ing into the bowels of the country, and the ground subsiding, an earthquake ensued; and so the waters running to this cavity, and mixing with a vast quantity of bituminous matter, would form a lake of such qualities as it is at present known to possess. This lake seems to have obtained the name of the Dead Sea, from a notion that its steam or stench killed all birds that attempted to fly over it, and that no fish or other creature could live in it. But as to the former, there is sufficient evidence of its being a mistake, birds being frequently seen flying across it without receiving any injury; and as to the latter, there is good reason to doubt the truth of it, some shells, like those of oysters, having been found upon the shore. The water, however, is extremely salt, bitter, and nauseous; which might probably have given rise to such a tradition.→ SMITH'S Wonders.

THE DEVIL'S COPPERS.

In the island of St. Christopher, in the West Indies, are some boiling springs, vulgarly called the "Devil's Coppers," each of them about three feet in diameter. The water is of a muddy colour, and rises within twelve inches of the surface of the earth, boiling fiercer than a sugar copper, and sending up strong clouds of steam into the air. No kind of grass will grow within twelve yards of these springs, the soil being wholly sulphurous, and so excessively hot, that the travellers found it warm through very thick shoes which they had bought on purpose for this expedition. A negro in company was much frightened at the sight of these coppers, and could not be dissuaded from believing that Jumbu, or the devil had his residence underneath them.-SMITH's Wonders.

264

PYRAMIDS AND PILLARS.

POMPEY'S PILLAR.

THE pillar of Pompey, as it is generally called, is situated about a quarter of a league from the southern gate at Alexandria in Egypt. It is composed of red granite. The capital is Corinthian, ornamented with Dalm-leaves, and not indented. The shaft and the upper member of the base are of one piece, 90 feet long, and 9 in diameter. The base, which is a square block of marble, 60 feet in circumference, rests on two layers o stone, bound together with lead. The whole column is 114 feet high, perfectly well polished, and only a little shivered on the eastern side.

Nothing can equal the majesty of this monument; seen from a distance, it overtops the town, and serves as a signal for vessels; and on a nearer approach, it produces an astonishment mingled with awe. One can never be tired with admiring the beauty of the capital, the length of the shaft, and the extraordinary simplicity of the pedestal; although the latter has been rather damaged by the instruments of travellers, who were anxious to possess a relic of this antiquity: and one of the volutes of the column was immaturely brought down, in the year 1781, by a prank of some English captains, which is thus related by Mr. Irwin:

These jolly tars of Neptune had been pushing about the can on board one of the ships in the harbour, until a strange freak entered into one of their brains. The eccentricity of the thought occasioned it immediately to be adopted, and its apparent impossibility was but a spur for the putting it into execution. The boat was ordered, and with proper implements for the attempt these enterprising heroes pushed ashore, to drink a bowl of bunch on the top of Pompey's pillar! At the spot they arrived, and many contrivances were proposed to accomplish the desired point. But their labour was vain, and they began to despair of success when the genius who

per

struck out the frolic happily suggested the means of forming it. A man was despatched to the city for a paper kite. The inhabitants were by this time apprized of what was going forward, and flocked in crowds to be witnesses of the address and boldness of the English. The governor of Alexandria was told that these seamen were about to pull down Pompey's pillar. But whether he gave them credit for their respect to the Roman warrior, or to the Turkish government, he left them to themselves, and politely answered-That the English were too great patriots to injure the remains of Pompey. He knew little, however, of the disposition of the people who were engaged in this undertaking; for had the Turkish empire rose in opposition, it would not perhaps at that moment have deterred them. The kite was brought, and flown so directly over the pillar, that, when it fell on the other side, the string lodged upon the capital. The chief obstacle was now overcome. A two-inch rope was tied to one end of the string, and drawn over the pillar by the end to which the kite was affixed. By this rope one of the seamen ascended to the top; and, in less than an hour, a kind of shrowd was constructed, by which the whole company went up and drank their punch, amid the shouts of the astonished multitude. To the eye below, the capital of the pillar does not appear capable of holding more than One man upon it; but our seamen found it could contain no less than eight persons very conveniently. It is astonishing that no accident befel these madcaps, in a situation so elevated that would have turned a landman giddy in his sober senses. The only detriment which the pillar received was the loss of the volute before mentioned, which came down with a thundering sound, and was carried to England by one of the captains, as a present to a lady who commissioned him for a piece of the pillar. The discovery which they made amply compensated for this mischief, as, without their evidence, the world would not have known at this hour, that there was originally a statue on this pillar, one foot and an ancle of which are still remaining. The statue must have been of a gigantic size, to have appeared of a man's proportion at so great a height.

