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WILSON, in 1823, published Travels in Egypt and the Holy Land; MR CLAUDIUS JAMES RICH (the accomplished British resident at Bagdad, who died in 1821, at the early age of thirty-five) wrote an excellent memoir of the remains of Babylon; the HON. GEORGE KEPPEL performed the overland journey to India in 1824, and gave a narrative of his observations in Bassorah, Bagdad, the ruins of Babylon, &c. MR J. S. BUCKINGHAM also travelled by the overland route (taking, however, the way of the Mediterranean and the Turkish provinces in Asia Minor), and the result of his journey was given to the world in three separate works (the latest published in 1827), entitled Travels in Palestine; Travels among the Arab Tribes; and Travels in Mesopotamia. DR R. R. MADDEN, a medical gentleman, who resided several years in India, in 1829 published Travels in Egypt, Turkey, Nubia, and Palestine. Letters from the East, and Recollections of Travel in the East (1830), by JouN CARNE, Esq. of Queen's college, Cambridge, extend, the first over Syria and Egypt, and the second over Palestine and Cairo. Mr Carne is a judicious observer and picturesque describer, yet he sometimes ventures on doubtful biblical criticism. The miracle of the passage of the Red Sea, for example, he thinks should be limited to a specific change in the direction of the winds. The idea of representing the waves standing like a wall on each side must consequently be abandoned. This,' he says, is giving a literal interpretation to the evidently figurative language of Scripture, where it is said that "God caused the sea to go back all night by a strong east wind;" and when the morning dawned, there was probably

[View of Society in Bagdad.]

[From Sir R. K. Porter's Travels."]

The wives of the higher classes in Bagdad are usually selected from the most beautiful girls that can be obtained from Georgia and Circassia; and, to their natural charms, in like manner with their captive sisters all over the East, they add the fancied embellishments of painted complexions, hands and feet dyed with henna, and their hair and eyebrows stained with the rang, or prepared indigo leaf. Chains of gold. and collars of pearls, with various ornaments of precious stones, decorate the upper part of their persons, while solid bracelets of gold, in shapes resembling serpents, clasp their wrists and ankles. Silver and golden tissued muslins not only form their turbans, but frequently their under garments. In summer the ample pelisse is made of the most costly shawl, and in cold weather, lined and bordered with the choicest furs. The dress is altogether very becoming; by its easy folds and glittering transparency, showing a fine shape to advantage, without the immodest exposure of the open vest of the Persian ladies. The humbler females generally move abroad with faces totally unveiled, having a handkerchief rolled round their heads, from beneath which their hair hangs down over their shoulders, while another piece of linen passes under their chin, in the fashion of the Georgians. Their garment is a gown of a shift form, reaching to their ankles, open before, and of a gray colour. Their feet are completely naked. Many of the very inferior classes stain their bosoms with the figures of circles, half-moons, stars, &c. in a bluish stamp. In this barbaric embelof vanity resembling that of the ladies of Irak Ajem. lishment the poor damsel of Irak Arabi has one point The former frequently adds this frightful cadaverous hue to her lips; and, to complete her savage appearance, thrusts a ring through the right nostril, pendent with a flat button-like ornament set round with blue

or red stones.

whom we left in some gay saloon of Bagdad. When But to return to the ladies of the higher circles, served. The party, seated in rows, then prepare themall are assembled, the evening meal or dinner is soon selves for the entrance of the show, which, consisting of music and dancing, continues in noisy exhibition through the whole night. At twelve o'clock supper is

