ing countries. We shall extract, then, as it is of no great length, his chapter respecting Moroe. (Book IV. ch. 8.) 'Meroe is rendered an island by the river Nile coming from the west, and by the river Astapus coming from the east. In it are the following towns Meroe, Sacolche, Eser, Village of the Dari, Longitude. Latitude. 61 12 Then the junction of the Nile and Astapus, Then the junction of the Astaboras and Astapus, 62 30 11 30' We need only glance at this table, to perceive that Ptolemy places Meroe far (quite as far as Merawe actually is) below the junction with the Nile, of the Astapus, the Astaboras, or any great river whatever. He makes the difference of latitude indeed much too great; but into this error he appears to have been betrayed, by extending his itineraries nearly in a direct line up the river, without allowing for the very circuitous course which it here takes. Beyond Meroe, the knowledge of Ptolemy is first bedimmed; but from Egypt all the way to that point, he gives a close and continued chain of positions; and there is every reason to think, that the intercourse between the countries would be pretty frequent. It seems, then, scarcely possible, that Ptolemy should have been mistaken as to this point; or that so grand a feature should have escaped his notice, as that of the Nile, which, for more than a thousand miles, had not received even a rivulet, receiving, below Meroe, so mighty a tributary as the Tacazze. The statements of Herodotus, though less detailed, appear to point pretty exactly to the same spot. According to him, travellers ascending the Nile above Elephantine, journeyed first forty days by land to avoid the cataracts; then embarked, and were conveyed in twelve days to Meroe. The place of embarkation would evidently be about the frontier of Dongola, where the long chain of cataracts terminates. Twelve days thence to Merawe, would be keeping up very exactly the same rate of travelling; whereas to Shendi it would be out of all sort of proportion. Again, Meroe is stated to be midway between Egypt and the Land of the Exiles, described by other writers as an island formed by the Nile, and which we think is evidently Sennaar, to which the paralled streams of the Azergue and Abiad give much of an insular aspect. Now, Merawe is very exactly midway up the Nile, between Egypt and Sennaar; but Shendi would break up altogether the equality between the two divisions. Strabo, from Eratosthenes, gives a statement, which appears to point pretty directly to Shendi, and is indeed the only one that can cause a doubt. But elsewhere he describes Meroe as bounded upwards on the south by the junction of the rivers Astapus, Astaboras, and Astasobas.' This agrees very closely with our idea on the subject, and is quite contrary to that which would represent the Astaboras (Atbara) as the northern boundary of Meroe. His statement also, that Meroe is the last kingdom of the Ethiopians (Blacks), after which the Nubae commenced, and occupied the Nile downwards to Egypt, is still true only in regard to Merawe. But how, then, it will be asked, was the idea so prevalent among ancient geographers, that Meroe was formed by the junction of the great rivers? and how does Ptolemy himself, in the title of his chapter, imply that statement, though its contents are in direct contradiction to it? The following will, we think, afford a sufficient account of the manner in which the error originated. All who are conversant with the early history of geography, must be aware of the many errors with which it abounded. Among these none are more frequent than such as respect the continuous course of great rivers, and the distinction between islands and large peninsulas. The latter terms, indeed, are often used as synonymous, though, perhaps, only through the influence of this original error. Now, the reader need only look at the above sketch of the country here considered as Meroe, intersected by three parallel branches of the Nile, to perceive at once how excessively natural it was, that the first imperfect accounts should represent it as an island enclosed by river branches. The original opinion, indeed, which is still to be found in Mela, (I. ix. 10.), and Pliny, (V. 9.), was, that the Astapus and Astaboras were branches of the Nile itself, first separating and forming Meroe into a species of Delta, and then reuniting; an idea which seems to have a peculiar reference to the parallel streams of the modern Meroe. Then, when it was found that the Nile hereabouts received some large tributaries, it was very natural to consider those tributaries as the river branches employed in the formation of Meroe. The original idea thus formed of Meroe as an island enclosed by them, appears to have become rooted in the minds of geographers, even after they had obtained data by which it was directly negatived. How inconsistent the statement which, under this influence, Ptolemy placed at the head of his chapter, was with the details given by him in it, will be manifest, by observing the * Peloponnesus, Chersonesus. + According to Pliny's idea, it was the Niger above the separation, and the Nile below the junction. vain attempt which the person who afterwards constructed the maps attached to his work, has made to reconcile them, and the strange delineations with which he has thus perplexed all succeeding inquirers. Such are the considerations which, in our apprehension, establish the identity of the ancient with the modern Meroe. If the discussion has been tedious, it should be remembered that it involves, not merely a curious problem in geography, but the site of monuments calculated to throw light on the arts and history of one of the most celebrated nations of antiquity. One question of considerable interest, as it respects the progress of science and civilization, still requires our consideration. The arts and monuments of Egypt and of Ethiopia, exhibit that strict similarity which marks a common origin. But was Ethiopia or Egypt the original fountain? The former opinion is adopted by Mr Waddington, on the authority of Diodorus, and is supported with some ingenuity, and with pretty strong ancient authorities. As our own opinion, however, leans strongly the other way, we shall close this article with a few observations on the subject. In conceiving that