Chapter M: P. Huber is the only modern author that appears to have been witness to (15)

The _British_ Museum, in London, a repository under the immediate care of government, and itself governed by fifteen trustees, selected from the highest and most honourable offices of the state, promises to exceed every other national institution, which is not supported by the spoliation and plunder of others. However inferior it may appear to those splendid collections, which consist of the most exquisite productions of the chisel and the pencil ever accomplished by man, we have the consolation to reflect, that, had it been possible to procure them by purchase, the liberality of the British nation is such, that Italy and many other countries would have long since been drained; but as the case is, each inhabitant of England may exclaim, with his characteristic integrity, as he views the vast collection which he in common with all his countrymen possesses, "These are individually our own by fair purchase or gift!" Sir Robert Cotton may be said to have laid the foundation of the British Museum, by his presenting his excellent collection of manuscripts to the public; those, and the offer of Sir Hans Sloane's books, manuscripts, and curious articles in antiquity and natural history, for £20,000, suggested the propriety of accepting the latter, and providing a place for the reception of both: from this time government proceeded rapidly in forming the plan, and at length every interior regulation for officers, trustees, &c. being made, Montague House, situated in Russell-street, Bloomsbury, was purchased for £10,250, and fitted for the reception of the articles then possessed, and to be bought at the further expense of £14,484. 6s. 4d.: after which Lord Oxford's manuscripts were procured for £10,000, to which the King added others; and since the above period, vast numbers of interesting things have been placed there,--Sir William Hamilton's discoveries, a vast variety of valuable medals, fossils, minerals, manuscripts, and printed books, together with several Egyptian antiquities, and the late Mr. Townsley's marbles and bas-reliefs from Italy. The latter were given to the public under the express condition that a proper place should be built for their reception, which has been complied with, and they are now exhibited, with the rest of the Museum, to an admiring people.

Various alterations have taken place in the regulations adopted for the convenience of those who read at the Museum, and the visitors, since 1757, when it was first opened for inspection and study; and it is but justice to say, each was intended well, though till lately it was thought that too many impediments existed in the way of visiting that which was solely intended for the use of the community: at present, however, no such complaint can be made with truth, as any decently dressed persons, presenting themselves at certain hours, are admitted free of every kind of expense. Admission even to the reading room, is attended with no other difficulty than necessarily follows the ascertaining whether the applicant is deserving of the indulgence, or likely to injure the interests of the institution; when there, every facility is afforded him by commodious tables, with pens and ink for writing, and a messenger in waiting to bring him any books he may think proper to select from the vast stores of literature submitted in this generous way to his use.

COLOSSUS,--is a statue of vast or gigantic size. The most eminent of this kind was the Colossus of Rhodes, a brazen statue of Apollo, one of the wonders of the world. It was the workmanship of Chares, a disciple of Lysippus, who spent twelve years in making it; and was at length overthrown by an earthquake, B. C. 224, after having stood about sixty-six years. Its height was a hundred and five feet; there were few people who could encompass its thumb, which is said to have been a fathom in circumference, and its fingers were larger than most statues. It was hollow, and in its cavities were large stones, employed by the artificer to counterbalance its weight, and render it steady on its pedestal.

On occasion of the damage which the city of Rhodes sustained by the above-mentioned earthquake, the inhabitants sent ambassadors to all the princes and states of Greek origin, in order to solicit assistance for repairing it; and they obtained large sums, particularly from the kings of Egypt, Macedon, Syria, Pontus, and Bithynia, which amounted to a sum five times exceeding the damages which they had suffered. But instead of setting up the Colossus again, for which purpose the greatest part of it was given, they pretended that the oracle of Delphos had forbidden it, and converted the money to other uses. Accordingly, the Colossus lay neglected on the ground for the space of eight hundred and ninety-four years, at the expiration of which period, or about the year of our Lord 653 or 672, Moawyas, the sixth caliph, or emperor of the Saracens, made himself master of Rhodes, and afterwards sold the statue, reduced to fragments, to a Jewish merchant, who loaded nine hundred camels with the metal; so that, allowing eight hundred pounds weight for each load, the brass of the Colossus, after the diminution which it had sustained by rust, and probably by theft, amounted to seven hundred and twenty thousand pounds weight. The basis that supported it was of a triangular figure: its extremities were sustained by sixty pillars of marble. There was a winding staircase to go up to the top of it; where might be discovered Syria, and the ships that went to Egypt, in a great looking-glass that was hung about the neck of the statue.

This enormous statue was not the only one that attracted attention in the city of Rhodes. Pliny reckons one hundred other colossuses, not so large, which rose majestically in its different quarters.

OBELISK,--in architecture, is a truncated, quadrangular, and slender pyramid, raised for the purpose of ornament, and frequently charged either with inscriptions or hieroglyphics. Obelisks appear to be of very great antiquity, and to have been first raised to transmit to posterity precepts of philosophy, which were cut in hieroglyphical characters: afterwards they were used to immortalize the great actions of heroes, and the memory of persons beloved and venerated for having performed eminent services to their country.

