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covered to the westward by Borneo, the winds from that quarter do not attack them with violence. But the north-east winds, tumbling in the billows from a wide ocean, heap up the coral with which those seas are filled. This, obvious after storms, is perhaps at all other times imperceptibly effected. The coral banks, raised in the same manner, become dry. These banks are found at all depths at all distances from shore, entirely unconnected with the land, and detached from each other; though it often happens that they are divided by a narrow gut,

without bottom.

Coral banks also grow, by a quick progression, towards the surface; but the winds, heaping up the coral from deeper water, chiefly accelerate the formation of these into shoals and islands. They become gradually shallower, and, when once the sea meets with resistance, the coral is quickly thrown up by the force of the waves breaking against the bank; and hence it is that, in the open sea, there is scarcely an instance of a coral bank having so little water that a large ship cannot pass over, but it is also so shallow that a boat would ground on it. Mr. D. has seen these coral banks in all the stages; some in deep water, others with a few rocks appearing above the surface, some just formed into islands, without the least appearance of vegetation, and others, from such as have a few weeds on the highest part to those which are covered with large timber, with a bottomless sea at a pistol-shot

distance.

The loose coral, rolled inward by the billows in large pieces, will ground, and, the reflux being unable to carry them away, they become a bar to coagulate the sand, always found intermixed with coral; which sand, being easiest raised, will be lodged at top. When the sand bank is raised by violent storms, beyond

the reach of common waves, it becomes a resting-place to vagrant birds, whom the search of prey draws thither. The dung, feathers, &c., increase the soil, and prepare it for the reception of accidental roots, branches, and seed, east up by the waves, or brought thither by birds. Thus islands are formed; the leaves and rotten branches, intermixing with the sand, form in time a light black mould, of which in general these islands consist, more sandy as less woody, and, when full of large trees, with a greater proportion of mould. Cocoa-nuts, continuing long in the sea without losing their vegetative powers, are commonly to be found in such islands; particularly as they are adapted to all soils, whether sandy, rich, or rocky.

The violence of the waves within the tropics must generally be directed to two points, according to the monsoons. Hence the islands formed from coral banks must be long and narrow, and lie nearly in a meridional direc

tion.

For even supposing the banks to be round, as they seldom are when large, the sea, meeting most resistance in the middle, must heave up the matter in greater quantities there than towards the extremities; and, by the same rule, the ends will generally be open, or at least lowest. They will also commonly have soundings there, as the remains of the banks, not accumulated, will be under water. Where the coral banks are not exposed to the common monsoon, they will alter their direction, and be either round, or extend in the parallel, or be of irregular forms, according to accidental circumstances.

The interior parts of these islands, being sea, sometimes form harbours capable of receiving essels of some burthen, and Mr. D. believes

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always abound greatly with fish; and such as he has seen, with turtle-grass and other sea plants, particularly one species, called by the Sooloos gammye, which grows in little globules, and is somewhat pungent as well as acid to the taste. It need not be repeated that the ends of those islands only are the places to expect soundings; and they commonly have a shallow spit running out from each point. Adbul Roobin's observations point out another circumstance, which may be useful to navigators: by consideration of the winds to which any islands are most exposed, to form a probable conjecture which side has deepest water and, from a view which side has the shoals, an idea may be formed which winds rage with most violence.-Thomson. Phil. Trans.

ICE-STORM IN AMERICA.

THE following account of this curious phenomenon is extracted from Mr. Taylor's notes on the weather at Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, in the "Magazine of Natural History" for March, 1833.

Feb. 8th. This morning a heavy rain set in after the thaw, and increased in violence throughout the day and night; and now commenced the most singular, and even sublime, meteorological phenomenon I have observed in this region. It was an occurrence of unusual note, and extended over a large area in this and the adjoining state, and is commonly referred to under the name of the "ice storm." I shall be somewhat minute in describing so much respecting it as fell under my own observation, as noted at the time. Immediately on the descent of the rain, it froze, so as to envelope the trees and earth with a thick coating of transparent ice, and to render walking

no easy process.

