ANECDOTES FROM ARABIAN HISTORY.

No. I.

Yacuti-ben-Laith.

YACUTI-BEN-LAITH was the most cruel man of his race. He had an officer, called Giafar, who relates the following story of him :

"We had encamped, one day, at the foot of a mountain; and when dinner was over, all of us, who were in attendance upon the prince, rose up to take our leave; but he beckoned me to stay, and made a sign that I should sit down again. After this he remained a long time lost in thought; when, suddenly looking up, he told his armour-bearer to go to the gate of a certain town, and there he would find a garden kept by an old man called Isaac; 'seize the man,' said he, and bring him here.'

"The armour-bearer shortly returned, leading in a decrepid old man, trembling from head to foot; and the tyrant, with a furious look, instantly ordered him to be cut in two. The order was obeyed; the consternation of all, at this sudden execution of such a miserable and helpless creature, was, however, extreme.

"Yācūti, after a little thought, turned to us and said: 'I see you are astonished at the sentence I have passed on an old man, who was not charged with any crime. Attend and you shall hear the reason. In my youth, and long before I came to my present dignity, I was in poverty, and then earned my bread as a common watchman on the road. My distress was once so great, that I had not eaten for two days; when, finding the door of a garden open, I went in and plucked some fruit. After walking about, I came to the edge of a fountain and saw a cloth laid, with eight loaves of bread and two bowls of butter-milk. My hunger was so violent that I devoured the whole, and again walked about picking the fruit; when this old man, who was the gardener, met me and snatched the fruit out of my hand: and a few minutes after, discovering that I made free with his dinner, he overtook me with half a dozen workmen armed with great sticks; and as I was not in a state to make any resistance, they beat me so severely, that I could scarcely drag myself to the steps of a neighbouring mosque, where I fell down exhausted. In this wretched state I was found by a young butcher, who had pity on me, and took me to his house, and treated me kindly till I recovered; and when I was able to work, he made me his shepherd, and gave me wages, but I soon left him, and rose, as you know, to the power I now possess.'

"I thanked the prince for his condescension, and acknowledged that the unfeeling conduct of the gardener had justly deserved his anger, incautiously adding: 'you will now, I suppose, send for the butcher, and promote him to great wealth and honour.'

"At these words, his rage became terrible, and loading me with abuse, he said: do you think I am a fool, to expose myself to contempt? It would be a pretty thing, indeed, to have such a fellow go about the camp, boasting that the king had been his shepherd. I wonder what discipline we should have then.'

"This was enough to convince me that he would never forgive me for knowing the secret: so I fled that night from his camp, and came to Bagdad; and then went to Syria; nor did I venture to go back to Khorasan till after his death."

Hajjaj-ben-Yusuf.

Of all the tyrants who ever reigned in Arabia or Persia, Hajjāj-ben-Yūsuf is thought to have been the most bitter and relentless; for he would put men to death on the slightest offence, and pity was an utter stranger to his heart.

When he went to Mecca and desolated the Caaba, he put Abdallah-benZobeir to death. But Abdallah had a favourite, whose name was Abd-urRahim, who was a man of great talents, expert in business, and of an excellent disposition. Hajjāj took him into favour, placed him in an important office, and made him his familiar companion. One day, as they were amusing themselves in repeating poetry, Hajjaj quoted some verses which had been made by Abdallah; and Abd-ur-Rahim, on hearing them, could not refrain from bursting into tears. The tyrant was so much incensed at this mark of attachment to his former master, that he reproached him angrily for it; and, asking him how he could have the audacity to betray any affection for a man who had incurred his anger, commanded a slave to fetch him a sword.

Upon this, Abd-ur-Rahim fell down before Hajjaj, beseeching him to hear what he had to say; after which, he would submit patiently to his will, adding: My ancestors had ever been attached to the family of Abdallah, and from my youth and up he treated me with kindness and confidence. If I could cast off my love and gratitude to such a benefactor, what reliance could you place upon my duty and fidelity to yourself?"

The tyrant felt the force of the remark, at least, though he had no sympathy in the sorrow of his servant; and pardoned him, with a threat, however, that any further display of attachment to his enemy would be punished with instant death.

Miscellanies, Original and Select.

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

Asiatic Society of Bengal.-At the meeting of October 30th, a letter from Colonel Casement, military secretary, was read, stating that the government will have much pleasure in transmitting to the Hon. the Court of Directors the Report on the Experimental Boring, and in recommending a compliance with the Society's application for such a supply of apparatus as will enable them to continue it in an efficient manner.

A letter from Mr. Tufnel, Sec. of the Right Hon. the Governor of Ceylon, was also read, presenting copies of some inscriptions in the Nagarí character, collected by Capt. Forbes of the 78th Highlanders, agent in the Matele district.

Thousands of inscriptions, in the same character, are stated to be found in the island; but there is not yet any clue to the relative value of these letters in the modern Nágarí alphabet. They are evidently identical with those of the Kanouj coins and with the inscriptions referred by Mr. Stirling to the Buddhists, or Jyns; which their occurrence in Ceylon certainly tends to confirm.

