Next follows an account of the revolution at Constantinople in the year 1730, in which the Sultan Achmet III. was deposed. The events in this narrative are not clearly related; and the few reflections that are interspersed require some of the allowance to which, as being the ideas of a young man, they may be intitled. The facts however, we doubt not, will be received as authentic, considering the writer's means of acquiring information respecting an event which was then so

recent.

Departing from Constantinople, they sailed to Smyrna ; which, says Lord S. of all the seven cities, that contended for the honour of having been the birth-place of Homer, has undoubtedly the most reason on her side.' From Smyrna, they sailed to Scio antiently Chios. The island of Scio,' says the author, may be justly esteemed the most beautiful and flourishing island of the whole Archipelago.' The capital city, which bears the same name as the island, may very well be reckoned one of the fairest cities throughout the whole Levant.' The principal produce of this island is the mastic, a very rich gum, of which it yields every year an incredible quantity.'

Sailing by Samos and Patmos, they anchored at Stanchio; an island which rivals, if not surpasses, the island of Scio in beauty and fertility.' Among the curiosities of Stanchio, is noticed a sycamore tree: It extends its branches, which are supported by many antient pillars of porphyry, verd antique, and other precious marbles, in the exact form of a circle, from the outward verge of which to the trunk I measured forty-five large paces. Beneath the shade of this sycamore is a very beautiful fountain, round which the Turks have erected several chiosks or summer houses.'

Two days after their departure from Stanchio, the voyagers anchored at Rhodes, but were obliged immediately to put to sea with all expedition, as they were informed that the island had been for some time afflicted with the plague. To make the reader amends, eighteen pages are employed on a history of Rhodes, beginning at the two hundredth and tenth year after the Deluge. This island is described as by no means yielding to Stanchio in fruitfulness.' In six days from Rhodes, they anchored opposite to the city of Arnicho in Cyprus. A summary history of this island, from the earliest accounts, is given; and it is one of the most entertaining and best digested abridgments that we find in the work. Cyprus is described to be in the winter, one of the most agreeable habitations in the world; the climate being mild and temperate, the air wholesome, and the face of the country covered with a most delightful verdure; in the

summer

summer it bears a quite different appearance, being burnt up by the scorching rays of the sun, and frequently overwhelmed by incredible numbers of locusts, which, after having devoured all the products of the earth, die in the months of July and August, and by the infected vapours which arise from the putrefaction of their carcasses, either produce the plague or malignant fevers, no less fatal to the inhabitants.'-Of almost every island mentioned in the passage from Constantinople, the author has given a short history.

Three days after having left Cyprus, the voyagers anchored at Alexandria. They visited Grand Cairo, the pyramids, (engravings of which accompany the descriptions,) and the catacombs. The descent into these latter affords much curious matter. In the account of Egypt, is included a history of the Nile, and of the religion of the antient Egyptians.-Among the curiosities of Cairo, is mentioned an hospital with very plentiful endowments for two thousand blind men.'-The dancing devotions of the dervises are described nearly in the same manner as by other travellers.-Of the Bedoween Arabs,' we are told;

They have a secret to defend themselves against the bite of vipers, the effects of which are so extraordinary, that, had I not been an eye witness, I should have given very little credit to any accounts of them. Many of these Arabs make it their livelihood to gather vipers, which they find in great quantities upon the verge of the desert; disposing of them for three sequins a hundred to the apothecaries of Grand Cairo. The manner of their gathering them is by observing early in the morning their traces in the sand, which they follow till they discover the animal, which without the least hesitation they take up in their fingers, and put him into a large leathern bag containing sometimes six or seven hundred vipers. It was in an apothecary's shop that I saw one of these people come in with a bag of an hundred, who, after he had made his bargain, seated himself on the ground, together with his two companions, and taking the vipers out of the sack one by one, cut off their heads, skinned and gutted them. They made no sort of difficulty of putting their hands into the sack, and taking up an handful of these noxious animals, in the same manner as I have seen people put their hands into a basket of corn, and take up an handful to examine the goodness of it. To my enquiries I was answered, it was a gift enjoyed only by two families, delivered to them by a saint many ages ago.-What to me seems most probable, is that they are acquainted with some herb, to which these venomous creatures have such an antipathy, that if they rub any part of their bodies with it, it incapacitates them from biting that part. Among these vipers are some rather less than the others, differing about the head, upon which they carry two horns about a quarter of an inch long. The bite of these horned vipers is inevitable death. The Arabs, however, treated these with the same familiarity as they did the others, letting them run between their fingers, putting

them

them into their bosoms, and farther, to satisfy my curiosity, running their fingers into their mouths without the least dread or hesitation.

Leaving Egypt, Lord S. and his companions sailed to the westward, and anchored at Lampedosa, an island situated between Malta and the coast of Tunis. According to our author, this island is 30 miles in circumference; an extent beyond that which has commonly been ascribed to it. They found here only one solitary inhabitant, a hermit, whose habitation was a grotto: but the island was formerly well peopled, and subject to the King of Naples and Sicily. It has a good port, near to which stood a city, with a strong castle. They were always a very unhappy people, being continually exposed to the depredations of the Turkish cruizers; by whom under the command of the renowned Barberoussa, they were in the end all made prisoners, and transported to Algiers, ever since which the island has remained uninhabited.'-The worthy hermit appears to have cultivated the good will equally of Christians and Mahometans. Joining to the cavern, serving for his habitation, is a chapel of the same nature, in which he celebrates mass. Opposite to this chapel is another grotto, in which is the tomb of a Turkish saint. The hermit keeps a lamp always burning at the head of his tomb, upon which account he remains unmolested by the Mahometans, who frequently come to Lampedosa to water their ships and galleys.'

