happen to miscarry, we will take to our rafts, and put to sea. I admit that by exposing ourselves to the fury of the waves, we run a risk of losing our lives; but is it not better to be buried in the sea than in the entrails of this monster, who has already devoured two of our number? My advice was approved, and we made rafts capable of carrying three persons on each.

We returned to the palace towards the evening, and the giant arrived shortly after. We were forced to submit to seeing another of our comrades roasted. But at last we revenged ourselves on the brutish giant in the following manner :-After he had finished his cursed supper, he lay down on his back, and fell asleep. As soon as we heard him snore, according to his custom, nine of the boldest among us, and myself, took each of us a spit, and putting the points of them into the fire till they were burning hot, we thrust them into his eye all at once, and blinded him. The pain made him break out into a frightful yell: he started up, and stretched out his hands, in order to sacrifice some of us to his rage: but we ran to such places as he could not reach; and after having sought for us in vain, he groped for the gate, and went out, howling in agony. (6.)

We quitted the palace after the giant, and came to the shore, where we had left our rafts, and put them immediately to sea. We waited till day, in order to get upon them, in case the giant should come towards us with any guide of his own species; but we hoped if he did not appear by sun-rising, and gave over his howling, which we still heard, that he would prove to be dead; and if that happened to be the case, we resolved to stay in that island, and not to risk our lives upon the rafts: but day had scarcely appeared, when we perceived our cruel enemy, accompanied with two others almost of the same size, leading him; and a great number more coming before him at a quick pace.

We did not hesitate to take to our rafts, and put to sea with all the speed we could. The giants, who perceived this, took up great stones, and running to the shore, entered the water up to the middle, and threw so exactly, that they sunk all the rafts but that I was upon; and all my companions, except the two with me, were drowned. We rowed with all our might, and got out of the reach of the giants. But when we got out to sea, we were exposed to the mercy of the waves and winds, and tossed about, sometimes on one side, and sometimes on another, and spent that night and the following day under the most painful uncertainty as to our fate; but next morning we had the good fortune to be thrown upon an island, where we landed with much joy. We found excellent fruit, which afforded us great relief, and recruited our strength. At night we went to sleep on the sea-shore; but were awakened by the noise of a serpent of surprising length and thickness, whose scales made a rustling noise as he wound himself along. It swallowed up

one of my comrades, notwithstanding his loud cries, and the efforts he made to extricate himself from it; dashing him several times against the ground, it crushed him, and we could hear it gnaw and tear the poor wretch's bones, though we had fled to a considerable distance. The following day, to our great terror, we saw the serpent again, when I exclaimed, O heaven, to what dangers are we exposed! We rejoiced yesterday at having escaped from the cruelty of a giant and the rage of the waves, now are we fallen into another danger equally dreadful.

As we walked about, we saw a large tall tree, upon which we designed to pass the following night, for our security; and having satisfied our hunger with fruit, we mounted it accordingly. Shortly after, the serpent came hissing to the foot of the tree; raised itself up against the trunk of it, and meeting with my comrade, who sat lower than I, swallowed him at once, and went off.

I remained upon the tree till it was day, and then came down, more like a dead man than one alive, expecting the same fate with my two companions. This filled me with horror, and I advanced some steps to throw myself into the sea; but the natural love of life prompting us to prolong it as long as we can, I withstood this dictate of despair, and submitted myself to the will of God, who disposes of our lives at his pleasure.

In the mean time I collected together a great quantity of small wood, brambles, and dry thorns, and making them up into faggots, made a wide circle with them round the tree, and also tied some of them to the branches over my head. Having done this, when the evening came I shut myself up within this circle, with the melancholy satisfaction, that I had neglected nothing which could preserve me from the cruel destiny with which I was threatened. The serpent failed not to come at the usual hour, and went round the tree, seeking for an opportunity to devour me, but was prevented by the rampart I had made; so that he lay till day, like a cat watching in vain for a mouse that has fortunately reached a place of safety. When day appeared, he retired, but I dared not to leave my fort until the sun arose.