A fac-simile of an Arabic inscription, cut in an escarpment of the rock at the Fort of Chanderí, was presented by Dr. J. Tytler, in the name of Lieut. Macdonald. The inscription, after insertion of the second Sura of the Korán, called Ayetul-Kursi, sets forth that the lofty gate of Gumti and Kerolí, near the tank, were erected by Júman Khán, son of Shér Khán, by order of the Sultánus-Salatín Chais-ud-din, on the 14th Jumàd-us-Sànì a. h. 709 (a. D. 1301).

A visit to the Gold Mine at Battang Moring, and Summit of Mount Ophir, or Gunong Ledang, in the Malay Peninsula, by Lieut. J. T. Newbold, 23d regt. Mad. Lt. Inf., was read to the Society.

On the 20th April, Lieut. N. arrived at Assahan from Malacca, on route to Mount Ophir. Assahan lies about thirty-one miles E. N. E. from Malacca, and is our most advanced outpost towards the frontier of the independent state of Muar. The stockade is situated on the summit of a knoll partially cleared of wood and crowned by coconut trees. The knoll terminates, on the north-east and west, in a swampy sawah, and is approached by a footpath traversing some rough ground from the south; through the eastern part of the sawah runs the Assahan rivulet, and beyond this is a stretch of forest amid which lies enshrouded Ophir's gigantic foot. Assahan, owing to the exactions and tyrannies practised by the petty Malayan chiefs around, has been almost deserted by the native population; who are now, however, re-assured by the presence of Our troops, slowly returning to their ravaged homes.

Lieut. Newbold, with Lieut. Hawkes, left Assahan, with a naique, six sepoys, and six convicts; Amas Karo, the Panghulu of Sunjiedua, the Imam of Bokko, Daniel Peters, the Portuguese interpreter, Nasep an Abyssinian, and a guide named Haji, with ten Malays, provided with parangs, to clear a path through the thick underwood and numerous ratans and creepers, with which a Malay forest abounds. After travelling, along a footpath, through a dense jungle, for an hour or so, they crossed the frontier into the Muar territory. After crossing the Sehong and Gummi streams, they arrived at the latter place.

Gummi is, or rather was, a small village situated close to the foot of Mount Ophir; it contained about twenty houses, almost all of which have been forsaken by their inhabitants. It does not appear to have ever benefited by excess of cultivation, but probably owed its former population to the proximity of the gold mines, which merit a brief description.

About sixty yards from the deserted hut, which constituted the traveller's Serai, nearer the mountain, is a house, almost concealed by the sloping ground on which it stands, inhabited by six or seven Chinese miners, and immediately in front of it is a gold mine. This place is called Batang Moring. The mine is nearly exhausted; it is situated on the flat marshy ground, at the foot of the slope on which the Chinese house stands; in length it measures about ten yards, by four in breadth; and six or seven feet in depth. It is filled with muddy water, which is drained off by a simple bamboo hydraulic apparatus, somewhat resembling the Indian Pukotah. The miners descend, for the purpose of digging out the metallic earth, by means of rude ladders, formed of the notched trunks of trees. A Chinese, who had embraced Muhammedanism, went through the process, which is extremely simple: having dug out a quantity of the earth, which consists of coarse sand, greyish clay and white pebbles, among which crystals of quartz are found, and greenish stones, he placed it in a shallow, funnel-shaped vessel of wood, and carried it to a stream of water, conducted by two narrow channels close to the mine. The water, falling from a height of about a foot, washes away the lighter earthy particles and clay, assisted by the rotatory motion of the miner's hand. This done, he carefully picks out the stones and other refuse too large for the water to carry off, whilst the gold dust, in minute portions, sinks to the narrow bottom of the vessel, from which it is extracted, carefully washed, and laid by to be made up into` small bags, each containing one bunkal, (11⁄2 oz. tr.)

Asiat. Journ. N.S. VOL. 14. No. 53.

Σ

The gold of Ophir, though small in quantity, is as fine as that of Pahang in quality, being estimated at ninety touch. A gentleman of the Madras Medical Establishment, to whom Lieut. Newbold showed the crystals and earth, is of opinion that the latter is the debris of the granite forming the summit; the white masses appearing to be felspar in a decomposed state; the crystals quartz, and the small grains in the earth also quartz. The gold found in it he supposes to be washed down from the mountain, as the rock became disintegrated.

The Chinese showed them a specimen of a stratum of clay, of a greenish grey colour, beneath which gold is never found: this is the case with the present mine, which they intend quitting, to open another a few paces distant.

The Chinese affirm that one mine does not produce monthly more than one tael of gold. This is probably designedly underrated. A tribute is exacted from each individual of one dollar monthly, for the privilege of mining here, by the petty Malay chiefs, Inches Ahad and Mahmed. They levy it in person every two months. These two chiefs are nominally under the Tamiangong of Muar (whose maternal uncles they are), but in reality are little better than banditti.

