Journey, and taking no provisions for himself. Mr. In listen They are fond of conversation, and in this manner spend much of their time. They rarely meet each other without stopping to chat; and in travelling about the country, they will go a long walk out of their way to see another, for the purpose of inquiring and communicating news. ing to a person who is relating what he has seen or done, they attend to him without offering any interruption, unless it be to assent to his narration by occasionally introducing the word Ee, meaning "yes," or by sometimes repeating the last word or two of a sentence. This is a natural mode of politely showing that they are listening to the speaker. Many facts may be noticed among wild unlettered nations which prove that true politeness and complaisance are natural perfections, and not artificial acquirements; and that rudeness and coarse behaviour are not necessarily the accompaniments of an uneducated mind, but rather the manifestations of a depraved one. The semblance of polite ness is nothing more than a tribute which some men pay to the real image as an acknowledgment to virtue. The Bachapins are active, and, when occasion requires it, they never shrink from the fatigue of a long journey. Although their women perform all the laborious offices, yet the men reserve for themselves the most active. A man who has obtained the appellation munona usinaacha (industrious man), is honourably esteemed, while he who is seldom seen to hunt, to prepare skins for clothing, or to sew roboes, is despised. Habits of industry are cultivated from early youth: the boys, with the assistance of a few men, have charge of the cattle-stations. "Filial obedience is strongly enforced, and the fathers were said to take especial care that they would never spoil their sons by sparing the stick." They are careful not to expose themselves to the rain: the wet injures their leather cloaks, and gives them much trouble in rubbing the leather continually, to prevent its becoming hard in drying. Although desirous for showers while their corn is growing, they will not allow themselves to be wetted, because the sensation of rain on their skins is disagreeable to them, apart from the injury it produces to their garments. Their arithmetical capacity is very limited; they cannot reckon above ten, and in order to estimate a herd of cattle, it is separated into tens; but in ascertaining whether any be missing from a herd, they depend upon their knowledge of the colours, particular spots, size, and countenance of each animal. Both sexes are fond of adorning their persons with necklaces, bracelets, beads, and rings. The mode in which a Bachapin woman dresses her hair is peculiar. In its natural state the hair is so woolly that it never forms itself into locks, unless it be left to grow for a long time, clotted together with grease and dirt. With much pains and care they form it into innumerable threads, of the size of thin twine, which, hanging in equal quantity all round the head, have the appearance of being fastened at their upper ends to the centre of the crown; while their lower ends, being all of equal length, are never allowed to descend lower than the top of the ear. These threads, being well powdered with sibilo*, which adheres to them by the assistance of grease, continue quite loose and separate from each other. The weight which they derive from this mineral, keeps them always in a perpendicular position, and so parallel, that the head seems covered with a striped cap or bonnet. It is only when the wearer walks, or makes a sudden movement, that these threads are seen to separate; but when the person stands still, they fall into their proper place, and are hardly ever seen out of order. Sibilo, or Sibiilo, called by the Klaarwater Hottentots Blink-klip (shining-rock), is a shining, powdery, iron-ore, feeling greasy to the touch, and soiling the hands exceedingly GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES. On 2. IN our list of precious stones, we have followed Its The red variety of sapphire is much more rare; and is called oriental ruby, to distinguish it from the spinelle, or ballas ruby, an entirely different gem. colour is generally very vivid, somewhat resembling carmine; and so great is the value set on it, that a good ruby of more than three carats and a half in weight is preferred to a diamond of the same weight. The price of the ruby increases in a more rapid ratio It does not follow than even that of the diamond. the square of the weight, but a still higher proportion; for a good ruby of one carat is worth ten guineas, of two carats forty guineas, of three carats a hundred and fifty guineas, and of six carats, more than a thousand guineas. Very large and deep-coloured rubies are called carbuncles. These are extremely scarce, and yet we are told that the throne of the Great Mogul is adorned with no fewer than a hundred and eight of them, weighing from one to two hundred carats each. Sapphires also occur of yellow, orange, purple, and green colours. They are then called, respectively, oriental topaz, hyacinth, amethyst, and emerald, the last of which is exceedingly rare. These gems must not be confounded with the real topaz, hyacinth, ame hyst, and emerald, which are much more common, and are essentially distinct bodies. Sometimes a sapphire exhibits, in the same stone, two or even three of the colours mentioned above, passing into each other. 