I felt so much fatigued by the labour to which it had put me, and suffered so much from his poisonous breath, that death seemed more eligible to me than the horrors of such a state. I came down from the tree, and, not thinking of the resignation I had the preceding day resolved to exercise, I ran towards the sea, with a design to throw myself into it.

God took compassion on my hopeless state; for just as I was going to throw myself into the sea, I perceived a ship at a considerable distance. I called as loud as I could, and taking the linen from my turban, displayed it, that they might observe me. This had the desired effect; the crew perceived me, and the captain sent his boat for me. As soon

as I came on board, the merchants and seamen flocked about me, to know how I came into that desert island; and after I had related to them all that had befallen me, the oldest among them said to me, They had several times heard of the giants that dwelt in that island, that they were cannibals, and ate men raw as well as roasted; and as to the serpents, they added, that there were abundance in the island, that hid themselves by day, and came abroad by night. After having testified their joy at my escaping so many dangers, they brought me the best of their provisions; and the captain, seeing that I was in rags, was so generous as to give me one of his own suits. We continued at sea for some time, touched at several islands, and at last landed at that of Salabat, where sandal wood is obtained, which is of great use in medicine. We entered the port, and came to anchor. The merchants began to unload their goods, in order to sell or exchange them. In the mean time, the captain came to me, and said, Brother, I have here some goods that belonged to a merchant, who sailed some time on board this ship, and he being dead, I design to dispose of them for the benefit of his heirs, when I find who they are. The bales he spoke of lay on the deck, and showing them to me, he said, There are the goods; I hope you will take care to sell them, and you shall have factorage. I thanked him for thus affording me an opportunity of employing myself, because I hated to be idle.

The clerk of the ship took an account of all the bales, with the names of the merchants to whom they belonged. And when he asked the captain in whose name he should enter those he had given me the charge of: Enter them, said the captain, in the name of Sinbad. I could not hear myself named without some emotion; and looking stedfastly on the captain, I knew him to be the person who, in my second voyage, had left me in the island where I fell asleep, and sailed without me, or sending to see for me: But I could not recollect him at first, he was so much altered since I had seen him.

I was not surprised that he, believing me to be dead, did not recognise me. Captain, said I, was the merchant's name, to whom those bales belonged, Sinbad? Yes, replied he, that was his name; he came from Bagdad, and embarked on board my ship at Bussorah. One day, when we landed at an island to take in water and other refreshments, I know not by what mistake, I sailed without observing that he did not reembark with us; neither I nor the merchants perceived it till four hours after. We had the wind in our stern, and so fresh a gale, that it was not then possible for us to tack about for him. You believe him then to be dead? said I. Certainly, answered he. No, captain, I resumed, look at me, and you may know that I am Sinbad, whom you left in that desert island.

The captain, having considered me attentively, recognised me. God be praised, said he, embracing me, I rejoice that fortune has rectified my

fault. There are your goods, which I always took care to preserve. I took them from him, and made him the acknowledgments to which he was entitled.

From the isle of Salabat we went to another, where I furnished myself with cloves, cinnamon, and other spices. As we sailed from this island, we saw a tortoise twenty cubits in length and breadth. We observed also an amphibious animal like a cow, which gave milk; its skin is so hard, that they usually make bucklers of it. I saw another, which had the shape and colour of a camel.

In short, after a long voyage, I arrived at Bussorah, and from thence returned to Bagdad, with so much wealth that I knew not its extent. I gave a great deal to the poor, and bought another considerable estate in addition to what I had already.

Thus Sinbad finished the history of his third voyage, gave another hundred sequins to Hindbad, and invited him to dinner again the next day, to hear the story of his fourth voyage.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE THIRD VOYAGE.