Feb. 9th.-Such an accumulation of ice had now formed upon the branches of the forest trees as presented a beautiful and extraordinary spectacle. The small underwood, or "brush," was bowed to the earth, while the noblest timbers were every where to be seen bending beneath the enormous load of ice with which their branches were incrusted, and the icicles which thickly depended from every point. The heavy foliage of the hemlock and spruce was literally encased, or rather formed solid masses of ice, the smallest twig or blade of grass being surrounded by more than an inch of ice, and resembled the vegetable substances sometimes occurring in masses of crystal. Rain fell in torrents all this day, and the chief part of the ensuing night, until there were about four inches of clear ice overspreading the surface of the ground. The change which this phenomenon effected in the usual appearance of the woods was striking. The bushes, and smaller trees, extending to those of fifty feet in height, were now bent to the ground, and pressed upon each other beneath their unwonted burden, resembling, in some respects, fields of corn beaten down by a tempest. Above, the tall trees drooped and swung heavily; their branches glittering, as if formed of solid crystal, and, on the slightest movement of the air, striking against each other, and sending down an avalanche of ice. During the night of the 8th, and on the succeeding morning, the limbs of the trees began to give way under such an unusual load. where around was seen and heard the crash

Every

ing of the topmost branches, which fell to the earth with a noise like the breaking of glass, yet so loud as to make the woods resound. As the day advanced, instead of branches, whole trees began to fall; and, during twenty-four hours, the scene which took place was as sublime as can well be conceived. There was no wind perceptible, yet, notwithstanding the calmness of the day, the whole forest seemed in motion; falling, wasting, or crumbling, as it were, piecemeal. Crash succeeded to crash, until, at length, these became so rapidly continuous as to resemble the incessant discharges of artillery, gradually increasing, as from the irregular firing at intervals of the outposts, to the uninterrupted roar of a heavy cannonade. Pines of 150 feet and 180 feet in height came thundering to the ground, carrying others before them; groves of hemlocks were bent to the ground like reeds; and the spreading oaks and towering sugar maples were uprooted like stubble, and often without giving a moment's warning. Under every tree was a rapidly accumulating debris of displaced limbs and branches; their weight increased more than tenfold by the ice, and crushing every thing in their fall with sudden and terrific violence. Altogether, this spectacle was one of indescribable grandeur. I could not resist devoting the whole day to the contemplation, notwithstanding the continued rain, of the desolating and tremendous effects of this unusual phenomenon. It was necessary, however, to be careful to remain at a prudent distance from the falling timber. Of all the scenes in the American forests, this was the most awful I had witnessed. The roar, the cracking and rending, the thundering fall of the uprooted trees, the startling, unusual sounds and sights produced by the descent of such masses of solid ice, and the suddenness of the crash, when a neighbouring tree gave way, I shall not easily forget. Yet all this was going on in a dead calm, except, at intervals, a gentle air from the south-east slightly waved the topmost pines. Had the wind freshened, the destruction would have been still more appalling. It was awful to witness the sudden prostration of oaks of the largest class. These trees were the greatest sufferers; and it seemed remarkable that the deciduous trees should be less able to

bear the additional burden than the heavily laden evergreens. The branches of the oaks rapidly gave way, while the thickly encased foliage of the hemlocks hung drooping around the stems, upon their long pliant branches, until they appeared like a solid mass, or monumental pillar of ice. In order to obtain some data for estimating the increased weight which the forest trees had now to sustain, I cut off and weighed several boughs of different species, and compared them after the ice was removed by thawing. The following is the result :

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By this it appears that the evergreens had about twenty times their accustomed burden.

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THIS animal, in some of its various | at length the mullet betook himself to species, is found upon coasts in almost all parts of the world. They are amphibious, although there are some shores on which they are rarely or never known to land, and are said to be as regularly migratory as birds of passage. Their habits are, in general, indolent and harmless, although at certain times, and especially when they have their young to defend, they are remarkably fierce. The growth of these animals, when young, is very remarkable; the seal-hunters in Caithness declare that in nine tides (108 hours) they become as active as their parents.

shallower water; the seal pursued, and
the former, to get more surely out of
danger, threw itself on its side, by which
means it darted into shallower water than
it could have swam in with the depth of
its paunch and fins, and so escaped. On
these coasts the seal sleeps on rocks, sur-
rounded by the sea, or on the less acces-
sible parts of cliffs left dry by the ebb of
the tide, and, if disturbed by any thing,
rolls off into the sea. They are extremely
watchful, and never sleep longer than a
minute without moving, then raise their
heads, and, if they perceive no danger,
lie down again for a similar interval.
Some general notion of the habits of Nature seems to have given them this
the seal may be gathered from Pennant's precautionary instinct, as being unpro-
British Zoology, and from Crantz's His-vided with auricles or external ears, and
tory of Greenland. On the shores of consequently not hearing very quickly, nor
Cornwall they are seen in the greatest from any great distance.
plenty in the months of May, June, and
July. They vary in size from that of a
cow to that of a small calf. They feed
on all kinds of fishes, and are so swift, in
their proper depth of water, as to exer-
cise an undisputed tyranny, diving with
great rapidity, and re-appearing in a very
short time at a distance of fifty yards. In
shallow water, however, their prey more
easily evade them. Dr. Borlase states,
in one of his letters, that a person in the
parish of Sennan saw a seal in pursuit of
a mullet, which it turned to and fro in
deep water, as a greyhound does a hare;

