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But the distance at which they lie from each other, and the ridge of mountain which forms a natural barrier between them, militate against this supposition; and Olympiodorus, though he states the Oases to be only three in number, gives an explicit description of the two larger ones as lying opposite to one another, a hundred miles apart; which corresponds to the situation of the Great Oasis and the Western. The more northerly Oasis, that of Siwah, the site of the ancient Ammon, has been explored by Messrs. Browne and Horneman, and more recently by the agents of Mr. Bankes. The Oasis Parva, (El Ouah El Cazar,) the one visited by Belzoni, lies at the distance of four or five days' journey to the S. E. of Siwah; it consists, like the Great Oasis, of a series of inhabited spots. The Western Oasis, Sir Archibald was assured, is the last inhabited tract in that direction-a complete no-thoroughfare. It extends from East to West, whereas the Great Oasis runs North and South; and is composed of twelve villages, ten of which are within five or six miles of each other: the remaining two are much further off at the entrance of the plain, and are scarcely looked upon as belonging to the district.

Besides these, there are several enclosures well wooded with palm trees, containing springs, but the cultivators and proprietors reside in the neighbouring villages. The climate is extremely variable in winter. Sometimes the rains are very abundant and fall in torrents, as appears from the furrows in the rocks; but this season there had been none at all, and the total want of dew at this period proves the excessive dryness of the atmosphere. Violent winds are very prevalent, and the kamsin, (S.W.) which is with justice called the scourge of the desert, frequently blows in the months of May and June. The plague is quite unknown; but during the summer, when the heat is intense, fevers and agues are very general, which the Shekh attributed to the immoderate use of dates. This may be one of the causes, but what I should imagine conduces also to the insalubrity of that season, is, that the springs are all strongly impregnated with iron and sulphur, and hot at their sources; nor indeed can the water be used until it has been left to cool in an earthern jar, when it becomes more palatable. These springs never fail or vary at any seasonof the year, which is most fortunate for the natives, as their istence depends upon them, there being no wells that I could observe. The soil is a very light red earth, fertilized entirely by irrigation, the water being conducted in small channels through the arable land. The principal produce is corn, chiefly barley and rice. Dates are an article of commerce with Egypt, and we often met caravans conveying them; lemons and citrons are also very plentiful in the gardens. The inhabitants are Bedouins.

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A manufacture of indigo is carried on at Bellata. The commodity is the property of the richer inhabitants of the

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villages, and is stated to be one of the very few articles of trade or manufacture which the Pasha, probably from ignorance of its existence here,' has not monopolized. This remote and insulated region, hitherto unknown to Europeans, has not eluded the notice, or escaped from the yoke of the present sovereign of Egypt. They pay an annual tributè, varying in amount according to the caprice of their Master; yet, though brought under this wholesome subordination, they appear not to share in the efficient protection of his govern

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The people are much exposed to the incursions of the Mograbin or Barbary Arabs, and occasionally suffer much from their depredations. Three years ago, a band of four hundred made an irruption, and after a severe contest, in which many lives were lost, retired, carrying off much booty. It is thirty days' march to Tripoli, reckoning ten hours to each.'

Alas! that man cannot, in the remotest oasis of the Desert, escape from the avarice and violence of his fellows, but is liable to the visitations of both in the shape of war and taxation; the scourge of uncivilized, and the drawback on civilized society. Add to this, that lions and tigers, though less dreaded than the men of prey, are not uncommon in the district. How this disturbs all one's associations with the word, to have an oasis, the very symbol of luxuriance, seclusion, and repose, the adyta of Nature, triple-guarded, one has been accustomed to think, like an enchanted castle, by being invisible, belted round with trackless sands, in the centre of which these Maxaguyoo, islands of the blest, flourish as by miracle-to have such a region unveiled to us as the scene of the common every day doings of mankind, the struggle of the weak with the strong, and, in common with every other part of Egypt, the cemetery of a mightier race! Temples and sepulchres, of a more modern date, indeed, than the gigantic monuments of old Egypt, yet, the restoration of which dates as far back as the Roman Emperors of the second century, impart to these districts the general character of this wonderful region, that of awful desolation and majestic ruin. Every where there are traces of the gigantic destroyer having succeeded to the giant architect; but both have passed away. The present race, thinly scattered over depopulated tracks, exhibits a physical decrepitude in strong contrast with all the monuments of the former possessors of the soil. And this impression follows the traveller even to the remotest point to which he can penetrate. At El Cargé, an object of high interest presented itself in a

spacious Necropolis, containing apparently not fewer than two or three hundred buildings of unburnt brick. They are

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ranged without attention to regularity, and of various sizes and shapes. The greater number of them, however, are square, surmounted by a dome, similar to the small mosques erected over Shekhs' tombs, having for the most part a corridor running round, which produces an ornamental effect very striking at a distance, and gives them a nearer resemblance to Roman, than to any existing specimen of Greek or Egyptian architecture. Some few are larger than the rest; one, in particular, is divided into aisles, like our churches; and that it had been used as such, by the early Christians, is clearly evinced by the traces of saints painted on the walls. Many have Coptic or perhaps Greek inscriptions, but written in a hand not legible, and a few Arabic. In all we entered, there is the Greek cross, and the celebrated Egyptian hieroglyphic, the Crux Ansata, which originally signifying life, would appear to be adopted as a Christian emblem, either from its similarity to the shape of the cross, or from its being considered the symbol of a state of future existence. But the great peculiarity is a large square hole in the centre of each, evidently for the purpose of containing a mummy, and which, from the scattered fragments and wrappings that lay scattered about, had probably been ransacked for the sake of plunder. It is therefore obvious, that these buildings formed a cemetery to the town which stood near or about the temple of El Cargé, and were subsequently used for sacred purposes by the Christian inhabitants, or, at a later period, as places of retreat to them when persecuted by the Mohammedans.