a wide and waste expanse, from which the waters had retired to some distance; and that the 66 sea returning in his strength in the morning," was the rushing back of an impetuous and resistless tide, inevitable, but not instantaneous, for it is evident the Egyptians turned and fled at its approach.' In either case a miracle must have been performed, and it seems unnecessary and hypercritical to attempt reducing it to the lowest point. Mr Milman, in his history of the Jews, has fallen into this error, and explained away the miracles of the Old Testament till all that is supernatural, grand, and impressive disappears. Travels along the Mediterranean and Parts Ad-produced, when pilaus, kabobs, preserves, fruits, dried sweetmeats, and sherbets of every fabric and flavour, jacent (1822), by DR ROBERT RICHARDSON, is an interesting work, particularly as relates to anti-engage the fair convives for some time. Between this second banquet and the preceding, the perfumed narquities. The doctor travelled by way of Alexan- quilly is never absent from their rosy lips, excepting dria, Cairo, &c. to the second cataract of the Nile, when they sip coffee, or indulge in a general shout of returning by Jerusalem, Damascus, Balbec, and approbation, or a hearty peal of laughter at the freaks Tripoli. He surveyed the temple of Solomon, and of the dancers or the subject of the singers' madrigals. was the first acknowledged Christian received within But no respite is given to the entertainers; and, durits holy walls since it has been appropriated to the ing so long a stretch of merriment, should any of the religion of Mohammed. The Journal to Some Parts of happy guests feel a sudden desire for temporary reEthiopia (1822), by MESSRS WADDINGTON and HAN-pose, without the least apology she lies down to sleep BURY, gives an account of the antiquities of Ethio- on the luxurious carpet that is her seat; and thus she pia and the extirpation of the Mamelukes. remains, sunk in as deep an oblivion as if the numSIR JOHN MALCOLM was author of a History of mud were spread in her own chamber. Others speedily Persia, and Sketches of Persia. MR MORIER'S Jour-follow her example, sleeping as sound; notwithstandneys through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor, abounding that the bawling of the singers, the horrid jangling in interesting descriptions of the country, people, of the guitars, the thumping on the jar-like doubleand government. SIR WILLIAM OUSELY (who had drum, the ringing and loud clangour of the metal bells been private secretary to the British embassy in and castanets of the dancers, with an eternal talking Persia) has published three large volumes of travels in all keys, abrupt laughter, and vociferous expressions in various countries of the East, particularly Persia, of gratification, making in all a full concert of disin 1810, 1811, and 1812. This work illustrates sub-tracting sounds, sufficient, one might suppose, to jects of antiquarian research, history, geography, philology, &c. and is valuable to the scholar for its citations from rare Oriental manuscripts. Another valuable work on this country is SIR ROBERT KER PORTER'S Travels in Georgia, Persia, Babylonia, &c. published in 1822.

awaken the dead. But the merry tumult and joyful strains of this conviviality gradually become fainter and fainter; first one and then another of the visitors (while even the performers are not spared by the soporific god) sink down under the drowsy influence, till at length the whole carpet is covered with the sleeping

beauties, mixed indiscriminately with handmaids, dancers, and musicians, as fast asleep as themselves. The business, however, is not thus quietly ended. As soon as the sun begins to call forth the blushes of the morn, by lifting the veil that shades her slumbering eyelids, the faithful slaves rub their own clear of any lurking drowsiness, and then tug their respective mistresses by the toe or the shoulder, to rouse them up to perform the devotional ablutions usual at the dawn of day. All start mechanically, as if touched by a spell; and then commences the splashing of water and the muttering of prayers, presenting a singular contrast to the vivacious scene of a few hours before. This duty over, the fair devotees shake their feathers like birds from a refreshing shower, and tripping lightly forward with garments, and perhaps looks,

a little the worse for the wear of the preceding evening, plunge at once again into all the depths of its amusements. Coffee, sweetmeats, kaliouns, as before, accompany every obstreperous repetition of the midnight song and dance; and all being followed up by a plentiful breakfast of rice, meats, fruits, &c. towards noon the party separate, after having spent between fifteen and sixteen hours in this riotous festivity.

