Editorial note — LALLA ROOKH

Note 1, p. 2.—He embarked for Arabia.—These particulars of the visit of the King of Bucharia to Aurungzebe are found in Dow’s History of Hindostan, vol. iii. p. 392.

Note 2, p. 2.—Lalla Rookh.—Tulip cheek.

Note 3, p. 2.—Leila.—The mistress of Mejnoun, upon whose story so many Romances in all the languages of the East are founded.

Note 4, p. 2.—Shirine.—For the loves of this celebrated beauty with Khosrou and with Ferhad, see D’Herbelot, Gibbon, Oriental Collections, &c.

Note 5, p. 2.—Dewildé.—“The history of the loves of Dewildé and Chizer, the son of the Emperor Alla, is written in an elegant poem, by the noble Chusero.”—Ferishta.

Note 6, p. 2.—Scattering of the Roses.—Gul Reazee.

Note 7, p. 3.—Emperor’s favour.—“One mark of honour or knighthood bestowed by the Emperor is the permission to wear a small kettledrum at the bows of their saddles, which at first was invented for the training of hawks, and to call them to the lure, and is worn in the field by all sportsmen to that end.”—Fryer’s Travels.

“Those on whom the King has conferred the privilege must wear an ornament of jewels on the right side of the turban, surmounted by a high plume of the feathers of a kind of egret. This bird is found only in Cashmere, and the feathers are carefully collected for the King, who bestows them on his nobles.”—Elphinstone’s Account of Caubul.

Note 8, p. 3.—Keder Khan.—“Khedar Khan, the Khakan, or King of Turquestan beyond the Gihon (at the end of the eleventh century), whenever he appeared abroad, was preceded by seven hundred horsemen with silver battle-axes, and was followed by an equal number bearing maces of gold. He was a great patron of poetry, and it was he who used to preside at public exercises of genius, with four basins of gold and silver by him to distribute among the poets who excelled.”—Richardson’s Dissertation prefixed to his Dictionary.

Note 9, 334p. 3.—Gilt pine-apples.—“The kubdeh, a large golden knob, generally in the shape of a pine-apple, on the top of the canopy over the litter or palanquin.”—Scott’s Notes on the Bahardanush.

Note 10, p. 4.—Sumptuous litter.—In the Poem of Zohair, in the Moallakat, there is the following lively description of “a company of maidens seated on camels.”

“They are mounted in carriages covered with costly awnings, and with rose-coloured veils, the linings of which have the hue of crimson Andem-wood.

“When they ascend from the bosom of the vale, they sit forward on the saddle-cloth, with every mark of a voluptuous gaiety.

“Now, when they have reached the brink of yon blue-gushing rivulet, they fix the poles of their tents like the Arab with a settled mansion.”

Note 11, p. 4.—Argus pheasant’s wing.—See Bernier’s description of the attendants on Raucha-nara-Begum, in her progress to Cashmere.

Note 12, p. 4.—Munificent protector.—This hypocritical Emperor would have made a worthy associate of certain Holy Leagues.—“He held the cloak of religion (says Dow) between his actions and the vulgar; and impiously thanked the Divinity for a success which he owed to his own wickedness. When he was murdering and persecuting his brothers and their families, he was building a magnificent mosque at Delhi, as an offering to God for his assistance to him in the civil wars. He acted as high priest at the consecration of this temple; and made a practice of attending divine service there, in the humble dress of a Fakeer. But when he lifted one hand to the Divinity, he, with the other, signed warrants for the assassination of his relations.”—History of Hindostan, vol. iii. p. 335. See also the curious letter of Aurungzebe, given in the Oriental Collections, vol. i. p. 320.

Note 13, p. 4.—The idol of Jaghernaut.—“The idol at Jaghernat has two fine diamonds for eyes. No goldsmith is suffered to enter the Pagoda, one having stole one of these eyes, being locked up all night with the Idol.”—Tavernier.

Note 14, p. 5.—Royal Gardens of Delhi.—See a description of these Royal Gardens in “An Account of the present State of Delhi, by Lieut. W. Franklin.”—Asiat. Research. vol. iv. p. 417.

Note 15, p. 5.—Lake of Pearl.—“In the neighbourhood is Notte Gill, or the Lake of Pearl, which receives this name from its pellucid water.” Pennant’s Hindoostan.

“Nasir Jung encamped in the vicinity of the Lake of Tonoor, amused himself with sailing on that clear and beautiful water, and gave it the fanciful name of Motee Talah, ‘the Lake of Pearls,’ which it still retains.”—Wilks’s South of India.

Note 16, 335p. 5.—Isles of the West.—Sir Thomas Roe, Ambassador from James I. to Jehan-Guire.

Note 17, p. 6.—Ezra.—“The romance Wemakweazra, written in Persian verse, which contains the loves of Wamak and Ezra, two celebrated lovers who lived before the time of Mahomet.”—Note on the Oriental Tales.

Note 18, p. 6.—Rodahver.—Their amour is recounted in the Shah-Namêh of Ferdousi; and there is much beauty in the passage which describes the slaves of Rodahver sitting on the bank of the river and throwing flowers into the stream, in order to draw the attention of the young Hero who is encamped on the opposite side.—See Champion’s translation.

Note 19, p. 6.—White Demon.—Rustam is the Hercules of the Persians. For the particulars of his victory over the Sepeed Deeve, or White Demon, see Oriental Collections, vol. ii. p. 45.—“Near the city of Shirauz is an immense quadrangular monument, in commemoration of this combat, called the Kelaat-i-Deev Sepeed, or castle of the White Giant, which Father Angelo, in his Gazophilacium Persicum, p. 127, declares to have been the most memorable monument of antiquity which he had seen in Persia.”—See Ouseley’s Persian Miscellanies.

Note 20, p. 6.—Golden anklets.—“The women of the Idol, or dancing girls of the Pagoda, have little golden bells, fastened to their feet, the soft harmonious tinkling of which vibrates in unison with the exquisite melody of their voices.”—Maurice’s Indian Antiquities.

“The Arabian courtesans, like the Indian women, have little golden bells fastened round their legs, neck and elbows, to the sound of which they dance before the King. The Arabian princesses wear golden rings on their fingers, to which little bells are suspended, as well as in the flowing tresses of their hair, that their superior rank may be known, and they themselves receive in passing the homage due to them.”—See Calmet’s Dictionary, art. Bells.

Note 21, p. 6.—Delicious opium.—“Abou-Tige, ville de la Thebaïde, où il croît beaucoup de pavot noir, dont se fait le meilleur opium.”—D’Herbelot.

Note 22, p. 7.—Crishna.—The Indian Apollo.—“He and the three Rámas are described as youths of perfect beauty; and the princesses of Hindustán were all passionately in love with Chrishna, who continues to this hour the darling God of the Indian women.”—Sir W. Jones, on the Gods of Greece, Italy, and India.

Note 23, p. 7.—Shawl-goats of Tibet.—See Turner’s Embassy for a description of this animal, “the most beautiful among the whole tribe of goats.” The material for the shawls (which is carried to Cashmere) is found next the skin.

Note 24, 336p. 8.—Veiled Prophet of Khorassan.—For the real history of this Impostor, whose original name was Hakem ben Haschem, and who was called Mocanna from the veil of silver gauze (or, as others say, golden) which he always wore, see D’Herbelot.

Note 25, p. 9.—Khorassan.—Khorassan signifies, in the old Persian language, Province or Region of the Sun.—Sir W. Jones.

Note 26, p. 11.—Flow’rets and fruits, blush over ev’ry stream.

“The fruits of Meru are finer than those of any other place; and one cannot see in any other city such palaces with groves, and streams, and gardens.”—Ebn Haukal’s Geography.

Note 27, p. 12.—Among Merou’s bright palaces and groves.

One of the royal cities of Khorassan.

Note 28, p. 12.—Moussa’s.—Moses.

Note 29, p. 12.—O’er Moussa’s cheek, when down the Mount he trod.

“Ses disciples assuroient qu’il se couvroit le visage, pour ne pas éblouir ceux qui l’approchoient par l’éclat de son visage comme Moyse.”—D’Herbelot.

Note 30, p. 12.—In hatred to the Caliph’s hue of night.

Black was the colour adopted by the Caliphs of the House of Abbas, in their garments, turbans, and standards.—“Il faut remarquer ici touchant les habits blancs des disciples de Hakem, que la couleur des habits, des coëffures et des étendards des Khalifes Abassides étant la noire, ce chef de Rebelles ne pouvoit pas choisir une qui lui fut plus opposée.”—D’Herbelot.

Note 31, p. 12.—With javelins of the light Kathaian reed.

“Our dark javelins, exquisitely wrought of Khathaian reeds, slender and delicate.”—Poem of Amru.

Note 32, p. 13.—Fill’d with the stems.

Pichula, used anciently for arrows by the Persians.

Note 33, p. 13.—That bloom on Iran’s rivers.

The Persians call this plant Gaz. The celebrated shaft of Isfendiar, one of their ancient heroes, was made of it.—“Nothing can be more beautiful than the appearance of this plant in flower during the rains on the banks of rivers, where it is usually interwoven with a lovely twining asclepias.”—Sir W. Jones, Botanical Observations on Select Indian Plants.

Note 34, 337p. 13.—Like a chenar-tree grove, when winter throws.

The oriental plane. “The chenar is a delightful tree; its bole is of a fine white and smooth bark; and its foliage, which grows in a tuft at the summit, is of a bright green.”—Morier’s Travels.

Note 35, p. 14.—From those who kneel at Brahma’s burning founts.

The burning fountains of Brahma near Chittogong, esteemed as holy.—Turner.

Note 36, p. 14.—To the small, half-shut glances of Kathay.—China.

Note 37, p. 15.—Like tulip-beds, of different shape and dyes.

“The name of tulip is said to be of Turkish extraction, and given to the flower on account of its resembling a turban.”—Beckmann’s History of Inventions.

Note 38, p. 15.—And fur-bound bonnet of Bucharian shape.

“The inhabitants of Bucharia wear a round cloth bonnet, shaped much after the Polish fashion, having a large fur border. They tie their kaftans about the middle with a girdle of a kind of silk crape, several times round the body.”—Account of Independent Tartary, in Pinkerton’s Collection.

Note 39, p. 15.—O’erwhelm’d in fight and captive to the Greek.

In the war of the Caliph Mahadi against the Empress Irene, for an account of which vide Gibbon, vol. x.

Note 40, p. 18.—The flying throne of star-taught Soliman.

This wonderful Throne was called The Star of the Genii. For a full description of it, see the Fragment, translated by Captain Franklin, from a Persian MS. entitled “The History of Jerusalem,” Oriental Collections, vol. i. p. 235.—When Soliman travelled, the eastern writers say, “He had a carpet of green silk on which his throne was placed, being of a prodigious length and breadth, and sufficient for all his forces to stand upon, the men placing themselves on his right hand, and the spirits on his left; and that when all were in order, the wind, at his command, took up the carpet, and transported it, with all that were upon it, wherever he pleased; the army of birds at the same time flying over their heads, and forming a kind of canopy to shade them from the sun.”—Sale’s Koran, vol ii. p. 214, note.

Note 41, p. 18.—For many an age, in every chance and change.

The transmigration of souls was one of his doctrines.—Vide D’Herbelot.

Note 42, p. 18.—To which all Heaven, except the Proud One, knelt.

“And when we said unto the angels, Worship Adam, they all worshipped except Eblis (Lucifer), who refused.”—The Koran, chap. ii.

Note 43, p. 18.—In Moussa’s frame—and, thence descending, flow’d.—Moses.

Note 44, 338p. 18.—Through many a Prophet’s breast.

This is according to D’Herbelot’s account of the doctrines of Mokanna:—“Sa doctrine étoit, que Dieu avoit pris une forme et figure humaine, depuis qu’il eut commandé aux Anges d’adorer Adam, le premier des hommes. Qu’après la mort d’Adam, Dieu étoit apparu sous la figure de plusieurs Prophètes, et autres grands hommes qu’il avoit choisis, jusqu’à ce qu’il prit celle d’Abu Moslem, Prince de Khorassan, lequel professoit l’erreur de la Tenassukhiah ou Metempschychose; et qu’après la mort de ce Prince, la Divinité étoit passée, et descendue en sa personne.”

Note 45, p. 18.—In Issa shone.—Jesus.

Note 46, p. 22.—Born by that ancient flood, which from its spring.

The Amoo, which rises in the Belur Tag, or Dark Mountains, and running nearly from east to west, splits into two branches; one of which falls into the Caspian sea, and the other into Aral Nahr, or the Lake of Eagles.

Note 47, p. 24.—The bulbul utters, ere her soul depart.—The nightingale.

Note 48, p. 34.—In holy Koom, or Mecca’s dim arcades.

The cities of Com (or Koom) and Cashan are full of mosques, mausoleums, and sepulchres of the descendants of Ali, the Saints of Persia.—Chardin.

Note 49, p. 34.—Stood vases, fill’d with Kishmee’s golden wine.

An island in the Persian Gulf, celebrated for its white wine.

Note 50, p. 34.—Like Zemzem’s Spring of Holiness, had power.

The miraculous well at Mecca; so called, says Sale, from the murmuring of its waters.

Note 51, p. 35.—Whom India serves, the monkey deity.

The God Hannaman.—“Apes are in many parts of India highly venerated, out of respect to the God Hannaman, a deity partaking of the form of that race.”—Pennant’s Hindoostan.

See a curious account, in Stephen’s Persia, of a solemn embassy from some part of the Indies to Goa, when the Portuguese were there, offering vast treasures for the recovery of a monkey’s tooth, which they held in great veneration, and which had been taken away upon the conquest of the kingdom of Jafanapatan.

