Part 18

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

Footnote 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.

Footnote 248:

p. 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.

Footnote 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.

Footnote 250:

p. 201.—_That oft the sleeping albatross._

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

Footnote 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.

Footnote 252:

p. 202.—_Of that vast mountain stood on fire._

The Ghebers generally built their temples over subterraneous fires.

Footnote 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.

Footnote 254:

p. 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.

Footnote 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.

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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.”

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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.

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 263:

p. 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._

Footnote 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.

Footnote 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.

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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 odoriferous 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.

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 270:

p. 217.—_No music tim’d her parting oar._

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

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 276:

p. 223.—_Like meteor brands as if throughout._

The meteors that Pliny calls “faces.”

Footnote 277:

p. 224.—_The Star of_ EGYPT _whose proud light._

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

Footnote 278:

p. 224.—_In the White Islands of the West._

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

Footnote 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.

Footnote 280:

p. 227.—_Their garb—the leathern belt that wraps._

_D’Herbelot_, art. Agduani.

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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.

Footnote 287:

p. 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._

Footnote 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_.

Footnote 289:

p. 250.—_And ne’er did saint of_ ISSA _gaze._—Jesus.

Footnote 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.

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 293:

p. 257.—_Sweet as the angel_ ISRAFIL’S.

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

Footnote 294:

p. 261.—_Wound slow, as through_ GOLCONDA’S _vale._

See Hoole upon the Story of Sinbad.

Footnote 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.

Footnote 296:

p. 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.

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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_.

Footnote 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._

Footnote 301:

p. 278.—_The summary criticism of the Chabuk._—“The application of whips or rods.”—_Dubois._

Footnote 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.

Footnote 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.

Footnote 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.

“‘(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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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.

Footnote 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.’”

Footnote 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.

Footnote 309:

p. 282.—_The small shining fishes of which she was so fond._—See note, p. 367.

Footnote 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._

Footnote 311:

p. 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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_.

Footnote 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._

Footnote 317:

p. 287.—_Behind the palms of_ BARAMOULE.—_Bernier._

Footnote 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.

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 321:

p. 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._

Footnote 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.

Footnote 323:

p. 290.—_So felt the magnificent Son of Acbar._

Jehanguire was the son of the Great Acbar.

Footnote 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._

Footnote 325:

p. 293.—_Of the flowers of this planet—though treasures were there._

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

Footnote 326:

p. 293.—_He saw that City of Delight._

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

Footnote 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.

Footnote 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 330:

p. 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._

Footnote 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._

Footnote 332:

p. 298.—_To the gold gems of_ AFRIC.