give them at a distance a very classical appearance, but if you approach the Naiads, you find them pale, dingy, and emaciated. This opportunity, however, very seldom occurs: for whenever a turn in the river or any accidental circumstance brings you suddenly upon them, they muffle up their faces in their dress, and retreat as hastily as possible. p. 138.

The beautiful appearance of nature in the Delta, at the season when Mr. Fuller saw it, was strangely opposed by the squalid appearance of the inhabitants, whom he describes as living in cottages built entirely of mud, and being, men, women, and children, universally in rags. In fact, the slaves throughout the Turkish dominions, are infinitely better off than the peasantry, and there can be no question but that it would be a heavy visitation on the lower orders of that empire, if the principles of a Wilberforce should ever prevail there. However beautiful the extinction of slavery would look in theory, the Turkish people would soon acknowledge that in practice it was an evil. However, let it be understood that the sort of slavery which exists in Turkey, is of a very different nature from that which in this country we are wont with so much justice to execrate, and that the continuance of it there is only desirable, because of this great difference in its favour. The Turkish slaves are domestic servants, and are treated very often with that kindness which families are accustomed to bestow on old dependents. Besides, in most provinces of that empire, the Mahomedans only are allowed to retain slaves. Egypt is one of the exceptions,―here all classes purchase and keep slaves, and as the Khans, or slave markets, are necessarily open to all persons indiscriminately, our author had an opportunity of inspecting that at Cairo.

'We visited it one morning, and its appearance did not certainly confirm those ideas of misery and unhappiness which we are in the habit of attaching to such a scene. It was now the season when fresh caravans were daily expected; but few slaves therefore remained unsold, and of the numerous cells which open into the courts and corridors of the khan, not more than five or six were occupied. To one of these our attention was attracted by some loud shouts of laughter; and on approaching we found there about half a dozen girls all black as ink, the eldest probably about twelve or thirteen years old, which in these countries is the age of womanhood. They all seemed in the height of merriment; and when we presented ourselves at the door of their apartment, one of the eldest, who had a lively smiling face and the whitest teeth imaginable, advanced towards us, arranging her very scanty drapery with the utmost coquetry, so as to show off to the best advantage a very pretty little figure. She offered us her hand, desired the interpreter to say how happy she should be to belong to either of us, and seemed much disappointed when she heard that we were not purchasers, and that curiosity alone was the motive of our visit. Her price we were told was about twenty-five pounds. In another cell we were shown two Abyssinian girls, who being of a lighter colour were considered of much greater value; but they were awkward squat figures, and their countenances were sulky and inanimate, without any of the lively expression of their black companions. It is observed, indeed, that of all

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the slaves brought to Cairo, the Abyssinians alone seem to be melancholy, and to regret their native country; they have a great sensibility of disposition, and almost all of them sooner or later fall victims to the maladie du pays.'-pp. 153, 154.

Mr. Fuller adds nothing of interest respecting the pyramids, which of course he visited, and continuing his voyage up the Nile, he had an opportunity, ou the 10th of February, of witnessing the true Egyptian sirocco.

The air became dark and murky, as if from the effect of an eclipse, or rather perhaps of a thick London fog. The atmosphere was loaded with clouds of sand of so fine and penetrating a quality, that almost in an instant, our tables, our books, and our clothes, were covered with it; while the wind, hot as the breath of a furnace, produced a parched and clammy feeling on the skin, and a feverishness throughout the whole frame, which can hardly be conceived by those who have not felt it. The slightest clothing seemed a burden, and the only refreshment we could find was from continual bathing in the river.'-p. 165.

Our author was induced to assume the Oriental dress at Antinoe. It is a question with him, how far this costume may be necessary in the countries of the Levant. We should think, that anywhere singularity of dress must be a source of much embarrassment-and in the case of a stranger amongst a prejudiced and ignorant people, we should imagine a similitude in this particular to be absolutely indispensible. The objections of Mr. Fuller to the Oriental dress is, that it is cumbersome to the wearer, and above all, that it so far facilitates the indulgence of an indolent disposition, as to afford the strongest temptations to idleness. These are matters which may properly be considered by all travellers. We cannot think of following our author through his general descriptions of the Egyptian temples and other architectural remains, particularly after his own candid testimony to the accuracy of Mr. Hamilton's elaborate work. Mr. Fuller's account is, however, not without its merits, and may be perused with advantage, even by those who are best acquainted with the production of the former.

