gold for her ascent from the barge. At the end of the hall stood two thrones, as precious as the Cerulean Throne of Koolburga, on one of which sat Aliris, the youthful King of Bucharia, and on the other was, in a few minutes, to be placed the most beautiful Princess in the world.—Immediately upon the entrance of Lalla Rookh into the saloon, the monarch descended from his throne to meet her; but, scarcely had he time to take her hand in his, when she screamed with surprise and fainted at his feet. It was Feramorz himself that stood before her!-Feramorz was, himself, the Sovereign of Bucharia, who in this disguise had accompanied his young bride from Delhi, and, having won her love as an humble minstrel, now amply deserved to enjoy it as a King. drum at the bows of their saddles, which at first was invented for the training of hawks, and to call them to the lure, and is worn in the field by all sportsmen to that end,» -FRYER'S Travels. <«< Those on whom the king has conferred the privilege must wear an ornament of jewels on the right side of the turban, surmounted by a high plume of the feathers of a kind of egret. This bird is found only in Cashmeer, and the feathers are carefully collected for the king, who bestows them on his nobles.»-ELPHINSTONE'S Account of Caubul. Page 1, line 50. Kedar Khan, etc. «Khedar Khan, the Khakan, or King of Turquestan whenever he appeared abroad was preceded by seven beyond the Gihon (at the end of the eleventh century), hundred horsemen with silver battle-axes, and was fol lowed by an equal number bearing maces of gold. He was a great patron of poetry, and it was he who used to preside at public exercises of genius, with four basins of gold and silver by him to distribute among the poets who excelled.»-RICHARDSON'S Dissertation prefixed to his Dictionary. The consternation of Fadladeen at this discovery was, for the moment, almost pitiable. But change of opinion is a resource too convenient in courts for this experienced courtier not to have learned to avail himself of it. His criticisms were all, of course, recanted instantly; he was seized with an admiration of the King's verses, as unbounded as, he begged him to believe, it was disinterested; and the following week saw him in possession of an additional place, swearing by all the saints of Islam that never had there existed so great a poet as the Monarch, Aliris, and ready to prescribe his favourite regimen of the Chabuk for every man, woman, and child that dared to think other-shape of a pine-apple, on the top of the canopy over wise. Page 1, line 52. « The kubdeh, a large golden knob, generally in the the litter or palanquin.»-SCOTT's Notes on the Bahar Page 1, line 15. Shirine. Page 1, line 56. The rose-coloured veils of the Princess's litter. the following lively description of a company of In the poem of Zohair, in the Moallakat, there is maidens seated on camels:» They are mounted in carriages covered with costly awnings, and with rose-coloured veils, the linings of which have the hue of crimson Andem-wood. When they ascend from the bosom of the vale they sit forward on the saddle-cloths, with every mark of a voluptuous gaiety. Now, when they have reached the brink of yon blue gushing rivulet, they fix the poles of their tents like the Arab with a settled mansion.»> Page 1, line 58. A young female slave sat fanning her, etc. Religion, of which Aurungzebe was a munificent protector. This hypocritical Emperor would have made a worFor the loves of this celebrated beauty with Khosrouthy associate of certain Holy Leagues. He held the and with Ferhad, see D'HERBELOT, GIBBON, Oriental Col-cloak of religion (says Dow) between his actions and the lections, etc. vulgar; and impiously thanked the Divinity for a success which he owed to his own wickedness. When he was murdering and persecuting his brothers and their families, he was building a magnificent mosque at Delhi, as an offering to God for his assistance to him in the civil wars. He acted as high-priest at the consecration of this temple; and made a practice of attending divine service there, in the humble dress of a Fakeer. But when he lifted one hand to the Divinity, he, with the other, signed warrants for the assassination of his relations.»-History of Hindostan, vol. iii. p. 335. See! also the curious letter of Aurungzebe, given in the Ori- have little golden bells fastened round their legs, neck ental Collections, vol. i. p. 320. and elbows, to the sound of which they dance before the king. The Arabian princesses wear golden rings on their fingers, to which little bells are suspended, as in the flowing tresses of their hair, that their superior rank may be known, and they themselves receive in passing the homage due to them.»