2 "The Arabians divide their day into twenty-four hours, and reckon them from one setting sun to another. As very few among them know what a watch is, and as they conceive but imperfectly the duration of an hour, they usually determine time almost as when we say, it happened about noon, about evening, &c. The moment when the sun disappears is called Maggrib; about two hours afterwards they call it El ascha ; two hours later, El Märfa; midnight, Nus el lejl; the dawn of morning, El fedsjer; sun rise, Es subhh. They eat about nine in the morning, and that meal is called El għadda; noon, Ed duhhr; three hours after noon, El asr. Of all these divisions of time, only noon and midnight are well ascertained; they both fall upon the twelfth hour. The others are earlier or later, as the days are short or long. The five hours appointed for prayer are Maggrib, Nus el lejl, Elfedsjer, Duhhr, and El asr.". -Niebuhr, Desc. de l'Arabie. "The Turks say, in allusion to their canonical hours, that prayer is a tree which produces five sorts of fruit, two of which the sun sees, and three of which he never sees."-Pietro della Valle. 3 The use of the bath was forbidden the Moriscoes in Spain, as being an anti-christian custom! I recollect no superstition but the Romish in which nastiness is accounted a virtue; "as if," says Jortin, "piety and filth were synonymous, and religion, like the itch, could be caught by wearing foul clothes." 4 "The effects of the Simoom are instant suffocation to every living creature that happens to be within the sphere of its activity, and immediate putrefaction of the carcasses of the dead. The Arabians discern its approach by an unusual redness in the air, and they say that they feel a smell of sulphur as it passes. The only means by which any person 38. Look! how his eye delighted watches thine ! .. Gape at the winning tale! .. To lose no word of that delightful talk. Upon the stripling's arm The Sorcerer laid his hand, 39. While the sudden shoot of joy Made pale Abdaldar's cheek, The Master's voice was heard ; "It is the hour of prayer,.. My children, let us purify ourselves, And praise the Lord our God !” The Boy the water brought; After the law they purified themselves,3 And bent their faces to the earth in prayer. 40. All, save Abdaldar; over Thalaba He stands, and lifts the dagger to destroy. Its impulse to descend, They rose, and lo! the Sorcerer lying dead, can preserve himself from suffering by these noxious blasts, is by throwing himself down with his face upon the earth, till this whirlwind of poisonous exhalations has blown over, which always moves at a certain height in the atmosphere. Instinct even teaches the brutes to incline their heads to the ground on these occasions."- Niebuhr. "The Arabs of the desert call these winds Semoum, or poison, and the Turks Shamyela, or wind of Syria, from which is formed the Samiel. "Their heat is sometimes so excessive, that it is difficult to form any idea of its violence without having experienced it; but it may be compared to the heat of a large oven at the moment of drawing out the bread. When these winds begin to blow, the atmosphere assumes an alarming aspect. The sky, at other times so clear in this climate, becomes dark and heavy; the sun loses his splendour, and appears of a violet colour. The air is not cloudy, but grey and thick, and is in fact filled with an extremely subtile dust, which penetrates every where. This wind, always light and rapid, is not at first remarkably hot, but it increases in heat in proportion as it continues. All animated bodies soon discover it, by the change it produces in them. The lungs, which a too rarefied air no longer expands, are contracted, and become painful. Respiration is short and difficult, the skin parched and dry, and the body consumed by an internal heat. In vain is recourse had to large draughts of water; nothing can restore perspiration. In vain is coolness sought for; all bodies in which it is usual to find it, deceive the hand that touches them. Marble, iron, water, notwithstanding the sun no longer appears, are hot. The streets are deserted, and the dead silence of night reigns every where. The inhabitants of houses and villages shut themselves up in their houses, and those of the desert in their tents, or in pits they dig in the earth, where they wait the termination of this destructive heat. It usually lasts three days; but if it exceeds that time, it becomes insupportable. Woe to the traveller whom this wind surprises remote from shelter! he must suffer all its dreadful consequences, which sometimes are mortal. The danger is most imminent when it blows in squalls, for then the rapidity of the wind increases the heat to such a degree as to cause sudden death. This death is a real suffocation; the lungs, being empty, are convulsed, the circulation disordered, and the whole mass of blood driven by the heart towards the head and breast; whence that hæmorrhage at the nose and mouth which happens after death. This wind is especially fatal to persons of a plethoric habit, and those in whom fatigue has destroyed the tone of the muscles and the vessels. The corpse remains a long time warm, swells, turns blue, and is easily separated; all which are signs of that putrid fermentation which takes place in animal bodies when MOATH. I know not; . . but it may be That on the Table of Destiny, thy name Is written their Destroyer, and for this Thy life by yonder miserable man So sought, so saved by interfering Heaven. THALABA. His ring has some strange power then? the humours become stagnant. These accidents are to be avoided by stopping the nose and mouth with handkerchiefs : an efficacious method likewise is that practised by the camels, who bury their noses in the sand, and keep them there till the squall is over. "Another quality of this wind is its extreme aridity; which is such, that water sprinkled on the floor evaporates in a few minutes. By this extreme dryness, it withers and strips all the plants; and by exhaling too suddenly the emanations from animal bodies, crisps the skin, closes the pores, and causes that feverish heat which is the invariable effect of suppressed perspiration."