Note 172,  p. 136.—Now among Afric’s lunar Mountains.

“The Mountains of the Moon, or the Montes Lunæ of antiquity, at the foot of which the Nile is supposed to rise.”—Bruce.

“Sometimes called,” says Jackson, “Jibbel Kumrie, or the white or lunar-coloured mountains; so a white horse is called by the Arabians a moon-coloured horse.”

Note 173,  p. 136.—And hail the new-born Giant’s smile.

“The Nile, which the Abyssinians know by the names of Abey and Alawy, or the Giant.”—Asiat. Research. vol. i. p. 387.

Note 174,  p. 136.—Her grots, and sepulchres of Kings.

See Perry’s View of the Levant for an account of the sepulchres in Upper Thebes, and the numberless grots, covered all over with hieroglyphics in the mountains of Upper Egypt.

Note 175,  p. 136.—In warm Rosetta’s vale—now loves.

“The orchards of Rosetta are filled with turtle-doves.”—Sonnini.

Note 176,  p. 136.—The azure calm of Mœris’ Lake.

Savary mentions the pelicans upon Lake Mœris.

Note 177,  p. 137.—Warns them to their silken beds.

“The superb date-tree, whose head languidly reclines, like that of a handsome woman overcome with sleep.”—Dafard el Hadad.

Note 178,  p. 137.—Some purple-wing’d Sultana sitting.

“That beautiful bird, with plumage of the finest shining blue, with purple beak and legs, the natural and living ornament of the temples and palaces of the Greeks and Romans, which, from the stateliness of its port, as well as the brilliancy of its colours, has obtained the title of Sultana.”—Sonnini.

Note 179,  p. 138.—Only the fierce hyæna stalks.

Jackson, speaking of the plague that occurred in West Barbary, when he was there, says, “The birds of the air fled away from the abodes of men. The hyænas, on the contrary, visited the cemeteries,” &c.

Note 180,  p. 138.—Throughout the city’s desolate walks.

“Gondar was full of hyænas from the time it turned dark till the dawn of day, seeking the different pieces of slaughtered carcasses, which this cruel and unclean people expose in the streets without burial, and who firmly believe that these animals are Falashta from the neighbouring mountains, transformed by magic, and come down to eat human flesh in the dark in safety.”—Bruce.

Note 181,  p. 138.—The glaring of those large blue eyes.—Bruce.

Note 182,  p. 140.—But see—who yonder comes by stealth.

This circumstance has been often introduced into poetry;—by Vincentius Fabricius, by Darwin, and lately, with very powerful effect, by Mr. Wilson.

Note 183,  p. 142.—Who sings at the last his own death-lay.

“In the East, they suppose the Phœnix to have fifty orifices in his bill, which are continued to his tail; and that, after living one thousand years, he builds himself a funeral pile, sings a melodious air of different harmonies through his fifty organ pipes, flaps his wings with a velocity which sets fire to the wood, and consumes himself.”—Richardson.

Note 184,  p. 144.—Their first sweet draught of glory take.

“On the shores of a quadrangular lake stand a thousand goblets, made of stars, out of which souls predestined to enjoy felicity drink the crystal wave.”—From Châteaubriand’s Description of the Mahometan Paradise, in his Beauties of Christianity.

Note 185,  p. 145.—Now, upon Syria’s land of roses.

Richardson thinks that Syria had its name from Suri, a beautiful and delicate species of rose, for which that country has been always famous;—hence, Suristan, the Land of Roses.

Note 186,  p. 145.—Gay lizards, glittering on the walls.

“The number of lizards I saw one day in the great court of the Temple of the Sun at Balbec amounted to many thousands; the ground, the walls, and stones of the ruined buildings, were covered with them.”—Bruce.

Note 187,  p. 146.—Of shepherd’s ancient reed.

“The Syrinx, or Pan’s pipe, is still a pastoral instrument in Syria.”—Russel.

Note 188,  p. 146.—Of the wild bees of Palestine.

“Wild bees, frequent in Palestine, in hollow trunks or branches of trees, and the clefts of rocks. Thus it is said (Psalm lxxxi.), ‘honey out of the stony rock.’”—Burder’s Oriental Customs.

Note 189,  p. 146.—And woods, so full of nightingales.

