, though more level. The lakes are numerous,
and finely adorned with trees ; but the shores too flat to admit
any comparison with the lakes of England. The frogs of
Holstein, which we believe were always remarkable for their
numbers, and for the disturbance occasioned by their loud
croaking, reminded Edward of the frog concerts which he had
heard of in America.
Upon their return to the inn they had previously occupied
at Copenhagen, the Doctor was accosted by a Danish gentle-
man, to whom he had letters of introduction, but who was
not in the city when our travellers called upon him ; he-
pressed them exceedingly to dine with him, and Dr. Walker
at length consented, although he had made up his mind to
spend the evening quietly at home. A large company was
invited to meet them, and the table might be said to groan
under the weight of soups, Norwegian beef boiled, hams,
strongly salted, fish, poultry, pigeons, fowls, and stewed ve-
getables. The meat is always cut into thin slices, and
handed round by the servants, and etiquette forbids that
one dish should be touched before another out of the regu-
lar course. This weighty display of hospitality was followed
H 6
1561 DENMARK.
by that of confectionary and sweetmeats, with a profusion^
good wines.
" We must now pay a visit to the Museum, 1 ' said Dn
Walker on the following morfiing, " which contains many
curiosities.*' That which principally attracted their atten-
tion was, a fine collection of coins, particularly those of the
consuls in the time of the Roman Republic, and of the em-
perors after the seat of empire was divided into east and
west. Besides artificial skeletons, ivory carvings, models,
clock-work, arid a beautiful cabinet of ivory and ebony made
by a Danish artist who was blind ; here are to be seen twa
famous drinking vessels ; the one of gold, the other of silver,
and both in the form of a hunting horn; and from the rais*
ed hieroglyphic figures on the outside, they are supposed to
have been made use of in religious ceremonies.
" There is but little doubt upon the subject," said the
Doctor to the exhibitor of these curiosities, u in Dr, Mey-
rick's costume of the Ancient Britons, whose druidical wor
ship bears a strong resemblance to that of the ancient Scan,
dinavian nations, (both nations offered human sacrifices to
their god Odin,) there is a picture of a priest holding a horn
to catch the blood of the unhappy victim about to be immo-
lated by the priestess. These horns are there described as
being sometimes highly ornamented.'* From the top of the
Museum our travellers enjoyed a most extensive prospect.
The city, the roads, the sound, the coast of Sweden > were
all before them, sketched as on a map.
Having gratified their curiosity with a view of the Muse-
um, cabinets and mineral collections which are found in the
capital of Denmark, they prepared for their departure. " The
geography of this country is not very intricate, and you of
course can give a brief sketch of it, Edward," said the Doc-
tor, after they were embarked.
" I will try what I can do," replied his pupil : " I think I
ought from the information you have given me upon this aa
well as upon many other occasions/'
ELECTRIC AND AERIFORM PHENOMENA. 157
SECTION II.
SKETCH OF THE CHIEF TOWNS OF DENMARK.
CONTINENTAL Denmark is a flat country, much inter-
spersed with lakes, small rivers and hills; its havens and gulfs
are numerous. In winter the navigation is frequently im-
peded by ice ; and the air, at this season, is very cold and
foggy, and over the marshy ground, insalubrious : in sum-
mer it is frequently much hotter than in England. The
transitions in the seasons are extremely sudden ; for one
month the cold is intense, and the next you may be fainting
with heat.
It produces good pastures ; and Denmark, were it not for
the oppression of its peasantry, might be a very productive
and fertile country. It abounds in timber and cattle ; the
islands are fertile, and furnish grain for exportation : the
seas, lakes, and rivers abound with fish. Its exports are
timber ; horses and other cattle to Holland and Germany ;
butter, fish, tallow, hides, oil, tar, pitch, resin and grain. Of
corn, to the value of 105,000/. is sometimes exported in a
year.
The river Eydar, and the canal of Kiel, connect the Baltic
and the British seas ; the canal admits vessels of 120 tons.
Its Chief Ports are Copenhagen, Altona, Kiel, Elsinore,
Rypen, Tonningen ; and it has two Universities, that of
Copenhagen and that of Kiel.
SECTION IIL
ELECTRIC AND AEHIFORM PHENOMENA.
THE second evening after their arrival, Edward asked Dr*
Walker if lightning was not the effect of electricity. Dr.
Walker. " Yes, Lightning appears to be the rapid motion
of vast masses of electric matter ; and Dr. Franklin has
proved, by a variety of experiments, that the lightning of
electricity, and the lightning that flashes from the clouds in
a thunder-storm, are exactly of the same kind, and operate
in the same manner.
" Electricians have the art of making a machine, by which
158 DENMARK.
they can draw fire from a variety of bodies, and even accu-
mulate, or heap it together in such quantities, that when it
is discharged, or let off, it will make a report like a pistol,
and even kill animals.
" The particulars, in which lightning and the electric fluid
agree, are as follow. 1. Flashes of lightning are generally
seen crooked, and waving in the air. The same is the elec-
tric spark always, when it is drawn from an irregular body,
at some distance. 2. Lightning strikes the highest and most
pointed objects in its way, in preference to others, as high
hills, and trees, towers, spires, masts of ships, points of spears,
and the like. In like manner, all pointed conductors receive
or throw off the electric fluid more readily than those that
are terminated by flat surfaces. 3. Lightning is observed to
take the readiest and best conductor. So does electricity in
the discharge of the Leyden phial. For this reason Dr.
Franklin supposes that it would be safer, during a thunder
storm, to have one's cloaths wet than dry, as the lightning
might then, in great measure, be transmitted to the ground,
by the water on the outside of the body. It is found, he
says, that a wet rat cannot be killed by the explosion of the
electrical bottle, but that a dry rat may. 4. Lightning burns :
so does electricity. Dr. Franklin says, that he could kindle
with it hard dry rosin, spirits unwarmed, and even wood.
5. Lightning sometimes dissolves metals : so does electri-
city. 6. Lightning has often been known to strike people
blind. And a pigeon, after a violent shock of electricity,
by which the doctor intended to have killed it, was observed
to have been struck blind. 7- Lightning destroys animal
life. Animals have likewise been killed by the shock of
electricity. The largest animals, which Dr. Franklin and
his friends had been able to kill, were a hen, and a turkey
which weighed about ten pounds."
EDWARD. " That appears proof sufficient that they are
both alike in nature and operations/'
Dr. W. " To demonstrate, in the clearest manner pos-
sible, the sameness of electrical fire with the matter of light-
ning, Dr. Franklin, astonishing as it must have appeared,
contrived actually to bring lightning from the heavens, by
means of an electrical kite, which he raised, when a storm
of thunder was perceived to be coming on.
" This kite had a pointed wire fixed upon it, by which it
drew the lightning from the clouds. The lightning descended
ELECTRIC AND AERIFORM PHENOMENA. 159
along the hempen string that held the kite, and was received
by a key tied to the extremity of it. That part of the string,
which the doctor held in his hand, was of silk, that the elec-
tric fire might stop at the key, and not reach his body.
" He found that the string would conduct electricity even
when nearly dry, but that when it was wet, it would con-
duct it quite freely ; so that it would stream out plentifully
from the key, at the approach of a person's finger. At this
key he charged phials, and from electric fire thus obtained
he kindled spirits, and performed all the common electrical
experiments/'
EDWARD. " And was it from this discovery of the same-
ness of lightning and electricity, that Dr. Franklin contrived
the method of securing buildings from the dreadful effects of
lightning in a thunder-storm ?"
" Dr. WALKER. u Yes. With regard to thunder itself or
the sound or noise we hear, it is perfectly harmless. It is the
lightning that does the mischief. But to the doctor's inven-
tion, which is simply that of fixing a pointed iron rod higher
than any part of the building, and joining to the lower end
of it a wire, which communicated with the earth ; this rod
the lightning seizes upon, in preference to any other part of
the building, and descends along it and the wire till it reaches
the earth, where it is instantly dissipated without doing any
harm. All public buildings, and especially all magazines,
ought to have such an apparatus for defending them from
lightning, and in the present state of science we should sup-
pose all have.
" The fire of electricity is very different from common
fire, and operates in a very different manner. It has been
known to melt a sword in the scabbard, without injuring the
scabbard itself; and to melt money in a man's pocket, with-
out burning his clothes. In a word, it seems to be of such
a nature, that it can easily penetrate through porous bodies
without affecting them, and spends all its force upon those
that are hard and solid.
" The experiment of drawing lightning from the atmos-
phere by means of an electric kite, is attended with danger.
It proved fatal to Abbe Richman, who, in 1753, was killed
by a flash of lightning, which he drew from the clouds, in
an experiment he was making at Petersburgh.
" Electricity has been applied to some medical purposes,
DENMARK.
with so much success, that it may now be considered as
part of the science.
" Thunder is the noise produced by the motion of light-
ning, and the reason why we do not hear the dreadful noise
of the thunder, as soon as we see the lightning, is, because
sound is longer in arriving to our ears> than light to our
sight.
" Light moves almost instantaneously. Sound moves no
more than 1142 feet in a second. That light moves much
faster than sound, any one may satisfy himself, by observing
a gun discharged at a distance ; for he will see the fire long
before he hears the sound.
" The continuation and repetition of the sound are caused
by a kind of echo formed in the clouds, to which many hard
bodies upon the earth may contribute, which return those
rollings we hear after a great clap of thunder.
" A thunder bolt is nothing but a more solid and most ra-
pid flame, which, with incredible swiftness flies from the
clouds to the earth, and through every thing standing in its
way, being interrupted by nothing. It sometimes kills men
and animals, burns and overthrows large trees and buildings,
and sets fire to every thing in its way."
EDWARD. " Of its power we have indeed had melan-
choly proof."
Dr. WALKER. " Yes, and that of the winds. The effect
of the latter, which is an invisible agent in the hands of Pro-
vidence, appears more wonderful than that of lightning. In
the course of a few hours one of the proudest works of man
is reduced by its almost magical effects to a flouting wreck ;
and yet this wind is nothing more than the common air put
violently in motion, and this is occasioned chiefly by heat.
EDWARD. " By heat, Sir! I am sure we were cold
enough in the storm.*'
DR. WALKER. " That is very true; but I will explain
this to you, and prove that its violent motion is produced by
heat. When any part of the air is heated by the sun, by
any electric matter, or by any other heat, it will swell and
thereby affect the adjacent air; and so, by various degrees
of heat in different places, there will arise various motions of
the air. Have you never observed that there is a light
breeze at sun-rise, and cannot you now account for it by the-
rarefication of the air by the sun .1?
ELECTRIC AND AERIFORM PHENOMENA,
EDWARD. " Yes, Sir, now you point it out to me.*'
DR. WALKER. " Well, when the air is much heated, it
will ascend towards the upper part of the atmosphere, and
the adjacent air will rush in to supply its place, and therefore
there will be a stream or current of air from all parts, to-
wards the place where the heat is. And hence we see the
reason, why the air rushes with such force into a glass-
house, a tile-kiln, or towards any place where a great fire is
made ; and also why smoke is carried up a chimney, and why
the air rushes in at the key-hole of a door, or any small chink,
where there is fire in the room. In general, we may take it
for granted, that the air will press towards that part of the
world where it is most heated.
" The winds, you know, are divided into four principal
ones, the north, south, east, and west, which receive their
names from the four quarters of the world.
" From the Frigid Zone comes the north wind, which is
consequently the coldest* The south wind is the warmest,
and particularly in the summer, because it comes from the
Torrid Zone, over countries where the sun is most vertical.
The east wind is the dryest, because it comes across the vast
continent of Asia, which is but little watered by rivers or
seas. The west wind often blows us rain ; because, as it
crosses the great Atlantic ocean, it attracts a great quantity
of vapours. Now when these impetuous winds happen to
meet, the greatest inconveniences follow. The sulphureous
exhalations from the south, torrents of nitre from the north,
and watery vapours from every side, become indiscriminately
blended together in one confused mass. From hence pro-
ceed tempests, thunder, rain, hail, and whirlwind.
" The velocity of wind is computed to be at the rate of 50
or 60 miles an hour, in a great storm ; that of a common
brisk wind is about 15 miles an hour ; and some winds move
not even one mile in that space of time. A person, there-
fore, on horseback, and even sometimes on foot, may be said
to outstrip the wind ; for, if he moves faster than the wind,
which is very possible, he will have a wind in his face, though
he move in the same direction with the Wind.
" Besides these, there are certain winds, called Tropical
Winds, which blow almost always from the same point of the
compass. They are of three kinds :
" The general trade Winds which extend to nearly thirty
degrees of latitude on each side of the equator, in the At-
162 DENMARK.
lantic, Ethiopic, and Pacific Oceans. On the north side of the
equator, they blow from the north-east; on the south side,
from the south-east ; and near the equator, from almost due
east.
cc The Monsoons, or shifting trade winds, which blow six
months in one direction, and the other six months in the op.
posite direction. These are mostly in the Indian, or Eastern
ocean, and do not reach above two hundred leagues from the
land. Their change is at the vernal and autumnal equi-
noxes, and it is accompanied with terrible storms of thunder,
lightning, and rain. The Monsoons are occasioned by the
cold air moving towards those places, in which the air is rare-
fied by the heat of the sun, in order to restore its equili-
brium.
" The Land and Sea Breezes, which are periodical winds,
and blow from the land, from night to about mid-day, and
from the sea, from about noon to mid-night. These winds
do not extend above two or three, leagues from the shore.
" Beyond the latitude of thirty degrees north and south,
the winds, as we daily perceive in Great Britain, are more
variable, though it may be observed, in general, that the ten-
dency oif the wind is from a colder region to that which is
hotter.
" But perhaps before I had explained the cause of wind,
I should have spoken of the nature of air itself; and though
this may be attended with a repetition of what I formerly
told yon, yet it cannot be avoided.
" The air is a fluid in which we live and breathe : it en-
tirely envelopes our globe, and extends to a considerable
height around it. Together with the clouds and vapours
that float in it, it is called the Atmosphere. As it is pos-
sessed of gravity, in common with all other fluids, it must
press upon bodies in proportion to the depth at which they
are immersed in it; and it also presses in every direction, in
common with all other fluids.
" It differs from all other fluids in the four following par-
ticulars : 1. It can be compressed into a much less space
than what it naturally possesses ; 2. It cannot be congealed
or fixed, as other fluids may; 3. It is of a different density
in every part upward from the earth's surface, decreasing in
its weight, bulk for bulk, the higher it rises; 4. It is of an
elastic, or springy nature, and the force of its spring is equal
to its weight.
ELECTRIC AND AERIFORM PHENOMENA.
" People who are unacquainted with the principles of
natural philosophy, would not suppose that the air by which
we are surrounded, is a material substance, like water, or any
other visible matter. Being perfectly invisible, and afford-
ing no resistance to the touch, it must seem to them extra-
ordinary, to consider it as a solid and material substance ;
and yet a few simple experiments will convince any one that
it is really matter, and possesses weight, and the power of
resisting other bodies that press against it.
" Take a bladder that has not the neck tied, and you may
press the sides together, and squeeze it into any shape. Fill
this bladder with air, by blowing into it, and tie a string fast
round the neck ; you then find that you cannot, without
breaking the bladder, press the sides together, and that you
can scarcely alter its figure by any pressure. Whence then
arise those effects ? when the bladder was empty, you could
press it into any form ; but the air with which it is filled,
prevents this : the resistance you experience when it is filled
with air, proves that that air is as much matter as any other
substance that we are acquainted with.
" The atmospheric fluid, or common air, is composed
chiefly of two gases, or aeriform fluids ; one of which is ca-
pable, by respiration, of contributing to support animal life ;
and in which metals are calcinable, and combustible bodies
may burn. The other, on the contrary, is endowed with
directly opposite qualities : it cannot be breathed by ani-
mals, neither will it admit of the combustion of inflammable
bodies, nor of the calcination of metals.
" The base of the former, which is the respirable part of
the air, is called Oxygen, from two Greek words, signifying
to produce acidity, because one of the most general proper-
ties of this base is to form acids, by combining with many
different substances. The union of this base with caloric, is
called Oxygen Gas, which is the same that was formerly called
Pure, or Vital Air.
" As all the parts of the atmosphere gravitate, or press
upon each other, it is easy to conceive, that the air next the
surface of the earth is more compressed and denser than
what is at some height above it ; in the same manner as if
wool were thrown into a deep pit until it reached the top.
The wool at the bottom having all the weight of what was
above it, would be squeezed into a less compass ; the layer,
or stratum above it, would not be pressed quite so much ;
Itf4 DENMARK.
the one above that still less, and so on, till the upper one,
having no weight over it, would be in its natural state. This
is the case with the air, or atmosphere, that surrounds our
earth, and accompanies it in its motion round. the sun. On
the tops of lofty buildings but still more on those of moun-
tains, the air is found to be considerably less dense than at
the level of the sea.
" The height of the atmosphere has never yet been ex.
actly ascertained; indeed, on account of its great elasticity,
it may extend to an immense distance, becoming, however,
rarer, in proportion to its distance from the earth.
" It is observed, that at a greater height than 45 miles, it
does not refract the rays of light from tha sun; and this is
usually considered as the limit of the atmosphere. In a
rarer state, however, it may extend much farther. And
this is by some thought to be the case, from the appearance
of certain meteors which have been reckoned to be 70 or 80
miles distant, and whose light is thought to depend upon
their coming through our atmosphere.
" It might easily be proved by calculation, that a cubic
inch of such air as we breathe, would be so much rarefied at
the altitude of 500 miles, that it would fill a sphere equal in
diameter to the orbit of Saturn."
EDWARD. " And now, my dear Sir, one question more
upon the subject of air, or rather of the atmosphere. How
is the blue colour of the sky accounted for ; for I have always
understood that air is itself colourless and invisible ?"
DR. WALKER. " So it is ; and its invisibility is one of
its most astonishing properties, that an element so wonder-
fully powerful, as to be capable of reducing, in a few short
hours, not only the proudest work of man to a mass of float-
ing shapeless wrecks, but also to produce the most astonish-
ing effects on the other elements, should be so strongly felt,
and yet unseen : that its voice should be he/.rd in the whis-
pering breeze, and in the howling blast ; that it should thus
be felt and hearJ, and yet invisible to the eye, is sufficient to
raise in the mind of uncultivated man extraordinary ideas of
its apparently magical virtues. It is not therefore at all asto-
nishing that it should have become an object of devout adora-
tion. Its effects on the sea we have lately witnessed. Nor
are they less fatal on the land. The monarch of the forest
bows his lofty head reluctantly to the blast, until prostrate,
at length, he falls, level with the dust. Rocks even yield to
TTHE MAGNET ; OR, MARINER'S COMPASS. 165
its invisible agency ; while in the sandy desart the Mecca
pilgrim sees with despair the first faint symptoms of the ap-
proaching whirlwind in the " black red ether ;" when, as
Thomson beautifully and fearfully describes it:
" Straight the sands
Convulsed around, in gathering eddies play ;
Nearer and nearer still they darkening come :
Till with the general involving storm
Swept up, the whole continuous wilds arise."
" Fire, again, without air could not exist. Let but the
smallest spark appear, and by its potent influence quickly
the flames extend ; and smoking ruins and houseless wan-
derers stand on every side the sad memorials of its fatal and
assisting agency.
i< But in contemplating one of its properties, I have almost
lost sight of your principal question, the colour of the sky.
This blue colour is occasioned by the vapours which are
always mixed with air, and which have the property of re-
flecting the blue rays more copiously than any other. This
has been proved by the experiments which M. Saussure made
with his cyanometer, at different heights above the surface
of the earth. This instrument consisted of a circular band
of paper, divided into fifty one parts, each of which was
painted with a different shade of blue : beginning with the
deepest, mixed with black, to the lightest, mixed with white.
He found that the colour of the sky always corresponded
with the deepest shade of blue the higher the observer was
placed above the surface of the earth ; consequently, at a
certain height the blue will disappear altogether, and the
sky assume black tints ; that is to say, will reflect no light at
all. The colour becomes always lighter in proportion to the
vapours mixed with the air ; hence the blue colour is evi-
dently owing to them."
SECTION IV.
THE MAGNET; OR, MARINER'S COMPASS.
EDWARD. " How little we think of the wonderful ope-
rations of nature that are carrying on around us ! Was it
not very extraordinary, Sir, that the compass should turn
round completely."
166 DENMARK.
Da. WALKER. " Most Extraordinary. I cannot account
for it, unless there was a quantity of iron about the compass
box; (which, by the bye, should never be the case,) now this
being acted upon by the electric fluid, might possibly pro-
duce this invertion of the loadstone one of the most singular
and beneficial gifts of Providence. Of its nature and pro-
perties you have, of course, some knowledge ; but as the
evening is wet, and books are scarce, we will amuse ourselves
with discussing its wonderful properties.
" The natural magnet or loadstone, a hard mineral body
of a dark brown, is found, when examined, to be an ore of iron,
It is found in various countries, (Norway produces a good
deal of it,) generally in iron-mines, and of all sizes and forms.
" This singular substance was known to the ancients, who
had remarked its peculiar property of attracting iron, though
there is no evidence that they were acquainted with the won-
derful property which it also has, of turning to the pole
when suspended, and left at liberty to move freely.
" Upon this remarkable principle depends the construc-
tion and use of the mariner's compass, an instrument which
gives us such infinite advantages over the ancients. It is
this enables the mariner to conduct his vessel through vast
oceans out of the sight of land, in any given direction ; and
this directive property also guides the miner in his subterra-
nean excavations, and the traveller through deserts, which
otherwise would be impassable.''
EDWARD. " I am sure we have experienced the value of
it. You used to tell me that I must want a thing to know
its value."
DR. WALKER. " Most true, Edward. It is not pre-
cisely known when and by whom this directive property of
the magnet was discovered. The most probable accounts
seem to prove, that it was known early in the 13th century;
and that the person who first, in Europe, made mariners'
compasses, was a Neapolitan of the name of Flavio, or John
de Gioja, or Giova, or Gira.
" Before that period, sailors scarcely ever ventured out
of sight of land, and in the. longest voyages contented them-
selves with going round the coasts, making by that means
their voyages much longer. In the night, and when neces-
sity obliged them to lose sight of the shore, their only guides
were the stars, and when these were obscured by clouds,
they were absolutely without resource.
THE MAGNET; OR, MARINER'S COMPASS. 167
' While navigation continued so limited, men never would
have ventured upon such voyages as those to the West
Indies, America, and the South Seas, and the existence of
those countries would probably have been still unknown to
us.
" We, cannot, therefore, think too highly of this extraor-
dinary instrument, which has so much enlarged our stock of
knowledge, and procured for us so many new enjoyments.
" The natural loadstone has also the quality of commu-
nicating its properties to iron and steel ; and when pieces of
steel, properly prepared, are touched, as it is called, by the
loadstone, they are denominated artificial magnets, which
are even capable of being made more powerful than the na-
tural ones, and as they can be made of any form, and are
more convenient, they are now universally used, so that the
loadstone, or natural magnet, is only kept as a curiosity.
" An artificial magnet, fitted up in a proper box, for the
purpose of guiding the direction of a traveller, is called a
magnetic needle, and the whole together, is called the mari-
ner s compass.
" All magnets, whether natural or artificial, are distin-
guished from other bodies by the following characteristic
properties, which appear to be inseparable from their nature ;
so that no substance can be called a magnet, unless it be
possessed of all these properties. A magnet attracts iron.
When a magnet is placed so as to be at liberty to move
freely in every direction, it turns, so that its ends point to-
wards the poles of the earth, or very nearly so ; and each end
always points to the same pole. This is called the polarity
of the magnet : the ends of the magnet are called po/es, and
they are respectively the north and south pole of the mag-
net, according as either points to the north or south pole of
the earth. When a magnet places itself in this direction, it
is said to traverse.
When the north pole of one magnet is presented to the
pole of another magnet, these ends attract each other ;
but if the south pole of one magnet be presented to the south
pole of another, or the north pole of one to the north pole of
another, these ends will repel each other.
" From these criteria, it is easy to determine the names
of the poles of a magnetical bar, by applying it near a sus-
pended magnet whose poles are known. You will observe,
however, when a magnet is so situated, as to be at liberty to
168 DENMARK.
move itself with sufficient freedom, its two poles do not lie in
a horizontal direction, but it generally inclines one of them
towards the horizon, and elevates the other pole above it.
This is called the inclination or dipping of the magnet; and
any magnet may, by proper methods, be made to impart
those properties to iron or steel.*'
SECTION V.
THE MAELSTROOM.
AT this moment the servant entered with apacket of letters
from England. " Well, Colin/' said Dr. Walker, " these
letters are the signal for our departure : are you willing to
continue your journey, or has the storm damped your ardour
for seeing strange countries ?'* " Colin ne'er thinks of
danger when it is gone by,'' replied the Highlander, " and
where you maun gang, Colin will gang too."
" To-morrow then we recommence our tour," resumed
the Doctor, and on the morrow they set off for the silver
mines in the vicinity of Konigsberg. During their first day's
journey, Dr. Walker amused his pupil with a description of
the Whirlpool of Maelstroom, or Moskoestrom. "When
I knew," said " the good man, that we were drifting to
the north, instead of the south, in our little boat, I must con-
fess 1 felt some little alarm, for that whirlpool is by no means
an agreeable sort of spot to be whirled into. We were, it is
true, at a great distance from it ; but it would hare been
very near to imagination, if I had known we had been within
100 miles of it. On the coast of Norway, latitude 67, you
will in the map find this dreadful vortex. The island of
Moskoe, from whence this stream derives one of its names,
lies between the mountains Hesleggen, in Lofoden, and the
Island Ver, which are about one league distant, and between
the island and coast on each side this dreadful mass of water
makes it way. It is nearly 400 fathom deep between Mos-
koe and Lofoden ; but between Moskoe and Ver it is too
shallow to admit the smallest ship. When it is flood, the
stream rushes up the country between Lofoden and Mos-
koe with a boisterous rapidity; and when it is ebb, re-
THE MAELSTROOM.
Itirns to the sea with a violence and noise unequalled by the
loudest cataract. It is heard at the distance of many leagues,
and forms a whirlpool of great depth and extent ; its power
is so tremendous, that if a ship approaches within its attrac-
tion, it is immediately drawn irresistibly into the vortex, and
there, after being furiously d whirled round, it suddenly disap-
pears, and is seen no more: just at the turn of ebb and flow,
when the water is still, for about a quarter of an hour, shat-
tered fragments are seen to float on the surface ; but so
completely shapeless, that they may be parts of the wreck,
or parts of trees which are sometimes swallowed up by the
stream, and dashed to pieces against rocks at the bottom of
the ocean. In stormy weather its effects are terrific : ships
laying at the distance of a Norwegian mile have been sud-
denly impelled forwards, and hurried into the middle of the
whirlpool. Few situations can be more agonizing than such
a one as this, where the unfortunate victims contemplate with
despair their inevitable fate. In a storm in the open sea,
hope to the last moment encourages the hapless mariner; he
perhaps can swim, or possibly he may flatter himself that by
clinging to a part of the wreck, he shall be saved; but here
no ray of hope cheers the sinking spirits of the despairing
sailors. The impetuous torrent still urges thern-on, till they
approach the whirlpool, where an overwhelming destruction
awaits them." " Poor creatures!" exclaimed Edward, as
the Doctor paused, overcame by the picture he had drawn
" Poor creatures ! I should hardly think myself safe on dry
land if I were'near this dreadful whirlpool !" " Animals,"
resumed the Doctor, *' which have come within the power
of the stream, express the greatest dismay, even enormous
whales, when they feel the force of the stream, on approach-
ing the verge of the vortex, struggle against it with all their
might, making a hideous noise. And now, Edward, suppose
we take a brief survey of the climate, soils, productions, and
in fact, of Norway altogether, that we may be a little aware
what sort of country we are going to traverse.
" The surface and climate of Norway may be mentioned in
few words. On the eastern boundaries, along the middle
tracts, from Drontheim southward, are immense masses of
primitive mountains, which are wild, rugged, and picturesque.
The south-east is varied with hills and lakes; its islands are
very numerous, and the coast is much indented. The air of
Norway is salubrious j and the inhabitants, in general, attain
170 NORWAY.
extreme old age; and though the weather is very cold, yet
the harbours are very seldom frozen. The most elevated
table land is 2655 feet, and the highest vale 2000 feet. In
the south of Norway, the pine grows at the altitude of 3000
feet; in the latitude of68f degrees, it does not exceed the
elevation of 690 feet. The oak disappears at the latitude of
Drontheim.
" It produces barley, peas, potatoes, flax, hemp, and
abounds with extensive forests of pine, beech, and oak. The
vallies yield good pasture, but arable land is in great dis-
proportion.
" Norway abounds with all kinds of rocks, gold, silver,
lead, an abundance of copper, cobalt, and iron. Of mines
there are about 800. The cobalt mine at Fossum yields a
revenue to the government of 15,000/. annually ; near it is a
rich vein of quartz, containing large masses of talc ; and at
Konigsberg the silver mine, I intend you should visit, it is
said yields 70,000/. annually.
" The fowls and quadrupeds common to Europe are met
with here ; besides which Norway produces the elk and rein
deer, which are peculiar to thisxountry, Sweden and Russia.
The wild animals become white, or nearly so, in winter.
" Its exports are timber, copper, iron, hides, furs, tallow,
tar, train oil, and fish. The annual exports of deal are esti-
mated at 175,000/.; of iron 70,000/. ; of copper 5000lbs. of
goatskins 80,000 raw, and 1000 manufactured; and its im-
ports are grain, salt, hardware, linen, brandy, wine, East and
West India produce. The balance of trade is in favour of
Norway.
" The chief Ports are Bergen, Christiana, Drontheim,
and Christiansand.
" Of the Principal Towns I will give you a brief sketch :
" Bergen is nearly semicircular, and is built of wood, a
few public edifices excepted. It has a brisk trade in fish,
hides, and timber. The coast is dangerous.
" Christiana is the most regular and beautiful city in
Norway ; it has the chief court of justice, a fertile and most
picturesque district, and some alum works in its vicinity.
It exports timber, and supplies the interior with foreign com-
modities ; it trades chiefly with Great Britain.
" 1 shall of course say but little of Drontheim. The an-
cient kings of Norway resided here. It has a good trade,
and the district abounds with copper mines. This city, aa
you must have observed, though built of wood, public edificei
PRINCIPAL TOWNS. 171
exeepted, is remarkably clean and handsome; it has an aca-
demy of sciences, enriched with mineral collections and a
good library ; the inhabitants are distinguished for their in-
formation, refinement, and elegance of manners. Of this
we have had proof positive. Villas are frequent in its' en-
virons, the siteS of which are very romantic.
" Frederickshall, a frontier town, is memorable for the
death of Charles XII. of Sweden, with whose history you
are well acquainted.
" Frederickstadt, on the river Glomme, 34 miles N. W. of
Frederickshall, is the most important fortress in Norway. It
trades in timber.
" A melancholy circumstance took place in the neigh-
bourhood of this place many years ago. The family seat of
Borge suddenly sunk with all its towers and battlements, and
its site was instantly filled with water. 14? people, and 200
head of cattle perished by this melancholy accident. It was
occasioned by the foundation being undermined by the waters
of a river.
" Tonsberg, 50 miles s. s. w. of Christiana, exports furs,
tallow and butter : imports grain and malt. In its vicinity
the best cannon are cast.
" Skeen, 12 miles s. of Tonsburg, is remarkable for its
mines of iron and copper.
" Ahrendahle has iron mines in its neighbourhood, and?
trades extensively in timber.
" At Vaage, in Lapland, the centre of the great fisheries,
18,000 men, and nearly 4-000 small boats are employed.
About 16 millions of large tusk and cod are annually caught
among the creeks and islands, where they come to cast their
spawn.
" At Helliesund, in the south of Christiansand, is an
extensive lobster fishery ; nearly 30,000 of these shell-fish are
annually sent to the London market.
" Norway has undergone a variety of revolutions, and it
did not escape a concussion in the great convulsions which
lately shook the principal powers of Europe to their founda-
tion Norway was united to Denmark in the reign of Mar-
garet of Waldemar, the Semiramis of the North, as she k
called, A. D. 1397 ; but it now forms part of the dominions
of the king of Sweden. This union was not effected with-
out much opposition from the people. The Norwegians are
a very brave people, but extremely illiterate: they are pas
i 2
172 NORWAY.
sionately attached to their country. The peasantry are frank,
open, and undaunted ; respectful, but not fawning to their
superiprs ; independent, not violent in their usual demeanor.
They live chiefly on milk, cheese, dried fish, and occasion-
ally a bit of dried meat, as a luxury."
Norway is reckoned one of the most mountainous
countries in Europe, and our travellers were at first
not a little alarmed at contemplating the small wooden
bridges that united the frightful precipices which repeatedly
crossed their route, while a foaming torrent rolled beneath
them. The views in this wild romantic country, -are >iost
picturesque; huge masses of granite rock, their summits
crowned with the solemn fir, assuming every shape, inter-
sected by cataracts, which precipitating themselves some
hundreds of feet deep, dashed against their sides, and pro-
ducing a thundering noise, terrifying those unaccustomed to
view nature in her wild and majestic forms.
Edward was not a little astonished at the dexterity and
activity of the natives in recovering their sheep and goats,
which by a false step, often fall into some of the deep cre-
vices and glens, that are inaccessible, but by adopting the
following perilous plan. The daring peasant placing him-
self on a cross stick, which is fastened to a strong rope, is
then lowered from the top of the mountain, or precipice,
and having reached the spot where the animal is lodged, he
fastens it to the rope, and they are both drawn up together.
SECTION VI.
DOLSTEIN, AND THE SILVER MINES.
OUR travellers visited many of the caverns that are found
in these mountains ; one in particular, called Dolstein, of
which they had heard extraordinary accounts. Having pro-
vided themselves with torches they penetrated so far that
they at last heard the sea dashing over their heads: they
now thought proper to return, although a second flight of
natural steps presented themselves. This passage was as
v.-ide and as high as an ordinary church ; the sides were per.
pendicular, and the roof vaulted.
SILVER MINES. 173
As they traversed this mountainous country they were not
a little surprized at finding large reservoirs of water on the
top of the highest of the rocks.
" The copper mines at Haras are the richest in Europe,
except that of Parys, in the Isle of Anglesea :" said Dr.
Walker to his pupil, " and this wild country produces also
quicksilver, salt, and coal mines, crystals, agates, amethysts,
asbestos, thunder-stones, and eagle-stones. You know the
properties of the asbestos ; it remains unconsumed by fire.
When the delicate cloth woven from its soft fibres, is soiled,
it is cleansed by being thrown into the fire.'*
Upon crossing one of the rocks they were suddenly sur-
prized by so large a flock of the birds called Alks, that the
air appeared darkened, and the noise produced by their wings
resembled very much that produced by a storm. They also
saw several large eagles, two kinds of which are found in
Norway, the land and sea eagles ; the former is so strong,
as to be able to carry away a child of two years old, and the
latter sometimes darts with such force upon the larger class
of fishes, that it is often dragged to the bottom of the sea
from its incapability of extricating its claws.
" What a majestic bird that is/' said Edward, as one of
these eagles towered majestically over their heads, till they
could scarcely trace his flight. " How grand, how beauti-
ful is this wild scene !"
As they approached the southern parts of Norway the
road became less dangerous, and although delighted with the
romantic scenery they had passed through, they rather en*
joyed their present route.
Upon entering Kongsberg they fixed themselves at an
inn, where their accommodations were not indeed of the
most sumptuous kind, but far preferable to the asylums they
had found among the mountains.
THE SILVER MINES OF NORWAY.
Kongsberg is a flourishing town, that contains no less
than 11,000 souls, among whom are many Danes and Ger.
mans. A mint was set up here as early as the year 1686,
and 1689 the mine college was erected. The silver mines
were discovered in 1623, upon which the town was im-
mediately built, and peopled with German miners. In
1751 forty- one shafts, and twelve veins were wrought in
I 3
174 NORWAY.
this mine, in which 3,500 officers, artificers, and labour^
ers are usually employed. The rich ore in this mine i
found only in dispersed strata and interrupted veins. Pure
silver is dug out of it; and in the year 1647 gold was also
discovered. The veins of silver extend in various directions,
and there were several fresh mines opened during the last
century ; but that which has been most productive is named
Old God?s Blessing, and this has yielded in one week several
hundred pounds weight of rich ore. This mine fills the
beholder with astonishment from its immense depth, which
is no less than 180 perpendicular fathoms, terminated by
an extensive plain. Here the sight of thirty or forty pilei
burning on all sides in this gloomy cavern, and continually
fed, in order to mollify the stone in the prosecution of the
mines, seems to present an apt image of Pluto's dreary re-
gions { and the swarms of miners covered with soot, and
bustling about in habits appropriated to their several employ-
ments, present a strange and extraordinary picture. When
an explosion is about to take place they all exclaim with a
loud voice, Berg livet / Berg livet I which means, " lake cart
of your lives. 91
" The method of blasting rock by gun-powder, is now so
very familiar to miners, that little attention is paid to it ;
but the use of gunpowder may be considered as constituting
an important era in mining. The daring ingenuity of man
has, however, led him to still more enterprising and more
efficacious methods. In Prussia, the mineralogists have
lately availed themselves of lightning to accomplish the
same end as that of blasting by gun-powder. For this pur-
pose, an iron rod, similar to a conductor is fixed in the
rock that is intended to be blasted ; when the occurrence of
the first thunder-storm generally conveys the electric fluid
down the rod in such quantity as to split the rock into se-
veral pieces without displacing it.
" The harnmer and metallic wedges were probably the first
instruments made use of for splitting rocks. The applica-
tion of wooden wedges, seems a later invention: it is the
property of dry wood to expand itself when wetted with
water ; the miners therefore availed themselves of this pro.
perty, and driving dried wedges of wood into the natural or
artificial crevices of the rocks, they then profusely watered
theou The wood greedily imbibing the moisture, it sud-
denly expanded to so great a degree, that large pieces of the
MANNER OF BLASTING ROCKS. 175
rock were detached by the force with which it endeavoured
to free itself from its confinement.
" Of the force of moisture I shall mention one more
instance in overcoming the greatest resistances, as being
curious and simple, and interesting. When a mass
of millstone has been found sufficiently large, it is
cut into the form of a cylinder, several feet in height,
and the question then is, how to cut it it into horizontal
pieces with the least labour and trouble, so as to
make many millstones. For this purpose, circular and ho-
rizontal indentures are cut out quite round it, and at prope*
distances^ according to the thickness to be given to the
millstones. Wedges of willow dried in an oven, are then
driven into these indentations by means of a mallet. When
the wedges have sunk to a proper depth they are moistened,
or exposed to the humidity of the night air ; and next morn-
ing the different pieces are found separated from each other.
Such is the process according to M. de Mairan, in different
places for making millstones.
" It appears almost incredible, Sir," said Edward, " that
moisture should have so extraordinary a power.''
DR. WALKER. " It appears to me to be the effect of
attraction, by which the water is made to rise in the exceed-
ingly narrow capillary vessels with which the wood is filled.
Let us suppose the diameter of one of these tubes to be only
the hundredth part of a line : let us suppose also, that the
inclination of the sides is one second, and that the force
with which the water tends to introduce itself into the tube,
is the fourth part of a grain ; this force, so very small, will
tend to separate the flexible sides to the tube with a force of
about 50,000 grains ; which make about 8 J pounds. In the
length of one inch let there be only fifty of these tubes,
which gives 2,500 in a square inch, and the result will be
an effort of 21,875 pounds ! As the head of a wedge, of
the kind I have just mentioned, may contain four or five
square inches, the force it exerts will be equal to about 90
or 100 pounds; and if we suppose ten of these wedges in
the whole circumference of the cylinder, intended to form
millstones, they will exercise together an effort of 900,000,
or 1,000,000 pounds. It needs then excite no surprise that
they should separate those blocks into the intervals between
which they are introduced.
" Before the discovery of blasting rocks by gunpowder,
176 NORWAY.
it was the custom of our English miners, as well as those of
Germany, to split them by wood fires. It is a very ancient
mode of mining, and Diodorus Siculus gives an account of
it, in which he paints the sufferings of the poor slaves em-
ployed by the Egyptians, in such glowing colours, as makes
the blood run cold. You know, Edward, Hannibal is said
to have opened himself a passage through the Alps, by ap-
plying fire and vinegar to the rocks, which opposed his
route. Hannibal might have seen this method practised
in the silver mines of Spain. This account of Hannibal's
splitting the rocks by vinegar, is generally deemed fabulous,
from an idea that a sufficient quantity of vinegar could not
be procured to effect his purpose; but the rocks were not
to be dissolved by vinegar ; they were, perhaps, split to
that degree only, so as to facilitate the use of the crow and
pick-axe, or whatever tools the ancients were in the habit
of using. '*
An explosion by gunpowder took place in the mine while
our travellers were within it. The tremendous noise of the
concussion, the shouts of the men, and the uncommon
singularity of the whole scene, made a deep impression upon
the mind of Edward, and he felt quite rejoiced when he
again saw the cheerful light of the sun.
" Silver," said Dr. Walker, as they directed their steps
homeward, " is not only found native, but likewise in various
states of combination ; it therefore furnishes a more nume-
rous series of ores than gold.
" Native silver occurs crystallized and in a variety of
other forms, it is malleable, and enjoys most of the charac-
ters of the pure metal ; it usually contains traces of antimony,
copper, or arsenic, and, like gold, its principal veins are in
primitive mountains.
" Schlangenberg in Siberia, Andreasberg in the Hartz,
are mines whence large quantities of native silver have been
drawn ; it has been found in Cornwall and in Scotland. In
1666 a mass was found in Norway weighing 560 Ibs. And
in 1478, Duke Albert of Saxony descended into one of the
Schneeberg mines, and used as a dining table a block of
silver weighing nearly twenty tons. But the quantity of
silver found in various parts of America far exceeds that of
the old world ; and the earlier visitors of Mexico and Peru
saw in the possession of the natives such abundance of this
metal, obtained by little industry and less skill, as induced
SILVER MINES.
thena to hope for inexhaustible stores, as the recompense of
more intelligent and persevering efforts. In 154-5 the rich
silver mines of Ptitosi were, according to Fernandez, acci-
dentally discovered by an Indian clambering up a mountain
in search of a lama that had strayed from his flock, and
shortly after, the equally valuable mines of Sacotecas in New
Spain were opened. Since that period the working of silver
mines is greatly increased, and the evidence of modern tra-
vellers concerning the profusion of their produce is such as
to astonish an inhabitant of the ancient hemisphere. It is
difficult to form an estimate of the exact produce in silver
of the mines of the New World, but we know that it has
been greatly on the increase, and that the precious metals
have altogether become more common in Europe. It has
been supposed that such are the treasures of those mines,
that if properly worked such quantities of silver would be
obtained as to shake our commercial system by its abun-
dance.
" Besides native silver and its alloy with gold we have
several other important ores, of which antimonial, arsenical,
and sulphuretted silver are the principal.
" Antimonial silver is a soft sectile and white ore, and
when crystallized is in four and six-sided prisms. It consists
of 78 parts silver, and 22 antimony. Before the blow-pipe
it exhales oxyde of antimony and leaves pure silver.
44 Arsenical silver is more grey than the former ; harder,
and rather brittle. It is crystallized in small four. sided
prisms. It exhales a garlic smell before the blow-pipe, and
leaves impure silver. A specimen from Andreasberg ana-
lysed by Klaproth, gave
44 Arsenic - 35 }
Iron - - - - 44 f
Silver - - I3(P arts '
Antimony - - 4J
" Another yielded
" Arsenic - 30 )
Iron * - ' 2Q ( narts
Silver - - 28( pai
Antimony - - 20j
4 The native compounds of sulphur and silver are mime.,
rous and important. The brittle sulphuret contains about
72 per cent, of sulphuret of silver, 10 antimony, and 10
iron, copper, and arsenic* One of the most beautiful ores
i 5
178 NORWAY.
of silver is the red or ruby silver, crystallized in six-sided
prisms and their modifications. Jt is a compound of silver,
antimony, and sulphur, and is well marked by decrepitating
before the blow-pipe, exhaling antimony and sulphur, and
leaving a globule of pure silver ; its component parts are
Silver - - 60
Antimony - -20
Sulphur - '20
" The mines we have just visited, of Schemnitz, and the
Hartz, have furnished exquisite specimens of this ore ; it
also constitutes a great part of the riches of the Mexican
mines.
" These are the principal ores of silver which we recog-
pize in the cabinet of the mineralogist, and they are the
prolific though by no means the only sources of the metal,
for large quantities of silver are likewise procured from other
ores, in which it constitutes a very small relative proportion,
consequently they remain for after consideration.
" In extracting the silver from the ores that contain it
native, they are either fused with lead, and cupelled, which
is the modern method, or they are triturated with quicksilver,
which forms an amalgam. This is a very ancient process,
and was first employed in the Mexican and Peruvian mines,
by Pedro Velasco in 1566. The less pure ores may be
roasted with common salt, and put into tubs with mercury,
iron plates, and water.
" Nitric acid is the readiest solvent of silver, and when the
solution is evaporated it gives crystals, which fused and run
into moulds produce lunar caustic.
" This salt is possessed of some curious properties; it i
decomposed by the action of light and by phosphorus, hydro-
gen, charcoal, sulphur, and several of the metals. The
silver is precipitated in a beautiful arborescent form by quick-
silver, forming the arbor Diana?, or silver tree. At some
future time, I will explain how you may make iron and lead
trees.
" When a solution of 40 grs. of silver in 2 oz. of nitric
acid diluted with 2 oz. of water, is heated with 2 oz. of al-
cohol, or pure spirit, a white powder precipitates, which i*
fulminating silver. It detonates when gently heated or rub-
bed. Its composition is not exactly known.
" The quantity of the precious metals annually raised
from the mines amounts to about 10* millions sterling, of
which 2 millions are in gold, and eight ia silver.
COPENHAGEN. 179
" Of the gold 2,300,000 is from America, and about
200,000 from Europe, Asia, and Africa. Of the silver, seven
millions are the produce of America, and the remainder of
the other quarters of the world.
" The pound troy of standard silver consists of eleven
ounces two pennyweights pure silver, and eighteen penny-
weights of copper, and it is coined into sixty. six shillings.
" In the time of Herodotus and Plato, that is, ahout 450,
and 400 years before the Christian era, the relative value of
gold and silver in Persia and Greece was as 13 and 12 to 1 ;
and in Rome, about 189 years B.C. it was as low as 10 to 1 ;
and when Caesar returned loaded with the spoils of Gaul,
such was the abundance of gold that it became as low as ?TT
to 1."
From Kongsberg our travellers proceeded to Christian-
aand, where they embarked for Copenhagen.
CHAPTER IX.
DENMARK AND SWEDEN.
SECTION I
COPENHAGEN.
COPENHAGEN makes a magnificent appearance from
the sea; it was originally founded by some fishermen, about
the middle of the twelfth century. It is a fortified towB,
and during the late war was bombarded by the English.
Some of the apartments in the palace are grand, but our
travellers were more interested in their visit to Elsineur, in
the neighbourhood of which is shown the very spot where
Hamlet's father was said to have been poisoned.
The Danes were formerly brave even to fierceness ; but
long oppression and tyranny have completely altered the
national character. The feudal system continues still in
force in many parts, particularly in Holstein and Sleswick,
where the noble landholder has the power of life and death
over his vassals.
" What encouragement has a farmer in this part of Den.
i 6
180 DENMARK.
/
mark," said Dr. Walker, as they returned from an evening
walk, " to cultivate his land and exert his skill ? As soon
as he has brought his little farm to perfection, and the crops
excel those of his neighbour, he is removed to a more bar-
ren spot, there again to toil and labour, with the gloomy
prospect of being again displaced, when by his industry the
barren wilderness begins to smile,. and blossom as the rose.
" In many places, however, the nobles have emancipated
their peasants, and a few miles from Copenhagen a plain
and simple monument has been erected by the peasants of
the late Count Bernstoffin gratitude for their liberation."
" You will not make any great stay in Denmark, I sup.
pose," replied his pupil.
DR. WALKER. " No, I shall not; indeed I think we
will immediately quit this feudal territory and return to Co-
penhagen," from whence on their road to the quay, they
met a funeral procession, the coffin, which was covered with
the pall, was placed upon a bier, surmounted by a canopy,
which was drawn by a pair of horses only ; and this consti-
tuted the whole parade of the interment of one of the prin-
cipal inhabitants of Copenhagen.
SECTION II.
GENERAL VIEW OF DENMARK.
" DENMARK has received Pomerania from Sweden, in lieu
of Norway : the inhabitants are estimated at 103,34-5 ; those
of Iceland at 53,000, of Greenland at 7,000, of the Ferra
iales at 5,000," said Edward.
" Of its principal towns next to Copenhagen, Altona, Kiel,
Albourg, and Elsineur, stand conspicuous.
" Altona, is a few miles west of Hamburg, it was in l7lS ?
almost reduced to ashes by the Swedes, though it is now a
very commercial town.
" Kiel has a harbour for ships of the largest size, the
canal has so much augmented the trade of this place, that
it is now one of the most commercial ports in Holstein.
" Albourg contains a palace, an exchange, and other
public buildings ; has a safe and deep harbour ; it trades in
VOYAGE TO SWEDEN. IB I
herrings and grain, and manufactures excellent guns, sad-
dles, and gloves.
11 Elsineur we have seen, is on the west of the Sound,
which is here about two miles and a half over. Vessels
passing through the Sound pay a toll to the King of Den-
mark, which, with those of the two Belts, produce about
100,000/. annually. Here are many foreign merchants, and
also consuls of the principal nations that trade to the Baltic.
" The foreign possessions of Denmark consist of Iceland,
part of East Greenland, Ferro Isles, Delmanhorst and Po-
merania, in Germany ; Tranquebar on the Coromandel
coast, in the southeast of Hindoostan ; and Christianburg
Fort, in Upper Guinea. And its islands at home are, Lessoe,
east of Aalbourg ; Anholt, east of Wiburg ; Samsoe, east of
Aarhus ; Sylt, west of Sleswick ; Heligoland, west of Hol-
bein."
DR. WALKER.-" Vastly well, indeed, Edward, I think
if I recollect right, we discussed the properties of the
ocean on our voyage from Iceland. There is a remarkable
difference between the waters of the ocean, and the Baltic.
" The water of the ocean contains about the thirtieth
part of its weight of salt ; the water of the Baltic holds only
from the200dth to the lOOdth part, consequently the water
of the Baltic ought to stand l-40th part higher from the
bottom of the sea than the water of the ocean, in order to
maintain its hydrostatic equilibrium. It is observed on the
Baltic shores, that the water subsides, and that its surface
is lower in all parts than it formerly was. I am not wise
enough to account for this circumstance, but may it not be
in consequence of the Baltic becoming salter, and thus ap-
proximating to the specific gravity and height of the ocean ?
" The Baltic sea has no tides, and it is usually frozea
over four months in the year,"
SECTION III.
VOYAGE TO SWEDEN*
As the weather was very calm, our travellers were enabled
to take a view of the coast, and at Christiansand, the cap-
182 SWEDEN.
tain put them on shore for two or three hours. Here they
viewed the cloth and silk stuff manufactories. The inhabi-
tants of this town export great quantities of alum, pitch, and
tar. A brisk wind springing up unexpectedly, the captain
sent the boat for his passengers, and they quickly re-era-
barked.
" That," said the master, as they passed a small sea port,
" is Calmor."
" Calmor, 3 ' exclaimed Edward, " Is that the Calmor so
celebrated for the convention that goes by that name, where
Margaret of Sweden united the three kingdoms of Denmark,
Norway, and Sweden."
" The very same, 3 * replied his tutor, " but it contains
nothing worthy of notice at present, we shall not land at
it."
" There is a gold mine at Adelfons," said the master of
the vessel, " in the province of Smaland, and Calmor is in
Smaland too, but to be sure it is not very productive. But
our copper, iron, and silver mines are very rich."
DR. WALKER. " Yes, so I understand. We intend
visiting the iron and copper mines."
" Our iron," said the captain, " is much valued by the
English I know, there is none makes better steel. The mine
at Dannemone is a, wonderful sight I think, I suppose you
know it is a mountain of iron in the middle of a sandy plain/'
DR. WALKER. " Yes, 1 understand as much. You
come, perhaps, from that part of the country."
MASTER. " No Sir, I don't, I come from Gottenburg,
where I suppose you have been, as you are travelling to see
sights."
DR. WALKER. " We had no time to stop at Gottenburg,
but you allude to the celebrated precipice near that
town, down which rolls a tremendous cataract, into a
deep bed of water, so profound, that huge masts and other
bodies disappear for the space of half an hour, and others
an hour, before they are recovered ; the bottom of this bed
has, I understand, never been fathomed."
MASTER. " Never, Sir, although sounded by lines of
several hundred feet. Perhaps you never heard too of the
slimy lake in Gothland, which singes every thing which i
thrown into it. That is a great curiosity I think."
DH. WALKER. " No, I never did hear of that lake ;
but as you appear to have taken a great deal of notice of
VOYAGE TO SWEDEN. 13$
the curiosities that have fallen in your way, and as we are
travelling for amusement and information, perhaps you can
point out certain spots where we are likely to be gratified on
both these points."
MASTER. " Why, no Sir, I can't say as I can, but these
two things were in my native province, and were therefore,
familiar to me. You intend going to Fahlun, you say, that'?
a spot that is every Swede's country, because in its mine
Gustavus Vasa was hidden/'
DR. WALKER. '* True, and you are right; Dalecarlia
is a spot that should be dear to every Swede. But I see
we are drawing very near the capital, and a beautiful look-
ing city it is. It reminds me of Venice in one respect.
That of its being built on small Islands, but the scenery
*ound it is far more grand and beautiful."
EDWARD. " What a very singular effect those rocks of
granite have which rise perpendicularly from the sea, partly
bare and cragged, and partly dotted with houses, or feathered
by woods. And look, Sir, at that amphitheatre at the ex-
tremity of the harbour, where several streets rise one
above the other, and which are crowned by the palace as I
suppose. Scarce any thing can be imagined more lovely
and agreeable than the appearance of the river upon which
Stockholm stands ; it is divided into a number of branches,
the sides of which are covered with public buildings, and
elegant houses. In some places, where the breadth is very
considerable, its stream is perfectly tranquil and slow ; in
others where the channel is narrow, it rushes through with
the impetuosity of a torrent* So many small islands are
formed by it below the town, that almost every magazine of
naval and military stores, possesses a detached one, and
there is a wild and romantic cast through the whole land-
scape, which is not unpleasing to the spectator, and whiclr
characterises the northern views. The quay is not long but
of a prodigious breadth, and there are ten fathoms water close
to the shore.' 1
Not only the master, but many of the sailors appeared
pleased with the pleasure expressed by Dr. Walker and his
pupil upon approaching the capital of Sweden. As it was
late when our travellers landed, they retired quietly to their
inn, where they were soon joined by Colin.
" Well, Colin/' said the Doctor, how do ye like Stock-
holm?"
184 SWEDEN.
" Why, muckle weel," replied the Highlander. " But when
the Swede was telling o' his cataract, Colin could have told
him o* the falls of Glomma, in the heights Glen Elcknig, in
Rosshire, as a match for his fall at Gottenberg, I think he
ca'd it ; 'tis sae surrounded by rocks and woods, that ye can
scarce ken it, unless ye be quite near to it; and its very
grand, I do assure ye."
DK. WALKER. " You should have told us of this fall,
Colin, when we were in Scotland; we would have seen it."
SECTION IV.
SWEDISH MANNERS.
ON the following morning, our travellers took a survey of
the city of Stockholm, which stands in a singular situation
between an inlet of the Baltic, and the lake Maelar. It oc-
cupies seven small rocky islands, and the scenery is truly sin-
gular and romantic. Most of the houses are of stone, or
brick covered with stucco ; except in the suburbs, where they
are composed of wood, painted red ; and this is indeed the
material most commonly applied to the construction of dwell-
ing houses in Sweden. The city was founded by Earl Bir-
ger, regent of the kingdom about the middle of the thirteenth
century. Besides the palace, Stockholm contains a castle,
an arsenal, and several academies : its manufactures are not
numerous, and its population may be estimated at about
80,000.
Edward was particularly struck by the dull uniformity of
the Swedish dress. " Are the people obliged to wear this
unbecoming dress ?" said he, to his tutor. " Why, gentle
and simple are all dressed in the same style, only that I per-
ceive the superior orders wear clothes of a finer texture."
DR. WALKER. " Is not that the case every where.
But here it is more observed, because black is the prevailing
colour. In the year 1777, a national dress was established,
for the purpose of suppressing luxury in that article. The
men, as you see, wear a close coat, very wide under cloaths,
strings in their shoes, a girdle, a round hat, and a cloak ,and
SWEDISH MANNERS. 1B5
the usual colour is black. The women also wear a black
robe, with puffed gauze sleeves, and coloured sash and rib-
bon. There is also a particular uniform for gala days, when
the men appear in blue sattin, lined with white, and orna-
mented with lace : and then the ladies sport white sattin
dresses, adorned with coloured ribbons. But still these gay-
est assemblies present a monotonous coup d'ceil, compared to
the gay variety presented in a London ball-room."
Upon returning to their inn, they were quite ready for
their dinner, which was served in great profusion ; previous
to which, they were presented with bread and butter, and a
small glass of brandy.
" As a citizen of the world, Edward," said the Doctor,
" you are not to express surprize at any custom, however
singular, you may meet with : put your lips to the glass :
when at Rome, you may be presented with ice, instead of
brandy, as a luxury : both these customs arise from the same
cause, the temperature of the different climates. We will,
after dinner, visit the arsenal, where, I understand, the
cloaths which Charles the Twelfth wore at the time he was
killed, are preserved with great care."
EDWARD. " I believe there are many doubts, Sir, re-
specting the author of his death ; are there not?"
DR. WALKER. " So many, that the affair has never been
satisfactorily determined. Indeed the enquiries at the time
the fatal affair took place, were few ; and the prinre of
Hesse, his brother-in-law, appears to have been very luke-
warm in ascertaining the cause or causes of the death of so
near a relative. Ail passed without noise or tumult."
Upon examining the cloaths attentively, which were exhi-
bited to them, they perceived that the hat is torn about an
inch square, in that part which covered the temple; the right
hand glove, which is of soft leather, is covered with blood,
and at that part where the handle or hilt of his sword lay ;
the belt is likewise bloody : he therefore must have put his
hand to his head, previously to grasping his sword, for he
was wounded in the temple alone. His coat was a common,
blue regimental one, such as every soldier wore; and round
his waist was the broad buff leather belt, in which he hung
his sword.
t SWEDEN.
SECTION V.
JOURNEY TO UPSAL.
" Now then for Upsal," said Dr. Walker ; " for there
appears nothing peculiarly interesting in Stockholm/' And
accordingly our travellers recommenced their journey.
Through a long avenue of stately firs, the view of Upsal,
the ancient metropolis of Sweden, opened upon our travel-
lers, with its royal palace towering above the other edifices.
The city itself, which has a very noble appearance on its ap-
proach, is neat rather than elegant, and contains fewer
wooden houses than most other towns in that kingdom. The
scenery along the gulph of Bothnia to Sundswall is beautiful,
and varied between the wooded borders of the sea and the
inland lakes. Beyond Sundswall the country becomes some-
what alpine, and our travellers were enchanted with the vary-
ing beauties of the landscape : they had never travelled with
more amusement ; words could give no idea of the changeful
cenery; hills, mountains, valleys, forests, lakes, islands,,
rocks, rivers, cataracts ; in short, every feature of nature that
the poet or painter can picture to his imagination, or wish to
delineate.
Having letters of introduction to a gentleman, who had a
large property in the iron mines, he gave them a most friendly
reception, and begged they would make his house their home,
during their stay at Upsal. Dr. Walker accepted his offer
with thanks, and they had thus an opportunity of observing
the manners of the people. The Swedish character varies
materially in the different provinces. The Scandian is cheerful
and hospitable, the Smalander is humble, mild, and submissive;
placed amidst barren rocks, and uncultivated wilds, he is
easily satisfied, and grateful for the smallest rewards that may
be offered for his services. The Ostrogoth resembles the
soil on which he is placed, which presents the most pleasing
pictures. The Finlander is most laborious, and capable of
enduring great hardships ; but is somewhat obstinate. The
Dalecarlians are bold, independent, and enduring. Such
are the principal features of the Swedish character.
Having procured an open carriage, our travellers proposed
starting at nine o'clock, for the mines of Dannemora. Upon
JOURNEY TO UPSAL. 187
looking out of their window, they saw Colin very busy
fastening the horses in the usual Swedish style, with ropes to
the carnage : upon entering the room, he protested, that he
wished much they had brought harness with them ; for he
thought " in gude truth they'd a' be killed, for the rope*
were rquckle awkward gear."
" Never mind, Colin," replied the Doctor, " the horse*,
though small, are like your own Shetland ponies, strong ;
and the roads, though narrow, are good : so I dare say w
shall do very well.*'
They travelled in a neat little waggon quite new, without
springs, in shape like a shoe placed upon wheels, with the
heel foremost, the toe being the receptacle for beds, provi-
sions, and baggage. In any country but Sweden, such a
vehicle would not promise much comfort or convenience ;
but there, from the excellence of the roads, and the conse-
quent facility of travelling, our travellers found it one of the
most convenient in which they had ever been engaged. la
this manner they proceeded through Upsal ; and arriving in
a small village about nine o'clock in the evening, they were
obliged to wait for post-horses, although their Swedish ser-
vant had been sent on before to procure them.
The village consisted of three or four filthy looking wooden
huts, into which, from apprehensions of the same disgusting
dirtiness that they had met with in former receptacles of the
same kind, they did not choose to enter, but preferred sitting
without, on their luggage. At length they asked for some-
thing to eat. To their great surprize, they were immedi-
ately conducted into a neat small room, having the floor
strewed with juniper, according to the custom of the coun-
try ; a table stood covered with a white damask cloth, gar-
nished with napkins, silver handled knives and forks, silver
spoons, and various other implements of luxury. Here they
were regaled with soup, cutlets, and a variety of very deli-
cate viands, beginning and ending their repast with French
brandy ; and they left the house, wondering much at the
moderate recompense demanded by their civil host, but espe-
cially at the unexpected cleanliness of their accommodations,
and the extraordinary sumptuousness of their fare.
If the sovereigns of Europe were to be designated each
by some title characteristic of the nature of their dominions,
we might call the Swedish monarch, Lord of the woods; be-
cause, in surveying his territories, he might travel over a
188 SWEDEN.
great part of his kingdom from sun-rise until sun-set, and
find no other subjects than the trees of his forests. The
population is every where small, because the whole country
is covered with wood.
Having sent on a messenger to procure horses, they at
length set off. The fields being divided by a wooden, paling,
travelling through this country could not present that do-
mestic sort of scenery, which is produced by close hedge-
row elms, which meet the eye on every side in England.
Colin pointed to ihe pales with disgust ; but every now and
then, as the road wound through the defiles of the moun-
tains, his countenance brightened, as his native wilds arose to
his imagination ; and once he sighed and hummed the thrill-
ing air of " Lochaber no more/' " Why, Colin/' said the
Doctor, " I am afraid you wish yourself at home.'' Colin
shook his head, but made no other answer ; he appeared in-
deed to be absorbed in the recollection of home, and his
master did not repeat his question.
SECTION VI.
THE MINES OF SWEDEN.
As they drew near the immediate neighbourhood of Do-
namora, the road became more level, and at length almost
assumed the appearance of a plain. Having refreshed them,
selves at one of the villages in its vicinity, they procured a
guide, and at length drew near the enormous mountainous
mine of Donamora. It is in depth eighty fathoms, and it
occupies a considerable extent of territory : its ore is con-
veyed to the surface of the earth, through several pits or
openings made for that purpose, by means of casks fixed to
large cables, which are put in motion by horses. The work-
men, standing on the edges of these casks, and, clasping the
cables, descend and ascend with the greatest composure.
Edward asked, rather anxiously, " if they were to descend
in that style." " W T hy I fear," replied the Doctor, " our
heads would grow a little giddy by such a manoeuvre, and
therefore we shall perhaps be accommodated with a station
within the bucket. Do you observe that enormous wheel.
MINES OF SWEDEN. 189
sixty-six feet in diameter, which is employed to draw up the
water. This water is afterwards conveyed along an aqueduct,
nearly a mile and a half in length. The ore in this mine is
not dug out, but blown up by gunpowder, an operation
which is performed every day at noon, and is one of the
most awful and tremendous that can- be imagined.*'
Our travellers arrived just at the moment of explosion ;
and although Edward had been witness to the same sort of
shock in the silver mines, he was absolutely petrified. " Tis
like subterraneous thunder, is it not, Sir?" said the asto-
nished youth. " Or rather rapid discharges of vollies of
artillery," replied the Doctor ; " and the sensation of the
trembling of the ground will give you an idea of that pro-
duced by an earthquake. See to what an height the stones
are thrown above the level of the ground. But come, you
must prepare for our descent ; the concussion has perfectly
subsided, and the men are already in attendance. This is
rather an odd sensation," continued the Doctor, as the
bucket descended into the dark and deep abyss beneath
them. Nine minutes elapsed ere they reached the bottom,
and then the view of the mine was awful and sublime in the
highest degree. Whether fear or admiration was the pre-
vailing sensation experienced by our travellers, they could
scarcely define. The light of the day was very faintly ad-
mitted to these subterraneous regions ; in many places it was
absolutely lost, and flambeaus were kindled in its stead.
Beams of wood were laid across some parts, from one side of
the rock to the other, and on these the miners sat, employed
in boring holes for the gunpowder, with the most perfect
composure ; although the least dizziness, or even a failure in
preserving their equilibrium, must have made them lose their
seat, and have dashed them against the rugged surface of the
rock beneath : so powerful is the force of habit. The frag-
ments, torn up by the late explosion, lay in vast heaps on
all sides, and _the whole scene was calculated to inspire a
gloomy admiration. Our travellers remained for some time,
exploring these frightful caverns, which afford employment
for no less than 1300 workmen. The weather above was
warm, but here ice covered the whole surface of the
ground, and they found themselves surrounded with the cold
of the most rigorous winter, amid darkness and caves of iron.
In "one of these, which ran a considerable way into the rock,
half a dozen poor shivering wretches were warming them-
J0 DENMARK.
selves round a charcoal fire, and eating the little scanty sub-
sistence, arising from their miserable occupation. They
started at perceiving such unexpected guests, and appeared
pleased when the Doctor and Edward expressed a wish to
dry their feet, which were quite wet from the melted ice, by
their fire. They immediately made room for them ; and a
small donation from Edward, at his departure, was received
by them with every mark of gratitude.
" Poor creatures," said Edward, as they slowly ascended,
u what a wretched life ! Do they live long, Sir, in these
names i"
DR. WALKER. " The iron mines are not so pernicious
as those of copper ; but the most pernicious of all are the
quicksilver mines : and those which are the least so, are the
s-alt mines/'
After their return to the " precincts of the cheerful day,"
they paid their respects to one of the owners of the forges in
the neighbourhood, who hospitably entertained them, and
entreated they would take up their abode with him that
night. The offer was too inviting to be rejected ; and they
were not a little exhilarated at the sight of the cheerful fire,
and plenteous good store, which was spread for their enter,
tainment. When our travellers mentioned their intentions
of visiting the mine at Fahlun, their host endeavoured to
dissuade them from undertaking the expedition. " That
mine is particularly unwholesome," said he; " and I think
J could describe it to you sufficiently for your satisfaction/'
Edward, however, expressed a particular wish to visit a mine
so celebrated for its machinery, its copper, and, above all, as
having been the asylum of the hero of the north, Gustavu*
Vasa. Their host therefore changed the subject, to that of
the iron mine they had just visited. " Throughout the
whole extent of Sweden," said he, " the iron mines at pre-
sent wrought, employ upwards of 25,000 persons, and yield
annually upwards of 57,000 tons of metal. It has been
calculated, that the furnaces and forges, which give to the
iron the degree of perfection requisite before it can be used t
consume annually 2,400,000 loads of charcoal. The pea-
sants are chiefly employed in the manufacture of these me-
tals ; and as our travellers visited several of the forges, they
had an opportunity of witnessing the astonishing dexterity,
and perfect unconcern, with which these men pursue their
hard, and apparently dangerous, employment. Habited in
MINES OF SWEDEN. 101
coarse linen frocks, they stand close to and hammer a bar
of ore, the heat and refulgence of which were almost insup-
portable at ten feet distance ; the sparks flying about them
in every direction.
Dr. Walker was anxious his pupil should see the whole
process of reducing the ore into iron, which is altogether a
very curious process ; and therefore the next day they in-
spected the different forges. It is first roasted in the open
air for a considerable time ; after which it is thrown into a
furnace ; and when reduced to fusion, it is poured into a
mould of sand, about three yards in length. These pigs, a
they are then called, are next put into a forge, heated to a
prodigious degree; a large piece is then broken off with pin-
chers when red hot, and this is beat to a lesser size with ham-
mers. It is again put into the fire, and from thence entirely
finished, by being laid under an immense engine, resembling
a hammer, which is turned by water, and which flattens the
rude piece into a bar. Nothing can exceed the skill of the
men employed in this concluding part of the operation, as the
eye is the sole guide, and it requires an exquisite nicety
and precision.
Having once more resumed their seat in their carriage,
Dr. W. thus spoke upon the properties and nature of iron.
" Iron," said the Doctor, " is the most universally diffused
metal throughout nature. It is found in animals, in vegeta-
bles, and in almost all bodies. It is seldom found native, but
combined with a great variety of substances. It is particu-
larly distinguished by its magnetical properties; by its hard,
ness and elasticity, by its ductility and the property of being
welded, but it is very difficult to fuse. Iron soon rusts or
oxydates, when exposed to the action of water. Iron filings
agitated in water become oxydated, and assume the form of
a black powder, called martial Ethiops. When iron ore is
fused in large furnaces, it is made to flow into a kind of
mould formed in sand. This first product, which is exceed-
ingly brittle, and not at all malleable, is called cast iron, of
which are formed stoves, pipes, cannon, and other articles.
Cast, or crude iron, contains carbon and oxygen. The pre-
sence of the former appears from its coating the utensils
employed in its fusion with plumbage or black lead, which
contains nine-tenths of carbon, and one of iron."
EDWARD. " I do not quite comprehend you, Sir. What
is carbon, and what is oxygen ? r>
192 DENMARK.
Dn. WALKER. " Carbon and oxygen are two gasses<
Our atmospheric air is composed of oxygen, nitrogen, and
carbonic acid. Oxygen is that wholesome air, without which
we could not breathe. This gas is absorbed by combustible
bodies, and converts them into acids ; hence its power of oxy-
dizing, or rusting, certain metals. Gold, silver, and platina,
will not become oxydated by exposure to the air; but in
a very high temperature, that is to say, in a strong heat,
oxyds are produced even from those metals. But to return
to the air: nitrogen gas is unfit to maintain combustion, or
support life; yet a small portion is absorbed in respiration.
It is a little lighter than atmospheric air ; when separated
from it, is uninflammable, and one of the most general ele-
ments of animal substances. Though nitrogen gas is of itself
so noxious to animals, it answers an important end, when
mixed with oxygen, in atmospheric air. Were it not for this
large quantity of nitrogen in the atmosphere, the blood
would flow too rapidly through the vessels, and would shorten
the life of man. Carbonic add gas is incombustible, and
does not detonate with oxygen gas, and it is most noxious to
animals. The atmospheric air, which is produced by this
mixture, supports animal life, by giving out its caloric, .or
that substance which produces heat to the blood. The
blood of the veins is purple, approaching to black, until it
imbibes the atmospheric air through the lungs, when it be-
comes a brilliant red, pregnant with heat and motion. The
loss of oxygen by respiration and combustion, is supplied by
the leaves of trees and other vegetables, which in the clay
exude or breathe a large portion of oxygen gas; but at night
they throw out azote or nitrogen gas: and hence they are
unwholesome in a close chamber, while people sleep. They
vegetate upon this impure air, and in return give cut the
oxygen. Any one or more of the simple substances, when
united to a less quantity of oxygen gas than is necessary to
form an acid, produces what is called oxyd : hence the
words carbon and oxygen, when applied to metals, means,
that they contain properties partaking of the nature of those
gasses, or else that they are capable of being acted upon by
them."
EDWARD. " You mentioned simple substances, what am
I to understand by that expression ?"
DR. WALKER." Simple substances are those bodies,
which have never yet been decomposed, nor formed by art,
MINES OF SWEDEN. 193
All the simple substances with which we are at present ac-
quainted, are light, caloric, or heat, oxygen, nitrogen, the
metals, some of the earths, and the four simple combustibles,
carbon, hydrogen, sulphur, and phosphorus. But to re-
sume our original subject.
tc Crude iron is in three states, white, grey, or black, ae^
cording as it contains a larger proportion of carbon, an exact
proportion of carbon and oxygen, or a larger proportion of
oxygen.
" To render the iron malleable, it must be freed from the
carbon and oxygen which it contains ; by being fused, and
kept in that state for some time, stirring and kneading it all
the while; by this the carbon and oxygen unite, and are ex-
pelled in the form of carbonic acid gas. It is then subjected
to the action of large hammers, or to the pressure of rollers
by which the remaining oxyd of iron and other impurities are
forced out. The iron is now no longer crystallized or gra-
nular in its texture ; it is fibrous, and ductile, and is in a purer
state, though far from being absolutely pure. It is capable
of being welded and worked by hammers into any form. It
is now called forged or wrought iron.
" There are several varieties of iron in this state, arising
from the intermixture of other substances. There is one kind
of forged iron, which when cold is ductile, but when heated,
is extremely brittle ; it is also fusible. This is termed hot
short iron. Cpld short-iron possesses precisely the opposite
properties, being highly ductile while hot, but whea cold,
extremely brittle. The causes of these peculiarities have
not been perfectly explained.
" Iron is capable of being reduced to a third state, which
is that of steel. It is converted into steel by exposing it to
heat in contact with carbonaceous substances, which unite
themselves with it. Thus we have three states in which iron
may exist, viz. cast-iron, forged-iron, and steel.
" Cast-iron contains too. great a quantity of carbonaceous
substance : it may be called steel too much steelified ; it is
therefore exceedingly brittle, and not at all malleable.
" Forged iron is iron purified from all foreign substances.
And in regard to its property of being welded, we may
judge from the following account I am about to relate; for
were it not for the property which iron has of being welded,
that is, united in various parts without the assistance of rivets
or solder, this very plentiful metal would be useless for many
K
194 SWEDEN.
purposes ; but as it is, what may not be accomplished by it !
The most stupendous metallic fabric ever executed by man,
is the Chinese " bridge of chains/' hung over an awful pre-
cipice near Ringtung, to connect two mountains. In this
bridge there are twenty-one chains, stretched over the valley
or abyss ; these are bound together by other chains which
cross them. The whole forms a perfect and safe road, ex-
tending from the summit of one mountain, to that of the
other. A bridge, upon a similar principle, and of the same
material, is now in the act of being erected over the Menai
Strait, (to connect Wales with the Isle of Anglesea), by Mr.
Telford, the engineer.
" Steel is formed by bedding in charcoal, in a close fur-
nace, alternate layers of malleable iron and charcoal, and
exposing them to a strong fire for six or eight days. This
process is called cementation. During this operation, the
Iron combines with a quantity of carbon, and is converted
into blistered steel. This is either rendered more perfect
and malleable, by subjecting it to the operation of the ham-
mer, or it is fused, and cast into small bars, forming cast-
steel.
" Steel holds a middle rank between cast and forged, or
malleable iron. It is composed of very small grains ; and
when hot, possesses a considerable degree of malleability.
It is specifically heavier than forged iron.
" It is denser than forged iron, but it is not harder. To
communicate to it the necessary hardness, it must be tem-
pered ; that is to say, after being exposed to a greater or
less degree of heat, according to the required degree of hard-
ness, it must be suddenly cooled by immersion in cold water.
Tempering renders it harder, more elastic, and more brittle,
It may be made so hard as to scratch glass. Steel, thus har-
dened, may have its softness and ductility restored, by again
heating, and suffering it to cool slowly.
" A polished bit of steel, when heated with access of air,
acquires very beautiful colours. It first becomes of a pale
yellow, then of a deeper yellow, next reddish, then deep
blue, and at last bright blue. At this period it becomes red
hot, and the colours disappear ; at the same time that the
metallic scales, or the black imperfect oxyd of iron which is
ton \ incrusts its surface. All these different shades of
col indicate the different tempers the steel has acquired
fey the increase of heat. Artists have availed themselves of
MINES OF SWEDEN. 195
this property, to give to surgical and other sharp instruments
those degrees of temper, which their various uses require.
" Tempered steel is more elastic, and harder than iron.
Its use is too well known to require elucidation.
" Wootz,_a metal brought from the East Indies, was ex-
amined by Dr. Pearson, who discovered that it was iron
united to carbon, and also to oxygen.
" The sulphate of iron is common copperas in an impure
state."
a Having said thus much upon iron, I will mention copper
and lead. Copper is found native, but in very small quanti-
ties ; it is generally met with in the state of an oxyd, or united
to acids and sulphur. The copper mine of the isle of An-
glesea, is perhaps the largest known mine of that metal in
the world. Pure copper is of a red colour, very tenacious,
ductile, and malleable.
" Nitrate of copper is copper dissolved with nitric acid.
" The sulphate of copper, or what is commonly called blue
vitriol, is sulphuric acid, concentrated with copper.
" Verdigrise is acetous acid, imperfectly oxydated with
copper.
" Copper may be alloyed with most of the metals. As
an alloy of silver, it renders it more fusible ; this mixture is
employed as a solder for silver plates. Copper, when alloyed
with tin, forms bronze, a metal used for making bells, cannon,
statues, &c. When alloyed by cementation with the oxyd
of zinc, called calamine, it forms brass. With arsenic, it
forms white tombac. The salts found with copper, have a
poisonous quality.
" Copper is employed for making kitchen utensils, but
very improperly ; for as these vessels are liable to be cor-
roded by the salts and acids used in culinary preparations,
they often become dangerous, and may thus make us swal-
low slow poison. Kitchen utensils of tinned-iron are far
preferable, because iron possesses no quality injurious to
health.
'* Lead is seldom, if ever, found in the native state. It
is chiefly mineralized by sulphur, and is then called galena.
When exposed to heat with access of air, it fuses, and is
oxydated at the surface. If this oxyd be removed, more is
formed, and thus the whole may be converted into grey oxyd
of lead. This oxyd, when exposed to a strong heat, is con-
verted into a yellow oxyd, called massicot. If this yellow
K 2
196 , SWEDEN.
oxyd be exposed to a still more violent heat, it assumes a
beautiful red colour, and becomes red lead, or minium ;
litharge is a senai-vitrified oxyd of lead, obtained by keeping
a stream of air upon fused lead : it is generally procured in
the process of separating silver from lead.
" If litharge be exposed to a strong heat, it becomes con-
verted into glass of lead, which forms the basis of the com-
mon glazing for earthen-ware.
" The acetous acid corrodes lead, and the result is a white
oxyd, known under the name of white lead.
" All the oxyds of lead are soluble in vinegar, and form
acetite of lead, known under the name of sugar of lead.
"Lead is applied to a great variety of uses in the arts,
which do not require illustration. Lead forms alloys with
.other metals which are used as solders.
SECTION VII.
THE MINES OF DALECARLIA.
As they entered the province of Dalecarlia the scenery
became wild and picturesque, to a great degree. Fahlun is
environed by mountains and lakes, and as our travellers
traversed this independent region they experienced many
instances of that frank and generous hospitality which is
seldom found where the mind is fettered by slavery. The
little groups of female peasants they occasionally met with,
dressed in their short jackets and many coloured petticoats,
gave a life to the dreary scene around them. They are in
general well formed, and many of them would present good
models for a Hebe. Their countenances are open and frank,
their eyes blue and expressive ; and their manners are pleas-
ing and attractive. So hardy are they that it is not unusual
with one of these damsels, to wash her linen in a brook
and put it on wet arid so let it dry. Their food generally
consists of black bread and water : but content, that world
of wealth, gives to their homely fare the flavour of nectar
and ambrosia.
<c Health and industry need no tempting cates," said Dr.
MINES OF DALECARLIA. 197
Walker, as the cheerful smile and not inelegant curtsey, from
one of these mountain nymphs, arrested his attention ; " and
the hard brown crust that girl holds in her hand, possesses
a magical relish, unknown to the lazy epicure at a turtle
feast, whose vitiated appetite stands in need of high seasoned
dishes, and sauces, piquant. How degraded, how sunk is
that man whose happiness depends upon his cook"
The Dalecarlian peasants offered their services where they
were needful, theirs were the services of free will, and the
manner in which they were conferred, shewed they felt they
were voluntary. This style of conduct does not pervade
Sweden, for had they been travelling in Smaland, instead
of Dalecarlia, they would, indeed, have received the same
services, but arising from different feelings.
" Well Edward," said Dr. Walker, as they drew near
the mouth of this celebrated mine, which is nearly three
quarters of a mile in circumference, " from the frank and
independent air of the Dalecarlians you are not surprised
that Gustavus Vasa should have chosen a refuge among
them. You know his history I suppose ?"
EDWARD. " Not the particulars of it, Sir, nor the cir-
cumstances which led to his misfortunes."
DR. WALKER. " As we are going on I will give you a
sketch of it. Christian II. who, by the bye, marrried the sis-
ter of Charles V. having resolved to render himself absolute
by a barbarous policy, which proved the means of his own
destruction, and of emancipating Sweden from the Danish
3'oke, laid a plot for massacreing all the principal no-
bility of the country. He succeeded in his horrid and mer-
ciless design, for of all those who could possibly oppose his
arbitrary intentions, Gustavus Vasa, a descendant from
the ancient kings of Sweden, alone escaped. An immense
price was set upon his head ; jthe Danish soldiers were sent
in pursuit of him in every direction, but he eluded their
vigilance, and after assuming various disguises he at last
found shelter in the mines of Dalecarlia, where he worked
far some time as a miner : at length, finding he was betrayed,
he appealed to the feelings and spirit of the hardy Dale-
carlians, and with their assistance he drove his persecutor
from his much injured country. Gustavus was appointed
at first, administrator of Sweden, and was afterwards chosen
King with the unanimous consent of the whole nation. He
established the Protestant Religion in Sweden, and in the
K 3
108 SWEDEN.
year 1554 the Roman Catholic ceremonies were prohibited.
You know his eldest son Eric was a suitor of Queen Eliza-
beth ?"
" Yes," replied Edward, " Elizabeth had many wooers,
all equally assiduous, and all equally unsuccessful. Eliza-
beth was a great Queen, and a great coquette."
" Upon my word/' replied the Doctor, " 'tis well for
you her Majesty does not hear you : but I must confess I
am of your opinion, and think her enmity against the un-
fortunate and indiscreet, if not guilty Mar^ Stuart, was
rather excited by the charms of the latter as a woman, than
by her crimes as a wife or queen/'
EDWARD. " Do you think Mary was really guilty of her
husband's death, Sir ?"
DR. WALKER. " 'Tis a subject upon which I cannot
venture to decide. The history oflfthose times, as far as
relates to her at least, is so enveloped in mystery, and IMS-
torians differ so much as to the relation of facts, that truth
is scarely to be hoped for : but as I am an Englishman, and
therefore accustomed to look upon all as innocent, however
suspicious appearances may be against them, until they are
proved guilty, I confess I am inclined to hope she had no
such great crime to answer for ; absolute proofs of her guilt
are wanting, and I am tht refore rather cautious how I judge
harshly of one so peculiarly situated as was the sensitive and
accomplished Queen of Scots."
Upon approaching the mine of Dalecarlia, our travellers
curiosity was attracted by the hydraulic machines which are
destined to convey the water to the different quarters, and
the power of which is such, that one of the wheels has a
diameter of not less than forty-four feet. Another wheel of
proportionate magnitude is employed to raise the ore from
the mine to the surface of the earth, and is admirably con-
structed. Regular circles are placed on each side, and
round these the chain rises, taking a larger or smaller cir-
cumference, in proportion to the necessary circle to be made,
so as to counterbalance the weight, and consequently the
increased motion of the bucket.
A vast chasm, of tremendous appearance, presents itself
to the view of the stranger, at the mouth of the mine. This
being the part of the mine which was first opened, either
through ignorance or the neglect of those who had then
the management of the works, the excavations so weakened
MINES OF DALECARLIA. 199
the foundations of the hill, that the whole fell in, leaving a
most chaotic scene of precipitated rocks, and a gaping gulf
resembling the mouth of a volcano. Great care has been
since taken that no such disaster should again occur. Plans
and sections are drawn of all the galleries, and where the
prosecution of the works in the same direction might be
dangerous, orders are issued to the miners to stop, and an
iron crotyn is fixed on the spot, as a prohibition ever to pro-
ceed further. The workmen then explore in a different di-
rection, while every subterraneous excavation is nicely
watched.
Our travellers descended into the great chasm by a range oi
wooden steps, which cross in a variety of directions the rough
masses of fallen rocks, of gravel and of the ancient machinery.
Ere they reached the entrance of the cavern they had to
descend thirty toises, and this being accomplished, they
proceeded horizontally to a considerable distance within.
They now lost the pure air of day, and gradually became
sensible of an oppressive vapour which rolled towards them
in volumes, from the mouths of a hundred caves leading
into the main passage.
" This does indeed recall the regions of Tartarus/' said
the Doctor, as they descended the steps cut in the winding
rock, " the air of the iron mines was purity itself compared
to what we now inhale. Cannot you recal to you imagina-
tion Virgil's description of the descent of ^Eneas into the
infernal regions ? Here are the same caverned portico, the
rocky rough descent, the steaming sulphur, and all the
deadly stenches of the Avernus. And here/* continued the
Doctor, after a short pause, " in these pestilential regions
did the great Gustavus find a temporary asylum against the
malice of his enemies/'
Edward made no answer ; he was wholly engrossed in
contemplating the miserable beings who appeared to flit
around him like spectres. In one part of these caverns,
the steam is so excessively hot as to scorch at the distance
of twelve paces, and the sulphureous smell in its vicinity is
intolerable. Near this spot a volcanic fire broke out some
years ago, in consequence of which strong walls were con-
structed as a barrier to its power, and several contiguous
passages, which, had it spread, would have proved danger-
ous, were walled up.
'* We are not yet arrived at the end of our subterraneous
K 4
200 SWEDEN.
excursion," said the Doctor to Edward, who began to evince
symptoms of fatigue, the effect of the vapours rather than
of exertion ; " but if you really have seen enough of these
subterraneous wonders, we will immediately return."
" By no means, Sir," replied his pupil, " let us see all
that is to be seen."
They accordingly traversed many long and winding galle-
ries, as well as large vaulted caverns, where the workmen
were disposed on all sides, employed in hewing out masses
of the rock, and preparing other parts for explosion. Others
were busily employed in wheeling the-brazen ore toward
the black abyss, where the suspended buckets hung ready
to draw it upward. From the effect of such violent exer-
tion, combined with the heat, these poor creatures are
obliged to work almost naked. Their groupes, occupation,
and primitive appearance, scantily illumined by the trem-
bling rays of torches, formed a curious and interesting scene.
The depth of this mine being 1,200 feet, a full hour is re-
quired to penetrate to the bottom. The mass of copper lies
in the form of an inverted cone. Five hundred men are
employed daily in working these mines, where females are
not admitted, on account of the deleterious quality of the
vapours.
" This mine," said the Doctor, " was anciently a state
prison in which criminals, slaves, and even prisoners of war,
toiled out their wretched existence. It was a barbarous
policy, thus to class men who were fighting their country's
battles with the refuse of society. It was no uncommon
thing with Peter the Great, when he gained a battle, to send
the Swedish prisoners into Siberia. This was equally cruel,
and so contrary to all the laws of war as now established,
that no prince would dare to make the attempt."
Near the bottom is a rocky cavern, called the Hall of the
Senate, on account of its having been the resting place of
several Swedish Kings, who came attended by the senators
to examine the works, and here took refreshments.
CUSTOMS AND MANNERS OF THE SWEDES. 201
SECTION VIII.
CUSTOMS AND MANNERS OF THE SWEDES.
AFTER leaving the mines, and when they had for a short
time, inhaled the pure breath of heaven, Dr. Walker and
his pupil had a consultation as to their future route.
" There appears nothing inviting in the more northern
parts of Sweden," said the Doctor, " rocks and mountains
covered with fir-trees, and intersected by rivers and cata-
racts, appear in one place, while on another their lofty and
barren summits are covered with snow. The inhabitants
too, of these cold and chilling regions, present no features
either of mind or body, peculiarly attractive. The Lap-
lander is short and thick made, he has a broad large face,
very prominent cheek bones, his mouth and lips very thick,
and his head is large. In winter he lives in a house ; in the
summer, in tents made of skins of beasts. The Laplanders
amuse themselves with telling stories and singing, when they
meet at each others tents ; they are of a very peaceable dis-
position, and would rather quit their homes than engage in
war. They have many superstitions ; augury and witchcraft
are much practised among them ; and a black cat in each
house, is reckoned a most valuable appendage ; they talk to
it as to a rational creature, and in hunting and fishing par-
ties it is their usual attendant. To this animal the Danish
Laplanders communicate their secrets ; they consult it on all ,-
important occasions; such as whether this day should or
should not be employed in hunting or fishing, and are go-
verned by its accidental conduct. Among the Swedish Lap-
landers, a drum is kept in every family for the purpose of
consulting the devil.
" Of the rein-deer, you have heard. I need not give you
a description of them ; and yec, perhaps, you are not ac-
quainted with all their utilities and properties. The rein-deer
have been wisely reduced by the Laplander to a state of do-
mestication and servitude ; and in these creatures alone he
finds most of his wants. supplied; they fee,d and clothe him ;
with their skins he covers his tent and makes his bed ; of
their milk he makes cheese, and uses the whey for his drink.
Every part of this valuable animal is converted into some
K 5
SWEDEN.
use or other. Theit sinews make bow-strings, springs for
catching birds, and threads for sewing ; their horns are con-
verted into glue, and their tongues which are accounted a
great delicacy, are sent to the southern parts of Europe,
and procure the Laplander toys and luxuries. The rein-
deer, yoked to a sledge, carries him in his journies ; it is
easily guided by a string fastened round his horns, and is
encouraged to proceed by the voice of his driver, who some-
times urges it on by a goad. This animal will run between
fifty and sixty miles without stopping, but this is an exertion
beyond its strength, and often endangers the life of the ani-
mal. Thirty miles it can go without being much fatigued.
The food which this faithful domestic animal lives upon is
moss, and while the fields are clothed with this, the Lap.
lander and his rein deer envy neither the fertility nor verdure
of a more southern landscape.
* e Now, although," continued the Doctor, " it is very
well to know all this, we need not see it, so we will retrace
our steps towards Stockholm, and even embark at once for
Abo. Of the sudden cold of these regions, the following is
a melancholy proof. In the year 1719, seven thousand
Swedes, part of an army of ten thousand, were frozen to
death, on crossing the Lilbo mountains. When found, some
were sitting up, some lying down, others on their kness, all
stiff as stocks ; and as Thompson emphatically says :
" Stretch'd out and bleaching in the northern blast/*
EDWARD. " Poor creatures, what a terrible fate !"
