ed you to this trip. If anything happens there's nobody much to miss me; but you have a young wife and baby.' "Well, sir, you may suppose I had been thinking about Esther and the young one too; but before I could say a word another gun was fired from the vessel, which we now and then caught sight of when our boat was on the top of a wave. "I don't know how long a time it was; but we neared the wreck at last, and they hove us a line to make fast by. The rocks were well under water then, for the tide was in, and our little craft floated alongside of the vessel to leeward; and somehow I managed to board her, leaving my partner to take what care he could of the boat. It was a bad move that, sir, as it turned out; for the men aboard were all beside themselves, some with drink, and some with fear. "The wreck was a middling-sized brig, a foreigner-that was plain enough, and it was plain enough, too, that it was all over with her. It was wonderful to me how she had lived so long, for she was stove in at the bow, and her stern hung over deep water; but she was settling down fast, and the crew were crowded together in the fore part, except one or two who were hanging on to the shrouds. "There was not much light; but there was enough to show that no time was to be lost, and the brig's crew saw that too. It was no use; I shouted and shouted, but one after another they sprang over the side of the wreck, some into the boat and some into the sea. It was not five minutes, sir, before the deck was cleared. How many there had been aboard I couldn't tell, nor how many missed a footing in the boat, and were washed away without giving a chance of saving them; but when I looked down, there was our little bark, sunk almost down to the gun'l, and the madmen crowding and tumbling one upon another. I saw at once how it would be, and I hailed them as loud as I could, and begged some of them to come back again. You see, sir, there would have been some hope then. The wreck might have held together for a while, and in two trips it would have been cleared. But whether the men did not hear me, or didn't heed, I can't say; or perhaps they did not understand me, for, as I said, I could see they were foreigners: let that be as it may, there was not one to listen to reason. When I found that, sir, I called to my poor partner to quit the boat; for, bad as it was, there was more hope of life by keeping to the wreck. I always thought he did make a move, sir, towards the brig; but it was too late; there came just then a swell, the line parted, the boat floated off, and I was alone on the wreck. "In another minute, sir, I lost sight of the boat as it floated away heavily. I had not any hope for it I knew what it could do; but in such a sea as that, and loaded as it was, I knew it could not hold on. And I was right, sir: it wasn't another minute before I heard such shrieks as I hope I shall never hear again. The wind and the dashing of the waves against the wreck was loud and bad enough; but above all rose that shriek. I stopped my ears, sir: I couldn't bear it. "Till then, I had not had much time to think, all had passed so rapidly; but now, what was I to do? There I was, sir, alone, with the ship's timbers groaning like a thing in agony, and parting beneath me. No help near: I knew 'twas no use to look for it. It was getting darker, too, every minute: for before, there had been a moon, though it was behind the clouds; but it was going down; and all round were the waves beating and dashing against the poor wreck, and threatening every moment to sweep it off the hold it had somehow got upon the rocks. What was I to do, sir?" "I trust you remembered who it is," replied the landsman-whose fishing tackle was for the time unheeded-" who it is that holds the waters in the hollow of his hand.'" "I prayed that night and that hour, sir," resumed the boatman, " as I had never prayed before. 'I besought the Lord,' sir," as David says, 'and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.' But it was a hard struggle for life, sir, that I had." "How did you escape ?" inquired the listener. 66 It was a mercy," resumed the seaman, that the wind began to sink a little; but the rain poured down heavily, and the waves rolled in great heavy swells. Anyhow, I did not expect to see the morning, for it seemed certain that at the falling of the tide the wreck would lurch over and sink like a stone. "Just that thing happened, and sooner than I expected. I had only time to jump overboard when I felt her going; and by God's mercy, sir, I got fast hold of a point of the rock that was then above water. I clung to it for dear life; how I managed I can't think to this day, for my senses were almost gone for the time; and it seemed as if all the waves of the sea were pulling at me to get me under. By the time I came to, I found myself on my knees, with the rock under me, and the waves every moment dashing over my head. Well, sir, I managed to raise myself on my feet, and turned round to look for the wreck; but she was gone. Through the rest of that night I was on the rock, just able to hold on; but I believed that when the tide came in again it would be all over with me. I cannot tell you what my thoughts were, sir: I seemed like in a dream. Well, morning came at last, and then the tide was rising again. This is the last morning I shall ever see;' I remember thinking that, and thinking, too, of poor Esther. It was a strange notion; but my mind would keep running upon how it would be when my body was picked up, may be, and carried ashore-who would break the news to Esther, and what