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. v, I
WOJVDERS
OF
DISPLAYED.
COMPILED
FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES, BOTH ANCIENT AND MQDERN,
ACCOUNT OF VARIOUS AND STRANGE PHENOMENA
EXISTING IN NATURE,
or
TRAVELS, ADVENTURES, SINGULAR PROVIDENCES, Ac.
Hearken — tUnd still and consider the wondrous works of God.
Job.
ALBANY: > ^ \
PUBLISHED BY JOSIAH PRIEST. ; * :
t. AND E. HOSFOBD, PBItrTEBC. f / •
1826.
, — ■xKC
\- T; . ,% V!EV." YOIM 1
784833
â– 7i.u-; : â– . â– - â–
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-ay.
DISTRICT Of NEW-YORK, TO WIT;
IT REMEMBERED, That on the lecond day of June in the forty-tight rear t of the Independence of the United Steles of America, A. D. 1824, Jonah Priest V|% of the taid district, hath deposited in this office the title of a Book the right ~ ' whereof be chums as author in the words following to wit:
M The Wonders of Nature and Providence displayed : compiled from authentic sources * both Ancient and Modem, giving an account of rations ana ttrange Phenomena exist- M law in nature, and of travels, adventures, singular providences, Ac. Hearken, stand M atu% and consider the wondrous works ol God. —Job. By Josiah Priest"
lb conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled " An act for ■'0 the encouragement of learning, by sucurimr ihe copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to she authors and proprietor* of such copies during the times therein mentioned and also, to the act entitled "An act supplementary to an act entitled • An act for the encour- t of learning, by securing the copies of Maps* Charts, and Books, to the authors
and proprietors of such copies during the times therein montgontdy and extending the biMIs thereof to the arts of Designing, Engraving end Etching historical and other
***** R. R. LANSING, Clerk
of the Northern District of N. York.
Great are tbe works of the Lord, sought oot of them that fear him. The heavens, with all their brilliant hosts, declare his glo- rious majesty — tbe earth is full of the demonstrations of his goodness. He openeth his hand and satisfieth the desire of every living thing. JVoJnre and Providence are one vast volume in winch God's wondrous works are displayed : it is written in characters which may be read of all nations under the who)* heavens, in their own language. It consists not of words, but of things, which admirably point out tbe Divine perfections.
The firmament and tbe great expanse of infinity, are probably garnished evwry where with the bright monuments of his power* The sun, robed in tbe mantle of iris own fires, sits as a king lb the midst of his shilling courtiers. Myriads of other suns bont on their flaming axles, and from the centre of their systems, pour the ocean of their light all over the bosom of unbounded space, lighting up, in nndescribed splendour, the great palace of the Universe. And around them. move in raaxy dance, theobsequiots planets ; whole armies of constellation keep watch while they travel the great circuit of other heavens, and with their tissues of primeval majesty, express the matchless power of the Creator.
Behold the great energies of nature are under his control ! In his fist are gathered the roaring wiods $ the mighty storm sleeps there as the lion in the caves of the mountains. By his hand tbe red lightnings are held at bay, but at his word they fly and out speed the careering winds. By their flash the great concave of heaven is lighted up, from the tops of Pagan hills in the east, to where the fires of the sun plunge the western main. At his beck, the furious tornado is hushed to a zephyr, the thun- ders that ride upon the watery clouds are awed to silence ; the cloud cap9 1 bHlows of the deep, bow at his presence, and point t their flashing summits to tbe gulphs below. The snow, the rain, and the hoar frost descend from the middle regions, by bb providence ; lo these are but pajts of his ways. Anon he stoops from the highest heaven— from the clear h valine where he stood, and lo His way is seen among the sons of men.
Now he treads upon the mountains— they smoke and tremble to their base — a fiery flame ascends to the mid^t of heaven, like oj mighty furnace, and his voice is like the sound bf many waters.
Earth groans to her centre— thunder and storm rage aloof their courses— earthquakes and volcanoes roar from the tops of [ the mountain*— the ocean boils like a pot, and spouts from die
iv
PREFACE-
depths beneath, pyramids of fire* Th* fearful whirlwind plun- ges from the convulsed clouds, sweeps across the earth, dashing in heaps of ruin the fairest works of man. Tall forests bend beneath its force, taring the strongest oaks from their rooted base, and on its whirling bosom bares them aloft to the won- dering skies. Mountains tremble beneath the dreadful pres- sure, and from their benched cliffs, tumble the loosened rocks to the vales beneath : these are the ministers of his providence and power.
The infinite variety of creatures that inhabit the earth, the ocean, and the air, show his amazing skill ; the teeming shower, the sunshine and the yellow sheaf, show his bounteous goodness.
The contemplation of a Divine Providence is consoling and pro- / Stable : we feel ourselves drawn from the creature to the Creator.
The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice ! the reigns of gov- ernment are in the hands of him who needs no counsellor. Though the fool has said in his heart there is no God, yet both His word and providence declare to the ends of the earth, say- ing, verily there is a God, who hath set his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom reigneth over all. Shall we not say prov- idence is God in motion, is God teaching by facts, is God ful- filling and explaining his word In his own way however in- scrutable to the km of men or angels ?
Though clouds and darkness are round about him, righteous- ness and judgment are the habitations of his throne.
No pains have been spared in the compilation of this book, to collect from rare and valuable publications, both of Europe and America, (which are but little known by reason of their magnitude and scarcity,) such accounts as show the way of the Lord iu his works and providence. There can be no doubt, that to be indifferent to these, whether it be a nation or an in- dividual, is highly sinful.
The eyes of all ought to wait upon him, whose wonders fill heaven, earth and hell. How vast the amplitude of his power ! the ocean of illimitable space is the field of his operations.
The accounts given respecting the Roman Catholic hierar- chy, are a record of facts whiclt show that a spirit of persecu- tion was not only an ancient mark of that overgrown supersti- tion, but that it retains all its virulence to the present day.
#It affords much pleasure to reflect, that so large a work is npw presented to its thousands of patrons, for so small a price, gathered from those who have recorded, from age to age, the wonderful works and providences of the Most High.
JOSIAH PRIEST.
Albany, August 17, 1825.
CONTENTS.
Preface, .... page 3
Accounts of serpents of various kinds, - § Of the Cerastes and similar serpents, - - - 18 Of the Horn Nosed Snake of Africa, - 26
Of the Anaconda of the East Indies, - - 27
Of the Halcydrus-Pontoppidani a serpent of the ocean, 32 Of the Scorpion and its dreadful properties, - - 35 Of apparitions in general, with several curious relations, 37 An account of apparitions by Josephus the historian, - 45 An account of the commencement of the kingdom of Mexico, and Of eleven of its kings, and of supernatural presages of its overthrow by the Spaniards, - 47
A remarkable dream and its fulfilment, -% - - 61
A curious memorandum upon the subject.of giants, - 63 A remarkable account of a sea captain, - - - 70
An account of the fearful Simoon of Arabia, - 75 The travels of Bruce in various parts of the southern hemis- phere, - - - ' - - 80 his account of the wild beasts of these countries — hfc ac- companies a hunting party, - - * 81 of the sagacity of a young elephant, - - - 83 his journey across the desert of Thebaid, and a description of the Arab houses, ------ 87
the Turks opinion of the origin of the English, - - 89 of the marble quarries of the desert, 90 of red and green granite marble, - - - - 92
of the beautiful appearance of the marble mountains, 93 his account of a singular custom of the people of the red sea for the preservation of christians, - - - 97 Bruce's travels continued, ... 98
his account and opinion, and the evidence he urges to prove â– that the Israelites did cross the red sea on dry ground, 99' a tradition of the Troglodytes, of the passage of the He- brews through the red Sea, - - - - 102
vi
Bruce continued, - - - - - - I9i3
his travels in Abyssinia and desert of N«bia, - - ib. his terror at sight of an army of fiery sand pillars, - 1 04 he takes an Arab and wife prisoners, - - - 106 their trials for life, their sentence, - - - 114 a description of the Simoon, - - - - - 106
his sufferings on the desert, and his joy at sight o( three
kites, -1*4
he swooned at the scent or food, - 12? abused in the streets of Grand Cairo, - 181 Bruce continued, his account of the visit of {he queen of Sheba to Jerusa- lem in the days of king Solomon, - - ~ 134 the queen of Sheba's son by Solomon, educated at Jeru- salem, - - - - - - - -136
A horrible account of the eating of live flesh by the Abyssin- ians, - -- -- -- - 138
An account of a Rattle Snake, - - - - -143
An aecount of the reptile named Salamander both of land and water, - - - - - - 146
An account of the Tarantula, - - - - - 149
Of the fossil asbestos, - , - - - - - 150
Singular adventure of a Stork, - - - - -151
Of the wonderful properties of the Polypus, - - 1 52 Of the phenomena of meteors and other fires. - - 157 Of the Ignis Fatuus, - - - - - 161
Of the phenomena of whirl-winds, and water spouts, - 1 64 Of the wonderful properties of Lobsters, and of sea and land
Crabs, 166
Of the animal Flower of Barbadoes,. - * v - 171
Of two remarkable Echos, 172
Remarkable accounts of Hair, - - - - - 172 Strange customs of the Mexicans, -% - - * 173
Singular accounts of Iron, - - - - - 187 Jjk, singular Providence, - - • - - 188 Memoirs of the Martyr Polycarp, - - - - 190 Remarkable account of David Sands, - 202 Q/k Deist confuted, 204
A prisoner among savage!*, * * • - 5^14
Singular fulfilment of a strange prophecy, * 223
Singular deliverance from two monsters, - 227
Winderful visions in various ages, ... 289
An accouil of the subterranean galleries of the dead, 244
A tremendous thunder storm, - 256
An adventure in the mines of Idra, - 251
Idol worship of the Mexicans, - 253
" Bartram's researches in the woods of America, «• 261
Sufferings of a black slave, - 274
Accounts of Anions Infidels, - gjffi
Am apparition seen by an Infidel, - ggg
Death of Thomas Paine, - - - - ~ - 289 An account of the Roman Catholic Inquisition at Got hi
the East Indies, - - - - - - 291
Of the inquisition in Spain, • - - - . ggg
Of the inquisition in-ltaly, - $qq
Of persecutions of Christians, - . - - . 333
A Soldier delivered from the jaws of a tyger, - - 331
Of the phenomena of fire in general and of earthquakes, 334 4 Proofs that the Indians of North America are descended from
the ancient Hebrews, - - - - - 372
Phenomenon of stone being thrown from the moon - 408 Mr. Howard's account of the phenomena of stones falling
from the heavens, - - - - - - 412
Further account of the same phenomena, - - - 414
Supernatural phenomena, - - - - - 420
Observations on comets, - ... - _ 427
Supernatural phenomena, - 428
Of the phenomena of light, - 431 The sufferings of Thecla, and an account of St. Paul's
person, - -- -- -- - 435
Of the diamond mines in Hindostau, - 442
The providence of God asserted, - 447
A strange providence, ------ 450
Of the local situation of the garden of Eden, - ~ 452
The works of God displayed, ----- 455
A man possessed of the devil, -
Tni ctwrcwrs.
Narrative of two Roman scholars, - 465
Of a poison tree and its effects, .... 468
An account of the foifntain tree, - - - - 471
•* Travels aud adventures among savages, - - <fa72
A traveller taken and confined by robbers, «* 534
Natural history of the earth and effects of the deluge,
An account of God's providence towards a poor gilder, JtSk
A wonderful providence, . . . - fife
Strange detection, and just punishment of a murderer of
seven small children. ------ 567
Remarkable account of two Quakers who escaped from
robbers, - -- -- -- - 559
A wonderful providence, or a supernatural interference, 562
Of a man who had a view of heaven and hell, - - 563
A strange account of a beautiful lady's death, - - 565
A very remarkable dream, ----- $66
A description of a wonderful clock, ... 558
An attempt to describe the day of Judgment, - - 570
The infidels chemical mistake detected, - - - 5§0 An account of the identical Rock which was smitten by
Motes at Horeb, - 581
A wonderful account of a man restored to life after being
hanged, 583
An interesting account of the manner the ancients used to
embalm their dead, - 592
An account of the Asiatic locust, - - - 596
An .awful providence, ------ 598
Works of gpd displayed, 599
INDEX FOR THE ENGRAVINGS, of those copies that have them in. Plate I Page 9
IX.. 435
I ' 1111: AT LVr.l.'.'.-i'l.^sVi'Ull-l':)!; ul' AKIil
THE
WONDERS OF NATURE, <&A
OF SERPENTS.
Extracted from the celebrated Calmefs Dictionary of the Bible.
The following account may be relied on as truth. Calmet being well known to the literary world as a judicious writer of natural history.
It may be remarked, that the account here given of Dragons and those large and fearful Serpent* which inhabit the mountains^ low lands, and seas of the Indies, Africa, ty-c. remarkably il- lustrate many passages found in the writings of the Holy Scriptures, where those monsters are alluded by way to of com- parison.
THE DRAGON, SEA SERPENTS, AND FLYING SER- PENTS.
Jt appears, from several places in this work, that if wc have not -annihilated those numerous dragons which occur in our pub- lic translation, yet we have changed them for creatures of ve- ry different kinds ; it is therefore, in some degree, incumbent on us to clear up, so far as our information reaches, the true creature which Scripture intends by the term dragon : and that we may be certain of our instance on this subject, we select that of the great red dragon of the Revelations, which also is ex- pressly called a serpent. Chap. xii. 3. "Behold, 1st, a great, 2dly, a red dragon, ^***», having 3dly, seven heads, and 4thly, ten horns, his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, the dragon stood before the woman to devour her child, and the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a stream [flood] after the woman, that he might cause her to be knocked down, car- ried away, by the stream of water." The descriptiou andf manners of this dragon have greatly embarrassed commentators. Dr. Doddridge observes on the passage," I suppose most of my readers well know, that a dragon is a vast serpent of enormous
10 . , TAe Wmders of
balk. Job the celebrated African, assured me, that one of them carried away a live cow in its mouth, before his face." But on this serpent's ejection of water, he professes his " ignorance of any fact to illustrate it." I shall observe on the particulars of this dragon in their order.
1st, The dimensions of this dragon, " great." We may, I pre- sume, seek the counterparts of this reptile among serpents of the largest size, for which we shall look to that class called by natu- ralists, boa.
The dragon is frequently mentioned by ancient naturalists : by Aristotle, lib. ix. Diod. Sicul. lib. iii. &c. St. Ambrose, de Mor. Brach. p. 63. says, there were dragons seen in the neigh- bourhood of the Ganges near seventy cubits in length.* Alex- ander and his army saw one of this size in a cave, to their great terror, Elian, lib. xv. cap 21. -
Three kinds of dragons were formerly distinguished in India. 1st, Those of the hills and mountains ; 2dly, those of the rallies and caves ; 3dly, those of the fens and marshes. ' The first is the largest, and covered with scales, as resplendent as burnished
Sid. They have a kind of beard hanging from their lower jaw, sir aspect is frightful, their cry loud and shrill, their crest bright yellow, and they have a protuberance on their heads, the colour of a burning coal. 2dly, Those of the flat country are of a silver co- lour, and frequent rivers, to which the former never come. 3dly, Those of the marshes are black, slow, and have no crest. Strabo says, the painted serpents with wings is contrary to truth ; but other naturalists and travellers, ancient and modern, affirm that some species are winged. [There is much confusion on this subject. Some have mistaken the hood of the naja for wings ; others for a crest ; others have confounded the innocent lizard- dragon with flying serpents ; and therefore report, as Pliny does, that their bite is not venomous, though the creatures be dreadful, which indeed is true of the boa, or proper dragon.]
The following is mostly translated, or abstracted, from count de la Cepede : The boa is among serpents, what the lion or the elephant is among quadrupeds ; he usually reaches twenty feet in length, and to this species we must refer those described by travellers, as lengthened to forty or fifty feet, as related by Owen, Nat. Hist. Serp. p. 15. Kircher mentions a serpent forty palms in length ; and such a serpent is referred to by Job Ludolph, p. 165. as extant in Ethiopia. St. Jerom, in his life of Hilarion, denominates such a serpent, draco, a dragon; sayiug, that they were called boas, because they could swallow, boves, beeves, and waste whole provinces. Bosman says, entire men have, fre- quently, been found in the gullets of serpents, on the Gold Const;
Nature and Providence.