Travels in the East, by the REV. HORATIO SOUTHGATE (1840), describe the traveller's route through Greece, Turkey, Armenia, Koordistan, Persia, and Mesopotamia, and give a good account of the Mohammedan religion, and its rites and ceremonies. The following is a correction of a vulgar error :—

behind a lattice; and something of the same kind I have observed among the Christians of Mesopotamia. THOMAS CAMPBELL, the poet, give an account of a Letters from the South, two volumes, 1837, by MR voyage made by that gentleman to Algiers. The letters are descriptive, without any political or colonial views, but full of entertaining gossip and poetical sketches of striking and picturesque objects. The grandeur of the surrounding mountain scenery African highlands,' he says, 'spring up to the sight seems to have astonished Mr Campbell. The not only with a sterner boldness than our own, but they borrow colours from the sun unknown to our climate, and they are marked in clouds of richer dye. The farthest-off summits appeared in their snow like the turbans of gigantic Moors, whilst the nearer masses glared in crimson and gold under the light of morning.'

Six Years' Residence in Algiers, by MRS BROUGHTON, published in 1839, is an interesting domestic chronicle. The authoress was daughter to Mr Blanckley, the British consul-general at Algiers ; and the work is composed of a journal kept by Mrs Blanckley, with reminiscences by her daughter, Mrs Broughton. The vivacity, minute description, and kindly feeling everywhere apparent in this book, render it highly attractive.

Discoveries in the Interior of Africa, by SIR JAMES ALEXANDER, two volumes, 1838, describe a journey from Cape-Town, of about four thousand miles, and occupying above a year, towards the tracts of [Religious Status of Women in the Mohammedan System.] country inhabited by the Damaras, a nation of which very little was known, and generally the The place which the Mohammedan system assigns country to the north of the Orange River, on the to woman in the other world has often been wrongfully west coast. The author's personal adventures are represented. It is not true, as has sometimes been interesting, and it appears that the aborigines are a reported, that Mohammedan teachers deny her admis-kind and friendly tribe of people, with whom Sir sion to the felicities of Paradise. The doctrine of the Koran is, most plainly, that her destiny is to be determined in like manner with that of every accountable being; and according to the judgment passed upon her is her reward, although nothing definite is said of the place which she is to occupy in Paradise. Mohammed speaks repeatedly of believing women,' commends them, and promises them the recompense which their good deeds deserve.

James Alexander thinks that an extended intercourse may be maintained for the mutual benefit of the colonists and the natives.

Minor in 1838, by CHARLES FELLOWS, is valuable A Journal Written During an Excursion in AsiaFellows has also written a second work, Ancient from the author's discoveries in Pamphylia. Mr Lycia; an Account of Discoveries made during a SeThe regulations of the Sunneh are in accordance cond Excursion to Asia-Minor in 1840. Two rewith the precepts of the Koran. So far is woman from cent travellers, LIEUT. J. R. WELLSTED, author of being regarded in these institutions as a creature Travels in Arabia, the Peninsula of Sinai, and along without a soul, that special allusion is frequently the Shores of the Red Sea (1838), and LORD LINDSAY, made to her, and particular directions given for her in his Letters on Egypt, Edom, and the Holy Land religious conduct. Respecting her observance of Ra-(1838), supply some additional details. The scene mazan, her ablutions, and many other matters, her of the encampment of the Israelites, after crossing duty is taught with a minuteness that borders the Red Sea, is thus described by Lord Lindsay :on indecorous precision. She repeats the creed in dying, and, like other Mussulmans, says, In this faith I have lived, in this faith I die, and in this faith I hope to rise again.' She is required to do everything of religious obligation equally with men. The command to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca extends to her. In my journeys, I often met with women on their way to the Holy City. They may even undertake this journey without the consent of their husbands, whose authority in religious matters extends only to those acts of devotion which are not obligatory. Women are not, indeed, allowed to be present in the mosques at the time of public prayers; but the reason is not that they are regarded, like pagan females, as unsusceptible of religious sentiments, but because the meeting of the two sexes in a sacred place is supposed to be unfavourable to devotion. This, however, is an Oriental, not a Mohammedan prejudice. The custom is nearly the same among the Christians as among the Mussulmans. In the Greek churches the females are separated from the males, and concealed