Note 52, p. 35.—To bend in worship, Lucifer was right.

This resolution of Eblis not to acknowledge the new creature, man, was, according to Mahometan tradition, thus adopted:—“The earth (which God 339had selected for the materials of his work) was carried into Arabia to a place between Mecca and Tayef, where, being first kneaded by the angels, it was afterwards fashioned by God himself into a human form, and left to dry for the space of forty days, or, as others say, as many years; the angels, in the mean time, often visiting it, and Eblis (then one of the angels nearest to God’s presence, afterwards the devil) among the rest; but he, not contented with looking at it, kicked it with his foot till it rung; and knowing God designed that creature to be his superior, took a secret resolution never to acknowledge him as such.”—Sale on the Koran.

Note 53, p. 36.—From dead men’s marrow guides them best at night.

A kind of lantern formerly used by robbers, called the Hand of Glory, the candle for which was made of the fat of a dead malefactor. This, however, was rather a western than an eastern superstition.

Note 54, p. 37.—In that best marble of which Gods are made.

The material of which images of Gaudma (the Birman Deity) are made, is held sacred. “Birmans may not purchase the marble in mass, but are suffered, and indeed encouraged, to buy figures of the Deity ready made.”—Symes’s Ava, vol. ii. p. 376.

Note 55, p. 41.—Of Kerzrah flowers, came fill’d with pestilence.

“It is commonly said in Persia, that if a man breathe in the hot south wind, which in June or July passes over that flower (the Kerzereh), it will kill him.”—Thevenot.

Note 56, p. 44.—Within the crocodile’s stretch’d jaws to come.

The humming-bird is said to run this risk for the purpose of picking the crocodile’s teeth. The same circumstance is related of the lapwing, as a fact to which he was witness, by Paul Lucas, Voyage fait en 1714.

The ancient story concerning the Trochilus, or humming-bird, entering with impunity into the mouth of the crocodile, is firmly believed at Java.—Barrow’s Cochin-China.

Note 57, p. 46.—That rank and venomous food on which she lives.

“Circum easdem ripas (Nili, viz.) ales est Ibis. Ea serpentium populatur ova, gratissimamque ex his escam nidis suis refert.”—Solinus.

Note 58, p. 48.—Yamtcheou.—“The feast of Lanterns is celebrated at Yamtcheou with more magnificence than anywhere else: and the report goes, that the illuminations there are so splendid, that an Emperor once, not daring openly to leave his Court to go thither, committed himself with the Queen and several Princesses of his family into the hands of a magician, 340who promised to transport them thither in a trice. He made them in the night to ascend magnificent thrones that were borne up by swans, which in a moment arrived at Yamtcheou. The Emperor saw at his leisure all the solemnity, being carried upon a cloud that hovered over the city and descended by degrees; and came back again with the same speed and equipage, nobody at court perceiving his absence.”—The present State of China, p. 156.

Note 59, p. 48.—Sceneries of bamboo-work.—See a description of the nuptials of Vizier Alee in the Asiatic Annual Register of 1804.

Note 60, p. 49.—Chinese illuminations.—“The vulgar ascribe it to an accident that happened in the family of a famous mandarin, whose daughter walking one evening upon the shore of a lake, fell in and was drowned; this afflicted father, with his family, ran thither, and, the better to find her, he caused a great company of lanterns to be lighted. All the inhabitants of the place thronged after him with torches. The year ensuing they made fires upon the shores the same day; they continued the ceremony every year, every one lighted his lantern, and by degrees it commenced into a custom.”—Present State of China.

Note 61, p. 51.—Like Seba’s Queen could vanquish with that one.

“Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes.”—Sol. Song.

Note 62, p. 51.—The fingers’ ends with a bright roseate hue.

“They tinged the ends of her fingers scarlet with Henna, so that they resembled branches of coral.”—Story of Prince Futtun in Bahardanush.

Note 63, p. 51.—To give that long, dark languish to the eye.

“The women blacken the inside of their eyelids with a powder named the black Kohol.”—Russel.

“None of these ladies,” says Shaw, “take themselves to be completely dressed, till they have tinged the hair and edges of their eyelids with the powder of lead ore. Now, as this operation is performed by dipping first into the powder a small wooden bodkin of the thickness of a quill, and then drawing it afterwards through the eyelids over the ball of the eye, we shall have a lively image of what the Prophet (Jer. iv. 30) may be supposed to mean by rending the eyes with painting. This practice is no doubt of great antiquity; for besides the instance already taken notice of, we find that where Jezebel is said (2 Kings, ix. 30) to have painted her face, the original words are, she adjusted her eyes with the powder of lead ore.”—Shaw’s Travels.

Note 64, p. 52.—In her full lap the Champac’s leaves of gold.

The appearance of the blossoms of the gold-coloured Campac on the black hair of the Indian women has supplied the Sanscrit Poets with many elegant allusions.—See Asiatic Researches, vol. iv.

Note 65, 341p. 52.—The sweet Elcaya, and that courteous tree.

A tree famous for its perfume, and common on the hills of Yemen.—Niebuhr.

Note 66, p. 52.—Which bows to all who seek its canopy.

Of the genus mimosa, “which droops its branches whenever any person approaches it, seeming as if it saluted those who retire under its shade.”—Ibid.

Note 67, p. 53.—The bowers of Tibet, send forth odorous light.

“Cloves are a principal ingredient in the composition of the perfumed rods, which men of rank keep constantly burning in their presence.”—Turner’s Tibet.

Note 68, p. 54.—With odoriferous woods of Comorin.

“C’est d’où vient le bois d’aloès que les Arabes appellent Oud Comari, et celui du sandal, qui s’y trouve en grande quantité.”—D’Herbelot.

Note 69, p. 54.—The crimson blossoms of the coral tree.

“Thousands of variegated loories visit the coral-trees.”—Barrow.

Note 70, p. 54.—Mecca’s blue sacred pigeon.

“In Mecca there are quantities of blue pigeons, which none will affright or abuse, much less kill.”—Pitt’s Account of the Mahometans.

Note 71, p. 54.—The thrush of Hindostan.

“The Pagoda Thrush is esteemed among the first choristers of India. It sits perched on the sacred pagodas, and from thence delivers its melodious song.”—Pennant’s Hindostan.

Note 72, p. 55.—About the gardens, drunk with that sweet food.

Tavernier adds, that while the birds of Paradise lie in this intoxicated state, the emmets come and eat off their legs; and that hence it is they are said to have no feet.

Note 73, p. 55.—Whose scent hath lur’d them o’er the summer flood.

Birds of Paradise, which, at the nutmeg season, come in flights from the southern isles to India; and “the strength of the nutmeg,” says Tavernier, “so intoxicates them, that they fall dead drunk to the earth.”

Note 74, p. 55.—Build their high nests of budding cinnamon.

“That bird which liveth in Arabia, and buildeth its nest with cinnamon.”—Brown’s Vulgar Errors.

Note 75, 342p. 55.—Sleeping in light, like the green birds that dwell.

“The spirits of the martyrs will be lodged in the crops of green birds.” Gibbon, vol. ix. p. 421.

Note 76, p. 55.—More like the luxuries of that impious King.

Shedad, who made the delicious gardens of Irim, in imitation of Paradise, and was destroyed by lightning the first time he attempted to enter them.

Note 77, p. 57.—In its blue blossoms hum themselves to sleep.

“My Pandits assure me that the plant before us (the Nilica) is their Sephalica, thus named because the bees are supposed to sleep on its blossoms.”—Sir W. Jones.

Note 78, p. 59.—As they were captives to the King of Flowers.

“They deferred it till the King of Flowers should ascend his throne of enamelled foliage.”—The Bahardanush.

Note 79, p. 60.—But a light golden chain-work round her hair.

“One of the head-dresses of the Persian women is composed of a light golden chain-work, set with small pearls, with a thin gold plate pendant, about the bigness of a crown-piece, on which is impressed an Arabian prayer, and which hangs upon the cheek below the ear.”—Hanway’s Travels.

Note 80, p. 60.—Such as the maids of Yezd and Shiras wear.

“Certainly the women of Yezd are the handsomest women in Persia. The proverb is, that to live happy a man must have a wife of Yezd, eat the bread of Yezdecas, and drink the wine of Shiraz.”—Tavernier.

Note 81, p. 61.—Upon a musnud’s edge.

Musnuds are cushioned seats, usually reserved for persons of distinction.

Note 82, p. 61.—In the pathetic mode of Isfahan.

The Persians, like the ancient Greeks, call their musical modes or Perdas by the names of different countries or cities, as the mode of Isfahan, the mode of Irak, &c.

Note 83, p. 61.—There’s a bower of roses by Bendemeer’s stream.

A river which flows near the ruins of Chilminar.

Note 84, p. 64.—The hills of crystal on the Caspian shore.

“To the north of us (on the coast of the Caspian, near Badku) was a mountain, which sparkled like diamonds, arising from the sea-glass and crystals with which it abounds.”—Journey of the Russian Ambassador to Persia, 1746.

Note 85, 343p. 64.—Of Eden, shake in the eternal breeze.

“To which will be added the sound of the bells, hanging on the trees, which will be put in motion by the wind proceeding from the throne of God, as often as the blessed wish for music.”—Sale.

Note 86, p. 65.—And his floating eyes—oh! they resemble.

“Whose wanton eyes resemble blue water-lilies, agitated by the breeze.”—Jayadeva.

Note 87, p. 65.—Blue water-lilies.

The blue lotus, which grows in Cashmere and in Persia.

Note 88, p. 67.—To muse upon the pictures that hung round.

It has been generally supposed that the Mahometans prohibit all pictures of animals; but Toderini shows that, though the practice is forbidden by the Koran, they are not more averse to painted figures and images than other people. From Mr. Murphy’s work, too, we find that the Arabs of Spain had no objection to the introduction of figures into painting.

Note 89, p. 67.—Whose orb when half retir’d looks loveliest.

This is not quite astronomically true. “Dr. Hadley (says Keil) has shown that Venus is brightest when she is about forty degrees removed from the sun; and that then but only a fourth part of her lucid disk is to be seen from the earth.”

Note 90, p. 67.—He read that to be blest is to be wise.

For the loves of King Solomon (who was supposed to preside over the whole race of Genii) with Balkis, the Queen of Sheba or Saba, see D’Herbelot, and the Notes on the Koran, chap. 2.

“In the palace which Solomon ordered to be built against the arrival of the Queen of Saba, the floor or pavement was of transparent glass, laid over running water, in which fish were swimming.” This led the Queen into a very natural mistake, which the Koran has not thought beneath its dignity to commemorate. “It was said unto her, ‘Enter the palace.’ And when she saw it she imagined it to be a great water; and she discovered her legs, by lifting up her robe to pass through it. Whereupon Solomon said to her, ‘Verily, this is the place evenly floored with glass.’”—Chap. 27.

Note 91, p. 67.—Here fond Zuleika woos with open arms.

The wife of Potiphar, thus named by the Orientals.

“The passion which this frail beauty of antiquity conceived for her young Hebrew slave has given rise to a much-esteemed poem in the Persian language, entitled Yusef vau Zelikha, by Noureddin Jami; the manuscript copy of which, in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, is supposed to be the finest in the whole world.”—Note upon Nott’s Translation of Hafez.

Note 92, 344p. 67.—With a new text to consecrate their love.

The particulars of Mahomet’s amour with Mary, the Coptic girl, in justification of which he added a new chapter to the Koran, may be found in Gagnier’s Notes upon Abulfeda, p. 151.

Note 93, p. 70.—But in that deep-blue, melancholy dress.

“Deep blue is their mourning colour.”—Hanway.

Note 94, p. 71.—Sat in her sorrow like the sweet night-flower.

The sorrowful nyctanthes, which begins to spread its rich odour after sunset.

Note 95, p. 73.—As the viper weaves its wily covering.

“Concerning the vipers, which Pliny says were frequent among the balsam-trees, I made very particular inquiry: several were brought me alive both to Yambo and Jidda.”—Bruce.

Note 96, p. 81.—The sunny apples of Istkahar.—“In the territory of Istkahar there is a kind of apple, half of which is sweet and half sour.”—Ebn Haukal.

Note 97, p. 82.—They saw a young Hindoo girl upon the bank.—For an account of this ceremony, see Grandpré’s Voyage in the Indian Ocean.

Note 98, p. 82.—The Oton-tala, or Sea of Stars.—“The place where the Whangho, a river of Tibet, rises, and where there are more than a hundred springs, which sparkle like stars; whence it is called Hotun-nor, that is, the Sea of Stars.”—Description of Tibet in Pinkerton.

Note 99, p. 84.—Hath sprung up here.

“The Lescar or Imperial Camp is divided, like a regular town, into squares, alleys, and streets, and from a rising ground furnishes one of the most agreeable prospects in the world. Starting up in a few hours in an uninhabited plain, it raises the idea of a city built by enchantment. Even those who leave their houses in cities to follow the prince in his progress are frequently so charmed by the Lescar, when situated in a beautiful and convenient place, that they cannot prevail with themselves to remove. To prevent this inconvenience to the court, the Emperor, after sufficient time is allowed to the tradesmen to follow, orders them to be burnt out of their tents.”—Dow’s Hindostan.

Colonel Wilks gives a lively picture of an Eastern encampment:—“His camp, like that of most Indian armies, exhibited a motley collection of covers from the scorching sun and dews of the night, variegated according to the taste or means of each individual, by extensive inclosures of coloured 345calico surrounding superb suites of tents; by ragged cloths or blankets stretched over sticks or branches; palm leaves hastily spread over similar supports; handsome tents and splendid canopies; horses, oxen, elephants, and camels; all intermixed without any exterior mark of order or design, except the flags of the chiefs, which usually mark the centres of a congeries of these masses; the only regular part of the encampment being the streets of shops, each of which is constructed nearly in the manner of a booth at an English fair.”—Historical Sketches of the South of India.