-See CALMET'S Dictionary, art. Bells. Sir Thomas Roe, Ambassador from James I. to Je-goats.» hanguire. Page 2, line 51. Loves of Wamak and Ezra. « The romance Wemakweazra, written in Persian verse, which contains the loves of Wamak and Ezra, two celebrated lovers, who lived before the time of Mahomet.»-Notes on the Oriental Tales. Page 2, line 51. Of the fair-haired Zal, and his mistress, Rodahver. Their amour is recounted in the Shah-Nameh of Ferdousi; and there is much beauty in the passage which describes the slaves of Rodahver, sitting on the bank of the river and throwing flowers into the stream, in order to draw the attention of the young hero, who is encamped on the opposite side.-See CHAMPION'S Translation. Page 2, line 53. The combat of Rustam with the terrible White Demon. Rustam is the Hercules of the Persians. For the particulars of his victory over the Sepeed Deeve, or White Demon, see Oriental Collections, vol. ii. p. 45.Near the city of Shirauz is an immense quadrangular monument in commemoration of this combat, called the Kelat-i-deev Sepeed, or Castle of the White Giant, which Father Angelo, in his Gazophylacium Persicum, p. 127, declares to have been the most memorable monument of antiquity which he had seen in Persia.-See OUSELEY'S Persian Miscellanies. Page 2, line 59. Their golden anklets. « The women of the Idol, or dancing girls of the Pagoda, have little golden bells fastened to their feet, the soft, harmonious tinkling of which vibrates in unison with the exquisite melody of their voices.»-MauRICE'S Indian Antiquities. Page 2, line 112. The veiled Prophet of Khorassan. For the real history of this impostor, whose original name was Hakem ben Haschem, and who was called Mokanna from the veil of silver gauze (or, as others say, golden) which he always wore, see D'HERBELOT. Page 2, line 116. Flowrets and fruits blush over every stream. « The fruits of Meru are finer than those of any other place: and one cannot see in any other city such palaces, with groves, and streams, and gardens.»-EBN HAUKAL'S Geography. Page 3, line 4. For, far less luminous, his votaries said, « Ses disciples assuraient qu'il se couvrait le visage pour ne pas éblouir ceux qui l'approchaient par l'eclat de son visage comme Moyse.»-D HERBELOT. Page 3, line 15. In hatred to the Caliph's hue of night. all faut remarquer ici, touchant les habits blancs des disciples de Hakem, que la couleur des habits, des coiffures et des étendards des Khalifes Abassides étant la noire, ce chef de rebelles ne pouvait pas en choisir une qui lui fut plus opposée.»-D'HERBELOT. Page 3, line 18. Javelins of the light Kathaian reed. Our dark javelins, exquisitely wrought of Kathaian reeds, slender and delicate.»-Poem of Amru. Page 3, line 20. Fill'd with the stems that bloom on Iran's rivers. The Persians call this plaut Gaz. The celebrated The Arabian courtesans, like the Indian women, shaft of Isfendiar, one of their ancient heroes, was Waved, like the wings of the white birds that fan This wonderful throne was called the Star of the Genii. For a full description of it, see the Fragment, translated by CAPTAIN FRANKLIN, from a Persian MS. entitled «The History of Jerusalem :» Oriental Collections, vol. i. p. 335.-When Solomon travelled, the eastern writers say, «he had a carpet of green silk on which his throne was placed, being of a prodigious length and breadth, and sufficient for all his forces to stand upon, the men placing themselves on his right hand and the spirits on his left; and that, when all were in order, the wind, at his command, took up the carpet, and transported it, with all that were upon it, wherever he pleased; the army of birds at the same time flying over their heads, and forming a kind of canopy to shade them from the sun.»-SALE'S Koran vol. ii. p. 214. note. Page 4, line 16. And, thence descending, flow'd Through many a prophet's breast. This is according to D'Herbelot's account of the doctrines of Mokanna : «Sa doctrine était que Dieu avait pris une forme et figure humaine depuis qu'il eut commande aux Anges d'adorer Adam, le premier des hommes. Qu'après la mort d'Adam, Dieu était apparu sous la figure de plusieurs Prophètes et autres grands hommes qu'il avait choisis, jusqu'à ce qu'il prit celle d'Abu Moslem, Prince de Khorassan, lequel professait l'erreur de la Tenassukhial ou Métempsychose; et qu'après la mort de ce Prince, la Divinité etait passée, et descendue en sa personne.» Page 7, line 19. Such Gods as he Whom India serves, the monkey Deity. Apes are in many parts of India highly venerated, Page 7, line 21. Proud things of clay, To whom if Lucifer, as grandams say, Refused, though at the forfeit of Heaven's light, To bend in worship, Lucifer was right. This resolution of Eblis not to acknowledge the new creature, man, was, according to Mahometan tradition, thus adopted: «The earth (which God had selected for the materials of his work) was carried into Arabia, to a place between