424 HOARE-BRUCE-SIR WALTER RALEIGH-HERRERA, ETC. Duke. A merchant of Venice saved from ship- of the Oroonoko called Capuri and Macureo when wreke, by the light of a candle in a darke night, their commanders die they use great lamentation, gave by his last will to this image, that his heirs and when they think the flesh of their bodies is for ever should find a waxe candle to burn be-putrefied, and fallen from the bones, they take up fore the same."-FYNES MORYSON. the carcase again, and hang it in the cassquis house that died, and deck his skull with feathers of all colours, and hang all his gold plates about [Coracles-and the Superstition grounded upon the bones of his arms, thighs, and legs."-SIR WALTER RALEIGH. the Use of them.] "THE boats which they employ in fishing or in crossing the rivers are made of twigs, not oblong nor pointed, but almost, or rather triangu lar, covered both within and without with raw hides. When a salmon thrown into one of these boats strikes it hard with his tail, he often oversets it, and endangers both the vessel and its navigator. The fishermen, according to the custom of the country, in going to and from the rivers, carry these boats on their shoulders; on which occasion that famous dealer in fables, Bledherc, who lived a little before our time, thus mysteriously said: "There is amongst us a peo- [Soothsayer, or Book,— ple who, when they go out in search of prey, carry their horses on their backs to the place of plunder; in order to catch their prey, they leap upon their horses, and when it is taken, carry their horses home again upon their shoulders.' -HOARE'S Giraldus. [Dead Warriors taken out to Battle.] THE Panches, a tribe with whom the people of Bogota had many wars, used to carry the bodies of their bravest warriors into battle with them. The bodies were preserved with a sort of gum, and there were men appointed to carry them on their backs-as banners.—HERRERA, 6, 5, 5. [Influence of Superstition.] DURING the captivity of the Infante D. Fer-. -as a Cure for Witchcraft.] THERE is among the Cotton MSS. (Nero, B. vii., 5) a letter from some Duke of Milan to a King of England, requesting that a certain soothsayer, or a book on divination which he had heard existed in England, might be sent him, to free him from a disorder which he ascribed to witchcraft. nestles in his Dwellings.] nando the plague raged at Fez, and the Moors [Why the Swallow is the Friend of Man, and asked of their prisoners what remedies they used in Christendom; when it was answered that they removed from the infected places, they laughed at them as fools.”—Chronica do Infante Santo D. Fernando, cap. 27. "ADAM, when descending from Paradise to the earth, first put his foot on the Island of Serendib, and Eve descended at Jedda. Adam being alone, began to lament his fate in so piteous a manner, that the Cherubim, touched by his lamentations, Ir should be added, to characterize both super-complained to the Almighty. God sent the swalstitions, that these very prisoners carried about them written prayers and the names of Saints as amulets, and drew crosses upon their doors.-Ibid. [Millstone of Novogorod and St. Anthony.] "IN Novogorod they shew a great millstone, upon which they say St. Anthony performed his devotions from Rome to this place that he came down the Tiber into the Mediterranean, through the streights, over all the seas in his way to the Baltick, on this stone, and going up the Wologda, at last fixed his residence at Novogorod: after he came ashore, he agreed with some fishermen for the first draught of their net, which proved to be a large chest, containing the Saint's canonical robes, his books and money; with the money he built this monastery, where he ended his days, and his body still remains uncorrupted."-P. H. BRUCE. low which came to Adam, and begged him to give her some hair of his whiskers. Some historians say that Adam had neither beard nor whiskers in Paradise, and that it began to grow only after his having been driven from the presence of the Lord. Some say that it grew when he first saw Eve lying in labour. However this may be, the swallow having got some of his whiskers flew to Jedda, where she took also some of Eve's hair, and made in that way the first steps towards uniting them again. In recompense for what the swallow carried on as internuncio between Adam and Eve, she is allowed to nestle in the dwellings of men.”