Greek auxiliaries. A Greek inscription at Aboosimbel records that " King Psamaticus went as far as Elephantine." These deserters, to the number of 240,000, appear to have renounced their country, and settled in some distant land, variously designated by the Greek writers, which, if ever identified, may throw some light upon the history of that country.

Psamatik kept up a direct intercourse with the Greeks, and established commercial relations with them and the Phoenicians; hence, the incidents of his reign appear to be better known to the Greek writers than those of his predecessors' reigns. Herodotus states that Egypt under this prince was threatened by the Scythians, who were diverted from their purpose of invading the country, partly by presents and partly by entreaty.

Neco II., his successor, a warlike prince, is noticed by sacred as well as profane writers; he re-organized the army, equipped a powerful fleet, and avoided the error of his father, whose innovations had alienated the affections of a people jealous of change and averse to foreigners. Herodotus relates the fact of a voyage of discovery fitted out by this prince, from the Red Sea to the Straits of Gibraltar, which occupied two years. The historian records, what seemed to him an incredible circumstance, but which is a pledge of the authenticity of his narrative, that "they had the sun on their right hand." The expedition which Neco undertook against Babylon, which brought him into conflict with Josiah, king of Judah, is attested by the Hebrew Scriptures and by Herodotus. The name of Neco occurs amongst the hieroglyphics in the great hall of Karnak, showing that he ruled over the upper and lower country; but no sculptures record his victories or the glories of his reign; " and a subject of such great interest as the defeat of the Jewish king is in vain looked for on the monuments of Egypt." Possibly, the reverses he afterwards sustained in the war with Nebuchadnezzar, who, in the language of Scripture, "smote him by the river Euphrates," and re-took his conquests from the Jews, when he carried them captive to Babylon, may have induced the Egyptian monarch to refrain from commemorating events which would necessarily be connected, by his contemporaries at least, with his disgrace.

The successor of this prince, another Psamatik-the Apries of Herodotus, the Pharaoh Hophra of Scripture-is pronounced by the Greek historian a fortunate monarch. He was successful against Gaza, Sidon, Tyre, made himself master of Phoenicia and Palestine, and recovered much of the territory taken from Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, in Syria. The remainder of his reign was, however, unhappy; he fell into the hands of the rebel and usurper, Amasis, and was strangled: an event which, though described by Herodotus, would seem to be told with equal fidelity, by anticipation, by the prophet Jeremiah (xliv. 30), whose words are: "I will give Pharoah Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hands of his enemies, and into the hands. of them that seek his life." Mr. Wilkinson shows how other prophecies in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, relating to Egypt, were fulfilled.

The reign of Amasis, or Ames-Neit-sa, is celebrated in the writings of the Greeks, some of whose sages visited Egypt during his reign, amongst

whom were Pythagoras and Solon. The former was recommended to Amasis by their mutual friend Polycrates, the possessor of the renowned ring; and Solon paid the highest compliment to the laws of King Amasis, by adopting many of them into his code. This prince is stated by Herodotus to have erected and beautified many temples in Upper and Lower Egypt; and he speaks of an edifice of a single stone, brought from the city of Elephantine to Saïs. Many monuments still exist in different parts of Egypt bearing the name of Amasis, one of which, a red granite monolith, at Tel-et-mai, resembles in form that described by Herodotus.

It was the misfortune of this monarch to provoke the resentment of Cambyses, the sovereign of Persia, who invaded Egypt and treated it with unusual barbarity: "temples and public buildings were destroyed; tombs were violated and the bodies burnt; religion was insulted, private property pillaged, and numerous Egyptian captives were transported to Persia." Amasis was dead before the arrival of the Persians: the sarcophagus of his queen has been recently found, the body entirely burnt, apparently by the invaders. Egypt now became a province of Persia, and Cambyses and his seven successors compose the twenty-seventh dynasty. Records of most of his successors are to be found in the hieroglyphical inscriptions; and it is remarkable that Darius (Ntaruosh) is the only Persian king whose phonetic name is accompanied by a prenomen, like those of the ancient Pharoahs of Egypt: "a circumstance satisfactorily confirming the remark of Diodorus, that he obtained while living the appellation of Divus, which applied to no other of the (Persian) kings.'

6

The Egyptians made more than one attempt to throw off the foreign yoke, but in vain, till Amyrtæus (Ao-mo-hor-te), B.C. 414, succeeded in expelling the Persians, and obtaining possession of Memphis and of the whole country. He was the only monarch of the twenty-eighth dynasty. Of the twenty-ninth dynasty of Mendesian kings, there are few records on the monuments; "the arts, which had been on the decline, received a severe blow from the Persian invasion, and many of the finest buildings were mutilated or destroyed." The same remark may be extended to the two succeeding dynasties, of the Sebbennyte and Persian kings; and in B.C. 332, the invasion of the Macedonians transferred the sceptre of Egypt to the Ptolemies.