But it is to the Greenlander, and other
arctic tribes, that these animals are indis-
pensably useful. In fact, they constitute
their flocks, and are more essential to
them than sheep to us. Their flesh is
the most palatable and substantial food
of these people; with their fat they make
the oil which, during so large a propor-
tion of their time, is necessary for lamp
light; with their skins they clothe them-I
selves and cover their boats, sewing it
with their fibres and sinews, and also
make use of their blood, and most other
parts, for various useful purposes.

change

THE OCEAN.

BY BARRY CORNWALI.

On, thou vast ocean! Ever sounding sea!
Thou symbol of a drear immensity!
Thou thing that windest round the solid world
Like a huge animal, which, downward hurl'd
From the black clouds, lies weltering and alone,
Lashing and writhing till its strength be gone.
Thy voice is like the thunder, and thy sleep
Thou speakest in the east and in the west
Is as a giant's slumber, loud and deep.
At once, and on thy heavily laden breast
Fleets come and go, and shapes that have no life
Or motion yet are moved and meet in strife.
The earth hath nought of this; no chance nor
Ruffles its surface, and no spirits dare
Give answer to the tempest-waken air;
But o'er its wastes the weakly tenants range
At will, and wound its bosom as they go:
Ever the same, it hath no ebb, no flow;
But in their stated rounds the seasons come,
And pass like visions to their viewless home,
And come again, and vanish; the young spring
Looks ever bright with leaves and blossoming,
And winter always winds his sullen horn,
When the wild autumn, with a look forlorn,
Dies in his stormy manhood; and the skies
Weep, and flowers sicken, when the summer flies.
Oh! wonderful thou art, great element:
And fearful in thy spleeny humours bent,
And lovely in repose: thy summer form
Is beautiful, and when thy silver waves
Make music in earth's dark and winding caves,
love to wander on thy pebbled beach,
Marking the sunlight at the evening hour,
And hearken to the thoughts thy waters teach-
"Eternity, eternity and power."

MORAL AND RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE
OF THE CLASSICS.

No. IX.

BRITISH CLASSICS-JOHNSON.

and his apostles; and he has more explicit and solemn references to the grand purpose of human life, to a future judgment, and to eternity, than almost any other of our elegant moralists has had the piety or the courage to make. There is so much that most powerfully coincides and co-operates with Christian truth, that the disciple of Christianity the more regrets to meet occasionally a sentiment, respecting, perhaps, the rule to judge by in the review of life, the consolations in death, the effect of repentance, or the terms of acceptance with God, which he cannot reconcile with the evangelical theory, nor with those principles of Christian faith in which Johnson avowed his belief. In such a writer he cannot but deem such deviations a matter of grave | culpability.

SOURCE OF THE SCAMANDER,

Now called the Mender.

