Chapter XIV: Part 14

The little ring with the inscription "Behold the end," was once the property of Charles I., and was presented by him to Bishop Juxon on the morning of his execution. The silver lockets, on which are the emblems of death, were extensively manufactured and sold after the execution of Charles I. They generally bore the date of the king's death.

THE HAMSTER RAT.

There are various kinds of rats, and one of these is the Hamster, of the genus Cricetus of Cuvier. Though rare in Europe to the west of the Rhine, it is widely spread from that river to the Danube on the south-west, and north-easterly through a vast extent of country into Siberia. We notice it in our pages on account of its extraordinary habits. Its life appears to be divided between eating and fighting. It seems to have no other passion than that of rage, which induces it to attack every animal that comes in its way, without in the least attending to the superior strength of its enemy. Ignorant of the art of saving itself by flight, rather than yield, it will allow itself to be beaten to pieces with a stick. If it seizes a man's hand, it must be killed before it will quit its hold. The magnitude of the horse terrifies it as little as the address of the dog, which last is fond of hunting it. When the hamster perceives a dog at a distance, it begins by emptying its cheek-pouches if they happen to be filled with grain; it then blows them up so prodigiously, that the size of the head and neck greatly exceed that of the rest of the body. It raises itself on its hind legs, and thus darts upon the enemy. If it catches hold, it never quits it but with the loss of its life; but the dog generally seizes it from behind, and strangles it. This ferocious disposition prevents the hamster from being at peace with any animal whatever. It even makes war against its own species. When two hamsters meet, they never fail to attack each other, and the stronger always devours the weaker. A combat between a male and a female commonly lasts longer than between two males. They begin by pursuing and biting each other, then each of them retires aside, as if to take breath. After a short interval, they renew the combat, and continue to fight till one of them falls. The vanquished uniformly serves for a repast to the conqueror.

KNAVERY OF THE PRIESTS IN BURMAH.

The manner in which an uncivilized people will calmly submit to be duped by the extortionate rascality of their priests, is strongly exhibited in the kingdom of Burmah. The people who are there held in the highest estimation are the priests. Any one who pleases may be a priest. The priests pretend to be poor, and go out begging every morning with their empty dishes in their hands; but they get them well filled, and then return to their handsome houses, all shining with gold, in which they live together in plenty and in pride. They are expected to dress in rags, to show that they are poor; but not liking rags, they cut up cloth in little pieces, and sew the pieces together to make their yellow robes; and this they call wearing rags. They pretend to be so modest, that they do not like to show their faces, and so hide them with a fan, even when they preach; for they do preach in their way, that is, they tell foolish stories about Buddha. The name they give him is Guadama, while the Chinese call him Fo. They have five hundred and fifty stories written in their books about him; for they say he was once a bird, a fly, an elephant, and all manner of creatures, and was so good whatever he was, that at last he was born the son of a king. Is it not marvellous that a whole people should, for generation after generation, not only submit to be thus scandalously cheated, but should also hold those who cheat them in the highest esteem? A curious fact, indeed, in the history of mankind.

MIRACULOUS ESCAPE.

One of the most singular circumstances occurred a few years ago that ever came within our observation. Mr. Charlton, surgeon, of Wylam, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, having at a late hour been called upon in haste to give his attendance at Ovingham, borrowed a spirited horse of a friend, that he might proceed with the least possible delay. He had not gone above half a mile when he perceived his horse stumble, and he immediately threw himself from the saddle. It was fortunate he did so, for the next instant his horse had fallen down a precipice of near seventy feet; and, incredible as it may seem, the animal sustained no injury, but immediately dashed into the Tyne, and swam to the opposite side. Search was made after him, and hearing his master's voice, he was heard to neigh even across the water in token of recognition, and was ultimately restored without speck or blemish.

A NATIONAL TASTE FOR GAMING.

It is a remarkable fact that a taste for gaming appears in some cases to pervade a whole people, and to become one of the chief national characteristics. No where is this more manifest than among the inhabitants of the Asiatic Islands.

Games of hazard are the favourites of these islanders. Some of them they have learned of the Chinese, the most debauched of gamesters, and others of the Portuguese. The only game of hazard, of native origin, among the Javanese consists in guessing the number of a certain kind of beans which the players hold in their hands.

But of all the species of gaming that to which the Indian islanders are most fondly addicted is betting on the issue of the combats of pugnacious animals, and particularly the cock. The breed in highest estimation is the produce of Celebes. The people of Java fight their cocks without spurs; but the Malays and natives of Celebes with an artificial spur, in the shape of a small scythe, which, notwithstanding its barbarous appearance, is in reality less destructive than the contrivance employed among ourselves.

Quail fighting also is extremely common in Java. The most famous breed of this bird is found in the island of Lombok; and it is a singular fact, that the female is used in these bitter but bloodless combats, the male being comparatively small and timid. Neither do the Javanese hesitate to bet considerable sums on a battle between two crickets, which are excited to the conflict by the titillation of a blade of grass judiciously applied to their noses. They will likewise risk their money on the strength and hardness of a nut, called _kamiri_; and much skill, patience and dexterity, are exercised in the selection and the strife. At other times two paper kites decide the fortune of the parties; the object of each in this contest being to cut the string of his adversary. On a favourable day fifty or sixty kites, raised for this purpose, may sometimes be seen hovering over a Javanese city.