DR. WALKER. " Even the sight of the beautiful lake of
Niemi, and its fairy vapours, which the Laplanders term Hal-
tiers, and which they deem guardian spirits of the mountains
would not, I confess, tempt me to encounter such risks as
Lapland presents. We will, therefore, quit this part of Swe-
den as soon as we can hear of a vessel that is destined for
Abo, and from thence proceed to Petersburg, the capital of
Russia. Before, however, we quit this part of the world,
let us review its geography, and now let me see, Edward,
what is the result of your observations as to the climate, soil,
and so forth of Sweden."
EDWARD." The north of Sweden is nearly full of rocks,
hills, and chains of mountains; the south is level, and inter-
spersed with many large lakes and rivers. In this country,
as well as in Denmark and Norway, the cold in the winter
CUSTOMS AND MANNERS OF THE SWEDES. 203
Is excessive; in summer, the air is generally serene, and the
heat almost insupportable : the transitions in the seasons are
so sudden, that summer bursts from winter, and dreary wilds
are quickly succeeded by landscapes decorated with flowers,
ripe fruit and grain ; of the last, in favourable seasons, the
inhabitants raise nearly sufficient for their consumption,
though but about one-third of the kingdom is susceptible of
cultivation.
" Along the lake Wener, the flat forest lands, so charac-
teristic of Sweden, are varied by the bold promontories of a
rocky shore, and by the upland sweep of the mountains Hal-
leberg and Hunneberg. The former of these, on the north-
west side, which faces the lake, assumes a basaltic appear-
ance, bearing some rude resemblance to pillars. But what
makes Halleberg most remarkable is, that it was once the
holy mountain of Westro-Gothland, and many memorials of
its sanctity remain. In the defile at its base, which separates
it from Hunneberg, there remains a Celtic cemetry, which
Dr. Clarke says is considered still as the "burial-place of
giants." The situation of these antiquities is exceedingly
striking. Under a fearful precipice, which rears its black
cliffs behind a thick grove of aged trees, there is a circular
range of large upright stones, like what is in this country
called a Druidical circle ; and just before the precipice, a
small, round pool of water. Beyond the pool is a circular
range of monumental stones, consisting of seven upright pil-
lars, that still preserve their natural forms, being fragments
detached from the basalt of the mountain.
" The tradition of the inhabitants concerning this place
maintains, that the giants of old, who inhabited this country,
when they wished to hasten their departure for Valhatt, (that
future state of happiness, where all the northern nations ex-
pected to carouse full goblets of ale with the gods,) or when
any of them were seized with a tedium vit&, used to repair, in
complete armour, to the brink of the precipice, whence, leap-
ing down, they were dashed to pieces, and immediately made
partakers of Elysium. The same tradition also adds, that the
bodies of the giants were washed after their fall within the
circular pool of water, previously to the ceremony of their
funeral, which was conducted with great public solemnity ;
the body being burned, and the ashes placed in an urn and
buried.
" Besides the product of the copper^ silver, and iron
K 6
204 SWEDEN.
mines, Sweden abounds with quicksilver, sulphur, marble
limestone, granite, freestone, slate, coal, and about 360 mi-
neral springs."
DR. WALKER. " I am pleased with your attention, this
is travelling to some purpose. I trust when we return to
England, we shall be able to give a good account of ojir-
selves. But you have forgotten one circumstance in your
description ; you should have expatiated upon the badness
of the roads ; the hardness of the beds ; the coarseness of
your fare, and so forth; but, however, as you have given so
good an account so far, proceed, I am all attention."
" EDWARD. " You are laughing at me, Sir; but I will
go on.
" Sweden exports iron, copper, stone, pitch, tar, rosin,
furs, pine timber, bark, pot-ash, hides, fish, and cordage ;
and it imports tin, some hardware, bullion, tobacco, flax,
hemp, wine, brandy, coarse woollens, salt, coal, East and
West India produce, and when the season is unfavourable,
about 300,000 tons of corn/'
" DR. WALKER. " The great forests, both here and in
Norway, consist chiefly of pine or Scotch fir, and spruce fir ;
the former called the red, the latter the 'white wood of com-
merce. The annual exports of iron are estimated at 400 r OOOlbs.
of timber 3l5,000/. The annual imports of corn 300,000
tons, raw flax 1750/.; spun flax 3500/. ; hemp 22,750/. ; to-
bacco, a million pounds. The value of her exports is esti-
mated at 1,368,392/. ; her imports at ],OOS,392/. ; balance
in favour of Sweden, 360,000/.
" Now for the principal towns.
EDWARD. " Gottenburg is regularly fortified, flourishing
and rich ; its situation is eligible for foreign trade.
" Carlscroon is the Portsmouth of Sweden ; its harbour is
deep, large, and very commodious.
66 Malmoe has a large harbour, and is now the most po-
pulous town in Schonen.
" Fahlun and Danemora we have visited : they receive im-
portance from the mines in their neighbourhood.
" Halmstadt has an incommodious port, but enjoys a good
salmon fishery, and is noted for its manufacture of cloth.
" Helsinburg is a manufacturing town, and a thorough-
fare between Denmark and Sweden : its port is indifferent.
" Carlsham is also a manufacturing town, and exports great
THE FALLS OF THE DAHL. 205
quantities of iron : in the adjacent parts tobacco is culti-
vated.'*
DR. WALKER. " You must not omit Tornea; because
here the French astronomers measured a degree of the me-
ridian, and by comparing the result with a degree measured
in South America, the earth is found to be more convex at
the equator than at the poles.
" On a branch of the river Tornea, near Kingis, there is
a dreadful cataract. The masses of ice and foam precipitated
with astonishing violence down a tremendous precipice, the
edges of which appeared like crystal, forms a most noble
spectacle. By the bye I have heard much pf the Falls of the
Dahl in this neighbourhood ;" continued the Dpctor, " and,
if not very much out of our way, we will take a view of them.*'
EDWARD. " I should like it very much ;'' and Colin,
continued the youth, as the Highlander entered the room,
may perhaps not dislike to make comparisons between his
favourite fall of Glomma, and that of the Dahl."
SECTION IX.
THE FALLS OF THE DAHL.
THE Dahl rises in Norwegian Lapland, and after passing
through a vast extent of country, empties itself into the sea,
dividing the provinces of Upland and Gestricia. It is about
half a mile broad, between the beautiful island of Elfcar
End, and the Falls ; but at the cataracts its banks being
much narrower, it runs with vast impetuosity. A small
island, or rather rock of half a quarter of a mile in circumfe-
rence, divides the river at this place. In the winter, when
one of the cataracts is frozen over, the island is accessible :
but at other times it would be impossible to reach it alive.
The eye takes in both Falls at once from either bank. ,The
depth of each is about forty feet ; but one is abrupt and per-
pendicular, the other oblique and shelving. The breadth is
about eighty or ninety yards. The tremendous roar of these
cataracts, which, when close, is superior far to the loudest
thunder ; the vapour which rises incessantly from them, and
206 SWEDEN.
even partially obscures the view of the rustling waters ; the
agitation of the river below for many hundred yards, before
it resumes its former tranquillity ; and while
" The scarcely waving pine, which crowns its rocky banks and
Fills the brown shade with a religious awe."
form one of the most picturesque and astonishing scenes that
can be possibly imagined/'
" It was only nine days ago," said the Guide, " as our
travellers gazed with speechless astonishment at the romantic
view before them, " that six unhappy fishermen were carried
down by the rapidity of the current and hurried over the
precipice, and were instantly dashed to pieces against the
rocks. Four of their bodies were found ; but they were so
disfigured, that they could not be recognised.''
EDWARD. " I am very much surprised that any one
should venture so near the edge as to be drawn within the
power of the current. *'
GUIDE. " A sudden gust of wind, or the smallest addi-
tional strength of the current, and it is occasionally a little
irregular, is sufficient to impel them on beyond the power of
resistance. A light breeze suddenly arose, and before
these poor creatures, I have just mentioned, could tack, or
lower their little sail, they were suddenly within the force of
the current, and all hope instantly vanished. One of my
countrymen, who was on a neighbouring rock, heard their
cries ; he instantly hurried down to the river ; but before he
reached the Fall, the boat had disappeared and its unhappy
crew."
EDWARD. " I think it is a pity they should ever attempt
to fish in this river at all.**
DR. WALKER. " Men familiarise themselves to certain
objects of danger, till they become perfectly insensible to
them. You might just as well say, it is a pity the lower parts
of Mount Etna, or Vesuvius, should be cultivated, and even
inhabited ; and yet an eruption of either of these mountains is
no sooner over, than the peasantry eagerly return to their
foot to plant their vines and corn. I knew a lady who was
ordered to Lisbon for her health, she consented to make the
journey with the greatest reluctance, declaring that the sa-
lubrity of the air would be more than counterbalanced by
the effect of her fears, lest there should be an earthquake.
In her first letter to her friends, she mentioned the subject
JOURNEY TO RUSSIA. 207
of her fears ; but until they enquired of her, when she had ^
been there about two months, if she still suffered as much as
ever from her apprehensions respecting an earthquake, she
declared that during the last month she had never thought of
such a thing. Every body had expressed so much astonish-
ment at her fears, had even smiled at them, laughed at them,
and even treated them with such perfect contempt, that she
candidly confessed she already began to be amused herself
at their recollection.
" Danger, at a distance, is always exaggerated ; bring it
but near to us, and it often from a giant bulk, shrinks to
a pigmy dwarf; besides, man, in general, is mostly inclined to
hope that he should be so fortunate as to escape in any great
calamity. If there had been an earthquake at Lisbon last
year, why those who were fortunate enough to avoid its fatal
effects, would return to the same spot, naturally concluding
that it was not very likely it should happen there again, at least
not for some years to come ; and fortunate it is for us,, that our
past dangers, pains and sufferings do not make so strong an
impression upon us, as to embitter the enjoyment of the pre-
sent. There are, it is true, gloomy souls, who without any
past troubles to revert to, embitter the present, by anticipat-
ing evils in futurity, which may never take place ; but these
discontented creatures are, happily for society, but thinly
scattered in the wide world."
From the Falls of the Dahl they continued their route to
Upsal, where they took up their quarters for the night, and
on the following day, they made enquiries respecting a ves-
sel to carry them to Abo. Very fortunately they heard-of
one that was to sail in a day or two, and our travellers re-
turned to their inn, and prepared for their departure*
CHAPTER X.
RUSSIA.
SECTION I
JOURNEY TO HUSSIA.
THEY were extremely amused on their voyage in the Baltic
by the picturesque isles which they repeatedly passed, upon
RUSSIA,
one of which they landed, and took their breakest in a fisher-
man's cottage, beautifully situated in a thick grove, where they
were hospitably entertained by the mother and wife of the
owner: this family, (there were five children,) formed the
whole of the inhabitants of this little spot. It was rich in ve-
getation, and its produce appeared to be perfectly adequate to
the support of the peasant and his family. Upon arriving at
Abo, they were greatly disappointed at its mean appearance.
In short so little did they find in this town worthy of notice,
that although a little fatigued, they gave orders for their de-
parture, and in the evening they entered their carriage, and
arrived at Helsingfors, after passing through a country not de-
ficient in culture or barren in soil. From thence they pro-
ceeded to Borgq, where they made no stay, but continued
their journey with very little intermission, until they reached
the Kymen? the boundary between the Russian and Swedish
dominions, and over which is a wooden bridge, that is kept
in repair by both nations. Their road now lay through a
gloomy forest, and after a dreary ride of some hours, our
travellers were not a little delighted at seeing the town of
Federicshamn in the distance. The plan of this town is
singular, as well as beautiful, all the streets going off like
radii from a centre, in which is a handsome hotel de ville.
The country between Fredericshamn and Wybourg is barren
and sterile to a great degree. Wyburg is the capital of Fin-
rush Lapland, seated on the Lake of Ladoga ; it is a forti-
fied trading town, and the commerce of its province is chiefly
carried on here.
" Russia, " said Dr. Walker, is one of the most extensive
countries in Europe, and the dominions of the emperor Alex-
ander are larger than those of any other potentate whatever.
Sit down, Edward ; the evening is gloomy, and we will there-
fore amuse ourselves with a comfortable tete a tete, not by
the fire-side, for that is a luxury we must not expect to
meet with in Russia, the houses being chiefly warmed by
flues; but citizens of the world can be comfortable any where.
But to commence my description of Russia. This empire,
the largest in extent, and the most powerful in the world,
extends from the Baltic and Sweden on the west, to Kam-
schatka and the Eastern Ocean ; and from the Arctic Sea on
the north, to the boundaries of Turkejr, the Euxine and
Caspiafi Seas, Eastern and Western Tartary, and other un-
known regions of Asia on the south. It is about 9,200 miles
in length, and 2,400 in breadth."
JOURNEY TO RUSSIA.
209
EDWARD. " What an extent of empire !"
DR. WALKER. " Russia contains the following govern-
ments, named after those towns in which courts of judicature
are established, as they stood in 1 803.
1. Moskva
2. St. Petersburj
3. Novogorod
4. Olenetz
5. Archangel
6. Pokove
7. Smolensk
8. Tula
9. Twer
10. Kaluga
11. Jaroslaf
12. Kostroma
13. Vludimir
14. Vologda
15. Nisneygorod
16. Wiutka
17. Kasan
18. Prem
" The population of European Russia was formerly esti-
mated at thirty. three millions, and that of Asiatic Russia at
three millions ; but its entire population is now nearly fifty
millions, part of whom are mere barbarians.
" By the unprincipled partition of Poland in 1772, 1793,
and 1815, Russia joined to its ancient territory three-fourths
of that fine country, and about ten millions of subjects were
added to its original population, By a peace with Persia in
1814, Russia acquired the whole of the extensive regions
which nearly surround the Caspian Sea, together with their
population. The governments of Petersburg, Wyburg, Re-
vel, Riga (the Carella, Esthonia, and Livonia of history,)
were wrested from Sweden by Peter the Great. The large
division of Finland was recently ceded by Sweden, which
was indemnified by Denmark's reluctantly yielding up to it
the kingdom of Norway."
EDWARD. " I would rather be king of England than
emperor of Russia, although the dominions of the latter are
so vastly superior to those of the former. Neither should I
like very much to be a subject of Russia. I should not like
19. Toblosk
20. Tomsk
21. Irkutsk
22. Orenburg
23. Simbirsk
24. Penza
25. Saratof
26. Astracan
27. Caucasus
28. Voronish
29. Tambof
30. Razan
31. Kursk
32. Orel
33. TheSlobodish
Ukrain
34. Ekaterinaslaf
35. Tauria
36. Cherson (Niko-
layef)
37. Poltowa
38. Tschernigof
39. Kief
40. Podolia
41. Veiny ma
42. Grodno
43. Vilna
44. Vitebsk
45. Mogilef
46. Minsk
47. Courland
48. Livonia
49. Esthonia
50. Finland
51. Grusia.
210 RUSSIA.
a journey to Siberia, nor should I at all fancy the punishment
of the knout."
DR. WALKER. " Did you never feel any antipathy to
the mode of execution in your own country, Edward. One
would almost suppose you had made up your mind to merit
punishment. Laws and punishments are made for the guilty
only. Now in Russia there are no penal laws, therefore you
would have less to fear there than in England. "
u EDWARD. " No; it is very true, there are no penal
laws ; but many die under the punishment of the double
knout ; and as for exile in the desert plains near Kamschat-
ka, my blood runs cold at the thoughts of it ; there is that in
banishment, and to such a place that would ever prevent my
feeling a moment's peace."
DR. WALKER. " ' All places that the eye ofheaven visits
Are to a wise man ports and happy havens.' "
EDWARD.- " Ah, but my dear Sir, what was Boling-
broke's answer to the imaginary pleasures pointed out by his
father, opposed to the bitter realities of banishment?"
DR. WALKER, Let us have it, I pray you.'*
EDWARD." But you know it, Sir."
DR. WALLER. " True; but Shakspeare never tires, for
' he's always changing and for ever new/'
EDWARD. " Oh who can hold a fire in his hand
By thinking on the frosty Caucasus ?
Or cloy the hungry edge of appetite,
By bare imagination of a feast ?
Or wallow in December snow,
By thinking on fantastic summer's heat ?
Oh, no, the apprehension of the good
Gives but the greater feeling to the worse :
Fell Sorrow's tooth doth never rankle more,
Than when it bites, but cancereth not the sore."
Da. WALKER. " So now there is an end of my argu-
ment ; for with such an authority I must, I suppose, give up
the contest ; but your triumph is not quite complete, for the
same master of poesy, in Cymbeline says
4 Now my co-mates and brothers in exile.'
You know the rest I am sure; and so a truce to our poetic
flights.; for we must descend from our Pegasus, and light on
JOURNEY TO RUSSIA. 211
your favourite Russian soil, which is by no means so unwor-
thy of your partiality as you seem to think. Of the moun-
tains of this country there is a chain between the Baltic and
the White Sea ; another in the south of Tau ; a ridge on the
road between Petersburg and Moscow ; and the great Aha-
rian chain, which separates Siberia from independent and
Chinese Tartary. In the south of European Russia are
many extensive plains, some of which are more than 400
English miles in length ; on these great flocks of sheep are
kept. The northern parts are woody and marshy ; and the
southern provinces are, in general, very fertile,. but badly
cultivated. The former yield hemp, flax, tobacco, wheat,
and barley : the latter produce these, together with rice,
millet, and olives. Besides the quadrupeds common to Nor-
way and Sweden, it has the sable, lynx, and camel. The
iron and copper mines are principally in the Altarian moun-
tains. On the isle of Taman, in the district of Perecop, is a
spring of naphtha.
u But come, Edward, what are the Russian exports and
imports ?"
EDWARD. " From the White Sea, potash, tallow, wax,
hides, grain, hemp. From the Baltic, besides the above,
timber, tobacco, honey, furs, coarse linen, linseed oil, pitch,
tar, feathers, hogs' bristles, red leather, caviare. From the
Black Sea, furs, salt, beef, butter, cordage, sail-cloth, cavi-
are, grain, iron. From the Caspian, European manufactures.
The Russians carry Siberian furs to China.
" The annual exports are estimated at 17>000/. for grain;
1,575,000/. for hemp, flax, and articles made of them ;
175,000/. for timber and potashes; 157,500^. for wax;
42,449 cwt. of tobacco. From Petersburg, in 1781,
144,1601bs. of isinglass ; 428,5211bs. of caviare ; and 475,1 11
furs. Black cattle, sheep, horses, swine are exported in
great numbers. The annual imports are paper to the amount
of 2,500/. ; hops to 21,874/. ; iron, copper, salt, in great
quantities.
" Russia imports into the Baltic, paper, hardware^ tin,
lead, woollen cloth, wine, brandy, West India produce. Into
the Black Sea, wine, fruit a coffee, silk, rice. Into the Cas-
pian, raw silk, dried fruits, saffron, spices, sulphur, naphtha,
gold, and precious stones. Russia receives tea, silk and por-
celain, from China. And its chief ports are Petersburg, Wy-
burg, Revel, Riga, Archangel, Cherson, Oczakow, Astracan e "
212 RUSSIA.
DR. WALKER. " Bravo, Edward, when you return to
England, you will have become so expert a connoisseur in
the different branches of political as well as natural geogra-
phy, that I shall expect you will be aiming at the important
situation of chancellor of the exchequer. We will say no-
thing of the principal Russian towns, as we shall visit some of
them; but of the rivers and canals we will take some notice.
" The Beresina, will be famous in history from the re-
treat of Napoleon from Moscow.
" The Niester, rising in the Carpathian Mountains, forms
the present boundary between Turkey and Russia, and, pas-
sing by Bender, falls into the Euxine at Akerman : its course
is 600 miles.
" The Dnieper, the ancient Boristhenes, rises at Viesma
in Russia, passes Smolensk, Rogatchov, Kiow, Catharinoslav,
Alexandrowskaia, and falls into the Black Sea at Cherson,
after a course of 1000 miles,
" The Don rises to the south of Moscow, and falls into the
sea of Azof, after a course of 800 miles.
" The Wolga may be reckoned the prince of European
rivers: it derives its source from several lakes between Mos-
cow and Petersburg : it is navigable from Twer, and passes
by Mologa, Kostroma, Nisney, Novogorod, Kasan, Simbirsk,
Samara ; whence to Tzaritzin, it is the boundary between
Europe and Asia : it then runs south-east, and falls into the
Caspian Sea at Astracan : its comparative course may be
estimated at 700 miles. This noble river having no cata-
racts, and few shoals, is navigable even to Twer. The D \vina
rises in Ustiaga ; and falls into the Gulf of Archangel, after a
course of about 500 miles.
" The inland navigation of Russia is very extensive. An
intercourse is formed between the Caspian Sea and the Bal-
tic, a distance of nearly 2,4-00 miles, by means of the canal
of Vetni Volotchok, uniting the Twertza, which runs into the
Wolga, with the Shlina, which communicates with the Baltic.
" The canal of Ladoga passes along the lake of that name,
and extends from the river Volk to the Neva, a space of 67
miles, and communicates with the former canal. Another
canal leads from Moscow to the river Don, forming a com-
munication with the Euxine. Peter the Great intended to
unite the Don and the Wolga, and thus to form an inter-
course between the Caspian and Euxine Sea and the Baltic.
" And now as we are upon the subject, I will briefly
mention the chief canals in the world.
JOURNEY TO RUSSIA. 213
" In Sweden an attempt has been made to unite Stock-
holm with Gottenburg, by the canal styled Kal Trolkattan,
conducted along the river Gotha; but the attempt has failed.
" The chief inland navigation of Denmark, is the canal
of Kiel, which we have seen ; it unites the Baltic and the
river Eyder, which flows into the German Sea. Its length
is about 21 miles; the breadth 100 feet at top,' and 54 at
bottom : the least depth about 10 feet, so as to admit vessels
of 120 tons.
" A canal is made in the Prussian dominions to unite the
Elbe with the Oder : its length is nearly 60 miles.
" Holland is intersected with innumerable canals, which,
for number and size, may be compared to our public high,
ways. By them a great inland trade is carried on with France
and Germany. In summer they are constantly crowded
with boats of pleasure or of traffic; and in winter, when they
are frozen over, the inhabitants travel on them with skates,
and perform long journies in a very short time.
" In France die canal of Briare, otherwise styled the
canal of Burgundy, unites the Loire and the Seine. From
Briare, upon the Loire, it passes by Montargis and falls into
the Seine near Fontainbleau.
" A canal from Orleans joins the last mentioned canal at
Montargis.
" The canal of Picardy extends from the Somme to the
Oise, beginning at St. Quintin.
" But the chief canal of France is the celebrated one of
Languedoc, which forms a junction between the Mediterra-
nean and the i3ay of Biscay. This noble canal begins at
Cette, in the Bay of Languedoc, and joins the Garonne, be-
low Toulouse. The breadth, including the towing paths, is
144- feet, the depth six feet, and the length 180 miles.
" The canals of China have long excited the wonder of
other nations. There is a large canal in every province, with
branches to most of the towns and villages.
ts The imperial canal runs north and south, beginning at
Lin-sin-choo, where it joins the river Euho, and extends to
Han-choo-foo, in an irregular line of about 500 miles.
" The river Kan-Kian facilitates the navigation of the
southern provinces ; and all kinds of merchandize entering
Canton, can be conveyed directly to Pekin, a distance of
825 miles.
" In Hindosten, the river Ganges is uninterruptedly na-
214 RUSSIA.
vigable for the distance of 500 miles from the sea; its me
dium breadth is three quarters of a mile, and the depth of it
channel 30 feet.
" The Indus admits of an uninterrupted navigation fron
the Gulf of Cutch to Lahore, for vessels of 200 tons, a dis
tance of nearly 800 miles.
" No country can boast of superior means for inland na
vigation than the United States. An extensive sea coast
with many large bays, on the east ; Lakes Superior, Michi
gan, and Huron, forming one large sea, on the north; an<
the river Mississippi, into which the Ohio runs, on the west
The internal parts of the country are also intersected \viti
the noblest rivers, many of which are navigable for somi
hundreds of miles ; and very little assistance is wanting fron
canals to render this country the most convenient, for com
merce and inland navigation, of any on the globe.
" By means of the Lake Nicaragua, whose length is 17<
miles and which has a great outlet, the river of St. Juan
flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, an easy passage might bi
made from the Atlantic into the Pacific, and in the mos
direct course that could be desired. Were any enterprisinj
nation, instead of Spain, in possession of this part of Ame
rica, this improvement would probably soon be made."
EDWARD. " Are not the rivers of America longer thai
those of the Old World ?"
DR. WALKER. Of this you shall yourself judge; foi
I have here a comparative view of the length of the principa
rivers in the world, which I will shew you.
EUROPEAN RIVERS.
Thames, as the standard
of unity
Rhine
Danube 9;
Wolga ....12
ASIATIC RIVERS.
Indus 7
Euphrates 6
Ganges 10
Irrawaddy 8
Burrampoot... .^1
Enissei 10
Obe 13
Amour 13
Hoan-ho 14
Kian-ku 15.^
AFRICAN RIVER. _.
Nile.., ,.,14
JOURNEY TO RUSSIA. 215
AMERICAN RIVERS.
Mississippi, reckoning its
length to the most re-
mote branch of the
Missouri 14
Amazons ,.16
Rio de la Plata 11
" By this standard you will perceive that the river of the
Amazons is the longest river in the world, and that our
boasted Thames is but a streamlet compared to the more
majestic rivers described in this list."
EDWARD. " Indeed it is as you say, but a streamlet
compared to those stupendous rivers you have named ; but
it is of no small importance, nevertheless, and few excel it
in beauty. The views of it at Henley-upon-Thames, and
Richmond, present a matchless scene of pastoral beauty ;
and as for imposing sights, none I am very sure excel that of
the Thames at London Bridge. The quays crowded with
merchant vessels from all parts of the world ; their masts
presenting the appearance of a leafless forest."
DR. WALKER. " You shall travel, Edward, wherever
you please, since you have so much of the amor patrice in
your composition as to look to England as the close and
summit of all your hopes and wanderings, I shall not fear that
like the fop described in the fable of the cameleon, you will
deserve the title of " the travelled fool.'*
" Letters from England/' said Colin, who at this mo-
ment opened the door; " and they are most welcome" re-
plied the Doctor, as he unfolded a large packet, " there,
Edward, is yours."
When Edward had perused his epistle, he exclaimed, " I
have lots of commissions, Sir, from my sisters."
" Not pardons from Rome, I suppose," said the Doctor.
" No," replied his pupil ; " but I am desired to collect
all sorts of curiosities, and ship them off for England."
DR. WALKER. " Suppose then you send them a frozen
pig or an ox, one of those we saw in the market this morn-
ing, standing bolt upright, looking at a distance like a com-
pany of soldiers in red and white uniforms/'
EDWARD. " Rather clumsily shaped for soldiers, Sir,
not like our guards at home."
DR. WALKER. " Why, no, certainly not ; but we are
such notorious gossips, that if we do not separate, the morn-
216 RUSSIA.
ing will surprise us before we are aware of it ; so good eight :
To-morrow we start for Petersburg."
EDWARD. " How far distant is Petersburg from Wy-
burg?"
DR. WALKER. " Why, as near as I can guess, about
one hundred and ten English miles."
SECTION IL
JOURNEY CONTINUED. PETERSBURG, &C.
EARLY on the following day our travellers resumed their
journey ; and without meeting with any adventure, arrived
on the evening of the next day, at the capital of the Russian
empire. Upon entering this fine city, which but a century
ago consisted of a few huts only, the traveller is struck with
astonishment at the mighty genius of the extraordinary Peter,
who caused the present city to spring from a morass, and
transformed into men. his uncultivated subjects, who were
little better than savages,
EDWARD. " What a mind must Peter have had I"
DR. WALKER, " Yes. Antiquity may boast of her So-
lon, her Lycurgus, her Romulus, and all her heroes ; but
none of them, in a political point of view, equalled the won-
derful Peter. At his private vices, and even his politi-
cal severity, we must not glance: that part of his character
will not bear examination. Petersburg stands on an immense
extent of ground : the houses are principally of wood, and it
contains a profusion of churches, which are ornamented with
copper domes gilt ; these have a brilliant effect when the
sun shines. The places of worship are exceedingly and gau-
dily adorned within ; with grotesque paintings of the Virgin
and child, which are mostly attired with gold or silver head-
dresses, stuck close to the wall, and in some cases the figures
are cloathed with complete habits ; but the present Emperor
Alexander has wonderfully contributed to abolish many bar-
barous remains of their ancient customs ; and Petersburg,
from the improvements which are daily making, bids fair to
rival the finest capitals of Europe. The streets in general
are broad and spacious, and three of the principal ones
JOURNEY CONTINUED. 217
which meet in a point at the admiralty, are at least two miles
in length. We have no street like this in London, Edward/'
observed the Doctor. " Oxford-street is the longest in the
English metropolis, and that is only one mile and a quarter
long. Our new street may indeed rival it for beauty in ar-
chitectural design ; but I very much doubt whether some of
our national vanity will not receive a check from our foreign
excursions."
EDWARD (Smiling,) " Prince Blucher said there was
but one London in the world, Sir."
DR. WALKEU. " You are incorrigible, Edward, and
you will, I am sure, say as a friend of mine said when he re-
turned from a continental tour. Upon being asked if he
had not received n\nch pleasure and amusement from his
travels, he replied : ' Oh, yes, undoubtedly, it is all mighty
fine ; but I feel just as I do when I return from a crowded
theatre, extremely delighted to have seen the shew ; but
heartily glad to be at home again !'*
" Some few of the streets in Petersburg are floored with
planks, and in several parts of this metropolis, wooden houses,
little better than cottages, stand close to some of the public
buildings. The houses of the nobility are very splendid, and
are fitted up very like those in London or Paris. The views
upon the banks of the Neva, exhibit the grandest and most
lively scenes imaginable. This river is broad, deep, clear
and rapid, and its shores richly ornamented with superb
buildings on either side. On the north are the fortress and
academy of sciences, and an academy of the arts; and on
the opposite side are the imperial palace, admiralty, many
private (but grand) mansions, and a row of houses called the
English line, which is principally occupied by the merchants
of Great Britain. In the front of these buildings is the quay.
The opposite divisions of this city are connected by means of
a bridge on platoons, which on account of the large masses
of ice driven down the stream from tlfe lake Ladoga, is
usually removed when the frost first makes its appearance,
and until the ice is hard enough to bear a carriage, which
generally happens in the course of a few days, all commu-
nication between the opposite parts of the town are sus-
pended. Now that we are on the subject of ice, its extnrru*
hardness may be learned from the following anecdote. Dur-
ing the severe winter of 174-0, a palace of ice, 52 feet long,
16 wide, and 20 high, was built at Petersburg; according- to
L
218 RUSSIA.
the most elegant rules of architecture. The river Neva af-
forded the ice, which was from two to three feet thick, blocks
of which were cut and embellished with various ornaments.
When built, the different parts were coloured by sprinkling
them over with water of various tints. Six cannons, made
of, and mounted on ice, with wheels of the same material,
were placed before the palace; and an hempen bullet was
driven by one of them, (in the presence of the whole court,)
through a board two inches thick, nt the distance of sixty
paces. "
EDWARD. " Cowper, I believe, wrote the following
.beautiful lines upon this subject."
No forest fell,
Imperial mistress of the fur-clad Russ
When thou would'st build ; no quarry sent its stores
T'enrich thy walls ; but thou didst hew the floods,
And make thy marble of the glassy wave,
Silently as a dream the fabric rose ;
Ice upon ice, the well adjusted parts
Were soon conjoin'd ; nor other cement ask'd.
Than water interfused to make them one.
Lamps gracefully dispos'd, and of all hues,
Illuinin'd every side. Long wavy wreaths
Of flowers, that fear"d no enemy but warmth,
Blush'd on the pannels, which were once a stream,
And soon to slide into a stream again."
Du. WALKER. " Very correct, my young friend; and
now what think you of that statue of Peter I. ?" said the Doc-
tor to his pupil as they viewed this monument of grati-
tude and veneration erected to the memory of the founder
of Russia's greatness ; if not of the Russian empire.
EDWARD. " That it is exquisitely beautiful. What
a grand idea it was to place him on that huge rock instead
of a pedestal; how finely the artist has given all the effect of
eager toil to the spirited animal who bears the mighty Peter
on his back 1''
Du. WALKER. " Yes; and observe how judiciously he
has chosen that simple habit for Peter, which is not charac-
teristic of any country, and therefore can never become
otherwise than pleasing. Look at his eye, pointedly directed
to some distant object, (the citadel, I suppose,) while on his
countenance sits " deliberation and public care/' His left
hand holds the bridle ; his right is extended, as Mr. Falco-
JOURNEY CONTINUED. 219
nette, the artist, expressively describes it " En pere et en
maitre"
EDWARD. " The great Catherine, as she is called, caused
this statue to be erected ; did she not, Sir ?"
" DR. WALKER. u Yes; you see that simple inscrip-
tion, Petro primo Catherina secunda. The statue confers,
on her as much honour as it does on Peter/'
The cold setting in very intensely, Dr. Walker was glad
to procure for himself and Edward fur pelisses, boots, and
bonnets, which came down over their ears. In one of their
rambles in the environs of the city, they met a peasant rub-
bing his face with snow in order to thaw it ; for his nose was
in danger of freezing ; the other parts of his body were
pretty well secured by his sheep-skin garment, the wool of
which was turned inward, and bound round his waist by a
girdle; his trowsers were of thick linen, and his legs were
wound round with flannel iustead of stockings. This being
the general dress of the Russian peasantry. The costume of
the common women is not inelegant ; it is composed of a
petticoat, and a gay coloured tunic with white sleeves ; and
when a smart young Russian milk-woman has placed her
ashen bow across her shoulders, to the end of which is sus-
pended little jars, covered with matted birch bark, she pre-
sents a picture of graceful ease, that a painter might feel
proud to copy. The Russians are generally well-formed, and
are remarkable for fine teeth.
As they were making some few purchases in a jeweller's
shop, the mistress of the house made her appearance in her
visiting dress ; she was very gaily attired. On the top of
her cap was a large rich silk-handkerchief, which fell in
folds behind upon the neck and shoulders ; and before she
quitted her house, she drew round her a comfortable and
warm fur pelisse.
" The buildings of the Russian villages strongly recal the
earliest ages of architecture," said Doctor Walker, " they
are formed of beams placed at certain distances, the spaces
between which are fitted up with flax and moss. With the
orders of architecture you are well acquainted, Edward; but
perhaps you would never think of discovering in that rude
building before us, the origin of the Doric order : and yet,
upon a slight glance, you will there find the first rude traces
of every Doric ornament, except two, I mean the plinth and
the abacus, which I do not observe in these Russian cottages*
220. RUSSIA.
The art of making bricks or tiles is supposed to have beer a
very early discovery of man ; and as the poles which were
erected for the support of the walls, might, in the course of
time, be much injured from being saturated with rain and
dews, the idea of placing a brick or tile as a foundation
for these poles to rest upon, appears but natural. This tile
furnishes the plinth (for the ancient Doric had no base,)
and as uniformity is in some degree to be found in most of
the productions of man, the tile placed at top of the pole or
shaft, by way of ornament, gives us the abacus. The spaces
between these shafts being filled up with moss and clay, com-
pleting the walls ; the roof became the next consideration.
This we may at first suppose to have been flat, and formed
by laying timbers across the top, (having the interstices fil-
led up in the same way as those which composed the walls.
You, of course, understand that in order to support these
cross timbers, it would be necessary to lay a plank along the
top of the four walls. The building in this state was found
to be extremely damp, from the lodgment of the rain water
on its top, hence arose the sloping roof, and that being
erected, we shall see with ease all the different parts of the
Doric order.
" First, the plinth, in the tile at the bottom ; then the shaft,
in the rude pole, or trunks of trees, which formed the support
of the walls.
" Then the abaeus, in the corresponding tile at the top.
"'Then the architrave, in the beam which crosses these
shafts, in order the better to support the roof.
" The spaces beUreen the ends of the cross poles which
form the flat roof being filled up, give us the frieze.
" The ends of these cross timbers, ornamented with deep
cut lines, by way of ornament, forms the triglypks, while the
spaces between them being afterwards ornamented by the
Grecians with bulls heads, were called metopes. The Ro-
mans generally enriched their metopes with Roman orders.
*< Above the frieze comes the cornice.
An upper beam, crossing the frieze, answering to that
forming the architrave, being surmounted by the ends of the
rafters, which composed the sloping roof, and which in archi-
tecture form that ornament called denticles, gives us the whole
of the orders. The stately oak is first an acorn, and the Nile,
at its source, is but a small rippling stream. It is thus in
the progress of arts and sciences ! The origin of the Doric
RUSSIAN NOBLES. 22 i
order \ve have traced ; that of the Corinthian ornament arose
from a basket of vegetables thrown carelessly down, from
which Callimachus formed this beautiful Grecian capital ;
and you remember Sancho would say, c Rome was not built
in one day.' So much for this subject ; and now let us enter
one of those sledges, and see whether the movement is as
agreeable as that of an English hackney-coach"
When they first started, they were not quite exempt from
fears ; for the rapidity with which they traverse the frozen
snow, is hardly to be conceived but by those who have them-
selves travelled in this way. The drivers are, however, ex-
tremely skilful ; but to a nervous person the number of these
vehicles which are moving with such velocity in every di-
rection, and a concussion against which appears almost ine-
vitable, presents incessant causes of alarm.
There is one amusement which appears to form the prin-
cipal delight of the Russians, that of singing. The hours of
labour, as well as those devoted to recreation, are invariably
enlivened by the song. As their airs are meiotfrr * though
they possess but little variety, and their voices are ^ .Xvera!
musical, it is pleasing to hear on all sides this hum of die JX'$;
voices. Slavery still prevails in Russia; but the preset
Emperor Alexander has enfrancished many of the royal serfs
in various parts of his dominions. At all times the slaves
belonging to the crown have been in much easier circum-
stances than those depending upon private individuals. The
former paid annually five roubles a year as their abrock or
rent ; but the rent of those depending on the nobles is re-
gulated by their ability to get money ; besides which each
slave is obliged to work three days in the week for his pro-
prietor.
SECTION III.
RUSSIAN NOBLES.
" HAVING visited the cottage of the peasant, we will
take a glance, Edward," said Dr. Walker, " at one of
the Russian palaces at least, and that shall be the palace of
L 3
222 RUSSIA.
Peterhoff, which was begun by Peter I. and which has been
enlarged and beautified by subsequent sovereigns.
" Peterhoff is situated at a short distance from Petersburg,
on the Gulf of Finland, in the midst of beautiful and exten-
sive gardens. There is a large canal in the front of the
palace, which communicates with the Gulf, and which sup-
plies three jets d'eau, which are always playing. The apart-
ments are very splendid, and in the drawing-room are five
beautiful portraits of the sovereigns of Russia.
" They are full length portraits, and that of Peter first
strikes the spectator : opposite to him is Catherine, his wife
and successor. The empresses Anne and Elizabeth, and
Catherine Second, complete the groupe. The latter is ha-
bited in a Russian uniform, and sits in the attitude of a man
upon her horse. In her hat is the oaken bough, and her
hair floats in a loose dishevelled state upon her shoulders.
" Now for another trophy of Russian greatness," said Doc-
tor Walker, " and then we must think of directing our steps
towards ^Moscow. I mean the column erected by the pre-
sent emperor to perpetuate the expulsion of the French from
Russia in the year 1813. It is composed of pieces of ord-
nance taken from Buonaparte in hi& disastrous retreat from
Moscow. The largest cannon are placed at the bottom, and
they gradually diminish in size as they approach to the top,
which is surmounted by a howitzer, the smallest piece of
ordnance that is made. This is a trophy of which a nation
may be proud as it records deeds performed in one of the
most just of all causes, that of the defence of one's country
against an ambitious and unjust invader."
" We must not return to England without seeing the for-
tress, Sir," said Edward. " No," replied his tutor, ** that
would indeed be an omission, for there we shall see the
tomb of Peter the Great, his empress Catherine, of Alexis his
unfortunate son, the empress Anne and Elizabeth, Peter the
Third, Catherine the Second, and Paul, father of the present
emperor. The spire of the church is remarkable for its
height, which is two hundred and forty feet, and gilt with
ducat gold. The inside possesses no object worthy of in-
spection, except the tombs of the sovereigns of Russia. These
are of stone, arranged in lines on the right of the shrine, and
covered with velvet richly embroidered in gold. Banners of
war, truncheons, keys of cities and arms taken in battle,
curiously diversified, adorn the walls of the chapel on either
RUSSIAN NOBLES. 223
side. On mounting the belfry our travellers were astonished
even to silence, at the magnificent prospect before them.
The range of palaces and superb houses extended nearly
six miles. From this height they could also distingnish,
what indeed formed a less agreeable prospect, many of the
prison yards in the fortress, and the gratings of numerous
dungeons. In a distant pare of the citadel, the prison was
pointed out to them in which a young princess was immured,
and there perished.
The man who shewed this object, asked if they knew her
story. Upon receiving an answer in the negative, he told
them that " after the battle of Tischerne, a young and beau-
tiful Russian lady having settled at Leghorn, her society was
extremely courted, from the elegance and sweetness of 'her
manners. She was always accompanied by an elderly lady,
and her appearance and deportment excited a considerable
degree of interest ; more particularly as there was a degree
of mystery about her, which never fails to throw a sort of
charm around all and every thing it envelopes. At length,
in an unguarded moment, she declared to some of her inti-
mate friends that she was the daughter of the empress Eli.
zabeth, by a private marriage, and that she was in fact the
rightful heiress to the empire of Russia. This intelligence
quickly reached the ears of Catherine, and Count Orloif un-
dertook to secure the person of the indiscreet young lady.
By means of one of his creatures, whom he sent to Leghorn,
he induced her to come to Pisa; he himself arrived in Italy, a
short time afterwards ; upon being introduced to her, he
appeared much struck by her beauty, and at length timidly
and basely avowed the most ardent passion for her. She
listened to bis proposals, and dazzled at the glittering pros-
pect he drew of their mounting the throne of Russia toge-
ther, she consented to wed him. Three or four days after
the marriage was completed, she embarked on board a ves-
sel destined, as she supposed, for a pleasurable excursion, in
honour of her nuptials, when to her terror and surprise, she
no sooner entered the cabin, than Orloff threw off the mask.
He called her a base impostor, and rudely seizing her hands,
he ordered them to be confined/*
" Oh, what a \\retch!" exclaimed Edward.
" She was," continued their informer, " immediately con-
veyed on board a vessel bound for Cronstadt, from whence she
was removed in a covered barge to this fortress, and was never
224 RUSSIA.
heard of more ; indeed she is supposed to have been drowned
in her dungeon by the overflowing of the Neva."
" Was this circumstance known in Orloff's life.time?"
enquired Edward indignantly ; " if so, I am sure he ought
to have been hooted out of society. I hate deceit at all
times, and I shall never hear Orloff's name again but my
blood will boil."
" Edward," said Doctor Walker, " I admire your spirit ;
it is that of a preux chevalier. The conduct of Orloff must
excite the utmost indignation in every generous breast.
Whether her story were true or false, his conduct was equally
reprehensible. It was unmanly^ ungenerous."
EDWARD. "Oh! 'twas base and treacherous, and I
loathe his very name."
SECTION IV.
VISION, THE EYE ; ITS PROPERTIES.
ABOUT the middle of February our travellers resumed
their peregrinations, and after a tolerable journey to Novo-
gorod, one of the principal towns of Russia, proceeded along
the heights of Valda, where they amused themselves with
inspecting some of those tumuli, or sepulchral mountains,
which are so profusely scattered in this neighbourhood] and
which have not yet excited that spirit of enquiry, they seem
to merit. The road now became extremely rough, and their
journey tedious ; and Dr. Walker was, therefore, not a little
delighted when they arrived at Vyshnoy-Volotshok, a place
of considerable importance, and intimately connected with
the metropolis in a commercial point of view. Here they
again witnessed the splendour of an Aurora Borealis.
" J have often thought, Sir, that of .all our senses, sight
is the most precious," said Edward, as his eyes wandered
with delight over the beauties of the brilliant changing scene
before him.
DR. WALKER. " Sight is undoubtedly one of the most
precious and extensive of heaven's blessings, but our ears are
capable of receiving almost as much pleasure as our eyes.
Nay, I have often observed, that blind people are more
VISION, THE EYE; ITS PROPERTIES. 225
vhearful than those who are deaf. Now this could not be
the case unless we suppose that the^sense of hearing imparts
more general pleasure than that of sight ; but I know not
whether, if I had my choice, I should not prefer deafness
to blindness ; for the other day, when I broke my specta-
cles, although deprived of them but for about twelve hours, I
never felt how much my happiness depended upon two small
bits of crystal. How pathetically does Milton, in his address
to light, lament the loss of sight.
" Thee I revisit safe,
And feel thy sovereign vital lamp; but thou
Revisit'st not these eyes, that roll in vain,
To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn,
So thick a drop serene hath quenched their orbs,
Or dim suffusion veil'd."
" And again,
" Thus with the year
Seasons return; but not to me returns
Day, or the sweet approach of ev'n or morn,.
Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose,
Or flocks, or. herds, or human face divine ;
But clouds instead, and ever during dark
Surrounds me, from the chearful ways of men
Cut off, and for the book of knowledge fair
Presented, with a universal blank
Of Nature's works to me expung'd and ras'd,
And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out.'*
EDWARD. " Those beautiful lines make one quite me-
lancholy. Pray, Sir, can you explain to me the nature and
properties of the eye ? >f
DR. WALKER. " Some few of its properties I can. Had
you asked its anatomical formation, I could not have satis-
fied you"; that is a subject which requires intense study, and
has occupied the attention and lives of many learned men
who have devoted themselves wholly to this particular study.
What knowledge I have acquired relating to it, I will detail
for your benefit; and small though it be, it is sufficient to
excite sensations of the deepest astonishment, as well as those
of the most heartfelt gratitude for the blessings it confers*
* In the first place the eye can see only a very small part
of an object distinctly, for the collateral parts of an object
are not represented distinctly in the eye ; and therefore the
eye is forced to turn itself successively to the several parts of
L 5
RUSSIA.
the object it wants to view, that they may fall near the axis
of the eye, where alone distinct vision is performed.
" When any point of an object is seen distinctly with both
eyes, the axes of both eyes are directed to that point, and
meet there; and then the object appears single, though
looked at with both eyes ; for the optic nerves are so framed,
that the correspondent parts in both eyes, lead to the same
place in the brain, and give but one sensation ; and the
image will be twice as bright with both eyes as with one*
But if the axes of both eyes be not directed to the object,
that object will appear double, as the pictures in the two eyes
do not fall upon correspondent or similar parts of the retina.
" The best eye can hardly distinguish any object which
at the eye subtends an angle less than half a minute; and
very few can distinguish an object when it subtends a minute.
If the distance of two stars in the heavens be not greater
than this, they will appear as one. ,
u Though men may see distinctly at different distances,
by altering the position and figure of the crystalline, yet they
can only see distinctly within certain limits, and nearer than
that, objects appear confused. But these limits are not the
same in different people. A good eye can see distinctly
when the rays fall parallel upon it ; and then the principal
focus is at the bottom of the eye.
" A man can judge at a small distance with one eye, by
frequently observing how much variation is made in the eye
to make the object distinct; and from this a habit of judging
is acquired- But this cannot be done at great distances,
because, though the distance be varied, the change in the
eye becomes then insensible.
" But a man can judge of greater distances with both
eyes, than he can with one ; for the eyes being at a distance
from one another, as long as that distance has a sensible pro-
portion to the distance of the object, he gets a habit of judg-
ing, by the position of the axes of the eyes, which are always
directed to that point ; and different distances require dif-
ferent positions of the axes, which depends on the motions
of the eyes, and which we feel ; but in very great distances,
no judgment can be made from the motion of the eyes, or
their internal parts. Therefore we can only guess at the
distances from the magnitude, colour, and the position -of
interjacent bodies.
" Whatever light falls upon that part of the retina, whence
VISION, THE EYE; ITS PROPERTIES. 227
the optic nerve springs, makes no impression ; and therefore,
if the picture of an object falls thereon, it is not perceived,
and thpt object is invisible. This will appear by placing a
small bright object before you, and looking at it with one
eye: then moving one eye laterally towards the contrary
side (towards the left, if it be the right eye), the object will
disappear, and seem to be lost ; and moving it still farther, it
will re appear. This place is not however at the bottom of
the eye, but nearer the nose in both of them ; so that no
rays, either parallel or diverging, that come from any ob-
ject, can fall upon that place in both the eyes ; so that any
object we direct the eyes to, will always be visible, at least to
one eye. But the same bright object may be made to disap-
pear to both eyes, by directing the axes of both eyes to a
point a little beyond the nose, to be found by trials.
" Dimness of sight generally attends old people, and it
may arise from either of these two causes :
" By the eyes growing flat, and not uniting the rays at
the retina, which causes indistinctness of vision; or,
" By the opacity of the humours of the eye, which, in
time, lose their transparency in some degree; from whence
it follows, that a great deal of the light that enters the eye,
is stopt and lost ; and every object appears faint and dim.
" As the rays of light flowing from an object, and paint-
ing its image upon the retina, are the immediate cause of
seeing ; so where there is no light, there can be no vision :
consequently without light, the eye becomes a machine ut-
terly useless; as it can give us no manner of information of
the existence of bodies at a distance from us.
" People's different length of sight is owing to a more or
less convexity of the cornea and crystalline humour of the
eye : the rounder these are, the nearer will be focus or point
of the meeting rays, and so much the nearer must an object
be brought to see it well. The case of short-sighted people
is only an over-roundness of the eye, which makes a very
near focus ; and that of old people is a sinking or flattening
of the eye, whereby the focus is thrown to a great distance ;
hence the former may properly be called eyes of too short,
and the latter eyes of too long, a focus, The remedy for the
last is a convex glass, to supply the want of convexity in the
eye itself, and bring the rays to a shorter focus ; but the first
require a concave glass, to scatter the rays, and prevent them
coming to a point too soon.
L 6
228 RUSSIA.
" Nothing is more common, than to observe old people
holding objects which they would examine, at a great dis-
tance from them, for the reason above-mentioned ; and every
one knows, that short-sighted people cannot distinguish an
object without bringing it very near to their eyes. Both ex-
tremes are very inconvenient; but- those whose eyes are flat
by age, should remember with satisfaction, that they have
enjoyed the pleasure of them for many years ; and the short-
sighted may comfort themselves, that they can distinguish
much smaller objects than long -sighted people ; for the ob-
ject is magnified in proportion to the roundness of the eye
and the nearness of the focus, and consequently appears four
times as big to an eye whose focus is but four inches off, as
it does to one whose focal distance is at eight inches. Short-
sighted people have also this farther advantage, that age im.
proves their eyes, by the same means that it impairs other
people's, that is, by making them more flat.
" The nearer any object can be brought to the eye, the
the larger will the angle under which it appears, and the
more it will be magnified.
" Now that distance from the naked eye, where the gene-
rality of people are supposed to see small objects best, is
about six inches ; consequently, when such objects are
brought nearer than this measure, they will become less dis-
tinct ; and if they are brought to four or three inches, they
will scarce be seen at all. But by the help of convex glasses,
we are enabled to view things clearly at much shorter dis-
tances than these; for it is the nature of a convex lens, to
render an abject distinctly visible to the eye, at the distance
of its focus ; wherefore, the smaller a lens is, and the more
its convexity, the nearer is its focus, and the more its mag-
nifying power.
" Wheu glasses are put in frames for spectacles, these
frames ought not to be straight, to place both eyes in the
same plane, but they should be so bent in the middle^ that
the axes of both glasses may be directed to one point, at such
a distance as you generally look with spectacles. By this
means the eye will fall perpendicular upon both glasses, and
make the object appear distinct : but if they fall obliquely
upon the glasses, this obliquity will give a confused appear-
ance to the objects to /which the eyes are directed."
EDWARD. " The best spectacles are made from the
Brazilian pebble ; are they not ?"
TWER MOSCOW, 229
DR. WALKER. " ^ T es.
" Thus much for the eye and its wonderful properties ;
and now, Edward, to bed, where for a ti ne that precious
sense will, I hope, soon be soothed to a transitory state of
insensibility. To-morrow you know we visit Twer/'
SECTION V.
TWER MOSCOW.
UPON arriving at the elegant city of Twer, formerly the
residence of the-ancient dukes of Russia, they regaled them-
selves upon a delicious fish called Sterlets, which are caught
in the river Wolga. After dinner they strolled through the
town, which stands at the confluence of the Twerzaand the
Wolga, and which suffered by conflagration in 176*3. It is
rebuilt on a plan suggested by the empress, who advanced
about 60,000/. ; in shares of about 300/. each, to those who
erected brick houses : she had a little after generously re-
mitted one half of the debt, and founded a school for the in-
struction of 200 pupils. Here is also a seminary that admits
600 students, and an academy for 120 of the nobility. This
town is commercial, and is the thoroughfare for all the mer-
chandize sent by water from Siberia and the southern pro-
vinces to Petersburg, and bids fair to rival the finest provin-
cial cities of Europe. Provisions are extremely cheap here,
and the inhabitants enjoy most of the luxuries of life in great
profusion. It however contains nothing extraordinarily cu-
rious, to arrest a traveller's notice; although it presents
many allurements to those who are anxious to find a comfort-
able place of residence.
Dr. Walker, therefore, and his pupil, proceeded on the
following day to Torshok, and from thence to Moscow.
a Moscow is like a phcenix," said the Doctor, as they en-
tered the city, " it is rising from its ashes."
EDWARD. " Was it not strange, Sir, that the ancients
should give such implicit credence to the fable of the Phre-
nix ?"
DR. WALKER. " Yes. But that it was formerly believed
by them, we have the authority of Herodotus, You recol-
lect what he says upon the subjject?"
230 RUSSIA.
EDWARD. u Yes, Sir. He says that there was never
but one at the same time, and that he was brought forth in
Arabia ; that he lived five or six hundred years, and was of
the size of an eagle. His head was adorned with a shining
crest, the feathers of the neck were of a beautiful gold co-
lour, and the rest of his body was purple ; his tail was white
intermixed with red, and his eyes sparkling like stars. When
he was old, and found his end approaching, he built a nest
with wood and aromatic spices, and then died. Of his bones
and marrow, a worm was produced, out of which another
Phoenix is formed. His first care was to solemnize his parents
obsequies, for which purpose he made up a ball, in the shape
of an egg, with abundance of perfumes of myrrrh, as heavy
as he could carry, which he often essayed beforehand ; then
he made a hole in it, in which he deposited his parent's body,
closing it carefully up with myrrh and other perfumes. After
this he took up the precious load on his shoulders, and flying
to the altar of the sun, at Heliopolis, he there burnt it."
On the following morning Dr. Walker, and his young
friend visited the Foundling-Hospital, which was founded by
the empress Catherine II. and is supported by voluntary
contributions, legacies, and other charitable endowments. It
is an immense quadrangular building, and is calculated to
accommodate upwards of 8000 foundlings. These children
are well brought up, and at the age of fourteen, they are
permitted to chuse a trade, and at twenty they leave the
hospital, and have the peculiar privilege of setting up in bu-
siness in any part of Russia, a sum of money being given
them for that purpose.
The Kremlin is one of the most extensive palaces in the
world. It contains a palace, a cathedral with nine towers
covered with copper doubly gilt, five convents, four parish
churches, their spires richly gilt, an arsenal, and several other
public buildings. The Russians are passionately fond of
bells; and few etctions indicate so much piety as the gift of a
stupendous bell. " The English, you know, Edward, are as
celebrated for their love of bells as the Russians ; but the
difference between the two partialities is this, the size of the
befl constitutes its beauty and merit in the dominions of
Alexander, while in England it is its musical property, which
enhances its value. The English are said to have reduced
bell-ringing to a science/' The Moskwa, from which Mos-
cow takes its name, is a small stream, navigable in the
MOSCOW.
summer for boats only. The style in which Moscow is re-
building, is very much in its former style. Large and small
houses stand side by side, and present a motley appearance
of poverty and splendour. When Buonaparte and his de-
structive army entered Moscow, after having stripped the
principal houses, they battered the shells down with
cannon, and even broke open the tombs of the dead to
find treasure. The rage of the French emperor when he
found the inhabitants had set fire to their houses, thus vented
itself upon the possessions of those whose property had es-
caped that all devouring element."
Upon passing through some of the suburbs of the city,
our travellers were surprised at the paucity of the population
in this immense town ; upon mentioning this circumstance
to their host, he smiled, and bade them take such a direc-
tion, and they would find people enough. They immediately
directed their steps to the quarter he pointed out, and were
amply gratified with the curious and novel spectacle which
presented itself to their observation. Greeks, Turks, Poles,
Cossacks, Chinese, French, Italians, Germans, in short in-
habitants from every part of Europe and Asia were here as<-
sembled, all habited in their respective costumes. " This is
a perfect masquerade," observed Doctor Walker, as they
forced their way through the busy crowd, " where, if each
of the different characters could divest himself of his inter-
ested pursuits, so far as to be able to comment upon those
who surround him, what various remarks we should hear*
Look at those Kirgissians with their bald heads covered with
conical embroidered caps, and their sheep skins as garments;
observe those Chinese, and those wild Buchanans; to them
we appear equally extraordinary as they do to us, and their
contempt of our smart broad-cloth, had they leisure to ex-
press it, would perhaps excite our risibility, not our indigna-
tion. There we have the advantage over them. We have
seen too much of mankind, and traversed too many different
countries to feel hurt at the observations of those who are not
like us citizens of the world. Bu*i come, Edward, let us take
a view of the amusements of these good people. I see a
crowd assembled a short distance from this exchange, who
are engaged with no less zeal in the pursuit of pleasure, than
those who surround us, where business gives an air of such
importance to every countenance. I fear we must be but
spectators, not actors in this animated scene," continued the
232 RUSSIA.
n
Doctor, as they approached one of the ice-hills, down which
numbers of persons were, with astonishing rapidity, gliding in
sledges, very like a butcher's tray.
EDWARD. " How are these hills formed, Sir; they ap-
pear perfectly smooth ; if they are artificial, they are very
ingeniously contrived."
DR. WALKER. " A scaffolding, which is generally thirty
feet high, being erected upon the frozen river, boards or
planks, four yards broad, are laid in an inclined position from
the top, their ends resting on the ice. Pieces of ice, about four
inches square, are then laid close together upon these planks
beingsprinkledwith water they become quickly one solid mass.
" It requires no small agility and skill to steer those
sledges accurately ; and observe, Edward, how those boys
skate down there upon one leg," continued the Doctor;
" thus you see what creatures of habit and education, we are,
place either of us upon the top of that scaffolding, and we
should, I fear, not have resolution even to enter the sledge :
put that boy in the whiskey, and tell him to drive a spirited
horse, he would express the same fears and ignorance as we
do about the sledge. Many a brave man, who has faced
the enemy with dauntless brow in the field of battle, has
never been able to conquer his fears of the water, so far as
to enter a boat ; while the sailor, on the other hand, who has
often dared the storm, may tremble at his own shadow in the
dark, so inconsistent an animal is man ! Peter the Great had
an extraordinary antipathy to the water. I have heard that
his fears were accounted for by the following circumstance :
when he was quite a child, he was travelling with his mother,
and during their journey they either passed near, or, I be-
lieve, crossed abridge over a tremendous cataract. The rush
of the water, and its tremendous noise, made such an asto-
nishing impression on his childish imagination, that he was
from that moment always seized with a violent trembling
whenever he approached a river, or even the smallest stream-
let. As, however he advanced to manhood, the conside-
ration of the great disadvantage this antipathy would be to
the prosecution of his future plans, which were yet but
dawning on his mind, he was in the habit of expressing much
uneasiness upon the subject; being, therefore, one day by
the side of a river, one of his courtiers plunged in, crossed it,
and then returned to his master. Peter watched his progress
with mingled sensations of terror and envy; but at length
ITS PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND TRAFFIC. 233
after a considerable degree of agitation, he so far subdued
his fears, that he followed the directions of his friend, he also
plunged into the water, and from that moment not a trace of
his former apprehensions remained. I believe we have now
seen all that is to be seen in this rising city, and, therefore,
to-morrow, agreeably to the plan we have marked oat, we
will proceed to Smolensko, on our way to Konigsberg. I
protest there is our Highland laddie skai ting/' continued the
Doctor, "he appears to afford more amusement than ho
receives ; those people, by their gestures, seem inclined to
persuade him to mount the scaffold ; but I hope Colin,
though he appears a little merry, has not so far lost his good
understanding as to make such an attempt."
At this moment the Highlander espied his master, and
brushing through the surrounding crowd, he soon reached
them.
" Colin maun gang hame with ye," said he, as lie doffed
his cap, " for the Russians are too fond of liquor for him.
I ken but little how much I have drank. Their heads
are strong as well as their liquor."
" The intense cold, Colin, habituates them to the use of
strong liquors," replied the Doctor, " and they can drink a
large quantity before they feel any ill effects from it; but to-
morrow we leave Moscow, Colin."
" I'm right glad on't ; and where are we going then ?"
DH. WALKER, " To Smolensko, and from thence to
Prussia; so CoJin, follow us home, and prepare for to-morrow's
journey. This city is of great importance, Edward ; it is the
centre of the inland trade of Russia, and communicates by
water with Petersburg, with Asoph, and with Astracan.
SECTION VI.
CHIEF TOWNS THEIR TRAFFIC FORESTS.
" DR. WALKER. " And now, by the bye, we will, if you
please, just take a slight glance at the principal towns in the
a dominions, and I will begin with Revel, a rich town,
in whose Ijarbour part of the Russian fleet is laid up. Here
are good houses, fine gardens, and a college with four pro.-
$34 RUSSIA.
fessors. It has annually two fairs, which are well attended
by English and Dutch merchants.
" Pawlow, on the Oka, is the Birmingham of Russia.
" Wologda has also a considerable trade ; the country is
marshy, and abounds with forests, lakes and rivers ; the wool
in these parts is of a good quality.
" Archangel, the emporium of the north of Russia, ex-
ports timber, tallow, bristles, hemp, flax, mats, linseed, rye,
wheat, iron, train oil, tar, and pitch. In winter the weather
is intensely cold, but serene ; in summer it is remarkably
hot. Near the rivers the country is fertile.
" Odessa is situated on an extensive bay of the Black Sea.
So great is the traffic carried on at this place, that in the
year 1803, before the first of May, 502 ships arrived. Grain
is the chief export.
" The port of Toganrog is of great consequence to Rus-
sia. The environs are fertile, and trade considerable, though
in the winter months it is interrupted by ice.
" The country, from Asoph to the Donetz, is rich, and
inhabited by industrious Tartars. Pit coal is found almost
on the surface ; limestone and clay are plentiful.
" Cronstadt, on the island of Retusari in the Gulf of Fin-
land, is the chief arsenal of Russia.
" Riga, 250 miles S. E. by E. of Stockholm, is very opu-
lent, and the most commercial port in Russia, Petersburg ex-
cepted. It is situated about five miles up the Duno, over
which is a floating bridge. The environs are deep and barren
sands. Its principal exports are hemp, flax, timber, pitch,
tar and potash.
" Caffa or Theodosia, has an excellent harbour, a produc-
tive vicinity, and a mild climate.
" Cherson, the chief mart of the south of Russia, is so
unhealthy in the months of July and August, that the opu-
lent retire up the country. It was here that the humane
Howard ended his days, and his memory ia held in the high-
est veneration.
" Jaroslavvl is a well-built trading town, on the Wolga. Its
manufactures of red-leather, woollen and linen are in great
estimation.
" Astracan is situated about 50 miles from the Caspian,
on an island of the Wolga, and is surrounded by a strong
wall ; it has a good harbour, and enjoys an extensive com-
merce with Persia and India. The fish here are excellent
THE FOREST OF VOLONSKI. 235
and the salt met with in these parts, is a consderable article
of trade.
" Tobolsk is situated on a high hill of great extent. The
inhabitants are chiefly Mahometan Tartars and Russian ex-
iles : their commerce with China is very considerable. To
the S. E. between the rivers Irtish and Oby, are very pro-
ductive silver mines.
" Irkutsk contains about 2000 wooden houses. The go-
vernment of this name is the largest, but least peopled part
of the empire."
Soon after our travellers quitted Moscow, they entered
the vast forest of Volonski. Here as they traversed roads
which were at this season of the year almost impassable,
they were repeatedly in great danger. Sometimes their
progress was interrupted by drifted snow, and sometimes by
the trunks of trees, which had fallen across the road. More
than once they were obliged to quit their vehicle, and assist
in removing the obstacles which impeded their progress.
The strength of their faithful Highlander was at these times
of incalculable service to them. One night they passed in
their carriage, and with difficulty the next day they reached
Viasma.
" What an immense forest is that of Volonski we have
just traversed/* said Edward, as they entered Viasma ;
" Why how long do you think it is, Sir ?"
DR. WALKER. " Nearly one hundred and fifty miles;
and from this forest, which begins at Viasma, and reaches,
as you perceive, almost close to the gates of Moscow, the
greater part of the navies of Europe are supplied with masts.
It is principally composed of the fir, the larch, the Scotch
pine, and the yew-leaved fir ; but Russia produces also the
elm, the lime, from the inner bark of which the Russian
mats are made, and from whose blossoms the immense swarms
of wild bees collect their honey ; the elegant birch, the
alder, the trembling aspin, and the Sycamore contribute also
to adorn and enrich this extensive country. On the pastoral
banks of the Don and the Dnieper. On the shores of the
Black Sea, and in the deep recesses of the Taurida, the
stately oak, the black and white poplars, the horn beam, the
nettle tree, and the magnificent beech, grow in wild and rich
luxuriance. Many of our English fruit trees blossom and
thrive in different parts of this vast empire ; besides which i|
236 RUSSIA.
boasts of the olive and pomegranate, not to mention peaches,
apricots, vines, c.
Two days they remained at Viasma ; for Doctor Walker
felt rather indisposed. The journey through the forest of
Volonski had exhausted him extremely ; but on the morning
of the third day after their arrival, they again set forth, and
after a less fatiguing journey they arrived at Smolensko, the
capital of the government of the same name. The approach
to this city is particularly picturesque. Smolensko is built
on two mountains, and on the valley between them. The
alternate rising and sinking of the walls, from the inequality
of the ground, their Gothic architecture, and grotesque
towers, the steeples rising above the trees, which in general
conceal the houses ; the gardens, meadows, and corn-fields,
which are all mingled together within the city walls, form
the most agreeable and most extraordinary sight imagin-
able.
Smolensko carries on some trade with Dantzic, Riga and
the Ukraine, in linen, hemp, honey, wax, furs, timber and
iron ; yet it contains no object of particular interest ; and
Dr. Walker and his young friend, therefore, did but sleep
there one night.
SECTION VII.
RUSSIAN CUSTOMS AND AMUSEMENTS.
MiNCiii, in Russian Lithuania, was the next town they
stopped at, celebrated for its honey ; and from thence they
proceeded to Wilna, rendered immortal by the council of
war which Buonaparte held with his officers in his retreat
from Moscow, in the year 1813. At this place he took leave
of his arm}% and returned to France overwhelmed by defeats
and misfortune. Wilna is a large city containing an univer-
sity, and upwards of forty churches, most of which belong to
the Roman Catholics. Its situation is very picturesque, being
seated in a mountainous country on several little eminences.
At an entertainment given at Wilna, by a Polish noble-
man, Edward was extremely surprised at one custom in
particular, which Doctor Walker assured him upon their re-
CUSTOMS AND AMUSEMENTS. 237
turn home, was very general throughout Poland, and which
the nobility never relinquish when they settle in foreign
climes, of which the present instance was an example. The
nobleman, seated at the head of the table, gave his servant
part of the meat from his plate, and presented him with his
own cup to drink out of. " Do you not,'' continued the
Doctor, " trace the origin of this custom to a very distant
period ?"
EDWARD. " It must be from the ancient custom of hav-
ing a cup-bearer, who always tasted the wine before they
presented it to their lord, lest the liquor should be poi-
soned." %
" Just so," replied the Doctor, " most of those national
peculiarities may be traced to the most remote times. Even
the origin of that silly custom of making April Fools has
been accounted for by antiquarians, as originating in the
commemoration of Noah's disappointment when the raven
returned disconsolately to him. Can you not imagine that
the raven owes its title of 'ill-omened to this very circumstance ?
Are not the olive branch and the dove emblems of peace ;
and the application they must owe to the return of the dove
with the olive branch, a proof that the waters had subsided
from off the face of the earth. This pastime, if such it may
be called, is kept up to a great extent in many parts of India,
where the chief men, even princes themselves, are not
ashamed to send their ministers on April fool's errands, even
to a considerable inconvenience. All these nations retain
some idea of the flood of Noah, (who is said to be the Odin*
of the Scandinavians and other ancient nations,) to whom,
under different names, they pay some sort of adoration.
" When the nations were dispersed at the confusion of
tongues, they spread in every direction, and in the course
of time peopled the whole earth. The Chinese affirm that
Noah settled in China. The descendants of Ham peopled
* Valiancy supposes the Bitdha of the Indians, and the Woden, or
Odin of the North are the same. He also imagines that the Tant of
the Phoenicians, and the Hermes of Upper Egypt, are only the varied
appellation of some distinguished character, the immediate descendant
of Noah. The Indian Boodali War, or dies Boodh, is the fourth day
of the week, which answers to the Greek and Roman application of
that day to Mercury, all of which answer to our Woden dies, by cor-
ruption called Wednesday.
238 RUSSIA.
Africa, who was worshipped under the title of Jupiter Am-
nion.*
" Japhet peopled Europe. That a resemblance should
therefore be traced between some of the old fashioned cus-
toms of people so far distant as India and Britain, is not so
very astonishing, since all are descended from one common
stock. Our May Day festivities are also kept up in several
parts of Hindostan with dances, songs and garlands of flow-
ers. The sports begin at a certain signal given by a priest,
who announces the happy approach of summer by the en-
trance of the sun into Aries. But this subject would lead
us into a maze, through which it would require the guidance
of a skilful antiquary; and they even are often obliged to
content themselves with simple conjecture. The studies of
an antiquary are, however, bewitching ; and if I could have
followed the bent of my own inclinations exactly and en-
tirely, I should have been as earnest in collecting and in-
specting mouldering statues, antique vases, and ancient and
obsolete customs as any antiquary living ; but, I believe,
Edward, from the stillness that pervades the inn, all are re-
tired to rest, and we will follow their example : so good
night."
On quitting Wilna they visited the celebrated town of Tilsit,
where Buonaparte gave law to the emperor Alexander, and
William king of Prussia. At the treaty of Tilsit, Prussia was
reduced one-half, and the titles of Jerome, Joseph, and Louis
Buonaparte to the kingdoms of Holland, Naples and West-
phalia, were acknowledged and accepted by the two sovereigns
of the North. This town is in Prussian Lithuania, and situated
on the river Memel. It contains about six hundred houses,
and seven thousand inhabitants ; and consists of two long
streets principally, and a suburb called the liberty. The
country round it is amazingly fertile.
On the following day as they were passing through the
streets, they met the nobleman they had dined with in a
magnificent and princely equipage, shortly after which his
wife, who was about fourteen only, drove by them in a coach
* The scite of the celebrated temple of Jupiter Ammon has been
lately ascertained by Mr. Browne, and afterwards confirmed by Mr.
Horneman, at Siwah ; which they suppose to be the Oasis of the
ancients. Siwah is the only fertile spot to be found for many miles
in the great desert west of Egypt, and it is about 252 miles from
Cairo.
PRUSSIA. 239
and six, with a number of servants. The equipages of this
Pole were magnificent and princely to a great degree. She
was also attended by an old gentleman usher, an old gentle-
woman as her governante, and a dwarf of each sex to hold
up her train ; when she visited at night, her presence was
announced by a profusion of flambeaux. This is the usual
style kept up by the superior Poles ; but there are many of
them who are very poor ; these are kept as appendages in
the families of those who are more wealthy than themselves,
and who give them an asylum in their houses, and treat them
but a little better than superior servants, although they allow
them one distinction ; they are occasionally permitted to sit
uncovered at the same table with his benefactor, with a pea-
sant boy behind their chair as an attendant.
EDWARD. " What a degrading system, and how incon-
sistent with the usual pride and hauteur of the Polish nobi-
lity. I think the Polish dress, Sir, the most elegant I ever
saw."
DR. WALKER. " It is indeed peculiarly so. It is said
that Charles II. had some idea of introducing the cloak and
its appendages at the English court. But he met with no
encouragement ; and as he had sense enough to suppose that
neither the cut of a coat, nor the hanging of a cloak made a
gentleman, he relinquished his plan altogether."
CHAPTER XL
PRUSSIA.
SECTION I.
GENERAL VIEW OF PRUSSIA.
Tj PON arriving at Konigsberg, Dr. Walker enquired if they
could sail from thence to Dantzic, and having received an
answer in the affirmative, they made arrangements for this
excursion ; previous to which they visited the palace, a mag-
nificent building, containing a hall 274 feet long and 59
240 PRUSSIA.
broad, without any pillars to support it, as well as the town."
hall and the cathedral, which are fine structures. From the
top of the castle to which there is an ascent of 284? steps,
there is an extensive and magnificent prospect. Konigsberg
is a place of great trade, but no ships drawing more than
seven feet water, can pass the bar ; so that Pillau, a town on
the Baltic, is in fact the port where all vessels bound for the
former place are obliged to unlade, and the merchandize de-
stined for Konigsberg, is conveyed to that town in small craft.
The principal exports of Prussia from Memel, Konigsberg,
Elbing, Thorn, Dantzic, and Stettin, are a variety of naval
stores, amber, linseed, hempseed, tallow, arid a considerable
quantity of grain. The imports of Prussia are East and
West Indian produce, wine, &c.
In the neighbourhood of Pillau, on a neck of land
formed by the Frisch Noelf, large quantities of amber are
found at the depth of about one hundred feet, in lumps of
various sizes, reposing on wad coal. It is sometimes found
in pieces weighing five pounds, and it is not unfrequently
picked up on the shore after a tempest. Silesia is the only
part of the Prussian dominions which produces any thing
like minerals, and those are copper and lead, agates, jaspers,
and rock crystals are also found in this part of the country.
The general course of the Prussian rivers is northward.
The Vistula passes Warsaw, Plotsk, Thorn, Culm, Neuburg,
Marienburg ; its eastern branch visits Elbing and Pillau, its
western joins the sea at Dantzic. The Pregel meets the
Vistula below Konigsburg. The Niemen joins the sea be-
low jYleniel. Prussia is much varied with woods, rivers, and
small lakes.
After a very pleasant sail they arrived at Dantzic, the gra-
nary of the North. " I could almost wish," said Edward,
we were going to Thorn by water: at any rate, I hope we
shall have a road that is decidedly land or water ; not a mix-
ture of both." " True," replied the Doctor, "I heartily
second your hopes, if that would do any good ; but having
-encountered the perils of the forest of Viasma, we have, I
think, nothing to fear, and but little to anticipate. As for
jolting and jumbling about, if we meet with it, we mustev'n
take it, for, to complain, as Sir John Carr says, * would but
endanger the repining tongue to be severed by the teeth.'"
" Dantzic,'' continued Dr. Walker, " was anciently a
place of considerable celebrity. It was considered the
CUSTOMS AND MANNERS. 241
the first city in the Hanseatic league, and was besides the
place of residence of many of the Teutonic knights, who
greatly adorned and embellished it. It is now the grand
mart for corn, which is brought thither from Poland, and
the southern parts of the Russian dominions.
" To-morrow we shall visit Thorn, the birth place of the
celebrated astronomer Copernicus ; and there too, Edward,
you may lay in a stock of gingerbread and soap, which form
two of its principal articles of trade. You may smile, but I
assure you, that gingerbread is one of the regular exports, as
the fairs many miles round can testify."
Their journey to Thorn was uninterrupted, and in the
evening of the same day on which they quitted Dantzic they
arrived in safety, and took up their quarters at one of the
principal inns.
Their route from Thorn to Poynau lay through a part ot
Great Poland. " How lamentable is it," said Dr. Walker,
" that so fine a country as this, should be reduced to a mere
nominal territory among the great kingdoms of Europe.
The public mind was so absorbed by the terrific scenes of
the French revolution, that the partition of Poland, and its
annihilation as a kingdom, appear to have passed unnoticed.
Russia, Prussia, and Germany, settled the matter very
quietly ; and the haughty and independent Poles, over-
whelmed by so formidable a coalition from without, and di-
vided by faction and jealousy within, fell an easy prey to the
rapacity of their foreign invaders. Nations and empires have
their rising and their setting sun. Nought on this side the
grave is stationary. And when a kingdom, nation, or people
have reached the meridian of their glory, a gradual and pro-
gressive decline naturally ensues. That it has always been
so, we have only to open the historic page. The Assyrian,
Babylonian, Grecian, Roman, and Western empires, all have
disappeared. Italy, Spain, and Germany, no longer hold
that high and conspicuous character in which they formerly
stood. Poland is annihilated; while Russia, emerging from
darkness, begins to hold a most important and powerful situ-
ation in the theatre of Europe. Denmark and Sweden, the
seat of the ancient Scandinavians, are now but secondary
States. France, lately so triumphant and powerful, is again
reduced to her former level, and your own favourite and
beloved country is now in her meridian.'*
EDWARD. '* Oh ! don't say so, Sir/'
M
242 PRUSSIA.
DR. WALKER. " Why not: do you suppose, dearly as
I love my native land, that I flatter myself it will be
exempt from the fate of all sublunary things. No, but while
she still holds fast those virtues which give her strength and
power, and energy, which make her sons beloved and ho-
noured at home ; feared, envied, yet trusted abroad, we
may hope, and that without presumption, her fall will be de-
ferred. But I am growing grave ; let us resume the subject
which led to this long digression.
" The northern parts of Poland abound in huge forests,
while the southern, particularly in Podolia, are rich and
fertile to the greatest degree. It also contains mines of
silver, copper, iron, coals, black agate, red granite, and salt :
but the most curious of its subterraneous productions are
the immense quantities of marine petrifactions, which are
found in various places* There is a bituminous fountain
near Cracow, which encreases and decreases with the moon ;
if a torch is applied to it, it immediately takes fire, but with-
out heating the water, although it dances along its surface.
If unextinguished, it communicates itself by subterraneous
conduits to the roots of trees in a neighbouring wood, which
it consumes. About seventy years ago, the flames are said
to have lasted three years. I am sorry we could not visit
Hungary, but we really shall not have time. It contains
many natural curiosities, among which a cavern in the
neighbourhood of Sizelitze, in Upper Hungary, is very con-
spicuous. The country around it is extremely picturesque,
adorned with woods and hills ; and the air, speaking gene-
rally, sharp and cold. The entrance to this cave fronts the
south ; it is eighteen fathoms high, and eight broad, so that
when the south wind blows violently, it rushes into the inte-
rior of the cave, making occasionally the most piteous moan-
ing, while at others it howls along the winding passage lead-
ing to the south (and the extent of which by the bye has
never yet been ascertained) with almost a terrific noise.
But the great curiosity of the cave is this : when the neigh-
bouring country is covered with frost and snow, the air
within it is warm and agreeable ; and when, on the contrary,
it is summer without, the interior presents the appearance
of an Iceland winter.
" When the heat of the sun is intense on its surface,
masses of ice, the size of large casks, are suspended to the
roof, forming grotesque figures from the curious ramifications
SINGULAR CAVE ; CUSTOMS AND MANNERS. 243
issuing from them on all sides. This ice is particularly use-
ful in the dog-days, and the inhabitants resort to this cave as
to a general and public ice-house, for cooling their wine,
and so forth. When the snow on the surface melts in the
spring, the inside of the cave, as far as it is exposed to the
south sun, emits a pellucid water, which immediately congeals
as it drops, and forms the grotesque figures I mentioned,
and the water which drops from these unfrozen, upon
touching the ground, becomes hard like crystal. In autumn,
the cold begins to abate ; the ice gradually dissolves till, in
thq depth of winter, swarms of gnats, flies, bats, hares, and
foxes, take up their warm and comfortable quarters till the
approach of spring is again announced by the encreasing
cold, and these animals then quit their retreat to inhale the
purer breezes of the mountains/'
EDWARD. " It appears very strange, Sir, and unaccount-
able ? Did you ever see it ?"
DR. WALKER. " No: J give you the account of it as
described to me by a friend. There is Paizan in the distance,
we shall not stop there, except to change horses, but con-
tinue our journey to Franck, and from thence to Berlin.
As the season was advancing, the Polish peasantry appeared
in their summer dress, consisting simply of a shirt and
drawers, with round caps or hats only. The women wore a
wrapper of white linen round their heads, under which their
hair was braided, and hung down their backs in two long
plaits. Some of them had a piece over their head, and
hanging down on each side of their face so long as to reach
below their knees. These had a curious appearance, and
looked as if they belonged to some monastic institution,
and were doing penance. There is a marked distinction be-
tween the Polish and Russian peasantry ; the former, like
their countrymen of superior rank, wear whiskers, and shave
their head, except a small circular crown they leave on the
top. The Russians, on the contrary, let their hair grow, till
it meets their eye-brows, and cut it only in the pole ; besides
which they allow their beard to grow to a great length, and
this custom arises from the great protection it gives to their
throat in the piercing cold, to which they are subject."
Jt 2
244 PRUSSIA.
SECTION II.
BERLIN.
UPON arriving at Frankfort, on the Oder, they were de-
lighted to find they were just in time to partake of the festi-
vities of one of the annual fairs. There were play-houses,
concert rooms, and public dancing booths ; the neighbouring
walks were crowded with the votaries of pleasure, while the
more sober part of the community were engrossed in the dis-
posal or purchase of various goods with which the stalls were
absolutely loaded. From Frankfort they resumed their
route to Berlin, the capital of his Prussian majesty's domi-
nions. Berlin is a very beautiful city : the houses are built
of fine white free-stone from two to three stories high. But
tlfe largest houses, and those too of a magnificent outward
appearance, are sometimes inhabited by persons of various
ranks and professions. The cobler and the taylor, the liatter
and the hosier , all at times display the different articles of
their trades from various windows in the same house, while lo
crown the heterogeneous show, a washerwoman will unfurl
from above her snowy banners fastened to long poles.
The citizens and superior class of manufacturers in Ber.
lin, seldom aim at mixing with or aping any rank better than
their own. Society in Berlin is more confined than in any
other capital in Europe. The government is very arbitrary
and military, and formerly the Prussian officers, although
they received no absolute interdiction to visit foreigners of
distinction, yet they received those sort of hints, which clear-
ly proved it was for their own comfort, that they should re-
frain from this indulgence.
Upon enquiring one day of a farmer in the neighbour-
hood what a particular badge meant which his three younger
sons wore, he replied with a sigh, that it was to shew they
were destined for soldiers. * But why does not your eldest
son wear this distinction," said Edward, " as well as his bro-
thers." " You would not/' replied the farmer, " that I should
be left quite alone. He is allowed to follow my profession,
'tis the privilege of an elder son." In the hedges which they
passed by in their walk about the premises of this farmer,
they observed that tobacco grew as a weed alongside of
BERLIN. 245
them, and even in the furrows of a ploughed field. Traces
of Buonaparte's despotism were still visible, and in many
places thorns and thistles had sprung up, where formerly corn
and grass had displayed a rich luxuriance. Indeed in their
present tour, they had repeatedly witnessed the effects of the
depredatory system of war pursued by Napoleon, when in
the zenith of his power.
Having seen what little they deemed worthy their inspec-
tion at Berlin, they resolved on visiting, Dresden.
Early on the following morning, Colin entered the break-
fast room, with a very long face. " What is the matter,
Colin/' said Dr. Walker kindly to him. " I hope nothing
has occurred to distress you ? " " Naething has happened
yet," replied the Highlander,. " but I ken muckle well that
we'll not all get safe to Dresden, for I couldna sleep all
night for the dead watch,''
u Why, Colin, you are not superstitious, said Edward ?"
DR. WALKER. " Come, my good Colin, set your heart
at rest, and I will explain to you the cause of your alarm.
This is the precise time of the year towards the conclusion of
the spring or beginning of summer, that the little insect
called the death ivatch, is mostly heard. This insect is of a
dark brown colour, and so nearly resembles dried and de-
cayed wood, that you may look long before you distinctly
discover it. It is about a quarter of an inch in length, and
of a proportionate thickness. The noise is not produced by
the voice of the insect, but by its striking any hard substance
with the shield or fore part of its head. I dare say you have
observed, that it strikes from seven to nine, or eleven strokes
distinctly, and this regularity of number has perhaps given
rise to much of the terror it inspires. It always haunts old
houses, and this inn, Colin, is very old, and may be heard
at all hours of the day. Now listen attentively, I dare say
we shall hear its formidable and portentous noise ; the wea-
ther is very warm for the time of the year, and that is an-
other reason why we should hear it.
" There," resumed the Doctor, " I hear it now, 'tis just
like the noise one makes by tapping upon the table with one's
nail. I have heard they may be induced to repeat the strokes
by imitating them. Let us try.'*
Edward tapped nine times on the table, and in a short mi-
nute, the sound was returned by the insect. " There now,
Colin, pack up our goods and chattels," said Edward, but
M 3
246 GERMANY.
leave your fears behind you." The Highlander was almost,
not quite convinced, his apprehensions were groundless ; but
he retired deeply impressed with a high idea of the Doctor's
knowledge, who was always ready to explain the most mar-
vellous circumstances.
CHAPTER XII.
GERMANY.
SECTION I.
DRESDEN.
' WELL, Colin," said Doctor Walker, " here we are safely
landed at Dresden, in despight of your woeful forbodings,
and the death watch ; and you will confess that the latter part
of our journey, has been through so beautiful a country, that
we had no apprehensions caused by the roads ; you have now
travelled enough in this part of the world, to have no fears
respecting the skill or honesty of your drivers. Then you
will in future set the death watch at defiance/' Colin did
not very much relish this speech, as to him it seemed to
point at something like cowardice. He Jhad however, too
much respect for his master to give vent to his feelings, and
he retired in silence. " Saxony," resumed the Doctor, as
the Highlander shut the door, u is one of the most fertile
divisions of Germany. It produces all kinds of grain and
vegetables, with hops> flax, hemp, tobacco, saffron, madder,
and so forth ; besides which it is rich in mineral productions.
Silver, tin, bismuth, manganese, cobalt (from which the blue
pigment, called smalt, is made) iron, lead, and tin, the lat-
ter of which, though not very abundant, is excellent, are all
found in Saxony. Yet, fuller's earth, marble, slate, serpen-
tine agates, jasper, coal, and a beautiful porcelain clay,
abound in various parts. You have seen specimens of the
Dresden china, to-morrow we will visit some of the great-ma-
nufactories in this city, to-day we will inspect the Museum."
The first room gave them exquisite delight, for it contain-
DRESDEN. 247
ed brass models of all the best and most famous statues, an-
cient as well as modern, now extant. In this apartment they
remained a fong time, for although they were informed that
there were six others yet from the description they received
of them, they felt convinced that they should receive but an
inferior pleasure from the inspection of their contents, when
compared to that confirmed by the contemplation of the
Venus de Medici, the Apollo Belvidere, the Laocoon, the
dying Gladiator, &c. &c. The second room contains speci-
mens of curious workmanship in ivory, and the third in
silver ; the fourth contains a large collection of gold and
silver plate ; in the fifth is a magnificent display of precious
stones; in the sixth are deposited the arms of all the Saxon
States, and the imperial regalia of the former kings of Po-
land; and the seventh displays a profusion of jewels.
Dresden was a great sufferer during the late war ; indeed
it is scarcely possible to travel from one German city to an-
other, without recalling the former position of hostile
armies.
At a table d'Hote * where our travellers dined, they met an
Austrian gentleman who was inclined to be particularly so-
ciable. He was amused with the ingenuous remarks made
by Edward upon the scene before him ; and when they sepa-
rated, he entreated he might be permitted to call upon them.
Dr, Walker readily assented, and on the following day the
stranger paid his respects to them, and offered to accom-
pany them to Prague, and even to Vienna, if it were agree-
able. " As however," continued he, " I am aware that a
stranger should have some introduction, permit me to refer
you for enquiries as to who I am, to the chief banker in this
city, with whom I know you have connection."
The society of this gentleman was a considerable advan-
tage to our travellers ; and he advised them by all means, to
pursue their journey to Prague by water. " The views on
each side the Elbe between this and Meissen are, I do assure
you," said he, " quite beautiful." Upon embarking just by
the bridge, which divides the city into the old and new town,
they were struck with its peculiar beauty. It is built of
stone, and is six hundred and eighty-five paces long, and
* Table d'Hote, ; so called, because the host presides and carves.
The name is often retained when the host does not appear, and it then
simply means, a table where a mixed society dine.
M 4i
248 GERMANY.
seventeen broad, consisting of eighteen arches. " lliis part
of Saxony," said M. M , " is called the Italy of Germany
from its wonderous fertility, and the luxuriance of its woods
and hills. You observe that beautiful bridge in the distance,
it is that of Merseim ; the piers are composed of stone, but
the upper part is wood, and its great curiosity is this, the
middle arch, which is seventy-five paces wide, is kept toge-
ther by one single wooden peg."
Having inspected the manufactures of porcelain and of
cloth, both of which are very flourishing in this town, they
again embarked on the Elbe, and continued their aquatic ex-
cursion until they reached Milnick, which is seated at the
confluence of the rivers Elbe and Moldau. It was late when
they took up their quarters at the principal inn, and an inte-
resting conversation took place between the accommodating
and happy trio of which we shall give a brief sketch.
M. M. " You have never, I think you say been in Hun-
gary, nor indeed farther in the interior of Russia than
Moscow. You have not then visited the most beautiful part
of that country r for in the south it is rich and fertile, al-
although there is much want of culture. I have made se-
veral excursions to the Crimea, and as I made use both of
my eyes and understanding, perhaps a short sketch of the
most remarkable scenes I met with, may amuse that young
gentleman."
Edward assured him he should be greatly obliged by his
communication, and the stranger proceeded, as follows :
M. M. " I shall then describe to you some of those sin-
gular and beautiful scenes with which the Crimea abounds.
The promontory of Parthenium, lying between the cities
Chersonesus and Eupatorium, is an object that has excited
much speculative opinion. Ancient historians mention, that
in the city of Chersonesus, there was a temple erected to a
virgin daemon, upon which was her fane and image* Some
persons place this temple on the perpendicular rock bearing
the name of the Promontory of Parthenium, while others
imagine it stood on a very remarkable black rock, which
stretches itself into the sea and upon the top of which are
the remains of a building of an oblong form. The extraor-
dinary and magnificent appearance of this rock, from the
sea is beyond description. Its natural and lofty arch forms
a dark and gloomy cave, under which fishing boats can
pass. The whole of this coast is particularly grand ;. a little
DESCRIPTION OF THE CRIMEA. 249
farther to the south is the monastery of St. George, placed
among sloping rocks, so as to appear almost inaccessible,
overlooks a lovely bay. The monks have here formed their
little gardens on terraces, one above the other, and the
whole presents a scene so wild, so grand, and so beautiful,
as scarcely to be imagined.
" Having staid some time in this enchanting neighbour-
hood, I visited the valley of Balaclava. The wild gigantic
landscape which surrounds fhe southern extremity of the
town ; its mountains, its ruins, and its harbour, possess
every requisite for exercising the pencil of a Salvator Rosa ;
while its houses, covered by vines and flowers, and over-
shadowed by the thick foliage of mulberry and walnut trees,
present a most enchanting and lovely view. The port of
Balaclava is one of the most remarkable of the Crimea.
