Caroline repeated these lines after we had ascended the new road from the Menai bridge, and were losing sight of the extensive view of Plas Newydd, the winding straits, and Snowdon proudly towering over the Caernarvon mountains.
“Well chosen lines,” said my aunt, “Mason’s Caractacus is always interesting, but particularly so in this once sacred island, where
“Mason gives such a nice touch of mystery to these lines,” said Caroline, “that I almost feel the magic spell, and expect to see the mountains whiten with the slow-descending Druids.”
“I wish, uncle, that you would tell me something about the Druids; I am very fond of the history of those early times.”
“That, probably, arises from your love of fairy tales and fables, Bertha; for there is much fable, I believe, in all early history: but be that as it may, we may amuse ourselves with Druidical fable while we drive along this bare country:—now for your questions.”
“In the first place, then, uncle, what were those mysterious Druids?”
“The Druids were the priests or ministers of the religion of the ancient Britons. Their worship was devoted chiefly to the sun; but they had, it is thought, several inferior deities. They offered human victims in sacrifice, and practised many extraordinary rites; the caverns and gloomy groves of oak in which they dwelt, and the dread which hung over their mysterious worship, gave them a terrific influence over the minds of the people. Music aided superstition in preserving this influence; for they were attended by bards, whose effusions, supposed to be inspired, either raised or lulled the passions as they chose. This is expressed in the address of the chorus in Caractacus to Mador the chief of bards:—
“The Druids alone had the privilege of wearing white clothes; their persons were inviolable; and they were exempted from all service and taxes. What little knowledge there was in those times was entirely confined to them; so that, besides their priestly duties, the practice of medicine and the administration of justice were in their hands; and those who resisted their decrees were placed under a dreadful ban, or interdict, during which no one dared to speak or look at the culprit. Thus possessing all the real power of the state, and venerated as the immediate interpreters of the gods, the children of the highest families were eagerly made over to them; and even princes were ambitious to belong to their fraternity. This unbounded influence and their great riches naturally exciting the jealousy of the Romans, in the reigns of Claudius and of Nero, they were nearly destroyed; and the oak woods of Anglesea, or, as it was then called, Mona, the residence of the chief Druid, were burned. There are still many remains of their temples in this island, and it is said that some of their caves have been traced,
“You spoke of their riches, papa,” said Mary; “but by what means could those inhabitants of rocks and woods have acquired any?”
“I think we may conclude that those who possessed such an unlimited ascendancy over the people must have known how to enrich themselves; and you may also recollect, that as their principal establishments were in our best mining districts, it is probable that they supplied the country with all the tin, copper, and lead that were used. It has been further suggested that they availed themselves of the famous Parys copper mine in this island, not only for its valuable produce, but for the purpose of imposing on the credulity and superstition of their followers; for the apparent conversion of bits of iron into copper, when steeped in the strongly saturated water of the mine, as well as the blood-coloured streams which were thus produced, could have been easily represented as resulting from the supernatural power of those crafty impostors.”
“You said, uncle, that the worship of the Druids was chiefly directed to the Sun; from which I suppose they were the fire-worshippers you mentioned on May-day, who came here from the East.”
In reply, my uncle told me, that “there certainly were some points of resemblance between the Persian Magi and the Druids of Britain. They were each forbidden to worship the deity within covered buildings; and all acts of devotion were confined to open temples or consecrated forests. Like the Persians, they beheld the Creator in the works of nature; and gigantic trees and massive rocks, were the symbols of Almighty power which they most admired.
“The Druids and the Baal worshippers of Asia formed sacred heaps of stones on the tops of the hills. Many of these are to be found in Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland—and the name which they bear of Cairn, is derived from a Hebrew word descriptive of buildings like the pyramids of Egypt, or the cone-shaped pagodas of India, which are supposed to have been emblematical of the rays of the sun.”
I reminded my uncle of the singular temple which cousin Hertford saw in the Isle of Lewis.