A FRIEND TO PHYSIC.

Mr. Samuel Jessup, who died at Heckington, Lincolnshire, in 1817, was an opulent grazier and of pill-taking memory. He lived in a very eccentric way, as a bachelor, without known relatives, and at his decease was possessed of a good fortune, notwithstanding a most inordinate craving for physic, by which he was distinguished for the last thirty years of his life, as appeared on a trial for the amount of an apothecary's bill, at the assizes at Lincoln, a short time before Mr. Jessup's death, wherein he was defendant. The evidence on the trial affords the following materials for the epitaph of the deceased, which will not be transcended by the memorabilia of the life of any man. In twenty-one years (from 1791 to 1816) the deceased took 226,934 pills (supplied by a most highly respectable apothecary and worthy person of the name of Wright, who resided at Bottesford), which is at the rate of 10,806 pills a year, or 29 pills each day; but as the patient begun with a more moderate appetite, and increased it as he proceeded, in the last five years preceding 1816, he took the pills at the rate of 78 a-day, and in the year 1814, he swallowed not less than 51,590. Notwithstanding this, and the addition of 40,000 bottles of mixture, and juleps and electuaries, extending altogether to fifty-five closely written columns of an apothecary's bill, the deceased lived to attain the advanced age of sixty-five years.

AN INCULPATORY EPITAPH.

The following epitaph at West Allington, Devon, is deserving a place in our record of curiosities, inasmuch as it appears to be a successful attempt in making a monumental stone, both a memorial of the deceased, and also a means of reproving the parson of the parish:--

"Here lyeth the Body of
Daniel Jeffery the Son of Michael
Jeffery and Joan his Wife he
was buried y{e} 22 day of September
1746 and in y{e} 18{th} year of his age.
This Youth When In his sickness lay
did for the minister Send + that he would
Come and With him Pray + But he would not ate{nd}
But When this young man Buried was
The minister did him admit + he should be
Caried into Church + that he might money geet
By this you See what man will dwo + to geet
money if he can + who did refuse to come
pray + by the Foresaid young man."

HUNTING A SHEEP KILLER.

It has been remarked, that when once a dog acquires wild habits, and takes to killing sheep, he does far more mischief than a wild beast, since to the cunning of the tamed animal he adds the ferocity of the untamed. A remarkable case of this sort is mentioned in the following paragraph, which we have copied from the _Newcastle Courant_ of the year 1823. It is also curious to note the account of the chase, and of the joy which the whole country-side seems to have manifested at the slaughter of the animal.--September 21--A few days ago a dog of a most destructive nature infested the fells of Caldbeck, Carrock, and High Pike, about sixteen miles south of Carlisle. Little doubt remains of its being the same dog which has been so injurious to the farmers in the northern parts of Northumberland, as no less than sixty sheep or upwards have fallen victims to its ferocity. It was thought proper to lose no time in attempting to destroy it, and Tuesday last was fixed upon. Sir H. Fletcher, Bart., of Clea Hall, offered his pack of hounds, and several other dogs with about fifty horsemen set out from Hesket New-market. Several persons with firearms were stationed at different parts. The dog was descried upon an eminence of Carrock-fell, and on sight of the pursuers set off by way of Hesket New-market, Stocklewath, and Barwick-field, then returned by Cowclose, Castle Sowerby, and attempted to gain the fells again, when Mr. Sewell, farmer at Wedlock, lying in ambush at Mossdale, fired, and succeeded in shooting him. He appears to be of the Newfoundland breed, of a common size, wire-haired, and extremely lean. During the chase he frequently turned upon the dogs which were headmost, and so wounded several as obliged them to give up the pursuit. The joy manifested on this occasion was uncommon, insomuch that on the day following about thirty persons sat down to a dinner provided at Mr. Tomlinson's, Hesket New-market. Upon the most moderate computation, excluding the various windings, the chase could not be less than thirty miles, and occupied no less than six hours.

LONGEVITY.

Henry Jenkins, of Ellerton-upon-Swale, Yorkshire, died 1670, aged 169. He remembered the battle of Flodden Field, fought between the English and the Scotch, September 9, 1513, when he was about twelve years old. He was then sent to Northallerton with a cartload of arrows, but an older boy was employed to convey them to the army. At Ellerton there was also living, at the same time, four or five other old men, reputed to be of the age of one hundred years and thereabouts, and they all testified that Jenkins was an elderly man when first they knew him. Jenkins was once butler to Lord Conyers; he perfectly remembered the Abbot of Fountain's Dale before the dissolution of the monasteries. In the last century of his life he was a fisherman, and often swam in the river after he was a hundred years old. In the King's Remembrancer Office in the Exchequer, there is a record of a deposition in a cause, taken April, 1665, at Kettlewell, Yorkshire, where Henry Jenkins, of Ellerton-upon-Swale, labourer, aged 157 years, was produced, and made deposition as a witness. He was buried at Bolton, Yorkshire. In 1743, a monument, with a suitable inscription, was erected to perpetuate his memory.

THE PULPIT OF JOHN KNOX AT ST. ANDREW'S.

