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caves of Carli and the caves of Salsette are visited and described; and the rooms of the Literary Society of Bombay are entered with a classical veneration.

In the twenty-fourth chapter, begins the second period or division of this curious tour. The scene changes, the Asiatic shore is now abandoned, and, during this and the ensuing chapter, the author is a voyager on the Red Sea. In the twenty-sixth, he lands at Cossier, and crosses the Desert in order to embark on the Nile.

In chapter xxvii. we have a description of the temple at Dendera: but, as this ruin has lately been well described, and is not here illustrated with original drawings, it may suffice to observe that the included zodiac attests a degree of modernness posterior to the communication of that astronomical knowlege which these signs imply. As they include notices of solstitial and equinoctial periods, they must have been invented where such periods are sensible; that is, north of the tropical zone. The Egyptian year consisted of 365 days only; so that its Thoth, or new year's day, receded an entire day in every four years; and, as it had already receded to the 15-26th February, when the era of Nabonassar began, by which the Egyptians dated, (no doubt in consequence of their having then received it from him,) the zodiacal signs must have come into use in the north, 884 years before the Christian era, when the Thoth coincided exactly with the vernal equinox, and must have travelled into Egypt 747 years before the Christian era. The temple of Dendera, therefore, is posterior to this date.

Col. F.'s speculations on the resemblance of Hindoo and Egyptian superstition, when he had viewed the monuments of both, are thus expressed:

The striking similarity of some points in the ancient religion of Egypt, and the present one of India, has been frequently remarked, and in many instances there is a singular coincidence; but still does this carry with it conviction of their being more nearly related? Man has, in every country on the face of the globe, certain objects presented to him, which, from the same causes, have become more or less venerated; and the priests have ever, by adding mystery and obscurity to popular superstition, exalted their sublimity under a variety of imposing appearances. It is true that the attachment of the Egyptians to the sacred bull, and of the Hindoos to that animal, was the same in both countries; but this may have originated from its usefulness in agriculture. We have all heard of the sacredness of the stork throughout Europe, on account of its utility in destroying vermin, and to this day in Portugal the laws forbid the killing of calves, except for the sick. From the same motive, I have supposed, was originally engendered the worship of this animal. This early ŘEV. FEB. 1820.

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state of feeling may have grown, by the assistance of crafty priests, into veneration and devotion. The worship of the lingam and phallos, common to both nations, certainly affords the most forcible idea and emblem of the universal creative and generative power.

The lotus was alike sacred to both, as was an idea of the metempsychosis. The Egyptians have the serpent as a favourite symbol as well as the Hindoos; but that of the latter is the deadly cobra capella, and is by analogy placed by them in the hands of Seva, the destroying power, as is represented in the famous trimurti in the cave of Elephanta, in the harbour of Bombay. It is worthy of remark, that the snake used in the Egyptian mythology should be represented with a thick neck, which has never been accounted for. The cobra capella, when in a state of irritability, has a wonderful expansion of the back of the head and throat. In this striking similarity between the Hindoo religion and that of the ancient Egyptians, I have felt most anxious to trace a closer connexion throughout; yet I have been obliged, though very unwillingly, to give up the idea, and I do not think that their common origin can be established, so as to build on it any secure hypothesis. The division of caste, common to both, was equally so to the Hebrews. I made every attempt my time would permit to discover the celebrated figure which caused the Hindoos, with the Indian contingent, to find fault with the natives of this country for allowing a temple of Vishnu to fall to ruin, but did not succeed. This would, I think, prove much; and I greatly regret my not knowing where to find it."

The

Chapters xxviii. to xxxiii. continue and conclude the personal narrative of the author. He observes, p. 419., that a great slave-trade in negroes is carried on in Egypt, for the use of the Turks and other oriental nations. Of the Pyramids, an engraved section is given. The date of their structure is perhaps referable to the period which intervened between the retirement of Joseph from office, and the revolt of the Israelites against their Egyptian task-masters. annals of that period are lost out of the sacred books, if, indeed, they ever formed a part of the canon of the ark: the beginning of Exodus has much the appearance of an abridgment from a chronicle more extensive. There is also a lacuna in Egyptian history immediately after the division of the conquered lands by Joshua among the Israelites. If the hypothesis suggested in our notice of Champollion's work (M. R. vol.lxxix. p.463.) deserves any consideration,—and if, under the name of Sesostris, Herodotus has indeed attempted to relate the history of Joshua, this chieftain must have returned into Upper Egypt, and there have constructed important temples with the booty taken in the wars of Palestine. It would be welcome to find in the oldest monuments of the

Egyptians

Egyptians some traces of the native greatness of Joseph and of Joshua.

The thirty-fourth and concluding chapter narrates a voyage from Alexandria to Malta, and compiles such information concerning the interior of Africa as the author could collect from various individuals during his stay in Egypt, where he was introduced to the princes of Morocco, or on board the vessel itself. We give an amusing specimen :

