who renders this word mules, great mules; but we see in Persia four names in our extract for four different species of Camels; might not a knowledge of their distinctions contribute to appropriate the names used in these passages of Esther? whose history we know happened in Persia.

What should we think of the word Wind-Camel, if it had occurred without accompaniments? We might have been equally perplexed with the translator of Norden, who writes thus (p. 17, vol ii.), using in French an Arabic appellation: "We saw this day abundance of Water-Camels, but they did not come near enough for us to shoot them." His translator adds, in a note, "Whether they are a particular species of Camels, or a different kind of animals, I do not know." Now the Water-Camel is the Pelican; so called by the Arabs, because that bird carries a great quantity of water in its throat-bag: but the metaphorical application of the name for a beast to denote a bird, embarrassed the translator; who wondered, as well he might, at Norden's thoughts of Camel-shooting.

This application of the word Adshare to a swift Camel illustrates a passage in Proverbs, vi. 11.-at least it illustrates the ideas of the Chaldee paraphrast on this passage, and the parallel passage, or rather repetition, chap. xxiv. 34.

A little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the arms to sleep.

So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth,

And thy want as an armed man.

It is evident the writer means to denote the speed and rapidity with which penury approaches; therefore, instead of one that travelleth, read—a post, or swift messenger,

an EXPRESS.

But our present business is with the armed man. Now the words (2D N ceish magen) are no where used to denote an armed man, or, "a man of a shield," as some would render them, literally; but the Chaldee paraphrast translates them 2, gabra cishera, or rather ci-ashera, which has always been rendered upright, "an upright man," from jashar, upright, but which, if rendered a strong man (a hero, as gibbor signifies), swift like an Aashare [Swiftness was a prime quality in ancient heroes, e. gr. Saul, Jonathan, Achilles, &c. vide RACE, Dict.], or, mounted on an Adshare, that is, an Aashare-rider, to answer to the post, or express, in the former line, we shall have an increase of swiftness suggested here, as the passage evidently demands. The similitude of the Hebrew letters, as they now stand, to what they would be, if the word achashtaran, used in Esther, were received instead of them, is worth our notice: janwxjapwxɔ. If the Chaldee has not retained this reading, it has done no more than substitute the name of the swiftest species of Camel known to the writer, for the swiftest species of Camel mentioned in the Hebrew. What these Adshare were capable of performing, not only in point of swiftness, but of continuance, the reader has seen in our former attempt.

The LXX. translate Apoμeds, a swift, or runner, which shews that they knew nothing of this "man with a shield," who certainly could not be expected to run so freely, when incumbered with a shield, as another could run without one. N. B. A shield is a weapon of defence. Had it been said a sword, it might have denoted power and attack. Our translators, aware of this, have employed the ambiguous word "armed." The sentiment, on these principles, would stand thus:—

So shall thy poverty advance as rapidly as an express,

And thy penury as a strong and swift [antagonist, or] Aâshare-rider.

The arduous and bold attempt of our former article was, to assimilate a Camel to a Ship. The following extracts from Arabic poetry, translated by Sir Wm. Jones, speak the same language:

"Even now she [the Camel] has a spirit so brisk that she flies with the rain, like a dun cloud driven by the wind, after it has discharged its shower.

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Long is her neck; and when she raises it with celerity it resembles the STERN OF A SHIP floating aloft on the billowy Tigris.

Ah, the vehicles, which bore away my fair one, on the morning when the tribe of Malec departed, and their Camels were traversing the banks of Deda, resembled

LARGE SHIPS.

"Sailing from Aduli, or vessels of [the merchant] IBN YAMIN, which the mariner now turns obliquely, and now steers in a direct course;

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Ships, which cleave the foaming waves with their prows, as a boy at play divides with his hand the collected earth."

In these extracts we see, then, that the Camel is the SHIP-the SWIFT SHIP of the desert. They contribute to justify our principle, that poetical images can only be ascertained by local information.

The following belongs to the natural history of the Camel, and especially to the properties of that store of water which the creature collects for future supply.

"Nature has furnished the Camel with parts and qualities adapted to the office he is employed to discharge. The driest thistle, and the barest thorn, is all the food this useful quadruped requires; and even these, to save time, he eats while advancing on his journey, without stopping, or occasioning a moment of delay. As it is his lot to cross immense deserts, where no water is found, and countries not even moistened by the dew of heaven, he is endued with the power, at one watering-place, to lay in a store, with which he supplies himself for thirty days to come. To contain this enormous quantity of fluid, Nature has formed large cisterns within him, from which, once filled, he draws, at pleasure, the quantity he wants, and pours it into his stomach with the same effect as if he then drew it from a spring; and with this he travels patiently and vigorously all day long, carrying a prodigious load upon him, through countries infected with poisonous winds, and glowing with parching and never-cooling sands.'