The next course of the voyagers was to Malta; the descripion of which island is accompanied by a history of the Knights, from the origin of their institution as Knights Hospitallers; and by an account of the different establishments and regulations of the order. Here the ship performed quarantine.

The sequel of the voyage was to Lisbon, then back to Gibraltar, (the streights between which and Africa the author has described to be only four leagues in breadth,) to Malaga, to Carthagena, to the island of Minorca, and to Genoa: whither being arrived,' says the Earl, I finished my voyage; which, during the whole course of it, had proved much to my satisfaction, and prosperous even beyond expectation.'

Most of the descriptions occurring in this work are of the same character with those which we have noticed in the account of Sicily. To every place or building mentioned, a history "ab origine mundi" is attached; and consequently much more is introduced of what is collected from books, than of what was furnished by the voyage. We are told of the Morea, that the form of the peninsula is likened to the leaf of a plane tree by Dionysius in his Periegesis; the Isthmus being compared to the stalk, and the many gulphs that are on each side, to the incisions which are seen in the leaf. It received the

14

name

name of Peloponnesus from Pelops, son of Tantalus; who bringing an army,' &c.-At the Hellespont, Xerxes, enraged, • ordered his attendants to give the sea a hundred stripes, and threw into it a pair of chains as a punishment for presuming to oppose itself to the will and pleasure of so great a monarch,' &c.-Sestos and Abydos' were famous in antiquity for the amorous intercourse of Hero and Leander; a young man of Abydos. It had been his custom for some time to swim over the Hellespont by night; by which he carried on his intrigue with the utmost secrecy. But being detained at home by continued tempests that prevented his passage, and feeling a lover's impatience, he trusted himself to the sea before the storms were entirely abated, and was drowned.' These historical details are embellished with numerous extracts from antient and modern authors, but principally from the former. Many hundred lines (we believe that we should be safe in saying thousands) are thus scattered throughout the volume. All this, however, must have cost very considerable labour; and, indeed, it appears that the completion of his classical studies was one of the Earl's objects in undertaking the voyage.

In the beginning of this article, we remarked on the scarcity of information furnished by the editor respecting the publication of this work. It must be pre-supposing very little curiosity in a reader, if it be expected that he will be satisfied with such slender intelligence as that it was written by the Earl in the years 1738-9, and published by the editor in 1799. Some' circumstances there are which the volume itself sufficiently explains. For instance: it bears all the marks of having been presented to the world exactly in the state in which it was originally composed. Whether the neglect which it experienced from the noble author proceeded from disinclination, or from the pressure of other avocations, we cannot pretend to determine: but, from the length of time, most probably the former was the motive. It may however be presumed, from its being suffered to repose so long on the shelf, that he did not deem it, in an uncorrected state, completely fit for public appearance; and it cannot be doubted that, if he had undertaken the task of revision, it would have been rendered a much more valuable performance. Notwithstanding the unformed style, and other marks of juvenile composition, it exhibits a degree of classical knowlege and an acquaintance with antient history, which are proofs of extraordinary and successful application to study. Many of the remarks indicate an active and observant mind; and sometimes we are presented with very neat historical abridgments.

One of the greatest disappointments, which we experienced in reading this volume, arose from the expectations which we had

8

previously

previously indulged, of being admitted to travel in pleasant society; and of being introduced to some degree of social intercourse with the people of the countries which were visited. So far from being gratified in these hopes, we find no companion; and we meet with scarcely any enlivening anecdote, or incident of any kind, in which the author is personally concerned. In short, the reader of this volume makes as little progress towards an acquaintance with his author, as does the reader of the Modern Universal Gazetteer. This, however, is to be mentioned more as a subject of regret, than a ground of complaint: since the traveller who communicates his discoveries is not, consequently, obliged to relate his adventures.

We ought not to omit to mention that we are furnished with descriptions of several curious coins and medals; and also with copies of various inscriptions, some of which we do not remember to have seen in any other publication.

ART. II. Observations on the various Systems of Canal Navigation, with Inferences practical and mathematical; in which Mr. Fulton's Plan of Wheel-Boats, and the Utility of subterraneous and of small Canals are particularly investigated, including an Account of the Canals and inclined Planes of China. By William Chapman, Member of the Society of Civil Engineers in London, and M. R. I.A. 4to. pp. 104, and 4 Plates. 63. sewed. Taylor,

אן

Holborn.

N the xxiid volume of our New Series, p. 411, we took notice of Mr. Fulton's Treatise on the improvement of canal navigation; and to that article we would now refer our readers, as Mr. F.'s work seems to have principally occafioned the performance at present under consideration: which is a sensible and candid examination of the practicability of Mr. Fulton's ingenibus proposals, conducted in a manner that does Mr. Chapman great credit, and evinces much experience, and knowlege of the subject.

Mr. Chapman commences by describing the various means that have hitherto been practised, for overcoming ascent and descent in canals and rivers; and he observes that

No system can ever be so perfect, as to be unbounded in the propriety of application; and, therefore, the mode of overcoming ascent and descent by locks, which is, undoubtedly, a noble invention, and almost generally useful, is not without its limits, as to utility. Having conceded this point, which every impartial man must do; I feel myself more at liberty to controvert the opinion thrown out by Mr. Fulton, in his Treatise on the improvement of canals, that locks will in future be found to be ineligible in all cases; and be superseded by some system similar to what he has laid down.'

He