From the town it resembles some of the northern lakes, but
the entrance to it is so narrow, that it has the appearance
of being completely surrounded by precipitous mountains.
It requires some skill to navigate the vessels through this
confined channel, but when this is accomplished, the largest
ships may find sufficient depth of water, and ample shelter
from the dreadful storms of the Black sea within its har-
bour.
" The inhabitants of this town are principally Greeks, a
set of corsairs, to whom the Empress Catharine assigned it
as a reward for their services during her war with the Turks.
The variety of nations, or rather, I should say, of people,
living in the Crimea, forms one of its most amusing and
prominent features. Tartars and Turks, Jews and Greeks,
Anatolians and Armenians, Nagoys, Gypsies, and Calmucks,
inhabit different parts of it. Each living according to the
fashion of his ovrn country, without intermixing with each
other more than they are compelled from absolute neces*
sity.
" The mountains which surround the port are of : red and
white marble, full of cracks and fissures^ but calculated for
ample quarries, if worked beyond the surface* The shore
is in some parts covered with fine glittering sand, the par-
ticles of whieh consist, wholly of gold coloured mica, in a
state of extreme division ; making the most beautiful writing
sand that can be imagined ; and as it may be obtained in
any quantity, would answer very well, I should think, as an
article of commerce. There has been nothing yet sold by.
M 5
250 GERMANY.
stationers, to be compared to the sand of Balaclava ; for
when scattered over fresh writing it produces an effect as if
the ink had been covered with minute scales of polished
gold, which it will retain for any number of years."
" I am surprised," said Dr. Walker, " that when the
Genoese had possession of the fortress of Mankoop, that
they should not have profited by this as an article of trade.
Did you visit the remains of this celebrated fortress ?"
M. M. " Yes, I did ; and a very extraordinary object
it is. It may, indeed, be described as towering above the
clouds, but you shall have more than a general description
of it ; for I was so delighted with my excursion to its sum-
mit, that upon arriving at the cottage where I had taken up
my abode, I wrote an account of it while it was fresh in my
memory, and I this morning put it in my pocket.
[He reads.] " The fortress of Mankoop is of a very
extraordinary magnitude, and may be described as literally
in the clouds. It covers the summit of a semicircular in.
sulated mountain ; this from its frightful aspect, its altitude,
and craggy perpendicular sides, independent of every other
consideration than as a surprising work of nature, fills the
mind with wonder upon entering the defile leading to it. In
this singular situation, where there were no visible means of
ascent towards any of the heights, much less for conveying
the materials for the astonishing work they completed, did
the Genoese construct a citadel, perhaps, without a parallel
in the world ; the result of their wealth, address, and en-
terprise.
" History does not mention for what especial purpose
those works were carried on by the Greeks or Genoese
in the interior of the country, at such a distance from the
coast: but it is natural to conjecture their use, in curbing
the hostile spirit of the natives towards the maritime colo-
nial possessions. The last persons who held Mankoop were
Jews. Ruined tombs of marble and stone were lying be-
neath the trees in the cemetery of their colony, which we
passed in our ascent. The whole of our passage up the
mountain was steep and difficult, nor was it rendered more
practicable by the amazing labours of its former possessors,
whose dilapidated works rather served to impede than faci-
litate our progress. The ascent had once been paved the
whole way, and stairs formed, the remains of which were
still in some parts visible.
THE FORTRESS OF MANKOOP. 251
" When we reached the summit we found it entirely co-
vered with ruins of the citadel, caverns and gloomy galle-
ries perforated in the rock, whose original uses are now
unknown, present on every side their gloomy apertures.
On the most elevated part of this extraordinary eminence,
is a beautiful plain, covered with fine turf, among which we
found the rose pygmae of Pallas, blooming in great beauty.
This plain is partly fenced in by the mouldering wall of the
fortress, but otherwise open to the surrounding precipices.
All the other mountains, may be discerned from this spot as
well as every wood, village, or hill in the Crimea. While
with dismay and caution we crept upon our hands and knees,
to look over the brink of these fearful heights, a half- clad
Tartar, wild as the winds of the north, mounted, without
any saddle or bridle, except the twisted stem of a wild vine,
on a colt equally wild as himself, galloped to the very edge
of the precipice, and there while his horse pranced and
curveted, he with the utmost composure, amused himself
in pointing out to us the different places in the extensive
scene before us. We entered one of the excavated cham-
bers, it was a small square apartment, leading to another
on our right hand, while the left conducted us along a nar-
row passage, which opened to a balcony formed in the solid
rock, and defended by a parapet. From this, as it was in
the very face of one of the principal precipices, we con-
templated in security the vast depth below. Vultures glid-
ing over the vallies appeared no larger than sparrows, while
the villages, woods, and undulating hills beneath them, were
seen at such a vast distance, that our heads grew giddy,
and with a chilling sensation, bordering almost upon faint-
ness, we turned from the dizzy height. We afterwards
found the remains of churches, and other public buildings
among the ruins, and in a more perfect state than might
have been expected in the Russian empire.
" At length, being conducted to the north-eastern point
of the crescent, which is the shape of the summit on which
the fortress of Mankoop was constructed, and, descending
a few stone steps neatly hewn in the rock, we entered by a
square door into a cavern, called by the Tartars, the cape
of the winds ; it has been chiselled like the rest, out of the
solid stone, but it is open on four sides. From the amazing
prospect here commanded of all the surrounding country,
it probably served as a military post of observation. The
M 6
252 GERMANY.
apertures, or windows, are large arched chasms in the rock ;
through these a most extensive range of scenery, over dis-
tant mountains and rolling clouds, forms a sublime spectacle.
There is nothing in any part of Europe that can surpass the
tremendous grandeur of this place. Below the cavern is
another chamber, leading to the several cells on its different
sides ; these have all been cut out of the same rock,
" We pursued a different road in descending ; passing
beneath an old arched gateway of the citadel, once its prin-
cipal entrance. This road flanks the northern side of the
mountain ; and the fall into the valley is so bold and pro-
found, that it seems, as if a single false step would precipitate
both horse and rider into the abyss below. We therefore
alighted from our horses, chusing rather to trust to our-
selves than to the mercy of our prancing steeds, whose
insensibility to their dangerous situation, greatly increased
our fears. It was dark when we reached the bottom, and
we had some difficulty in regaining the principal road which
leads to the defile, owing principally to the trees which
project across all the lanes in the vicinity of the Tartar
villages, which even at mid-day scarcely admit the sun
beams. In certain seasons of the year this defile is very
dangerous, from the immense masses of limestone which
occasionally detach themselves from the rock, and roll
headlong down the sides of the precipices, carrying all be-
fore them.
" Not very far from this wonderful spot, near the village
of Shuln, there are many excavations, exhibiting the re-
treats of the ancient Christians, in cells and grottoes. One
of these chambers is not less than eighty paces in length,
with a proportionate breadth, and its roof is supported by
pillars hewn in the rock ; the stone, from the softness of its
nature, did not oppose the difficulty encountered in similar
works, which are seen in other parts of the Crimea.
" Such," said M. M., " is my account of the fortress of
Mankoop, and I can only say, th#t all language must fall
short of the magnificence and variety of this wonderful,
place.*'
JOURNEY FROM PRAGUE TO VIENNA. 253
SECTION II.
JOURNEY FROM PRAGUE TO VIENNA.
DR. WALKER and Edward expressed their thanks for
this description of Mankoop, shortly after which they sepa-
rated for the night, and on the next morning recommenced
their route to Prague, the second city of importance in the
Austrian dominions. It is divided into three towns, distin-
guished by the name of the Old, the Netu^ and the Little
Town.
The New Town surrounds the Old, and in the middle of
the Little Town, which was originally built in a forest, there
is a single poplar tree standing,, which, the inhabitants af-
firm to have grown there for the last thousand years. The
houses of Prague are all built of stone, and seldom above
three stories high, but the streets, are close and narrow.
There is a fine stone bride over the. Moldau, consisting
of eighteen arches ; it is 1770 feet iu length, and is so nu-
merously adorned on each side with statues of Saints of
every description, that they stand like a file of soldiers in
formidable array. Every corner of the streets, every
public building is ornamented with crucifixes, images of the
virgin, or of saints of some kind, before which the people
prostrate themselves at all times and seasons. The vehe-
mence and fervour with which the inhabitants entreat the
protection of these saints,, is so great that they fall flat on
the ground and kiss the earth before them, as if it were
hallowed by. the shadow only of the images.
" You should,'* said Dr. Walker, to Edward, " take
your sisters a garnet necklace ; Bohemia is famous for gar-
nets. They are found principally at Meronitz, in the moun-
tains of Stiefelberg, in clay mixed with mica. The women
wash the clay in which they are found, after which they
are sifted and arranged according to their size, and sold by
the pound weight, from about three to ten shillings. Many
workmen are employed in cutting and piercing them, for
necklaces and other ornaments ; they are polished in facets
with emery on a piece of freestone, and pierced with., a
small diamond."
EDWARD. " What are facets, Sir?"
254 GERMANY.
DR, WALKER. " Any superfices cut into several an-
gles. This branch of commerce is of great antiquity at
Carlsbad, and at Walkirk in Suabia, where twenty-eight
mills are occupied in this article only."
Among the variety of elegant trinkets which attracted
Edward's attention, was an opal of particular beauty.
" That mineral/' observed the Doctor, " is peculiar to
Hungary, and is literally found in no other part of the
globe. This gem is esteemed beyond all others by the
oriental nations, and among the ancients it was almost
without price, so highly was it valued by them, particular-
ly the Romans. The opal mines are situated at Czerweniza,
not far from Kaschaw, and nearly in the same latitude as
Gremnitz, where there are gold mines. The hill in which
it is found consists of decomposed porphyry, and it only
occurs at the distance of a few fathoms from the surface ;
of various qualities, from the opaque, white, or semi opai,
which is found elsewhere, in Cornwall for instance, to that
utmost effulgence of irridiscent colours which distinguishes
the noble gem which has so struck your fancy."
Upon returning to their inn, where they were but indif-
ferently accommodated, they met their Austrian friend, and
with him they again resumed their journey, and upon ar-
riving at Vienna their postillion drove immediately to the
Custom House, where their small portion of luggage under-
went a very severe scrutiny. They dined with their Aus-
trian friend at a Table d'Hote, where tortoises, frogs, and
snails formed apart of the fare ; a dish of goose's liver was
quickly dispatched, as a peculiar rarity, but our travellers
were better pleased to partake of the more substantial dishes.
Venison and game, besides many small birds which are re-
jected by us, were served up in profusion. At this table
were several families, consisting of the children as well as
the fathers and mothers. The suburbs of Vienna are as
large as the town itself, of a circular and irregular form,
between them and the town there is a broad plain of ver-
dure, which is at the same time useful, agreeable, and salu-
brious. Dr. Moore says in his travels, that " although
Vienna may never be again exposed to a siege, yet measures
have been taken, in that case, to prevent the necessity of
destroying the suburbs." He little thought that a private
individual, against whom his brave son was to enter the
VIENNA; 255
field of battle, in Spain, was suddenly to obtain imperial
power, and appear thrice within the walls of the Austrian
capital as a conqueror !
On the following day their Austrian friend took them to
the top of Mount Calenberg in the vicinity of the city.
Having entered a carriage of a peculiar construction, which
is made on purpose for the accommodation of travellers who
wish to ascend the summit, they arrived safely on the top of
the mountain, from whence they had an almost boundless
prospect. The city of Vienna, with the Danube winding
through a luxuriant and pastoral country, was stretched at
their feet on the one side, while in the opposite direction
the scene was composed of wild and romantic mountains.
They paid a visit to the monastery and were hospitably en-
tertained by the monks, who presented them with some
very fine fruit, and politely begged they would honour them
by spending the night within their walls, as the weather had
suddenly changed, and heavy drops of rain began to fall.
Our travellers could not refuse so agreeable an invitation,
and accordingly they were shewn into the refectory, where
they passed the evening in pleasant and rational conversa-
tion, till the vesper bell called the monks to prayers. M. M.
followed the fathers to their devotion, and Dr. Walker and
his pupil were left alone.
" Do you think, Sir/' said Edward, " that M. M. will
accompany us any farther on our tour/'
Dr. WALKER. " I fear not, he has business of impor-
tance in Hungary, and as our route is already fixed, and
our time in some degree limited, we must not deviate from
it. He is a pleasant intelligent man, and I shall regret
his departure very much, and I cannot help wishing, al-
though wishes are fruitless, that we could take a peep at-
the Carpathian mountains, in the neighbourhood of which,
he tells me, his business lies. They must have a magnificent
and grand appearance, for their base is covered with wood,
which encreases in size as you ascend for some distance. This
woody and gloomy region is succeeded by one ornamented
with brush wood only, and above this the mountains rise in
wild and terrific majesty, presenting horrid crags and fright^
ful precipices, covered, with snow, yet, interspersed with
lakes of the utmost transparency. The Carpathian moun-
tains contain copper mines, which are supposed to have
250 GERMANY.
been worked eleven hundred years, and are, some of them,
ten, twelve, and fifteen miles in length, and employ 4,000
men/'
" Listen, Sir," said Edward.
" 'Tis the vesper hymn," replied the Doctor, " had I not
feared the fathers would have thought us actuated by mo-
tives of impertinent curiosity, I should have wished to have
joined their evening service, but you will have opportunities,
when we are in Italy, of witnessing every part of the Roman
Catholic service, without appearing intrusive, as we should
on the present occasion. But let us change the subject of
conversation, for I hear M. M's voice."
A frugal supper of fruits, bread, and eggs, was placed
before our travellers, who partook cheerfully and thankfully
of the friendly entertainment prepared for them by their
hosts. After some further conversation they retired to rest,
and early on the following- morning they left the monastery
and returned to Vienna, where they visited the University
in company with their Austrian friend.
This University was founded A.D. 1237, but it does rrot
appear to enjoy much scientific reputation. The palace of
Shoenbrun, where Buonaparte took up his residence mare
than once, is about five miles from the city, and is a magni-
ficent building.
SECTION III.
AUSTRIAN CUSTOMS- AND MANNERS.
THERE were several shews of combats of wild beasts and
bulls, during their stay at Vienna, which is a favourite amuse-
ment among the people, but they had no wish to be present
at them. They attended several concerts, and went two or
three times to the theatre. There are no particular manu-
factories in Vienna, and although from its situation on the
Danube it is extremely well situated for trade, it has no ap-
pearance of that bustle of business which is naturally ex-
pected in the capital of a great empire.
M. M. having introduced Dr. Walker and his young
friend to the house of an Austrian ftobleman, he gave them
AUSTRIAN CUSTOMS AND MANNERS. 257
a polite invitation to dinner for the following day. There
is much similarity in the style of dinners throughout Ger-
many ; and it has some points of peculiar excellence. The
table is generally round or oval, so that each guest has
the means of intercouse with the whole party even when it
is large. It is covered, for the greater part, with a tasteful
displa}' of sweets or fruits ; two places only being left near
the middle, for the more substantial dishes. Each person
is provided with a black bottle of light wine, and every
cover (even at a table d'hvte) is furnished with a napkin and
silver forks. The first dishes which occupy the vacant
spaces are always soups ; they are quickly removed to the
side tables, and distributed by the servants. In the mean
time, the next dish is placed upon the table, taken off,
carved, and carried round to the guests in precisely the
same manner; and so on, till every thing has been served.
The plates are carefully changed; but the knives and forks
very generally remain through the greater part of the dinner,
or, at best, are only wiped and returned. The dishes are
so numerous, and the variety so great, that, as every body eats
a little of every thing, they seldom take twice of the same.
The succession of luxuries is not exactly the same as with
us. An Englishman is somewhat surprised to see a joinfc
of meat followed by a fish, or a savoury dish usurp the
place of one that was sweet. To conclude the ceremony,
each servant takes one of the sweetmeat ornaments of the
table and carries it to all the guests.
While the sweetmeats are served, a few glasses of supe-
rior wine are handed round, and then the whole company
rise and adjourn to. another apartment, where coffee is
served. As the owner of the mansion intended passing the
evening at home, many of the guests remained, among
whom were Dr. Walker, and his pupil, and M. M.
Various were the amusements of the evening ; some of
them struck Edward with astonishment, particularly that
called, acting riddles, which is performed in the following
manner. A certain portion of the company retire into an
adjoining room, where they concert together how best to
represent by action the different syllables which compose a
word, and then the meaning of the -whole word. They pre-
sently return, and, carrying on their preconcerted action,
require the company to "resolve their riddle. Thus, for in-
stance,, on one occasion the word which was determined
258 HUNGARY.
upon was Jumeaux. Some of the actors coming from their
retirement, began to squeeze a lemon into a glass, calling
the attention of the company very particularly to it by their
action, thus representing Ju. Others came forwards imi-
tating the various maladies and misfortunes of life, thus
acting the syllable meaux. Then, finally tottered into the
circle two Prussian generals, neither less than six feet in
height, dressed in sheets and leading-strings, as an emblem
of Jumeaux.
This, perhaps, was not the most ridiculous amusement,
plays were performed by children, while the grown up ladies
and gentlemen played cross questions and crooked answers,
or stood in a circle, and holding a cord in their hands, passed
a ring from one to another, imposing it on some one of the
party to discover in whose possession it was to be found.
M. M. was so very anxious that our travellers should ac-
company him into Hungary, and pressed the subject so
much, that the Doctor's objections vanished at his and Ed-
wards entreaties, and leaving Colin at Vienna, they set off
for a short tour in that country.
SECTION
HUNGARY.
THE appearance of Hungary and the peasants, as our
travellers entered it from Presburg, was far from prepossess-
ing. The plain is unenlivened by trees, unintersected by
hedges, and but very thinly inhabited, a waste of arable
land badly cultivated, and yielding indifferent crops to pro-
prietors, who are scarcely conscious of the extent of property
they possess. Their appearance bespeaks no fostering care
from the superior, no independent respect, yielded with free
satisfaction from the inferior. It is easy to perceive that a
stimulus is wanting to invention, and that stimulus is, liber-
ty. No one peasant has proceeded in the arts of life and
civilization a step further than his neighbour. Whan they
had seen one, they had seen all. From the same little hat,
covered with oil, falls the same matted long black hair,, neg-
ligently plaited, or tied in knots; and over the same dirty
ITS CUSTOMS AND MANNERS. 259
jacket and trowsers, is wrapped on ea'ch a cloak of coarse
woollen cloth, or sheep-skin still retaining its wool. For
whether it be winter or summer, week-day or Sabbath, the
Sclavonian of this district never lays aside his cloak, or is
seen but in heavy boots. Their instruments of agriculture
are throughout the same ; and in all their habitations is ob-
served a perfect uniformity of design. A wide muddy road
separates two rows of cottages, which constitute a village.
From amongst them there is no possibility of selecting the
best or the worst ; they are absolutely uniform. In some
villages the cottages present their ends; in- others, their
sides to the road; but there is seldom this variety in. the
same village. The interior of the cottage is, in general,
divided into three small rooms on the ground floor, and a
little space in the roof destined for lumber. The roof is
commonly covered with a very thick thatch, the walls are
whitewashed, and pierced towards the road by two small
windows. The cottages are usually placed a few yards dis-
tant from each other. The intervening space, defended by
a rail and gate, or a hedge of wicker-work towards the road,
forms the farm-yard, which runs back some way, and con-
tains a shed or out-house, for the cattle. Such is the out-
ward appearance of the peasant and his habitation.
Being curious to examine the interior of their houses,
they were gratified by their friend. They were surprised to
find, that men, so negligent of their personal appearance,
should enjoy in their houses so much comfort and good
order. The door opens in the side of the house into the
middle room, or kitchen, in which is an oven, constructed^
of clay, well calculated for baking bread, and various im-
plements for household purposes, which generally occupy
this apartment fully. On each side of the room is a door,
communicating on one hand with the family dormitory, in
which are the two windows that look into the road. This
chamber is usually small, but well arranged ; the beds in
good order, piled upon each other, to be spread out on the
floor at night, and the walls covered with a multiplicity of
pictures and images of our Saviour, together with dishes,
plates, and vessels of coarse earthen ware. The other door
from the kitchen leads to the store-room, the repository of
the greater part of the peasant's riches, consisting of bags
of grain of various kinds, both for consumption and for
seed; bladders of tallow, sausages, and other articles of
260 HUNGARY.
provision, HI quantities which it would astonish us to find in
an English cottage. We must, however, keep in mind, that
the harvest of the Hungarian peasant anticipates the income
of the whole year; and, from the circumstances in which
he is placed, he should rather be compared with our farmer
than our labourer. The yards or folds between, the bouses
are usually much neglected, and are the dirty receptacles
of a thousand uncleanly objects. Light carts and ploughs,
with which the owner performs his stated labour, his meagre
cattle, a loose rudely formed heap of hay, and half a dozen
ragged children, stand there in mixed confusion ; over which
three or four noble dogs, of a peculiar breed, resembling in
some degree the Newfoundland dog, keep faithful watch.
From Urmeny the trio proceeded to the gold and silver
mines at Schemnitz and Kremnitz, where they noticed the
various docimastic processes employed to obtain the metals
from their ores. The prevalent rock is a tender claystone
porphyry, in some places passing into grunstein ; the sum-
mits of the hills being all composed of this grunstein. The
district productive of the precious metals, is about five or
six square miles in extent, and contains five great parallel
veins, running east and west, and dipping at an angle of
eighty degrees. In these veins, consisting chiefly of felspar,
varying from sixty to one hundred and twenty feet in thick-
ness, and connected with each other by small and irregular
branches, is found the metallic ore, forming veins from ten
to four inches in thickness, and druses lined with crystals
of the metal, quartz, and calcareous spar. The great vein
of stephani-schacht is remarkable, as diminishing in width
as it approaches the surface, which is considered by the
miners as an exception to the general rule.
There are twelve great mines in this district, all of which
find an outlet for their water at a depth of twelve hundred
feet, by one adit, the length of which is estimated at twelve
miles. The veins have, however, been wrought to the depth
of eighteen hundred feet ; and from these deeper galleries
the water is raised by a most ingenious machine, invented
by Roll, the chief engineer of the imperial mines. A stream
of water, procured from reservoirs ia the high valleys, falls
through a perpendicular iron pipe, two hundred and seventy
feet in length, which, being then bent at a right angle, conr
ducts it into the lower extremity of a large cylinder, in
which there is an air-tight piston. The water entering the
HUNGARIAN GYPSIES. 261
cylinder, raises the piston to the lop, and escapes by a valve
which then opens ; while, at the same time, the communica-
tion between the cylinder and the vertical pipe is inter-
rupted. The piston redescends by its own weight; the
water is again allowed to enter the cylinder, and an alternate
motion is thus established. To the piston rod are attached
two beams bearing the rods of pumps, which raise the water
by successive stages from the deepest parts of the mine.
There are three of these machines, each of which raises
1790 cubic feet of water, from a depth of six hundred feet,
in an hour. The water employed in working the machine
makes its escape by the same adit with that which it has
raised.
Upon passing one day an encampment of gypsies, Dr.
Walker was led to make some enquiries of M. M. respect-
ing them.
M. M. " Of the origin of this singular race of beings,
whose manners and varied history have attracted so much
attention all over Europe, various have been the opinions.
They are, perhaps, more common in Hungary than in any
other country, where they are denominated cygani, czy-
gani, or tzygany, and exhibit the same general features,
Physical and moral, by which they are characterized in Eng-
md. Their essential identity seems to be- distinctly ascer-
tained under various modifications and names in several of
the countries of Europe the Gitanos of Spain, the Bohe-
mians of France, the Zingari or Cingari of Italy, the Zi-
gueners of Transylvania, the Tinklers of Scotland, &e. It
is apparently more constituted by the mode of living, kind
of employments, peculiarities of complexion, countenance
and form, dispositions, propensities, and habits, than by the
language used by them. But this latter is, in some respects,
a more decided evidence of their derivation from one origin.
" The identity of this people, in the different countries
of Europe, is so obvious, from a comparison of their manners,
that on this alone we might rest our conviction of their
common origin. Their peculiar cast of countenance, their
complexion, their gay and cheerful turn of rnind, their
bodily agility, are all distinctly marked, and specifically
mentioned by different travellers who have met with them
in distant regions. But the great confirmation and com-
pletion of the argument lies in the similarity of their Ian-
202 HUNGARY.
guage. That a race of beings, in the lowest degree of ci-
vilization, who, for four centuries, have been wandering
about in every part of Europe, acquiring the language of
every country which they frequented, and claiming no
country of their own, should have lost their original lan-
guage altogether, would not be a matter of astonishment.
That they should have retained their peculiar language r
would have been little less than miraculous ; if, therefore,
we can trace but a few words, common to the whole race in
every country, and which have no affinity to the language
of any nation inhabited by them at present, we are led ir-
resistibly to the conclusion, that they are derived from a
common source. This fact has been established by former
writers, and the result of my inquiries can only be consi-
dered as an additional evidence in its favour. According to
ther own account, when they made their first appearance in
Italy in the fifteenth century, they represented themselves
as Egyptians, driven from their own country by the Sara-
cens. But this assertion is now considered to have been
false, and they are supposed to be of the Hindoo race,
and this supposition is founded on the great similarity which
is met with in their language to that of the Hindoos."
The next object of our travellers attention was the capi-
tal, Buda, the residence of the Palatine, and the seat of
government. It contains upwards of thirty thousand inhabi-
tants ; while, on the opposite bank of the Danube, and
connected with it by a bridge of boats, lies the city of Pesth,
already of nearly equal magnitude, and rapidly increasing.
Its chief ornaments are the National Museum, dedicated to
the Natural History of Hungary, with an extensive library,
open to the public, and an observatory, recently erected
upon a hill rising from the river : great attention has been
paid to procure the instruments from Munich, and to render
their supports independent of the building. The University,
which has a library of fifty thousand volumes, is attended
by seven hundred students ; amongst them are to be found
Jews, as well as Christians of all denominations, complete
toleration being allowed throughout the kingdom.
The King of Hungary, who is also Emperor of Austria,
has at his disposal a standing army of 60,000 men, which
is maintained by the peasantry and free towns : with the
consent of the Diet he can also call forth the insurrection
ITS NOBILITY AND PEASANTS. 263
of the nobles, who on some of these occasions, have brought
40,000 men into the field. The most curious part of the
military establishment is the militia, intended as a barrier
against the Turks, which occupies the Croatian frontiers.
Every father of a family holds a certain portion of land
from the Government, for which he pays a small land-tax,
furnishes his quota to the public magazines, ^and is bound
ifo take the field when required. While in the field he is
maintained, and the land-tax remitted in proportion to his
military service. The land descends to the eldest son ; and,
if there are no male heirs, reverts to the crown. Sixty or
more of these landholders unite into a family, under a pa-
triarch of their own choice, to whom they yield implicit
obedience. All the labour and gains of this family are in
common : and no one can quit it without being punished as
a deserter. Several of these families united, form a com-
pany, under the orders of a captain ; and several compa-
nies constitute a regiment, commanded by a colonel. The
whole economy of this extensive district is military; the
agricultural labours are directed by corporals ; the courts of
justice are composed of commissioned officers ; and the
whole is subject to the Council of War at Vienna. The
force which can be called out is estimated at 80,000 men;
and the line which they are intended to protect, at 600
miles.
The revenue derived by Austria from Hungary is calcu-
lated at three millions sterling. Perhaps there are few coun-
tries which excite such strong feelings of indignation in the
breast of an Englishman as Hungary. The absolute slavery
of that class of people which in his own country enjoy in
every respect, the same protection from the laws, as the
first peer in the realm, renders the contrast both striking and
painful.
The manner in which land is possessed in Hungary, is
very singular. No man can possess lands who is not a noble
of Hungary. But as all the family of a nobleman are also
noble, it is supposed that, in every twenty-one individuals
in the nation, one is of this class. The lands descend either
entire and undivided to the eldest son, or are equally di-
vided amongst the sons, or, in some cases, amongst the
sons and daughters : so that many of the nobles become by
these divisions, extremely poor, and are often obliged to
discharge all the duties of the meanest peasant. If any of
2G4 HUNGARY,
these nobles wish to sell an estate to a stranger, however
high in rank, even to a noble of the Austrian empire, ap-
plication must first be made to the surrounding proprietors,
to learn whether they wish to purchase at the stipulated
price ; if they decline, the stranger may purchase it for a
period of thirty years ; at the end of which time, any branch
of the family which sold it, however distantly related, may
oblige the stranger to surrender his bargain. This goes so
far, that, in many cases, though the purchaser be an Hun-
garian noble, the family of the former possessor can reclaim
it after thirty years, on payment of the original price, to-
gether with expenses incurred in the buildings, and improve-
ments which have been made during that period. The liti-
gation, ill-will, and evils of eTery kind to which such laws
give rise, are beyond calculation.
The peasants on these estates were formerly bound
to perform indefinite services, on account of supposed
grants and privileges likewise little understood. Maria
Theresa put the whole under certain regulations, which left
less arbitrary power in the hands of the lord. She fixed the
quantity of land upon each estate which was to remain irre-
vocably in the possession of the peasantry, giving to each
peasant his portion, called a Session, and describing the ser-
vices which should be required of him by his lord in return.
The only points determined, however, were, first, the whole
quantity of land assigned to the peasants ; secondly, the
Delation between the quantity of land and the quantity of
labour the lord should require for it. The individual pea-
sants are not fixed to the soil, but may always be dismissed
when the superior finds cause ; nor is it of necessity that
the son succeeds to his father, though usually the case. The
peasant has no absolute claim to a whole session: if the
lord please, he may give but half a session, or a third ; but,
in this case, he cannot require more than one-half or one-
third of the labour. The quantity of land allotted to a
whole session is fixed for each comitatus or county. In the
county of Neutra, where Urmeny is situated, it varies, ac-
cording to the quality of the soil, from twenty to thirty
ioch, each equal to 1.46 acres, or nearly 1| English statute
acre ; and of these, sixteen or twenty must be arable, the
rest meadow. The services required of the father of the
family for the whole session, are one hundred and four days
of labour during the year, if he work without cattle ; or
NOBLES AND PEASANTRY.
fifty-two days if he bring two horses or oxen, or four if
necessary, with ploughs and carts. In this work he may
either employ himself, or, if he prefer and can afford it,
may send a servant. Besides this, he must give four fowls, -
and twelve eggs, and one pfund and a half of butter ; and
every thirty peasants must give one calf yearly. He must
also pay a florin for his house ; must cut and bring home a
klaster of wood ; must spin in his family six pfund of wool
or hemp, provided by the landlord : and, among four pea-
sants, the proprietor claims what is called a long journey,
that is, they must transport twenty centners, each one hun-
dred French pounds weight, the distance of two days' jour-
ney out and home; and, besides all this, they must pay
one-tenth of all their products to the church, and one-ninth
to the lord. Such are the services owed by the peasant ;
and happy would he be were he subject to no other claims.
Unfortunately, however, the peasant of Hungary has scarcely
any political rights, and is considered by the government,
much more than by the landlord, in the light of a slave.
By an unlimited extension of the aristocratical privilege,
the noble is free from every burthen ; and the whole is ac-
cumulated upon the peasant. The noble pays no tribute,
and goes freely through the country, subject to neither tolls
nor duties : but the peasant is subject to pay tribute ; and
although there may be some nominal restriction to the ser-
vices due from him to government, it can safely be said that
there is no limit, in point of fact, to the services which he
is compelled to perfom. Whatever public work is to be ex-
ecuted, not only when a road is to be repaired, but when
new roads are to be^made, or bridges built, the county
meeting gives the order, and the peasant dares not refuse
to execute it. All soldiers passing through the country are
quartered exclusively upon the peasantry. They must pro-
vide them, without recompense, with bread, and furnish
their horses with corn ; and whenever called upon, by an
order termed a "Jbrespann order?' they must provide the
person bringing it with horses and meaias of conveyance.
Such an order is always employed by the officers of govern-
ment ; and whoever can in any way plead public business
as the cause of his journey, takes care to provide himself
with it. In all levies of soldiers, the whole falls upon the
peasant; and the choice is left to the arbitrary discretion of
the lord and his servants.
N
266 HUNGARY.
In addition to these grievances, which are intolerable, the
Hungarian peasant is subject to stripes and imprisonment,
and the feelings of our travellers had been repeatedly shocked
in approaching the castles of the nobility, at seeing peasants
working in irons. The first palace they visited their ears
were assailed upon entering the court-yard, with the clank,
ing of chains, and Edward ejaculated, " I thought Sir, we
were going to see a palace, this is a prison, I hear the pri-
soners 5 chains !"
u ' Tis the prisoners in the dungeons belonging to the
castle," replied M. M. "we shall see the interior, I have
an order for that purpose."
Edward could see nothing but the dungeon walls, nor
hear aught but the prisoners chains With a beating heart
lie followed the keeper, who led them through a door well
barred and bolted. As they entered the dungeon, seven-
teen figures, all in the long Hungarian cloak, rose from the
ground on which they were sitting. Beside themselves, the
room, which was not above twelve feet square, presented no
one object : no table, bed, or chair. It was ventilated and
lighted by several small grated windows, high up in the side
of the walls. The prisoners were most of them young men,
some had been tried, others had not ; and some had been
confined seven or eight years. Their crimes were very dif-
ferent ; but no difference was made in the mode of treating
them, excepting as to the number of lashes they were to
receive at stated times, or the number of years they were
to be imprisoned. Such was their residence during the day-
time, when they did not go out to work. Our travellers next
proceeded to the dungeon in which the prisoners are confined
during the night, the jailor taking the precaution to disguise
unpleasant smells, by carrying a fumigating pot before them.
O opening an inner door, they entered a small room in the
corner of which lay two women on beds of straw. In the
middle of the floor was an iron grate. This being opened
by their guide, he descended first, by means of a ladder, with
a lamp in his hand, by the light of which our travellers per-
ceived that they were in a small antichamber, or cell, from
which a door opened into the dungeon, the usual sleeping
place of all the male prisoners. It was a small oblong vaulted
cave, in which, the only furniture was two straw mattrasses. A
few ragged articles of dress lay near the place where each pri-
soner was accustomed to rest upon the naked floor. In one
NOBILITY AND PEASANTRY. 267
corner of the room was a large strong chain ; and, at about
a foot and a half from the ground, round the whole vault,
were rings let into the wall. The prisoners, at night, hav-
ing laid themselves upon the ground, the chain is put through
the irons which confine the ancles of three of them, and
is passed into a ring in the wall ; it is then attached to
three more, and is passed through a second ring, and con-
tinued in this way till the complete circuit of the room is
made. The ends of the chain are fastened together by a
padlock, by which the whole is secured.
" Let us return to Vienna soon, Sir,'* said Edward, as
they quitted the dungeon, " Every noble I see I shall consi-
der tyrant, and shall never look at a peasant without thinking
of the prison of Kesythely."
" Nor I," said the Doctor, whose feelings were in unison
with those of his pupil, " We will quit it immediately; but
all the nobility are not alike, though few are the exceptions.
The Count Festitis has enfranchised his vassals.
" Having purchased an estate in the Murakos, a tract of
country between the Muhr and the Drave, he granted lands
to the peasants at a fixed annual rent, a few only remaining
on the common tenure of service. In these free villages, the
value of land has risen to such a degree, that the owner of
four acres is esteemed wealthy, and the population has in-
creased from fifty families to six hundred. Although still
subject to the government duties, and suffering from the
effects of two bad seasons, and an inundation of the Drave,
these peasants were, in 1814, striving cheerfully with the dif-
ficulties of their situation ; while their neighbours, on the
common footing, although each family possessed thirty acres,
were reduced to subsist on the bounty of their lord. These
free villages also afford an exception to the general disho-
nesty of the Hungarian peasantry ; their household furniture
is often exposed on the outside of the cottages, and does not
even require the protection of the large dogs common in the
rest of the country. As, however, on hereditary property,
no aiTeingement made by the lord is binding on his succes-
sor, this amelioration cannot become general without an act
of the Legislature."
" What' a country to live in !" exclaimed Edward. "Dear
England," continued the youth, u and its laws, its juries, its
Itabeas corpus, and all its comforts. I am not tired of travel-
ling, but home and England, will sometimes cross me. I
N 2
268 GERMANY.
should like of all things at this moment, to be peeping into a
farmer's hall, where his labourers are assembled at a harvest
home, drinking a health to our good Maister, the founder
of the feast.' Should you not, Sir ?*' The Doctor smiled
" Why, yes, perhaps I should. But our Austrian friend,
you forget him."
M. M. who had been greatly amused at Edward's re-
marks, begged he might be forgotten. " I have no wish to
interrupt my young friend's remarks, which do honour to
his country, as well as his own heart. But do you really in-
tend to quit Hungary ? if so, we must part, for I cannot re-
turn to Vienna just yet. But as I am going to the north,
where the country is not so beautiful as in the south, I do
not urge you to make any farther stay in a country which
appears to have disturbed the peace of Edward/'
With regret our travellers look leave of M. M ,
and directing their steps towards Gratz on their way to Vi-
enna, they arrived safely in that city to the great delighf of
Edward. Colin too expressed much pleasure at their return,
and after staying one day in the Austrian capital, in order to
make some arrangements with their banker, and to settle va-
rious little affairs which were postponed by their sudden ex-
cursion into Hungary, they resumed their journey, and fol-
lowing the course of the Danube, on the south side of that
river, they at length arrived at Swrach, where they remained
one night.
SECTION V.
CAVES AND FOSSIL REMAINS.
'" OF all the natural curiosities of Germany," said Dr.
W T alker, " the immense number of fossil bones found in the
mountains of the Hartz is most astonishing. That fossil on
the chimney-piece, recals them to my recollection. The
Hartz mountains form an irregular chain from the Weser,
not far from its rise, to the vallies of the Oder. At one ex-
tremity of this long chain are Beanmon's cave and Schorfel's ;
and at the other are the caves in Hungary, which have been
known from time immemorial. Between these two extremes,
are the caves in Franconia, near Bayreuth ; the one called
CAVES AND FOSSIL REMAINS. 260
Gayleureuth, is particularly rich in fossil remains. These
caverns are of great extent ; they are lined with stalactal con-
cretions ; and in these concretions near the bottom, and in
the floor many bones are found. The bones are all nearly
in the same state, detached, shattered, and broken ; a little
lighter and less solid than bones in a natural state : they are
very little decomposed, containing much gelatinous matter,
and not at all petrified. There are about eleven or twelve
of these caverns at Gayleureuth, all issuing from one another,
the inner one is twenty-eight feet high, and about three and
forty feet long. Here the prodigious quantity of animal
earth, and of bones of every description, presents an apt
image of a temple of death. The stalactites, from their icy
touch and heavy groups, combine to give it an air of gloom
which chills the human frame ; and I do assure you, Edward,
I was glad again to lay down and creep through an aperture
only three feet wide and two high, in order to retrace my
steps through these dismal caves of death.'*
EDWARD. " I have no wish to see them. It makes one
shudder to hear of them. I am quite satisfied with your de-
scription of them. Pray, Sir, what animals have these bones
belonged to ?'*
DR WALKER. <* Three-fourths of them are said to
have belonged to two species of bears, which no longer exist.
About half the remainder to the hyaena, some few to the
tyger, or the lion ; others to the wolf or dog, the fox, the
pole- cat, or to some species nearly allied to them. These
caves do not contain the bones of any marine animal what-
ever, nor anything that marks the presence of the sea. It
cannot be doubted, therefore, that the animals to which they
belonged, lived and died in the caverns where their bones re-
main, for there is no appearance of any sudden overflow-
ing of the waters of the ocean, by which they might have been
driven to these caverns, and there perished. Carnivorous
animals are solitary, both from inclination and necessity ;
there is therefore no reason to suppose that any vast herds
of them would be collected in these caves, unless compelled
by some extraordinary change in the face of the country which
they inhabited. May we not suppose that at some remote
period, when the vast forests of Germany were gradually
destroyed, either by fire or other means, that these animals
might seek protection in the caverns of the Hartz mountains,
and there prey upon each other till they became extinct. I
N 3
270 GERMANY.
do not however presume to account for what has occupied the
attention of so many of the curious; but this is one of those
speculative subjects upon which we may be allowed, without
presumption, to give an opinion."
A fire happening in the night of their arrival at Sivrach,
not far distant from the inn where our travellers lodged,
Dr. Walker observed, when it was extinguished, " that affairs
would have been conducted in a very different manner, had
this melancholy event taken place at Pesth in Hungary.
When these frightful accidents take place in that town,
certain citizens are appointed, who open the houses in
which the public fire-engines are kept, and others who are to
superintend the conducting them to the place. The barriers
of the town are closed, and no stranger, or suspected person,
is allowed to escape. The surgeons and priests are ordered
to be at hand. No one but the Palatine and the Brigade-
General is suffered to approach the spot on horseback. The
Stadtrichter and the Stadthaupman are distinguished by red
and white hat-bands ; every magistrate wears a white one,
and the commissioner of fires one of red and yellow. Every
householder in the neighbourhood, and the streets leading to
it, is forced, under a penalty of 25 florins, to light up his
house with lanterns, or with candles on the inside. The
glaziers and the sculptors have to pay attention to this. The
brewers, the millers, the coach-masters, and the hackney-
coachmen, are bound to afford means of conveyance. The
management of the fire-engines is committed to the copper-
smith?, metal -founders, gun-makers, knife-grinders, and
watch-makers. The supply of water, and the labour of the
engines is entrusted to the locksmiths, braziers, wheelwrights,
potters, coopers, butchers, hatters, farriers, and nail-smiths.
For pumping water out of the Danube, the tanners, fisher-
men, millers, and boatmen ; for lifting water out of the wells,
the well sinkers, bakers, gardeners, and starch-makers, are
summoned. The brush-makers, glovers, basket. makers,
furriers, weavers, nailers, harness-makers, taylors, buckle-
makers, and shoe-makers, are to form the ranks for passing
water in cans and buckets. Brewers, labourers, joiners, and
rope-makers, are to bring the ladders and fire-hooks. But,
above all, the chimney inspectors, the bricklayers, stone-
masons, tilers, and carpenters, are called upon, under very
heavy penalties, to attend and give assistance at all fires.
The approval of the Stadtrichter, who is always accompanied
FIRE ENGINES MINERALS. 271
with an official mason and carpenter, is requisite before any
of the neighbouring houses are pulled down, to prevent the
extension of the flames. No one is permitted to shut his
doors, or refuse free access to the water in his house on such
occasions, nor can he forbid any necessary communication
from being opened through his walls or fences. The sick,
the infirm, and children, are entrusted to the care of the apo-
thecaries, surgeons, and shopkeepers. The preservation of
furniture and valuables is committed to book-binders, choco-
late-makers, sieve-makers, goldsmiths, map-stainers, en-
gravers, painters, snuff-makers, watch-makers, paper-hangers,
aud sugar-bakers, The preservation of cattle is given to the
swine and cattle-dealers, cow-keepers, &c. And, lastly, the
masters of coffee-houses and inns, and the barbers, are
quietly to look about the whole city for thieves and pick-
pockets. No man is suffered to stand by at a fire idle, but,
whatever be his situation, is called upon to render assistance.
And thus the busy picture is complete. How much more
efficacious is the plan and labour of the firemen in London.''
" I agree with you, Sir," said Edward, " they manage these
things better in England."
SECTION VI.
THE MINERALS, RIVERS, AND MOUNTAINS.
BESIDES the productions, of her own immediate territory,
Austria is particularly rich in those of Bohemia, Hungary,
and part of Poland. In minerals, for instance.
'\At Schmelnitz and Herrengrund, antimony; atRoienau, salt-petre,
coal, salt, and alum, in different parts, natron or soda, in a lake near
Kismanig, towards the frontier of Transylvania. Mineral springs are
very numerous. Petroleum is likewise met with in Hungary. In Tran-
sylvania are the grey gold ore, the white gold ore, silver and copper.
The streams both of this country and Hungary afford small quantities
of gold ; and Bohemia produces silver, gold, tin, copper, and lead.
" The mines at Kremnitz and Schemnitz, in Hungary, are probably
the most remarkable in Europe. The former for gold, the latter for
silver and other metals. The academy at Schemnitz, instituted for
the study of mineralogy, is only rivalled by that of Freyburg in Saxony.
It is remarkable that the rocks in these parts are of the same kind as
N4
272 GERMANY.
those opposite to many of the Western Isles of Scotland. May not
these contain similar minerals ?
" The rivers of Germany are both large and numerous. The Danube
stands first upon the list, which, after rising in Swabia, passes by Ulm,
Ingolstadt, Ratisbon, Passau, Vienna, Presburg, Buda, in the Aus-
trian dominions ; and Petervaradin, Belgrade, and Widin, in Turkey ;
after a passage of 1,300 miles, it falls into the Black Sea, near Ismael.
The Danube, in some places, is 76GK yards in breadth.
" The Inn rises in Swizzerland, passes by Inspruck, and joins the
Danube at Passao.
" The Oder rising in the mountains of Moravia, and passing by
Breslaw, Glogau, and Francfurth on the Oder, disembogues itself into
the Baltic below Stettin.
u The Elbe rising in the Sudetic Mountains of Silesia, runs by
Prague, Dresden, Wittenburg, Magdeburg, and Hamburg, and, after
a course of more than 500 miles, enters tJie sea near Cuxhaven.
" The Weser, formed by the junction of the Wurra and Fulda near
Munden, runs into the sea at Bremen, 270 miles from its source.
" The river Ems flows by Munster and Embden.
" The Rhine rises in Switzerland, flows through Lake Constance,
runs by Basle, whence it forms the boundary between France and
Germany ; then running by Strasburg, Spire, Manheim , Mentz, Coblentzr,
Cologne, and Nimeguen, it enters the United Provinces, and divides
itself into four different branches ; the only one of which that retains
the name of Rhine falls into the German Ocean at Leyden. The
course of the Rhine may be computed at 600 miles. The principal
rivers which contribute their waters to the Rhine are the Neckar and
Mayne from the east, and the Mozelle from the west."
u And now, Edward, as this town of Sivrach presents no-
thing very interesting, to engage our attention, let us before
we proceed any further on our travels, take a survey of the
extensive country denominated Germany ; and first of all, lei
us speak of its surface and climate.
<c Though Germany is in general a level country, and has many
plains of great extent, yet in every circle are single mountains or small
ranges of hills. Of mountains the principal are Eizgeberg, between
Upper Saxony and Bohemia ; the Hartz, in Lower Saxony j Hessia, in
the Upper Rhine; Vogeaian, between the Rhine and Moselle ; the Car-
pathian Mountains, between Moravia and Hungary ; Giant Mountains,
in Silesia ; Fichtelberg, in Franconia. The Alpine chain pervades and
confines the south of Swabia, Bavaria, and Austria: the most elevated
part of Germany is along the parallel of 49.
" The chief lakes are Constance, south of Swabia; Chiemsee, south
of Bavaria ; and Ozernick, south east of Austria, The southern part
of Germany is mountainous, woody, and almost throughout fruitful and
well cultivated ; the northern part is more level ; towards the sea many
parts are very low, it has also large barren wastes interspersed with
forests, and yet many very fertile districts. The air is temperate aiul
THE MINES OF IDRIA. 273
in general healthy. As for its zoology, to the domestic and wild animals
of England and Holland, we may add the uron or bison, the bear,
wolf, lynx, and chamoise. The surface yields exeellent grain and
vegetables, also hops, flax, hemp, tobacco, saffron, madder, olive
oil, and timber.
44 Upper Saxony is particularly rich in mineral productions ; besides
silver, copper, tin, lead, manganese, cobalt, bismuth, wolfran, which are
chiefly met with in the gneis rock, we may add granite, basalt, trapp, jet,
hornblend, limestone, pitchstone, marble, coal, with micaceous and
siliceous schistus; serpentine, jasper, agates, porcelain-clay, fullers'
earth, and the celebrated topaz rock, which is said to be unique in its
kind. The valley of Plauden, in the neighbourhood of Dresden,
abounds with putrefactions. In the south west of Lower Saxony, are
boracite and staurolite. In Swabia are excellent marble, silver, and
copper. The south of Bavaria is rich in salt springs, and Austria in
Mercury; the alpine minerals are gold, silver, copper, lead, granite,
with argillaceous substances, and accidentally, large pieces of grass
green quartz, studded with red transparent garnets. The mines of
Idra, in the south east of Austria, are said to yield more than 300,000
pounds avoirdupoise of mercury annually; the common oar is cinnabar,
but sometimes pure quicksilver runs through the crevices. The prin-
cipal of the above mines are situated in porphyry and sienite."
SECTION VII.
THE MINES OF IDRIA,
u THE quicksilver mines at Idria, a town of Carniola, were
discovered in the year 1499, by accident, in the following
manner. A peasant having filled a cask with water from a
spring in the immediate neighbourhood, and left it there, it
was so heavy the next day, he could scarcely remove it ; upon
inspecting the cause of this extraordinary weight, he disco-
vered a quantity of this valuable mineral, which had settled
at the bottom of it. 1 have been in this mine, and although
the entrance is now considerably improved, yet when I
visited it, it was indeed so frightfully gloomy, as almost
to deter me from entering. Imagine to yourself a
gloomy looking aperture of about five yards broad, at the
entrance of which was a basket ; in this I placed myself, and
was let down more than 100 fathoms. The mine widened as
I descended, and I was glad to find myself once more on
terra ji.rma, if I may use the expression, in a mine of quick?
N 5
274 GERMANY,
silver. I must confess, that I never before experienced
such a combination of feelings. The ground which ap-
peared hollow, echoed back my steps with a thundering
sound. The light produced by a few solitary lamps sus-
pended here and there (to enable the wretched inhabitants
to move from one part of these awful and gloomy regions to
another) was so feeble, that I could scarcely discern my
guide, and as I passed through this scene of horrors, (for
such it literally was) I shuddered on recalling to my imagina-
tion, the fate of an Austrian nobleman, and the lady to whom
he was married, a* related by a Mr. Everard.
" Mr. Everard was travelling in Germany, and made a
point of seeing every thing curious and celebrated that fell
in his way. Being near Idria, he resolved to descend into
these mines. On arriving at the bottom, he was struck with
the gloom that surrounded him, and paused a few moments
as he contemplated the solitary sickly looking wretches that
surrounded him ; he was roused from his reverie by hearing
himself addressed by one of them, * Do you not know me
Mr. Everard ? r said a tall thin looking person. Mr. Everard
started, and fixing his eyes on the unhappy object before
him, he exclaimed, < Impossible ! I must be deceived. It
cannot be the Count Alberti ?' His surprise was encreased
on perceiving a young woman approach Alberti (for it was
indeed he) who, notwithstanding her present wretched eitu^
ation, possessed a certain elegance of manner which plainly
shewed the mines of Idria had not been always her place of
residence. Having cordially received his unfortunate friend,
he begged he would inform him of the circumstances which
had reduced him to this melancholy situation. < I have myself
to blame originally, said Alberti. Having received what I
conceived an unpardonable insult from an Austrian officer, 1
resolved to follow the natural impetuosity of my disposition ;
and in defiance of the commands of the Emperor, I chal-
lenged my enemy ; we fought, and I left him, as I thought,
dead. I then fled to the forests of Istria, where I unfortu-
nately was surprised by banditti, who made me prisoner,
and carried me to their haunts, but afterwards allowed me
my liberty. Their retreat being soon after discovered, we
were carried to Vienna, and condemned to be broken upon
the wheel. I was however recognised, and upon this dis-
covery my fate was changed to that of a living death in these
gloomy regions. This unfortunate companion of my woes,,
THE COUNT ALBERTI. 275
voluntarily submitted to share my unhappy fate, after hav-
ing in vain made every possible attempt to procure my par-
don. We were engaged to be married in happier days, but
she chose to unite herself to a wretch who had only misery
to share with her. The unhappy victims in these mines,
have at least one poor consolation, that of knowing their mi-
serable existence is seldom prolonged beyond the space of
two or three years. For which reason they are worked by
criminals. Do I live to say it ? And the wretched Alberti
is one of them.'
" His fair companion endeavoured to soothe him by her
kind attentions, and at length succeeded in composing his
agitated spirits.
" The curiosity Mr* Everard had to see the process of ex-
tracting the quicksilver, was completely absorbed in the me-
lancholy pleasure of conversing with, and consoling his
once gay companion, with whom he remained as long as he
was allowed. Alberti's feelings were again getting the
better of his reason, at the prospect of being separated from
his friend, who recalled him to himself by appealing to his
affection for a wife who had sacrificed wealth, rank, and
beauty, for the superior pleasure of solacing his griefs.
Ashamed of his weakness, he shook Mr. Everard by the
hand, and turning to the amiable woman who stood by his
side unsubdued by her fate, he gently drew her arm within his,
waved his hand to Mr. Everard with a melancholy smile,
and once more returned to the interior of his gloomy prison.
" The cheering light of the sun failed in its usual effect of
reviving Mr. Everard's spirits. The unhappy fate of Alberti,
once the gayest of the gay, at the court of Vienna, threw a
gloom upon all around him, and so deeply was he affected,
that he resolved to remain some little time in the neighbour-
hood of Idria, in order to pay him a second visit. He was
received by Alberti and his wife, with delight, to whom this
act of friendship was indeed a cordial. In the midst of an in-
teresting conversation, they were surprised by a sound of
strange voices, and upon the descent of the basket three
persons got out, who eagerly inquired after the Count Al-
berti. Alberti started from Mr. Everard, the voice was fa-
miliar to him, and in an instant he was encircled in the arms
of one of his earliest friends. His wife soon joined her hus-
band, and was near falling to the ground, when she was
caught by her brother, the third person was her cousin.
276 GERMANY.
After some little preparation they informed the almost hope-
less Alberti, that the officer whom he had wounded, was reco-
vered ; that he had solicited his pardon of the emperor, and
obtained it. They then shewed him the order for his re-
lease, and had the exquisite delight of conveying him to the
pure regions of day. Before, however, he left the mine,
he disposed of his working utensils to his late unfortunate
companions ; to one he gave his mattock, to another his
pick-axe, and so forth ; and then after bidding them an af-
fectionate adieu, he left them, and joined his friends.*'
SECTION VIII.
PRINCIPAL TOWNS OF GERMANY.
DR. WALKER. " COME, Edward, now tell me the chief
towns, not only of Germany proper, but of Hungary arid
Bohemia, as forming part of the dominions of the house of
Austria."
EDWARD. "I shall pass over those towns we have visit-
ed, and begin with the^principal ports, and among these
" Hamburg comes first ; it is situated in the west of Lower Saxony,
and is the chief mart of the north of Germany, and trades extensively
with all the maritime nations of Europe. The houses are high, and
built of brick ; the streets spacious, with good canals, which admit the
tide ; on the ramparts are fine public walks ; the exchange is handsome,
and the other public buildings very respectable.
" The English factory here enjoys great privileges ; the members of
it decide disputes among themselves by the majority of votes ; and if
involved in any contest with natives of the town, they are likewise
judges in their own cause, with the addition of two of the city magis-
trates.
** Lubec on the Baltic, in the north of Lower Saxony. Bremen, in
the west of Lower Saxony. Fiumeand Trieste in the south of Austria/
" Trieste is situated on a declivity, its streets are narrow, its harbour
has lately been much improved. Here is an annual fair, which conti-
nues twenty days from the first of August. Articles of commerce are
salt, oil, almonds, iron, &c. but its commission trade is of the most im-
portance. It has the largest sugar-house in the south of Germany, and
also manufactures soap, porcelain, earthenware, leather, paint, velvet,
silk, and thread.
" The most noted trading towns in the interior are Frankfort on the
Mayn, Leipzig, Brunswick, Frankfort on the Oder, where there are
ITS PRINCIPAL TOWNS. 2TJ
about 7 r ()00 Jews, who are all confined to one street ; Nuremberg and
Mentz. These have great fairs annually.
" The German artists and handicraftsmen manufacture all the neces-
saries and luxuries of life ; and the demand for English and French
,eoods, which was formerly very great, is now, I am sorry to say, upon
the decrease. The arts and sciences are held in great estimation, and
the world is indebted to the inquisitive spirit and persevering diligence
of the Germans for many useful discoveries and inventions.
'* In the vicinity of Leipzig, was fought the great battle between
Napoleon Buonaparte and the confederated powers of Europe. The
battle terminated in favour of the allies, who marched to Paris, and
Napoleon retired to the Island of Elba.
" Brunswick, on the Ocker, in the south of Lower Saxony, is large
and fortified. The country is fertile in corn, pasture, and has some
mines of copper and lead.
" In 1530, the first spinning-wheels were made at this place, by one
Jiirger, a stone-mason and statuary : its celebrated beer, called mum,
so named after its inventor Christian Mumme, is exported, even to Asia,
without spoiling.
" Mentz is situated at the conflux of the Rhine, and the Mayn, is
large and ancient, its public buildings and institutions are much the
same as those of other large cities: its bridge of boats over the Danube
is 2100 feet in length, resting on a double row of boats lashed together.
Near the ramparts is a monument of Drusus. The wine of these parts
is said to be the best in Germany.
" Nuremberg is nearly in the centre of Germany. The houses are
built of free-stone, a good size, and the whole city is remarkably neat;
it has twelve stone bridges. Its manufactures are in great estimation,
the most prominent are musical and mathematical instruments, clocks,
cutlery, and hardware ; also the toys which in England are known by
the name of Dutch toys. The vicinity is sandy, but well cultivated.
" You do not mean, Sir, I should mention all the great
cities of Germany, do you?"
DR. WALKER. " No; you have mentioned all that
are necessary ; except that we must not forget Baden, the
metropolis of Hungary, which is connected with Pest by a
bridge of boats over the Danube; it has a stately palace of
freestone. The adjacent country is noted for natural warm
baths and vineyards.
" We shall visit many of the other principal towns, so we
will let them rest for the present.
<c Germany is said to contain more mineral waters than
all Europe besides; the following are well known for their,
medicinal virtues; Spa, in the S. W. of Westphalia; Aix-la-
Chapelle, in the S, of Westphalia ; Pyrmont, in the E. of
Westphalia; Seltzer, S. E, of the Lower Rhine. We. shall*
1 hope, visit some of these also, 1 '
278 GERMANY.
About eight o'clock the next morning, Colin, announced
that all was ready, and after a very pleasant journey, they ar-
rived at the beautiful and populous city of Munich, the capital
of Bavaria, and the Athens of Germany. Shortly after their
arrival, they began their peregrinations by visiting the cathe-
dral, which contains twenty-five chapels, thirty altars, and
two steeples. " This cathedral," said Dr. Walker/' does
not answer the expectation raised by its description, and the
only thing worth mentioning in its interior, is that black
tomb, ornamented with bronze figures, erected to the memory
of-one of the emperors.
" Munich is populous and beautiful. The houses are high,
the streets spacious, with canals in many of them ; and it
ranks amongst the finest towns in Germany. In 1759, an
academy of sciences was founded here, the object of which is
the cultivation of useful sciences and liberal arts, and the
study of the history of Bavaria. The manufactures of Ba-
varia are silk, velvet, woollens, and tapestry."
On the following day they went to see a grand review, in
the neighbourhood, of the Bavarian troops; the day was re-
markably fine, and the scene brilliant and splendid. Tire
troops exhibited great skill in the performance of their mili-
tary evolutions, and proved they were no novices in the art
of war.
" I think, Sir/' said Edward, " that gunpowder was first
discovered by Barthold Schwartz, or Barthokl the black, a
monk of Goslar, in Saxony, a profound alchemist."
DR. WAJLKEK. " So it is generally affirmed, particularly
by Father Richer, who says that this monk, having made a
mixture of nitre, sulphur, and charcoal, a spark accidentally
falling upon these united ingredients, they blew up, and burnt
the vessel which contained them with a dreadful explosion.
Astonished at the effect, he made several experiments with
the same materials, and finding the result invariably the same,
he thereby ascertained the nature and composition of what
we now call gunpowder. A. D. 1354/.
" Pontanus, the Danish historian, mentions that his coun-
trymen used guns in a naval engagement, in the year 1 554-,
and that a chemist, called Scwartz, invented it.
" Polydore Virgil, who died in the year 1555, says it was
discovered by an ignoble German, whose name is not known,
and that he also invented an iron tube, and taught the Vene-
tians the use rf guns. A, D. 1380..;
INVENTION AND USE OF GUNPOWDER. 270
u Yet an historian, who was living in the year 1366, says
that the English gained the battle of Cressy by discharging
upon the French red-hot iron bullets from cannon ; and Ma-
riana, in his history of Spain, relates that at the battle of
Algeziras, A. D. 1343, where the Moors were besieged by
the Spaniards, that the former did great harm to the Chris-
tians by iron balls which they shot, ' and this,' continues
the same historian, c is the first time we find any men-
tion of gunpowder and ball in our histories/ It was the
custom in those days of chivalry for Christian knights of the
different countries of Europe to volunteer their services to
the Spaniards against the Moors, and among those who dis-
tinguished themselves at the siege of Algeziras, were the
earls of Derby and Salisbury ; they were afterwards present
at the battle of Cressy; and it is not improbable, that hav-
ing witnessed the destruction caused among the Christians
by the cannon at the siege of this celebrated place, they
might, upon their return home communicate the intelligence
to their countrj^men, and employ gunpowder at Cressy.
There is a cannon in the armoury of Arneberg, which is a
little to the north of Ratisbon, upon which is the date 1303,
and this is the first certain record, (for such it may be called,)
of gunpowder being used in war. Roger Bacon, the learned
monk, died at Oxford, A.D. 1292 ; and from many parts of
his works it may be fairly inferred he knew the nature of gun-
powder. In Plott's History of Oxfordshire, it is stated that
in a manuscript copy of Roger Bacon's works, a union of
salt-petre, sulphur and charcoal are there described as a com-
position that would burn at any distance. Lord Bacon places
the discovery much earlier even than this. He says : * Cer-
tain it is, that ordnance was known in the city of the Oxi-
draes in India ; and was that which the Macedonians called
thunder and lightning and magic. And it is well known
that the use of ordnance hath been in China above two thou-
sand years.'
" With such an authority I shall close my remarks upon
this wonderful discovery which has been the means of chang-
ing the whole system of war, and of infinite utility to man-
kind in one respect, that of blowing up the rocks in mines.
" There are other compositions which will explode with
as much noise as gunpowder. Fulminating silver is one of
theoa ; and it is thus composed : dissolve fine silver in pale
nitric acid, and precipitate the solution by lime water ; de^
280 GERMANY.
cant the fluid, mix the precipitate with liquid Ammonia, and
stir it till it assumes a black colour; then decant the fluid
again, and leave it in the open air to dry ; this product is
fulminating silver, which once obtained, cannot be touched
without producing a violent explosion. It is the most dan-
gerous preparation known, for the contact of fire is not ne-
cessary to make it detonate. It explodes by the mere touch ;
its preparation is so hazardous, that it ought not to be at-
tempted without having a mask, and strong glass eyes upon
the face. No more than a single grain should be tried as
an experiment. Fulminating gold explodes by heat: but
there is a detonating powder so powerful, and so refined, as-
to explode upon being exposed to light only."
EDWARD. " What a dangerous discovery ! You said,
Sir, one day you would tell me how to make a silver tree/'
DR. WALKER. " So I did; and so I will. The beau-
tiful Arbor Dianae, or silver tree, may thus be produced.
Dissolve one part of silver in nitrous acid to saturation, then
mix twenty parts of clean water with it, and pour upon this
mixture two parts of mercury. When left standing quietly,
the desired crystallization will take place, and the silver tree
will appear to vegetate in a very beautiful manner."
EDWARD. " How very curious; I should like to make
, the experiment very much/'
DR. WALKER. " Making the Arbor Plumbils an easier
process. Dissolve two drachms of sugar of lead in e-ix ounces
of distilled water ; then pour the filtered solution into a cy-
lindrical glass, and a thin roll of zinc being hung in it, the
whole should be left standing at rest, the lead will then pre-
cipitate adhering to the zinc in metallic leaves in the form of
a tree.
u An iron tree may also be produced by a very simple
process/'
The country from Munich to Lindau, which is beauti-
fully situated on a small island in the Lake of Constance,
is diversified with luxuriant plains and large forests, abound-
ing with game. Lindau has a magnificent abbey, and an
ancient castle built by the Romans. There is also here a
Roman wall, called Heyden Maur. The views from this town
are extensive and grand beyond description ; but as our tra-
vellers were anxious to get into Switzerland, they embarked
on board a- small vessel, and crossed the lake, intending to
proceed direct for St. Gal.
THE CANTON OF ST. GALLEN. 281
. CHAPTER XIII.
SWITZERLAND.
SECTION I.
THE CANTON OF ST. GALLEN, &C.
THE Canton of St. Gallen has been considerably enlarged
of late : its capital St. Gal, is one of the most magnificent
towns in Switzerland, and was in former times of much im-
portance. The emperor Otho honoured it with the title of
Imperial City, and bestowed the privilege of coining upon it.
" The abbots of St. Gal," said Dr. Walker, " were
princes of the empire, and upon a public occasion one of
them appeared at Strasbourg with a retinue of a thousand
horses, all richly caparisoned. The Benedictine order to
which this monastery belonged, was one of the most wealthy,
learned, and celebrated of all the monastic institutions. It
was founded in the year 480, by St. Benet, a Roman se-
nator, of a Patrician family, who stole away from his pa-
rents during the reign of the emperor Justinian, and re-
tired into a desert called Sablac, where he led the life of a
hermit. Some time afterwards he went to Mont Cassin,
where he pulled down the ruins of an old temple of Apollo,
and built on its site a monastery. His rule was rigid ; he
strictly enjoined silence, obedience, poverty, chastity and
humility. The honours of the abbots of St. Gal are how-
ever now laid in the dust ; for when after a long and severe
contest between the catholics and protestants, the reforma-
tion was thoroughly established in this town, the last abbot
left the place in disgust, and entirely abandoned it."
" I think, Sir," said Edward, " that the superb monastic
buildings we have seen do not accord with the idea of po-
verty, which appears one of the necessary ingredients in the
character of a monk."
DR. WALKER. " They reconcile this inconsistency by
affirming, that although they are collectively rich, yet indivi-
dually they are poor, possessing in fact nothing they can call
their own. Among the poor individuals of this order who
282 SWITZERLAND.
have distinguished themselves, I have seen in an old table
f lie following list, viz.
28 Popes. 200 Cardinals.
1600 Archbishops. 4000 Bishops.
" Indeed so great was the reputation of these monks for
learning of all kinds, that so early as the year 840, according
to Tritemeus, not only divinity and philosophy, but mathema-
tics, poetry, rhetoric, the Greek, Arabic, Hebrew and Latin
languages were taught by them. Mathematics, I doubt my-
self, because I believe even now, there are objections made
to that study. To be sure the Inquisition, which is (he supreme
judge as to the fitness and propriety of every book, did not
then exist : I do not, however, venture to contradict this as-
sertion ; but I may be permitted to doubt it. The abbey of
Montcassin, a short time after its foundation possessed
4 Bisliopricks 640 Villages
2 Dukedoms 306 Farms
20 Counties 23 Sea Ports.
36 Cities 33 Islands
200 Castles 200 Mills, and
300 Territories 1662 Churches.
" Do not fancy, Edward, that these monks were useless
members of society, they were not, for their monasteries were,
as I said before, schools where every kind of learning was
taught."
Having directed their steps eastward, our travellers passed
through a beautiful country till they came to the pretty town
of Wallerstadt, situated on a lake of the same name, where,
enchanted with the surrounding scenery, they remained four
or five days, and then pursued their journey through the
wild and romantic country of Toggenburg, which has lately
been united to St. Gallen. At every turning of the road,
a town, village, monastery, fortress, valley or picturesque
ruin presented itself. Edward, whose young imagination
contemplated with a thrilling delight the grand and imposing
scenes before him, pointed out with all the energy of his
character the different objects which particularly fixed his
attention. The ascent of some of the mountains has been
considered so impracticable, that bridges are thrown across
from one summit to another. The river Thor assumes va-
rious characters as it traverses this mountainous country.
THE BATHS OF PREFFERS. 283
Sometimes it rushes precipitously down the sides of the
rocks, forming beautiful cascades, while at others it winds
silently along a neighbouring valley.
" We must visit the baths at Preffers,'' said Dr. Walker,
as they wandered one evening along the banks of the beau-
tiful lake of Wallenstadt, " for they really are a great curi-
osity. They were discovered by chance, as most of these
natural curiosities must be, unless there is some evident indi-
cation of their existence which tempts the curious to make
researches. In the reign of the emperor Frederick II. (he
lived in the thirteenth century,) one of his huntsmen was
eagerly pursuing a chamois amongst these rocks, when his at-
tention was attracted by the Tamiro, a bold rapid river, which
rise in these mountains. So much was he struck by the beauty
of the stream, that he resolved to trace it to its source, and
accordingly he pursued his steps, deafened by the clamour of
the waters in dashing over the broken points of the rocks.
Being at length weary and exhausted, he stopped, and per-
ceiving a small spring issuing out of one part of the rock, he
stooped to refresh himself with the clear and limpid beve-
rage, when to his great surprise he found it nearly boiling
hot. Lost in contemplation at so extraordinary a circum-
stance, he forgot both the goat and the source of the river,
and with difficulty found his way back to the abbey. Having
communicated to the abbot the discovery he had made, the
monk sent proper persons to examine its nature, who having
given the most favourable accounts of its qualities, the abbot
immediately ordered the spring to be enclosed, and caused
a building to be erected near it for the accommodation of
those invalids who might wish to benefit by its salubrious
virtues. So wonderful were the cures effected by this water,
that people flocked to it from all parts. I shall say nothing
of its immediate situation, as I intend you shall see it."
Having reached Sargans, situated on a rock that divides
Toggenburg from the Grisons, they had a superb view of
ofle part of the Alps, which here formed a grand outline to
the scene. The day after their arrival, they hired a guide,
and set off for the baths of Preffers.
The road to them was dangerous, it was made with great
difficulty some little time ago ; but it impends so much over
the Tamiro, that few persons chuse to attempt it. Many
still preferring being let down in a basket from one wild
rock to another, the depth of a thousand feefe. In the year
284 SWITZERLAND.
3601, the original building for the entertainment of travel-
lers was burnt, when one more commodious was erected
higher up the mountain ; for the first was so overhung by
the rocks on all sides, that at three o'clock the company were
obliged to have candies. Edward would have preferred the
road, but as Doctor Walker chose to go in the basket, his
young friend gave up the point and accompanied him. The
Doctor, however, indulged him one day with an excursion to
this enchanting spot under the care of two experienced
guides ; and Colin, who began to think the scene almost
equalled that of his native woods and wilds, was allowed to
attend him. Upon their return Edward described his ram-
ble in all the glowing colours of a lively imagination. Among
the peculiar objects which he mentioned was the number of
beautiful rainbows formed by the rays of the sun as they ob-
liquely caught the silvery drops of the innumerable cascades
of the Tamiro which precipitate themselves over rocks of
granite and marble six or seven hundred feet deep.
The guides on these excursions generally go first with a
rope in their hand, one end of which the traveller holds, as
with a fearful admiration he treads the mazy path. Before
they left the neighbourhood, they went to the abbey, which
is about two hours walk from the baths ; they were hospita-
bly entertained by the abbot. The building is a magnificent
structure, and contains a great many apartments, several of
which are reserved for the accommodation of travellers. The
steps and columns of the grand entrance are of marble, and
the church is very splendidly decorated after the catholic
manner, ft is surrounded by a wall of black and white
marble, and makes a most imposing and magnificent ap-
pearance.
From Preffers our travellers directed their steps in a north-
west direction, and after a delightful and variegated journey,
they at length arrived at Rapperschweil, a fine town standing
on the confines of the Glaciers of Zurich. The southern
part of the Lake of Zurich is bounded by the lofty mountains
of Schweitz and Glarus ; but on the north a richly culti-
vated and beautiful valley stretches as far as the eye can
reach. The island of Asnow forms a conspicuous feature in
the beauty of this mixed scenery; it is extremely woody;
and the towers of a convent are seen rearing their venerable
heads amidst its dark and luxuriant foliage. This island is
ZURICH. 285
united to the town of Rapperschweil, -by a bridge one thou-
sand eight hundred and fifty feet long, and twelve wide.
From Rapperschweil the road to Zurich takes nearly
every bending form of the indented lake. Their journey
was most agreeable, for in addition to the beauties of the
scenery, whenever they approached near a village, the sound
of music caught their delighted ears. The inhabitants ap-
pear to be alive to the witchery of sound, and it is not un-
common to see the peasant people, when the labours of the
day are done, enjoying themselves with their family, and
forgetting their toils in the pleasures of the song. The de-
corum preserved in the churches at Zurich is very striking;
and the fervour and devotion with which the whole congre-
gation appear actuated, are such as to inspire indifferent peo-
ple with sentiments of respect ; and to use the words of
Goldsmith :
" Fools who came to scoff remain to pray."
The hospitality of the inhabitants of Zurich is as conspi-
cuous as their devotion.
Zurich is situated on the lake of tho same name, on the
declivity of a sloping bank, and is divided by the Limmon,
over which there are two fine bridges ; one of these is so
large, that it serves as a market place, and the other which
is covered, forms an agreeable promenade. The view from
the first is very extensive ; it commands the whole of the
lake, in the form of an amphitheatre, with the towers and
buildings rising gradually, and above these appear sloping
banks enriched by gardens, villas, orchards, in short every
object of picturesque and romantic beauty seem here com-
bined. The most considerable and ancient of the buildings
is the great church abdicated to St. Felix; OR one of its
towers, which are covered with copper, stands the statue of
Charlemagne ; on the other that of ilupert Duke of Suabia.
When Zurich embraced the reformed religion, which it did
at an early period, the revenues of the monastery were ap-
propriated to the payment of professors of the learned lan-
guages and polite literature. In the old library are several
very valuable manuscripts, among which a bible presented by
Charlemagne, is highly valued. It is called Ccdex Carolinus.
Our travellers visited the arsenal, which is said to be the
best furnished of any in Switzerland, more for the sake of
seeing the statue of William Tell, the deliverer of his coun-
28(5 SWITZERLAND.
try, than to inspect the vast store of arms here deposited,
lie is habited in the ancient Swiss dress, and the arrow with
which he hit the apple on his son's head, is not forgotten.
At the end of the beautiful walk called Leiidenhqffen, (Sy-
camore-court,) stands the ancient church of Tranen Mun-
ster, and attached to it is the Ahbnie Royale des Dames, the
ladies of which, at the Reformation, ceded their revenues,
which were very considerable to the town, and they are now-
applied in the education of poor children. Zurich was the
place of residence of the celebrated Gessner, of Lavater the
physiognomist, and ofZuingle, the .enlightened reformer.
Perhaps there are few things which more attract the atten-
tion of a traveller in Switzerland, than the variety of dress
which meets his eye in every direction. The costume of
every canton is different, though the women all seem to
agree in one respect, viz. that of short petticoats, and
smart bodices, generally laced across in the form of a sto-
macher. They are fond of gaudy colours, and it is not
unusual to see a mixture of all the tints of the rainbow, yet
arranged with so much taste, as not to offend the eye.
" We have passed many pretty villages and towns,'* Sir,'*
said Edward to the Doctpr, the morning after they quitted
Zurich ; " but I do not think any of importance ; is there
no other principal town in this canton ?"
DR. WALKER. " Yes; but not many. Winterthur,
which lies in the north, quite out of our track, is the next
most ancient, as well as important town of this canton ; car-
rying on a brisk trade in oil and vitriol. The Romans built
a fortress in its neighbourhood, and called it Vittorum ; and
there are now the remains near the great church yard of an
old Roman wall, where they encamped for winter quarters.
The present town was, however, founded in the 13th cen-
tury, by Henman 1st, count of Ryburg. There are two
natural phenomena attached to Winterthur, which I shall
mention to you. Some years ago the tower of the great
church was supposed to be on fire, and the most dreadful
apprehensions were entertained by the inhabitants as to the
result. Some of the most courageous immediately mounted
the walls with buckets of water, in order to extinguish it ;
but when they arrived at the top, they saw no appearance of
fire, although the people below still fancied they saw the
sparks flying in every direction. The same deception has
since appeared, but without causing any alarm, and it is now
JOURNEY TO ZUG. 287
generally termed, the fire of St.. Elam. Who St. Eiam
was I cannot inform you. I have one tale of wonder more,
and then for the present I have done. In the barony of Wilf-
fington, which is at a small distance from Winterthur, there
is a considerable forest, in the centre of which are three
trees, that differ greatly from all others which surround them,
being from the commencement of summer of a pale red co-
lour. The neighbouring peasantry resort to this spot on
Sunday, to gather the branches to adorn their hats, for in
Switzerland, in most places, the men wear straw hats, in
which very many of them place bunches of flowers on one
side. The legendary tale attached to this spot is this:
three brothers were slain close to them, and the people be-
lieve the counts of Ryburg, formerly the most powerful lords
in Switzerland, were concerned in the murder. Many at-
tempts have been made to propagate these trees in various
parts of the country, but they all fail.'*
EDWARD. " I am not superstitious enough to believe the
story attached to these trees ; but it is very strange.''
Da, WALKER.- " It is strange, and truly 1 cannot doubt
the existence of these trees ; for they compose the armorial
bearings of the neighbouring village."
Their journey to Zug, the capital of a canton of the same
name, was uninterrupted. This is built upon a declivity, a
little to the east of the lake. Many years ago the old town
was destroyed by an earthquake, the greater part being pre-
cipitated into the lake. Those persons who were not thus
hurried into eternity, being alarmed at the uncommon noise
and shock occasioned by this catastrophe, rushed to their
doors and windows to ascertain the cause, when they beheld
not only the floating wrecks of houses, but men, women and
children struggling in the waves without the possibility of
assisting them. The town contains many churches and con-
vents, (for the Roman catholic faith is most religiously ad-
hered to) ; it is surrounded hy high mountains covered with
thick forests. At the foot of one ofthese are the baths of Wat-
tersyl, most magnificently seated ; for the glaciers, towering-
above the dark and gloomy foliage which forms a midway
boundary to the huge rocks, present one of those sublime
scenes with which Switzerland so richly abounds. They em-
barked on the lake of Zug for Wakwil ; but it would be in
vain to attempt a description of the picturesque beauty of
238 SWITZERLAND.
their sail; we shall, therefore, land our travellers safely, and
carry them at once to Schweitz.
Schvveitz is situated at a short distance from the lake of
Lucerne, commanding a full view of its transparent waters.
At the back of the town rise two lofty mountains of a sphe-
rical form, and in the front of it glides the Mutta, or the
Muttera. This canton abounds with partridges, hares,
pheasants, and woodcocks ; eagles and vultures, and a bird
somewhat like a wild- duck. The vultures are of a prodigious
size ; they feed on young colts and chamois, and they have
been even known to carry offyoung children. Le pereLysat
Juriste de Lecrores, who has written a long and correct ac-
count of the lakes of this country ; says that himself and se-
veral other persons having ascended a mountain which had
been deemed inaccessible ; they found on its summit a nest
in a great hollow tree, containing three young vultures. As
they were looking attentively at these nestlings, the parent
birds flew upon them with such violence, that they were
only extricated from their claws by one of their company for-
tunately shooting the female bird. She measured from the
tail to the beak seven feet, and from one wing to the other
twelve.
SECTION II.
(
VALLEY OF MUTTA, &C.
DR. WALKER having resolved to make an excursion in the
valley of Mutta ; he procured a guide, and arming himself
and Edward with long poles, in order to assist them in de-
scending the precipices, and leaping the occasional fissures
they might meet with, they set elf on their pedestrian excur-
sion ; they directed their steps towards the ruinous spot
where the valley of Aeth once stood, overlooked by the
towering mountain of Rosenberg, 3516 feet high on one side,
and on the other by that of Kigi, 4356 feet perpendicular.
It was about nine miles long, and although surrounded by
stupendous Alps, yet the most luxuriant vegetation, and the
most delicious fruits greeted the travellers on every side as they
entered this beautiful valley. <C I saw the dreadful destruc-
THE FALL OF ROSENBERG. 289
tion of the valley of Aeth and the fall of Rosenberg," said
their guide, as he led them towards the heap of ruins which
occupied its former scite. " I shall never forget it. In the
morning of the 2nd of September, 1806, a dreadful and con-
vulsive noise was heard by the peasants who were on the top
of Rosenberg, attending their flocks. About the middle of
the day the lake of Lowetz was much agitated, and a blue
flame was seen to rise from the water ; at five all was still in
the valley, at six not a vestige of a house or tree remained.
The Rosenberg was rent in pieces from its summit to its
base, and throwing up huge heaps of rock, buried beneath its
ruins houses, trees, convents, and churches, while the lake
of Lowetz was driven from its borders 2,200 feet. Thus in
almost a shorter space of time than has been occupied in this
relation, that spot which had been but a few hours before so
beautiful, as to be denominated the paradise of Switzerland,
presented a chaotic heap of rocks and mountains tumbled
headlong the one upon the other. The noise produced by
this dreadful concussion was beyond that of the loudest
thunder I ever heard." :
DR. WALKER. " How was this sudden calamity ac-
counted for ?"
GUIDE. " Some of our clever men supposed it was caused
by the force of subterraneous waters, and it seems they were
right; for some young shepherds having observed one morn-
ing a great excavation in the mountain, they threw stones
into it, and found from the sound that they fell into water.
Some days afterwards they observed other openings, though
not so large as the former, and having thrown stones into
them also, they fell in water likewise. The father of these
lads tried lo fathom these newly formed lakes, but could find
no bottom ; and being very curious he procured flambeaux,
and fastening them to long poles, held them down the aper-
tures, and distinctly observed a prodigious body of water.
This circumstance being mentioned at Lucerne, some gen-
tlemen fixed a day to examine its depth, but the sudden
fall of Rosenberg prevented any such attempt/'
The contemplation of this scene of devastation so com-
pletely engrossed the attention of Dr. Walker and his pupil,
that they were insensible to the noise caused by an Avalanche
which precipitated itself down the opposite mountain, and
fell in the plain beneath. As it was of great magnitude,
they were much amused when their guide pointed it 6ut to
O
290 SWITZERLAND.
them ; but in general the fall of an avalanche is an object of
terror. Innumerable are the instances upon record, of their
terrible effects. A few years ago an avalanche from Mount
Gemmi entirely buried the village of Luck ; it was however
dug out. The fall of this vast body of snow was heard at
the distance of twenty leagues. It is asserted by the na-
tives of these grand but terrific regions, that the sudden
flight of a large bird, the spring of a chamois from one preci-
pice to another, are sufficient to produce these dreadful re-
volutions of nature. When the emperor Maximilian made
war upon the Grisons, four hundred of his troops were sud-
denly buried in the snow : after much exertion however, they
freed themselves from their encumbrance without having re-
ceived any injury. The following year a body of Swiss, in
the pay of France, were overturned by one of these ava-
lanches, when 500 men perished ; and in the year 1695, the
village of Mall Madia was completely swept away by an
avalanche which fell from Mont Bernard. Thirty of the
inhabitants lost --their lives, but many were dug out of the
ruins unhurt, among whom was a woman with two children
in her arms.
Having retraced their steps, they again took up their
abode at their little inn, and on the following day they hired
a guide to conduct them to Mont St. Gothard. On their
way to Altorf, they turned out of the road at a short dis-
tance from the town to visit the chapel of William Tell. In
this chapel is preserved the bow with which he shot the
German governor on his landing; an event that laid the
foundation of Swiss liberty. The situation of Altorf on the
lake of Lucerne, or the lake of the four cantons, as it is
sometimes called, is particularly striking. Behind it is a
lofty summit covered with the dark and gloomy pine which
forms a pleasing contrast with the lively verdure which
nearly surrounds the town. The back ground of the pic-
ture is formed by a chain of immense glaciers, whose tops are
covered with snow. The town was formerly fortified, but
the battlements are now in ruins ; and few scenes surpass
those presented by Altorf, whose antique towers, venerable
from age, rise from amidst the remains of former strength
and splendour, and proudly overlook the calm waters of the
lake. Fragments of the wall which Adrian built to keep the
inhabitants in awe, still border the lake. A manufactory in
crystal has of late years been established, and promises
MONT ST. GOTHARD. 291
greatly to encrease the wealth and importance of this place.
From Altorf, the capital of Uri, they traversed a mountain-
ous and wild country ; and leaving Mount Furca to their
right, they approached the celebrated Mont St. Gothard,
which is about twelve miles from the capital. The rivers
Reuss and Tessin have their sources in this mountain ; the
former very near its summit, from whence it wildly rolls over
craggy rocks and perpendicular precipices. The Tessin
which runs southward to the lake Maggiore, is no less rapid
and perhaps upon the whole, more magnificent. After
forming the most beautiful cascades as it descends the
mountain, it frequently disappears under vast bodies of
ice, from whence it emerges, and again precipitating it-
self from rock to rock, it is sometimes lost in vapour, and
the deep gloom of overhanging woods. It was now the
height of summer when our travellers began to ascend
Mont St. Gothard, and they had therefore a better oppor-
tunity of viewing its prodigious precipices, profound chasms,
and plains of ice. Across many of these chasms, bridges are
thrown ; and one called the Pont du Diattle, is particularly
curious : the peasants firmly believe that no human being
could have constructed it ; and they therefore conclude it
was the devil's work. It is four hundred feet above the level
of the river which here rushes and foams over blocks of
white and black marble. Its foundation is firmly fixed in the
rocks on either side, which are of a dark grey colour, and
tower considerably above it. Nothing can be more wild,
more terrible, or more grand than its appearance.
On the summit of this mountain stands a convent inhabited
by two monks only, who in the winter ring a great bell to di.
rect travellers to their friendly abode. The view from this
mountain on a fine day is wonderfully extensive : Lombardy,
the Grisons, great part of La Valais, Schwitz, Lucerne, and
many other cantons are seen from its summit. St. Gothard
itself contains seven lakes, besides which fourteen or fifteen
in its environs may be plainly distinguished from its summit.
Having pursued their romantic route for some time, not far
from the course of the Reuss, they at length arrived at a
bridge of. ice, presenting perhaps one of the most terrific
spectacles in nature. It is surrouded by precipitous moun-
tains. The hollow sound of their footsteps reverberated
from rock to rock, as they passed this trembling bridge ;
whilst the subterraneous rush of waters which they distinctly
o2
292 SWITZERLAND.
heard, added to the shrieks of birds of prey, which con-
stantly hover over these savage scenes, contributed not a
little to add to the thrilling awe which always accompanies
the contemplation of nature in her sublime and magnificent
scenery.
" Do you know, Edward, that there is a very curious
species of marble found in this mountain. It is elastic."
"Elastic!" ejaculated Edward
" Yes," replied the Doctor, " and this marble is also found
in some parts of Italy, particularly at Mondragone. The
Abbe Fortis has given a curious account of five or six tables
of this elastic marble, in the possession of the Prince Borg-
hese. These slabs if placed endways bend backwards and
forwards ; when laid horizontally and raised at one end, they
form a curve ; if placed on a flat surface with a piece of wood
laying in the middle of it, they fall also into a curve, the
two ends resting on the table. This marble, of the Carra-
nese kind, takes the finest polish but is liable to be broken
if indiscreetly handled."
SECTION III.
JOURNEY THROUGH SWITZERLAND.
IN the neighbourhood of St, Gothard are three petty
villages, where there is so little wood, that the inhabitants use
for fuel a wild rose wood, which grows thick and low upon
the ground, and has an odoriferous smell. The cattle in this
part of the country are very beautiful, and they are annually
exported in large numbers to Italy and Germany. Great
quantities of cheese, which is most delicious, are made in this
canton, particularly in the vallies. They are somtimes haif
a yard thick, and not more in circumference. The simplicity
of the inhabitants is very conspicuous ; they are indeed
a most inoffensive race, and never impose upon travellers.
They read a great deal, have an uncommon share of cu-
riosity about other countries, particularly England, in which
they appear to take a peculiar interest.
From Mont St. Gothard, they crossed that prodigious
chain of Alps, called the Furca, which divide the ancient La
tg in. Iceland.
THE BATHS OF LUCK. 293
Valais, now called the Siraplon, frqm Uri, In these moun-
tains the rapid Rhone rises, issuing from the foot of these
glaciers ; it rushes in the most sublime manner from steep to
steep, till reaching the foot of the mountain, it rolls its majes-
tic waves through a beautiful and extensive valley, from
whence it proceeds to the lake of Geneva, where its stream
is still distinguished by its impetuosity, from the calm waters
of the lake.
A chain of lofty mountains, which divide the Simplon
from Berne, forms a sublime boundary to the valley north of
the Rhone.
Having followed the course of this majestic river as
nearly as they could, they at length arrived at Monges, from
whence a bridge of a single arch is thrown across the river.
" I think, Sir," said Edward, " that the Pont du Eiable, in
the canton of Uri, must yield in grandeur and terrific effect
to this. Why it is almost surrounded by rushing torrents. "
" Not surrounded," interrupted the doctor
"But,'' replied his pupil, " they really do descend from
so many different quarters, that I cannot tell how to describe
them. 19
DR. WALKER. " Then let it alone, for a description, un-
less it is clear, is of all things the most incomprehensible."
The bridge as they crossed it, trembled beneath them, and
Edward, after passing it, turned once more to view that
scene which had so powerfully struck his imagination.
"Look, Sir, to the right. See how those rocks are piled one
above the other."
DR. WALKER. " I should have said to the north, be-
cause then I could discover them in the map ; and now, Ed-
ward, look to the south, and observe the luxuriant scene of
vegetation stretched before us. What a contrast!" Our
travellers continued their journey along the southern banks
of the Rhone, until they saw Saldes on the opposite side of
the river. Here they crossed, and after one day's resf,
they set off on their arduous task of passing Mount Gem-
mi, on their road to Berne. At the foot of this mountain
there are particularly fine baths near the town of Luck,
which was for a time buried beneath the snow, as before ob-
served ; these waters have performed surprising cures in ner-
vous and rheumatic complaints. The mountains are so high
in its neighbourhood, that it is dark at five oclock at the
bath-house,
ft 3
294 SWITZERLAND.
The Gemmi is composed of granite ; the lower part of
which is adorned with larches and firs. In various parts huge
trunks of trees have been placed to form the road ; in other
places steps wide enough to set the foot in safety are cut in
the solid rock, on the very edge of precipices three, four, or
five hundred feet deep. After a dangerous, but as far as
scenery was concerned, beautiful journey, they arrived in the
neighbourhood of Mount Wimmis, at the foot of which i*
a castle which overlooks the lake of Thaun. They took up
their abode for one night in a cottage in its neighbourhood.
The next day they ascended this beautiful mountain, and
in the evening arrived at the cottage of Chaley ; from
this spot the scene became more wild and barren. Our tra-
vellers arose before the sun on the following morning, in
order to witness its splendour in these lofty regions, when
they had approached near its summit, such a scene of splen-
dour burst upon them, as totally to defy all description.
Six beautiful lakes are seen from the tower, which is
built on the top of Wimmis for the convenience of making
observations, while the noble Aar, and its small tributary
stream the Emme, wind through the vale below. On every
side, at various distances, rise snow capt mountains, pre-
senting alternately gloomy woods, and barren rocks, while
round their base fresh and* blooming flowers, together with
the richest verdure, present a scene of such variety as scarcely
to be imagined. The effect of the rising sun on such a va-
riety of objects can only be supplied by the warm colouring
of an ardent imagination. When they had descended the
mountain, they proceeded to Thun, and arrived at that fes-
tive season of the year when the vintage was beginning. Dn
Walker and his pupil enjoyed the scene particularly, as the
peasant girls dressed in their gayest cloaths, were busily em*
ployed in plucking the juicy grape ; they amused themselves
with singing some of their favorite airs. Not the Ranz des
caches^ for th$t?1s forbidden, the effect produced by that na-
tional air was so electric as to cause soldiers to desert if they
heard it. At sun-set the girls return to their cottages, and
the evening is generally concluded by a dance, in which both
old and young partake to the sound of the "spirit stirring
fife."