John Knox, the great precursor of the Protestant Reformation, having been driven from Edinburgh by the threats of his opponents, reluctantly withdrew to St. Andrew's, in the county of Fife, where he continued with undiminished boldness to denounce the enemies of the reformed faith. It was in that place that he had first discoursed against the degeneracy of the Church of Rome, and there he occupied the Pulpit represented in the accompanying engraving; and the following curious and characteristic anecdote connected with his preaching in it, is related in the Manuscript Diary of James Melville, then a student at the college of St. Andrew's, and subsequently Minister of Anstruther. "Of all the benefits I haid that year (1571) was the coming of that maist notable profet and apostle of our nation, Mr. Jhone Knox, to St. Andrew's: who, be the faction of the Queen occupying the castell and town of Edinburgh, was compellit to remove therefra, with a number of the best, and chusit to come to St. Andrew's. I heard him teache there the Prophecies of Daniel that simmer, and the winter following; I haid my pen and my little buike, and tuk away sic things as I could comprehend. In the opening up of his text he was moderat the space of an half houre; but when he onterit to application, he made me so to _grew_ (thrill) and tremble, that I could not hold a pen to wryt. He was very weak. I saw him every day of his life go _hulie and fear_ (hoolie and fairly--slowly and warily) with a furring of marticks, (martins) about his neck, a staffe in the ane hand, and gud godlie Richard Ballanden, his servand, haldin up the uther _oxier_ (arm-pit), from the Abbey to the Parish-Kirk; and be the said Richart and another servant lifted up to the Pulpit, whar he _behovit_ (was obliged) to lean at his first entry: bot er he had done with his sermone he was sa active and vigourous, that he was lyk to _ding the pulpit in blads_ (beat it into shivers) and flie out of it."

Pulpit of John Knox at St. Andrew's.]

The interesting relique commemorated in this curious extract, is of that stately style of carving which was introduced towards the close of the sixteenth century in Protestant preaching-places; and continued, though of a more heavy character, throughout the whole of the succeeding century. A scroll-bracket remaining on the preacher's left hand, and some broken pieces at the top of the back, appear to indicate that it was once more extended, and had probably a canopy or sounding-board.

THE BIBLE USED BY KING CHARLES THE FIRST ON THE SCAFFOLD.

Bible Used by Charles the First on the Scaffold.]

There is so much external evidence of the genuineness of this very beautiful and interesting relique, that no doubt can exist as to its perfect authenticity, though the circumstance of the King having a Bible with him on the scaffold, and of presenting it to Dr. Juxon, is not mentioned in any contemporaneous account of his death. The only notice of such a volume, as a dying gift, appears to be that recorded by Sir Thomas Herbert, in his narrative, which forms a part of the _Memoirs of the last Two Years of the Reign of that unparalleled Prince of ever-blessed memory, King Charles I._ London, 1702, 8vo, p. 129, in the following passage:--"The King thereupon gave him his hand to kiss: having the day before been graciously pleased under his royal hand, to give him a certificate that the said Mr. Herbert was not imposed upon him, but by his Majesty made choice of to attend him in his bed-chamber, and had served him with faithfulness and loyal affection. His Majesty also delivered him his Bible, in the margin whereof he had with his own hand, written many annotations and quotations, and charged him to give it to the Prince so soon as he returned." That this might be the book represented in our engraving, is rendered extremely probable, by admitting that the King would be naturally anxious, that his son should possess that very copy of the Scriptures which had been provided for himself when he was Prince of Wales. It will be observed that the cover of the volume is decorated with the badge of the Principality within the Garter, surmounted by a royal coronet in silver gilt, inclosed by an embroidered border; the initials C. P. apparently improperly altered to an R., and the badges of the Rose and Thistle, upon a ground of blue velvet: and the book was therefore bound between the death of Prince Henry in 1612, and the accession of King Charles to the throne in 1625, when such a coronet would be no longer used by him. If the Bible here represented were that referred to by Herbert, the circumstance of Bishop Juxon becoming the possessor of it might be accounted for, by supposing that it was placed in his hands to be transmitted to Charles II. with the George of the Order of the Garter belonging to the late King, well known to have been given to that Prelate upon the scaffold, January 30th, 1648-9.

LAMBETH WELLS, THE APOLLO GARDENS, AND FINCH'S GROTTO.

Among the numerous public places of amusement which arose upon the success of Vauxhall Gardens, which were first opened about 1661, was one in Lambeth Walk, known as Lambeth Wells. This place was first opened on account of its mineral waters, which were sold at a penny per quart. The music commenced at seven o'clock in the morning, and the price of admission was three pence. A monthly concert under the direction of Mr. Starling Goodwin, organist of St. Saviour's Church Southwark, was afterwards held here, and Erasmus King, who had been coachman to the celebrated Dr. Desaguliers, read lectures and exhibited experiments in natural philosophy, the price of admission being raised to sixpence.

This place was open before 1698, and existed as late as 1752, when "A Penny Wedding after the Scotch fashion, for the benefit of a young couple," was advertised to be kept there.

Lambeth Wells at length becoming a public nuisance, the premises were shut up, and ultimately let as a Methodist Meeting-house. The music gallery was used as a pulpit; but the preacher being greatly disturbed in his enthusiastic harangues, he was obliged to quit, when the premises were converted to various purposes, except the dwelling, which is now known by the sign of the Fountain public-house.