would be said; and then I fancied I saw her in widow's weeds, and the little one all in black; and then I could not help laughing to myself at my queer fancies, as if it would matter to me how these things went. How long I might have gone on in this way I can't tell, if I had not soon had something else to think about. "It was a black speck on the water, sirno bigger than a hat it looked. I watched it, and watched it, and it came nearer and nearer. It was our boat, sir, bottom upwards. "I was not much of a swimmer, but thinks I there's some hope now; and I managed to get off my shoes and heavy jacket, and struck out to the poor old boat. It was about time I left the rock; in another half hour I should have been washed away. 66 I reached the boat, sir, pretty nearly exhausted, and clung to it till I had got breath and strength to raise myself on to its hull, which I did at last." "And then you felt yourself safe?" Ay, for a little while I fancied something of the sort but you may give a guess, perhaps, that I should have felt a trifle safer if I had been ashore-" leastways, if I had been as ready to die as he was. "All that day, sir, I was on the water, holding on to the old boat. It was a dark, gloomy day; but that was a mercy: if the sun had been hot upon me, I should have gone mad, I think; as it was, I was only chilled to the bones, while the showers that now and then fell, if they soaked me to the skin, they helped me to quench my thirst. "About noon that day, I looked round and saw a sail, maybe a couple of miles to windward. I need not say how I watched it, and what I would have given to have been within hail. It came nearer, and I shouted— nearer still, and I shouted again. I thought they heard me, for in a minute or two the ship's course was altered a point or so. I kept hailing, sir, till my voice was gone; and then I saw the vessel-a schooner-sailing off, when there wasn't, maybe, half a mile between us. "That afternoon, another sail, and then another passed me, but too far off for me to make myself heard, while I knew I was being drifted every minute farther out to sea. "It was getting towards dusk, and I was nearly perished with cold and hunger. A sort of feeling came over me, sir, that it was no use to hold on any longer. It was better to die at once than to die by inches in that way. I think my senses wandered, or perhaps I swooned; I can't say; but I know I had hold of the keel with both hands, and my head was across my arms, when, all at once, the flapping of a sail roused me, and then Í heard a shout, A-hoy there-boat a-hoy!' "I never heard such a blessed sound as that in my whole life, sir, before or sincenever. You may think how it put life into me. In five minutes more I was safe on board the vessel, that had pretty near been running me down. She was a coal brig. "Well, sir, three days afterwards I was landed, fifty miles more from home. You may guess that I was not longer on the road than I could help. It was towards nightfall that I stepped up softly to the cottage door. A light was burning, and the curtains were not drawn. I looked in, sir. There was poor Esther, pale and thin with grief and watching, nursing our little one and hushing it, to sleep. Beside her was a neighbor busy at needlework, and on the table was a heap of black stuff and crape. I did not wait to see any more; the next minute poor Esther was in my arms. A happy night that was "Where you were being drifted, I hope ?" "I hoped so, sir, and kept up a good heart for awhile; but by-and-by the tide turned again, and I knew I was going farther and farther out to sea; and there was not a sail within sight. You may not think it, sir, but I felt as if could cry like a child. I was faint with fatigue, and dried up with thirst, and I almost envied my poor partner his fatc for us, sir." From Fraser's Magazine. A VISIT TO THE YEZIDIS, OR DEVIL-WORSHIPPERS OF ARMENIA. "In that part there dwell a people of a very strange and singular character; for it is their principle to adhere to no certain religion, but, chameleon-like, they put on the color of religion, whatever it be, which is reflected upon them from the persons with whom they happen to converse. With Christians, they profess themselves Christians; with Turks, they are good Mussulmans; with Jews, they pass for Jews; being such Proteuses in religion, that nobody was ever able to discover what shape or standard their consciences are really of."-HENRY Maundrell, a. d. 1697. Ir was a great disappointment to me on first reaching the banks of the Tigris at Jezirah, in 185-, to find that the great annual festival of the Yezidis was to take place on the next day. It thus became evident that by no exertion could I hope to reach the sacred valley of Sheikh Adi in time to witness the mysterious rites which, until vindicated by the testimony of modern travellers, had stamped this strange people with a character of systematic profligacy, and had aided to give rise to the report that the object of their adoration was no other than the arch-enemy of mankind himself. But although I was thus unable to seek initiation into the ceremonies peculiar to the feast-day of their prophet, I was determined not to quit the country without at least having made a pilgrimage to the shrine of their faith, and in some degree satisfied my curiosity with regard to them. During my stay in Mosul I became acquainted with the chief or prince of the Yezidis, Hussein Beg; and I was fortunate enough to return one day from Nimroud in time to meet Sheikh Nasr, the spiritual head of the sect, on his visit to the town. They