VINES CURRANTS, &c.
SECTION IV.
THE VINE VINEYARDS.
EDWARD, light-hearted and gay, being invited by an old
peasant to share their mirth, willingly accepted the offer, and
was in a short time as merry and as brisk as any one of them.
Colin h ; mself could scarce resist the inclination to join
them, and more than once he forgot himself, and gave them a
specimen of a Highland fling. He was indeed so joyous
at having reached a comfortable resting place, that when
he heard they were to resume their journey on the mor-
row, he felt something like chagrin.
The earliest introduction of the vine into the western
parts of Europe is stated to have been about the year 280,
under the immediate sanction of Probus, the Roman Em-
peror, who, throughout his whole dominions, was a zealous
encourager of agricultural pursuits. There can be no doukt
that vines were anciently propagated in our own island for
the purpose of wine, and that there were vineyards of consi-
derable extent in Gloucestershire, Hampshire, and some
other counties; but, as vines are principally found to flourish
in inland countries, lying betwixt the thirtieth and fifty -first
degrees of latitude, it is evident that there can be no part of
Great Britain sufficiently adapted to their successful culti-
vation.
Any person who has seen a hop garden, may easily form
an Idea of the appearance of a vineyard. Vines are usually
propagated by slips, cuttings, or offsets from the roots.
These, when they have attained a sufficiency of roots, ar$
transplanted from the nursery ground into the vineyard, the
soil of which ought to be light and rich. They are placed in
this ground in rows and at regular intervals, leaving space
sufficient for the vine dressers, and the reapers to pass be-
twixt them ; and as soon as the rooted plants are three years
old, they begin to bear fruit. The season for pruning and
dressing them is the early part of the year, before the sap
begins to rise ; and, about the time when the flowers appear,
the plants are fastened to poles, for the purposes of support-
ing them, of preventing them from growing entangled with
SWITZERLAND.
each other, admitting a free circulation of air amongst them,
and affording greater convenience for gathering the fruit.
The vintage, which is a season of mirth and delight to
the whole country, commences in the early part of autumn.
The villagers assemble in the respective vineyards under the
direction of overseers. The reaping of the grapes is in ge-
neral performed in three distinct gatherings. The first of
these comprehends all the finest and ripest bunches, care-
fully clearing away from them every grape that appears
green or decayed ; the second is confined to the large and
thick clusters which are not so ripe as the others ; and those
which are nearly green, withered or decayed, are^gathered
last.
To obtain the juice from the grapes they are thrown
into large presses of somewhat similar construction to the
cyder presses of our own country (the separate gatherings
being still kept apart) and the juice is received into vessels
fixed for that purpose. Afterwards it undergoes the neces-
sary fermentation to convert it into wine. By the ancients,
the juice was obtained by treading the grapes. This custom
is still practised in many parts of the world. The ancients
frequently kept their wines in skins, or leathern bags, well
secured at the seams.
" Well now, Edward, having partaken of the mirth of the
" vintage," said Dr. Walker, as they quitted the festive scene,
" let us discuss the nature and properties of the grapes, of
vinous fermentation, and so forth."
" If mucilaginous saccharine vegetable substances under a proper
combination of water and heat (from 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit), be
not entirely excluded from air, they experience in a very short time a
striking change in tfceir mixture. An internal commotion takes place,
the mass grows turbid, a lar#e quantity of air-bubbles is discharged
from its inser part, which, on account of the toughness of the matter
wherein they are inclosed^ form a stratum on the surface of the fluid,
known by the name of yeast. These air-bubbles consist of carbonic
acid gas.
" After a time these appearances cease; the fermented liquor becomes
clear and transparent, and no more gas is disengaged. The liquor now
has lost its sweetness and viscidity, and has acquired the vinous taste
and intoxicating quality.
" Wine is made in this manner from thejuice of the grape ; if the fer-
mentation be checked when at its height, by excluding the air, the
wine begins to ferment anew, and effervesce when again exposed to it.
The sparkling wines, as Champaign, &c. are prepared in this manner,
and hence should be considered as imperfect wines.
METHOD OF MAKING WINE. 207
" Not only the juice of the grape, but all mucilaginous substances,
containing sugar, are capable of the vinous fermentation.
" To prepare vinous liquors from grain or corn, they are converted
into malt ; by this process, the gluten which forms the germ is separat-
ed, and the fecula appears to be converted, into suar by the germina-
tion of the seed. From malt, beer is made by extraction and fermen-
tation.
" If wine, beer, or any other fermented liquor, be distilled, a fhmf
is obtained which is colourless, of a strong heating taste, a penetrating
odour, and an intoxicating property. This is alkohol, ardent spirit, or
spirit of wine. In this state it contains a quantity of water. If this
alkohol be re-distilled, and reduced to two-thirds, it is obtained very
pure, and is called rectified alkohol. Alkohol is very inflammable and
volatile jit dissolves resins, essential oils, camphor, sulphur, phospho-
rus, &c. It is composed of hydrogen, carbon, and a small quantity of
oxygen.
" Strong acids and alkohol have a considerable re-action on each
other ; and this produces ether, which is a very volatile, inflammable,
odorous fluid. Nitric acid with alkohol, produces nitric ether, and
sulphuric acid with alkohol, produces sulphuric ether."
" And now for the vine. Vines constitute a very impor-
tant tribe of shrubs ; to which we are indebted for all our
foreign wines, raisins of every description, and the small
currants of the grocers' shops. The most important how-
ever of the whole tribe of vines is the wit is vinifera of Lin-
naeus.
" The juice of unripe grapes has a harsh, sour, and rough
taste. This, under the name of verjuice, was formerly
much esteemed for culinary and other purposes. Theyoung
twigs of the vine, when dried, cut into small pieces, and
moistened with water, afford an wholesome food for cattle
and horses. The leaves and tendrils have an astringent taste,
which it is probable they would impart to British made
wines, and thus render them somewhat similar to foreign
wines. The wood of the vine reduced to charcoal, is used
by painters for drawing outlines ; and from the seeds or stones
a kind of oil is sometimes made, which can scarcely be dis-
tinguished from olive oil. These stones, when purified, mo-
derately roasted, and ground to a coarse powder, form a to-
lerable substitute for chocolate.
" In addition to the preceding uses of the vine, we have
to add those of its fruit in a recent state, called grapes, as a
delicious addition to our desserts ; and of this fruit, in a dried
state, under the appellation of raisins and currants.
" Raisins are grapes which have been suffered to remain
o 5
298 SWITZERLAND.
on the trees until they have become perfectly ripe, and have
been dried. This is sometimes done in ovens ; sometimes
the clusters, being tied several together, are dipped in a ley
of the ashes of rosemary and vine branches, with a certain
portion of slaked lime, and then dried by exposure to the
sun. The best fruits of this description are the sun and jar-
raisins ; both of which are dried in the sun without any pre-
paration. These are imported from the southern countriei
of Europe ; and also from the Asiatic provinces of Turkey.
They are principally used for desserts, whilst Malaga raisins
and some other kinds are employed for culinary purposes,
and the making of wine.
" The currants of commerce are a small kind of raisins, or
dried grapes, which are produced in the Grecian ArchU
pelago, and particularly in the islands of Zante and Cepha-
lonia. The chief plantation of these grapes was anciently in-
the isthmus ofGorinth, whence they obtained their name of
" Corinths," since corrupted to currants. Few, however, are
now produced there, the vineyards having been neglected
from the jealousy of the Turks, not allowing large vessels ta
enter the gulph for their exportation. These grapes have
no stones, are usually either of a red or black colour, and,
when recently gathered, are an extremely delicious fruit.
" The harvest commences in the month of August, and at
soon as the grapes are plucked from the trees, they are
spread to dry, upon a floor prepared for the purpose by
stamping the earth quite hard. This floor is formed with a.
gentle rising in the middle, that the rain, in case any should
fall, may run off, and not injure the fruit. When sufficiently
dry, the currants are cleaned, and laid up in magazines, be-
ing poured into them through a hole, and stowed so closely
that it is necessary to dig them out with an iron instrument.
They are packed for exportation in large casks, and by per-
sons who have their feet greased in order to tread them
close.
" The principal consumption of currants is in England ;
but the inhabitants of the islands from whence they are
brought know little of the use we make of them. They
imagine that we employ them only in the, dyeing of cloth,
and are entirely ignorant of our luxury of Christmas pies,
and plum puddings. A small but inferior kind of currants
are grown in some parts of Spain.
JOURNEY TO BERNE.
w So much for the grape which we shall see in greater per-
fection in France than in Switzerland.'*
SECTION V.
JOURNEY TO BERNE.
ON the following day they resumed their journey, receiv-
ing additional proofs at every step of the frank and generous*
hospitality of the inhabitants of these Alpine regions. Brave,
hardy, and independent, they traverse their mountainous
country with an air of happiness that is not always to be met
with in the countenances of the peasantry of more enlight-
ened nations. Their agility and grace, as they bound from
one precipice to another, with as much ease as their own
wild chamois, forms one of the most striking features in
their personal character. Oftentimes did our travellers start
at seeing the hunters of the Alps in pursuit of their prey;
venture to the very edge of the most frightful precipices,
climbing up such perpendicular rocks as seemed almost inac-
cessible, or with the assistance of their long poles, gliding ra-
pidly down such snowy steeps as made them shudder even to
look at them. There are many casualties to be met with in,
these Alpine regions, besides those which may overtake the
unwary traveller from the fall of Avalanches, or the danger
there is in leaping the fissures of the rocks. There are bal-
samic waters which are drank by the inhabitants for fevers,,
and various other complaints ; but these same waters possess
also most baneful qualities ; for it is said, that persons laying-
down in their vicinity, are seized with numbness, and sink*
ing apparently into a profound sleep, wake no more. The
fatal effects of gathering flowers, Edward experienced the
<lay after they set off from Thun. On passing one of the
mountains, the Doctor being weary, they chose a recess in
the rock, as a good resting place for him, till the heat of the
day was gone by. Edward, however, wandered about in its
vicinity, but his long stay at length alarmed his friend, and
the guide set off in search of him and his companion Colin.
He found them in a state of stupefaction. Edward was in-
deed, to all appearance, lifeless ; the Highlander was not so
06 ,
300 SWITZERLAND.
far gone as his young master, but in a very short time he
would have been equally inanimate. The guide hallooed to
a 1 hunter he saw standing on a precipice, who quickly joined
him. There were a great number of little blue flowers on
this part of the mountain, and Edward and his Highland ser-
vant having plucked a good many, they sat down to rest. As
they talked they began to pick them to pieces, when they
felt, they said, rather drowsy, and they recollected no more.
The guide, when he saw them, knew what had reduced
them to that state of insensibility, and immediately had taken
the remainder of the flowers from them, and had dragged
Edward from the spot when the hunter joined him, and as-
sisted him in rousing Colin.
They met the Doctor at some distance from the cave, his
fears having become too great to allow him to rest. " This
beautiful little flower is more poisonous than the deadly night
shade of England," said the Doctor ; " but," continued he,
turning to the guide, " you should have warned us of it*
effects."
The distance from Thun to Berne is just* fifteen miles,
and the road is one of the finest in Europe. It is bor-
dered on each side by fruit trees, except where it is inter,
rupted by dark forests of fir, that occasionally vary the
scene. The Aaxer winds beautifully through the surround-
ing meadows, which are interspersed with luxuriant corn-
fields and vineyards. Berne is strongly fortified ; it is sur-
rounded by a moat and ramparts, which seem impregnable.
The buildings are composed of free-stonej and wood only
being burnt in this town, they preserve their whiteness for a
number of years. The houses are ornamented with balconies
even to the third and fourth stories, which are in the flower
season always filled with flowers. The effect this custom
produces, is both pleasing and novel. In every street are
three or four marble fountains, which eject the purest water.
The streets are kept clean by those who have been guilty of
some misdemeanour ; these persons are well fed and clothed,
and are sent every morning in companies,, under the care of
a keeper, to sweep and water them.
CUSTOMS AND MANNERS. 301
SECTION VI.
CUSTOMS AND MANNERS*
DR. WALKER having received an invitation to spend the
evening at a gentleman's house, to whom he had letters of
introduction ; he was on the point of refusing, as he did not
chuse to leave Edward alone. His scruples were, however,
laid aside, when the gentleman said, his son, who was about
the same age as the English youth, would be happy to en-
tertain him on the same evening ; it being the custom for
each person of a certain class and age, to mix only with their
equals in Berne.
This singular custom was not approved either by the
Doctor or his pupil, who would have been much better
pleased to have been introduced to the whole family.
Of the peculiar customs of this canton, the following are
the most conspicuous. First, every clergyman is obliged to
reside among his own parishioners, to visit the sick, to
preach extempore, to examine the children as to their reli-
gious improvement ; to compel the poor to bring their chil-
dren to be baptized, when eight days old, and to admit such
to communion whom he judges proper. No boy or girl ia
allowed tb quit his parish to get a living without permission
from the minister ; nor are the children of good families
taken into public until they have received the Sacrament.
The Clergy may pray to the sick, but they must not admi-
nister the Lord's Supper out of the church ; nor can they
baptize children at home, or marry with a licence. His pre-
sence is riot however required at funerals ; these are con-
ducted by the peasants, who generally invite upon these oc-
casions as many persons as they can accommodate to eat,
drink, and sing, which they do sometimes for three days suc-
cessively after the body is interred ; till which time they
conduct themselves with great decency, and the sexton reads
a short prayer over the grave. The benediction of the
Clergy is required for those destined to pass their lives to-
gether, but no ring is necessary, although persons of supe-
rior rank do upon such occasions exchange rings when the
marriage contract is drawn. These may be worn on any
302 SWITZERLAND.
finger. Persons who attend weddings or christenings, and
those who go to the communion, are always drest in black ;
and all the children without any exception, are confined to
swaddling cloaths till they are six weeks old ; they have then
the liberty of moving their fingers. The inhabitants of this
canton are remarkable for sobriety. Milk and vegetables
form the principal food of the peasantry, and they are gene-
rally very long lived.
The roads in the canton of Friburg are excellent, and
are planted with trees on either side : the English traveller
as he winds through these shady lanes, is strongly reminded
of some of his own "hedgerow elms," and the approach .to
the capital is particularly pleasing and- grand. Friburg i&
situated in a fertile plain of vines, and olives, and almonds,
on the borders of the lake of Morat. It is surrounded by a
thick wall, in which, at stated distances, are placed watch-;
towers. The Friburgers are very musical, and are very in-
genious in making instruments for themselves, upon which?
they perform with a great deal of taste. Dr. Walker did
not omit visiting the celebrated hermitage which is in this
neighbourhood; it was scooped out of a rock by one single
man, who was driven to this solitude by the infidelity of a
wife whom he almost adored, and the treachery of the friend
of his earliest youth. The unfortunate man died in thi*
place of solitude, leaving behind him a paper con tain ing the.
particulars of his sad story.
The celebrated Haller was a native of this place, and
his bust is preserved with religious veneration in the little
museum which adorns the capital.
This town suffered dreadfully during the late war ; many
of the inhabitants who were formerly wealthy members of the
community, are now living in a state of comparative po-
verty.
At Indlebank, four miles from Bern^, , there are many,
very superb tombs, among others is that of Madame Lagnans.v
This tomb is equally interesting for beauty of design,
and elegant workmanship. The wife of M. Lagnans, Mi-
nister of Berne, was the admiration of all who knew her ;
she unfortunately died in child- bed, in the 28th year of her.
age, and her infant only out-lived her a few minutes. Mr.
Naal, a celebrated German sculptor, was engaged to erect a
monument to the memory of this mother and her child ; and
most ably has he. executed the task.
FRIBERG AND GRUYERE. SOS
Madame Lagnans is represented at the moment of re-
surrection. After having sunk a kind of grave, sufficient to
contain a statue, he placed therein a large stone, that seemed
unequally split or broken, and so contrived, that the young
wife appeared rising from her coffin, just awoke from the
steep of death, holding her child with one hand, and push-
ing away a stone with the other, that apparently impeded
her resurrection. The dignity of her figure, her candour,
innocence, and that pure celestial joy which shines in her
countenance, give it a most feeling and sublime expression.
There is nothing wanting to this monument, but to have
had it cut in marble. The epitaph is worthy of the tomb ;
it is engraved upon the stone, and, notwithstanding the
large cleft, may be easily, read : it is written in ihe German
language, and Madame Lagnans is supposed to speak.
Tfcie following is a translation of it :
" I hear the trumpet, awake ; it penetrates to the depth of
the tombs ! Awake, child of anguish ! The Saviour of the
world calls us ; the empire of death is ended, and an immor-
tal palm will crown innocence and virtue. Behold me, Lord, ,
with the infant thou gavest me."
The Friburgers are very strict Koman Catholics. When
the reformation began, many individuals of this canton
seemed inclined to embrace the Protestant religion, but the
Bernese wrote them a spirited letter, entreating they would
not forsake the religion of their ancestors.* The Friburgers
paid so much attention to their representations, that they
remained firm in the Catholic Faith. Some years afterwards
when the Bernese changed their religious principles, they
again sent messengers to Friburg, entreating the inhabitants
to follow their example ; the an!y answer they received was*
their former epistle.
From Friburg our travellers bent their;steps southward,'
and halted in the plains, called Gruyere, where the cheese is
made which is so much esteemed all over Europe. The
little capital of Gruyere, is situated at the foot of a beautiful
eminence, on the top of which is the castle overlooking the
whole valley. Not far from this castle is a very celebrated
convent of Chartreux, gloomily situated, and of an uncouth
heavy architecture : but the convent of Hauterive exceeds .
it for solitariness of situation. Hauterive is surrounded by a
forest * impervious to the noon-tide ray !' through which runs
a, turbid stream ; the dark waters of this secoacl Lethe, pass .
304 SWITZERLAND.
under the draw-bridge, that guards the entrance to the inte-
rior of the convent, from all intruders. The gloomy cypress
overhangs the walls, and solitude and silence seem here to
have taken up their abode, to add their imposing influence
to the wild and desolate picture.
" What an immense size are those cypress trees," said
Edward, as they passed over the draw-bridge.
" Yes," replied his friend, " but we will talk of them by
and bye." After visiting this monastic institution, Edward
expressed a wish to go to the Chartreux. A wish which
the Doctor immediately gratified, and they set off for that
purpose. Upon entering the refectory whither they were first
ushered, Edward was struck with its simplicity ; but more
so when he entered the church, on perceiving the only
ornament it contained was a huge black crucifix. He, how-
ever, made no observation upon the subject, and when they
returned to the refector}', he partook cheerfully of the fruaal
fare which was placed before him ; a couple of apples, a slice
of bread, and some water. The whole of this meal was
passed in silence by the brothers, who never raised their
eyes to look at the strangers, or even at each other. At
night they were shewn to a small apartment, and at two
o'clock in the morning they were roused by the monks, who
were going to their devotions in the chapel, or as it is called
to maltins. The monk appointed to attend them, answered
all questions that were put to him, with ease and cheerful-
ness; and being an intelligent man, who had retired to this
solitude, from disgust to the world, the information he gave
them was interesting to a great degree. The next morning
intelligence was given to the fraternity that a sister of one of
the community was dead, and that their prayers were requir*-
ed for the peace of her soul. No mark of curiosity, no emo-
tion was exhibited by any one of the members as to whose
sister, but mass was said, and a requiem for her soul's peace
was chaunted.
" Will they not know to whom she belonged ?'* said Ed-
ward to the monk who led them to the church-yard. " No/'
was the reply ; " when once a brother is admitted within
these walls the world has no longer a tie for them. Those
two tombs which are placed side by side belonged to a father
and son ; but though both inmates of this convent, they were
ignorant of each other's fate till the young man died, and
was buried. The stone being placed over his grave, his fa-
THE CYPRESS. 305
ther was seen to start at the sight of it, to shed tears even ;
but upon hearing a footstep he turned into another path, and
no further notice was taken of the circumstance ; but some
years afterwards his tombstone betrayed the secret*.
Edward felt the tears rush to his eyes as he exclaimed,
" Oh, how shocking. Do you think, Sir" A look from
the Doctor closed his lips, and they continued to stroll in the
church-yard for some time, where they saw many names
once distinguished in the world as heroes and statesmen.
Upon quitting this gloomy mansion, Dr. Walker and his
pupil appeared to have imbibed some portion of the tacitur-
nity imposed upon the fraternity who inhabited it. They
pursued their route for some time in silence, which was first
interrupted by Dr. Walker. " I told you," said the good
man, " we would talk about the cypress trees, by and bye ;
are you willing to hear their natural history now ?"
EDWARD. " Yes, Sir ; but I wanted to ask you about the
Chartreux monks."
DR. WALKER. " Some other time I will give you the
history of their foundation. At present we will not begin
the subject. Those cypress trees claim our attention at this
moment.
u This tree is a native of the Levant, although now so
luxuriant here. They are sometimes, when left to themselves,
of a complete pyramidal form, and then, as you see in that
one which overhangs yon craggy rock, they are graceful and
beautiful.
" In many of the old gardens in England, cypress trees are still to be
found, but their general sombre and gloomy appearance has caused them,
of late years, to be much neglected. They are, however, very valuable,
on account of their wood, which is hard, compact, and durable, of a pale
or reddish colour, with deep veins, and a pleasant smell. We are in-
formed by Pliny that the doors of the famous temple of Diana, at Ephe-
sus, were of cypress wood, and, though 400 years old at the time that
he wrote, appeared to b nearly as fresh as new. Indeed this wood was
so much esteemed by the ancients that the image of Jupiter in the
Capitol was made of it. The gate* of St. Peter's church at Rome was
stated to have been of cypress, and to have lasted more than 1000 years,
from the time of the Emperor Constantine until that of Pope Eugenius
the fourth, when gates of brass were erected m their stead. As this
* The above anecdote is a fact ;. but it happened in. the Chartreuxj
at Grenoble, in Dauphin^.
306 SWITZERLAND.
wood, in addition to its other qualities, takes a fine polish, and is not
liable to the attacks of insects, it was formerly much esteemed for
cabinet furniture. By the Greeks,, in the time of Tlmcydides, it was
used for the coffins of eminent warriors ; and many of the chests which
inclose Egyptian mummies, are made of it; The latter aiFord very
decisive proof of its almost incorruptible nature.,
u The name of this tree is derived from the island of Cj'prus, in the
Mediterranean, where it still grows in great luxuriance. Its gloomy hue
caused it to be consecrated by the ancients to Pluto, and to be used at
the funerals of people of eminence. Pliny states that, in his time, it
was customary to place branches of the cypress tree before those house*
in which any person lay dead."
SECTION VII.
JOURNEY TO SAVOY.
FROM Gruyere they continued their journey, and arrired
on a beautiful evening at Vevai, when the clouds were glow-
ing with gold and purple. " It has been a matter of great
contest among philosophers," said Dr. Walker, as Edward
pointed to the lovely scene, u by what, means- water, which
is nearly nine hundred times heavier than air, can be ren-
dered capable of ascending into the aerial regions. Des-
cartes accounted for it by supposing, that by the action of
solar heat upon a sheet of water, its superficial particles are
formed into minute hollow spheres, and become filled with
the materia subtilis of space ; the particles thus filled, must
necessarily, it was added, from the superior levity of the
substance, they envelope, ascend through the ambient air,
till they attain their proper level.
" But the hypothesis now generally admitted is that of
solution, first of all advanced by the Abbe Nollet, in his
Lemons de Physique Experimentale. Water and air, it is
contended, have a mutual power of dissolving each other;
and air is not more frequently, extricated from the former
than water is from the latter. The lower part of the at-
mosphere being then pressed by the weight of the cumbent
column on the surface of the water, and perpetually rubbing
against it, attracts and dissolves those particles with which
CLOUDS, MISTS, DEW. 307
it is in contact, and separates them from the rest of the
water. The aqueous particles thus detached, and absorbed
by the lower column of air, are next still more forcibly at-
tracted by the superior column, in consequence of its being
not only dryer, but that it possesses ampler pores to receive
the dissolved vapour. When the aqueous particles attain a
certain degree of elevation, the coldness of the atmosphere
condenses them, and they coalesce into particles of much
larger dimensions, and gradually produce the phenomenon,
called a cloud. When the particles of which such clouds
consist, are more closely compacted, either by their mutual
attraction of cohesion, or the external pressure of the wind
against it, they run into drops sufficiently ponderous to de-
scend in the form of rain. If the cloud become frozen by
any current of cold air before its particles are formed into
drops, small fragments of them being condensed, and conse-
quently encreased in weight, they will detach themselves
from the general mass, and fall in flakes of snow. If its
particles have coalesced into drops prior to its being frozen,
these drops will then descend in the form of hail-stones. And
when the lower air is replete with aqueous vapour dissolved
in its pores, and a sudden current of cold wind rushes through
it producing the natural frigidity of the superior atmosphere,
a mist, or fog, which is only a kind of inferior cloud, is im-
mediately created, and as suddenly dispersed on the return
of the natural warmth of the air, which then re-dissolves
the vapoury particles to invisible minuteness. In like man-
ner deto drops may be regarded as an inferior rain, the cold
attacking the dissolved vapours of the lower atmosphere,
being more intense than in the case of fogs, or continued for
a greater length of time. Thus you see, my dear Edward,
that we are surrounded by the wonderful operations of na-
ture, by the most extraordinary chemical processes, and yet
as the immortal Thomson says :
* But wand' ring oft with brute unconscious gaze,
Man marks not T/iec 9 marks not the mighty hand
That ever busy, wheels the silent spheres,
Works in the secret deep; shoots steaming, thence
The fair profusion that o'erspreads the spring:
Flings from the sun direct the flaming day ;
Feeds every creature; hurls the tempest forth,
And, as on earth this grateful change revolve*
With transport touches all the springs of lifeV"
308 SWITZERLAND.
The sun was just sinking behind the hills to the west of
Velay, when our travellers entered the town. They no
sooner alighted from their carriage, for since they quitted
the more mountainous regions they had enjoyed that luxury,
than they resolved to have a cruise on the much famed lake
of Geneva. The tops of the magnificent rocks of Savoy
were still seen reflecting the sun's last rays ; but the waters
of the lake were discerned only through the encreasing gloom
of the evening, they therefore returned to the town, and
early the next morning began their peregrinations in its en.
virons. Upon a small eminence behind the town stands the
castle of Blonai, from whence the prospect is extensive and
beautiful. Within this small baronial territory there is a
medicinal spring, which has performed several cures, and
people resort to it in the summer to drink its waters. In
this neighbourhood is a house called a Coterold, where Sir
Edmund Ludlow, one of the judges of Charles I. took refuge
when Charles II. was restored to his throne.
Dr. Walker and his pupil were extremely pleased with the
scene displayed in the market-place by the Savoyards, who
are allowed to dispose of their fruits, flowers and vegetables
on a market day in this town*. Their appearance is very
picturesque; they wear a little straw hat, in which they
tastefully place a rose on one side. Their manners are to-
tally devoid of all vulgarity, and they arrange their little
merchandize in the most fanciful way.
St. Saporin was the next town they stopped at ; but here
they only remained to take a view of the columns which de-
corate the walls, and which were erected to the emperor
Adrian. Cuilly, situated at the edge of a fine forest, next
arrested their attention from its romantic situation ; but they
staid only to change horses, and at length arrived at Lau-
sanne, the capital of the canton of Leman. The great
church called Notre Dame, is magnificent, and very ancient ;
it was built in the eleventh century. It is very spacious, and
of a prodigious height. The roof is supported by two hun-
dred and sixty columns, and eleven others of black marble
sustain a beautiful gallery, under which are placed two
fine marble tables of great value. The great window is in
the form of a rose, and is exceedingly striking. The view
from the terrace of this town is beyond all description ; but
perhaps no part of it is more attractive than the lake in a
calm summer evening, when the boats set sail to convey the
GENEVA MONT BLANC. 309
Savoyard peasant girls to the other side. Their voices are
particularly melodious, and as they generally sing during the
whole of their little voyage, their soft cadences, joined to the
sound produced by the gentle undulation of the waters, con-
siderably encrease those pleasing sensations which the beauty
of the scenery is so calculated to excite. From Lausanne
they coasted the lake till they arrived at Geneva. At Co-
pel, one stage short of this place, M. Neckar resided, and
after him his daughter, Madame de Stael.
The environs of Geneva, are studded with magnificent edi-
fices, many of which are inhabited by foreigners from various
nations, who are attracted thither by the politeness and ur-
banity of its inhabitants, and the beauty of its situation. The
walks are extremely extensive. That which overlooks the
Rhone, and which is adorned with a bust of Rousseau, com-
mands a fine view of the Alps, and from amidst these sublime
and lofty mountains Mont Blanc lifts its venerable head.
DR. WALKER. " We have no time to visit the stupendous
Mont Blanc, or its delightful valley of Chamouni ; we must
content ourselves with imagining its sublime scenery. M, de
Saussure has the credit of being the first man who ascended
this stupendous mountain ; he is called the Father of the Alps ;
for the greater part of his life has been passed in visiting their
most dangerous, as well as their most attractive points. Ben
Nevis, which is 4-388 feet above the level of the sea, is but a
hillock compared to Mont Blanc ; and Mont Blanc itself
would be looked upon as no higher than Ben Nevis, if placed
by the side of Chimboraco in Peru. Every thing is but com-
paratively large or small. Even in the intellectual world all
must be judged comparatively. So it is with suffering. And
the poor peasant of the Grisons, whose food consists of flour
and honey mixed ; whose bed is a heap of hay, his pillow the
cold and flinty rock ; whose hut is formed of stones, and
whose body is enveloped in goat skins to defend it frm the
piercing cold of these unfriendly and solitary regions, is yet
happier far than the miserable objects in the mines of Idrai.
And now let us return to our delightful inn, and see what
M. Degion can give us for dinner."
310 SWITZERLAND,
SECTION VIIL
JOURNEY CONTINUED.
OF all the spots that surround Geneva, the inn kept by
M. Degion is perhaps one of the finest. The gardens com-
bine every thing that is delightful ; the sweetest flowers, the
most delicious fruits, and the richest scenery are here inter-
mingled. The road from Geneva to the little 'village of Se-
cheron, in which it stands, presents one continued scene or
naral beauty, where the botanist will find ample scope for ex.
ercising his genius and his taste. The Genevans excel in
music ; they have their balls and card assemblies, and on a
Sunday the public walks recall to the English 'traveller the
splendour displayed in Kensington Gardens.
Dr. Walker and his pupil having retraced their steps in a
northern direction, till they came to Aubonne; they tra-
versed a beautiful country, and upon arriving at the pretty
village of Cossonee, they spent one day there. Mont Blanc
is seen from this neighbourhood rising from an amphitheatre
of hill$ in Savoy, and in the distance three glaciers lift their
towering heads above the surrounding Alps, viz. the Mont
d'Or in Italy ; the Jungfrau, or Virgin* s Horn ; and Wetter-
horn, or the Stormy Peak; which divide Berne from La
Valais.
*' I suppose, Sir," said the landlord of the little inn at
which they stopped, " you visited those mountains ?" " No,"
replied the Doctor, " we did not."
" Then, perhaps" replied the inn-keeper, " you have not
seen as grand a sight as any in Switzerland. The Wetter,
horn is covered with perpetual snow many hundred feet
deep ; and its enormous sides abound in glaciers, and about
halfway up, there are two most enormous chasms that are
formed in a valley of ice, about four miles in circumference.
Near four hundred feet beyond them rushes a torrent of
water, issuing from a huge glacier. The top of Wetterhorn
has, I believe, never been ascended, nor that of the Jungfran-
horn, which is in its neighbourhood. There is a mountain
directly under the Wetterhorn, called Scheidek, on which
are placed two cottages, both destined for the purpose of
making cheese. These cottages are called cJialleys, and
NEUFCHATEL MOUNT JURA. Ml
contain only two rooms : one is allotted to the family, the
other to the cows. At each of these cottages there are a
hundred cows/'
" Is it not surprising that they should find provender for
so many cows in such a neighbourhood ?*' said Edward.
" You must have observed, Sir," replied the man, " that
vegetation is particularly luxuriant in the valleys, and even
round the foot of the steepest mountains whose tops are
covered with snow in this country. The way of making the
cheese is this: when the milk is turned, a man puts his
arm into the copper, and with a wand breaks the curd ; he
then draws up the cloth. In this manner a cheese of a
hundred pounds weight is taken up ; and when it has lain
three or four days in the vat, they rub it with salt."
From Cossonee they proceeded to Oraes, and from thence
to Yverdun, which commands a fine prospect of the lake of
Neufchatel. This place was built originally by the Romans;
and medals of Augustus and Julian the Apostate, are found in
its neighbourhood. There are medicisal baths a short dis-
tance from the town, to which many of the principal families
from Berne resort in the summer months.
Switzerland is subject to violent storms of hail, which de-
stroy in a few hours the hopes of the farmer and the peasant.
The most promising vintage and harvest are often completely
cut off. The houses are unroofed by the violence of the
wind; and the whole country laid desolate. The fruit trees
are sometimes so much injured, that they will not bear for
three or four years afterwards. The natives have a curious
way of preserving fruit for the winter. They cut it in slices
and dry it in the sun, it is then put into wooden cases, and in
this state it can be preserved for twenty years. By pouring a
little warm water aver it, it becomes as fresh as when it was
gathered. From Yverdun they had a most delightful journey
to Neufchatel, through a number of pleasant villages. That
of Colombier, in which the houses are all white, with little
gilt balconies projecting from the centre, filled with flowers,
is particularly attractive. Each house stands in a garden and
the middle of the town has a splendid view of Mount Jura>
and commands the whole of the lake, it being placed upon a
peninsula, which stretches itself into the calm blue water. The
Jura Mountains are here cultivated as high as human foot-
steps can attain. Travelling in this part of Switzerland is
particularly agreeable, for the roads are good, and so broad
312 SWITZERLAND.
as to admit three carriages abreast, while on every side objects,
either of beauty or grandeur, arrest the attention. The town of
Neufchatel is seated in the midst of vineyards, meadows, and
woods. Mont Blanc still crowns the south-eastern horizon,
while to the west the Jura forms the boundary of sight. The
people of Neufchatel are fond of balls and parties, which are
upon the same plan as those of Berne. The minister has
the power of compelling those who have committed any fault
which comes under his jurisdiction, to appear before the
whole congregation, and to pay a fine according to the of-
fence : no respect is paid on these occasions either to sex
or rank, The merchants of this town are very wealthy ; the
taxes are moderate, and the government democratic. This
canton is extremely populous, and it contains plenty of game
and wild fowl. The Jura, about Geneva, abounds in sloping
declivities, and affords the most delightful pasturage for cat-
tle: in the vicinity of Soleure it produces a great variety of
stones of different forms, hexagonal and pentagonal, the polish
of which is so uncommon, as to be supposed the work of art.
Others are marked with petrified fish. This mountain con-
tains also mines of lead and iron ; and about Neufchatel they
present the most magnificent and picturesque scenery. Our
travellers continuing their journey in a northern direction,
arrived at the pretty village of St. Blaise, and from thence
crossing a small river which joins the Lakes of Neufchatel
and Bienne, they took up their quarters at Cerlier, from
whence they had an extensive view of the lake of Bienne
and the island of Rousseau. Having hired a little boat to
take them to this island, they soon reached the spot where
Rousseau retired in the year 1765, when he was driven from
Paris. There is but one house in the island, and that was
formerly a convent ; it was erected in the third century by a
monk of Belmont. His successors, however, becoming very
depraved, and being accused of the murder of Duke William
of Payerne and his son, they were expelled.
In a small apartment of this solitary house, which was oc-
cupied by Rousseau, the names of innumerable visitors are
engraved, and many poetic effusions adorn the simple walls.
The furniture is still preserved which he used, the table,
chairs, and the little bed he slept on ; the old-fashioned
counterpane, and the looking-glass over which he used to
throw a towel, cSi remain, and are shewn with profound ve-
neration to every visitor. At a short distance is another
SALEURE BASLE. 315
island, on which there is but one tree, which he used to
compare to himself.
Having wandered for some time in this enchanting spot
they reluctantly took leave of it, and returned to Ceslier.
Upon arriving at Bienne, they did but stay just to refresh
themselves, and from thence proceeded to the celebrated
Pierre Pertius, through which a road is broken, sixty six feet
long, and thirty high. Above the arch a Roman inscription,
although much defaced, is still visible ; but what remains is
sufficient to prove that it was cut by a chief of the Helvetic
colony. As this arch is overhung with wood, it has the ap-
pearance of a gloomy cavern, as it is approached. They
now entered the canton of Saleure, and having passed through
the capital, which presents no object particularly interesting,
they were surprised at the sight of a wooden bridge over the
Aar, four miles north of the town of Saleure. It is three
hundred and seventy two feet long. A small river which
joins the Aar, produces a great curiosity, namely, red craw-
fish, and they are sometimes served up as boiled in a deep
dish to strangers, in order to astonish them.
On the road from Saleure to Basle, the rocks are adorned
with many Roman ruins, overhung with ivy, that at Walburg
is particularly fine. It is placed on a prodigious rock of a
conical form, overhung with wood, composed of dark and
beautiful firs, whose tops are often lost in the clouds. The
few towers which remain are covered with ivy. This part of
the Jura abounds in gold, silver and copper, and different
kinds of mineral waters.
Basle is situated on the Rhine ; it is one of the most con-
siderable towns in Switzerland, and carries on a considerable
manufacture in ribbons. Hans Holbein was a native of this
place, and Erasmus died here, and was buried in its cathe-
dral. Erasmus resided in Basle for some time, and it was
from thence that he wrote to Pace, Dean of St. Paul's, that
letter in which he said " he .had no inclination to die for the
sake of truth. "Every man," said he, " hath not the cou-
rage requisite to make a martyr ; and I am afraid if 1 were
put to the trial, I should imitate St. Peter." He was at first
a warm advocate for the Reformation; but he afterwards be-
came its violent opposer. The police of Basle is extremely
strict. No dancing is allowed among the peasantry on
Sunday, and all card parties separate at ten o'clock. Every
individual, without any exception, is obliged to send his chii-
P
314 BANKS OF THE RHINE.
dren to be examined twice a week by the clergyman of the
parish, until they are ten years old, and then once a week
till they receive the communion. At Easter and Whitsuntide,
this ceremony generally takes place, when the girls, with
their hair nicely plaited under neat white caps, frills round
,-their necks, and little blue jackets, assemble with their pa-
rents, who are dressed in black at this solemn ceremony.
The boys have their hair turned back, and their cloaths are
vtnade remarkably neat and plain.
CHAPTER XIV.
BANKS OF THE RHINE.
SECTION I.
JOURNEY ALONG THE RHINE.
-L/R. Walker and his pupil quitted Switzerland with regret.
Upon crossing the Rhine, on their road to Freyburg, Dr.
'Walker asked Edward if he could describe the course of that
noble river. " I will try what I can do, Sir," replied his
pupil, and he began as follows.
" The Rhine has three sources in the country of the Gri-
sons, which rise at the distance of some miles from each
other, and are distinguished by the names of anterior, middle,
and hinder Rhine ; they unite not far distant from a place
called Dessanti : from thence it runs in a north-east direc-
tion, till it reaches the Lake of Constance, impetuously
rushing through its still waters, and issuing at Slerkborn.
Trom the Lake it takes many meandering forms, and at
length arrives at Basle. Its course then assumes a northern
direction along the eastern borders of Alsace, till it receives
the Maine a little below Frankfort, then proceeding north-
westward, it enters the Netherlands, and falls into the Ger-
man Ocean."
DR. WALKER." About a .league from Schaufhausen,
REMARKABLE BRIDGES. 315
at Lauffen, the Rhine falls in a tremendous cataract, from a
rock said to be seventy feet high, and ninety paces in breadth.
By the bye, at Schauf hausen there is also a very singular and
beautiful bridge, which was built in the middle of the last
century, by a common carpenter, called Ulric Grubenham.
The rapidity of the Rhine had carried away several stone
bridges built upon arches of the strongest construction.
This man undertook to throw a single arch, of wood only,
across the river, although it is three hundred feet wide. The
magistrates insisted he should make it of two arches, and
desired he would rest them upon the middle pier of the old
bridge; the self-taught architect obeyed apparently, but he
so constructed his wonderful arch, that it does not rest in
the least upon the pier. A man of the slightest weight can
feel this bridge tremble under him as he walks ; but the hea-
viest waggons pass over it in safety, though the bridge ap-
pears almost to crack under the pressure. This wonderful
piece of architecture is an astonishing example of the power
of natural abilities; but it is not without a parallel. I re-
member when I was in South Wales, I was struck by a re-
markable bridge over the Taaf, about twelve miles north of
Caerphily in Glamorganshire. It consists of one arch, the
segment of a circle ; the chord is 140 feet ; the key- stone,
from the spring of the arch is 34 feet high. The architect
was William Edward, who was living }n the year 1773. He
was a methodist preacher. Had the remains of such an arch
been discovered among the ruins of Greece or Rome, what
pains would be taken to discover the architect; whilst honest
William Edward, if living, which is not very probable, re-
mains unnoticed among his native mountains.'*
They continued their journey in a northern direction till
they reached Rostat, from whence they continued their route
to Philipsburg, which was captured by the Dauphin, eldest
son of Louis XIV. Heidelburg was the next town which
arrested their attention. It is situated in a hollow, on the
banks of the Neckar, the country round it is exceedingly
fertile, through which runs a fine chain of hills. The elec-
toral palace is seated on an eminence, which conmands the
town, and a view of the valley belo*;r: theeastleis, however,
unfortunately commanded by a superior height, from whence
the town was bombarded, by the ambitious Louis XIV. who
laid this beautiful country desolate. Manheim shared the
same fate ; and as our travellers passed through this town
p 2
316 BANKS OF THE RHINE.
certain reflections arose in their minds, which redounded
but little to the honour of Louis le Grand, or even to con-
querors in general. The country, as they approached
Mentz, became hilly and irregular, and the fine sloping
banks which border the Rhine, displayed the rich luxu.
riance of the blushing vine. Every spot of ground is here
highly cultivated, and the best Rhenish wines are made in
this part of the country. The number of ecclesiastics which
are met in the streets of Mentz at first astonished Ed-
ward. " You forget," said the Doctor, "this place belongs
to the elector of Mentz, who is always an ecclesiastic of high
rank ; his court, therefore, is mostly composed of the clergy.
He has soldiers indeed, but their appearance is not very mi-
litary." In the neighbourhood of Mentz, the celebrated
wine called hock is made, From Mentz they crossed an amaz-
ing long bridge, formed of a moveable platform, placed
upon fifty-six lighters, two or three of which draw out with
ease by means of ropes and pullies, to open a passage for
vessels ascending or descending the Rhine. Having crossed
this curious bridge, they entered Cassel ; the residence of the
landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, is situated on the river Fulda.
The new parts are regukr and handsome, the others are
chiefly in the ancient style. It has fine gardens, a college,
an academy of painting and sculpture, and a literary society,
which has been chiefly occupied with the history and anti-
quities of Germany, particularly of Hesse. This city has
many manufactures, and a great trade. Here they dined,
and then resumed their journey, and after passing four miles
of open country, they entered an avenue of walnut, apple,
and pear trees, loaded with fruit, to which they were told by
their postillion they might help themselves. After passing
over a draw-bridge, and through a large gateway, they
entered the city of Frankfort, which presented scenes more
congenial to British feelings than those they had left at
Mentz. Here all was hurry and bustle, caused by prepara-
tion for one of the annual fairs. The next morning the boot-
cleaner entered their chamber, at six o'clock, followed by
the chambermaid, with a composition of frankincense and
other gums, made up in a pyramidal form, and about an inch
high ; pastilles, in short, which she lighted, and placed upon
their candlesticks, to perfume their room.
The number of Jews in Frankfort is prodigious; although
they are subject to many severe restrictions. They live in
FRANKFORT COBLENTZ COLOGNE. 317
one street,' which has no thoroughfare, and the entrance is
at night fast closed by a great iron gate. No jew is allowed
to appear in the streets after a certain hour, and they are
compelled to remain cooped up in this small place till the
morning. Edward was extremely delighted with some ex-
cellent singing, which was executed by a set of boys and
girls several days successively, opposite to the house next ta
the inn where they resided. " Do you not know," said the
Doctor, that when a person of any consequence dies in
Frankfort, these persons are employed to sing an hour every
day till the corpse is interred/* As the Doctor spoke, the
funeral procession commanced, and the choiristers followed
the hearse, chaunting a funeral hymn as they went along.
Edward attended them, and returned home quite enchanted
with the solemn vocal music which formed part of the fune-
ral service.
Dr. Walker had a letter of introduction to a German no-
bleman, and remained some time in this town. He attended
their public assemblages, at which tea and cards form the en-
tertainment. Society is here divided into two classes, noblesse
and bourgeois, and these diiferent ranks never mix with each
other ; many of the bourgeois are persons of the first respec-
tability; but they lack that airy distinction of rank, and are
therefore indiscriminately classed as bourgeois. Our travel-
lers, however, were hospitably entertained by some of these
worthy citizens. Among the winter amusements of this
place, traineau parties are conspicuous. A traijieau is a
machine made in any fanciful figure, such as a swan, a deer,
according to the fancy of the owner ; this rests on a sledge,
which is drawn by two horses, gaudily ornamented. Some-
times twenty or thirty traineaus will start at once, with ser-
vants on horseback, bearing torches. This amusement is
common in many parts of Switzerland, as well as Germany.
From Frankfort they again directed their steps towards the
Rhine; and after a pleasant journey, they arrived at Cob-
lentz, where the Moselle falls into that river. Here they staid
but one day, being anxious to reach Cologne. The course of
the Rhine, from Mentz to Cologne, is romantic to a great
degree. The river runs through wild rocks, crowned with
majestic woods, and skirted with fertile vineyards. The
beauty of this scenery drew forth expressions of admiration
from our travellers, not excepting Colin, who declared he
longed much to conclude their travels, that he might have
p 3
318 BANKS OF THE RHINE.
the pleasure of telling all he had seen to Jean, whom he had
left behind.
tf And who is Jean/' enquired the Doctor ; " I did not
know you were married, Colin ?" The Highlander shook
his head, " Its like I will be, when I get hame. Jean did na
like me to quit her, and I didn't ken how much I lov'd her
till I left her ; but I think I hear the carriage yes, there it
is" and he hurried out of the room, as if ashamed of his
feelings.
" Colin appears a little home sick,, I think," said the
Doctor, " when we get to Holland he shall return to Scot-
land if he wishes it ; I should be sorry to take him with us,
if he really longs for his native glens."
Cologne is a large commercial city, seated on the west
bank of the Rhine, by means of which it carries on a brisk
trade with Holland and Germany. It is built in the form of
a crescent, and is fortified in the ancient manner. On the
opposite banks of the Rhine is the village of Dortz, where is
a flying bridge of boats, which will admit 1 500 persons, be-
sides horses, and even carriages to pass at the same time.
Rubens was a native of Cologne. They embarked in a pas-
sage boat for Dusseldorf. As they approached this place,
the stream of the Rhine became more rapid, and the coun-
try less mountainous.
" Edward," said the Doctor, " as the former pointed
out the distant mountains of Germany, did you ever hear of
the wonderful spectre of the Broken ? It is an atmospheric
deception of the most singular kind. When I was in Ger-
many many years ago, I heard of this curious phenomenon,,
and resolved, if possible, to witness it. After ascending, in
vain, the mountain several days, I at length was gratified. It
was very early in the morning, and upon looking to the south
west, I perceived a huge gigantic figure approaching towards
me. As I stood quite still, lest the delusion should vanish,
I perceived the figure to halt likewise. Having gazed at it
for some time, I suddenly put my hand to my head, in order
to save my hat, which a violent gust of wind threatened to
carry away : to my great surprise the figure did the same ;
upon observing this, I put myself in various attitudes, and
which were precisely imitated by the spectre. A traveller pas-
sing by at some little distance, I hailed him, and pointing to
the spectre, behold,,two stood before us. I could but smile at
the singularity of the appearance of these two gigantic figures.
THE SPECTRE OF THE BROKEN, 319
The traveller's shadow, or reflection, stood the picture of as-
tonishment and terror, while mine, assumed I must confess,
bordered on that of the ludicrous, for I laughed heartily.
My companion turning round, and discovering that one of
the spectres resembled me, " pray, Sir," said he, " may I
ask if that terrified looking gentleman is the counterpart of
me." " Just so," I replied, upon which he turned to make
a bow, and as the spectre returned his salute, the spectre
vanished. Sometimes this phenomenon was weaker, and
sometimes stronger ; but the outline was always well formed.
A phenomenon of the same kind was witnessed at Wilton-
hall, in Cumberland, against the mountain of Souter Fell.
A farmer and his servant, sitting at the door, saw the figure
of a man with a dog, pursuing some horses along the side of
Souter, a place so steep, that a horse could scarcely travel
quietly on it. They all appeared to run with incredible
swiftness, till they came to the end of the Fell. The follow-
ing morning they ascended the mountain to seek for the body
of the man whom they supposed must have fallen a sacrifice
to his temerity. They were exceedingly surprised not to find
any trace whatever, even of a horse's foot in the turf. Now
as the imitative powers of the Broken, prove that the clouds
do sometimes act as mirrors, it is not very improbable, that
the man, dog and horses, seen at Souter Fell, were the re-
flection of such a person and animals from an opposite moun-
tain. By a particular operation of the sun's rays upon the
vapour or the clouds, which flitted by the mountain, as in
the case of the Fata Morgana, this delusion was no doubt
produced/'
" We have lost the vineyards, Sir," said Edward, as he
pointed to the flat country they were traversing. " Yes, J>
replied the Doctor, " the vine is not cultivated further
north than Cologne.- , __ iUJ man
.u^tfteirrroin Frankfort to Coblentz. It lay sometimes
through beautiful corn and pasture fields; sometimes through
vineyards, orchards, and picturesque villages; while o the
airrounding eminences, magnificent castles, and religious
louses enriched the scene; behind this luxuriant country
te vast forest of Landeswald formed a sombre back ground
320 HOLLAND AND THE NETHERLANDS.
SECTION II.
GENERAL SURVEY OF HOLLAND.
FROM Dusseldorf our travellers still continued their jour-
ney in a northern direction, through a sandy country, till
they arrived at Wesel, a large dirty town, where they only
changed horses, and late in the evening they arrived at Arn-
heim. " Suppose," said the Doctor, " we take a survey of
the country we are about to traverse.
" The northern provinces of Holland are low and very
level, exhibiting the appearance of an extensive drained
marsh, varied with deep broad rivers and numerous canals ;
in general, abounding with rich pastures and fine groves of
trees : it is defended from the ocean by dykes. In Flanders
the western districts are remarkably level ; the south-east
has extensive forests, and a few elevations. Canals are very
numerous ; the principal of which are Brussels, Ostend, and
Ghent. In the east the air is salubrious, and the seasons are
more settled than in England ; in Brabant, and along the
coast, the weather is often foggy.
" The exports and imports of this country were, until
lately, similar to those of England ; scarcely a production in
which they did not traffic, or a manufacture that was not suc-
cessfully carried on* Their home commodities are plenty of
butter, cheese, hemp, flax, corn, wine, madder, and to-
bacco. Delft-ware, tobacco-pipes, and paper.
" Holland produces also some few minerals : such as nitre,
lead and copper, in Namur ; iron and slate in Hainault ; sul-
phur and slate in Limburg and Luxemburg, and coals in
""its chief ports are Amsterdam, IUHICIUCUU, -
south of Walcheren, Helvoetsluys, south of Voornland,
Sluys, Nieuport, and Ostend.
The population of Holland was lately computed at little
w ore than two millions and a half. But by the peace oi
J814, the Stadtholder, now King of the Netherlands, ha
gained to the Seven United Provinces, the Belgic Provinces
and the Duchy of Luxemburgh, consisting altogether of th
most fertile countries in Europe, and inhabited by sevei
millions of wealthy and industrious people. I need not mer
HOLLAND AND THE NETHERLANDS. 321
tion the names and capitals of the Seven United Provinces.
You of course know them.
" Holland is intersected with innumerable canals, which,
for number and size, may be compared to our public high-
ways. By them a great inland trade is carried on with
France and Germany. In summer they are constantly
crowded with boats of pleasure or of traffic ; and in winter,
when they are frozen over, the inhabitants travel on them
with skates, and perform long journies in a very short time.
" Its universities are Leyden, Utrecht, Groningen ; Har-
derwicke, north-west of Guelders ; Franeker, north-west of
Friesland.
" The university of Leyden is particularly celebrated for
its colleges, medicinal garden, anatomical theatre, astrono-
mical observatory, and valuable library ; the students are
less numerous than formerly. About 1600 men are employ-
ed in manufacturing cloths and stuffs, which are said to be
the best in Holland.
" In 1574-, Leyden sustained a very severe siege from the
bigoted and oppressive Spaniards; during which, famine and
pestilence carried offGOOO of the inhabitants. Asa reward for
their gallant defence, it was left to their choice either to be
exempt from all taxes for several years, or to have an univer-
sity founded ; they chose the latter.
" As I have marked down our route, I will mention those
towns worthy of notice, which we shali not visit,, and first
upon the list is Amsterdam.
" Amsterdam, raised and supported by commerce, was,
until lately, one of the most opulent and enterprising cities
of Europe. It is nearly semicircular,, and the site is so
marshy, that the houses are chiefty supported on piles* The
public buildings, the numerous canals, the streets planted
with rows of trees, the cleanliness of the houses, the accom-
modations for commerce, all are worthy of attention and imi-
tation. It has about fifty places of public worship, of these
eleven churches are of the established religion, which is Cal-
vinism.
" Rotterdam, at the confluence of the Rotte and the Mass
or Merwe has an excellent harbour, and is very eligibly situ-
ated for commerce, for which it has most excellent accom-
modations ; trade and riches, next to those of Amsterdam.
This -city .is remarkable for the size and beauty of its build*-
P 5
322 HOLLAND AND THE NETHERLANDS.
ings, fine deep canals, and a bronze statue of the celebrated
Erasmus.
" Haerlem is also a large and populous town, with open
streets and fine canals. It manufactures silk, velvet, linen,,
thread, and tape. Its lake, about 14- miles in diameter, lies
between this town, Amsterdam, and Leyden ; it is navigable
but subject to dangerous storms.
" We cannot even visit the celebrated village of the
Hague, which vies with the most celebrated cities in Europe
for beauty, extent, agreeable walks, and great trade. It is
about two miles from the sea, and surrounded by a fertile
and agreeable country.
" Middleburg, situated nearly in the middle of Walcheren
Island, where so many of our brave fellows lost their lives in
the late war, is connected with the sea by a deep canal,
which admits the largest vessels. It is a rich commercial
city, the squares and public buildings are magnificent, but
the island is unhealthy.
" Ghent, or Gand, which is placed at the confluence of
the rivers Scheldt, Lis, Lieve, and More, and on the canal of
Bruges, is one of the largest cities in Europe. It is divided
into 26 islands by the rivers and canals. It trades extensively
in linen, yarn, worsted and books. It was the birth place
of Charles V.
" Bruges is connected by canals with Ostend, Ghent,
Sluys, Nieuport, Fames, and Ypres. It carries on a great
trade in wool, cotton, tapestry, and silk stuffs.
" Bruges was formerly the English staple for wool, and the
greatest trading town in Europe. It was the centre of com-
munication between the Lombards (merchants from the
north of Italy) and the Hanseatic merchants, ( merchants of
the associated cities for carrying on and protecting com-
merce, which was at that time interrupted by pirates). The
Lombards exchanged the productions and manufactures of
India and Italy, for the commodities of the north. But, in
the sixteenth century, the civil wars, occasioned by the ty-
ranny of Philip II. drove the trade, first to Antwerp, and
then to Amsterdam.
" Delft has acquired great publicity from its fine earthen-
ware, known by the name of Delft wares. It is clean, well
built, has canals decorated with trees, and is defended from
the sea by three large dykes. It was the residence of Baron
Lewenhoeck, and the birth-place of Grotius.
HOLLAND AND THE NETHERLANDS. 323
" Gronningen, about twenty miles from the sea, is hand-
some, rich, and populous. Its province yields fine pasture,
and has a breed of very large horses. ^
" Namur is large, opulent, and commercial : it manufac-
tures fire-arms, knives, swords, and many other kinds of
cutlery. The country in this neighbourhood is mountainous.
" Luxemburg, on the rixer Etz or Alsitz, is a place of
great strength ; its province is chiefly occupied by the exten-
sive forest of Ardennes. It is rather mountainous and woody,
but in general fertile in corn and wine, and has many iron
mines.
" Ostend is a strong, thriving sea-port, with a marshy vi-
cinity. Its canal admits ships of large burden to enter with
the tide. The damage done to this canal in 1798, in an at-
tack by a body of English troops was estimated at 1,000,000/.
Packets regularly pass between this port and Harwich."
Arnheim is a pleasant town, but is famous only for being
the birthplace of the celebrated David Bech, t a pupil of
Vandyke. It contains some large churches, but Edward
agreed with his friend, in wishing to set off early the next
morning for Utrecht. The road to Utrecht is remarkably
agreeable. Guelderland is one of the most salubrious, fer-
tile, and romantic provinces of this low country. They were
serenaded by nightingales during the whole of their route to
Utrecht. They were also delighted with the alternate dis-
play of mountain and valley scenes, which they did not in-
deed expect. Groups of fine cattle reposed under the trees,
and as it was early, they saw a quantity of game, which, as
the day advances, screen themselves from the eye of man.
s Utrecht is beautiful and very healthy ; the environs are
full of gardens, walks, and groves; it has a celebrated uni-
versity, and is the chief residence of those who have retired
from business.
" That cathedral," said Edward, " must have been an ex-
traordinary fine building. What a pity it is it should have
been suffered to go to decay. The tower appears the only
part which is perfect."
" We will ascend the tower," replied his tutor, " for I
understand from its extreme height, (it is 464 feet high,) we
may see, if the day is clear, 51 walled cities and towns, and
the pyramid erected in honour of Napoleon at Zerst by the
French troops under the command, of Marshal Marmont.
P6
324 HOLLAND AND THE NETHERLANDS.
This stupendous column was completed in thirty days.
The height of this monument is 110 feet French."
SECTION III.
ROTTERDAM. TOBACCO.
FROM Utrecht our travellers proceeded to Rotterdam,
and took up their quarters at the celebrated hotel called the
Mareschal de Turenne. The streets of this noble city, like
those of all principal places in Holland, are adorned with
fine rows of trees ; the display of the numerous vessels upon
the canals, together with the busy hum of business which
is heard on every side, displays the character of the Dutch
in its most lively colours ; a thorough knowledge of their
indefatigable industry, their devoted attention to trade, to
which every other feeling gives place, and in which the
greater part of their lives are spent, cannot be more forcibly
pourtrayed, than by walking along the quays of the numer-
ous canals, where the youth of seventeen and the old man
of seventy are engaged with the same ardour in the same
pursuits. The style of building in Holland is singular; the
houses are lofty, and filled with large windows, which pro-
ject forward as they ascend^
" This is something like the style of architecture in our
Queen Elizabeth's days," said the Doctor, " few specimens
of which are now remaining,"
" So much the better," replied his pupil, " for those
projecting windows make the under apartments very gloomy."
One of the most beautiful streets in Rotterdam is that
called Boom's Quay, which extends along the river, (the
Rotte) abont half a mile from the old to the new head, the
two places where the waters enter the city.
Our travellers were surprized at being addressed by beg-
gars, as they understood Holland was not infested by them ;
they were, however, frequently accosted by vagrants, who
begged in a low voice, and they invariably noticed that they
always avoided a Dutchman.
Holland abounds with charitable institutions, and all beg-
CUSTOMS AND MANNERS. 325
gars are therefore looked upon by the natives as lawless va-
gabonds. They did not fail to visit the statue of the cele-
brated Erasmus, it stands upon an arch crossing a' canal,
and is nearly ten feet high. It was erected in the Year
1622, and is the chef-d'ceuvre of Henry de Keiser, a cele-
brated statuary and architect. The cathedral of St. Law-
rence, which is the finest church in this city, is used upon
various occasions independent of those for which it was
erected, for, to the surprize of our travellers, they were in-
formed, that during the fairs, booths were erected in it.
" I wish, Sir," said Edward, who was a little chagrined
at receiving the spray of a nimbly twirled mop ; " that the
Dutch ladies would pay a little more attention to their per-
sons, and less to their houses. It really is quite annoying."
" What, a citizen of the world," replied the Doctor,
" and annoyed at the cleanliness of the Dutch ! And I am
sure, although the scrubbing ladies are not particularly neat,
yet their mistresses are the patterns for every thing that is
nice. But, do you know, Edward, that this over and above
cleanliness which has offended you so much, originated in
necessity. The air of Holland, from the lovvness of the
soil, and the damp which arises fro-m the innumerable canals
that in every direction intersect Holland, would soon cover
those bright door knockers, with rust, would also cover the
walls of the houses with that green coloured fungus, which
is to be found on all neglected mansions that are exposed,
even in England, to damp situations. There is, therefore,
good reason why the knockers should be rubbed, the houses
washed, and so forth."
" Very true,' 9 replied his pupil, " but they might doit
in moderation."
" Ambition," said the Doctor, " the fault of noble minds,
is the cause of this excess of cleanliness. You may smile,
Edward, but when one house looks like a newly raised fa-
bric, just sprung from the earth ; who, that has a spark . of
feeling, would not be ambitious to rival such a pattern of
cleanliness. By the bye, Edward, mind to day that you
take a few florins in your pocket, to give the servant when
we quit Mr* W's after dinner, or else, perhaps* you may
be reminded of your omission, the next time you visit him,
by having a little soup or made dish, turned over your coat
by accident. 99
320 HOLLAND AND THE NETHERLANDS.
w Give the servants a few florins, Sir," said Edward,
with surprize.
" Yes," replied the Doctor, " 'tis expected. Now this
unfriendly custom was not many years ago still in fashion in
England, when the guests were called upon to contribute
to the wages of their host's servants."
EDWARD. " I think, Sir, that there are some of the
society of the Moravian brethren settled in Holland ; shall
we visit them."
DR. WALKER. " No, that will not be in our power, as
their community is established at Zeyst, which is at a short
distance from Amsterdam only. They inhabit the house
which formerly belonged to Count Zinzendorf, and when I
visited Holland, about a year and half ago, I bought this*
very watch at their repository. Upon ringing at the bell,
one of the brethren in a lay habit opened the door, and
receiving us, I had a friend with me, with great politeness,
he conducted us into ten good rooms, each containing arti-
cles of the most useful trade, such as watch-makers, silver-
smiths, milliners, grocers^ sadlers, &c. &c. Many of the
artificers have been tutored in England, and I do assure
you, I never saw a more beautiful display of goods of every
kind.
" The artificers work on the basement story, at the back
of the house, and no sound of trade is heard ; but the house
was so quiet that I could almost have fancied I was travers-
ing the apartments of a Carthusian monastery, but that
the gay display convinced me, that although surrounded by
plain and simple dressed men, who appeared as taciturne as
any monk in the world need be, yet I was still in the midst
of this world's vanities, quite as much so indeed, as if 1 had
been parading the splendid Bazaar in Sobo Square/'
Pipes and tobacco were invariably placed before our tra*
vellers when they .returned to their hotel after their peregri-
nations in the city, which they declined touching to the
surprize of the waiter, who could scarcely conceive it pos-
sible that any one should resist so agreeable an entertain-
ment. As they passed along the quay, amidst clouds of
smoke, which came wafting from the innumerable pipes, as
the Dutchmen, after their daily toils were refreshing them-
selves.
"I have no doubt/' observed the Doctor, " that the
INUNDATIONS OF HOLLAND. 327
habit of smoaking is very beneficial to the Dutch, as it must
counteract the effects of the damp atmosphere."
SECTION IV.
INUNDATIONS OF HOLLAND.
a LETTERS from England/' said Colin, as he entered the
room.
Edward eagerly opened his letter.
" Stop a bit, Colin/' said Dr. Walker, " I have some-
thing to say to you. You, perhaps, would have no objec-
tion to return to Scotland ?" The blood of the Highlander
rushed to his face. " And as we really have no further
need of your assistance, now is the time for you to say,
whether you had rather continue your travels, or return to
your native land, (here the Doctor paused) and Jean."
Colin knew not what to say. He began at length, to ex-
press various hopes and fears, and feelings tending to con-
vince the Doctor that he was very unwilling to leave them,
but that he still most ardently desired to return home.
" You shall embark for London, Colin," said the Doctor,
as the Highlander concluded his long speech, " and you
shall have letters for Mrs. Montague, and from London you
can soon get on board a vessel for Leith, and then, "
" Oh !" replied Colin,, " I have been to Leith, but,
indeed, "
" No buts," replied the Doctor, " so now you may go
and prepare for your departure."
Colin bowed, and Dr. Walker and his pupil began also
to think of continuing their journey in a day or two. For-
tunately a vessel bound for London was about to quit Rot-
terdam, and having seen the Highlander on board, they re-
turned to their hotel, to settle their own departure for the
next day.
After crossing the river Lock, and a flat country, they
at length arrived at Dordrecht, or Dort, a town situated in
an island formed by the mouths of the rivers Meuse, Merwe,
Rhine, and Linge.
Holland is more exposed to inundations- than any other
328 HOLLAND AND THE NETHERLANDS.
country. The industry of the inhabitants has, by means of
dykes or sea banks, endeavoured to provide against the en-
croachments, but these at various periods have been swept
away by the united action of the rain, wind, and sea storms.
In the year 1421, the neighbourhood of Dordrecht 70 vil-
lages and 100,000 of the inhabitants were swallowed up by
an inundation of the most frightful extent ; and in the year
1686 the London Gazette contains the following melancholy
account of the destruction of the dykes in the province of
Groningen.
" On Friday the 22nd of November, it blew the most
violent storm from the south-east, towards night the wind
changed to the west, then to the north-west, afterwards to
the north-east, and then back again to the north-west. The
weather continued thus tempestuous all night, accompanied
with thunder and lightning ; the chimnies of a great num-
ber of houses were blown down, and many houses were un-
roofed and much mischief was done in other respects, but
it was not comparable to that which followed : for the dykes
not being able to resist the violence of the sea, agitated by
these terrible storms, the whole country between this and
the Delfziel, being about eighteen English miles, was the
next morning overwhelmed with water, which in many
places was eight feet higher than the very d^kes, and many
people and thousands of cattle were drowned, the water
breaking even through the walls of the town of Delfziel, to
that height that the inhabitants were forced to betake them-
selves to their garrets and upper rooms for safety. The
whole of the village of Olerdum js, in a manner, swept
away. At Fermandrzyl, there is not a house left, above
three hundred people being drowned there, and only nine-
teen escaping. Hereskes, Weywert, Woldendorp, and all
the villages near the Eems have suffered extremely. The
western quarter has likewise had its share in this calamity,
and the highest lands have not escaped. On Sunday, and
yesterday, it reached this city, the lower parts whereof are
now all under water. From the walls of this city we can
see nothing but the tops of houses, and steeples that remain
abpve the water. In a word, .the misery and desolation are
greater than can be expressed.' 1 *
Groningen is noted for fine linen thread, a salmon fishery,
and Rhenish \vine. The inhabitants trade also in corn and
timber ; great quantities of the latter are cut up in the saw*
CUSTOMS AND MANNERS. 323
mills. Vessels coming down the Rhine and Maas pay a toll
here.
From Dordrecht they embarked for Gastruydenburg, and
after a very pleasant passage they arrived at that place,
from whence they proceeded direct for Antwerp. On their
road thither Edward exclaimed warmly against the odious
custom of drinking gin, which appeared so prevalent in
Holland. " It is hardlv more so here, than in England/'
replied his friend, " and although I deprecate the custom
as much as, you do, because I consider it injurious to
health ; yet we should think even upon this subject with
a degree of impartiality, with which it is seldom treated.
We are all, I am afraid, given too much to the indulgence
of our appetites, and those, perhaps, who every day drink
Champaigne and Burgundy, should pause a few moments
before they lavish such gross abuse on poor people who
drink gin, which is to them a greater luxury than the finest
wine you could offer them. I am not defending the custom ;
neither do I defend the custom of drinking large quantities
of wine, brandy, or beer ; of eating immoderately, or
dressing extravagantly ; but human nature is in some degree
the same in all stations. Men wilt indulge themselves in
superfluities. Why then should we expect more forbearance
in that rank of society who are the least taught it either by
precept or example from their superiors.
" You know Dr. Johnson's answer to a man who himself
lived on all the good things of this world, and was reproving
the Doctor for giving a few half-pence to some poor crea-
ture, because it would be spent in gin. * Well/ quickly
replied the Doctor, * and why not they, sir, their lux-
uries as well as tve. 9 You understand me right upon this
subject, I deprecate the custom because I deprecate all
excess ; but I deprecate it as much, ormorej in the noble,
Jhan in the hard. working poor. The former have less ex-
cuse lor it. intj Humv,iT. i c j u u i
KTT r^ 1,1 *"***& RS W6 WOUld DQ dOttC
by, would stop many hasty and common place censures,,
which are habitually in the mouths of those, who conceive
they have the right of judging their neighbours upon all oc-
casions."
" Gin is principally made in Holland, is it not, Sir ?"
enquired Edward.
" That which is called Hollands is manufactured in this
330 HOLLAND AND THE NETHERLANDS.
country, and is distilled from wheat, and barley, flavoured
with juniper berries."
SECTION V.
ANTWERP BRUSSELS, &C*
DR. WALKER. " But see, Edward, we are approaching
Antwerp, which about 200 years ago was the principal mart
in Europe. At the quay the river is twenty-two feet deep at
high water : it has good docks and many canals. It contains
two hundred and twelve streets, twenty-two squares, and
many public buildings, among which the cathedral and ex.
change are very conspicuous ; the former is said to be the
finest piece of Gothic architecture in Europe, and the ex-
changes of London and Amsterdam were built in imitation
of the latter. The Scheldt is here four hundred feet wide,
and the city presents a scene of bustle and activity not to
be surpassed by any in the Netherlands."
Having embarked on board a passage boat, that was
going to Brussels, our travellers had a most delightful journey
to that noble city, where they intended staying some little
time, in order to take a survey of the surrounding country,
rendered so interesting by the ever memorable battle of
Waterloo. Brussels possesses in itself many objects of attrac-
tion, it is large, handsome, populous, and about seven miles in
circumference. It is seated partly on an eminence, has seven
fine squares, and is remarkable for its great and beautiful
market-place. About. 10,000 people are employed in manu-
facturing lace ; its minor manufactures are cards, iron, and
tobacco.
Brussels is reckoned a cheao D!HCP f ~ . i: "~ " ' J'"T "
sa rico of life, ana even many ot its luxuries are produced in
oreat abundance in Flanders. The soil of this country is
peculiarly fertile, and was formerly enriched with large
forests, composed of beech, elm, and oak; these in many
parts have disappeared; about Charleroi there are quarries
of beautiful granite, as well as coal mines of considerable
extent. From Brussels our travellers proceeded towards
Charleroi after passing over the field of the battle of Wa-
FRANCE. 331
terloo. How changed the scene ! Luxuriant fields of corn
wave over the graves of thousands of human beings, who
fell immortalized in that ever memorable field. Mere and
there a small stone is seen erected by some friendly hand to
indicate the spot where a beloved companion found an
honourable grave ; but the luxuriant soil has resumed^its
wonted splendid robe, and many of the spots where parti-
cular movements took place, can scarcely be defined. From
Charleroi they advanced to Charlemont, which is roman-
tically seated on a mountain near the Meuse, from whence
they proceeded southward, and entering the beautiful coun-
tr) r of Champagne, they stopped at Mezieres,
Mezieres, a town in the department of Ardennes, is
seated on an island formed by the Meuse, over which it
has two bridges with a citadel.
CHAPTER
FRANCE.
SECTION I.
GENERAL VIEW OF FRANCE.
PASSING on in a direct line to the south, they were
charmed with the rich and luxuriant scenery, which the ap-
proach to Rheims presented. The surrounding hills were
covered with vines, which hung in gay profusion on every
side.
" The surface and climate of this extensive country,
must needs be various,*' observed Dr. Walker, " and we
will therefore take a slight view of them,
" The north, west,, and interior of France are much di-
versified, but the plain predominates, and is interspersed
with rivers, canals, and the extensive forests of Orleans,
and Ardennes : the rest is intersected or bounded by the
highest mountains in Europe ; the Pyrennees, Alps, Ceven-
nes, Jura, and the Vosges. The air is salubrious ; in the
north the winters are very cold; the south is so mild that
332 FRANCE.
many English invalids resort thither. The most elevated
part of France is a curved line, extending from the
north-west of Roussillon, west of Languedoc, south of Ly-
onnois, west of Burgundy, north of Orleannois, and along
the south of Normandy.
** The north-eastern part from Flanders to Orleans, is a
rich loam. Further to the west the land is poor and stony :
Brittany is generally gravel, or gravelly sand, with low
ridges of granite. Chalk runs through the centre of the
kingdom, from Germany by Champagne to Saintonge ; from
this line southward to the mountainous tract is a large extent
of gravel, the mountainous region of the south is in gene-
ral fertile, though the large province formerly called Gas-
cony presents many landes, or level heaths.
" The surface abounds with corn, grapes, fruits, olives,
tobacco, hemp, flax, manna and saffron. It is also rich in
mineral productions.
" The vegetable world here likewise displays its treasures
in great abundance. The oak, and most other forest trees,
the orange, the myrtle, the caper bush, the apple, the
vine, the olive, and many mulberry trees, in short, fruits
and flowers of almost every kind, at least of those that are
found in Europe, regale the senses, and gratify the palate
of the people of La belle France.
" The trade of France is very great, she exports large
quantities of wine, brandy, corn, silks linen, woollen, gloves,
lace, cambric, and porcelain ; and her imports are, raw silk,
wool, hemp, hides, tallow, and East and West Indian pro-
duce. Surrounded on the north west, west and south, by
the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, her ports are numer-
rous and excellent. On the Mediterranean, are Marseilles
and Toulon. On the Bay of Biscay, Bayonne, in the lower
Pyrenees ; Bourdeaux ; Rochelle, in the lower Charente ;
Nantes ; Vannes ; and L'Orient, in Morbihan ; Brest. On
the English Channel, Morlaix, in Finisterre ; St. Brieux ;
and St. Malo, in the Ille and Vilaine ; Cherburg, in the
Channel ; Caen, Havre de Grace, and Dieppe, in the lower
Seine; Boulogne and Calais, in the Straits of Calais.
" Her inland navigation is also considerable, by means
of her fine rivers and her excellent canals. Of her rivers
the principal are the Rhone, which meeting the Soane at
Lyons falls into the Mediterranean in the gulf of Lyons.
" The source of the Seine is near St. Seine, in the de.
GENERAL SURVEY OF FRANCE. 333
partment of Cote d'Or, and passing by Troyes, Melun,
Paris, and Rouen, it falls into the English Channel at Havre
de Grace ; its comparative course is about 250 miles.
" The Loire, rising in the mountains of ancient Langue-
doc, passes by Le Puy, Foeurs, Nevers, Orleans, Blois,
Tours, and Nantes, and after a course of 500 miles, falls
into the ocean at Painboeuf.
" The Garonne, rises in the Pyrenees, runs by Toulouse,
Agen, Bourdeaux, and below that place falls into the sea.
After being joined by the Dordogne, it assumes the name
of Gironde, Its course is 250 miles.
" In addition to these natural means of communication,
the industry of France can boast of the canal of Briare,
otherwise styled the canal of Burgundy, which unites the
Loire and the Seine. From Briare, upon the Loire, it
passes by Montargis, and falls into the Seine near Fontain-
bleau. A canal from Orleans joins the last-mentioned canal
at Montargis. The canal of Picardy extends from the
Somrne to the Oise, beginning at St. Qwtintin. But the
chief canal of France is the celebrated one of Languedoc,
which forms a junction between the Mediterranean and the
Bay of Biscay. This noble canal begins at Cette, in the
Bay of Languedoc, and joins the Garonne below Toulouse.
The breadth, including the towing paths, is 144 feet, the
depth six feet, and the length 180 miles.
EDWARD. " What is the population of France, Sir?"
DR. WALKER. " About twenty-five millions. And now,
Edward, let us stroll into some of the neighbouring vine-
yards. No French wine has so much celebrity as that of
Champagne," continued the Doctor, " it is of two kinds ;
one of which, called still or quiet Champagne, has gone
through the whole process of fermentation ; the other, which
has the name of sparkling Champagne, has been bottled be-
fore the fermentation was complete ; this consequently pro.
ceeds slowly in the bottle, and causes the wine, on the
drawing of the cork, to sparkle in the glass. Frontignac
and Muscadel are white wines, the delicious productions of
Languedoc.
Burgundy is a red wine of very delicate flavour, which
has its name from the province where it is made. 1 he wines
of the neighbourhood of Orleans, however, after having
been matured by age, are much like Burgundy. Claret is
the only French red wine for which there is any great de-
334 FRANCE.
mand in England. It is thin and higly flavoured, and is
chiefly supplied from the neighbourhood of Bourdeaux. Some
of the red wines of Champagne are highly prized for their
excellence and delicacy, though they occasionally have a
a pungent and sourish taste."
When Buonaparte was on his way to Moscow he passed
throuh Rheims, and here, as in all other towns through
which he travelled, the -inhabitants were obliged to enter-
tain his troops, and in many instances, they were compelled
to quit their houses entirely, and find shelter where they
could.
" Rheims, you know, Edward," said Dr. Walker, " has
been for many ages the place where the ceremony of the
coronation of the Kings of France is performed, in the
church of St. Remy. Under the altar of this church the
body of St. Remigius is deposited, and here too la Sainte
Ampoull was kept, said to have been brought from heaven
by a dove, at the coronation of Clovis.
" In the neighbourhood of Rheims there are the remains
of a Roman ampitheatre, a castle, and a triumphal arch, be-
sides three gates of the city which still bear the names of
pagan deities ; viz. the Sun, Mars, and Ceres."
On their road to Chalons sur Marne, some part of the traces
of our travellers harness gave way ; a farmer who saw their
distress, hastened to assist them, and with the urbanity which
forms part of the characteristic of the French nation, invited
them to rest in his house until their equipage was repaired.
The offer was too inviting to be refused, and following their
host, they reached his house, beautifully seated at the foot of
a declivity, covered with vines. The season was peculiarly
dry, but to the surprize of Dr. Walker, the vines appeared
in great beauty, the reason was explained as they walked in
the vineyards, for the farmer occasionally warned them of
several trenches, which ran in serpentine directions through-
out, not only the vineyard, but the whole of his grounds.
Upon arriving at the top of the eminence the farmer shewed
them a spring from which he had dug a canal along the ridge
of the hill, and from which he had also dug the trenches
that so luxuriantly and so easily watered his extensive farm.
This they found was the usual way in which the farmers of
this country water their grounds in dry weather ; by mean?}
of little flood gates, these small canals can be stopped at
pleasure, when the weather is rainy.
TRAVELLING IN FRANCE. 325
Having viewed the whole of the metairie which was upon
a very extensive scale, they returned to the house, where
they were retailed with fruits and cream.
SECTION II.
TRAVELLING IN FRANCE.
A LITTLE pig, which was the only one that a sow had not
overlaid of a small litter, was shewn to Edward, by one of
the farmer's sons as peculiarly beautiful. It was quite a pet,
and so familiar that it followed every inmate of the farm
like a dog.
" Pigs have the reputation of being very dirty," ob.
served Dr. Walker, " that one is an exception, but I be.
lieve they are in some degree scandalized, for if they are
shut up in a dirty place, they shew great uneasiness, and
their addiction to rolling in the mud, which is by no means
so peculiar to them, is rather a proof of their cleanliness,
for it only betrays their eagerness to remove the itchy sen-
sations produced by insects. The same uneasy feelings ap-
pear to be induced before rain, when, like poultry, these
animals rub themselves in the dust.
" Neither are they so stupid as they are represented,
and I hold myself bound in duty," continued the Doctor
smiling, " to exonerate the character of an animal from the
imputation of these disagreeable qualities, to which I am
indebted for the luxuries of pork, bacon, and ham ; and first
of all let me speak of their courage. They evince the most
determined courage, as well as the most marked sympathy
with those of their own species ; for the moment that one
of them utters a signal of distress, all within hearing will
run to its assistance. Of the numerous instances which have
been quoted in proof of this assertion, the ensuing is not
the least remarkable. The Sieur Brue having in vain, had
recourse to every experiment for softening the ferocious dis-
position of a tyger, which he had reared at Fort Saint Louis,
on the western coast of Africa, was curious to know how a
hog would defend himself against so large and powerful a
beast. He, consequently, caused one to be detached from
FRANCE.
a herd, and the rest to he conveyed to some distance- As
soon as the tyger was loosened, the hog retired into an an-
gle in the wall of the fort, where, for a very considerable
time, it kept the tyger at bay ; at length, when closely pressed,
it uttered a furious scream, and, in an instant, the whole
drove advanced to its relief, and so resolutely assailed the
tyg er > that 9 in order to save himself, he was compelled to
spring out of their reach, into the ditch of the fort. A
herd of swine have been known to gather round a dog which
teased them, and to kill him on the spot ; and if a male and
female of this species be put into a sty when young, the
female will decline from the moment that her companion is
removed, and will probably die of a broken heart. Neither
can their stupidity be longer admitted, since the exhibition
of the learned Toby in England is an irrefragable poof that
they belong rather to the literary world than the world of
ignorance."
" This little animal/' said the farmer, " is no fool neither.
N'et tu pas une comme un renard^ continued he as he ca-
ressed the petted .pig, which grunted applause.
Their driver having announced that all was put to rights,
they took leave of the friendly farmer and his family, and
resumed their journey. Late in the evening they arrived at
Chalons, celebrated for its manufactures of shalloons and
coarse woollen cloaths; and the next day they passed through
a beautiful country, on the road to Epernay. Here they
staid one day to ramble in the adjacent and extensive vine-
yards, and to inspect the woollen manufactory, and the large
potteries which are of considerable celebrity.
The day being hot, Edward expressed a wish to be in the
grotto in Hungary, of which we have spoken. " You need not
go so far," replied the Doctor, " for to the east of Vesoul,
which is in the department of La Haute Soane, there is a cave,
which will produce in one hot day more ice than can be car-
ried away in eight. It measures thirty feet in length, by sixty
in width ; and the large pendant masses of ice which hang from
the roof, present a very pleasing effect. A grotto, near Douce,
in the same neighbourhood, is perhaps more beautiful than
than that at V r esoul; from the regularity of thecolums which
sustain the roof, and which appear to be carved with the
figures of men and women, children and animals. There is a
cavern also near Besanson, in a little wood, the entrance to
which is formed by two rocks, that is eighty feet high, and
I
PARIS THE JARDINS DES PLANTES. 337
sixty feet wide. The ground of this grotto is perfectly
smooth, and is covered with ice, about eighteen inches thick,
which is formed by the dropping of the water, through the
imperceptible fissures of the rock, although the ground on
the outside is a dry and stony soil, covered with trees, and on
a level with the rest of the wood. The cold is so intense,
that it is impossible to remain long within this cavern."
From Epernai they continued their journey without inter-
ruption, until they entered Paris, the capital of the French
empire. The day after their arrival, they proceeded to take
a survey of this great city, and the Jardins des Plantes, was
among the first of its curiosities they visited. The pleasure
they received from visiting the museum, the theatre of ana-
tomy, the gardens allotted to botanical and agricultural stu-
dies, and the menagerie, amply repaid the toil of a four
hours examination.
A young gentleman, with whom Dr. Walker had become
acquainted at Rheinis, met thorn at their entrance, and pre-
sented them with tickets of admission into the museum,
&c. It was necessary to have these, as this superb place
is not always open to the public, else the young men who
attend the lectures which are given in the museum, and the
theatre of anatomy, would not be able to reap the fruit of
the instructions they receive.
These lectures are conducted on the most liberal princi-
ples. They are open to all who choose to attend them; to
Frenchmen, to Americans, to Englishmen, to foreigners of
all nations, and to both sexes ! without a single sol being
demanded for instruction. This was the testimony of the
young gentleman who provided them with their tickets of
admission, and who had attended from five to seven different
lectures daily, during these fifteen months, without paying
a franc to any professor for his instruction, and he was a fo-
reigner, but spoke the French language fluently.
Thus may young men study law, medicine, history, geo-
metry, the Mfa Icttres, in short, any or every part of neces-
sary or polite literature, without putting their relations to
any expences, except for the first necessaries of life, and one
or two suits of clothes in the year, just as their finances may
allow. Thus may young men, of any opinion or sect, of any
country or clime, receive all the advantages they can derive
from the abilities of the most learned instructors, without
dressing like speculative Charlatans, to excite the pleasantry
Q
33 FRANCE.
of the nation by whoso liberality they enjoy the advantages,
without the expense of the English universities. Who is
there that does not admire and extol this munificence? If
such there he, they must be lost to all those feelings we en-
tertain against the men, who, under the sanction of their
power, compelled the illustrious Galileo to expiate
" par dix ans dc. prisons
L'iiuixcnsable tort d'avoir trop t6t raison."
And every one must agree in thinking that, in this point of
view, France is indeed a great nation.
The French seem to have peculiarly studied nature ; and
the assiduity they have employed in collecting her produc-
tions, is only equalled by the skill they have displayed in ar-
ranging the finest specimens she could present to a people,
who sought to preserve her works.
Whatever she has produced in the four quarters of the
globe ; whatever the earth or the ocean can call its inhabitant,
may be found in the finest state of preservation in this mu-
seum, or alive in the menageries, or growing in the gardens.
Jiow well then is the theory of instruction combined with
its practice ? What treasures the inquisitive and the curious
here enjoy without the labour of travelling and the expense
of purchase ? " Do we wonder then that the French are an
intelligent and a polite people," said Dr. Walker, as they
traversed the several apartments, "and that strangers of all
nations flock to their capital ? When we know that upwards
of fifty ladies, Parisians and foreigners, this last year attend-
ed regularly the different courses of lectures at the Jardins
des I'/antes ; that females may be found sitting in the Louvre,
and the saloons of sculpture, painting and modelling from the
finest specimens of the painter and the sculptor's art tlvat
Fiance boasts of. Although this was was not one of the days
on which the public- arc 4 admitted to the museum of the Jar~
dins du /W, or Des Plantes ; for the reason already men-
tioned, yet there were several parties beside our travellers,
iriio paraded the different rooms, on both floors of this long
building, and gazed at the works or productions of nature.
The Doctor and his pupil were much amused with some
parties of their countrymen, who took a particular pride in
looking with indifference on the splendid collections before
them, while their haste to be gone, and the taciturnity they
observed, proved how much interest they took in what they
PARIS THE JAIIDINS DKS PLANTES. 339
were permitted to behold; and how much hotter pleased
they would he to have discovered that (ireat Itussel Street
Could have rivalled what their jealousy hade them pass with-
out examination, and their contempt taught them to look on
without the smile of satisfaction, which, one would think, all
human beings must wear on their countenance, when they
enter this grand repository of all thai is deemed curious and
valuable, useful and ornamental, whether as necessaries or
luxuries, to the animal called man.
The botanical gardens, however, were not shut to the
public, who ranged them in great numbers, and entered in
many instances, superficially into the names and uses ol the
vegetables, plants, flowers, shrubs and trees before them.
But then these beings were all I'Yeneh, criticising the ar-
rangements of their countrymen, or heaping upon Nature the
praises her choicest beauties drew from their delighted feel-
ings. Yet among this group the order that was preserved
was truly admirable. Nor was it here only our travellers had
occasion to observe this trait in the character of the lower
orders of the Parisians. In the Jardins flu Jtoi, in the Lux-
embourg!), at St. Cloud, at Versailles, in the Louvre, the
same decency is preserved, the same studied politeness is
attended to, the same inclination to look at every thing, but
to touch or meddle with nothing, was manifest. In the si-
lence of admiration they will pass along ; or if they stop to
criticise, some morsel of wit doubles the pleasure they have
already received.
A chimney sweeper, a waterman, the porter of an hotel is
admitted without scruple into the Louvre, or the Janl'ins
dcx I'lutitc.s ; and it is impossible for any nation to offer a
picture of good breeding above what these poor men and
their wives and children will preserve, in perambulating with
their superiors, the halls and floors which seem waxed arid
brushed for the feet of princes alone.
U is not in those places a stranger will meet with an insult;
it is not in any of them he will behold the petulance of ig.
norance, or the rudeness of dissatisfied poverty. The poorest
Frenchman walks by the side of his superior with the satis-
faction of the man who entertains a guest. The lowest ar
tizan in Paris behaves in these places with all the national
character of a philosopher; and it is very sure that he would
think himself degraded below his nature, if any foreigners,
Q 2
340 FRANCE.
in his presence imagined him capable of offering them an in-
dignity.
The Parisian whose dress bespeaks his poverty and his
honest occupation, mingles in the crowd in the Louvre and
the Jardins du Roi ; but lest his clothes should soil the robes
of a lady, or the surtout of an Englishman, he carefully
picks his way, and shuns with a degree of gallantry to give
his neighbour pain, by the misfortune of coming in contact
with his homely garb; or being^ prevented examining some-
thing that had engaged the stranger's curiosity, by passing
between his eyes the object, to distiact the view he had been
taking of it.
It is nevertheless true, the Parisians will amuse themselves
with the monkeys, the wolves, the lions, the bears in the
menagerie ; and they will feed old bruin, better known by
the name of Martin, and compel him to climb his tree, and
perform his accustomed feats ; but all this is an amusement
peculiarly their own. Martin is in a deep large pit, and the
walls at its edges are usually crowded with the curious whom
he invites thither by his knowledge of what different cries
import, and for how much he must climb the tree in the
middle of his pit. In short, Martin, is as sage as the sapient
ig, and can amuse the Parisians, as much as his hoggish
Viend, Toby, can the spectators who crowd to Spring Gar-
dens.
Frenchmen, in fact, one and all, look upon the shrubbe-
ries in the Jardins des Plantev, the Luxembourg!!, the Thu-
illeries at St Cloud and Versailles, as so many things, whether
trees, plants or flowers, or statues, shewn to the public, that
they are interested in preserving, and they visit them with
the satisfaction and the veneration a Musselman would feel,
who had travelled from Damascus on foot to Medina to wor-
ship at the shrine of his prophet.
But whence arises this trait of character in men who are
otherwise, to judge of them from their external appearance,
the very lowest and the poorest of society? for the bourgeois
are excluded in the consideration of this question. The
munificence displayed in putting these fine sights within the
reach of all, -is most probably the true cause.
i;
ST. DENIS. 341
SECTION III.
JOURNEY TO ST, DENIS. -
DR. WALKER and his pupil returned home highly delighted
with their day's excursion ; and early on the following morn-
ing they renewed their peregrinations, and set off for St.
Denis. Upon passing over the place Louis Quinze, many
melancholy recollections came into the mind of the Doctor.