537-2 Such specimens are greatly prized by mineralogists, | are crystal and carmine, passing on the one side as showing the complete identity of these gems. The through purple to blue and gray; and on the other unfortunate Louis the Sixteenth of France had a through rose-colour and pink to almost white. From beautiful sapphire in his possession, striped with fine the variety of hues which it sometimes assumes, it is yellow topaz in the middle. Others have been found very apt to be confounded with other gems, especially half green and half red. Sapphires have been occa- with the oriental ruby, the finest kinds of garnet, and sionally found in Scotland of a lustre and hardness the red topaz. Red fluor-spar and red quartz aré almost equal to the oriental. also often ignorantly called ruby. The localities of this gem are various kinds of rock in Ceylon, also lime-stone at Südermannland, in Sweden, the sand of rivers in Pegu, and the hollows of large stones thrown out by Vesuvius. It does not appear to be met with in Brazil, although red stones called Brazil rubies are very common. These stones are thought to be red or yellow topazes, whose colour has been produced by heat. The analysis of the ruby gives about threefourths of its substance alumina. The rest consists chiefly of silica, magnesia, and chromic acid; to which latter substance it owes its beautiful colour. It is remarkable that this gem when heated becomes quite black; on cooling, it becomes almost limpid and colourless; and, when quite cold, it resumes its original and natural colour. The price of a spinelle (unless very small) is reckoned at half the price of a diamond of the same size. The Emperor Cantacuzenus is said, in 1343, to have presented to the city of Venice twelve pale rubies, each weighing seven ounces, but these were probably only red quartz. We saw in a former paper that the diamond, brilliant and beautiful as it is, is nothing more than pure charcoal in a crystalline form: it will probably appear quite as wonderful, that the rare and splendid jewels we have just described, consist almost wholly of common clay in a very pure form. Their main ingredient is alumina, a substance as common as carbon, but which, like carbon, has hitherto baffled every attempt at crystallization. Alumina is the substance which constitutes the greater part of all kinds of clay, and which gives that very useful substance its plastic or yielding quality. Clay is easily purified, so as to be reduced to its base, alumina; but this substance, which is a white plastic powder, almost the same as pipe-clay, bears as little resemblance to the ruby and the sapphire, as charcoal does to the diamond. Yet there is no doubt that the perfectly white sapphire is only pure alumina in a crystalline form, and that the different splendid colours of the oriental gems are only produced by the addition of a very minute quantity of some metal, or metallic oxide. The oxide that colours the ruby is that of a metal called chromium: and that which gives its exquisite tint to the blue sapphire is only the oxide or rust of iron; for, by analysis, the latter gem is found to contain 197 parts of alumina, or pure clay, 2 parts of oxide of iron, and 1 of lime. Some kinds of yellowish or reddish clay are almost exactly similar to this in composition; so that the only difference between the two substances seems to be that the sapphire is crystallized, and the clay is not. 3. The stone which ranks next to the sapphire in hardness is that which is called by lapidaries the opalescent, or oriental CHRYSOLITE. By Werner it is called the chrysoberyl, and by Haüy cymophane. We need not dwell long on this gem, for though rare and therefore valuable, it is by no means remarkable for beauty, and is seldom seen as an article of jewellery. It is found in Ceylon and in Brazil in alluvial deposits, and generally in company with the diamond. Its colour is a dull yellowish-green, varying in depth from olive to nearly white, but its chief attraction lies in a kind of blueish opalescent light, which appears to play within it, and sometimes on the surface. Alumina constitutes the chief part of this gem, as it does of the sapphire and ruby, but it does not exist in so large a quantity in the chrysolite; and besides