ON the 11th of March, having collected our guides and horses as upon the preceding day, we set out again from Evgillar, and proceeded THE powerful and lofty spirit of Johnson up the mountain, to visit the cataract which was far more capable of scorning the ridicule, constitutes the source of the Mender, on the and defying the opposition, of wits and worldnorth-west side of Gargarus. Ascending by lings. And yet his social life must have been the side of its clear and impetuous torrent, we greatly unfavourable to a deep and simple reached, in an hour and a half, the lower consideration of Christian truth, and the cultiboundary of the woody region of the mounvation of Christian sentiment. Might not tain. Here we saw a more entire chapel than even his imposing and unchallenged asceneither of those described in our excursion the dency itself betray him to admit, insensibly, an preceding day, situated upon an eminence injurious influence on his mind? He assoabove the river. Its form was quadrangular ciated with men of whom many were very and oblong. The four walls were yet standing, learned, some extremely able, but compaand part of the roof; this was vaulted, and ratively few made any decided profession of Omission is his other fault. Though he did lined with painted stucco. The altar also repiety; and perhaps a considerable number introduce in his serious speculations more dis-mained, in an arched recess of the eastern exwere such as would in other society have tinct allusions to religious ideas than most tremity; upon the north side of it was a small shown a strong propensity to irreligion. This other moralists, yet he did not introduce them and low nich, containing a marble table. In however dared not to appear undisguisedly in so often as may be claimed from a writer who the arched recess was also a very ancient Johnson's presence; and it is impossible not frequently carries seriousness to the utmost painting of the Virgin; and below, upon her to revere the strength and noble severity that pitch of solemnity. There scarcely ever was left hand, the whole-length portrait of a saint, made it so cautious. But this constrained an author, not formally theological, in whose holding an open volume. The heads of these abstinence from overt irreligion had the effect works a large proportion of explicit Christian figures were encircled by a line of glory. Upon of preventing the repugnance of his judgment sentiment was more requisite for a consistent the right hand side of the Virgin there had and religious feelings to the frequent society entireness of character than in the moral wri- been a similar painting of some other saint, of men from whom he would have recoiled, if tings of Johnson. No writer ever more com- but part of the stucco, whereon it was painted, the real temper of their minds, in regard to pletely exposed and blasted the folly and no longer remained. The word IIAPOENON, the most important subjects, had been unre-vanity of the greatest number of human pur- written among other indistinct characters, apservedly forced on his view. Decorum toward suits. The visage of Medusa could not have peared upon the wall. The dimensions of this religion being preserved, he would take no ri- darted a more fatal glance against the tribe of building were only sixteen feet by eight. Its gorously judicial account of the internal cha-gay triflers, the competitors of ambition, the height was not quite twelve feet, from the racter of those who brought so finely into proud exhibitors in the parade of wealth, the floor to the beginning of the vaulted roof. play his mental powers and resources, in con- rhapsodists on the sufficiency of what they Two small windows commanded a view of the versations on literature, moral philosophy, and call philosophy for happiness, the grave con- river, and a third was placed near the altar. general intelligence; and who could enrich sumers of life in useless speculations, and Its walls, only two feet four inches in thickevery matter of social argument by their learn- every other order of "walkers in a vain show." ness, afforded, nevertheless, space for the roots ing, their genius, or their knowledge of man- His judicial sentence is directed, as with a of two very large fir-trees: these were actually kind. But if, while every thing unequivocally keen and mephitic blast, on almost all the growing upon them. All along the banks of hostile to Christianity was kept silent in his most favourite pursuits of mankind. But it this river, as we advanced towards its source, company, there was nevertheless a latent imwas so much the more peculiarly his duty we noticed appearances of similar ruins; and piety in possession of the heart, it would in- to insist, with fulness and emphasis, on that in some places, among rocks, or by the sides evitably, however unobviously, infuse some- one model of character, that one grand em- of precipices, were seen remains of several thing of its spirit into the communications of ployment of life, which is enjoined by Heaven, habitations together; as if the monks, who such men. And, through the complacency and will stand the test of that unshrinking se- retreated hither, had possessed considerable which he felt in the high intellectual inter- verity of judgment, which should be exercised settlements in the solitudes of the mountain. course, some infection of the noxious element by every one who looks forward to the test Our ascent, as we drew near to the source of would insinuate its way into his own ideas which he is finally to abide. No author has the river, became steep and stony. Lofty sumand feelings. For it is hardly possible for the more impressively displayed the misery of mits towered above us, in the greatest style of strongest and most vigilant mind, under the human life; he laid himself under so much Alpine grandeur; the torrent, in its rugged genial influence of eloquence, fancy, novelty, the stronger obligation to unfold most ex-bed below, all the while foaming upon our and bright intelligence, interchanged in ami- plicitly the only effectual consolations, the true cable collision, to avoid admitting some effluvia scheme of felicity as far as it is attainable on (if I may so express it) breathing from the earth, and that delightful prospect of a better most interior qualities of such associates, and region which has so often inspired exultation tending to produce an insensible assimilation; in the most melancholy situation. No writer has especially if there should happen to be, in more expressly illustrated the rapidity of time, addition, a conciliating exterior of accomplish- and the shortness of life; he ought so much ment, grace, and liberal manners. Thus the the more fully to have dwelt on the views very predominance by which Johnson could of that great futurity at which his readers are repress the direct irreligion of statesmen, scho- admonished by the illustration that they will lars, wits, and accomplished men of the world, speedily arrive. No writer can make more might, by retaining him their intimate or poignant reflections on the pains of guilt; frequent associate, subject him to meet the was it not indispensable that he should oftener influence of that irreligion acting in a manner have directed the mind suffering this bitterest too indirect and refined either to excite hosti- kind of distress to that great sacrifice once lity or caution. offered for sin? No writer represents with It must however be admitted that this illusmore striking, mortifying, humiliating truth trious author, who, though here mentioned the failure of human resolutions, and the only in the class of essayists, is to be ranked feebleness of human efforts, in the contest among the greatest moral philosophers, is less with corrupt propensity, evil habits, and adapted at variance with the essentials of the Christian temptation; why did not this melancholy obeconomy than the very great majority of servation and experience prompt a very freeither of these classes of authors. His specu- quent recollection, and emphatical expression, lations tend in a far less degree to beguile the of the importance of that assistance from on approving and admiring reader into a spirit high, without which the divine word has so which feels repelled in estrangement and dis-often repeated the warning that our labours gust on turning to the instructions of Christ will fail?

