his restoration to life-and hence wailing, followed by rejoicing hymns. Every part of the public character of Osiris demonstrates him, so far as his humanity is concerned, to be the scriptural Noah. According to the allegorizing phraseology of antiquity, the great patriarch was said to die out of one world, and to be born again into another, as he lay for a season concealed in his floating coffin, or when the funereal ship came to land, restoring him from the realms of Hades. Such speculations, it is obvious, made the worship of Egypt funereal. This explanation of the ceremony is confirmed by the kindred fable of Hindostan. For Iswara, in the theology of Hindostan, stands connected with his consort Isi, and his ship Argha, just as Osiris stands connected, in the theology of Egypt, with his consort Isis, and his ship Argo. But there cannot be a reasonable doubt, that the legend of Iswara, entering into the ship Argha, when the whole earth is overflowed by the ocean, and of Iswara and Argha being metamorphosed into two doves, when the waters retire, is the history of the general deluge given in the peculiar language of the Pagan hierophants. Therefore the parallel legend of Osiris being driven into the ship Argo, by the fury of the ocean, and the funeral ceremonies which were founded upon it, must also relate to the history of the general deluge. It is now plain enough, why each Egyptian pyramid, though, like every other pyramid, a copy of Mount Meru or Ararat, was yet very truly, according to their theological speculations, declared by the priesthood to be the tomb of a very ancient king of the country. By this ancient king they meant the Hero-God Osiris, and his tomb was such another as the Cretans shewed for the sepulchre of their chief Hero-God Zan, or Jupiter; but the Greeks took them literally, and thence handed down to posterity, that the pyramids were literal tombs of certain literal Egyptian kings. This funereal character of the pyramids of Ghiza is not peculiar to them, but is ascribed to the pyramids of all other countries. According to Herodotus and Strabo, the pyramid of Babylon was indifferently called the temple and the tomb of Belus; through out Greece, those tumuli which were reported to be the tombs of the HeroGods, were deemed also their temples; among the Celts each high place of the Ship-God Hu, was called his grave; and at this day, throughout the East, the pyramids dedicated to the dilu vian Buddha, and copies of the Holy Mount Meru or Ararat, are at once temples and tombs of the god. The pyramids of Egypt, therefore, were tombs, as the Greek writers said they were, in strict accordance with the funereal worship of the old Pagans, each the mystical tomb, or high place, of that reputed first king of every primitive nation-who, by the Egyptians, was denominated Osiris, or Ammon, or Phtha; by the Chaldeans, Belus, or Oannes; by the Phenicians, Adonis, or Thammuz; by the Hindoos, Buddha, or Menu, or Iswara; by the Celts, Hu, or Dylan; and by the Mexicans, Vitzle-Putzli, or Mexitli. The dark central chamber was the allegorical sepulchre of the god: the level platform on the summit smoked with the sacrifices devoted to him. Such was the theory offered by Mr Faber, in his work on "The Origin of Pagan Idolatry," and of which an outline has been given by him in a tract just now published, entitled, "Remarks on the Pyramid of Cephrenes, lately opened by Mr Belzoni.* The bones, therefore, found by Belzoni in the sarcophagus of the pyramid, are undoubtedly those of the sacred Bull Mneuis, in whose body Osiris was supposed, from time to time, to become incarnate. Diodorus Siculus gives a curious account of the mode in which every newly found Mneuis was floated down the Nile in the mysterious Baris, and on the Bembine table we may still behold the figure of that animal standing in that holy navicular coffin. Had a human skeleton been found royally paramount in a more costly sarcophagus, while the skeletons of different animals reposed around it in lower and less splendid sarcophagi, it might at least have been a plausible conjecture, that the human skeleton was that of an ancient king, while the bestial skeletons were those of animals which had been slaughtered to accompany their master to the nether world. But the post of honour was given to the bull, * London, printed for F. C. and J. Rivington. 1819. because he was deemed an Avatar of the God. Mr Faber draws two corollaries from this discussion: First, That the pecuculiar superstition of Egypt must at least have been as ancient as the erection of the pyramids. They must have been built for the identical purposes to which we find them applied. We must, therefore, in exact concordance with Scripture, which describes the Israelites in the wilderness as bowing down before the bestial image of the Bull Mneuis, carry back the bovine superstition of Egypt to the earliest postdiluvian ages: for even in the time of Herodotus, the father of Greek history, the pyramids were an object of antiquarian wonder and speculation. The second corollary is, that the sepulchral worship of Osiris, or Buddha, or Adonis, or Belus, could not have been more recent in its origin than the dispersion of Babel. The Egyptians saw, that in all leading essentials their own pyramids were the mere double of the Babylonian pyramid, and their own superstition of the Babylonian superstition. And as the building of the Egyptian pyramid necessarily supposes the already existing superstition to which they were devoted, so the building of the Babylonian pyramid equally supposes the previous existence of a kindred superstition which gave rise to its construction. Agreeably to the just opinion of the Hindoo theologians, the pyramid on the banks of the Euphrates, or artificial mountain, raised in a flat country where there are no natural mountains, was the first erected copy of the holy mountain Meru or Ararat. AN ACCOUNT OF A FISHING EXCURSION UP GLENWHARGAN, IN DUMFRIESSHIRE, WITH SOME OBSERVATIONS ON BAIT-FISHING. SIR, It was during the autumn, I think, of the year 1808, that, in company with an intimate and valued friend, and, at the same time, suitably appointed with provisions, I set out on a fishing excursion towards the source of the Scar.