Mecca and Tayef, where, being first kneaded by the angels, it was afterwards fashioned by God himself into a human form, and left to dry for the space of forty days, or, as others say, as many years; the angels in the mean time, often visiting it, and Eblis (then one of the angels nearest to God's presence, afterwards the devil) among the rest; but he, not contented with looking at it, kicked it with his foot till it rung, and knowing God desigued that creature to be his superior, took a secret resolution never to acknowledge him as such.» SALE on the Koran. Some artists of Yamtcheou having been sent on previously. The Feast of Lanterns is celebrated at Yamtcheou with more magnificence than any where else; and the did, that an Emperor once, not daring openly to leave report goes, that the illuminations there are so splenhis court to go thither, committed himself, with the queen and several princesses of his family, into the hands of a magician, who promised to transport them thither in a trice. He made them in the night to ascend magnificent thrones that were borne up by swans, which in a moment arrived at Yamtcheou. The Em peror saw at his leisure all the solemnity, being carried upon a cloud that hovered over the city, and descended by degrees; and came back again with the same speed and equipage, nobody at court perceiving his absence,» -The present State of China, p. 156. Page 9, line 63. Artificial sceneries of bamboo-work. See a description of the nuptials of Vizier Alee in the Asiatic Annual Register of 1804. Page 9, line 81. The origin of these fantastic Chinese illuminations. « The vulgar ascribe it to an accident that happened in the family of a famous mandarin, whose daughter, walking one evening upon the shore of a lake, fell in and was drowned; this afflicted father, with his family, ran thither, and, the better to find her, he caused a great company of lanterns to be lighted. All the inhabitants of the place thronged after him with torches. The year ensuing they made fires upon the shores the same day; they continued the ceremony every year, every one lighted his lantern, and by degrees it commenced into a custom.»-Present State of China. Page to, line 5. The Kohol's jetty dye. None of these ladies,» says Shaw, « take themselves to be completely dressed, till they have tinged the hair and edges of their eye-lids with the powder of lead-ore. Now, as this operation is performed by dipping first into the powder a small wooden bodkin of the thickness of a quill, and then drawing it afterwards through the eye-lids over the ball of the eye, we shall have a lively image of what the prophet (Jer. iv. 30.) may be supposed to mean by rending the eyes with painting. This practice is, no doubt, of great antiquity; for, besides the instance already taken notice of, we find that where Jezebel is said (2 Kings, ix. 3o.) to have painted her face, the original words are, she adjusted her eyes with the powder of lead ore.»-SHAW's Travels. With her from Saba's bowers, in whose bright eyes « In the palace which Solomon ordered to be built against the arrival of the Queen of Saba, the floor or pavement was of transparent glass, laid over running water in which fish were swimming.» This led the Queen into a very natural mistake, which the Koran has not thought beneath its dignity to commemorate. It was said unto her, Enter the palace. And when she saw it she imagined it to be a great water; and she discovered her legs, by lifting up her robe to pass through it. Whereupon Solomon said to her, Verily, this is the place evenly floored with glass.»-Chap. 27. Page 13, line 23. Zuleika. «Such was the name of Potiphar's wife, according to the sura, or chapter of the Alcoran, which contains the history of Joseph, and which for elegance of style surpasses every other of the Prophet's books; some Arabian writers also call her Rail. The passion which this frail beauty of antiquity conceived for her young Hebrew slave has given rise to a much-esteemed poem in the Persian language, entitled Yusef vau Zelikha, by Noureddin Jami; the manuscript copy of which, in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, is supposed to be the finest in the whole world.»-Note upon Norr's Translation of Hafez. Page 15, line 50. The apples of Istkabar. « In the territory of Istkahar there is a kind of apple, half of which is sweet and half sour.-EBN HAUKAL. Page 15, line 54. They saw a young Hindoo girl upon the bank. For an account of this ceremony, see GRANDPRÉ'S Voyage in the Indian Ocean. Page 15, line 67. The Oton-tala, or Sea of Stars. «The place where the Whangho, a river of Tibet, rises, and where there are more than a hundred springs, which sparkle like stars; whence it is called Hotunnor, « Whose wanton eyes resemble blue water-lilies, agi- that is, the Sea of Stars.»-Description of Tibet in tated by the breeze.»