Page 290. They were not now far from that Forbidden River. "Akbar on his way ordered a fort to be built upon the Nilab, which he called Attock, which means in the Indian language Forbidden; for, by the superstition of the Hindoos, it was held unlawful to cross that river."-Dow's Hindostan. Page 291. Resembling, she often thought, that people of Zinge. "The inhabitants of this country (Zinge) are never afflicted with sadness or melancholy; on this subject the Sheikh Abu-al-Kheir-Azhari has the following distich : "Who is the man without care or sorrow, (tell) that I may rub my hand to him. "(Behold) the Zingians, without care or sorrow, frolicksome with tipsiness and mirth.' "The philosophers have discovered that the cause of this cheerfulness proceeds from the influence of the star Soheil or Canopus, which rises over them every night.” Extract from a geographical Persian Manuscript called Heft Aklim, or the Seven Climates, translated by W. Ouseley, Esq. Page 292. About two miles from Hussun Abdaul were the Royal Gardens. I am indebted for these particulars of Hussun Abdaul to the very interesting Introduction of Mr. Elphinstone's work upon Caubul. Page 292. Putting to death some hundreds of those unfortunate lizards. "The lizard Stellio. The Arabs call it Hardun. The Turks kill it, for they imagine that by declining the head it mimics them when they say their prayers."-Hasselquist. Page 293. As the Prophet said of Damascus, "it was too delicious." "As you enter at that Bazar without the gate of Damascus, you see the Green Mosque, so called because it hath a steeple faced with green glazed bricks, which render it very resplendent; it is covered at top with a pavilion of the same stuff. The Turks say this mosque was made in that place, because Mahomet being come so far, would not enter the town, saying it was too delicious."-Thevenot.- This reminds one of the following pretty passage in Isaac Walton: "When I sat last on this primrose bank, and looked down these meadows, I thought of them as Charles the Emperor did of the city of Florence, 'that they were too pleasant to be looked on, but only on holidays.' Page 294. Would remind the Princess of that difference, &c. "Haroun Al Raschid, cinquième Khalife des Abassides, s'étant un jour brouillé avec une de ses maîtresses nommée Maridah, qu'il aimoit cependant jusqu'à l'excès, et cette mesintelligence ayant déjà duré quelque tems commença à s'ennuyer. Giafar Barmaki, son favori, qui s'en apperçût, commanda à Abbas ben Ahnaf, excellent poëte de ce tems là, de composer quelques vers sur le sujet de cette brouillerie. Ce poëte executa l'ordre de Giafar, qui fit chanter ces vers par Moussali en presence du Khalife, et ce Prince fut tellement touché de la tendresse des vers du poëte et de la douceur de la voix du musicien qu'il alla aussi-tôt trouver Maridah, et fit sa paix avec elle.”—D' Herbelot. Page 300. Where the silken swing. "The swing is a favourite pastime in the East, as promoting a circulation of air, extremely refreshing in those sultry climates." - Richardson. "The swings are adorned with festoons. This pastime is accompanied with music of voices and of instruments, hired by the masters of the swings."- Thevenot. Page 301. as if all the shores, Like those of Kathay, utter'd music, and gave This miraculous quality has been attributed also to the shore of Attica. "Hujus littus, ait Capella, concentum musicum illisis terræ undis reddere, quod propter tantam eruditionis vim puto dictum." Ludov. Vives in Augustin. de Civitat. Dei, lib. xviii. c. 8. Page 312. The basil tuft that waves Its fragrant blossoms over graves. "The women in Egypt go, at least two days in the week, to pray and weep at the sepulchres of the dead; and the custom then is to throw upon the tombs a sort of herb, which the Arabs call rihan, and which is our sweet basil." Maillet, Lett. 10. Page 315. The mountain-herb that dyes The tooth of the fawn like gold. Niebuhr thinks this may be the herb which the Eastern alchymists look to as a means of making gold. "Most of those alchymical enthusiasts think themselves sure of success, if they could but find out the herb, which gilds the teeth and gives a yellow colour to the flesh of the sheep that eat it. Even the oil of this plant must be of a golden colour. It is called Haschischat ed dab." Father Jerom Dandini, however, asserts that the teeth of the goats at Mount Libanus are of a silver colour; and adds, "this confirms me that which I observed in Candia : to wit, that the animals that live on Mount Ida eat a certain herb, which renders their teeth of a golden colour; which, according to my judgment, cannot otherwise proceed than from the mines which are under ground."- Dandini, Voyage to Mount Libanus. Page 318. 'Tis I that mingle in one sweet measure The past, the present, and future of pleasure. "Whenever our pleasure arises from a succession of sounds, it is a perception of complicated nature, made up of a sensation of the present sound or note, and an idea or remembrance of the foregoing, while their mixture and concurrence produce such a mysterious delight, as neither could have produced alone. And it is often heightened by an anticipation of the succeeding notes. Thus Sense, Memory, and Imagination, are conjunctively employed." -Gerrard on Taste. This is exactly the Epicurean theory of Pleasure, as explained by Cicero:-" Quocirca corpus gaudere tamdiu, dum præsentem sentiret voluptatem ; animum et præsentem percipere pariter cum corpore et prospicere venientem, nec præteritam præterfluere sinere." Madame de Stael accounts upon the same principle for the gratification we derive from rhyme: -"Elle est l'image de l'espérance et du souvenir. Un son nous fait désirer celui qui doit lui répondre, et quand le second retentit il nous rappelle celui qui vient de nous échapper." Page 319. 'Tis dawn, at least that earlier dawn, Whose glimpses are again withdrawn. "The Persians have two mornings, the Soobhi Kazim and the Soobhi Sadig, the false and the real day-break. They account for this phenomenon in a most whimsical manner. They say that as the sun rises from behind the Kohi Qaf (Mount Caucasus), it passes a hole perforated through that mountain, and that darting its rays through it, it is the cause of the Soobhi Kazim, or this temporary appearance of day-break. As it ascends, the earth is again veiled in darkness, until the sun rises above the mountain, and brings with it the Soobhi Sadig, or real morning.". Scott Waring. He thinks Milton may allude to this, when he says, Ere the blabbing Eastern scout, The nice morn on the Indian steep |