• I should imagine these sepulchres to be of Roman construction at an early period, since it is generally believed that the practice of embalming was gradually discontinued in Egypt after the extension of Christianity; but, among the various receptacles for the remains of the dead, from the stupendous pyramid to the rudest cavern, I know of none existing or recorded, at all corresponding with them in shape or appearance. Considering them, therefore, as highly curious from their structure, as well as unique of their kind, I sincerely hope that any future traveller who may come here, will particularly direct his attention to them; and that moreover he will be able to do what we could not, make faithful transcripts of the inscriptions.' pp. 108-10.

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The representation of these sepulchres, given in M. Jomard's Voyage à l'Oasis de Thebes," on the authority of M. Dro vetti, conveys by no means, our Author says, a correct idea of them.

These Oases are connected with Christian history by the circumstance of their having been made the Patmos or the Siberia of the persecuted. Our Author cites St. Athanasius as complaining that the Arians had exceeded the Emperor's "orders, in exiling old men and bishops to places unfrequented and inspiring horror; for some were sent from Lybia to the

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Great Oasis, and others from the Thebaid to that of Jupiter Ammon.' To an exile, these happy islands,' though they had been thrice as luxuriant as they are, must have appeared a horrible solitude. The paradise of a hermit would be a desert to a prisoner. But had we any details relating to these Christian exiles, the recollections connected with them would give a higher interest to the region and the existing monuments, than any other circumstance in their history.

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With regard to the formation of these spots of cultivable soil in the midst of barren sands, Sir Archibald decidedly agrees in opinion with Major Rennell, that the foundations of these islands were first laid by vegetation occasioned by springs, the decay of which vegetation produced soil, until it increased to the state in which we behold them. They appear universally surrounded by high lands, which will account for these springs.'

Art. V. Songs of Zion; being Imitations of Psalms. By James Montgomery, pp. 154. Price 5s. London. 1822.

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Fit shall be found,' says Mr. Montgomery, that the Author has added a little to the small national stock of psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs," in which, piety speaks the language of poetry, and poetry the language of inspiration, he trusts that he will be humbly contented, and unfeignedly thankful.' This, Mr. Montgomery could not attempt to do, and fail. He is here, as a poet, on his own ground; for, in the treatment of religious subjects and the metrical adaptation of Scripture, he is unrivalled. As a lyric poet, Campbell may dispute the palm with him. As a devotional poet, he stands in the present day alone. Cowper is not always equally successful; nor does Charles Wesley, who, perhaps, comes the nearest to Mr. Montgomery in poetical spirit and devotional fire, display the same uniform good taste. These "Songs of Zion' are sixty-seven in number. They are, for the most part, close imitations of the Psalms; and the Author has evidently aimed chiefly at terseness and fidelity. Sometimes he has been eminently successful in giving an original character to the_composition, and there is almost always great beauty in Mr. Montgomery's rhythm ; but chasteness, simplicity of expression, and a certain energetic pithiness, are, we think, the prevailing characteristics. The execution is not, of course, in every instance equally successful; but, as a whole, the volume will be a highly acceptable addition to our sacred literature.

The CXXIId Psalm has never before been rendered with

so happy a combination of strict fidelity and appropriate feeling.

Glad was my heart to hear
My old companions say,

Come-in the house of God appear,

For 'tis an holy day.

Our willing feet shall stand

Within the temple-door,

While young and old, in many a band,
Shall throng the sacred floor.

Thither the tribes repair,

Where all are wont to meet,
And, joyful in the house of prayer,

Bend at the mercy-scat.

· Pray for Jerusalem,

The city of our God;

The Lord from heaven be kind to them

That love the dear abode.

• Within these walls may peace
And harmony be found ;
Zion, in all thy palaces,
Prosperity abound!

For friends and brethren dear,

Our prayer shall never cease;
Oft as they meet for worship here,
God send his people peace."

In Psalms xc and xciii, the stanza is, in our judgement, much disfigured by the want of rhyme in the seventh line: it were otherwise a noble measure. The anapastic is the least skilfully managed. There is a magnificent Psalm civ. But we have met with nothing in the volume, that has pleased us better than the following version of Luther's favourite, Psalm xlvi. It would afford a fine theme for Latrobe's musical science.

God is our refuge and defence,

In trouble our unfailing aid;

Secure in his omnipotence,

What foe can make our soul afraid?

Yea, though the earth's foundations rock,
And mountains down the gulf be hurl'd,

His people smile amid the shock,

They look beyond this transient world.

There is a river pure and bright,

Whose streams make glad the heavenly plains; VOL. XIX..

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