Note 100, p. 84.—Built the high pillar’d halls of Chilminar.

The edifices of Chilminar and Balbec are supposed to have been built by the Genii, acting under the orders of Jan ben Jan, who governed the world long before the time of Adam.

Note 101, p. 85.—And camels, tufted o’er with Yemen’s shells.

“A superb camel, ornamented with strings and tufts of small shells.”—Ali Bey.

Note 102, p. 85.—But the far torrent, or the locust bird.

A native of Khorassan, and allured southward by means of the water of a fountain between Shiraz and Ispahan, called the Fountain of Birds, of which it is so fond that it will follow wherever that water is carried.

Note 103, p. 85.—Of laden camels and their drivers’ songs.

“Some of the camels have bells about their necks, and some about their legs, like those which our carriers put about their forehorses’ necks, which together with the servants (who belong to the camels, and travel on foot), singing all night, make a pleasant noise, and the journey passes away delightfully.”—Pitt’s Account of the Mahometans.

“The camel-driver follows the camels singing, and sometimes playing upon his pipe; the louder he sings and pipes, the faster the camels go. Nay, they will stand still when he gives over his music.”—Tavernier.

Note 104, p. 85.—Of the’ Abyssinian trumpet, swell and float.

“This trumpet is often called, in Abyssinia, nesser cano, which signifies the Note of the Eagle.”—Note of Bruce’s Editor.

Note 105, p. 85.—The Night and Shadow, over yonder tent.

The two black standards borne before the Caliphs of the House of Abbas were called, allegorically, The Night and The Shadow.—See Gibbon.

Note 106, p. 86.—Defiance fierce at Islam.—The Mahometan religion.

Note 107, p. 86.—But, having sworn upon the Holy Grave.

“The Persians swear by the tomb of Shah Besade, who is buried at Casbin; and when one desires another to asseverate a matter, he will ask him, if he dare swear by the Holy Grave.”—Struy.

Note 108, 346p. 86.—Were spoil’d to feed the Pilgrim’s luxury.

Mahadi, in a single pilgrimage to Mecca, expended six millions of dinars of gold.

Note 109, p. 86.—Of Mecca’s sun, with urns of Persian snow.

“Nivem Meccam apportavit, rem ibi aut nunquam aut raro visam.”—Abulfeda.

Note 110, p. 86.—First, in the van, the People of the Rock.

The inhabitants of Hejaz or Arabia Petræa, called by an Eastern writer “The People of the Rock.”—See Ebn Haukal.

Note 111, p. 86.—On their light mountain steeds, of royal stock.

“Those horses, called by the Arabians Kochlani, of whom a written genealogy has been kept for 2,000 years. They are said to derive their origin from King Solomon’s steeds.”—Niebuhr.

Note 112, p. 87.—The flashing of their swords’ rich marquetry.

“Many of the figures on the blades of their swords are wrought in gold or silver, or in marquetry with small gems.”—Asiat. Misc. v. i.

Note 113, p. 87.—With dusky legions from the land of Myrrh.

Azab or Saba.

Note 114, p. 87.—Waving their heron crests with martial grace.

“The chiefs of the Uzbek Tartars wear a plume of white heron’s feathers in their turbans.”—Account of Independent Tartary.

Note 115, p. 87.—Wild warriors of the turquoise hills.

“In the mountains of Nishapour and Tous (in Khorassan) they find turquoises.”—Ebn Haukal.

Note 116, p. 87.—Of Hindoo Kosh, in stormy freedom bred.

For a description of these stupendous ranges of mountains, see Elphinstone’s Caubul.

Note 117, p. 88.—Her Worshippers of Fire.

The Ghebers or Guebres, those original natives of Persia, who adhered to their ancient faith, the religion of Zoroaster, and who, after the conquest of their country by the Arabs, were either persecuted at home, or forced to become wanderers abroad.

Note 118, p. 88.—From Yezd’s eternal Mansion of the Fire.

“Yezd, the chief residence of those ancient natives, who worship the Sun and the Fire, which latter they have carefully kept lighted, without 347being once extinguished for a moment, about 3,000 years, on a mountain near Yezd, called Ater Quedah, signifying the House or Mansion of the Fire. He is reckoned very unfortunate who dies off that mountain.”—Stephen’s Persia.

Note 119, p. 88.—That burn into the Caspian, fierce they came.

“When the weather is hazy, the springs of Naphtha (on an island near Baku) boil up the higher, and the Naphtha often takes fire on the surface of the earth, and runs in a flame into the sea to a distance almost incredible.”—Hanway on the Everlasting Fire at Baku.

Note 120, p. 88.—By which the prostrate Caravan is aw’d.

Savary says of the south wind, which blows in Egypt from February to May, “Sometimes it appears only in the shape of an impetuous whirlwind, which passes rapidly, and is fatal to the traveller surprised in the middle of the deserts. Torrents of burning sand roll before it, the firmament is enveloped in a thick veil, and the sun appears of the colour of blood. Sometimes whole caravans are buried in it.”

Note 121, p. 89.—The Champions of the Faith through Beder’s vale.

In the great victory gained by Mahomed at Beder, he was assisted, say the Mussulmans, by three thousand angels, led by Gabriel, mounted on his horse Hiazum.—See The Koran and its Commentators.

Note 122, p. 92.—“Alla Akbar!”

The Tecbir, or cry of the Arabs. “Alla Acbar!” says Ockley, means “God is most mighty.”

Note 123, p. 92.—And light your shrines and chaunt your ziraleets.

The ziraleet is a kind of chorus, which the women of the East sing upon joyful occasions.—Russel.

Note 124, p. 92.—Or warm or brighten,—like that Syrian Lake.

The Dead Sea, which contains neither animal nor vegetable life.

Note 125, p. 95.—O’er his lost throne—then pass’d the Jihon’s flood.

The ancient Oxus.

Note 126, p. 95.—Rais’d the white banner within Neksheb’s gates.

A city of Transoxiana.

Note 127, p. 95.—To-day’s young flower is springing in its stead.

“You never can cast your eyes on this tree, but you meet there either blossoms or fruit; and as the blossom drops underneath on the ground (which is frequently covered with these purple-coloured flowers), others come forth in their stead,” &c. &c.—Nieuhoff.

Note 128, 348p. 96.—With which the Dives have gifted him.

The Demons of the Persian mythology.

Note 129, p. 96.—That spangle India’s fields on showery nights.

Carreri mentions the fire-flies in India during the rainy season.—See his Travels.

Note 130, p. 96.—Who brush’d the thousands of the’ Assyrian King.

Sennacherib, called by the Orientals King of Moussal.—D’Herbelot.

Note 131, p. 97.—Of Parviz.

Chosroes. For the description of his Throne or Palace, see Gibbon and D’Herbelot.

There were said to be under this Throne or Palace of Khosrou Parviz a hundred vaults filled with “treasures so immense that some Mahometan writers tell us, their Prophet, to encourage his disciples, carried them to a rock, which at his command opened, and gave them a prospect through it of the treasures of Khosrou.”—Universal History.

Note 132, p. 97.—And the heron crest that shone.

“The crown of Gerashid is cloudy and tarnished before the heron tuft of thy turban.”—From one of the elegies or songs in praise of Ali, written in characters of gold round the gallery of Abbas’s tomb.—See Chardin.

Note 133, p. 97.—Magnificent, o’er Ali’s beauteous eyes.

The beauty of Ali’s eyes was so remarkable, that whenever the Persians would describe any thing as very lovely, they say it is Ayn Hali, or the Eyes of Ali.—Chardin.

Note 134, p. 98.—Rise from the Holy Well, and cast its light.

We are not told more of this trick of the Impostor, than that it was “une machine, qu’il disoit être la Lune.” According to Richardson, the miracle is perpetuated in Nekscheb.—“Nakshab, the name of a city in Transoxiana, where they say there is a well, in which the appearance of the moon is to be seen night and day.”

Note 135, p. 98.—Round the rich city and the plain for miles.

“Il amusa pendant deux mois le peuple de la ville de Nekhscheb, en faisant sortir toutes les nuits du fond d’un puits un corps lumineux semblable à la Lune, qui portoit sa lumière jusqu’à la distance de plusieurs milles.”—D’Herbelot. Hence he was called Sazendéhmah, or the Moon-maker.

Note 136, p. 99.—Had rested on the Ark.

The Shechinah, called Sakînat in the Koran.—See Sale’s Note, chap. ii.

Note 137, 349p. 99.—Of the small drum with which they count the night.

The parts of the night are made known as well by instruments of music, as by the rounds of the watchmen with cries and small drums.—See Burder’s Oriental Customs, vol. i. p. 119.

Note 138, p. 99.—On for the lamps, that light yon lofty screen.

The Serrapurda, high screens of red cloth, stiffened with cane, used to enclose a considerable space round the royal tents.—Notes on the Bahardanush.

The tents of Princes were generally illuminated. Norden tells us that the tent of the Bey of Girge was distinguished from the other tents by forty lanterns being suspended before it.—See Harmer’s Observations on Job.

Note 139, p. 100.—Pour to the spot, like bees of Kauzeroon.

“From the groves of orange trees at Kauzeroon the bees cull a celebrated honey.”—Morier’s Travels.

Note 140, p. 102.—Of nuptial pomp, she sinks into his tide.

“A custom still subsisting at this day, seems to me to prove that the Egyptians formerly sacrificed a young virgin to the God of the Nile; for they now make a statue of earth in shape of a girl, to which they give the name of the Betrothed Bride, and throw it into the river.”—Savary.

Note 141, p. 103.—Engines of havoc in, unknown before.

That they knew the secret of the Greek fire among the Mussulmans early in the eleventh century, appears from Dow’s Account of Mamood I. “When he arrived at Moultan, finding that the country of the Jits was defended by great rivers, he ordered fifteen hundred boats to be built, each of which he armed with six iron spikes, projecting from their prows and sides, to prevent their being boarded by the enemy, who were very expert in that kind of war. When he had launched this fleet, he ordered twenty archers into each boat, and five others with fire-balls, to burn the craft of the Jits, and naphtha to set the whole river on fire.”

The agnee aster, too, in Indian poems the Instrument of fire, whose flame cannot be extinguished, is supposed to signify the Greek Fire.—See Wilks’s South of India, vol. i. p. 471.—And in the curious Javan Poem, the Brata Yudha, given by Sir Stamford Raffles in his History of Java, we find, “He aimed at the heart of Soéta with the sharp-pointed Weapon of Fire.”

The mention of gunpowder as in use among the Arabians, long before its supposed discovery in Europe, is introduced by Ebn Fadhl, the Egyptian geographer, who lived in the thirteenth century. “Bodies,” he says, “in the form of scorpions, bound round and filled with nitrous powder, glide along, making a gentle noise; then, exploding, they lighten, as it were, and burn. But there are others which, cast into the air, stretch along like 350a cloud, roaring horribly, as thunder roars, and on all sides vomiting out flames, burst, burn, and reduce to cinders whatever comes in their way.” The historian Ben Abdalla, in speaking of the sieges of Abulualid in the year of the Hegira 712, says, “A fiery globe, by means of combustible matter, with a mighty noise suddenly emitted, strikes with the force of lightning, and shakes the citadel.”—See the Extracts from Casiri’s Biblioth. Arab. Hispan. in the Appendix to Berington’s Literary History of the Middle Ages.

Note 142, p. 103.—And horrible as new;—javelins that fly.

The Greek fire, which was occasionally lent by the emperors to their allies. “It was,” says Gibbon, “either launched in red hot balls of stone and iron, or darted in arrows or javelins, twisted round with flax and tow, which had deeply imbibed the inflammable oil.”

Note 143, p. 103.—Discharge, as from a kindled Naphtha fount.

See Hanway’s Account of the Springs of Naphtha at Baku (which is called by Lieutenant Pottinger Joala Mokee, or, the Flaming Mouth) taking fire and running into the sea. Dr. Cooke, in his Journal, mentions some wells in Circassia, strongly impregnated with this inflammable oil, from which issues boiling water. “Though the weather,” he adds, “was now very cold, the warmth of these wells of hot water produced near them the verdure and flowers of spring.”

Major Scott Waring says, that naphtha is used by the Persians, as we are told it was in hell, for lamps.

… many a row

Of starry lamps and blazing cressets, fed

With naphtha and asphaltus, yielding light

As from a sky.

Note 144, p. 104.—Like those wild birds that by the Magians oft.

“At the great festival of fire, called the Sheb Sezê, they used to set fire to large bunches of dry combustibles, fastened round wild beasts and birds, which being then let loose, the air and earth appeared one great illumination; and as these terrified creatures naturally fled to the woods for shelter, it is easy to conceive the conflagrations they produced.”—Richardson’s Dissertation.

Note 145, p. 106.—Keep, seal’d with precious musk, for those they love.

“The righteous shall be given to drink of pure wine, sealed; the seal whereof shall be musk.”—Koran, chap. lxxxiii.

Note 146, p. 110.—On its own brood;—no Demon of the Waste.

“The Afghauns believe each of the numerous solitudes and deserts of their country to be inhabited by a lonely demon, whom they call the 351Ghoolee Beeabau, or Spirit of the Waste. They often illustrate the wildness of any sequestered tribe, by saying, they are wild as the Demon of the Waste.”—Elphinstone’s Caubul.