oxide of iron there are four additional substances in this gem: -water, which enters in a greater or less degree into nearly all crystalline bodies; glucina, which is a peculiar earth; titanium, a rare and peculiar metal; and silica, which likewise enters into the composition of nearly all the other gems. Silica is a substance of great importance in nature: in its purest form it constitutes quartz, or rock-crystal; when less pure, and coloured by foreign matters, it forms the well-known substance called flint; when minutely divided it becomes sand; and when again cemented together into a mass it forms sand-stone. This universally-diffused substance is the main ingredient in glass, and forms a large part of all kinds of pottery. 4. THE SPINELLE, OR BALLAS RUBY comes next in the scale of hardness, and is a gem of great beauty. The forms of its crystals are various, but very frequently octohedral, like the diamond. Its colours 5. The next gem on our list is the ZIRCON, or HYACINTH, which is brought chiefly from Ceylon, but is also met with in other parts of India, in Italy, and in the rivulet, near Expailly, in France, which has already been mentioned as affording sapphires. Buth these gems are found in the sand or mud at the bottom of the stream, which is diligently searched when the rivulet is nearly dry. This stone is remarkably heavy, and is peculiar in its composition, on account of its containing an earth called zirconia, of which it chiefly consists, and which is named after the gem. The proportion of this earth found in the zircon or hyacinth is seventy parts to twenty-five of silica, and five of oxide of iron. The most usual colour of this gem is a kind of orange-red, passing through various shades of yellow, into nearly white. The last kind are most esteemed, and when well cut and set, and of a small size, they have been frequently sold as diamonds: the coloured varieties are, therefore, often rendered white by exposure to heat, in order to augment their value. Like the spinelle, this gem also has been much confounded with other stones. The topaz, garnet, and Vesuvian, or idiocrase, are more highly esteemed, and more beautiful than the common hyacinth, yet the latter has often been mistaken for one of them. The commonest sort of hyacinth goes by the name of jargon, a vulgar corruption of zircon. It is of different dull hues, such asgreenish, blueish gray, orbrown inclining to red. The principal use of this gem is to ornament watch-cases, since it is not sufficiently valuable for other purposes. HISTORICAL SKETCHES. THERE is hardly to be found in all history a more striking contrast than that presented by the French papal clergy and laity, in their treatment of their Protestant countrymen, from the earliest times of the Reformation down to late in the last century, compared with the clergy and people of Protestant England, comprising many descendants of French Protestant refugees, in their generous reception of the Roman Catholic emigrants, who flocked to this country during the terrible scenes of the Revolution in 1792. These scenes we may be sure never would have disgraced human nature in France, had not her national church clung with infatuated obstinacy to the antiscriptural corruptions of Rome. If we look into the Minutes of the General Assemblies of the Gallican Church, we shall see with what persevering ingenuity they urged the government to persecute the Protestants, with the view of ultimately exterminating them. They succeeded at last in obtaining a law, by which every Protestant minister found exercising his ministry in France, was condemned to be broken on the wheel; even the poor but faithful members of their flocks who dared to harbour them, were condemned to the galleys; and the congregations who ventured to meet in deserts, never did so but at the risk of being attacked and cut down by dragoons. So late even as 1775, an assembly of the French clergy, in an address to the crown, after deploring the widespread corruption and irreligion of the metropolis of France, could not refrain from urging the government to suppress the wilderness-meetings of the scattered remains of the Protestant church, as if these were likely to draw down the curse of Heaven upon the nation. Ah! had there been many such meetings in Paris at that time, the frightful atrocities of the revolutionists might have been checked in their beginnings. Strange and most instructive lesson from Providence, if the papal clergy had but submitted to receive it! The worst of the philosophers who led to the proscription of the papacy in France, had been educated in its own jesuits' schools, and her very priests, when thus compelled to flee, found a safe and generous reception among a Protestant clergy and people! Let us hear what the Abbé Lambert, in his Life of Leon Le Clerc de Juigné, some time Archbishop of