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"ENTREPRENDRE un projet sans peser les of the enemy beyond the Meander, which

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slew all those who appeared before them, his ardour abated, and he sought a place where he might pass the stream with less danger. Finding none fordable, he placed himself in his buckler, as in a boat, making use of his sword for a rudder, and holding the bridle of his horse, who swam behind, gained the other side of the river."—Universal History.

[Night in Egypt.]

"La nuit avoit abaisse ses ombres sur la terre; mais ici elles ne sont point épaisses, impénétrables. C'est un voile transparent qui ne couvre les objets qu'à moitié. On apperçoit à travers, l'azur d'un ciel serein et un nombre infini d'étoiles qui brillent au firmament. Elles ont une lumière plus éclatante, et paroissent plus grandes que dans les climats tempérés. La nuit en Egypte a mille charmes que nous éprouvons rarement en Europe. Jamais d'épaisses ténébres ne couvrent son front. Le souffle des tempêtes n'en trouble point la tranquillité. Des déluges d'eau ne la rendent point l'image du chaos. Le vent tombe ordinairement avec le soleil. La nature demeure dans un calme parfait. C'est alors que l'homme qui trouble a l'étude de son être; c'est alors aime la contemplation, peut se livrer sans que l'astronome qui lit dans les cieux, jouissant de la vue d'un firmament sans nuages, peut suivre le cours des astres à travers l'immensité de l'espace."-SAVARY.

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[Sherbet.]

"SORBET vient du mot Arabe chorbé, qui signifie breuvage. C'est le nectar des Orientaux. Il est composé de jus de citron, de sucre et d'eau, dans laquelle on a fait dissoudre des pâtes parfumées, composées avec les excellens fruits de Damas. On y mêle ordinairement quelques gouttes d'eau rose. Cette boisson est tres agréable."

[Produce of the Desert.]

"CETTE étendue ne présente aux regards qu'un sable sterile. On rencontre seulement dans les enfoncements des rochers, et sur le bord des torrens d'hiver, un peu de verdure, des acacias qui produisent la gomme arabique, le sémé, du bois de scorpion, dont la racine tortueuse est renommée contre la piqûure de cet insecte, et quelques autres plantes. Les autruches, les chamois, les gazelles et les tigres, qui leur font une guerre continuelle, habitent les antres des rochers et bondissent à travers ces sables, où ils trouvent à peine quelques brins d'herbe. On y rencontre des cailloux de diverses couleurs, rouges, gris, noirs, bleus, et tous d'un grain extrêmement fin; leur surface exposée a l'air est ondée et raboteuse celle qui repose sur le sable est polie et brillante."

[The Flight of Mahomet.]

"PERHAPS the Koreish would have been content with the flight of Mahomet, had they not been provoked and alarmed by the vengeance of an enemy, who could intercept their Syrian trade as it passed and repassed through the territory of Medina. Abu Sophian himself, with only thirty or forty followers, conducted a wealthy caravan of 1000 camels: the fortune or dexterity of his march escaped the vigilance of Mahomet; but the chief of the Koreish was informed that the holy robbers were placed in ambush to wait his return. He dispatched a messenger to his brethren of Mecca, and they were roused by the fear of losing their merchandize and their provisions, unless they hastened to his relief with the military force of the city. The sacred band of Mahomet was formed of 313 Moslems, of whom seventy-seven were fugitives, and the rest auxiliaries they mounted by turns a train of seventy camels (the camels of Yathreb were formidable in war): but such was the poverty of his first disciples that only two

could appear on horseback in the field. In the fertile and famous vale of Beder, three stations from Medina, he was informed by his scouts of the caravan that approached on one side, of the Koreish, 100 horse 850 foot, who advanced on the other. After a short debate, he sacrificed the prospect of wealth to the pursuit of glory and revenge; and a slight intrenchment was formed to cover his troops and a stream of fresh water that glided through the valley. 'O God,' he exclaimed, as the numbers of the Koreish descended from the hills, O God, if these are destroyed, by whom wilt thou be worshipped on the earth ?-Courage, my children, close your ranks; discharge your arrows, and the day is your own.' At these words he placed himself, with Abubeker, on a throne or pulpit, and instantly demanded the succour of Gabriel and 3000 angels. His eye was fixed on the field of battle; the Mussulmans fainted and were pressed in that decisive moment the Prophet started from his throne, mounted his horse, and cast a handful of sand into the air; Let their faces be covered with confusion.' Both armies heard the thunder of his voice; their fancy beheld the angelic warriors; the Koreish trembled and fled; seventy of the bravest were slain, and seventy captives adorned the first victory of the faithful.