On the site of Messrs. Maudslay's factory, in the Westminster Road, formerly stood the Apollo Gardens. This place of amusement was opened in 1788, by an ingenious musician named Clagget, who published, in 1793, a small quarto pamphlet, entitled "Musical Phenomena: An Organ made without Pipes, Strings, Bells, or Glasses; the only Instrument in the world that will never require to be re-tuned. A Cromatic Trumpet, capable of producing just Intervals, and regular Melodies in all Keys, without undergoing any change whatever. A French Horn answering the above description of the Trumpet."

The Apollo Gardens had one spacious room elegantly fitted up, and decorated in taste suitably to its intention. The gardens consisted of a number of elegant pavilions or alcoves, well adapted for the accommodation of different companies; they were ornamented chiefly with a succession of paintings, relating to romantic histories, particularly the different adventures of Don Quixote. It had a fine orchestra erected in the centre of the gardens. The place being ultimately converted into a receptacle for loose and dissolute characters, the magistracy very properly suppressed it about the year 1799.

In Gravel Lane, Southwark, was Finch's Grotto, a public garden and place of amusement, so named from William Finch, the proprietor. The Grotto was opened to the public in 1770 upon the plan of Vauxhall gardens. An orchestra and a band of musicians, added to the rural character of the place, and drew a numerous body of visitors.

Very little is known about the Grotto, but it is supposed to have been closed early in the present century.

THE DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS, OR, ORNITHORYNCHUS PARADOXUS.

Duck-billed Platypus.]

Of the genus _Ornithorynchus_ only one species--the _Paradoxus_--has yet been discovered in the whole world, and it is, therefore, one of the great curiosities of animal life. It appears to be a union of a quadruped and a bird, and is only to be found in New Holland, where it inhabits the reeds by the side of rivers. Our engraving represents it very accurately. It is about twenty inches long, having a flattened body, somewhat like the otter, and is clothed with a dark soft fur. The elongated nose very much resembles the beak of a duck, like which these animals feed upon water insects, shell-fish, and aquatic plants. The feet are five-toed and webbed, and in the fore-feet this membrane extends beyond the nails: the male is armed with a spur on each hind leg. This curious animal, in which a duck's beak is united to the body of a quadruped, rolls itself up like a hedgehog, when it sleeps in its burrows on the banks of the streams whence its food is derived.

ORIGIN OF BOLTON ABBEY.

About midway up the Vale of Bolton, amidst the gloomy recesses of the woods, the Wharfe, which is otherwise a wide and shallow river, is suddenly contracted by two huge rocks, which approach each other so nearly, that the country folk, or rather the villagers, call it the _Strid_, because adventurous people stride or leap from one rock to the other. In ancient days, the whole of this valley belonged to Baron Romillie, whose eldest son having died, left a younger brother, of the name of EGREMONT, sole heir of the domains and inheritance of this family. One day, however, when this young man, familiarly called the "Boy of Egremont," was returning from hunting with the hounds in the _leash_, he, as he had done many times before, was going to leap the _Strid_, when, just as he had attempted it, the hounds held back, and precipitated him headlong into the deep and awful chasm, which the impetuous fall of water (thus produced by the sudden contraction of the river) had worn in the base of the two rude rocks, and he was never seen afterwards. The Baron, being now left childless, built the Abbey, and endowed it with the domains of Bolton.

LENGTH OF LIFE WITHOUT BODILY EXERCISE.

The Rev. William Davies, Rector of Staunton-upon-Wye, and Vicar of All Saints, Hereford, died 1790, aged 105. The life of this gentleman displays one of the most extraordinary instances of departure from all those rules of temperance and exercise, which so much influence the lives of the mass of mankind, that is, probably to be found in the whole records of longevity. During the last thirty-five years of his life, he never used any other exercise than that of just slipping his feet, one before the other, from room to room; and they never after that time were raised, but to go down or up stairs, a task, however, to which he seldom subjected himself. His breakfast was hearty; consisting of hot _rolls well buttered_, with a plentiful supply of tea or coffee. His dinner was substantial, and frequently consisted of a variety of dishes. At supper he generally eat hot roast meat, and always drank wine, though never to excess. Though nearly blind for a number of years, he was always cheerful in his manners, and entertaining in his conversation, and was much beloved by all who knew him. He had neither gout, stone, paralysis, rheumatism, nor any of those disagreeable infirmities which mostly attend old age; but died peaceably in the full possession of all his faculties, mental and corporeal, save his eyesight. Like most long livers he was very short of stature.

EXTRAORDINARY FASHION IN CIGARS.

A taste for tobacco in some form or other seems to extend over the whole inhabitable globe. In this respect it matters not whether nations are civilized or uncivilized; and however completely they may differ from each other in everything else, they all agree in a fondness for "the weed." In the mode, however, of indulging in the luxury, there is the greatest diversity, and no where is this more strikingly manifested than in the Philippine Islands.

"It is not till evening that the inhabitants of the higher class begin to stir; till that time they are occupied in eating, sleeping, and smoking tobacco, which is no where more general than on the island of Luzon; for children, before they can walk, begin to smoke segars. The women carry their fondness for it to a greater height than the men; for, not content with the usual small segars, they have others made for them, which are a foot long and proportionably thick. These are here called the women's segars, and it is a most ludicrous sight to see elegant ladies taking their evening walk, with these burning brands in their mouths."

How widely does the fashion in Luzon differ from the fashion at Paris!