There are circumstances in this story which might give

N

it an air of fiction, were it not demonstrated beyond alt doubt. Besides the testimonies of many eye-witnesses, the adventurers themselves have left a token of the fact by the initials of their names, which are very legible in black paint just beneath the capital.

Learned men and travellers have made many fruitless attempts to discover in honour of what prince this stately pillar was erected: for, notwithstanding its common appellation, it could not have been raised to the memory of Pompey, as neither Strabo nor Diodorus Siculus have spoken of it. Abulfeda, in his Description of Egypt, calls it the Pillar of Severus; and history informs us, that this emperor visited the city of Alexandria; that he granted a senate to its inhabitants, who, until that time, under the subjection of a single Roman magistrate, had lived without any national council; and that he changed several laws in their favour. This column, therefore, M. Savary concludes to have been erected by the inhabitants as a mark of their gratitude to Severus. And in a Greek inscription, now half effaced, but visible on the west side when the sun shines upon it, he supposes the name of Severus to have been preserved. He further observes, that this was not the only monument erected to that emperor by the gratitude of the Alexandrians; for there is still in the midst of the ruins of Antinoe a magnificent pillar, the inscription on which is still remaining, and proves that it was dedicated to Alexander Severus. It has, however, been lately asserted that the above-mentioned inscription on what is vulgarly called Pompey's pillar has been deciphered, and proves that the column was erected in honour of Diocletian by the then prefect of Egypt.

COLOSSAL STATUE OF PETER THE GREAT.

ONE of the noblest monuments of veneration for Peter the Great, is an equestrian statue of that monarch, cast in bronze by M. Falconet, at the expense of the late empress, and erected in the area before the palace at Petersburgh. The pedestal, on which it stands, is a stupendous mass of reddish granite, which was discovered, half buried in a

morass, at some distance fro.n the city. The morass was drained, and a road cut through a forest, in order to get it out; and, although it weighed 1,500 tons, even after it was reduced, it was drawn by a windlass and large friction balls, placed in grooves on each side of the road, to the banks of the Neva. It was then embarked in a vessel, which had been purposely constructed for its reception, and conveyed to the place where it now stands.

When landed at Petersburgh, this pedestal was 42 feet long at the base, 36 at the top, 21 in thickness, and 17 in height; a bulk, greatly surpassing in weight the most boasted monuments of Roman grandeur. Here, however, we must observe, that this truly curious rock does not now retain its original dimensions; as, in forming a proper station for the statue, and representing an abrupt broken precipice, its bulk has been necessarily diminished.

The statue is of colossal size, and represents the monarch in the act of mounting a precipice, the summit of which he has nearly attained. He appears in a loose Asiatic vest, seated on a bear-skin housing, and crowned with a wreath of laurel; his left hand holds the reins, and his right is extended, as in the act of blessing his people. The horse is rearing on his hind legs, and his flowing tail slightly touches a bronze serpent, artfully contrived to assist in supporting the ponderous statue in due equilibrium. The simplicity of the inscription,

CATHERINE II. TO PETER I.

is perfectly correspondent with the sublimity of the design, and, as a celebrated traveller has observed, it is far preferable to a pompous detail of exalted virtues, which the voice of flattery applies to every sovereign without distinction.

This beautiful statue was erected on its pedestal in the year 1782, and the ceremony was performed with equal pomp and solemnity. At the same time an imperial proclamation was issued, to pardon all criminals under sentence of death; all convicts, excepting murderers, condemned to hard labour; and all deserters who should return to their duty within a limited time.