II
but ibe longest serpent I have read of, is that mentioned by Livy, and by Pliny, which opposed the Roman army under Regnlus, at* the river Bagrada in Africa. It devoured several of* the soldiers ; and so hard were its scales, that they resisted darts and spears; at length it was, as it were, besieged, and the military engines were employed against it, as against a fortified city. It was an hundred and twenty feet in length. Its skin was sent to Rome as a trophy, and was preserved in one of the temples there, Plinjfc lib. xviii. capt. 14. Add the following testimonies:
"At Batavia was once taken a serpent, which had swallowed an entire stag of a large size: one taken at Baud a had done the same by a negro woman," Baldeus, in Churchill, vol.iii. p. 782.
"Leguat in his travels says, there are serpents fifty. feet long in the island of Java. At Batavia (hoy still keep the skin of one, which though but twenty feet in length, is said to have swallowed a young maid whole," Burbot, in Churchill, vol. v. p. 560
"The serpent guaku, or liboya, [bon] is questionless the big- gestof all serpents ; some being eighteen, twenty-four, nay, thirty feet long, and of the thickness of a man in the middle. The Portuguese call it kobre de hado, or the roebuck serpent, because it will swallow a whole roebuck, or oilier detr; and this is per- formed by sucking it through the throat, which is pretty narrow; but the belly vastly big. Such an one I saw near Pariba, which was thirty feet long, and as big as a barrel. Some negroes acciden- tally saw it swallow a roebuck, whereupon thirteen musketeers were sent out, who shot it and cut the roebuck out of its belly.— It is not venomous — This serpent being a very devouring creature, greedy of prey, leaps from among the hedges and woods, and standing upright on its tail, wrestles both with men and wild beasts: sometimes it leaps from the trees upon the traveller, whom it fastens on, and beats the breath out of his body with its tail," Nieuhofl; in Churchill, vol. ii. p. 13.
2dly, I would call the attention of the reader to the immense serpent of Regulus, especial \y because there is a strong pro- bability that it might have been in the mind of the writer of the Revelations; who, as we have seen, describes a power most ter- ribly distressing, under the figure of a dragon : a red dragon. On which observe, 1st, That the dragon of antiquity was, no doubt, a prodigious serpent, cuch as is described in our extracts abovg; for which acceptation Jerom's authority may be at present suffi- cient. 2dly, That the colour most conspicuous in the great boa i« rerf, which is very handsomely formed into figures, and com- poses a beautiful maculated pattern ; so that the idea of r«rf, but not exclusively blood rerf, in this instance, is drawn from nature; and perhaps the colour of some individuals of this species may be of a deeper red than those of others. It is impossible to con-
12
The Wonders of
vey the idea of this redness, and its application to the boa, with- out colours, but, so far as I recollect, the redness is rather that of brick than of blood. Our extracts assert, that tbis serpent strikes vehemently with his tail; which is according to the re- presentation of the apocalyptic writer.
3dly,As to the seven heads of the great red dragon, it is well known, that there is a species of snake amphisbena, or double headed, but, the apparent heads of this snake are, one at each end owhim, and one of these is apparent only, not real. There is, indeed, a kind of serpent which is so often found with two heads growing from one neck, that some have fancied it might form a species, but we have as yet no authority adequate to that effect It follows, that the number of heads is entirely allegorical. 1 only remark, that this dragon of the apocalypse is not absolutely singular, if the fable of the dragon having seven heads, compared with the dragon having seven tails, was extant anciently.
4thly, The ten horns of this dragon must be allegorical also. • As to the flood of water ejected by this dragon, I do not know of any receptacle which serpents have for containing such a pro- vision; and the nearest approach toward it, which I have been able to find, is the following:
Beverly, in his account of Virginia, mentions, pressing the roof of the mouth of a rattlesnake, whose head was recently cut off, and the venom spirted out like the current of blood in blood letting.
Gregory, the friend of Ludolph, says, Hist. Eth. lib. i. cap. 13, "We have in our province a sort of serpent as long as the arm. He is of a glowing red colour, but somewhat brownish ; he hides himself under bushes and grass. This animal has an offensive breath; and he breathes out [spirts out, ejects, I rather think] a poison so venomous and stinking, that a man or beast within reach of it, is sure to perish quickly by it unless immediate as- sistance be given."
"At Mouree, a great snake being half under a heap of stones, and the other half out, a man cut it in two at the part which was out from among the stones ; and as soon as the heap was re- moved, the reptile, turning, made up to the man, and spit such venom in hU face as quite blinded him, and so he continued some days, but at last recovered his sight," Barbot, in Churchill, vol. v.p. 213.
This history is remarkable, because the venom of poisonous serpents is usually ejected by a perforation in their cheek teeth, or fangs; this ejection accompanies the act of biting, and it does not appear that this man was bitten. Moreover, whether the matter spirted by this serpent was venom, does not appear, nor what effect it had, or might have had on parts not so tender as
JVatun and Providmce.
the eve. .Nevertheless, we learn from this instance, that ser- pents have a power of throw ing out from their mouth a quantity of thud, of an injurious nature, and a quantity of such fluid pro- portionate to the immense size of this dragon, is what in the Rev- elations is called a stream* which, happily for the woman at whom it was aimed, was received by the opening earth. [I rather think this was not properly venom, and the writer of tn£ apocalypse does not say it was ; these great serpents not being a eiiomous, strictly speaking.]
Having thus admitted the real dragon of Scripture to its pro- }>ef place, and proved not only the existence, but the manners of this reptile, in conformity to Scripture accounts, it may not be amiss to consider, whether lie does not pretty closely represent the Hebrew nahash ; which, perhaps, is sometimes taken gcneri- < 'illy for all the serpent tribes: and sometimes for the largest kind, "the serpent," or dragon, by eminence. Of the first ac- ceptation of the word nahash, we have an instance, Jer. viii. 17. where we read of serpents, nahashim, which is explained by fjcphouim, hereby determining what kind of nchashim should be selected as most venomous and fatal. The second acceptation of this word is not uncommon ; and Parkhurst assimilates it to the dragon of the Greeks.
But we ought to observe the application of this word, nahash, to a sea serpent also ; and here I confess want of information. Is there more than one kind of sea serpent ? if so, what are their differences ? Thes" questions I have not been so happy as to an- swer to my own satisfaction ; but, observe, 1st, That most ser- pents are amphibious, and take to the water readily. 2dly, That the great boa is not afraid even of wide rivers and high waves : he may be destroyed by fire, but water he does not fear. Let us combine our evidence on this difficult article.
There seems to be at least one kind of large serpent, which ventures a considerable distance out to Sea ; this appears to be a land serpent, equally as it is a water serpent ; but, I have read of proper water serpents, seen too far out at sea to be supposed natives of the land ; these are true hydras ; but their varieties , colours, manners, and other particularities, are not, I believe, well understood. The following histories seem rather to belong to amphUnous serpents.
" Serpents are very common all over the isle of Ceylon ; the sea serpents are torn* times fight, nine, or ten yards long. The most dangerous serpents arc the cobras di capellas. The Mala- bar* call the serpent* pambo and najah, and give their cattle and children their names : nay, they feed them because they should do tbem no harm," IJaldaeus in Churchill, vol. iii. p. 731.
"Peter Van Coerden, admiral of the Dutch fleet in the East
14
The Wonders of
Indies, says, Uiat while he was at anchor on the coast of Mozaui- bic, a boy that was washing himself by the ship's side was seized by the middle by a serpent of enormous size, that dragged him under water at once in the sight of the whole fleet," Harris, Voyages, vol. ii. p. '175.
P. Van den Broek says, that at Golconda there are serpents of prodigious size, the bite of which is instantly mortal ; and ob- serves further, that whenever these creatures arc seen at sea, it is a certain sign of their being near the Indian coast."
" Admiral Verhoven tells us a singular story of a sea serpent in the straits of Sincapoua. A seaman, washing himself by the ship's side, was seized by one of these creatures, on which he roared so loud, that one of his companions threw him a rope, and pulled him into the ship; but the serpent had torn such apiece out of his side, that he died immediately. The serpent continued about the ship, till at last it was taken, and was the largest they had tver seen. On opening its belly, they found therein the piece of flesh which he had torn from the sailor, and which they buried with him," Harris, ib. Adm Verhoven's Voyage, p. 02.
I see no reason for doubting the existence of true sea serpents at least equal in dimensions with land serpents ; I think I have read of some eight or nine feet long ; but whether these possess venom I do not know. However, the stories quoted may justify the sacred writers in speaking of sea serpents, which they call nahash : as Amos ix. 3. u Though they hide in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, nahash, and he shall bite them."
The reader will connect with this, the recollection that we have a nahash also in the heavens, for so Job expresses himself xxvi. 12. '* By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens ; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent." This crooked serpent, whatever constellation it may be, is clearly referred to ihe heavens ; and whether it is, as some have supposed, a constellation around the north pole, or, as others think, the milky way, whose tortuous course not unaptly represents the windings of a serpent's form and track, can only be hinted at, not fully discussed, in this place.
I would merely hint further, that since it was a nahash which tempted Eve, not a peten, nor a tjephon, it is of consequence to notice the application of this word ; lest, perad venture, we should attribute that action to a serpent of a kind totally different from what was designed by the sacred writer ; which error could only be the occasion pf others, perhaps not equally innoxious.
I take the present opportunity of suggesting a thought or two, en the existence of flying serpents ; as Scripture is usually un- derstood to mention them.
Nature and Providence.
15
Michaelis says, Quest, lxxxiii. speaking of such serpents, 11 Al- though modern naturalists have not communicated any satisfac- tory information respecting flying serpents, yet they are so often spoken of by the ancient writers of nations near to the equator, who may be better acquainted with the nature of serpents than we are, that I dare boldly recommend further inquiries to tra- vellers, respecting the existence of flying serpents. If there be any, and if they have been seen by witnesses deserving of credit, I beg every information, name, &c." This inquiry is interesting; and though wc are unable to affirm, that serpents, flying by means of wings, inhabit those countries to which Scripture more partic- ularly refers, yet if they exist now in any country, it will be so much in proof of the possibility, that they formerly might exirt in other countries.
Barbot, after mentioning serpents on the coast of Guinea thirty feet long, as the blacks assured him, says, " They also told me, there are winged serpents or dragons, having a forked tail, and a prodigious wide mouih, full of sharp teeth ; extremely mischiev- ous to mankind, more particularly to small children. If we may credit this account of the blacks, these are of the same sort of winged serpents, which some authors assure us, are to be found in Abyssinia, being very great enemies to the elephants. Barhot, in Churchill, vol. v. p. 213.
" In the woods of Java are certain flying snakes, or rather drakes, [dra/cos"] they have four legs, a long tail, and their skins speckled with many spots ; their wings are not unlike those of a bat, which they move in flying, but otherwise keep them almost unperceived close to the body. They fly nimble, but cannot hold it long, so that they fly from tree to tree, at about twenty or thirty paces distance. On the outside of the throat are two blad- ders, which being extended when they fly, serve them instead of a sail. They feed on flies and other insects. The Javanesses do not in the least account tlieni poisonous, but handle them just like common snakes, without the least danger," NieuhofF in Churchill, vol. ii. p. 29G. [These are flying lizards% not serpents.]
Niebuhr says, "There are at ISazra a sort of serpents called licit sursurie, or he ie thiarc. They commonly keep on the date trees; and as it would be troublesome to them to come down a high tree, and creep up another, they hang by the tail to a branch of one tree, and by swinging that about, take advantage of its mo- tion to leap to a second. These the modern Arabs call flying serpents^ heie thidre. I do not know whether the ancient Arabs saw any other kind of flying serpent. Some Europeans from Bombay assured me, that they had seen serpents with two heads ; and others with two foot," [which is certainly true.] Then ho nllndcs to Anson's Voyaere in further proof.
lb
t The Wonders of
The words in Anson's Voyage are, " The Spaniards too, in- formed us, that there was often found in the woods a most mis- chievous serpent, called the flying snake; which, they said, darted itself from the boughs of trees, on either man or beast that came within its reach, and whose sting they believed to be inevitable death," p. 308. 8vo. The reader will observe, this is report.
To conclude by returning to the dragon :
The following is the latest, and most distinct account of one of these large serpents which I have been able to procure : 1 hope no apology is necessary for alluding to an inhabitant of South America ; I have been extremely jealous on such excur- sions. It combines several particulars which coincide with our purpose, though it differs certainly from the red dragon of Asia or Africa.
"We bad not gone above twenty yards through mud and water, the negro looking every way with an uncommon <'egre<: of viva- city and attention ; when, starting behind me, he called out," Me see snake !" and in effect, there lay the animal, rolled up un- der the falling leaves and rubbish of the trees ; and so well co- vered, that it was some time before I distinctly perceived the head of this monster, distant from me not above sixteen feet, moving its forked tongue, while its eyes, from their uncommon brightness, appeared to emit sparks of fire. I now, resting my piece upon a branch, for the purpose of taking a sure aim, fired ; but missing the head, the ball went through the body, when the animal struck round, and with such astonishing force as to cut away all the underwood around him with the facility of a scythe mowing grass ; and by flouncing his tail, caused the mud and dirt to fly over our heads to a considerable distance. Of this proceeding however we were not torpid spectators, but took to our heels, and crowded into the canoe ... I now found the snake a little removed from his former station, but very quiet, with his head as before, lying out among the fallen leaves, rotten bark, and old moss. I fired at it immediately, but with \\o better success than the other time : and now, being but slightly wound- ed, he sent up such a cloud of dust and dirt, as I never saw but in a whirlwind, and made us once more suddenly retreat .... Having once more discovered the snake, we discharged both our pieces at once, and with this good effect, that he was now by one^of us shot through the head. David, who was made com- pletely happy by this successful conclusion, ran leaping with joy, and lost no time in bringing the boat rope, in order to drag him down to the canoe ; but this again proved not a very easy under- taking, since the creature, notwithstanding its being mortally wounded, still continued to writhe and twist about, in such a
Nofute arid T*r*vi2ence.
It
manner -as rendered it dangerous for any person to approach him. The negro, however, having made a running noose on the rope, after some fruitless attempts to make an approach! threw it over his head with much dexterity ; and now, all taking hold of the rope, we dragged him to the beach, and tied him to the stern of the canoe, to take him in tow. Being still alive, he kept swimming like an eel ; and I having no relish for such ft shipmate on board, whose length, notwithstanding, to my aston- ishment, all the negroes declared it to be but a young one come to about half its growth, I found upon measuring it to be twenty- two feet and some inches ; and its thickness about that of my black boy Quaco, who might then be about twelve years old, and round whose waist I since measured the creature's skin.
The negro David having climbed up a tree with the end of the rope, let it down over a strong forked bough, and the other ne- groes hoisted up the snake, and suspended him from the tree. This done, David, with a sharp knife between his teeth, now left the tree, and clung fast upon the monster, which was still twisting, and began bis operations by ripping it up, and stripping down the skin as he descended. Though 1 perceived that the animal was no longer able to do him any injury, I confess I could not without emotion see a man starjt naked, black and bloody, clinging with artns and legs round the slimy and yet living monster. This la- bour, however, was not without its use, since he not only dex- terously finished the operation, but provided me, besides the skin, with above four gallons of fine clarified fat, or rather oil though there was wasted perhaps as much more. When I signi- fied my surprise to see the snake still living, after he was depriv- ed of his intestines and skin, Carmaco, the old negro, whether from experience or tradition, assured me he would not die till after sunset.