As we ap

left. Presently we entered one of the sublimest
natural amphitheatres the eye ever beheld;
and here the guides desired us to alight. The
noise of waters silenced every other sound.
Huge craggy rocks rose perpendicularly to an
immense height, whose sides and fissures, to
the very clouds, concealing their tops, were
covered with pines, growing, in every possible
direction, among a variety of evergreen shrubs,
wild sage, hanging ivy, moss, and creeping
herbage. Enormous plane-trees waved their
vast branches above the torrent.
proached its deep gulph, we beheld several
cascades, all of foam, pouring impetuously
from chasms in the naked face of a perpendi-
cular rock. It is said, the same magnificent
cataract continues during all seasons of the
year, wholly unaffected by the casualties of
rain or melting snow. That a river so enno-
bled by ancient history should at the same
time prove equally eminent in circumstances
of natural dignity, is a fact worthy of being
related. Its origin is not like the source of
ordinary streams, obscure and uncertain-of
doubtful locality and indeterminate character—
ascertained with difficulty, among various petty
subdivisions, in swampy places, or amidst in-

significant rivulets, falling from different parts of the same mountain, and equally tributary; it bursts at once from the dark womb of its parent, in all the greatness of the divine origin assigned to it by Homer. The early Christians, who retired or fled from the haunts of society to the wilderness of Gargarus, seem to have been fully sensible of the effect produced by grand objects, in selecting, as the place of their abode, the scenery near the source of the Scamander-where the voice of nature speaks in her most awful tone-where, amidst roaring waters, waving forests, and broken precipices, the mind of man becomes impressed as by the influence of a present Deity.

The course of the river, after it thus emerges, with very little variation, is nearly from east to west. Its source is distant from Evgillar about nine miles; or, according to the mode of computation in the country, three hours; half this time is spent in a gradual ascent from the village. The rock whence it issues consists of micacious schistus, containing veins of soft marble. While the artist was employed in making drawings, ill calculated to afford adequate ideas of the grandeur of the scenery, I climbed the rocks, with my companions, to examine more closely the nature of the chasms whence the torrent issues. Having reached these, we found, in their front, a beautiful natural bason, six or eight feet deep, serving as a reservoir for the water in the first mo

ments of its emission. It was so clear, that the minutest object might be discerned at the bottom. The copious overflowing of this reservoir causes the appearance, to a spectator below, of different cascades, falling to the depth of about forty feet; but there is only one source. Behind are the chasms whence the

rock about the source is covered with moss. Close to the bason grew hazel and plane trees; above were oaks and pines; all beyond was a naked and fearful precipice.—Clarke's Travels.

ANECDOTE OF KOSCIUSKO.

and cast dust upon their heads, according to
a national usage, supplicating his forgiveness
for the fault which they had committed. For
twenty years the name of Kosciusko had not
been heard in Poland save as that of an exile;
yet it still retained its ancient power over
Polish hearts-a power never used but for
some good and generous end.

The Emperor Alexander honoured him with
a long interview, and offered him an asylum
in his own country. But nothing could in-
duce Kosciusko again to see his unfortunate
native land. In 1815 he retired to Soleure,
in Switzerland, where he died, October 16th,
1817, in consequence of an injury received by
a fall from his horse. Not long before he had
abolished slavery upon his Polish estate, and
declared all his serfs entirely free, by a deed
registered and executed with every formality
that could ensure the full performance of his
intention. The mortal remains of Kosciusko
were removed to Poland at the expense of
Alexander, and have found a fitting place of
rest in the Cathedral of Cracow, between
those of his companion in arms, Joseph Poni-
atowski, and the greatest of Polish warriors,
John Sobieski.-Gallery of Portraits, No. I.

HIEROGLYPHICS.

WE intimated our intention, in a late num

ber, of entering briefly into the interesting
subject of Egyptian hieroglyphics; and, in
doing so, we have no hesitation in character-

izing the subject as an interesting one. It is
so, as standing in immediate connexion with
the country which witnessed the birth and
fostered the infancy of science and letters;
it is interesting, because it is only compara-
tively lately that any information has been
obtained respecting it; and it is further inte
resting, because past discoveries and coinci-
found the clue which is to guide us through a
dences make it certain that we have at length
field of study which has for centuries been
deemed a labyrinth.