—Quære ? [Travel to the Nigra Rupes by the Aid of Negro mancy.] "CONCERNING those places which may be sup posed to be near unto the Northern Pole, there hath in times past something been written, which for the particularity thereof might carry some shew of truth, if it be not thoroughly looked into. [Indian Superstition-Preservation of their dead It is therefore by an old tradition delivered, and LL Warriors.] by some written also, that there was a Friar of THE people who dwell upon those branches Oxford who took on him to travel into those parts [Whirlwinds called Dragons dispersed by the Beating of new Swords crossways.] BAKER-POUQUEVILLE—PYRARD DE LAVAL-HERODOTUS, ETC. 425 which are under the very Pole; which he did [ence of that metaphysical allegorical being callpartly by negromancy, wherein he was much ed Misfortune, he salutes it, not in terms of anskilled, and partly again by taking advantage of ger or reproach, but with this simple sentiment the frozen times, by means whereof he might - Welcome Misfortune, if thou art alone !'". travel upon the ice even so as himself pleased. | Ibid., p. 130. It is said of him that he was directly under the Pole, and that there he found a very huge and black rock, which is commonly called Nigra Rupes, and that the said rock being divers miles in circuit, is compassed round about with the sea; which sea being the breadth of some miles over, doth run out into the more large ocean by four several currents, which is as much as to say that a good pretty way distant from the Nigra Rupes there are four several lands of reasonable quantity, and being situated round about the rock, although with some good distance, are severed each from other by the sea running between them, and making them all four to be islands almost of equal bigness. But there is no certainty of this report, and therefore our best mathematicians in this latter age have omitted it."ARCHBISHOP ABBOT's Brief Description of the World, p. 326. [In the City of Orfimo near Loretto, an old Lady and her Niece made their Maid try this Experiment in Witchcraft.] "OFTEN they see come afar off great whirlwinds, which the mariners call dragons; if this passeth over their ship it bruiseth them, and overwhelmeth them in the waves. When the mariners see one come, they take new swords, and beat one against the other in a cross upon the prow, or toward the coast from whence the storm comes, and hold that this hinders it from coming over their ship, and turneth it aside."PYRARD DE LAVAL. Purchas, 1646. [The Geta.] Διὰ πεντετηρίδος, κ. τ. λ. they think the god propitious; if not, they load him with reproaches, and affirming he is an ill man, send another, whom they furnish with instructions while he is yet alive."-Herodotus, Melpomene, c. 94. "EVERY fifth year they elect a person by lot, and send him to Zamolxis, with orders to let him know what they want. This messenger they dispatch thus. Certain persons are appointed to hold three javelins erected, whilst others, taking the man they are to send by the hands and feet, "THE receipt was an old woman's. It is that throw him up into the air, that he may fall down a young virgin should fast for nine weeks togeth-upon the points. If he dies in their presence er three times a week, to the honour of the Indian King; that during all this time she should never name the names of God, Jesus, and the Blessed Virgin; that she was to take once a week the Holy Sacrament to the honour of the Indian King or Emperor. Then, after the nine weeks were expired, she should make ready a room where there were no pictures or images, but only a new table, a new chair, a new candlestick, and new linen to overspread the table withal. In this room she was to wait alone, drest in white, for the coming of the Indian King, who should then certainly appear with a great purse full of gold in his hands. She was to say nothing to him except, Welcome the Indian King! Welcome the Indian Emperor! upon which he would leave his purse on the table and disappear." BAKER'S History of the Inquisition. [Bardic Use of the Letters O. I. W.] "THE three letters O. I. W. are with the Bards the unutterable name of the Deity: they therefore make use of another term, known only to themselves, just as the Jews, who always make use of Adonai when the name of Jehovah occurs. Each of the letters in the Bardic name is also a name of itself: the first is the word when uttered, that the world burst into existence; the second is the word, the sound of which continues, by which all things remain in existence; and the third is that by which the consummation of all things will be in happiness, or the state of renovated intellect, for ever approaching to the immediate presence of the Deity."