This wonderful creature in the Colony of Surinam is called Ab- oraa. Its length, when full grown, is said to be sometimes forty feet, and more than four feet in circumference ; its colour Is a greenish black on the back ; a fine brownish yellow on the sides* and a dirty white under the belly ; the back and sides being spotted with irregular black rings, with a pure white in the mid- dle. Its head is broad and flat„small in proportion to the body, with a large mouth, and a double row of teeth ; it has two bright prominent eyes : is covered all over with scales, some about the size of a shilling ; and under the body, near the tail, armed with two strong claws like cockspurs, to help it in seizing its prey. It is an amphibious animal, that is, it delights in low and marshy places, where it lies coiled up like a rop$ and eoncealed under moss, rotten timber, and dried leaves, to seize pfey \fg snt* prise, which from its immense bulk it Is trot actfvfe e&talgp
THe Won&rs of-
pufsue,. When hungry, it will devour any animal, that come* within its reach, and is indifferent whether it is a sloth, a wild boar, a stag, or 'even a tiger ; round which having twisted itself by the help of its claws, so that the creature cannot escape, it breaks, by its irresistible force, every bone in the animal's body, which it then covers over with a kind of slime or slaver from its mouth, to make it slide ; and at last gradually sucks it in, till it disappears ; after this, the aboma cannot shift its situation, on ac- count of the great knob or knot which the swallowed prey occa- sions in that part of the body where it rests, till it is digested ; for till then it would hinder the snake from sliding along the
f round. During that time the aboma wants no other subsistence, have been told of negroes being devoured by this animal, and am disposed to credit the account; for should they chance to come within its reach when hungry, it would as certainly seixe them as any other animal. The bite of this snake is said not to b€ venomous ; nor do I believe it bites at all from any other im- pulse than hunger," Stedraan's Expedition to Surinam, vol. i. p. 170.
OF THE CERASTES, AND SIMILAR SERPENTS.
The cerastes, or horned viper, is among the most fatal of the serpent tribe. It is, moreover, well distinguished from all others, by the peculiarity of its horns ; and it is abundant in Egypt aud in Syria, so that it could not escape the notice and allusions of the sacred writers. I believe it is agreed, on all hands, that this serpent is mentioned in scripture j but the difficulty is to deter- mine which of the Hebrew appellations of serpents describes this species especially.
Mr. Bruce has favoured us with a figure of this creature, and with a considerable account of its manners, part of which we shall extract. He says, " there is no article of natural history die ancients have dwelt on more than that of the viper, whether poets, physicians, or historians. All have enlarged upon the particular sizes, colours, and qualities, yet the knowledge of their manners is but little extended.
"I have travelled across the Cyrenaicumin all its directions, and never saw but one species of viper, which was the cerastes, or horned viper, now before us ; neither did I ever see any of the snake kind that could be mistaken for the viper.
" The basilisk is a species of serpent, frequently made men- tion of in Scripture, though never described, further than that he cannot be charmed so«s to do no hurt, nor trained so as to delight in music ; which all travellers who have been in Egypt know is excepting passible, and frequently seen. " For behold I will
the side of the box, he leaped nearly the distance of three feee, and fastened between the man's fore finger and thumb, so as to bring the blood. The fellow showed no signs of either pain or fear : and we kept him with us full four hours, without applying any sort of remedy, or his seeming inclined to do so.
" To make myself assured that the animal was in its perfect state, I made the man hold him by the neck, so as to force him to open his mouth, and lacerate the thigh of a pelican, a bird 1 had tamed* as big as a swan. The bird died in about 13 minutes, though it was apparently affected in 50 seconds ; and we cannot think this was a fair trial, because a very few minutes before it bad bit and so discharged part of its virus, and it was made to feratch the pelican by force, without any irritation or action of its mwn.
M The cerastes inhabits the greatest part of the eastern conti- nent especially the desert sandy parts of it. It abounds in S y- *ia, in the three Arabias, and in Africa. 1 never saw so many of them as in the Cyrenaicum, where the jerboa is frequent in pro- portion. He is a great lover of heat; for though the sun was binning hot all day, when we made a fire at night, by digging a bole, and burning wood to charcoal in it, for dressing our victuals, it was seldom we had fewer than half a dozen of these vipers, who burnt themselves to death by approaching the embers.
Galen, speaking of the aspic in the great city of Alexandria, says, I have seen how speedily they, the aspics occasioned death. Whenever any person is condemned to die, whom they wish to end quickly and without torment, they put the viper to his breast, and suffering him there to creep a little, the man is pre- sently killed. Pausanias speaks of pa' ticular serpents that were to be found in Arabia among the balsam-trees, several of which I procured both alive and dead, when I brought the tree from Beder Hnnein ; but they were still the same species of serpent, only some from sex, and some from want of age, had not the horns, though in every other respect they could not be mistaken. Ibn Sma, called by Europeans Avicenna, has described this ani- mal very exactly ; he says it is frequent in Shem, that is the country about aud south of Damascus, and also in Egypt, and be makes a very good observation on their manners ; that they do not go or walk straight, but move by contracting themselves.
41 The general size of the cerastes, from the extremity of its snout to the end of its tail, is from 13 to 14 inches. Its head is triangular, very flat, but higher near where it joins the neck than toward the nose.
" The cerastes has sixteen small immoveable teeth, and in the upper jaw two canine teeth, hollow, crooked inward, and of a MVHerkably She polish, white in colour, inclining to bluish.
Nature mud Providence. JJ
Near one'fourth of the bottom is strongly fixed in the upper jaw, and folds back like a clasp knife, the point inclining inward ; and the greatest part of the tooth is covered with a green soft membrane, not drawn tight, but, as it were wrinkled over it. Immediately above this is a slit along the back of the tooth, which ends nearly in the middle of it, where the tooth curves in- wardly. From this aperture, I apprehend, that it sheds its poison, not from the point, where, with the best glasses, I never could perceive an aperture, so that the tooth is not a tube, but hollow only halfway ; the point being formaking the incision, and by its pressure occasioning the venom in the bag at the bottom of the fang to rise in the tooth, and spill itself through the slit into the wound.
" The animal is supposed to eat but seldom, or only when it is with young.
" The poison is very copious for so small a creature ; it is ful- ly aslarge as a drop of laudanum, dropped from a phial by a care- fa! hand. Viewed through a glass, it appears not perfectly trans- parent or pellucid. I should imagine it has other reservoirs than the bag under the tooth ; for I compelled it to scratch eigh- teen pigeons upon the thigh as quick as possible, and they all died nearly in the same interval of time ; but I confess the dan- ger attending the dissection of the head of this creature, made me so cautious, that any observation I should make upon these parts would be less to be depended on.
" People have doubted whether or not this yellow liquor is the poison J and the reason has been, that animals who tasted it did not die, as when bitten ; but this reason does not hold in modern physics. The viper, deprived of his canine teeth, an operation very easily performed, bites without any fatal consequent with the others.
" Of the incantation of serpents, there is no doubt of its reality. The Scriptures are full of it. All that have been in Egypt have seen as many different instances as t"iey chose. Some have doubted that it was a trick, and that the animals so handled had been trained, and then disarmed of their power of hurting ; and, fond of the discovery, they have rested themselves upon it, with- out experiment, in the face of all antiquity. But I will not hesi- tate to aver, that I have seen at Cario, and this may be seen dai- ly without trouble or expense, a man who came from above the catacombs, where the pits of the mummy birds are kepi, who has taken a cerastes with'his naked hand from a number of others lying at the bottom of the tub, has put it upon his bare head, covered it with the common red cap he wears, then taken it out, put it in his breast, and tied it about his neck like a necklace ; after which h has been applied to a hen, and bit it, which has died in
a few minutes \ and to complete the experiment, the man has taken it by the neck, and beginning at its tail, lias eaten it as one would do a carrot or a stalk of celery, without any seeming re- pugnance.
" I can myself vouch, that all the black people in the king- dom of Sennaar, whether Funge or Nuba, are perfectly armed against the bite of either scorpion orviper. They take the cerastes in their hands at all times, put them in their bosoms, and throw them to one another,«s children do apples or balls, without having irritated them by this usage so much as to bite. The Arabs have not this secret naturally ; but from their infancy they acquire an exemption from the mortal consequence attending the bite of these animals, by chewing a certain root, and washing them- selves with an infusion of certain plants in water.
" I constantly observed, that however lively the viper was be- fore, upon being seized by any of these barbarians, be seemed as if taken with sickness and feebleness, frequently shut his eyes, and never turned his mouth towards the arm of the person that held him. I asked Kitton how they came to be exempted from this mischief? He said, they were born so, and so said the grave and respectable men among them. Many of the lighter and low- er sort talked of enchantments by words and by writing : but they all knew how to prepare any person by medicines, which were decoctions of herbs and roots.
" I have seen many thus armed for a season do pretty much the same fetes as those that possessed the exemption naturally ; the drugs were given me, and I several times armed myself, as I thought, resolved to try the experiment, but my heart always failed me when I came to trial." So far Mr. Bruce.
The cerastes is well known under the name of" horned viper," it is effectually distinguished, by two small horns, one over each rye. It was adopted as a hieroglyphic among the Egyptians, mid appears not only on oblisks, columns of temples, statues, walls of palaces, but on mummies also. Notwithstanding which, the complete history of this creature is wanting.
The horns of the cerastes are placed immediately over the eyes ; each of them is planted, as it were, among the small scales which form the superior part of the orbit ; its root is surrounded by scales, smaller than those of the back ; and it is of apyramidi- <cal form, each face having a grove running up it. In general ap- pearance, it resembles a grain of barley. The general colour of the back is yellowish, heightened by irregular blotches of a deep- er colour, which represents small bands, crossing it. The under part of the body is lighter. The serpent is about two feet long, says count de la Cepede. This serpent supports hunger and thirst longer than most others; but is so ravenous, that he throws him-
Aatitve and Providence.
23
self with avidity on the small birds, and other animals on which he feeds; and as, according to Belon, his skin is capable of the great- est distension, even to double its natural size, it is not surprising that be swallows so great a quantity of food as to render digestion extremely difficult ; so that he falls into a kind of lethargic slum- ber, during which he is easily killed.
Most authors of antiquity, and of the middle ages, thought that tlds was one of those serpents which could, with the greatest ease, turn themselves all manner of ways ; and they report, that in- stead of advancing in a streight line, be always took more or less of a circuitous course to attain his object. But, whatever be the address or swiftness of his motions,- be escapes with difficulty from those eagles, or rather, perhaps, vultures, which stoop at him with exceeding rapidity : and which, for their services in ridding the country of these venomous reptiles, were considered as sacred by the Egyptians. Nevertheless, these serpents have always been considered as extremely cunning, both in escaping their enemies, and in seizing their prey : they have even been named iniidiovs ; and it is reported of them, that they hide them- selves in holes adjacent to the highways, and in the ruts of wheels, in order more suddenly to spring upon passengers.
Belon says, that the young of the cerastes burst their eggs in the womb of the parent; but Gesner reports, that a noble Vene- tian kept a female cerastes, three feet in length, during some time, which laid four or five eggs, the size of pigeons' eggs : per- haps both ways may take place.
It is thought the cerastes was consecrated by the ancient Egyp- tains; for Herodotus describes serpents which answer to the character of this reptile, as being kept in a temple.
So far is abstracted from the successor to Bnffon. I would only add on this last article, that as we have seen the naja wor- shipped in India, so the cerastes might be worshipped in Egypt, as being one of the symbols of that deity who more immediately presides over death. Vid Fragment, No. 495.
It is proper now to endeavour to apply this information to a specific object. It will be seen in the Expository Index, that ] have thought shephiphoo.i, to which the tribe of Dan is com- pared, Gen. :Jix. might be the cerastes : it is so rendered by the Vulgate. I shall, however, abstract the remarks of Michael is. Quest. Ixii. because they manifest the importance of that infor- mation on Scripture natural history, which it is our present en- deavour to promote.
The Arabs name this serpent siff, [siphon or suphon,] and that seems not very distant from the Hebrew root of the word sifi- /ooa, or shephiphon. This serpent, or some other, but this most probably, is Called by the Orientals, "tto Utrin mhuAi fo<
24
Tte Wonders of
so both the lxx and Samaritan, who are not in the habit of copy-' ing each other, render the text in Genesis : and this appellation well agrees with the manner of the cerastes. Pliny says, that "the cerastes hides its whole body in the sand, leaving only its horns exposed; which attracts birds, who suppose them to be grains of barley, till they are undeceived, too late, by the dart- ing of the serpent upon them." TheChaldeeof Jonathan trans- lates H heads of serpents" which seems to allude to such a story; and which may be an appellation of the cerastes. Ephraim the Syrian says, there is a kind of serpents, whose heads only are seen above the ground. Prosper Alpinus thinks, that only the male has horns. Bocart thinks that the hemorrhois also has horns. On this article, we refer to Mr. Bruce, who mentions a cerastes without horns, which we may conjecture to be the he* morrhois.
As to the effects of the venom of the cerastes, the ancients say, Nicander for instance, that its bite causes but little pain; the wound hardens; blisters, filled with a dark matter, rise around it; the upper part of the feet, then the knees, experience a disagreea- ble weariness : some add, that violent vertigoes succeed, arid a tension in the private parts. Some say, that death follows on the third day; but Nicander says on the ninth.
Michaeiis finds a difficulty in the mode of attack of the Hebrew shephiphon on " the heels of a horse, so as to make his rider fall backward." He supposes that the phrase strictly means, that the horse throws the rider off behind him: "and" says he, "I should be curious to know how that is accomplished. Commen- tators commonly say. because the horse rears up when wounded in the heel. Perhaps they are bad horsemen. In such circum- stances a horse would kick, rather than rear up on his hind legs : and the rider would be thrown over his neck, rather than over the crupper." I feel the force of this observation, and cannot but agree to it. I would therefore doubt, whether the word ren- dered backward should be rcstrictively so taken ; for instance, suppose the cerastes has bit the horse in the left hind leg, the horse kicking out that leg, and his rider perceiving the cause, would, to avoid the serpent, throw himself on the further side of the horse from where the serpent was. I say, he would throw himself off, by the opposite side of the horse; which I think suffi- ciently meets the meaning of the Hebrew word : and it makes no difference on this notion, whether the front leg or the hind leg be bitten ; whether the right log, or the left teg : the rider would certainly avoid that side of the horse where the serpent was, and would throw himself off on that side where he was not# Ob- serve, that the margin instead of ipcl, reads nepel : which, that it
Nature and Providence.
may signify a person's causing himself to fall, vide Fragment, No. 208.
In the Expository Index, I have said that Dan probably re- sembled the cerastes, in feeding full, and then sinking into tor- pidity, in consequence of such repletion. I think the induce- * ments held out by the spies of the Danites, Judg. xvii. 9, 10. are precisely adapted to such a people ; and we are told in the end of the chapter, that they set up the graven image, had their priests, and here they remained, "till the day of the captivity of the land," *.. e. distant from interference with the affairs of • Israel, and detenninately settled apart from their brethren. See verses 7, 28.
It remains that we pay some attention to the opinion of Mr. Brace, that the cerastes is, under other names, the serpent meant by the banns ophites, ammodytes, torrida dipsas, and prester : for if this be true, we must refrain from appropriating these appella- tions to other serpents mentioned in Scripture. Mr. Bruce, however, says, that the serpents he found among the balsam- trees, were the cerastes ; only some from sex, and some from want of age, had not the horns. We must pause here. Has the female cerastes no horns ? This is contradicted by the experience of that noble Venetian, who saw a horned serpent lay eggs, con- sequently this was a female. Does the cerastes acquire horns by age ? I should doubt it ; and therefore presume to think, that Mr. Bruce has here, contrary to his design, given evidence of serpents resembling the cerastes, but of a different kind, as ap- pears by their wanting the horns. I would therefore, apply to the cerastes the history related above by Mr. Bruce and others, but would refer to other species those which have not this con- formation : such may be the ammodytes, the hemorrhois, the dipsas, be.
I take this opportunity of adding, that the ammodytes is cer- tainly allied to the cerastes, by its venom, by its habit of hiding itself in the sand, from whence its name is derived, the colour of its back being much of a sand colour, varied by large black spots running down it. It resembles the cerastes, too, by having, at the end of its snout, a little eminence, a sort of horn, about a quarter of an inch in height, moveable backward, from whence it has been called in many countries the " horned asp" or aspic* Its bite kills in three hours time ; though some persons bitten may survive several days.