The discoveries to which we allude are

It

most difficult to be explained, and we will borrow the illustration adopted in the Edinburgh Review. "Suppose the spoken language of England to be what it is-but that no other sort of writing, except by pictures or symbols, had yet been invented-and that it was wanted to record, in some legend or inscription, that an individual called James had done or suffered something. The word James here was evidently a mere sound, and could not be described or defined in any other way than as that sound by which the individual in question was suggested to those who heard it. It could not, therefore, be directly intimated to posterity, by a mere visible symbol or picture, that such a sound had in his day been associated with that individual; and, if this was what was proposed to be done, it is plain enough that some new device or contrivance must of necessity be adopted; and, according to the late discoveries, the device was as follows:-They set down a series of pictures of familar objects, the names of which, in the spoken language, began with the sounds which were successively to be expressed, and which, taken together in that order, made up the compound sound or Name that was wanted. For the sound now expressed by the letter J, for example, they would set down the figure of a Jug or Jar; for that corresponding to A, an Ape or Acorn; for M, a Man or a Mouse; and for S, a Spear or Spur; and thus, by a sort of Symbolical Acrostic, they would spell out the word James, and intimate, to all who

read the figures into the spoken tongue, the

name or sound which it was intended to commemorate."

From all these kinds of writing, a tolerably full language, though a very inconvenient one, was formed. It would occupy far more than the sheet in the hands of the reader to give intelligible instances of each of these modes of writing, and to describe the process by which the laborious men we have referred to fore, given a general idea of what sort of a have spelt out a translation. Having, therewritten language the Egyptian was, we conclude with an account of the way in which this knowledge of it (and much more) has been obtained. We quote from the Edinburgh

Review.

It is well known that a Commission of the French

Institute was sent out to Egypt during the occupose of investigating every thing that related to its pation of that country by their forces, for the purancient history; and that the greatest interest was taken in the proceedings of this body by no less a person than Napoleon himself. Under their auspices much was done, undoubtedly, for the elucidation of its antiquities, and the progress of its arts; but as to its language and letters, its hieroglyphics and papyri, absolutely nothing. They had not time, perhaps perhaps they had not

water issues. We entered one of these, and passed into a cavern. Here the water appeared rushing with great force, beneath the rock, towards the bason on the outside. It was the coldest spring we had found in the country, the mercury in the thermometer falling, in two minutes, to thirty-four, according to the scale of Fahrenheit. When placed in the reservoir immediately above the fall, where the water was most exposed to the atmosphere, its tem-chiefly the results of the researches of the perature was three degrees higher. The whole English Dr. Young, and the French M. Champollion, of whom the former led the way. father of history, as Herodotus is called, and had long been known, on the testimony of the kinds of writing common among the Egypof early historians, that there were various tians; and modern study has accurately determined what they are. They may be generally classed under two heads; the popular, or epistolographic, and the sacred. The first of these represents words by characters designating the letters which compose them, and constitute in fact a scanty alphabet. But the second was distinguished by some most curious peculiarities, and was of several kinds, The fact, however, is certain; and it is, which were employed on different subjects to the pride of human skill and learning in geneno doubt, a little mortifying to them, and, indeed, and occasions. In one, objects were represented ral, that an accident, which occurred in the course by imitation; thus the Egyptians, when making of their military labours, did more for the elucidause of this kind of writing, drew a circle to tion of these interesting subjects, than all the study signify the sun, and a crescent for the moon. which had been bestowed on them for upwards of a In another, they represented objects meta- thousand years. While a division of the French phorically; thus, they would designate a brave troops occupied Rosetta, a party of workmen, emman by the figure of a lion, &c. In another,ployed in digging for the foundations of Fort St. they denote objects by more obscure and remote analogies; as if they should have represented the word justice by the blind-folded female figure with scales which we see in the present day. And, in another, they designate words (chiefly proper names) by a number of common objects one after another; the initials of whose names, taken together, would make the name in question. This last kind is the

WHEN the Russians, in 1814, had penetrated into Champagne, and were advancing towards Paris, they were astonished to hear that their former adversary was living in retirement in that part of the country. The circumstances of this discovery were striking. The commune in which Kosciusko lived was subjected to plunder, and among the troops thus engaged he observed a Polish regiment. Transported with anger, he rushed among them, and thus addressed the officers :— "When I commanded brave soldiers they never pillaged; and I should have punished severely subalterns who allowed of disorders such as those which we see around. Still more severely should I have punished older officers, who authorized such conduct by their culpable neglect." And who are you," was the general cry, "that you dare to speak with such boldness to us?" "I am Kosciusko." The effect was electric; the soldiery cast down their arms, prostrated themselves at his feet,

"

means.