“Yes,” he said, “it is evidently the remains of a great Druidical work; and Maurice, in his ‘Indian Antiquities,’ observes that Stonehenge, a model of which I once shewed you, Bertha, plainly alludes in situation, number of stones, and other circumstances, to the Asiatic Astronomy, and resembles in every respect the ancient style of temple used by the Persians before the time of Zoroaster. It was he who first covered in the Persian temples to preserve the sacred fire; and therefore the arrival of the colony here, who introduced the fire-worshippers, must have been in a very early age. But,” he continued, “I must not lead you into this maze of antiquarian difficulty; it has been a very interesting object of research to a few learned people, though it can only perplex the half-informed.”
“But tell me, uncle, is this idea of an eastern colony a very new one?”
“Oh no,” said he, “it has long existed in tradition, and is alluded to in one of the Druid’s odes in Caractacus.
I asked then if there were any traces of the Eastern languages amongst us, besides the few detached words he had once mentioned to me; though I thought there was but little chance that any could have been preserved in a country where so many nations had successively settled.
“Yes,” said he, “a celebrated antiquary has proved that there is really a strong resemblance between the Irish language and the Hebrew, which is considered the original, or first of all languages. In the Welsh also, or British, which is of the same nature as the Irish, many words appear to be of Eastern origin; and a gentleman of Bristol having lately collected the common old British names of the indigenous plants, has found several of them to be in sound and sense pure Hebrew.”
“Pray, uncle, what is the meaning of the word Druid—would not that throw some light on the subject?”
“It is impossible,” he said, “now to determine its original meaning; and indeed the derivations of that kind of words are in general only fanciful guesses. By some, Druid has been derived from a Greek word drus, signifying oak; and by others from an old British word dree, which has the same meaning. It has also been supposed to come from a Saxon word dryth, which means magician; and, according to others from a Celtic word druis, a doctor or learned man. There is a curious circumstance which seems to corroborate its derivation from oak,—namely, that in every country where the worship of the sun has prevailed, the oak has been venerated. It is also singular that the two names by which that tree is still known in Persia and India, had the same meaning in the ancient British and in Irish, gaur and bahk.”
The conversation was interrupted by our arrival at this inn, where my uncle has determined on passing the night, as we were occupied a much longer time than he had expected, in examining the magnificent chain bridge, lately suspended across the straits of Menai. I have made a little sketch of it for you, dear mamma, which shall be accompanied by as good a description as I can give; but in the mean time I must tell you, that this “wonderful piece of work,” as my uncle calls it, is almost two hundred yards long from pier to pier, and so high above the water, that large vessels pass under it with all their sails set.
Holyhead.
23rd.—Here we arrived this day at eleven; early to-morrow we are to sail, and in six hours we shall probably arrive in Ireland. What our immediate operations are to be in Dublin I do not yet know; but my journal shall be regularly kept for your satisfaction, my dear mamma, though probably not so much at length as at quiet, peaceful Fernhurst.
On the road from Mona, this morning, we were talking over our travels; and as we all agreed that they had been delightful, my aunt asked each of us what was the peculiar circumstance that had made this journey appear so very agreeable. One suggested that it was the uninterrupted fine weather; another, the gaiety and good humour of the whole party; a third said it was the kindness and indulgence of my uncle and aunt; but Wentworth was decidedly of opinion that it was because “we had not pushed on in a desperate hurry.”
My aunt agreed that all those circumstances had concurred in promoting the general cheerfulness; but she thought that some others might be also mentioned. For instance, there had been no indecision in our plans; the whole route, and the objects to be seen, had been previously discussed; the wishes of all had been consulted; and with that happy mixture of candour and of consideration for others, which constitutes good breeding, they had been expressed, adopted, or waived, as appeared most suitable to the general taste. The punctuality of every body had been another source of satisfaction; as well as the mutual pains to share with each other every little discovery; and she placed above all, the disposition to be pleased. “Even here,” she added, “where to most people the ennui of such a place as Holyhead is only varied by dwelling on the expected miseries of a voyage, the same happy habits will produce the same results; out of doors you will, I am sure, find sufficient objects of interest, and within, we can double the pleasure of our journey by recalling the principal occurrences; Bertha, indeed, will have the additional resource of her journal, the scribbling of which has been her daily, and I fear, her nightly occupation for the past twelvemonth.”