The first obelisk mentioned in history was that of Rameses, king of Egypt, in the time of the Trojan war, which was forty cubits high; Phuis, another king of Egypt, raised one of fifty-five cubits; and Ptolemy Philadelphus, another of eighty eight cubits, in memory of Arsinoë. Augustus erected one at Rome, in the Campus Martius, which served to mark the hours on an horizontal dial, drawn on the pavement. They were called by the Egyptian priests, the Fingers of the Sun, because they were made in Egypt to serve also as stiles or gnomons, to mark the hours on the ground. The Arabs still call them Pharaoh's Needles; whence the Italians call them _Aguglia_, and the French _Aiguilles_.

The famous obelisks called the Devil's Arrows, now reduced to three, the fourth having been taken down in the seventeenth century, stand about half a mile from the town of Boroughbridge, to the south-west, in three fields, separated by a lane, nearly two hundred feet asunder, on elevated ground, sloping every way. Mr. Drake urges many arguments for their Roman antiquity, and plainly proves them to be natural, and brought from Plumpton quarries, about five miles off; or from Tekly, sixteen miles off. The cross in the town, twelve feet high, is of the same kind of stone. The easternmost, or highest, is twenty-two feet and a half high, by four broad, and four and a half in girth; the second, twenty-one and a half by fifty-five and a quarter; the third, sixteen and a half by eighty-four. Stukeley's measures differ. The flutings are cut in the stone, but not through: the tallest stands alone, and leans to the south. Plot and Stukeley affirm them to be British monuments, originally hewn square. Dr. Gale supposed that they were Mercuries, which had lost their heads and inscriptions; but in a manuscript note in his Antoninus, he acknowledges that he was misinformed, and that there was no cavity to receive a bust.

On the north side of Penrith, in the church-yard, are two square obelisks, of a single stone each, eleven or twelve feet high, about twelve inches diameter, and twelve by eight at the sides; the highest about eighteen inches diameter, with something like a transverse piece to each, and mortised into a round base. They are fourteen feet asunder, and between them is a grave, which is inclosed between four semicircular stones, of the unequal lengths of five, six, four and a half, and two feet high, having on the outsides rude carving, and the tops notched. This is called the Giant's Grave, and ascribed to Sir Evan Cæsarius, who is said to have been as tall as one of the columns, and capable of stretching his arms from one to the other; to have destroyed robbers and wild boars in Englewood forest; and to have had an hermitage, called Sir Hugh's Parlour.

A little west of these is a stone called the Giant's Thumb, six feet high, fourteen inches at the base, contracted to ten, which is only a rude cross.

We shall conclude this chapter with a description of a REMARKABLE OBELISK, NEAR FORRES, IN SCOTLAND.

About a mile from Forres, on the left-hand side of the road, is a remarkable obelisk, said to be the most stately monument of the Gothic kind in Europe; and supposed to have been erected in memory of the treaty between Malcolm II. and Canute the Great, in 1008. It has been the subject of many able pens; and is thus described by Mr. Cordiner, in a letter to Mr. Pennant: "In the first division, underneath the Gothic ornaments, at the top are nine horses, with their riders, marching forth in order: in the next is a line of warriors on foot, brandishing their weapons, and appear to be shouting for the battle. The import of the attitudes in the third division is very dubious, their expression indefinite. The figures, which form a square in the middle of the column, are pretty complex, but distinct; four sergeants with their halberts, guarding a company, under which are placed several human heads, which have belonged to the dead bodies piled up at the left of the division: one appears in the character of executioner, severing the head from another body; behind him are three trumpeters sounding their trumpets, and before him two pair of combatants fighting with sword and target. A troop of horse next appear, put to flight by infantry, whose first lines have bows and arrows, and the three following swords and targets. In the lowermost division now visible, the horses seem to be seized by the victorious party, their riders beheaded, and the head of their chief hung in chains, or placed in a frame; the others being thrown together beside the dead bodies, under an arched cover. The greatest part of the other side of the obelisk, occupied by a sumptuous cross, is covered over with a uniform figure, elaborately raised, and interwoven with great mathematical exactness. Under the cross are two august personages, with some attendants, much obliterated, but evidently in an attitude of reconciliation; and if the monument was erected in memory of the peace concluded between Malcolm and Canute, upon the final retreat of the Danes, these large figures may represent the reconciled monarchs. On the edge, below the fretwork, are some rows of figures joined hand in hand, which may also imply the new degree of confidence and security that took place after the feuds were composed, which are characterized on the front of the pillar. But to whatever particular transaction it may allude, it can hardly be imagined, that in so early an age of the arts in Scotland, as it must have been raised, so elaborate a performance would have been undertaken, but in consequence of an event of the most general importance; it is therefore surprising, that no more distinct tradition of it arrived at the æra when letters were known. The height of this monument, called King Sueno's Stone, above the ground, is twenty-three feet, besides twelve or fifteen feet under ground. Its breadth is three feet ten inches, by one foot three inches in thickness."

CHAP. LVI.