Julian, discovered and disinterred a huge block or pillar of black basalt, exhibiting the remains of three distinct inscriptions; but, having been soon afterwards dislodged by the British, this monubrought to England, among other trophies, and ment fell into their hands, and was subsequently deposited in the British Museum.

A cursory inspection of the pillar of Rosetta was sufficient to establish, as incontrovertible, Bishop Warburton's profound observation, already

noticed, that the hieroglyphics constituted a real let, he communicated a few anonymous remarks to means of preventing. I have understood that written language. Of the three inscriptions sculp- the Society of Antiquarians. In the summer of in Suffolk, and in some of the southern countured on its sides, a considerable part of the first the same year, he applied himself vigorously, first ties, the larvae of the cockchafer are so exceedis unfortunately wanting; the beginning of the to the enchorial, and afterwards to the hiero-ingly abundant, that the crops of corn are second and the end of the third are also mutilated; glyphic inscription; and, by an attentive and mealmost destroyed by them, and that their but the last, which is in Greek, terminates with thodical comparison of the different parts with the important information that the decree which it each other, he was able, in the course of a few ravages do not cease even when they have contains (in honour of Ptolemy Epiphanes), had | months, to send to the Archeologia a ، conjectural have been proposed to put a stop to their deattained to a winged state. Various plans been ordered to be engraved in Three different translation" of each of the Egyptian inscriptions, characters-the Sacred, or hieroglyphic, the Encho- distinguishing the contents of the different lines predations; but I have little doubt that their rial, or letters of the country (synonymous with with as much precision as his materials would then abundance is to be attributed to the scarcity the demotic), and the Greek. So that here was an admit of. He was obliged, however, to leave of rooks, as I have somewhere seen an account authentic specimen of hieroglyphic characters- many important passages still subject to doubt; that rooks in those counties (I have not been expressly accompanied by a Translation. but he hoped to acquire additional information in them) are not numerous, either from the Now, the first step to be taken evidently was, before he attempted to determine their signification trees being felled in which they nestled, or to obtain an exact translation of this translation. with accuracy; and, having made the first great step, that they have been destroyed by the prejuAccordingly, the Society of Antiquaries having he concluded that many others might be added with diced farmers. I am the more inclined to be caused a correct copy of the Triple Inscription to facility and rapidity. Meanwhile, in order to faof this opinion, because we have many rooks be engraved and circulated, Porson and Heyné, cilitate the inquiry, he endeavoured to make himthe two best scholars of the age, employed them-self familiar with the remains of the old Egyptian is not known as a destructive insect; and I in this neighbourhood, where the cockchafer selves in completing and illustrating the Greek language, as these are preserved in the Coptic and text which constituted the third part of the inscrip- Thebaic versions of the Scriptures,-hoping, with know that insects of that class and their larvæ tion;-a task, we may observe, in the performance the aid of this knowledge, to discover an alphabet are the most favourite food of the rook. of which the superior industry and vigilance of which would enable him to read the enchorial inI will mention another proof of the utility the German gave him a decided advantage over scription, at least, into a kindred dialect; and, of the rook, which occurred in this neighbourthe more active genius of the English Professor. though he felt himself compelled gradually to hood many years ago. A flight of locusts This, as we have said, was the first step; but the abandon this expectation, he soon after published visited Craven, and they were so numerous as next was far more arduous. No data had been anew (in the Museum Criticum of Cambridge) his to create considerable alarm among the farmyet obtained by means of which a comparison conjectural translation with considerable additions might be instituted between the Greek, which the and corrections. Finally, in the article EGYPT, in relieved from their anxiety; for the rooks ers of the district. They were, however, soon labcurs of Porson and Heyné had restored, and the fourth volume of the Supplement to the Ency-flocked in from all quarters by thousands and the hieroglyphical and enchorial texts, of which clopædia Britannica, published in December, In these cirnot a single character was known. 1819, he digested and arranged in a methodical cumstances, there was but one course to be form the result of his researches, and, in particuadopted; and that was, to adjust the inscriptions, lar, gave a Vocabulary, comprising upwards of so that they might, as nearly as possible, corres- 200 names or words, which he had succeeded in pond, and, from the situation of the proper names deciphering in the hieroglyphic and enchorial in the Greek inscription, endeavour to ascertain texts, and in the Egyptian manuscripts. We do their places in one or both of the other inscrip- not hesitate to pronounce this article the greatest tions. If characters merely phonetic entered into effort of scholarship and ingenuity of which mothe composition of the hieroglyphic and enchorial dern literature can boast. texts, it was evident that, by this means, the value of some of them would be ascertained. It was, therefore, a matter of indifference whether the comparison was first made between the Greek and hieroglyphic, or between the Greek and enchorial inscriptions; but a notion happening to prevail that the enchorial was altogether alphabetical, the first attempt was made upon it. Accordingly, M. Silvestre de Sacy having examined the parts of this text, corresponding, by their relative situation, to two passages of the Greek inscription, in which the proper names Alexander and Alexandria occur, soon recognised two well-marked groups of characters nearly resembling each other, and which he therefore considered as representing these names. He also made out, very satisfactorily, the locus of the name of Ptolemy; but beyond this he found it impossible to advance a single step, and ultimately abandoned the pursuit as hopeless.