NOVEL WAY OF PURCHASING A HUSBAND.

The following paragraph, which we have copied from a magazine of 1790, not only gives us a curious instance of female determination in the pursuit of a husband, but tells us of the price which human hair was worth at the period when ladies wore such monstrous head-dresses of false curls.

"An Oxfordshire lass was lately courted by a young man of that country, who was not willing to marry her unless her friends could advance 50_l._ for her portion; which they being incapable of doing, the lass came to London to try her fortune, where she met with a good chapman in the Strand, who made a purchase of her hair (which was delicately long and light), and gave her _sixty pounds_ for it, being 20 ounces at 3_l. an ounce_; with which money she joyfully returned into the country, and bought her a husband."

GLOVES.--ORIGIN OF "PIN MONEY."

Gloves were very common as New Year's gifts. For many hundreds of years after their introduction into England in the 10th century, they were worn only by the most opulent classes of society, and hence constituted a valuable present. They are often named in old records. Exchange of gloves was at one period a mode of investiture into possession of property, as amongst the ancient Jews was that of a shoe or sandal; and "glove-money" is to this day presented by High Sheriffs to the officers of their courts, upon occasion of a maiden assize, or one in which no cause is tried. Pins, which at the commencement of the sixteenth century displaced the wooden skewers previously in use, became a present of similar consequence; and at their first introduction were considered of so much importance in female dress, that "pin-money" grew into the denomination of dower, which, by the caution of parents, or justice of a consort, was settled upon a lady at her marriage.

HABITS AND HABITATIONS OF THE DYAKS OF BORNEO.

It is impossible to appreciate properly the courage, determination, and skill which have been displayed by the gallant Sir James Brooke, unless we make ourselves acquainted with the character and habits of the extraordinary race of men over whom he triumphed. The Dyaks are a savage people who inhabit Borneo. They lived there before the Malays came, and they have been obliged to submit to them. They are savages indeed. They are darker than the Malays; yet they are not black; their skin is only the colour of copper. Their hair is cut short in front, but streams down their backs; their large mouths show a quantity of black teeth, made black by chewing the betel-nut. They wear but very little clothing, but they adorn their ears and arms, and legs, with numbers of brass rings. Their looks are wild and fierce, but not cunning like the looks of the Malays. They are not Mahomedans; they have hardly any religion at all. They believe there are some gods, but they know hardly anything about them, and they do not want to know. They neither make images to the gods, nor say prayers to them. They live like the beasts, thinking only of this life; yet they are more unhappy than beasts, for they imagine there are evil spirits among the woods and hills, watching to do them harm. It is often hard to persuade them to go to the top of a mountain, where they say evil spirits dwell. Such a people would be more ready to listen to a missionary than those who have idols, and temples, and priests, and sacred books.

Their wickedness is very great. It is their chief delight to get the heads of their enemies. There are a great many different tribes of Dyaks, and each tribe tries to cut off the heads of other tribes. The Dyaks who live by the sea are the most cruel; they go out into the boats to rob and bring home, not _slaves_, but HEADS!! And how do they treat a head when they get it? They take out the brains, and then they dry it in the smoke, with the flesh and hair still on; then they put a string through it, and fasten it to their waists. The evening that they have got some new heads, the warriors dance with delight,--their heads dangling by their sides;--and they turn round in the dance, and gaze upon their heads,--and shout,--and yell with triumph! At night they still keep the heads near them; and in the day they play with them, as children with their dolls, talking to them, putting food in their mouths, and the betel-nut between their ghastly lips. After wearing the heads many days, they hang them up to the ceilings of their rooms.

No English lord thinks so much of his pictures, as the Dyaks do of their heads. They think these heads are the finest ornaments of their houses. The man who has _most_ heads, is considered the _greatest_ man. A man who has _no heads_ is despised! If he wishes to be respected, he must get a head as soon as he can. Sometimes a man, in order to get a head, will go out to look for a poor fisherman, who has done him no harm, and will come back with his head. When the Dyaks fight against their enemies, they try to get, not only the heads of men, but also the heads of women and children. How dreadful it must be to see a poor baby's head hanging from the ceiling! There was a Dyak who lost all his property by fire, but he cared not for losing anything, so much as for losing his precious heads; nothing could console him for his loss; some of them he had cut off himself, and others had been cut off by his father, and left to him!

People who are so bent on killing, as these Dyaks are, must have many enemies. The Dyaks are always in fear of being attacked by their enemies. They are afraid of living in lonely cottages; they think it a better plan for a great many to live together, that they may be able to defend themselves, if surprised in the night. Four hundred Dyaks will live together in one house. The house is very large. To make it more safe, it is built upon very high posts, and there are ladders to get up by. The posts are sometimes forty feet high; so that when you are in the house, you find yourself as high as the tall trees. There is one very large room, where all the men and women sit, and talk, and do their work in the day. The women pound the rice, and weave the mats, while the men make weapons of war, and the little children play about. There is always much noise and confusion in this room. There are a great many doors along one side of the long room; and each of these doors leads into a small room where a family lives! the parents, the babies, and the girls sleep there, while the boys of the family sleep in the large room, that has just been described.