Note 147, p. 111.—With burning drugs, for this last hour distill’d.

“Il donna du poison dans le vin à tous ses gens, et se jetta lui-même ensuite dans une cuve pleine de drogues brûlantes et consumantes, afin qu’il ne restât rien de tous les membres de son corps, et que ceux qui restoient de sa secte puissent croire qu’il étoit monté au ciel, ce qui ne manqua pas d’arriver.”—D’Herbelot.

Note 148, p. 113.—In the lone Cities of the Silent dwell.

“They have all a great reverence for burial-grounds, which they sometimes call by the poetical name of Cities of the Silent, and which they people with the ghosts of the departed, who sit each at the head of his own grave, invisible to mortal eyes.”—Elphinstone.

Note 149, p. 120.—And to eat any mangoes but those of Mazagong was, of course, impossible.—“The celebrity of Mazagong is owing to its mangoes, which are certainly the best fruit I ever tasted. The parent-tree, from which all those of this species have been grafted, is honoured during the fruit-season by a guard of sepoys; and, in the reign of Shah Jehan, couriers were stationed between Delhi and the Mahratta coast to secure an abundant and fresh supply of mangoes for the royal table.”—Mrs. Graham’s Journal of a Residence in India.

Note 150, p. 120.—Laden with his fine antique porcelain.—This old porcelain is found in digging, and “if it is esteemed, it is not because it has acquired any new degree of beauty in the earth, but because it has retained its ancient beauty; and this alone is of great importance in China, where they give large sums for the smallest vessels which were used under the Emperors Yan and Chun, who reigned many ages before the dynasty of Tang, at which time porcelain began to be used by the Emperors” (about the year 442).—Dunn’s Collection of curious Observations, &c.;—a bad translation of some parts of the Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses of the Missionary Jesuits.

Note 151, p. 122.—And if Nasser, the Arabian merchant, told no better.—“La lecture de ces Fables plaisoit si fort aux Arabes, que, quand Mahomet les entretenoit de l’Histoire de l’Ancien Testament, ils les méprisoient, lui disant que celles que Nasser leur racontoit étoient beaucoup plus belles. Cette préférence attira à Nasser la malédiction de Mahomet et de tous ses disciples.”—D’Herbelot.

Note 152, p. 122.—Like the blacksmith’s apron converted into a banner.—The blacksmith Gao, who successfully resisted the tyrant Zohak, and whose apron became the Royal Standard of Persia.

Note 153, 352p. 125.—That sublime bird, which flies always in the air, and never touches the earth.—“The Huma, a bird peculiar to the East. It is supposed to fly constantly in the air, and never touch the ground: it is looked upon as a bird of happy omen; and that every head it overshades will in time wear a crown.”—Richardson.

In the terms of alliance made by Fuzzel Oola Khan with Hyder in 1760, one of the stipulations was, “that he should have the distinction of two honorary attendants standing behind him, holding fans composed of the feathers of the Humma, according to the practice of his family.”—Wilk’s South of India. He adds in a note:—“The Humma is a fabulous bird. The head over which its shadow once passes will assuredly be circled with a crown. The splendid little bird suspended over the throne of Tippoo Sultaun, found at Seringapatam in 1799, was intended to represent this poetical fancy.”

Note 154, p. 125.—Like those on the Written Mountain, last for ever.—“To the pilgrims to Mount Sinai we must attribute the inscriptions, figures, &c. on those rocks, which have from thence acquired the name of the Written Mountain.”—Volney. M. Gebelin and others have been at much pains to attach some mysterious and important meaning to these inscriptions; but Niebuhr, as well as Volney, thinks that they must have been executed at idle hours by the travellers to Mount Sinai, “who were satisfied with cutting the unpolished rock with any pointed instrument; adding to their names and the date of their journeys some rude figures which bespeak the hand of a people but little skilled in the arts.”—Niebuhr.

Note 155, p. 125.—Like the old Man of the Sea, upon his back.—The Story of Sinbad.

Note 156, p. 126.—To which Hafez compares his mistress’s hair.—See Nott’s Hafez, Ode v.

Note 157, p. 126.—To the Cámalatá, by whose rosy blossoms the heaven of Indra is scented.—“The Cámalatá (called by Linnæus, Ipomæa) is the most beautiful of its order, both in the colour and form of its leaves and flowers; its elegant blossoms are ‘celestial rosy red, Love’s proper hue,’ and have justly procured it the name of Cámalatá, or Love’s Creeper.”—Sir W. Jones.

“Cámalatá may also mean a mythological plant, by which all desires are granted to such as inhabit the heaven of Indra; and if ever flower was worthy of paradise, it is our charming Ipomæa”—Sir W. Jones.

Note 158, p. 126.—That flower-loving Nymph whom they worship in the temples of Kathay.—“According to Father Premare, in his tract on Chinese Mythology, the mother of Fo-hi was the daughter of heaven, surnamed Flower-loving; and as the nymph was walking alone on the bank of a 353river, she found herself encircled by a rainbow, after which she became pregnant, and, at the end of twelve years, was delivered of a son radiant as herself.”—Asiat. Res.

Note 159, p. 130.—With its plane-tree Isle reflected clear.

“Numerous small islands emerge from the Lake of Cashmere. One is called Char Chenaur, from the plane-trees upon it.”—Foster.

Note 160, p. 130.—And the golden floods that thitherward stray.

“The Altan Kol or Golden River of Tibet, which runs into the Lakes of Sing-su-hay, has abundance of gold in its sands, which employs the inhabitants all the summer in gathering it.”—Description of Tibet in Pinkerton.

Note 161, p. 131.—Blooms nowhere but in Paradise.

“The Brahmins of this province insist that the blue campac flowers only in Paradise.”—Sir W. Jones. It appears, however, from a curious letter of the sultan of Menangcabow, given by Marsden, that one place on earth may lay claim to the possession of it. “This is the Sultan, who keeps the flower champaka that is blue, and to be found in no other country but his, being yellow elsewhere.”—Marsden’s Sumatra.

Note 162, p. 131.—Flung at night from angel hands.

“The Mahometans suppose that falling stars are the firebrands wherewith the good angels drive away the bad, when they approach too near the empyrean or verge of the heavens.”—Fryer.

Note 163, p. 132.—Beneath the pillars of Chilminar.

The Forty Pillars; so the Persians call the ruins of Persepolis. It is imagined by them that this palace and the edifices at Balbec were built by Genii, for the purpose of hiding in their subterraneous caverns immense treasures, which still remain there.—See D’Herbelot and Volney.

Note 164, p. 132.—To the south of sun-bright Araby.—The Isles of Panchaia.

Diodorus mentions the Isle of Panchaia, to the south of Arabia Felix, where there was a temple of Jupiter. This island, or rather cluster of isles, has disappeared, “sunk (says Grandpré) in the abyss made by the fire beneath their foundations.”—Voyage to the Indian Ocean.

Note 165, p. 132.—The jewell’d cup of their King Jamshid.

“The cup of Jamshid, discovered, they say, when digging for the foundations of Persepolis.”—Richardson.

Note 166, p. 132.—O’er coral rocks, and amber beds.

“It is not like the Sea of India, whose bottom is rich with pearls and ambergris, whose mountains of the coast are stored with gold and precious 354stones, whose gulfs breed creatures that yield ivory, and among the plants of whose shores are ebony, red wood, and the wood of Hairzan, aloes, camphor, cloves, sandal-wood, and all other spices and aromatics: where parrots and peacocks are birds of the forest, and musk and civet are collected upon the lands.”—Travels of Two Mohammedans.

Note 167, p. 133.—Thy Pagods and thy pillar’d shades.

… “in the ground

The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow

About the mother-tree, a pillar’d shade,

High over-arch’d, and echoing walks between.”—Milton.

For a particular description and plate of the Banyan-tree, see Cordiner’s Ceylon.

Note 168, p. 133.—Thy Monarchs and their thousand Thrones.

“With this immense treasure Mamood returned to Ghizni, and in the year 400 prepared a magnificent festival, where he displayed to the people his wealth in golden thrones and in other ornaments, in a great plain without the city of Ghizni.”—Ferishta.

Note 169, p. 133.—’Tis He of Gazna—fierce in wrath.

“Mahmood of Gazna, or Ghizni, who conquered India in the beginning of the 11th century.”—See his History in Dow and Sir J. Malcolm.

Note 170, p. 133.—Of many a young and lov’d Sultana.

“It is reported that the hunting equipage of the Sultan Mahmood was so magnificent, that he kept 400 greyhounds and bloodhounds, each of which wore a collar set with jewels, and a covering edged with gold and pearls.”—Universal History, vol. iii.

Note 171, p. 134.—For Liberty shed, so holy is.

Objections may be made to my use of the word Liberty in this, and more especially in the story that follows it, as totally inapplicable to any state of things that has ever existed in the East; but though I cannot, of course, mean to employ it in that enlarged and noble sense which is so well understood at the present day, and, I grieve to say, so little acted upon, yet it is no disparagement to the word to apply it to that national independence, that freedom from the interference and dictation of foreigners, without which, indeed, no liberty of any kind can exist; and for which both Hindoos and Persians fought against their Mussulman invaders with, in many cases, a bravery that deserved much better success.

Note 172, p. 136.—Now among Afric’s lunar Mountains.

“The Mountains of the Moon, or the Montes Lunæ of antiquity, at the foot of which the Nile is supposed to rise.”—Bruce.

355“Sometimes called,” says Jackson, “Jibbel Kumrie, or the white or lunar-coloured mountains; so a white horse is called by the Arabians a moon-coloured horse.”

Note 173, p. 136.—And hail the new-born Giant’s smile.

“The Nile, which the Abyssinians know by the names of Abey and Alawy, or the Giant.”—Asiat. Research. vol. i. p. 387.

Note 174, p. 136.—Her grots, and sepulchres of Kings.

See Perry’s View of the Levant for an account of the sepulchres in Upper Thebes, and the numberless grots, covered all over with hieroglyphics in the mountains of Upper Egypt.

Note 175, p. 136.—In warm Rosetta’s vale—now loves.

“The orchards of Rosetta are filled with turtle-doves.”—Sonnini.

Note 176, p. 136.—The azure calm of Mœris’ Lake.

Savary mentions the pelicans upon Lake Mœris.

Note 177, p. 137.—Warns them to their silken beds.

“The superb date-tree, whose head languidly reclines, like that of a handsome woman overcome with sleep.”—Dafard el Hadad.

Note 178, p. 137.—Some purple-wing’d Sultana sitting.

“That beautiful bird, with plumage of the finest shining blue, with purple beak and legs, the natural and living ornament of the temples and palaces of the Greeks and Romans, which, from the stateliness of its port, as well as the brilliancy of its colours, has obtained the title of Sultana.”—Sonnini.

Note 179, p. 138.—Only the fierce hyæna stalks.

Jackson, speaking of the plague that occurred in West Barbary, when he was there, says, “The birds of the air fled away from the abodes of men. The hyænas, on the contrary, visited the cemeteries,” &c.

Note 180, p. 138.—Throughout the city’s desolate walks.

“Gondar was full of hyænas from the time it turned dark till the dawn of day, seeking the different pieces of slaughtered carcasses, which this cruel and unclean people expose in the streets without burial, and who firmly believe that these animals are Falashta from the neighbouring mountains, transformed by magic, and come down to eat human flesh in the dark in safety.”—Bruce.

Note 181, p. 138.—The glaring of those large blue eyes.—Bruce.

Note 182, 356p. 140.—But see—who yonder comes by stealth.

This circumstance has been often introduced into poetry;—by Vincentius Fabricius, by Darwin, and lately, with very powerful effect, by Mr. Wilson.

Note 183, p. 142.—Who sings at the last his own death-lay.

“In the East, they suppose the Phœnix to have fifty orifices in his bill, which are continued to his tail; and that, after living one thousand years, he builds himself a funeral pile, sings a melodious air of different harmonies through his fifty organ pipes, flaps his wings with a velocity which sets fire to the wood, and consumes himself.”—Richardson.

Note 184, p. 144.—Their first sweet draught of glory take.

“On the shores of a quadrangular lake stand a thousand goblets, made of stars, out of which souls predestined to enjoy felicity drink the crystal wave.”—From Châteaubriand’s Description of the Mahometan Paradise, in his Beauties of Christianity.

Note 185, p. 145.—Now, upon Syria’s land of roses.

Richardson thinks that Syria had its name from Suri, a beautiful and delicate species of rose, for which that country has been always famous;—hence, Suristan, the Land of Roses.

Note 186, p. 145.—Gay lizards, glittering on the walls.

“The number of lizards I saw one day in the great court of the Temple of the Sun at Balbec amounted to many thousands; the ground, the walls, and stones of the ruined buildings, were covered with them.”—Bruce.

Note 187, p. 146.—Of shepherd’s ancient reed.

“The Syrinx, or Pan’s pipe, is still a pastoral instrument in Syria.”—Russel.

Note 188, p. 146.—Of the wild bees of Palestine.

“Wild bees, frequent in Palestine, in hollow trunks or branches of trees, and the clefts of rocks. Thus it is said (Psalm lxxxi.), ‘honey out of the stony rock.’”—Burder’s Oriental Customs.

Note 189, p. 146.—And woods, so full of nightingales.

“The river Jordan is on both sides beset with little, thick, and pleasant woods, among which thousands of nightingales warble all together.”—Thevenot.

Note 190, p. 146.—On that great Temple, once his own.

The Temple of the Sun at Balbec.

Note 191, p. 147.—The beautiful blue damsel flies.

“You behold there a considerable number of a remarkable species of beautiful insects, the elegance of whose appearance and their attire procured for them the name of Damsels.”—Sonnini.