(5) We continue our Notes from the valuable work of Mr. Hole:

"It appears from Bochart, that the Arabians believed in the existence of a diminutive species of human beings, and an account of them is given in the 'Hierozoicon.' He supposes that this opinion, if not derived from their own inventive faculties, was borrowed from the Greek and Roman fabulists; but I should rather suspect, from those of India. In that country, as was before noticed, the general idea of supernatural beings, whose stature was equally diminutive, appears to have originated. Milton with propriety places his

'Pigmean race

Beyond the Indian mount;'

and in that neighbourhood Pliny supposes the Pigmæi Spithamæi, so called from being but a cubit or three spans in height. These were the memorable 'light infantry warred on by cranes:' and I apprehend of the same family as the homunculi of Sinbad. They are described by a monk of the name of William de Rubruquis, who was sent, A.D. 1253, by Louis the Ninth, king of France, commonly called St. Louis, to congratulate the Khan of Tartary on his supposed conversion to Christianity. He says, that, on inquiring of a priest of Cataia, dressed in a red-coloured cloth, whence it was procured, he received for answer, that certain creatures, in shape like men, who leapt in walking without bending their knees, dwelt in the eastern parts of Cataia; that they were about a cubit in stature, and their skins were covered with hair. He proceeds to describe the mode in which they were caught, and adds, that the red colour of the cloth was owing to its having been dipped in their blood. However questionable this circumstance may be, it admits of little doubt, but that the same species of animals, namely that of Apes, is alluded to by the Roman, Arabian, and Frenchman.

"If these apes are allowed to be the same as the pigmies of antiquity, the mutual hostilities recorded by Homer, Pliny, &c. between them and the cranes may be accounted for by the depredations of the former on the nests of the latter, either for the sake of mischief or of food.

"That ancient travellers into these distant regions, from a partiality to the marvellous, or from false information, frequently confounded the idea of apes and a lesser species of men, cannot be doubted. The river Dalay, says Mandeville, 'goeth through the land of Pigmies, where the folk be of little stature that be but three span long, and right fair and gentle, both men and women. And they marry when they be half-year old, and they live not but six years or seven years at most. And he that liveth eight years men hold him right passing old. And they have often times war with the birds of the country, that they take and eat. This little folk neither labour in lands nor in vines.' Did our old traveller say nothing more concerning his Pigmies, I should have but little doubt that he meant to surprise or amuse his readers with a figurative description of Apes."

(6) Mr. Hole exhibits the parallel stories of Giants:

"Part of this story is copied from the 9th book of the Odyssey. Polyphemus was the prototype of the Indian Giant, and Ulysses of Sinbad. Some additional circumstances in the Arabian tale, though wild and grotesque, heighten the horror and interest of the story. It may be observed, that a giant in Arabic or Persian fables is as commonly a negro or infidel Indian, as he is in our old Romances a Saracen Paynim, a votary 'of Mahound and Termagaunt.' Were the negroes authors, they would probably characterise their giants by whiskers and turbans, or by hats, wigs, and a pale complexion.

"Sir John Mandeville says, that in one of the Indian islands were 'folk of great stature, as giants, and they be hideous to look upon, and they have but one eye, and that is in the middle of the front, and they eat nothing but raw flesh and raw fish.' The knight mentions others who have no clothing but of skins of beasts, that they hang upon them; and they drink milk of beasts, for they have plenty of all beasts; and they have no houses to lie in. And they eat more gladly man's flesh than any other flesh. Into that Isle dare no man gladly enter-and if they see a ship, and men therein, anon they enter into the sea to take them.' In another Isle, he was told there were giants of greater stature-some of fifty cubits long, but I saw none of those; for I had no lust to go (he prudently adds) to those parties, because no man cometh neither into that Isle nor into the other, but he be devoured anon. Men say that many times the giants take men in the sea out of their ships, and brought them to land, two in one hand, and two in another, eating them going, all raw, and all quick.' Though these giants are not described as of the monocular race, there can be little doubt but that Polyphemus was their archetype Virgil and Ovid (for Homer was unknown to the literati of Europe in Mandeville's days) supplied him probably with the preceding description."