We soon after walked to the beautiful new pier and light-house, which have both rendered the harbour so much more safe and convenient than it was formerly; and then my uncle, Wentworth, and Frederick, proposed going to the Stack light-house, on the other side of Holyhead Island. Caroline and I begged very hard to be allowed to accompany them, and at last my uncle consented, though he thought the walk would be too fatiguing for us.
We scrambled up the high bare mountain, which rises behind the town; and certainly no place ever looked more bleak and comfortless. At last the path unexpectedly led us to an abrupt precipice, at the bottom of which the sea beat in among the rocks with terrible violence. Indeed I could scarcely bring myself to look down. We found here a flight of steps, four hundred, I believe, which are cut in the rock, and which wind along its face to a sort of platform. We descended very carefully, keeping, as you may suppose, close to the rock, for the wind was rather high, the steps narrow, and we were often startled by the flocks of sea-birds that suddenly bounced up from the cliffs.
From this platform a sort of bridge of ropes extends to the Stack-rock, on which the light-house stands; the bridge is a hundred feet long; the sides are of net-work, and a few boards are loosely laid to walk on. It all moves so much, that I could not help feeling a little afraid; and once the wind having blown my light gown into the openings of the net work, I fancied that the guide, who was walking close behind, was pulling me back; I stopped, and he scolded me for stopping; but my uncle fortunately heard us, and smiling at my nonsense, he explained the cause of my alarm.
The poor light-house men are looking forward with great satisfaction to a new chain bridge which is preparing for this place. It will not only be more safe and convenient for them in stormy weather and dark nights, but, by inducing more travellers to visit them, it will help to cheer their loneliness; and as there is a something in such very wild and dreary scenes, that touches a stranger’s sympathy, they will no doubt frequently obtain little presents, which will enable them to indulge in a few more comforts than they can now afford. In truth this light-house must be a melancholy abode; the wind always howling above, and the sea continually roaring below, and sometimes even throwing its spray over the windows. It was, however, very nice and clean, and as comfortable as such a place can be: my uncle took us up into what is called the lantern, and explained the use of the concave metallic reflectors which are placed behind the lamps for the purpose of increasing the brilliancy of their light by reflection. He also shewed us the contrivance by which the light is made to disappear every two minutes, in order that sailors should be able to distinguish it from all other light-houses in the Irish channel.
In returning, we observed that the tide had ebbed in the harbour, which had been so full when we first arrived, that the water came up almost to the door of the inn. It was now nearly empty; great mud-banks extending from each side, and leaving only a little winding stream in the middle. This led to some questions about the cause of the tides, and my uncle promised that to-morrow, when we are quietly seated on the deck—as neither of us intend to be seasick—he will endeavour to make me comprehend the manner in which the moon acts upon the ocean, so as to raise the waters in one part of the globe while they are depressed in another.
He then joined in a conversation that had been going on between Wentworth and Caroline, about the bottom of the sea. He said they were both greatly mistaken, if they supposed it to be everywhere a flat, even surface; on the contrary, like all other parts of the crust which surrounds the globe, it consists of sloping hills and plains, rocks and mountains. When these approach nearly to the surface of the water, they are called shoals and banks; and when their summits rise above it, they become islands. The different strata that compose the coast, may be often traced to some island at a considerable distance; the shores of France and England exactly correspond in some places; and to shew the continuity of the strata, he says it is well known that many springs of fresh water, which must proceed from the land, rise through the sea from its bottom. He gave several instances of this, but I recollect only Bridlington Bay in Yorkshire; and the gulf of Naples, where there is a spring of hot-water, that bubbles as it comes to the surface. Bituminous and mineral waters are also found rising through the sea; and near Cumana, in South America, there is a spring of naphtha, which spreads itself on the waves, and frequently inflames.
When we reached the inn, we found that my aunt and Mary had bought some beautiful specimens of the green stone of Anglesea: it is called Mona marble, and is veined something like the verd-antique; but my uncle says it is not marble, but a species of serpentine; and that, like the green serpentine of Ireland, there is so much mica in it, that large pieces will not take an even polish.
I had intended to have given you some description of the great causeway which has been made to connect the little island of Holyhead, with the great island of Anglesea; but my uncle is waiting to enclose this to London, and my aunt is almost out of patience at my not going to bed, as we are to embark very early in the morning.
I must, therefore, abruptly conclude—though this is my last English letter. Oh! when shall I again embrace you and dear Marianne!