* It was on one of those fine mornings, ceretâ notata, in the fisher's calendar, when there is neither sun nor Bamf The rivers, or rather the burns, in the upper district of Dumfries-shire, and on the boundary of the adjoining counties, are all intimately known to the author of this article. Most of them afford excellent sport to the angler, and it may not be unacceptable to some of your readers, to particularize a few of the most remarkable. The Cairn, which descends from the western side of the county, and which joins the Cluden, is an excellent fishing stream, though rather embarrassed by wood, and above Monchire, it branches out into a variety of tributary streams, every one of which is stored with fish. Upon the main stream stands the seat of the Earls of Glencairn, a family long renowned in Scottish story. Next to these, passing eastward along the north of Nithsdale, comes the Shinnel, which makes its way along a most romantic glen, but which, on account of the beautiful woods which cover it, is inaccessible to the line for a great way up. The Scar succeeds, a larger stream, and when fished up Glenwhargan, and the adjacent glens, eminently fitted for successful sport. The scenery is most bold and striking, and on the hazel scraggs which cover the steeps for a considerable way upwards, there are excellent nuts, of which the people in the neighbourhood make a yearly traffic. "The Grey Glede of Glenwhargan Craig," is celebrated over all the country in the sports and rhymes of infancy. Eagles have been seen in this direction not many years ago. Passing still farther east, we meet with the Nith, more famed for the purity of its waters, the rapidity of its current, and the adjacent Castle of Drumlanrigg, than for trouting. There is, however, excellent salmon fishing were one allowed to practise it. The tributaries of this river, the Carron, and the Cample, are too much fished to be at all remarkable: yet, towards the heads, there is, particularly in wet weather, often the very best amusement. From the elevated and picturesque hills of Queensberry streams pour into the Annan and the Ae in every direction, and all these are excellent. The Cassee which passes by the hospitable residence of Mr Harkness, (Mitchelslacks,) to whom and to whose moonlight whisky I hereby introduce all fishers, was once unrivalled, but is now sadly poached with" pike nets and lime." The Brawn is still a lonely stream-and after a flood, in particular, it affords unequalled bait fishing. I have often killed seventeen or eighteen dozen here in the course of a few hours. But transcendently the best is, in my opinion, after all, the Dar, one of the heads of the Clyde-and were it not for the proximity of Leadhills, from never set at defiance master and parent's command, who have never braved hunger and travel and toil-who have never been subjected to the lash, or to the task of punishment, that they might enjoy this fascinating amusement. To all stages of life this pastime possesses interest, and conveys pleasure, from the season of childhood which dabbles from morning to night in the same pool, to that of peri-wig pated age, which comes at last to the same limited range. But it is during the period of youth, during the sunshine of our unclouded morning, that this amusement comes home to our heart in all its excitement and delight. In houses, in books, and in streets, those objects which press most early and most closely upon our attentention-all is tame and artificial, the works and the contrivances of man Bailie to discourage, but when the creeping mist ascends gradually from vale, and glen, and cot, and village, till all the landscape opens up, and the heaven above has become one settled field of obscurity. It was on one of those mornings which frequently succeed, at this season, to rain over night -when the earth teems with freshness, and the mossy burns are in famous dark brown trim, that, full of health and spirits, and without any very pressing avocations, we sallied forth with baskets on our backs, and rods in our hands, determined to take advantage of all occurrences, from which amusement and enjoyment might be derived. If you are the least of a fisher yourself, Mr Editor, and if you are not, I perceive that more than one of your Contributors are, you will readily enter into our feelings, and conceive all that joy and light-heart--but stationed betwixt the mountain edness which, on his first escape from the casualties of home, every true fisher experiences. He feels for a time as if his happiness were too great to be assured to him-and he cannot help occasionally casting an eye behind, fearing that some unwelcome and unseasonable message of recall may overtake him. He walks on springsand already feels the tug of future success at his heart. He places himself by the side of every well-known stream, or bank, or whirl, and sees the long and the dripping line shaking with the motion of his safely landed victim. What a source, Mr Editor, of exquisite and