To this class may also be referred the horned serpents of the Gold Coast, mentioned by Bosman, who saw the skin of one five feet long; which apparently is the species described by Dr- Shaw, Naturalist's .discell. plate 94. Bosman says, these ser- pents, when filled with prey, though trodden on, will hardly
4
26
TM tr&ers of
awake. As this s>rpent is found in western Africa, may it uol be extant in eaitem Africa also ? The following is Dr. Shaw's de- scription.
THE HORN-NOSED SNAKE.
Olive brown snake, freckled with blackish, with a row of pale dorsal spots surrounded by black, and a flexuoua pale fascia on the sides.
If at first glance of most of the serpent tribe, an involuntary sort of horror and alarm is so often felt by those who are unused fo the examination of these animals, how much greater dread must the unexpected view of the species here exhibited be sup- posed to inflict? when to the general form of the creature is su- peradded the peculiar fierceness and forbidding torvity with which rifcture has marked its countenance : distinguished by the very uncommon appearance of two large and sharp pointed horns, .situated, not as in the cerastes above the eyes, but on the top of the nose, or anterior part of the upper jaw. They stand nearly upright, but iucline slightly backward, and a little outward on each side, and are of a substance not absolutely horny, but in some degree flexible. Their shape is somewhat triangular or three-sided. They are about half an inch in length, and at the fore part of the base of each stand an upright strong scale, of nearly the same shape with the horn itself, and thus giving the ap- pearance of a much smaller pair of horns. The mouth is furnish- ed with extremely large aud long fangs or tubular teeth, situated as in other poisonous serpents, and capable of inflicting the most severe wounds : two of these fangs appear on each side of the mouth, of which the hinder pair are smaller than the others. The length of this animal is about thirty-five inches. Its colour is a yellowish olive brown, very thickly sprinkled all over with minute blackish specks. Along the whole length of the back is placed, at considerable distances, a series of yellowish brown spots or marks, each of which is imbedded in a patch of black ; and on each side the body, from head to tail, runs an acutely tlexuous or gigzag line or narrow baud, of o<iire colour. This band is bounded beneath by a much deeper or blacker shade than on the r«st of the body. The belly is of a dull ochre colour, or cinere- ous yellow, freckled with spots and markings of blackish. Be- sides these there is a number of black spots of different sizes here and there dispersed over the whole snake. The tail is somewhat thin and short in proportion to the body. The scales of this snake ajre harsh and stiff, and are very strongly carinated. The head is covered with small scales, ami is on its upper part mark- ed by a very large longitudinal patch.of brown, running out into
Nature afid Provideiyx.
pointed processes at the sides, and bounded by a space of dull lead colour or cinereous. The shape of the head is broad and flat- tened; the cheeks are varied with blackish and yellow. This snake is supposed to be a native of the interior parts of Africa, and was obtained from the master of a Guinea vessel by the Rev. Edward Jenkins of Charleston, South Carolina, by whom it was lately presented to the British Museum.
THE ANACONDA OF THE EAST-INDIES.
*
An account of this dreadful serpent is taken from the letter of a gentleman who resided in the Indies many years where he saw it.
Sib, * I HAVE an account to give you here, which must startle you;
bat be assured, sir, I shall aggravate no circumstance, but merely
tell you what myself and more than a hundred others saw, for
two whole days together. Some years since, the commands of my directors carrying me
toCeylon, to transact an affair of no little consequence, 1 had an
rrtment prepared me on the skirts of tlie principal town facing woods : at some distance from my window there stood some large palm-trees, that afforded me a delightful prospect.
One morning, as I was looking at these trees, I saw, as I thought, a large arm of one of them in strange commotions, bend- ing and twisting about, though there was no wind, and often striking one end to the earth and raising it again, and losing it among the leaves. I was gazing at this with great amazement, when a Ceyloneze coming in, I begged him to look and wonder with me : he looked, sir, and he was much more amazed and ter- rified than I ; in short a paleness overspread his face, and lie seemed almost sinking to the earth with terror.
He begged me to bar up all my doors ; then told me, that what appeared an arm of a tree to me, was in reality a serpent of that monstrous size divertiug itself there with its various commotions, and now and then darting down to the earth for its prey.
I soon found out the truth of what he told ine ; and looking more nearly, saw it seize a small animal before me and take it up into the tree.
Inquiring after this miracle, the Ce v lonexe told me that the won- der was only that (he creature w as so near us, for that it was a serpent but too well known on the island ; but that it usually kept in the inland parts of the woods, where it often dropped down from the covert of a large tree, and devoured a traveller aliVfcw
28
The tVondeis of
A relation so strange as this could never have gaiaed credit with me, but that 1 actually saw the creature, from its site, capa- ble of doing more than was related.
It continued diverting itself till we assembled a body of twelve of us, to go on horseback well armed to destroy him.
We rode near the place,. but not to expose ourselves to danger we rode behind a thicket from whence we might unseen level our fire-arms at him ; but when we arrived there, we found him so much larger than we had conceived, that we wished ourselves at borne again ; and for along time we dared not fire.
We bad now time to observe the creature ; and believe me," sir, all the descriptions of monsters of this kind hitherto given are trifles to what we saw in him. The Ceylonexe all declared he was mudti larger than any they had ever seen, and such a jfliixture^f horror and beauty together, no eye but that which saw it can conceive.
The creature was more than as thick as a slender man's waist, yet seemed far from fat, and very long in proportion to his thick- ness ; often hanging himself by the tail from the highest boughs of the tree, and reaching the ground with his head. He was sur-
Sisingly nimble, and was now diverting himself in the heat of the y with a thousand gambols round the branches of the tree, and would sometimes come down and twist his tail round the bottom of the trunk, throwing himself to his whole length all around it. In the midst of one of these gambols, we were surprised to see him, all of a sudden, spring up into the tree; but the cause soon appeared an animal of the fox kind, which the serpent had seen, coming towards him, he took this way to be prepared for him. He darted down upon the unweary creature, and sucked him in in a few minutes, then licked his chops with a broad double tongue of a blackish colour, and laid himself at his ease at length upon the ground ; but with his tail still twisted round the tree.
In this posture I had an opportunity with horror, yet with ad- miration, to behold him. .He was covered with scales like a cro- codile ; his head was green, with a large black spot in the mid- dle, and yellow streaks round the jaws ; he had a yellow circle of a gold colour round his neck, and behind that another great spot of black. His sides were of an olive colour, and his back more beautiful than can be described : his head was very flat, but extremely broad, and his eyes monstrously large and very bright and terrible. — When he moved about in the sun he was, if possible, a thousand times more beautiful than before, the colour according to the several shades of light presenting a vast variety of colours, hi many places looking like our changable colours in silk.
JVatttre and Pro vide act .
Wc all aimed our pieces at him as he lay, and fired at his head all at once ; but whether he accidentally moved just at that time, or our fears made us take bad aim, we either missed him or never hurt him, for he took no notice of it: and after a council of war, we all agreed to make no farther attempt upon him at that time, but to go home, and return with a stronger party tY\e next day.
The Cyloneze seemed to know the creature well ; they call- ed it Anaconda, and talked of eating its flesh when they caught it, as they had no small hopes of this : for, they say, when one of these creatures chooses a tree for its dwelling, he seldom quits it for a long time.
I detained my company to dine with me, and the afternoon was spent in relating the amazing things which one or other of the company bad seen of this sort of monster ; in short, they told abundance of things that far outwent my credulity j but what we saw the next day, as much exceeded all they had told me, as what they told seemed to exceed truth and probability.
It seems the custom of this creature to lay wait for its prey is, by hiding in the boughs of large trees, from whence it unexpect- edly drops upon the creature, which is seized before it sees an enemy ; but the instance we saw of this, I must relate to you.
The next morning, sir, we assemble^ to the number of 100, at the same thicket, where we had the pleasure (if 1 dare call it so,) to find our enemy at his old post. He seemed very fierce and very hungry this morning, and we soon saw the effects of it.
There are great plenty of tygers in that country; one of these, of a monstrous size, not less than a common heifer, as he went -along, came at length under the serpent's tree ; in a moment we heard a dreadful rustling in the tree, and swift as thought the serpent dropped upon him, seizing him across the back, a little below the shoulders, with his horrible mouth, and taking in a piece of the back bigger than a man's head ; the creature roared with agony, and to our unspeakable terror, was running with his enemy toward us ; his course however was soon .stopped, for the nimble adversary winding his body three or four times round the body of his prey, girded him so violently, that he soon fell down in an agony. The moment the serpent had fixed his folds, he let go the back of the creature, and raising and twisting round the head, opened its horrid mouth to its full extent, and seized the whole face of the tyger in it, biting and grinding him in a most horrible manner, and at once choaking him and tearing him to pieces.
The tyger reared up again on this, and words are too poor to paint his seeming agony ; he writhed and tossed about, but all in vain, the enemy wherever he went was with him. and his hollow
'30
The Wonder* 6}
roaring from within the devourcr's mouth was dreadful beyond expression.
I was for firing on tlje creature in (his state, but they all de- clared against it j they told me, they knew his customs so well, that they were now very sure of him without any trouble or hazard, if they left him alone ; but if they disturbed him in this condition, he would bo so outrageous, that several of our lives would assuredly pay the forfeit. They seemed to know so well what they were about, that I readily acquiesced.
Several of us spent the whole day in observing this sight ; and surely the agonies of the tyger were beyond all that can be con- ceived, and his death more horrid than a thousand other deaths with all their tortures put together.
The tyger was a strong and fierce creature, and though unable tO hurt or get rid of its cruel enemy, yet gave him a world of trouble ; a hundred times would he rear up and run a little way, but soon fell down again, partly oppressed by the weight, and partly by the writhed twists of the serpent round his body ; but though he fell, he was far from being conquered.
After some hours he seemed much spent, and lay as if dead ; and the serpent, who had many times girted himself violently round him, attempting to break his bones, but in vain, now let go his hold, and twisting his tail round the tyger's neck, whowa* now in no condition either to resist or escape, he made towards the tree, dragging with some pains the tyger after him.
Nature, it seems, informs this animal, that though it can con- quer such large creatures as these, it can by no means devour them as they are, since their bodies are too thick for his swallow, and he must therefore break their bones, and reduce them to a soft mass, before he can manage them. This he usually does, as we saw him attempt it on the tyger, by getting his body very firmly and hard round them, by this means crushing them to pieces ; but when this method will not do, he has recourse to the tree, as we now had an opportunity to observe. He dragged the tyger by degrees after him to the tree, and the creature being almost dead, unable to stand, he seized him lightly a secoud time by the back, and sethim on his legs against the trunk of the tree, • then immediately winding his body round both the tyger and the tree several times, he girted both Svith all his violence, till the ribs and other bones began to give way, and by repeated attempts of this kind, he broke all the ribs and legs in four or five different places ; this took up several hours, and the poor creature all this while was living, and at every crack of the bones gave a howl, though not loud, yet piteous enough to pierce the cruellest heart, and make even man forget hi? natural hatred to its species, and pity its misery.
Nature and PrQcidence.
31
Alter the legs and rib?, the snnke attacked the skull in the same manner, but this proved so difficult a task, that the monster, tired with fatigue, and seeing his prey inno condition of escaping, left him for the night at the foot of the tree, and retired into it himself to rest ; upon which we went home, and I must assure you, I could not sleep for the poor tyger, who was naturally so strong, that we left him still alive, though mangled in this miserable manner.
In the morning I returned with several others to the thicket ; but as we rode up, we saw a strange change ; the body of the ty- ger, which we now saw no longer to be known as such, but look- ed like a red lump of shapeless matter, was dragged to some dis- tance from the tree, and shone all over as covered with glue or jelly ; when we arrived, we saw plainly the meaning of this, the snake fras yet busied about it. He had laid his legs one by one close to the body, and was now placing the head straight before and licking the body (which had no remaining shape of one) and covering it with its slaver, which was what gave it that shiny look, coating it over like a jelly, and rendering it (it for swallowing; and having prepared it to his mind, seized the head, and began to suck that, and afterwards the body into his throat. This was a work of so much time, that I left him struggling at the shoulder*, when I went home to dinner, and by the account of those that stayed to watch him, it was night before he got it all in.
Next morning we assembled for the last time, and the very women and children followed us, assuring us, that as the prey was gorged, there was no danger. I could by no means conceive the meaning of this, till I came to the place, but then I found it very true; the serpent had so loaded his belly, that he could neither fight, nor run away.
He attempted on our approach to climb the tree, but in vain, and was soon knocked on the head with staves.
We measured him, and his length was thirty-three feet four in- ches. He was soon cut up, and I assure you, sir, afforded a flesh whiter than veal, and, as they said that ate of it, finer tasted than any flesh whatever.
I hope the curious nature of this account will plead pardon for its length; and am with great wishes of success to yon, worthy sir, your very humble servent.
Those blooming [ndian wilds t\w Anaconda'? Lom<», Where tv^ers now! and drendfu! rerrrnf* ruam ; Where* terrors crowl Jthfrgiuuml. «r'd wau h to se:/v. And snaky hidras plunging from the trees; Fn every blooming thuds some lurid* n 'ieath retid^s, And from the ciTern drear, foinc monster £lid*«. Not «o America, thy li< a!tli«*ul wood* and glen?, i.i) «iirhmir.»f».-:'''' n *mv hi!!« nor n!nm*
32
The Wonder* of
MONSTROUS SERPENT OF THE OCEAN.
Jin account of the Halcydrus Ponioppidani, or enormous Sea Ser- pent. By Mr. George Dermot.
[Meth. Mag. 3rd vol.]
<lThe works of the Lord are great, sought out of all tlicm that have pleasure therein," sahh the prophet of the most High ; and as the most insignificant particle of organized matter dis- plays the glorious wisdom and power of its Author, far beyond the brightest orb of universal light, the more perfectly we con- sider the animated creation, the more we shall adore the Great First Cause of all being and vitality ; for matter only exists for the sake of intelligent beings, and we should "search it out" in the spirit of the Psalmist.
Useful information in the great volume of nature is still want- ing, after all our scientific researches; and every fresh acquisi- tion to our stock of facts in natural history, and other branches of useful science, is to be valued.
The current accounts of a monstrous sea-snake, repeatedly seen by many sea-faring persons on the North American coast, has disposed me to present you with a variety of memorandums on the same curious subject. These were collected some years ago, from the only documents, I believe, that the world has yet been favoured with.
This animal has hitherto been supposed to be peculiar to the Norwegian and Greenland seas ; but as it is now proved that it may be met with in other latitudes also, we may hope, that in this age of improvements, we shall not long be without a specimen of the animal itself, by some providential or enterprising achieve- ment, to enrich the department of Natural History.
At a meeting of the Wernerian Natural History Society, in the year 1808, Mr. P. Neill read an account of a great Sea Snake, lately cast ashore in Orkney, This curious animal, it appears, was stranded in Rotsholm Bay, in the island of Stronsa, North Scotland. Malcom Laing, Esq. M. P. being in Orkney at this time communicated the circumstance to his brother Gilbert Laing, Esq. Advocate at Edinburgh. Through this authentic chan- nel Mr. Neill received his information.
The body measured fifty-five feet in length, and the circumfer- ence of the thickest part might be equal to the girth of an Orkney poney. The head was not larger than that of a seal, and was furnished with two blow-holes, such as whales have. From the Hack, a number of filaments (resembling in texture the fishing tao
JVofttre and PrwHtnct.