— Volney. MOATH. Every gem, So sages say, hath virtue 1; but the science, Of difficult attainment; some grow pale, Conscious of poison 2, or with sudden change Of darkness, warn the wearer; some preserve From spells, or blunt the hostile weapon's edge; 3. Some open rocks and mountains, and lay bare Their buried treasures; others make the sight Strong to perceive the presence of those Beings Through whose pure essence as through empty air The unaided eye would pass; And in yon stone I deem Some such mysterious quality resides. THALABA. My father, I will wear it. MOATH. Thalaba! 1 From the Mirror of Stones I extract a few specimens of the absurd ideas once prevalent respecting precious stones. "The Amethyst drives away drunkenness; for, being bound on the navel, it restrains the vapour of the wine, and so dissolves the ebriety. "Alectoria is a stone of a crystalline colour, a little darkish, somewhat resembling limpid water; and sometimes it has veins of the colour of flesh. Some call it Gallinaceus, from the place of its generation, the intestines of capons, which were castrated at three years old, and had lived seven; before which time the stone ought not to be taken out, for the older it is, so much the better. When the stone is become perfect in the capon, he don't drink. However, it is never found bigger than a large bean. The virtue of this stone is, to render him who carries it invisible. Being held in the mouth, it allays thirst, and therefore is proper for wrestlers; makes a woman agreeable to her husband; bestows honours, and preserves those already acquired; it frees such as are bewitched; it renders a man eloquent, constant, agreeable, and amiable; it helps to regain a lost kingdom, and acquire a foreign one. "Borar, Nosa, Crapondinus, are names of the same stone, which is extracted from a toad. There are two species: that which is the best is rarely found; the other is black or dun with a cerulean glow, having in the middle the similitude of an eye, and must be taken out while the dead toad is yet panting; and these are better than those which are extracted from it after a long continuance in the ground. They have a wonderful efficacy in poisons. For whoever has taken poison, let him swallow this, which being down, it rolls about the bowels, and drives out every poisonous quality that is lodged in the intestines, and then passes through the fundament, and is preserved. "Corvia or Corvina, is a stone of a reddish colour, and accounted artificial. On the calends of April boil the eggs, taken out of a Crow's nest, till they are hard; and, being cold, let them be placed in the nest as they were before. When the crow knows this, she flies a long way to find the stone; and, having found it, returns to the nest; and the eggs being touched with it, they become fresh and prolific. The stone must immediately be snatched out of the nest. Its virtue is to increase riches, to bestow honours, and to foretell many future events. "Kinocetus is a stone not wholly useless, since it will cast out devils." 2" Giafar, the founder of the Barmecides, being obliged to fly from Persia, his native country, took refuge at Damascus, and implored the protection of the Caliph Soliman. When he was presented to that prince, the Caliph suddenly changed THALABA. In God's name, and the Prophet's! be its power Good, let it serve the righteous; if for evil, God, and my trust in Him, shall hallow it. 2. So Thalaba drew on The written ring of gold. Then in the hollow grave They laid Abdaldar's corpse, And levell'd over him the desert dust. 3. The Sun arose, ascending from beneath As Thalaba to his ablutions went, colour, and commanded him to retire, suspecting that he had poison about him. Soliman had discovered it by means of ten stones which he wore upon his arm. They were fastened there like a bracelet, and never failed to strike one against the other, and make a slight noise when any poison was near. Upon enquiry it was found that Giafar carried poison in his ring, for the purpose of self-destruction, in case he had been taken by his enemies."- Marigny. These foolish old superstitions have died away, and gems are now neither pounded as poison, nor worn as antidotes. But the old absurdities respecting poisons have been renewed in our days, by authors who have revived the calumnies alleged against the Knights-Templar, as if with the hope of exciting a more extensive persecution. 