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The dead bodies of the Koreish were despoiled and insulted; two of the most obnoxious prisoners were punished with death, and the ransom of the others, 4000 drams of silver, compensated in some degree the escape of the caravan. But it was in vain that the camels of Abu Sophian explored a new road through the desert and along the Euphrates; they were overtaken by the diligence of the Mussulmans, and wealthy must have been the prize, if 20,000 drams could be set apart for the fifth of the Apostle."—GIBBON.

In the stony province the camels were numerous, but the horse appears to have been less common than in the Happy or the Desert Arabia.

[Second Fight of the Koreish.] "THE resentment of the public and private loss stimulated Abu Sophian to collect a body of 3000 men, 700 of whom were armed with cuirasses and 200 were mounted on horseback: 3000 camels attended his march, and his wife Henda, with fifteen matrons of Mecca, incessantly sounded their timbrels to animate the troops, and to magnify the greatness of Hobal, the most popular deity of the Caaba. The standard of God and Mahomet was upheld by 950 believers; the disproportion of numbers was not more alarming than in the field of Beder, and their presumption of victory prevailed against the divine and human sense of the apostle. The second battle was fought on Mount Ohud, six miles to the north of Medina; the Koreish advanced in the form of a crescent, and the right wing of cavalry was led by Caled, the fiercest and most successful of the Arabian warriors.

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Marathon.

"In these plains the neighings of horses are heard every night, and men are seen fighting; and those who purposely come as hearers or spectators into these plains suffer for their curiosity; but such as are accidentally witnesses of these prodigies are not injured by the anger of the dæmons.". PAUSANIAS.

[Ebony.']

"I HAVE heard from a certain Cyprian botanist, that the ebony does not produce either leaves or fruit, and that it is never seen exposed to the sun; that its roots are indeed under the earth, which the Ethiopians dig out, and that there are men among them skilled in finding the place of its concealment."-Ibid.

"THE idolatrous Meccans deduced the

names of their idols from those of the true God; deriving, for example, Allât from Alla; al Uzza from al Aziz, the mighty; and Manat from al Mannan, the bountiful.' -SALE.

[Dew Water of Ferrea.]

The troops of Mahomet were skilfully posted [Perversion of Etymology by the Meccans.] on the declivity of the hill; and their rear was guarded by a detachment of fifty archThe weight of their charge impelled and broke the centre of the idolaters, but in the pursuit they lost the advantage of their ground, the archers deserted their station, the Mussulmans were tempted by the spoil, disobeyed their general and disordered their ranks. The intrepid Caled wheeling his cavalry on their flank and rear, exclaimed with a loud voice, that Mahomet was slain. He was indeed wounded in the face with a javelin, two of his teeth were shattered with a stone; yet in the midst of tumult and dismay, he reproached the infidels with the murder of a prophet, and blessed the friendly hand that staunched his blood and conveyed him to a place of safety. Seventy martyrs died for the sins of the people: 'they fell,' said the apostle, in pairs, each brother embracing his lifeless companion.' Their bodies were mangled by the inhuman females of Mecca, and the wife of Abu Sophian tasted the entrails of Hemza, the uncle of Mahomet."-Ibid.

"Or these Islands (the Canaries) the last is called Ferrea, in which there is no other water that may be drunke, but onely that is gathered of the deawe, which continually distilleth from one onely tree, growing on the highest banke of the iland, and falling into a rounde trench made with man's hand."—Peter Martyr.

This is used up on the lines in Thalaba: "The Ethiop, keen of scent,

Detects the ebony,

That deep inearth'd and hating light,
A leafless tree and barren of all fruit,
With darkness feeds its boughs of ravin grain.”
First Book, 22. Poems, p. 217.-J. W. W.

[Human Faggots.]

"IN Guadaloupe.-Entering into their inner lodgings, they found faggottes of the bones of mens armes and legges, which they reserve to make heades for their arrowes, because they lack iron."-P. MARTYR.

[Death of Timanthes.]

"THE statue of the Cleonæan Timanthes, who contended with men in the Pancratium, and was victorious, was made by the Athenian Myron. They report that Timanthes died in the following manner: after he had withdrawn himself from athletic exercises, on account of his age, he used every day to bend a large bow, for the purpose of making trial of his strength. Happening, however, to take a journey, he omitted this exercise during his absence from home, and on his return attempted to bend his bow as usual, but finding that his strength failed him, he raised a funeral pile and threw himself into the fire."-PAUSANIAS.