the arts and improvements of civilized life proceeded from Egypt to Ethiopia, rather than in the contrary direction, we by no means rest mainly even on the high and early testimony of Herodotus. A much stronger ground of conviction is supplied from the general laws by which that progress is invariably regulated. What are the circumstances amidst which social improvement is first seen to spring up? They are, an extent of fertile and easily cultivated territory, wide interior communications, and an easy intercourse with foreign nations. All these are united in Lower Egypt; all are wanting in Ethiopia,-that narrow cultivated ridge, separated by such immense deserts from the rest of the universe. It is argued, indeed, that as Ethiopia, secure within her natural barriers, was never conquered unless by a temporary inroad of Sesostris, while her sovereigns repeatedly subdued and reigned over Egypt-it must have been Ethiopia which imposed her laws and arts upon Egypt. But this circumstance will not weigh much with those who have carefully marked the progress of human things. So strong is the attraction for man, of the arts which refine and exalt his nature, that if they are once brought into contact with him, whether by the weak or the strong, the victor or the vanquished, their cultivation is commenced with equal ardour. Upon Mr Waddington's principle, we should conclude that Greece must have conquered Rome, whose literature and arts were wholly Grecian. It is VOL. XLI. No. 81. N well known how China and Indostan have civilized their conquerors. We are firmly convinced that the improvement of Egypt originated in the Delta, and that it was the successive conquests of the rude upper tribes, which gradually transferred the seat of empire and art to the southward, and even into the bosom of the desert. Some arguments are derived from the aspect and structure of the Ethiopian temples. The circumstance of their being in a great degree excavated out of the rock, is supposed to mark an approach to that early Troglodytic existence, of which extensive traces are still found in this part of Africa. But surely the mighty structures of Ibsambul and Merawe were erected by men in a very different stage of society from that of the rude dwellers in caves. This peculiarity seems founded on the natural reason, that the Nile in its course through Nubia, is bordered by bold and precipitous rocks, which already, in many instances, assume the aspect of structures reared by human hands. In Egypt, the mountains are of a form less adapted to this object; and they are situated at some distance from the river, the sole centre of action and resort. That country, however, also contains magnificent sepulchral monuments cut out of the rock-sufficient to suggest and teach to Ethiopia the art of ornamental excavation. The ruder character of Ethiopian monuments has been supposed to indicate an earlier date; but besides that this character is not general, it seems quite natural in copies or imitations made by a ruder people. Finally, the more ruined state of the monuments at Meroe seems easily accounted for by other causes than the ravages of time. materials are admitted to be more defective,-the masonry would probably be less skilful, and the traces of external violence seem more decidedly marked. The ART. X. 1. Eighteenth Report of the Directors of the African Institution; read at the Annual General Meeting held on the 11th day of May 1824. With an Appendix and a Supplement. 8vo. pp. 284. London, Hatchard. 1824. 2. Report of the Committee of the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Dominions; read at the General Meeting of the Society, held on the 25th day of June 1824. Together with an Account of the Proceedings which took place at that Meeting. 8vo. pp. 112. London, Hatchard. 1824. 3. Substance of the Debate in the House of Commons, on Tues day the 1st, and Friday the 11th, of June 1824, on a Motion of Henry Brougham, Esq. respecting the Trial and Condemnation to Death, by a Court Martial, of the Rev. John Smith, late Missionary in the Colony of Demerara. With a Preface, containing some new Facts illustrative of the Subject. Published with the Sanction of the London Missionary Society. 8vo. pp. 310. London, Hatchard. 1824. 4. East India Sugar; or, An Inquiry respecting the Means of improving the Quality, and reducing the Cost of Sugar raised by Free Labour in the East Indies. London, Taylor. 1824. N resuming the discussion of those most important questions connected with the State of the Slaves in the British colonies, we must begin by setting before the reader some particulars in the recent history of this subject, and of the abolition of the slave trade, with which it is intimately connected. These are of sufficient interest to detain us for the present, and to occupy this article; but the consideration of them is fruitful in reflections touching nearly the whole field of West Indian controversy. The first thing which calls for animadversion, is the continued protection afforded to the slave traffic, either directly or covertly, by all those legitimate governments which we had so great a share in restoring. The King of the Netherlands went the furthest in providing laws for putting it down, and acceding to arrangements for carrying them into execution. But his laws and his arrangements are, like those of our own colonial legislatures, intended to be quoted rather than enforced, to be dwelt upon in defending the makers of them against their adversaries, and not by any means to be acted upon with vigour and good faith. The continuance of this horrible trade' (says the British Commissioner at Surinam), or its abolition, within the dominions of the Netherlands Government, to which his Netherlands Majesty is solemnly pledged by treaty, depends entirely upon the tenor of the orders which they may send out to their colonial possessions; but the treaty has now been concluded nearly five years, and (excepting in my present colleague, M. Lammens, who is but just appointed, and is scrupulous of interfering with the duties of the executive government here) I cannot perceive, in any other of the Surinam officers of his Netherlands Majesty, either civil or military, the slightest appearance of any peremptory orders in the bona fide spirit of the treaty.' |