It was here the unfortunate Louis XVIth expiated a life of
suffering by an ignominious death. It was in the place Louis
Quinze that two thousand persons lost their lives at the ce-
lebration of a national fete upon the day of his coronation !
But this was not the only day marked for festivity that was
distinguished by unexpected death, for the courier, who was
conveying the intelligence of his birth to Louis XV. was
killed by a fall from his horse. It is fortunate for the tra-
veller that no national column has been reared in the centre
of this immense octagon, (the place Louis Quinze,) for
from thence he enjoys the superb perspective that presents
itself around the chateau of the Thuilleries, the magnificent
alleys of trees in the Champs Elysees extending as far
as the barrier de 1'Etoile, the terraces of the royal gar.
dens, the basins, the statues, the Garde Meuble, and the
Palace of the Institute of Marine ; and on the opposite side
in the distant perspective, appears the Palace of the Corps
Legislatif. From the centre of this place is also seen the tri-
umphal monument of the Barrier de PEtoile, and the Ca-
rousel, the new Madelline Church, begun in part, through
the donation of Madame de Pompadour, but stopped in its
construction since the revolution broke out ; but which in
time will become a new ornament to the capital, when the
government shall be able to complete this great undertaking.
The entrance to the Champs Elysees, particularly arrests
the traveller's attention, decorated with the superb horses
from Marie, which correspond perfectly to those others tha,t
surmount the entrance to the Thuilleries.
" Great mansion of the dead !" ejaculated Dr. Walker as
they approached St. Denis, which so long recalled to French-
men's minds both their kings and their great men, but whom
suddenly, in 1793, the furious men who then governed
Q 3
342 FRANCE.
France, decreed should be dragged from their tombs, not
only here, but in all places of the republic. Will posterity
believe that a commission was appointed to see accomplished
this work of destruction this glorious trait of liberty and
equality of the more glorious revolution! On Saturday the
12th of October, of the same year 1793, these worthies hav-
ing giveft orders to exhumate, in the Abbey of St. Denis,
the ashes and bodies of kings, of queens, of princes, and of
princesses, and of celebrated men, many of whom had been
inhumated nearly 1500 years, to make leaden bullets of their
coffins, to defend the goddess of liberty ! Conformable to a
decree of the National Convention, the workmen, curious to
see the ashes of a great man, commenced their undertaking
by opening the tomb of Turenne ; and from this period, till
the 18th of January 1794, this unholy work of unholy France,
still went on, and all the remains of the kings, the queens, the
princes and princesses of three dynasties, were en suite by
order of the convention, thrown pele-mele into two large
trenches dug opposite the northern portal of the church;
and over these remains was laid a thick bed of quick lime to
destroy them more rapidly and more surely !"
" Is it possible, Sir!" said Edward. " Oh, how barba-
rous ?"
" Barbarous indeed," replied his tutor, " and yet not
more barbarous than true ; but St. Denis still stands, and
will, I trust, stand for ages ; for it is not more renowned for
its antiquity, its fine Gothic architecture, and the grand and
touching recollections which it brings to one's mind, than for
its being one of those French monuments which ought to
inspire the deepest historic interest from the various vicissi-
tudes it has experienced. Consecrated, from time almost
immemorial, to the reception of the illustrious dead, it has
witnessed the rapid flight of ages which consigned to its se-
pulturaj vaults, the supreme, the successive grandeur of hu-
man life. Faithful depository ! What France had produced
the most illustrious during twelve hundred years, thou didst
preserve intact in thy precious depot ; and the veneration of
Frenchmen for all the corpses shut up in thy vast bosom
but added to the veneration with which they were wont to
be inspired for the name and the memory of thy patren !
" But, ah ! a time arrived when this ancient respect which
the French bore to the persons of their monarchs, vanished
away, when the royal sepulchres of St. Denis, which ought
ST. DENIS. 343
to have been defended with the last drops of blood French-
men had to shed against the Vandalism of revolutionary
factions, by respect for the ashes of the dead alone, were
violated by sacrilegious hands ; and the cathedral of the
apostle of France, unworthy of such devastation, was stripped
of its depot of the ashes of the dead, which had rendered it
celebrated among all nations.
" Considered under this last point of view, the Church of
St. Denis will remain an unique monument upon earth. It
will attest to ages yet to come to what excess of madness
and delirium a people may be carried when they break
through social institutions, when they throw off the yoke of
salutary laws; of religion and of morality 1
" Built, as one may say, with the French monarchy, this
church partook also of its ruins, and had well nigh disap-
peared with it ; but it was its destiny to stand almost entire
in the centre of the horrible revolution ; it was its destiny to
receive again, in its subterranean vaults, prepared for the
French kings, the ashes of this royal race, who have again
remounted on the throne of their fathers; and HE who di-
rects the fate of people and of empires, arrested, of his own
accord, the destroying arms of the Vandals of 1793.
" Of its splendour before the Revolution, one can form no
idea. No church of France possessed treasure so rich, and
at the same time, so celebrated as that of St. Denis. Its sa-
criste ; its cabinet of relics, was an object of admiration to all
those who came to see it. Dulaure's description of it, before
this epoch, mentions objects, which credulity alone could
render precious ; and some that deserved to be respected, if
in 1793, there had been any respect for what was either hu-
man or divine. Terrible epoch, that which incontestibly
teaches the useful lesson, that the funeral pile of a nation is
a revolution, such as we have seen it in this country, debas-
ing the national character, and rendering France, for a time a
reproach and a bye-word, among the nations of the universe.
" Since that fatal epoch the grass has grown over the com-
mon grave of kings, and the astonished traveller no longer
distinguishes the spot, where in mutual friendship the mo-
narchs rest, who governed France for above twelve hundred
years."
Edward deeply impressed with the Doctor's observations,
remained silent, and after a short pause, his friend continued
thus,
344 FRANCE.
" Yet not content with having thus profaned the last
asylum of their kings, many members of the Convention
wished that the church of St. Denis should be destroyed,
defond en comble ! nor were they a little surprised when the
great body of that assembly rejected this proposition ; but
they found out that it was covered with lead, and a decree
passed in 1794, to strip off this lead d'en/aire de ballcs desti-
nees & lapunition des ennemis de la republique! and the great
bell of St. Sulpice was melted down into two sols pieces to
purchase muskets for the troops of the rebel chief, Monsieur
Equality."
" After their decree respecting St. Denis," said Edward,
" I am not at all surprised that the bell of St. Sulpice should
be converted into money ."
DR. WALKER. " Deprived of its magnificent great glass
windows in 1796, the cathedral of St. Denis, this superb mo-
nument of the piety of early religion, remained for a long time
exposed to all the injuries of the weather, and to all the in-
clemencies of the seasons. And though in 1797, it was again
proposed ' to erase this ancient fabric, and on its scite to
make a public walk for the good people of Francade" (it was
thus the town of St. Denis was named by the apostles of li-
berty,) the efforts of M. Petit Radel, then inspecting archi-
tect of public monuments at Paris, preserved this edifice from
total ruin.
" During all the time of the directorial government, the
church of St. Denis remained in a state the most deplorable
to the eyes of the few who still preserved any respect for the
institutions of their ancestors ; but when under the consulate,
order succeeded licentiousness, the friends of the arts united
to demand that the necessary repairs which this church re-
quired should be made on it ; and the government too wise
to refuse to comply with any means of gaining additional po-
pularity, acceded to their urgent wishes.
" When Bonaparte became emperor, he accelerated these
repairs, and in 1806, he promulgated, on the 20th of Febru-
ary, a decree, which informed * all good Frenchmen,' that
the church of St. Denis was consecrated as a burial place for
the emperors I A chapter of ten canons was charged with
the service of the church. This chapter was selected from
among the bishops who had seen sixty years glide over
their aged heads, and who found themselves too infirm to
perform their episcopal functions. They were to enjoy in
ST. CLOUD. 345
this retreat the honours and emoluments, the prerogatives
and the good things attached to the episcopate. And the
same decree announced that four chapels were erected in the
church, of which three occupied the tombs of the kings of
the first, second and third dynasties, while the fourth was
destined as the sepulchre of the emperors; and tables of
marble were to contain in those three chapels the names of
the monarchs whose mausoleums had existed in the church
of St. Denis. This decree was that of him who wished to
establish a fourth dynasty ; but it passed away with his daunt-
less, military, but perishable career, and the chapel, or tomb
for his dynasty, no man can now see ; it is closed in with a
wall of stone ; yet it is said that in this tomb Louis XVIII
intends to be buried, when the corpse of his successor shall
take its place in the recess at the foot of the stair as we de-
scend into the vaults of kings' remains ; for formerly, the
coffin of one of them, and always the last that had died, and
was brought into these regions of fallen royalty, remained on
the Starrs, as the French people say, or rather in a recess at
their base, as if to invite his posterity to descend, and enjoy
the peace and the quiet, the dangers and difficulties of a
throne had denied them!"
SECTION IV.
ST. CLOUD.
FROM the inspection of the celebrated and national church
Dr. Walker returned pensively home, where he found the
Abbe de Foi waiting for him. " I had half an inclination,"
said the latter, " to follow you to St. Denis; but thought 1
might possibly miss you; I came to say I should be happy
to attend you to St. Cloud to-morrow, if it is agreeable."
Dr. Walker assured him nothing could be more agreeable.
" And if you are not engaged for the rest of this day," added
the Doctor, " perhaps you will favour us with your com-
pany at dinner." The Abbe consented, and they passed
the evening in amusing and rational conversation, Early
the following morning, they set off for St. Cloud, in company
with the Abbe.
Q 5
346 FRANCE.
Their route to this delightful place lay through the
charming Bois de Boulogne. This wood is the Hyde Park
of the Parisians; but what a train of ideas does the sight of
it raise in the mind of those who join in the opinion of St.
Foix. St. Foix supposes that Charles the Ninth, to whom
nature had given the most comprehensive views, had formed
the idea of consecrating the wood of Boulogne to a cemetery
for all the great men of France ?
The palace of St. Cloud is situated on an eminence, which
commands an entire view of Paris from the west. At the
base of this height is the village of Boulogne, on the right
bank of the Seine, which rolls its waters close to the roots of
the hill, and separates it from St. Cloud ; and as rivers always
.give charms to landscape views, it may be easily imagined
how much the woodland scenery of this district is improved
by this agreeable variety in the bosom of its dark foliage.
The state apartments here, if not so finely decorated as
those of the Thuilleries, are yet, nevertheless, very magni-
ficent; and they are shewn to the public with the same de-
gree of condescension as is the chateau in the capital ; but
St. Cloud, standing on. a lofty eminence, commanding an
extensive and rich prospect for many miles around Paris,
embellished with all the taste of Louis the Fourteenth, and
latterly by the artists whom Napoleon, and since his exile, by
those whom the restored family have employed St. Cloud,
the favourite residence of the Empress Maria Louisa, creates
to itself an interest in the traveller's breast, which gives rise
to many curious reflections. The cieling of the chapel in
Whitehall will give an idea of the painted cielings of the state
apartments of St. Cloud; but no chambers can rival the cham-
bre d lit, and the boudoir of the late empress, now the sleep-
ing and dressing rooms of the Duchess of Angouleme. The
chamber in which Napoleon was wont to throw himself into
the arms of Morpheus, and which is now Von couche pour le
roiy is a plain bed-room, containing nothing that could indi-
cate the rank of its owner.
The dining and billiard rooms are also plain. " The su-
periority of the artist's taste is here easily discovered," said
Dr. Walker; "in giving grandeur to those apartments where
royalty must shine before the ambassadors of foreign courts,
and studiously avoiding the splendour of embellishment
where the majesty of the monarch is laid aside, and where
he sits down as the master of his own table, or amuses himself
THE THUILLERIES. 347
with his family in those pastimes which neither the sage nor
the prince need ever be ashamed to confess he finds pleasure
in, when the fatigues of his labours are over, and he seeks in
the games of youth, the recreation that soothes the infirmities
of age.
SECTION V.
THE THUILLERIES.
THERE are few places in Paris that do not recal some
striking scene of the Revolution. None perhaps excite
feelings more painful than the Thuilleries ; the recollection
of the terrible 10th of August, and its fatal consequences,
spread a shade of thought even over the youthful face of
Edward ; but few were the countenances of sympathetic sad-
ness, all here, generally speaking, were running full tilt at
the ring of pleasure. Here and there a moody Englishman,
indeed, as his gayer neighbour often designates him, thought-
fully approached the stately walls, which, if walls could speak,
would unfold many a sad and .piteous tale. Arrived at the
palace, they found there, among a group of strangers and
Parisians, who trode the state apartments by permission.
Some of these people had on Wellingtons and boots, others
wore gaiters like game-keepers,but were all gentlefolks, boots
or no boots ; paysanne or citoyenne ; madame or mademoiselle,
all had alike gentled their condition, by the display of their
holiday finery.
One admired one thing, another was charmed with some,
thing else; an English lady wondered there were no grates
in the fire-places ; a fourth asked his friend if the tongs were
not like those one might find at a smith's forge? a fifth put
innumerable questions as to the state apartments in Bona-
parte's time, and enquired if this were the chair he sat in ?
If that were the bed he slept in? If in this glass the Em-
peror admired his sallow visage ? In what place did Ber-
thier and Fouche sit ? Was Carnot ever in this room ?
Where was it Ney took leave of the king ? and a thousand
such like questions equally galling to the servant, whose pa-
tience was meted out to the stranger's ignorance and imper-
il 6
348 FRANCE.
tinent curiosity; while the natives' wonder rose as they be-
held the profound politeness of people, who ventured, in the
very council chamber of Louis the Eighteenth, to ask any
questions about his predecessor ; but this was true English
curiosity.
Every thing pleased the Parisians, who seemed to be
charmed with the Chapelle Royale, and particular!}' the
theatre, over the pit of which is erected a temporary path-
way for the convenience of Monsieur^ le Due d'Artois, whose
apartments are in the north wing of the palace. It would be
natural to suppose the conduct of the government in employ-
ing the garde nationale, in conjunction with the garde royale,
and the Swiss guard, to do the duty of the palace, would gain
to Louis the affections of thirty thousand Parisians ; but the
mercenary troops, the garde des Suisses, with their red coats,
are said to be an eye-sore to the garde royale, who are French-
men ; yet the appearance of these foreigners made our tra-
vellers almost fancy themselves at home again, or viewing
the palace of the parental George the Third, from the foot
of St. James's-street.
On their arrival at their lodgings, the porter of the hotel
brought Dr. Walker a note which had arrived by the two-
penny post, after they had gone abroad in the morning.
This was an envelope, containing an order to see the palace ;
the governor's secretary being apprehensive their request
had not been answered. There was a degree of attention
and politeness in this which persons must travel to Paris to
experience, if they would see the house of a king. The fact
was this; Dr. Walker called on Tuesday about two o'clock
in the day at the governor's apartments, which are on the
north side of the palace. This great man was out. Dr.
Walker left a note addressed to him, craving permission to
see the apartments of the Thuilleries. Impatient to know
the result, he called again on Wednesday morning, and
among other applicants, received a ticket of admission. His
name was not asked; and he took what was given him ;
thanked the servant, and walked away. How natural for the
governor's secretary to suppose he had not got a ticket, and
how politely attentive to forward him the following billet:
jV . . Chateau des Thuilleries. Le Gouvcrneur
autorise les gargons de chateau de service afaire voir les appar-
lemem au porteur du present el a societe, composee de per-
THE THUILLERIES. 349
sonnes 9 fyc. 8$c. Ce billet ne sera admis que dans la quinzaine.
On entrera par Pescalier du patillion de Flore. Le present
billet ne pent servir que quand le Roiest sorte les Mardi, Jeudi,
Vendredi, et Samedi. Gouveniement des Thuilleries."
It is this kind of treatment that enchants travellers with
Paris, though there are in it many things very opposite to
the comforts enjoyed in England, and to which time only can
fully reconcile an Englishman; yet Dr. Walker did not go to
Paris to find a strict resemblance between two nations that
have been for ages the enemies of each other. But before
we drop the subject of the letter, we shall give another in-
stance of the French character, as respects the civilities a
stranger, who behaves politely y may always expect to receive
among this people.
Dr. Walker having expressed a desire to his friend the
Abbe, to see the king at his devotions in the Chapel Royal.
In the afternoon of the same day that this wish was uttered,
the Abbe returned to him with the following billet :
Chapelle Roy ale du palais des Thuilleries.
Galerie a droite. Laissez passer trois personnes. Le
Septr. 1817. Le Capitaine de Gardes de Service. M.L'Abbe
de Foi."
In the same way, though the place is open weekly to the
public, he applied and received this billet to view the French
monuments in the monastery of the Augustines:
" Conservation des monumens publics. II est permis a Mon-
sieur , d a sa societe^ de visit er le depot des petits-
Augustins. Paris, le 6 Septr. 1817. Le Conservaleur.
* # * #
" May we not hope," said Dr. Walker, charmed with
the attentions he so repeatedly received, u that time will
consolidate the government of the Bourbons, obliterate the
many painful recollections which the first sight of them could
not fail to raise among the French people, and give a direc-
tion to that tone of feeling which a stranger would daily
wish to see manifested ; yet while the nation talks of its A#W-
sibilities, it seems as difficult to ascertain these, as it would
be, were they once found out to measure their exact tension,
and know how to manage them without trenching upon its
affections, and exciting that innate irritability which is not
extinct, tlwugh smotheredjbr a time.
350 ' FRANCE.
" How many reasons, then, have English folks to be one
day in love with the French character, and the next dis-
gusted with it, even in the same persons, I had almost said,
and nearly under the same circumstances ? How many of
our countrymen return home with unfavourable impressions
of a people they cannot comprehend ; or, carried away by
their frivolity and gasconade, ape them while here, and ex-
claim highly against every thing that is plain, honest and
unassuming at home, because it is not French. Is it \foven
in our nature to find fault somewhere ? After leaving Eng-
land in the foolish hope of finding France a paradise, and
Frenchmen Milton's good angels, when we behold a fine
country peopled with beings who have manners, customs,
opinions and tastes peculiarly their own ; Must we contemn
them for this ? Can we not come here without returning
home dissatisfied with all we have heard, and almost with all
we have seen ? Yet I have met some who have railed as
violently against all they left in England, as if Frenchmen
who heard their exclamations of dislike, were such simple-
tons as to believe they had been beaten both by sea and by
land, by a host of knaves and fools, whom these inflated
travellers could not live among. But little do these silly
people who pretend to despise the land they draw pensions
and reats, and annuities from, consider that the French, to
whom they thus address themselves, most potently believe
us inferior to themselves in arts* in arms, and in politeness.
In a word, they fawn on those English tourists and levellers,
for an hour, to laugh at them for an age. These roving eco-
nomists cannot be persuaded they might vegetate as cheaply
at home as abroad. But why I Their pride is too great to
stoop at home to the niggardly modes of marketing and liv-
ing which they resort to, where necessity compells the poor
around them to the same. But why cannot they live as cheap
at home as in France? In England they would buy even
their potatoes on credit to be paid at Christmas ; in France,
on the other hand, they must go with ready money for all
they want to eat or to drink or to wear. This then is the
great secret of economy among all whose fortune is not
enough for their luxury in England." The following day our
travellers visited the Royal Library. " Pray Edward," said
Dr-, Walker, "look at that good man and his wife, they
appear to be engaged in earnest conversation/'
Our travellers drew near to them, and soon discovered that
they were travelling to Switzerland for cheapness .
THE ROYAL LIBRARY. 351
DR. WALKER. " Now do you not suppose, Edward, that
a corner could be found in Wales where cheapness would
enable that worthy English couple to exist with comfort,
without crossing the Alps ?"
The attention of the travellers in question, whom we may
designate idle and inquisitive travellers, was at length excited
and engrossed by the curiosities contained in the cabinet of
the royal library, and the following conversation took place
between them, to the amusement of the Doctor and his
pupil, but which was looked upon with ineffable contempt by
the porter who stood at the door.
Husband. " This is a mummy from Egypt."
Wife. " O ! a mummy there are some of these things
in Bullock's museum, I believe. Let us look at something
else, that's so frightful."
Husb* " This is the shield of Francis the First.'*
Wile. Ah! indeed S ? '
P/usb. " And that is his casque over it."
Wife. " Casque! casque! why it looks very like one of
the fire men's helmets ; but it an't brass like theirs ? How
many pounds weight may it be ? I shouldn't like to walk to
the Gobelins with it on my head this hot day. I dare say
Francis the First walked much farther with it often ?"
Husb. " Look here, my dear, these are antique gems."
Wife, " Let me see. Why, yes they look so upon my
word ; but then there an't a crucifix on one of them. But
what are these things? 5 '
Husb. " I have been looking at them myself with my
glass. They are Roman coins, I think."
Wife." They are all gold !"
Husb." I see A. U. G. C. ae. Yes ! }^es ! they are
Roman.- Augustus Ccesar That's the word."
Wife." I suppose these are French ?"
Llusb. " Not one of them, I think. Fve been spelling
the inscription. Why they're coins of Alexander the Great,
as I'm a sinner."
Wife. " You don't say so ?"
Husb. " The pieces themselves say so/'
Wife. " How many do you think I counted in this case ?"
Husb." I don't know."
Wife. " Eighty-one. How much, my dear, do you think
this room is worth ?"'
352 FRANCE.
Husb. " 'Tis impossible to say."
Wife. " Pray what do you think this piece of carved
metal is? It looks like a pastry-cook's mould ?"
" La targe de Scipe, Madame," said the porter, observing
her pointing to this antique.
Husb " Bless me!- The shield of Scipio ; Aye! aye!
I see by my guide it's here. And there's the shield of Han-
nibal," added he, looking the porter in the face, who nod-
ded assent, and pointed to the great African's targe.
Wife " Why, my dear, this Scipio's shield, as you call
it, is full of Highlanders "
Husb. " They're Romans; but I confess if one wasn't
told, he might take this for Ossian's shield."
Wife." O ! then I suppose the Highlanders took the
fashion of their petticoats from the Romans."
Husb. <c Whist, my dear, pray don't talk so loud."
Wife. " There's only that old gentleman and his son
know what we say/'
Husb. " That clerk, or secretary, that sits writing there,
may know our tongue."
Wife." And if he does?"
Husb. " Yes, Sir, I see it is (to the gargon.) My dear,
this is Hannibal's targe. See, there's the Numidian lion on
it."
" 'Twas found in the Garonne,'* said the gar$on.
Here the good man looked at his watch, and finding that
his hour of dinner drew near, he prepared to depart, per-
fectly satisfied with his own erudition and that of his wife.
Dr. Walker and his pupil also departed ; and on passing
over the Pont Nenf, they observed a charlatan at the north
end, who, to attract the passengers' attention, appeared with
an odd cap on his head. The Parisians stopped and looked
at him. " An indifferent inventor," said one of the crowd;
" does not lower the nation : we have long been accustomed
to this tone of singularity in this fellow. It is his hardihood
alone that arrests the attention of some few young fools/*
" How so?'* said another of the crowd. " Oh! granting
this droll fellow has some wit," said the other, " you see
whom he takes off." " Have you not so much discernment ?"
said a third. " He is taking off the citizens/' said a fourth.
" Not at all," said the man who spoke first. " He is mak-
ing game of the English." All the others believed it was so ;
that is to say, they affected to do so, though they very well
THE THEATRES. 353
knew the charlatan was laughing at the Parisians all the while.
" Now that good man we have just seen at the Thuillewes,
would scarcely deign to glance at that mountebank, 1 ' said
the Doctor, " and if he did, he would as soon think of scal-
ing the monument without ascending the stairs, as be the
dupe of his fooleries. The French of the inferior ranks of
society, have all a superficial knowledge of most of the arts,
I will not say sciences. In this lies their superiority. The
, Englishman of the same rank, on the contrary, knows but
| little beyond his immediate calling; but he has his superio-
rity notwithstanding. * Comparisons, are,' however, as my old
copy used to say, ' odious.' So I will say no more upon the
subject. I am rather tired, and we will pass a quiet evening
at home."
On the following day they amused themselves with mak-
ing several little purchases, which they intended to dispatch
to England, aud writing letters to their friends, mentioning
the principal places at which they should stop in their in.
tended route towards the Pyrenees. In the evening they
went to the opera, and here Edward could not help expres-
sing much surprise at the gloomy appearance of the house,
the ladies being all in an undress, most of. them wearing
large bonnets. The following evening they went to the
principal theatre, where they saw Corneille's celebrated play
of the Cid. The solemn monotonous recitation of a French
tragedy, seems in direct contradiction to the character of the
Parisians; and strange to say, the English, who are in general
more uniformly given to thought and intense attention than
their gayer neighbours, become extremely weary at the re-
presentation of a French tragedy. This is not because they
do not understand either the genius or the idiom of the lan-
guage, for many natives of Great Britain comprehend them
thoroughly. How is this contradiction in the character of
the two nations to be accounted for?'' enquired the Doctor.
" I suppose," said Edward, who .had learned to think,
1 " that we may set it down to the inconsistency of human,
nature in every country."
" Why, I believe," replied his friend, " you are right, and
! if we admit the truth of your observation, \\\\&\,Jbrbearance
should it not excite ! The trundling of a cleanly mop "
" Not one word more, if you please, Sir," hastily inter-
rupted Edward. " Not one word more ; for every day of
my life do I here wish a few of the Dutch predilections in
354 FRANCE.
favour of that article the mop; and a few of their antipathies
to dirt, could be infused into the minds of the Parisians."
" Of some of them," replied his friend, " beware, Ed-
ward, of stamping a whole people, or even the inhabitants
of one town with an epithet so repulsive to our national feel-
ings of cleanliness. Be candid and impartial if possible/'
EDWARD. " I shall say no more, Sir, upon this subject.
I may express my surprise at seeing a woman taking the
money at the theatre to night."
DR. WALKER. " Oh, certainly, and you were not less
surprised, I dare say that women were the check takers,
and national guards, or gens d'armes, their protectors. I
myself could but smile to see Madame lay aside her knitting
to attend to a solitary customer, nor could I help pronounc-
ing the French a philosophical people, and the English, who
fight their way into Drury-lane Theatre, a nation of gobe-
mouches."
EDWARD. " A nation of freemen, if you please, Sir."
DR. WALKEU. " I must beg a truce, not a parley ! for
I have mounted you on your high horse, Edward, and I am
sure you will be off in a twinkling far beyond my reach.'*
SECTION VI.
THE CATACOMBS.
AMONG the numerous objects of peculiar interest in Paris,
the Catacombs stand conspicuous.
Thirty years ago, the word Catacombs was unknown to
the greater part of the Parisians. Some learned men, and
some devoted to the reading of legends, or church history,
knew only that the Catacombs were vast caverns, situated
under the city of Rome, and had been formed by the extrac-
tion of materials employed in the building of that celebrated
city ; but the mass of the Parisians were far from forming
any idea of these souterrains; and though a great part of
their city was built over cavities resembling those at Rome,
it was another thing for them to know that such immense
vaults actually existed, and could be visited.
Learned men, themselves, were not agreed on the use to
THE CATACOMBS. 355
which the Roman Catacombs had been employed. All,
however, were of opinion that they owed their origin to the
quarrying of stones and other materials proper for building,
from* the bosom of the earth. But the accounts of travellers,
and what. had been read in ancient authors, who had spoken
on this subject, left the question to be settled by other men,
or an enlightened posterity.
All that was known was, that these ancient quarries or ca-
tacombs, contained an incredible quantity of human bones ;
and Christian writers pretended that the faithful of the first
ages of our religion, during the cruel persecutions to which
they were so long exposed, had withdrawn into this Roman
cavern to celebrate their holy mysteries. They pretended
also to know that when any of their fraternity died, their
brethren considered it a duty due to their religion to inter
them in these consecrated places. It was also said, the re-
mains of those, too, who had courageously perished, confes-
sing the name of the founder of Christianity, were deposited
in the Catacombs.
These traditions, which were handed down from age to
age, among the catholics, conferred a singular religious
honour upon the Catacombs, and the popes who had suc-
cessively inundated the Christian world with their absurd
relics of what never existed, took under their special protec.
tion the Catacombs, and recommended them to the faithful
as an asylum, sanctified by the presence of a great number
of saints and martyrs.
Ages thus rolled on without any one starting a doubt on
authority so respectable, and the Catacombs of Rome were
considered the most memorable monuments of Christianity.
But when the church saw a number of her children stray
from her bosom ; when the dissenters, or puotestants as we
call the first reformers, began to dispute the authority of the
pope, they also discussed the authenticity of the title the
bones collected in the Catacombs had so long been honoured
with. When, in fine, learned men and artists visited these
depositories of frail man with a spirit of observation, to which
these extraordinary monument's had not hitherto been sub-
jected, it was strongly suspected these enormous masses of
bones did not belong to Christians alone.
The ancient Roman authors were consulted, and it was
found that the custom of burning their dead was not universal ;
but that it was also common among the conquerors of the
350 FRANCE.
world to bury their dead as we moderns do. These discove-
ries engaged the attention of the learned to make more ac-
curate researches in these dark abodes, where
" Night, sable goddess ! from her ebon throne,
In rayless majesty, now stretches forth,
Her leaden sceptre o'er a slumb'rihg world."
The result of this perseverance was the discovery of a
crowd of magnificent tombs, belonging to Romans, whose
names were well known in history ; and in the construction
of whose sepulchres, marble, porphyry, and like durable ma-
terials had been profusely employed. There were also dis-
covered entire inscriptions, paintings in fresco very well pre-
served, of which the subjects appeared also the models of
many paintings of the Italian masters ; and mankind were
thenceforward taught to look upon the Catacombs not only
as an asylum consecrated by the presence of many Chris-
tians, but as they really were or had been, a general cemetery
tor the city of Rome, where the great and the poor came in
turns to occupy like Morar, " low their pillow of dust," after
having been more or less agitated in that populous city.
Perhaps this short sketch of the Catacombs of Rome
may not be uninteresting ; it was necessary to say so much
only to conduct our readers to the Catacombs of Paris, for
there can be no doubt it was this knowledge of the Cata-
combs of Rome, which suggested to the Parisians the idea
of making use of the immense quarries which were known
to exist under the Faubourghs of St. Germain and St.
Jacques for the same purpose.
Thus these caverns, of whose existence thousands in
Paris were twenty-five or thirty years ago ignorant, have now
become a monument under the auspices of religion and phi.
lanthropy, which every one desires to visit. Yet it is but a
few years since the Catacombs have become thus popular,
though now they are regarded as the most curious monu-
ment about the capital. Fot it was not till 1810 their inte-
rest was made fully known to the public, in a pamphlet
published by M. Hericart de Therry (chief engineer of the
torps of miners, and inspector general of the subterranean
works of the department of the Seine, that is to say, of the
Catacombs) that the curiosity of the public was first stimu-
lated to this novelty, which amused the Parisians as much as
strangers.
The public journals also took up the subject of M. de
THE CATACOMBS. 357
Therry's tract, and the Parisians were set agoing. Nothing
more was necessary. The Catacombs were no longer un-
known to the Parisians; and having also acquired a degree
of celebrity in other countries, the curious of all nations who
have visited Paris since the great political events of 1814?
and 18 15, visit also the Catacombs, as a part of their educa-
tion, in travelling from, home to this singular country. This
being the case, Dr. Walker and his pupil could not but fol-
low so powerful an example, to which they were further sti-
mulated by their wish to see every thing worth seeing that
fell in their way. On their route thither, the Doctor made
several remarks upon these ancient repositories of the dead,
and as they approached near to the object that engrossed
their attention, he began thus
" The ancients used to burn their dead, and bury their
ashes far from their cities, and in desart solitudes, where
every thing conspired to create sadness and melancholy ; for
man in this world's misery
" Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing."
" A solemn and mysterious silence necessarily reigned in
those mournful asylums of the dead ; and if some men of
great families, of the nation, raised tombs to their friends or
relations, it was always in the country, and far from the city
they placed them ; they were satisfied with fixing upon the last
residence of persons who had been dear to them, in retired
places, under the shadow of some tree, on the borders of
some stream, whose soft murmurs they believed contributed
to the repose of the dead, as Chateaubriand so beautifully
describes an Indian grove of souls in Attala.
" Of all people of antiquity, the Romans stand the first for
this humane custom of burying their dead far from the abode
of the living. Though the Catacombs of Rome attest the
asylum of many great men of that city, it was their custom
also to place the tombs of their friends on the borders of
great roads, which thus radiated from that eternal city, as
from a common centre to all the different parts of the empire.
The tombs thus reared around the city of Rome, extended
on certain roads for more than a league. The Appennine
Way is still celebrated for the magnificent tombs which skirt
it; and travellers who pass along it for the first time, I am
told, going to Rome, are astonished to behold themselves
358 FRANCE.
traversing a city of the dead, in reaching the capital of th
world.
" The custom of placing these monuments, destined t
hide the wreck of man, by the road side, did not fail to teacl
lessons of wisdom, though we have seen persons traversin]
burial-grounds that have been made common thoroughfares
without any sensation or emotion, e'en though
" The moping owl does to the moon complain,
Of such, as wand'ring near her secret bow'r,
Molest her ancient, solitary reign ;"
but the sight of a single tomb in a desert place, gives thi
spectator an impression more durable and more habitual thai
numbers of tomb-stones do in St. George's burial-ground
west.
" We like to be surprised by sights that are not common
and such is our essence, we cease to be affected by what w<
always see. For example, to those who are supposed t<
think less of death, and to have less of its fear than othe
people, as grave-diggers, undertakers, and men who are em
ployed here to carry the dead on -a covered hand-barrow
the Parisians, gay even in matters the most serious, desig
nate them under the characteristic name of croque-morts.
" The Christian Clergy, guided by the letter of Scripture
in order to render the idea of death always present to the
imagination of the people they governed or instructed, were
the first who fixed upon the interior of cities as the asylum o
the dead. Vast cemeteries were in consequence chalked
out around the churches and consecrated, and formed, as om
may say, the parks and gardens of the church ; for whence
else could the English term * church-yard,' originate ?
" Every parish church had its own, and the parishioners
successively dropped into this consecrated ground.
" The equality of the dead was long observed in those se
pulchral asylums. The rich and the powerful indiscrimi-
nately mingled with the poor and oppressed. No sign, no
tomb-stone, served to make known or distinguish the one
from the other, and the sepulchral rural cross, the grass of
the field, that sublime image of the vanity of man, covered
indifferently the ashes of all ; the lord of the manor and his
vassal by his side, and the bishop became alike, and in due
time food for the worms.
" But when the severity of the first ages of Christianity
had relaxed, when the humility of her first founders had
THE CATACOMBS. 359
degenerated into pride with their successors, and when all
the princes of Europe were embarked in the Crusades against
the infidels, the luxuries which the ministers of the church
found they could enjoy in the taste for honours and dis-
tinctions, spread among their people, and an innovation took
place. The clergy to make their court to the great world,
permitted the nobility and those who could pay them well,
to distinguish themselves from the vulgar, by deserting the
common but ancient mode of sepulture in the church -yard,
and interring their dead separately in the temple of God.
In the end, the same honours and distinctions were coveted
by the clergy themselves, who adopted, in their turn, the
practice of separate and particular interment, and esta-
blished their tombs in the body of their respective churches.
" We have only to turn to our own country, to perceive
how common this practice has become. The pavement of
many is composed almost entirely of tomb-stones, under
which repose in peace the ashes of those who have obtained
these particular concessions. /
" Those who seek to distinguish themselves thus from the
people, little know that these tombs receive more outrages
and insults than the open ground which covers the bones of
the poor in the common cemetery. The crowds which
weekly go to church, in a few years efface with their feet,
and without respect for their betters, the pompous epitaphs
which pride had dictated.
" How much sooner this honour of being thus interred in
a religious temple, and under the pavement of their parish
church, contributed to enrich the clergy, the great never
reckoned, because they were determined to display their
pride of birth in a manner becoming their ability to defray
the expense of a proper line of demarcation between them
and a few, who by the favours of fortune had begun to
make encroachments on these land marks of title. This was
a second, or rather a third innovation, better known by its
description than any name 1 can now hit on. This new cus-
tom exists to our own times, under the fashion of burying
the important dead in sepulchral vaults, which have been
dug out under the choirs of the churches. Human vanity is
a passion so contagious, that in a short time after this mode
had been adopted, it became as general as the first.
" Every parish church had in time a great number of these
vaults, which, for a succession of years, belonged exclusively
360 FRANCE.
to the nobility, the bishops, the abbies, and other dignitaries.
The successive generations of great and powerful men in
time, however, glutted these vaults, and in spite of the in-
scriptions which extolled virtues the defunct never possessed,
the memory of a lord, or a bishop, frequency perished the
clay after his obsequies had been performed. Sad neglect
this of an ungrateful race of heirs, relations and vassals.
" The custom of thus shutting up the remains of the dead
in the interior of the temples of the Deity, far from being
agreeable to the majesty of the place, has still the inconve-
nience of giving a false and ridiculous style to the architec-
ture employed in decorating these little mansions of the
great, where every rustic may with Alpin say, * With three
steps I compass thy grave, O thou who wast so great be-
fore !' For the architects obliged to proportion it to the
smallness of the speck allotted to the undertaking, these
monuments destined to honour in the eyes of posterity, the
memory of great men, produced pitiful works unworthy of
being ever exposed to the light of day, and in the vast field
of nature. One might even ask an enlightened architect
what effect tombs of twelve feet square, would produce were
they, after the manner of the Romans, erected on the skirts
of the highways in isolated places. Assuredly none, and the
tombs one sees in the Museum of French Monuments, Rue
de petits Augustins, if erected in such places as are becoming
the sepulchral monuments of great men, would be as un-
worthy the names of the artists who designed them for
churches and cloisters, as of the great men to whom they are
consecrated.
" At length some part of mankind was persuaded it was
really dangerous to dwell too near cemeteries ; and Paris first
set the example of removing these depots from the interior of
her walls : but this useful revolution, so long desired by all
men who pretended to take the health of their fellow citizens
into their hands, began only in the end of the last century,
and had the French confined themselves to a revolution in
favour of health, cleanliness, and comfort, they would have
done well. Paris, under the wise and paternal government of
the unfortunate Louis XVI. set the example of removing from
without its ualls those huge depots of contagion which had
for ages crowded the Charnier of the Innocents, and the
bones which were thus dug up were carried to the Cata-
combs. The cemetery of the Innocents, the largest then in
THE CATACOMBS. 361
Paris, was dangerous from its position, situated in the centre
of the quarter St. Denis, one of the most populous quarters
of the capital ; but by 1788 all the bones it contained were
dug up ; and in the same manner many other cemeteries
within the walls of the city were emptied ; in fine, in 1790,
at the moment the revolution began like a torrent to sweep
away all ancient usages and customs, it was decreed by the
national assembly, that all churches and villages should
abandon their ancient cemeteries^ and choose new ones with-
out their walls ; nor should the interior of churches be disfi-
gured by burying the dead in them. This decree, whose
design was salutary, but whose execution was most foolishly
gone about in many cases, served as a pretext for all the de-
vastations which were committed in 1793, and caused to dis-
appear from the face of France a crowd of monuments, as
precious under the direction of the arts, as from the great
events they failed not to recal to the mind of man.
" The grand charnier of the innocents was a vaulted gal-
lery, which surrounded what was called the Champ eaux, or
the Petits Champs, and this latter was the cemetery of no less
than twenty parishes of Paris! The last grave digger, Fran-
cois Poutrain, of the Champ eaux, interred in the space of
thirty years alone, more than eighty-four thousand corpses,
thus making nearly three thousand annually. And if we
reckon from the year 1186, when Philippe Auguste, first
caused the cemetery Petits Champs, to be walled in, to the
end of the six centuries it received the dead of twenty
parishes, at the rate of two thousand annually, we shall com-
pute one million two hundred thousand corpses interred !
But this cemetery existed many centuries before the time of
Philippe Augnste, and was for ages the only burial place in
Paris.
"Judge then, Edward, how unwholesome must have been
a residence in the neighbourhood of this charnier, or bone-
house ; this abyss of death ! The bones from this charnier,
with all those of eighteen cemeteries besides, are now piled
up in the grand central depot of the Catacombs.
" So much for the general outline; now for the detail,
It was M.Lenoir who had indicated the ancient quarries be-
neath the Fauxbdurg of St. Germain, as a place the most fa-
vourable for this central depot of the ashes of the dead ; and
M. Crosne, his successor, appointed Charles Axel Guillamont
to prepare these caverns for the reception of the bones
R
302 FRANCE.
which might be dug out of the cemetery of the Innocents.
Fortunately these quarries, thus designed to become the Ca.
tacombs of Paris, were already, so to speak, in a condition
to serve for this new purpose; and they required no repairs,
except those necessary to fit them for their ulterior destina-
tion. Scooped out in times of the monarchy the most re-
mote, they still were practical for this new purpose.
" When the Fauxbourgs of St. Germain and St. Jacques
extended themselves on the left bank of the Seine, towards
thB plain of Mount Souris, in 1774< and 1776, many accidents
happened to houses in those quarters, from the roofs of the
quarries giving way ; and the police appointed commissioners
to examine these souterrains, who, finding them in a deplo-
rable condition, commenced operations to secure them from
furthermore falling in, and in a few years the ruin which the
inhabitants were one and all threatened with, was no longer
dreaded. It was this labour which prepared these quarries
to become the Catacombs.
" In order, however, to have a respectable entrance to
this grand depot of the dead, a house was bought which had
long gone by the name of the Tomb of Isoire, a famous rob-
ber, who 'tis said had been killed and buried in this place.
A stair was accordingly cut in the rock, by which to descend
into this dark region of 'silence how dead! and darkness
how profound !' and in another place, a well or pit was hewn
down, for the purpose of hurling whole cart loads of bones
extracted from the cemeteries, deep into these quarries,
where formerly < nor eye nor list'ning ear an object found.'
" On the 7th of April, 1786, the interior of the Cata-
combs was consecrated to the reception of the ashes of the
dead, by the clergy of Paris in great pomp, and the follow-
ing day this great work of reformation commenced, by trans-
porting the bones from the Champ eaux ; for the workmen
had already been some months employed in digging them
up. With the bones of the dead, were transported from this
cemetery all the tombs, the crosses, the coffins of stone and
of lead, the tablets of stone, of marble, and of lead and
brass, with their inscriptions, c. and they were arranged in
order around the tomb of Isoire, in a spot which had been
consecrated at the same time as the Catacombs; but all
these objects which veneration for religion and for the manes
of the dead had so long preserved with unshaken piety,
shared the general devastation of 1793, and the tomb of
THE CATACOMBS. 363
Isoire sold as national property is now, after having passed
through ten several possessors in twenty years, the place
where a cabarelier has established a guinguette, or tea-
garden *. It is thus, that in these degenerate days, the ce-
metery of St. Sulpice has been transformed into a dancing
hall. Under the fine inscription,
'* Has ultra metasrequie^cunt bedlam spem expectantes,,
We read,
Bal de Zephire !"
Our travellers arrived at the cabaretier's guinguette,
which is within musket shot of what their guide into the Ca-
tacombs, called the tornb of Isoire. It was full half an hour
before they could gain admittance where " creation sleeps,'"
and were surrounded by numbers of starving gardens, who
had wax tapers to sell to the curious who had travelled
thither, where
" 'Tis as the general pulse,
Of life stood still, and made a pause,
An awful pause."
At the gate which leads into the field where is the stair to
the Catacombs, they met a great crowd of English, who
who were putting themselves in order to go down. Some
of them drove up to the guinguette in their own carriages ;
others came to the gate covered with the dust they had ga-
thered walking all the way from Paris ; and the distinction
which was thus made on their arrival, was kept up where all
were on a level ; where death, fell tyrant, had unceremo-
niously abolished rank and title !
." See, Edward,'' 'said the doctor, " by the bustle round
the entrance, the door must be opened ; let us follow that
motley group."
Having lighted their tapers, they descended eighty-six
steps of a deep narrow winding stair. The scene which
presented itself when they arrived at the bottom, was awful
and imposing to a great degree. The bones of the limbs
and the skulls of beings whose " years fled swifter than a
weaver's shuttle/' are here piled in rows which the ingenuity
of the living devised without any regard to disturbing the
* This is correct, though the traveller is invariably told the guinguette
is not, hut the small house which covers the stair to the Catacombs is,
the Tomb of Isoire. At all events this is the language of the best in-
formed Parisians.
3-34 FRANCE.
ashes of the dead, or annoying those frail remnants of proud
man, by placing the bones of his legs at right angles to each
other, while his scull set in the upper segment of the figure,
seerrs to say with the motto usually written below this de-
vice, Memento Mori.
No language can paint, no pen can describe the appalling
sight which greets the eye in this vast mansion of forgetful-
ness, *Tis here the slave and the tyrant, the oppressed and
the oppressor, the lord and his vassal, the prince and his sub-
ject, the captive and his jailor, countrymen and strangers,
men of all ages, of all degrees, conditions and fortunes while
living, have their ashes collected and arranged, the labour of
a pious and humane posterity ; the wonder of transitory tra-
vellers, who come hither and gaze on what they must be,
without reaping the profit of the lesson which a visit to the
Catacombs teaches them !
The gay and the dissipated cannot behold these relics of
their fellow-creatures with the smile of indifference, or the
look of contempt. No ! They preach a language no tongue
ever uttered the lecture of the tomb ; and in silence and
with horror arrest the heart that is bent on evil, to consider
the shortness of all earthly pleasures. 'Tis here the spright-
liness of the Parisian forsake^ him, and he seeks for the relief
his religion brings by reciting a prayer to the Virgin. 'Tis
here the Englishman's countenance assumes its proper cast,
and the paucity of his speech to the wife of his bosom and the
child of his heart, bespeaks the train of meditation his soul
has been thrown into. 'Tis here the fierceness of the warrior
is lost, and his mien becomes placid, gentle, and mild. 'Tis
here thte saint's face beams with peculiar hope in the belief
that death will be swallowed up in victory, though " deep is
the sleep of the dead, narrow is their dwelling now, dark the
place of their abode" the Catacombs.
It was reserved for the revolution to \\url pe/e mele into the
Catacombs, the victims of its sanguinary hordes, and many
monuments placed in these regions of the dead, indicate dif-
ferent epochs of the civil commotions which France, and
Paris in particular, was a prey to. The victims who perished
opposing revolutionary mobs in the streets of Paris and on
the stairs of the ThuiUeries,with all those who were massacred
m the prisons, and who all owe to M. Guillamont the honour
of a place in the Catacombs, will henceforth and annually
have a -solemn and expiatory service performed to their
ST. GERMAIN L'AUXERROIS. 365
manes. Solemn indeed it must be, for the altars on which
those expiatory services are annually performed, are con-
structed of the very bonea for which these rites are solem-
nized ; the wrecks of generations assisting in their own
purgation ; supporting the lamps that light the books, which
other fragments of the same mass bear; the sculls of the dead
staring the priests in their face, and, as it were, mutely
listening to hear if the prayers be faithfully performed.
Deeply impressed with the solemnity and gloom that sur-
rounded them, our travellers began to feel almost too much
oppressed by melancholy, and they were glad once more to
see the dazzling brilliancy of the meridian sun, and again to
gaze upon this fair world; but when they took leave of the
Catacombs, they did not choose entirely to disturb the so-
lemnity of their feelings by any further excursion, and they
accordingly retired to their hotel, where they passed the rest
of the day in comments upon the Catacombs and other in-
teresting subjects.
DR. WALKER." How much do objects in themselves, in-
offensive and even inanimate, excite in one's mind trains of
distressing sentiments ! 1 never pass between the magnificent
eastern facade of the palace of the Louvre and the church of
St. Germain I'Auxerrois," continued the Doctor; " but I
feel an involuntary horror. True, the colonade of the Louvre,
that master-piece of architecture, inspires me with the most
agreeable thoughts ; but the moment I hear the bell of the
church of Saint Germain, which faces this front of the pa-
lace, begin to ring, I am carried back to the night of St.
Barthclemi, in 1572; I seem thrown into the presence of
Catherine de Medici, waiting the ringing of the tocsin of the
clock of the palace. I seem to hear her give orders for the
signal for the commencement of the massacre to be given
(the bell of St, Germain 1'Auxerrois to be rung!) In my
mind's eye, as the immortal Shakspeare says, I behold the
Duke of Guise approaching with his bloody myrmidons
the door of the Admiral de Coligni, in the street Betizy,
wiping with his handkerchief the blood off the face of this
great man, and having kicked the corse with his feet, saying
to the horrid gang that had enlisted in this cause, < This is a
good beginning ; go on- we must finish the work we have
begun !' But this does not close the scene. The head of
the Admiral being cut off, and carried to Catherine de Me-
dicis, ghe caused it to be embalmed, and sent it to Rome to
R 3
366 FRANCE.
the Pope, who ordained a solemn procession and thanks-
givings, for the result of the glorious night and day of St.
Barthelemi.
But this, horrible as it may appear, was not all ; notorious
as the queen has made herself, execrable as the Duke of
Guise is looked upon by posterity, Charles IX is yet more
detestable. It was from the windows of the constable of
Bourbon's house, or as after his death it was called, le garde
meuble du roi ; that Charles*, during the massacre of St.
Barthelemi, fired with a long arquebuse on the Hugonots
who crossed the Seine to save themselves in the Faubourg
St. Germain ; the Pont Neufwas not then built t."
SECTION VII.
PRINCIPAL PLACES IN FRANCE.
THE following morning proving wet, our travellers re-
mained quietly at home, and Dr. Walker proposed that with
a map before them, they should point out the principal places
in France.
" There stands Paris, Edward, situated on both sides of
the Seine, and surrounded by a fertile vicinity ; the houses
are chiefly of freestone; the public buildings much cele-
brated, and with good reason, as we can vouch. There are
many universities in France, of which the following is a list.
Paris, Orleans, Rheims, Poitiers, Bourdeaux, Angers, Douay,
Nantz, Caen, Bourges, Montpellier, Cahors, Valence, Aix,
Leon, Grenoble, Strasburg, Pont-a-Mouson N. W. of Nancy,
Thoulouse, Pau, Perpignan, Orange 50 miles N. W. of Aix.
Of these the Sorbonne of Paris is the most celebrated.
" Prior to the Revolution, there were in France, 17 arch-
bishoprics, 750 great convents of monks, and 200 nunneries.
The monks and nuns in the whole kingdom were reckoned
at 200,000, and the revenues of the clergy and religious
houses amounted to upwards of six millions sterling."
* P. de St. Foix. Ess. Hist, sur Paris, V. I. p. 65. Ed. 1778.
t It was begun in 1 578, and finished in 1594.
PRINCIPAL PLACES IN FRANCE. 367
ED.WARD. " What an immense sum ! Are the religious
houses restored, Sir r"
DR. WALKER. " Partly so; but not in their former
splendour. Now proceed."
EDWARD. u There is Dunkirk, a noted sea-port, but
the entrance is dangerous. Here is a public library, and the
churches contain numerous paintings by celebrated masters.
It has many snuff-manufactories. This town was given to
Cromwell by Lewis XIV. as a compensation for his assistance
against Spain ; it was sold to France by our Charles II. for
5,000,000 livres.
" Dieppe has a good harbour ; packet boats pass between
this place and Brighthelmstone. Trades in fish, ivory, toys
and lace. It is 132 miles N. W. of Paris.
" Brest stands on a declivity, the streets are narrow and
crooked, the quay is about a mile in length. Its harbour is
the finest and most commodious in France, but the entrance
is narrow and difficult.
" Nantz. The Loire is here about three miles over, and
contains several islands, which are connected by bridges:
large vessels can come no higher than Port Launai, which is
1 2 miles below Nantz. This town is wealthy, and may be
considered as the Liverpool of France."
DR. WALKER. " Now for the towns in the North. I
think you need not name any more of the sea-ports."
EDWARD. " Amiens has three bridges over as many
branches of the Somme, and five gates. Manufactures linen
and woollen cloth extensively. It is 75 miles N. of Paris.
" Caen is divided by the Orne, which, with the tide,
brings up large vessels. This town is neat, has a fine castle,
and a good trade.
" Rouen is opulent, but inelegant, though many of its
public buildings are grand. It has a bridge of boats that
rises and falls with the tide. Rouen is called the Manchester
of France."
DR. WALKER. " The country about Rouen is extremely
beautiful, and it contains upwards of eight thousand houses,
and thirty-six parish churches; has every appearance of
wealth, though the streets are narrow and crooked, and the
houses built mostly of wood. But its great commerce ac-
counts for its opulence; and when one sees at its quay ships
of all nations, the disagreeable appearance it otherwise pre-
sents to our country folks, who come thither only to find
R 4
368 FRANCE.
fault, is lost in the recollection that it is one of the most im-
portant places in France, being more than two leagues and a
half in circumference, and containing nearly ninety- thousand
inhabitants, who subsist principally by trade, merchandize
and manufactures, and who must, therefore, with health and
commerce, have all the- comforts of this life cheap, and in
abundance/'
The day having cleared up, our travellers set forth on
another pedestrian excursion through Paris. They were now
greatly annoyed by the filth of the streets, particularly Ed-
ward, ,who expressed his chagrin at seeing his cloaths were
profusely tinctured not only with the colour, but with the bouc
de Paris itself; and the Doctor proposed returning home.
" In London one may avoid the carriages and their spat-
tering" observed Edward ; " but here really one must have
all one's wits about one to escape being run over. Oh for
a broad pavement, at this moment, like that in Oxford-street,
or any street, or any court in London-! Take care, Sir,
there is a diligence and a fiacre, and; a variety of other vehicles
close upon us ; do let us step inta this shop for one instant."
The Doctor laughed heartily; but followed the advice of
his nimble friend. " I do begin to think we must return to
England," said he, as Edward looked first at himself, and
then at his tutor. " But, Edward, a brush will soon free
you from your boue de Paris! You have been as badly
splashed in London I am sure."
Edward laughed too ; but he still regretted that amidst the
many improvements and changes which had taken place in
Paris, as he had been told, in the last forty years, that the
French had never thought of making a pave for foot passengers.
" But * la totalite des Rues,' would then vanish you
know," replied the Doctor. " Come let us begone, there
is a free passage now."
When they returned to their inn, it was dinner time, after
which the map of France was again produced, and they re-
sumed the description of its principal towns.
" Troyes," said the Doctor, " is chiefly built of wood,
the stone in its neighbourhood being too tender for archi-
tecture. St. Stephen's, and the public library, are fine
buildings, here is also an ancient castle, in which the counts
of Champagne formerly resided. This town is surrounded
with fine meadows and vines ; it manufactures coarse cloth
and fustians, also wax and tallow candles.
PRINCIPAL PLACES IN FRANCE.
** Avignon, on the Rhone, the seat of the Popes from
1308 to 1376, and dependent upon them till it was united to
the French Republic. This city is well built; and is sur-
rounded by a good stone wall with towers and bastions. It
has seven monasteries, seven hospitals, seven colleges, seven
palaces, seven markets, and seven gates ; the churches are
very stately, the surrounding avenues delightful.
" Besan^on is large, ancient, and well built, has a fine
cathedral upon a high rock, and a triumphal arch, built by
the emperor Aurelius ; the statue of Jupiter, in the garden
of Versailles, was taken from this town. It is situated
on a peninsula, formed by the river Doubs. The neigh-
bouring territories produce corn, wine, fruits, copper, lead
and iron.
" Nancy is large, and the new parts are very uniform and
handsome. This part of France, the late Lorraine, abounds
in all sorts of corn, wine, hemp, flax, game and fish ; it has
large forests, with mines of iron, silver, copper, and salt-pit?.
The south-west is occupied by the Vosges, a large range of
mountains.
" Strasbourg is ancient, large, handsome, populous and
commercial, it is situated about a quarter of a league from the
Rhine, on the river 111, which runs through the town, and
forms many canals. The principal structures are built of a
red stone, which is dug from the quarries that lie along the
Rhine. Here are six bridges, a clock in the cathedral, which
shews the motions of the constellations, the revolutions of the
sun and moon, the days of the week, &c. and a pyramidical
tower, 549 feet high, ascended by 635 steps.
** Metz, at the confluence of the Moselle and Seille, is
ancient and large, its cathedral is esteemed one of the finest
in Europe. Here are about 3000 Jews, who have a syna-
gogue, and live in a part by themselves. Metz is 25 mile*
north-west of Nancy.
" Lyons, at the confluence of the Rhone and Saone, from
which it derives great advantages, is large, rich, handsome
and ancient. Its trade is great through France, also to Italy,
Switzerland and Spain. Manufactures silk very extensively.
The environs are mountainous. f
" Travelling from Dieppe to Paris by Rouen, in the au-
tum% confers peculiar pleasure. The crops ripening into
harvest, abundant as the mind can wish, and covering the
entire face of the country, except where majestic woods iiv
R 5
370 FRANCE.
tervene, the peasantry industrious and artless ; the flocks
and herds numerous and in good condition; vehicles and
conveyances of all descriptions plying on the roads, and
bringing hither the imports of Havre de Grace and Dieppe.
The Seine rolling its proud waters to the ocean, and bearing
on its bosom craft of all size*, laden with the merchandise
and provisions of Normandy; the last portion of the road
from Dieppe to Rouen, an entire vale of manufactories,
whose number does not more engage one's attention than
their exterior neatness, and the many new erections along
the road for the accommodation and comfort of handicrafts-
men. All these scenes so numerous and so varied, present
successive objects of admiration and delight to those beings
who, to whatever country they may belong, still feel they
are citizens of the world.
" Such, Edward, are the principal facts I can recollect of
a little tour I made last year to Paris for one fortnight only ;
at least those that concern Rouen, the capital of Lower
Seine, and the face of the country through which I passed ;
and now as the weather has cleared a little, let us take a
stroll, though we shall see no sights to day. I want to make
a few small purchases." They accordingly sallied forth, and
entered the first boutique they met with, the contents of
which were rather motley. Yet the French have method in
all things; but then-it is peculiarly their own; and in Nor-
mandy they are not to be hurried in doing what their fore-
fathers, three hundred years ago, did in the same time, and
io the same way.
" A postillion will drive down a hill as furiously as along
a level road ; and if his sturdy horses could pull the clumsy
diligence up hill as fast as they drag it down, le gar$on would
never alter his pace while jack-boots remained ; and the con-
ducteur would sooner forget a prayer to his saint, than omit
to count the wheels of his vehicle and his passengers at every
poste"
" Adieu, Paris," said Edward, as the carriage drove on
to Versailles ; " Adieu thou magnificent city ; thou art great
and grand; but thou art not so comfortable as London!"^
" Upon my word, Edward," replied his tutor, " you im-
prove. Your apostrophe is unique, and might be poetical ;
but for that John Bull word, comfortable, which drops rather
harshly ; but surely the fine country we are traversing gives
you as much delight as if it were English."
VERSAILLES. 371
EDWARD. " Almost, .Sir. It is indeed very beautiful;
and there is St. Cloud once more !"
u And there," said the Doctor, after a long pause of si-
lence, " and there is Versailles."
Versailles is a neat town, in the department of the Seine
and Oise, about twelve miles south-west of Paris. To Ver-
sailles there is a fine avenue from St. Cloud, and through it
our travellers drove at a slow pace, so that they had an op-
portunity of examining the scenery of the woods, and the
adjacent country, which if not romantic, is truly enchanting,
and the day being very fine, they enjoyed their ride ex-
tremely.
" In the reign of Louis XIII.," observed Dr. Walker,
Versailles was only a small village ; but this Prince built here
a hunting seat in 1630. Indeed no range of country could
be more favourable for the sports of the field ? and the mo-
narch who selected it, proved how much he understood the
nature, and relished the pleasures of the chase ; but Ver-^
sailles was not always to be the resort of sportsmen ; and
Louis the Fourteenth, whose taste was even more excellent
than his ambition was unbounded, built that magnificent
palace, which became the usual residence of the kings of
France."
After traversing many superb apartments, they were shewn
the bed-room of the unfortunate queen of France, and the
door was pointed out to them through which the infuriated
mob rushed, in order to stab her in her bed.
" Unfortunate queen !" said Doctor Walker, " what a
fate was there! When thy proud and doting mother placed
the map of Europe before thee, and bade thee chuse what
nation should call thee queen, little did she think, when thou
didst point to France, and she replied, ' the French alone are
worthy of thee, my child,' ah little did she think those very
French would heap thee with indignities treat thee with
bitter scorn, and finally condemn thee to a cruel and igno-
minious death \"
EDWARD. " Did the queen point out France in the
map of Europe, to Maria Theresa, as the country over which
she wished to be queen?"
Da. WALKER." She did; and the empress charmed
with her choice, embraced her affectionately, and highly ap-
proved of it, as you may suppose by her answer."
EDWARD. " Poor thijng !"
R ,
372 FRANCE.
The servant who was shewing them the palace, reminded
them they were standing still, and Dr. Walker, whose mind
was ' fraught with things' not yet forgotten, started from
his reverie, and mechanically followed their conductor
through suites of splendid rooms and halls of state.
Edward too appeared but little to enjoy the superb dis-
play, and after wandering about in the park and gardens
for some time, they took up their abode in the village for
that night, and the next day proceeded to Estampes, and so
on to Orleans.
Orleans, in the form of an oval, is large, ancient, and rich ;
the streets are spacious. The commerce consists in wine,
brandy, corn, sheep- skins and grocery : particularly raw su-
gar from Nantz and Rochelle. It supplies Paris and the
country with 100,000 hundred, weight of refined sugar annu-
ally. In its environs, which are pleasant, is the noted forest
of Orleans, covering about 100,000 acres, and planted with
oak and other valuable trees; the sales of the timber and un-
derwood produce 100,000 livres annually.
4< What a beautiful river is the Loire ?" said Edward, as
they strolled along its verdant banks.
" It is indeed," replied his tutor, " and in its course it
passes many great towns. Le Pay, Nevers, Orleans, Blois,
Tours, Saumur and Nantz are enriched by its limpid waters.
Its banks are very fertile, and susceptible of great improve*
merit, they are much varied with small hills, which are co-
vered with vines ; fruit trees of ail kinds are so numerous
that even the hedges are filled with them. Near its conflu-
ence are many salt marshes, which are very productive."
They did not omit contemplating the celebrated statue
of the Maid of Orleans, which is placed on the great bridge.
" Joan of Arc was an enthusiast of the most ardent kind,"
observed the Doctor, " and her enthusiasm had its origin in
her patriotism; and though patriotism is not indeed enjoined
* as a Christian duty, because it is too much connected with
the violent passions, and too often with destruction to be
safely placed in a code of benevolence and peace. Yet hu-
man sympathy has always acknowledged it to be, when pure
and genuine, a sublime feeling; an heroic emotion which
great souls only can truly feel*.' "
Sir Robert Walpole, in his able defence against the oppa-
* Turner's England, Edward.!,
LA VENDEE. 373
sition who wished him to be dismissed from, his majesty's
councils, said, that 'patriots sprung up like mushrooms; I
could raise fifty of them,' continued he, * within the four and
twenty hours. I have raised many of them in a night !' Not
such patriots as Joan of Arc though*'
" No, indeed, Sir,'* replied Edward. " The road to Blois
lies along the north banks of the Loire, I think, Sir."
DR. WALKER. " Yes; and thither we shall bend our
steps to-morrow/'
Blois is a very ancient and handsome town, and was for-
merly the residence of the kings of France. Our travellers
were peculiarly struck with the arrangements of the streets
upon the side of a hill, in rows one above the other, forming
a beautiful amphitheatre. This town is adorned with many
fountains, and a fine bridge. It has also a manufacture of
serges and ticking, and carries on a brisk trade in wine and
brandy.
From Blois they traversed a beautiful country, until they
came to Tours. Tours is surrounded by a- fertile plain, its
bridge over the Loire, is one of the finest in Europe, con-
sisting of 15 elliptical arches, each 75 feet in diameter. It has
extensive manufactures in silk, and its red wine is in great
estimation.
They now changed their course, and crossing the Loire,
they proceeded southward, and passing through Chatenhault
they at length reached Poitiers, capital of the department of
Vienne, and familiar to an English reader by the recollection
of the victory gained on the spot by Edward the Black Prince,
over John king of France. They staid at Poitiers two or
three days, in order to inspect the Roman antiquities, which
are to bif-tbund in this- neighbourhood ; among which 'an am-
phtthenf; *, and a triumphal arch which forms one of the
gates of the city, are very conspicuous. It is a very pictu-
resque town from the intermixture of gardens and fields
throughout the city. Its manufactures are stockings, woollen
caps, gloves arid combs. On approaching Limoges, Dr.
Walker was struck by the indigence of the poor people; the
principal product of the surrounding country is rye. These
parts, which are very cold, are covered with woods of chesnut-
trees, and contain mines of lead, copper, tin and iron.
In this part of France the cattle are of a beautiful cream
colour ; indeed one part that was anciently called the Limo-
sin, i& the most beautiful part of France* The country i$
374 FRANCE.
here extremely diversified. The Limosin now forms part of
the departments of Haute Vienne and Correge.
Having traversed this woody region, the face of the coun-
try again changed, and it assumed a mountainous aspect
to the west ; Angouleme, which our travellers visited from
the mere association of its name with the matrimonial title
of the daughter of Louis XVI., is romantically seated on a
mountain, surrounded by rocks, at the foot of which runs
the Charente.
As they frequently deviated from the direct road, they
were obliged to put up occasionally with different kinds of
conveyances. Sometimes they rode horses, sometimes mules;
sometimes they enjoyed the luxury to be found in a French
diligence, where mirth and good humour often supply the
place of more substantial comforts, at least according to the
taste of an Englishman. One day being seated m a cabriolet,
Edward said, pointing to the postillion, who had particularly
long ears, " Voila It prince des anrs."
" Fie, Edward," said the Doctor ; but before he could
add further reproof, the postillion who had heard him, turned
briskly round, with a smile, and replied, " Oui, Monsieur, et
voila mes siy'ets," pointing with his whip towards his mules;
and glancing an arch look into the interior of the carriage at
the same time
" You are answered, Edward/' said the Doctor, " and
most aptly. It is dangerous, you know, to play with edged
tools. You will be more cautious for the future/'
The postillion's sally, together with the agility with which
he sometimes mended his whip, sometimes his harness, his
saddle, or drove with a stone into its place a loose pin which
had started from his ancient vehicle, amused our^avellers
extremely ; and when they arrived at Perigueux, they almost
felt regret at parting with him.
Perigueux, capital of the department of Dordogne, is cele-
brated for its partridge pies, which are exported to all parts
of Europe.
Our travellers did not fail to visit the ruins of the temple
of Venus, and the Roman amphitheatre, which still remain
in this vicinity, as proud vestiges of Roman grandeur. From
Perigueux they crossed a beautiful country, and reached
Bourdeaux, just as the sun appeared sinking into the bosom
of the vast Atlantic.
Bourdeaux ranks amongst the first cities of France for
magnitude, riches and beauty. Large vessels come up to
SOUTH OF FRANCE, 875
the quay, and it is said to export annually 100,000 tons of
brandy and wine. The greater part of the latter being called
by the English, claret, from its fine transparent colour. The
theatre of Bourdeaux is the finest in France. Bourdeaux
possesses peculiar interest, as being the place where Louis
XVIII was first publicly proclaimed king in France, and
where the Duchess d'Angouleme exhibited so much hero-
ism when Buonaparte returned from Elb.i.
Toulouse, by its canal, holds a communication with the
Mediterranean, and by the Garonne with the ocean. It is
well situated for commerce, but the inhabitants have more
taste for literature than trade.
" Before the Revolution," said the Doctor, " there were
three academies in Toulouse, the academic of sciences, that
of inscriptions, that of belles lettres, established in 1746.
That for painting, sculpture and architecture in 1750. The
most ancient and most interesting was that called Jeux Flo-
ra ux.
'* The prizes left by the interesting Clementi Isaure,j//e
aussi spirituelle que genereuse y as I heard one of her coun-
trymen call her, were contended for by the Troubadours of
ancient times,, with all that ardour and zeal with which they
generally pursued their romantic and poetic calling.
4< These Troubadours/' continued Doctor Walker, "wha
appear to have been the lineal successors of the Celtic bards^
had followed in crowds to the Holy Land, the princes and
nobles by whom they were patronised. They were the min-
strels of Provence, and the romance, or modern heroic
fable, was originally written in the Provencal dialect, then
the most polished and universal of any modern tongue.
The imaginations of these roving minstrels, became inflamed
by the splendour of oriental cities, by the sumptuous equi-
pages and gorgeous banners displayed upon all occasions by
the Christian as well as pagan knights, by their heroic bra-
very and daring exploits in. actual war, and by the skill and
address they displayed in the more peaceful, but occasionally
not less fatal tournament.
370 FRANCE.
SECTION VIII.
JOURNEY IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE.
CONTINUING their journey on the south-side of the Ga-
ronne, they crossed that river at Langan, and at the small
village of Reole they passed the night. The venerahle ruins
of the castle of Reole are seated on a mountain which over-
hangs the river. It was formerly of considerable conse-
quence, and was the place of residence of Catherine de Me-
dici in many of her excursions to the south of France ; and
within its extensive walls she had several interviews with
Henry of Navarre, afterwards king of France. The beauty
of the scenery from Langon to Toulouse is beyond all de-
scription. Cherry-trees, figs, acacias, poplars and elms adorn
the valley; and in many places the hills, which are covered
with vineyards, when they border upon the river, are en-
livened and enriched by clusters of the glowing grape. In
the middle of this luxuriant scenery stands Agen, sheltered
on the north by a very high hill called le Rocker de la belle
vue y on the summit of which is a convent; the chapel and
some adjoining cells of which are scooped out of the rock.
Agen is itself a poor and mean town, and contains but one
good looking building, except a convent of Carmelite Nuns.
The walls of this building are exquisitely painted in Chiaro
Obscuro, and over the altar, which is very beautiful, is an
interesting painting. The subject is that of a nun sinking
under the transports of holy contemplation. In this town
Margaret of V'alois, wife of Henry IV. held her court.
From Agen our travellers continued their journey along
the charming banks of the Garonne. The country on the south
of the Garonne is hilly and mountainous, but is not less fertile,
than the northern shores of this fine river. They stopped one.
day at Auches, in order to view the fine cathedral, the painted
windows of which are only to be rivalled by those of Gouda
in Holland. The buildings of this town are in general mo-
dern and elegant, and its situation delightful. It stands on
the summit and declivity of a very steep hill, which is sur-
SOUTH OF FRANCE.
rounded by rising grounds on every side, and in the valley
beneath- runs the small stream of Gers.
Dr. Walker, struck with the romantic beauty of the
scenery, lingered for two or three weeks in this charming
neighbourhood, and from thence made a little excursion to
Borege, so celebrated for its medicinal baths* and to Bag-
neres, which almost rivals Borege in reputation. Bagneres^ is
seated at the foot of the Pyrenees, at the end of a beautiful
valiey. The scenery is here much diversified. On one side
rise the towering Pyrenees, their snowy summits lost in
the clouds; while on> the other, gentle hills and vales co-
vered' with the most luxuriant vegetation, and adorned with
romantic cottages, present a mild and pleasing contrast to
the grandeur and sublimity of the opposite mountains. From
Bagncres they proceeded to Tarbes, where they only stop-
ped to change horses, and they arrived the same evening
at Pau, the ancient capital of the ancient kingdom of Na-
varre.
" Do, Sir/* said Edward, " let us visit the castle where
Henri le Grand was born."
" With all my heart;" replied his friend, " who would
not visit a spot consecrated by the birth of so great a man ?"
In one of the apartments they were shewn a whole length
portrait of his mother. Jane* queen of Navarre ; her dress
resembles very much that worn by queen Elizabeth ; another
apartment contained a portrait of Henry when a boy, and at
length they reached the room where Henry was born. " Many
of the kings of Navarre resided in this castle," said their
guide, " one of these was so extremely beautiful, that he was
christened Francis Phoebus ; at the age of sixteen this unfor*
tunate youth taking up his flute, he was very fond of music,
he no sooner put it to his mouth than he declared he was
poisoned, and in two hours afterwards he expired/'
" Did no one ever ascertain who poisoned him?" enquired
Edward.
" No ;" replied his guide ; " but he was succeeded by hi*
sister Catherine de Foix."
" We are on interesting ground," observed the Doctor as
they traversed this fertile country on their way to Orthes ;
" indeed o.ne can scarcely enumerate the spots in this neigh-
bourhood, which towards the conclusion of the late war,
were so profusely stained with human blood I"
In the neighbourhood of this town they observed a great
378 FRANCE.
difference in the costume of the peasantry, which strongly
resembled that of the Spanish peasantry, and the language
was so strongly tinctured with the basque, that it was in many
instances unintelligible to our travellers. The only object
worthy of attention in this place was the castle, which is si-
tuated on a high hill, commanding an extensive view of the
surrounding plain. The sun was fast sinking behind this hill,
when our travellers strolled to its summit. It was a lovely
evening, the clear transparent ether glowed with the rich
refulgence of the setting sun ; every breeze was hushed, and
no rude sound disturbed the calm repose which reigned
around. Our travellers contemplated in silence the bewitch-
ing softness of the scene, which the gradual approach of
twilight rendered every moment more indistinct.
" Can you not, Edward," said the Doctor, " recollect
some lines applicable to the present scene ?"
EDWARD. " * Now came still evening on, and twilight
Had in her sober Jivery all things clad :
Silence accompanied j for beast and bird,
Those to their grassy couch, these to their nests
Were shink : all but the wakeful nightingale,
She all night long her amorous descant sung.
Silence was pleased ; now glow'd the firmament
With living sapphires: Hesperus that led
The starry host; rode brightest, 'till the moon
Rising in cloudless majesty, at length
Apparent queen unveil'd her peerless light,
And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw.' "
DR WALKER. " You could not have chosen a more
beautiful or more apt quotation, Edward/'
They were at this moment accosted by an old grey-headed
peasant ; who expressed much surprise at seeing our tra-
vellers so quietly seated among the ruins.
" You had better not stay there my friends/ 7 said he as
he passed rapidly on, " that castle is haunted/'
Edward ran after him, " stop," said he; " haunted ! by
what ? ' '
" By the ghost of a young princess," replied the peasant,
** who was murdered there."
Edward eagerly requested he would turn back and tell
them the particulars ; but no entreaties could prevail upon
the peasant, and he returned" to Dr. Walker, lamenting very
SOUTH OF FRANCE. 379
much that he could not learn the legendary tale attached to
the castle of Orthes.
" Sit down quietly," exclaimed his friend, " and I will
tell you the origin of this ghost story. Blanche, a young
and beautiful princess, daughter to John king of Arragon
and Navarre, became heiress to the Navarrois crown upon
the death of her brother. But her father having delivered
her into the hands of her younger sister Leonora, countess of
St. Foix, the latter confined the unhappy Blanche in this
castle, and at length caused her to be poisoned in the year
1464. I was just going to tell Jtou this story, when you
scampered away in such a hurry after the old peasant. Now
this is foundation enough for two ghost stories. It is there-
fore not to be wondered at that there should be one."
" There seems a sort of fatality attending that name of
St. Foix," observed Edward. " Leonora is the second of
that name which is associated with murder !"
The dew beginning to rise, Dr. Walker proposed return-
ing home ; that is to say, to their inn ; but the word home
conveys so much, and is so familiar to an Englishman, that
if a British sailor, in the middle of the great South Sea, is
asked where he is going, he will answer, home, if he is on his
way to England.
SECTION IX.
ENTRANCE INTO SPAIN.
OUR travellers having at length arrived at Bayonne, they
prepared for crossing the Pyrenees. The carriages used in
this part of the country are neither easy nor elegant, but
they are indeed the only vehicle suited to the rough road
they are destined to traverse, with the assistance of six
mules. These animals are harnessed with cords only to the
shafts ; and their sagacity and docility are astonishing ; upon
the smallest word from the chief muleteer they stop, and
are guided by the human voice alone, through the windings
and turnings of the roads upon these mountains. If they re-
lax the postillion darts from his seat upon the shafts, and
when they prove very obstinate, which is seldom the case*
880 SPAIN.
he applies his whip, but in general they are stimulated to
exertion by his voice and example, for he will run briskly
by their side for a considerable time, and then with no
small agility resume his seat.
CHAPTER XVI
S P A I N.
SECTION I.
ST. SERASTIAN.
HAVING arrived at St. Jean de Luz, they then crossed a
small bridge over an arm of the sea, and proceeding south-
ward, they reached the celebrated Bidassoa, immortalized
in the last war by the celebrated passage of the British
army ; and in former times, by its forming the small isle of
Pheasants, where Cardinal Mazarine and Don Louis de
Haro met to settle the preliminaries of the peace of the
Pyrenees, and the articles of a marriage between Louis
XIV. and Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV. of Spain.
Dr. Walker and his pupil were charmed with the delight-
ful country they traversed in Biscay. On all sides neat
towns and villages presented themselves. The Biscayans
enjoy many and valuable privileges, which are not partici-
pated by their fellow subjects. The northern parts of Spain
have, in a great degree, retained their independence, and
the Spanish monarchs have always been tenacious of en-
croaching upon the liberties of this part of their subjects.
Every hill, every valley in Biscay is richly cultivated, and
the inhabitants are the most cheerful and happy in the Pe-
ninsula.
Our travellers could not refrain from visiting St. Sebas-
tian, situated at the foot of a mountain, surrounded by a
strong double wall, and in all other respects so well fortified,
that it was thought to be impregnable, till it was taken by
ihe British at the time they drove the French out of Spain.
ST. SEBASTIAN.
" The particulars of that siege make one shudder," said
Edward, " the French boast very much of their engineers,
as being superior to those of any other country, but I think
that siege must have convinced them we are equal to them,
when our artillery fired heavy shot over the heads of their
own countrymen, and within eighteen inches of their hats."
DR. WALKER. " I will grant you Edward, that the
British distinguished themselves particularly in Spain, even
at sieges ; but it is in the open field, that British soldiers
have always most signalized themselves. And this may be
accounted for thus : surrounded as England is by the stormy
billows of the ocean, she fears but little the attack of foes
at home. Her sons, therefore, have no opportunity of stu-
dying the art of fortification, unless they go abroad. For-
tification is a science to be acquired by intense study only,
and then that study would avail but little, unless it were re-
duced to practice. Gibbon says, * the battles won by lessons
of tactics may be numbered with the epic poems created
from the rules of criticism.' The same observation may
be, in part, applied to the capture of fortified towns. Bri-
tish soldiers are seldom beat in a pitched battle, because
personal courage, cool intrepidity, and subordination to
their officers, are their characteristic features ; and a body
of men possessing these qualifications, may be deemed in-
vincible, unless overpowered by a very superior force. To
use the words of Gibbon again, * the discipline of a soldier
is formed by exercise rather than by study ;' and he goes on
by saying, ( the talents of a commander are appropriated
to those calm though rapid minds, which nature produces
to decide the fate of nations and of armies ; the former (the
discipline of a soldier) is the habit of a life, the latter the
glance of a moment.
" * But the honours of war are at all times evanescent and
mutable, depending sometimes on the comparative talents of
the opposing leaders, sometimes on numerical force ; some-
times on the nature of the country, and often on the acci-
dents of disease, want of supplies, failure of co-operation,
or other casualties which mock both skill and valour V
" Spain," continued Dr. Walker, " is a country that
has become peculiarly interesting to the natives of Great
Britain, of late years. The peninsular war familiarized it
* Turner's England.
382 SPAIN.
to every one, and its history and geography have been more,
perhaps, discussed within these last thirty years, than they
have been since the reign of Philip II.
u The early history of Spain is generally enveloped in
mystery, and is replete with histories no less marvellous than
that of Romulus and Remus. There is scarcely a great
town in the peninsula that does not boast a hero as its foun-
der. Many of the Trojans are said to have sailed to this
far distant country after the fall of their ' sacred city;' and
Ulysses himself, it is affirmed, was driven on the coast of
Portugal, during his long and wandering banishment from
rocky Ithaca. Lisbon even claims him as its original founder.
And now I will relate to you a marvellous story, which out-
does that of Romulus and his brother, for the fable of the
wolf is considered, you know, as nothing more than that a
shepherd's wife, named Lupa, nursed these celebrated twins.
" One of the native Kings of Spain, who reigned over the
Curetes during the invasion of that country by the Trojans,
(if it ever did take place) was called Gorgorius. He was
a prince much esteemed for many private as well as public
virtues. But virtue itself, among the heathen, bordered so
closely upon vice, that we must not be surprised to find the
former often degenerating into the latter. Gorgorius stained
a life of virtue by his cruelty to his daughter and her ille-
gitimate child Abides. He ordered his unfortunate grand-
son to be exposed to wild beasts, but they, forgetting their
savage nature nourished him with their milk ; the inhuman
grandfather instead of relenting at this unusual spectacle,
ordered him to be thrown into a path where a large number
of cattle was to pass. This danger he also providentially
escaped, but the miracles that had hitherto preserved him,
no-way softened the unrelenting heart of Gorgorius. He
now commanded that he should be thrown to hungry dogs,
and this scheme failing also, the young prince was commit,
ted as his grandfather supposed to a watery grave. ' But all
things which were used to do him harm, refused their office,'
The waves gently wafted him to the shore, and a doe hap-
pening to lie near the place, the child crawled to it, and
received from the gentle animal that nourishment which pro-
longed its eventful life. Having attained the age of man-
hood he still continued to live in the mountains, supporting
a precarious existence by acts of rapine and violence. The
inhabitants made several ineffectual efforts to take him, but
ROMANCE OF ABIDES. 383
he appeared to have imbibed some of the characteristic
swiftness of his foster-mother ; for if he were observed for
one instant, he was out of sight the next. Wearied at
length by his repeated depredations, they laid an ambuscade
for him, and having succeeded in this enterprize, they
with difficulty secured him, and carried him to Gorgorius.
" When introduced to the regal presence, he appeared
no way intimidated, but preserved an air of conscious dig-
nity. Gorgorious gazed on him at first with surprise, then
with affection ; but when by some peculiar marks in his body
he recognized in the person of our lawless hero, his. own
grandson, whom he had so often exposed to a cruel death ;
he appeared for a short time overcome by various and agi-
tated feelings ; at length, however, recovering himself, he
stretched out his arms and embraced him, in the most affec-
tionate manner. Our poor persecuted wanderer was now
acknowledged as the grandson of Gorgorius, and treated
with all the respect due to the acknowledged heir of the
kingdom. Gorgorius gave him the name of Abides, and at
the death of the former he succeeded him, and reigned for
many years, with particular discretion,
" He erected tribunals, instituted many wise laws, ap-
pointed judges, and by his impartial administration of jus-
tice, he became the darling of his people. After a long
and truly glorious reign he was succeeded by his posterity,
of whom no notice is taken; their names not being even
mentioned by the Spanish historians *. This prince, ac-
cording to the accounts by the Spanish historians, was con-
temporary with King David/'
EDWARD. " Many thanks, Sir, I think the story of
Abides exceeds in interest, though not in probability, that
of the Roman founder.'*
DR. WALKER, " You are right Edward."
* Mariana's Spain.
384 SPAIN.
SECTION II.
GENERAL VIEW OP SPAIN".
" OF the sun-face and climate of Spain," said Dr. Wal-
ker, as they traversed the fertile hills and plains of Biscay,
" nearly all the provinces are either intersected or bounded
by lofty mountains, of which five large chains, chiefly pri-
mitive and secondary, traverse this country from west to
east, four of which terminate in a longitudinal chain, that
connects the provinces of Granada and Biscay.
" Montserrat, a mountain near Barcelona, in Catalonia, is
famous for its height and hermitage, to which pilgrims re-
sort, to implore the protection of the Virgin before her mi-
raculous image. The whole extent of this mountain is sup-
posed to be about twenty-four miles in circumference, con-
sisting chiefly of round lime-stone, firmly conglutinated with
a yellow calcareous earth and sand, with a further addition
of round white quartz, streaked with red, as well as touch-
stone, all cemented together, and forming one solid mass.
In the course of . time, however, torrents of rain have washed
away the earth, formed by decomposition, and have split the
mountain into clefts and precipices of the most grotesque and
frightful figures ; whilst other parts consist of immense rocks,
bare and blanched, in form of cones, pillars, and jagged frag-
ments, apparently scaled upon one another to the height of
3,000 feet above the level of the sea. On the summit of this
lofty mountain, the prospect is extensive and splendid. The
lower part of the mountain, having been decomposed sooner
than the upper parts, and converted into soil, produces corn,
vines, and olives; while the shelving rocks, facilitate a pas-
sage to the summit, and exhibit to the curious botanist, above
two hundred sorts of trees, shrubs, and plants, that seem to
shoot up spontaneously. The direction of this mountain is
from east to west, rather visibly inclining to the west ;
twenty miles north-west of Barcelona.
" These mountains are crowned with snow a few weeks in
the year. In its neighbourhood, to the north-west, at the
village of Cardona, is a hill of rock salt, three miles in cir-
cumference: this salt is manufactured into ornaments. The
rivers are large, rapid, and numerous. The atmosphere is
tempered by breezes from the high elevations and surround-
SPANISH SHEEP. 385
ing seas ; and though the south is often parched by excessive
heat, yet the air of Spain is said to be the most salubrious in
Europe, and during the greater part of the year, it is a mat-
ter of indifference with the peasants whether they sleep
urder a roof or in the open air.'*
DR. WALKER. " The principal quadrupeds of Spain are
hcrses and sheep, the latter of which are computed to produce
no less a sum than 80,000,000 reals annually to the Spanish
government, but are nevertheless the cause of much serious
evil. As however England and France, cultivate the breed of
these merinos, (the latter with greater success than the for-
mer) it is to be presumed Spain, in the course of time, will
find it more to her interest to attend to the art of agricul-
tni e than she does at present. Within these hundred years
wool has doubled its price, while corn, which is so trouble-
some and so precarious, has very little increased in value.
Sheep are by far the most profitable possession a man can
have in Spain ; and while this continues the case, few per-
sons will be found so disinterested as to relinquish their own
for the public good. The Spanish sheep are fed upon the
mountains during the summer months, and when the cold
weather sets in they are driven to the fertile plains of Estre-
madura and Andalusia. These flocks are under the direc-
tion of a particular society of persons, called the Mesta..
The Mesta is composed of the grandees, heads of rich mo-
nasteries, large proprietors of flocks, and opulent individuals,
who unite together in preying upon the welfare of the
country at large. What originally began from necessity,
has been continued from the selfish policy of the wealthy
part of the inhabitants of Spain. The pasturages that feed
these sheep are let at the lowest possible rent, and the or-
dinances of the Mesta having fixed a breadth of forty toises
as a road through which the sheep are to pass ; the propri-
etors of the land are consequently incapacitated from reap-
ing the advantages of the otherwise luxuriant soil of Estre-
mmlura. In the month of October they begin their journey
and travel in flocks of 1000 or 1200, under the guidance of
two shepherds, proceeding gradually to the southward ; and
in the month of May they retrace their steps to the north-
ward. At that period, the great fete of sheep-shearing takes
place ; this operation is performed in large buildings, called
esqidelloS) capable of containing whole flocks of forty, fifty,
or even 60,000 sheep. One hundred and twenty five per-
S
386 SPAIN.
sons are allotted to 1000 animals. Some part of the wool is
immediately carried to the different sea-ports for exportation
unwashed, while another part is sent to certain stations,
where there are proper persons called Apartadores, who
cleanse and purify it in the following manner. They know
at the first glance what part of the sheep the different flocks
belong to, each sheep producing wool of three distinct quali-
ties ; this separation being accomplished, it is beaten about
to get rid of the dust, and is then conveyed into pits three
or four feet deep, into which boiling water flows from an im-
mense cauldron ; here it is stirred about in every direction,
and after it is tolerably cleansed, it is taken out, and placed
upon hurdles, and those parts which are still clotted with
dirt are taken away with the hand ; a second washing com-
pletely cleanses it. The hurdles are then placed in a narrow
aqueduct, through which runs a current of cold water. One
man throws it in, while five others receive and trample upon
it, till it is quite clean; it is then wrung dry, and placed
upon a stone shelf to drain; after which it is exposed to the
sun for three or four days in the surrounding meadows, until
every particle of moisture is absorbed. When well dried, it
is put into large sacks, on which are two marks, one indicat-
ing the quality, and the other the name of the flock which
produced it.
r l he wool which is most employed in Spain (at Guada-
laxara in particular) in the fine manufactures, is that of the
Escurial, Negretti, and the Chartreuse of Paular.
Wolves are the only beasts of prey with which Spain is
annoyed ; but she suffers much from the locust, a most de-
structive little animal which some times appears in such pro-
digious numbers as to darken the air.
Esparto grass is plentiful on the coast, it is made into
ropes, carpets, mats, chair bottoms, &c. In the neighbour-
hood of Barcelona and Alicant are extensive plantations of
salsola Jhtiva, from the ashes of which are annually pro-
duced many thousands tons of barilla, an alkali much used in
the manufacturing of soap.
" I have often been much surprised,'' said Edward, " that
Spain, possessing so many natural maritime advantages, has
never become a great naval nation.''
DR. WALKER. " No nation where the government is so
despotic as it is in Spain, can in my opinion become a great
naval power,
SEAPORTS. 387
" The spirit of navigation seems intimately connected with
that of liberty. Great Britain and Holland have ever distin-
guished themselves by their maritime exploits, and America
bids fair to dispute with the old world the palm of victory
on the ocean. Spain lias several fine ports : Bilboa, St. An-
doro, and Santillana, the birth-place of the renowned Gil
Bias, and his no less renowned uncle Gil Perez. In Gal-
licia, Ferrol, Vigo, and Corunna, where the wreck of Sir
John Moore's army embarked in the face of the French
army.
" Cadiz is large, opulent, and the chief emporium of Spa-
nish American commerce. It is situated on an island, which
forms a capacious bay with the continent. It is 55 miles
south by west of Seville,
" Malaga is noted for delicious grapes and figs.
" Alicant is small, but rich in wine nnd fruits. It has an e.\ -
tensive trade. The English, Dutch, and Italians have resi-
dent consuls here.
" Carthagena has the best harbour in the kingdom ; in its
gulf vast quantities of mackarel are caught.
** Tariffa, where the Moorish general of that name, first
landed ; Algesiras, which belonged formerly to the traitor,
Count Julian, who betrayed his country to the Moors.
*' Tarragona celebrated for its defence during the last war.
" The streets of Barcelona are narrow, but the churches
rather rich than beautiful. The inhabitants are very indus-
trious, and have extensive commercial connexions with
France, England, and Denmark. They manufacture silk,
cotton, wool, and cutlery. On the north west is the cele-
brated Montserrat, the highest hill in Spain.
" These are all capital sea-ports, and it seems astonishing
that in enumerating so many, where there is a considerable
degree of industry and trade, that Spain is still far from
being either a great naval or commercial power."
s '2
38* SPAIN.
SECTION III.
CHARACTER AND MANNERS.
THE general character of the Spaniards is strongly tinc-
tured with indolence, except when it is excited by any ex-
traordinary circumstance ; then indeed its energies are not
inferior to that of any other nation.
At a bull-fight the Spaniard exhibited the strongest feel-
ings of delight; the pleasure he took in this barbarous sport
bordered on enthusiasm. But his amusements and sports ia
general, are tame and supine to a great degree.
EDWARD. " The bull-fights were abolished, I think, by
Charles IV. were they not, Sir?"