33
kk, known by the name of the silk-worm-gut) hung down like a mane. On each side of the body were three large fins shaped like paws and jointed. The body was knocked in pieces by a tempest, but the fragments have been collected by Mr. Laing, and are to be transmitted to the Museum at Edinburgh. Mr. Neill concluded with remarking, that no doubt could be enter- tained that this was the very animal described by Ramus, Egede and Pontoppedam, but which scientific and Systematic natural- ists had been induced hitherto to reject as spurious and ideal. Such was the account then laid before the public, and it was ad- ded, "We confidently hope that the particulars of this event will appear at full in the transactions of the Wernerian Society, when published." In the mean time, we add that another letter has appeared in print, in confirmation of the above account, and con- taining some additional information, viz. that as its tail seemed to have been broken by dashing against the rocks, it is calculated to have been sixty feet in the whole. The first pair of fts fins were five feet and a half long, with a joint at the distance of four feet from the body. As the tempest had beat the carcase to pieces before men and ropes couldVbo collected, only a fragment, about five feet of the back bone, and a whole paw are preserved.
y hese accounts are completely in conformity to what had been already communicated by writers on Natural History; and they happily vindicate the veracity of such writers, who because they have related instances of rare occurrence, have been treated as persons incapable of just discernment, if not as immoral men, at- tempting to impose on their readers fiction instead of truth. What was then published on this subject is supported by the following testimony, which was inserted in a periodical publication of great celebrity, a short time afterwards, and that in consequence of diligent inquiry being made.
" The particular's recorded concerning the great Sea Serpent are perfectly correct, and I beg leave to complete the account by the addition of the following particulars : — The specimen was examined by Mr. George Shearer, tenant of Rothsholm, who ac- tually measured the parts and found the length of them fifty-five feet, and judged it might be, when perfect, sixty feet. The ta- pering towards the tail was gradual, the distance in length be- tween the paws was about twelve feet; the paws appeared well adapted to the purpose of enabling the creature to fix it- self strongly to the rocks ; the mane from the head down the hack was silver-coloured eighteen inches in length, and, when dry> of the appearance of cat-gut ; the spout-holes Were in the back part of the head, or in the neck" ; the vertebrae of the back-bone were numerous. Some of these have now been re- ceived*i Edinburgh, and laid before the Wernerian Society.
5
34
The Wonders
T&eir structure is extremely curious and uncommon, evidently intended to accommodate a mode of life, of which we have lit- tle knowledge. It is understood that the head is saved, as well as one of the fins or paws. The whole has been presented to the Museum of the University of Edinburgh, by Gilbert Meason, Bsq. on whose estate it came ashore. The Literati of Edin- burgh have named it Halsydms Pontoppidani, (from the Greek fob, sea, and hydros, water-snake.) This creature has been the subject of poetical description. Mr. Scott's " Minstrelsy of the Scottish border," vol. iii. contains the following refer- ence to it in the Mermaid, a poem by J. Leyden.
" Stan, OShun, the gvlph profound,
Where Corriunckin's surge* roar, â–
If Irani that anbottom'd deep,
With wrinkled form and writhed train,
O'er the verge of Scarbia's steep,
The'Ssa tnak* heaves his snowy mane,
Unwarp, anwind bit cosy coils,
Sea men sisters of the main !
And in the rnlph where ocean boils,
TV unwielding wallowing monster chain."
It is possible that the poet might have seen the creature alive, which may account for the bold language he uses. — The. author- ities referred to certainly place the existence of this animal t>e~ yond all doubt. In Egede's journal of the Greenland mission, we find, that on the 6th day of July, 1734, a large and frightful sea monster raised itself so high out of the water, that its head reached above the main-top-mast of the ship ; that it had a long sharp snout, broad paws, and spouted water li ke a whale ; that the body seemed to be covered with scales, the skin was uneven and wrinkled, and the lower part was formed like a snake. It plung- ed itself backwards in the water, and then raised its tail above the surface a whole ship's length from the head. Its skin is smooth, Without wrinkle, of a dark-brown colour, speckled or variegated like tortoise-shell, and it is said to shed it annually, as others of the serpent tribe. That its sense of smelling is very acute, the fishermen conjecture from the circumstance of its avoiding the scent of castor y a quantity of which they, therefore, are said to provide themselves with, when they go out to fish in the summer ; and when they meet with the sea-snake they throw a small por- tion of it overboard. This huge animal is said to have sunk, or over-turned, many large vessels, and even to have raised itself up and snatched men out of boats. The fishermen practise dif- ferent methods of avoiding this calamity, besides the experiment of castor : they sometimes row full against those volumes of it t&at appear above water, or throw a light piece of wood upon it ; fli that case it dives immediately. Someti mes they tack about in
' S ^ *
Nature and Providence. 3A
order Co gain tbe sun, whos^ beams the eyes of this creature can- not bear ; but if they are near the shore they row into crtelu where they cannot be pursued. The excrement, or spawa, of this animal which floats upon the surface, like a viscid slime, is so corrosive, that if it should touch the hands of tbe fishermett they will be instantly blistered and inflamed. Tbe particulars related of this animal would be incredible, were they not attes- ted upon oath, and confirmed by many witnesses.
Egede informs us, that it had been seen by many hundreds of persons, mariners, fishermen, and otheis. In the year 1746, Captain Lawrence de Ferry, of Bergen, shot at a sea-snake, which immediately disappeared ; and when the boat was rowed near the place, tbe water appeared tinged with blood. The head of this animal, which it held at least two feet above the surface of the water, was of a greyish colour, and resembled the head of a horse. The mouth was very large and black, the eyes were of tbe same colour, and a long white mane bung down from its neck, and floated on the sea. Beside} the head, they saw seven or eight coils of this snake, about the distance of a fathom one from another.
In 1756, it is upon record, that another was shot at and wound- ed also, which is described as being of an enormous length from one hundred to two hundred yards, by the different beholders.
This Sea Serpent does not seem to be a creature prepared for carnage and devastation, and whether it may possess venom of any kind, probably was not examined by those who discovered it. We rather think it to be slow, languid, and quiet, like the whale, which it also resembles in its power of ejecting waters through its blow-holes.
THE SCORPION.
[From Calmet.']
Tbkre seems to be no doubt that the Hebrew word okrab. means a scorpion. The figure of this insect is submitted to in- spection above ;* but the history of it should be known, in order to understand justly the force of passages where it is mentioned. The reader will observe particularly its articulated tail, at the en i of which is its sting ; and its pincers, or claws, in front, like those of a lobster. " In the tropical climates it is a foot bi length. No animal in the creation seems endued with such art
• Tlw mi in the original, from which tb t was extracted, a p^ate of the tcorpiom to whitti ihb remark aflame
80
T*e Wonders of
irrucible nature. When taken, tfoey exert their utmost rage against the glass which contains them : will attempt to sting a stick, when put near them ; will sting animals confined with tbem, without provocation ; are the cruellest enemies to each other. Maupertius put 100 together in the same glass ; instant- ly they vented their rage in mutual destruction, universal car- nage ! in a few days only 14 remained, which had killed and de- voured all the others. It is even asserted, that when in extremi- ty or dispair, the scorpion will destroy itself. It is said to be a common experiment in Gibraltar, [and Goldsmith says he had been assured of such a fact, by many eye witnesses, ] to take a scorpion newly caught, and surrounding him with burning char- coal, when he perceives the impossibility of escaping, he stings himself on the back of the head, and instantly expires." Sure- ly Moses very properly mentions scorpions among the dangers of the wilderness ? Deut. viii. 1 5. And what shall we think of the hazardous situation of Ezekiel, who is said to dwell among scor- pions ; ehap. ii G. people as irrascible as this venomous insect. Could a fitter contrast be selected by our Lord, " will a father give a scorpion to his child instead of an egg ?" Luke xi. 12.
But the passage most descriptive of the scorpion is Rev. ix. 3. 4. 5. 10. which mentions, locusts, having power as scorpions; not to kill men, but to torment them, during five months, with , the torment of a scorpion, when he strikes a man : they had tails like scorpions, and stings ia their tails. Contrary to the nature of locusts, they were* not to destroy vegetation, but to infest men.
These particulars deserve our notice : 1st, These scorpions have the power of flying. The ancients certainly ranged an insect of some kind, as a flying scorpion. Lucian says, in the Dipsades, " There are two kinds of scorpions, one residing on the ground, large, having claws, and many articulations at the tail : the other flies in the air, and has inferior tangs, like locusts, beetles, and bats." Strabo, lib. xvi. reports " that in Maurita- nia, are round many flying scorpions ; others without wings." Scheuser mentions other testimonies. It is probable, therefore, that the ancients called that a "flying scorpion," which the moderns know under another name. 2dly, They did not hill men but only torment them. It is n6t every scorpion whose sting is fatal. In Europe they are seldom deadly, though al- ways dangerous. " In some of the towns in Italy, and in the south of France, it is one of the greatest pests that torments man- kind, yet its malignancy in Europe is trifling, compared to its powers in Africa and the East." Maupertius caused a dog to be stung ; it died : another dog did not die, though more severely Stung, in appearance : and it seems to be generally true, thai
Nature a-ni Prottidtnce.
37
the slings of the old ones are the most dangerous, and during the heat of summer : which agree with, 3dly, The Jive months of the apocalypse, that this was known to the ancients we have the evidence of Tertullian, who says, " The ordinary time of dan- ger is during the heats ; the winds of south and southwest, excite its Airy and Macrobius says, sat. lib. i. cap. 21. " The scor- pion slumbers during winter ; but when winter is over, its sting resumes its vigour, of which winter had not deprived it. 4thlyf As to the torment of a scorpion when he strikes a man, Dioco~ rides thus describes it, lib. vii. cap. 7. " When the scorpion has stung, the place becomes inflamed, and hardened ; it reddens by tention, and is painful by intervals, being now chilly, now burning. The pain soon rises high, and raqes, sometimes more, sometimes less. A sweating succeeds, attended by a shivering, and trembling; the extremities of the body become cold, the groin swells ; the bowels expel their wkid, the hair stands on end ; the members become pale, and the skin feels throughout . it the sensation of a perpetual pricking as if by needles :" such are the torments of a scorpion when he strikes a man ! 5thly, As to the formation of the tail, and the sting at its point, the reader is referred to the figure. It remains only to be observed, that the ancients had remarked tiiis particularity. So Julian Epig. on the heavenly signs.
Libra subit, caudaquc animal quoddirigit ictum
So speaks Hilasius :
Libraque iancg pari, et violent us acuminc catidae*
And to these we may add Eustbenius,
Momemtumque sequens, caudaquc timendas adnoca.
Upon the whole, we observe, that however metaphorical is the description of this depredator, by the apocalyptic writer, yet that the foundation of his description may readily be discovered, in nature.
OF APPARITIONS.
Cf apparitions in dreams, and how they are or are not real ap- paritions, with several curious relations.
There may be dreams without apparitions, as there may be apparitions without dreams ; but apparition in dream may be as really an apparition as if the person who saw it was awake :
The Wonders of
The difference may be here, that the apparition in a dream h visible to the soul only, for the soul never sleeps ; and an appa- rition to the eye-sight is visible in common perspective.
How is it then that we see in our dreams the very faces and dress of the person we dream of; nay, hear their voices, and re- ceive due impressions from what they say, and oftentimes speak to them with our own voices articulately and audibly, although we are fast asleep. What secret power of the imagination is able to represent ihe image of any person to itself, if there was not somfe appearance, something placed in the soul's view, by a secret but invisible hand, and in an imperceptible manner ? which something is, in all respects, and to all purposes, as com- pletely an apparition, as if it was placed in open sight when the person was really awake. — Deacon and lialker's Etiological Disquisitions on Spirits. 4to. 1611.
The Scripture confirms this opinion by many expressions di- rectly to the purpose, and particularly this of appearing, or ap- parition in dream. Gen. xx. 3. " God came to Abimelech in a dream ;" had it been said, that Abimelech dreamed that God came to him, there might have been some exception to the parallel > but God actually came to him ; and although Abime- lech was asleep, and in a dream, it was not the less an appari- tion, for God came to him, and spoke, and said to him : and in the 4th verse, Abimelech spoke to the apparition. Whatever the shape was, that the text floes not mention ; but Abimelech knew whom he talked with too, that's evident, for the text men- tions it fully : " And he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation ?" And so he goes on, verse the fifth, to expostulate and plead for himself and his people, " said he not unto me, she is my sister ?" so that he knew he was speaking to the Lord. The text is very remarkable ; it is plain that there was an appa- rition, but the man was asleep, and in a dream.
Again, in the case of Laban pursuing Jacob, Gen. xxxi. 24.
God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto liim." Here again is an apparition, and a speaking appa- rition too ; God came to him, and God spoke to him ; and La- ban owns, not that he dreamed of God's appearing, but that God really spoke to him, ver. 29. " The God of your father spake to me yesternight, saying."
Certainly dreams in those days were another kind of thing than they are now. God spoke to them, and they answered ; and when they were awake, they knew that it was God that spoke, and gave heed to the vision or apparition of God to thert).
There are many more instances of the like in the sacred his- tory ; as, first, in the remarkable case of king Solomon, 1 Kings,
Nature and Providence.
39
iii. 5. u The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, ask what I shall give thee."
This is called in the scripture, a dream, ver. 15. " And Solo- moo awoke, and behold it was a dream ;" and yei it is all con- firmed ; and the petition that Solomon made, though in his sleep, or dream is accepted and answered as his real act and deed, as if be bad been awake.
T&at passage of Solomon is very remarkable to the case in hand. If my readers please to believe that there was such a man as Solomon, and that he had such a dream ; they must al- low also that it was a real apparition, God appeared to him in a dream.
To bring it down a step lower ; as God has thus personally appeared to men in dreams, so have inferior spirits, and we have examples of this too in the scripture; Matt. i. 20. " While he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream." And again, Matt. ii. 13. Behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph in a dream saying ilL And a* third time it is repeated : " The angel came again to him in Egypt,"' ver. 19 of the same chapter: When Herod was dead, " Behold an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt."
1 will for once suppose, that no man need desire any farther evidence than these, for the relation of the thing itself ; we may bring it down from hence, by just parallels, to matters within our own reach ; experience will furnish us with particular passages sufficient ; and some account I shall give you within the com- pass of our own time?, such as come within the Aerge of my own knowledge, or of the knowledge of such as I have good reason to give credit to. I believe a variety will be acceptable, and much more useful than a bare repeati g of what others have said. If I find it needful to quote what others have published, you shall have it justly marked as a quotation, that you may search for the truth in its original.
Before I come to quotation, or to collection of story, 'tis need- ful to observe, that as it has pleased God to appear in this man- ner, and to cause angels to appear also in the same manner, and upon special occasions, so 1 make no question but the devil often appears in dreams too ; and I might give but too many exam- ples of it, as particularly one in the scripture.
It is apparent that God gave Satan a kind of general license to afflict Job, only not to kill him : with such a terrible commission, it might be expected that the devil would fall upon him with the utmost fury he was capable of, or allowed to take ; he ruined his fortunes, reduced him to misery, murdered his chiT&ren, tor- mented him with boils and sores : in short, left him nothing but
•40
The Wilder* of
potsherds, and an ill wife to relieve him : as he had worried hinrr Co use a modern phrase, within an inch of his life, he followed him in the night with apparition, lest he should recruit nature with rest, and be a little refreshed with sleep. Job himself complains of it, Job. vii. 14. " Thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me with visions." Not that God appeared to Job in any frightful or terrible form ; but the devil; to whom God was pleased to give a liberty of afflicting Job, took that liberty, and exerted his malice to the utmost of his power. We are not indeed told what methods the devil took to scare and terrify that poor distressed sufferer ; but as he can shew us nothing uglier, and more frightful than himself, so it is very likely he appeared to him in person, and that in the most surprising manner possible, with all the circumstances of horror that he was able. But to pursue my subject :
The great and perhaps one of the greatest difficulties of life, I mean that relates to dreams, is to distinguish between such a* are real apparitions, and such as are only the product of an in- cumbered brain, a c^stempered head, or, which is worse* a dis- tempered mind : but se me dreams are so insignificant, that there follows such an immediate visible effect, answering the designed illumination, that it cannot but be significant. — Beaumont on Spirits*
The following story I had from the mouth of the very person who was chiefly concerned in it. I mean the captain of the ship itself.
One Captain Thomas Rodgers, commander of a ship called the Society, was bound on a voyage from London to Virginia, about the year 1694.
The ship was hired in London, and being sent light, as they call it, to Virginia, for a loading of tobacco, had not many goods in her outward bound, suppose about two or three hundred ton, which was not counted a loading, or indeed half her loading; the ship being vtery large, about five hundred tons burden.