both promised me the most unbounded hospitality if I should enter their territories, and I was glad to avail myself of so good an opportunity of extending my travels to the lower chains of the Armenian mountains. We accordingly one day broke up our encampment, which had lain beneath the great rock-sculptures bewn by Sennacherib upon the cliffs of Bavian, and proceeded to scale the steep sides of the mountains which hem in the valley of the Gomel. We soon reached the little Kurdish village of Mousacan, where, invited by a neatness and cleanliness unusual in the East, I had pitched my tents some days before. This time we only skirted the place, and rode past the burial-ground which lay outside the village, It,. too, shared in the general neatness; and many of the graves were dressed with marygolds the only flowers which are cultivated and valued in the country-while the piece of red cord which adorned each headstone was new and of the brightest color. As we continued our way over a rocky and difficult path, I had time to notice the dress and equipment of the man we had brought as a guide from Bavian. He was a very fair specimen of a Kurd-a fierce, cutthroat-looking fellow-but with more intelligence than is usually found amongst this people, so noted for their surly stupidity. On his head was a conical cap of brown felt, with a packing-needle stuck in it, and a dark blue handkerchief wound round the bottom. Over a shirt, of which the sleeves were very large and slit on the inner side, he wore a sack-for coat it could not be called-of brown goat's hair, sewn conspicuously with red worsted, and with sleeves which reached to the elbow; wide, white trowsers, drawn in at the ankles, and gazelle-skin sandals, with a piece of coarse matting tied over the instep, completed his dress. Round his waist he wore a belt furnished with a brace of huge, unwieldy pistols and a scimitar; and from his side hung a leathern tobaccopouch, embroidered, and studded with cowries. A long gun was slung at his back, and he carried in one hand a sort of alpenstock, and in the other the indispensable chibouque. In about half an hour we reached the village of Mangouli, and we here entered a narrow gorge in the mountains, through which a torrent, fringed with a perfect thicket of oleander and wild pomegranate, | burst its way to join the Zab in the plains below. I had sent on my tents and the greater part of my servants to Baadri, the chief town of the tribe, as I knew the aversion with which the Yezidis view the entrance of Mohammedans into their sacred valley. My dragoman, and a groom who was qualified to act as interpreter in Kurd ish, of which the dragoman was ignorant, alone accompanied me. I could well sympathize with the delight which must be felt by those Yezidis who have made their long pilgrimage across the desert, on reaching this green and well-watered valley. But I felt certain that no votary from the north, who had only journeyed amongst the valleys and streams of Armenia, could hail with such pleasure the mountains and trees and living waters which surround the tomb of his saint, as I did after dwelling for months among the scorching plains of Mesopotamia. The gorge at first was narrow, and con fined between steep cliffs, but it soon opened out into a sort of amphitheatre, in which four beautiful and well-wooded valleys converged. The greenest and the best watered was that to the west; and in a few minutes we caught sight of the white spires of Sheikh Adi, rising from the trees at the head of it. We here found that our Kurdish guide had absconded, as he was in no humor to face his hereditary enemies, the Yezidis, in their stronghold. interpreter came up and I was able to explain that I was a Christian from the far west, and that I came with the permission of Hussein Beg and Sheikh Nasr, his tone changed at once, and he gave us a most hearty welcome. I was at once established in a guesthouse close to the temple, and several priests and priestesses vied with one another in supplying my wants. and on proposing to see it at once, and to return afterwards to the dinner which they were preparing, a venerable old Sheikh readily led the way. He was a fine-looking old fellow, with a long gray beard, and robes of spotless white which swept the ground. His turban was black, and round his waist he wore a girdle of a red and green check pattern. The priestesses wore robes of the same check, which much resembled a Highland tartan, and scarfs of it were fastened upon their shoulders with large buckles. The Fakirs were clothed entirely in black, and they appeared to be employed in the menial offices of the temple, such as trimming the lamps and carrying wood. But I was anxious to explore the temple, The open space which I have described seemed to be the only level spot in this part of the valley. It was but a few yards across, and from it the mountains rose steeply on either side. In one corner was the mouth of the tunnel by which we had entered, and in the other corner of the same side was the portal which led to the outer court of the temple. On the southern side, and Our path lay along the banks of the close under the hill, was a large fountain brawling stream, and was shaded by mag-fed by a copious stream that flowed from a nificent groves of plane-trees and oak, which stretched to the summits of the surrounding hills. Here and there the white front of a khan, or resting-place for pilgrims, stood out from amongst the trees, and strongly relieved their dark foliage. At a little distance the road we had been following suddenly entered a massively-built