The bright sea suddenly burst on us, a sail in the distance, and the blue mountains of Africa beyond it -a lovely vista. But when we had fairly issued into the plain on the sea-shore, beautiful indeed, most beautiful was the view-the whole African coast, from Gebel Ataka to Gebel Krarreb lay before us, washed by the Red Sea a vast amphitheatre of mountains, except the space where the waters were lost in distance between the Asiatic and Libyan promontories. It was the stillest hour of day; the sun shone brightly, descending to his palace in the occident; the tide was coming in with its peaceful pensive murmurs, wave after wave. It was in this plain, broad and perfectly smooth from the mountains to the sea, that the children of Israel encamped after leaving Elim. What a glorious scene it must then have presented! and how nobly those rocks, now so silent, must have re-echoed the song of Moses and its ever-returning chorus - Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea !'

The French authors Chateaubriand, Laborde, and Lamartine, have minutely described the Holy Land; and in the Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia, and the Holy Land, by J. L. STEPHENS, the latest information respecting these interesting countries will be found.

Various works on India have appeared, including a general political history of the empire, by SIR JOHN MALCOLM (1826), and a Memoir of Central India (1823), by the same author. Travels in the Himmalayan Provinces of Hindostan and the Punjaub, in Ladakh and Cashmere, in Peshawar, Cabul, &c. from 1819 to 1825, by W. MOORCROFT and GEORGE TREBECK, relate many new and important particulars. Mr Moorcroft crossed the great chain of the Himmala mountains near its highest part, and first drew attention to those stupendous heights, rising in some parts to above 27,000 feet. A Tour through the Snowy Range of the Himmala Mountains was made by MR JAMES BAILLIE FRASER (1820), who gives an interesting account of his perilous journey. He visited Gangootrie, an almost inaccessible haunt of superstition, the Mecca of Hindoo pilgrims, and also the spot at which the Ganges issues from its covering of perpetual snow. In 1825 Mr Fraser published a Narrative of a Journey into Khorasan, in the 1821 and 1822, including an Account of the Countries to the north-east of Persia. The following

years

is a brief sketch of a Persian town:

dom Sketches taken during a Residence in one of the Northern Provinces of Western India. The authoress resided some years in the province of Cutch, and gives a minute account of the feudal government and customs, the religious sects and superstitions of the people. The aristocratic distinctions of caste are rigidly preserved, and the chiefs are haughty, debauched, and cruel.

[Sacrifice of a Hindoo Widow.]

[From Mrs Postans's 'Cutch, or Random Sketches,' &c.] News of the widow's intentions having spread, a great concourse of people of both sexes, the women clad in their gala costumes, assembled round the Pyre. In a short time after their arrival the fated relatives, and the body of the deceased. The spectavictim appeared, accompanied by the Brahmins, her tors showered chaplets of mogree on her head, and greeted her appearance with laudatory exclamations at her constancy and virtue. The women especially pressed forward to touch her garments-an act which is considered meritorious, and highly desirable for absolution and protection from the evil eye.'

The widow was a remarkably handsome woman, apparently about thirty, and most superbly attired. Her manner was marked by great apathy to all around her, and by a complete indifference to the preparations which for the first time met her eye. From this circumstance an impression was given that she might be under the influence of opium; and in conformity with the declared intention of the European officers present to interfere should any coercive measures be

officers were requested to give their opinion on the subject. They both agreed that she was quite free from any influence calculated to induce torpor or intoxication.

Captain Burnes then addressed the woman, desiring to know whether the act she was about to perform were voluntary or enforced, and assuring her that, should she entertain the slightest reluctance to the fulfilment of her vow, he, on the part of the British government, would guarantee the protection of her life and property. Her answer was calm, heroic, and constant to her purpose: I die of my own free will; give me back my husband, and I will consent to live; if I die not with him, the souls of seven husbands will condemn me!'