They had a pretty good passage, and the day before had had an observation, whereupon the mates and proper officers had brought their books and cast up the reckonings with the cap- tain, to see how near they were to the coasts of America ; they all agreed that they were at least about an hundred leagues dis- tant from the capes of Virginia. Upon thes% customary reckon- ings, and withal heaving the lead, and finding no ground at an hundred fathoms, they set the watch, and the captain turned in (as they call it at sea,) that is, went to bed.
The weather was good, a moderate gale of wind, and blowing fair for the coast; so that the ship might have run about twelve or fifteen leagues in the niirht, after the captain was in the cabin.
Natune arid Prxwidertte*
He fell asleep, and slept very soundly for about three hour*; when he awaked again, and lay till he heard his second mate turn oat, and relieve the watch ; and then he called his chief mater as he was going off from the watch, and asked him bow all things fared : who answered, that all was well, and the gale freshened, and they run at a great rate ; but it was a fair wind, and a fine clear night; so the captain went to sleep again.
About an hour after he had been asleep again, he dreamed that a man pulled him, or waked him, and he did wake. I am not sure but I think he said, the thing that waked him, bade him get up, that is, turn out and look abroad. But whether it was so or no, he lay still and composed himself to sleep, and was suddenly awaked again, and thus several times; and though he knew not what was the reason, yet he found it was impossible for him to go to sleep : and still he heard the vision say, or thought he heard it say, turn out and look abroad.
He lay in this uneasiness near two hours; but at last it in- creased so upon him, that he could lie no longer, but got up, put on his watch gown, and comes out upon the quarter deck; there he found his second mate walking about, and the boatswain upon the fore-castle, the night fine and clear, a fair wind, and all well as before.
The mate wondering to see him, at first did not know him but calling, Who's there? the captain answered, and the mate returns, Who, the captain ! what's the matter, Sir ?
Says the captain, I don't know ; but I have been very uneasy these two hours, and some body, or my own fancy, bid me turn out, and look abroad, though I know not what can be the mean- ing of it.
There can be nothing in it, but some dream, says the mate.
Says the captain, How does the ship cape?
South-west by South, says the mate; fair for the coast, and the wind east by north.
That's all very good, says the captain ; and so aftcx some other usual questions, he turned about to go back to his cabin ; when, as if it had been somebody that stood by him had spoke, it came into his mind like a voice, " Heave the lead, heave the lead.*
Upon this he turns again to his second mate: Mate, says the captain, when did you heave the lead ? what water had you?
About an hour ago, says the mate sixty fathom.
Heave again, says the captain.
There's no matter of occasion, sir, says the mate; but if you please it shall be done.
I dont know says the captain, 'tis needless indeed, I think, and so was going away again; but was, as it were, forced to turn back as before, and savs to the mate, I know not what ails me,
G
42
The Wonders of
but I cannot be easy; come, call a hand aft and heave the lead.
Accordingly a hand was called, and the lead being cast or heaved, as they call it, they had ground at eleven fathom.
This surprised them all, but much more when at the next cast it came up seven fathom.
Upoifcthis the captain in a fright bade them put the helm a-lee, and about ship, all hands being ordered to back the sails, as is usual in such cases.
The proper orders being obeyed, the ship stayed presently, and came about; and when she was about, before the sails filled, she had but four fathoms and a half water under her stern ; as soon as she filled and stood off, they had seven fathoms again, and at the next cast. eleven fathom, and so on to twenty fathom; so she stood off to seaward all the rest of the watch, to get into deep water, till day-break, when being a clear morning, there were the capes of Virginia, and all the coast of America in fair view under their stern, and but a few leagues distance : had they stood on but one cable's length farther, as they were going, they had been bump a-shore, (so the sailors call it) and had certainly lost their ship, if not their lives.
Now, what could this be ? Not the devil, that wc may vouch for him ; he would hardly be guilty of doing so much good ; hardly an angel sent from heaven express, that we dare not pre- sume ; but that it was the work of a waking providence, by some invisible agent employed for that occasion, who took sleep from the captain's eyes ; as once, in a case of infinitely more impor- tance, was done to king Ahasuerus. This we may conclude, had the captain slept as usual, and as nature required, they had been all lost ; the shore being fiat at a great distance, and, as I sup- pose, the tide low, the ship had been a-ground in an instant, and the sea, which runs high, would have broke over her, and soon have dashed her in pieces.
How it happened that the mates and other navigators on board, should all of them have kept, and yet all be out in their reckon- ing, and that so much as to think themselves an hundred leagues from the coast, when they were not above twenty or twenty-five, that was to be accounted for among themselves ; but certain it was that if it had not been for thus being alarmed in the night, the whole ship's company might probably have been lost.
If this was not an apparition, it must be what the scripture calls it, in another case, being warned of God in a dream, which by the way is the samo thing ; but here was something more than being warned, for the captain owned he was in no dream : he dreamed nothing at all, much less any thing of danger; he went to his bed or cabin, with all the prudent caution that any man in
Wqlare and Providence*
43
that important trust of a ship in the ocean could do ; and then, after having made their calculations, cast up their reckonings, set their watch, and made every tiling sure, he laid down with all the satisfaction that it was possible for any man in a like case to have.
I come now to another relation of fact, which also I take upon me to vouch the reality of, having been present at the very in- stant of every part of it.
A person, says Dr. Beaumont, whose name it is not so proper to mention here, but who may be produced if there should be occasion, being still living, that was under the disaster, a few years ago, to fall under a party censure, (the occasion is needless to the present case.) In hopes, upon the recess of the House, which was not far off, he should (as usual) be at liberty, he with- drew himself, and avoided being taken up as much as he could; but the House resenting it, a vote was passed, ordering the sec- retary of state to prosecute him at law : this obliged him to re- solve to leave the kingdom, and in the mean time to conceal himself with more exactness ; the government having issued out a proclamation for apprehending him, with a reward to the per- son who should discover where he was, so as he might be ta- ken.
In order to conceal himself more effectually, he left his lodging where he had been hid for some time ; and removed to Barnet, on the edge of Hertfordshire ; intending as soon as he had settled some family affairs, to go away north, into Scotland ; but before he went away, he was obliged to come once more to London, to sign some writings for the securing some estate, which it was feared might be seized by outlaw, if the prosecution had gone on so far.
The night before lie had appointed to come to London, as
above, being in bed with one Mr. R D , he dreamed
that he was in his lodgings in London, where he had been con- cealed as above, and in his dream he saw two men come to the door who said they were messengers, and produced a warrant from the secretary of state to apprehend him, and that accord- ingly they seized upon and took him.
The vision surprised and waked him, and he waked Mr.
D , his brother-in-law, who was in bed with him, and told
him the dream, and what a surprise he was in about it. Mr.
D , seeing it was but a dream, advised him to give no
keed to it, but compose himself, and go to sleep again ; which he did.
As soon as he was fast asleep again, he was waked with the same dream exactly as before ; and he waked his brother again, as before i this disturbed them both very much ; but being heavy
44
'E£f fynnjlzte of
to sleep, they both went to sleep again, and dreamed no more. It is to be observed, thathe saw the very men that apprehended him, their countenances," clothes, weapons, &c. and described them in the morning to his said brother D in all the par- ticulars.
However, the call to go to London being as he thought ur- gent, he got ready in the morning to set off, resolving to stay but one day, and then set forward for Scotland. Accordingly, he went for London in the morning, and, that he might not be known, walked it on foot ; that so he might go by more private ways over Enfield Chase, and so to Southgate, Hornsey, fcc.
All the way he walked, his mind was, heavy and oppressed, and he frequently said to his brother, who walked with him, that he was certain he was going to London to be surprised ; and so strong was the foreboding impression upon his mind, that he, once stopt at Hornsey, and endeavoured to get a lodging, in- tending to send his brother to London, to see if any thing had happened there, and to give him notice. <
As he had just secured a convenient lodging, he accidentally saw a gentleman standing at the next door, whom he knew very well, but durst not venture to trust on that occasion ; and finding on enquiry that he dwelt there, he concluded that was no place for him, and so resolved to go forward.
The impression on his mind continuing, he stopt again at Islington, and endeavoured to get a lodging there, but could not ; at length, his brother brought him word he could not get a lodg- ing, except where it was too public. Well, says he, then 1 must go to London, and take what follows, or to that purpose ; and accordingly went, and the next morning was taken by the mes- sengers, just in the very manner as he had been told in his dream ; and the very same two men, whose faces he had seen, and with the same clothes on, and weapons, exactly as he had described.
This story I had from his own mouth, and confirmed by Mr.
R D , his brother-in-law, to whom he related his
vision at the very moment of it as above.
I refer it to any impartial judgment, to weigh every circum- stance of this account, (the truth of which I have not the least reason to question,) and to tell me, by what powers, and from what influence, could these things be performed, if there were no invisible world, and no inhabitants there who concerned themselves with our affairs ? no good spirits which conversed with our embodied spirits, and gave us due intelligence, notice, and warning of our approaching danger.
If there is any difficulty in this case, it seems to me to be in the event of the thing, as in the case mentioned : why was not the intelligence made so complete, so forcible, and the irapres-
JVature and Providence.
ston so plain, that the person in whose favour it was all done, might have been effectually alarmed, his going forward stopt, and consequently the mischief which was at hand, and which he had the notice of, effectually prevented ?
It is not indeed so easy to answer that part ; but it may be resolved into this, that the fault seems to be our own, that we do not give due attention to such notice, as might be sufficient to our deliverance.
Thus, if the invisible spirits give a due alarm, they do their part, if they jog us and awaken us in a deep sleep, and pull us again and again, and give us notice that something is coming, that some danger is at the door ; if we still sleep on till it comes, if we will go on, happen whatever may, the kind spirit has done its duty, discharged its office, and if we fall into the mischief, the fault is our own, we can by no means blame the insufficiency of the notice, and say, to what purpose is it f seeing we had due and timely warning, but would not take the hint ; we had due notice of the danger, and would not step out of the way to avoid it, the fault is wholly our own.
An account of apparitions and supernatural appearances, whicli were seen round about the city of Jerusalem^just previous to its overthrow by the Romans; as given by Jwsephus, the Jewish historian.
Our Lord said in reference to the ruin of that nation — " And fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven."
1 . He says ; " On the 8th of the month Zanthicus, (before the feast of unleavened bread,) at the ninth hour of the night, there shone round about the altar, and the circumjacent buildings of the temple, a light equal to the brightness of the day ; which continued for the space of half an hour."
2. " About the sixth hour of the night, (says Josephus,) the eastern gate of the temple was found to open without human as- sistance." This gate was of solid brass ; and so large and heavy, as to require twenty men to close it. And Josephus says, " it was secured by iron bolts and bars, that were let down into a large threshold consisting of one entire stone." The Jews themselves concluded, from the miraculous nature of this event, that the security of their temple had fled. When the procura- tor was informed of this event, he sent a band of men to close the door ; who with great difficulty executed their orders.
3. Again, the same celebrated Jewish author says ; '* At a
The. Wonder* vj
subsequent feast of Pentecost, while the priests were going by night into the inner temple, to perform their customary ministra- tions, they first felt, (as they said) a shaking, accompanied by an indistinct murmuring ; and afterwards voices as of a multitude, saying in a distinct and earnest manner : " Let us depart hence." How striking was this miraculous premonition. It commenced with a shaking; to call and fix the attention of the Jewish priests. Then was heard an indistinct murmur. This would make them listen with all possible heed. Theu they hoard the distinct voices, as of a multitude in great earnestness and haste ; — " Let us depart hence P' And their last fatal war with the Romans commenced Ijefore the next season for celebrating this feast.
4. Another sign was the following. The same author says : " A meteor resembling a sword hung over Jerusalem, during one whole year." This could not have been a comet, for it was stationary a whole year, and seems from the words of Josephus, to have been much nearer than a comet, and appeared to be appropriated to that city. This reminds one of the sword of the destroying angel, stretched out over Jerusalem, 1 Chro. xxi. 16. This stationary position of the sword for a year, was a lively indication that the impending ruin was fatal.
5. Josephus says again : " As the high priests were leading a heifer to the altar Jj) be sacrificed, she brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple." Most striking rebuke to those infidel priests who had rejected the lamb of God, who had shed his blood once for all, and abrogate the Levitical sacrifices ; which yet they were impiously continuing. This wonder was exhib- ited in the temple, the type of the body of Christ, and at the passover, when at a preceding passovcr Jesus was arrested and sacrificed ; and it took place before the high priests and their at- tendants ; so that they could never cortiplain for want of evi- dence of the fact.
0. This author says Soon after the feast of the passover. in various parts of the country, before the sotting of the sun, chariots and armed men were seen in the air passing round about Jerusalem :" This strange sight occurring before sunset, and being seen in various parts of the country, must have been a miraculous portent ; a sign from heaven. The Jews had said, "what sign showest thou, that we may see and believe." Now thry had their signs in abundance, yet they would not believe.
7. The last and most fearful sign Josephus relates ; that one Jesus, son of Ananus, a rustic of the lower class, appeared in the temple at the feast of tabernacles, and suddenly exclaimed, :vJ voice from the east — a voice from the west — a voice from the four winds — a voice t'tgainst Jcrnsnlnn and the temple — a rnirf
\*ture and Providence.
against the bridegrooms and the brides — a voice against the whole people /" These words he continued to exclaim through the streets of Jerusalem by day and by night, with no cessation (un- less what was needed for the support of nature) for seven years ! He commenced in the year 63, while the city was in peace and prosperity, and terminated his exclamations only in his death, amidst the horrors of the siege in the year 70. This strange thing, when it commenced, soon excited great attention : and this Jesus was brought before Albinus, the Roman governor, who interrogated him, but could obtain no answer except the continuation of his woes. He commanded him to be scourged, but to no effect. During times of festivals, this cry of his was peculiarly loud and urgent. After the commencement of the siege, he ascended the walls, and in a voice still more tremen- dous than ever, he exclaimed, " Wo, wo to this ciiy, this tempi*, and this people ."' And he then added,(for the first time for the seven years,) " Wo, wo to myself!" The words were no soon- er uttered, than a stone from a Roman machine without the walls, struck him dead on the spot !
Such were the signs in the heavens and in the earth, which Just preceded the destruction of Jerusalem. Several of them are recorded by Tacitus as well as by Josephus. The veracity of Josephus as a historian is probably allowed by all. Scaliger affirms that he deserves more credit as a writer, than all the Greek and Roman historians put together.
An Account of the commencement of the kingdom of Mexico, and by whom ; of remarkable incidents attendant on their journey- ings, until their establishment as suck. Also, some account of Montezuma the II. and ninth king of Mexico. Of the su- pernatural phenomenon, or presages of the overthrow and re- volution of his kingdom, by the Spaniards.
That region of country in South America, called New- Mexico, and more particularly the city, is the place at which -everal northern tribes of Indians arrived after wandering nearly forty years, and who came from a region of wilderness north of the gulf of California. The cause of their separation, and departure from their own people and country, arose very likely from some dispute or disaffection among their tribes. But they allege as a reason, something widely different from this, which we gather from their tradition of this affair, as recorded in their history.
Thero wa*. -ay thev, amoucr>t n> at the tim<* of our ']cpart»r<-
48
The Wottier* of
from the Aitecas (this was their former name) a person of great , authority called Huitziton, to whose opinion all paid great def- ference. This person exerted himself, though it is not known for what reason,to persuade his countrymen to change their coun- try, and while he was meditating on his purpose, he heard once, by accident, a little bird singing on the branches of a tree, whose notes imitated the Mexican word Tihui, which means, let us go. This appeared a favourable opportunity to obtain his wish of his countrymen. Taking, therefore, another respecta- ble person with him, he conducted him to that tree where the little bird used to sing, and thus addressed him : " Do you not " attend, my friend Tecpaltxin, to what this little bird says, " Tihui, Tihui, which it repeats every moment to us ; what can " it mean, but that we must leave this country and find ourselves " another ? Without doubt, it is the warning of some (secret " divinity who watches over our welfare : let us obey, therefore, " his voice, and not draw his anger upon us by a refusal " Tecpaltzin gave full assent to this interpretation, either from his opinion of the wisdom of Huitziton or because he was like- wise prepossessed with the same desire. Two persons, so re- spectable, having agreed in sentiment; they were not long in drawing the body of the nation over to their party.