"We attempted to raise our Camels at Saffieha by every method that we could devise, but all in vain; only one of them could get upon his legs; and that one did not stand two minutes till he kneeled down, and could never be raised afterwards.This the Arabs all declared to be the effects of cold; and yet Fahrenheit's thermometer, an hour before day, stood at 42°. Every way we turned ourselves death stared us in the face. We had neither time nor strength to waste, nor provisions to support us. We then took the small skins that had contained our water, and filled them, as far as we thought a man could carry them with ease; but, after all these shifts, there was not enough to serve us three days, at which I had estimated our journey to Syene, which still, however, was uncertain. Finding, therefore, the Camels would not rise, we killed two of them, and took so much flesh as might serve for the deficiency of bread, and, from the stomach of each of the Camels, got about four gallons of water, which the Bishareen Arab managed with great dexterity. It is known to people conversant with natural history, that the Camel has within him reservoirs, in which he can preserve drink for any number of days he is used to. In

those caravans of long course, which come from the Niger across the desert of Selima, it is said that each Camel, by drinking, lays in a store of water that will support him for forty days. I will by no means be a voucher of this account, which carries with it an air of exaggeration; but fourteen or sixteen days it is well known an ordinary Camel will live, though he hath no fresh supply of water. When he chews his cud, or when he eats, you constantly see him throw, from his repository, mouthfuls of water to dilute his food; and Nature has contrived this vessel with such properties, that the water within it never putrefies, nor turns unwholesome. It was indeed vapid, of a bluish cast, but had neither taste nor smell." Bruce, vol. iv. p. 596.

Camels are often mentioned in Scripture. Isaiah xxx. 6; xxi. 7. a chariot of Camels. Camels are enumerated among the most valuable property, 1 Chron. v. 21 ; Job i. 3; Jer. xxix. &c.

No. CCCCLXXVI. FIG-TREE.-SYCAMORE.

THE nature of the Fig-Tree, usually but unwarily said to be cursed by our Lord, has already engaged our attention. We merely mean to add a hint or two, at some other particulars respecting this Tree. The prophet Amos says (chap. vii. 14.) he was "a gatherer of Sycamore fruit; " but we ought to render it a dresser of that kind of fruit; and the following extract shews in what that dressing consisted. It shews also the propriety of our rendering Psalm 1xxviii. 47: "He destroyed the Sycamore-Trees (of Egypt) with frost." The incorruptibility of this wood suggests a reason for its being in esteem. And the observation, that some of this kind grow in Syria, contributes to strengthen our former remarks on the Sycamore of Zaccheus.

"The dumez (of Egypt) is called by the Europeans Pharaoh's Fig: it is the Sycamore of the ancients, and is properly a Ficus fatuus (Wild Fig). The Fig is small, but like the Common Fig. At the end of it a sort of water gathers together; and, unless it is cut, and the water let out, it will not ripen. This they sometimes do, covering the bough with a net, to keep off the birds; and the fruit is not bad, though it is not esteemed. It is a large spreading tree with a round leaf, and has this particular quality, that short branches without leaves come out of the great limbs all about the wood, and these bear the fruit. It was of the timber of these Trees the ancient Egyptians made their coffins for their embalmed bodies; and the wood remains sound to this day. These Trees are likewise in some parts of Syria." Pococke, vol. i. p. 205. That these trees were common, and ordinary in Judea, vide 1 Kings, x. 27; Isaiah ix. 10. Vide Nos. LXVII. CCLX. and PLATE CLVIII.

No. CCCCLXXVII. GARMENTS WORN, &c. IN THE EAST.

WE took notice, in No. XLIX. of the great number of persons who received caftans, vests, or dresses, on occasion of a royal marriage, a custom proper for consideration in the case of that man in the parable, who had not on a Wedding Garment. A reference to a passage or two may enable us to comprehend the importance attached to this mode of compliment in the East; and may enable us to explain the offence given by those who reject such favours.

"The next day, December 3, the King sent to invite the ambassadors to dine with him once more. The Mehemander told them, it was the custom that they should

wear over their own clothes the best of those garments which the King had sent them. The ambassadors at first made some scruple of that compliance: but when they were told that it was a custom observed by all ambassadors, and that no doubt the King would take it very ill at their hands, if they presented themselves before him, without the marks of his liberality, they at last resolved to do it: and, after their example, all the rest of the retinue." Ambassadors' Travels, p. 288.

The following, from the same work, farther illustrates the importance of such tokens of honorary reward or remembrance. Areb Chan, governor of Schamachie, made a great procession to receive the envoy, who brought him a letter from the King. He went out to the King's garden, and "being come within ten or twelve paces of the envoy, he very cheerfully put off his garment and turban; but perceiving the envoy stood a while, without saying aught to him, he began to be a little startled, and out of countenance, till the envoy said to him, Ai Arab Chan; who answered, What saidst thou? The envoy continued, "Scha Sefi sends thee a garment and a letter of favour; thou art certainly beloved of the King." The Chan replied courageously, "May the King's wealth continue for ever; and may every day of his be as a thousand. am one of the King's old servants." He thereupon took the garment with very great submission. Ambassad. Travels, p. 400. Compare Gen. xlv. 22; 2 Kings v. 22; Isaiah Ixi. 3; Dan. v. 7. 16. 29; Zech. iii. 3, 4.

