Sayfadaki görseller
PDF
ePub

A branch of the Tygris falls into the Euphrates at Gomeric; and the author proceeded up it, through a country extremely desolate, though bearing evident marks of former culture. The towns of Vasit and Hie are situated on this branch, the inhabitants of which are justly dreaded for their barbarous treatment of travellers. A small army of Turkish soldiers was incamped on the banks of the Tygris, which our author (through misinformation) calls Shat al Amara. There is a small town of that name in the vicinity, whence the inhabitants of that place may have called it the Amara river, but Dijela is its only Arabic name; it is here about a mile broad, with very steep banks. Mr. Jackson did not stop to view the ruins of Ctesiphon, whose lofty walls and towers still cover the abrupt sides of the declivities which overhang the Tygris.

Bagdad is a large and populous city, extending three miles along the eastern bank of the river; and the length of the walls from the river being about two miles, it has the form of an oblong square. The houses, though very inferior to the European, are much better built than those of Basora, but nearly in the same style. Many of the public buildings, such as mosques, minarets, and hummums, are constructed of hewn stone, and make a very handsome is also an extensive Bazar, which is well supplied with variety appearance. Here of articles; but the prices are in general much higher than at Basora.' Scorpions, tarantulas, and other noxious insects were very numerous. All persons at this season of the year sleep on the tops of their houses. The environs of Bagdad to the west and north are altogether barren; to the east, there are excellent gardens; and the opposite bank of the river supplies a great variety of fruits and vegetables. Bagdad at present is supposed to contain more treasure than any city of equal size in the world: and the immense quantity of specie and bullion found in the coffers of the late Kya, or Prime Minister, (amounting to upwards of three millions. sterling) seems to warrant such a conjecture.'

[ocr errors]

Mr. Jackson procceded on horseback from Bagdad to Mosul, the capital of Curdistan, and supposed by the orientals to be the antient Niniveh; which name, indeed, it still retains. His route thither lay some miles north from the Tygris, and extended through a number of towns and cultivated regions, as well as tracts of a different description. The wild hogs which infest the latter are of an enormous size, and a deep red colour. The country yields much bitumen.

Near the naptha pits.

summit of a mountain, Mr. J. found several
These are dug out of the rock, at about three

feet

[ocr errors]

feet deep, and into them the naptha oozes in a thick liquid, having a very strong smell, nearly resembling that of our coal tar. Just above these pits, were several rocks of salt.

From a want of knowlege of the Arabic language, and from the ignorance of those with whom he conversed, Mr. Jackson has been led into a variety of mistakes in the names of places. -He passed through Arbil, meaning Arbela, famous for the defeat of Darius.) It exhibits the remains of an old castle on the top of an artificial hill on the west side of the town, and in the vicinity are several naptha pits.' The hills of this country are distinguished for the singularity of their appearance. 'We soon found ourselves among some hills shaped like hay-cocks, which appear to have been so formed by water, being covered with pebbles and shells, like those usually seen on the sides of rivers.' The principal river, which augments the volume of the Tygris in the course of this tract, is the Zab, which Mr. Jackson calls Zarp.

Mosul is a very large town, and contains many handsome buildings exclusive of the hummums, mosques, and minarets, which are all built of hewn stone. Here is not so much reserve of manners as in the cities to the eastward, women of all descriptions being nearly as much exposed as in Europe. The town is very populous, and comprises men of various religions; but the great bulk of the inhabitants are Curds. The Bazar is large and well supplied; and most of the articles, except cloathing, are very moderate. Various manufactories are carried on, and in some they excel the Europeans. Their saddles and trappings for horses, in particular, are very elegant. They also make carpets of silk, with flowers worked in them, which seem to vie with the best of our manufactures. They are also very dexterous in making edgings and trimmings of various kinds, both for men and women. Their manufactories in copper and iron too are very numerous.'-The town is surrounded by a strong lofty wall built with hewn stone. The space within the wall is not entirely occupied with houses, many places being covered with ruins, which proves that it has once been much more populous than at present.'