CURIOSITIES RESPECTING TEMPLES, ETC.--(_Concluded._)

_Inverlochy Castle--Magdalen's Hermitage--Curiosities of
Friburg--Curiosities of Augsburg--Escurial--Florence Statues--Great
Wall of China--Floating Gardens--Curiosity at Palermo._

INVERLOCHY CASTLE,--is an ancient castle near Fort William, in Inverness-shire. It is adorned with large towers, which, by the mode of building, seem to have been the work of the English, in the time of Edward I. who laid large fines on the Scotch Barons, for the purpose of erecting castles. The largest of these is called Cummin's Tower. "The castle, (says the Rev. Thomas Ross, in his Statistical Account of Kilmanivaig) has survived the burgh, and now stands alone in ancient magnificence, after having seen the river Lochy, that formerly filled its ditches, run in another course, and has outlived all history and tradition of its own builder and age. It is a quadrangular building, with round towers at the angles, measuring thirty yards every way within the walls. The towers and ramparts are solidly built of stone and lime, nine feet thick at the bottom, and eight feet above. The towers are not entire, nor are they all equally high. The western is the highest and largest, and does not seem to have been less than fifty feet when entire; the rampart between them, from twenty-five to thirty. Ten or twelve yards without the walls the ditch begins, which surrounded the castle, from thirty to forty feet broad. The whole building covers about one thousand six hundred yards; and within the outside of the ditch are seven thousand square yards, nearly an acre and a half English. The whole building would require from five hundred to six hundred men to defend it. From the name of the western tower, it is probable this castle was occupied by the Cummins in the time of Edward I. and previous to that period by the Thanes of Lochaber; among others by the noted Bancho, predecessor of the race of Stuart. There is a tradition that this castle was once a royal residence, and that the famous league betwixt Charles the Great of France, and Achaius king of Scots, had been signed there on the part of the Scotch monarch, A. D. 790."

MAGDALEN'S HERMITAGE.--This place is situated about a league from Friburg, in Switzerland, and is described by Mr. Blainville, and also by Mr. Addison. They both say it is situated among woods and rocks, in the prettiest solitude imaginable. The hermit, (they say,) who was then alive, had worked out of the rock a pretty chapel, with an altar, sacristy, and steeple; also five chambers, a parlour, refectory, kitchen, cellar, and other conveniences. The funnel of his chimney, which pierces from his kitchen to the top of the rock, slanting all the way, is ninety feet high, and cost him so much toil, that he was a whole year about it, and often despaired of finishing his design. All this must appear the more surprising, when we consider the dimensions of the different parts of this hermitage, the chapel being sixty-three feet in length, thirty-six in breadth, and twenty-two in height. The sacristy, or vestry, is twenty-two feet square, and the height of the steeple seventy feet. The chamber between the chapel and the refectory, is above forty feet long; the refectory itself is twenty-one long; and the cellar is twenty-five feet long, and ten feet deep. But the hall or parlour is particularly admired, being twenty-eight paces in length, twelve in breadth, and twenty feet in height, with four openings for windows, much higher and wider than those of our best houses. At one end of this hall was the hermit's cabinet, with a small collection of books and other curiosities. To add to the pleasantness and convenience of this habitation, he had cut the side of the rock into a flat, and having covered it with good mould, had formed a pretty garden, planted with divers sorts of fruit-trees, herbs, and flowers; and by following the veins of water that dropped from several parts of the rock, he had made himself two or three fountains, which supplied his table, and watered his little garden.

This hermit, whose name was Jean du Pre, began this laborious undertaking at the age of thirty, and said he was twenty-five years in completing it, having had no sort of assistance from any person whatsoever, except one servant. He intended to have carried on his work still farther, but was drowned in 1708, as he was crossing a neighbouring river in a boat, with some company that came to visit him on St. Anthony's day, the patron of his chapel. His place is supplied by a priest, who subsists by the generosity of strangers that come to see the hermitage, whom he generally entertains with bread and wine, and a nosegay.

CURIOSITIES OF FRIBURG.--Friburg is a large town of Switzerland, seated on the Sanen, in a most singular and picturesque situation. Mr. Cox, in his Travels in Switzerland, thus describes it: "It stands partly in a small plain, partly on bold acclivities on a ridge of rugged rocks, half encircled by the river Sanen, and is so entirely concealed by the circumjacent hills, that the traveller scarcely catches the smallest glimpse, until he bursts upon a view of the whole town from the overhanging eminence. The fortifications, which consist of high stone walls and towers, inclose a circumference of about four miles; within which space the eye comprehends a singular mixture of houses, rocks, thickets, and meadows, varying instantly from wild to agreeable, from the bustle of a town to the solitude of the deepest retirement. The Sanen winds in such a serpentine manner, as to form in its course, within the space of two miles, five obtuse angles, between which the intervening parts of the current are parallel to each other. On all sides the descent to the town is extremely steep; in one place the streets often pass over the roofs of the houses. Many of the edifices are raised in regular gradation, like the seats of an amphitheatre; and many overhang the edge of a precipice in such a manner, that, on looking down, a weak head would be apt to turn giddy. But the most extraordinary point of view is from the Pont-neuf. On the north-west a part of the town stands boldly on the sides and the piked back of an abrupt ridge; and from east to west, a semicircle of high perpendicular rocks is seen, whose base is washed and undermined by the winding Sanen, and whose tops and sides are thinly scattered with shrubs and underwood. On the highest points of the rocks, and on the very edge of the precipice, appears, half hanging in the air, the gate called Bourguillon: a stranger standing on the bridge would compare it to Laputa, or the Flying Island, in Gulliver's Travels; and would not conceive it to be accessible, but by means of a cord and pulleys. The houses, constructed with a gray sandstone, are neat and well built; and the public edifices, particularly the cathedral, are extremely elegant."

