use of one proper name for another, which so frequently occurs, is in no way excusable, and his confused and short notices of events in modern Persian history, are, by his total ignorance of the language, and the native orthography of the names, rendered almost unintelligible.

The preface would lead us to attribute the errors which have occurred in writing eastern names to the transcriber. But the author's own ignorance of Asiatic languages cannot be concealed, even at the expense of his penman, and ought in candour to have been frankly and openly avowed.

The Knight may claim praise for his extreme good nature, for he seems to be pleased with everybody he meets, and he half intimates that everybody is pleased with him. Indeed, the raptures in which he indulges whenever chance brings him in the way of a great man, are often very amusing, and the pains which he takes to exonerate them from charges to which they have been subjected are sometimes truly laborious.

Having thus given our general opinion of the work, we shall proceed to examine it more in detail, and in so doing we shall conform as much as possible to the author's wish, that he should be judged by what he calls his "pretensions," which are "truth in what he relates, and fidelity in what he copies."

The Knight left St Petersburgh on the 6th of August (O. S.) 1817, and proceeded to Odessa, with the intention of passing through Constantinople on his route to Persia, but having heard that the plague was then raging in the Turkish capital, he changed his course, and determined to enter Asia by the way of New Tcherkask, the capital of the Don Cossacks, where he was received and entertained in a very edifying manner, by the Hetman Platoff. Our author passes a suitable encomium on the merits of the veteran soldier, and on the beauty of the new capital. But though we are inclined to give the Hetman credit for his military and social qualifications, it must be allowed that he shewed little judgment in the choice of a situation for his new city, and that the removal of so large a portion of the population from the vicinity of the navigable river, has been injurious to the country, by diminishing its trade, and de

priving them of the advantage of supplying themselves with everything they imported by water.

From Tcherkask our author proceeds through endless perils across the Terik, where he buys a Circassian horse, and escaping dangers even more formidable than he had passed on his way to the river, arrives at Vlady Caucas, a considerable Russian military station, close to the foot of the mountains from which it takes its name. Shortly before his arrival at this station, he had a full view of the range of the Caucasus, which, our author informs us, 66 was a sight to make the senses pause; to oppress even respiration, by the weight of the impression on the mind, of such vast overpowering sublimity."

From Vlady Caucas, he advances to cross the mountains into Georgia, and on his way is again inclosed in a net of dangers, from all of which, however, he happily escapes unhurt. On his approach to Derial (a narrow pass in the mountains) the road, he says, "leads for a considerable way through a subterraneous passage cut in the solid rock." This passage, however, is subterraneous, in the usual acceptance of the word, only for the space of three or four feet.

We may here mention, that in a sketch, shewing the height of the Caucasus, which the Knight has copied from the work of Englehardt and Parrot, he has made an important error. He has placed the level of the Caspian considerably above that of the Black Sea, whereas, by the barometrical measurements of the German travellers, confirmed by subsequent observation, the Caspian is actually something more than fifty toises below the level of the Black Sea, and its shores may perhaps therefore be considered the lowest country in the globe.

Crossing the Caucasus seems (from our author's account) to be by no means an ordinary undertaking, and the picture he draws of the terrors of passing the Good Gara mountain, is really tremendous. His account is as follows:

"Nothing can paint the terrific situation of the road which opened before us at Good Gara. It seemed little better than a scramble along the perpendicular face of a rock, whence a fall must be instant destruction. The path itself was, in fact, not more than ten or twelve feet wide, and this

of the deserted loneliness of the place. We were astonished, after this, to find that the ruins (which are not of great extent) contain no less than three villages.

Ardashir our author sets down, contrary to every evidence, as Artaxata, the city built by Hannibal when he sought refuge in Armenia. Artaxata is described by all the ancient authors who notice it, as situated on the banks of the river Araxes, (now Aras,)—as having a castle which stood on a high neck of land, washed on three sides by the river; and mention is also made of its bridge across the Araxes. Now Ardashir is situated, by the author's own account, six miles from the Aras, and the furthest limits of the present ruins on that side do not approach the river nearer than five miles. We have no castle washed by the river on three sides, no hill indeed on which it could have stood, (for that put down in the plan is a mere heap of ruin,) and we have no symptoms of a bridge. The level of Ardashir, too, is so much above that of the bed of the river, that we cannot suppose the Aras to have run near it at any time; and, in short, we have not between Ardashir and Artaxata one single point of resemblance.

Morrier mentions, on the information of Major Monteith, a place which corresponds much more nearly with the accounts which have reached us of the "modern Carthage ;" and the subsequent observations of that officer seem to have established their identity. This place is situated close to the river, has its castle washed on three sides by the stream, and still can shew the ruins of a noble bridge, as well as the scattered fragments of what appear to have been dwellings on both sides of the water. Almost all the stones to be found there are of bazalt or trap, hewn with much care; but the bridge has the peculiarity of having been built of a compact lime-stone, which must have been brought from a distance.