Note 192, 357p. 147.—Of a small imaret’s rustic fount.

Imaret, “hospice où on loge et nourrit, gratis, les pélerins pendant trois jours.”—Toderini, translated by the Abbé de Cournand.—See also Castellan’s Mœurs des Othomans, tom. v. p. 145.

Note 193, p. 149.—Kneels, with his forehead to the south.

“Such Turks, as at the common hours of prayer are on the road, or so employed as not to find convenience to attend the mosques, are still obliged to execute that duty; nor are they ever known to fail, whatever business they are then about, but pray immediately when the hour alarms them, whatever they are about, in that very place they chance to stand on; insomuch that when a janissary, whom you have to guard you up and down the city, hears the notice which is given him from the steeples, he will turn about, stand still, and beckon with his hand, to tell his charge he must have patience for awhile; when, taking out his handkerchief, he spreads it on the ground, sits cross-legged thereupon, and says his prayers, though in the open market, which, having ended, he leaps briskly up, salutes the person whom he undertook to convey, and renews his journey with the mild expression of Ghell gohnnum ghell, or, Come, dear, follow me.”—Aaron Hill’s Travels.

Note 194, p. 151.—Upon Egypt’s land, of so healing a power.

The Nucta, or Miraculous Drop, which falls in Egypt precisely on St. John’s Day, in June, and is supposed to have the effect of stopping the plague.

Note 195, p. 153.—Are the diamond turrets of Shadukiam.

The Country of Delight—the name of a province in the kingdom of Jinnistan, or Fairy Land, the capital of which is called the City of Jewels. Amberabad is another of the cities of Jinnistan.

Note 196, p. 153.—My feast is now of the Tooba Tree.

The tree Tooba, that stands in Paradise, in the palace of Mahomet. See Sale’s Prelim. Disc.—Tooba, says D’Herbelot, signifies beatitude, or eternal happiness.

Note 197, p. 154.—To the lote-tree, springing by Alla’s throne.

Mahomet is described, in the 53d chapter of the Koran, as having seen the Angel Gabriel “by the lote-tree, beyond which there is no passing: near it is the Garden of Eternal Abode.” This tree, say the commentators, stands in the seventh Heaven, on the right hand of the Throne of God.

Note 198, p. 155.—As the hundred and twenty thousand Streams of Basra.—“It is said that the rivers or streams of Basra were reckoned in the time of Pelal ben Abi Bordeh, and amounted to the number of one hundred and twenty thousand streams.”—Ebn Haukal.

Note 199, 358p. 155.—Who, like them, flung the jereed carelessly.—The name of the javelin with which the Easterns exercise. See Castellan, Mœurs des Othomans, tom. iii. p. 161.

Note 200, p. 156.—The Banyan Hospital.—“This account excited a desire of visiting the Banyan Hospital, as I had heard much of their benevolence to all kinds of animals that were either sick, lame, or infirm, through age or accident. On my arrival, there were presented to my view many horses, cows, and oxen, in one apartment; in another, dogs, sheep, goats, and monkeys, with clean straw for them to repose on. Above stairs were depositories for seeds of many sorts, and flat, broad dishes for water, for the use of birds and insects.”—Parson’s Travels.

It is said that all animals know the Banyans, that the most timid approach them, and that birds will fly nearer to them than to other people.—See Grandpré.

Note 201, p. 157.—Like that of the fragrant grass near the Ganges.—“A very fragrant grass from the banks of the Ganges, near Heridwar, which in some places covers whole acres, and diffuses, when crushed, a strong odour.”—Sir W. Jones, on the Spikenard of the Ancients.

Note 202, p. 157.—No one had ever yet reached its summit.—“Near this is a curious hill, called Koh Talism, the Mountain of the Talisman, because, according to the traditions of the country, no person ever succeeded in gaining its summit.”—Kinneir.

Note 203, p. 158.—Is warmed into life by the eyes alone.—“The Arabians believe that the ostriches hatch their young by only looking at them.”—P. Vanslebe, Rélat. d’Egypte.

Note 204, p. 159.—And then lost them again for ever.—See Sale’s Koran, note, vol. ii. p. 484.

Note 205, p. 159.—While the artisans in chariots.—Oriental Tales.

Note 206, p. 160.—Who kept waving over their heads plates of gold and silver flowers.—Ferishta. “Or rather,” says Scott, upon the passage of Ferishta, from which this is taken, “small coins, stamped with the figure of a flower. They are still used in India to distribute in charity, and, on occasion, thrown by the purse-bearers of the great among the populace.”

Note 207, p. 160.—Alley of trees.—The fine road made by the emperor Jehan-Guire from Agra to Lahore, planted with trees on each side. This road is 250 leagues in length. It has “little pyramids or turrets,” says Fernier, “erected every half league, to mark the ways, and frequent wells to afford drink to passengers, and to water the young trees.”

Note 208, 359p. 162.—That favourite tree of the luxurious bird that lights up the chambers of its nest with fire-flies.—The Baya, or Indian Gross-beak.—Sir W. Jones.

Note 209, p. 162.—On the clear cold waters of which floated multitudes of the beautiful red lotus.—“Here is a large pagoda by a tank, on the water of which float multitudes of the beautiful red lotus; the flower is larger than that of the white water-lily, and is the most lovely of the nymphæas I have seen.”—Mrs. Graham’s Journal of a Residence in India.

Note 210, p. 163.—Had fled hither from their Arab conquerors.—“On les voit persécutés par les Khalifes se retirer dans les montagnes du Kerman: plusieurs choisirent pour retraite la Tartarie et la Chine; d’autres s’arrêtè-rent sur les bords du Gange, à l’est de Delhi.”—M. Anquetil, Mémoires de l’Académie, tom. xxxi. p. 346.

Note 211, p. 163.—Like their own Fire in the Burning Field at Bakou.—The “Ager ardens” described by Kæmpfer, Amœnitat. Exot.

Note 212, p. 164.—The prey of strangers.—“Cashmere (says its historians) had its own princes 4000 years before its conquest by Akbar in 1585. Akbar would have found some difficulty to reduce this paradise of the Indies, situated as it is within such a fortress of mountains, but its monarch, Yusef-Khan, was basely betrayed by his Omrahs.”—Pennant.

Note 213, p. 164.—Fire-worshippers.—Voltaire tells us that in his Tragedy, “Les Guèbres,” he was generally supposed to have alluded to the Jansenists. I should not be surprised if this story of the Fire-worshippers were found capable of a similar doubleness of application.

Note 214, p. 169.—’Tis moonlight over Oman’s sea.

The Persian Gulf, sometimes so called, which separates the shores of Persia and Arabia.

Note 215, p. 169.—’Tis moonlight in Harmozia’s walls.

The present Gombaroon, a town on the Persian side of the Gulf.

Note 216, p. 169.—Of trumpet and the clash of zel.

A Moorish instrument of music.

Note 217, p. 170.—The wind-tower on the Emir’s dome.

“At Gombaroon and other places in Persia, they have towers for the purpose of catching the wind, and cooling the houses.”—Le Bruyn.

Note 218, p. 170.—His race hath brought on Iran’s name.

“Iran is the true general name for the empire of Persia.”—Asiat. Res. Disc. 5.

Note 219, 360p. 170.—Engraven on his reeking sword.

“On the blades of their scimitars some verse from the Koran is usually inscribed.”—Russel.

Note 220, p. 171.—Draw venom forth that drives men mad.

“There is a kind of Rhododendros about Trebizond, whose flowers the bee feeds upon, and the honey thence drives people mad.”—Tournefort.

Note 221, p. 172.—Upon the turban of a king.

“Their kings wear plumes of black herons’ feathers upon the right side, as a badge of sovereignty.”—Hanway.

Note 222, p. 173.—Springing in a desolate mountain.

“The Fountain of Youth, by a Mahometan tradition, is situated in some dark region of the East.”—Richardson.

Note 223, p. 173.—On summer-eves, through Yemen’s dales.

Arabia Felix.

Note 224, p. 174.—Who, lull’d in cool kiosk or bower.

“In the midst of the garden is the chiosk, that is, a large room, commonly beautified with a fine fountain in the midst of it. It is raised nine or ten steps, and inclosed with gilded lattices, round which vines, jessamines, and honeysuckles, make a sort of green wall; large trees are planted round this place, which is the scene of their greatest pleasures.”—Lady M. W. Montague.

Note 225, p. 174.—Before their mirrors count the time.

The women of the East are never without their looking-glasses. “In Barbary,” says Shaw, “they are so fond of their looking-glasses, which they hang upon their breasts, that they will not lay them aside, even when after the drudgery of the day they are obliged to go two or three miles with a pitcher or a goat’s skin to fetch water.”—Travels.

In other parts of Asia they wear little looking-glasses on their thumbs. “Hence (and from the lotus being considered the emblem of beauty) is the meaning of the following mute intercourse of two lovers before their parents:—

“‘He, with salute of deference due,

A lotus to his forehead prest;

She rais’d her mirror to his view,

Then turn’d it inward to her breast.’”

Asiatic Miscellany, vol. ii.

Note 226, p. 174.—Upon the emerald’s virgin blaze.

“They say that if a snake or serpent fix his eyes on the lustre of those stones (emeralds), he immediately becomes blind.”—Ahmed ben Abdalaziz Treatise on Jewels.

Note 227, 361p. 175.—After the day-beam’s withering fire.

“At Gombaroon and the Isle of Ormus, it is sometimes so hot that the people are obliged to lie all day in the water.”—Marco Polo.

Note 228, p. 176.—Of Ararat’s tremendous peak.

This mountain is generally supposed to be inaccessible. Struy says, “I can well assure the reader that their opinion is not true, who suppose this mount to be inaccessible.” He adds, that “the lower part of the mountain is cloudy, misty, and dark; the middlemost part very cold, and like clouds of snow; but the upper regions perfectly calm.”—It was on this mountain that the ark was supposed to have rested after the Deluge, and part of it, they say, exists there still, which Struy thus gravely accounts for:—“Whereas none can remember that the air on the top of the hill did ever change or was subject either to wind or rain, which is presumed to be the reason that the Ark has endured so long without being rotten.”—See Carreri’s Travels, where the Doctor laughs at this whole account of Mount Ararat.

Note 229, p. 177.—The bridegroom, with his locks of light.

In one of the books of the Shâh Nâmeh, when Zal (a celebrated hero of Persia, remarkable for his white hair) comes to the terrace of his mistress Rodahver at night, she lets down her long tresses to assist him in his ascent;—he, however, manages it in a less romantic way, by fixing his crook in a projecting beam.—See Champion’s Ferdosi.

Note 230, p. 177.—The rock-goats of Arabia clamber.

“On the lofty hills of Arabia Petræa are rock-goats.”—Niebuhr.

Note 231, p. 178.—Some ditty to her soft Kanoon.

“Canun, espèce de psaltérion, avec des cordes de boyaux; les dames en touchent dans le sérail, avec des écailles armées de pointes de cooc.”—Toderini, translated by De Cournand.

Note 232, p. 184.—The Gheber belt that round him clung.

“They (the Ghebers) lay so much stress on their cushee or girdle, as not to dare to be an instant without it.”—Grose’s Voyage.—“Le jeune homme nia d’abord la chose; mais, ayant été dépouillé de sa robe, et la large ceinture qu’il portoit comme Ghebr,” &c. &c.—D’Herbelot, art. Agduani. “Pour se distinguer des Idolâtres de l’Inde, les Guèbres se ceignent tous d’un cordon de laine, ou de poil de chameau.”—Encyclopédie Françoise.

D’Herbelot says this belt was generally of leather.

Note 233, p. 184.—Among the living lights of heaven.

“They suppose the Throne of the Almighty is seated in the sun, and hence their worship of that luminary.”—Hanway. “As to fire, the Ghebers 362place the spring-head of it in that globe of fire the Sun, by them called Mythras, or Mihir, to which they pay the highest reverence, in gratitude for the manifold benefits flowing from its ministerial omniscience. But they are so far from confounding the subordination of the Servant with the majesty of its Creator, that they not only attribute no sort of sense or reasoning to the sun or fire, in any of its operations, but consider it as a purely passive blind instrument, directed and governed by the immediate impression on it of the will of God: but they do not even give that luminary, all-glorious as it is, more than the second rank amongst his works, reserving the first for that stupendous production of divine power, the mind of man.”—Grose. The false charges brought against the religion of these people by their Mussulman tyrants is but one proof among many of the truth of this writer’s remark, that “calumny is often added to oppression, if but for the sake of justifying it.”

Note 234, p. 188.—And fiery darts, at intervals.

“The Mameluks that were in the other boat, when it was dark, used to shoot up a sort of fiery arrows into the air, which in some measure resembled lightning or falling stars.”—Baumgarten.

Note 235, p. 190.—Which grows over the tomb of the musician, Tan-Sein.—“Within the inclosure which surrounds this monument (at Gualior) is a small tomb to the memory of Tan-Sein, a musician of incomparable skill, who flourished at the court of Akbar. The tomb is overshadowed by a tree, concerning which a superstitious notion prevails, that the chewing of its leaves will give an extraordinary melody to the voice.”—Narrative of a Journey from Agra to Ouzein, by W. Hunter, Esq.

Note 236, p. 190.—The awful signal of the bamboo staff.—“It is usual to place a small white triangular flag, fixed to a bamboo staff of ten or twelve feet long, at the place where a tiger has destroyed a man. It is common for the passengers also to throw each a stone or brick near the spot, so that in the course of a little time a pile equal to a good waggon-load is collected. The sight of these flags and piles of stones imparts a certain melancholy, not perhaps altogether void of apprehension.”—Oriental Field Sports, vol. ii.