The part of Egypt which Mr. Fuller now visited, afforded the best opportunity, perhaps, in existence for investigating a principle relating to man, that is as important as it is curious. Volney, in his travels in Egypt and Syria, made an assertion about the Mamlouks, which, we confess, not a little astounded us, and which, we believe, is treated pretty generally as an exaggeration. He says, that for 550 years, during which there had been Mamlouks in Egypt, not one of them left subsisting issue; but all the children had died off in the first or second descent, and the number of Mamlouks was kept up only by supplies from Georgia. The writer accounts for this singular fact, by saying that the Mamlouks always disdained to marry native Egyptians-and that the Mamlouk race belonging, as it naturally did to a Caucasian clime, could not by the order of nature, subsist

in an Egyptian one. What is more wonderful still, is, that the same law holds good with respect to animals and plants-and it has been proved to demonstration that vegetables, natives of Europe, though they thrive admirably well for the present in an Egyptian soil, are unable to continue their species there. Dr. Elliston, one of our best existing physiologists, informs us, on unimpeachable authority, of the truth of all that Volney here stated. The Doctor quotes the name of a learned traveller, not known, we believe, to the public, for the fact that melon and cauliflower seeds are obliged to be frequently renewed in Egypt; and the seeds of the Brussels sprouts, he says, (though the sprouts themselves grow to great perfection) when saved there, show a wonderful degeneracy, even in the second generation. We are sure that if Mr. Fuller had had his attention turned to this subject, he would by his intelligence and discernment have been able to collect some important information connected with it. We much regret that points of this description are not more considered by our travellers; we do not send able and acute persons every day to such places as Egypt; and when individuals of such a character venture there, we naturally feel disappointed that an occasion so auspicious for the extension of useful knowledge, should have elapsed without its fruit. Mr. Fuller, however, mentions one fact that may be considered as corroborating the statement of Volney. When the French evacuated Egypt, they left behind about 800 individuals. Some of these joined the Mamlouks, and shared the fate of that race; but of those who became cultivators, the number, he says, was very much reduced by plague and casualties. The fact is, that the French, who, no doubt were compelled to a great extent to intermarry amongst themselves, fell off as the Mamlouks did before: and even where there are cases of French men having_married native women, still according to the same law, no traces of European origin could be found in the third generation from such a marriage. So that the thinning of the French colonists, attributed by Mr. Fuller to the plague and casualties, may be easily accounted for on the principle mentioned by Volney.

In Nubia, Mr. Fuller found matter for much agreeable reflection in the condition of the people, and for some very happy descriptions in the natural scenery, and the architectural treasures, by which it is ornamented. On his return to Cairo, he found the inhabitants busily occupied in making arrangements to exclude that dreadful visitant the plague, which was threatening them. Of the contagious nature of this disease, Mr. Fuller, with most other intelligent travellers, has no doubt-notwithstanding the facts that seem to oppose such a belief, namely, that the plague never rages beyond certain latitudes, or, perhaps, more correctly, beyond certain distances from the sea-and that its re-appearance in Cairo is regularly periodical. A susceptibility to its attacks, our author says, depends, amongst other causes, on the mode of life which a person exposed to it may have adopted. The Frank, from his more

generous diet, is least liable to it; whilst the Mussulman, using no strong liquors, is more so.' The same observation was found applicable to the contagious fever in Ireland, for those of the population who had been addicted to the use of ardent spirits, generally escaped the disease, or struggled against it with more success. During Mr. Fuller's stay in Palestine, he has frequent occasion to speak of the friars of the Terra Santa, in whose care the Holy Sepulchre still remains. Many countries of Europe contributed to their support; but the largest donations Mr. Fuller calculated came from South America, particularly Brazil. The friars receive from Spain and Portugal an annual supply of jewels and altar costume, together with some salt fish for the days of abstinence. Though their principal seat is Jerusalem, they are also spread through Palestine and Syria, whither they are sent to perform missionary duties. The bigotry of the natives has been so obstinate as to render all attempts at introducing Christianity amongst them hopeless; and the friars, so far as missionary objects are concerned, enjoy a complete sinecure. From Mr. Fuller's account, however, it would appear that an example of civilization is held out by the order to the surrounding population, which cannot fail of being beneficial.