Your ever affectionate
Bertha Montague.
Abib, Hebrew month of, ii. 4
Abstraction, iii. 155
Adjutant bird, iii. 30
Agriculture, i. 85, 98
Albacore, i. 7
Albatross, i. 6
Ancient Manuscripts, iii. 182
Anglesea druids, iii. 227
Antiparos grotto, iii. 42
Antique remains, i. 119, 140
Ants, ii. 65, 289
Apennines, i. 199
Aphis, purveyor to the ant, ii. 245, 290
Aqueduct near Llangollen, iii. 214
Arbutus, native country of, ii. 262
Areca palm, method of climbing, i. 289
Ariel, ii. 30
Arithmetic, i. 24, 80, 203, 307
Arno, vale of, i. 200
Atonement, ii. 270, 276
Auvergne, i. 208
Australian forests, i. 155
Baal-worship, ii. 216—iii. 229
Babylon, i. 100
Balaam and Balak, ii. 214, 229, 243
Baltimore bird, i. 143
Bamboo, i. 243
Bangor, iii. 214
Barbadoes flower fence, ii. 164
Bark, i. 152
Basket-maker, i. 57, 73
Baya, or Bengal grossbeak, i. 78
Beads of the Haram, ii. 211
Bear, polar, or white, ii. 89
Bedahs of Ceylon, ii. 23
Bees, i. 287—ii. 204, 253
Bel, Belus, Baal, Bali, Pali, i. 263—ii. 47, 218—iii. 229
Bengal grossbeak, i. 78
Betel-nut palm, i. 289
Bettws bridge, iii. 217
Bible, difficult passages in, i. 168, 191, 295—ii. 16—iii. 58
... integrity of the text, iii. 39
Bird-catchers of St. Kilda, i. 159
Bonito, i. 7
Boobies, i. 13
Borrowing from the Egyptians, ii. 17
Brazil, i. 46, 65, 152
Breakfast things, where from, ii. 207
Breda, mineral waters, i. 162
Brunel’s tunnel imitated from the Teredo, ii. 254
Buds, ii. 182, 237—iii. 1
Budding, iii. 106
Butterflies, emigration of, iii. 147
Cabbage family, all from one species, ii. 239
Cairn, iii. 229
Canada Letters, ii. 226, 230, 282—iii. 172
Catechumens and Fideles, i. 91
Caliban, ii. 31
Camels of Italy, i. 201
Canova, i. 270
Caoutchouc, iii. 167
Capping verses, ii. 44
Caterpillars, cotton and silk cocoons, iii. 193
... veil woven by, i. 284
Cat, sagacity of, iii. 124
Celts and Elf-bolts, i. 141—iii. 189
Ceremonial worship, ii. 132
Ceylon buffaloes, i. 293
Ceylonese story, ii. 22
Chibouque, or Turkish pipe, ii. 18
Children’s prayers, i. 92
Christian dispensation, iii. 176
... hope, iii. 197
Christianity, characteristics of, i. 71
Christmas customs, ii. 46
Cloth manufactory, iii. 81
Coal, iii. 115,
140
... spontaneous combustion of, iii. 175
Coal-money, iii. 190
Coffin, Mount, on Colombia river, iii. 112
Commandments, or “The Ten Words”, ii. 122
Commerce, ii. 209
Comparative anatomy, iii. 96
Corals, ii. 61
Cork-tree, i. 182
Cormorants trained to catch fish, ii. 15
Cottages, English and Brazilian, i. 44
Cows, i. 43
Cricket, torpid occasionally, ii. 91
... mole, iii. 61
Crows, i. 266
Crystals, ii. 85
Cushites, or shepherd-kings, i. 262
Cypress, deciduous, i. 231
Dairy, i. 138—iii. 89
Date-palm, i. 189, 198
Davy, the musician, ii. 2
Deane forest, i. 45, 56—iii. 115
Decalogue, ii. 122
Delta formed by alluvial deposit, iii. 26
Deluge, ii. 241—iii. 14
Deuteronomy, iii. 2
Dew, i. 77—iii. 207
Dispensations, Christian, iii. 176
... Levitical, iii. 150
... Patriarchal, iii. 132
Dolomieu, ii. 12
Dolphin, i. 9
Dongola, i. 274