Note 237, p. 190.—Ornamented with the most beautiful porcelain.—“The Ficus Indica is called the Pagod Tree and Tree of Councils; the first, from the idols placed under its shade; the second, because meetings were held under its cool branches. In some places it is believed to be the haunt of spectres, as the ancient spreading oaks of Wales have been of fairies; in others are erected beneath the shade pillars of stone, or posts, elegantly carved, and ornamented with the most beautiful porcelain to supply the use of mirrors.”—Pennant.

Note 238, 363p. 192.—And o’er the Green Sea palely shines.

The Persian Gulf—“To dive for pearls in the Green Sea, or Persian Gulf.”—Sir W. Jones.

Note 239, p. 192.—Revealing Bahrein’s groves of palm, And lighting Kishma’s amber vines.

Islands in the Gulf.

Note 240, p. 192.—Blow round Selama’s sainted cape.

Or Selemeh, the genuine name of the headland at the entrance of the Gulf, commonly called Cape Musseldom. “The Indians, when they pass the promontory, throw cocoa-nuts, fruits, or flowers, into the sea, to secure a propitious voyage.”—Morier.

Note 241, p. 193.—The nightingale now bends her flight.

“The nightingale sings from the pomegranate groves in the day-time, and from the loftiest trees at night.”—Russel’s Aleppo.

Note 242, p. 193.—The best and brightest scimitar.

In speaking of the climate of Shiraz, Francklin says, “The dew is of such a pure nature, that if the brightest scimitar should be exposed to it all night, it would not receive the least rust.”

Note 243, p. 194.—Who, on Cadessia’s bloody plains.

The place where the Persians were finally defeated by the Arabs, and their ancient monarchy destroyed.

Note 244, p. 194.—Beyond the Caspian’s Iron Gates.

Derbend.—“Les Turcs appellent cette ville Demir Capi, Porte de Fer; ce sont les Caspiæ Portæ des anciens.”—D’Herbelot.

Note 245, p. 195.—They burst, like Zeilan’s giant palm.

The Talpot or Talipot-tree. “This beautiful palm-tree, which grows in the heart of the forests, may be classed among the loftiest trees, and becomes still higher when on the point of bursting forth from its leafy summit. The sheath which then envelopes the flower is very large, and, when it bursts, makes an explosion like the report of a cannon.”—Thunberg.

Note 246, p. 196.—Before whose sabre’s dazzling light.

“When the bright cimitars make the eyes of our heroes wink.”—The Moallakat, Poem of Amru.

Note 247, p. 198.—Sprung from those old, enchanted kings.

Tahmuras, and other ancient kings of Persia; whose adventures in Fairy-land among the Peris and Dives may be found in Richardson’s curious Dissertation. The griffin Simoorgh, they say, took some feathers from her breast for Tahmuras, with which he adorned his helmet, and transmitted them afterwards to his descendants.

Note 248, 364p. 199.—Of sainted cedars on its banks.

This rivulet, says Dandini, is called the Holy river from the “cedar-saints” among which it rises.

In the Lettres Edifiantes, there is a different cause assigned for its name of Holy. “In these are deep caverns, which formerly served as so many cells for a great number of recluses, who had chosen these retreats as the only witnesses upon earth of the severity of their penance. The tears of these pious penitents gave the river of which we have just treated the name of the Holy River.”—See Châteaubriand’s Beauties of Christianity.

Note 249, p. 200.—Of Oman beetling awfully.

This mountain is my own creation, as the “stupendous chain,” of which I suppose it a link, does not extend quite so far as the shores of the Persian Gulf. “This long and lofty range of mountains formerly divided Media from Assyria, and now forms the boundary of the Persian and Turkish empires. It runs parallel with the river Tigris and Persian Gulf, and almost disappearing in the vicinity of Gomberoon (Harmozia), seems once more to rise in the southern districts of Kerman, and following an easterly course through the centre of Meckraun and Balouchistan, is entirely lost in the deserts of Sinde.”—Kinneir’s Persian Empire.

Note 250, p. 201.—That oft the sleeping albatross.

These birds sleep in the air. They are most common about the Cape of Good Hope.

Note 251, p 201.—Beneath the Gheber’s lonely cliff.

There is an extraordinary hill in this neighbourhood, called Kohé Gubr, or the Guebre’s mountain. It rises in the form of a lofty cupola, and on the summit of it, they say, are the remains of an Atush Kudu, or Fire-Temple. It is superstitiously held to be the residence of Deeves or Sprites, and many marvellous stories are recounted of the injury and witchcraft suffered by those who essayed in former days to ascend or explore it.—Pottinger’s Beloochistan.

Note 252, p. 202.—Of that vast mountain stood on fire.

The Ghebers generally built their temples over subterraneous fires.

Note 253, p. 202.—Still did the mighty flame burn on.

“At the city of Yezd, in Persia, which is distinguished by the appellation of the Darûb Abadut, or Seat of Religion, the Guebres are permitted to have an Atush Kudu, or Fire-Temple, (which, they assert, has had the sacred fire in it since the days of Zoroaster,) in their own compartment of the city; but for this indulgence they are indebted to the avarice, not the tolerance, of the Persian government, which taxes them at twenty-five rupees each man.”—Pottinger’s Beloochistan.

Note 254, 365p. 204.—The blood of Zal and Rustam rolls.

Ancient heroes of Persia. “Among the Guebres there are some who boast their descent from Rustam.”—Stephen’s Persia.

Note 255, p. 204.—Across the dark sea-robber’s way.

See Russel’s account of the panther’s attacking travellers in the night on the sea-shore about the roots of Lebanon.

Note 256, p. 206.—The wandering Spirits of their Dead.

“Among other ceremonies the Magi used to place upon the tops of high towers various kinds of rich viands, upon which it was supposed the Peris and the spirits of their departed heroes regaled themselves.”—Richardson.

Note 257, p. 206.—Nor charmed leaf of pure pomegranate.

In the ceremonies of the Ghebers round their Fire, as described by Lord, “the Daroo,” he says, “giveth them water to drink, and a pomegranate leaf to chew in the mouth, to cleanse them from inward uncleanness.”

Note 258, p. 206.—Nor symbol of their worshipp’d planet.

“Early in the morning, they (the Parsees or Ghebers at Oulam) go in crowds to pay their devotions to the Sun, to whom upon all the altars there are spheres consecrated, made by magic, resembling the circles of the sun, and when the sun rises, these orbs seem to be inflamed, and to turn round with a great noise. They have every one a censer in their hands, and offer incense to the sun.”—Rabbi Benjamin.

Note 259, p. 206.—They swore the latest, holiest deed.

“Nul d’entre eux oseroit se parjurer, quand il a pris à témoin cet élément terrible et vengeur.”—Encyclopédie Françoise.

Note 260, p. 207.—The Persian lily shines and towers.

“A vivid verdure succeeds the autumnal rains, and the ploughed fields are covered with the Persian lily, of a resplendent yellow colour.”—Russel’s Aleppo.

Note 261, p. 210.—When toss’d at midnight furiously.

“It is observed, with respect to the Sea of Herkend, that when it is tossed by tempestuous winds it sparkles like fire.”—Travels of Two Mohammedans.

Note 262, p. 210.—Up, daughter, up—the Kerna’s breath.

A kind of trumpet;—it “was that used by Tamerlane, the sound of which is described as uncommonly dreadful, and so loud as to be heard at the distance of several miles.”—Richardson.

Note 263, 366p. 212.—Thou wor’st on Ohod’s field of death.

“Mohammed had two helmets, an interior and exterior one; the latter of which, called Al Mawashah, the fillet, wreath, or wreathed garland, he wore at the battle of Ohod.”—Universal History.

Note 264, p. 214.—But turn to ashes on the lips.

They say that there are apple-trees upon the sides of this sea, which bear very lovely fruit, but within are all full of ashes.—Thevenot. The same is asserted of the oranges there; vide Witman’s Travels in Asiatic Turkey.

“The Asphalt Lake, known by the name of the Dead Sea, is very remarkable on account of the considerable proportion of salt which it contains. In this respect it surpasses every other known water on the surface of the earth. This great proportion of bitter tasted salts is the reason why neither animal nor plant can live in this water.”—Klaproth’s Chemical Analysis of the Water of the Dead Sea, Annals of Philosophy, January, 1813. Hasselquist, however, doubts the truth of this last assertion, as there are shell-fish to be found in the lake.

Lord Byron has a similar allusion to the fruits of the Dead Sea, in that wonderful display of genius, his third Canto of Childe Harold,—magnificent beyond any thing, perhaps, that even he has ever written.

Note 265, p. 214.—While lakes, that shone in mockery nigh.

“The Suhrab, or Water of the Desert, is said to be caused by the rarefaction of the atmosphere from extreme heat; and, which augments the delusion, it is most frequent in hollows, where water might be expected to lodge. I have seen bushes and trees reflected in it with as much accuracy as though it had been the face of a clear and still lake.”—Pottinger.

“As to the unbelievers, their works are like a vapour in a plain which the thirsty traveller thinketh to be water, until when he cometh thereto he findeth it to be nothing.”—Koran, chap. 24.

Note 266, p. 215.—The Bid-musk had just passed over.—“A wind which prevails in February, called Bidmusk, from a small and odoriferous flower of that name.”—“The wind which blows these flowers commonly lasts till the end of the month.”—Le Bruyn.

Note 267, p. 215.—The sea-gipsies, who live for ever on the water.—“The Biajús are of two races: the one is settled on Borneo, and are a rude but warlike and industrious nation, who reckon themselves the original possessors of the island of Borneo. The other is a species of sea-gipsies or itinerant fishermen, who live in small covered boats, and enjoy a perpetual summer on the eastern ocean, shifting to leeward from island to island, with the variations of the monsoon. In some of their customs this singular race resemble the natives of the Maldivia islands. The Maldivians annually launch a small bark, loaded with perfumes, gums, flowers, and 367odoriferous wood, and turn it adrift at the mercy of winds and waves, as an offering to the Spirit of the Winds; and sometimes similar offerings are made to the spirit whom they term the King of the Sea. In like manner the Biajús perform their offering to the God of Evil, launching a small bark, loaded with all the sins and misfortunes of the nation, which are imagined to fall on the unhappy crew that may be so unlucky as first to meet with it.”—Dr. Leyden on the Languages and Literature of the Indo-Chinese Nations.

Note 268, p. 215.—The violet sherbets.—“The sweet-scented violet is one of the plants most esteemed, particularly for its great use in Sorbet, which they make of violet sugar.”—Hasselquist.

“The sherbet they most esteem, and which is drunk by the Grand Signor himself, is made of violets and sugar.”—Tavernier.

Note 269, p. 215.—The pathetic measure of Nava.—“Last of all she took a guitar, and sung a pathetic air in the measure called Nava, which is always used to express the lamentations of absent lovers.”—Persian Tales.

Note 270, p. 217.—No music tim’d her parting oar.

“The Easterns used to set out on their longer voyages with music.”—Harmer.

Note 271, p. 217.—In silence through the Gate of Tears.

“The Gate of Tears, the straits or passage into the Red Sea, commonly called Babelmandel. It received this name from the old Arabians, on account of the danger of the navigation, and the number of shipwrecks by which it was distinguished; which induced them to consider as dead, and to wear mourning for all who had the boldness to hazard the passage through it into the Ethiopic ocean.”—Richardson.

Note 272, p. 218.—In the still warm and living breath.

“I have been told that whensoever an animal falls down dead, one or more vultures, unseen before, instantly appear.”—Pennant.

Note 273, p. 218.—As a young bird of Babylon.

“They fasten some writing to the wings of a Bagdat or Babylonian pigeon.”—Travels of certain Englishmen.

Note 274, p. 219.—Shooting around their jasper fount.

“The Empress of Jehan-Guire used to divert herself with feeding tame fish in her canals, some of which were many years afterwards known by fillets of gold, which she caused to be put round them.”—Harris.

Note 275, p. 219.—To tell her ruby rosary.

“Le Tespih, qui est un chapelet composé de 99 petites boules d’agate, de jaspe, d’ambre, de corail, ou d’autre matière précieuse. J’en ai vu un superbe au Seigneur Jerpos; il étoit de belles et grosses perles parfaites et égales, estimé trente mille piastres.”—Toderini.

Note 276, 368p. 223.—Like meteor brands as if throughout.

The meteors that Pliny calls “faces.”

Note 277, p. 224.—The Star of Egypt whose proud light.

“The brilliant Canopus, unseen in European climates.”—Brown.

Note 278, p. 224.—In the White Islands of the West.

See Wilford’s learned Essays on the Sacred Isles in the West.

Note 279, p. 225.—Sparkles, as ’twere that lightning-gem.

A precious stone of the Indies, called by the ancients Ceraunium, because it was supposed to be found in places where thunder had fallen. Tertullian says it has a glittering appearance, as if there had been fire in it; and the author of the Dissertation in Harris’s Voyages supposes it to be the opal.

Note 280, p. 227.—Their garb—the leathern belt that wraps.

D’Herbelot, art. Agduani.

Note 281, p. 227.—Each yellow vest—that rebel hue.

“The Guebres are known by a dark yellow colour, which the men affect in their clothes.”—Thevenot.

Note 282, p. 227.—The Tartar fleece upon their caps.

“The Kolah or cap, worn by the Persians, is made of the skin of the sheep of Tartary.”—Waring.

Note 283, p. 234.—Open her bosom’s glowing veil.

A frequent image among the Oriental poets. “The nightingales warbled their enchanting notes, and rent the thin veils of the rosebud and the rose.”—Jami.