innocent enjoyment have they been ignorant of-who have and the cloud-arrived at the deep and retired glen, where all is heaven above, and all is fresh from the hand of heaven below-where the upland thorn blossoms-the green braken waves-the straying flocks spreadthe rapid gullies foam, and "The daisy spreads its silver star Unheeded," Nature becomes our schoolmistress, and her voice descends like the " dew of Hermon" on the young and susceptible mind. It is under such circumstances as these that the most lovely and vigorous blossoms of morality, and sometimes likewise of genius, are fostered-and that an "Ettrick which the locusts of destruction descend in the shape of miners, it would scarcely ever fail to fill the fisher's basket with trouts of the most beautiful spot and proportion. There are some lesser names, such as Unkle-Shang and Windy-hills, and the Ring-straenburn, the last of which, in particular, deserves to be mentioned. There is in the neighbourhood of this stream, and amidst the wilds of Garven Muir, a well, which is called the Ring-straen Well, and a number of stones erected around a large stone in the middle, which is called the King's chair. As this is the line of communication betwixt Nithsdale and Annandale, it is probable that one of our Scottish monarchs, in passing down upon the Johnstones and the Jardines of Annandale, may have pursued this route. What says Walter Scott about this? With the burns on the east of the Annan I am not so well acquainted, and shall leave the character of these to be given by one who has spent a sporting season at Moffat Wells. Were correspondents from different parts of the country to give similar notices, we might be able to travel over Scotland, by far the most pleas ing and profitable method of travelling, with a fishing rod in our hand, and a map in our pocket, without missing a day's amusement by the way. I may just observe in addition, that all the burns I have mentioned on the east of the Nith are entirely freed from the teasing embarrassment of wood, in which respect they have a manifest advantage over them in the west. A Bamf-Bailie, known in all latitudes north of the Tay, to mean one of those swollen sultry towering clouds which, to the annoyance of the angler, make such a figure in our summer sky. Shepherd has appeared to astonish and to delight his country. Although fishing, in reference merely to "trout-killing," be, strictly speaking, an unsocial amusement, yet it is delightful still to enjoy the company of a friend; and if you can but be so fortunate as discover one more eager than experienced in the sport, whom, after various disasters, and unsuccessful efforts, you may easily persuade to tie up his rod, and witness your success, you have indeed lighted upon a treasure-you have found the rose without the thorn-the blessing without the curse of fishing so ciety-you may then fish your streams in a leisurely manner-nor for the sake of one inviting bank sacrifice many very fair chances. You may display your skill and address, and count over your dozens before him, and in case he be at all inclined to learn, you may instruct him experimentally in the art. "Scire tuum nihil est (says the poet) nisi te scire sciat alter." And though the solitary fisher may find retirement advantageous to his success, yet still his heart's prayer will be "Grant me one in my retreat, The friend with whom on this occasion I set out was, fortunately for me, of this description. For, though he was the first, after about seven miles travel, to lay a line in the water, (indeed he had his tackle in order long ere we reached the stream)-though he was the first to get a most wonderful rise the first to hook one upwards of a pound-and the first to drag to the bank one not upwards of an ounce weight-he was likewise the first to exhibit his person from a tree -the first to amputate, by his bodily weight alone, a large branch, and the first to discover, after all his trouble, his hooks and part of his line still waving in the wind above. He was ever and anon cracking off a hook behind, or fixing it upon a rock before him. He had often occasion for his knife, and it was not till frequent and rather deep incisions had been made into his stockings and coat sleeves, that he could unrol and disentangle himself from an unsuccessful and illdirected throw. He became at last absolutely aquatic, and, perfectly regardless of consequences, dived and splashed away from one side of the VOL. V. water to the other like a Newfoundland dog, or a duck before rain. At length, having snapped his rod in pulling against a floating turf, whilst he considered that he was dragging into activity some "monster of the deep," and having, in vain, endeavour ed to repair the fracture, by means of his hat-band, he lost so much ground, and became of consequence so dispirit ed, that he fairly gave up the contest. I was fishing as I always do, with the "bait or worm," and was ever and anon giving fresh evidence of my skill; and as he seemed now, for he had strongly opposed my method on our way to the river, disposed to become a convert to it, I undertook to instruct him; but finding that the day was getting clear, and that the power of the sun, in our present situation, was rather oppressive, and altogether unfavourable to the amusement, it became necessary to look out for a green and marshy spot at the bottom of the opposite steep, where we might be sure of spring water; and accordingly, having sweeped out with our hands a small basin, against our future necessities, we left it to clear, and laid ourselves down on the adjoining green sward to enjoy