Page images
PDF
EPUB

I shall again see my kindred, and be full of joy, and be happy in receiving a reward.

ed to suffer the severest tortures, after they have been sprinkled with the soporiferous water."

We refer the reader to Vol. I. p. 397

No. 4. The genius of thy soul shone forth here on earth in a most discordant manner: sometimes in repelling death, and then-399 of the Mines de l' Orient, for a comagain in solicitous anxiety to render it ad- plete analysis of this inscription, from vantageous to yourself. § Death transports whence it will be seen, that we have taken us to the state of heavenly remuneration, the liberty of making a few alterations in where the blessed sojourn in the shade of the translation as given by the Chevalier, delightful arbours, and by the murmuring of having adhered more strictly to the renderperennial streams of water. But the evil-ing of it as transcribed in his modern Arabic doers, who have not left behind them in the world any good action, shall rise condemn

§ There is something forced in this sentence, nor are the authorities produced by the Chevalier sufficient to sustain the manner in which he has deciphered or translated it. Upon a close inspection of the original Cufic, we give the following as a more correct transcript into Arabic characters:

copy.

In order to shew the approximation of the Maltese, as now spoken, to the Arabic language as written in this Island in the twelfth century, we have thought it would not be uninteresting to lay before such of our readers as pay any attention to philology another translation in the native

dialect of Malta. It will be seen that not انظر لنفسك هل في الأرض من باقي او دافع الموت او

الموت من راء

The English of which is as follows: See to it yourself is there any who is permanent on the earth, or who has [successfully] repelled, or who has seen death?

Oh inti li târa il qabar! jena

qenda bhal narusa
fih, u it-trâb

nabbar xfâri u

nainejja f'

dina 'l norfa.

[ocr errors]

less than two-thirds of the words in the translation correspond precisely, both in sound and meaning, with the Arabic, and with but a few exceptions, the whole is a literal rendering of the original.

B'isem Alla l' aktar hanin. Jbierek Alla in-nebi Muhammed u niesu u jsedqu. Alla

naziz u jibqa, izda qata li kol ma halaq jifni;

U billi hajti tintemm
nnaddi nal qjemi;
meta qajjim-
ni min halaqni
jahjini ma niesi
u niebu il blâs.

nal dana hua esempiu l'apostlu t'Alla. Dana qabar Maimuna bint Hasan, bin Ali el-Hud iben Majiz is-Susi; (Alla jatih id-daul u jħin nalih) u meutha kienet nhar il hamis, fis-sitta u noxrin tax-xahar Xaaban il kbir, tas-sena disna u sittin u hames-mija, hia u tixhed li ma hemx Alla blief Alla uaħdu u li ma nandux xrik.

*

*

*

*

*

[blocks in formation]

* Il nada ta ruñek dehret fil ard min uiccein: jeu tidfa il meut, jeu rieda tikseb mil meut. Fil meut hem il hlas tal genna, u il fei tal gonna msaqqia, fein l'ilma dejjem gieri. Jkun fit-tbatia u naks, bl' ilma tar-rqâd mraxxax fuqu, min namel hazin u ma halliex uraih enmil taiba.

The alteration we have above proposed in this line would run thus in Maltese: Ara lilek in-nifsek, hem min jibqa fil ard, jeu min jidfa il meut, jeu il meut min ra?

PLAIN AND PITHY REMARKS.

I HAVE very little to say, and that little will lie in a very small compass, though, if you attend to it, it may give you a great deal of peace. The best thing in this world is the assurance of a better; and our more immediate wants are food, raiment, and rest. If you would relish your food

heartily, labour to obtain it; if you would enjoy
your raiment thorougly, pay for it before you put
it on; and if you would sleep soundly, take a clear
conscience to bed with you. Do these things, and
you will be pretty well off in this world; as to the
next, if
you have any desire to attain it, you must
follow His footsteps who hath said, "I am the
way." Rely upon his atonement, and walk in his
ways, and you will be well provided for time and
eternity.

Printed for Mr. J. Richardson. Quarterly Subscriptions at 1s. received 97 Str. Forni.

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small][graphic][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small]

OBELISK AT AXUM.