Paris, says on this memorable subject. Speaking of this country, he remarks, that nowhere did the emigrants receive such marks of esteem and interest, as in this beneficent nation-this hospitable island—and then proceeds as follows: | were priests, and 2000 laymen; and, besides these, there were many English and French nuns who had been compelled to leave their convents, and the number went on increasing. It is true that all that landed did not remain; several adopting that as the shortest and least obstructed way to other countries, and others, who had some means of their own, preferring other countries as less expensive to live in. Still these amounted but to few, and of that small number some, after exhausting their own means elsewhere, returned to experience that English generosity knows neither exceptions nor limits. The latter were received and assisted, the same as the former. There was thus an instant call to provide bread and other articles of indispensable necessity, for this numerous family; of whom the greater number had been unable to bring away any of their property, while others had been inhumanly plundered on their flight. But this exigence led to an immediate demonstration of what English generosity could do. An appeal was made to the public. Mr. J. Wilmot, M.P., took the lead, assisted by Mr. Burke and Sir P. Metcalfe. An address from the pen of Mr. Burke, which was inserted in all the newspapers, produced about £34,000: a large sum, which, nevertheless, was speedily exhausted. A new subscription was then proposed; at its head stood the king, followed by the whole of the court, members of both houses of parliament, archbishops, bishops, and the dignitaries and other members of cathedral and collegiate churches. The universities, both as corporations and individually, the rectors and vicars, not satisfied with what they had already given, answered this second appeal with the utmost warmth. In one word, all orders of society, from the monarch to the most inconsiderable class of citizens, not excepting such of the emigrants themselves as had anything to spare, eagerly contributed; and the collection, partly owing to the discourses delivered by the clergy, and partly owing to their other exertions, far surpassed expectation; having produced 41,2887. But it was soon found that however considerable private gifts might be, they never could suffice for wants that were perpetually recurring, and parliament accordingly voted an annual sum. However opinions might differ in the two houses, on the subject of the French Revolution, they were ever the same in favour of the emigrants. The vote was renewed from year to year, and it is reckoned that from 1792, down to 1806, no less a sum than 1,864,8007. was contributed. Nor did parliamentary munificence suspend the course of private liberality; the sums contributed by which, whereof no exact account was ever kept, amounted at least to 1,000,000. The distribution was intrusted to a committee, which left the Bishop of St. Pol de Leon the entire management of what concerned the refugee clergy. A scale was fixed, settling the different rates of assistance to be given. Every emigrant in absolute want, which was the case with nearly all of them, To be convinced of this, we have only to cast our eye over the conduct of England with respect to the emigrants. All without distinction were received into her bosom, and singularly protected; we say singularly protected, for no sooner did the clergy and nobility of France set foot on her shores, than the king, and queen, and royal family, showed the utmost interest in their case; the king writing to the Arch-received two guineas per month up to 19th August, bishop of Canterbury, and calling on him to invite the Anglican minister to recommend the case of the French priests and emigrants to the people. The government issued orders in the various towns, that they should be received with all the kindness and attention due to misfortune; and this was carried into full effect throughout the whole extent of the kingdom. Three thousand refugees had landed by the 16th of September, 1792, and in the course of the following year, they were reckoned at 10,000, of whom 8000 1793, when the committee resolved that this sum should extend to five weeks; and some time after, the aids were definitively reduced to one shilling per day, and five shillings per week for children under sixteen years of age and servants. Persons of any rank received a monthly allowance, in addition to this, of from three to six or ten guineas or more, according to their rank. But on the 1st of February, 1794, the committee resolved that all males under fifty, and not disabled by bodily infirmities from serving in the army, should be excluded from relief. The common rates of assistance were small, consi- |cult to be had, a numerous French family