Note 284, p. 237.—The sorrowful tree, Nilica.—“Blossoms of the sorrowful Nyctanthes give a durable colour to silk.”—Remarks on the Husbandry of Bengal, p. 200. Nilica is one of the Indian names of this flower.—Sir W. Jones. The Persians call it Gul.—Carreri.

Note 285, p. 239.—That cooling feast the traveller loves.

“In parts of Kerman, whatever dates are shaken from the trees by the wind they do not touch, but leave them for those who have not any, or for travellers.”—Ebn Haukal.

Note 286, p. 240.—The Searchers of the Grave appear.

The two terrible angels Monkir and Nakir, who are called “the Searchers of the Grave” in the “Creed of the orthodox Mahometans” given by Ockley, vol. ii.

Note 287, 369p. 240.—The mandrake’s charnel leaves at night.

“The Arabians call the mandrake ‘the Devil’s candle,’ on account of its shining appearance in the night.”—Richardson.

Note 288, p. 249.—Of the still Halls of Ishmonie.

For an account of Ishmonie, the petrified city in Upper Egypt, where it is said there are many statues of men, women, &c. to be seen to this day, see Perry’s View of the Levant.

Note 289, p. 250.—And ne’er did saint of Issa gaze.—Jesus.

Note 290, p. 251.—The death-flames that beneath him burn’d!

The Ghebers say that when Abraham, their great Prophet, was thrown into the fire by order of Nimrod, the flame turned instantly into “a bed of roses, where the child sweetly reposed.”—Tavernier.

Of their other Prophet, Zoroaster, there is a story told in Dion Prusæus, Orat. 36, that the love of wisdom and virtue leading him to a solitary life upon a mountain, he found it one day all in a flame, shining with celestial fire, out of which he came without any harm, and instituted certain sacrifices to God, who, he declared, then appeared to him.—See Patrick on Exodus, iii. 2.

Note 291, p. 254.—A ponderous sea-horn hung, and blew.

“The shell called Siiankos, common to India, Africa, and the Mediterranean, and still used in many parts as a trumpet for blowing alarms or giving signals: it sends forth a deep and hollow sound.”—Pennant.

Note 292, p. 255.—And the white ox-tails stream’d behind.

“The finest ornament for the horses is made of six large flying tassels of long white hair, taken out of the tails of wild oxen, that are to be found in some places of the Indies.”—Thevenot.

Note 293, p. 257.—Sweet as the angel Israfil’s.

“The angel Israfil, who has the most melodious voice of all God’s creatures.”—Sale.

Note 294, p. 261.—Wound slow, as through Golconda’s vale.

See Hoole upon the Story of Sinbad.

Note 295, p. 265.—From the wild covert where he lay.

“In this thicket upon the banks of the Jordan several sorts of wild beasts are wont to harbour themselves, whose being washed out of the covert by the overflowings of the river gave occasion to that allusion of Jeremiah, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan.”—Maundrell’s Aleppo.

Note 296, 370p. 275.—Like the wind of the south o’er a summer lute blowing.

“This wind (the Samoor) so softens the strings of lutes, that they can never be tuned while it lasts.”—Stephen’s Persia.

Note 297, p. 275.—With nought but the sea-star to light up her tomb.

“One of the greatest curiosities found in the Persian Gulf is a fish which the English call Star-fish. It is circular, and at night very luminous, resembling the full moon surrounded by rays.”—Mirza Abu Taleb.

Note 298, p. 275.—And still, when the merry date-season is burning.

For a description of the merriment of the date-time, of their work, their dances, and their return home from the palm-groves at the end of autumn with the fruits, see Kæmpfer, Amœnitat. Exot.

Note 299, p. 276.—That ever the sorrowing sea-bird has wept.

Some naturalists have imagined that amber is a concretion of the tears of birds.—See Trevoux, Chambers.

Note 300, p. 276.—We’ll seek where the sands of the Caspian are sparkling.

“The bay Kieselarke, which is otherwise called the Golden Bay, the sand whereof shines as fire.”—Struy.

Note 301, p. 278.—The summary criticism of the Chabuk.—“The application of whips or rods.”—Dubois.

Note 302, p. 279.—Chief Holder of the Girdle of Beautiful Forms.—Kæmpfer mentions such an officer among the attendants of the King of Persia, and calls him “formæ corporis estimator.” His business was, at stated periods, to measure the ladies of the Haram by a sort of regulation-girdle, whose limits it was not thought graceful to exceed. If any of them outgrew this standard of shape, they were reduced by abstinence till they came within proper bounds.

Note 303, p. 279.—Forbidden River.—The Attock.

“Akbar on his way ordered a fort to be built upon the Nilab, which he called Attock, which means in the Indian language Forbidden; for, by the superstition of the Hindoos, it was held unlawful to cross that river.”—Dow’s Hindostan.

Note 304, p. 280.—One genial star that rises nightly over their heads.—“The inhabitants of this country (Zinge) are never afflicted with sadness or melancholy; on this subject the Sheikh Abu-Al-Kheir-Azhari has the following distich:—

“‘Who is the man without care or sorrow, (tell) that I may rub my hand to him.

371“‘(Behold) the Zingians, without care or sorrow, frolicksome with tipsiness and mirth.’

“The philosophers have discovered that the cause of this cheerfulness proceeds from the influence of the star Soheil or Canopus, which rises over them every night.”—Extract from a Geographical Persian Manuscript called Heft Aklim, or the Seven Climates, translated by W. Ouseley, Esq.

Note 305, p. 281.—Lizards.—“The lizard Stellio. The Arabs call it Hardun. The Turks kill it, for they imagine that by declining the head it mimics them when they say their prayers.”—Hasselquist.

Note 306, p. 281.—Royal Gardens.—For these particulars respecting Hussun Abdaul, I am indebted to the very interesting Introduction of Mr. Elphinstone’s work upon Caubul.

Note 307, p. 281.—It was too delicious.—“As you enter at that Bazar, without the gate of Damascus, you see the Green Mosque, so called because it hath a steeple faced with green glazed bricks, which render it very resplendent; it is covered at top with a pavilion of the same stuff. The Turks say this mosque was made in that place, because Mahomet being come so far, would not enter the town, saying it was too delicious.”—Thevenot. This reminds one of the following pretty passage in Isaac Walton:—“When I sat last on this primrose bank, and looked down these meadows, I thought of them as Charles the Emperor did of the city of Florence, ‘that they were too pleasant to be looked on, but only on holidays.’”

Note 308, p. 281.—The Sultana Nourmahal, the Light of the Haram.—Nourmahal signifies Light of the Haram. She was afterwards called Nourjehan, or the Light of the World.

Note 309, p. 282.—The small shining fishes of which she was so fond.—See note, p. 367.

Note 310, p. 282.—Haroun-al-Raschid and his fair mistress Marida.—“Haroun al Raschid, cinquième Khalife des Abassides, s’étant un jour brouillé avec une de ses maîtresses nommée Maridah, qu’il aimoit cependant jusqu’à l’excès, et cette mésintelligence ayant déjà duré quelque tems commença à s’ennuyer. Giafar Barmaki, son favori, qui s’en apperçut, commanda à Abbas ben Ahnaf, excellent poëte de ce tems-là, de composer quelques vers sur le sujet de cette brouillerie. Ce poëte exécuta l’ordre de Giafar, qiu fit chanter ces vers par Moussali en présence du Khalife, et ce Prince fut tellement touché de la tendresse des vers du poëte et de la douceur de la voix du musicien, qu’il alla aussitôt trouver Maridah, et fit sa paix avec elle.”—D’Herbelot.

Note 311, 372p. 285.—With its roses the brightest that earth ever gave.

“The rose of Kashmire, for its brilliancy and delicacy of odour, has long been proverbial in the East.”—Forster.

Note 312, p. 286.—Round the waist of some fair Indian dancer is ringing.

“Tied round her waist the zone of bells, that sounded with ravishing melody.”—Song of Jayadeva.

Note 313, p. 286.—The young aspen-trees.

“The little isles in the Lake of Cachemire are set with arbours and large-leaved aspen-trees, slender and tall.”—Bernier.

Note 314, p. 287.—Shines in through the mountainous portal that opes.

“The Tuckt Suliman, the name bestowed by the Mahometans on this hill, forms one side of a grand portal to the Lake.”—Forster.

Note 315, p. 287.—The Valley holds its Feast of Roses.

“The Feast of Roses continues the whole time of their remaining in bloom.”—See Pietro de la Valle.

Note 316, p. 287.—The Flow’ret of a hundred leaves.

“Gud sad berk, the Rose of a hundred leaves. I believe a particular species.”—Ouseley.

Note 317, p. 287.—Behind the palms of Baramoule.—Bernier.

Note 318, p. 288.—On Bela’s hills is less alive.

A place mentioned in the Toozek Jehangeery, or Memoirs of Jehanguire, where there is an account of the beds of saffron-flowers about Cashmere.

Note 319, p. 289.—Sung from his lighted gallery.

“It is the custom among the women to employ the Maazeen to chaunt from the gallery of the nearest minaret, which on that occasion is illuminated, and the women assembled at the house respond at intervals with a ziraleet or joyous chorus.”—Russel.

Note 320, p. 289.—From gardens, where the silken swing.

“The swing is a favourite pastime in the East, as promoting a circulation of air, extremely refreshing in those sultry climates.”—Richardson.

“The swings are adorned with festoons. This pastime is accompanied with the music of voices and of instruments, hired by the masters of the swings.”—Thevenot.

Note 321, 373p. 289.—Among the tents that line the way.

“At the keeping of the Feast of Roses we beheld an infinite number of tents pitched, with such a crowd of men, women, boys, and girls, with music, dances,” &c. &c.—Herbert.

Note 322, p. 290.—An answer in song to the kiss of each wave.

“An old commentator of the Chou-King says, the ancients having remarked that a current of water made some of the stones near its banks send forth a sound, they detached some of them, and being charmed with the delightful sound they emitted, constructed King or musical instruments of them.”—Grosier.

This miraculous quality has been attributed also to the shore of Attica. “Hujus littus, ait Capella, concentum musicum illisis terræ undis reddere, quod propter tantam eruditionis vim puto dictum.”—Ludov. Vives in Augustin. de Civitat. Dei, lib. xviii. c. 8.

Note 323, p. 290.—So felt the magnificent Son of Acbar.

Jehanguire was the son of the Great Acbar.

Note 324, p. 292.—Yet playful as Peris just loos’d from their cages.

In the wars of the Dives with the Peris, whenever the former took the latter prisoners, “they shut them up in iron cages, and hung them on the highest trees. Here they were visited by their companions, who brought them the choicest odours.”—Richardson.

Note 325, p. 293.—Of the flowers of this planet—though treasures were there.

In the Malay language the same word signifies women and flowers.

Note 326, p. 293.—He saw that City of Delight.

The capital of Shadukiam. See note, p. 357.

Note 327, p. 295.—He sits, with flow’rets fetter’d round.

See the representation of the Eastern Cupid, pinioned closely round with wreaths of flowers, in Picart’s Cérémonies Religieuses.

Note 328, p. 295.—Lose all their glory when he flies.

“Among the birds of Tonquin is a species of goldfinch, which sings so melodiously that it is called the Celestial bird. Its wings, when it is perched, appear variegated with beautiful colours, but when it flies they lose all their splendour.”—Grosier.

Note 329, p. 296.—Whose pinion knows no resting place.

“As these birds on the Bosphorus are never known to rest, they are called by the French ‘les âmes damnées.’”—Dalloway.

Note 330, 374p. 296.—If there his darling rose is not.

“You may place a hundred handfuls of fragrant herbs and flowers before the nightingale, yet he wishes not, in his constant heart, for more than the sweet breath of his beloved rose.”—Jami.

Note 331, p. 298.—From the great Mantra, which around.

“He is said to have found the great Mantra, spell or talisman, through which he ruled over the elements and spirits of all denominations.”—Wilford.

Note 332, p. 298.—To the gold gems of Afric.

“The gold jewels of Jinnie, which are called by the Arabs El Herrez, from the supposed charm they contain.”—Jackson.

Note 333, p. 298.—To keep him from the Siltim’s harm.

“A demon, supposed to haunt woods, &c. in a human shape.”—Richardson.

Note 334, p. 298.—Her Selim’s smile to Nourmahal.

The name of Jehanguire before his accession to the throne.

Note 335, p. 300.—Anemones and Seas of Gold.

“Hemasagara, or the Sea of Gold, with flowers of the brightest gold colour.”—Sir W. Jones.

Note 336, p. 300.—Their buds on Camadeva’s quiver.

“This tree (the Nagacesara) is one of the most delightful on earth, and the delicious odour of its blossoms justly gives them a place in the quiver of Camadeva, or the God of Love.”—Id.

Note 337, p. 300.—Is call’d the Mistress of the Night.

“The Malayans style the tube-rose (Polianthes tuberosa) Sandal Malam, or the Mistress of the Night.”—Pennant.

Note 338, p. 300.—That wander through Zamara’s shades.

The people of the Batta country in Sumatra (of which Zamara is one of the ancient names), “when not engaged in war, lead an idle, inactive life, passing the day in playing on a kind of flute, crowned with garlands of flowers, among which the globe-amaranthus, a native of the country, mostly prevails.”—Marsden.

Note 339, p. 300.—From the divine Amrita tree.

“The largest and richest sort (of the Jambu, or rose-apple) is called Amrita, or immortal, and the mythologists of Tibet apply the same word to a celestial tree, bearing ambrosial fruit.”—Sir W. Jones.

Note 340, 375p. 301.—Down to the basil tuft, that waves.

Sweet basil, called Rayhan in Persia, and generally found in church-yards.