*

Viewed from a commanding situation, the appearance of a Persian town is most uninteresting; the houses, all of mud, differ in no respect from the earth in colour, and, from the irregularity of their construc-adopted by the Brahmins or relatives, two medical tion, resemble inequalities on its surface rather than human dwellings. The houses, even of the great, seldom exceed one storey; and the lofty walls which shroud them from view, without a window to enliven them, have a most monotonous effect. There are few domes or minarets, and still fewer of those that exist are either splendid or elegant. There are no public buildings but the mosques and medressas; and these are often as mean as the rest, or perfectly excluded from view by ruins. The general coup-d'ail presents a succession of flat roofs, and long walls of mud, thickly interspersed with ruins; and the only relief to its monotony is found in the gardens, adorned with chinär, poplars, and cypress, with which the towns and villages are often surrounded and intermingled. The same author has published Travels and Adven- Ere the renewal of the horrid ceremonies of death tures in the Persian Provinces, 1826; A Winter Jour- were permitted, again the voice of mercy, of expostuney from Constantinople to Tehran, with Travels through lation, and even of intreaty was heard; but the trial Various Parts of Persia, 1838, &c. Mr Fraser has was vain, and the cool and collected manner with now settled down on his patrimonial estate of Reelig, which the woman still declared her determination Inverness-shire, a quiet Highland glen. Among unalterable, chilled and startled the most courageous. other Indian works may be mentioned The Annals Physical pangs evidently excited no fears in her; her and Antiquities of Rajasthan, by LIEUTENANT-COLO- singular creed, the customs of her country, and her NEL JAMES TOD, 1830; and Travels into Bokhara, by sense of conjugal duty, excluded from her mind the LIEUTENANT, afterwards SIR ALEXANDER BURNES. natural emotions of personal dread; and never did The latter is a narrative of a journey from India to martyr to a true cause go to the stake with more conCabul, Tartary, and Persia, and is a valuable work. stancy and firmness, than did this delicate and gentle The accomplished author was cut off in his career woman prepare to become the victim of a deliberate of usefulness and honour in 1841, being treacher- sacrifice to the demoniacal tenets of her heathen creed. ously murdered at Cabul. LIEUTENANT ARTHUR Accompanied by the officiating Brahmin, the widow CONOLLY made a journey to the north of India, overwalked seven times round the pyre, repeating the land from England, through Russia, Persia, and usual mantras, or prayers, strewing rice and coories Affghanistan, of which he published an account in on the ground, and sprinkling water from her hand 1834. MISS EMMA ROBERTS, in the following year, over the bystanders, who believe this to be efficagave a lively and entertaining series of Scenes and cious in preventing disease and in expiating comCharacteristics of Hindostan, with Sketches of Anglo-mitted sins. She then removed her jewels, and preIndian Society. This lady went out again to India in 1839, and was engaged to conduct a Bombay newspaper; but she died in 1840. Her Notes of an Overland Journey through France and Egypt to Bombay were published after her death. Another lady, MRS POSTANS, has published (1839) Cutch, or Ran

sented them to her relations, saying a few words to each with a calm soft smile of encouragement and hope. The Brahmins then presented her with a lighted torch, bearing which,

'Fresh as a flower just blown, And warm with life her youthful pulses playing,'