D a. WALK E R. " Yes : I shall therefore give you a short
account of them. In several parts of Spain there were for-
merly waste pasturages, called Faldios, set apart for the sole
purpose of feeding these courageous animals. In the neigh-
bourhood of Salamanca was one of these districts, which
supplied the arenae of Valladolid and Madrid. Bull-fighting
was quite a science, and one of the celebrated Torreadors,
persons who killed the bulls in these fierce encounters, wrote
a book upon the subject. The arenae is a kind of circus, with
seats round it, placed one above the other. The entertain-
ment began by the parade of the lancers (horsemen) hand-
somely mounted and dressed in a full Spanish costume; and
the Chulos, (those who fight on foot) round the arena ; after
some little time an alguazil, in a black robe and a large wig,
made his appearance, and asking either the governor or
corregidor, when the combat should begin, gave the appoint-
ed signal, and then made a hasty retreat. The door of the
shed which contained the animal was then opened, and the
noble bull appeared. Stunned by the noisy exclamations of
the spectators, and instantly attacked by the Picadores with
their long lances, he rushed boldly to the combat, and the
unoffending horses were generally the first to feel the effects
of his rage. If it so happened that the horse should fall, the
danger of his rider was averted by the Chulos, who shaking va-
rious coloured stuffs before the bull, attracted his attention, and
dexterously avoided the danger which it is now their turn to
brave. After the Picadores had tormented the poor animal
BULL FIGHTS. 389
sufficiently, they left him to those on foot, who were pre-
pared as the bull approached them, to plunge into his neck
by two and two, a kind of arrow, at the end of which were
fastened various coloured papers. When this tragedy had
been exhibited long enough for the amusement of the spec*
tators, a cry was raised for the matador who alone approached
the now exhausted but still undaunted animal. The matador
held a kind of banner in his hand which he shook before
him. While this single combat continued, the voices of the
spectators gradually subsided to a suspensive and awful calm.
The decisive blow being however given by the Torreador
(or matador) shouts of applause burst from the lips of the
spectators at the death of a noble and inoffensive animal.
Three mules, ornamented with bells and streamers were then
brought in, and being fastened to the horns of the prostrate
bull, dragged him from the scene of blood, to make room for
another devoted victim.
" In Portugal the principal actor is he who rushes between
the horns of the bull, an act that requires considerable agi-
lity, great presence of rnind, and an uncommon share of
muscular strength. In this posture he is carried about the
ring by the enraged animal, amidst the shouts of the audience,
until the rest of the combatants rescue him, by overthrowing
the bull, which becomes their property.
EDWARD. " What a barbarous sport! indeed I can
hardly call it sport."
DR. WALKER. '' It is the remains, no doubt, of the old
Roman shews of gladiators and wild beasts. I am sorry to
say that our own country has two no less repugnant to the
feelings of humanity I mean bull-baiting and cock-fighting.
Now there is a degree of heroism in the bull fights, although
it is tinctured with the savage spirit of the times in which it
originated, that absorbs the attention of the spectators, even
of those who come only to condemn. The cavaliers require
great dexterity, agility, and presence of mind in attacking
their enemy ; but in a bull bait the poor animal is confined
and deprived of half its natural means of defence. The man
who dares to unpin, as it is called, the bull, is the only per-
son who can have the least claim to courage ; for such is the
savage nature of the bull-dog, that when he has caught the
bull by the nose, force alone can make him quit his hold.
" The Spaniards have one athletic amusement, called El
juegode la borra. In this sport there are some faint traces
s 3
390 SPAIN.
of the ancient athletic games of the Ramans also. I mean
that of the Discus.' 9
EDWARD. " It is then something like throwing quoits. 7 '
DR. WALKER. " With this difference ; the Spanish game
requires more strength than the latter, since it consists of
throwing an iron bar of considerable weight to a certain dis-
tance. Another game more insipid than the former, is much
in vogue among them. Several men sit down in a circle,
and holding up one, two, three, in short, as many fingers as
they please, call out rapidly the number thus held up.
" The Spaniards are fond of theatrical entertainments ;
and though they themselves are not very celebrated for mu-
sical composition, they are great admirers of the Italian ;
they have, however, one national air, which is forbidden to
be played at certain times, I mean that of the Fandango, for
I am told it is so bewitching in its effects upon the natives,
that if they were to hear it, even when at their devotions,
they would after a short time, jump up and begin to dance. '*
EDWARD. " Pray, Sir, what are the Alcaydi, so often
mentioned in Gil Bias, and the Sancta Hermandad ?"
Dr. WALKER. " The Alcaydi de Ordinario, answers to
our justice of the quorum ; and the Alcaydi Pedario to our
constables. The office of the latter is to take up delinquents,
and to execute the orders of the Corregidor. These officers
are sometimes elected by lot in the provinces, and are some-
times appointed by the Camera of the council of Castile.
The Alcades Mai/ores; or Corregidors,are the superior officers.
Besides these three classes, there is also another of the deno-
mination of Corregidors, which are confined to Madrid and
Seville. These officers cannot be lawyers, are simple over-
seers of the police, who superintend all affairs of the corpo-
ration, regulate bull feasts, &c. The Sancta Hermandad is
nothing more than a fraternity, or provincial police, dispersed
throughout Castile, whose object is to watch over the safety
of the country, and to prosecute all disturbers of the public
peace. It was first established in the reign of Ferdinand and
Isabella. They have plenty of employment just now, since
the Guerillas have become so formidable ; but what could
the Sancta Hermandad effect against a body of men, who sel-
dom appear in a less number than two or three thousand
men ?"
Tolosa, where our travellers next stopped, is pleasantly
seated in a valley, and is celebrated for its manufacture of
VITTORIA. 391
sword blades. Having crossed the beautiful plain in which
it stands, they ascended with difficulty the ascent of Taljnas,
and at length reached Yittoria ; a spot more celebrated for
the decisive victory gained by the allies over Joseph Buona-
parte, than for that gained many years before by a king of
the Visigoths, who gave it the name of Victoria, or Vitto-
ria. The surrounding country is extremely fruitful, and is
richly diversified by vineyards and corn fields.
At Vittoria they were detained some time by the severity
of the weather, the winter having now set in with unusual
rigour; and Dr. Walker having taken a violent cold, he was
obliged to give up all thoughts for the present of continuing
his journey. He experienced many civilities and attentions
from the inhabitants, to several of-whom he had letters of in-
troduction ; the principal of these was the superior of a Fran-
ciscan convent, who visited them very regularly, and who,
when Dr. Walker was in a state of convalescence, invited
them to spend a day or two in his convent. The Doctor
accepted his invitation with pleasure, and they accordingly
took up their abode in the Franciscan convent. The monks
had a good library and some fine paintings, among which
was one of the founder of the order, which Edward mistook
for a Christ.
" No," said the superior of the monastery, " it is the
portrait of our founder."
Edward apologised for the mistake, and the subject
dropped.
The Doctor informed Edward that these monks are gene-
rally supposed to have settled in England about the year
1224, and had their first house at Canterbury; from whence
they removed to London. Christ's Hospital originally ber
longed to them, until it was converted by Henry VI. into a
charitable institution for the education and support of a cer-
tain number of youths, who are instructed in every kind of
useful knowledge, according to their several abilities. The
weather having become a little warmer, Dr. Walker ven-
tured to take a walk, accompanied by the good Abbe. The
streets of Vittoria are shaded by fine trees, which in the
summer present a most delightful and cool retreat from the
rays of the sun. In their peregrinations through the city
with their monastic friend, they had an opportunity of parti-
cularly witnessing the profound respect with which the clergy
are treated in Spain. Wherever the Abbe appeared, the in-
392 SPAIN.
habitants always gave him the wall; sometimes they kissed
his hands, and sometimes the skirts of his garment.
" But you must observe, Edward/' said the Doctor, in
answer to an observation made by his pupil upon this sub-
ject, " that this respect is not confined to men in the Abbe s
rank. There is a poor monk on the other side of the way,
who is begging, to whom they pay the same devoted at-
tention.' 9
Dr. Walker having quite recovered his indisposition, they
recommenced their journey, and passing through the villages
of Cuella and Armision, they arrived at Miranda; they now
entered a rocky country, beyond which they traversed seve-
ral extensive plains, tolerably cultivated ; but upon arriv-
ing at Bibiesca, the scene changed; all here was barren,
parched, and gloomy. In the immediate neighbourhood of
Burgos, there are indeed a few agreeable promenades planted
with trees; but the town itself is extremely uninviting; and
except the cathedral contains no object worthy of arresting
a traveller's steps. The picture of the Virgin clothing the
infant Jesus, in one of the chapels of the cathedral, is very
fine. The merits of this painting are, however, rivalled,
by a miraculous image, in the suburbs of the city, on the
opposite side of the Arlan$on, which Dr. Walker and his
pupil went to see. They were introduced into a small chapel
with great solemnity, where the crucifix is concealed behind
three curtains, which are slowly drawn aside, one after the
other. This obscure chapel was adorned with numerous
silver candlesticks; and the common people of the town firmly
believe that the beard still grows.
From Burgos they proceeded through a dreary country,
till they arrived in the neighbourhood of Valencia, where the
soil is remarkable for its fertility. From Duenas, which is
seated on a hill, the country becomes again barren, and our
travellers saw with delight the steeples of Valladolid rising
above the horizon, which they first discovered on quitting
the village of Cabezon.
** The Spanish peasantry would vie with the ancients in
running," observed the Doctor, as a youth of about seven-
teen, outstripped the steady pace of their mules ; " but they
are accustomed to endure fatigue and hardships from their
childhood. They never sleep in a bed till they are married,
and you observed this morning the son of our host stretched
by the stable door, there I found he had passed the night ; it
PEASANTRY, &c.
appeared perfectly immaterial to him whether he slept under
cover or not when the weather is tolerably mild ; but I have
not heard you, Edward, make any observations as to the
cleanliness of the Spaniards, or the very great accommoda-
tions we meet with at the inns where we have stopped."
Edward smiled. " Why, no, Sir/' he replied, " the
fact is this : when I was in Paris, the capital of a great
empire, it seemed natural to expect certain accommoda-
tions. But here, when all appear alike insensible to lux-
ury and comfort, it would be folly to expect any accommo-
dation beyond that of shelter from the inclemencies of the
weather ; besides, Sir, I am rather more of a philosopher
than you suppose; and although my bed consisted of a huge
straw mattrass placed upon two trussels, with a thin one of
the same nature as a coverlid, I slept very soundly last
night."
" Thanks to the fatigues of the clay for that," replied his
friend. " Now I honestly confess that 1 did not sleep at
all ; for what with musquitoes, who fluttered over me, and
other agreeable gentry, which amused themselves in the bed
with me ; together with the agreeable clattering of the
rats over our head, and the dirt they scattered upon my
face, through the roof, (which you must have observed, was
composed of cane only,) I never closed my eyes; but yet,
though I was vexed at being thus disturbed, I could not help
smiling at your drowsy and reiterated ejaculations, as the
musquitoes roused you into a state of transitory sensibility.
I congratulate you, however, on your accommodating and
somniferous powers."
SECTION IV.
VALLADOLID AND SALAMANCA.
ON their approach to Valladolid, they observed great
quantities of madder, which is successfully cultivated in a
part of its environs, as well as in the provinces of Burgos
and of Segovia, in the Asturias, Andalusia, Arragon and
Catalonia.
This root tinges wateradull red colour, and spirits of wine
a deep bright red. When eaten by animals it stains even
s 5
394 SPAIN.
their most solid bones. Cows are remarkably fond of the
plant ; and when they freely eat of it their milk becomes
red, yet the cream which it affords makes a yellow butter.
Madder is a substance very extensively used in dyeing,
not only on account of its yielding a fine red colour, but also
as forming a first tint for several other shades. It is em-
ployed in the preparation of the Adrianople red, which pos-
sesses a peculiar degree of brightness. The madder used
for dyeing cottons in the East Indies is in some respects dif-
ferent from that cultivated in Europe. And, in the neigh-
bourhood of Smyrna, and in the island of Cyprus, a kind of
madder is grown which affords a peculiarly bright and beau-
tiful colour.
" What a fine avenue that is;" exclaimed Edward, " it
is really superbe, and those cross walks which are so crowded
with people, present quite a novel scene ; and yet, Sir, such
a number of persons parading the beautiful walks of Ken-
sington gardens, have a much more pleasing effect. The
men in their long dark cloaks, arid the women in their black
veils, appear so gloomy."
As their carriage drove leisurely through the avenue, they
could with ease contemplate the dark and expressive coun-
tenances of the natives.
X
<f At a period/' said the Doctor, u when Spain acted such a grand
part, when she discovered and conquered the New World; when, not
satisfied with domineering over a great part of Europe, she agitated
and convulsed the other, either by intrigues or by military enterprises ;
at this period, the Spaniards became intoxicated with that national
pride which breathed in their exterior, their gestures, their discourse,
and their writings. As it then existed, it gave them an air of grandeur,
which was overlooked at least by those whom it did not inspire with
respect. But by a concurrence of unfortunate circumstances, this
splendour is eclipsed ; yet the pretensions for which it formed an excuse
have survived. The Spaniard of the sixteenth century has disappeared,
but his mask remains. Hence that proud and grave exterior which
distinguishes them still in our days.
u But this pride, which would be noble if more moderate; this gra-
vity, which always deceives and sometimes repulses; are compensated
by very estimable qualities; or rather, they are the source of them.
Individual as well as national pride elevates the soul, and guards it
against meanness; and such is the effect of Spanish pride. There are
in Spain, as elsewhere, vices and crimes ; but they wear in general this
piominent feature of the Spanish character. It is to be perceived even
in a dungeon, and under the tatters of misery. It even balances to a
certain point the genius of a language essentially diffuse, where the ear
PRIDE AND GRAVITY. 395
seems to be pleased with a collection of sonorous words, and where an
abundance of words is taken for an abundance of ideas. Pride is com-
monly very precise ! she disdains to go into detail, and loves expressi-
ons aenigmatical from their conciseness, which leave something to think
upon, and sometimes to guess at. Hence it happens that these same
Spaniards, who, when their imagination is ever so little heated, display
all the richness of their language, are perfectly laconic when their mind
is calm.
" This Spanish gravity, which is become proverbial, is, however, far
from what is generally conceived. It is true, you seldom find amongst
the Spaniards what we call affability. They will never go to meet you,
but wait for you. This forbidding exterior, however, often envelops a
good and kind heart, which you will find when you least expect it.
*' The smile of good-will is seldom the mask of duplicity, and their
heart commonly expands with their countenance.
44 These, my dear Edward, are the distinguishing characteristics of
the Spanish people, of which we shall have further proof as we travel
through their country, and mix more in their society/'
The inhabitants of Valladolid have lately formed some agreeable
plantations along the Pisuerga, upon the square called the Campo
Grande, situated at one of the extremities of this city, remarkable for
its immense size, and the thirteen churches which may be reckoned
within its walls.
Valladolid has another very regular square, with three rows of bal-
conies, where it is asserted that 2 1,000 persons may be seated ; and
where the bull-fights used formerly to be exhibited once in every three
years: it is also adorned with many beautiful fountains.
" By the bye, Edward, I forgot to remind you, that if you should
feel indisposed, this is the place of all others where you will find relief."
44 I have no wish," replied his pupil, who understood the allusion,
41 to put myself under the hands of a doctor Sangrado, I do assure you,
Sir/'
Valladolid, among other remarkable churches, has that of the Domi-
nicans, and of Saint Benedict, which have to boast of the kind of beauty
peculiar to almost all the sacred edifices in Spain ; that is to say, they
arespacious, and filled with altars surcharged with decorations and gild-
ing; they besides contain some tombs of white marble, sculptured
with admirable care.
" This city , ;> observed Dr. Walker, u was formerly one of the greatest
importance in Spain ; but when Philip III. fixed the residence of the
court at Madrid, he carried in his train all the opulent families, which
had formerly resided there. The nobles having been content to be at
court only, when the king visited this city. u It really is lamentable,"
continued the Doctor, " to see so many fine houses abandoned by their
inhabitants, and mouldering into ruins : nothing now remains of its for-
mer opulence but a prodigious number of sacred edifices. While out
of the town, in spite of the fertility of a country adapted for every
kind of culture, and abounding in rivers, all is nakedness and misery/ 1
Our travellers proceeded by Arevalo to Peneranda, through well cul-
s 6
306 SPAIN.
tivated plains; but there is still a degree of indigence among the inha-
bitants, which can be only accounted for by their seclusion from
strangers and of objects of comparison, for they seem to have neither
the desire nor the knowledge of the comforts of life. It never occurs
to them to ornament their estates. A garden of pot-herbs is to them-
an object of luxury, which their parsimony denies. Indolence sub-
jects them to privations, and habituation to privations encourages
indolence in its turn; and in this state they must remain until roads,
bridges, eanals, and the more easy means of carriage, have made them
acquainted with the advantages of commerce.
At Peneranda, our travellers took up their quarters at one of the
neatest and most commodious inns they had seen since they had entered
Spain. From Peneranda they continued their journey without anyin-
terrnption; and in quitting Herta, the towers of Salamanca appeared in
the distant horizon.
On entering Salamanca, Edward exclaimed, " how dirty, narrow,
and unpeopled the streets look, Sir : I am sure one would suppose from
this entrance, that it is one of the most gloomy cities of Europe ;" but
he was agreeably surprised upon entering its modern square, equally
remark able for the neatness and regularity of its architecture, and which
is adorned with three rows of balconies, which follow each other with-
out interruption. Ninety arcades form its foot pavement. In the ili-
tervals Between the arches are placed medallions of the most illustrious
persons Spain has to boast of. On one side is to be seen all the kings
of Castile, up to the reign of Charles III. ; on the other, those of the
best known Spanish heroes, as Bernard del Carpio, Gonsalvo de Cor-
dova, and Ferdinand Cortez. The niches on the eastern side are still
empty.
In the midst of the crowd of sacred edifices which Salamanca con-
tains, they were recommended to visit the church of the Dominicans,
the facade of the Augustins, and the church of San Marcos.
In the first they remarked a Gothic facade, wrought with much care,
a vast nave, and chapels richly decorated ; but they sought in vain for
the beautiful pictures which had been so highly extolled. Neither did
they see any thing remarkable in the gate of the Augustins,btit the or-
naments with which it is loaded. It faces a castle or palace cf the
Bnke of Alva, part of whose estates is situated in the neighbourhood
of Salamanca. These estates and castles seem to feel the continual ab-
sence of their lords; a reflection which a tour in Spain will suggest at
every step. While the opulent proprietors do not enliven their domains,
at least by their occasional presence, the patriotic societies, the esta-
blishment of manufactures, the encouragements to draining, and a thou-
sand other salutary measures will only be vain palliatives of the evils
which have been for ages undermining the Spanish monarchy.
During the last war the battle of Salamanca stands very conspicuous,
and the whole country, through which Dr. Walker and his young friend
now passed, presented, generally speaking, a most dreary aspect, until
Jhey arrived at Almeida, just within the confines of Portugal,
PORTUGAL. 397
SECTION V.
PORTUGAL.
THE surface of Portugal is in general rocky, but the numerous rivers,
vineyards, and fine groves of orange and lemon trees beautifully diver-
sify it. The air is so salubrious, particularly about Lisbon, that the
consumptive, from most parts of Europe, resort thither.
Though there is a great number of barren mountains in Portugal, yet
the inhabitants have plenty of vineyards, oranges, lemons, nuts, almonds,
figs, and raisins; great quantities of salt are also procured from the sea-
water in the Bay of St. Ube's. The cattle is not held in much estima-
tion, for the flesh of the horned cattle is lean and dry : and although
there are many mules, they have few horses. Were the culture of grain
more attended to, Portugal would be independent; but she imports this
essential article chiefly from Morocco.
The exports of Portugal are chiefly wine, oil, oranges, lemons, figs,
sugar, cotton, cork, drugs, tobacco, bullion, coin, diamonds, and other
precious stones. And she imports from England and Ireland, woollens,
hardware, large quantities of salt, and dried fish ; of the last article to
the amount of 200,000/. annually. The balance in favour of England
w about 400,000 /. and of Ireland, about 63,000/.
Portugal has large foreign possessions; Brazil, part of Paraguay, the
Azores, Canaries, Cape Verd islands, and many scattered islands in the
Indian Ocean. Besides which, the eastern part of Tranquebar, Goa, on
the coast of Malabar, and the Island of Macoa in the bay of Canton, are
all Portuguese settlements. From Brazil, Portugal receives gold,
silver, pearls, precious stones, riec, wheat, maize, sugar, molasses, tim-
ber, dings, spice*, and articles used iu dyeing. She returns woollens,
linens, stuffs, &c. and fish.
From Almeida our travellers continued their route to
Abrantes, famous for the victory gained there by Marshal
Junot, who was made Duke of Abrantes, by Buonaparte
upon the occasion, It is agreeably situated on the Tagus,
along the banks of which,. Dr. Walker and his young friend
pursued their agreeable journey, till they reached Santaram.
To the Doctor, who had taken a deep interest in all the fluc-
tuations of the Portuguese war, every spot had the power of
conjuring up innumerable associations ; and the nearer they
approached the capital, these associations became more fre
quent and powerful.
" What extraordinary vicissitudes has the capital of Por-
tugal undergone," said he, as they entered Lisbon ! Scarcely
398 PORTUGAL.
had it recovered the fatal effects of the dreadful earthquake in
1755, when the overwhelming effects of the French Revo-
lution, plunged it in fresh calamities."
As the evening was closing in, when our travellers entered
the Portuguese capital, they resolved on having a comfortable
tete a tete, and having taken some refreshment, Edward called
upon the Doctor to fulfil a promise lie had given him of de-
tailing the fatal effects of the earthquake."
DR. WALKER. " I am ready to fulfil my promise if you
require it ; but I have a letter in my portmanteau from a friend
introducing me to a gentleman, who was but a youth when
the catastrophe happened; but upon whom it made so deep
an impression that as he grew up, he becarne fond of solitude
and retirement, and at length took shelter in a convent of
Dominicans. If he is still living, he would perhaps be able
to give us a most interesting account of a scene to which he
was an eye witness. *'
Edward said he should be happy to accompany his friend
to the convent, and on the following morning they set off
for the monastery of . Upon knocking at the gate,
and enquiring for the father Francis, the porter told them,
the reverend father had just breathed his last, but entreated
they would enter, while he informed the superior of their
visit ; they waited for some time, and at length were informed
that on the following day the superior would be happy to
see them.
Father Francis had been greatly beloved by the whole
fraternity, and his death although at his advanced age, (he
was near eighty,) was daily to be expected, it caused an un-
usual sensation in the monastery. The superior received
them with courtesy, and said he was happy to have it in his
power to commit to their care some papers which the father
wished particularly to be conveyed to England. They were
addressed to the very gentleman from whom Dr. Walker had
his letter of introduction, and as he was informed they con-
tained merely an account of the earthquake of 1755, and his
own feelings upon that melancholy occasion, Dr. Walker
made no scruple of looking at them, and then giving them
to Edward. Upon their return to their inn, after a short pre-
liminary introduction, the latter went on as follows.
" On the 1st November 1755, having just quitted my
father's palace, I was suddenly alarmed by a violent shock
of an earthquake, it seemed to last about the tenth part of a
EARTHQUAKE AT LISBON. 399
minute, during this short space of time every church and
convent, the royal palace, the palace of the inquisition, and
the opera-house, together with the greater part of the houses,
all fell, and the city became, in an instant, a heap of ruins.
My first impulse was to fly, for the shocking sight of the
dead bodies, the shrieks and cries of those who, half buried
in the ruins, soliciting the aid of the survivors, presented such
a scene of horror as surpasses all description. Not far distant
from me I saw my servant Pedro. Overjoyed at the sight,
I approached towards him, he pointed to the spot where our
palace stood. Mechanically I turned; the thoughts of my
father, mother, and two sisters overpowered me. I retraced
my steps another shock of the earthquake threw open a
part of it. I heard a shriek it was my mother's voice, I
flew to the spot, saw her, and that was all. I fell from the
violence of the concussion, and when I rose, the aperture
was closed. Pedro now insisted 1 should leave the spot ; but
strong as was the love of life, I still clung to the hope that I
might possibly rescue some part of my family, and refused to
quit the spot, until exhausted by my exertion, by contending
feelings, and the scene of horror that surrounded me, I sunk
senseless on the ground. When I recovered, I found myseljf
in a neighbouring field, the faithful Pedro by my side cha-
fing my temples and my hands, while the big tears rolled
down his aged cheeks. * My dear young master/ he ex-
claimed. His words shot a thrilling chillness through my
frame they seemed to say, * thou art all I've left/ This
cold faintness was succeeded by the burning glow of fever.
Starting from my seat, I fled, not knowing whither; but on
all sides I was surrounded by the same recollections. Poor
Pedro in vain pursued me; but his unwearied diligence at
length discovered me half rloathed, seated by the side of a
small rivulet, weaving rushes he feared to approach me,
and yet still more to leave me ; at length he espied a coun-
tryman, and beckoning to him, they crept softly beside me,
and secured me. They conveyed me by easy stages to Evora,
where by the kindness and attentions of some of the inha-
bitants, my reason was restored in the course of time to its
former tone ; but my spirits had received too severe a shock
to enable me to enter the busy scenes of life;, and although
but eighteen, I resolved on embracing the monastic life.
From Pedro I learnt, at different times, farther particulars of
that calamity, which had deprived me at one blow of my
400 PORTUGAL.
nearest and dearest relatives ; but he was unwilling to touch
upon a subject which always appeared to overpower me; at
length, however, when time had softened the feelings of
anguish into those of a tender regret, I at length drew from
him the following account :"
" The general scene of misery and confusion produced
by any earthquake, and this in particular, no pen can ade-
quately describe. In the first fall of the houses, thirty thou-
sand persons are supposed to have lost their lives. All those
who alarmed at the noise, attempted to make their escape at
the doors, perished : of those who were in the upper parts of
the houses, many escaped ; numbers of those who were in
carriages were so fortunate as to avoid much personal injury;
but their drivers and animals were generally much wounded
if not killed. But the churches proved most fatal ; for it was
on the eve of an Auto da Fe ! and the churches were crowded
to excess. About two hours after the shock, fires broke out
in three different parts of the city, occasioned principally by
the vast number of lights which were placed before thie
saints, whose draperies quickly caught fire, and the flames
communicating to the surrounding buildings, the city, in the
course of a few hours, became a blazing pile. This addi-
tional calamity, was greatly accelerated by the sudden rising
of the wind ; but it was not sufficient that fire, earth and air,
should unite their powerful and destructive influence on this
devoted city, for the sea threatened to overwhelm it at the.
same time, for it rose forty feet higher in one instant than it
was ever known to do ; but happily it subsided without doing
much injury.
" When these united causes had subsided into something
like a calm, fresh apprehensions assailed the wretched inha-
bitants who had escaped with life. A pestilence was not un-
likely to be the consequence of so many unburied bodies, and
a famine was a calamity that appeared almost inevitable;
the neighbouring country too was beset by daring robbers,
who plundered all they met with, and thus profiting by the
miseries of their fellow-creatures, carried terror and dismay
wherever they made their appearance.
" The fire, however, prevented the pestilence ? and the neigh-
bouring villages and towns supplied the shivering wretches
with food; and the depredations of the lawless banditti were
stopped by the vigorous proceedings of the government.
This earthquake is said to have had its origin under the At-
EARTHQUAKE AT LISBON. 401
lantic Ocean, the waves of which were almost as violently
shaken as the land ; its range extended over a part of both
hemispheres, and more or less affected Europe, Africa and
America, though it was in the south western parts of Europe
where it raged with the most destructive fury.
" Five years after this dreadful calamity, the convent I
now inhahit was completed; and within its sacred walls I
have found content, and with it happiness. My worthy
Pedro fixed himself in its neighbourhood, and as I had reco-
vered my landed property, I was enabled to make his latter
days easy and comfortable. When I lost him, I lost the only
tie the world held for me ; and since that period I have never
quitted the precincts of the monastery, except once, when I
went on a pilgrimage to Montserrat.
" One man alone had power to excite a feeling of regret,
and he was an Englishman, who came to Lisbon for his
health. He was introduced to me by the superior of the
convent; and I confess that in his company I passed some of
the pleasantest hours of my monotonous life. Having asked
me one day what could induce me, who seemed formed for
society, to seclude myself from the world, I promised him
that when I died, he should have a brief sketch of my life.
My task is completed; and when these lines meet his eye,
the hand that wrote them will be mouldering in the grave.
" Father FRANCIS."
" Poor Father Francis," exclaimed Edward, as he con.
eluded the narrative, " I should have liked to have seen him
very much.'*
DR. WALKER. " Then you would not have known his
history ; and you would of course have felt no more interest
in his society, than in that of any other venerable old man."
" St. Ubes," continued the Doctor, " was also entirely
destroyed by this earthquake ; but it is now a flourishing
town. It has a fine harbour, a good fishery, and an exten-
sive trade, particularly in salt, for which it is noted. The
adjoining plain is fertile in corn, wine and fruit. The neigh-
bouring mountains contain quarries of jasper, and are covered
with forests of pine and other sorts of timber.
" To-morrow, Edward, we will cross the Tagus, and take
a view of this port, and of the surrounding country; for it is
romantic and picturesque."
Edward was particularly struck with the appearance of
402 PORTUGAL.
Lisbon from the opposite shore ; the view is indeed very fine.
Ten thousand sail can safely ride within its spacious and
magnificent harbour. Their excursion to St. Ubes gave
them great pleasure. " I always, observed Edward, as
they wandered among the mountains in its vicinity, u enjoy
our peregrinations most when they are among the wild scenes
of nature."
" That! can easily conceive," replied his friend. " The
contemplation of nature fills the mind with great and insatia-
ble conceptions. And the great charm perhaps of the clear
blue ether, of the boundless ocean, of stupendous precipices,
consists in their leading the mind to the anticipation of some-
thing great and grand, almost beyond the actual conception
of man."
" I remember too, Sir," replied his pupil, " when a
cloudy sky excited all the sensations you describe. The
moon was near the full, and the heavy clouds rolled majesti-
cally along, sometimes totally obscuring her soft mellow
light ; sometimes unfolding their dark bosom for an instant,
she shone in all her splendour. I shall never forget how
delighted I was."
" They were not fleecy clouds then," interrupted the
Doctor.
" No," said Edward, " they were dark and gloomy/'
'* Like those which are now rising on the horizon?" en-
quired the Doctor with a smile.
" You are laughing at me, Sir, I shall say no more ; and
see, Sir, the boat is ready ; and we shall have it dark before
we reach Lisbon."
SECTION VI.
PORTUGUESE CHARACTER.
HAVING some visits to pay on the following day, Dr.
Walker hired a coach for that purpose, as he understood the
servant of the house would not consider him a gentleman if
he walked. One of the members of the family being also
dead, he was under the necessity of buying a suit of black
cloaths, as he did not wish to act so contrary to the esta-
PORTUGUESE CHARACTER. 403
blished etiquette of the country, as to appear in a coloured
coat upon such an occasion. Edward did not accompany
him ; but he amused himself with walking through some of
the principal squares and streets which reminded him of
those in London. Having heard that the Portuguese were
famous for preserving and candying fruit, he went into a shop
and bought some, desiring the servant they had hired while
in the capital, would carry them home for him ; this he re-
fused, saying he was a Portuguese, not a beast.
Edward astonished beyond measure at such a reply, re-
peated his request, and being again answered in the same
manner, he took up the jars with a haughty air and carried
them himself; while his attendant, whom he had taken with
him rather as a guide than as a servant, told him he was at
liberty to carry them if he pleased.
When the Doctor returned, Edward began immediately
to describe the insolence of the man, and entreated he might
be instantly dismissed.
" Really, Sir," said he, " it was too bad, was it not?"
" Compose yourself, Edward," replied his tutor calmly.
" You seem chafed ; and have you indeed been a week in
Lisbon, and not discovered that all parcels, burthens, and
slavish offices, as they are here termed, are performed by
one class of men, the Gallicians, a hardy and industrious
race, who draw water, hew wood, and in short, perform all
the laborious offices of life; thus, Edward, by not making use
of your eyes, and acquainting yourself with the manners of
this people, you have betrayed your ignorance, and lost your
temper. I have an invitation for you to-morrow evening,
do not betray yourself again ; remember, ' when you are at
Rome, you must do as they do at Rome/ In the mean
while we will, as it is yet early, take a view of the celebrated
mountain of Cintra, called by the ancients Hierna, and also
Promontorium Luncc. At the foot of the rock stands a town
of the same name, celebrated for the convention held there,
by which the French were compelled to evacuate Portugal.
On the top of the mountain is a convent of Carmelites, who
by their vows of humility, are forbidden to lift their eyes from
the earth.
" I am sure," observed Edward, " that if I were a monk,
and had once glanced this stupendous view, I should be in
danger every moment of breaking such vows; and I cannot
4(H PORTUGAL.
help thinking it a pity, that a spot vso calculated for astrono-
mical observations, should be so ill applied."
" I agree with you," replied his friend. " What do you
suppose the height of this mountain, Edward ? The loftiest
part is said to be no less than three thousand feet above the
level of the sea. When you have satiated your eyes and
imagination with the magnificent display of rocks, woods and
water on one side ; and with the boundless waves of the At-
lantic on the other, we will descend on the western side, as
there are the remains of a Moresco bath of great beauty in
that part of the mountain."
Having reached the spot, accompanied by a guide, they
were indeed surprised not only at the bath itself, but at its
situation. It is fifty feet long by seventeen broad, the water
is four feet deep, and neither encreases or diminishes in
winter or summer, though it has no apparent source ; it is
always transparent, and the sides and bottom of the bath are
free from weeds or sediment, which, according to Vitruvius,
are the surest signs of the salubrity of the water. This purity
is perfectly natural, for no one ever takes any pains to clean
the basin, which^contains it. Their guide desired they would
look upwards, when they were struck with awe at the situa-
tion of the monastery they had so lately visited ; it appeared
absolutely hanging over a number of precipitous rocks.
The evening now began to close fast upon them, and they
commenced their journey homewards ; long after the country
was enveloped in the gloom of evening, the top of Cintra re-
tained a faint glimmering of day light.
Billiards, cards and dice formed the principal entertain-
ment of the following evening, which was concluded by a
little dance. They were charmed with the amiable and un-
affected manners of the female part of the society, and Ed-
ward returned home quite delighted.
" We will embark for Cadiz," said the Doctor ; " a jour-
ney by land through the southern parts of Portugal will pre-
sent no object of interest equal to the fatigue; and from Cadiz
it is easy to proceed to Gibraltar, either by land or water,
just as we please. I have letters to write, and shall be busy
in the morning, so you must cater for yourself, under the
protection of your favorite Enrico."
" I shall stay at home, Sir, and write to my mother," re-
plied Edward, as the colour mounted his cheek.
OPORTO CADIZ. 405
" Just as you please," said the Doctor calmly, but with
an arch smile.
They had a most delightful sail to Cadiz, during which the
conversation turned upon the chief towns of Portugal. In
answer to a wish expressed by Edward, implying that he
should have liked to have seen Oporto, his friend replied,
" You would have been disappointed, for I dare say you
have conjured up a beautiful town, surrounded by orchards,
vineyards and gardens.
" Oporto is situated on a declivity, the streets are narrow, and
the houses ill constructed: it is true^ it is noted for strong wines,
of which 20,000 pipes are said to be exported annually ; but it has
no other attraction.
" Of the manufactories of Portugal there are but few of con-
sequence, that of the most importance is one for silki at Bragan-
a. The Portuguese make a few linens ; but the article which
they excel most in is wine casks.
" Cadiz may be called the emporium of the wealth of the two
worlds, possessing almost every thing in abundance, if we except
fresh water, which is sometimes hardly to be procured for any
money. There are some few wells ill the town, but the water is
in general brackish, and the inhabitants, in order to collect raia
water, have the tops of.their houses flat, surrounded by a terrace ;
this terrace serves them as a promenade and observatory, and
the water being collected in the centre, is conveyed by pipes to
the cistern, which occupies the open space in the interior of the
house from whence it is drawn into another reservoir at one cor-
ner of the court.
" The entrance into this bay presents a grand sight ; and both
the Doctor and Edward were surprised at the prodigious number
of merchant and other vessels which it contained. Cadiz has a
manufacture of linen and salt ; but is perhaps more interesting
to a mercantile and political man than to travellers of the descrip-
tion of Dr. Walker and his pupil ; at least they thought so, and
again embarking, they passed Trafalgar, off which the gallant
Nelson lost his life, and Tarifa, where the Moors first landed
when they invaded Spain ; and at length entering the Straits of
Gibraltar, they entered the bay of the same name, and landed at
the foot of this celebrated rock.
SECTION VII.
GIBRALTAR.
THE form of this mountain is oblong, its summit a sharp
craggy ridge ; its direction is nearly from north to south; and
406 SPAIN.
its greatest length in that direction falls very little short of
three miles. Its breadth varies with the indentations of its
shores, but it no where exceeds three quarters of a mile.
The line of its ridge is undulating, and the two extremes are
somewhat higher than its centre. That point to the south,
called the Sugar Loaf, is 1439 feet above the level of the
sea; the Rock Mortar which is to the north is 1350; and
the Signal House, which is nearly the central point between
the two former, is 1276 feet above the sea. The western
side of the mountain is composed of a series of rugged
steeps, interspersed with abrupt precipices. The northern
extremity is absolutely perpendicular, except where it in-
clines towards the north-west : here the lines intervene, and
a narrow passage of the ground that leads to the isthmus,
which is covered with fortifications. The eastern side of
the mountain mostly consists of a range of precipices ; but a
bank of sand rising from the Mediterranean in a rapid accli-
Vity, covers a third of its perpendicular height; its east-
ern extremity falls in a rapid slope from the summit of
the Sugar Loaf, into a rocky flat of considerable extent,
called Windmill Hill. This flat forms half an oval, and is
bounded by a range of precipices, at the southern base of
which a second rocky flat takes place, similar in form and
extent to Windmill Hill, and surrounded also like it by a
precipice, the southern extremity of which is washed by the
sea, and forms Europa Point, which is the part of the moun-
tain that advances most towards Africa, and is generally re-
garded as the most southern promontory of Europe.
Upon the western side, this peninsular mountain is
bounded by the bay of Gibraltar, which is in length nearly
eight miles and a half, and in breadth upwards of five miles.
In this bay the tide frequently rises four feet. Upon the
north the mountain is attached to Spain by a low sandy
isthmus, the greatest elevation of which above the level oi
the sea, does not exceed ten feet, and its breadth at the
base of the rock is not more than three quarters of .a mile,
This isthmus separates the Mediterranean, on the east from
the bay of Gibraltar on the west.
" I cannot help fancying/' said Dr. Walker, "but that
this rock was formerly detached from the main land. The
breadth of the isthmus which attaches it to Spain, and the
height of the sands above the level of the sea is so small,
that it appears very probable to me, that it is an accumula-
8
GIBRALTAR. 407
tion deposited by the ocean. It would then too stand so dis-
tinctly as to be at first sight denominated a pillar ; an appel-
lation which it possessed formerly. This mountain is much
more curious in its botanical, than in its mineralogical pro-
ductions. In regard to the first, it connects in some degree
the Flora of Africa with that of Europe. In respect to the
latter, it produces little variety; perhaps a few substances
and phenomena that are rare, but none that are peculiar.
The principal mass of the rock consists of a grey dense
(what is generally called primary) marble, the different beds
of which are to be examined in a face of 1350 feet of per-
pendicular height, which it presents to Spain in a conical
form. These beds, or strata, are of various thickness, from
twenty to upwards of forty feet, dipping in a direction from
east to west, nearly at an angle of thirty-five degrees. In
some parts of the solid mass of this rock testaceous bodies
have been found entirely transmuted into the constituent
matter of the rock, and their interior hollows filled up with
calcareous spar ; but these do not occur often in its compo-
sition, and its beds are not separated by any intermediate
strata.
" In all parts of the world where this species of rock con.
stitutes large districts, it is found to be cavernous. The
caves of Gibraltar are many, and of considerable extent;
and I intend Edward, that we should explore them together,
and as the day is fine and temperate, we will begin our ex-
cursion immediately."
They accordingly set off, accompanied by two guides, for
St. Michael's cave. St. Michael's cave is situated upon the
southern part of the mountain, almost equally distant from
the Sugar Loaf and the Signal Tower. Its entrance is above
J 000 feet above the level of the see, and is formed by a rapid
slope of earth which has fallen into it at various periods, and
which leads to a spacious hall incrusted with spar, arid ap-
parently supported in the middle by a large massy stalictal
pillar. To this succeeds a long succession of caves of diffi-
cult access. And Dr. Walker and his pupil found it neces-
sary to use great precaution in climbing up the scaling lad-
ders that were placed for their accommodation in passing
over the precipices, which no other means could enable
them to scale. They descended many of these precipices to
the depth of 300 feet from the cave ; but at that depth the
smoke of their torches became so disagreeable, that they
408 SPAIN.
were obliged to give up their pursuit, and leave the remain-
der of the caves unexplored. In these cavernous recesses,
the formation and process of stalactites is easily to be traced,
from the, flimsy quill. like cone, suspended from the roof, to
the robust trunk of a pillar three feet in diameter, which rises
from the floor, and seems intended by nature to support the
roof from which it originated.
The variety of form, which this matter takes in its diffe-
rent situations and directions, renders this subterraneous
scenery strikingly picturesque. The stalactites of the caves
when near the surface of the mountain, are of a brownish yel-
low colour ; but as they descended towards the lower caves,
they found them begin to lose their darknesa of colour,
which by degrees shaded off to a yellowish white.
The only inhabitants of these caves are bats, some of
which are of a large size. The soil in general, upon the
mountain of Gibraltar is but thinly sown ; and in many parts
that thin covering has been washed off by the heavy autum-
nal rains, which have left the superficies of the rock, for a
considerable extent, bare and open to inspection. In those
situations, an observing eye may trace the effects of the slow
but constant decomposition of the rock, caused by its expo.
sure to the air, and the corrosion of sea salts, which in the
heavy gales of easterly winds are deposited with the spray in
every part of the mountain. Those uncovered parts of the
mountain rock, also expose to the eye a phenomenon worthy
of some attention, as it tends clearly to demonstrate, that
however high the surface of this rock may now be elevated
above the level of the sea, it has once been the bed of agi-
tated waters. This phenomenon is to be observed in many
parts of the rock, and is constantly to be found in the beds
of torrents. It consists of pot-like holes of various sizes,
hollowed out of the solid rock, and formed apparently by
the attrition of gravel or pebbles, set in motion by the rapi-
dity of rivers, or currents in the sea. One of these which
had been recently laid open, our travellers examined with
attention. They found it to be five feet deep, and three feet
in diameter ; the edge of its nyuth rounded off as if by art,
and its sides and bottom retainiwg a considerable degree of
polish. From its mouth, for three and a half feet down-
wards, it was filled with a red argillaceous earth, thinly
mixed with minute particles of transparent quartz crystals ;
the remaining foot and a half to the bottom contained an ag-
GIBRALTAR. 409
gregate of water worn stones, which were from the size of a
goose's egg to that of a walnut, and consisted of red jaspers,
yellowish white flints, white quartz, and blueish white agates,
firmly combined by a yellowish brown stalactal calcareous
spar. In this breccia I could not discover any fragment of
the mountain rock, or any other calcareous matter, except
the cement with which it was combined. This pot is nine
hundred feet above the level of the sea.
On the west side of the mountain are found quartz crys-
tals colourless, and perfectly transparent. These crystals
are composed of eighteen planes disposed in hexangular co-
lumns, terminated at both extremities by hexangular py-
ramids ; the larger of these does not exceed two-eighths of
an inch in length ; they in general adhere to the rock by the
sides of the column, but are easily detached. Their great
degree of transparency has procured them the name of Gi-
braltar diamonds. In the perpendicular fissures of the rock,
and in some of the caverns of the mountain (all of which
afford evident proofs of their former connection with the
surface) a calcareous concretion is found of a reddish brown
ferruginous colour, with an earthy fracture, and considerable
induration inclosing the bones of various animals, some of
which were formerly supposed to be human ; but the cele-
brated Dr. Hunter, ascertained that they belonged to some
quadruped. These bones are of various sizes, and lie in all
directions, intermixed with shells and snails, fragments of
the calcareous rock, and particles of spar, all of which are
still to be seen in their natural uncombined state, partially
scattered over the mountain. These having been swept by
heavy rains at different periods from the surface into the si.
tuations above described, and having remained for a long
series of years in those places of rest, exposed to the per-
meating action of water, have become cemented and sur-
rounded by the calcareous matter which it deposits. The
bones in the composition have not the smallest appearance
of being petrified ; and if they have undergone any change,
it is more like that of calcination than petrification, as the
most solid parts of them generally admit of being cut and
scraped down with the same ease as chalk. This mountain
is very much infested with monkeys.
Our travellers having explored the caves and other natu-
ral curiosities of Gibraltar, they proceeded to take a view
of its fortifications, which are upon a most extensive scale ;
T
410 SPAIN.
and with the skill of the brave general Elliott and his valiant
troops, resisted the united attack of France and Spain. Gi-
braltar derives its name from a Moorish chief of the name of
Tarek, which compounded with the Arabic word Gebal, sig-
nifying mountain, Gebel Tarik became in time by corrup-
tion, Gibraltar. From Gibraltar they proceeded to Grenada.
SECTION VIII.
JOURNEY THROUGH SPAIN.
" WHEN we have dined we will visit the Alhambra, said
Dr. Walker, as they partook of their first repast in Grenada,
the most perfect, though according to historical accounts,
not the most splendid of the Moorish palaces. There was
one in the neighbourhood of Cordova, called the palace of
Zehra, which surpassed all description. The Moors to this
day put up prayers daily for the restoration of^this part of
the kingdom. When the last Moorish king caught sight of
its glittering domes and turrets, he burst into an agony of
tears, exclaiming, * O God omnipotent !' his mother who was
with him, indignantly replied, 4 You do well to weep as a
child, for what you could not preserve as a man.' Grenada
is indeed a most delicious spot, and worthy the regrets of a
monarch.
Upon entering the oblong court of the Alhambra, which
is 150 feet long and 90 broad, they were struck by the sin-
gularity as well as beauty of the scene. In the middle was
a marble bason of water 100 feet long, surrounded by a
flower border. From this court they passed into that of the
lions, so called because the fountain in the middle is sup-
ported by thirteen lions. It is adorned with a colonade of 140
marble pillars. The royal bed-room has two alcoves, adorned
with columns, and a fountain between them in the middle of
the room. Adjoining to this are two hot-baths. The great
hall is about forty feet square and sixty in height, with eight
windows and two doors, all in deep recesses. All the apart-
ments have fountains and are paved with tiles or marble in
chequers.
" The idea of the ceilings is evidently taken from stalac-
tites," observed the Doctor. " Look, Edward, that roof
CORDOVA TOLEDO. 411
reminds me of many we have seen in natural caverns/' The
view from this palace is exquisitely beautiful ; vineyard and
olive gardens surround it on every side ; it stands in a lux-
uriant plain, which is bounded by hills ; beyond which to
the south, the Sierra Nevada lifts its venerable head, and
forms a grand outline to the scene.
From Grenada our travellers proceeded to Cordova, for-
merly the capital of one of the Moorish kingdoms.
Cordova has several superb palaces and churches. The
neighbouring mountains produce groves of citron, orange,
fig, and olive trees. The best horses in Spain are to be met
with here. It trades in wine, fruits, silk and Cordovan
leather.
There is a stone bridge over the Guadalquiver of sixteen
arches, built by the Moors, and the remains of a Moorish
palace, which is now converted into stables.
EDWARD. " What a transition. "
DR. WALKER. " There are some in Paris which are
more striking than this metamorphosis/'
Quitting Cordova they continued their journey in a north
eastern direction, and passing through Bayleu, where the
French were so completely beaten by the patriots of Spain ;
they at length entered the parched and arid plains of La
Mancha, so celebrated for the exploits of the renowned
Don Quixote.
Diu WALKER. " Can you not almost fancy, Edward,
rou see the knight of the woeful countenance mounted on
is Rozinante, and his doughty squire Sancho Panza, and his
favourite Dapple, traversing those cheerless plains?'*
" Almost," replied his pupil. " I am always sorry for
Don Quixote and Sancho too, they get treated so very ill."
66 All persons," observed Dr. Walker, " who step so com-
pletely out of the usual track of human life must expect it ;
so I would advise you not to attempt any kind of knight-
errantry, and studiously to avoid all singularit} 7 ."
Our travellers now continued their journey without stop-
ping at any place, until they came to Toledo, and here they
resolved to stay a short time. Toledo is situated among
rocks, eminences, and precipices, which are adorned with
luxuriant spots of vegetation ; the mountains of Toledo they
had traversed previous to their reaching the city, were indeed
bleak, barren, and sterile ; and the doctor and his pupil were
not a little rejoiced at taking up their quarters in a tolerable
T 2
412 SPAIN.
inn, and enjoying those comforts which are seldom to be met
with in the villages of Castile. The cookery of the Spa-
niards, such as they have received from their forefathers, is
liked by very few strangers. Their palate requires high
seasoning. Pepper, pimento, the juice of the tomata, or love
apple, saffron, &c., colour or infect almost all their dishes.
A single one has found favour with foreigners, which is called
in Spain oil a podrida, and is a kind of pot-pourri of all sorts
of meat boiled together. The Spanish cooking is seldom
plain, but with obscure families who are attached to ancient
customs, French cooks have in many houses entirely sup-
planted the natives and our travellers more than once had
reason to rejoice at this innovation, for to them these highly
seasoned dishes of the country were very disagreeable. The
cathedral of Toledo is particularly magnificent, and the trea-
sures contained in one of its chapels, that called Sagiario,
are almost incalculable, at least they were so formerly. Se-
veral of its gates are bronze, and it stands in the middle of
the city, adjoining to a handsome street. Toledo contains
many religious houses, some hospitals, and a great number
of churches.
It is said the inhabitants have recovered the art of har-
dening sword. blades, for which they were formerly so fa-
mous, and which had been lost for many ages. The manner
of trying these blades, was by striking them several times
with great force, against an iron head-piece; if they received
the smallest notch by this operation, they were considered
imperfect. Our travellers passed through Aranjuez, where
there is a royal palace, on their way to Madrid, and where
they arrived full of expectation, and eager to take a survey of
the palace and stately buildings which generally adorn the
capital of an extensive kingdom ; they were in some degree
disappointed, for the houses are chiefly built of brick, and
have rather a mean than a splendid appearance. It has
however fifteen gates of granite, above one hundred churches,
and a noble bridge over the Mane anares, which in the sum-
mer is but an insignificant streamlet ; when however it is
swelled by wintry storms it becomes a rapid river. The vi-
cinity is a large plain, surrounded by mountains, Here are
ro>al manufactures of tapestry, cards, saltpetre, and china.
The new palace first engaged their attention, to which
they advanced by a steep ascent.
It stands detached upon an eminence, without a terrace,
PALACE OF MADRID. 413
a park, or a garden, and bears a greater resemblance to a cita-
del, than to the habitation of a monarch. But, on a nearer sur-
vey, the opinion of this palace will be greatly changed. It is of
a square form ; spacious porticoes encompass the inner court.
The offices and apartments assigned to the principal persons
attached>to the court, occupy the ground-floor. You ascend by
an elegant marble stair-case, the balustrade of which is highly
ornamented. The royal apartments are of the most magnificent
dimensions. The hall in which the throne is placed, denomi-
nated et salon de las reynos, extorts admiration even from those
who have seen the gallery at Versailles. Tiepolo, a Venetian,
has depicted the different costumes of the Spanish monarchy on
the ceiling. Beautiful vases, little statues, and antique busts,
are arranged on all the tables. Almost the whole of the furni-
ture is of Spanish manufacture; the mirrors, perhaps the largest
in Europe, and the glass of the windows came from St. Ilde-
fonso. The tapestry was made in a manufactory near the gates
of Madrid. The various quarries of the peninsula furnished the
marble for the tables and walls.
The palace of Madrid is entirely new. The former palace,
occupied by Philip V. having been consumed by fire in 1734,
that Prince was desirous to have it rebuilt in the same place. A.
Piedrnontese architect presented a magnificent plan, the model
of which is preserved in a neighbouring building. Philip V. star-
tled at the magnificence of the design, adopted one more simple,
which, however, proved equally expensive in the execution, and
is not yet finished. For more than twelve years past, they have
been employed in building two additional wings to the palace,
which will give it a less massive uppearance, but will likewise
hide the principal front.
On your way to this front, you traverse a large irregular
place, at the extremity of which, is the armeria, or arsenal, com-
prizing a collection of ancient and foreign arms, disposed in fine
order, and preserved with great care. The armour, said to be-
long to the ancient American warriors, is more worthy of atten-
tion than the wrought armour set with precious stones, or the
complete suit of mail of some of the kings of Spain, and in par-
ticular of St. Ferdinand.
The sword of Francis I. which was so long exhibited in this
place, as one of their proudest trophies, was seized by Bonaparte
and it is now in Paris.
The collection of paintings in this new palace, is one of the
most valuable in Europe.
Dr. Walker was contented with viewing the outside of the
palace of Buen Retiro, for never had a royal residence less the
appearance of a palace. It is a very irregular building, and ex-
hibits nothing majestic in any one point of view. It compre-
hends, however, a long suite of apartments, which at a small ex-
pence might be made commodious. The gardens which they over-
T 3
414 SPAIN.
look are ill supplied with water, are in a ruinous condition, and
serve at present for a public walk. It contains one picture among
many which deserves to be noticed : it is an accurate represen-
tation of the Auto da Fe, held in 1680 in the Plaza Major at Ma-
drid, in the presence of the whole court of Charles II. The bal-
conies are crowded with spectators, attracted by motives of
pious curiosity. The tremendous tribunal appears elevated in
the middle of the square. The judges there await their victims,
who with haggard and disfigured countenances, being dressed out
in the emblems of their punishment, approach to hear their doom.
Some are attended by monks, who administer their last exhorta-
tions ; others are seen staggering and fainting on the steps of the
tribunal. >
" Shall we go and see this picture/' said the Doctor to
his pupil ?" " No, Sir," replied Edward. " I have not the
least wish to look upon any thing so horrible."
DR. WALKER. " Have you any objection to hear the
history of one of its victims?"
EDWARD. " None at all, Sir, if he were not burnt ; but
really I cannot endure the recital of the barbarous cruelty
exercised by that dreadful tribunal."
DR. WALKER. " He was not burnt, but died in his own
country, in the year 1803. So I presume I may begin my
story."
SECTION IX.
JOURNEY CONCLUDED IN SPAIN*
" Don Publo Olivade, a native of Peru, had been raised by
his abilities to fill one of the most important offices in the
kingdom, that of Intendant of the four kingdoms of Anda-
lusia, and Assiente of Seville. The distinction he acquired
by these high dignities excited a considerable degree of envy,
but the king (Charles IV.) convinced of his abilities, gave
him a further opportunity of signalizing his patriotic zeal.
" Charles IV. had conceived a plan to bring into cultivation,
and people that part of the Sierra Morena, through which passes
the road from Madrid to Cadiz, a district formerly inhabited and
cultivated, but now overgrown with wood, and become the haunts
of robbers and of wild beasts. This districts now infested by
bands of guerillas in such vast numbers, that they threaten al-
most to subvert the government. This commission he intrusted
M. OLIVADE. 415
to Olivade; who accomplished it with consummate ability: but
he could not avoid the rock on which great enterprizes usually
split. He created enemies. He exposed himself in particular
to the animosity of father Romuald, a German capuchin, who,
being provided with a patent from the Director-general of his
order, by which he was declared prefect of the new missions, he
affected the most absolute authority in every thing that had the
most distant reference to religion. His designs were strenuously
but mildly opposed by Olivad6, who gave him however a polite
reception, and received him upon a footing of intimacy. The
disappointed ambition of the monk meditated revenge. Some
expressions, which had inadvertently escaped Olivade, furnished
the means of vengeance. He fomented the discontents of some
of the settlers, who were his own countrymen, and employed
them in order to discredit the new establishment and its direc-
tor. The memorials which they transmitted to the Council of
Castile, contained the most grievous accusations against Olivade ;
and the latter was suddenly recalled to court in the month of
November, 1775, to confer concerning different objects relative
to his mission.
" Whilst he resided at Madrid in the most perfect security, he
accidentally discovered the snares that were laid to entrap him.
He learned from intercepted letters, that father Romuald had
concerted his ruin, and that he was buoyed up with expectations
of patronage from a great court.
Through another channel he was informed, that this vindictive
monk had preferred an accusation to the prime minister against
him, of having manifested a contempt of religion, and of having
forbidden books in his possession ; nay, that he had even made
a similar report to the Inquisition.
" During his residence at the capital for more than a year, his
conduct had been highly exemplary ; but nothing could hush the
storm which was impending over his head.
" On the 14th of November, 1776, a Spanish grandee, acting
in the capacity of alguazil mayor of the inquisition, accompanied
by the ministers of justice, came to arrest and conduct him to
the prisons of the holy office, whilst at the same time, his effects,
books, and papers, were seized at Carolina, where his wife re-
sided, and at Seville, his ordinary residence. From that instant
he was altogether lost to his wife, to his relations, and friends !
During a period* of two years they were totally ignorant in what
part of the world he resided, or whether he was yet alive, and at
last they relinquished all hopes of ever beholding him again/'
EDWARD. " What a refinement upon cruelty."
DR. WALKER. u The judicial proceedings against OIivad,
were conducted with the most profound secrecy. At length his
fate was decided, after a close imprisonment of two years and
seven days, during which period his intercourse with the world
was wholly suspended.
416 SPAIN.
" On the 21st of November, 1778, a convocation was held in
the hotel of the Inquisition, to which were invited forty persons
of different orders, among whom were several Spanish grandees,
some general officers, priests, and monks.
" The delinquent made his appearance apparelled in yellow
robes, carrying a green wax taper in his hand, being accompa-
nied by two ministers of the holy office. All the details of the
procedure were read before him. The most interesting docu-
ment was a circumstantial narrative of his own life, which he
had composed himself. In this narrative he frankly confessed
that on his travels he had cultivated the society of superior ge-
niuses, of Voltaire and Rousseau in particular ; moreover, that
he returned to Spain strongly tinctured with prejudices against
the clergy, and persuaded that the opinions and privileges of the
Romish church were hostile to the welfare of nations : that, since
he had superintended the colonies of the Sierra Morena, he had
frequently, in a rash and inconsiderate manner, declared his sen-
timents concerning the obstacles which retarded their progress
concerning the infallibility of the Pope, and the tribunals of the
Inquisition.
" Next came the depositions of seventy-eight witnesses, who
accused him of having frequently held the language of free-
thinkers ; of having ridiculed the fathers of the church, &c. &c.
The delinquent confessed many of these accusations, and denied
others : alleging, moreover, that the expressions imputed to him
\vere derived from the purest of motives ; that, in some instances,
bis object was to arouse the industry of the colonists committed
to his care, whose indolence often disguised itself under the ex-
ternal rites of religion : lastly, that, when he declaimed against
the inconveniences of celibacy, his sole view was to encourage
population, which is so necessary to the welfare of the state.
u But his defence was in vain ; the tribunal judged him guilty
of all the crimes laid to his charge, and pronounced sentence
upon him, by which he was formally declared to be a heretic.
Ho interrupted the ceremony in order to appeal against this de-
nomination. This was the last struggle of his fortitude; he fainted
away, and fell from the bench on which he was seated, On the
recovery of his senses, the reading of the sentence was continued.
It denounced the absolute confiscation of all his property. This
too is a thing of course. Declared him incapacitated from hold-
ing any office, banished him to within twenty leagues of Madrid,
from the royal residences, from Seville, the theatre of his lost
power, from Lima, his native country, and condemned him to be
confined for eight years in a monastery, where he was to read
certain godly books, which would be prescribed to him, and to
make confession to the priest once a month. After this, he made
a solemn recantation, and was absolved from the censures he
bad incurred with all the formality prescribed by the canons.
" It is asserted that the monarch, nay even that the graiyi in*
M. OLIVADE. 417
qnisitor mitigated the rigor of his sentence ; some of the judges
having voted for death, and others for at least a public and op-
probrious punishment ; that the royal confessor, in particular, had
supported the alternative of seventy, consistently with his fero-
cious and bigoted disposition, which inclined him to suppose
that this crime could not be otherwise expiated than by a signal
vengeance.
" Scarcely had Olivade commenced his confinement, in aeon-
vent of La Mancha, when a representation of his impaired health
procured him permission to visit the mineral waters in the vi-
cinity : soon after, he was allowed to make an excursion to those
of Catalonia, which he thought would be more efficacious. These,
being near the frontiers, he easily eluded the vigilance of his
guardians, a circumstance which was doubtless foreseen, and
bidding adieu, as he supposed, for ever to his country, he went
to France, where his reputation had long preceded his arrival,
and where he was received as the martyr of intolerance.
" Some months after his flight, the king of Spain, nominally
yielding to th'e suggestions of his confessor, whose appetite for
persecution was not yet appeased, demanded his surrender from
the court of Versailles. A conciliatory answer was sent in re-
turn, that the offences of Olivade, however heinous they might
appear in Spain, were not included among those political crimes,
the authors of which are mutually delivered up to each other by
civilized nations ; arid the court of Madrid did not persist in its
demand/'
EDWAKO. " And it did wisely ; I am surprised that any
Christian nation can tolerate such cruelty/'
" So much," added Dr. Walker, " for M. Olivade."
" The theatre of the Ketiro is in a good state of repair : the
pit is small, but planned with much taste. The theatre, which is
very spacious, opens at the further extremity upon the gardens
of the palace, with which it stands on a level. This frequently
afforded an opportunity of heightening the effect of theatrical
illusion, by extending the view to an immense distance, and per-
mitting the display of troops of cavalry. But all these illusions'
are vanished, the house is forsaken, and its decorations are moul-
dering in the dust. Within the circuit of the gardens of Buen
Retiro, is a china manufactory, to which x every person has hi-
therto been denied access."
In the evening our travellers joined the numerous assem-
blage that crowded the Prado, a fine public walk, where the
citizens flock from all parts to enjoy the shade of the long
alleys, which are adorned with many fountains, and perfumed
with the fragrant exhalations of the flowers which beautify
the botanical gardens that border this celebrated walk.
The churches of Madrid are numerous, and are all
T5
418 SPAIN.
adorned with costly paintings. While they were in the
Spanish capital, they were invited to a Tertullia, an entertain-
ment which resemblies our assemblies ; and the following
evening they went to a christening, and the entertainment
given upon this occasion was called a Refresco.
When the guests arrived, the ladies were conducted to one
apartment, the gentlemen to another ; the former were re-
ceived by the lady of the house on a sofa under a canopy,
called estrado, and etiquette required that they should re-
main in these distinct societies until all the company was as-
sembled ; at which period the refresco was introduced, and
the two sexes joined. The conversation then became ani-
mated, and the company was entertained with an abundance
of sweets, confectionary and dainties of all kinds; upon the
appearance of which a scene took place which astonished
.our travellers extremely. The guests not only eat profusely
of the good things which were set before them, but abso-
lutely filled their handkerchiefs and even hats, with the dried
cakes, fruits, &c. &c. This entertainment was concluded
with a dance, in which the Spanish ladies displayed all those
graces in the cotillion for which they are so celebrated.
Having visited the theatre, and every thing in Madrid worthy
of notice, Dr. Walker resolved on an excursion to the Mo-
nastery of the Escurial, which was built by Philip IT. in the
form of a gridiron, and dedicated to Saint Laurance, who is
said to have suffered death upon that instrument. Every
door and window about this monastic palace is embellished
with gridirons of different dimensions.
The west front has an elegant portico of the Doric order, half
sunk into the wall ; through this portico our travellers passed on
their way to the church, which is in the form of a Grecian cross,
surmounted with a dome. The architecture is simple, but ma-
jestic. The ceiling' was painted by Liuca Giordani, and the high
altar, the ascent to which is by a flight of twenty steps, contains
three different orders of architecture, ranged one above another,
in the form of a truncated pyramid ; no expence has been spared
in its decoration. Richness and elegance are united in the ta-
bernacle. Its columns are of the most costly marble ; the inter-
mediate spaces are enriched with paintings by Lucas Camhiaso
and Pellegrino Tibaldi. Yet the whole has something diminu-
tive in its appearance, which forms a contrast with the majesty or'
the edifice. On the contrary, the two monuments erected here,
are really beautiful; they perfectly correspond with the first
order, which consists of fluted Doric columns. On one side is
that of Charles V v on the other that of Philip II. These two
THE ESCURIAL. 419
monarchs are represented in the attitude of kneeling arid pay-
ing their obeisance to the King of kings. They occupy the fore
part of a sort of chamber, which opens towards the altar, and is
lined in the inside with black marble. These two monuments
combine at once the properties of magnificence and solemnity.
On beholding them, a species of religious awe insensibly stole
upon our travellers. " Here then," said the Doctor, in a low
whisper to Edward, " repose the ashes of the mighty emperor
Charles V., and his son, Philip IT. Men, who during their life-
time, thought mankind lived only for their pleasure, and the
world for their profit!" The whole of the edifice is built of a
kind of granite, hewn from a neighbouring quarry, which fur-
nished blocks of such dimensions, that three stones were suffi-
cient to form the cases of the largest doors, and every step of the
principal staircase is composed of no more than one of them. The
whole of the apartments are embellished with fine paintings by
the first masters.
The one sacristy (there are two) contains in huge drawers, the
most costly sacerdotal ornaments, chandeliers, sacred vessels,
&c. which evince the magnificence rather than the piety of the
Spanish monarchs.
The descent into the Pantheon, the royal sepulchre, is by a
door, iu the passage conducting from the church to the sacristy.
The staircase leadinginto the gloomy mansion is entirely covered
with marble, as is also that building itself. It is divided into se-
veral chambers, each of which is appropriated to some particular
purpose. One is called Podridero, or the place of putrefaction.
Here the bodies of kings and their families are consigned to the
first ravages of corruption. In another are deposited the bodies
of all the Spanish princes and princesses who have not ascended
the throne.
The real Pantheon is exclusively consecrated as the last
asylum for the kings and queens of Spain ; it is illumined by a
superb lustre suspended from the cupola, which is only lighted
up on extraordinary occasions; but generally a torch assists the
inquisitive traveller in exploring this dumb and motionless as-
sembly of sovereigns. By its wavering light you discern, oppo-
site to the principal entry, an altar and a crucifix of black marble,
on a pediment of porphyry. The whole is in a style of mournful
magnificence. The cases which contain the corpses of the kings
and queens, are .arranged on each side of the altar in three rows,
one over another, in different compartments formed by fine fluted
pilasters of marble. These cases are of bronze, of a simple yet
noble figure. Several of them, still empty, are ready to open and
receive their deposits. A. salutary yet awful lesson which kings
have not refused to receive from the bold designs of an able ar-
chitect,
Philip II. reposes in the highest tomb of the first division. It
was this prince who laid the foundation of the Pantheon, but it
420 SPAIN.
was not completed until the reign of Philip IV. It has only af-
forded a receptacle to three sovereigns of the house of Bourbon ;
the young king Louis I. who ascended the throne in 1724, and
died the same year ; Queen Amelia, consort of Charles III. and
Charles III. himself.
From the Escurial they proceeded to St. Ildefonso, which was
built by Philip V. who brought with him from France the mag-
nificent taste of his grandfather Louis XIV. The gardens of St.
Ildefonso, are upon the plan of those of Versailles, and are
adorned with exquisitely beautiful fountains. That of Andro-
meda is very fine ; but the most remarkable is certainly that de-
dicated to the God of the Ocean, who is surrounded by his ma-
rine court. His attitude, his menacing air, and the direction of
his trident, shew that he is imposing silence on the boisterous
waves ; and the calm which reigns on the water, the tranquillity
produced in the air by the triple wall of verdure with which he
is surrounded, announce that he has not issued his mandate in
\ain.
There are some other fountains which well merit the attention
of the curious; such is the fountain of Latona, whose limpid
streams, some perpendicular, others crossing in every direction*
issue from the hoarse throats of the peasants of Lycia, half trans-
formed into frogs, and are discharged in such abundance that
the statue of the goddess is concealed from view by one vast
mantle of liquid crystal. Of this description also is Diana bath-
ing, surrounded by her nymphs : in the twinkling of an eye the
whole chaste assemblage is concealed beneath the water; you
imagine that you hear the shrieking of the aquatic birds, and the
roaring of the lions, who vomit forth by a hundred channels, this
transitory deluge. Such is, lastly, the fountain of Fame ; it is
formed of a single jet d'eau, which rising 132 feet, displays to the
distance of several leagues, the efforts of art to subdue nature, and
falls in gentle dew upon the astonished spectators.
The state apartments of St. Ildefonso resemble those of all
other palaces. Costly furniture, paintings, and statues, adorn
its stately walls.
St. Ildefonso is upwards of twenty-eight leagues from Madrid,
and one half of the road leading to the capital, which begins at
Guadarama, lies through a thick cluster of ragged and barren
mountains, which however are highly valued by sportsmen.
In the district of St. Ildefonso, stands the Carthusian monas-
tery of Paular, one of the most wealthy convents in Spain, and
celebrated for its wool ; it is situated in a delightful valley, irri-
gated by a large rivulet, which gently glides through groves and
vast meadows, at the foot and on the opposite side of those steep
mountains which overlook the -palace of St. Ildefonso. This
stream drives a paper-mill, the noise of which, is the only sound
that interrupts the solemn tranquillity of the beautiful scene.
Pr. Walker on his return to the capital .staid but one day, and
SARAGOSSA BARCELONA. 421
passing through Guadalaxara, they at length arrived the second
day after their departure from Madrid at Saragossa.
" Saragossa is said to have been built by the Phoenicians/*
said the Doctor, as they entered the city ; " observe, Edward,
the houses are from three to six stories high, and the pub-
lic buildings very magnificent : the streets are long, broad, and
well paved. Here is an university too, a court of inquisition, 17 '
large churches, and 14 monasteries.
EDWARD. " There is a court of inquisition every where, I
think ; but Saragossa has erected for itself a more lasting edifice
of fame, than that which is founded upon its magnificent build-
ings of any kind/'
" True/' replied his friend. " In the year 1809, Saragossa was
attacked by the French, and sustained one of the most memorabe
sieges recorded in the annals of war. Under the command of
Palafox, soldiers, priests, ladies, and children, all united and
fought in its defence. The bravery of the females, especially the
heroines Augustina, Renita, and MonullaSancho, will long reflect
honour on Saragossa. These noble women employed themselves
in bringing provisions to the weary soldiers, serving at the guns,
or fighting with muskets. The last fell in the hottest of the fire ;
Beriita headed a corps of ladies, and after rendering many im-
portant services, rapidly died of a broken heart, on hearing
that her daughter had been shot. Augustina, after the sur-
render, eluded the vigilance of the centinel, and fled to the pa-
triots, and finally to the English fleet, which was then lying
before Cadiz/'
They staid but a short time in Saragossa; and directing their
course eastward, they passed through Lerieza and Cervera, and
at length arrived at Barcelona.
Of all the people of Spain, the Catalonians are perhaps the
most industrious and enterprising.
The port of Barcelona exports silk stuffs, middling cloths, cot-
tons, chintzes, wines and brandy, all the production of the coun-
try ; and to know what share the Catalonians have in this trade,
it is sufficient to say, that in 1782, of 628 vessels which entered
Barcelona, 317 were Spanish.
Many prohibited goods, however, are smuggled into this port,
particularly salt fish, for which England receives nearly tliree
millions of piastres annually.
" A remarkable circumstance this/' said the Doctor, " in the
history of commerce, tha,t a nation of heretics should supply a
Catholic kingdom with an eatable which they alone know how to
prepare for the taste of the consumers, take from their coasts the
salt with which the fish are cured, and catch those fish near the
same island of Newfoundland of which they made the discovery.
It would seem as if this dependence was an irrevocable decree
of fate ; for the attempts made to substitute fish caught on the
coasts of Biscay and the Asturias have been ia vain, and only
422 TRAVELS IN ITALY.
served to prove that laws, policy, interest itself, disappear before
the caprice of taste.
" And now, Edward, we must, I think, take leave of our Spa-
nish friends; and as I hear there is a vessel bound for Marseilles,
which will sail to-morrow, I intend going by that to Nice, and
so on to Turin.
CHAPTER XVII.
TRAVELS IN ITALY.
SECTION I.
THE SOUTH-EAST OF FRANCE.
OUR travellers had a most agreeable sail, and arrived at Mar-
seilles early in the morning, but did not go on shore till mid-day,
Marseilles was founded by a colony of Greeks. It is an ancient
and flourisfring port, at the head of a gulf, in which are several
islands. For variety of dress and language it has been called
Europe in miniature. The environs are beautified by about 5000
country residences of the opulent citizens.
Here our travellers were tempted to remain some little time,
during which they joined a French family, to whom they had
letters of introduction, that were going to A ix, their usual place
of residence,
" Aix," observed Dr. Walker to his pupil, " was founded by the
Romans, and it has yet, I understand, the remains of a triumphal
arch, erected by Marius, to commemorate his victory over the
Ambrons and Teutones, in which two hundred thousand men
were slain/'
They were charmed with the beauty of this place, and lingered
some time in its environs, in order to enjoy the lovely scenery
which met their view on every side. Aix has a public walk, a
mile in length, 120 yards in breadth, and shaded by four rows of
trees ; at each extremity is a cold fountain, and two hot ones in
the middle. It has also extensive manufactories of linen and
woollen clolhs, and trades in the products of the adjoining parts,
viz. in olives, oil, brandy, silk, raisins, figs and prunes.
Having returned to Marseilles, they hired a boat to carry them
to Toulon, one of the most celebrated sea ports in France. It is
divided into two parts, the old and new town. The latter
THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. 423
its foundation to Louis the 14th. A spacious oblong square,
adorned with trees, and serving as a delightful promenade, em-
bellishes the new town; it has three harbours ; and along that
called the Merchant's Port, extends a noble quay, and the town-
house, which are protected by two moles. The new haven owes
its construction to Vauban, the celebrated engineer of the reign
of Louis the 14th. In the front of this haven stands the rope-
house, built wholly of free-stone, 620 feet in length, containing
three arched walks, and above these there is a place where the
hemp is prepared. The gallies are now kept in a basin at this
place, and Edward's indignation was excited at seeing the slaves
chained to the oar under a burning sun.
" You should recollect," observed the Doctor, " that many of
these men might possibly have been condemned to death by the
laws, and their present punishment is an amelioration of the sen-
tence/'
This port was taken by the English and Spaniards, during the
late war, but with infinite loss, and finally but little profit} for
they were soon obliged to abandon it, and 4000 of the inhabit-
ants, who had joined the invaders, were shot by order of General
Freron; and Buonaparte was appointed to see the sentence car-
ried into execution.
" Pray let us ttike a peep at Frejus," said Edward, " for how-
ever insignificant it may appear in itself, Buonaparte has immor-
talised it by Ms daring and romantic return to France in the year
1814."
" Have you yet to learn," replied the Doctor, " that Frejus is
in itself a place of interest ; nor did it need Buonaparte's pre-
sence to give it renown. It was the Forum Julii of the Romans,
and had then a sea-port, which is now a mile and a half distant
from it. And we shall then have the pleasure of inspecting an
aqueduct, an amphitheatre, statues and inscriptions innumerable,
the magnificent remains of its former splendour. The south of
France contains many precious relics of antiquity. At Nismcs,
capital of the department of Gard, there is a public fountain, a
mausoleum, and a magnificent amphitheatre, built by the Ro-
mans ; but the Maison Quarree, is a temple of the Corinthian
order, of the most exquisite taste, erected by the inhabitants of
Nismes, in the year 754, to the memory of Cains and Lucius, sons
of Agrippa, and grandsons of Augustus*."
EDWARD. " Are there not some Roman remains at Mont-
pelier, Sir?''
* An Italian artist upon seeing some parts of this Maison
Carree mended by a French mason, exclaimed with indignation,
" What do I see ? the hat of Harlequin placed on the head of
Augustus!" Cardinal Alberoni was so astonished at its beauty,
that he said, it deserved a covering of gold to preserve it from
injury.
424 ITALY.
DR. WALKER.*' No."
" Montpellier, is rich and beautiful; it has long been in public
estimation : for what is of more importance to mankind than even
Roman antiquities, I mean its school of medicine and its botanic
garden : the garden was the first of the kind established in Eu-
rope. The air is exceedingly salubrious, and a great number of
invalids come hitherto recover their health. It trades in silks,
blankets, cotton goods, hides and liquors.
" To-morrow, we shall, I hope, reach Nice, and then adieu to
France for a time."
From Frejus they started early the next morning, and they
had again a peep at the arcades of an aqueduct, and some ruins
which appear to have been temples. The arches of this aqueduct
are small and low, without either grace or ornament, and seem to
have been calculated for mere utility. Having passed these
ruins, they shortly began to ascend the steep mountain of Es-
trelles, which is eight miles over. This mountain was formerly
infested by banditti; but it is now tolerably free from Ihe depre^
dations of those gentry. The road which, though good, runs in
many parts along the edge of a precipice, creates fears of another
kind in timid minds, which are needless; and our travellers
enjoyed the romantic beauty of the scenery extreme!}'. Amidst
the dark pines which cover the surrounding rocks, the cherry
laurel displayed its shining foliage and brilliant fruit. In the
middle of this mountain is the post-house, presenting the most
(hilling aspect; but what was the surprise of Edward upon strol-
ling round the inn, when upon turning suddenly to the south, he
discovered orange trees richly loaded with fruit, and a garden
filled with fine vegetables ; while on the north side of the house an
eternal winter appeared to reign! Their journey in the after-
noon was peculiarly pleasing; for on one side of the hill is a na-
tural plantation of beautiful evergreens: pines, firs, laurel, cy-
press, sweet myrtle, tamarisc, box and juniper ; these, inter-
spersed with marjoram, sweet thyme, lavender and sage, at once
enchant the sight and regale the smell. On the right hand the
land shot up into agreeable cones, forming long vistas, through
which our travellers caught tine views of the Mediterranean,
which washes the foot of the rock ; while in a valley between two
of the mountains glided a purling stream, whose soft murmurs
threw a soothing charm around. r l hey slept that night at Cannes,
and on the following day they arrived at Antibes ; from thence
crossing tke river Loup, they reached the village St. Laurent.
Their road now lay along the sea-shore, which was covered with
white polished pebbles ; and on their left sweet olives arid myr-
tles as large as our white-thorn bushes, adorned the road. From,
Antibes, where they next stopped, and where they passed the
Var, (the ancient boundary of France,) the road is far from dis-
agreeable, and they entered Nice in high spirits, anticipating the
pleasure they had to come in their journey through Italy.
NICE. 425
" Before we commence our excursion to Turin/' said the
Doctor, " we will rest a few days."
" I think, indeed, replied Edward, from what little I could
observe of Nice through the dusk, it appears a charming spot, and
that a short time spent here would be very agreeable. "
Edward was up the next morning with the sun, and strolling
to the rampart, he remained motionless with astonishment. The
small extent of country which he saw was one continued garden
full of orange, lemon, and bergamot trees ; between these were
planted peas and all other kinds of vegetables ; to these were
added plots of roses, carnations, ranunculas, anemones, and daf-
fodils, all blowing with such vigour and perfume, as no flower in
England ever exhibited : behind the town rose stupendous moun-
tains, the most distant covered with snow ; and before him
stretched the magnificent ocean. The morning being extremely
clear, a fisherman, who was pleased with the astonishment im-
printed on his countenance, joined him, and pointed out in the
distance the shores of Corsica. He also invited him to his hut,
and presented him with some fine carnations, large quantities of
which he said were shipped off for Turin, Paris, and even Lon-
don, every autumn. They are packed up in boxes, without any
preparation, one pressed upon another : the person who receives
them, cuts off a little bit of the stalk, and steeps them for two
hours in vinegar and water, when they recover their full bloom:
they may then be placed in water bottles, where they are screened
from the severity of the weather, and they will continue fresh and
unfaded the greater part of a month.
Edward returned home to breakfast, delighted at the thoughts
of sending carnations to England ; and detailing to his friend
the particulars of his morning excursion, he proposed packing up
the flowers immediately, and dispatching them to his mother.
What a climate this is, Sir !" continued he.
" And did you meet no disagreeable amidst the profusion of
sweets you have described ?" enquired his tutor.
" Why, yes, I did certainly," replied Edward, " the lizards
annoyed me a good deal in the gardens, and I was stung to death
with gnats and flies."
DR. WALKER. " And last night did you feel no inconveni-
ence from fleas, &c. &c. 7 '
EDWARD. " I confess I did not sleep much, although I had
gauze curtains to my bed."
Dr. WALKER. " And see what a swarm of flies covers every
article of your breakfast. You are strangely altered methinks;
and as you are become so well satisfied with all these inconve-
niences, put on your hat and we will go and see the ruins of the
ancient city Comenelion, now called Curnia. The hills are, I
understand, infested with snakes, and some few scorpions ; but
to us, who are now philosophers, these animals will only present
a study for natural history."
426 ITALY.
There are the remains of an amphitheatre at this place, and of
an aqueduct, and in defiance of the various disagreeables they
met with, our travellers were highly pleased with their little ex-
cursion.
The natives of this place are extremely fond of festivals, and
much of their time is lost in entertainments, which somewhat
resemble an English fair. There are a great many noblesse in
this part of the country; but they are very poor. Smollet says
that a friend of his having taken shelter for the night in a cottage
belonging to one of these noble families, the next morning he
heard the father address his son in the following extraordinary
manner : " Chevalier* as tu donnc a manger aux cochons"
" 1 have hired mules and guides to conduct us to Turin/' said
the Doctor, u and to-morrow morning we start ; but mind, Ed-
ward, we set off extremely early, in order to avoid meeting the
long string of mules in the mountains, which pass daily between
Coni and Nice. L'Escarene was the first village they met with,
and from thence passing the mountain called Brans, which took
up four hours, they reached Sospello, where they slept a few
hours only. After passing one other mountain, not quite so high
as Brans, they fixed their quarters for the night at La Giandola,
a tolerable inn. These mountains are infested with smugglers,
and our travellers were under some little apprehension, lest they
should be attacked, as they observed two or three extraordinarily
dressed figures in several parts of the mountain, the Doctor fired
his pistol, hoping that the reverbation from the neighbouring
mountains might induce them to suppose their party was large,
and divert them from making any attack upon them ; but he
forgot that the mountains were covered with snow ; and that his
pistol, though well loaded with powder, would make no more noise
than a pop-gun. An involuntary laugh followed this tremendous
explosion, and the gentry who had excited his apprehensions
disappearing, they proceeded merrily on, till they came to the na-
tural cascades, formed by the little river Roida, which runs in a
bottom between frightful precipices. Here there was noise
enough, for there was little or no snow on these mountains, and
every sound echoed from rock to rock, and produced a surpris-
ing effect The Col de Tende was a more formidable undertak-
ing than they had supposed ; and when they reached the inn,
called La Ca, which is about half way up the mountain, they
hired fresh guides to assist them in ascending. These men carry
a kind of hoe to break the ice, and make a sort of step for the
mules. When our travellers were near the top, they were ob-
liged to alight and climb the mountain, supported by two of their
guides, (Coulants as they are called,) w r ho from habit ascend
these snowy regions with as much ease as if they were traversing
an even grass plot. The summit of the Col de Tende presents no ]
object either of interest or beauty, arid without delay, therefore,
they seated themselves in a kind of sledge, called a Leze, made of
TURIN. 427
two pieces of wood, which are carried by the cou/ants for the ac-
commodation of passengers. One coulant stands behind, and the
other before, as conductor, with his feet paddling in the snow,in
order to moderate the velocity of the vehicle. Limon stands at
the foot of this mountain, and in a very short time our travellers
entered the beautiful plain which extends to the very gates of
Turin, the chief city of Piedmont. Turin is seated at the foot of
the Alps, and at the confluence of the Doria and Po. It is ex-
tremely elegant, and the citadel is a master-piece of architecture.
Our travellers entered this city by the gate of Nice, and passing
through the elegant Piazza di San Carlo, they took up their quar-
ters in one of the principal inns in the great square called La
Piazza Castel. The regularity of the streets of Turin is remark,
able, and in order to preserve this, no inhabitant is allowed to
make any alterations and repairs, but on a uniform plan, laid
down by the government. The walks along the Po in its environs,
are extremely picturesque, and the city itself presents from thence
an imposing appearance. The fortifications are regular, and are
kept in excellent repair. The king's palace stands at the end of
the Strata di Po : it consists of two magnificent structures in a
simple but noble style of architecture, joined together by a gal-
lery, in which are several pictures, statues arid antiquities of great
value.
" Why/' said Edward, as the}' sat down to breakfast the morn-
ing after their arrival, the clock strikes five, and I am sure my
watch is right, arid it is by that nine.
DR. WALKER. " Know you not, Edward, that the Italians
count the commencement of the day at sunrise, and conclude it
at sunset ? That their clocks strike in general twenty-four hours,
and that the sun having risen to the inhabitants of London this
morning at 4 o'clock, (it being the 19th of July,) your watch
must necessarily be nine; though the clock here has struck five,
for as the day commences with sun-rise, and as that took place at
4 o'clock, it must needs be five. Some of their clocks go no fur-
ther than twelve, and some not beyond six, and then begin
again/'
EDWARD. " This mode of reckoning appears to me to be at-
tended with much inconvenience. When it strikes three times
in the four and twenty hours, how are people to know what
three it is?"
DR. WALKER. " That is rather a simple question, but not
more simple than the people are who adopt that mode of reckon-
ing time. It reminds me of the savages who count by moons.
The height, however, of the sun, and the general aspect of the
day, of the pursuits that are going on, and so forth, these would
to all those who are accustomed to make use of their eyes, indi-
cate which of the three it was; and as for strangers, why they
must make use of their eyes too, if they have not watches of their
428 ITALY.
own ; but let us now take a stroll through the city, and see what
the people are doing at this hour."
As they quitted the inn, a funeral passed by, and it being the
first they had seen in Italy, their curiosity induced them to fol-
low the procession. The body, as is customary in this country,
was dressed, with the face uncovered, and it was laid upon an
open bier ; all this they expected ; but they were not prepared
to see the corpse tumbled headlong into a'gra without a cof-
fin. Upon enquiry they found the custom very general ; and
they were informed that every parish church was furnished with
a vault, and that numbers of bodies were often precipitated to-
gether into this common receptacle of fallen man. This disgust-
ing custom is sometimes productive of serious consequences, and
many epidemic disorders are frequently caused by the noxious
effluvia of these places.
SECTION II.
GENERAL VIEW OF ITALY.
UPON their return home, Dr. Walker desired Edward would
bring out their Atlas, that they might skim the geography of
Italy.
" Italy," continued the Doctor, " is longitudinally divided
by the Appennines, and was anciently called ' the Garden of Eu-
rope ;' and it still merits that title in a certain degree ; but the
dreadful ravages of the Huns converted many of its fertile plains
into desarts; the pools of such places became stagnant, and the
atmosphere insalubrious. Where the ground is high, and well
cultivated, the air is dry and pure, and the weather in general
serene, though liable to violent rains. In summer the heat is so
great in the south, that it would be intolerable if it were not
tempered by cool breezes from the Appennines and the sea. The
northern confines are varied with lakes and the towering Alps.
Mount Gorgona, the spur of the Appennines, adorns the Gulf of
Manfredonia.
The subterraneous treasures of this beautiful country are
no ways inferior to those which adorn and enrich its surface.
Its rivers are not numerous ; the Po is the principal ; it rises
in Mount Viso, one of the highest of the Alps, and after re-
ceiving upwards of thirty rivers, as it flows to the eastward
by Turin, Casal, Valenza, Placenza, Cremona, it falls into the
Adriatic by seven mouths. Its course is about 300 miles.
The Arno rises in the Appennines, visits Florence, Pisa, andl
MARBLES OF ITALY. 429
falls into the Mediterranean. The Tiber's course is south by
west; it runs about 150 miles, passes Orta, and 10 miles be-
low Rome mixes with the Mediterranean sea. The Adige runs
south arid east, passes Verona, and empties itself into the Adri-
atic, just above the Po.
The principal islands are Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Ischia,
and Elba.
EDWARD. " The marbles of Italy are very valuable, I think,
Sir. I have heard of the Florentine marbles, and those of Car-
rara, as being much valued by architects."
DR. WALK EH. u The Carrara marble is highly esteemed by
statuaries, that and the Parian, which is considered the purest of
all, are indeed denominated statuary marbles. Carrara also pro-
uces a deep blue-coloured marble, called Bordiglio, which in
xture resembles the white from the same place.
*' Cipoliu is also a statuary marble, traversed by veins of
liea."
EDWARD. " I do not quite comprehend what mica is,"
DR. WALKER. ' e You have seen the Aberdeen granite, with
hieh man> of the streets of London are paved. You have ob-
?rved, I dare say, that there is a bright sparkling about it.
hose bright particles are mica, the pale blueish substance is
uartz, and the darker material is feldspar. The superiority of
ve Parian marble over that of Carrara is this the latter is in-
>rmixed at times with a considerable portion of quartz ; while
ic former is composed almost solely of carbonate of lime. Lu-
lachella, (in English, smalt snail, this marble being principally
f shells,) is a beautiful marble of a greyish brown colour, con-
dining shells that still retain their polish. Bleyburg, in Carin-
ria, produces the finest of this kind : the base is a greyish brown
ompact limestone, in which are implanted shells of a fine colour
,nd beautiful irridiscent hues.
" The Florentine marble is composed of a very compact argil-
ace'tJus limestone, of a grey colour, with designs of a yellowish-
>rown, representing architectural ruins."
That must be the most interesting of all," interrupted Ed-
vard.
DR. WALKER. " Then there is the yellow Sienna and the
ampan, the Yerde Antico, Verde de Corsica, and many other
arieties. There are a mixture of granulatory foliated limestone,
calcareous spar and serpentine, with threads of the asbestos. I
>elieve I mentioned to you some time ago, that there was an
elastic marble; I have since discovered that it is phosphoric;
hat is to say, it emits an irridescent light, under particular cir-
cumstances. This property is not confined to the elastic marble,
br some on being merely rubbed in the dark, and others on being
previously exposed to a strong heat, emit this phosphoric light.
t)f these kinds of phosphorescent stones, that generally denomi-
nated the Bologniari stone is the most curious. A casual disco-
430 ITALY.
very made by Vincenzio Cascariolo, a shoe-maker of Bologna,
about the year 1630, was the first circumstance that attracted the
notice of philosophers on this curious subject. This man, whose
mind it seems was more bent upon making discoveries in alche-
my, than on the art of making shoes or mending soles, was in-
duced to calcine a parcel of Bologna spar, which he had procured
from Monte Paterne, in the neighbourhood of the city. He ob-
served that when any of this calcined substance was placed in a
dark room, after having been exposed to the sun, it continued to
emit faint rays of light for some hours afterwards. In conse-
quence of this discovery, the Bologniati spar acquired conside-
rable repute, and the family of Zagoni supplied ail Europe for a
time with phosphorus. The process employed by this family, is
not now known ; but Kircher says, that if the spar be finely pul-
verised, and then beaten up into a paste, with white of egg, or
linseed oil, and calcined in the fire, it will, after exposure for a
minute in the light exhibit its phosphorescent quality. I cannot
help making one observation, which is, perhaps, rather irrelevant
to our studies, at least as far as concerns Italy. It is a singular
fact, that in New Holland no limestone of any kind has hitherto
been discovered ; in consequence of which the builders are ob-
liged to employ coral, or the shells of shell-worms for their mor-
tar, which they collect in prodigious quantities along the sea-
coast. It is perhaps equally singular, that the siliceous particles
called flints, are seldom found in Norway, and that in North
Wales, in the county of Flint, they are scarcely ever to be met
with."