Dormouse, ii. 89, 129, 181
Dress, neatness of, i. 122
Druids, i. 119—ii. 47—iii. 225
Ducks of Asia Minor, ii. 11
Early rising, i. 95
Easter, ii. 276
Egyptian plagues, i. 308
Elephant, ii. 119
... fossil, iii. 71
Elf-bolts and Celts, i. 141—iii. 189
Ephod, ii. 79
Epistles of St. Paul, i. 191
Falcon, Persian, iii. 205
Fancy, iii. 156
Farmer Moreland, i. 41, 69—iii. 195
Fata Morgana, i. 220, 233—iii. 172
Fernhurst, arrival at, i. 17
Festivals of the Jews, ii. 7—iii 74
Fideles and Catechumens, i. 91
Fieldfares, i. 260
Fire-flies, i. 34, 78
Fish caught by diving, ii. 15
... air-bladder of, ii. 20
Flexible iron-pipes, ii. 255
Flexible cups and spoons, ii. 211
Flying fish, i. 6
Forest of Deane, i. 45, 56—iii. 115
Forests of Australia, i. 155
... Brazil, i. 47, 152
... Europe, i. 179
... submarine, iii. 34
Franklin and Bessy Grimley, i. 75, 125, 235
Frost, ii. 77, 81, 94, 99, 120—iii. 73
Fruitieres of Switzerland, iii. 88
Fruit-trees, experiments on, ii. 196, 202
Futurity, ii. 279
Garden, Bertha’s, i. 129, 137, 174—ii. 287—iii. 100, 125, 192
Gas-wash to destroy insects, ii. 196
Genius, i. 268, 270, 314—ii. 2, 12, 32
Geology, classification, series, &c., ii. 198
... strata, dip, &c., ii. 220
... alluvial formation, ii. 235
... changes in the surface of the globe—deluge, ii. 241
... secondary formations—organic remains, ii. 247
... specimens of all the series—organic remains, ii. 265
... conglomerates, ii. 280
... trap rocks, iii. 4
... vallies—diluvium, iii. 15
... alluvial changes—ravages of the sea—blowing-sands, iii. 25
... change of level of the sea, iii. 33
... petrified sands, stalactites, iii. 41
... volcanoes, iii. 49
... organic remains, iii. 69,
96
... coal, peat, iii. 115
... vegetable remains, iii. 140
Gipsies, ii. 57, 69
Glass, plate, manufacture, iii. 43,
45,
56
Gloucester cathedral, iii. 139
Glow-worm, i. 34—iii. 196
Goat-sucker, iii. 203
Good Friday, ii. 270
Goshen, land of, i. 262
Grampus, i. 9
Grasses, i. 171—iii. 126
Gravel-walk, effect of frost on, ii. 83
Grenier, Mont, i. 125
Grossbeak, i. 78, 94
Gulf-stream, i. 10
Gum-lac, i. 143
Guyton de Morveau, ii. 13
Habit, force of, in plants, ii. 140, 191, 223
Hail, formation of, ii. 115
Halcyon, i. 178
Hamlet, ii. 102
Harvest-home, i. 69, 85
Hawking in Persia, iii. 204
Haydn, the composer, i. 314
Hebrides, Hertford’s Letters from, i. 37, 58, 87, 119, 132, 140, 157
Herculaneum manuscripts, iii. 182
Hoar-frost, ii. 77
Holyhead, iii. 232
Honey-bird, i. 288
Hope, iii. 198
Horse, courage and power of, iii. 11
Hottentots, iii. 32
Humming-bird, i. 164
Ice, ii, 77, 85—iii. 73
Iceland moss, i. 30
Ichneumons, iii. 193
Imagination, iii. 154
Inclined plane, iii. 211
Indigenous plants of Great Britain, ii. 262
Industrious miller of Breda, i. 162
Insects, ingenuity of, ii. 245, 290—iii. 121, 149, 173, 191, 193
Islay Island, antique remains, i. 140
Israelites, i. 262—ii. 17, 34, 67, 183
Japhet’s descendants, i. 227
Jay, i. 246
Jews, their dispersion, iii. 93
Jewish festivals, ii. 7—iii. 75
Joseph’s character, i. 238