“The river Jordan is on both sides beset with little, thick, and pleasant woods, among which thousands of nightingales warble all together.”—Thevenot.

Note 190,  p. 146.—On that great Temple, once his own.

The Temple of the Sun at Balbec.

Note 191,  p. 147.—The beautiful blue damsel flies.

“You behold there a considerable number of a remarkable species of beautiful insects, the elegance of whose appearance and their attire procured for them the name of Damsels.”—Sonnini.

Note 192,  p. 147.—Of a small imaret’s rustic fount.

Imaret, “hospice où on loge et nourrit, gratis, les pélerins pendant trois jours.”—Toderini, translated by the Abbé de Cournand.—See also Castellan’s Mœurs des Othomans, tom. v. p. 145.

Note 193,  p. 149.—Kneels, with his forehead to the south.

“Such Turks, as at the common hours of prayer are on the road, or so employed as not to find convenience to attend the mosques, are still obliged to execute that duty; nor are they ever known to fail, whatever business they are then about, but pray immediately when the hour alarms them, whatever they are about, in that very place they chance to stand on; insomuch that when a janissary, whom you have to guard you up and down the city, hears the notice which is given him from the steeples, he will turn about, stand still, and beckon with his hand, to tell his charge he must have patience for awhile; when, taking out his handkerchief, he spreads it on the ground, sits cross-legged thereupon, and says his prayers, though in the open market, which, having ended, he leaps briskly up, salutes the person whom he undertook to convey, and renews his journey with the mild expression of Ghell gohnnum ghell, or, Come, dear, follow me.”—Aaron Hill’s Travels.

Note 194,  p. 151.—Upon Egypt’s land, of so healing a power.

The Nucta, or Miraculous Drop, which falls in Egypt precisely on St. John’s Day, in June, and is supposed to have the effect of stopping the plague.

Note 195,  p. 153.—Are the diamond turrets of Shadukiam.

The Country of Delight—the name of a province in the kingdom of Jinnistan, or Fairy Land, the capital of which is called the City of Jewels. Amberabad is another of the cities of Jinnistan.

Note 196,  p. 153.—My feast is now of the Tooba Tree.

The tree Tooba, that stands in Paradise, in the palace of Mahomet. See Sale’s Prelim. Disc.—Tooba, says D’Herbelot, signifies beatitude, or eternal happiness.

Note 197,  p. 154.—To the lote-tree, springing by Alla’s throne.

Mahomet is described, in the 53d chapter of the Koran, as having seen the Angel Gabriel “by the lote-tree, beyond which there is no passing: near it is the Garden of Eternal Abode.” This tree, say the commentators, stands in the seventh Heaven, on the right hand of the Throne of God.

Note 198,  p. 155.—As the hundred and twenty thousand Streams of Basra.—“It is said that the rivers or streams of Basra were reckoned in the time of Pelal ben Abi Bordeh, and amounted to the number of one hundred and twenty thousand streams.”—Ebn Haukal.

Note 199,  p. 155.—Who, like them, flung the jereed carelessly.—The name of the javelin with which the Easterns exercise. See Castellan, Mœurs des Othomans, tom. iii. p. 161.

Note 200,  p. 156.—The Banyan Hospital.—“This account excited a desire of visiting the Banyan Hospital, as I had heard much of their benevolence to all kinds of animals that were either sick, lame, or infirm, through age or accident. On my arrival, there were presented to my view many horses, cows, and oxen, in one apartment; in another, dogs, sheep, goats, and monkeys, with clean straw for them to repose on. Above stairs were depositories for seeds of many sorts, and flat, broad dishes for water, for the use of birds and insects.”—Parson’s Travels.

It is said that all animals know the Banyans, that the most timid approach them, and that birds will fly nearer to them than to other people.—See Grandpré.

Note 201,  p. 157.—Like that of the fragrant grass near the Ganges.—“A very fragrant grass from the banks of the Ganges, near Heridwar, which in some places covers whole acres, and diffuses, when crushed, a strong odour.”—Sir W. Jones, on the Spikenard of the Ancients.

Note 202,  p. 157.—No one had ever yet reached its summit.—“Near this is a curious hill, called Koh Talism, the Mountain of the Talisman, because, according to the traditions of the country, no person ever succeeded in gaining its summit.”—Kinneir.