These ruins extend to a great distance on the banks of the river.

If the hills that are shaped like a hay-cock be admitted to be of natural origin, which the marine exuviæ certainly indicate, we should hesitate to admit Mr. Jackson's conclusion respecting the artificial construction of those which he mentions in the following paragraph:

Near this rivulet is a lofty mound of carth, which commands an extensive prospect over the plain. On the top of this mound, the Sheikh kept a watch the whole day to prevent a surprize. Of those lofty mounds of earth there are many in this country, and

they

[ocr errors]

they are no doubt artificial, as they always stand singly on extensive plains. They must, however, have cost much labour, some of them being extremely large.'

From Mosul to Diarbekir, Mr. Jackson's route lay south of the Tygris, through a country formerly well cultivated, but now neglected. Mardin was in his course.

It is situated at the top of a very lofty and rugged mountain, is a city of considerable size, and very populous. The greater part of the inhabitants are Armenians, who are very industrious, and carry on several manufactories. The city is surrounded by a strong and lofty wall built with hewn stone; and on the summit of the mountain is a strong fort, on which a few cannon are mounted.'

The inhabitants, who seem to be a hospitable well disposed people, enjoy a pure air, have as fair complexions as the people in England, and in general appear ruddy and healthy. Many of the women are very beautiful, and expose their persons nearly as much as the ladies in Europe. Provisions, and vegetables in particular, are plentiful, good, and cheap; they have also most kinds of fruits, and of the finest quality, the climate being exceedingly hot in the valleys, and temperate on the mountains.'

After having quitted Mardin, the author found the Arabic language gradually laid aside; and Turkish became the prevailing idiom.-Diarbekir was next visited. This capital of a country bearing the same name is pleasantly situated on an eminence, on the western bank of the Tygris, populous, and abounding in flourishing manufactures.

Our limits will not admit of extracting so copiously as we could have wished, from this plain and unadorned narrative of a writer, who passed expeditiously through a country which is interesting on a variety of accounts, and is but imperfectly known to Europeans. We must now confine ourselves, therefore, to little more than a bare indication of his route, till we have conducted him to the borders of Europe; where we shall take our leave.

The route from Diarbekir to Gaban Medan lay through a tract intersected by very steep mountains, abounding in copper. It is wrought for the Turkish government, who have established a number of smelting houses for the purpose, and is exported in great quantities to Basora and other places. An extensive waste stretches from Gaban Medan to Sivas, which is infested by banditti, who proved extremely troublesome to Mr. Jackson, though he was provided with a military escort. Sivas is the antient Sebastia, capital of Cappadocia, washed by the Casalmac, (formerly the Ceraunius.) It is as large as Liverpool, and (Mr. Jackson thinks) as populous. On this supposition, the country in question must be much better peopled than it is generally imagined to be; for we meet with three

towns,

towns, all stated to be as large as Sivas, viz. Tocat (probably Neocesarea), Amasia (the. birth-place of Strabo), and Marsivan. The interjacent country is represented as fruitful in a high degree, populous, and intersected by mountains of great height, the sides of which are nearly perpendicular.-From Marsivan, the author proceeded through Tosie, Boli, Sabanja, Ismit, (we suspect, Nicmid or Nicomedia,) where he came to the sea, and thence to Scutari and Constantinople, which he reached in about seven weeks after his departure from Basora; the journey being thus performed in the months of July and August.

We conclude that Mr. Jackson was not extremely solicitous to collect observations on the history, civil and natural, of the countries through which he passed: but, had it been otherwise, the time would not have admitted of those inquiries. Such remarks as he has committed to paper are delivered with perspicuity and judgment.

MONTHLY CATALOGUE, For SEPTEMBER, 1800.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, &c.