she stepped through the fatal door, and sat within the pile. The body of her husband, wrapped in rich kinkaub, was then carried seven times round the pile, and finally laid across her knees. Thorns and grass were piled over the door; and again it was insisted that free space should be left, as it was hoped the poor victim might yet relent, and rush from her fiery prison to the protection so freely offered. The command was readily obeyed; the strength of a child would have sufficed to burst the frail barrier which confined her, and a breathless pause succeeded; but the woman's constancy was faithful to the last. Not a sigh broke the death-like silence of the crowd, until a slight smoke, curling from the summit of the pyre, and then a tongue of flame darting with bright and lightning-like rapidity into the clear blue sky, told us that the sacrifice was completed. Fearlessly had this courageous woman fired the pile, and not a groan had betrayed to us the moment when her spirit fled. At sight of the flame a fiendish shout of exultation rent the air; the tom-toms sounded, the people clapped their hands with delight as the evidence of their murderous work burst on their view, whilst the English spectators of this sad scene withdrew, bearing deep compassion in their hearts, to philosophise as best they might on a custom so fraught with horror, so incompatible with reason, and so revolting to human sympathy. The pile continued to burn for three hours; but, from its form, it is supposed that almost immediate suffocation must have terminated the sufferings of the unhappy victim.

ever, proved a temptation too strong for the virtue of the viceroy, who, gradually forming for himself a party among the leading men of the country, at length communicated to the common people the intelligence that Sultan Hassan was no more, and quietly seated himself on the vacant throne. Sultan Hassan returning shortly afterwards from his pilgrimage, and, fortunately for himself, still in disguise, learned, as he approached his capital, the news of his own death and the usurpation of his minister; finding, on further inquiry, the party of the usurper to be too strong to render an immediate disclosure prudent, he preserved his incognito, and soon became known in Cairo as the wealthiest of her merchants; nor did it excite any surprise when he announced his pious intention of devoting a portion of his gains to the erection of a spacious mosque. The work proceeded rapidly under the spur of the great merchant's gold, and, on its completion, he solicited the honour of the sultan's presence at the ceremony of naming it. Anticipating the gratification of hearing his own name bestowed upon it, the usurper accepted the invitation, and at the appointed hour the building was filled by him and his most attached adherents. The ceremonies had duly proceeded to the time when it became necessary to give the name. The chief Moolah, turning to the supposed merchant, inquired what should be its name! 'Call it,' he replied, the mosque of Sultan Hassan.' All started at the mention of this name; and the questioner, as though not believing he could have heard aright, or to afford an opportunity of correcting First Impressions and Studies from Nature in Hin- it,' again cried he, the mosque of me, Sultan Hassan what might be a mistake, repeated his demand. 'Call dostan, by LIEUTENANT THOMAS BACON, two volumes, and throwing off his disguise, the legitimate sultan 1837, is a more lively but carelessly-written work, stood revealed before his traitorous servant. He had with good sketches of scenery, buildings, pageants, no time for reflection: simultaneously with the dis The HON. MOUNTSTUART ELPHINSTONE, in covery, numerous trap-doors, leading to extensive 1842, gave an account of the kingdom of Cabul, vaults, which had been prepared for the purpose, were and its dependencies in Persia, Tartary, and In-flung open, and a multitude of armed men issuing dia; and A Narrative of Various Journeys in Beloochistan, Afghanistan, and the Punjaub, by CHARLES MASSON, Esq. describes with considerable animation the author's residence in those countries, the native chiefs, and personal adventures with the various tribes from 1826 to 1838. MR C. R. BAYNES, a gentleman in the Madras civil service, published in 1843 Notes and Reflections during a Ramble in the East, an Overland Journey to India, &c. His remarks are just and spirited, and his anecdotes and descriptions lively and entertaining.

&c.

[Remark by an Arab Chief.]

An Arab chieftain, one of the most powerful of the princes of the desert, had come to behold for the first time a steam-ship. Much attention was paid to him, and every facility afforded for his inspection of every part of the vessel. What impression the sight made on him it was impossible to judge. No indications of surprise escaped him; every muscle preserved its wonted calmness of expression; and on quitting, he merely observed, 'It is well; but you have not brought a man to life yet.'