Note 203,  p. 158.—Is warmed into life by the eyes alone.—“The Arabians believe that the ostriches hatch their young by only looking at them.”—P. Vanslebe, Rélat. d’Egypte.

Note 204,  p. 159.—And then lost them again for ever.—See Sale’s Koran, note, vol. ii. p. 484.

Note 205,  p. 159.—While the artisans in chariots.—Oriental Tales.

Note 206,  p. 160.—Who kept waving over their heads plates of gold and silver flowers.—Ferishta. “Or rather,” says Scott, upon the passage of Ferishta, from which this is taken, “small coins, stamped with the figure of a flower. They are still used in India to distribute in charity, and, on occasion, thrown by the purse-bearers of the great among the populace.”

Note 207,  p. 160.—Alley of trees.—The fine road made by the emperor Jehan-Guire from Agra to Lahore, planted with trees on each side. This road is 250 leagues in length. It has “little pyramids or turrets,” says Fernier, “erected every half league, to mark the ways, and frequent wells to afford drink to passengers, and to water the young trees.”

Note 208,  p. 162.—That favourite tree of the luxurious bird that lights up the chambers of its nest with fire-flies.—The Baya, or Indian Gross-beak.—Sir W. Jones.

Note 209,  p. 162.—On the clear cold waters of which floated multitudes of the beautiful red lotus.—“Here is a large pagoda by a tank, on the water of which float multitudes of the beautiful red lotus; the flower is larger than that of the white water-lily, and is the most lovely of the nymphæas I have seen.”—Mrs. Graham’s Journal of a Residence in India.

Note 210,  p. 163.—Had fled hither from their Arab conquerors.—“On les voit persécutés par les Khalifes se retirer dans les montagnes du Kerman: plusieurs choisirent pour retraite la Tartarie et la Chine; d’autres s’arrêtè-rent sur les bords du Gange, à l’est de Delhi.”—M. Anquetil, Mémoires de l’Académie, tom. xxxi. p. 346.

Note 211,  p. 163.—Like their own Fire in the Burning Field at Bakou.—The “Ager ardens” described by Kæmpfer, Amœnitat. Exot.

Note 212,  p. 164.—The prey of strangers.—“Cashmere (says its historians) had its own princes 4000 years before its conquest by Akbar in 1585. Akbar would have found some difficulty to reduce this paradise of the Indies, situated as it is within such a fortress of mountains, but its monarch, Yusef-Khan, was basely betrayed by his Omrahs.”—Pennant.

Note 213,  p. 164.—Fire-worshippers.—Voltaire tells us that in his Tragedy, “Les Guèbres,” he was generally supposed to have alluded to the Jansenists. I should not be surprised if this story of the Fire-worshippers were found capable of a similar doubleness of application.

Note 214,  p. 169.—’Tis moonlight over Oman’s sea.

The Persian Gulf, sometimes so called, which separates the shores of Persia and Arabia.

Note 215,  p. 169.—’Tis moonlight in Harmozia’s walls.

The present Gombaroon, a town on the Persian side of the Gulf.

Note 216,  p. 169.—Of trumpet and the clash of zel.

A Moorish instrument of music.

Note 217,  p. 170.—The wind-tower on the Emir’s dome.

“At Gombaroon and other places in Persia, they have towers for the purpose of catching the wind, and cooling the houses.”—Le Bruyn.

Note 218,  p. 170.—His race hath brought on Iran’s name.

“Iran is the true general name for the empire of Persia.”—Asiat. Res. Disc. 5.

Note 219,  p. 170.—Engraven on his reeking sword.

“On the blades of their scimitars some verse from the Koran is usually inscribed.”—Russel.

Note 220,  p. 171.—Draw venom forth that drives men mad.

“There is a kind of Rhododendros about Trebizond, whose flowers the bee feeds upon, and the honey thence drives people mad.”—Tournefort.

Note 221,  p. 172.—Upon the turban of a king.

“Their kings wear plumes of black herons’ feathers upon the right side, as a badge of sovereignty.”—Hanway.

Note 222,  p. 173.—Springing in a desolate mountain.

“The Fountain of Youth, by a Mahometan tradition, is situated in some dark region of the East.”—Richardson.

Note 223,  p. 173.—On summer-eves, through Yemen’s dales.

Arabia Felix.