“The women in Egypt go, at least two days in the week, to pray and weep at the sepulchres of the dead; and the custom then is to throw upon the tombs a sort of herb, which the Arabs call rihan, and which is our sweet basil.”—Maillet, Lett. 10.

Note 341, p. 301.—To scent the desert and the dead.

“In the Great Desert are found many stalks of lavender and rosemary.”—Asiat. Res.

Note 342, p. 303.—That blooms on a leafless bough.

“The almond-tree, with white flowers, blossoms on the bare branches.”—Hasselquist.

Note 343, p. 303.—Inhabit the mountain-herb, that dyes.

An herb on Mount Libanus, which is said to communicate a yellow golden hue to the teeth of the goats and other animals that graze upon it.

Niebuhr thinks this may be the herb which the Eastern alchymists look to as a means of making gold. “Most of those alchymical enthusiasts think themselves sure of success, if they could but find out the herb, which gilds the teeth and gives a yellow colour to the flesh of the sheep that eat it. Even the oil of this plant must be of a golden colour. It is called Haschischat ed dab.”

Father Jerom Dandini, however, asserts that the teeth of the goats at Mount Libanus are of a silver colour; and adds, “This confirms to me that which I observed in Candia: to wit, that the animals that live on Mount Ida eat a certain herb, which renders their teeth of a golden colour; which, according to my judgment, cannot otherwise proceed than from the mines which are under ground.”—Dandini, Voyage to Mount Libanus.

Note 344, p. 304.—Of Azab blew, was full of scents.—The myrrh country.

Note 345, p. 304.—Where Love himself, of old, lay sleeping.

“This idea (of deities living in shells) was not unknown to the Greeks, who represent the young Nerites, one of the Cupids, as living in shells on the shores of the Red Sea.”—Wilford.

Note 346, p. 305.—From Chindara’s warbling fount I come.

“A fabulous mountain, where instruments are said to be constantly playing.”—Richardson.

Note 347, 376p. 307.—The cinnamon-seed from grove to grove.

“The Pompadour pigeon is the species, which, by carrying the fruit of the cinnamon to different places, is a great disseminator of this valuable tree.”—See Brown’s Illustr. Tab. 19.

Note 348, p. 307.—The past, the present, and future of pleasure.

“Whenever our pleasure arises from a succession of sounds, it is a perception of a complicated nature, made up of a sensation of the present sound or note, and an idea or remembrance of the foregoing, while their mixture and concurrence produce such a mysterious delight, as neither could have produced alone. And it is often heightened by an anticipation of the succeeding notes. Thus Sense, Memory and Imagination are conjunctively employed.”—Gerrard on Taste.

This is exactly the Epicurean theory of Pleasure, as explained by Cicero:—“Quocirca corpus gaudere tamdiu, dum præsentem sentiret voluptatem: animum et præsentem percipere pariter cum corpore et prospicere venientem, nec præteritam præterfluere sinere.”

Madame de Staël accounts upon the same principle for the gratification we derive from rhyme:—“Elle est l’image de l’espérance et du souvenir. Un son nous fait désirer celui qui doit lui répondre, et quand le second retentit il nous rappelle celui qui vient de nous échapper.”

Note 349, p. 308.—Whose glimpses are again withdrawn.

“The Persians have two mornings, the Soobhi Kazim and the Soobhi Sadig, the false and the real day-break. They account for this phenomenon in a most whimsical manner. They say that as the sun rises from behind the Kohi Qaf (Mount Caucasus), it passes a hole perforated through that mountain, and that darting its rays through it, it is the cause of the Soobhi Kazim, or this temporary appearance of day-break. As it ascends, the earth is again veiled in darkness, until the sun rises above the mountain, and brings with it the Soobhi Sadig, or real morning.”—Scott Waring. He thinks Milton may allude to this, when he says,—

“Ere the blabbing Eastern scout,

The nice morn on the Indian steep

From her cabin’d loop-hole peep.”

Note 350, p. 309.—In his magnificent Shalimar.

“In the centre of the plain, as it approaches the Lake, one of the Delhi Emperors, I believe Shah Jehan, constructed a spacious garden called the Shalimar, which is abundantly stored with fruit-trees and flowering shrubs. Some of the rivulets which intersect the plain are led into a canal at the back of the garden, and flowing through its centre, or occasionally thrown into a variety of water-works, compose the chief beauty of the Shalimar. 377To decorate this spot, the Mogul Princes of India have displayed an equal magnificence and taste; especially Jehan Gheer, who, with the enchanting Noor Mahl, made Kashmire his usual residence during the summer months. On arches thrown over the canal are erected, at equal distances, four or five suites of apartments, each consisting of a saloon, with four rooms at the angles, where the followers of the court attend, and the servants prepare sherbets, coffee, and the hookah. The frame of the doors of the principal saloon is composed of pieces of a stone of a black colour, streaked with yellow lines, and of a closer grain and higher polish than porphyry. They were taken, it is said, from a Hindoo temple, by one of the Mogul princes, and are esteemed of great value.”—Forster.

Note 351, p. 309.—Of beauty from its founts and streams.

“The waters of Cachemir are the more renowned from its being supposed that the Cachemirians are indebted for their beauty to them.”—Ali Yezdi.

Note 352, p. 309.—Singing in gardens of the South.

“From him I received the following little Gazzel, or Love Song, the notes of which he committed to paper from the voice of one of those singing girls of Cashmere, who wander from that delightful valley over the various parts of India.”—Persian Miscellanies.

Note 353, p. 309.—Delicate as the roses there.

“The roses of the Jinan Nile, or Garden of the Nile (attached to the Emperor of Marocco’s palace), are unequalled, and mattresses are made of their leaves for the men of rank to recline upon.”—Jackson.

Note 354, p. 309.—With Paphian diamonds in their locks.

“On the side of a mountain near Paphos there is a cavern which produces the most beautiful rock-crystal. On account of its brilliancy it has been called the Paphian diamond.”—Mariti.

Note 355, p. 309.—On the gold meads of Candahar.

“There is a part of Candahar, called Peria, or Fairy Land.”—Thevenot. In some of those countries to the north of India, vegetable gold is supposed to be produced.

Note 356, p. 310.—Had been by magic all set flying.

“These are the butterflies which are called in the Chinese language Flying Leaves. Some of them have such shining colours, and are so variegated, that they may be called flying flowers; and indeed they are always produced in the finest flower-gardens.”—Dunn.

Note 357, 378p. 310.—The features of young Arab maids.

“The Arabian women wear black masks with little clasps prettily ordered.”—Carreri. Niebuhr mentions their showing but one eye in conversation.

Note 358, p. 311.—On Casbin’s hills.

“The golden grapes of Casbin.”—Description of Persia.

Note 359, p. 311.—And sunniest apples that Caubul—

“The fruits exported from Caubul are apples, pears, pomegranates,” &c.—Elphinstone.

Note 360, p. 311.—in all its thousand gardens bears.

“We sat down under a tree, listened to the birds, and talked with the son of our Mehmaundar about our country and Caubul, of which he gave an enchanting account: that city and its 100,000 gardens,” &c.—Id.

Note 361, p. 311.—Malaya’s nectar’d mangusteen.

“The mangusteen, the most delicate fruit in the world; the pride of the Malay islands.”—Marsden.

Note 362, p. 311.—Seed of the Sun, from Iran’s land.

“A delicious kind of apricot, called by the Persians tokm-ek-shems, signifying sun’s seed.”—Description of Persia.

Note 363, p. 311.—With rich conserve of Visna cherries.

“Sweetmeats, in a crystal cup, consisting of rose-leaves in conserve, with lemon of Visna cherry orange flowers,” &c.—Russel.

Note 364, p. 311.—Feed on in Erac’s rocky dells.

“Antelopes, cropping the fresh berries of Erac.”—The Moallakat, Poem of Tarafa.

Note 365, p. 311.—And urns of porcelain from that isle.

Mauri-ga-Sima, an island near Formosa, supposed to have been sunk in the sea for the crimes of its inhabitants. The vessels which the fishermen and divers bring up from it are sold at an immense price in China and Japan.—See Kæmpfer.

Note 366, p. 312.—Amber Rosolli.—Persian Tales.

Note 367, p. 312.—From vineyards of the Green-Sea gushing.

The white wine of Kishma.

Note 368, 379p. 312.—Offer’d a city’s wealth.

“The King of Zeilan is said to have the very finest ruby that was ever seen. Kublai-Khan sent and offered the value of a city for it, but the King answered he would not give it for the treasure of the world.”—Marco Polo.

Note 369, p. 312.—Upon a rosy lotus wreath.

The Indians feign that Cupid was first seen floating down the Ganges on the Nymphæa Nelumbo.—See Pennant.

Note 370, p. 312.—When warm they rise from Teflis’ brooks.

Teflis is celebrated for its natural warm baths.—See Ebn Haukal.

Note 371, p. 312.—Of a syrinda.

“The Indian Syrinda, or guitar.”—Symez.

Note 372, p. 313.—It is this, it is this.

“Around the exterior of the Dewan Khafs (a building of Shah Allum’s) in the cornice are the following lines in letters of gold upon a ground of white marble:—‘If there be a paradise upon earth, it is this, it is this.’”—Franklin.

Note 373, p. 313.—As the flower of the Amra just op’d by a bee.

“Delightful are the flowers of the Amra trees on the mountain-tops, while the murmuring bees pursue their voluptuous toil.”—Song of Jayadeva.

Note 374, p. 314.—And precious their tears as that rain from the sky.

“The Nisan or drops of spring rain, which they believe to produce pearls if they fall into shells.”—Richardson.

Note 375, p. 314.—Who for wine of this earth left the fountains above.

For an account of the share which wine had in the fall of the angels, see Mariti.

Note 376, p. 314.—Of Israfil, the Angel, there.

The Angel of Music. See note 293.

Note 377, p. 318.—When first ’tis by the lapwing found.

The Hudhud, or Lapwing, is supposed to have the power of discovering water under ground.

Note 378, 380p. 321.—Of her dream.—See p. 215.

Note 379, p. 322.—Like that painted porcelain. “The Chinese had formerly the art of painting on the sides of porcelain vessels fish and other animals, which were only perceptible when the vessel was full of some liquor. They call this species Kia-tsin, that is, azure is put in press, on account of the manner in which the azure is laid on.”—“They are every now and then trying to recover the art of this magical painting, but to no purpose.”—Dunn.

Note 380, p. 323.—House of Azor.—An eminent carver of idols, said in the Koran to be father to Abraham. “I have such a lovely idol as is not to be met with in the house of Azor.”—Hafiz.

Note 381, p. 323.—The Unequalled.—Kachmire be Nazeer.—Forster.

Note 382, p. 324.—Miraculous fountains.—“The pardonable superstition of the sequestered inhabitants has multiplied the places of worship of Mahadeo, of Beschan, and of Brama. All Cashmere is holy land, and miraculous fountains abound.”—Major Rennel’s Memoirs of a Map of Hindostan.

Jehanguire mentions “a fountain in Cashmere called Tirnagh, which signifies a snake; probably because some large snake had formerly been seen there.”—“During the lifetime of my father, I went twice to this fountain, which is about twenty coss from the city of Cashmere. The vestiges of places of worship and sanctity are to be traced without number amongst the ruins and the caves, which are interspersed in its neighbourhood.”—Toozek Jehangeery.—Vide Asiat. Misc. vol. ii.

There is another account of Cashmere by Abul-Fazil, the author of the Ayin-Acbaree, “who,” says Major Rennel, “appears to have caught some of the enthusiasm of the valley, by his description of the holy places in it.”

Note 383, p. 324.—Roofed with flowers.—“On a standing roof of wood is laid a covering of fine earth, which shelters the building from the great quantity of snow that falls in the winter season. This fence communicates an equal warmth in winter, as a refreshing coolness in the summer season, when the tops of the houses, which are planted with a variety of flowers, exhibit at a distance the spacious view of a beautifully chequered parterre.”—Forster.

Note 384, p. 324.—The triple-coloured tortoise-shell of Pegu.—“Two hundred slaves there are, who have no other office than to hunt the woods and marshes for triple-coloured tortoises for the King’s Vivary. Of the shells of these also lanterns are made.”—Vincent le Blanc’s Travels.

Note 385, 381p. 325.—Like the meteors of the north as they are seen by those hunters.—For a description of the Aurora Borealis as it appears to these hunters, vide Encyclopædia.

Note 386, p. 325.—Odoriferous wind.—This wind, which is to blow from Syria Damascena, is, according to the Mahometans, one of the signs of the Last Day’s approach.

Another of the signs is, “Great distress in the world, so that a man when he passes by another’s grave shall say, ‘Would to God I were in his place!’”—Sale’s Preliminary Discourse.

Note 387, p. 328.—As precious as the Cerulean Throne of Coolburga.—“On Mahommed Shaw’s return to Koolburga (the capital of Dekkan), he made a great festival, and mounted this throne with much pomp and magnificence, calling it Firozeh, or Cerulean. I have heard some old persons, who saw the throne Firozeh in the reign of Sultan Mamood Bhamenee, describe it. They say that it was in length nine feet, and three in breadth; made of ebony, covered with plates of pure gold, and set with precious stones of immense value. Every prince of the house of Bhamenee, who possessed this throne, made a point of adding to it some rich stones; so that when in the reign of Sultan Mamood it was taken to pieces, to remove some of the jewels to be set in vases and cups, the jewellers valued it at one corore of oons (nearly four millions sterling). I learned also that it was called Firozeh from being partly enamelled of a sky-blue colour, which was in time totally concealed by the number of jewels.”—Ferishta.