-HOARE'S Giraldus. [Marvellous Account of Sylvester II.] "SYLVESTER THE SECOND, a Frenchman, brought up in the Abby of Floriack (where Necromancy at that time was held an eminent piece of learning), to perfect his skill that way, gets to a Sarazen in Civil, and cozens him of his chief conjuring book, by being inward with the magician's daughter. Then he contracts with the Devil to be his wholly, upon condition he would conduct him back to France and fit him 426 PONTOPPIDAN-HOARE-SYLVESTER. with promotions. Upon his return into France of Edam, did dayly passe the Pourmery to milk he became admirable for his deep learning, and their kine in the next pastures, did often see this (amongst others of great state) had these chief- woman swimming upon the water, whereof at tains his scholars in the black-art, Theophilact, the first they were much afraid; but in the end, Laurence, Malfitans, Brazutus, and John Gra- being accustomed to see it often, they viewed it tian. By help of these and of his other arts, he neerer, and at last they resolved to take it if they became first Bishop of Rhemes, and then Arch- could. Having discovered it, they rowed towards bishop of Ravenna, and thence to be Pope; in it, and drew it out of the water by force, carrywhich seat he concealed (but ever practised) his ing it in one of their barkes unto the town of devilish mystery, having in secret a brazen-head Edam. When she had been well washed and instead of a Delphick Oracle. Consulting with cleansed from the sea moss which was grown this on a time how long he should live, answer about her, she was like unto another woman, she was given, Until he said mass in Jerusalem. was appareled, and began to accustome herself This made him confident of a long continuance; to ordinary meats like unto any other, yet she but he was cozened by the Devil's equivocation, sought still means to escape and to get into the who seized upon him saying mass in the church water, but she was straightly guarded. They of St. Crosse, in one of Lent stations, which was came from farre to see her. Those of Harlem otherwise called Jerusalem, that he little thought made great sute to them of Edam to have this on. He is said to have then repented, and in woman, by reason of the strangenesse thereof. token thereof, to have requested that his hands, In the end they obtained her, where she did learn tongue, and secret members might be cut off, to spin, and lived many years (some say fifteen), wherewith he had offended God, and so be put and for the reverence which she bare unto the into a cart, which was done, and the beasts of signe of the cross, whereunto she had beene actheir own accord drew him to Laterane Church, customed, she was buried in the church yarde. where he lyeth buryed; by the ratling of his Many persons worthy of credit have justified in bones in the sepulchre, prognosticating the death their writings, that they had seene her in the of his successors.”—PRIDEAUX's Introduction for said town of Harlem.”—History of the NetherReading all sorts of Histories. 1682. lands, p. 116. [The Mountain of Skopshorn.] I Oerskoug Sogn, &c. "In the parish of Oerskoug is the mountain called Skopshorn, of which the mariners and fishermen have a view at sixteen leagues distance, when they have lost sight of the rest. On the highest crest of this mountain, it has the appearance of a complete well-built fort, or old castle, with regular walls and bastions. It is an old tradition, that a girl who was attending a flock or herd, for a wager climbed up to the top, and, according to agreement, there blew her horn, but was never seen after; upon which her relations, according to an ancient superstition, imagined she had fallen into the hands of the pretended subterraneous inhabitants of the mountains. Perhaps the truth is, that the girl was not so fortunate in coming down as in getting up, and that she fell into some cavity, where her body never could be discovered."-PONTOPPIDAN. Norges Naturalize Historie, p. 74, ed. 1759. [The Sea-Woman of Harlaem.] "At that time there was a great tempest at' sea, with exceedingly high tides, the which did drowne many villages in Friseland and Holland; by which tempest there came a sea-woman swimming in the Zuyderzee betwixt the townes of Campen and Edam, the which passing by the Purmeric, entered into the straight of a broken dyke in the Purmermer, where she remained a long time, and could not find the hole by which she entered, for that the breach had beene stopt after that the tempest had ceased. Some country women and their servants, who with bankes [Prodigy on the Death of Henry I.] "It came to pass in the province of Elvenia, which is separated from Hay by the river Wye, on the night in which Henry I. expired, that two pools of no small extent, the one natural, the other artificial, suddenly burst their bounds: the latter, by its precipitate course down the declivities, emptied itself; but the former, with its fish and contents, obtained a permanent situation in a valley about two miles distant."—HOARE'S Giraldus, vol. 1, p. 6. [The Witch.] "SHEE, that before Resembled one of those grim ghosts (of yore) Which she was wont with her un-wholsom breath To re-bring-back from the black gates of death, Growes now more ghastly, and more ghost-like grim, Right like to Satan in his rage-full trim. The place about darker than night she darkes And in un-heard, horrid, barbarian termes, Eternal Shades, infernal Deities, COLUMBUS-SONNINI-MARINER. If this black sprinkle, tuft with virgins tress, SYLVESTER'S Du Bartas. Bouce. "INSULA parva quidem, miro sed prædita fonte Annosæ positâ confestim pelle senectæ [The Delta.] 