EDWARD. " That is indeed extraordinary ; for its name
would lead one to suppose that it contained an abundance of
those peculiar stones. Pray, Sir, is not the Asbestos found in
Italy? 7 '
DR. WALKER. " In Corsica it is found in such large quan-
tities, that Dolomien used it to pack up other minerals. It is of
various kinds, and has of course various names ; for instance, the
most flexible is called mountain flax; other species known are
mountain cork, mountain leather and elastic Asbesios. It is, as
you know, extremely flexible and incombustible; in consequence
of this latter quality, it was used for wrapping up the bodies of
the dead previous to their being burned. In the island of Cuma,
which is in the bay of Naples, a tomb of the family of Pavilia,
being opened not very long ago the bones of four corses were
discovered in four pieces of stone: they were covered with a cloth
of amianthus, which had become calcined by the salts of the
earth, in consequence of which this cloth was very brittle, and
could only be taken up in pieces : it was proved to be Amianthus,
by putting it in the fire, where it remained unchanged.
" The usual colour of mountain flax is greenish while, passing
into leek green: it is also found of a silvery white, yellowish
white, ochre yellow, pale flesh red, and occasionally but verv
ASBESTOS, &c. 431
rarely of a light-blue colour : it sometimes lies in separate bun-
dles: but most generally in irregular fibrous masses. Its lustre
is glimmering, or slightly shining, and is either weak, pearly or
shining* It is easily divisible into long slender fibres, may be
scratched by the nail, and has somewhat of a soft greasy feel."
EDWARD." It must have the appearance of spermaceti, from
your description, Sir?"
DR. WALKER. u So it has indeed. It is generally opaque;
but sometimes is translncid on the edges. This mineral is said
to contain magnesia, silex, alumine, lime, and oxide of iron. The
value of the cloth made from it has of } r et been but small ; but it
has engrossed the attention of philosophers very much : and Ci-
ampirii of Rome, in 1691, published the following as the best way
of preparing the incombustible cloth. Having previously steeped
the Amianthus in warm water, divide its fibres by gently rubbing
them between the fingers, so as to loosen and separate all the ex-
traneous matter ; then pour on repeatedly very hot water, as
long as it continues to be the least discoloured, Nothing will now
be left but the long fibres; which are to be carefully dried in the
sun. The bundles of thread are to be again divided by very fine
cards, and the lu'ig filaments thus obtained, are to be steeped in
oil, to render them more flexible. A small quantity of cotton or
wool is to be mixed with it, and by means of a thin spindle, the
whole is to be drawn out into a thread, taking care that in every
part, the amianthus may be the principal material. The cloth
being then woven in the usual manner, is to be placed in a clear
charcoal fire to burn off the cotton and oil, when the whole re-
maining tissue will be pure white amianthus. The shorter fibres
that are incapable of being woven, are sometimes made into pa-
per by the same process as that employed for common paper, ex*
cept that a greater proportion of size or paste is necessary. After
having been made red hot, however, this paper becomes bibulous
and brittle. Amianthus threads are also sometimes used as per-
petual wicks for lamps, and although they require to be cleared
occasionally from the soot that collects about them, and the fi-
bres are apt to run together, on the hottest part of the flame, so
as to prevent a due supply of oil, yet I am rather surprised it
has not been more generally applied to that purpose. It is found
in Elba and Crete, in Saxony, Sweden, Cornwall, Anglesea and
Portsay in Scotland/'
SECTION III.
JOURNEY IN ITALY.
" BUT we have wandered strangely from Italy. Let us en-
quire of our landlord if there is anything worth seeing in the
environs of the citv."
5
432 ITALY.
Their host told them, that at about 16 miles distance, there
were the remains of a Roman city, called Industria, at a village
called Monteu.
" It will be a pleasant excursion for this afternoon/' replied
the Doctor," so my good friend procure us somebody that will
immediately attend us." In a very short time they were accom-
modated, and in about two hours and a half they reached the
spot, and were shewn vestiges of an ancient fabric, which from
various inscriptions upon this and several other places, it was
declared to be apart of the remains of the celebrated city Indus-
tria, mentioned by Pliny. Several medals and inscriptive plates
were also discovered, and a tripod of the most exquisite beauty,
adorned with fine alto relievos. The pillars which support it are
each adorned with four small figures. The first is a Venus, the
second a Victory, the third isa Harpy with a woman's face, and
the fourth is a Setenus. These pillars are joined together by little
bars of metal, fastened by rivets at the top, and rings at bottom,
in such a manner that they may be closed together, or drawn
asunder at pleasure. When they are extended to their utmost,
the size of the tripod is twenty eight inches.
" Casall was supposed to have been the ancient site of this
city," said the Doctor ; but the learned, in general, are now of
opinion that this is the spot on which Industria stood."
It was late in the evening when they again entered Turin, and
having packed up as far as they could, in order to resume their
journey on the ensuing day, they retired to rest.
u Milan," said the Doctor, as they approached that city, was
the former capital of the kingdom of Lombardy, and was founded
by the Gauls about 584 years before the Christian aera. It is
about 10 miles in circu inference, and called, by the Italians,
' Milan the Great.' It has an extensive cathedral, entirely built
of marble, except the roof, which is only surpassed by that of St.
Peter's, in Rome. The soil of this part of Italy is, as you must
have observed, Edward, extremely fertile in com, wine, fruit,
rice and olives, and it abounds also with cattle.
u In the Milanese are Pavia, formerly the chief city of the
Lombards. Como, a rich town, which gave birth to Pliny the
younger. Lodi, noted for the desperate conflict between the
French under Napoleon Buonaparte and the Auslrians, and Cre-
mona, on the PU, a large, rich und strong city."
The first day of their arrival, they visited the Cathedral; and
were in some degree much disappointed, for the interior of the
edifice, is so completely disfigured by the smoke from the innu-
merable lamps which it contains, that ail idea of its being marble
vanishes, and the English traveller, who is accustomed to see the
cathedrals of his own country, which are built of much inferior
materials it is true, preserved with the nicest care, and as clean
as it is possible to keep them, feels at first a disgust at entering
the magnificent and noble Cathedral of Milan.
-( ^fdi
LIBRARY OF MILAN. 433
w It is said there are eleven thousand statues in this church, if
so, this enumeration must include figures of every size and deno-
mination. Among the principal, is that of St. Bartholomew, with
his skin hanging over his shoulders as a drapery. The execution
of this statue is exquisite: but the subject is so shocking that our
travellers scarcely gazed upon it long enough to remark the lines
inscribed on its pedestal. They are in Latin, and in English run
thus :
' Lest at the sculptor doubtfully you guess,
'Tis Marc Agrati, not Praxiteles.'
" This statue is reckoned worth its weight in gold.
" Just at the entrance of the choir is a little subterraneous
chapel, dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo, where they saw his
body in episcopal robes, lying upon the altar in a shrine of rock
crystal. This little chapel is richly adorned with silver work.
There are two noble brass pulpits in this cathedral, each of them
running round a large pillar of the same metal. They were shewn
an innumerable quantity of relics; and some of the bones of their
countryman Thomas a Becket, formed a part of this valuable
collection. He appears to be a great favourite in Italy ; forfew
of the principal cities are without some part of his remains,
" St. Ambrose was bishop of Milan/' observed the Doctor, as
they passed out of the cathedral ; " and in a convent of Celestines
they will shew us the gate that this bishop had the hardihood to
shut against the emperor Theodosius ; refusing to admit him
to the holy sacrament, until he had atoned for his cruelty to the
Thessalonians. We will visit this convent, for the library contains
many fine pictures. Of the books I can say but little, for the
Italian libraries generally contain more paintings than MSS.
more statues than folios." This they found was the case in the
present instance ; they were shewn a few very valuable and
ancient MSS. and busts of many learned men. Edward
eagerly looked for those of Locke, Newton, Milton, &c. &e. but
in vain. I see no Englishman at all," said he, as he looked at
Ihe different busts. The Librarian pointed out one of Fisher.
" Who was this learned Fisher, Sir?" said the youth, addres-
sing Dr. Walker, " / never heard of him/'
* k What! have you never heard of Bishop Fisher!" replied his
friend, " whom Henry the Vlllth put to death for not acknow-
ledging his supremacy? Now, although, I pity Fisher's fate, I
cannot but smile to see him placed here as a learned man. Do
you recollect Cowper's lines on seeing some names of little note
recorded in tho Biographia Briiannica. He compares the
4 Attempt to give a deathless lot,
To names ignoble, doomed to be forgot.'
to the sparks of fire: but you shall have it in his own words.
U
434 ITALY.
' So when a child, as playful children use
Have burnt to tinder a stale last year's news,
The flame extinct, he views the roving fire;
" There goes my lady, and there goes the squire ;
" There goes the parson Oh, illustrious spark,
" And there, no less illustrious goes the clerk."
And so Mr. Fisher ought to be much obliged to these good peo-
ple for placing him as one sf the learned men of England V
" If they had made a martyr of him I should not have been at
all surprised/' said Edward.
The following day our travellers made an excursion to a Car-
thusian monastery, near Pavia, where Francis 1st was confined,
in order to view its fine Gothic architecture. The country round
Milan is extremely picturesque, and this little journey gave them
the most unalloyed pleasure. The monastery is spacious and
beautiful, and the chapel, contrary to the usual custom of this
order, is curiously adorned in a Gothic style of architecture. Upon
quilting IMiltui, they passed through many luxuriant and well-
watered fields, on their way to Lodi, whose neighbourhood is ce-
lebrated for the making of Parmesan cheese. As the meadows
are parcelled out among many proprietors, and the smallest
cheese manufactory requires the milk of at least fifty cows, dif-
ferent individuals are usually associated in one concern.
Binasco, which Buonaparte caused to be burnt, lies on the
road between Milan and Pavia; indeed the part of Italy they
were now traversing, was most interesting. The whole of it
having undergone many revolutions during the late war. From
Lodi they continued their journey to Cremona, so celebrated
for its violins, and Bozelo ; but they made no stay in either
of these places, and continued their journey till they arrived
at Mantua, after traversing innumerable windings over an ex-
tensive plain, which is unenlivened by any variety whatever.
When Buonaparte invaded Italy, and bad subdued Mantua,
as well as a great many other places in its vicinity, the inha-
bitants were no sooner freed from his presence, than they revolted
and imprisoned those persons who had been appointed by him to
support \\iefree government he had established in the city. His
rage was unbounded when he heard of these proceedings, and
returning to wreak vengeance on the inhabitants, he declared,
6 that if a single hair of any of his people had received the least
injury, he w r ould level Mantua with the dust, and erect a pillar
on its ruins with this inscription Here stood Mantua; fortunately
all his people were in good health, and when he saw them in
good spirits. A monument to Virgil was erected in Mantua during
the consulship of Bonaparte. The bust of the poet is placed on
a high column, supported by four iron swans, which are covered
with plaister of Paris. The plaistcr has already began to fall off,
and the whole has a most pitiful and mean appearance; indeed
MANTUA PADUA VERONA. 435
our travellers were much disappointed upon entering Mantua,
and quitting it for Padua much sooner than they expected, they
entered that city, after passing through Porto and Este. Their
first visit, the next morning, was to the church of St. Justina, the
most handsome disencumbered building in the inside they had
yet seen ; indeed it is esteemed by many artists as one of the
finest works in Italy. The long nef consists of a row of five
cupolas ; the cross one has, on each side, a single cupola deeper
and broader than the others. The martyrdom of Saint Justina,
painted by Paul Veronese, hangs over the altar. In front of this
church is a wide area, called the Prato del Valle, where booths
and shops are erected for all kinds of merchandise during the
fair. The ornaments of the church consist principally of Mosaic
work, of marble of various colours. Dr. Walker and his pupil
were pestered on all sides by beggars, even in the church ; as it
is the case indeed throughout the whole continent of Europe.
Having relieved one or two, they were soon surrounded by a.
crowd, who were clamorous beyond all description. u No/' said,
the Doctor, who was irritated at their noisy importunity, " nei-
ther St. Anthony, nor Saint Francis will serve your purpose ; not
a single sol will I give to any one of you. I am astonished,"
continued he, as they quitted the church, " that these vagrants
should be allowed to molest and torment strangers in such an
abominable manner. Kotzebue says, and I perceive how justly
now: * Whoever wishes to see a model of a wretched police,
let him only visit the towns of Italy. 7
" Padua has an university, which was formerly very famous,
but it is now on the decline like its cloth manufactory, and many
other excellencies of which it formerly boasted.
" Suppose/' said the Doctor, " we make an excursion to Ve-
rona, and take a peep at the celebrated Amphitheatre, which Mr.
Du Bourg has so faithfully represented in his cork model; and
which is exhibited in London."
The proposal was warmly seconded by Edward, who antici-
pated much pleasure from the inspection of a place of such great
antiquity, and of which they had heard so much. Their journey
was extremely pleasant, for between Padua and Verona, the
country is thickly planted with rows of white mulberry trees,
which are much cultivated in this neighbourhood, on account oi"
tjje great number of silk-worms which the inhabitants rear ; these
archied upon the leaves, while the poultry and swine consume
thermit. The trees themselves serve at the same time as stays
for vines, which hang in luxuriant festoons from branch to
branch ; and between theirseverai ranges lie fields of corn, which
ripen much better in this warm climate, when screened a little
from the intense heat of the sun, by the luxuriant foliage of the
mulberry trees, than when exposed to its burning rays. The rich
luxuriance which such a country must present, inspired our tra~
Tellers with extreme delight.
u 2
436 ITALY.
" The country about Verona," said the Doctor, as they ap-
proached that city, " has been considered as a great natural ca-
binet,, in which a number of extraneous bodies have been pre-
served, some belonging to sea, and others to land animals, A
short time ago there was found in the environs of this city, a tusk
about thirty inches in circumference at the root, and from twelve
to thirteen feet in length. I am almost sorry we did not prose-
cute our journey from Turin along the Po, we should then have
seen the Lago del Garda, the ancient Benacus, which Virgil so
beautifully describes ; do you remember the lines, Edward ?' 7
" EDWARD. " In English, I do, Sir."
' Here vex'd by wintry storms Benacus raves,
Confus'd with working sands and rolling waves;
Rough and tumultuous like a sea it lies
So loud the tempest roars, so high the billows rise/
Verona stands on the Adige, and our travellers entered the
city with mixed emotions of admiration and regret. During the
late war this fertile country was the scene of many hard fought
battles ; and Bonaparte, whose exploits in Italy would fill a vo-
lume, ceded one-half of the town to Austria, and attached the
other hair to his kingdom of Italy. The celebrated amphitheatre
at Verona, is, however, greatly indebted to the exertions of Buo-
naparte, tor he caused the area to be excavated, which had becji
for many years filled up even as high as the lowest row of seats
for the spectators. The doors are now visible through which the
wild beasts used to enter, and the whole is in a high state of pre-
servation. Many of the lower arches are fitted up as small shops.
The high walls and corridors that went round it are not quite
perfect, but the different rows of seats, and those at the two ex-
tremities, which the Emperor and his guards used to occupy, are
all entire. Besides the amphitheatre, there is a triumphal arch
erected to Flaminius, where the pillars are Doric, without any
pedestal or base.
Among the more modern buildings of Verona, the church of
St. George is the handsomest. The martyrdom of the saint is in
a line style, and was the work of Paul A r eronese. Verona con-
tains also the statues of Pliny the elder, and Cornelius Nepos,
both of whom were born here. The silk and woollen manufac-
tures in this town employ above 20,000 persons; next to these
are gloves and leather, which are sent to all parts of Italy.
VENICE. 437
SECTION IV.
JOURNEY TO VENICE.
DR. Walker having seen all that was remarkable in Verona,
arrtl in its neighbourhood, proposed returning 1 to Padua, from
whence they were to continue their journey to Venice.
Not far from this place is Vicenza, which gave birth to
the celebrated architect Palladio ; it contains above 20 palaces
from his designs ; here are also 60 churches, many fine public
buildings, an academy for the improvement of the Italian
language, and another for agriculture. It manufactures damask
and taffeta; and its machinery, on the banks of the river,
for winding silk, is said to be unrivalled. Its university
is in great repute, especially for medicine. Here Titus Livy, the
Roman historian, was born.
Venice makes a very noble appearance at a distance, its
stately buildings and lofty steeples appearing to rise from the
bosom of the sea. The Laguna, or marshy lake, which divides
the city from the continent, is five Italian miles in breadth, and
our travellers having crossed this, landed in the middle of the
city, and took up their abode at one of the principal inns in the
place. The very evening of their arrival, they joined the nume-
rous assemblage of persons in the Place of St. Mark. Here many
persons were in masks, many in their ordinary dress, and some
lew had a "mask stuck in their hat, wearing a black cloak trim-
med with lace of the same colour thrown over their shoulders.
The mask in the last instance, is an apology for an undress; and
a person in this costume is sufficiently adorned for any assembly
in Venice. The scene was new, and highly diverting to our tra-
vellers, for the Piazza being illuminated, and the shops in the ad-
jacent streets been lighted up, the effect was very brilliant. Ita-
lian music too added its charms, while Mr. Punch, enacted his
ancient and doleful tragedy, and went through all his evolutions
with wondrous eclat. They had more than once been amused
since their entrance into Italy with the puppet shews, which are
conducted with great ingenuity.
The inhabitants of every district of Italy are passionately
fond of this sort of spectacle : and the theatres of the Burattini
are always crowded with men of all ranks and ages. Here aie
performed tragedies, comedies, operas, and even pantomime bal-
lets, which are truly extraordinary for the richness of their ac-
companiments, the rapidity of change in the decorations, and the
singularity of the transitions. The figures are generally very
small, but the wires are so arranged as to be capable of executing-
u 3
438 ITALY.
all possible movements with asionishing quickness: the effect of
the pantomimes is particularly striking.
On the following evening they went to one of the play-houses,
where a harlequin entertainment, of the most ludicrous kind, de-
lighted the audience extremely, who appeared as much pleased
with the buffoonery of Signor Arlequino, as an English audience
would be with that of Joe Grimaldi, under the same circum-
stances. One piece of wit drew forth the most clamorous tributes
of applause. A stutterer having in vain endeavoured for a length
of time to name the place where Columbine was hid, Harlequin
patted him, fanned him, soothed him, scolded him, and caressed
him: ke then unbuttoned his waistcoat, untied his neckcloth.,
but all to no purpose, the unfortunate word still stuck in the stut-
terer's throat, and almost choaked him : he gasped for breath,
and appeared on the point of expiring, when Harlequin consider-r
ing that desperate diseases require desperate remedies, suddenly
thrust his head violently against the stomach of the unfortunate
stammerer, and the word instantly popped out with such violence
as almost to startle the audience. The effect was beyond all
description ridiculous : and for a length of time
" Unextingnished laughter shook the" house.
Tbe extraordinary alteration in the man's countenance; the sud-
den transformation of his inflated figure into its original size, the
antic joy of Harlequin upon having succeeded so well in his de-
sign, kept up the roar of laughter, and more than once the per-
formance was partly interrupted by the mirth which this scene
had produced.
Edward returned home delighted with Harlequin, and regret-
ted that he could never describe this scene to his mother, so as to
excite more than a smile. Among those customs which struck him
as singular at the theatre, was this. Between the acts, the com-
pany, particularly the ladies, walked about with their cieisbeos,.
and amused themselves with spying at the company through
their glasses. As they are all masked, and in general dress very
much alike, they can pursue this amusement without fear of being
recognised. Indeed the Venetian ladies who are of rank, dress
in the same style : they are not permitted to wear jewels, except
the first year after their marriage ; their robes are always black y
and a gold chain, or a string of pearls round their wrists is their
only ornament.
" The ancient constitution of Venice," observed Dr. Walker
to his pupil, u was most powerfully aristocratic : the people had
no share whatever in it ; but justice was perhaps no where so
impartially administered, nor any where so inflexible. Among
the proofs brought forward to establish this fact, I shall recite one
only.
*' Foscari, son of the Doge of the same name, was taken up on
suspicion of having murdered one of the Council of Ten; being
unable to prove his innocence, he was banished to Caiidia. He
VENICE. 439
repeatedly wrote to his family to interfere in his behalf; but they
could not, consistently with the established laws and customs of
their country, do any such thing. One of the laws of Venice
makes it a capital punishment for any subject of the republic to
claim the assistance of any foreign power. In despair, Foscad
resolved on addressing the Duke of Milan, well knowing that the
bearer would carry his letter to the Council of Ten, and that he
should be called to Venice in order to undergo a new trial. This
was what he wished, and when brought before his judges, he de-
clared that he had written to the Duke, not hoping that any alle-
viation of his fate would follow this breach of the laws of his coun-
try; but solely that he might once more be permitted to see his
father and mother, a pleasure for which he had languished day
and night.
The Council of Ten unmoved by the excess of iceling^and an-
guish, which this speech betrayed, sentenced him to one year's im-
prisonment, and banishment for life. Jn an interview he had with
his parents in the Ducal palace, he entreated his father would ea-
df avour to soften so harsh a sentence. " My son/' said the aged
arid broken-hearted Foscari, u submit to the laws of your coun-
try, and do not ask me what is not in my power to grant." His
courage supported him thus far ; but overcome by the poignancy
of his feelings, he immediately fell into a state of insensibility.
The feelings of a mother upon such an occasion, who shall attempt
to describe? A few years afterwards, when some of the prin-
cipal senators, touched with the woes of this illustrious house,
had hopes of procuring his pardon, the melancholy news ar-
rived, that the unfortunate youth had breathed his last. The elder
Foscari survived his son long enough to enjoy the satisfaction of
knowing he was proved guiltless. A Venetian nobleman having
confessed in his dying moments that he had committed the mur-
der for which young Foscari had suffered so unjustly and so
severely!' 5
EDWARD. " Oh, what a cold, hard-hearted wretch was that
Venetian! I could almost have pardoned him the murder had
he not caused so much misery to the innocent Foscari.' 7
The famous Rialto, the principal of the Venetian bridges is
ninety feet wide, on a level with the canal. It consists of one
arch which is twenty-four feet high, and which is composed of
marble. The view from this bridge is delightful : indeed it is the
only one which merits attention in Venice. Magnificent pa-
laces and churches border ihe canal over which it stretches, and
its surface is always varied if not enlivened by boats and gon-
dolas; but these being generally lined with black, their appear-
ance is rather mournful. The architecture of the church of St.
Mark, is mostly Gothic: but it contains also some Grecian or-
ders. The outside is encrusted with marble, and every part of
the interior is adorned with the finest specimens of marble also.
But a bad taste pervades the whole, and it is so gloomy and dark
U 4
440 ITALY.
that much of its rich adormngs is lost upon the spectator. In
the front are five brass gates, over the principal one stand the four
restored horses which Buonaparte had carried to Paris. They
have, however, resumed their former position.
" They have been great travellers/' observed the Doctor ; " for
they are said to have been the work of Lysippus, and were ori-
ginally destined to be harnessed to the chariot of the sun. They
\<ere given to Nero by Tiridates king of Armenia; the Roman
emperor placed them on the triumphal arch erected to him ; they
were afterwards carried to Constantinople, when Constantine re-
moved the seat of empire to Byzantium, and there adorned the
Hippodrame. In the beginning of the thirteenth century the
French and Venetians took Constantinople, and these horses
were then conveyed to this city, where they remained the pride
and glory of Venice, until they went on their Parisian trip. The
ducal palace is almost composed of marble ; but though an im-
mense building, it possesses no striking feature of beauty, except
the spacious stair, called the Giant's Stair : which obtained this
name, from two colossal statues which stand on the top of it, the
one of Mars, the other of Neptune. Under the portico are the
gaping mouths of lions, to receive any anonymous accusation or
letters."
" There is a covered bridge from the palace, to a state prison
on the opposite side, called Ponte del Sospiri, over which the
prisoners pass to and from the courts of justice."
" Ponle del Sospiri!" repeated Edward, as the bridge was
pointed out to him, " It makes one sigh to hear of it." There is
an opening to the sea upon St. Mark's Place, on which stand
two^lofty pillars of granite, between which criminals condemned
to suffer death privately, are executed.
SECTION V.
FERRARA, BOLOGNA, THE APENNINES.
Having satisfied their curiosity with regard to Venice, our travel-
lers embarked on board a barge, and proceeded along the Brenta,
as far as Paglio ; they then entered a canal, and finally the river
Bachiglione, which brought them to Padua. The shores of this
beautiful river are richly adorned with the villas of the Venetian
nobles, over which the trembling aspin, and the light foliage of
the birch, the larch, and various other trees, throw a pleasing and
grateful shade. They staid at Padua but to sleep, and the next
morning early they set ofi" for Ferrara The magnificent buildings
and fine streets of Ferrara, evince that it was once rich and flou-
FERRARA BOLOGNA. 441
rishing. The province was formerly one of the finest in Italy,
but it is now overrun with marshes, the inhabitants being too few
to drain them, and the air consequently very unwholesome. This,
place was formerly famous for the manufacture of sword blades,
and the name of one of its ancient manufacturers, that of An-
drew di Ferrara, is well known to the highlanders of the present
day, for the usual appellation of a well- tempered blade among"
that warlike people is still an Andrew Ferrar a.
Upon first quitting Ferrara, they found the roads extremely
bad, but as they approached Bologna, from which it is distant
about twenty-five miles, they were again charmed with the
beauties of Italian scenery. The farm-house, where it is large, is
surrounded by arcades ; the villa is surrounded with cypresses,
which harmonize happily with the building, and make a pleas-
ing break between its formal lines, and the dishevelled foliage
of the middle ground and distance. The church is such as would
form the ornament of a city in England and France ; and the-
oratory, under trees by the road side, with its fresco paintings,
completes the scene. The remote origin of this elegance seems
to have been the magnificence of the Italians, when " wealth w^s
theirs ;" and the impulse would appear to have continued after
the cessation of the cause. Many circumstances have seconded
this ; and hence, perhaps, architecture has survived so many of
her sister arts. One of the most obvious is the abundance of
materials, which are furnished by stream and mountain, and the
cheapness of manual labour. Other causes, too, have indirectly
contributed to this effect. Thus the proprietors, (at least in the
plains,) being almost always rich, naturally seek to give stability
to their farm-houses, and to adapt them to the purposes which
they are to answer. These purposes themselves, come in aid of
architecture ; for here porticos, or arcades, form the cheapest and
pleasantest apartment during the greater part of the year, and
are moreover conducive to the purposes of husbandry ; as such,
for instance, afford a place of deposit for the pods of the Indian
corn, where it is laid to dry, and afterwards beat out for use.
But more must, after all, be referred to the more general prin-
ciple, the hereditary passion of the Italians for architecture, and
their local monuments,
Amidst such scenery, with the lofty Apennines as a back-
ground, who could travel unmoved ? Not our travellers, who
entered Bologna when the setting sun threw his slanting, glow-
ing beams athwart the lovely scenery.
Bologna, on the river Remo, is connected with the Po by
means of a canal ; it ranks next to Rome for its architecture and
paintings, and the silks and velvets made here are in great esti-
mation : its river turns 400 mills for the works of the former.
Bologna contains many palaces and halls for the courts of jus-
tice. In the middle of the area before the Palazzo Publico ; is a.
u 5
442 ITALY.
superb marble fountain. The principal figure is a statue of
Neptune, eleven feet high, with one hand extended, and the other
holding a trident. The God of the Ocean is surrounded by tri-
tons, dolphins, and syrens, all in bronze, of the most exquisite
workmanship. The city is very regularly built, and on each side
the streets are adorned by arcades. Its university was formerly
very famous, but its reputation is considerably decreased. In the
gallery of Sampini there are many fine pictures ; that which they
most admired was one by Bellini, the master of Titian. The
subject is Mary holding the corpse of her son. The living is
distinguished from the dead only by the half-closed weeping eye.
Her lips are pressed to his as if to be assured the vital spark had
fled. The ceiling of this gallery is painted in fresco, by the three
Caraccis. The subject is the achievements of Hercules. The
palaces of Rambeccari,Caprara, and Bentivoglio, contain many
valuable pictures.
On quitting Bologna, they prepared for a picturesque journey,
and upon arriving at Fiorenzaela, they exchanged their horses
for mules, and hiring a vetturino, they at length began to ascend
that chain of mountains which runs through Italy. The lower
part of the Apennines is covered with vineyards, interspersed
with chesnut woods ; these are succeeded by the more hardy
oak ; and. as our travellers ascended still higher, they found a low
shrubbery Usurped the place of the monarch of the forest.
Vegetation now became more rare ; here and there tufts of
fern appeared, but the highest points of these picturesque
mountains terminate in rocky barren peaks. Dr. Walker and
his pupil frequently alighted, the better to enjoy the beauty of
the scenery. It was the middle of autumn, and the vineyards
and chesnut woods were filled by people of all ages ; some were
busily plucking the luscious grape ; others were less pleasantly,
though scarce less profitably employed, in picking up the prickly
chesnut with small wooden tongs.
The first night they rested at an inn on the summit of the
Apennines, and were hospitably entertained by their host ; they
were shewn into a comfortable bed-chamber, where Hie bed though
hard was clean, and the walls were decorated with many pic-
tures of saints and holy angels. At dawn or' day they were roused
by the tinkling of the mule bells and the gay carolling of their
vetturino. As they descended the western side of the mountains,
the noble cypress and, the olive, in addition to those trees which
adorn the eastern side of the Apennines, diversified the scene.
" Did you ever hear, Edward/' said the Doctor, " of the in-
flammable exhalations that were seen on the summit of the
Apennines in the middle of the last century ? The flame was ex-
tremely bright, covering at times a surface of about three yards
by two, and rising sometimes to about four feet ; but when there
bad been a great fall of snow or heavy rains, the flames often ex-
tended nearly nine yards in diameter. This curious phenome-
IGNEOUS PHENOMENA. 443
non was attributed to the extrication and inflammation of hy-
drogen gas, similar to that which is kindled in coal mines, under
the name of fire-damp.
The muleteer, who was an intelligent fellow, listened with at-
tention to this description, arid then asked Dr. Walker if he had
observed on his journey, a light on some stones on the banks of
the Rioverde, about ten miles to the south of Bologna. Being
answered in the negative, he said, he had seen it many times,
and he described it thus : " The light appeared to him/' he said,
'* about two feet above the stones, and not far from the river. It
was between eight and nine in the evening when he last saw it;
and it being rather dark and cloudy, the flame appeared exceed-
ingly strong and bright, so much so,^that he could distinguish by
its ligbt, the shape and make of the surrounding stones, the
hedges, and the motion of the water. Upon approaching nearer
to it, it became a pale red, then a faint yellow, and thus gradu-
ally disappeared as he came close to the spot where he had
marked it. Surprised at its disappearance, he retreated, and as
he drew back it became progressively visible, till at length it as-
sumed its brightest tint, when he arrived at his first spot of obser-
vation."
This is one of those unaccountable phenomena which puzzle
philosophers much, as it has been always observed in the very
same sj)ot and in the. very same shape ; that of a parallel opidon,
somewhere about a Bolognese foot in length, and about half a
foot, high ; its largest side parallel to the horizon. It was once
observed coming out of a neighbouring hollow, and then settling
itself into the figure already described. That light known in
England as Will-o'-the-whisp, and which is very common in va-
rious parts of Italy, particularly in the neighbourhood of Bo-
logna, is supposed strongly to resemble that phosphoric light
which burns in the dark without injuring any thing ; for in it*
peregrinations over moor and mountain, it would be strange in-
deed if it should not meet with any combustible matter which it
could ignite, if it had the common properties of tlame ; its not be-
ing affected by damp is another reason which supports this con-
clusion. This however, and the light of the glow-worm, as well
as that of the fire-fly, &c. &c. has never been decidedly defined.
SECTION VI.
JOURNEY TO FLORENCE, &C.
As they descended the mountains, and drew near what may
be denominated a plain when compared with the mountains they
had just traversed, the scenery became more beautiful but less
U6
444 ITALY*
sublime. The landscape was enlivened by domestic and rurafr
objects. The picturesque appearance of the Tuscan peasant
girls in their round hats, adorned with flowers tastefully placed
a little on one side, delighted them much'; and after passing the
villa which was formerly inhabited by the Medici family when
they were merchants only, Florence burst upon them in all its
splendour.
" What a prospect !" exclaimed Edward ; " what a lovely
scene! I long to enter that magiificent city/' He was soon
gratified, but a heavy shower ofVain falling just as they entered
the city ; Ms ideas of its magnificence abated in some degree.
The gutters of the roofs project so far into the streets, that the
carriage though in the middle of the street, were deluged with
the dirty water which had cleansed the tops of the houses.
"Magnificence/' he observed, " was not always attended with
comfort, and he marvelled much that the inhabitants of Florence
should tolerate so great a nuisance/' The next day, how-
ever, the weather being fine, his admiration for the numerous
splendid edifices this famous city contained, absorbed every
other idea, and he forgot the projecting roofs and dirty gutters.
The church of the Holy Cross, is the Pantheon of the Floren-
tines, and here our travellers contemplated with respect the
tombs of Michael Angelo, Galileo, and Alfieri, the Tacitus of dra-
matic poetry. Here too rest the bones of Machiavel and Aretus.
The burial chapel of the Medici family is one of the most splen>
did and beautiful structures of its kind ; it was begun by Mi-
chael Angelo, but it is not yet quite finished. He has adorned it
with four exquisite figures of Morning, Day, Twilight, and Night.
The arms of the Tuscan cities adorn its walls ; they are blazoned
in their proper colours with precious stones, admirably arranged.
The doors of the church of St. John, are of bronze, and were pro-
nounced by Michael Angelo to be perfect. This is the only
church in Florence in which all the children born in and about
the city can be baptized.
Thepalazzo Petti was built by a Florentine merchant, of that
name, about the middle of the 15th century, who ruined himself
in erecting this superb fabric, which is now the ducal palace.
The court of the palace is formed by three sides of an elegant
square, with arcades all round, and the rustic work which con-
stitutes the lower part of the building, gives it an air of strength
and magnificence that is very striking. In this court there is a
fine fountain, which in this warm climate forms almost a neces-
sary as well as agreeable ornament. The admirable statue of
Hercules, supposed to be the work, of Lysippus also adorns thi*
area.
The Apartments of this palace are generally small and dark ;
they contain nevertheless many powerful attractions. But
the gallery of Florence which was formerly the private property
of the Medici family, and which afterwards was transferred to
FLORENCE.
the grand Duke Leopold, and by him declared the property of
the State, is the most valuable treasure in Florence. Perhaps
the complete assemblage of the Roman emperors and their
families, gave our travellers as much interest as any part of its
rich and celebrated contents.
Many of the statues which Buonaparte sent to Paris, have
resumed their former station, and the Venus de Medici again
graces the octagon hall, as well as many other rare specimens of
sculpture and painting.
Having made a much longer stay at Florence than they sup-
posed they should, it was near the middle of December when
they left that city for Sienna. The country between these two
places is composed of naked rocks and mountains, with scanty
marks of vegetation. Here and there a solitary tree is now and?
then seen, adding rather to the desolation of the prospect than
the heightening of its beauty ; for they look so forlorn, and so
unconnected with the surrounding scenery, that our travellers
compared them to a shipwrecked mariner thrown on a desert
coast.
Of the animals that enlivened the scene, small flocks of sheep,
and asses laden with sand, and labouring np the mountain, were
all they saw. Here too they were again assailed by a host of
beggars, for no sooner was their carriage seen, than the neigh-
bouring shepherds and peasants flocked in crowds demanding
alms with the most noisy importunity.
Dr. Walker and his pupil had, however, become callous to
this sort of entreaty, and they pursued their journey to Sienna,
without having opened their purse to any one of these vociferous
beggars, except once, and that was upon the following occasion.
Amongst a shoal of ragged urchins, half squalling and half
laughing, who had accompanied them from the village where
they had last stopt, one boy, a lad about fourteen years old,
though the rest had in despair given up the pursuit, kept up
with them for two miles, when the muleteer, in that spirit of
charity which characterizes all tribes and classes of Italians,
having ascertained that he was bound to Sienna, the town where
they were themselves to pass the night, offered him a place upon
the roof of his carriage. Our travellers now fell into conversation
with him, and having asked him the motives of his expedition,
were told that he was going to beg at Sienna, a place which he
imagined, afforded a better field for his operations than his na-
tive village, or even the highwa} r . Dr. Walker remonstrated
with him on the nature of his project, and asked him why he
did not attempt to procure some honest service ; but he appeared
to have weighed the matter well, and taken his resolution upon
the maturest deliberation. He told them that he had left his
home on account of the poverty of his parents ; that it was hU
intention to seek service, but, as he could pretend to little yet,
446 ITALY.
he meant to maintain himself by begging till he was of age and
strength to ensure a sufficient salary.
There was no answering such reasoning as this, and Edward
mechanically put his hand into his pocket, and gave him a trifle.
So much, indeed, were they pleased with his manner, his intel-
ligence, and his lively disposition, that the Doctor was half in-
clined to take him with them. They had missed Colin very
much, arid though they always hired a valet de place when they
meant to make any stay, as at the capitals for instance ; yet
they wanted some one about them at all times.
" Try him, Sir/' said Edward, " at least while we are in
Italy."
The Doctor paused, but at length his feelings got the better
of his judgment, and the young Antonio was informed of their
good intentions towards him. The poor lad did not at first com-
prehend them, but when he really was made to understand that
they intended taking him with them to Home, he was almost
frantic. When he was a little composed he entreated he might
acquaint the muleteer of his future prospects, " to whose kind-
ness," he said, " he was indebted for such unlocked for good
fortune," and to whom they afterwards found he had given half
the money he had already scraped together by begging.
This act of generous gratitude failed not to increase the fa-
vourable impression he had already made upon his new friends :
and Antonio became in the sequel, a useful servant and a fa-
vourite attendant.
They were not a little pleased when they entered Sienna, and
as the road they were about to traverse was by no means cele-
brated cither for its safety or convenience, they lingered
two or three days in this town, which contains little worthy of
notice. Sienna is about four miles in circumference ; its univer-
sity is in great repute, and the Italian language is taught here
with so much purity that a great many foreigners frequent
it on that account. Its Gothic church, built of black and white
marble, and paved with Mosaic work, is much admired for its
architecture. Mulberry trees are numerous in its neighbour-
hood.
Antonio entreated they would visit the house which St. Cathe-
rine of Sienna inhabited. They complied with his request, aiid
were shewn her chamber, the stone which served her as a pillow,
her ring of affiance, &c. &c.
" St. Catherine of Sienna," said the Doctor to Edward, " was
born in that city, and at eight years old, she took the Domi-
nican habit, pretending to extraordinary revelations ; she was
distinguished by her piety and charity, and so powerful was
her influence, that she effected a reconciliation between the
Florentines and Pope Gregory the Eleventh ; she died in the
year 1380, at an advanced age. and was canonized in 1461, by
Pius II."
CAMPAGNA DI ROMA. 447
SECTION VII.
JOURNEY TO ROME.
FROM Sienna they proceeded by wretched roads to Buoncon-
venta, from whence they ascended with much difficulty, the hill
on which the village of Radieofoni stands : here they were lodged
in a large, cold, uncomfortable inn, and early the next morn-
ing they again started, and having passed Aqua Pendente, an
inferior town situated on the top of a rock, from whence there
is a romantic cascade, and from which the town derives its
name, they arrived, but not till night, without any interruption
at Bolsena, notwithstanding the dreadful forebodings of their
muleteer, who apprehended, and with some reason, that they
should be attacked hy banditti.
The country beyond St. Lorenzo is so interspersed with caves
and ruins, and is in other respects so desolate, and dreary, and so
well calculated for the concealment of robbers, that Dr. Walker
was not a little pleased when they did reach Bolsena. Antonio
more than once had pointed out these projecting points as
well calculated for making a stand ; and once with a colourless
cheek, he exclaimed Sigiior! The object of his alarm, was,
however, only the stump of an old tree, with a little branch or
two just springing from its top, these he mistook for military fea-
thers, for the evening was drawing in before they had quite passed
this terrific looking place. For the last thirty miles their road
lay along the shores of the beautiful lake of Bolsena.
** Near this place. Edward/' observed the Doctor, " stood
Volsinium, which was the birth-place of Sejauus, the odious
minister of Tiberius's will."
In their way to Viterbo, where they next halted, they passed
through Montefiascone, so celebrated for its wine called Est.
The mountain of Viterbo is covered with beautiful plantations
and villas, belonging to the Roman nobility, who retire here in the
summer months when Rome is deserted by that part of its inha-
bitants who have the power of quitting the Campagna di Roma.
They were ill accommodated at their inn or post house at Vi-
terbo, although the town is well built ; it also contains many
churches and convents, but they remained there but one night,
and the following morning, after having passed the mountains
of Viterbo, the Clyminus of the ancients, they entered a beau-
tiful country diversified with hills and dales, w r oods and glades,
enlivened by Italian sunshine. After passing some few inconsi-
derable towns, they at length entered the desert looking country
of the Campagna di Roma.
" Where," said Dr. Walker, as they traversed these once
448 ITALY.
fertile plains, " where has the genius of cultivation fled, which
once adorned these celebrated fields with every beauty?"
Antonio's expectations about Rome had been raised to the
highest pitch, and his disappointed eye turned on every side to
seek for some of those objects of grandeur with which his fancy
had so largely stored the surrounding country, in which stood
Rome, the capital of the papal dominions. Dr. Walker ab-
s"orbed in solemn reflection, had ceased to speak, Edward, who
had eagerly looked for the hills on which it stood, and who now
saw only a dreary flat before him, had sunk into silence also ;
and Antonio, whose garrulity had often amused his master ap-
peared to have suddenly lost the power of speech.
" Roma/' said the postillion, pointing to the distant dome of
St. Peter's, and turning round at the same time to look into the
carriage.
Every eye Was directed eagerly forward, and Roma! was re-
peated three times in three different tones.
Upon approaching near to the ancient capital of the world,
the countenance of Antonio brightened. In his eye Roma was
still a magnificent city, and in those of Dr. Walker and his
pupil it was more, for it still retained its august and imperial
appearance. They entered the immediate territory of Rome
by crossing the Pontc Molli, formerly called Pans Milonis.
This bridge was built by ^Emclius Censor ; it was the road by
which so many heroes and conquerors ; so many kings and cap-
tives ; so many ambassadors and envoys, had entered this cele-
brated city: and Dr. Walker, as they continued their journey
over a part of the ancient Via Flaminia, which formerly ex-
tended to Rimini, meditated in silence upon those events which
passed rapidly 'before his imagination, presenting a faithful tab-
lature of the rise and fall of the Roman empire.
Having taken up their abode at an inn situated on the Collis
Hortulorum,
- " Where once a garden smiled,"
Sallust's Garden too ; they resolved on calling on an English
gentleman to whom they had letters of introduction. Antonio
was permitted to accompany them on condition, that while they
paid their visits, he should not ramble far from the house where
his master stopped. Delighted and charmed with all he saw,
the lad promised obedience, and they accordingly set off 1 . They
were fortunate in finding Mr. B. at home; this gentleman had^
fixed his residence at Rome for some time, he received theni
courteously and proposed as their time was limited, that they
should immediately begin their perambulations.
" Shall we visit St. Peter's or the Coliseum first?" said he ad-
dressing the Doctor.
'" The Coliseum, by all means/' replied Dr. Walker, " majesty
in ruins is always more interesting than when in full splendour/'
ROME. 440
The gentleman ordered his carriage, and said he would ac-
company them on this excursion, as from frequent visits to the
spot, he had made himself acquainted with the principal places
in its environs.
'*' What shall we do with Antonio ?" said the Doctor.
" If Antonio is your servant, pray let him mount the carriage/*
replied their new, but friendly acquaintance.
When they arrived at the site of the Coliseum, a spot which
has no equal in Ihe world, astonishment for a time absorbed
every other feeling-. ' The human eye, scarcely measures its
height/ says Ammian, < it is above sixteen hundred feet in cir-
cumference. The walls are supported by four rows of pillars,
the Doric, the Ionian, Ihe Corinthian, and Composite, which
rise one above the other, the bottom tier is, however, sunk low
in the earth, or rather, we should say, the earth has accumu-
lated so much as to be now even with the base of the second
tier. The building was erected by thirty thousand Jews, under
the command of Vespasian, who caused it to be built where
there was formerly a lake attached to Nero's golden house. It
was calculated to contain from eighty to ninety thousand specta-
tors ; and in the first grand combat of wild beasts which was
held within its spacious area, five thousand animals were all
let loose at once, after which the whole was laid under water,
and a sham sea fight took place. A post of honour was assigned
to the vestal virgins, and they were the only women who were
accommodated with seats in the Coliseum ; in the centre of the
circular range was a box for the emperor and his courtiers.
Eighty entrances, called vomitorios, admitted the spectator*
who, according to their rank occupied the different rows of
seats ; the commonest people taking their station on the top
of the building, where they stood guarded by a balustrade. As
such an immense number of people crowded together might
have produced a close, unwholesome smell, sweet water from
above was showered upon them, and sometimes wine and saf-
fron*.'
This vast building escaped the outrages of the Goths but to
fall a sacrifice to the barbarism of later times. Pius II. caused
a great part of it to be levelled, that he might employ the mate-
rials in building the Place of St. Mark. Cardinal Riario followed
his example, and erected the Chancery with its precious relics;
* An uncommon fine model of this Coliseum was exhibiting for
one season in Bond Street, but the owner and architect received so
little encouragement, that he scarcely cleared his expences for the
room which contained it. The Coliseum therefore disappeared, and
was replaced by a marvellous little dog, which in less than a month re-
paid his master almost a hundred fold for the very handsome and
fashionable apartment he had hired for his accoinodation.
450 ITALY.
and the Palace of Farnese was composed of the same invalu-
able materials by the order 01 Paul the Third.
It was with pleasure our travellers observed that an attempt
was begun to hollow out the earth as at Verona, and so much
of this work is done as to enable them to pronounce the con-
cealed part of the edifice as no ways inferior to the superstruc-
ture. After contemplating this venerable remains of Roman
grandeur, Dr. Walker asked Edward, if any other feeling be-
sides that of admiration had arisen from the contemplation of
this stupendous structure,
" Yes/' replied his pupil, " those of pity and horror; who
could read that inscription, * Defiled by the impure worship of
the heathens ; purified by the blood of martyrs,' without shud-
dering at the cruelty of the Romans, who could in this very
spot make the primitive Christians light with wild beasts. Who
could by way of sport see hundreds of their fellow-creatures
massacrcingeach other in cold blood ; who could blindfold their
slaves, and placing knives in their hands command them to at-
tack each other in this defenceless state. The Romans were
a cruel people. I like the Greeks best, they never, till they
were conquered by the Romans permitted the show of gladia-
tors ; and then many of their principal cities refused to comply
with this Roman fashion ."
" Most true," replied the Doctor, and " most true" was echoed
by Antonio, who had listened with the deepest attention to all
that had been said.
" And now/' said their English friend, " let us pass up the
Via Sacra of the ancient Romans, and proceed over the Roman
Forum, now called the Cow-field. Strange transition this! That,"
continued he, pointing to what was now a mere ruinous wall,
" that was formerly a well, from whence the water used to rise
up through a hollow pillar and gush out on every side. Here
the Romans used to taste the cooling spring as they returned
from the theatre. That old wall will mark the spot for a time,
but it will soon disappear. That triumphal arch on our left was
erected to Constantine. This street we are now entering was
called by the Romans Vicns Sandalarius, it was noted as being
the place where the authors used to assemble, because in it, the
booksellers of Rome resided ; but it is graced by a prouder me-
morial, and needs no other proof of its former importance ;
yonder stands the triumphal arch of Titus, which celebrates his
victory over the Jews : of this there needs no farther proof than
the inspection of its ornaments; there you see, is the candle-
stick with seven bandies, the shew-bread and the trumpets.
u Those three arches to the right are the remains of the tem-
ple of peace, and within its sacred walls private persons depo-
sited their most valuable treasures, authors their most valuable
manuscripts, arid conquerors the choicest of their spoils. The
golden candlestick of the Jews, their golden table, and their
ROME. 451
book of the law, were deposited in it. In the reign of Commo-
dus this heautiful building was nearly destroyed by (ire, and all
its precious contents perished. Several other relics of "antiquity
appear on either side : Ihe temple of Remus, of Antonius and
Faustina ; but the Via Sacra was adorned with various temples
and palaces, now known only by description, among which
Numa's house, Caesar's palace, the triumphal arch of Fabius
were conspicuous; but all these are vanished, and not a trace is
left of them, except in the historic page. The rise of this fallen
city, majestic even in ruins, was marked by industry, tempe-
rance, and fortitude; her zenith by oppression and corruption,
and her decline by superstition arid apathy. The splendid re-
mains of her former greatness do but increase one's regret that
a people so capable of acquiring power, should have so little
sagacity to preserve it for the glory and greatness of their pos-
terity."
Our travellers returned home delighted with their first day's
excursion. Dr. Walker being informed that the execution of a
murderer was to take place on the following day, and wishing
his pupil to witness the manner of executing justice in this coun-
try, he entreated their friend would place them where they
might see the procession pass by, and would inform them of those
proceedings which they could not witness.
" This criminal/' replied their friend, " has conducted himself
with much propriety, and I understand, much contrition ever
since his apprehension, and as I am intimate with the Father Con-
fessor of tiie prison in which he is confined, you shall see every
thing, execution and all, if you like it."
" No/' replied the Doctor, u I have no wish to see the last
part of the ceremony, but I am auxious to witness the effect of
such a melancholy catastrophe upon the Italian people."
Early the next morning they went to the prison, where they
witnessed the confession and absolution of the prisoner. On his
way to the place of execution he entreated the prayers of the po-
pulace, who in vast crowds witnessed the awful ceremony, with
feelings of the profoundest awe. The culprit was accompanied by
a number of Capuchin friars, bearing torches and crucifixes ; and
here our travellers quitted the procession and retired into the
church, whither they were soon followed by all the friars, and
persons who were in any way connected with the execution.
A mass was now performed for his soul with much devotion,
which took up the time allotted for the body to hang. They
then returned to the gallows in procession, with a coffin covered
with black cloth. Two persons in black masks and black
gowns mounted the ladder, and cut the rope, while others re-
ceived the body and carefully put it into the coffin, when it was
committed to its patent earth. The solemnity and decorum of
this mournful ceremoii}', made a strong impression upon Ed-
ward, and for oaec in his life a comparison with England was
452 . ITALY.
not in favour of the latter. Antonio had been affected even
to tears, and had joined most fervently in prayer for the soul
of the deceased, as indeed was the case with the immense crowd
which was collected upon the occasion. Deeply impressed with
the solemnity of the scene, and warmly admiring the sensibility
displayed upon the occasion by the people of Rome, they re-
turned home in silence, and devoted the remainder of that day
to those reflections, which naturally arose from the contempla-
tion of this impressive ceremony.
SECTION VIII.
ROME.
THE Pantheon is the most perfect structure of ancient archi-
tecture, its proportion is exquisite, nor can the reader who has
not seen it, better understand its beauty than by fancying him-
self in the centre of an immense sphere, one half of which is
risible only, the imagination may then picture to the under-
standing the immense circular hall of the Pantheon. Edward
contemplated its vast dome with silent wonder, and it was some
time before he could attend to those minor beauties which still
remain of its former magnificence, so absorbed was he in the gran-
deur of this imposing structure. Between the eight niches where
the principal deities formerly stood, are now eight altars, and
the floor still retains traces of its costly pavement.
The contemplation of this venerable temple furnished them
with conversation for the i;est of the day, and on the morrow
they were so fortunate as to witness the ceremony of the Pope's
blessing the people (this being jubilee year) in the front of St.
Peter's.
" Pray, Sir," said Edward, " what is the jubilee year?"
DR. WALKER. " The jubilee is a public festival celebrated at
Rome, originally once in every hundred years, wherein the Pope
grants plenary indulgences to all sinners, especially such as visit
the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome: it was first
established by Boniface VIII. A.D. 1300. Clement VI. reduced
it to fifty years; Urban VI. to every twenty-fifth year: and
Sixtus VI. to every twenty-third year."
They had by this time reached the area of St. Peter's, where,
by the assistance of their friend they obtained a good place for
seeing this imposing ceremony.
The great court was completely filled with pilgrims from all
ROMETHE VATICAN. 453
countries, who waited with anxiety for the arrival of the holy,
father.
He at length made his appearance in a large window which
! opens into a balcony in front of the church, dressed in his pon-
jtificals. The papal chair in which he sat was so completely co-
hered vdth silk hangings and gold trimmings that the bearers of
t were invisible, and his advance had therefore a singular effect,
or it seemed as if he sailed on the air self borne. The bell*
roin every church in Rome, the cannon from the cnstle of St.
Angelo, and the shouts of the populace announced his appear-
ance, to those who were not present.
When his Holiness rose from his seat these noisy acclamations
mbsided, and were succeeded by a solemn silence. The mul-
itude instantly fell on their knees, with heads and hands up-
ifted, while the Pope in the most solemn manner, with out-
stretched arms conferred his paternal benediction on the proa-
rate beings before him.
The ceremony over, the happy multitude dispersed in every
direction, and Dr. Walker and his pupil returned home highly
gratified, but Antonio's joy knew no bounds at being present at
this joyful jubilee, and he seemed light as air.
St. Peter's was the next place they visited, and here they were
ost in the magnificence of every description which adorns its
stately walls. Its stupendous dome, its superb portico, its un-
rivalled altar, and its elegant arcades, altogether form a coup
d'oeil unequalled, perhaps, in the whole world,
The most wonderful part of this magnificent temple is the cu-
pola. The dome which is viewed within the building, and that
which is viewed on the top of the building are not the samo,
for between the two there is a stair-case, which winds up to
the ball. St. Peter's, viewed from the roof, presents fresh sub-
ject for admiration, for the immense dome there appears as it
really is, stupendous.
The Vatican was of course visited by our travellers. As they
had an introduction to the librarian, they were indulged with a
view of many of its curiosities, which they could not otherwise
have seen. The apartments of this palace are very magnificent,
and the library contains upwards of four thousand volumes,
which are, however, closely kept under lock and key. The pil-
lajs of Trajan and ^utonius claimed their due award of praise
and astonishment from our travellers, who spent a month in the
city of Rome with much pleasure and profit, for almost at every
step they met with the remains of some pillar, or statue, or the
site of some spot familiar to their imaginations.
They failed not to visit the Catacombs, where M. Roberts, a
French artist, was lost for a considerable time, and whose fate-
is so admirably described by De Lille, the elegant translator of
Milton.
Having viewed all that they deemed worthy of engrossing
454 ITALY.
their time and admiration, they resumed their journey and pro-
ceeded on the high road to Albano. Antonio soon became the
pupil of Edward, and the Doctor often smiled as the latter ex-
plained to his attentive auditor those phenomena of nature with
which he was acquainted, or recited to him the exploits of the
heroes of antiquity. The intelligence of the young Italian, the
fire which he displayed when listening to deeds of heroism, or
the lore of ancient times, induced his kind protectors to treat
him not as a servant, but with that sort of kindness which drew
from his grateful heart, the most lively expressions of gratitude.
His taste for music was excellent, and having one day taken up
an old violin that lay in the window of an inn, he touched it
with so much pathos, that Edward said if his friend had no ob-
jection, he would purchase one for him. This purchase quite
overwhelmed the poor boy, and he all at once burst into an ex-
tempore effusion of gratitude which shewed he was no inferior
improvisatore.
On the road to Albano he frequently, at their request, amused
them with his violin ; his fears, however, sometimes interrupted
his performance, for he could not forget the numerous banditti
that were said to haunt this part of the country. They were, how-
ever, fortunate in escaping their attacks, and as the day was not
near closing when they entered Albano, they resolved, if possible,
on reaching Tilletri that evening. Villetri, which is now HI
dirty and inferior town, was formerly the capital of the Volscians.
They took up their quarters In an inn which was ornamented
with the head of Augustus as a sign, for it is said that emperor
was born in this town. It contains many remains of its former
magnificence, the wrecks of villas of the emperors, and temples
of the gods, present themselves on every side.
When they quitted Albano they took an escort, for the depre-
dations which had been committed on the road they were about
to traverse, rendered this precaution necessary. They had not
proceeded far, when they saw a party of banditti, dressed in
a wild looking but regular uniform, sally from behind the steep
rocks which encircle Terracina. The muleteer immediately be-
gan to cross himself; their guard drew their swords, and a scuffle
ensued, in which Dr. Walker received a slight wound, and
Edward and Antonio, who rushed to his assistance, were takn
prisoners and immediately convened away by the banditti. The
Doctor, after having been rifled of all that he possessed, was
allowed to proceed, the guards who had been extremely
lukewarm in the cause, having fled shortly after the beginning
of the contest. The muleteer made the best of his way to Terra-
cina. Dr. Walker had not arrived in the town more than an
hour, when after having bound up his wound, he was proceeding
to take the advice of the authorities upon this late misfortune,
when a letter was delivered to him, stating that the two youths
would be properly taken care of, and that upon the payment of
VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 455
a ransom, for the receipt of which they would appoint one of
their fraternity, they should be liberated. The bearer waited
for an answer. Dr. Walker, whose mind had been on the rack
promised the payment of the stated ransom for Edward, but
said that they were not aware that they were asking a ransom
for his companion, which, as he was a servant, was enormous.
The following day Edward rushed into the room, but with tears
in his eyes, he told the Doctor that Antonio was detained a pri-
soner, that upon learning he was only their servant, the chief
had declared he had taken a liking to the youth, and therefore
should not part with him. He added that their joint entreaties
were in vain, and that fearful of aggravating Antonio's captivity
he had at last desisted, for the captain said positively he did
not chuse to relinquish his prisoner. This separation from the
poor Antonio whom they might never see again, threw a gloom
over his two patrons, and the beauties of Terrachm were partly
lost upon them.
Terracina stands upon the sea shore, where the rocks rise to
an immense height ; the town itself is intermingled with gardens
of citron and palm trees, while the surrounding country is
adorned with the myrtle, and an endless variety of llowering
shrubs ; the sea shore crowded with fishing boats, the islands
of Ischia and Capri, with Vesuvius in the distance, present a
scene so lovely, to which nothing but their late misfortune could
have rendered them insensible. They lingered for some time
in this town, hoping they might hear some tidings of Antonio, but
in vain, and Dr, Walker resolved on continuing his journey to
Naples by sea, rather than run the chance ef being a second
time attacked by the banditti.
Hearing that a small vessel was about to sail for Naples, they
embarked with a gentle breeze, which however did not serve
them long, and by the time they were off Gaeta a dead calm had
succeeded, and Dr. Walker, who was anxious to visit the site
of Cicero's villa, finding that the owner of the little vessel in-
tended to lay at anchor till the breeze sprung up, hailed a liitie
fishing boat, and for a trifle he was soon put on shore in the nifclst
of orange and lemon groves. Having knocked at the door of
one of the largest gardens, the owner opened it, and politely
entreated they would walk in. Here they were charmed with
all the sweets of nature, amidst which, intermingled with frag-
ments of departed grandeur, arched passages, ruined walls,
and subterraneous vaults, now overgrown with moss and other
parasitical plants, bespoke the remains of a Roman building of
consequence. A bath in tolerable perfection, the sides of which
were adorned with many flowering shrubs, particularly pleased
them, u and this was Cicero's bath," said Dr. Walker, " you
know his untimely fate, Edward, and in this spot, as tradition
asserts, the elegant orator fell a victim to the ambition of the
triumvirate."
456 ITALY.
Upon a rock at the extremity of the garden, they seated them-
selves to enjoy the beauty of the surrounding scenery, and the
many pleasing ideas which such a site was calculated to excite.
They were aroused from their reverie by the freshness of the
breeze, which having suddenly sprung up, they hastily quitted
their situation, and again entering the fishing boat, they reached
their vessel just as the master was heaving his little anchor.
A brisk wind soon brought them to the bay of Naples, perhaps
the finest in the world ; it was a lovely evening, and as they ap-
proached this fine city, which is fifteen miles in circumference,
and in the form of a vast amphitheatre, sloping from the hills to
the sea, they declared they had seen no view at all to compare
with it, except that from the Calton hill at Edinburgh. " You^
have one which surpasses it yet to see/' said the Doctor, " and
that is the approach to Constantinople."
The island of Ischia with its rocky capital, its vine clad moun-
tains, its luxuriant vallies, and purling streams, stands at the
northern point of the bay; while Capri, to the south, fertile
though mountainous, conjures up a thousand flitting scenes of
horror. From this romantic island the monster Tiberius, sunk
in every kind of luxury, issued forth his sanguinary commands,
which his infamous minister, Sejanus, carried into execution.
The blood runs cold at viewing this lovely island polluted by
the atrocious deeds of such a disgrace upon human kind.
** Let us turn from the contemplation of this fateful island,"
said the Doctor, " an object not less so indeed, but which re-
flects no disgrace on heaven's noblest work Man ; look at Ve-
suvius, Edward, do you observe that small cloud of smoke which
rises from the crater; and see now, as the evening becomes
more dusky, you may discover the flame occasionally gleaming
through it/'
It was night before they landed, and having settled themselves
comfortably in one of the best. inns, they soon retired to rest.
Early the next morning, they began their perambulations,
through the city, and the first thing which struck them, was the
appearance of industry which the streets presented. Tables and
stalls of every description were placed outside the doors ; me-
chanics and artisans all following their respective avocations
with the utmost diligence, were seen in every part of the city,
but they were soon convinced that this was a deceitful picture,
for the inhabitants of Naples are more celebrated for eating and
drinking than working. Of this our travellers had proof in less
than an hour, from the innumerable apparatuses which are fitted
up in the streets for the gratification of these two appetites.
'Large kettles of macaroni scattered over with cheese of the
most insipid kind, beans and pease, maize boiled without any
other preparation, and great quantities of sea fish of various
kinds, are ail to be seen in abundance. Water-sellers stand at
every corner of the street, and our travellers taking their stand
NAPLES. 457
by one of them, were exceedingly amused with the dexterity of
its owner, who tipping his barrel first to the right, then to the
left, then squeezing a little lemon juice into the glasses, rinsed
them, took the money, and all in the twinkling of an instant.
These stalls at night are always lighted by ten or twelve lamps,
and the crowds which surround them in hot weather would af-
ford a good subject for the pencil of a Teniers,a Wilkie, or evea
a Hogarth.
Fruit-stalls, where the grapes are piled up- in huge baskets,
and ornamented with rosemary branches, figs, medlars, lemons,
oranges, apples, pears, pomegranates, chesnuts, which are hei?e
as common, as potatoes in the north, melons, and the delicious
pine nuts roasting in the streets, for the purpose of stripping off
their firm husks, invite the passer by to partake of this luxuriant
display of nature's bounties.
Among the luxuries of the poor, is a dough of maize flour
sweetened with honey. The way of making this dainty dish is
as follows: the maize being mixed with the honey, which is very
dark coloured, it is pulled into a very long roll, it is then struck
violently against a long iron nail which projects from a pole fas-
tened to the stall, till it becomes first vcllow then white. This
change in its hue being effected, it is cut into small pieces and
thrown into a pan of boiling oil, and in a few moments it is suffici-
ently fried. These stalls are always surrounded by numbers of the
poorer sort of people, who greedily devour it. Every kind of
vegetable is to be found in this fertile country. These stalls are
sometimes in great danger, from stray asses, hogs, and calves :
the latter arc, however, let loose upon the inhabitants by the
monks of St. Francis, who, painting a figure of their Saint on a
piece of board, and attaching it to the forehead of the animal,
it is licensed to ramble where it pleases, eat as much as it pleases,
and sometimes do as much mischief as it pleases, no one dare
molest them.
The noise in the streets of Naples exceeds all description, and
the lingua ItaSiana with all its sweetness, becomes in the mouths
of the beggars and lazzaroni absolutely discordant. Rotzebue
describes the noise to be heard in Toledo-street, to that of
mills and waterfalls, nay, he says the most noisy of the latter
are inferior, are mere humming noises when compared to the vo-
ciferations of the Neapolitans. Begging too, is here most an-
noying, and our travellers turned with disgust from the many
objects of misery which obtruded themselves at very step upon,
their notice. It is not simply begging, it is the most importu-
nate and impudent entreaties that greet the car, combined with
every exhibition repulsive to our better feelings.
" Strange," said the Doctor, u that in the midst of so nmck
disgusting misery, the Neapolitans should be sr very blind as to
tell the world, * to see Naples and die.' "
EDWARD.--*' Is it possible, Sir?"
X
468 ITALY.
DR. WALKER. "Yes, very possible, and not very unnatural
cither perhaps. Your passion for England is scarcely inferior to
that of the Neapolitan for Naples ; and now let us return home,
for the sun is intensely hot, and I really want my nap."
In the evening they took a stroll on the sea shore. " Look,
Edward," said the Doctor, " at Vesuvius, see those light
clouds of smoke which issue from its crater, in the shape of trees,
they seem greatly to increase, and surely there is a slight trem-
bling of the earth/'
" Ah!" exclaimed Edward, " it is now very sensible. I hope
Sir, we shall have no earthquake nor eruption of Vesuvius."
" I hope not," said Father Benedict, an intelligent monk
with whom they had become acquainted, " for the eruptions of
Vesuvius are indeed terrific."
" You do not recollect one surely/' said the Doctor,
" No," replied the Father, " but I have often heard the last
described by a brother of our convent, who was at that time in
a monastery at the foot of the mountain."
Edward was all anticipation for this account, which the monk
was on the point of beginning, when a messenger arrived from
his convent to say he was wanted.
" Some other time will do," said the Doctor, as the Father
took his leave.
" Before we quit the environs of Naples,*' said the Doctor,
" we will make an excursion to Baiea and Puzzoli ; and as the
day is fine, we had better seek an intelligent guide and set off*
immediately."
In their Benedictine friend they found the person they wanted.
Fortunately he met the Doctor at the door, who asked him if he
could recommend any one as a pleasant companion in their in-
tended ramble. The monk smiled, and said, had it not been
for the word pleasant he would have recommended himself, as
that part of the country was well known to him, u but," added
the Father, t( I am almost afraid to offer my services, for though
I might flatter myself with being a useful, I cannot promise to
be a pleasant companion."
Dr. Walker said he should be most happy if the reverend fa-
ther would accompany them, and having exchanged civil speeches
they hired a boat, and after a delightful sail they landed
amidst the ruins of Baiea, once the seat of imperial splendour,
and the resort of all the great and opulent which Rome con-
tained.
" It. still abounds," said Father Benedict, u with medicinal
and hot springs, and to the luxuriant Romans its balmy atmo-
sphere and luxuriant vegetation presented, in addition to these
every 'thing that was needful to the gratification of their voluptu-
ous style of living. Baiea from being a place of inconsiderable
note, progressively became the scat of luxury and opulence.
The stately palace and the luxuriant bath supplied the place of
the homely cottage, and the costly remains of marbles, stucco,
PUZZOLI MONTE NUOVO. 459
Mosaic pillars, and other fragments of these enchanted palaces,
proclaim aloufl that Baiea, scarcely yielded in splendour to im-
perial Rome itself. But, when the barbarians rushed from their
northern fastnesses like an overwhelming torrent and swept be-
fore them almost every precious relic of antiquity, Baiea shared
the universal fate. Neglected and forsaken, stript of its inha-
bitants, it soon became a prey to the encroachments of the deep.
The mole and buttress yielded to its resistless fury, and beneath
its briny waves tessellated pavements and stuccoed floors form
now perhaps, shall I say," continued the Father with a smile.
" the basements of the hall of Naiads. Nay, here too, they may
even find antique ornaments to confine their braided hair, for
many persons in the summer time employ themselves in drag-
ging the bottom of the sea with small baskets, and they seldom
fail of finding among the sand a cameo or medal, which repays
them for their labour.
At the bottom of the bay and at the foot of the steep rocks
which serve as a foundation to the ruins called Nero's house,
are some dark caves of great depth, leading to the hottest of all
the vapour baths : nobody can remain long in them, or indeed
penetrate to the end without an extraordinary degree of strength
and resolution. The springs at the bottom of the grot are so
hot as to boil an egg hard almost instantaneously. These ca-
verns seem to be the very spot where nature has opened the
readiest access to the very focus of a volcano, which has been
within the two last centuries most outrageous in its operations ;
for to these must be attributed the overturning of the adjacent
country, and the total alteration of its surface, by the birth of
Monte Nuovo, which now blocks up the valley of Averno, and
part of the Lucrinelake. In the year 1538 after previous notice
by repeated quakings, the convulsed earth burst asunder, and
made way for a deluge of hot ashes and flames, which being
shot up to an immense height into the darkened atmosphere, fell
down again all around, and formed a circular mouud four miles
in circumference, and one thousand feet high, with a large cup
in the middle. Immediately after the explosion the wind rose
furiously and wafted the lighter particles over the country burn-
ing and blasting all vegetation in its progress, wherever these
ashes, impregnated with poison, adhered to the grass, death be-
came the immediate lot of all the beasts that browzed upon it.
The terrors occasioned by this phenomenon threatened the aban-
donment of the whole district ; scarcely ;i family dared to re-
main even within sight of this horrid heap, which had over-
whelmed a large town, filled up a lake, and buried under it a
very extensive tract of cultivated lands.
Part of Monte Nuovo is however now cultivated but the larger
portion of its declivity is wildly overgrown with prickly broom
and rank weeds that emit a very foetid sulphureous smell. The
crater is shallow, and is in the inside clad with shrubs, but the
x 2
4Go ITALY.
l ittle area at Hie bottom is planted with fig and mulberry trees:
a long- neck of land prevents the waves from washing into a
sedgy pool, the poor remnant of the Lucrine hike, once sa
renowned for the abundance and flavour of its shell fish, of
which large beds lined the shallows, while a deep channel in
the middle afforded riding and anchorage for vessels, and a pas-
sage into the inner bason of the Avernus; a small canal now
serves to discharge the superabundant water.
Our travellers were delighted with the beauty of this spot,
and although Father Benedict assured them the road to the lake
Avernus was equally interesting, they quitted it with regret.
They now entered a shady walk between Monte Nuovo and a
thicket of reeds, which led them to the banks of Avernus. Here
the landscape is confined but it is extremely pleasing ; the dark
blue surface of these unruffled waters, said to be three hundred
and sixty feet deep, strongly reflects the tapering groves that
cover its sloping inclosure ; wild fowl skirn its dusky waves, and
the king-fisher shoots under its shady banks. A large octagon
temple in ruins advances majectically to the brink ; it has long
been stripped of its marble ornaments, but its shape and size
still render it a noble and commanding object.
u This temple," observed Father Benedict, " was most pro-
bably dedicated to the worship of the infernal gods, to whose
adoration these solemn scenes were consecrated. In those days
of darkness the monarehs of the forest stretched their thick
foliage over the sombre waves, and produced a gloom not to be
penetrated by the mid day sun."
, " While mephitic vapours rising from the volcanic heat to
which the whole of this part of the country is subject, more or less
floated along its surface in poisonous mists, produced horrors,
appropriate to such gloomy deities. A colony of Cimmerians,
cut dwellings in the bosom of the surrounding hills, and offici-
ated as priests of Tartarus. Superstition always delighting in
dark ideas, early and eagerly seized upon this spot, and hither
she led her trembling votaries to celebrate her dismal orgies ;
here she invoked the manes of departed heroes; here she offered
sacrifices to the gods of hell, and attempted to dive into the
secrets of futurity.
" After a long reign of undisturbed gloom and celebrity, a
sudden glare of light burst upon Avernus; the horrors which
had formerly enveloped this now beautiful spot vanished, and
with them its sanctity. Its lofty and impenetrable woods dis-
appeared at the command ofAgrippa; the sleepy waters, dis-
turbed by numerous vessels, assumed a new appearance ; the
noxious vapours fled with the surrounding gloom, and Avernus
became clear and serene."
A strange metamorphose indeed/' replied Dr. Walker, " do
the two lakes of Lucrine and Avernus present, the former once
the scene of every luxury and extravagance is now a slimy bed
LAKE AVERNUS. 461
of rushes, while the latter blooms with fresh beauty, possessing
every requisite for a repetition of the gay scenes of festivity
which used to grace the deep blue waves and luxuriant shores
of the Lucrine lake."
On every hill, in every valley in the environs of Avernus, ap-
pear the ruins of extensive villas, once embellished with all the
elegancies of art combined with those of nature : mouldering',
walls and marble fragments point out the site of many a stately
edifice; and here again our travellers were flattered into the
belief that they were treading the ground formerly consecrated
by the presence of Cicero.
SECTION IX.
MESSINA SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS,
AFTER wandering amidst these pleasing remains for some
time they returned to Puzzoli by moonlight, and there they passed
the night. Edward was early on foot the next morning, and
having strolled to some little distance from the town, he seated
himself on a mossy ruin and contemplated with delight the
effect of a rising sun and an Italian sky on the lovely scenery
which surrounds Puzzoli.
He was arouzcd from his reverie by the tasteful touch of a
violin, he listened, started from his seat ; the tones ceased,
when a suppliant voice from behind him entreated chanty. Ed-
ward turned briskly round, and in an instant he found himself
encircled in the arms of Antonio.
" Oh mio Caro Padrone/' said the youth, bursting into joy-
ful tears, while again and again he grasped the hand of the as-
tonished Edward, u Oh mio Caro Padrone/'
" I will not ask you how you escaped," said the no less de-
lighted youlh, as he affectionately returned the pressure of the
joyful Antonio. " Let us immediately join Dr. Walker. In-
deed, Antonio," continued Edward, " We lingered in Terra-
cina longer than we should have done, indulging hopes that we
should hear of you. Forgetting that he was shoeless, and in fact
almost without clothes, Antonio kept close to his young master
who equally regardless of the shabby appearance of the youth,
continued to express the utmost delight at their fortunate
meeting as they passed through the town of Puzzoli.
Dr. Walker was not up when they arrived at the inn, but
Father Benedict was just returned from a neighbouring convent
und was enjoying himself at an open window which looked
towards the sea.
x 3
462 ITALY.
He was surprised at the appearance of Edward's guest ; but
when informed of the particulars of their acquaintance, he con-
gratulated Antonio upon 'his good fortune. Scarcely could Ed-
ward prevent the young Italian from rushing into the Doctor's
room ; but he was at length persuaded to await his rising. Doc-
tor Walker's joy was not less than that of Edward, at again seeing
the poor youth; and when they had breakfasted, Antonio was
desired to tell how he had escaped from the banditti.
" For the two or three first weeks, he said he had been very
unhappy, for the thieves confined him in a cave during the greater
part of the day and night, except when the captain wanted his
personal attendance. One day his master had desired he would
go to such a particular place, where he would find two of his men,
and tell them to return with him directly, threatening at the same
time to pursue him with the utmost vengeance if he dared to
make any attempt to escape. I went," continued Antonio, " to
the spot, delivered my message, and rp*"-^~^ ^ I " c f ' es * re d*
Finding all idea of escapi-- ' ljOpeless> I Vndeavoured to^reconcile
myS ,o - m ~ --* " Dut * lost mv sp iri t s and my appetite, and con-
' ef "-~*itly became thinner every day. The captain, who treated
all his prisoners with great humanity, and was in many respects a
kind hearted man, at length called me to him, and giving me my
violin, he bade me begone; ' But mark me, Antonio/ said he,
* you are an ungrateful boy, I could have loved you, would have
made you my heir; but those English friends have engrossed your
whole affections you are at liberty to join them, if they are still
in Italy ; if not, return to me. As he said this, he gave me a small
purse of money, ^ w jth a grateful heart, and tearful eye, I left
Liiii. I nad not, however, gone far, when I was attacked by two
of his soldiers, as he calls them, who had overheard our conver-
sation. They took my little purse from me, declaring that if I
returned to that neighbourhood, they would murder me. I there-
fore begged my way from Terracina, except when I could earn
something by playing on my violin. 1 intended going to Naples
to seek you, my dear master; but I lost my direct road, and got
to Puzsoli. Ah, how fortunate ! if I had gone straight to Naples,
I should have missed you, and then what would have become of
poor Antonio !"
The Doctor expressed much delight at such a fortunate com*,
bination of circumstances, and bidding Antonio hold himself in
readiness to accompany them to Naples, desired he would with-
draw. After he was gone, the Doctor launched into many praises
of the ingenuous warm-hearted youth; declared his intention of
taking care of him while he lived, and if he proved deserving to
place him in easy circumstances after his death.
Upon arriving at Naples, they took leave of Father Benedict,
and immediately began to make arrangements, for their journey ;
for which purpose they first strqllecj down to the seaside, to, make
MESSINA SCYLLA, CHARYBDIS. 463
enquiries for a vessel that would take them to Messina, and were
so fortunate as to hear of one that was to sail on the folio wing day.
Here they were amused with listening to the recitations of two
or three men, who mounted on a high seat, read aloud to the
surrounding people a wonderful tale, full of the marvellous, con-
taining the history of a Prince Rinaldo, who hy his doughty
prowess, subdued magicians, sorcerers and witches, in short ho
was the very acme of knighthood. On another spot was a moun-
tebank, cheating the people for the great love he bore them, giving
them many infallible recipes gratis, while he excited their genero-
sity by his example, and so contrived to gain a very good living.
A little further on was an improvisatore, who was extempora-
rily praising Naples, and the liberality of its inhabitants, and a
little beyond him was a priest exhorting the multitude to reform
their lives, by forsaking all their evil ways; his tone was in the
highest degree authoritative, and many a trembling sinner, quit-
ted the circle, resolving to lead a better life. None passed this
itinerant monk without taking off his hat, and when he descend-
ed his rostrum, a road was opened for him to pass through.
They embarked the next day for Messina, and early the next
morning they passed the Lipari islands. The Lipari isles, twelve
in number, are ali of volcanic origin ; they produce great quantities
of alum, sulphur, nitre, cinnabar, pumice, also raisins and figs in
great perfection. Stromboli, the most northern, has a volcano
that burns without ceasing.
" Stop up your ears, Edward," said the Doctor, " and Antonio
I would advise you, who are so fond of music to follow my advice
likewise, for we are approaching the coasts of Sicily, where the
Syrens used to draw to them all passengers by the sweetness of
their voices, and then devour them. Even the wise Ulysses would
have become their prey, had he not been fast bound to the mast.
The danger he incurred as he approached the Syren shore, he
thus describes, at the court of Alcinous
* Sunk were at once the winds ; the air above,
And waves below at once forgot to move !
Some demon calm'd the air, and smooth'd the deep,
Hnsh'd the loud winds, and charm'd the waves to sleep.
While to the shore the rapid vessel flies,
Our swift approach the Syren quire descries ;
Celestial music warbles from their tongue,
And thus the sweet deluders tune the song :
Oh stay, oh pride of Greece I Ulysses stay j
O cease thy course and listen to our lay !'
But I refer you to the 12th book of the Odyssey, for the conclu-
sion of this his adventure, which you may read to Antonio, While
I take my afternoon's nap."
lie was awakened by his pupil, who wished him to see tlie beau-
x 4
464 ITALY.
tiful scene before them. The coast of Calabria on one side is
high and covered with the finest verdure/that of Sicily low, but
beautifully variegated. The rock of Scylla on the Calabrian
coast, and the celebrated Straits of Faro, which divide Sicily
from the peninsula ofltaly. The weather was fortunately calm,
and as soon as the ship entered the current, they were rapidly
carried to Messina. Antonio, whose mind had conjured up a
thousand horrid fantasies, respecting Scylla ami Charybdis, was
pale with fear as the vessel passed rapidly along. During the
whole of this dangerous passage he had chaunted his hymn to
the virgin; nor was it till he sprang on shore, that he teased,
when he fell on his knees and returned thanks for his preser-
vation .
" That is an example worthy of imitation/' said the Doctor,
as he gazed on the youth who, with folded hands, and uplifted
eyes, his fine countenance glowing with the most heartfelt devo-
tion, presented a picture worthy the study of a Guido or a Ra-
phael.
Our travellers staid a very short time at Messina, when they
had viewed the quay, which^s extremely beautiful, being"built in
the form of a crescent, and surrounded by magnificent structures
four stories high, and exactly uniform for the space of an Italian
mile. The walk here is one hundred feet wide, and may be pro-
nounced one of the finest in the world.
SECTION X.
SYRACUSE, &C.
HAVING heard that it was necessary to have guards in order to
traverse the country between Messina and Syracuse, our travel-
lers preferred another aquatic excursion, and accordingly em-
barking for the latter place with a gentle breeze, they had a fine
view of the adjoining coast.
" See," said the Doctor, " you have not once observed Mount
Etna, which is in the form of a frustrum or cone, and covers^
space of 63 miles in circumference. The lower regions have a
fertile surface, and are adorned with grapes and forests; the top
is covered with snow, except the crater, from which smoke, often
mingled with flame, is continually ascending, and at intervals,
eruptions of fiery matter roll desolation over the villages and
cities in its vicinity. The whole mountain, and the neighbouring
regions, appear to have been formed of the accumulating sub-
stances that have been ejected. In 1787, there had been 33 erupti-
ons : the effects of one in 1693 were by far the most terrible. That
SYRACUSE-ARCHIMEDES. 465
fiery deluge was accompanied with a most awful earthquake '
during four minutes the earth shook, one fourth of Syracuse was
destroyed ; Catania annihilated ; nearly every city on the eastern
coasts of Sicily lay ia ruins, and 60,000 people perished !
" See where it lifts its majestic head towering above the clouds,
and there stands all that remains of Syracuse, the ancient capi-
tal of Sicily. This city was originally founded by a colony from
Corinth ; its walls were formerly 22 miles in circumference : but
the earthquake of 1693 proved so fatal, that the present circuit
is only about two miles. You know Archimedes, the great ma-
thematician, was born here; a man of admirable sagacity, who
laid the foundation of almost all those inventions, which later
ages glory in having perfected. You have heard, Edward, how
he discc.vered the quantity of silver that was mixed along with
the gold in the crown of king Hiero?"
" No, Sir."
" Well, then, listen attentively, and I will explain this curious
discovery to you.
" Having reasoned upon that principle, that all bodies im-
mersed in water, lose just so much of their weight, as a quantity
of water equal to them in bulk, weighs for example, a pound of
tin, because it is lighter than gold, would be also larger in bulk ;
therefore it would necessarily displace a greater body of water
than gold, the water thus displaced by the tin, allowing that these
metals cpuld float, would of course be more in quantity than that
displaced by a pound of gold, and would, therefore, weigh more.
Do you understand this?"
EDWARD. " Perfectly."
DR. WALKER. " Hence Archimedes drew the conclusion,
that gold being more compact than silver, it must lose less weight
in water, and that a mixed mass of both, must lose in proportion
to the quantities mingled. Weighing, therefore, the crown in
water and in air, and two masses, the one of gold, the other of
silver, equal in weight to the crown ; he thence detenuined what
each lost of their weight, and so resoived the problem.
" This wonderful man defended the city of Syracuse, by op-
posing to the efforts of the Roman general, the numerous re-
sources he found in his creative genius. By means of many dif-
ferent machines, all of his own construction, he rendered Syracuse
inaccessible to the enemy. Sometimes he hurled up on them
enormous stones, sometimes flights of arrows ; even their ships
could not escape his ingenious vigilance ; for when they attempted
to approach the fort, he seized them by the prows with grapples
of iron, which he let down upon them from the walls, and shook
them to pieces, or plunged them in the deep.
" Y r ou have heard of the wonderful galley he built for Hiero,
king of Syracuse, which was looked upon as one of the wonders
of the world. This galley had twenty benches of oars; three large
apartments, and all the conveniences of a large palace. The floor
x 5
466 ITALY,
of the noddle chamber was inlaid, and represented in various
colours the stories in Homer's Iliad. In the uppermost apart-
ment, there was a spacious gymnasium, or place of exercise, and
walks with gardens arid plants of all kinds disposed in most beau-
tiful order. Pipes made, some of hardened clay, and others of
lead, conveyed water all around to refresh them. But the apart-
ment of Yenus, was the finest of all ; the floor was inlaid with
agates and other precious stones ; the walls were of cypress
wood, the windows were adorned with ivory, paintings and small
statues. In this chamber was a library and a bath with groat
coppers, and a bathing vessel made of one single stone of various
colours, and containing two hundred and fifty quarts : it was
supplied with water from a great reservoir at the head of the
galley, which held a hundred thousand quarts. This vessel was
adorned on all sides with fine paintings, and had eight towers of
equal dimensions, two at the head, two at the stern, and four in
the middle. Round these towers were parapets, from whence could
be flung immense stones against the enemy. Each tower was
constantly guarded by four young men completely armed, and
two archers. An engine was fastened to the side, which threw
a stone of three hundred weight, and an arrow of eighteen feet
the distance of an hundred and twenty-five feet."
EDWARD." What a magnificent vessel !"
Antonio asked if they should see it.
'" Oh no, replied Doctor Walker, many hundred years have
elapsed since this vessel was constructed ; and even if it were in
existence, we must go to Egypt to gratify our curiosity ; for Hiero
sent it as a present to Ptolemy king of Egypt. What river is
that?" enquired the Doctor of one of the mariners.
He was told it was the river Gioretta, and that the ruins near
it were those of Morgantio, near the mouth of that river, conti-
nued his informer, large quantities of amber are found, which are
carefully collected by the peasants, and carried to Catania, where
it is manufactured into beads, crosses, and so forth. That is the
city of Augusta you see so well fortified, and not far from it is
little Hybla, so famous for its honey. See," continued he, u look
at those turtles which are asleep on the surface of the water, if
we attempt to touch them, they will be out of sight in a moment.
Syracuse was anciently composed of four cities. Ortigia, Tycha,
Acbradina, and Neapolis ; the former alone remains; the site of
the other three is now covered with vineyards, orchards, and corn
fields. 77
Our travellers visited the amphitheatre, the theatre, the cata-
combs, the Latomie, and the famous ear of Dionysius.
" The ear of Dionysius is a huge cavern, cut out of the rock
in the form of the human organ of hearing. Its perpendicular
height, is about eighty feet, and its length is not less than two
hundred and fifty. This magnificent, ingenious, yet cruel cavern
was so constructed, that tjie sound from any part of it was col-
DIONYSIUS' EAR. 467
lected into one focus, called the tympanum. Exactly opposite to
this the tyrant had a small aperture, which communicated with
an apartment where he used to conceal himself, and where he
could distinctly hear, it is said, every word that was uttered in
the cavern below."
" What a cruel, cowardly contrivance ?" said Edward, as they
quitted this frightful abode.
" But what will you think of Dionysius," rejoined the Doctor,
" when I tell you that this curious cavern was no sooner com-
pleted, than the tyrant put all the workmen to death whom he had
employed in its construction, and then immediately peopled it
with those whom he suspected of being his enemies."
u What a monster !" exclaimed Edward and Antonio at the
same moment.
The Latomie now forms a luxuriant garden, in which oranges,
lemons, bergamots, pomegranates, olives and figs grow to a very
large size. Most of it is one hundred feet below the surface of
the earth, and is one of the most romantic spots that can be
imagined.
In this garden there are several recesses, in one of which a Ca-
puchin friar has taken np his residence ; he was discovered by An-
tonio, whose glancing eye had caught sight of the crucifix, to which
he eagerly advanced, when the father advanced from his grot,
and surprised the youth by his unexpected appearance. Not far
from this spot they were shewn the Arethusa, and at a little dis-
tance from this stream is a large spring of fresh water that boils
up in the sea, called Occhi di Zilica, or Alpheus.
" You know the story, Edward, tell it to Antonio."
EDWARD. " Arethusa was the daughter of Nereus and Doris,
who flying from the pursuit of Alpheus, who was in love with her,
she was changed into a fountain, and according to the poets, this
fountain or river, which runs under ground, near Olympia in
Greece, after traversing between five or six hundred miles under
the sea, rises in this place. Alpheus too was turned into a river,
and that fountain called Occhi di Zilica, and sometimes by his
name, is also supposed to have made the same long and wonder-
ful journey. Virgil, in his tenth eclogue, thus apostrophises this
poetic spring
* Thy sacred succour, Arethusa bring
To crown my labours, 'tis the last I sing
So may thy silver streams beneath the tide,
Unmix'd with briny seas securely glide/ >y
" Vastly well, Edward," said the Doctor :' ( remember always
Antonio, to ask your young master whether what he tells you is
true. You understand that the whole of this story is a fable."
" Si, Signor," replied the youth, " like the story of Rinaldo on
the beach at Naples."
x 6
468 MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS.
CHAPTER XVIII.
MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS.
SECTION I.
MALTA THE NAUTILUS.
' 1 SEE nothing to detain us here," said the Doctor, as they re-
turned home, " so the first vessel which sails for Malta, we will
pay our respects to that celebrated and eminent island."
The next day they again embarked on board a Maltese vessel,
and after a most delightful sail, they anchored in the port of Va-
letta; the whole island of Malta is richly cultivated, and our tra-
vellers, who had been very ill accommodated at Syracuse, were
delighted at finding themselves comfortably settled in an excel-
lent inn. They staid some time in the island, visiting its nu-
merous villages, which, though small, are all adorned with a
magnificent church. St. Valetta, the capital of Malta, is really a
fine city, for the streets are spacious, and the houses are built of
white stone. The island itself consists of three peninsulas, which
are separated from each other by channels capable of receiving
large fleets. It produces large quantities of lemons, cotton trees
and vines. Grain is imported from Sicily.
After the taking of Rhodes by the Turks, the emperor Charles
V. gave this island to the Grand Master of St. John of Jerusalem,
It was attacked by the Turks in 1566, who were obliged to aban-
don the enterprise, with the loss of 30,000 men. The Knights of
Malta formerly consisted of eight nations, but the English, since
the reformation, have ceased to form one of them. They are obliged
to suppress all pirates, and be at perpetual war with the Turks and
Mahometans ; they are inadequate to the first, and the second is un-
becoming a society of Christians. This is supposed by some to be
the island where the apostle Paul was wrecked, though others
say it was one now called Melede, belonging to Ragusa in the
Adriatic. The inhabitants, however, shew near Melita a small
church dedicated to St. Paul ; and near it a statue of the saint
with a viper in his hand, supposed to be placed on the very spot
where he shook the venomous animal from his hand. The Mal-
tese believe the island was freed by his power from all noxious
ariimals ; very true it is that none will live in this island, The
MALTA CORFU. 469
heat at Malta is very great ; the sky, as in Italy, is sometimes
perfectly cloudless for a length of time together, and the atmos-
phere is so clear, that Mount Etna, though two hundred miles
distant, is plainly to be distinguished from the middle of the
island. Our travellers were surprised at seeing several Turks
walking about, and more so when they were informed these men
had a mosque in the capital.
An English vessel, bound for the republic of the Seven Isles,
having been driven into Valetta by a strong gale of wind, Dr.
Walker gladly embraced this opportunity of being conveved thi-
ther as it would be easy to get on terra firma in Greece, when
they were so near. There were two or three Venetian vessels
that were ready to sail ; but our travellers had no wish to meet
with a Turkish galleon, nor had they any desire at present of
visiting Tunis, Algiers, or Fez, particularly in company with any
of the natives of those places, who might perhaps be upon the
look out for such visitors as the Doctor, his pupil and servant.
An English vessel, therefore secured them from all such fears,
and they joyfully embarked.