CURIOSITIES OF AUGSBURG.--In the square, near the town-house, is the Fountain of Augustus, which is a marble bason, surrounded with iron balustrades finely wrought: at the four corners are four brass statues as large as life, two of women, and two of men; in the middle of the bason is a pedestal, at the foot which are four sphinxes, squirting water; a little above these, are four infants holding four dolphins in their arms, which pour water out of their mouths; and over these are festoons and pine-apples of brass; upon the pedestal is the statue of Augustus, as large as life. The fountain most remarkable next to this, is that of Hercules, which is an hexagon bason with several brass figures, particularly Hercules engaging the hydra.--Another curiosity is the Secret Gate, which was contrived to let in persons safely in time of war: it has so many engines and divisions with gates and keys, and apartments for guards, at some distance from each other, where passengers are examined, that it is impossible for the town to be surprised this way; the gates are bolted and unbolted, opened and shut, by unseen operators, so that it looks like enchantment.--The Water Towers are also very curious, of which there are three, seated on a branch of the Lech, which runs through the city in such a torrent, as to drive many mills, which work a number of pumps, that raise the water in large leaden pipes to the top of the towers. One of these sends water to the public fountains; and the rest, to near one thousand houses in the city.

THE ESCURIAL,--is a royal residence of Spain, fifteen miles north-west of Madrid. It is the largest and most superb structure in the kingdom, and one of the finest in Europe. The word is Arabic, meaning "a place full of rocks." It is built in a dry barren spot, surrounded with rugged mountains, insomuch that every thing which grows there is owing to art. This place was chosen, it is said, for the sake of the stone wherewith the fabric is built, which is got from a mountain just by, and is very durable; and the design of erecting it was to commemorate a victory which Philip II. obtained over the French (by the assistance of the English forces) at St. Quintin, on St. Lawrence's day, in the year 1557.

The Spanish description of this structure forms a sizeable quarto volume. Its founder expended upon it six millions of ducats. The apartments are decorated with an astonishing variety of paintings, sculpture, tapestry, ornaments of gold and silver, marble, jasper, gems, and other curious stones, surpassing all imagination. This building, besides its palace, contains a church, large and richly ornamented; a mausoleum; cloisters; a convent; a college; and a library, containing about thirty thousand volumes; besides large apartments for all kinds of artists and mechanics, noble walks, with extensive parks and gardens, beautified with fountains and costly ornaments. The fathers that live in the convent are two hundred, and they have an annual revenue of £12,000.

It was begun by Philip in 1562, five years after the battle, and completed in twenty-two years. It consists of several courts and quadrangles, which all together are disposed in the shape of a gridiron, the instrument of the martyrdom of St. Lawrence; the apartment where the king resides, forming the handle. The building is a long square, of six hundred and forty by five hundred and eighty feet, and the height up to the roof is sixty feet all round, except on the garden side, where the ground is more taken away. At each angle is a square tower, two hundred feet high. The number of windows in the west front is exactly 200; in the east front, 366. The orders are Doric and Ionic. There are three doors in the principal front. Over the grand entrance are the arms of Spain, carved in stone; and a little higher, in a niche, a statue of St. Lawrence in a deacon's habit, with a gilt gridiron in his right hand, and a book in his left. Directly over the door is a basso-relievo of two enormous gridirons, in stone.

This vast structure, however, with its narrow high towers, small windows, and steep sloping roof, exhibits a very uncouth style of architecture; at the same time that the domes, and the immense extent of its fronts, render it a wonderfully grand object from every point of view.

The church is in the centre, is large, awful, and richly ornamented. The cupola is bold and light. The high altar is composed of rich marbles, agates, and jaspers of great rarity, the produce of this kingdom. Two magnificent _catafalcos_ fill up the side arcades of this sanctuary: on one, the emperor Charles V. his wife, daughter, and two sisters, are represented in bronze, larger than life, kneeling; opposite are the effigies of Philip II. and of his three wives, of the same materials, and in the same devout attitude. Underneath, is the burial-place of the royal family, called the Pantheon: twenty-five steps lead down to this vault, over the door of which is a Latin inscription, denoting, that "this place, sacred to the remains of the Catholic kings, was intended by Charles the emperor, resolved upon by Philip II. begun by Philip III. and completed by Philip IV." The mausoleum is circular, thirty-six feet in diameter, and incrusted with fine marbles in an elegant taste. The bodies of the kings and queens lie in tombs of marble, in niches, one above the other. The plan of these sepulchres is grand, and executed with a princely magnificence; but, as a modern traveller observes, in a style rather too gay, too light, and too delicately fitted up, for the idea we are apt to form of a chapel destined for the reception of the dead. The collection of pictures dispersed about various parts of the church, sacristy, and convent, has been considered as equal, if not superior, to any gallery in Europe, except that of Dresden. Formed out of the spoils of Italy, and the wasted cabinet of that unfortunate monarch, Charles I. of England, it contains some of the most capital works of the greatest painters that have flourished since the revival of the art. In the sacristy is an altar called _La Santa Forma_: this is a kind of tabernacle of gems, marbles, woods, and other precious materials, inlaid in gilt bronze; in which, rather than in the excellence of the workmanship, or taste of the design, consists the merit of this rock of riches. Before it hangs a curtain, on which Coello has represented Charles II. and all his court, in procession, coming to place this _Forma_. This is esteemed one of the most curious collections of portraits in the world; for all the persons are drawn with the greatest strength of colour and truth of expression, and are said to be perfect resemblances, not only of the monarch and grandees, but even of the monks, servants, and guards. The statues, busts, and the medallions of the Escurial, are neither very numerous, nor remarkable for their excellence; but the library contains a most precious collection of manuscripts, many fine drawings, and other curiosities.