427 er walking, and struck him till he was dead. At [Tonga Bolatoo-or, Island of the Gods.] "If the eye is carried to the other side of the river, a plain expands to view which has no boundary but the horizon, this is the Delta. Issuing out of the bosom of the waters, it preserves the freshness of its origin: to the golden tints of exuberant autumn succeeds the very same year, the verdure of the meadows. Orchards, similar to those in the vicinity of Rosetta, groups of trees, green all the year round, others scattered about at random, flocks of every kind diversify the points of view and enliven this rich and verdant portion of Egypt. Numerous towns and villages enhance the beauty of the landscape; here, the cities display in vista their lofty and pointed turrets; there, expand lakes and canals, a source of fecundity inexhaustible; every where are dis-as Mataboolies or ministers to the gods, but they tinguishable the signs of an easy cultivation, of an eternal spring, and of a fertility incessantly renovated and endlessly varied."-SONNINI. [Tonga Mythology.] 66 THE people of Tonga (Tongataboo) believe "that all Egi, or nobles, have souls which exist hereafter in Bolatoo (the Island of the Gods) not according to their moral merit, but their rank in this world, and there they have power similar to the original gods, but less. The Mataboolies also go to Bolatoo after death, where they exist have not the power of inspiring priests. The Mooas, according to the belief of some, also go to Bolatoo, but this is a matter of great doubt. But the Tooas, or lower class of people, have no souls, or such only as dissolve with the body after death, which consequently ends their sentient ex MR. MARINER relates a very curious piece of istence."-Ibid. Tonga mythology, "giving," he says, as nearly as possible a literal translation of the language in which they tell it." It is very curious, because the invention is manifestly so recent, and yet the fable is received. [The Indian Reserve-lands at Gay Head.] "THE west end of Martha's vineyard, containing three thousand acres of the best land in the "Tongaloa (the God who fished the earth out island, and including Gay Head, is reserved for of the sea) being willing that Tonga should be the Indians established at this place and their deinhabited by intelligent beings, he commanded scendants. The whole number of proprietors is his two sons thus, 'Go and take with you your said to be two hundred and fifty; only one hundwives, and dwell in the world at Tonga; divide red and fifty reside here at present. The land the land into two portions, and dwell separately is undivided; but each man cultivates as much from each other.' They departed accordingly. as he pleases, and no one intrudes on the spot Now the name of the eldest was Tooboo, and the which another has appropriated by his labour. name of the youngest was Vaca-acow-oole, who They have not the power of alienating their was an exceeding wise young man, for it was he lands, being considered as perpetual children, that first formed axes, and invented beads, and and their property committed to the care of guarcloth, and looking glasses. The young man dians appointed by the government of Massacalled Tooboo acted very differently, being very chusetts. These guardians let a part of the indolent, sauntering about, and sleeping, and en- territory to whites, and appropriate the income vying very much the works of his brother. to the support of the Indians. Intermarriages Tired at length with begging his goods, he be- between the members of this tribe and negroes thought himself to kill him, but concealed his are so common, that there now exist very few of wicked intention. He accordingly met his broth-pure Indian descent. One of these few we had 428 GEMELLI CARERI-MANDELSLO. the pleasure of seeing, when, tempted by curi-ignorant and degraded; for perhaps they are osity, we had entered her miserable dwelling. ignorant and degraded only because they have It did not require a very powerful imagination already been so much despised. There is no to convert her into another Meg Merrilies. Her school now at Gay Head."