The Hill Dyaks do not live in houses quite so large. Yet several families inhabit the same house. In the midst of their villages, there is always one house where the boys sleep. In this house all the heads of the village are kept. The house is round, and built on posts, and the entrance is underneath, through the floor. As this is the best house in the village, travellers are always brought to this house to sleep. Think how dreadful it must be, when you wake in the night to see thirty or forty horrible heads, dangling from the ceiling! The wind, too, which comes in through little doors in the roof, blows the heads about; so that they knock against each other, and seem almost as if they were still alive. This is the Dead-house. Such are the men whom the Rajah Brooke subdued!

SCOTTISH WILD CATTLE.

The wild white cattle, a few of which are still to be found in Chatelherault Park, belonging to the Duke of Hamilton, in Lanarkshire, are great objects of curiosity, inasmuch as they are identical with the primitive source of all our domestic cattle.

The following description of their habits is abridged from an article by the Rev. W. Patrick, in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture:--

"I am inclined to believe that the Hamilton breed of cattle is the oldest in Scotland, or perhaps in Britain. Although Lord Tankerville has said they have 'no wild habits,' I am convinced, from personal observation, that this is one of their peculiar features. In browsing their extensive pasture, they always keep close together, never scattering or straggling over it, a peculiarity which does not belong to the Kyloe, or any other breed, from the wildest or most inhospitable regions of the Highlands. The white cows are also remarkable for their systematic manner of feeding. At different periods of the year their tactics are different, but by those acquainted with their habits they are always found about the same part of the forest at the same hour of the day. In the height of summer, they always bivouac for the night towards the northern extremity of the forest; from this point they start in the morning, and browse to the southern extremity, and return at sunset to their old rendezvous; and during these perambulations they always feed _en masse_.

"The bulls are seldom ill-natured, but when they are so they display a disposition more than ordinarily savage, cunning, pertinacious, and revengeful. A poor bird-catcher, when exercising his vocation among the 'Old Oaks,' as the park is familiarly called, chanced to be attacked by a savage bull. By great exertion he gained a tree before his assailant made up to him. Here he had occasion to observe the habits of the animal. It did not roar or bellow, but merely grunted, the whole body quivered with passion and savage rage, and he frequently attacked the tree with his head and hoofs. Finding all to no purpose, he left off the vain attempt, began to browse, and removed to some distance from the tree. The bird-catcher tried to descend, but this watchful Cerberus was again instantly at his post, and it was not till after six hours' imprisonment, and various bouts at 'bo-peep' as above, that the unfortunate man was relieved by some shepherds with their dogs. A writer's apprentice, who had been at the village of Quarter on business, and who returned by the 'Oaks' as a 'near-hand cut,' was also attacked by one of these savage brutes, near the northern extremity of the forest. He was fortunate, however, in getting up a tree, but was watched by the bull, and kept there during the whole of the night, and till near two o'clock the next day.

"These animals are never taken and killed like other cattle, but are always shot in the field. I once went to see a bull and some cows destroyed in this manner--not by any means for the sake of the sight, but to observe the manner and habits of the animal under peculiar circumstances. When the shooters approached, they, as usual, scampered off in a body, then stood still, tossed their heads on high, and seemed to snuff the wind; the manoeuvre was often repeated, till they got so hard pressed (and seemingly having a sort of half-idea of the tragedy which was to be performed), that they at length ran furiously in a mass, always preferring the sides of the fence and sheltered situations, and dexterously taking advantage of any inequality in the ground, or other circumstances, to conceal themselves from the assailing foe. In their flight, the bulls, or stronger of the flock, always took the lead! a smoke ascended from them which could be seen at a great distance; and they were often so close together, like sheep, that a carpet would have covered them. The cows which had young, on the first 'tug of war,' all retreated to the thickets where their calves were concealed; from prudential motives, they are never, if possible, molested. These and other wild habits I can testify to be inherent in the race, and are well known to all who have an opportunity of acquainting themselves with them."

BELLS OF THE ANCIENTS.

Bells were known in the earliest ages of which we have any certain account. But the bells of the ancients were very small in comparison with those of modern times, since, according to Polydore Virgil, the invention of such as are hung in the towers, or steeples of Christian churches, did not occur till the latter end of the fourth, or beginning of the fifth century; when they were introduced by Paulinus, Bishop of Nola. The Jews certainly employed bells, since they are spoken of in Scriptures; and the mention of them by Thucydides, Diodorus Siculus, Suidas, Aristophanes, and other ancient writers, proves that they were used in Greece; while Plautus, Ovid, Tibullus, Statius, and a variety of Latin authors, speak of bells as in use among the Romans. But these bells of the ancients were all made for the hand; or were of a size to be affixed to other musical instruments, like those which were occasionally appended to the drum. Whether, when detached from other instruments, they were used on other occasions, or only in particular ceremonies, or as signals, is not known; nor have we any clue by which to guess whether they were tuned in concordance with any scale, or whether they were unisons to each other, or not formed to any particular pitch, but merely used as sonorous auxiliaries to other instruments, without any regard to their agreement of tone, either with one another, or with the instruments they accompanied.

EARTHQUAKE AT NOTTINGHAM IN 1816.