[Legend of the Mosque of the Bloody Baptism at Cairo.] Sultan Hassan, wishing to see the world, and lay aside for a time the anxieties and cares of royalty, committed the charge of his kingdom to his favourite minister, and taking with him a large amount of treasure in money and jewels, visited several foreign countries in the character of a wealthy merchant. Pleased with his tour, and becoming interested in the occupation he had assumed as a disguise, he was absent much longer than he originally intended, and in the course of a few years greatly increased his already large stock of wealth. His protracted absence, how

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from them, terminated at once the reign and life of !! the usurper. His followers were mingled in the slaughter, and Sultan Hassan was once more in possession of the throne of his fathers.

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The recent war in Affghanistan, and the occupa tion of the Sinde territory by the British, have given occasion to various publications, among which are, History of the War in Afghanistan, by MR C. NASH; Five Years in India, by H. G. FANE, Esq. late aidde-camp to the commander-in-chief; Narrative of the Campaign of the Army of the Indus in Sinde and Cabul, by MR Ř. H. KENNEDY; Scenes and Adventures in AffDENNIE; Personal Observations on Sinde, by CAPTAIN ghanistan, by MR W. TAYLOR; Letters, by COLONEL T. POSTANS; Military Operations at Cabul, with a Journal of Imprisonment in Affghanistan, by LIEUTENANT VINCENT EYRE; A Journal of the Disasters in Afghanistan, by LADY SALE, &c. These works calamitous portion of British history. were all published in 1842 or 1843, and illustrate a

bassies the first in 1792-94, under Lord Macartney, Of China we have the history of the two emof which a copious account was given by SIR GEORGE formation was afforded by SIR JOHN BARROW'S STAUNTON, one of the commissioners. Further inTravels in China, published in 1806, and long our most valuable work on that country. The second embassy, headed by Lord Amherst, in 1816, was recorded by HENRY ELLIS, Esq. third commissioner, in a work in two volumes (1818), and by DR ABEL, a gentleman attached to the embassy. One circumstance connected with this embassy occasioned some speculation and amusement. The ambassador was required to perform the ko-tou, or act of prostration, nine times repeated, with the head knocked against the ground. Lord Amherst and Mr Ellis were in

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clined to have yielded this point of ceremony; but Sir George Staunton and the other members of the Canton mission took the most decided part on the other side. The result of their deliberations was a determination against the performance of the ko-tou, and the emperor at last consented to admit them upon their own terms, which consisted in kneeling upon a single knee. The embassy went to Pekin, and were ushered into an ante-chamber of the imperial palace.

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adding that he was so overcome by fatigue and bodily illness as absolutely to require repose. Lord Amherst further pointed out the gross insult he had already received, in having been exposed to the intrusion and indecent curiosity of crowds, who appeared to view him rather as a wild beast than the representative of a powerful sovereign. At all events, he intreated the Koong-yay to submit his request to his imperial majesty, who, he felt confident, would, in consideration of his illness and fatigue, dispense with his immediate appearance. The Koong-yay then pressed Lord Amherst to come to his apartments, alleging that they were cooler, more convenient, and that he was totally unfit for any place but his own more private. This Lord Amherst declined, saying residence. The Koong-yay having failed in his attempt to persuade him, left the room for the purpose of taking the emperor's pleasure upon the subject.

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and ornaments bespoke him a prince, was particuDuring his absence an elderly man, whose dress larly inquisitive in his inspection of our persons and inquiries. His chief object seemed to be to communicate with Sir George Staunton, as the person who had been with the former embassy; but Sir George It is not easy to describe the feelings of annoyance very prudently avoided any intercourse with him. produced by the conduct of the Chinese, both public and individual: of the former I shall speak hereafter; of the latter I can only say that nothing could be more disagreeable and indecorous.

indecorous, according to our notions, the employment might be for a man of his rank, it could not have been in better hands.