-JAYADEVA. PINKERTON. Page 15, line 96. This City of War, which, in a few short hours, Hath sprung up here. <<The Lescar, or Imperial Camp, is divided, like a regular town, into squares, alleys, and streets, and from a rising ground furnishes one of the most agreeable prospects in the world. Starting up in a few hours in an uninhabited plain, it raises the idea of a city built by enchantment. Even those who leave their houses in cities to follow the prince in his progress are frequently so charmed with the Lescar, when situated in a beautiful and convenient place, that they cannot prevail with themselves to remove. To prevent this inconvenience to the court, the Emperor, after sufficient time is allowed to the tradesmen to follow, orders them to be burnt out of their tents.»-Dow's Hindostan. Colonel Wilks gives a lively picture of an Eastern encampment.—«<< His camp, like that of most Indian armies, exhibited a motley collection of covers from the scorching sun and dews of the night, variegated according to the taste or means of each individual, by extensive inclosures of coloured calico surrounding superb suites of tents; by ragged cloths or blankets stretched over sticks or branches; palm-leaves hastily spread over similar supports; handsome tents and splendid canopies; horses, oxen, elephants, and camels; all intermixed without any exterior mark of order or design, except the flags of the chiefs, which usually mark the centres of a congeries of these masses; the only regular part of the encampment being the streets of shops, each of which is constructed nearly in the manner of a booth at an English fair.»-Historical Sketches of the South of India. Page 15, line 106. And camels, tufted o'er with Yemen's shells. Page 19, line 81. Engines of bavoc in, unknown before. That they knew the secret of the Greek fire among the Mussulmans early in the eleventh century appears from Dow's Account of Mamood I. « When he arrived at Moultan, finding that the country of the Jits was defended by great rivers, he ordered fifteen hundred boats to be built, each of which he armed with « A superb camel, ornamented with strings and tufts six iron spikes, projecting from their prows and sides, of small shells.»>-ALI BEY. Page 15, line 114. The tinkling throngs Of laden camels, and their drivers' songs. Some of the camels have bells about their necks, and some about their legs, like those which our carriers put about their fore-horses' necks, which, together with the servants (who belong to the camels, and travel on foot), singing all night, make a pleasant noise, and the journey passes away delightfully.»-PITT's Account of the Mahometans. «The camel-driver follows the camels singing, and sometimes playing upon his pipe; the louder he sings and pipes, the faster the camels go. Nay, they will stand still when he gives over his music.»-TAVERNIER. Page 16, line 102. Hot as that crimson haze By which the prostrate caravan is awed. Savary says of the south wind, which blows in Egypt from February to May, «Sometimes it appears only in the shape of an impetuous whirlwind, which passes rapidly, and is fatal to the traveller surprised in the middle of the deserts. Torrents of burning sand roll before it, the firmament is enveloped in a thick veil, and the sun appears of the colour of blood. Sometimes whole caravans are buried in it.» to prevent their being boarded by the enemy, who were very expert in that kind of war. When he had launched this fleet, he ordered twenty archers into each boat, and five others with fire-balls, to burn the craft of the Jits, and naptha to set the whole river on fire.» The agnee aster, too, in Indian poems, the Instrument of Fire, whose flame cannot be extinguished, is supposed to signify the Greek Fire.-See WILKS's South of India, vol. i. p. 471.--And in the curious Javan poem, the Brata Yudha, given by Mr RAFFLES in his History of Java, we find, «He aimed at the heart of Soéta with the sharp-pointed Weapon of Fire.» The mention of gunpowder as in use among the Arabians, long before its supposed discovery in Europe, is introduced by Ebn Fadhl, the Egyptian geographer, who lived in the thirteenth century. Bodies," he says. «in the form of scorpions, bound round and filled with nitrous powder, glide along, making a gentle noise: then, exploding, they lighten, as it were, and barn. But there are others which, cast into the air, stretch along like a cloud, roaring horribly, as thunder roars, and on all sides vomiting out flames, burst, burn, an reduce to cinders, whatever comes in their way. The historian Ben Abdalla, in speaking of the sieges of Abulualid in the year of the Hegira 712, says, « A fiery globe, by means of combustible matter, with a mighty noise suddenly emitted, strikes with the force of lightning, and shakes the citadel.»-See the extracts |