Art. 17. An Essay on the Nature and Connection of Heat, Electricity, and Light. By Alexander Anstruther, Esq. of Madras, Barrister at Law. 8vo. pp. 61. 25. Murray and Highley. 18oo. THE identity of electricity with heat and light was, some years ago,

a favourite speculation with several philosophers, when the dis coveries respecting the electric fluid were objects of general admira tion. Mr. Anstruther has revived the same supposition, but on theoretical grounds only. As it appears that his essay was written in 1798, we shall only refer him to the very interesting experiments of Count Rumford; which have discovered new relations, though they have not ascertained the essence, of heat. The facts, on this most curious subject, cannot yet lead to so general a conclusion as that at which Mr. Anstruther aims.

POLITICS, &c.

Art. 18. Observations on the Danger of a premature Peace. By Alexander Annesley. 8vo. 18. Murray and Highley. 1800., The zealous advocates for unceasing war are like the man in the gospel; they do not sit down and count the cost." Peace in some respects may ba dangerous, but protracted war, at an expence of 64 millions per ann. must eventually be ruin. If peace must not be made till improbabilities, or even impossibilities, are accomplished, no hope can be entertained of the return of the blood stained sword to its scabbard.After the years that have been consumed in war, can peace now be premature? Is it not high time to try its efficacy, and to see whether our aim cannot be obtained as completely by its mild

influence,

influence, as by the horrid energies of the opposite system? The arguments of Mr. Annesley would go to prove, that we ought not to make peace with France till we have destroyed her geographical situation, or have prevented the possibility of her having any trade.. Art. 19. A Letter to the Hon. Charles James Fox, and the other Members in Opposition; on the present State of Europe, the Restoration of the House of Bourbon, and Peace with the French' Republic. By Count Zenobio. Translated from the French. 8vo. IS. Ridgeway. 1800.

urges

Unlike the author of the preceding pamphlet, Count Zenobio an immediate peace, and the abandonment of every idea of restoring the House of Bourbon to the functions of royalty in France. He endeavours to impress his readers with a conviction of the impolicy of maintaining the present bloody contest, which he attributes solely to the British Ministry.

In the first edition of this pamphlet, the Count had called Mr. Pitt vile: but he here retracts the epithet, and allows that the term does not belong to him. He owns, also, that the British nation has deserved well of humanity.

Art. 20. The Rev. Arthur O'Leary's Address to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the Parliament of Great Britain; to which is annexed, an Account of Sir Henry Mildmay's Bill relative to. Nuns. 8vo. 25. Booker.

This title prepared us to expect a discussion of the subject of monastic institutions: but, on perusal, we found that the pamphlet is chiefly employed in vindicating the catholics against the aspersions of protestants. Though we do not altogether admire Mr. O'Leary's method of treating his subject, we are ready to allow that catholics. have ground for complaint. The present race of catholic priests may be misrepresented, but they should honestly confess that the court of Rome did formerly make a trade of indulgences; they may also plead for the privilege of celibacy, but they should allow that it is not a natural state, and that it is not wise in a country to coun tenance and endow it.

Art. 21.

AGRICULTURE, &c.

A Treatise on the Culture of Wheat. By William Dal-' rymple, Esq. 8vo. 25. Becket. 1800.

We are not desirous of resembling the vulgar herd of agricul turists who laugh at gentlemen-farmers. We would rather encourage men of science and property to make experiments in every province of rural economy; persuaded that, though all may not reap profit and fame, the general result will be the improvement of the most useful of all professions. To us, therefore, Col. Dalrymple may spare himself the trouble of making an apology for this publication; which affords a proof that, whether or not his retirement at Chessington has been otium cum dignitate, it has been otium cum scientiâ. He modestly tells us that there is little new in his treatise: but it shewa that he has read with judgment, and has ably conducted himself in practice amid a mass of discordant opinions. He commences with an useful fact respecting the growth of wheat, noticed by Dr. Hunter

[blocks in formation]
« ÖncekiDevam »