Juan Fernandez’ Isle, ii. 58
Kapiolani, heroic woman of the Sandwich Islands, iii. 63
Kelek, raft on the Tigris, i. 83
Kilda, St., Isle, i. 157
Kingfisher, i. 177
Lac, gum, i. 143
Lady-bird destroys the hop-aphis, ii. 190
Lace, machines for singeing, iii. 215
Laplanders, i. 212
Leaven, ii. 6
Leaves, fall of the, i. 298
Lethargic animals, ii. 89, 129, 181
Levitical dispensation, iii. 150
Leviticus, ii. 131
Lewis Isle, Druidical remains of, i. 119
Lincolnshire, submarine forest, iii. 34
Light-houses of Holyhead, iii. 233
Lion, conflict with a horse, iii. 12
Locusts, i. 311, 316
Looking-glass silvered, iii. 57
Looking-glasses (in Exod. xxxviii. 8), iii. 58
Love of God, the governing principle, iii. 20
Love your enemies, i. 134
Luminous sea-water, i. 4, 133, 282
Lumley, Mr., his history, i. 104, 194
Madeleine’s history, i. 247, 306
Madeira, singular deposit of sand, iii. 28
Malaria of Rome, i. 200, 202
Malt, ii. 135
Mammoth, iii. 70,
101
Man-of-war bird, i. 6
Manuscripts, ancient, iii. 182
Marmot, ii. 109
Mason wasp, ii. 149
Maté of Paraguay, ii. 212
Mauritia palms, inhabited by the Indians, i. 187
May-day customs, iii. 77
Memory, iii. 65
Mexican volcanoes, iii. 50
Migration of butterflies, iii. 147
... swallows, iii. 145,
158
Mirage, i. 218
Mirrors, iii. 57
Mississippi, ii. 114, 125—iii. 145
Mona marble, iii. 237
Monsters of ancient fable, iii. 103
Moses, character of, i. 275—ii. 193
... prophecies of, iii. 38,
52,
90
... the two songs of, in Exod. xv. and in Deut. xxxii., ii. 66—iii. 110
... his exhortation and death, iii. 2
Mosses, i. 258
Mozart, ii. 32
Mummers, ii. 48
Mummy from Egypt, i. 284
Narrative of Mrs. P., ii. 146
New South Wales trees, i. 155
Nisan, Hebrew month of, ii. 4
North Rona Isle, i. 59
Northwich salt-mine, iii. 212
Norway, i. 43—ii. 64
Numbers, book of, ii. 184
Oats and wheat, mode of growing, ii. 274
Organic remains, ii. 248, 265—iii. 69, 96, 140
Palms, i. 187, 198, 289—iii. 165
Paddy, cultivation of, ii. 8
Palimpsest Manuscripts, iii. 186
Papyrus, i. 279
Parable, ii. 229
Parys coppermine, iii. 228
Paraguay tea, ii. 212
Passover, ii. 3—iii. 74
Patriarchial dispensation, iii. 132
Paul, St., how to read his Epistles, i. 191
Pear-tree, transplanted, iii. 123
Pearl fishery, ii. 22
Pen, ancient term for hill, iii. 187
Penrhyn slate-quarries, iii. 218
Peony, Chinese, i. 32
Pepper, white and black, ii. 1
Petrels, i. 4, 7, 8
Persian spoons, ii. 210
Pharaoh’s heart hardened, i. 295
Phaëton, or Tropic-bird, i. 3
Pin-making, iii. 138
Plagiary in poetry, ii. 73
Plagues of Egypt, i. 308
Plants, distribution of, iii. 6
... migration of, ii. 262
... naturalize by habit, ii. 140, 191, 223
Play of capping, ii. 44
... questions, ii. 39
... stories, ii. 106
Polish given to glass, iii. 56
Pontcysylte aqueduct, iii. 214
Potatoe, i. 32, 117, 304—ii. 192
Practical hints on self-government, iii. 200
Prairie dog, ii. 128
Prickly pear hedges, i. 27
Psalms, i. 148—ii. 49
Question play, ii. 39
Questions, arithmetical, i. 204, 307