We have given this brief sketch of the ancient history of Egypt, as connected with its monumental records, principally as an introduction to a notice of the arts and manners of the Egyptians, which will be the subject of the succeeding paper.

AN ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THE PETTY STATES LYING NORTH OF THE TENASSERIM PROVINCES.

Of the numerous petty states north of the Tenasserim provinces, those only of Zimmay, Labong, and Lagon, on the east bank of the Salween, and the slip of country on the west bank, inhabited by a wild, barbarous, but independent tribe of mountaineers, called Red Kayeons, have hitherto been visited by Europeans. Of the vast extent of country between the Salween and Cambodia rivers, we know little or nothing, though it is hoped the expected opening of an overland trade between the frontiers of China and the Tenasserim provinces will extend our knowledge of the intermediate country.

The town of Zimmay (or Changmai) is situated in lat. 20° N. and long. about 99°E. That of Labong is distant from Zimmay only ten miles S.E.; Lagon about 50° S.E. from the same. The several states are named after these towns, but their respective boundaries are not well defined, and, together with those of Moung-pay and Moung-nam, appear to be the patrimony of one family. About fifty years ago, when the whole of this country was under the dominion of Ava, seven brothers succeeded, with the assistance of Siam, in throwing off the Burmese yoke, ejected them from the above-named towns, and having been confirmed in the government of them by Siam, have continued tributary to that kingdom, and successfully resisted all the attempts of Ava to regain possession. The elder brother was invested with the title of Chow-tchee-Weet, or 'Lord of Life,' with the supreme authority over the others, and the title has descended to each brother successively alive till it reached the youngest, whom Dr. Richardson found on his first and second visits, but who died, at the advanced age of seventy-three years, during his third visit. It is now in abeyance in the family, and awaits the decision of the court of Siam.

Of the original inhabitants of this country but a very small portion now obtains, perhaps not above one-third of the whole, owing to the great number that were carried off by the kings of Ava when they overran and subjected the country. The remainder consists chiefly of Burmese, Peguers and Shans, from the different states tributary to Ava; either refugees or slaves; for slavery exists in this country in its worst features. The unfortunate wretches are kidnapped and seized by the hill tribes on the west bank of the Salween, of whom some account will be given, and eagerly purchased from them at very low rates by the people of this country. Dr. Richardson was unable to form an opinion as to the amount of the population. He was told that the towns of Zimmay, Lagon, Moung-pay and Moung-nam contain each about 20,000, and Labong 14,000; but he thinks these numbers exaggerated.

In person the Shans bear a great resemblance to their Burmese and Siamese neighbours, though somewhat fairer. They are muscular, well-formed, and healthy in their appearance; eyes moderately linear; nose small rather than flat; the mouth large, and disfigured by black teeth and gums, which they cherish as a beauty; the hair is long, straight, lank, and almost always black. They tatoo the lower limbs, but to less extent than the Burmese. Their dress consists of a cotton putso or cloth round the loins, generally blue, a blue cotton jacket reaching well over the hips, and a coarse red cotton turban; though many go uncovered. The dress of the chiefs is of the same description, but the materials are more costly. Chinese crape or satin jackets, with gold or silver lace, the putso of silk. The women are fair and good-looking, and their dress more becoming than that of Burmese or Siamese-not open in front, as with the former, nor tucked up between the legs, as with the latter. It is, how

ever, fastened in the same way round the body without pin or string. Old and young have their bosoms bare, or but partially covered by a small scarf thrown round the shoulders. Many of the women are disfigured with goitre, but it seldom attains a large size. The people are a quiet, mild, good-humoured race, and not addicted to many vices. Opium smoking and gambling are scarcely known, and drunkenness is uncommon. The religion is that of Buddh, and consequently their ceremonies and festivals differ in no material manner from those of the Burmese, which are now well known: indeed there is little other difference between the two races than that of dress and language; which latter is a dialect of the Siamese, with a distinct alphabet, bearing in the formation of letters a great resemblance to the Burmese character. Of the resources of a country so thinly populated, and so constantly subjugated to the devastating inroads of both Siamese and Burmese, according as one or other of these powers held the sovereignty, it is not practicable to form an estimate. Speaking of the soil and cultivation, Dr. Richardson says-" The soil in the low paddy and garden lands is a rich black loam, apparently inexhaustible, in which the crops follow each other in uninterrupted succession. Cultivation is conducted with a good deal of care by irrigation and transplanting, and the return on good lands is about 120 and on inferior about seventy-five fold. The general seed time is in July and August, and the harvest in December and January, though some descriptions of paddy are perfected in three months. Their plough closely resembles those used in the south of Scotland, without the coulter or plough-share, and is often drawn by one buffalo. The principal articles of cultivation are the cauthbrier, or gluttinous, rice, cotton, maize, sugar-cane, tobacco, ground-nut, chillies, several kinds of pulse, radishes, and turnips. Of grain, wheat and other corn, they have none. Pepper, cloves, and all the finer species of spices, are unknown." Both the soil and climate seem well suited to the cultivation of Pernambuco cotton, which is now being introduced into the Tenasserim provinces; and it is much to be regretted that the seed with which Dr. Richardson was furnished on his last visit proved bad, as the people evinced great desire to cultivate so valuable an article. If the cultivation of South American cotton is found to answer in the Tenasserim provinces, of which great hopes are entertained, every exertion will be made to introduce it into the neighbouring countries.