[Story of Euthymus.]

"THE country of Euthymus was Locris in Italy, near the promontory Zephyrium, and his father was called Astycles; though the natives of this place affirm that he was born of the river Cæcinas, which bounding Locris and Rhegium, affords a wonderful circumstance with respect to grasshoppers, for the grasshoppers within Locris, as far as to the river Cæcinas, sing like other grasshoppers, but in the parts beyond this river they do not sing at all.

"Euthymus was crowned in boxing. His statue was the work of Pythagoras, and is worthy of inspection in the most eminent degree. Euthymus, after this, passing over into Italy, fought with a hero, of whom the following particulars are related. They say that Ulysses, during his wanderings after the destruction of Troy, among other cities of Italy and Sicily, which he was driven to |

by the winds, came at length to Temessa with his ships. Here one of his associates having ravished a virgin, in consequence of being heated with wine, he was stoned to death by the inhabitants for the action. But Ulysses, who considered his death as of no consequence, immediately set sail and left the place. The dæmon, however, of the murdered man did not at any time cease from cutting off the inhabitants of Temessa of every age, till the Pythian deity ordered them to propitiate the slain hero, to consecrate a temple to him, and devote to him every year the most beautiful virgin in Temessa. When all this was performed agreeable to the mandate of the god, they were no longer afflicted through the wrath of the dæmon. But Euthymus, who happened to arrive at Temessa at the time in which they sacrificed after the usual manner to the dæmon, having learned the particulars of this affair, requested that he might be admitted within the temple and behold the virgin. His request being granted, as soon as he saw her he was at first moved with pity for her condition, but afterwards fell in love with her. In consequence of this, the virgin swore that she would cohabit with him if he could rescue her from the impending death: and Euthymus, arming himself, fought with the dæmon, conquered him, and drove him out of the country; and afterwards the hero vanished and merged himself in the sea. They farther report, that in consequence of the city being freed through Euthymus from this grievous calamity, his nuptials were celebrated in a very splendid manner. I have likewise heard still farther concerning this Euthymus, that he lived to extreme old age, and that having avoided death, he departed after some other manner from an association with mankind. Indeed, I have even heard it asserted, by a seafaring merchant, that Euthymus is alive at present at Temessa, and such are the reports which I have heard: but I also remember to have seen a picture, which was painted very accurately after an ancient original. In this picture there were the

youth Sybaris, the river Calabrus, the fountain Calyca, and the cities Hera and Temessa. The dæmon too was represented in this picture, who was vanquished by Euthymus. His colour was vehemently black, and his whole form was terrible in the extreme. He was clothed with the skin of a wolf, and the name Lybas was given to him in the inscription on the picture."—Ibid.

[Descent of Amphiaraus.]

"As you go from Potniæ to Thebes, you will see on the right hand of the road an inclosure, not very large, and in it certain pillars. They are of opinion that the earth opened in this place to Amphiaraus; and they say that birds will not sit on these pillars, nor grass grow, nor any tame or savage animal feed in this place."-Ibid.

[Vipers and the Balsam Tree.] "THE balsam tree is nearly of the same size as a sprig of myrtle, and its leaves are like those of the herb sweet - marjoram. Vipers take up their residence about these plants, and are in some places more numerous than in others; for the juice of the balsam tree is their sweetest food, and they are delighted with the shade produced by its leaves. When the time therefore arrives

for gathering the juice of this tree, the Arabians come into the sacred grove, each of them holding two twigs. By shaking these they put to flight the vipers; for they are unwilling to kill them, because they consider them as the sacred inhabitants of the balsam; and if it happens that any one is wounded by a viper, the wound resembles that which is made by iron, but is not attended with any dangerous consequences; for these animals being fed with the juice of the balsam tree, which is the most odoriferous of all trees, their poison becomes changed from a deadly quality into one which produces a milder effect."-Ibid.

So also "the inhabitants of Helicon say that none of the herbs or roots which are produced in this mountain are destructive to mankind. They add, that the pastures here even debilitate the venom of serpents; so that those who are frequently bit by serpents in this part escape the danger with greater ease than if they were of the nation of the Psylli, or had discovered an antidote against poison."—Ibid.

"THE nature of the pastures contributes in no small degree to the strength of the venom in serpents. For I once heard a Phoenician that in the mountainous say parts of Phoenicia the roots that grow there render the vipers more fierce. The same person, too, farther added, that he saw a viper pursue a man, who fled to a tree for shelter, and that the viper blew its venom against the tree to which the man had escaped, and by this means caused his death." -Ibid.

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