The head Chinese miner stated, that, formerly, nearly 1,000 Chinese worked in these mines; but that of late, owing to the unsettled state of the country, they had nearly been deserted. The Chinese, who still work at the mines, in spite of the oppression they suffer, depend on Malacca for their supplies, for which they occasionally despatch two or three of their number, who take down with them the small portion of gold dust they have been able to scrape together. The wild and deserted state of the country, and the extent of forest to be traversed between the foot of the mountain and Malacca, afford opportunities, not unfrequently taken advantage of, by the marauders that infest the frontier, for the sake of the pittance of rice and salt fish, and a few grains of gold dust. Murder is almost invariably added to robbery.

They started from Gummi on foot: the Malays went on, in advance, clearing the path through the low thicket, through which the path now lay, to the banks of the Jerram river, along which they waded for some distance. About a mile and a-quarter from the river stood the deserted house of a Malay, the last trace of human habitation; this place the Malays call Rullowe, which signifies a place where metal is melted, or the smoke which is produced by fusion; from this it may not be unreasonable to infer that a mine formerly existed in this vicinity.

A little in advance of Rullowe, the ascent of Mount Tando commences; this is the longest but most gradual of the three acclivities which constitute the ascent. Having descended this and scaled part of Gunong Peradap, they arrived at a steep bank of rock, called Padang Battu or ‘Plain of Stone.' On the right of Padang Battu, the rush of the river Jerram down the mountain side was distinctly audible. The surface of the rock is intersected by numerous creepers, which formed a sort of rope-ladder, they were glad to avail themselves of. Leaving Padang Battu far below, there stands on Peradap's summit a bluff rock, named Battu Serambi, which signifies the rock of the porch.'

The rock was first mistaken for the peak itself; but on arriving at the bushy platform that crowns Serambi's mossy head, Ophir still stood before the travellers, nearer, but steeper and as lofty apparently as ever. A short descent brought them to the bottom of the third and last ascent, viz. Gunong Ledang. The trees here are of a stunted and venerable appearance, being for the most part covered with moss and lichens, a thin carpet of which barely conceals the primitive rock beneath.

After passing Gunong Tando, the first ascent, elephants' tracks, which were there numerous, were no longer visible. The solitary scream of that singular caricature on the human species, the Oonka, and the note of the bird Selanas, on Mount Peradap, were the last sounds of animal life the forest yielded.

After a short scramble, in which they were obliged, in some places, to draw themselves up by the trees and roots, they attained the summit, from which they caught hasty glimpses, through the rolling cloud, fast clearing away, of a magnificent prospect beneath. To the southward the states of Segamat and Muar; to the north-west the mountains of Rumbowe and Serimenanti; and to the north-east Jompole and part of Pahang, celebrated for its gold. Turning westwards, lay the ruins of the ancient church of St. Paul's, on the flagstaff hill at Malacca, and part of the town itself; its bight and the sea-coast from Mount Formosa to Salengore, the glittering and placid surface of the water enamelled with numerous verdant islets. The view inland presented a vast amphitheatre of thick foliage (with here and there slight bare patches of sawa and pasture-land), thrown into various shades and tints by the rays of a setting sun.

The extreme apex of the mountains is formed of a block of greyish granite, surrounded by others, lying on a strip of table-ground, about forty yards long by ten broad, on which grow some stunted trees, a few of the fir kind, some lichens and mountain shrubs, among which are found the Petis Patis, Samoot, the Russam, and Pruik Krek; the Malays were unable to tell the names of many of the shrubs, never having seen them in the valley.

A thunder-cloud, growling and flashing a thousand feet beneath them, now interrupted the prospect; owing to its influence, probably, the weather had been sultry during the afternoon; the thermometer (Fahrenheit), although in this elevated situation, not sinking below 76° at four P.M., at seven P.M. sunk to 69°, and at half-past five A.M. the following morning to its greatest depression, 65. The height of the loftiest peak above the surface of the sea, as calculated by the thermometer and boiling water, is 5,693 feet.

The thunder-storm abated and finally ceased a little after sunset, when a host of fire-flies, sole possessors of these heights, contending with the stars in liquid brilliance, floated around them, now soaring to the loftiest peak, now sinking and gradually lost, sparkling and twinkling as they went, in the dizzy depths below. The Malays complained much of the cold during the night, and particularly before sunrise.

"Whether the mountain just described," observes Lieut. Newbold, or its namesake on Pulo Percha, or Sumatra, called by Malays Gunong Passaman, or the Ophir of Bruce in Sofala on the Mozambique Coast, or Jamison's Ophir on the S.E. coast of Africa, be the Ophir of Scripture, or not, must still remain matter of doubt. To the admirers of the marvellous, I would recommend the careful perusal of San Mahmed's wonderful adventures, in his ascent to the summit of the mountain to entreat the hand of the enchanted princess of the rock for his master, Mahmed Sultan of Malacca, as contained in the Malayan historical work, the Sillálet-us-Salátin, and the Malay Annals.”

CRITICAL NOTICES.

A History of Europe during the Middle Ages. Vol. III. Being Vol. LIII. of Dr. Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia. London, 1834. Longman and Co. Taylor. THIS volume, a continuation of the second grand division of the work, comprehending Germanic Europe,-is devoted to England, and embraces the political and civil history of England, and the religious history of the Anglo-Saxons. To the English