Earthquakes are providentially occurrences of great rarity in England. The one which took place on the 17th of March, 1816, was one of the most dangerous that has ever been experienced in this kingdom. It extended over a vast area of country, and in some localities its effects were felt very severely. As a proof of this, we have copied the following paragraph from a Nottingham paper of the day:--

Nottingham, in common with a great part of the North Midland district, experienced a smart shock of an earthquake. It was felt at half-past twelve p.m., and as Divine service, it being Sunday, was not over at the churches, great alarm was expressed by the congregations. At St. Peter's and St. Nicholas's, the consternation was so great, that service had to be suspended for a few seconds, and one lady was borne out in a state of insensibility. The pillars supporting St. Mary's tower shook very visibly, but, fortunately, the attention of the crowded congregation was so engrossed by the eloquence of the sheriff's chaplain, and the presence of the Judge and his retinue, that the alarm was but slight, or the rush and loss of life might have been great. In various parts of the town and neighbourhood, glasses were shaken off of shelves, articles of domestic use displaced, window-casements thrown open, and other indications manifest of the influence of the subterranean movement.

SINGULAR STATE OF PRESERVATION OF A DEAD BODY.

According to a statement in Holinshed, in 1495, while digging for a foundation for the church of St. Mary-at-hill, in London, the body of Alice Hackney was discovered. It had been buried 175 years, and yet the skin was whole, and the joint pliable. It was kept above ground four days without annoyance, and then re-interred.

ASYLUM FOR DESTITUTE CATS.

Of all the curious charitable institutions in the world, the most curious probably is the Cat Asylum at Aleppo, which is attached to one of the mosques there, and was founded by a misanthropic old Turk, who being possessed of large granaries, was much annoyed by rats and mice, to rid himself of which he employed a legion of cats, who so effectually rendered him service, that in return he left them a sum in the Turkish funds, with strict injunctions that all destitute and sickly cats should be provided for, till such time as they took themselves off again. In 1845, when a famine was ravaging in all North Syria--when scores of poor people were dropping down in the streets from sheer exhaustion and want, and dying there by dozens per diem before the eyes of their well-to-do fellow creatures, men might daily be encountered carrying away sack loads of cats to be fed up and feasted on the proceeds of the last will and testament of that vagabond old Turk, whilst fellow creatures were permitted to perish.

TOMB OF SAINT GEORGE.

The tomb of Saint George, England's patron-saint, is situated in the Bay of Kesrouan, between the Nahr-et-Kelb and Batroun, surrounded by luxuriant gardens and groups of romantic-looking villages and convents. The Arabs venerate St. George, whom they style Mar Djurios, and point to a small ruined chapel (as in our engraving), originally dedicated to him to commemorate his victory over the dragon, which, they say, took place near to the spot. The tradition is, that the dragon was about to devour the king of Beyrout's daughter, when St. George slew him, and thus saved the lady fair; and the credulous natives point to a kind of well, upwards of sixty feet deep, where they stoutly affirm that the dragon used to come out to feed upon his victims.

Tomb of Saint George.]

All this is very curious, inasmuch as it gives an Arabian interest to the career of the patron saint of England, whose portrait, in the act of slaying the dragon, constitutes the reverse of most English coin, and is regarded as the embodiment of English valour.

BEGGARS SELECTED AS MODELS BY PAINTERS.

Michael Angelo Buonarotti often drew from beggars; and report says, that in the early part of his life, when he had not the means of paying them in money, he would make an additional sketch, and, presenting it to the party, desire him to take it to some particular person, who would purchase it. Fuseli, in his life of Michael Angelo, says that "a beggar rose from his hand the patriarch of poverty." The same artist, in one of his lectures, delivered at the Royal Academy, also observes, that "Michael Angelo ennobled his beggars into Patriarchs and Prophets, in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel."

Annibal Caracci frequently drew subjects in low life. His _Cries of Bologna_, etched by Giuseppe Maria Mitelli: pub. 1660, in folio, are evidently from real characters. It will also be recollected, that some of the finest productions of Murillo, Jan Miel, and Drogsloot, are beggars. Callot's twenty-four beggars are evidently from nature; and among Rembrandt's etchings are to be found twenty-three plates of this description.

Sir Joshua Reynolds frequently painted from beggars, and from these people have originated some of his finest pictures, particularly his "Mercury as a Pickpocket," and "Cupid as a Link-boy." His Count Ugolino was painted from a paviour, soon after he had left St. George's Hospital, from a severe fever. Mr. West painted the portrait of a beggar, on the day when he became a hundred years old; and considered him as a pensioner for several years afterwards. The same person was used also as a model, by Copley, Opie, &c. Who can forget the lovely countenance of Gainsborough's "Shepherd's Boy," that has once seen Earlom's excellent engraving from it? He was a lad, well known as a beggar to those who walked St. James's-street seventy years ago. The model for the celebrated picture of the "Woodman," by the same artist, died in the Borough, at the venerable age of 107.

Mr. Nollekens, in 1778, when modelling the bust of Dr. Johnson, who then wore a wig, called in a beggar to sit for the hair. The same artist was not equally fortunate in the locks of another great character; for on his application to a beggar for the like purpose, the fellow declined to sit, with an observation that three half-crowns were not sufficient for the trouble.

SUPPLY OF WATER FOR OLD LONDON.

Leaden pipes conveyed spring water to London city from Tyburn in 1236; and in 1285 the first great conduit of lead was begun there. In 1442 Henry VI. granted to John Hatherley, Mayor, license to take up 200 fother of lead. The pipes from Highbury brought in the water in 1483. We may learn how much was thought of this useful work by the fact that the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and many worshipful persons used to ride and view the conduit heads at Tyburn; and after dinner there, somewhat different from recent sportsmen, they hunted a fox.