Although we do not give credit to such an account, it does not however, appear altogether improbable ; as it is not difficult for a person who is reputed wise, to persuade an ignorant and a superstitious people, through motives of religion, to whatever he pleases.
Although we are far enough from believing that there was any supernatural communication through the voice of the bird, yet no doubt there was a bird whose voice in its chipper- ings, might resemble the Mexican word Tihui, and upon this the artful savage built his scheme of enterprise. Immediately departing at the voice of the bird to seek for themselves a king- dom in remoter forests. And accordingly after wandering ma- ny years, and passing over a tract of forest of more than one thousand miles, at length arrived at the vale of Mexico. Toch- .panecatl, lord of this city, received them with singular human- ity, and not contenting himself with granting them commodious dwellings, and regaling them plentifully ; but becoming attached to them from long and familiar intercourse, he demanded from the chiefs of the nation, some noble virgin for a wife to his son Ilhuitcad. The Mexicans obliged by such proofs of regard presented Tlacapantzin to him, who was soon after married to that illustrious youth ; and from them the Mexican kings de- fended.
At thi> place th« King whose name was Xolotl reviewed these
Mature an'd lkropidenvf.
tribes, and was pleased with their chiefs, and soon became uni- ted by reciprocal marriages; and nobly gave permission that they might locate themselves where they could. And accord- ingly they sought their dwellings amongst those native philan- thropists of the woods. Not many years, however, had elap- sed, before they began to manifest their native character of en- terprise, by depredations upon some of the neighbouring chieft. This raised against them many enemies, and drove them for a shelter and place of defence, to a mountain situated on the western shore of that lake, two miles distant from the site of the city of Mexico. Here they suffered for the space of seventeen years, a rigorous persecution, which drove them again for a more secure asylum to several Islands in the southern end pf the lake. Here they subsisted fifty years in perfect wretch- edness, living upon roots, berries, fish, and whatever they could fitld within those narrow limits of the Islands. Covering them- selves with a kind of large leaf, which grows plentifully in the lake/and living*in huts'made of reeds and rushes.
Bat from this place also they were driven, and enslaved by one of the petty kings, or chiefs of the country. After some years slavery, a war arose between two nations of that country, and the nation to whom the unfortunate Axtecas' were prisoners, were worsted in their engagement, and forced to call to their assistance the aid of their slaves. At which time, the fugitives Aztecas* proposed among themselves the following stratagem, in order to endeavour to please their lords by every effort of bra- very. Accordingly, they armed themselves with long stout staves, the points of which they hardened in the fire, not only to be used against the enemy, but to assist them in leaping from one bush to another if it should prove necessary, as, in fact, they had to combat in the water. They made themselves knives of itili, and targets or shields of reeds wove together. It was agreed among them, that they were not to employ themselves as it was usual in making prisoners, but to content themselves with cutting off an ear, and leaving the enemy without further hurt. With this disposition they went out to battle, and while the Colhuas and Xochimilcas, were engaged, either by land on the borders of the lake, or by water in their boats, the Mexi- cans rushed furiously on the enemy, assisted by their staves in the water ; cut off the ears of those whom they encountered, and put them in baskets which they carried for that purpose ; but when they could not effect this from the struggles of the enemy, they killed them, liy the assistance of the Mexicans., the Colhuas obtained so complete a victory that the Xochimil- cas not only abandoned the field, but afraid even to remain in their city, they took refuge in the mountain?.
&0. The Wonders of
This action having ended with so much glory, according lo the custom of those nations, the soldiers of the (J oil mas pre- sented themselves with their prisoners before their general ; as the bravery of the soldiers was not estimated by the number of enemies which were left dead on the field, b it of those who were made prisoners alive, and shewn to the general.
The Mexicans were likewise called upon to make the shew of their prisoners ; but not having a single one to present, as the only four which they had taken were kept concealed for a par- ticular purpose ; they were reproached as a cowardly race by the general, and the soldiers of the Colhuas. Then the Mexi- cans holding out their baskets full of ears, said, " Behold from u the number of ears which we present, yon may judge of the
number of prisoners we might have brought if we had inclin- " ed, but we were unwilling to lose time in binding them that 41 we might accelerate your victory " The Colluias remained 4 awed and abashed, and began to conceive apprehensions from .. the prudence as well as from the courage of their slaves.
The Mexicans or Afctecas, as they were then called, returned to their place of residence, and there erected an altar to their tutelary god ; but being desirous at the dedication of it to make an offering of something precious, they demanded something of their lord for that purpose. He senW them in disdain, in a dirty rag of coarse cloth, a vile dead bird, with certain filth a- bout it, which was carried by the priest of the Colhuas, who having laid it upon the altar without any salutation, retired. Whatever indignation the Mexicans felt from so unworthy an insult, reserving their revenge for another occasion, instead of such filth they placed upon the altar a knife of itzli, and an odoriferous herb. The day of consecration being arrived, the petty king of Colhua, and his nobility failed not to be present, not to do honour to the festival, but to make a mockery of his slaves. The Mexicans began this function with a solemn dance, in which they appeared in their best garments, and while the bystanders were most fixed in attention, they brought out the four Xochimilca prisoners, whom they had till then kept con- cealed, and after having made them dance a little, they sacrifi- ced them upon a stone, breaking their breast with the knife of itzli, and tearing out their heart, which, whilst yet warm and beating, they offered to their god.
This human sacrifice, the first of the kind which we know to have been made in that country, excited such horror in the Col- huas, that having returned instantly to Colhu acan, they deter- mined to dismiss slaves who were so cruel, and might in future become destructive to the state ; on which Coxcox, so was the petty lfitig named, sent orders to them to depart immediately
Aaiurc and Provide.nrx.
out of that district, and f$o wherever they might be most inclin- ed. The Mexicans/willingly accepted their discharge from sla- very, and directing their course towards the north, came to Acatzitzintlan, a place situated between two lakes, named af- terwards Mexkaltzinco, which name is almost the same with that of Mexico.
As soon as the Mexicans took possession of that place, they erected a temple for their god Huitzilopochtli. The consecra- tion of that sanctuary, although miserable, was not made without the effusion of human blood ; for a daring Mexican having gone out id quest of some animal for a sacrifice, he encountered with a Colhuan named Xomimitl ; after a few words, the feelings of national enmity, excited them to blows ; the Mexican was victor, and having bound his enemy carried him to his countrymen, who sacrificed him immediately, and with great jubilee presented his heart torn from his breast on the altar, exercising such cru- elty not more for the bloody worship of that false divinity, than the gratification of their revenge upon the Colhuas. Around the sanctuary they began to build their wretched huts of reeds and rushes, being destitute at the time of other materials. Such was the beginning of the city of Tenochtitlan, which in future times was to become the court of a great empire, and th$ largest and most beautiful city of the new world.
We will now give some account of Montezuma the II. but ninth king of the Mexicans; also the names of the kings be- fore him, and those who followed after him. History informs us, there were eleven kings of Mexico in succession. Their names were as follows : first,
Acainapitzin, I.
Huitzilihuitl, II.
Chimalpapoca, III.
Itzcoatl, IV.
Montezuma, V.
Axayacatl VI.
Tizoc, VII. Ahuitzolt, VIII.
Montezuma, IX.
Cuitlahuatzin, X. Quauhtemotzin, XI.
This last king was put to death by the soldiers of Cortez, by broiling him upon red hot coals of fire, endeavouring thereby, to extort from him some further account of treasures, hidden, as they imagined, by the poor suffering monarch. But he per- sisted in his silenee upon that subject, and died as a sacrifice up-
Ki ig of Mexico.
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The Frontiers of
on the bloody altar of avarice. At the time of the elevation of Montezuma, to the throne of Mexico, there was no heir to succeed the deceased monarch Ahuitzntl. Therefore the no- bles proceeded to the election of one of ti e grandsons of the royal house, and that election fell on Montezuma Xocoyatzin.
Besides the bravery which he had displayed in several battles, in which he held the post of general, he was likewise a priest, and much revered for his gravity, his circumspection, and re- ligion. He was a man of a taciturn temper, extremely delib- erate, not only in words, but also in his actions ; and whenever he spoke in the royal council, of which he was a member, he was listened to with respect. Notice of the election being sent to the two allied kings, they repaired instantly to the court to pay their compliments. Montezuma, being apprized of it, also retired to the temple, appearing to think himself unworthy of so much honour. The nobility went there to acquaint him with his being elected, and found him sweeping the pavement of the temple. He was conducted by a numerous attendance to the palace, where the electors, with due solemnity, intimated the election had fallen on him as the fitttn person to fill the throne of Mexico. From thence he returned to the temple to perform the usual ceremonies, and as soon as they were finished he re- ceived on the throne the homage of the nobility, and heard the congratulatory harangues of the orators.
Who then like the silly sycophants of courts more refined, poured forth their congratulatory speeches, both to their king and country. To the former, for his royal Majest)', wisdom, and benignity ; and to the latter for its singular happiness in having so glorious a prince for its ruler.
Montezuma heard these harangues with mucji attention, and was so greatly affected that he attempted three times to answer them, but could not from the interruption of the tears, which tlje secret pleasure he felt produced, and gave hira the appearance of much humility ; but, at last after checking his emotions, he replied in few words, declaring himself unworthy of the station to which he was exalted, and returning thanks to the orators for the praises which they bestowed on him ; and then returned to the temple to keep fast for four days, at the end of which he was re-conducted with great state to the royal palace.
But contrary to the hopes and natural expectations of his subjects, he proved to be a proud, cruel, libidinous, and luxu- rious king. All the servants of his palace consisted of persons of rank. Besides those who constantly lived in it, every morn- ing six hundred feudatory lords and nobles came to pay court to him. They passed the whole day in the anti-chamber, where none of tbeirservants were permitted to enter, conversing in a
Nature anU Providence.
low voice, and waiting the orders of their sovereign. The ser- vants who accompanied those lords, were so numerous as to occupy three small courts of the palace, and many waited in the streets. The women about the court were not less in number, including those of rank, servants, and slaves. All this numer- ous female tribe, lived shut up in a kind of seraglio, under the care of some noble matrons, who watched over their conduct ; as these kings were extremely jealous, and every piece of mis- conduct which happened in the palace, however slight, was se- verely punished. Of these women the king retained those who pleased bim ; the others he gave away, as a recompense for the services of his vassals. All the feudatories of the crown were obliged to reside for some months of the year, at the court ; and at their return to the states, to leave their sons or brothers behind them, as hostages, which the king demanded as a secu- rity for their fidelity ; on which account they required to keep honses in Mexico.
The forms and ceremonials introduced at court, were an- other effect of the despotism of Montezuma. No one could en- • ter the palace, either to serve the king, or to confer with him on any business, without pulling off his shoes and stockings at die gate. No person was allowed to appear before the king in any pompous dress, as it was deemed a want of respect to ma- jesty ; consequently the greatest lords, excepting the nearest re- lations of the king, stripped themselves of the rich dress which they wore, or at least covered it with one more ordinarv, to shew their humility before him. All persons on entering the hall of audience, and before speaking to the king, made three bows, saying at the first, lord ; at the second, my lord ; and at the third, great lord.* They spoke low, and with the head inclined, and received the answer which the king gave them by means of his secretaries, as attentively and humbly as if it had been the voice of an oracle. In taking leave, no person ever turned his back upon the throne.
The audience hall served also for his dining room. The table was a large pillow, and his seat a low chair. The table cloth, napkins, and towels were of cotten, but very fine, white, and always perfectly clean. The kitchen utensils were of the ear- then ware of Chohila ; but none of these things ever served him more than once, as immediately after he gave them to one of his nobles. The cups in which they prepared his chocolate, and oth- er drinks of the cocoa, were of gold, or some beautiful sea-shell, or naturally formed vessels curiously varnished. He had gold plate, but it was used only on certain festivals, in the temple. The
* The Mexican "words are, 'Unknot, lord ; AortaTocdf«*f my lord ; and ffhfttaloaA^ U real lord.
34
The Wonders of
uumber, and variety of dishes at his table amazed the Spaniards who saw them. The conqueror Cortez says, that they covered the floor of a great hall, and that there were dishes of every kind of game, fish, fruit, and herbs of that country. Three or four hundred noble youths carried this dinner in form ; present- ed it as soon as the king sat down to table, and immediately re- tired ; and that it might not grow cold, every dish was accom- panied with its chafing-dish. The king marked with a rod, which he had in his hand, the meats which he chose, and the rest were distributed among the nobles who were in the anti-cham- ber. Before he sat down, four of the most beautiful women of his seraglio, presented water to him to wash his hands, and con- tinued standing all the time of his dinner, together with six of his principal ministers, and his carver.
As soon as the king sat down to table, the carver shut the door of the hall, that none of the other nobles might see him eat. The ministers stood at a distance, and kept a profound silence, unless when they made answer to what the king said. The car- ver and the four women served the dishes to him. besides two others who brought him bread made of maize baked with eggs. He frequently heard music, during the time of his meal, and was entertained with the humorous sayings of some deformed men whom he kept out of mere state. He shewed much satisfaction in hearing them, and observed that amongst their jests, they fre- quently pronounced some important truth. When his dinner was over he took tobacco mixed with liquid amber, in a pipe, or reed beautifully varnished, and with the smoke of it put him- self to sleep.
After having slept a little, upon the same low chair he gave audience, and listened attentively to all that was communicated to him ; encouraged those who, from embarrassment, were un- able to speak to him, and answered every one by his ministers or secretaries. After giving audience, he was entertained with mu- sic, being much delighted with hearing the glorious actions of his ancestors sung. At other times he amused himself with see- ing various games played.
When he went abroad, he was carried on the shoulders of the nobles in a litter covered with a rich canopy, attended by a nu- merous retinue of courtiers ; and wherever he passed, every person stopped with their eyes shut, as if they feared to be daz- zled with the splendour of majesty. When he alighted from the litter to walk on foot, they spread carpets, that he might not touch the earth with his feet.
The grandeur and magnificence of his palaces, houses of plea- sure, woods, and gardens, were correspondent to this majesty. The palace of his usual residence was a vast edifice of stoin^
Nature mil Providence* •
55
and lime, which had twenty doors to the public square and streets ; three great courts, in one of which was a beautiful foun- tain, several halls, and more than a hundred chambers. Some of die apartments had walls of marble and other valuable kinds of stone. The beams were of cedar, cypress and other excellent woods, well finished and carved. Among the halls there was one so large, that, according to the testimony of an eye-witness of veracity, it could contain three thousand people. Besides this palace, he had others, both within and without the capital. In Mexico, besides the seraglio for his wives, there was lodging for all hit ministers and counsellors, and all the officers of his household .and court ; and also accommodation for foreign lords who arrived there, and particularly for the two allied kings.
Two houses in Mexico be appropriated to animals; the one for birds, which did not live by prey : the other for those of prey, quadrupeds, and reptiles. There were several chambers belonging to the first, and galleries supported on pillars of mar- ble, all of one piece. These galleries looked towards a garden, where, in the midst of some shrubbery, ten fish-ponds were for- med, some of them of fresh water for the aquatic birds of rivers, and others of salt water for those of the sea.
In other parts of the house were all sorts of birds, in such number and variety, as to strike the Spaniards with wonder, who could not believe there was any species in the world wan- ting to the collection. They were supplied with the same food which they fed upon while they enjojedflieir liberty, whether seeds, fruits, or insects. For those birds which lived on fish, only, the daily consumption was ten CastUian pesos offish, (ac- cording to the testimony of the conqueror Cortez, in his let- ters to Charles V.) which is more than three hundred Roman pounds. Three hundred men, says Cortez, were employed to take care of those birds, besides their physicians, who observ- ed their distempers, and applied timely remedies to them. Of those three hundred men, some procured them their food, others distributed it, others took care of their eggs at the time of their incubation, and others picked their plumage at certain seasons of the year ; for, besides the pleasure which the king took in seeing so great a multitude of animals collected together, he was principally careful of their feathers, not less for the sake of the famous Mosaic images, than of the other works which were made of them. The halls and chambers of those houses, were so many in number, as the conqueror above mentioned attests, that they could have accommodated two great princes with all their retinue. This celebrated house was situated iu
56 J The Wanders: of
the place where, at present, the great convent of St. Francis stands.