Tin, iron, and lead ores, appear to be abundant in the country, and some of them very rich, though it does not appear that the extraction of the metals is engaged in to any extent. Dr. R. was informed that the tin ore yields eighty per cent., and some iron ore that was shown him seemed equally rich. There are extensive teak forests in that part of the country immediately adjoining our provinces; but owing to the difficulty of bringing the timber down the Salween river, in consequence of rocks and rapids, it is doubtful whether we shall be enabled to avail ourselves of that supply to any extent. The country abounds in cattle, to procure which originally, and subsequently to ensure the supply, has been the object of Dr. R.'s several visits. An immense saving has been effected to Government in obtaining from thence sufficient cattle for provisioning the European troops on the coast, in lieu of procuring them from either Bengal or Madras.

The trade of the country is unimportant. An annual caravan visits it from the frontier provinces of China, bringing silk, satins, velvet, and woollens (the latter chiefly English), cooking-vessels, musk, and trifling articles of Chinese manufacture; and carrying away chiefly raw cotton, the produce of the country. It is expected that a portion of this caravan will this year extend their

journey to Maulmain, and hopes are entertained that this will lead to annual visits in increasing numbers, and the opening of an important overland trade between China and our possessions on the Tenasserim coast. From Maulmain are received British piece-goods, chintzes, muslins, hardware, &c., in return for cattle, ivory, and a small quantity of stick-lac. With the hill-tribe on the west bank of the Salween they exchange cattle, grain, and betel-nut (the latter from Maulmain and Bankok), for slaves, tin, lead, and stick-lac.

It is evident from all that Dr. R. observed and reports, that both the chiefs and people of this country are not only desirous of continuing on the most friendly and intimate footing with us, but that they are really grateful for the immense benefit which our presence in their neighbourhood has conferred upon their country; and there is no doubt that should any future danger menace them, they would gladly place themselves under our protection, and see their country under our rule. Our occupation of the provinces has spread peace and happiness over a wide extent of country entirely independent of our authority, by putting an end to that ruthless and devastating system of warfare that had been for ages carried on between the Burmese and Siamese, whose object was not conquest, but solely to plunder and to carry off the defenceless people into irremediable slavery. On many occasions, as Dr. R. passed through the country, the common people and cultivators expressed to him how different was now their state to what it was in former years, when they scarce dared leave the wall of their towns to cultivate their lands; were obliged to be armed and constantly on the alert, and to leave their wives and families in the town; whereas now the country is in every respect equally secure, and they are enabled to follow their avocations without apprehensions of any kind.

The fact may be observed here, that our occupation of the Tenasserim provinces has also proved of incalculable benefit to a large portion of the population of Burmah themselves, as it is well known that the authorities in that country in our immediate neighbourhood, Rangoon for instance, have found themselves obliged to modify their exactions and oppressions, and to govern in a better spirit of justice and humanity, being well aware that the people have a refuge to fly to should they be driven to desperation.*

REMEDY FOR THE SCORPION'S STING.

Major Wallace, secretary to the Agricultural Society of Trichinopoly, communicated (November 1st) to the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of Madras the discovery of a plant (which proves to be the Acnyranthes Aspera, Linn., a common weed about Madras, and all over India), the bruised leaves of which immediately cure the sting of a scorpion: its virtue is such that, by holding it in a bruised state to the scorpion, the creature apparently becomes incapable of stinging. It does not appear that the natives were acquainted with this property of the plant, though (according to Dr. Ainslie) it is one of their medicinal herbs; and in Bahar, Dr. F. Hamilton states, it is used as a remedy in hydrophobia. It grows in Ceylon, and also in the West-Indies and Sicily, though it is not regarded as medicinal there.

*From the Maulmein Chronicle.