[Scene at Pekin, Described by Mr Ellis.] Mandarins of all buttons were in waiting; several princes of the blood, distinguished by clear ruby buttons and round flowered badges, were among them: the silence, and a certain air of regularity, marked the immediate presence of the sovereign. The small apartment, much out of repair, into which we were huddled, now witnessed a scene I believe unparalleled in the history of even Oriental diplomacy. Lord Amherst had scarcely taken his seat, when Chang delivered a message from Ho (Koong-yay), stating that the emperor wished to see the ambassador, his son, and the commissioners immediately. Much surprise was naturally expressed; the previous arrangement for the eighth of the Chinese month, a period certainly much too early for comfort, was adverted to, and the utter impossibility of his excellency appearing in his present state of fatigue, inanition, and deficiency of every necessary equipment, was strongly urged. Chang was very unwilling to be the bearer of this answer, ting the room, to say that the emperor dispensed with A message arrived soon after the Koong-yay's quitbut was finally obliged to consent. During this time the ambassador's attendance; that he had further the room had filled with spectators of all ages and been pleased to direct his physician to afford to his ranks, who rudely pressed upon us to gratify their excellency every medical assistance that his illness brutal curiosity, for such it may be called, as they might require. The Koong-yay himself soon followed, seemed to regard us rather as wild beasts than mere and his excellency proceeded to the carriage. The strangers of the same species with themselves. Some Koong-yay not disdaining to clear away the crowd, other messages were interchanged between the Koong- the whip was used by him to all persons indiscrimiyay and Lord Amherst, who, in addition to the rea-nately; buttons were no protection; and however sons already given, stated the indecorum and irregularity of his appearing without his credentials. In his reply to this it was said, that in the proposed audience the emperor merely wished to see the ambassador, and had no intention of entering upon business. Lord Amherst having persisted in expressing the inadmissibility of the proposition, and in transmitting through the Koong-yay a humble request to his imperial majesty that he would be graciously pleased to wait till to-morrow, Chang and another mandarin finally proposed that his excellency should go over to the Koong-yay's apartments, from whence a reference might be made to the emperor. Lord Amherst having alleged bodily illness as one of the reasons for declining the audience, readily saw that if he went to the Koong-yay, this plea, which to the Chinese (though now scarcely admitted) was in general the most forcible, would cease to avail him, positively declined compliance. This produced a visit from the Koong-yay, who, too much interested and agitated to heed ceremony, stood by Lord Amherst, and used every argument to induce him to obey the emperor's commands. Among other topics he used that of being received with our own ceremony, using the Chinese words, 'ne mun tih lee'-your own ceremony. All proving ineffectual, with some roughness, but under pretext of friendly violence, he laid hands upon Lord Amherst, to take him from the room; another mandarin followed his example. His lordship, with great firmness and dignity of manner, shook them off, declaring that nothing but the extremest violence should induce him to quit that room for any other place but the residence assigned to him;

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Lord Amherst was generally condemned for refusing the proffered audience. The emperor, in disgust, ordered them instantly to set out for Canton, which was accordingly done. This embassy made scarcely any addition to our knowledge of China. Ma JOHN FRANCIS DAVIS, late chief superintendent in China, has published two interesting works, which give a full account of this singular people, so far as known to European visitors. These are, Sketches of China, partly during an Inland Journey of Four Months between Pekin, Nankin, and Canton; and The Chinese: a General Description of the Empire of China and its Inhabitants. The latter work was published in 1836, but has since been enlarged, and the history of British intercourse brought up to the present time. Mr Davis resided twenty years at Canton, is perfect in the peculiar language of China, and has certainly seen more of its inhabitants than any other English author. The Journal of Three Voyages along the Coast of China, in 1831, 1832, and 1833, by MR GUTZLAFF, a German, is also a valuable work. The contraband trade in opium formed a memorable era in the history of Chinese commerce. It was carried on to a great extent with the Hong merchants; but in 1834, after the monopoly of the East India Company had been abolished, our government appointed Lord Napier to proceed to Canton, as special superintendent, to adjust all disputed questions among the merchants, and to form regulations with the provincial authorities. The Chinese, always jealous of foreigners, and looking upon mercantile

*They are distinguished by round badges.

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