tens of thousands, and devoured them so greedily that they were all destroyed in a short time. Such, at least, is the account which is given; and I have heard it repeatedly mentioned as the reason why the late Lord Ribblesdale was so partial to rooks. But I have no means of ascertaining how far this is true, except general report.

It was stated in the newspapers, a year or two back, that there was such an enormous quantity of caterpillars upon Skiddaw, that they devoured all the vegetation on the mountain, and people were apprehensive they would

SERVICES OF THE ROOK (Corvus fru- attack the crops in the enclosed lands; but the

gilegus, L.) TO MAN,

And a Notice of the Prejudice prevailing
against it.

rooks (which are fond of high ground in the summer), having discovered them, in a very short time put a stop to their ravages.-T. G., Clitheroe, Lancashire. June 30th, 1832.

Mr. Waterton, in his valuable essay "On the supposed Pouch under the Bill of the Rook,” (vol. v. p. 512,) incidentally shows that the rook is a very extensive destroyer of insects. -Magazine of Natural History.

A STRONG prejudice is felt by many persons against rooks, on account of their destroying grain and potatoes; and so far is this carried that I know persons who offer a reward for every rook that is killed on their land; yet so mistaken do I deem them, as to consider that no living creature is so serviceable to the farmer, except the live stock he keeps on his farm, as the rook. In the neighbourhood of my native place is a rookery belonging to THE PSALMS, Metrically and Historically Wm. Vavasour, Esq., of Weston, in Wharfdale, in which it is estimated there are ten thousand rooks, that one pound of food a-week is a very moderate allowance for each bird,

Edited by the late W. GREENFIELD, Superintendant of the Editorial Department of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

Matters were in this state when Dr. Young commenced his labours. Little or nothing had been done to interpret the hieroglyphics; but the germ of all the succeeding discoveries may be said to have been found, when the idea of fixing the places of proper names had once been suggested, and of considering the corresponding groups of figures as representing their sounds. Having been induced, as he states, "by motives both of private and that nine-tenths of their food consists of Cornhill; Darton and Co., Gracechurch-street; Darton

friendship and of professional obligation," to offer to the editors of a periodical publication an article containing an abstract of the Mithridates of Adelung, a work then lately received from the Continent, the Doctor's curiosity had been very forcibly excited by a note of the editor, Professor Vater, in which the latter asserted, that the unknown language of the Rosetta Stone, and of the bandages often found with the mummies, was capable of being analysed into an alphabet consisting of little more than thirty letters : but, having merely retained a general impression of this original and striking remark, he thought no more of these inscriptions till, early in 1814, they were recalled to his attention by the examination of some fragments of papyrus which had been recently brought to England by Sir W. R. Boughton, and on which, after a hasty inspection of Mr. Akerblad's pamph

worms, insects, and their larvæ; for, although
they do considerable damage to the fields for

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a few weeks in seed-time and a few weeks in
harvest, particularly in backward seasons; yet
a very large proportion of their food, even at
these seasons, consists of insects and worms,S DIET AF GLASGOW, Apon the present Aspect of
which (if we except a few acorns and walnuts
in autumn) form at all other times the whole
of their subsistence. Here, then, if my data
be correct, there is the enormous quantity of
468,000 pounds, or 209 tons, of worms, insects,
and their larvæ, destroyed by the birds of a
single rookery; and to every one who knows
how very destructive to vegetation are the
larvæ of the tribes of insects (as well as worms)
fed upon by rooks, some slight idea may be
formed of the devastation which rooks are the

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