Notwithstanding the coldness of the exposure, the late king, for the sake of hunting, used to pass several months of the year at this palace.

FLORENCE STATUES.--In the Duke of Florence's garden at Pratoline, is the statue of Pan; sitting on a stool, with a wreathed pipe in his hand, and that of Syrinx, beckoning him to play on his pipe. Pan, putting away his stool, and standing up, plays on his pipe; this done, he looks on his mistress, as if he expected thanks from her, takes the stool again, and sits down with a sad countenance.--There is also the statue of a Laundress at her work, turning the clothes up and down with her hand and battledore, wherewith she beats them in the water.--There is the statue of Fame, loudly sounding her trumpet; an artificial toad creeping to and fro; a dragon bowing down his head to drink water, and then vomiting it up again; with divers other pieces of art, that administer wonder and light to the beholders.

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.--The principal defence of the empire against a foreign enemy is the Great Wall, which separates China from Tartary, extending more than fifteen hundred miles in length, and of such thickness, that six horsemen may easily ride abreast upon it. It is flanked with towers, two bow-shots distant from one another: Walker says, there are forty-five thousand of these towers, (a number rather incredible,) and that the wall extends two thousand miles. It is said, that a third of the able-bodied men in the empire were employed in constructing this wall. The workmen were ordered, under pain of death, to place the materials so closely, that not the least entrance might be afforded for any instrument of iron; and thus the work was constructed with such solidity, that it is still almost entire, though two thousand years have elapsed since it was constructed.

Erected to protect the empire from the incursions of the Tartar cavalry.]

This extraordinary work is carried, not only through the low lands and valleys, but over hills and mountains; the height of one of which was computed by F. Verbiest, at one thousand two hundred and thirty-six feet above the level of the spot where he stood. According to F. Martini, it begins at the gulf of Leatong, and reaches to the mountains near the city of Kin, on the Yellow River; between which places it meets with no interruption except to the north of the city of Suen, in Peche-li, where it is interrupted by a ridge of inaccessible mountains, to which it is closely united. It is likewise interrupted by the river Hoang-ho; but for others of an inferior size, arches have been constructed, through which the water passes freely. Mr. Bell informs us, that it is carried across rivers, and over the tops of the highest hills, without the least interruption, keeping nearly along that circular range of barren rocks which incloses the country; and, after running about one thousand two hundred miles, ends in impassable mountains and sandy deserts. The foundation consists of large blocks of stone laid in mortar; but all the rest is of brick. The whole is so strong and well-built, that it scarcely needs any repairs; and in the dry climate in which it stands, may remain in the same condition for many ages. When carried over steep rocks, where no horse can pass, it is about fifteen or twenty feet high; but when running through a valley, or crossing a river, it is about thirty feet high, with square towers and embrasures at equal distances. The top is flat, and paved with cut stone; and where it rises over a rock or eminence, there is an ascent made by an easy stone stair.

This wall (our author adds) was begun and completely finished in the short space of five years; and it is reported, that the labourers stood so close for many miles, that they could hand the materials from one to another. This seems the more probable, as the rugged rocks among which it is built must have prevented all use of carriages; and neither clay for making bricks, nor any kind of cement, are to be found among them.

FLOATING GARDENS.--Abbé Clavigero, in his History of Mexico, says, that when the Mexicans were brought under subjection to the Colhuan and Tapanecan nations, and confined to the miserable little islands on the Lake of Mexico, they had no land to cultivate, until necessity compelled them to form moveable fields and gardens, which floated on the waters of the lake. The method which they adopted to make these, and which they still practise, is extremely simple. They plat and twist together willows and roots of marsh plants, or other materials, which are light, but capable of supporting the earth firmly united. Upon this foundation they lay the light bushes which float on the lake; and over all, the mud and dirt which they draw up from the bottom. Their regular figure is quadrangular; their length and breadth various; but generally they are about eight perches long, and not more than three in breadth, and have less than a foot of elevation above the surface of the water. These were the first fields which the Mexicans had after the foundation of Mexico; there they first cultivated maize, pepper, and other plants. In time, as these fields became numerous from the industry of the people, they cultivated gardens of flowers and odoriferous plants, which they employed in the worship of their gods, and for the recreation of their nobles. At present they cultivate flowers, and every sort of garden herbs, upon them. Every day at sunrise, innumerable vessels loaded with various kinds of flowers and herbs, cultivated in those gardens, arrive by the canals, at the great market-place of that capital. All plants thrive in them surprisingly; the mud of the lake affords a very fertile soil, and requires no water from the clouds. In the large gardens there is commonly a little tree, and even a little hut, to shelter the cultivator, and defend him from rain or the sun. When the _chinampa_, or owner of a garden, wishes to change his situation, to remove from a disagreeable neighbour, or to come nearer to his own family, he gets into his little vessel, and by his own strength alone, if the garden is small, he tows it after him, and conducts it wherever he pleases. That part of the lake, where these floating gardens are, is a place of high recreation, where the senses receive all possible gratification.