fell ill, and dering the excessive dearness of provisions and lodg- were suffering the greatest want. We applied to an ing; bread being then sold at sevenpence the pound, English nobleman. Touched with compassion, he and everything else in proportion. Discretion and tact, first sent his own physician to attend the family until however, often compensated in some measure for this their recovery; he then ran to his sécrétaire, but not disadvantage. The committee bought wholesale what finding money enough there, he gave us a cheque on was required for clothing, and employed emigrant his city banker for 501., saying, Mr. Frenchman, you tailors in making it up. Thus better stuffs were got, will please to return, should this small sum not suffice, and at a cheaper rate. Such of the emigrants as lived until all your unfortunate friends are quite recovered. at a distance, and wanted their clothes made according to their own taste, received the price each article cost the committee, with leave to add what they could from their own savings. Medical aid, also, was supplied where needed. Dispensaries were established for supplying medicines gratuitously; and the most eminent surgeons and physicians made it a matter of conscience to visit the emigrants without remuneration. The public hospitals were opened to them, and, at the request of the Bishop of Saint Pol de Leon, twenty-four beds were specially set apart for them in Middlesex hospital. Vast royal houses were assigned them, where they might live in common, such as Winchester House, where about seven hundred found a home. It was there that they particularly experienced the generosity of the Marquess and Marchioness of Buckingham; the latter visited and relieved the sick there, until, government having occasion for the house, its inmates were distributed over Reading, Thame, and Paddington. Several English ladies, including the above Marchioness, associated themselves in 1795 for the purpose of supplying assistance to emigrant females when sick or in childbed. These pious ladies eagerly came forward to act as nurses, and this good work passed from the metropolis into several other towns. Lady Buckingham devoted herself particularly to providing what was required for the new-born infants. Several Englishmen, including Mr. Wilmot and Mr. Jerningham, zealously exerted themselves in encouraging and giving value to the industry of French women, who found a valuable resource in drawing, music, and most of all in embroidery. Mrs. Jerningham, who combined an entire devotedness to the unfortunate with the tenderest piety, established for the female emigrants what the English call an exhibition of work, to be sold for their behoof, such as we have since seen imitated in Paris, and this proved a valuable assistance. Necessity then proved the mother of industry, and hence no one was lazy, and no one was in want. The writer then passes into the highest eulogy of the patience and courage of the French noblesse, as having lost all but their honour. As for the French priests, says he, they devoted themselves particularly to education, and to the sacred ministry. English families of the first rank and fortune, as well as others who enjoyed an easy competence, eagerly took advantage of their instructions for their children, and we are told that in no one case was this confidence abused. Good George the Third, Mr. Pitt said, often asked about them, if they stood in need of anything, if they were satisfied, &c. He even gave pensions to such as particularly devoted themselves to alleviating their hardships: Mrs. Silburn, in whose house the Bishop of Saint Pol de Leon lodged, had 807. a year. The English, says the author of M. de Juigne's life, and the English minister of state in particular, used to be thought very difficult of approach, and this was complained of even by the ambassador of Louis the Fourteenth; but to the indigent and unfortunate their hearts and purses are always open. He then relates the following particulars. At a time when extraordinary resources were diffi A French ecclesiastic, returning one evening from giving lessons to an Englishman, was assaulted and stripped of his clothes on the way to the house where he lodged. Next day he wrote, informing his pupil how it was that he could not go to him, and no sooner was the note delivered, than a wardrobe of the best and most complete description was sent back. On A nobleman, who had succeeded to a quantity of books which he did not want for his own library, sent for a French priest whom he knew to be a dealer in old books. He offered the collection to him, saying he would give him a good bargain, and bidding him put his own estimate on them. The priest felt a delicacy in doing so, and begged he would employ some other person to say what they were worth. the estimate being made, the nobleman gave them at