I

Chardin relates an instance of iniquity in an officer of the court, who, to be revenged on an absent enemy, sent him, instead of a royal calate, a plain habit. The Vizier, not daring to return into the city in that habit, and fearing lest the people should despise him, if they saw him so ill dressed at the King's expense, as one who had lost his reputation at court, he sent home for a royal habit, one of the richest and most magnificent that the late King had sent him, and made his public entry in that. This being known to all the court, they declared the Vizier was a dog; that he had disdainfully thrown away the royal habit, with reproachful language, saying, "I have no need of Sha Sefi's habits." Their account incensed the King, who severely felt the affront and it cost the Vizier his life. Chardin, Coron. Soleiman.

We read also in Tavernier (p. 43.) of a Nazar, whose virtue and behaviour so pleased a King of Persia, after being put to the test, that he caused himself to be disapparelled, and gave his habit to the Nazar, which is the greatest honour that a King of Persia can bestow on a subject.

The reader will see, by this instance, the import of the action of Jonathan (1 Sam. xviii. 4.), who loved David as his own person; and exchanged dresses with him.Compare Rom. xiii. 14; Eph. iv. 24; Col. iii. 10.

No. CCCCLXXVIII. EASTERN HOSPITALITY.-RED HORSES.

"WE were not above a musket-shot from Anna (on the road to Bagdad), when we met with a comely old man, who came up to me and taking my Horse by the bridle, 'Friend' said he, come and wash thy feet, and eat bread at my house. Thou art a stranger; and since I have met thee upon the road, never refuse me the favour which I desire of thee.' The invitation of the old man was so like the custom of the people in ancient times, of which we read so many examples in Scripture, that we could not choose but go along with him to his house, where he feasted us in the best manner he could, giving us, over and above, barley for our Horses; and for us he killed a lamb and some hens. He was an inhabitant of Anna, and lived by the

river, which we were obliged to cross, to wait upon the governor for our passports, for which we paid two piastres apiece. We staid at a house near the gate of the city, to buy provisions for ourselves and our Horses; where the woman of the house having a lovely, sprightly child of nine years of age, I was so taken with her humour, that I gave her two handkerchiefs of painted calicut, which the child shewing her mother, all we could do could not make her take any money for the provisions we had agreed for. Five hundred paces from the gate of the city we met a young man of a good family, for he was attended by two servants, and rode upon an ass, the hinder part of which was painted red. He accosted me in particular; and, after some compliments that passed, 'Is it possible,' said he, that I should meet a stranger, and have nothing to present him withal?' He would fain have carried us to a house in the country, whither he was going; but, seeing we were resolved to keep our way, he would needs give me his pipe, notwithstanding all the excuses I could make, and though I told him that I never took any tobacco; so that I was constrained to accept it." Tavernier's Travels, p. 111. Vide Lot, Gen. xix. 1; Abraham, Gen. xviii. 6; the Levite, Judg. xvii. 7; Rom. xii. 13; 1 Tim. iii. 2; 1 Peter iv. 9.

This extract may contribute to explain another expression in Scripture, where we read in several places (as Zech. i. 8; vi. 2; Rev. vi. 4.) of red Horses; and the word used (adam) signifies blood-red, not any kind of bright bay, or other colour usual among Horses. This has appeared very unnatural, and indeed is so; but we apprehend that the custom of painting, or dyeing, animals for riding, whether asses or Horses, explains the nature of this description.

In the extract above, Tavernier notices, that the hinder part of this young gentleman's ass was painted red; and Mungo Park informs us, that the Moorish sovereign "Ali, always rode on a milk-white Horse with its tail dyed red." We suppose this was employed as a mark of distinction, as Tavernier appears to have understood it : and though, in communicating prophetical ideas, red is, no doubt, symbolical, yet the symbol, the dignity of the rider, &c. were expressed by the red colour of these Horses, without suspicion (originally) of any contradiction to the usual course of things and of nature.

No. CCCCLXXIX. KING'S MARRIAGE.

"THE King in his Marriage uses no other ceremony than this:-He sends an Azagi to the house where the lady lives, where the officer announces to her, 'It is the King's pleasure that she should remove instantly to the palace.' She then dresses herself in the best manner, and immediately obeys. Thenceforward he assigns her an apartment in the palace, and gives her a house elsewhere, in any part she chooses. Then when he makes her Iteghe, it seems to be the nearest resemblance to Marriage; for whether in the court or the camp, he orders one of the judges to pronounce, in his presence, that he, the King, has chosen his handmaid, naming her for his Queen ; on which the crown is put upon her head, but she is not anointed." Bruce's Travels, vol. iii. p. 87.

This will recall to the reader the ease with which the Kings of Israel appear to have taken wives; but especially the manner in which David "sent agents, and took Bathsheba," 2 Sam. xi. 1. These agents answer to the Azagi of Bruce, who announce the King's pleasure. But we are not to suppose that Bathsheba yielded