-North American countenance bore the traces of extreme age, but Review, vol. 5, p. 319. her form, though slender, was erect, her voice firm, and her remarks shrewd and pertinent. The muscles of her face possessed a calmness [House and Church of the Franciscans at Nanand immobility, which seemed to prove that nothing agitated her feelings, while the quickness of her eye denoted that nothing escaped her observation. This cast of countenance, and the character it expresses, are not however peculiarities of the individual; they distinguish the whole race. king.] "As far as their religious poverty will allow, the house and church of the Franciscans at Nanking are decently adorned. They pass to their apartments through five little galleries or courts adorned in the middle with pleasant rows of flowers, for the ingenious Chinese plant several flowers along the crannies between the bricks that make the flooring, which grow up as high as a man, making fine flowery hedges on both sides. They grow up in forty days, and last four months. The flowers are peculiar to that country, and found no where else. One sort of them is called Kiquon, which has several shapes, colours, and strange forms, but very beautiful; some being of a cane colour, some like a dry rose, others yellow, but soft as any sleft silk. Among those crannies there grows an herb which, though it produce no flower, is very streaks, and painted by nature with a lively yellow, red, and green. The tulips growing about those courts are bigger than ours in Europe. Tube-roses are plentiful enough and very sweet, being mixed with the other flowers in all the alleys; so that the eyes and smell are sufficiently entertained all the way to the apartment of the bishop and religious men."-GEMELLI CARERI [The Island of Saint Borondon.] "The Indians of Gay Head have lately sent a memorial to the General Court, stating their grievances, and a committee has been appointed to examine into the ground of their complaints. Idleness is undoubtedly the great evil that afflicts them. Can it be remedied? We should not be discouraged because the efforts hitherto made for the improvement of their characters have been ineffectual; for it is not certain that they have been properly directed. Schools have been occasionally established among them to teach them reading and writing, arts of which they know not the value. Missionaries are constantly employ-pleasant to behold, the leaves of it being in ed to preach the gospel to them. But beings so indifferent to their fate that they will not make provision even for to-day, cannot be expected to take much pains to prepare for futurity. They need some strong and direct excitement to rouse them from their torpor. It has been proposed to give them the power of alienating their property, which would soon be squandered. They would then be compelled to toil for a subsistence; and habits of industry once acquired might last longer than the necessity in which they originated. Nor would there be any cruelty in thus permitting them to waste their property, if it were certain that the experiment would succeed. Could they obtain industrious habits in exchange for their lands, it would be a profitable bargain to them, as well as to the community. But it may be said, and I fear too truly, that the present generation, palsied by inveterate indolence, and ignorant of any occupation capable of affording them immediate subsistence, would sink in despondency, and find it easier to die than to labour. Is there however no hope for their children? Might they not be collected in one seminary, where they should be taught the mechanic arts, and incited to exertion by emulation, the hope of reward, and the fear of punishment; and when their education should be completed, instead of being left here to be corrupted by their predecessors, sent forth to make their way in the world. The Indians are not incapable of serving themselves and the publick. Many of them are employed in the whaling vessels of New Bedford, and are distinguished by their activity and expertness. Such a project would indeed be expensive, but might ultimately prove less so than the present mode of providing for their support. We ought not to despise them because they are "SOME affirm that above one hundred leagues west of the Canaries, there is sometimes seen an island called St. Borondon, which, they say, is very delightful and fertile, and inhabited by Christians; yet can it not be said what language they speak, nor how the island came to be peopled. The Spaniards of the Canaries have often endeavoured to find out the said island; but whether it be that it is always covered with a thick mist, which hinders it from being discovered, or that the current of the water thereabouts was so strong that it is a hard matter to land thereat, certain it is, that as yet, it subsists only in the opinion wherewith most seamen are prepossess. ed, that certainly there is an island in those parts."-MANDELSLO. [Zante-its Value.] ZANTE the ancient Zacynthos,-called by Botero the Golden Island-it truly merits that name, says WHELER, from the Venetians, who draw so much gold by the Currant trade from hence and Cephalonia, as beareth the ordinary charge of their armada at sea. Very populous; fifty towns or villages, in an island not above thirty miles about. |