our repast, and to discourse of "bait fishing." We were now in the very depths of Glenwhargan, and the celebrated "crag" or rock of that name was direetly before us. It rose almost immediately from the opposite bank of the river in a perpendicular but rugged ascent to a very considerable height. Still, however, it did not appear to us to merit that celebrity which, from our infancy, we had heard it obtain; nor did we deem many other "crags" of less note, less deserving of notice. So having emptied our pockets of their store, and one of our baskets of a bottle, we withdrew our eyes and our attention, for a time, to less sublime, but not, to a hungry fisher, less interesting subjects. And now, Sir, my narrative, in imitation of that of the great ancient philosophers, is about to assume a didactic forin, and you must just be content to listen for a little to the instructions which, during the meridian heat, and in the plenitude of expe➡ rience and authority, I then delivered. "These worms (continued I), with which you see I am, in this small bag attached by a string to my but 4 F ton-hole, so well provided, are, in the first place, of a particular kind-and, in the second place, they have undergone a particular preparation. You see they are all white or green worms, and these I prefer to the red, on account of their tenacity or hardness; and I have a notion besides, that they are best suited to the taste of our mountain-trouts. The clean but moist and somewhat yellow bag, in which they are lodged, is gathered from amidst heath, or in various other situations. I have changed it frequently on these very worms, and have kept it constantly moist with a little milk, and you see how lively and clear they appear. Now, look at my hook, it is, you see, tied on a single hair-a method preferable to any other, as the hair never rots in the water, and occupies, in this method of tying, so little room, that the hook passes along without tearing or lacerating the worm. It is pretty large you see, and turned a little to one side towards the point. On a very small hook a worm is not easily thrust, and when on it, will not long remain. It is also apt to gather into a lump over the point, and thus prevent the hook from striking. I have broken, too, you observe, a piece off the shaft of my hook; and could I discover a method of attaching a shaftless hook to a line, I would have no shaft at all; for, in this case, I should be able to strike the trouts more obliquely, and with more success. Take one of these baits out of the bag, and I will teach you how to put it on an art which is more difficult and important than you are aware of: Begin by thrusting in the point of your hook near the tail, and still leave as much to play at large, as, from its motion, may give to your bait the expression of lifenow pass the upper part of the worm along the hook, and even a little way up the line-in most cases it is best to have two worms on-but be sure you always leave the tip of your hook bare. The meaning of this advice you will perceive so soon as we begin to fish. One of these baits, thus prepared and thus put on, so great is its toughness, from the mode of preparation, may serve to kill four or five trouts; for there is no necessity of a new bait, as is commonly supposed, every trout you secure. You will be a bad fisher indeed-and a very unapt disciple of mine-if you permit one trout out of twenty to gorge or swallow your hook. There is nothing, however, can teach you but practice so hand me that bottle." Having, during this very interesting dialogue, taken care to replenish our craving stomachs with ample prog, we were now come, like Sancho, to think of the bottle; and though its contents were neither Spanish nor Rhenish, they were calculated to qualify the substantials we had eaten, and the cold spring-water we had drunk-so dipping it into the well" of our clearing," and qualifying a little the heat of the whisky, by an admixture of cooling water, we put the bottle in succession to our mouths. It was during a rather protracted pull to the prolonging of which my pupil was in the attitude of stating his disapprobation-and whilst I presented the appearance of an astronomer looking through a telescope at the moon, that the "Crag of Glenwhargan" arrested, for the second time, my attention; and I was not a little surprised to find, how much in so short a time, as Chalmers would express it, it had "extended its enlargements;" and upon stating the discovery to my impatient disciple, he admitted that it really seemed to him likewise to be increased. It appeared, in short, to us both now to be highly deserving of the title "Great," which, in common with some other very sounding names in history, it had obtained. Now, Mr Editor, you make a mighty fuss about your kaleidoscopes, which, after all, can only present images to the eye that are varied and beautiful, but which have no direct power whatever upon the percipient and recipient of all the pleasure the mind or soul; but here is a kaleidoscope, which not only presents outward objects in a new, in a multiplied, or in a more sublime attitude, but likewise attunes the whole soul to the scene presented it connects the outward object with the inward man, and thus the happy employer of this powerful instrument does not feel himself as insulated and detached from, but as a part, and a member of one great unity, from the centre of which he feels and enjoys to the very extremity of his outward perceptions. He sits, like the spider, in the middle (though, by the bye, I never saw any but a poetical spider in this attitude,) of his web; and the |