We conclude this chapter with an account of A CURIOUS SIGHT AT PALERMO.

Among the remarkable objects in the vicinity of Palermo, pointed out to strangers, they fail not to particularize a convent of Capuchins, at a small distance from the town, the beautiful gardens of which serve as a public walk. You are shewn under the fabric a vault, divided into four great galleries, into which the light is admitted by windows cut out at the top of each extremity. In this vault are preserved, not in flesh, but in skin and bone, all the Capuchins who have died in the convent since its foundation, as well as the bodies of several persons from the city. There are here private tombs belonging to opulent families, who, even after death, disdain to be confounded with the vulgar part of mankind.

It is said, that in order to secure the preservation of the bodies, they are prepared by being gradually dried before a slow fire, so as to consume the flesh without greatly injuring the skin. When perfectly dry, they are invested with the Capuchin habit, and placed upright on tablets, disposed step above step along the sides of the vault; the head, the arms, and the feet, are naked. A preservation like this is horrid. The skin, discoloured, dry, and as if it had been tanned, nay, torn in some places, is glued close to the bone. It is easy to imagine, from the different grimaces of this numerous assemblage of fleshless figures, rendered still more frightful by a long beard on the chin, what a hideous spectacle this must exhibit; and whoever has seen a Capuchin alive, may form an idea of the singular effect produced by this repository of dead friars.

CHAP. LVII.

_Curiosities respecting the Ark of Noah--The Galley of Hiero--and the
Bridge of Xerxes._

THE ARK OF NOAH.--That such a wonderful structure as this once existed, admits not of any doubt in the Jewish, Christian, and Mahommedan world; yet its dimensions far exceed any vessel of modern date, even of the most extensive range, and appear to have been equally unrivalled in ancient times.

There are nevertheless various difficulties which have been proposed in regard to it, among those by whom its existence has been admitted. One question is, as to the time employed by Noah in building it. Interpreters generally believe, that he was an hundred and twenty years in forming this vast structure; but some allow only fifty-two years; some no more than seven or eight, and others still much less. The Mahommedans say, he had but two years allowed him for this work. Another question sometimes agitated is, what kind of wood is meant by gopher wood? Some think cedar, or box; others cypress, the pine, fir-tree, and the turpentine tree. Pelletier prefers the opinion of those who hold the ark to be made of cedar: the reasons he urges for this preference are, the incorruptibilty of that wood; the great plenty thereof in Asia; whence Herodotus and Theophrastus relate, that the kings of Egypt and Syria built whole fleets of it in lieu of deal: and the common tradition throughout the East imports, that the ark is preserved entire to this day on mount Ararat.

The dimensions of the ark, as delivered by Moses, are three hundred cubits in length, fifty in breadth, and thirty in height; which, compared with the great number of things it was to contain, seem to many to have been too scanty. And hence an argument has been drawn against the authority of the relation. Celsus long ago laughed at it, calling it the "absurd ark." This difficulty is solved by Buteo and Kircher, who, supposing the common cubit of a foot and a half, prove, geometrically, that the ark was abundantly sufficient for all the animals supposed to be lodged therein. The capacity of the ark will be doubled, if we admit, with Cumberland, &c. that the Jewish cubit was twenty-one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight inches. Smellius computes the ark to have been above half an acre in area. Cuneus, and others, have also calculated the capacity of the ark. Dr. Arbuthnot computes it to have been eighty-one thousand and sixty-two tons. Father Lamy says, that it was an hundred and ten feet longer than the church of St. Mary at Paris, and sixty-four feet narrower; to which his English translator adds, that it must have been longer than St. Paul's church in London, from west to east, broader than that church is high in the inside, and about fifty-four feet in height of our measure.

The vast assemblage of things contained in the ark, besides eight persons of Noah's family, consisted of one pair of every species of unclean animals, with provisions for them all, during the whole year. The former appears, at first view, almost infinite, but if we come to a calculation, the number of species of animals will be found much smaller than is generally imagined; out of which, in this case, are to be excepted such animals as can live in the water; and Bishop Wilkins imagines, that only seventy-two of the quadruped kind needed a place in the ark.

It appears to have been divided into three stories; and it is agreed on, as most probable, that the lowest story was destined for the beasts, the middle for the food, and the upper for the birds, with Noah and his family; each story being subdivided into different apartments, stalls, &c. Though Josephus, Philo, and other commentators, add a kind of fourth story, under all the rest; being, as it were, the hold of the vessel, to contain the ballast, and receive the filth and ordure of so many animals.