Note 224,  p. 174.—Who, lull’d in cool kiosk or bower.

“In the midst of the garden is the chiosk, that is, a large room, commonly beautified with a fine fountain in the midst of it. It is raised nine or ten steps, and inclosed with gilded lattices, round which vines, jessamines, and honeysuckles, make a sort of green wall; large trees are planted round this place, which is the scene of their greatest pleasures.”—Lady M. W. Montague.

Note 225,  p. 174.—Before their mirrors count the time.

The women of the East are never without their looking-glasses. “In Barbary,” says Shaw, “they are so fond of their looking-glasses, which they hang upon their breasts, that they will not lay them aside, even when after the drudgery of the day they are obliged to go two or three miles with a pitcher or a goat’s skin to fetch water.”—Travels.

In other parts of Asia they wear little looking-glasses on their thumbs. “Hence (and from the lotus being considered the emblem of beauty) is the meaning of the following mute intercourse of two lovers before their parents:—

Note 226,  p. 174.—Upon the emerald’s virgin blaze.

“They say that if a snake or serpent fix his eyes on the lustre of those stones (emeralds), he immediately becomes blind.”—Ahmed ben Abdalaziz Treatise on Jewels.

Note 227,  p. 175.—After the day-beam’s withering fire.

“At Gombaroon and the Isle of Ormus, it is sometimes so hot that the people are obliged to lie all day in the water.”—Marco Polo.

Note 228,  p. 176.—Of Ararat’s tremendous peak.

This mountain is generally supposed to be inaccessible. Struy says, “I can well assure the reader that their opinion is not true, who suppose this mount to be inaccessible.” He adds, that “the lower part of the mountain is cloudy, misty, and dark; the middlemost part very cold, and like clouds of snow; but the upper regions perfectly calm.”—It was on this mountain that the ark was supposed to have rested after the Deluge, and part of it, they say, exists there still, which Struy thus gravely accounts for:—“Whereas none can remember that the air on the top of the hill did ever change or was subject either to wind or rain, which is presumed to be the reason that the Ark has endured so long without being rotten.”—See Carreri’s Travels, where the Doctor laughs at this whole account of Mount Ararat.

Note 229,  p. 177.—The bridegroom, with his locks of light.

In one of the books of the Shâh Nâmeh, when Zal (a celebrated hero of Persia, remarkable for his white hair) comes to the terrace of his mistress Rodahver at night, she lets down her long tresses to assist him in his ascent;—he, however, manages it in a less romantic way, by fixing his crook in a projecting beam.—See Champion’s Ferdosi.

Note 230,  p. 177.—The rock-goats of Arabia clamber.

“On the lofty hills of Arabia Petræa are rock-goats.”—Niebuhr.

Note 231,  p. 178.—Some ditty to her soft Kanoon.

“Canun, espèce de psaltérion, avec des cordes de boyaux; les dames en touchent dans le sérail, avec des écailles armées de pointes de cooc.”—Toderini, translated by De Cournand.

Note 232,  p. 184.—The Gheber belt that round him clung.

“They (the Ghebers) lay so much stress on their cushee or girdle, as not to dare to be an instant without it.”—Grose’s Voyage.—“Le jeune homme nia d’abord la chose; mais, ayant été dépouillé de sa robe, et la large ceinture qu’il portoit comme Ghebr,” &c. &c.—D’Herbelot, art. Agduani. “Pour se distinguer des Idolâtres de l’Inde, les Guèbres se ceignent tous d’un cordon de laine, ou de poil de chameau.”—Encyclopédie Françoise.

D’Herbelot says this belt was generally of leather.

Note 233,  p. 184.—Among the living lights of heaven.

“They suppose the Throne of the Almighty is seated in the sun, and hence their worship of that luminary.”—Hanway. “As to fire, the Ghebers place the spring-head of it in that globe of fire the Sun, by them called Mythras, or Mihir, to which they pay the highest reverence, in gratitude for the manifold benefits flowing from its ministerial omniscience. But they are so far from confounding the subordination of the Servant with the majesty of its Creator, that they not only attribute no sort of sense or reasoning to the sun or fire, in any of its operations, but consider it as a purely passive blind instrument, directed and governed by the immediate impression on it of the will of God: but they do not even give that luminary, all-glorious as it is, more than the second rank amongst his works, reserving the first for that stupendous production of divine power, the mind of man.”—Grose. The false charges brought against the religion of these people by their Mussulman tyrants is but one proof among many of the truth of this writer’s remark, that “calumny is often added to oppression, if but for the sake of justifying it.”