The above drawing of the large Obelisk at Axum was taken on the spot by a recent traveller in Abyssinia; it differs little from that of Mr. Salt, late British Consul General in Egypt, published in his voyage to Abyssinia. One of the objects that first strikes a traveller on arriving at Axum is a small obelisk, with the remains of many others lying near it; but the great curiosity is the large obelisk, which is about sixty feet high, made of a single block of granite. It stands near a large Daroo, or fig sycamore. This obelisk has no hieroglyphics upon it like those of Egypt, nor does it exactly agree with them in shape. Though it is quadrilateral, one of the sides has a hollow space running up the centre from the base to the summit, which, instead of terminating in a pyramid like the regular obelisks, is crowned with a kind of patera. At the bottom of the hollow space just described, a doorway is represented. The obelisks of Axum were originally fifty-five in number, and four of them, it is said, were as large as that now standing; yet nothing is known of the period at which they were erected, though we can hardly doubt that they belong to a period not earlier than the Christian æra. Among the other antiquities of Axum is a stone which contains two inscriptions: that on one side is in rude Greek characters, and has been copied by Mr. Salt; that on the opposite side, of which Mr. Salt could only copy a small part, he believes to be in Ethiopian characters, and also conjectures, with great probability, that it was cut at the same time with the Greek inscription.

VANITY OF A LIFE OF PLEASURE.

EXTRACT from a letter written by Lord Chesterfield:-"I have run,” says this man of the world, "the silly rounds of business and pleasure, and have done with them all. I have enjoyed all the pleasures of the world, and consequently know their futility, and do not regret their loss. I appraise them at their real value, which is in truth very low; whereas those that have not expe

rienced, always overrate them. They only see their gay outside, and are dazzled with their glare. But I have seen behind the scenes. I have seen all the coarse pulleys and dirty ropes, which exhibit and move the gaudy machines; and I have seen and smelt the tallow candles which illuminate the whole decoration, to the astonishment and admiration of an ignorant audience. When I reflect back upon what I have seen, what I have heard, and what I have done, I can hardly persuade myself that all that frivolous hurry and bustle and pleasure of the world had any reality; but I look upon all that has passed as one of those romantic dreams which opium commonly occasions; and I do by no means desire to repeat the nauseous dose, for the sake of the fugitive dream. Shall I tell you that I bear this melancholy situation with that meritorious constancy and resignation which most people boast of? No, for I really cannot help it. I bear it, because I must bear it, whether I will or no; I think of nothing but killing time, the best I can, now that he is become mine enemy. It is my resolution to sleep in the carriage during the remainder of the journey."

Bishop Horne observes, "No man ever knew the world better, or enjoyed more of its favours, than this nobleman; yet in how poor, abject, and wretched a condition the world left him, and he left the world, at the time when he most wanted help and comfort! There was one who took his leave of this world in a very different manner: 'I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing,' 2 Tim. iv. 6-8. Say, shall your lot be with the christian, or the man of the world; with the apostle, or with the libertine ?"

Hales well observes upon the concluding sentence of the infidel's declaration, that such a character could have little disposition to sleep as he there states.

[graphic]

THE BEARDED VULTURE, OR LAMMER-GEYER.

The lämmergeyer (gypaetos barbatus) emulates the eagle in its daring and rapacious habits; thinly scattered throughout all the great mountain chains of Europe, as well as of Asia and Africa, it is the terror of the flocks which graze on the declivities, or among the intersecting vales. Its habitual prey is the chamois, the wild goat, the Alpine hare, and marmot: the young, the sick, and the feeble of the largest quadrupeds, are its marked victims; nor indeed can the old and vigorous always escape. Sailing in the air above the snow-clad summits of the stupendous Alps, it watches till the unwary chamois approaches the edge of a precipice, or traverses the pass of a narrow ledge, and then, sudden and impetuous as the avalanche of its native realms, down it rushes, hurling the helpless wretch into the abyss below, when proudly wheeling round for a few gyrations, as if to contemplate the effects of its sanguinary deed, it plunges after it to gorge on the yet quivering flesh. It seldom attempts to carry off its prey like the eagle, as it does not ⚫ possess the same strength of the talon, but satiates its appetite on the spot: if, indeed, it has young, it tears the flesh, at least of its larger victims, into fragments, and bears it peace-meal to its eyry.

Although the lämmergeyer prefers to live upon the fruits of its own rapacious prowess, still it does not refuse the putrid

carrion which constitutes the food of the

vulture, and may often be seen slowly sweeping along the ground towards the expected banquet, where it is joined by its fellows of the surrounding district.

This bold and powerful species is among the largest of our European birds of prey, measuring upwards of four feet from beak to tail, and nine or ten in the expanse of the wing. The beak is not short and abrupt like that of the eagle, but elongated, compressed, hooked at the tip, and covered at the base with black bristles, which hang down from the angle, and the sides of the lower mandible, like a beard; whence its specific name barbatus, or bearded. The head is only very partially bare of feathers, The tarsi are and the neck is fully clothed. short, and feathered to the toes; the general colour of the upper parts is a strong greyish brown, the centre of each feather having a white longitudinal line. The neck, breast, and under parts, are white, tinged with a wash of reddish brown or orange; the tail is graduated; the tarsi are bluish grey; the iris is orange; the beak four inches in length, and of a greyish flesh colour. A black band passes through each eye, and sends off a narrow line of the same colour to meet on the top of the head. The second and third quill feathers are the longA beautiful specimen is to be seen in the gardens of the Zoological Society of

est.