Drexelius makes three hundred apartments; father Fournier, three hundred and three; the anonymous author of the Questions of Genesis, four hundred; Buteo, Temporarius, Arias Montanus, Wilkins, Lamy, and others, suppose as many partitions as there were different sorts of animals. Pelletier only makes seventy-two, viz. thirty-six for the birds, and as many for the beasts: his reason is, that if we suppose a greater number, as three hundred and thirty-three, or four hundred, each of the eight persons in the ark must have had thirty-seven, forty-one, or fifty stalls to attend and cleanse daily, which he thinks impossible. But there is not much in this: to diminish the number of stalls, without a diminution of the animals, is vain; it being, perhaps, more difficult to take care of three hundred animals in seventy-two stalls, than in three hundred.

Buteo computes, that all the animals contained in the ark, could not be equal to five hundred horses; he even reduces the whole to the dimensions of fifty-six pair of oxen. Father Lamy enlarges it to sixty-four pair, or an hundred and twenty-eight oxen; so that, supposing one ox equal to two horses, if the ark had room for two hundred and fifty-six horses, there must have been room for all the animals. And the same author demonstrates, that one floor of it would suffice for five hundred horses, allowing nine square feet to a horse.

Of the food contained in the second story, it is observed by Beauteo, from Columella, that thirty or forty pounds of hay ordinarily suffices an ox for a day; and that a solid cubit of hay, as usually pressed down in our hay-ricks, weighs about forty pounds; so that a square cubit of hay is more than enough per day for an ox. Now it appears, that the second story contained one hundred and fifty thousand square cubits; which, divided between two hundred and six oxen, will afford to each, more hay by two-thirds than he can eat in a year.

Bishop Wilkins computes all the carnivorous animals equivalent, as to the bulk of their bodies, and their food, to twenty-seven wolves; and all the rest to two hundred and eighty beeves. For the former he allows the sustenance of eighteen hundred and twenty-five sheep; and for the latter, one hundred and nine thousand five hundred cubits of hay: all which will be easily contained in the two first stories, and much room to spare. As to the third story, nobody doubts of its being sufficient for the fowls, with Noah, his sons, and daughters.

Upon the whole, the learned Bishop remarks, that of the two, it appears much more difficult to assign a sufficient number and bulk of necessary things to answer the capacity of the ark, than to find room enough for the several species of animals already known to have been there. This he attributes to the imperfection of our lists of animals, especially those of the unknown parts of the earth; adding, that the most expert mathematician, at this day, could not assign the proportions of a vessel better accommodated to the purpose, than is here done; and hence finally concludes, that "the capacity of the ark, which has been made an objection against scripture, ought to be esteemed a confirmation of its divine authority: since, in those ruder ages, men, being less versed in arts and philosophy, were more obnoxious to vulgar prejudices than now; so that, had it been of human invention, it would have been contrived according to those wild apprehensions which arise from a confused and general view of things; as much too big, as it has been represented too little."

THE GALLEY OF HIERO.--It is to Hiero that Syracuse was indebted for those amazing machines of war, which the Syracusans made use of when besieged by the Romans. The public buildings, such as palaces, temples, arsenals, &c. which were erected in Syracuse, by his order, and under the direction of Archimedes, were the greatest ornaments of that stately metropolis. He caused also an infinite number of ships to be built, for the exportation of corn, in which the whole riches of the island consisted. We are told of a galley built by his order, which was looked upon as one of the wonders of that age. Archimedes, who was overseer of the work, spent a whole year in finishing it, Hiero daily animating the workmen with his presence. This ship had twenty benches of oars, three spacious apartments, and all the conveniences of a large palace. The floors of the middle apartment were all inlaid, and represented in various colours the stories of Homer's Iliad. The ceilings, windows, and all other parts, were finished with wonderful art, and embellished with all kinds of ornaments. In the uppermost apartment there was a spacious gymnasium, or place of exercise, and walks, with gardens, and plants of all kinds, disposed in wonderful order. Pipes, some of hardened clay, and others of lead, conveyed water all round to refresh them. But the finest of the apartments was that of Venus: the floors were inlaid with agates, and other precious stones; the inside was lined with cypress-wood; and the windows were adorned with ivory, paintings, and small statues. In this apartment there was a library, a bath with three great coppers, and a bathing vessel made of one single stone, of various colours, containing two hundred and fifty quarts. It was supplied with water from a great reservoir at the head of the ship, which held a hundred thousand quarts. The vessel was adorned on all sides with fine paintings, and had eight towers of equal dimensions, two at the head, two at the stern, and four in the middle. Round these towers were parapets, from whence stones might be discharged against the enemy's vessels when they approached. Each tower was constantly guarded by four young men completely armed, and two archers. To the side of the vessel was fastened an engine, made by Archimedes, which threw a stone of three hundred pounds weight, and an arrow eighteen feet in length, the distance of a stadium, or a hundred and twenty-five feet. Though the hold of this vessel was exceedingly deep, a single man could soon clear it of water, with a machine invented for that purpose by Archimedes.

The story of this magnificent vessel was celebrated in poetic numbers by an Athenian poet, for which he was rewarded by Hiero, who understood the value of verse, with a thousand medimni, that is, six thousand bushels of wheat, which he caused to be carried to the Pyræus, or port of Athens. Hiero afterwards made a present of this great vessel to Ptolemy, (probably Philadephus,) king of Egypt, and sent it to Alexandria. As there was at that time a great famine in Egypt, good king Hiero sent along with it several other ships of less burden, with three hundred thousand quarters of corn, ten thousand great earthen jars of salt fish, twenty thousand quintals of salt meat, and an immense quantity of other provisions.