• But whatever may be the spiritual remissness or local unpopularity of the order, a traveller, and particularly one who travels alone, cannot but view it with feelings of respect and gratitude; and when, after days passed among barbarous tribes, whose language is unintelligible to him; after being lodged on the bare ground or in some miserable hovel, and fed with the coarsest fare, he at length arrives at a convent, and finds a cordial reception, a clean and comfortable cell, a well-supplied refectory, and some jolly friars for his companions, he will be disposed to think that superstition would have done little harm in the world, had all her institutions been like those in the Holy Land.'-p. 275.

At Nazareth, Mr. Fuller had an opportunity of witnessing the ceremony of a Galilean wedding, which he describes in the following lively manner :—

''Two marriages were to be celebrated at the same time; and the bridegrooms with their friends had been dining in a shady field about half a mile from the village. During the afternoon they amused themselves with firing at a mark, and other sports; and as they were returning home in the evening, I accidentally fell in with the procession. The two bridegrooms rode side by side, turning their eyes neither to the right nor to the left, and retaining a gravity of countenance which did not admit a muscle of their faces to be moved. They were equipped with the best clothes and arms that they either possessed or could collect among their friends. Their turbans were profusely ornamented with flowers, and each of them carried a large nosegay in one hand, while with the other he held his pipe, which he seemed to puff as it were mechanically, at regular intervals. Their whole appearance, indeed, was that of two automatons placed on horseback. The horses were each led by two men, and moved on at the

slowest possible pace. The solemn gravity of the principal actors in this pageant was strongly contrasted with the wild and almost frantic demeanour of their companions, who were all on foot. At every fifty yards these latter stopped and formed a circle round the bridegrooms. One of them held in his hand a large figure dressed in woman's clothes, which he kept moving up and down, and dancing backwards and forwards, the rest clapping their hands and stamping violently with their feet, till they seemed almost overcome with the exertion. Loud shouts were heard from every side, and guns were fired off at intervals. At about half way to the village the women were seated in a group, and as soon as the procession came up they rose and joined it; some of them running by the side of the bridegrooms, whose horses now quickened their pace; others falling into the rear, and all joining in that peculiar cry which the women of the East are accustomed to use on occasions of rejoicing, and which can be compared to nothing more exactly than to the frequent rapid pronunciation of the words lillah, lillah, lillah, in the shrillest tone imaginable. When I first heard it, it seemed wild and extraordinary, and more expressive of sorrow than of joy; but finding it always associated with the latter feeling, this impression gradually wore away, and at length I began to think it agreeable. The procession conducts the bridegroom to his own house; after which he escapes to that of the bride, leaving his companions to continue their revelry, which is generally kept up in the same way,-dancing, shouting, clapping of hands, and firing of guns till midnight. The company is composed indiscriminately of Christians and Mahometans, who live together in the greatest harmony. The Christians of Nazareth indeed, except for a short interval during the reign of the tyrant Jezzar, have always enjoyed great freedom, owing in part to the protection which they receive from the Latin friars.'-pp. 313-315.

We have endeavoured a few pages back to sketch the character of the elder class of English travellers abroad. Mr. Fuller supplies us with a portrait, which we think bears a very striking analogy to our description; and we are fearful that the Rev. Mr. S., of whom he gives the following account, is only one of a great number of our countrymen who, in times past, went to distant places under similar erroneous impressions. It was at the convent of the Terra Santa, at Tripoli di Siria, that he met with this singular character.

'At the convent of the Terra Santa, where I lodged, I met with one of those eccentric characters, which perhaps our own country alone can send forth. The Rev. Mr. S. was an English clergyman, nearly seventy years of age, who had taken the pains to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to obtain the cross of the order of the Holy Sepulchre, which is in the gift of the Superior of the Terra Santa. On his arrival, however, he found that this order was exclusively for Catholics, having never been conferred on a Protestant, except in the solitary instance of Sir Sidney Smith, who had rendered signal service to the guardians of the Holy Sepulchre. Mr. S. was extremely disappointed, and thought himself much aggrieved that the rule was not relaxed in his favour also; and in order to dissipate his chagrin, he made an extensive tour in Syria; in the course of which, being little skilled in any language but his own, and moreover of an ex