tunnel, which evidently led to the sacred precincts. I was unwilling to go further without permission, lest I should shock the feelings of the priests by suddenly intruding upon their ceremonies; but as, after a little while, our shouts had failed to bring any answer, I pushed on through the archway. After riding a little way in the dark I emerged upon an open space in which were several fountains and springs of the purest water, surrounded by stone slabs and seats. I was here accosted by a Fakir, one of the lowest order of priests, who seemed to be ordering me off the premises, but when my smaller temple, dedicated apparently to the sun. The remaining sides of the area were enclosed by stone seats and fountains, or by the boundary wall of the temple; and the boughs of several large mulberry trees spread a mystic gloom over the whole. I followed the Sheikh through the archway I have mentioned into the outer court of the temple. The walls were built of massive masonry, disposed in regular courses, and the stones around the entrance were sculptured with cabalistic signs. Amongst them I noticed the figure of a bird-perhaps the king of the peacocks himself!-a hatchet, a hooked stick, a comb, and double triangles, within circles, after the manner of Freemasons' signs. My groom, who had accompanied us so far, was now ordered back, and I was told that it was only as a favor to me that the presence of a Mohammedan in the sacred valley was permitted at all. We took off our shoes to enter the inner court, along | for this purpose every kind of falsehood is one side of which the temple itself stands, resorted to. To a Mohammedan a Yezidi and descending a few steps, found ourselves will say he believes in Mohammed; to a in front of a low and curiously ornamented Christian that he believes in Christ; and arch, beside which were most conspicuously amongst Mohammedans they circumcise painted in black the hooked stick, the comb, their children, whilst among Christians they and a serpent. baptize them. It seems certain, however, that, if possible, every member of the tribe makes a pilgrimage once in his life to the sacred valley of Sheikh Adi, and is immersed in its waters. The temple was very dark, and it was a few minutes before we could make out the form of the building. At the entrance there was a spout and a tank of the beautifully clear water which abounds throughout the With regard to their worship of the Devil, valley, and, as our conductor made some it is now evident that at most they but ensign about it that we did not understand, I deavor to propitiate him. I have been told thought it expedient to follow his example, by those who, more fortunate than myself, and to wash my hands and face; as I knew were present at the great festival in the year that it was the custom of the Yezidis to per- of my visit, that the word Yezdan constantly form ablutions before approaching their holy recurred in their sacred songs, and the priests places. We then went on into the temple. themselves acknowledged that this was the It was a plain building, divided in the cen- name by which they adored the Supreme tre by a row of massive columns, which, as Being. Their reverence for fire is very is usual in the churches of the East, were great, and it is considered sinful to spit into tapestried with gay cloths and large hand-it, or to scatter it upon the earth. They kerchiefs. On the northern side hung a gold-embroidered curtain, which, on being drawn back, disclosed the so-called tomb of Sheikh Adi-a mere frame-work of lath and plaster, covered with a green cloth; and probably only revered as the altar on which the Melek Taous, the religious symbol of the Yezidis, is exposed. A burning lamp hung before the curtain. A little further on was another recess containing a somewhat smaller box or altar, which is called the tomb of Sheikh Hussein. The curtain in this case was not so richly worked, and the lamp was smaller; the shrine being evidently of a The Melek Taous (literally "King Peacock" secondary rank. We now descended a few itself, although we are at present accustomsteps into the second division of the build-ed to condemn it as a symbol of the Devil, ing, which exactly resembled the first in construction, but it was empty and unornamented. At the end was a door which brought us out to the court again. The Sheikh assured me that I had now seen the whole of the sacred edifice, and finished by conducting me over the buildings set apart for the more distinguised pilgrims, and their horses, which adjoin the temple. I afterwards repeated my visit, but discovered no new feature in the temple. The Yezidis have of late years been brought somewhat before the notice of the public through the travels of Mr. Layard and Mr. Badger; but as, unfortunately, these gentlemen seem unable to agree either in their books or out of them, the world is not much the wiser as to the real tenets of this singular people. In fact, the principal point in their religion seems to be to conceal their doctrines from the uninitiated, and have, too, a small temple in the valley of Sheikh Adi, which bears the name of Sheikh Shems, or the sun; and although it has been alleged that it is merely the tomb of a man of the name of Shems, such a report would be one likely to be spread by the Yezidis to conceal its real import. In fact, so far as their doctrines are known, they present an extraordinary resemblance to those which long were held in Persia, when the precepts of Zoroaster had been corrupted by admixture with a grosser Sabæanism. may be but a form of the Persian Ferouher, |