Note 234,  p. 188.—And fiery darts, at intervals.

“The Mameluks that were in the other boat, when it was dark, used to shoot up a sort of fiery arrows into the air, which in some measure resembled lightning or falling stars.”—Baumgarten.

Note 235,  p. 190.—Which grows over the tomb of the musician, Tan-Sein.—“Within the inclosure which surrounds this monument (at Gualior) is a small tomb to the memory of Tan-Sein, a musician of incomparable skill, who flourished at the court of Akbar. The tomb is overshadowed by a tree, concerning which a superstitious notion prevails, that the chewing of its leaves will give an extraordinary melody to the voice.”—Narrative of a Journey from Agra to Ouzein, by W. Hunter, Esq.

Note 236,  p. 190.—The awful signal of the bamboo staff.—“It is usual to place a small white triangular flag, fixed to a bamboo staff of ten or twelve feet long, at the place where a tiger has destroyed a man. It is common for the passengers also to throw each a stone or brick near the spot, so that in the course of a little time a pile equal to a good waggon-load is collected. The sight of these flags and piles of stones imparts a certain melancholy, not perhaps altogether void of apprehension.”—Oriental Field Sports, vol. ii.

Note 237,  p. 190.—Ornamented with the most beautiful porcelain.—“The Ficus Indica is called the Pagod Tree and Tree of Councils; the first, from the idols placed under its shade; the second, because meetings were held under its cool branches. In some places it is believed to be the haunt of spectres, as the ancient spreading oaks of Wales have been of fairies; in others are erected beneath the shade pillars of stone, or posts, elegantly carved, and ornamented with the most beautiful porcelain to supply the use of mirrors.”—Pennant.

Note 238,  p. 192.—And o’er the Green Sea palely shines.

The Persian Gulf—“To dive for pearls in the Green Sea, or Persian Gulf.”—Sir W. Jones.

Note 239,  p. 192.—Revealing Bahrein’s groves of palm,
And lighting Kishma’s amber vines.

Islands in the Gulf.

Note 240,  p. 192.—Blow round Selama’s sainted cape.

Or Selemeh, the genuine name of the headland at the entrance of the Gulf, commonly called Cape Musseldom. “The Indians, when they pass the promontory, throw cocoa-nuts, fruits, or flowers, into the sea, to secure a propitious voyage.”—Morier.

Note 241,  p. 193.—The nightingale now bends her flight.

“The nightingale sings from the pomegranate groves in the day-time, and from the loftiest trees at night.”—Russel’s Aleppo.

Note 242,  p. 193.—The best and brightest scimitar.

In speaking of the climate of Shiraz, Francklin says, “The dew is of such a pure nature, that if the brightest scimitar should be exposed to it all night, it would not receive the least rust.”

Note 243,  p. 194.—Who, on Cadessia’s bloody plains.

The place where the Persians were finally defeated by the Arabs, and their ancient monarchy destroyed.

Note 244,  p. 194.—Beyond the Caspian’s Iron Gates.

Derbend.—“Les Turcs appellent cette ville Demir Capi, Porte de Fer; ce sont les Caspiæ Portæ des anciens.”—D’Herbelot.

Note 245,  p. 195.—They burst, like Zeilan’s giant palm.

The Talpot or Talipot-tree. “This beautiful palm-tree, which grows in the heart of the forests, may be classed among the loftiest trees, and becomes still higher when on the point of bursting forth from its leafy summit. The sheath which then envelopes the flower is very large, and, when it bursts, makes an explosion like the report of a cannon.”—Thunberg.

Note 246,  p. 196.—Before whose sabre’s dazzling light.

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

Note 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.

Note 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.

Note 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.

Note 250,  p. 201.—That oft the sleeping albatross.

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

Note 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.

Note 252,  p. 202.—Of that vast mountain stood on fire.

The Ghebers generally built their temples over subterraneous fires.

Note 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.

Note 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.

Note 255,  p. 204.—Across the dark sea-robber’s way.

Note 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.

Note 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.”

Note 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.