Radiation of heat and cold, ii. 78, 102, 137—iii. 209
Rafflesia, enormous flower of, iii. 8
Railways, iii. 222
Rapid flight of birds, iii. 162
Red-sea, passage of the Israelites, ii. 34
Rein-deer, i. 29, 214
Resistance to injuries, i. 134
Resurrection, ii. 276
Rhinoceros, ii. 232
Rice, ii. 8, 140, 143
Rivers that form alluvial deposits, ii. 235—iii. 26
Rona, North, i. 58
Rooks, ii. 260
Roses, ii. 9—iii. 106
Rose-beads, ii. 211
Rumbdé, ii. 187
Sabbath, origin of, i. 51
Sacrifices, ii. 4, 131, 137, 270—iii. 133, 150
St. Kilda, Hebrides, i. 157
St. Paul’s epistles, difficulties in reading, i. 191
Salt plain and cliffs, i. 63
Salt-mine, iii. 212
Sandwich isles, ii. 144—iii. 62
Sarana lily, eaten, ii. 213
Scouler’s voyage, ii. 58, 112
Sea, change of level, iii. 33
... form of the bottom, iii. 236
... water, simple method of ascertaining the salt it contains, i. 12
... luminous, i. 4, 133, 282
... weed, i. 11
Seal-cutting, iii. 221
Shakspeare, ii. 29, 102
Sheep-shearing, iii. 195
Shem and Japhet’s descendants, i. 227
Siberian flexible cups, ii. 211
... fossil elephant, iii. 71
Sin-offerings, ii. 138
Sinai, Mount, ii. 68
Sky, isle of, i. 88
Slate-quarries of Penrhyn, iii. 218
Snow, ii. 115
Solan-goose, i. 159
Sparrow, i. 178—iii. 146
Spicula of ice, ii. 87, 96
Spider, i. 283
Sponge, ii. 39
Spring, the advance of, ii. 182, 187
Springs, i. 286
Staffa island, i. 37
Staffin, Loch, i. 89
Staffordshire vallies, iii. 189
Stalactites, iii. 42
Starling, red-winged, i. 142
Stockholm, i. 115
Stories, i. 73, 105, 222—ii. 22, 107, 146
Story-play, ii. 106
Stove for Palms, i. 187—iii. 165
Strawberries irrigated, iii. 125
Straw-plait for the Florence hats, i. 201
Sunday, when instituted, i. 51
Suspension bridges, iii. 231,
234
Swallows, iii. 47,
143,
158,
203
Tabasheer, i. 240
Tailor-bird, i. 80
Talipot-tree, i. 290
Taste, iii. 250
Tendrils, iii. 95
Teredo, ii. 254
Thaw, ii. 120
Thy kingdom come, explained, i. 117
Tigris river, boats, i. 83
Tillandsia moss, i. 232—ii. 286
Titmouse, ii. 134, 203
Toad enclosed in plaster of Paris, ii. 92
Tobacco, ii. 93
Toddy-bird, i. 79
Torpid animals, ii. 89, 130
Toucan, i. 49
Trallhätta cataract, ii. 64
Trees of North America, i. 183, 231
... European, i. 179, 198
... of New South Wales, i. 155
... of Brazil, i. 152
Tree-ferns, iii. 140,
165
Tunnel, suggested by the Teredo, ii. 254
Turkish pipe, iii. 18
Unicorn, ii. 231
Unleavened bread, ii. 6
Urim and Thummim, ii. 80
Valleys colder than hills, ii. 101
Vegetables brought from the East, i. 31
Venice, iii. 85
Vine-culture, South of Europe, i. 197
Vinegar, made from ants, ii. 65
Volcanoes, iii. 49,
63
Voyage to England, i. 1
Walker, Dr., habits of plants, ii. 141, 191, 223
Water, viscidity of, i. 8
Watering plants by a dropping syphon, iii. 123
Wells, Dr., frost and dew, ii. 76, 137, iii. 207
Welsh roads, iii. 216
West the painter, i. 269
Whale catching, ii. 21
Wheat, i. 303—ii. 274
Wren, parental courage of, iii. 23
Yule-clogs, ii. 47
Zafferonee caravanserai, i. 222
LONDON:
Printed by William Clowks,
Stamford-street.