What has caused most interest amongst us is a discovery we have made that Hadjee Talub Ben Jelow, as well as several others on board, have been several times at Timbuctoo on commercial speculations; and, as the governor is very communicative, he has answered a number of questions put to him by Captain Dundas and myself. As we were well aware of the diversity of opinions respecting the size and situation of that city, it was the first subject to which we drew his attention. Upon inquiring about Tombuctoo, the hadjee laughed at our pronunciation, the name of the city being Timbuctoo: it is situated about two hours' journey from the great river. He says the king of Timbuctoo is a negro, and resides at Kabra, which is the port of Timbuctoo, being upon the Nijer. The houses, he states, are low and mean: the inhabitants have no shops, but there are stalls for selling the necessaries of life under leather tents. The habitations are built of clay and loose stones, though some of them must be two stories high from their having stairs. He says there are mosques at Timbuctoo, which agrees with the evidence of Hadjee Benata, who asserts that there are Mahometans there," and some of "no religion at all:" while Hadjee Talub's account is that all religions are tolerated: the majority of the inhabitants are, according to his description, negroes. The cow at Timbuctoo has a hump upon its shoulder, and appears rather larger than the Indian cow: these the natives ride on. In 1807 the king's name was Boobkier, that of the queen Fatima: the dress of the latter is represented to be a short blue petticoat with a stripe of lace; his was said to have cost 100 dollars at Timbuctoo. With respect to the Nijer, he states that it runs towards the east, or as he terms it, towards Mecca. He has invariably called it the Nil, but another person on board, of the name of Hadjee Benata (whose bad state of health for a length of time prevented our gaining much information from him), calls it Dan, but confirms the interesting fact which was so long contested, of the river running to the east. The Nijer is reported to be a quarter of a mile broad at Kabra, but in the summer it is much more considerable. Hadjee Talub has understood that the river runs into a large fresh water sea in the interior of the country, which he calls Behur Soldan; that from this sea the Nile of Egypt takes its rise, so that he calls it the same river; and that half-way to Cairo there are great falls and cataracts which prevent boats from passing. This account of the source of the Nile may, however, be reasonably doubted. The boats on the river are of a middling size, flat-bottomed,

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having no sails, and being constructed without nails. They are formed of the bark of trees, and some of them are as large as a frigate's launch, or about twenty-eight feet long. Our informant Hadjee Talub adds, that crocodiles abound in the river, are very voracious, and are taken by being harpooned with an instrument with five prongs, There are vast quantities of fish in the Nijer, which, from their colour and size, are supposed to be salmon. Hadjee Benata states, that Timbuctoo is three times the size of Alexandria; and Hadjee Talub conceives the population to be about 60,000, and represents their character as being good and friendly, though he has heard of people being shot for theft, and of offenders being beat on the back with the skin of an animal dried and cut into thongs. He says there are cocoa nuts and dates in abundance, and water melons in great plenty, but all grow wild, there being no garden whatever. The woods in the neighbourhood of Timbuctoo are described as being full of game; and lions and beasts of prey are often seen in the neighbourhood of the town. Hares and rabbits are in vast quantities, and the only dog they have is a greyhound, which is trained to catch these animals: cats they have none. The city is well supplied with every kind of provision, and it is customary for the natives to eat elephant's flesh, which animal is stated to exist in immense herds in the vicinity. Their flesh appeared palatable to Hadjee Talub, tasting like beef, but being quite white. They are ferocious animals, and will attack single persons, which obliges men who ride alone to carry a horn to frighten them away. There are two methods of hunting the elephants, one by driving them into the river, where men by swimming get on their backs and cut and destroy them; the other by driving them into pits, and there butchering them: a few are tamed."

This book displays unaffectedly a spirit of humanity, activity, and observation, is replete with various instruction, and is illustrated with maps and plates from original drawings. The reading world will be glad to partake the information which it conveys, and will approve the liberal and patriotic character of the criticism which it includes,

ART. VI. Moral Sketches of prevailing Opinions and Manners, Foreign and Domestic: with Reflections on Prayer. By Hannah More. The Third Edition. 12mo. pp. 540. 9s. Boards. Cadell and Davies. 1819.

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MONG the literary ladies of the present day, Mrs. Hannah More merits a place of high distinction, for the ability which she has displayed and the effect which she has produced. Indeed, few persons of either sex have exerted themselves with more assiduity and perseverance, in a cause which to her appears that of pure religion and unsophisticated truth.

Her

Her writings on religious and moral topics, though often elevated neither in the matter nor in the style above the level of any ordinary capacity, have experienced a wide and extensive circulation they have been read both by the high and by the low, by the rich and by the poor; and it is to be hoped that the sentiments and the conduct of many persons, in both classes, can bear testimony to the good which they have produced. We give Mrs. More credit for the best intentions: we commend both her honesty and her zeal; and we believe that she has been habitually actuated by the truly noble desire of making her writings subservient to the promotion of piety, and the increase of righteousness. While, however, we bestow this praise on the purity of her motives and the integrity of her character, we trust that we shall not be deemed uncandid if we contest the truth of some of her opinions, and the justness of some of her inferences.

Mrs. More has set herself to oppose some of what she deems the corruptions of the age, both in opinion and in practice. In matters of religious sentiment, she has strenuously laboured to recall those, who were straying into the labyrinths of heresy, back into the high road of orthodoxy. At the same time, she has not confined her attention merely to topics of mysterious speculation, but has bestowed much pains in her efforts to correct the vicious habits and improve the diurnal practice of mankind. In the present work, she fulminates many severe animadversions on the rage for travelling, which, since the peace, has so generally prevailed. All access to the Continent having been, for so many years, hermetically sealed to Englishmen by the prohibitory system of Bonaparte, it is not very surprizing that, as soon as peace removed all impediments to continental excursions, the straits between Dover and Calais should be thronged with persons of both sexes, impatient to behold all the wonders of the theatre of so many extraordinary events.

Whether this loco-motive propensity be more natural to Englishmen from their insular situation, than to the people of the Continent, whether it springs from their commercial habits, and the adventurous spirit of mercantile speculation,-or whether it has its origin in the excess of our ennui, in the ardour of our curiosity, in the erratic propensities of our idleness, or in the unemployed superfluity of our wealth, is of little moment to inquire: but certain it is that the avidity for seeing other countries seems to have seized all classes of the community among us. No epidemic can be more general than this eagerness to visit foreign parts, and particularly to launch into the gay vortex of the French capital.

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