half its amount. The next day the priest returned, when the nobleman, seeing he had a book in his hand, said, "I fear I have sold you my books too dear." No, my lord," he replied, "this volume contains a bank-note for 50007. sterling, and I lose no time in returning it." "Very well" said the nobleman, “I admire your delicacy. This note, of which I had no knowledge, forms part of a succession which has fallen to me from a lately deceased relation. I can do without it; I give it to you, and am happy to have it in my power thus to add to your little fortune." A Frenchman and Englishwoman, of congenial characters, ardently desired to be united in marriage; but the young woman's father insisted that 20001. must first be procured, while the unhappy emigrant had no fortune but his honour. A nobleman, who knew him, and could appreciate his merits, called on the father, paid down the sum required, and the marriage took place. The happy couple were living in France in 1823, and in prosperous circumstances. The English took much pleasure in making gratuitous advances to the unfortunate emigrants, so as to put them in the way of carrying on some little trade; and in conferring such benefits, the donors were careful to avoid wounding the feelings of the persons they benefited. One of the emigrants, who had been thus obliged, went at the proper time to pay some bills that had fallen due, but found that some unknown hand had retired them. That such traits of generosity were by no means uncommon, we were informed by the Bishop of Saint Pol de Leon, who had better means of knowing and appreciating them than any other person. He himself one day received 1000 guineas for distribution among the priests who had been sent to Cayenne. And what, says the Abbé, was the season at which such sacrifices were made? It was in the midst of the most unfavourable circumstances; when the wealthiest banking and commercial houses were so embarrassed, that in April 1793, the parliament passed an act for advancing 5,000,000 sterling to them; it was when the country was threatened with a descent upon her coasts; when the British had to submit to an enormous expenditure, and exorbitant imposts; at a time, when her treasures, her ordnance, her sea and land forces were sent out, to promote the restoration of the royal family of France to the throne of their ancestors. THE SYRIAN COAST. II. BETWEEN Syria and Egypt lies a tract of nearly desert land, extending for about thirty miles, from El Arish to Refah, which, though anciently considered as part of Syria, is now usually reckoned as belonging to Egypt. At its south-western extremity, and about half a mile from the sea, stands El Arish, on a small stream which some geographers consider as the "River of Egypt" of Isaiah, (xxvii. 12,) but it seems more probable that the river Nile is intended. El Arish occupies the site of Rhinocolura, a strong frontiertown both under the Ptolemies and the Romans, and many remains of antiquity, especially marble columns of exquisite workmanship, are found scattered over the desert by which it is surrounded. This tract, in the immediate vicinity of the town, bears at the present day the name of Sebaket Bardwil (Baldwin's Desert), from the circumstance of Baldwin, the second king of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, having expired there, in the year 1118, while engaged in an expedition against Egypt. At the other extremity of the plain is the village of Refah, once a considerable city called Raphia, where Antiochus the Great was defeated by Ptolemy Philopater (B.c. 217). Some few granite columns still stand on a hill near the village, and many others may be seen, some built up in the walls of the modern houses, and others employed to enclose the only well in the place. About six miles beyond Refah stands Younes, a small walled town situated on a hill near the sea. It is surrounded by wells and gardens, and is indeed the first cultivated spot in Syria. It was formerly called Ienysus, but very few traces of the ancient town are now discoverable. The country north and east is a rich alluvial plain, luxuriantly fertile, and carefully cultivated; and a few miles inland is situated Rhazza, (the ancient Gaza,) a handsome-looking town, and still a place of some consequence. Upon the coast lies Daron, a small town, with a very indifferent harbour. It was anciently called Dora, or Anthedon, but Herod the Great having rebuilt it, named it Agrippias, in honour of his imperial patron. He also with much difficulty formed a mole, when it became one of his sea-ports, but his works have very long since fallen to decay, and the place has returned to nearly its ancient appellation. About twelve miles to the north of the mouth of the little stream upon which Gaza is situated, stand the ruins of Ashkelon, or Ascalon, once one of the proudest cities