3 In the country called Panten, or Tathalamasin, “there be canes called Cassan, which overspread the earth like grasse, and out of every knot of them spring foorth certaine branches, which are continued upon the ground almost for the space of a mile. In the sayd canes there are found certaine stones, one of which stones whosoever carryeth about with him, cannot be wounded with any yron; and therefore the men of that country for the most part carry such stones with them, whithersoever they goe. Many also cause one of the armes of their children, while they are young, to be launced, putting one of the said stones into the wound, healing also, and closing up the said wound with the powder of a certain fish (the name whereof I do not know), which powder doth im mediately consolidate and cure the said wound. And by the vertue of these stones, the people aforesaid doe for the most i part triumph both on sea and land. Howbeit there is one kind of stratageme which the enemies of this nation, knowing the vertue of the sayd stones, doe practise against them: namely, they provide themselves armour of yron or steele against their arrowes, and weapons also poisoned with the poyson of trees; and they carry in their hands wooden stakes most sharp and hard-pointed, as if they were yron: likewise they shoot arrowes without yron heades, and so they confound and slay some of their unarmed foes, trusting too securely unto the vertue of their stones.” — Odoricus in Hakluyt. We are obliged to jewellers for our best accounts of the East. In Tavernier there is a passage curiously characteristic of his profession. A European at Delhi complained to him that he had polished and set a large diamond for Oreng-zebe, who had never paid him for his work. But he did not understand his trade, says Tavernier; for if he had been a skilful jeweller, he would have known how to take two or three pieces out of the stone, and pay himself better than the Mogul would have done. The desert dust lay dark and close around; 4. Amazed to hear the tale, Forth from the tent came Moath and his child. Awhile he stood contemplating the corpse Silent and thoughtfully; Then turning, spake to Thalaba, and said, "I have heard that there are places by the abode Of holy men, so holily possess'd,1 That should a corpse be laid irreverently Within their precincts, the insulted ground, Impatient of pollution, heaves and shakes The abomination out. 1 " And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. "And it came to pass as they were burying a man, that behold they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood up on his feet."-2 Kings, xiii. 20, 21. "It happened the dead corpse of a man was cast ashore at Chatham, and, being taken up, was buried decently in the churchyard. Now there was an image or rood in the church, called our Lady of Chatham. This Lady, say the Monks, went the next night and roused up the clerk, telling him that a sinful person was buried near the place where she was worshipped, who offended her eyes with his ghastly grinning; and unless he were removed, to the great grief of good people she must remove from thence, and could work no more miracles. Therefore she desired him to go with her to take him up, and throw him into the river again: which being done, soon after the body floated again, and was taken up and buried in the churchyard; but from that time all miracles ceased, and the place where he was buried did continually smk downwards. This tale is still remembered by some aged people, receiving it by tradition from the popish times of darkness and idolatry.” — Admirable Curiosities, Rarities, and Wonders in England. "When Alboquerque wintered at the Isle of Camaram, in the Red Sea, a man at arms, who died suddenly, was thrown overboard. In the night the watch felt several shocks, as :though the ship were striking on a sand bank. They put out the boat, and found the dead body clinging to the keel by the rudder. It was taken up and buried on shore; and in the morning it was seen lying on the grave. Frey Francisco was then consulted. He conjectured that the deceased had died under excommunication, and therefore absolved him. They interred him again, and then he rested in the grave." -Joam de Barros. Dec. 2. 8. 3. * Matthew of Westminster says, the story of the Old Woman of Berkeley will not appear incredible, if we read the dialogue of St. Gregory, in which he relates how the body of a man buried in the church was thrown out by the devils. Charles Martel also, because he had appropriated great part of the tithes to pay his soldiers, was most miserably, by the wicked spirits, taken bodily out of his grave. "The Turks report, as a certain truth, that the corpse of Heyradin Barbarossa was found, four or five times, out of the ground, lying by his sepulchre, after he had been there inhumed; nor could they possibly make him lie quiet in his grave, till a Greek wizard counselled them to bury a black dog together with the body; which done, he lay still and gave them no farther trouble."- Morgan's History of Algiers. Have then in elder times the happy feet Of Patriarch, or of Prophet bless'd the place, Ishmael, or Houd, or Saleah, or than all, Mahommed, holier name? Or is the man So foul with magic and all blasphemy, That Earth, like Heaven, rejects him? 2 It is best Forsake the station. Let us strike our tent. The place is tainted.. and behold The Vulture hovers yonder 3, and his scream Chides us that still we scare him from the prey. So let the accursed one, Torn by that beak obscene, Find fitting sepulchre." 