From Ardashir Sir Robert pursued his journey to Nukshivan, (which he believes to be the Naxuana of Ptolemy,) and laments over the fall of its vineyards, once so famous,-of which he says, nothing more are (is) now to be seen beyond a few old walls of two or three gardens, where a remnant of grapes may yet be found, to mark perhaps the spot of some old wine-press." It is rather unfortunate for the accu

From Nukshivan the Knight makes his way to Tabreez, and not far from that city passes over what he imagines may be the plain of Kalderan, (correctly, Chalderan,) where Shah Ismael, the founder of the Sophy (Suffoveeah) dynasty of Persia, was defeated by the Turks. But Chalderan is as well known as Tabreez, and lies at least a hundred miles from where the Knight supposes he may have found it. It is close to the Turkish frontier, on the side of Bayazede.

Tabreez (the ancient Gaza) is the capital of the province of Azerbyjan, (Atropatia,) and is the seat of govern ment of his Royal Highness Abbas Meerza, the viceroy of the province, and elected heir-apparent to the throne of Persia. When Sir Robert arrived, the Prince was absent at Khöy, and our Knight employed himself in seeing the lions, which were not many. He finds occasion, however, in describing them, to make some mistakes. He talks of a ruined mosque, called Allee Shah, which does not exist, and adorns it with painted tiles. There is a building called Allee Shah, but it is not a mosque, neither has it any ornament; and there is an ornamented ruined mosque, but it is not called Allee Shah, neither is it within the present line of fortification, which the Knight tells us his ornamented mosque is.

It is seldom that Sir Robert ventures to trouble us with anything like statistical information; but when he does, his calculations are curious. We give the following as a specimen :

"Chardin mentions, that, in his time, the

capital of Azerbijan contained half a mil lion of people. The consequence which had been attached to maintaining its military strength, under Abbas the Great, must, of course, have increased the inhabitants of the city. But, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, we find its population so wonderfully reduced, that, at the earthquake of 1727, which demolished the chief part of the town, not more than seventy thousand persons were victims; an incredi ble disproportion to the rate of its inhabishock, which happened sixty years aftertants just before. And at the succeeding wards, only forty thousand remained to be swallowed up in the second gulph. If the vast number reported by Chardin as the

population of Tabreez, in the year 1686, were the real fact, how terrible must have been the events of war, and its attendant evils, famine and pestilence, which must have swept the province of Azerbijan, and reduced its capital city, in the course of little more than forty years, (from the time of his calculation to the first earthquake,) from half a million of souls, to hardly more than one-fifth of that multitude."

Here Sir Robert sets out with half a million, and at the end of a little more than forty years finds that only one hundred and ten thousand were left, because the earthquake which occurred in 1727 destroyed only seventy thousand. Whatever he may think of the number, we think it a very fair proportion of the original population to be destroyed by the falling of their houses upon them. This earthquake, however, was a reasonable and well-behaved one compared with that which followed; for whereas this first left, by the knight's calculation, forty thousand inhabitants still in the city, the second left not even one to tell the story. He says, "only forty thousand remained to be swallowed up in the second gulph." What he means by a gulph, we are at a loss to comprehend. If he means that the earth opened and received the unfortunate forty thousand who had escaped the first gulph, we can assure him that nothing of this kind occurred. But we rather imagine it is only the Knight's mode of speaking.

While at Tabreez the Knight visited the palace of the Prince, and the females being absent, was admitted to view the Underoon, or Haram Khouah, which presented nothing remarkable. He had an audience of Malik Kossim Meerza, a fine boy of thirteen, with the deportment of a man. This leads our author to descant largely on the improvement which has taken place in the mode of educating princes in Persia, which we have not room to insert, but which gives him occasion to extol the powers that be, at the expense of all their predecessors since the days of Cyrus.

Some of Sir Robert's observations on the habits of the Persians are rather remarkable. He observes, that few of them increase their clothing during the winter, which is the more extraordinary, as it is well known that they pass much of their time, even in the most inclement seasons, in rooms

without fires, and often sitting close to an open window. We are at a loss to conjecture what the Persians make of the great quantities of furs which are sent into their country, and of the endless supplies of sheep-skin coverwhich are sold in such numbers in ings called Poosteens, Oimas, &c. every bazar in Persia.

The cold at Tabreez is very intense, and its effects appear to be appalling, for the Knight informs us, that from the practice of closing the city-gates at night, and not opening them till morning, travellers who arrive too late to be admitted are frequently destroyed by the cold. His words are, “ And during the inclement season, at opening the gates, very often a terrible scene of death unfolds itself close to the threshold. Old and young, animals and children, lying one lifeless heap!" This account is not entirely without foundation, for we believe that there is one instance on record, or at least told, of some persons having been frozen to death at the gates of Tabreez. But we will venture to assert, that nothing at all resembling Sir Robert's description has occurred more than once within the memory of man. This is what Sir Robert understands by very often.

At Tabreez he has occasion to give us some farther account of Persian coins, which he does with his usual accuracy. He informs us that one real is equal to twenty-four copper "shys,"(shahees,) but we have it from better authority that the real is equal to twenty-five.

Sir Robert having been invited by the Prince Royal to accompany him to Teheran, whither his royal highness was going to assist at the festival of the Nowroze, prepared for his journey. He gives rather a lively description of the group which was formed at starting. Not far from Oojan, (a summer palace at which the Prince rested,) is a cave containing a vapour destructive to animal life, and it seems to excite the Knight's no small wonder, that the top of the cave is free from the fatal gas. He does not seem to have even conjectured, that the specific gravity of the deadly exhalation, (as he calls it,) may have been greater than that of atmospheric air. We have no doubt that this excavation, like hundreds of others, contains carbonic acid gas.