XERXES' BRIDGE OF BOATS OVER THE HELLESPONT.--Xerxes, having resolved to attack Greece, that he might omit nothing which could contribute to the success of his undertaking, entered into an alliance with the Carthaginians, who were, at that time, the most powerful people of the west; whereby it was agreed, that, while the Persians invaded Greece, the Carthaginians should fall upon the Greek colonies in Sicily and Italy, that thereby they might be diverted from helping each other. The Carthaginians appointed Hamilcar their general, who not only raised what forces he could in Africa, but with the money sent him by Xerxes, hired a great many mercenaries in Spain, Gaul, and Italy; so that his army consisted of three hundred thousand men, besides a proportionable number of ships for transporting his forces, and the necessary provisions. Thus Xerxes, agreeable to the prophecy of Daniel, having, by his strength through his riches, stirred up all the nations of the then known world, against the realm of Greece, that is, all the west under the command of Hamilcar, and all the east under his own banners, set out from Susa, to enter upon this war, in the fifth year of his reign, after having spent three years in making vast preparations throughout all the provinces of his wide-spreading empire. From Susa he marched to Sardis, which was the place appointed for the general rendezvous of all his land forces, while his navy advanced along the coasts of Asia Minor, towards the Hellespont.

Two things Xerxes commanded to be done before he came to the sea-side; one of which was, that a passage should be cut through Mount Athos. This mountain reaches a great way into the sea, in the form of a peninsula, and is joined to the land by an isthmus twelve furlongs over. The sea in this place is very tempestuous, and the Persian fleet had formerly suffered shipwreck in doubling this promontory. To prevent the like disaster, Xerxes caused this passage to be cut through the mountain, broad enough to let two galleys, with three banks of oars each, pass in front. By this means, he severed from the continent the cities of Dion, Olophyxus, Acrothoon, Thysus, and Cleone. It is said, however, that Xerxes undertook this enterprise only out of ostentation, and to perpetuate the memory of his name, since he might, with far less trouble, have caused his fleet to be conveyed over the isthmus, as was the practice in those days.

He likewise commanded a bridge of boats to be laid over the Hellespont, for the passing of his forces from Asia into Europe. The sea which separates Sestos and Abydos, where the bridge was built, is seven furlongs over. The work was carried on with great expedition by the Phoenicians and Egyptians, who had no sooner finished it, but a violent storm arising, broke it in pieces, and dispersed or dashed against the shore the vessels of which it was composed: which when Xerxes heard, he fell into such a violent transport of anger, that he commanded three hundred stripes to be inflicted on the sea, and a pair of fetters to be thrown into it; enjoining those who were trusted with the execution of his orders, to pronounce these words:--"Thou salt and bitter element, thy master has condemned thee to this punishment, for offending him without cause; and is resolved to pass over thee, in spite of thy billows, and insolent resistance." The extravagant folly and madness of this prince did not stop here, for, to crown the whole, he commanded the heads of those who had the direction of the work to be struck off.

In their room he appointed more experienced architects to build two other bridges, one for the army, the other for the beasts of burden, and the baggage. When the whole work was completed, and the vessels which formed the bridges secure against the violence of the winds, and the current of the water, Xerxes departed from Sardis, where the army had wintered, and directed his march to Abydos. When he arrived at that city, he desired to see all his forces together; and, to that end, ascending a stately edifice of white stone, which the Abydenians had built, on purpose to receive him in a manner suitable to his greatness, he had a free prospect to the coast, seeing at one view both his fleet and land forces. The sea was covered with his ships, and the large plains of Abydos with his troops, quite down to the shore. While he was surveying the vast extent of his power, and deeming himself the most happy of mortals, his joy was suddenly turned into grief; he burst into a flood of tears: which Artabanus perceiving, asked him what had made him, in a few moments, pass from an excess of joy to so great a grief. The king replied, that, considering the shortness of human life, he could not restrain his tears; for, of all these numbers of men, not one, said he, will be alive a hundred years hence. Artabanus, who neglected no opportunity of instilling into the young prince's mind sentiments of kindness towards his people, finding him touched with a sense of tenderness and humanity, endeavoured to make him sensible of the obligation that is incumbent upon princes, to alleviate the sorrows, and sweeten the bitterness, which the lives of their subjects are liable to, since it is not in their power to prolong them. In the same conversation, Xerxes asked his uncle, whether, if he had not seen the vision which made him change his mind, he would still persist in the same opinion, and dissuade him from making war upon Greece. Artabanus sincerely owned, that he still had his fears, and was very uneasy concerning two things, the sea and the land; the sea, because there were no ports capable of receiving and sheltering such a fleet, if a storm should arise; and the land, because no country could maintain so numerous an army. The king was very sensible of the strength of his reasoning; but as it was now too late to go back, he made answer, that, in great enterprises, men ought not to enter into so nice a discussion of all the inconveniences that may attend them: that bold and daring undertakings, though subject to many evils and dangers, are preferable to inaction, however safe: that great successes are not otherwise to be obtained than by venturing boldly; and that, if his predecessors had observed such scrupulous and timorous rules of politics, the Persian empire would never have attained to so high a degree of glory and grandeur.