5. Then from the pollution of death With water they made themselves pure; In supernatural affairs, seals and dogs seem to possess a sedative virtue. When peace was made, about the year 1170, between the Earls of Holland and Flanders, "it was concluded, that Count Floris should send unto Count Philip a thousand men, expert in making of ditches, to stop the hole which had beene made neere unto Dam, or the Sluce, whereby the countrey was drowned round about at everie high sea; the which the Flemings could by no means fill up, neither with wood, nor any other matter, for that all sunke as in a gulfe without any bottome; whereby, in succession of time, Bruges, and all that jurisdiction, had been in daunger to have bin lost by inundation, and to become all sea, if it were not speedily repaired. Count Floris having taken possession of the isle of Walcharen, returned into Holland, from whence hee sent the best workmen he could find in all his countries, into Flanders, to make dikes and causeies, and to stop the hole neere unto this Dam, or Sluce, and to recover the drowned land. These diggers being come to the place, they found at the entrie of this bottomless hole, a Sea-dog, the which for six dayes together, did nothing but crie out and howle very fearfully. They, not knowing what it might signifie, having consulted of this accident, they resolved to cast this dog into the hole. There was a mad-headed Hollander among the rest, who, going into the bottome of the dike, tooke the dogge by the taile, and cast him into the middest of the gulfe; then speedily they cast earth and torfe into it, so as they found a bottome, and by little and little filled it up. And for that many workmen came to the repairing of this dike, who, for that they would not be far from their worke, coucht in Cabines, which seemed to be a pretie towne, Count Philip gave unto all these Hollanders, Zeelanders, and others, that would inhabit there, as much land as they could recover from Dam to Ardenbourg, for them and their successors, for ever, with many other immunities and freedoms. By reason whereof many planted themselves there, and in succession of time, made a good towne there, the which by reason of this dog, which they cast into the hole, they named Hondtsdam, that is to say, a dog's sluce; Dam in Flemish signifying a sluce, and Hondt dog; and therefore at this day, the said towne (which is simply called Dam) carrieth a dog in their armes and blason."— Grimestone's Historie of the Netherlands, 1608. 3 The Vulture is very serviceable in Arabia, clearing the earth of all carcasses, which corrupt very rapidly in hot countries. He also destroys the field mice, which multiply so prodigiously in some provinces, that, were it not for this assistance, the peasant might cease from the culture of the fields as absolutely vain. Their performance of these im. portant services induced the ancient Egyptians to pay those birds divine honours, and even at present it is held unlawful to kill them in all the countries which they frequent."Niebuhr. At midnight Thalaba started up, For he felt that the ring on his finger was moved; And he call'd on the Prophet's name. "What ails thee, Thalaba?" he cried, And thy shadow is black on the ground." 8. Thalaba answer'd not. "Spirit!" he cried, "what brings thee here? In the name of the Prophet, speak, In the name of Allah, obey!" 9. He ceased, and there was silence in the tent. "Dost thou not hear?" quoth Thalaba; The listening man replied, "I hear the wind, that flaps The curtain of the tent." 10. "The Ring! the Ring!" the youth exclaim'd. "For that the Spirit of Evil comes; By that I see, by that I hear. In the name of God, I ask thee, DEMON. Master of the powerful Ring! Okba, the dread Magician, did the deed. THALABA. Where does the Murderer dwell? DEMON. In the Domdaniel caverns, Under the Roots of the Ocean. THALABA. Why were my Father and my brethren slain? DEMON. We knew from the race of Hodeirah The destined Destroyer would come. THALABA. Bring me my father's sword! DEMON. A Fire surrounds the fatal sword; No Spirit or Magician's hand Can pierce that fated Flame. THALABA. Bring me his bow and his arrows! 11. Distinctly Moath heard the youth, and She Who, through the Veil of Separation, watch'd The while in listening terror, and suspense All too intent for prayer. They heard the voice of Thalaba; But when the Spirit spake, the motionless air Felt not the subtile sounds, Too fine for mortal sense. 12. On a sudden the rattle of arrows was heard, And a quiver was laid at the feet of the youth, And in his hand they saw Hodeirah's bow. He eyed the bow, he twang'd the string, And his heart bounded to the joyous tone. Anon he raised his voice and cried, "Go thy way, and never more, Evil spirit, haunt our tent ! By the virtue of the Ring, By Mahommed's holier might, By the holiest name of God, Thee, and all the Powers of Hell, I adjure and I command Never more to trouble us!" 13. Nor ever from that hour Did rebel Spirit on the tent intrude Such virtue had the Spell. 14. Thus peacefully the vernal years Till now, without an effort, he could bend Black were his eyes and bright, The sunny hue of health His lip was darken'd by maturing life; Strong were his shapely limbs, his stature tall; Peerless among Arabian youths was he. 15. Compassion for the child Had first old Moath's kindly heart possess'd, An orphan, wailing in the wilderness; But when he heard his tale, his wondrous tale, Told by the Boy, with such eye-speaking truth |