The water-works at London Bridge were established in 1512. In 1534, two-fifteenths were granted by the Common Council for defraying the expense of bringing water from Hackney to Aldgate to a conduit. But Peter Morris did not bring his supply of water to the highest parts of London till the year 1569, and Sir Hugh Middleton's far-famed New River was only rendered available in 1618, that is, a space of sixty-eight years after the introduction of a stream of pure water into the western parts of the town of Lyme in Dorset.

COMBINATION OF INSTINCT AND FORCE OF HABIT IN A DOG.

A dog which had been accustomed to go with his master regularly for some time to Penkridge church, still continued to go there by himself every Sunday for a whole year, while the edifice was under repair, and divine service was not held. Whenever he could, he would get into the family pew and there pass the proper time. His instinct enabled him to perceive the occasion, and to measure the regular time, but it could carry him no further. A remarkable exemplification of the difference between instinct and reason.

YORKSHIRE IN THE LAST CENTURY.

Anecdotes which are apparently trifling in themselves, are often of importance, as exhibiting in a striking light the dialect and social condition of the people, and the period they refer to. An instance of this is the following, which has been recorded as the bellman's cry at Ripon, on the occasion of a great frost and fall of snow, about 1780:--

"I is to gie notidge, that Joanie Pickersgill yeats yewn to neit, to moarn at moarn, an to moarn at neit, an nea langer, as lang as storm hods, 'cause he can git na mare eldin."

_The Translation._

I am to give notice, that John Pickersgill heats his oven to-night, to-morrow morning, and to-morrow at night, and no longer as long as the storm lasts, because he can get no more fuel.

INSTANCE OF MANY AGED PERSONS DYING ABOUT THE SAME DATE.

The following is taken from a copy of Nile's "Weekly Register," published at Baltimore, in the month of January, 1823. It is the list of deaths which had been notified to the paper within one week, and we give it, as a singular instance of the decease of so many persons above one hundred years old being announced in the same paragraph.

"In Franklin co. Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Campbell, aged 104--several of her relatives had reached 100.--At Troy, N. Y., Ann Fowler, 100.--At Tyngsboro', N. Y., Abigail Hadlock, 104.--At Somers, N. Y., Michael Makeel, 103.--At Rutland, Oswego, N. Y., Mrs. Buroy, 110.--At Brunswick, Maine, Gen. James W. Ryan, 107--his wife is yet living, aged 94; they were married together 75 years before his death.--At Georgetown, Col. Yarrow, a Moor, (supposed) 135!--At the city of New York, a woman, a native of St. Domingo, 106. At Sargus, Mass., Mrs. Edwards, 101.--In Edgecomb county, N. C., William Spicer, aged about 112.--In Boston, William Homer, 116."

CORPSE BEARERS DURING THE PLAGUE.

Of all the calamities with which a great city is infested, there can be none so truly awful as that of a plague, when the street doors of the houses that were visited with the dreadful pest were padlocked up, and only accessible to the surgeons and medical men, whose melancholy duty frequently exposed them even to death itself; and when the fronts of the houses were pasted over with large bills exhibiting red crosses, to denote that in such houses the pestilence was raging, and requesting the solitary passenger, to pray that the Lord might have mercy upon those who were confined within. Of these bills there are many extant in the libraries of the curious, some of which have borders engraved on wood printed in black, displaying figures of skeletons, bones, and coffins They also contain various recipes for the cure of the distemper. The Lady Arundel, and other persons of distinction, published their methods for making what was then called plague-water, and which are to be found in many of the rare books on cookery of the time; but happily for London, it has not been visited by this affliction since 1665, a circumstance owing probably to the Great Fire in the succeeding year, which consumed so many old and deplorable buildings, then standing in narrow streets and places so confined, that it was hardly possible to know where any pest would stop.

Corpse Bearer.]

Every one who inspects Agas's Plan of London, engraved in the reign of Elizabeth, as well as those published subsequently to the rebuilding of the City after the fire, must acknowledge the great improvements as to the houses, the widening of the streets, and the free admission of fresh air. It is to be hoped, and indeed we may conclude from the very great and daily improvements on that most excellent plan of widening streets, that this great city will never again witness such visitations.

When the plague was at its height, perhaps nothing could have been more silently or solemnly conducted than the removal of the dead to the various pits round London, that were opened for their reception; and it was the business of Corpse Bearers, such as the one exhibited in the preceding engraving, to give directions to the carmen, who went through the city with bells, which they rang, at the same time crying "Bring out your Dead." This melancholy description may be closed, by observing that many parts of London, particularly those leading to the Courts of Westminster, were so little trodden down, that the grass grew in the middle of the streets.

A MEMENTO-MORI WATCH.

The curious relic, of which we herewith give an engraving, was presented by Mary, Queen of Scots, to her Maid of Honour, Mary Seaton, of the house of Wintoun, one of the four celebrated Maries, who were Maids of Honour to her Majesty.

"Yestreen the Queen had four Maries,
The night she'll hae but three;
There was Marie Seaton, and Marie Beaton,
And Marie Carmichael and me."

Memento-Mori Watch.]