upon the coast, but now, as prophesied by Zechariah (ix. 6), without a single inhabitant. This prophecy is exceedingly remarkable, as it did not receive its fulfilment for nearly two thousand years. Although successively conquered by the Jews, the Assyrians, Persians, Macedonians, Egyptians, Romans, Saracens, and Crusaders, Ascalon was, when destroyed by Saladin, after his defeat by Richard Coeur de Lion, at Arsouf, (September 7, 1191,) so strong and splendid, that it bore the appellation of the Bride of Syria. It was speedily rebuilt by Richard, but was demolished in the year following, at the joint expense of the Christians and Mohammedans, agreeably to one of the articles of the truce which the English King had concluded with Saladin, when upon the point of leaving the Holy Land. So far as regarded public edifices, however, the demolition was by no means complete; there are still standing forty columns of rose-coloured granite, with exquisitely worked marble capitals, probably the remains of the great Grecian temple of the goddess Derceto (the Ashtoreth of Scripture), which succeeded a former temple, destroyed, according to Herodotus, by the Scythians. There are, besides, considerable remains of a Roman amphitheatre, and also of a Christian cathedral, a monastery, and several small churches. A great portion of a lofty wall with several towers which encompassed the city on the land-side, still remains, and there are some traces of the harbour. A short distance to the north is a village called Scalona, where a small port has been constructed, which serves occasionally to shelter a few small vessels. In the immediate neighbourhood of Ascalon, a large Egyptian army, advancing to relieve Jerusalem, was defeated with terrible slaughter by the Crusaders, under King Godfrey, on August 12, 1099; and another victory was gained by Baldwin I., over a second army from the same country, on September 8, 1100 Fourteen miles north of Ashkelon stands the village of Shdoud, representing the Ashdod of the Old, and the Azotus of the New Testament. The village is situated upon a grassy hill, and few remains of antiquity are to be seen, except a stone building, which, from having a cross upon its top, and an altar within, is supposed to have been once a Christian church; it now serves as a khan, or restingplace for travellers. Although Ashdod was a sea-port, the present village is two miles inland, as the land is rapidly gaining on the sea at this part of the coast. It was to Ashdod, that the ark, when captured by the Philistines, was taken (1 Sam. v.), but the destruction of the idol Dagon occasioned its speedy removal. Both the town and the temple of Dagon have been repeatedly destroyed, and though the town was rebuilt by the Romans shortly before the Christian era, it never afterwards became a place of any consequence. It was long possessed by the Crusaders, and was at last taken from them about 1256, by Bibars, the sultan of Egypt. From Shdoud to Jaffa is a distance of twelve miles, over a fertile, well-cultivated country: one village on the right of the road being Yabne, the ancient Jamnia, or Jabneh, taken from the Philistines by King Uzziah (2 Chron xxvi,) Jaffa itself, a collection of very indifferent buildings, with a population of 5000 inhabitants, occupies a hill upon a generally level and sandy shore. It is the ancient Joppa, one of the earliest sea-ports in the world, and now one of the worst, its harbour being choked with sand, and the shipping lying at anchor in the roadstead. Its situation, however, on the point of the coast nearest to Jerusalem*, has made it a place of importance from the days of Solomon to the present. Herod the Great expended large sums in endeavours to form a safe port, but with indifferent success. Jaffa was early taken possession of by the Crusaders, was besieged in 1192 by Saladin, and reduced to the last extremity, but was relieved by the sudden arrival of King Richard, when the Saracens precipitately abandoned the siege. It was one of the towns which remained to the Christians by the terms of the truce shortly after concluded, and was the scene of two desperate battles in the next crusade, in both of which the Mohammedans were defeated. At length it was captured by the Mameluke sultan of Egypt, in 1256, and was not again the scene of any very memorable event, until it was taken in 1799 by the French, when that horrible massacre of his prisoners took place by order of Buonaparte, which has justly been considered as one of the most atrocious acts recorded in history. About fifteen miles beyond Jaffa stands the village of Om Khaled, believed by some travellers to occupy the site of Apollonias, founded by the Seleucidæ and mentioned by Josephus, and by others that of Antipatris, founded by Herod, and to which place St. Paul * Jerusalem is distant forty miles to the East. |