London.

The lämmergeyer breeds on the summit. of the highest and most inaccessible cliffs, making no nest, but depositing its eggs on the naked rock; they are two in number, of a white colour, blotched with brown.

The plumage of the young is much darker than that of the adults, and marked above with large spots of white, the under parts being grey, with obscure spots of a lighter colour. In this stage it has been mistaken for a distinct species by several of the older writers on ornithology.

Il camelo perduto.-Un dervis viaggiava solo in un deserto, quando incontrò improvvisamente due mercanti: "Voi avete perduto un camelo," diss' egli loro. "Così è," risposero quelli. "Non era esso cieco dell'occhio dritto, e zoppo d'un piede sinistro?" disse il Dervis. "E' vero," replicarono i mercanti. "Non aveva esso perduto uno dei denti d'avanti ?" disse il Dervis. "Anche questo è vero," soggiunsero quelli." E non era esso carico di miele da un lato, e di grano dall' altro?"-"Certissimamente così è, (replicarono quelli) e giacchè l'avete veduto sì di recente, ed esaminato sì minutamente, voi probabilmente ci potrete condurre dove si trova."-"Amici (disse il Dervis) io non ho mai veduto il vostro camelo, nè mai ne ho sentito nuova che da voi."-"Che favola è questa? (dissero i mercanti) dove sono le gioje che formavano parte del suo carico?"-"Io non ho veduto nè il vostro camelo, nè le vostre gioje," replicò il Dervis. Dietro a che essi lo arrestarono, e lo condussero tosto innanzi al Cadi, dove, fattagli la più rigorosa ricerca, non gli si trovò nulla addosso, nè si potè addurre alcuna prova per convincerlo sia di falsità, sia di furto. Quindi si era sul punto di procedere contro di lui qual mago, quando il dervis, con grande calma così parlò alla Corte: "lo mi sono molto divertito della vostra sorpresa, e confesso che v'era qualche fondamento pei vostri sospetti; ma io ho vissuto molti anni, e solitario, e so trovare ampio scopo alle mie osservazioni anche in un deserto. Io m' accorsi d'avere incontrato la traccia d' un camelo che si era sviato dal suo proprietario, perchè non vidi

nessun segno di pedate umane sulla stessa via; m'accorsi che l'animale era cieco d'un occhio, perchè avea dibrucato l'erba solo da un lato del suo sentiero; e m'accorsi ch' era zoppo d'un piede, dalla leggiera impressione che quel particolare piede avea prodotto sopra la sabbia. Conclusi che l' animale avesse perduto un dente, perchè dovunque aveva pascolato, un piccolo ciuffo d'erba rimaneva illeso nel centro del suo morso. In quanto a ciò che formava il carico della bestia, le affacendate formiche mi informarono che fosse grano da un lato, e le aggruppate mosche, che fosse mele dall' altro."

A FABLE.

Weak is the head that is not able

To gather wisdom from a fable.

A ship in olden times, richly laden, and somewhat obstructed by the winds, had on board many inexperienced and discontented seamen, who, though they were very ignorant, took upon them

selves the management of the vessel. Over anxious to reach their desired haven, they murmured at the slow progress of the ship, and, consulting together, endeavoured to find out the cause. They knew it could not be the hull,-that was well-built and water-tight; neither was it the masts,-they were straight, strong, and of the best materials; the rigging was good in every respect, and the sails bellying with the wind, excited universal admiration. It was at length observed that some tons of sand, apparently of no use, were stowed in the bottom of the vessel, and all agreed that it must be the sand which impeded their progress. They set to work immediately, and in a short time the sand was thrown into the sea. Scarcely had they ended their labour when a storm arose, and the vessel, first on one side then on the other, rolled about on the waves. Their rigging torn, their sails rent, and their masts broken, they saw their mistake, and would gladly have given the whole of their cargo for the sand which they had imprudently cast into the sea, but it was too late; deprived of her ballast, the vessel having tossed about for some time, turned bottom upwards, and the whole of the crew perished in the waves.

MORAL.

In all their troubles, the wise reflect on the real cause of their affliction, lest by using rash remedies they should plunge into deeper calamities.

PROSPERITY AND ADVERSITY.-Let prosperity be as oil to the wheels of obedience; and affliction as wind to the sails of prayer.-Philip Henry.

Quarterly Subscriptions at ls. and communications received at No. 97 Str. Forni.

« PreviousContinue »