While they stood watching the gentle motion of the waves,
Edward pointed to a nautilus, which floating on the smooth sea,
its sail extended, and its oars at work, wound its easy way, di-
recting its course by means of its rudder (the tail). It passed
gently on, but when one of the sailors, who espied it, threw
something into the water towards it, the sudden splashing of the
water alarmed it, in an instant the sail was taken down, the oars
drawn in, and the little terrified animal sunk to the bottom of
the sea.
" Poor little thing/' said Antonio, " I am sorry the sailor
frightened it."
A favourable breeze soon brought them to the fertile island of
Corfu, to which the vessel was bound. Upon landing, they were
charmed with the beauty of the scenery, which displayed a profn*
won of nature's choicest fruits and flowers.
44 You know/' continued the Doctor, " that the ancient names
of this island were Scheria, Phoecia, Corcyra and Drepano.
Corfu, with Cephalonia, Zante, Cerigo, Lucidia, and others, at
present enjoy an independent government, under the protection
of Great Britain."
SECTION II.
PARGA, ZANTE.
THEY staid but a short time at Corfu, and proceeded eagcrlj
to cross the small sea which separates them from the interesting
470 MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS.
continent upon which stands Parga. It was evening when they
landed at Parga, a considerable town, on a bold precipitous rock
rising from the sea. One of their passengers being of this place,
he took them to his garden, and gave them some remarkably fine
oranges. Parga has been attached to the Ionian islands during
their vicissitudes, and at present forms part of the septinsular re-
public. The inhabitants are Greeks, and have been able to resist
both the open force and treacherous cunning of Aii, the Pasba of
Joannina, who has for several years endeavoured to attach this
important post to his dominions.
Parga never belonged to the Turks. The Pargiotes have ever '
distinguished themselves by their virtues and industry. They
cultivated their native soil up to the very day that tore them from
its bosom ; and the thrilling scene then exhibited will live in the
historic page, while time shall last. It forms a parallel with those
exhibited at Numantia and Saguntum only, for the destruction of
Carthage, and the banishment of its inhabitants, did not exhibit
so cool, so determined, so sell-possessing, so awful a resolution, as
that evinced by the Pargiotes, and of which the following is a
faithful account.
By Sir Thomas Maitland's orders, the officer commanding the
British garrison at Parga, made known to the inhabitants, that
in conformity to arrangements with Afi Pacha, a Turkish force
was to enter their territory without delay, but that the English
troops would remain for their protection along with the Turks,
until they were able to arrange all theiraflairs, and complete the
emigration. On receiving this intimation, which was confirmed
by the approach of an Ottoman force, the Pargiotes, having
held a consultation, sent to inform the commandant, that as such
was the determination of the Uritisb government, they had una-
nimously resolved, that should one single Turk enter their terri-
tory before all of them should have had a fair opportunity of leav-
ing it, they would put to death all their wives and children, and
afterwards defend themselves against any force, Turkish or Chris-
tian, that should violate the pledge made to them, and that they
would fight until only one should survive to tell the story. The
English commandant, perceiving by their preparations, that this
resolution was irrevocable, instantly dispatched information to Sir
Thomas Maitland, at Corfu, who sent General Sir Frederick
Adam to expostulate with them. That officer, on his arrival at
Parga, observed a large fire in the public square, where the in-
habitants had heaped together the bones of their ancestors, col-
lected from the churches and cemeteries ! All the male population
stood armed at the doors of their respective dwellings; the wo-
men and children were within, awaiting their fate : a gloomy and
awful silen ;e prevailed. A few of the primates, with the Proto-
papa at their head, received General Adam on his landing, and
assured him, that the meditated sacrifice would be immediately
executed, unless he could stop the entrance of the Turks, who>
PARGA. 471
had already arrived near the frontier, and effectually protect
their embarkation and departure. Fortunately, Sir Frederick
Adam found means to prevail on the Ottoman commandant to
halt with his force. The Glasgow frigate, Captain Mahland,
which had been sent from Corfu, having arrived, the embarkation
commenced, and all the Pargiotes proceeded, under her pro-
tection, to Corfu. The Turks, on their entrance, found Parga a
desert; and the only signal that marked their reception, was the
smoke of the funeral pyre, in which its late inhabitants had con-
sumed the bones of their forefathers. The unfortunate emi-
grants are now principally at Corfu, waiting, as houseless wan-
derers, the distribution of the miserable pittance of 481. per head,
obtained for them by their protectors.
" There is a land, of ev'ry land the pride,
Beloved by heaven o'er all the world beside;
Where brighter suns dispense serener light,
And milder moons emparadise the night :
A land of beauty, virtue, valour, truth,
Time tutor'd age, and love exalted youth :
The wandering mariner, whose eye explores
The wealthiest isles, the most enchanting shores^
Views not a realm so bountiful and fair,
Nor breathes the spirit of a purer air 5
In every clime the magnet of his soul,
Touch'd by remembrance, trembles to that pole r
For in this land of heaven's peculiar grace,
The heritage of nature's noblest race,
There is a spot of earth supremely blest,
A dearer sweeter spot than all the rest."
" Where shall that land, that spot of earth be found?
Art then a man? a patriot? look around ?
O thou shalt find, howe'er thy footsteps roam,
That land thy country, and that spot thy home * !"
Parga is curiously built, and stands on so steep a rock, that
most of the houses are seen rising one above another. The
streets are narrow and dirty. It contains but one church. The
fort is in bad order, but might be made a place of some strength
and importance. The Pargiotes are a remarkable handsome
people. A small stream, about five feet broad, enters the port
of Parga; the mountains from which it runs have a bold and
savage aspect, and contain scenes of a wild and gloomy cha-
racter, though their base is mottled with verdure and cultiva-
tion, cottages, vineyards, and orange groves, which, with the
view of the town and its rock-bespangled bay, form a beautiful
and curious picture. The sea which washes this coast is the
Thesprotian gulph. The Pargiotes did not alone cultivate
* Montgomery.
472 MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS.
olives that furnished them the means of subsistence, their fertile
territory produces fruits of all sorts, with which all Epirus is
supplied, and their citrons found their way even to Russia.
Having satisfied their curiosity in viewing this rocky insulated
city, they again embarked, and keeping close in shore, they had
an opportunity of viewing the adjoining coast. " There/' said
Dr. Walker, " are the plains of Actium, where Brutus and An-
tony were defeated by Caesar ; and we shall not be long ere we
see a spot equally famous in modern times, by the defeat of the
Turkish fleet, under the command of Hali, by Doji John of
Austria, in the reign of Philip II. of Spain. In this engagement
Cervantes lost a hand. By the bye, Edward, in some of our so-
litary peregrinations, I will relate to you the particulars of his
life ; they are most interesting, but in our present immediate
journey we shall have too many subjects bearing that title to
permit us to ponder upon Don Miguel de Cervantes. There is
rocky Ithaca, so long regretted and so dearly loved by wise
Ulysses ;" and, continued the doctor, as they doubled a small
cape, u there stands Lepanto, built as you see, on a rock in the
shape of a sugar loaf, on the top of which stands a castle."
The harbour of Lepanto is small, and the entrance so narrow
that it can be shut up with a chain. The country which sur-
rounds it produces corn, wine, oil, rice, Turkey-leather and to-
bacco. They staid here but one night. Having heard a vessel
w as to sail for Zant the next morning, they resolved on profiting
by so favourable an opportunity of immediately continuing their
journey.
Zanteis a beautiful little island about twelve miles long and six
broad; here our travellers were regaled with delicious fruits of
various kinds, amongst which peaches, weighing eight or ten
ounces, were conspicuous. Having strolled on the beach, they
saw an old Greek fisherman preparing his little boat for his de-
parture ; for a trifle he allowed them to accompany him, and
they were amused with his proceedings. Having rowed out to
a sufficient distance, he poured oil upon the water, which calm-
ing the surface of the waves, he could more distinctly see the
fish below him, which he very dexterously speared.
The poor animals were soon dead ; and they returned to
shore with almost as many as their boat w r ould hold. The fish-
erman told them, that if they would accompany him the next
day, he would shew them the most usual mode of fishing off the
coast of Elis ; they very willingly accompanied him, and after
they had got to some distance from the land, he threw into the
water the root of tithymal, which intoxicates the fish ; and they
soon begin to float on the surface of the water, when they are
easily caught with the hand ; but the fish caught in this way soon
become putrid.
'< The fisherman also chopped some of the tree euphrobia, and
pushed it nnder the stones and into the caves along the sea
ZANTE PYRGO. 473
shore: having previously smoothed the water with oil, the octo-
podia and several rock fish soon emerged, and rose to the top in
a state of intoxication. As they returned home, they once felt a
singular movement in their little boat, as if it had been struck by
a large stick. The sensation caused a few moments silence
which was first broken by the Greek, who said it proceeded from
an earthquake. " They are," continued he, " very common in
Zante ; and if you will please to observe, Sir, the trees on the
island are considerably agitated; and now," continued the man,
shuddering as he pointed, " those houses totter." This intelli-
gence was but little pleasing to our travellers, and by the pro-
mise of a reward, they induced the man to stand out again from
land. After an hour or two had elapsed, he assured them the
danger must be long gone by, and accordingly begged he might
row them back to Zante. The damage done was very trifling ;
indeed the houses are built low on account of the earthquakes,
for scarcely a year passes without one. They however embarked
the next day for Pyrgo, on the opposite coast, after having hired
a Greek servant, who understood a little Italian, recommended
to' them by the English consul residing at this place.
Upon landing they proceeded for some distance along the
beach, which was thickly scattered with a variety of shells.
After having prosecuted their walk for about an hour, they were
ferried over a small stream fringed with agnus castus, into a
garden blooming with vernal sweets. Here they were hospi-
r may
rules of these monks, which are those of St. Basil/' said the doc-
tor, when the monks were retired to celebrate vespers, " are
very rigid, for they wear sackcloth ; they sleep without sheets,
upon straw; they eat no flesh ; they fast often, and till the ground
with their own hands,"
SECTION III.
THE MOREA.
FROM the convent they proceeded over a country presenting
at the same time luxuriant valleys and lofty mountains. The
lower part of the Arcadian mountains are covered with oaks,
which produced the true misletoe of the ancients, called loran-
thus europaeus, and from which great quantities of bird-lime is
made. The hoarse screams of the jay repeatedly assailed their
ears as they journied through this varied scene, and as they ad-
vanced into that part of the Morea, called Messena, the richness
474 l MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS.
of the soil was so evident as to be observed by the whole party,
and their Greek servant told them, that the seed mostly yielded
thirty fold ; and that the peasant would often sow his second seed
for corn, immediately upon getting in his first crop. " I should
like of all things/' said Doctor Walker, " to view the country of
Maina. The Mainiotes are painted in the most territic colours
by the Greeks and Turks, but I cannot help thinking that they
would view the independence of John Bull in the same
light. Now for this reason, I do suppose that the Mainiotes are
a free and brave people, who have preserved some portion of the
original spirit of their ancestors/ 7
Upon mentioning their wishes to their Greek servant, he
changed colour, and entreated they would not think of such an
undertaking. " Why," said Antonio, " they are civilized men ;
they are not a horde of American savages." Archelaus shook
his head, and left them, but returned a short time afterwards,
accompanied by the Aga of the place, who strongly seconded the
arguments of the Greek ; but his representations of death and
slavery were listened to with politeness, but made none but an
oral impression upon our travellers. And the doctor seeing ttyat
his servant was terrified beyond all description, told him he
might return to Zante, if he did not chuse to accompany them.
Terror and curiosity divided his feelings, but at length the latter
was triumphant, and he was desired to procure a guide to con-
duct them to Calamata ; he said he knew that road himself; and
the next day they set off upon this excursion, and arrived late ill
the evening at C^hllUP.lil,
Calamata is beautifully situated in the east of the extensive
plain of Messena, not far from the sea. Here the richness of
the soil, assisted by cultivation, produced a luxuriant scene.
The prickly pear alternately divide fields of maize, olive grounds,
vineyards, and groves of white mulberry trees. The inhabitants
of this town are Greeks, and rear a great number of silk-worms.
A small stream now called Calamata, formerly Nedon, de-
scends from the Taygetus, and its progress in the summer is
sometimes to be traced by a bed of large stones and gravel, only
about three hundred feet in breadth, which it had brought down
by its violence in winter, when it is really a rapid torrent. In
the neighbourhood of Calamata stood the ancient town of Pherae.
Being greatly amused by the novel character of the scenery, they
spent a day very pleasantly in rambling about in its environs,
and took up their abode at Katchuk Maina, a town, or rather
village, pleasantly situated in the midst of mulberry orchards,
fenced in by the Indian fig. At this place the landscape glowed
with all the tints of a Claude. As the following day was Sun-
day, they had made up their minds to stay at least a couple of
days in this small but romantic town, which does not contain
more than a hundred and fifty houses. The inhabitants are in-
dustrious, and at the doors the Grecian girls were spinning silk
THE MOREA. 476
they were extremely beautiful ; and as our travellers passed
along, they had something agreeable to say to all of them.
Early oh the following morning, it was the 12th of April, they
Were aroused from their slumbers by the sacristan, who was
calling the inhabitants to the celebration of the Paschal lamb.
The service was performed in the open air, after which a gene-
ral salutation followed ; the rnen kissed the men, and the women
paid each other the same compliment. As this festival had been
preceded by a long fast, the peasants eagerly returned to their
own homes, to enjoy the paschal lamb, for however poor they
may be, they always contrive to procure a lamb upon this day.
In the neighbourhood of Katchuk Maina, which stands near the
Taygetus, they came to the ruins of a bath ; it consisted of seve-
ral arched chambers, some of which were for the purpose of
heating water, which was conveyed through rows of pipes that
still remained to different apartments. Not far from this bath is
the village of Palaeo Castro, standing in the midst of the ruins of
former greatness ; for on every side were fragments of dep^J^i
grandeur. Tuo*C '.'C SUpp^ea to nave belonged to the ancient
town of Thuria. They returned to Calomata through a diffe-
rent road, and from the air of independence and ease of -this\
peasantry, they perceived they were not far from the territory of
the Mainiotes. Having procured the necessary information re-
specting their intended journey, they embarked for Myla, so
called from two or three salt mills in its neighbourhood, worked
by several copious salt springs, Here there was a square stone
tower, the residence of a Mainiote chief, who was prepared fe
their arrival by a messenger they h^d sent before, and who
seemed proud of this visit from English travellers. He received
them courteously and entertained them hospitably ; he partook
of their repast, and this was the symbol of their safety, for the
laws of hospitality among this curious people are inviolable.
Having refreshed themselves, he proceeded with them, till they
came to the ruins of Abia ; and here he took his leave, placing
them under the protection of two guards. They prosecuted their
journey along the indented coast, in the creeks of which were
many row boats, employed occasionally in piratical excursions,
for the Mainiotes like the heroes of old, who inhabited these parts,
were not scrupulous in attacking their neighbours, calling these
depredatory incursions honourable war. This coast is every
where surrounded by rocks and exposed to winds, so that no
vessels of any size can anchor there, and in this the safety of
the Mainiotes consist ; for when any vessel appeared off their
coast with hostile intentions, the inhabitants withdrew for a short
time to the villages at the foot of Taygetus, confident that no ves*
sel can remain long off their rocky shore. The stone towers are
however never forsaken, because from their summit the war-
riors throw different missile weapons upon their foes. The
country they were traversing was rocky and barren, but the hide-
476 MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS.
fatigable industry of the inhabitants collected all the earth that had
been washed by rains and torrents from the higher parts, on plat-
forms and terraces, and these were covered with maize, olive*
and mulberry trees. Taygetus descends to the east in rocky
slopes ; indeed the features of the country, the independent air,
" and godlike form erect/ 7 which characterised its inhabitants ;
their picturesque costume (of which we shall hereafter speak)
threw a sort of indescribable charm on all around our travellers.
Edward and Antonio fancied they were carried back to the ages
of Romance; and Dr. Walker himself, as they approached the
fortress of the Bey of Main a, could not help indulging in ro-
mantic illusions. The House consisted of two stone towers, re-
sembling those still seen upon the borders of England and Scot-
lamj. As the armed attendants passed from the inner court,
un<leran embattled gateway, the doctor could no longer forbear
communicating his feelings to the two youths, who in silence
contemplated the novelty of the scene. u Plave you courage/'
said the good man, turning to them, " to follow me into this
chieftain's fortress? are you prepared for deeds of prowess?
Perhaps this castle may contain an enchanter and a captive dam-
sel. To say the truth, unless that castle does contain a lady,
the magic of the present scene would vanish. Who would have
thought/' continued he, " that in modern Greece, we should recal
the olden time. But see, our guard returns, and with him the
chief." They were received by the Capitano with the most cor-
dial welcome ; and there w r ei e ladies in the fortress, the wife and
children of the chief, to whom they were introduced, and who in
the old patriarchal style of simplicity, waited upon them during
the first part of their dinner, and then retired, when a female ser-
vant attended upon them till their repast was concluded. When
they had withdrawn to their chamber, they were invited to rest
on beds, mattrasses, and pillows, which were spread upon the
ground ; but these beds were not very congenial to our travellers,
for the embroidered sheets composed of alternate broad stripes
of muslin and silk, were rather rough; as the Greeks always
sleep in their under garments, they are insensible of this incon-
venience. Having enquired who inhabited the second tower,
they were told it belonged to the Capitanessa, niece of the chief,
to whom the surrounding district belonged. " The ladies here,
I perceive/' observed the doctor, " do not stand in need of any
chivalrous prowess to defend them. It is only where slavery de-
bases the mind, that women are denied the common privileges of
human kind ; or amidst the uncultivated wilds of America, where
the savage looks upon his wife as a beast of burden." On the
following day they were told, they were to be introduced to the
Capitanessa, or as Edward called her, the lady of the castle. " I
am all anxiety, Sir/' said he, as the time approached for their in-
troduction. " I wonder whether she is handsome/' " Oh yes,
to be sure/' replied his friend, " and I suppose in order to com-
THE MOREA. 477
>lete the romance of our present adventure, you will both fall in
ove with her ; and we shall have a single combat in the court of
;he castle, unless perhaps you would prefer a lover's leap, a la
Sappho.
They dined at half-past eleven with their host and his family,
shortly after which the anxiously expected interview took place.
The Capitanessa was still young and beautiful though a wi-
Jow ; she alone was seated upon their entrance ; her younger
sister stood by her, and a numerous train of female attendants
superbly attired, were ranged round the room. The dress (for
tvho would omit the dress of so conspicuous a character in our
travels) was composed of a light blue shawl gown, embroidered
with gold ; a sash tied loosely round her waist, and a short vest
without sleeves of embroidered crimson velvet. Over these was
a. dark green Polonese mantle, with wide and open sleeves,
also richly embroidered. On her head was a green velvet cap,
in the shape of a coronet, embroidered with gold, and a white
and gold muslin shawl fixed on the right shoulder, and passed
across her bosom under the left arm, floated over the coronet,
and hung to the ground behind her.
When the Capitanessa had ordered chairs for her guests, she
invited her sister to be seated by her, and they were entertained
with coffee and other refreshments.
Their visit over, they reluctantly took leave of their hospitable
hosts, and accompanied by a guard they proceeded on their
journey. Edward and Antonio declared, that this was the most
delightful ad venture they had yet had.
On leaving the village of Kistrees, they ascended a winding
road, round a rocky promontory, which stretched itself about half
a league into the sea. A number of small villages with their
lurches are scattered in the valley which surrounds it, beyond
Inch appeared a dark chain of mountains, whose tops were co-
ered with snow. As they passed along, the inhabitants came
ut on all sides to welcome them, men, women, and children,
hey prosecuted their journey over a barren stony soil to the
lore, and then proceeding along the coast, they came to Carda-
ivla. The honey in this part of the country is nearly equal to
lat of Hyrnettus, and the numerous apiaries on the side of the
ills have a pretty effect. At Cardamyla they were particularly
ntertained at witnessing the dexterity with which boys from
ight years old and upwards, fired with a rifle gun. But what
erhaps was still more amusing, was a group of girls and wo-
len slinging stones and bullets at a mark ; \heir attitudes were
raceful, nor were they less feminine in feature or demeanour
lan the Grecians of the other parts of the Morea. These games
rere succeeded by dances. In the evening our travellers em-
arked in a small boat, for the inland road was impassable. As
liey coasted the shore, the village of Luctra was pointed out to
iiem, and at the entrance of a creek stood the tower of a chief to
478 MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS.
they had been recommended. This Capitano was a man
of most warlike and enterprising disposition, and seldom ap-
peared in a dress much superior to that of his followers; but in
order to honour his guests, the day after their arrival he ex-
hibited the following splendid costume.
He wore a close vest, of white and gold embroidery, and a
short black velvet mantle, with sleeves edged with sables. The
sash which held his pistols was a shawl of red and gold. His
light blue trowsers were gathered at the knee, and below them
were close gaiters of blue cloth embroidered with gold, and silver
gilt bosses to protect the ankles.
When he left the house he flung on his shoulders a rich cloth
manlle with loose sleeves, which was blue without and red
within, embroidered in gold in the front, and down the sleeves in
the most superb manner. His turban was green and gold ; and
contrary to the Turkish custom his hair appeared below it. His
sister was attired in a rich dress, resembling that of the Capita*
nessa already described. Indeed the dress of the different ranks
in this country differ only in quality. The women do not wear
trowsers but petticoats. They are extremely beautiful; for to
the contour of an Italian countenance they add the complexion
found in the more northern parts of Europe.
The feudal system, vshich in former times so basely enslaved
the human mind, has had different effects in Maiia ; for the go-
vernment, if such it can be called, is, strictly speaking, feudal*
Every Capitano has his retainers and followers, over whom he
exercises jurisdiction, and the most powerful of these is honoured
with the title of Bey of Maina, but still his authority extends
only over his own territory. He enjoys the post of honour it is
true, and his authority receives the sanction of the Porte. And
if war should be declared, either openly or not, he is expected to
take the command. The Capitano, in whose house they now were,
had been in several engagements, accompanied by his sister.
Their piratical depredations were mo^st extensive, and the sight
of their trattas, as their long, narrow, canoe-like boats were called,
spread universal terror.
SECTION IV.
APPEARANCE OF A NEW ISLAND.
THEY parted from the' warlike chief with regret, and continu-
ing their journey under the protection of his retainers along
the foot of Taygetus, they at length reached the boundary of his
domains, where they were met by fresh guides to conduct them
down the opposite side of the Plutsa. Before their former guards
5
APPEARANCE OF A NEW ISLAND. 479
took leave, they fired their rifles over the heads of bur travellers,
as a mark of friendship and respect.
They now lost almost every trace of vegetation. Here the
mountain ofTaygetus is a continuation of naked crags. Not a
tree, not a bush was to be seen, and our travellers rejoiced at
reaching the town of Vitulo (formerly (Etylos) which is built
along a rocky precipice at the foot of which is a deep creek of
the sea. A mountain torrent rushing through a deep and gloomy
glen falls into this creek not far from the town. Here they re-
mained but one night, for except viewing the church, which
contains some curious relics of architecture supposed to be taken
from a ruinous temple in its vicinity, they saw nothing worthy
of notice. The chief and his family, to whom they had letters of
ntroduction, was absent ; and although they experienced every
ttention, they resolved to proceed to Mar at ho nisi, the capital of
tfaina, and with an escort of sixteen Mainiotes, they resumed
leir journey. The first part of their route was along a narrow
oad, which wound \vith the torrent along a gloomy dell, shut
n by rocks and precipices. And now again the scene assumed
ic air of romantic novelty, for the armed Mainiotes looked more
ke banditti than guards. They had, however, experienced too
nuch hospitality to be under any apprehensions, and at length
merging from this wild scene, they entered a more fertile tract
f country, in which were scattered several hamlets; and as they
gain approached the sea towards the east, they saw the re*
mains of a square Venetian fortress.
During their journey over this uncultivated plain, Dr. Walker
Lsked their guards if they had seen in their nautical excursions
he new island which had risen from the sea, near Sartorini.
Yes," redlicd one of them, " I have not only seen it, but was
at Santorini when it firstmade its appearance/' " Indeed/' said
Mward, " perhaps then you can tell us something about it."
* Certainly/' replied the Mainiote, " for I shallnever forget it : it
was on the 10th of May, in the year 1807, an earthquake was'
"elt in Santorini*, and the next morning some sailors having ob-
erved what they thought was a wreck, rowed towards it, when to
heir great surprise they discovered rocks and earth. Terrified,
hey returned back to their island, and declared what they had
seen : about two or three days after this, the curiosity of many of*
he inhabitants, (I was one of them) led them to visit this new
sland, but while we were pulling some oysters from the rocks,
:he ground rockod under us ; upon that we instantly made a preci-
pitate retreat. The island nowencrcascd considerably from several
violent tremblings, but it often happened that as one part arose
the opposite side was observed to sink. An immense rock we
next saw rise from the bottom of the sea, at some little distance
from the island, and after continuing visible four days, sunk,
* An island north of Candia.
480 MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS.
and rose no more ; but several smaller ones appeared in its stead
and remained immoveable. During these violent convulsions of
nature, the sea assumed a light greenish tint ; it then became red
and finally of a pale yellowish colour, emitting a most noisome
smell. In July, a ridge of black stones suddenly rose from
the bosom of the boisterous deep, about sixty paces from the
island, where it was unfathomable, from which a prodigious
smoke issued. These stones formed a separate island, and was
called by the inhabitants of Santorini, Hack island, while the for-
mer they denominated the white island. Towards the end of the
month several other rocks sprung up, and the island became
every day larger, and immense volumes of flame issued from the
burning mountains. The wind being calm, the smoke and
llames shot up to so great a height as to be seen at Candia. The
sea was covered with a yellowish and reddish froth, which emit-
ted such pestilential eflluvia,that the Santorines burnt perfumes in
their houses, and kindled large fires in the streets to prevent in-
fection. A sudden gale of wind dispersed the froth, but its be-
neficial effects were almost counteracted by its driving the
smoke over the vineyards, which completely destroyed the
grapes. The next phenomenon which attracted the attention of
the observers was, that the sea was seen to smoke in two large
circles near the volcanic island. It had the appearance of oil on
the point of boiling, and many fish were thrown up dead on the
coast of Santorini. This phenomenon lasted about a month,
when it was followed by a hollow subterraneous rumbling ; this
noise was succeeded by that which immense bodies of stones
thrown into a deep reservoir of water would produce ; and this
again by a noise resembling prodigious claps of thunder.
The fire now burst forth with redoubled fury, particularly from
the black island : and the astonished spectators beheld the flames
dart up three several times to a vast height, resembling so many
immense sky rockets of a glowing red. In (he night the scene
was awful and sublime to a great degree, for these rockets and
streams of fire bursting, fell upon the island as brilliant stars, so
that it appeared all in a blaze.
" On the 9th of September the two islands were united by an
extraordinary convulsion, and four volcanoes appeared, from
which issued columns of fire, with a variety of noises. After va-
rious concussions and alterations in the form of this volcanic isle,
it was so violently shaken on the 21st of September, that part of
the largest volcano came tumbling down, and huge masses of
burning rocks were hurled headlong into the sea to a consider-
able distance : after this tremendous explosion all was still and
quiet for three or four days, when the flames again burst forth
with greater fury than ever; and one clap of subterraneous thun-
der was so tremendous, that the people of Santorini crowded to
the churches, supposing they were about to be engulfed in the
general ruin which appeared to threaten the new and surround-
ing islands.
SANTORINI MARATHONISI. 481
"On the l()th of February a violent earthquake was felt at
Santorini, and the burning island emitted huge volumes of
smoke and flame, accompanied by its usual bellowing. Hie
houses at Santorini shook from their foundation, and immense
stones flew in every direction.
4< From this period till May, the inhabitants were kept in a
constant state of alarm, and it was not till July following, that
they ventured to take a survey of this terrific island ; they were
then not able to view it closely, for the volcanic fires were still
burning, and the sea still boiling. It was however computed to
be about two hundred feet above the sea, and about one mile
broad and five in length. They made an attempt to land on one
part, but were glad to escape in safety ; for the largest furnace
discharged such a profusion of volcanic matter, as threatened to
overwhelm them, and consequently they hastily relinquished the
undertaking. The heat of the water had melted so much of the
pitch of their boat, that their little vessel leaked, and it was with
difficulty tliy reached Santorini. This island continued encreas-
ing for several succeeding years, but it has ceased for some time
to emit flames/'
u What an awful sight it must have been!" exclaimed An-
tonio.*' " Yes/' replied the guide ; " I never saw a scene more
terrific ; nor can I describe the sensation we experienced w r hen
we first landed, and felt the island rock under us V
Our travellers had by this time reached Marathonisi, which is
composed of a single street only ; but in its neighbourhood were
some few vestiges of glythum, such as marble, blocks, &c. which
were interesting to our travellers, who were well versed in classic
lore. "This salt spring, which rises out of the rocks," said Dr.
Walker; " it is very probable was the fountain of Esculapius.
Near this salt spring there are two large stuccoed tanks cut out
of the rock for the supply of water. Beyond this is a long ob-
long apartment in which were niches for urns containing the
ashes of the dead. Having viewed these ruins they prepared for
their departure from this interesting country, and crossing a baj r ,
they entered a plain, through which flows the Curotas. " Was
not this the country of the Helots, Sir?" said Edward." Exactlv
so/' replied his friend ; " and now, Edward, just explain to An-
tonio the origin of the Helots ;" and Edward began thus
" When the LacedenioJiians first began to settle in Pelopon-
nesus, they met with great opposition from the inhabitants of the
country whom they were obliged to subdue one after another, by
force of arms, or receive into their alliance on easy and equitable
terms, as the paying them a small tribute. Strabo speaks of a
city called Elor, not far from Sparta, which, after having submit-
ted to the yoke as others had done, openly revolted and refused
to pay the tribute.
4< Agis, the son of Euristbenes, newly settled in the throne, was
sensible of the dangerous precedent of this first revolt, and
Y
482 GREECE.
therefore immediately marched with an army against them, to-
gether with Sous his colleague. Having subdued Ihe rebels^ he
resolved to make an example of them, not by putting them to
death, but by reducing them to a state of slavery, r.nd from
henceforth ail the slaves of Greece were called from them Elot,
or Helots."
SECTION V.
MISITRA ARGOS CORINTH.
As they advanced, their road became craggy and dangerous r
not only from the natural causes, but from the roving parties of
Bedouiniots, and the Turkish and Albanese hordereis, who infest
these mountains : their Albanian guides too, appeared as if they
were almost inclined to betray their trust, and Dr. Walker was
under some apprehensions lest their adventure should not ter-
minate so happily as it had begun. One man alone of their com-
pany kept a watchful eye upon the surrounding country, and he,
fortunately for our travellers, retained an air of confident supe-
riority, to which his companions sullenly bowed. Upon their
arrival at Misitra, (the ancient Sparta) he prevented his Alba-
nese companions from retaining the letters to the Aga and the
Greek primate, who inhabited the city ; and although Dr.
Walker expressed no suspicions of the fidelity of his guards, he
could not help entreating this friendly Albanian to accept a va-
luable ring as a token of their gratitude for the important services
he had rendered them.
The appearance of Misitra is picturesque ; it is divided into
four parts the castle, which stands on a rock, the town, and two
suburbs. Our travellers were much delighted with the Chris-
tian church Perelipitos, which appeared to them one of the most
beautiful of its size they had yet seen, even at Rome. The Turks
have many mosques, and the Jews three synagogues in this an-
cient town. At Misitra they were introduced to one of the supe-
rior Greek families, and received a polite invitation to be pre-
sent at a Greek wedding. Dr. Walker and his young friends,
thought this a most fortunate circumstance ; and on the day ap-
pointed, they eagerly repaired to the house of the hospitable
Greek, the lather of the bride. The beautiful Sappho was most
splendidly attired in the Grecian costume, and profusely adorned
with jewels. Over her head she wore a red veil, which partially
concealed her fine dark hair, which hung in tresses down her back.
An immense number of attendants, a band of musicians, the
blazing torch of hymen, and a host of female friends clad in
ARGOS CORINTH. 483
splendid attire, accompanied the youthful bride, who had but
just attained the age of fifteen. Before the bridgroom and the
bride were presented at the altar, they were -each crowned with
a chaplet, which, during ihe ceremony were changed from the
one to the other by the priest. After the nuptial benediction a
cup of wine was presented to the new married couple, and sub-
sequently to the sponsors, and then to the remainder of the com-
pany. After the ceremony was concluded, the bride was con-
ducted to her new home ; her female friends taking particular
care she should not touch the threshold of the door. The blazing
torch was now consigned to the chamber of the new married
pair, where it was 10 burn out. Its extinction before it is quite
exhausted would be looked upon as a very bad omen.
The Grecian wedding furnished our travellers with ample
scope for conversation the next day.
Having witnessed this festival, they staid but to procure
proper guides and instructions respecting their route to Argos,
and then proceeded to Tripolezza, a town of no importance,
from whence they continued their route to Argos. u Do you re-
collect/' said Dr. Walker, addressing Edward, " the celebrated
contest between the Argives and the Lacedemonians, which took
place near this spot, respecting the town of Thyrea, to which
they both laid claim." " No," replied Edward, " 1 do not, Sir."
" The two armies met," resumed his friend, " in order to settle
the important question by force of arms ; but in order to spare the
effusion of blood, it was agreed that three hundred men from
each army should decide the contest. Accordingly six hundred
of tiie bravest soldiers were selected, who fought till three Only
remained, two of the Argives and one Lacedemonian, when night
parted these combatants. The Argives returned to Argos to
announce their victory ; the Spartan remained on the field, and
stripping the bodies of his former antagonists, conveyed the spoil
to the Lacedemonian camp, and then returned to retain posses-
sion of the hard fought field. On the following day, both parties
claimed the victory ; the Argives from having had two comba-
tants left, the Lacedemonians from their champion remaining
on the field, while they declared his two opponents to have ig-
nobly fled.
4i There was now an end of all pacification, the combat became
general; and fortune deciding in favour of the Lacedemonians,
Thyrea was united to the Spartan dominions/'
4 * It reminds one of_ the combat between the Horatii and
Curiatii," observed Antonio, who had entirely ceased to be con-
sidered as a servant.
From Argos they made an excursion to all that remains of
Corinth. Corinth, or Coranto, is now an inconsiderable plaee ;
the houses stand in a solitary manner in the midst of garden*
and orange-groves, forming the appearance of a pretty village.
The castle, which is placed on an almost inaccessible roek,
Y 2
484 GREECE.
commands a most extensive view. They returned to Argos deeply
impressed with the passing greatness of all sublunary honours.
" I think/' said Dr. Walker, " we should take a more regular
survey of this classic country, if we were to embark for Athens ;
we might then visit some of the islands." His proposal was
warmly seconded, and having hired a vessel to convey them
down the gulf of Argos ; the first island they touched at was Milo,
the most fertile spot that can be imagined ; heated by subter-
raneous fires, it almost exhibits an eternal spring and summer ;
wheat, barley, grapes, and delicious melons, appear in blossom
and fruit at the same time, and nearly without any intermission
throughout the whole year. It also produces a sort of alum in
large lumps, composed of threads as fine as the softest silk, sil-
vered over and shining very beautifully. It has the same taste
as rock alum. Notwithstanding its fertility, it is thinly inha-
bited, for pestilence and oppression have united their equally
baneful effects to depopulate a spot, which might serve as a
model for the Elysian fields.
From Milo they proceeded to Naxis, where they landed in the
midst of mulberry, orange, lemon, cedar, citron, pomegranate,
and fig trees. The wine of Naxis is still famous. Scarcely
could our two young travellers remember upon landing, that
they were citizens of the world, and that consequent!}' nought was
to astonish, incommode, or molest them. The extraordinary ap-
pearance of the women was to them so novel and so astonishing,
that they could hardly command their risible muscles, so far as
to smile only. In the first place the Naxian ladies adorn their
faces with innumerable black patches. " How ridiculous," said
Edward to Antonio, " I should like to tell them that in our
country a patch implies a pimple/' " And observe," replied
Antonio, " those heavy black velvet wings at their shoulders,
and that huge circular shell which supports the ends of their
lappets. Their stomacher too so heavily embroidered with pearls."
" Now, I pray you, cease Antonio," interrupted the doctor, " you
are upon ticklish ground, for in the picture at Elmwood, the
English seat of your young friend, his grandmother wears just
such a stomacher, as that which adorns the fair bosoms of the
Naxian women."
At night they were amused with another fishing excursion.
The air was still, the sea calm, and the night rather dark.
Having proceeded to some distance from the land, in company
with several othor boats, their fisherman kindled the branch of
a pine, and hanging it over one end of the boat, the fish began
to assemble round them.
The strong reflection of this blazing fir upon the human
countenances, upon the dark and gloomy deep, on the surface
of which the finny tribe floated in great numbers, produced the
most singular and pleasing picture. Many of the boats had lan-
terns fixed to a long pole ; the effect of these scattered about
in various parts was most amusing, and our travellers returned
GROTTO OF ANTIPAROS. 485
home delighted with their nocturnal excursion. Upon entering
the cottage where they had taken up their quarters they were
lighted to bed by Grecian lamps fed with oil of mastic. This
island produces great quantity of emery. They next touched
at Paros, which produces excellent wine and the fine white
marble called Parian marble. It gave birth to Phidias and
Praxiteles, the renowned statuaries. The Arundelian marbles
at Oxford were brought from this island.
The present inhabitants of this once celebrated island, have,
however, no taste for sculpture, and their utmost production
does not exceed a mortar or a salt-collar. Even the fields bear
testimony to the ancient genius of this island, to which its in-
habitants are so insensible. Friezes, altars, and has relievos,
supply the place of hedges in this marble isle, and on every side,
whether you thread the groves or pace the plains ; whether
you seek the populous city, or the lowly cot, columns and frag-
inents of ancient sculpture greet your eye.
The inhabitants rear many sheep ; and formerly their olive
vineyards were very celebrated, but in the war of Candy the
Venetians barbarously burnt them all.
u This island was anciently dedicated to Bacchus," said Dr.
W^alkcr, " on account of its highly flavoured wines. And now
let us make enquiry for a boat to convey us to Antiparos. We
must see the celebrated grotto."
c ' What a number of partridges and pigeons this island pro-
duces," observed Edward.
" Yes," replied his friend, " but they are not in such repute
here as they were formerly."
'* No," said Antonio, " nor as they now are at Modena."
" Formerly," resumed the Doctor, " the dove was sacred to
A r enus only, but mankind have pressed this peaceful bird into
the service of Bellona, they have employed pigeons to carry
messages of every kind, converting them into state couriers in
the regular transmission of dispatches, but it is chiefly in be-
sieged towns, that they have been employed to reveal the dis-
tress of the inhabitants, and to convey to them the tidings of
comfort. It was thus that the consul Hirtius apprized Decimus
Brutus, when besieged in Modena, of the succours which he
was bringing to him. And this, I suppose, is the reason why
the pigeon is in such estimation in Modena."
u Yes," replied Antonio, il for as a token of their gratitude
the Modonese have perpetuated the practice of rearing carrier
pigeons."
" Can you not recollect, Edward," rejoined Dr. Walker,
*' Anacreon's beautiful ode to his dove? Try what you can do."
" Tell me why my sweetest dove,
Thus your humid pinions move,
Shedding through the air in showers
Essence of the balmiest flowers,
Y 3
486 GREECE.
i
Tell me whither, whence you rove,
Tell me all, my sweetest do\e.
1 Curious stranger! 1 belong
To the bard ofTeian sung;
With his mandate now 1 fly
To the nymph of azure eye ;
Ah! that eye has madden'd many,
But the poet more than any.
See me now his faithful minion
Thus with softly gliding pinion
To his lovely girl 1 bear
Songs of passion through the air.
Oft he blandly whispers me,
Soon, my bird, Til set you free,
But in vain he'll bid me ily,
I shall serve him till I die
From Anacreon's hand J eat
Food delicious viands sweet;
Flutter o'er his goblet's brim,
Sip the foamy wine with him ;
Then I dance and wanton round
To the lyre's beguiling sound ;
Or with gently fanning wings
Shade the minstrel while he sings,
On his harp then sink in slumbers
Dreaming still of dulcet numbers/"
Having landed on the small island of Antiparos, the ancient
Olearis, they eagerly advanced to the rock through \\hich they
were to descend to the celebrated grotto, the only attraction An*
tiparos possesses in the eye of a traveller. A lofty arch formed
of craggy stones mixed with brambles and bushes forms the
portal through which our travellers passed into a narrow passage
glittering on each side as if it were set with diamonds. After
they had advanced for some time, a cord was fastened round
their waists, and they were then, one after the other, lowered
down a frightful precipice ; the torches carried by their guides
threw an imperfect gleam around, and the awful scene cannot
better be described than by applying to it Milton's expressive
epithet of darkness visible.
After proceeding about fifty paces, a more terrific precipice
presented itself, which they descended much in the same way
as the former, but with more difficulty from the projections of
the rock. They had now left the Stygian shades and entered
upon Elysium. An arched passage about one hundred and
twenty feet long, nine high, and seven broad, burst upon them
with inconceivable splendour. The arched roof and the walls
are composed of red and white glittering granite, polished as if
ANT1PAROS ATHENS. 487
by art: at certain distances were columns of deep blood red
porphyry, presenting altogether a scene, which so astonished
Antonio, that in silence he followed his friends till they reached
a slanting wall of purple marble, adorned with transparent
crystals, many of which from the reflection of the lights carried
to illumine this natural and splendid phenomenon, sparkled like
amethysts.
Another slanting passage, the stalactites of which assumed
a variety of grotesque forms, led them, at last, after descending
a third precipice, by means of a ladder, to' the object of their
visit the grotto. They were now about one thousand five hun-
dred feet below the surface of the island.
The roof, which is in many parts one hundred and eighty
feet high, is luxuriantly adorned with festoons of flowers, marble,
ice, pendant icicles, and the most fanciful imagery, all of so
brilliant a hue lhat the eyes of our travellers could scarcely gaze
upon the resplendent scene. In the sides of the grotto, the pe-
trifactions have assumed the form of trees and shrubs, which
rising one above the other, meet the icicles of the roof, forming
the most beautiful and delicate trellis work. The ground work
of this grotto is rough and uneven* being composed of crystals
of various colours, intermixed with the crystallized white marble,
which principally compose this fairy palaee.
44 How wonderfully grand," at length exclaimed Antonio,
whose eager eye and parted lip were strongly expressive of the
astonishment he felt at contemplating this sublime work of na-
ture; 44 I am lost in wonder and delight/'
44 We have a grotto in England which equals it Antonio," re-
plied his young friend. ** Do you not think so, Sir," continued
he, addressing Dr. Walker.
u It is not much inferior to it," said the Doctor, u and I ex-
pected the comparison from you."
SECTION VI.
ATHENS ELEUS1S CITflERON THEBES NEGROPONT.
HAVING once more regained the face of day they passed one
night on the island, and then embarked on board their little
vessel, which after a pleasant sail conveyed them up the gulf of
Egina, and late in the evening they landed in the interesting
vicinity of Athens. The situation of Athens is picturesque to
a great degree, for it stands on the brink of a precipice over-
looking the sea.
Y 4
488 GREECE.
Our travellers made several excursions in the neighbourhood
of this once celebrated city, and none gave them more pleasure
than that of the summit of Hyinettus.
Having visited the spot called Acathymia, formerly the site
as is supposed, of the ancient academy, they continued their
walk, and were amused for some time by a shepherd playing upon
a pastoral flute, which consisted of a single piece of the Donat,
about a foot long. The next day, following the tract of the
Illissus, which was nearly dry, and fringed with the oleander
and the agnus castus, they proceded to Hyinettus, so famous
for its honey. The lower part is planted with olive gardens, the
kermes oak then appears, and several beautiful flowers adorn the
upper part of it, among which a specfes of the colchium, and
the beautiful Persian cyclamer, are very conspicuous. A va-
riety of sweet herbs also adorn this celebrated mountain, and
impart their aromatic flavour to the honey of Hymettus.
The view from their exalted situation was extensile and
pleasing. They could discern the Cyclades^ the straits of Ne-
gropont, the eastern coast of Attica, the numerous ports stretch-
ing towards cape Colonna, the Saronic gulf, the plains of Athens
with its olive grounds, and the mountains of Panics and Peh-
deliin Attica.
" Was not one branch of the Illissus called Eridanus V 9 said
Edward.
c * Yes/' replied the Doctor, " though the Po in Italy be so
called by Virgil. It was the river Eridanus into which Phaeton
fell, when Jupiter melted the wax off the wings of that aspiring
youth, when he presumed to guide the chariot of the sun."
Having rested at the monastery which is about halfway up the
mountain, for some little time, they were anxious to taste the
honey ; but this article belonged to the bishop, and so closely
did he exact his due, that the poor monks could not present
our travellers with the smallest quantity.
So little now remains of what Athens was, except the ruins
of the Parthenon, in the Aeropolis or citadel, and the temple of
Jupiter Olympus, that our travellers made but a very short stay
within its .walls, and hiring guides, and accompanied by their
Greek servant whom they found very useful, they again resumed
their journey, taking the direction of the route to Marathon.
'* Do you not feel yourself half transformed into a hero/' said
the Doctor, addressing Edward, as they entered the plain of
Marathon ; " cannot your imagination picture the celebrated
engagement which took place here between the Persians and
Greeks, in this spot consecrated by the blood of heroes ? here
Miltiades with his Athenians, Plateans, and slaves, rushed to the
unequal contest. Here the superb Persians fled before their
valiant opponents, and embarking in haste, doubled cape Lunium,
directing their vessels to Phalerum, hoping to reach Athens
before the Athenians were aware of their intentions. They
ELEUSIS CITHERON. 489
were, however, disappointed, for the conquerors at Marathon
marehed direct for the capital of Attica, as soon as the impor-
tant contest was decided, and counteracted the designs of their
proud and ambitious invaders. And now let us visit the village
Morasana, I understand it is a pleasant little place, seated in
the midst of gardens planted with vines, olives, and apricot
trees."
Having prosecuted their walk about a mile along the banks
of the stream, they arrived at a fountain surrounded by a circu-
lar foundation of ancient masonry. Above the fountain is a
small rock at the foot of which is a cave divided into various
apartments, supposed to have been formerly dedicated to Pan.
Having taken a survey of this interesting spot they returned to
Athens, over a rough and rocky road, till they arrived at the plains
of that city. It was night when they entered the city, and the fol-
lowing day having made all necessary arrangements for their de-
parture, they set oft" along the shore of the gulf for Bceotia. In
about an hour and a half after crossing a plain between Cory-
dally and Parnes, they arrived at the convent Daphne, partly
composed of th<3 ruins of the temple of Venus, which formerly
stood near this place.
They then crossed the streams of the Rhitti, and at length
arrived at Eleusis, where the plan of the temple of Ceres, which
was destroyed by Alaric, A.D. 396. is still to be traced. Here
they passed through vast fields of barley. They made no stay
at Eleusis, but continuing their journey in a northern direction,
they reached IVlegara where they viewed some fine remains of
antiquity; two hours brought them across the plain, when Mount
Parnes presented itself, beyond which stretched the plain of
Eleutherai where another road from Athens, by Phylc, joins
that of Eleusis. After traversing the Citheron, a chain of
mountains \vhich divides Attica from Boeotia, they entered the
celebrated plains of Platea. Some traces of the fortifications of
the town are still to be seen, three miles to the west of the pass
of Citheron. Having made some comments on the battle of PJa-
tea, in which Mardonius the Persian general was totally defeated,
and which so completely suppressed every idea the Persians had
formed respecting the subjugation of Greece, that no Persian
troops ever passed the Hellespont after this memorabte defeat ;
the Doctor said, u it was worthy of observation, that the
heathen never undertook any great enterprize without consulting
the gods, nor ever gained a great victory without returning
public thanks to the same. After the battle of Platea," con-
tinued he, " a dispute took place between the Lacedemonians
and Athenians as to which of the two nations should be declared
the bravest ; the dispute ran ."high, but at length the question
was decided by Cleocritus of Corinth, who in order to avert the
scene of blood which threatened to tarnish the honours the two
people had lately gained, declared he thought the prize shou.Ul
Y 5
490 GREECE.
be awarded to the Platcans. The proposal was received with
loud shouts, and in the division of the spoil fourscore talents,
(about 18,000/. sterling) was set apart for that people, who with
this large sum erected a temple to Minerva. The tenth part of
all spoil taken by the Grecians was devoted to the gods upon all
occasions."
A golden tripod was sent to Delphos by the united Greeks
upon this great victory ; they also sent to request the god (A polio)
would inform them what sacrifice was proper to offer as a token
of their gratitude tor this great victory. The answer they re-
ceived was u that they should erect an altar to Jupiter Liberator,
that no sacrifice was to be ottered upon his altar, until all the
neighbouring fires had been extinguished as they had been pro-
faned by the Barbarians, but that fire from the common altar at
Delphos was to be sent for upon this solemn occasion." Upon
the receipt of this answer the generals dispersed themselves in
every direction to extinguish the fires, and Euchidas a Platean,
undertook to fetch the sacred fire from Delphos. On his arrival
at the sacred fane after having purified himself and sprinkled
himself with holy and consecrated water, he approached the
altar with the greatest, reverence, took the holy fire and im-
mediately returned to his native city, where he arrived before
sun-set. Having delivered a short speech to his countrymen, and
consigned his precious charge to its hallowed receptacle, he fell
down and instantly expired. He had walked a thousand stadia
(120 English miles) in one day. The heroes in the Iliad, the
Odyssey, and the yEnead, always addressed some deity previously
to rushing to the fight. The poets of antiquity make their he-
roes pious according to the piety of the age in which they lived.
" Though false their faith,
And less than human were the gods they sung :
Though false their faith, they taught the best they knew ;
And blush, O Christians! liv'd above their faith.
They would have blessM the beam, and hail'd the day,
Which chas'd the moral darkness from their souls."
In a north-west direction from Platea are supposed to be some
trifling remains of Leuctra, and between Platea and Leuctra, is
a plain on which area couple of tumuli, which may very probably
have been erected after the engagement between Epaminandos
and the Spartans. A small place called Lefka marks the situ-
ation of Leuctra, and the little \illage of Rohle is near the re-
mains of Platea.
In the town of Thiva or Stibes, anciently Thebes, where they
next halted, they staid one day in order to take a survey of this
once celebrated city. It is surrounded by a wall defended by
square stone towers. The houses are high and tolerably built,
and though the only manufactory carried on here is that of bowls
for the Turkish pipes, yet it had a more lively appearance than
THEBES NEC ROPONT. 491
they had lately been accustomed to. The inhabitants are half
Greeks and half Turks, and the town contains two mosques and
several Christian churches. The second day of their arrival at
Thebes they hired horses to convey them to Negropont, the
ancient Enbcea, which is divided from the continent by the
Euripus, over which there is an old fashioned heavy bridge of
three arches. The approach to the capital from Thebes is over a
dull uninteresting country, but the view of Negropont, the capi-
tal of the Island of that name is very fine. It is surrounded by
lofty walls and towers rising from the water, behind which ap-
pear the mountains of Euboea, their summits covered with
snow.
Upon crossing the bridge they were much disappointed. The
interior of the city presented a dull and melancholy appear-
ance. No sound,
u No busy hum of men/'
greeted their ears, and they almost fancied they were entering
an uninhabited town. The buildings are mostly of the Venetian
cast, solid and gloomy, and the lion of St. Mark still retains his
position on various parts of the walls.
A large Gothic church in the style of those in England, drew
from Edward an exclamation of delight. The blood rushed to
his face as he contemplated with mingled feelings an edifice^
which brought to his imagination many pleasing remembrances.
This, and a silk manufactory, carried on in a large vaulted
chamber of most solid masonry, which Dr. Walker pronounced
to be the remains of Koman strength and grandeur, are all that
Negropont contains worth noticing.
They weie content with having viewed the capital, and ac-
cordingly again crossing the strait of Euripus, the irregularity-of
whose tides has been the subject of much study, both among
the moderns and the ancients, they turned to the right, directing
their steps to Martino, a village about eighteen miles from Ne-
gropont. Their road lay at a short distance from the sea coast,
and as they journied on, they passed the ruins of a large town
which they supposed to be Anthedon. The day now advanced,
and ere they reached the bay Potromathe the sun had long passed
the meridian. Among the mountains which surrounded this bay
on three sides, there was one round which their road lay. Al-
though the horses were accustomed to this steep ascent, yet
they toiled with difficulty, and their guide having mistaken his
way, the evening closed in upon them, and they began to fear
that they must pass the night in the open air. In the valley it
had been warm ; but now that the sun was set, the chilly air of
the mountains was sensibly felt by our travellers, particularly
by the Doctor. Edward and Antonio looked eagerly on every side,
and were anxious to seek for a place of shelter for him, but he
would not suffer them to leave him, lest they should stray so far
Y6
492 GREECE.
as to lose sight of him. One of the guides,, who had left them- to
search for some one to give him information, at length returned,
and said he had discovered a cave, which was sheltered from
the winds at least, but whether it were dry or not he could not
tell.
" Oh lead us to it/' said Edward, " and we will soon kindle
a fire, and with light and warmth we shall be screened from
many ills/'
How will you strike alight?" said Antonkx
" Lend me your knife," replied his young friend, " and we
will do as the savages do in America."
When they arrived at the cave, the doctor was shivering with
cold, and the two youths 'and the guides having collected some
dried leaves, with some branches of fir, they soon kindled a
blazing pile, which revived the good man for a time, but he was
evidently affected by the cold more than he chose to confess.
The cave too was damp, and in their joy at feeling the genial
glow of the fire, our young travellers forgot that it drew the
damps more powerfully around them. Antonio was the first to
see a sensible alteration in his friend, arid upon asking him how
lie did, and receiving an answer that he felt very poorly, both
Edward and the young Italian evinced the strongest marks of
sensibility.
" Stay with him/ 1 said the latter, " I will find a house and
comfortable refreshment if these inhospitable mountains will
produce it."
He did not wait for an answer, but bounding-with the rapi-
dity of a goat over the uneven surface of the mountain, he was
soon out of sight. Dr. Walker was extremely uneasy respecting
him, but Edward assured him he would soon return, and so
indeed he did, accompanied by a shepherd, N who offered his
humble dwelling with more courtesy than they were wont to
find in the inferior classes of society they had lately associated
with. Supported between his youthful friends the Doctor pre-
ferred walking to mounting his horse, and. in the course of hah
an hour, he was warmly and dryly, if not very comfortably
lodged in the peasant's hut. They were, however, detained two
or three days in this sequestered spot, by a, slight indisposition
of the Doctor.
In a few days Dr. Walker, feeling himself much renovated,
mounted his horse, and they proceeded merrily on to. Marti no*
CEPHISUS DAULIS. 493
SECTION VII.
JOURNEY THROUGH GREECE.
THE day after their arrival they made an excursion along the
banks of the Larmi, the ancient Cephisus. From the midst
of rocks and bushes, at the foot of a low cliff, the river bursts
with considerable force. A little above its source there is a
small plain tolerably cultivated and bounded with a low ridge of
rocks to the west. The view from these is fine : the lake of Co-
pais, into which the mountains of Boeotia jutted in broad head-
lands ; sometimes they were bare to their base, sometimes a rich
scene of cultivation skirted their inferior parts, and presented a
fine picture. Beyond the lake stretched the plains of Haliartus
and Orchomenus, bounded by the snowy ridges of Parnassus,
which towering above the surrounding scenery lifted its proud
head to the skies.
" What a melancholy view does this fine country present,"
said Dr. Walker, " the rising of the waters of this lake in the
winter time, is so great as to turn the richest soil in the world
into a morass. In the winter time the shepherds and goatherds
convey their respective flocks to a more genial clime, that of
Attica.
" The origin of this celebrated lake is supposed to have arisea
from the river Cephisus, which stagnating in the lower part of
the plain, formed at first a shallow lake, which has encreased in
succeeding years, till it has become what you now see it. A
fissure so common in lime- stone rocks received part of the super-
fluous waters, and it is said that this water has a, subterranean
outlet. Square pits have been dug at different times in.order to
receive the waters which occasionally threatened to overwhelm
the whole plain. Bice, cotton, and tobacco, are now planted
near the lake, and the more distant parts with wheat and
barley/'
They returned to their cottage, pleased with their excursion,
and the next day having crossed the plain of Cephisus, they ar-
rived at Daulis, inhabited by the laborious Arnauts.
Although Daulis contains only sixty cottages, yet it possesses
no less than eighteen churches! The same disproportionate
number of churches is seen throughout most parts of Greece,
where the Turk is either too weak or too liberal to prevent it.
These consecrated edifices are however, in general, composed
only of four loose walls, which are formed of ancient fragments,
and without a roof. The altar is frequently nothing more than
a slab of marble, with an inscription underneath, supported by
the block of an ancient column, or the pedestal of a statue.
The churches at Daulis are so diminutive, that all except four
494 GREECE.
escaped their notice ; one of them is in the Acropolis. The
Greek priests, as an expiation for great misdeeds, sometimes
impose upon their penitents the construction of a church ; and if
we may be permitted to draw general conclusions from this well
known fact, we must infer, that the proportion of sinners in
Greece is very great. The doors, even of the hetter kind of
churches, are commonly so narrow, as to admit only one person
at a time; and this is done in order 1o prevent the Turks from
converting them into stahles, by turning in their horses, which
they frequently do, when the door is sufficiently capacious.
The bread in this part of the country is very bad, but they
were fortunate in arriving at Daulis before the Greek priest had
devoured all the delicious white bread which had been presented
to him on the I Oth of March. They purchased several of the
fine loaves from him, afler he had blessed them, which opera-
tion is supposed to render them more salubrious to the body, as
well as more agreeable to the taste.
Upon entering the rude mountains of Parnassus they were
agreeably surprised to meet with fruitful and picturesque valleys
in the midst of rocky and barren peaks, for in this part of the
mountains the pine is almost the only tree to be seen. lu about
five hours they arrived at Delphos, the ancient Delphi.
" Now," said Dr. Walker, u approach with reverence the
Castalian spring, of which the Delphian priestess of Apollo
used'to drink ere she uttered her mystic prophecies."
The silence which followed this advice was first broken by
Edward's repeating the following beautiful lines by Pope to a
nymph of a grotto ; which he appplied to the Delphian priestess.
" Nymph of the grot, these sacred springs I keep,
And to the murmur of these waters sleep ;
Ah spare my slumbers! gently tread the cave,
Or drink in silence, or in silence lave."
" What I" exclaimed the Doctor, " has not Parnassus in-
spired you with an original lay. Come, Antonio, let us hear
something from you."
Antonio complied with the Doctor's request, and in his own
native language poured forth his unpremeditated lay, with a
sweetness that wouHd not have disgraced the Delphian priestess
herself.
The Castalian spring which ooze.s from the rock, was in an-
cient times introduced into a hollow square, where it was re-
tained for the use of the Pythia and the oracular priests. Some
steps that are cut in the rock formed a descent to this bath.
The face and sides of the precipice, which inclose the spring,
have been cut and flattened: it was no doubt anciently covered
in ; for it cannot well be imagined that the Pythoness laved her
holy limbs in open day. A circular niche, which was probably
designed for a statue, is cut in the face of the rock: a small
PARNASSUS. 495
arch and passage is seen on the western side a little ahove the
usual level of the spring: this was made to let oft* the superflu-
ous wafer. At the opposite side is the diminutive chapel of St.
John, which seems to have been contrived in order to exhibit
the triumph of the cross, over the adoration of Apollo and the
Muses.
The fountain is ornamented with pendant ivy, and over-
shadowed by a large fig-tree, the roots of which have penetrated
the fissures of the roek^ while its wide spreading branches threw
a cool and refreshing gloom over this interesting spot. At the
front of the spring they were gratified by the sight of a majestic
plane tree, that nearly defends it from the rays of the sun, which
shines on it only a few hours in the day. Homer, in his Hymn
to Apollo, mentions the fount Delphorisa at this place; probably
meaning the Castalian.
Above the Phsedriades is a plain, and a small lake, the waters
of which enter a hatabathron, or chasm : and it is probably from
this that the Castalian spring is supplied. The superfluous
water, after trickling amongst the rocks, crosses the road, and
enters a modern fount, from which it makes a quick descent to
the bottom of the valley, through a narrow and rocky glen,
fringed with olive and mulberry trees, when it joins the litle
river Pleistos, and enters the sea near the ruins of Kirra. While
they were at Delphi, the Castalian spring was flowing in a co-
pious stream, anil formed several small cascades, the appearance
of which was highly picturesque.
The sides of the fountain were covered with fine water cresses,
to whose wholesome properties as an eatable, the natives were
perfect strangers. They were, however, induced to taste them
by the example of our travellers, and appeared highly delighted
with the flavour*.
Some traces are still left of the ancient magnificence of this
interesting spot ; and at Delphos many valuable inscriptions
have been discovered. From Delphos they proceeded to Chae-
ronaia now Caprana, where there are a few inscriptions and
the remains of a theatre. They now hired guides to conduct
them along the northern part of the plain of Cephisus till they
arrived at Thermopylae, immortalized by the death of the pa-
triotic Leonidas, and his three hundred Spartans.
They were now in Thessaly, but understanding from their
guides, that it would be more advisable to take a boat and
proceed to Volo, a town on the sea coast, about thirty eight
miles south of Larissa ; they followed their advice, and embarked
for that purpose.
After landing at Volo, they resumed their journey by land,
and proceeding in a northern direction they slept at Ambelakia
a Greek town, overlooking the vale of Tempe, during their stay
* This circumstance is mentioned in Dodwell's Tour in Greece.
496 GREECE.
in this town. They made excursions to the mountains Pelion
and Ossa, from whose summit they could clearly distinguish
how the Peneus forced its way through the rocks towards the
sea. Edward was extremely impatient to visit Tempe.
" And pray Edward/' said the Doctor, " tell me how your
imagination has pictured this celebrated vale ?
" Why I should suppose," replied the youth, " a beautiful
undulating plain, watered by meandering streams, enriched
with all the beauties of the vegetable world, and guarded from
all intruding eyes by inaccessible rocks and mountains/'
" Like the happy valley in Rasselas," rejoined his friend.
" Just so/' said Edward, but when, sir, shall we view this
sweet spot; to-morrow?"
" Yes, to-morrow," was the reply.
Anxiously was the morrow expected, and at day break, in the
cool of the morning, they entered tlreBooaz, as the pass of Tempe
is now called, through a rocky dell, for which they were prepared
by the gradual closing in of the mountains on either side of them.
In the middle of this pass runs the Peneus, inclosed by rude
rocks. As they proceeded the banks of the river were shaded
t>y groves of the oriental plane tree. The road through this pass,
which is so narrow as only to admit the Peneus, is formed by
man, and it is even broad enough for wheel carriages. In some
places it is paved along the edge of the river, in others it is cut
out of the solid base of the rock, twenty or thirty feet above
the level of the water. Towards the eastern end of this vale the
road rises much higher, for the rocks here shoot perpendicularly
from the water,
4< And this/' exclaimed Edward, as he viewed the wild and
romantic scenery around him, " this is the vale of Tempe ; these
steep rocks and wooded heights, this dark and silent stream/'
" And yon gushing fountain," interrupted the Doctor, " those
beautiful plane trees, from which are suspended in such rich
luxuriance, the blushing vine, those gay festoons which hanging
from branch to branch dip their verdant leaves, in Ilie renowned
Peneus, these form the picturesque beauties of the vale of
Tempe. r " u And now, young gentlemen/' continued the Doc-
tor, let us halt and refresh ourselves, for although in the vale of
Tempe, " Jl faut bien Qu' Arnoul dine."
His young friends had no objection to partake with him of his
frugal repast, and seating themselves on the base of the rock,
they never perhaps, more enjoyed any refreshment. Having
vt andered for some time in this secluded spot, the beauties of
which have been so greatly exaggerated, at least if the scenery
is not extremely changed, they returned to Ambulnkin ; and
going a little out of their way on their return to Volo, they
visited the plains of Pharsalia. From Volo they again embarked,
and sailing up the gulf of Salonichi, they landed at the city of
the same name.
TURKISH BURIAL GROUND. 497
The ancient Thessalonica is about ten miles in circum-
ference, the inhabitants are chiefly Greek Christians and Jews,
each of whom has thirty places of public worship. It has a
great trade, particularly in silk. Here are many superb mosques
which formerly were Christian churches: that of St. Demetrius
is particularly rich, it contains many pillars of porphyry, jasper,
and other costly materials. At this place they were regaled
with sea perch ; and oft' this coast they observed that the fish
were sometimes driven into large nets and thus caught.
As they wandered one evening through the streets of the city,
they observed near one -of the principal bazaars several coffee
rooms, whither many Turks were bending their heavy steps.
Many of these persons appeared to have their necks awry, and
were in other respects distorted to a certain degree.
" Dear Sir," exclaimed Edward, " how very shocking it is to
see so many persons distorted, what can be the reason of it?''
DR. WALKER. " The inordinate use of opium. One of the
most valuable medicines we have. It is the dried juice of the
seed-vessels of the white poppy, when they are about half grown/'
On the following day as they were strolling in the environs
of the town they heard the tones of wailing and lamentation.
The sounds drew nearer, and slowly advancing they saw a fu-
neral procession. A number of Greek women with their 'hair
dishevelled, weeping bitterly and mournfully, strewing roses,
and'sprinkling a bier with perfumed water, slowly passed them.
The deceased was an unmarried woman : she was dressed in her
best attire, and crowned with a chaplet of flowers. The women
who attended appeared sinking under the weight of their afflic-
tion ; indeed many of them upon these melancholy occasions
refuse all sustenance till they are absolutely compelled to take
it. A funeral feast concluded the mournful ceremony.
" I think," said Dr. Walker, as they returned home, "that
it is high time we should prepare for visiting Mount Athos,-<f
we do intend it, and therefore let us make arrangements for this
great undertaking/ 7
Having obtained letters from a Greek monk of Saloniohr,
to the abbots of the different convents, our travellers hired
guides, and they proceeded across an immense plain, till they
came to a Turkish burial ground. In its neighbourhood is one
very large barrow or tumulus, and several smaller ones. There
are many such in different parts of Greece, and Turkey. Upon
arriving at the beautiful village of Basilika, consisting of de-
tached houses placed in the midst of vineyards and gardens, they
stopped and passed the night in a pleasant cottage, and the next
day continued their journey by passing through Gallitze a com-
plete Grecian village ; here they procured Albanian guides and
guards, and continuing their route through forests of oak, they
at length entered a country which recalled to their imagination
the rich scenery of an English park,
498 GREECE.
SECTION VIII.
ALBANIA.
IN the neighbourhood of Nisvoro where they next halted, are
silver mines, which arc still worked. They were fortunate in
meeting \\ith a company of pilgrims who were journeying to the
holy mountains, all well armed, in order to resist the attacks of
robbers \\ho infest this part of the country. The dress of the
Albanian women reminded our travellers of the highland lassies,
for except the difference in the head dress, their costume is
similar. Upon reaching the isthmus which joins the holy moun-
tain to the continent, their guides told them they would see no
more women, as females of every description were forbidden to
approach the hallowed spot.
" Nay," said one of their guides, " you will not even see a
cow or a ewe, for nothing female will exist upon Athos, that is
as the monks say."
" Do they drive away all the birds too ?" said Edward smiling,
" 1 think that is past their ability."
** Problakas, this narrow spot," observed Dr. Walker, " which
is but twenty-five yards across, was cut through by Xerxes, to
admit his gallics."
And now they soon approached the monastery of Chiliantari,
where they were hospitably received by the hugoumenosor abbot,
who appeared to be a man possessing much intelligence. The
country surrounding Chiliantari is ornamented with vineyards,
corn fields, and gardens, where the song of the nightingale is
heard during the day as well as the night. By the rules of the mo-
nastic institution of Mount Athos, the different convents are
required to grant hospitality to all strangers of whatever deno-
mination, country, or rank, who may visit the holy mountain:
our travellers experienced this hospitality, through the whole of
their tour, in its utmost extent, for upon their offering to the
caloyer (a lay brother only) who had attended upon them, a
remuneration for his trouble, he decidedly refused it. The
travelling caloyers, however, arc not famous for disinterestedness;
they are indeed a great tax upon the monasteries, for they are
numerous and poor, and frequently intrude long upon the hos-
pitality of the poor monks.
The oath of the monks on Mount Athos, is solemn and sim-
ple : it requires an absolute renunciation of the world and all its
social ties. As they continued their journey from one monas-
tery to another, (there are twenty in all) they sometimes tra-
versed the most beautiful and well cultivated country; while at
others their road ran along the edge of a barren precipice beet-
MOUNT ATHOS. 490
ling over the sea. The situation of the monastery of Simopctra,
which stands on a perpendicular rock, is by far the most ro-
mantic in the peninsula. From a gallery which surrounds it
externally, and which our travellers entered when the vast con-
cave of heaven was thickly studded with stars, the scene is
awful indeed. The moon rose majestically in the east, and as
her broad and glowing disk gradually ascended, the tops of the
rocks and thick forests which skirted their base, assumed a
silvery hue; while the summit of Athos, which towered consi-
derably above them, covered with snow, presented a most sub-
lime and imposing effect. The magic of this scene affected the
whole party.
Scarcely a breath agitated the leaves, no noise disturbed the
awful repose, save the sweet voice of the nightingale, and the
gentle dashing of the waves, as their silvery tops rolled over with
measured pace, and laved the foot of the rock. Now and then
the splashing of an oar was also heard as a pirate boat skimmed
lightly over iho glittering deep.
" Oh what ;i lovely scene," said Antonio, " I could almost
wish to become a caloyer."
*' And when the wind blows, and the tempest rages," replied
the Doctor, 4fc when the rolling thunder reverberates from rock to
rock ; when the lightnings blast those stately oaks, and the spray
of the foaming deep dashes over their towering heads, how should
you like to be a caloyer then?''
*' Oh," said Antonio, who had listened with thrilling awe
as the Doctor painted the scene ; " i think I should like to sec
such a scene as you have described, beyond any other upon
earth."
'*' Well, then/' said Edward, " we will leave you behind, and
seek another Antonio ; who much as he may admire the subli-
mity of" tlie scenes of nature, admires more the superiority of
intellectual pleasures, and those social ties which bind man to
man."
There was a degree of reproof in this speech, which rather as-
tonished the Doctor, and wounded Antonio.
** You have shewn by this speech," replied Dr. Walker, " that
you are deficient at least in the milk of human kindness, the
strongest tie which binds man to man. Antonio is not going to
leave us, nor did I hear him say as much."
The tears rushed to Antonio's eyes, and the colour flushed
Edward's cheeks, and then again forsook them.
" Mr. Montague!" exclaimed Antonio, approaching him ti-
midly. In an instant they were in each other's arms, and Dr.
Walker said no more upon the subject. The next morning they
again entered the gallery. Here their eyes commanded " a vast
expanse of the iEgcran Sea ; distinguished clearly numerous
islands that were scattered over its smooth surface; surveyed
the Gulf of Athos, and returning back to the wooded regions of
500 GREECE.
the mountain, beheld the deepened dell, above which boldly rose
to a tremendous height the craggy precipice on which this build-
ing* was raised.
Having taken an affectionate leave of the Abbot of Simopetra,
they descended the craggy rock which nearly occupied them an
hour, they embarked in a boat of the monastery, and passing the
convent of St. Gregoria, they landed at thatofDionysio ; and from
thence proceeded on to St. Ann's. The picturesque effect of thi-s
convent is considerably heightened by a foaming torrent, which
issuing from the mountains, tumbles from rock to rock, sometimes
partialty hidden by gloomy woods, until at length, in one sheet
of foam, it mixes with the Gulf of Athos.
From St. Ann's they proceeded on foot to the convent of St.
Laura, from whence they directed their steps to the capital of the
peninsula ; and after traversing the greatest variety of scenery
that can be imagined, they at length arrived atChariess in the
centre of the peninsula, The appearance of this town is singu-
lar ; it is situated on the side of a natural amphitheatre, clothed
with the richest verdure, and highly cultivated. The meadows
in its vicinity are so luxurious, as to be cut three times in a year.
The vineyards and filberd gardens which surround it, are
cultivated with peculiar care, and watered much in the same
way as those in France, viz. by irrigation. It contains a few
shops ; but here were no women, no infants to amuse, and the
Turkish Aga himself is doomed to a life of celibacy during hi*
residence in the holy mountain.
They hired mules at Chariess to convey them over the fine
Alpine country which they were now to traverse. The snowy
top of Mount Athos appeared towering above the surrounding
rocks in majestic grandeur. The convent of Batopaida is em-
bosomed in woods, and surrounded by gardens and meadows.
" Why this is a fortress, not a convent," said Edward, as they
approached the castellated building. " Look, Sir, at those lofty
walls and towers; those cannon, and that huge iron gate."
His surprise was encreased when this gate was opened, for it
led them into a long and winding passage, in which were two
brass cannon, and after passing through three more gates, se-
cured bj r bolts and bars, they were at length admitted within the
sacred precincts of the monastery. The Hegoumenos received
them politely. This is one of the principal of the convents of the
Holy Mountain; it is a large irregular building, overlooking the
sea. One large church, and twenty six smaller ones are attached
to it, and it accommodates two hundred and fifty friars and
priests, besides a vast number of pilgrims.
" What building is that?" enquired Edward of the Greek Ca-
loyer, who was accompanying them as a guide in the environs
of the convent.
*' It was an academy where the Greek language was taught,"
LEMNOS. 501
replied the Caloyer; " but owing to the deficiency ofthe funds
to support the institution, it has been shut up for some time."
" This Caloyer led them to a small building, which made
them shudder when he opened the door, for it contained the sculls
of all the monks who had died in the convent. These monks are
forbidden meat, except upon occasions of extreme necessity. On
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays ; they must not eat either
eggs, oil, or fish. Having traversed this interesting region, and
satisfied their curiosity, as to the nature of the institutions of the
twenty convents, and of the people which inhabit the holy moun-
tain, they began to think of resuming their journey.
SECTION IX.
LEMNOS ADRIANOPLE CONSTANTINOPLE.
FORTUNATELY a vessel having just dropped anchor from Lem~
nos, which upon enquiry they found could accommodate them
and convey them to that island, when the master had unloaded
his little stores, they took a friendly leave of the superior of
the convent of Batopaida, and once more embarked. The clear-
ness of the water as they approached Lemnos, drew their joint
attentions ; they could distinguish several marine productions,
which were at the bottom of the sea; and here they saw the
process of gathering sponge. Several little boats, containing
each two men, the one with a cruet of oil^the other holding a
pike or sharp prong, went out together. The oil was for the same
purpose as that used in fishing, and they saw several large pieces
of sponge drawn up by the men, who tore it from the rocks with
their pikes, as well as several sorts of fish, such as the red and
grey mullet, the sparus, the shad, and a kind of scorpion fish.
They were regaled in this island with a variety of melons. Lem-
nos has lost all its former splendour; it formerly boasted of a
wonderful labyrinth, of which not the slightest trace now remains.
Exorcism is still practised by the Greek priests on the shores
of the Archipelago and the islands; not only human beings, but
animals of almost every kind, are supposed to be subject to the
influence of baneful spells, sorcery, and witchcraft ; and in one of
their liturgies there is a prayer for counteracting a malicious
glance on silk-worms when they are spinning. A priest, with a
censer, and a vessel of holy water, was performing this ceremony
on a new built cottage, which stood near the sea side, upon the
arrival of our travellers in Lemnos.
After our travellers had ascended Mount Pelias, the highest m
502 GREECE.
the island, they arrived in a plain \\here they slept ;it a miser-
able village, and the next day proceeded to the spot where the
Lemnian earth was found. It is called Terra Sigillata, and is
said to possess now, as in days of yore, extraordinary medicinal
qualities. It is never dug' hut once a year, and then with a great
deal of ceremony, when it is made up into little balls, having the
impression of the Grand Seignor's seal, and exported to various
parts of Europe. They returned the same way they came, and
having pievaiied upon one of the vessels, the owners of which
had not been very fortunate in sponge fishing, to take them to
Logiano, situated near the mouth of the tlebrus, they once
more embarked, and landing at that place, they made enquiries as
to whether they could go by water to Adrianople, as the river
was navigable to that place. They were told they had
better not venture to Adrianople, for that they weie under some
alarm respecting the plague. As Dr. Walker had no inclination
to try whether Lady M. Wort-ley Montague was right in de-
scribing this complaint as much less dangerous than it is usually
represented, he declined visiting a place where the experiment
w r as to be made, and Constantinople became the object of their
curiosity.
* 4 Adrianople," observed the good man, " is a town of consi-
derable importance, it has an exchange of nearly half a mi!e in
length, which is furnished with many rich shops. The environs
are fertile, and remarkable for excellent wine/'
*' There," said Dr. Walker, as they sailed up the Hellespont,
" there is Sestos ; and there, on thc'opposite shore is Abydos. On
the top of that rock Hero anxiously watched the progress of
Leander across this fateful strait. From that rock she witnessed
.. his death, and from that rock she plunged herself into the briny
deep*. But to quit a subject which is at best but a beautiful
fable, and turn to one of more substantial interest, which I befieve
we have not spoken of in our Grecian tour, I mean the animals
of that country.
" Among the animals found in Greece, particularly about
Mount Parnassus, are the bear, the lynx, the wild cat, the wild
boar, the wild goat, the stag, the roebuck, the badger, the martin
and squirrel, and about the mountains which surround Mara-
thon, wolves, foxes, and jackalls abound, fiares, partridges,
pheasants, and other kinds of game, are found in abundance in
most parts of Turkey in general."
And now they approached Constantinople, once the seat of
Roman power, now the capital of the Ottoman empire. Constan-
tinople is built in the form of a crescent; on a rising ground, so
that the view of it from the sea, presents that of a superb amphi-
* M. Fiorian has dramatised this scene in the most exquisite
style.
S
CONSTANTINOPLE. 503
theatre. The glittering domes and towers rising- majestically above
the surrounding houses, forming' altogether a coup d'oeil not to
be surpassed by any city in the world. And yet, when our tra-
vellers entered this city, so interesting from the associations
which it produces; they were disappointed. The houses are
built of wood, and have a mean appearance. The bazaars are
long co\ered walks, where all kinds of merchandize are exposed ;
but the Turks shew their magnificence in their mosques and
bagnios; and one of the first places our travellers visited was
the mosque of St. Sophia, which was originally built for a Chris-
tian church, by the emperor Justinian. It is one hundred and
thirteen feet in diameter, and is built on arches, which are sup-
ported by vast pillars of marble. The roof is superbly inlaid
with rich mosaic ; but the most interesting object it contains is
the tomb of the emperor Constantine.
" Have you any inclination to visit a bagnio," said the Doctor
to his two young friends, " if so I will conduct you to one; as to
bathing, you may do as you please, that is a ceremony I shall
dispense with."
" Will you explain to us, Sir, beforehand what we have to
encounter," said Edward.
'* Most assuredly I will," replied the Doctor. " In the first
place you will be ushered into a large room, furnished with sofas
all round the walls, with a fountain in the middle of the chamber.
Here the Turks converse and take off* their upper garment: from
this apartment you will be conducted into a smaller one, heated
to a certain degree by stoves, where you will leave ih rest of
your cloaths, and from thence proceed into a spacious apart-
ment furnished with several large basins, into which hot or cold
water is conveyed by different pipes Previous to your taking
the bath, you will be washed with soap and water, and rubbed
dry with coarse towels ; and if you like, you may have your fin-
gers and joints pulled till they snap. After the bath, you will tie
a napkin round your head, one round your body, and with one
thrown over your shoulders, you will return to the first chamber
>ou entered, and smoke your pipe, or drink your coffee, and
amuse yourself with conversation as long as you please, and then
resume your cloaths and depart/ 7
" I have no inclination/' replied Edward, " to undergo this
ceremony, your description will suffice me."
" Nor I neither/' said Antonio.
" Suppose then," rejoined Dr. Walker, 4< we go to the square,
near the mosque of the Sultan Bajazet, and see the mountebanks
and jugglers, who exhibit their tricks in that place."
The proposal was warmly seconded, and they accordingly set
off, and were much amused by the usual display of foolery, and
we may say, dexterous knavery, which always accompanies ex-
hibitions of this kind. On their return to the suburb of Pera,
where they had taken up their abode, they amused themselves
504 GREECE.
with Lady Mary Wortley Montague's Letters, which give so ad-
mirable and so novel a description of Turkish laws and manners.
" What think you of that description of the lovely Fatima,
Edward/ 7 said the Doctor. Antonio has been busied I see with
perhaps the more instructive study of geography. Have you in-
formed yourself, Antonio, of all you wished to know relative to
Turkey? if so, Edward will describe to you a visit to a Turkish
lady of rank ; which, alas ! in this unsocial country, can never
be understood by us, except by description. Come, Edward,
give us a proof of your descriptive powers, we will have no read-
ing if you please."
EDWARD. " I fear I shall acquit myself ill ; but a truce to
apologies. Lady Mary having paid her respects to the Grand
Yizier's lady, who had passed the purple bloom of youth, and
where every thing though hospitable, was conducted with much
solemnity, was persuaded to visit the Kiyaya's lady. The Kiyaya
is the deputy to the Grand Vizier. Two black eunuchs met her,
and the slave who bore her train, and the Greek lady (her inter-
pretess,) at the door, and conducted them through a long gallery
between two rows of beautiful female slaves, dressed in the most
costly manner in silver brocade. This gallery opened into a spa-
cious chamber, the sashes of which were gilt, and thrown open ;
and in the middle was a marble fountain playing with sweet
water, which shed an agreeable coolness, as well as fragrance
throughout the chamber. The large trees which were in the
garden, formed a natural and agreeable verandah, running along
one side of their room, were entwined with jessamines and
honeysuckle, and added their sweets to that of the fountain,
which falling from one marble basin to another, produced a soft
harmonious sound. At the farthest end of this (airy apartment,
sat the beautiful Fatima on a sofa, covered with the tincst Persian
carpets. She reclined on white satin cushions, but she rose as
Lady Mary approached her, and received her very graciously.
At her feet sat two lovely girls, her daughters, while twenty
slaves, who would each of them have been reckoned beauties
any where but in the presence of the lovely Fatima, danced and
sang with the most bewitching grace. After the dance was con-
cluded, four slaves entered the room with silver censers, and
adding l sweets to the sweet/ perfumed the air with amber.
ColVee was then served by them upon their knees in the finest
China: and before Lady Mary took her leave, Fatima presented
her with the most superbly embroidered handkerchief, which she
begged her ladyship would keep for her sake."
" Oh how I should like to have been Lady Mary, 1 ' said An-
toaio.
" Who would not ? I should like to know/' said the Doctor
smiling; ' and 1 cannot help regretting that such a profusion of
beauties should be entirely concealed. Perhaps Lady Mary, who
knew there could be no one to contiadict her, coloured highly,
CONSTANTINOPLE. 505
in order to excite the envy of both sexes ; but it is high time we
should retire to our sofas/'
" I think," said Edward, " the Turkish ladies are very much
to be pitied. "
16 1 do riot know that," replied his friend, " they never know
any other kind of life than that of seclusion; and indeed the
opinion that they are totally deprived of liberty is erroneous.
They go to the bagnio, they walk in the environs of the city;
they visit each other; and the author we have been just study-
ing, says, * they are the only privileged persons in Turkey ;' but
I am weary boys ; so good night. On the following day they re-
paired to Constantinople, whither they were led by motives of
curiosity and humanity. There had been a considerable fire in
the city, five hundred houses having been burnt in the course of
the night. Fire, however, appears in this country to be as little
dreaded as the plague ; and upon enquiring after the sufferers,
they were answered with much sang froid, that there was no
person burnt, and that therefore there was no cause for commi-
seration.
" How did it originate?" enquired, Edward of one of the by-
standers.
" I suppose," said the man, "that some one kicked over his
tendour."
Edward was now as wise as he was before ; but Dr. Walker,
who read his countenance, asked him if he had not observed the
usual way in which the Turks warmed themselves. They have
neither chimneys or stoves, but they make use of the tendour in-
stead. This is a machine, about two feet high, in the form of a
table, made o(' wood, into which they put hot ashes. A carpet, or
piece of embroidery, is thrown over it, and at this stove they eat,
drink, work, read, and very often sleep. In the latter case it
sometimes happens that they kick over the tendour, and the ashes
communicating to some of the surrounding furniture, it takes fire,
the Turks, who are the most phlegmatic people in the world,
under the influence of most of the ordinary misfortunes of life,
make their escape from their burning dwellings, with all possible
dispatch, and conveying what furniture they can collect into a
bark, they watch the progress of the flames with the utmost
composure.
The magnificem e displayed by the sultans, and even the
bashas of Turkey is past all description. The trappings of the
horses are of the most superb, textijre, studded with pearl and
precious stones ; their pipes cost sometimes as much as a thou-
sand pounds, The pipe, which is long, being sometimes encircled
after the manner of the scroll round Trajan's pillar, with the
finest diamonds. An apartment in one of the royal palaces
is lined with mother of pearl, and fastened with emeralds, as the
heads of nails. The girdles of the great ladies are always set
with diamonds, with other precious stones ; and those who can-
Z
506 GREECE.
not afford jewels, embroider them superbly. The Sultanas' dress
is so rich, as literally to impede their walking freely, and their
long hair is bespangled with diamonds.
" Well," observed Dr. Walker, as they returned to Pera in
their gondola, " our visit of condolence was all thrown away
upon the cool and collected Turks. Their belief in predestina-
tion, disarms life of all its sorrows ; for they assert that what
must happen will happen ; and that if they are doomed to be
burnt, they cannot be drowned ; and that therefore all apprehen-
sion is childish. Even under the loss of parents, wife or children,
the same philosophy consoles them ; they would be ashamed to
mourn and wail immoderately, as that would not be supporting
misfortune with the dignity of a true Musselman.
" But our visit to Constantinople has not been wholly fruit-
less \ I have made every arrangement respecting our money af-
fairs with a Jew, to whom I was recommended, and we shall
shortly take leave of the smallest, though not the least renowned,
of the four quarters of the globe ; so write your letters, Edward,
to-day, for to-morrow we cross the Hellespont. You, Antonio,
will write to Father Benedict at Naples, and give him an ac-
count of our late excursions, while I shall retire to my own
room, where I choose to be alone for the remainder of the day, as
I feel rather indisposed/'
Edward and Antonio immediately seated themselves, and Dr.
Walker retired to his sofa to muse upon their future plans, and
to form schemes of happiness and pleasure for the benefit of the
two youths, for whom he felt a father's affection.
DIRECTIONS TO THE ^BINDER.
1. The coloured Plate will face the Title. PAGE
2. FingaPs Cave and the Giant's Causeway . . . , 70
3. The Geysers and Vesuvius .,.'... 128
4. Iron and Salt Mines 193
5. Travelling in Iceland, and- the Disappearance of the Rhone 293
6. Nautilus and Coliseum 432
7. Mount Olympus and the Grotto of Antiparos 486
Brintfd by R, Gilbert, St. Jobn's-square, London..
I
The following Works, by the same Author, are published by
G. jW. R. WHITTAKER, Ave- Mafia- Lane, Lndgate-
Streety and are sold also by N. HAILES, Juvenile Library,
London Museum, Piccadilly..
The History of France from the Earliest Periods to the Second Return of>
Louis XVIII. to the Throne (f his Ancestors. Price 6s. boards.
" Miss Thurtle seems to possess the qualifications requisite to the his-
torian of youth : her information has been- drawn from authentic quar-
ters, and she communicates it with impartiality,, and all that ease for
which her sex have been long famous in literary productions.
" Her ' History of France* is upon the plan of the 'President He-
nault,' or of Bertrand de Moleville's Chronological History of England.'
" We most cheerfully recommend this history to the attention of those
\vho have not perused any other impartial History of France, and have
no doubt it will afford them both profit and pleasure/'
Antijacobi?i Review, June, 1818.
' We have here a good elementary history ; the most prominent events
of each reign being adroitly seized and rendered more impressive by
the writer's assiduity in recording many heroic and remarkable sentiments,
of celebrated persons, which history or traditon,has preserved."
Monthly Review Enlarged, August, 1819.
M The style is chaste and correct;, the narrative written throughout with
a scrupulous regard to truth, and in no one instance have we marked an
inclination to distort character, or to throw a shade over guilt. The co-
temporary list of the sovereigns of Kurope appended to each reign is ex-
tremely useful, and the notes occasionally subjoined are well adapted to
illustrate the story, as well as to amuse the reader.?'
New Monthly Magazine, October, 1818.
What could be done in a compass so limited, the writer seems lo
have accomplished. She has exercised her judgment in selecting such
circumstance* as are best fitted to shew by what means the grand political
changes in the government of the country were effected ; and has very
properly been least copious respecting those of ancient date. So short,
indeed, is the account of some of the early reigns, that little more
is recorded of the ruling prince than that he. was born, and that he
died. When. we advance so 'far as the 14th century, the details become
more ample ; and the work increases in interest, as we approach to its
conclusion.
" The style appears in general to be simple and unaffected, exhibiting,
much of the ease so remarkable hi the writings of Dr. Goldsmith."
Edinburgh, Monthly Review, January, ^
Works published by G. % W. B. Whittaker and N. Hailes.
Ashford Rectory ; or the Spoiled Child Reformed. Containing a Short In-
troduction t-o the Sciences of Architecture and Heraldry ; with a particu-
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boards.
<* We cheerfully recommend this tale to general circulation. If it
should be received as it merits, we shall not, we trust, hear so much of
disunion among those whom Nature itself specially desires to love one
another ;> and we may expect that when these branches leave their stock,
they will retain their blossoms; and by aftersought intercourses, cause it
to be said, ' how good it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity.' "
Antijacobin Review, August^ 1818.
We are not surprised that this little book has already reached a se-
cond edition, for it well merits public encouragement, and ought to oc-
cupy a place in every juvenile library. The story is interesting, and en-
livened by a variety of lively sketches of manners calculated to improve
the heart, while the dialogues en architecture, heraldry, and antiquities,
contribute very much to enlarge the understanding. 1 '
New Monthly Magazine, October, 1818.
(t This is a work expressly designed for the instruction of youth, and
the author has very wisely chosen the interlocutory mode of conveying
her information, as being the most captivating, by reason that instruction
and amusement are derived through the same medium. The characters
employed in this little drama, are brought forward chiefly to illustrate the
advantages to be derived from a well digested plan of domestic educa-
tion, under which the author has given some very useful lessons in the
polite arts, heraldry, Grecian and Roman history ; and her descriptions
of the beautiful, or terrific, or sublime scenes of nature, are not. the Ieas,t
commendable part of the volume. Here the noblest and purest pas-
sions of the young may be inflamed, their understanding enlightened,
their errors corrected, and their heart made better by lessons of virtue.
London Literary Gazette, Sept. 12, 1818.
The History of Spain, from the earliest Ages of which we have any authen-
tic Records, to the Return of Ferdinand VII. irc!8J4; accompanied
with chronological and genealogical Tables of the Visigoth and Spanish
Princes and Caliphs? and a List of contemporary Sovereigns, at the End
of each Reign : also Hie political Arrangements of Europe, as settled at tht
Treaty of Paw. With Notes*
" We are glad the task of writing an abridged History of Spain has fal*
len into such hands, as our authoress. The present political aspect of
Spain encreases the interest of this publication, which, in conciseness of.
style and clearness of expression, resembles the writings of Goldsmith.
The chronological tables are excellent, and we recommend this volume
as extremely amusing and instructive for youthful readers, and as a well-
arranged help to the memory of the elder and better informed in histori-
eal science. Literary Gazette, May 6, 1820.
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