The other house appropriated to the wild animals, had a large and handsome court, with a chequered pavement, and was divided into various apartments. One of them contained all the birds of prey, from the royal eagle to the kestrel, and many individuals of every species. These birds were dis- tributed, according to their species, in various subterraneous chambers, which were more than seven feet deep, and upwards of seventeen feet in length and breadth. The half of every chamber was covered with flat stones : and stakes; were fix- ec^in the wall, on which they might sleep, and he defended from rain. The other half of the chamber was only covered with a lattice, through which they enjoyed the light of the sun. For the support of these birds, were killed, daily, near five hundred turkeys. In the same house were many low halls filled with a great number of strong wooden cages, in which, lions, tigers, wolves, coyotoo, and wild cats were confined, and all other kinds of wild beasts, which were fed up- on deer, rabbits, hares, techichis, and other animals, and the intestines of human sacrifices.
The king of Mexico not only kept all the species of animals, which other princes do for state, but likewise such as by nature seemed exempted from slavery, namely, crocodiles, and serpents. The serpents were kept in large casks or vessels ; the crocodiles in ponds, which were walled round. There were also, various ponds, for fish, two ot which, that are remaining and still beau- tiful, we have seen in the palace of Chapoltepec, two miles from Mexico.
Montezuma, who was not satisfied with having every sort of animal in his palace, also collected there all irregularly formed men, who either from the colour of their hair, or of their skin, or some other deformity in their persons, were oddities of their species. A humour this, however, not unattended with beneficial consequences, as it gave maintenance to a number of miserable objects, and delivered them from the inhuman insults of their other fellow-creatures.
All his palaces were surrounded with beautiful gardens, when.1 there was every kind of beautiful flower, odoriferous herb, and medicinal plant. He had, likewise, woods inclosed with walls, and furnished with variety of game, in which he frequently sported. One of those woods was upon an island in the lake, known at present, among the Spaniards, by the name of Pinon.
Montezuma, after occupying the greater part of his reign in wars and expeditions against the surrounding nations, in which h/! acquired greut strength, celebrity, and riches, came never-
Nature and Providence.
theless, to be the subject of sorrows. Fears and apprehensions of evil to come upon lys kingdom, occasioned by unusual phe- nomena^ presages, be. of its dissolution. In an expedition in tbelatter pari of his reign against the distant province of Ata- mala, on his march, which lay over a very lofty mountain, they ware attacked by a furious north wind, accompanied with snow, which made great havoc in the army, as some of them who were accustomed to a mild climate, and travelling almost without clothing, perished with cold, and others were beat down by the trees which were rooted up by the wind. Of the remainder of the army, which continued their journey but feebly to Amatla, the greater part died in battle.
These and other calamities together with the appearance of a comet at that time, threw all the princes of Anahuac into the utmost consternation. Montezuma, who was too observing to look with indifference on so uncommon a phenomenon, consul- ted his astrologers upon it ; but they being unable to divine its meaning, applied to the king of Acolhuacan, who was reputed able in astrology, and in the art of divination. These kings, although they were related to, and perpetual allies of, each other, did not live in much harmony together, the king of Acolhuacan having put to death his son Huerotzincatzin, paying no regard to the prayers of Montezuma, who, as the uncle of that prince, had interfered in his behalf. For a long time past they had neither met with their usual frequency, nor confidence ; but on this occasion the mysterious dread which seized the mind of Montezuma incited him to profit by the knowledge of the king Nezahualpilli, for which reason he intrea- ted him to come to Mexico to consult with him upon an event which appeared equally to concern them both. Nezahualpilli wait, and after having conferred, at length, witli Montezuma, was of opinion, according to the account of historians, that the comet predicted the future disasters of those kingdoms, by die arrival of a new people. This interpretation, however, being unsatisfactory to Montezuma, Nezahualpilli challenged him at the game of foot ball, which was frequently played at even by those kings themselves ; and it u as agreed between them that if the king of Mexico gained the party, the king of Acol- buacon should renounce his interpretation, adjudging it to be false ; but if Nezahualpilli came off victor, Montezuma should acknowledge and admit it to be true; a folly though truly ridiculous in those men, to believe the truth of a prediction could depend on the player, or the fortune of the game ; but less pernicious, however, than that of the ancient Europeans, who decided on truth, innocence, and honour, by a barbarous duel â– and the fortune of arms. Nezahualpilli remained victor in the
68
The fTenders of
game, and Montezuma disconsolate at the loss and the confirma- tion of so fatal a prognostic : he was willing, however, to try other methods, hoping to find some more favourable interpreta- tion which might counterbalance that of the king of Acolhua- can, and the disgrace he had suffered at play : he consulted therefore a very famous astrologer who was much versed in the art of divination, by which he had rendered his name so celebrated in that land, and acquired so great a respect, that without ever stirring abroad from his bouse he was consid- ered and consulted by the kings themselves as an oracle. He knowing, without doubt, what had happened between the two kings, instead of returning a propitious answer to his sovereign, or at least one which was equivocal, as such prognosticators gen- erally do, confirmed the fatal prophecy of the Tezcucan. Mon- tezuma was so enraged at the answer, that in return he made his bouse be pulled to pieces, leaving the unhappy diviner buried amidst the ruins of bis sanctuary.
These and other similar presages of the fall of that empire appear represented in the paintings of the Americans, and are related in the histories of the Spaniards. We are far from thinking that all which has been written on this subject is de- serving of credit; but neither can we doubt of the tradition which prevailed among the Americans, that a new people totally dif- ferent from the native inhabitants, were to arrive at that kingdom and make themselves masters of that country. There has not been in the country of Anahuac any nation more or less polished which has not confirmed this tradition either by verbal testimony or their own histories.
It is impossible to guess at the origin of a tradition so univer- sal as this ; but the event which I am going to relate, is said to have been public, and to have made a considerable noise ; to have happened also in the presence of the two kings uid the Mexican nobility. It is represented in some of the paintings of those nations, and a legal attestation of it even it as sent to the court of Madrid.* Though in compliance with the duty of a historian, we give a place to many of the memorable tra- ditions of those nations ; on these, however, we leave our readers to form their own judgment and comments.
Vapantzin, a Mexican princess, and sister of Montezuma, was married to the governor of Tlatelolco, and after his death lived in his nalace until the year 1509, when she likewise died of old age. Her funeral was celebrated with magnificence suitable to her exalted birth, the king her brother, and all the nobility o* Mexico and Tlatelolco being present. Her body was buried
* Sw5 Toitjoemada, lib. ii. cap. 91, and Betencourt, Part iii. Trat. i. cap. 8.
Nature and Providenct.
50
in a subterraneous cavern, in the garden of the same palace, near to a fountain where she had used to bathe, and the mouth of the cave was shut with a stone. The day following, a child of five or six years of age happened to pass from her mother's apartment to that of the major-domo of the deceased princess, which was on the other side of the garden ; and in passing saw the princess sitting upon the steps of the fountain, and heard herself called by her, by die word Cocoton^ which is a word of tenderness used to children T!«e little child not being ca- pable, on acronnt of its age, of reflecting on the death of the princess, and thinking that she was going to bathe as usual, ap- proached without fear, upon which she sent the child to call the wife of her major-domo ; the child went to call her, but the woman smiling and caressing her, told her, " My little girl, " Papantzra is dead, and was buried yesterday ;" but as the child insisted, and pulled her by her gown* she, more to please, than from belief of what was told her, followed her ; but hardly come in sight of the princess, when she was seized with such hor- ror that she fell fainting to the earth. The little girl ran to acquaint her mother, who, with two other companions fame out to give assistance ; but on seeing the princess they were so affec- ted with fear that they would have swooned away if the prin- cess herself had not endeavoured to r^nfort ihem, assuring them she was still alive. She made them rail her major-domo, and chartered him to go and bear the news to the king i»er brother ; but he durst not undertake it, as he dreaded that the kitifr would consider the account as a fable, and would punish him with his usual severity for being a liar, without examining into the matter. Go then to Tezcico, said the princess, and intreat the king Nezahualpilli, in my name, to come here and see me. The major-domo obeyed, and the king having receiv- ed the information, set out immediately for Tlatelolco When he arrived there, the princess was in a chamber of the palace ; though full of astonishment, the king Minted her, when she requested him to go to Mexico, to tell the king her brother that she was alive, and had occasion to see him, to communicate some things to h m of the utmost importance. The king set out for Mexico to execute her commission ; but M mtezuma would hardly give credit to what was told him. However, that he might not do injustice to so respectable an ambassador, he went along with him, and .-nany of the Mexican nobility to Tlatelolco, and having entered the hall where the princess was, he demanded of her if she was his sister. " I am, indeed, sir," answered the princess, " your sister Papantzin, whom you
t CtKoton means little girl, only that'll it an expression of more tendcttaess.
The Wonders of
" buried yesterday ; I am truly alive, and wish to relate to yeu *« what I have seen, as it deeply concerns you." Upon this the two kings sat down, while all the other nobles continued standing full of admiration at what they saw.
The princess then began to speak as follows : " After I was " dead, or if you will not believe that I have been dead, after " I remained bereft of motion and of sense, I found myself sud- " denly placed upon an extensive plain, to which there appeared " no boundaries. In the middle of it I observed a road which " I afterwards saw was divided into a variety of paths, and on " one side ran a great river whose waters made a frightful noise. " As 1 was going to throw myself into the river to swim to the " opposite bank, I saw before me a beautiful youth of handsome " stature, clothed in a long habit, white as snow, and dauling " like the sun ; he had wings of beautiful feathers, and upon " his forehead, this mark," (in saying this the princess made the sign of the cross with her two fore fingers, " and laying hold of " my hand, said to me, Stop, for it is not yet time to pass this " river. God loves thee, though thou knoivest it not He then % " led me along by the river-side, upon the borders of which I " saw a great number of human sknlls and bones, and heard
most lamentable groans that waked my utmost pity. Turning " my eyes afterwards upon the river, 1 saw some large vessels " upon it filled with men of a complexion and dress quite dif- " ferent from ours. They were fair and bearded, and carried " standards in their hands, and helmets on their heads. The " youth then said to me, It is the will of God that thou shalt live " to be a witness of the revolutions which are to happen to these rt kingdoms. The groans which thou hast heard among these u bones, arefron the souls of your ancestors, which are ever and a will be tormented for their crimes. The men whom you see " coming in these iiessels, are those who by their arms will make u themselves masters *f all these kingdoms, and with them will be rt introduced the knoicltdgc of the true God, the creator . of heaven " and earth. As soon <* the war shall be at an end, and the bath Ct published and made kmwn which will wash away sin, be thou " the first to receive it, and guide by thy example the natives of " thy country. Having spoke this the youth disappeared, and " I found myself recalled to hfe ; I rose from the place where " I lay, raised up the stone of tqy sepulchre, and came out to ft the garden where I was found by my domestics."
Monteznma was struck with astonishment at the recital of so strange an adventure, and feeling his wind distracted with a va- riety of apprehensions, rose and retired to one of his palaces which was destined for occasions of grief, without taking leave of his sister, the king of Tacuba or any one of those who ac»
Nature and Providence.
61
compaoied him, although tome of his flatterers, in order to console Urn, endeavoured to persuade him that the illness which the princess had suffered, had turned her brain. He avoided for ever after returning to see her, that he might not again hear the melancholy presages of the ruin of his empire. The prin- cess, h is said, lived many years in great retirement and abstinence. She was the first who, in the year 1534, received the sacred baptism in Tlatelolco, and was called from that time, Donna Maria Papantzin*
Among the memorable events, in 1510, there happened with- out any apparent cause, a sudden and furious burning of the turrets of the greater temple of Mexico, in a calm, serene night ; and in the succeeding year, so violent and extraordinary an ag- itation of the waters of the lake, that many houses of the city were destroyed, there being at the same time no wind, earthquake, nor any other natural cause to which the accident could be as- cribed. It is said also, that in 1511, the figures of armed men appeared in the air, who fought and slew each other. These sod other similar phenomena, recounted by Acosta, Torquemada sod others, are found very exactly described in the Mexican and Acolhuan histories.
That God in his providence, has, in former ages, afforded to the nations of the earth at various periods, as it pleased him, mpernatural tokens or presages of future events, disastrous to tte affairs of men, is evident. To believe this, requires ^su- perstitious stretch of credulity, since history of the best autho- rity, abundantly testify the facts. But to disbelieve it, requires a stretch of scepticism, bordering hard upon infidelity. There are many persons, who, notwithstanding their belief in supernat- ural existences, yet are slow to subscribe to the idea of super- natural communications to men. Let such remember, that God is an omniscient spirit, and also controls all the beings of the natural and supernatural state. And that it is perfectly consis- tent with his general providence, goodness, and power, to give to poor grovelling man, frequent tokens of his presence, as well to his mind, as sight and hearing. For further communications upon this subject, see pages 38. 46 334. 546, 547, and 572, cf this work.
A remarkable dream, its interpretation and fulfilment taken from the journal of Tho. Chalkley an eminent quaker minister, a native of London, bvt spent the greater part of his life in Amer- ica who relates the following as being aneye tcitness of the fact* I give the account verbatim.
This great and good man being oo his homeward bound pas- sage from America to England, relates the following of the
The Wanders of
physician of the ship, and says he dreamed while sleeping, himself relating it to me. He thought that he went on shore at a great and spacious town, the buildings whereof were high, and the streets broad ; and as he went up the street he saw a large sign, on which was written in great golden letters, SHAME. At the door of the house, to which the sign be- longed, stood a woman with a Cnn in her hand, who said unto him, * Doctor, will you drink ?' He replied, 4 With all my heart ; I h «vf A'M drunk any thinp- but water a great while ;'(our wine and cider were all spent, as we had had a long passage,) and he drank a harty draught, which lie said made him merry : so he went up the street reeling to and fro, when a grim fellow coming behind him, clapped him on the shoulder, and said, that he arrest- ed him i ths nam? of the Governor of the place. He asked him for f.W? and said, 4 What havel done ?' He answered, 4 For steal- ing the woman's Can:' the Can he had ind« ed. and so he was ta- ken before the Governor, which was a mighty black dog, the biggest and grimest that he had ever seen in his life ; and ev- idence was brought against him by an old companion of his, and he was found guilty ; and his sentence was to go to prison, and there to lie for ever. He told me this dream so punctually, and with such an emphasis, that it affected me with serious sadness and caused my heart to move within me, for to me the dream deemed true, and the interpretation sure. I then told him he was an ingenious man, and might clearly see the interpretation of that dream, which exactly answered to his state and condition : And I thus interpreted it to him : — * This great and spacious place, whereof the buildings were high, and the streets broad, is thy great and high profession : the sign, on which was written Shane, and the woman at the door, with the Can in her hand, truly represent that great, crying, and shameful sin of drunken- ness, which thou knowest to be thy great weakness : the grim fellow which arrested thee, in the devil's territories is Death, who will assuredly arrest all mortals : the Governor which thou saw- est under the form of a great black dog, is certainly the Devil, who, after his servants have served him to the utmost, will tor- ment them eternally in hell ! So he got up, as it were, in haste, and said, 1 God forbid ! It is nothing but a dream.' But I told him it was a ver y significant one, and a warning to him from the Almighty, who sometimes speaks to men in dreams."
But three days only were elapsed before we meeting with a Dutch vessel in Lime bay, hailed her and she us. They said, they came from Lisbon and were bound for Holland. She was loaded with wine, brandy, fruit, and such like commodities ; and we, therefore, having little but water to drink, (because our past- sage had been longer than we expected) sent our boat to them.
Nature and Providence be
in order to buy us a little wine to drink with our water. Our Doetor,*and a Merchant that was a passenger, and one Sailor, went on board, where they stayed so long, that some of them were overcome with wine, although they were desired to beware thereof; so that when they tame back, a rope being handed to them, they, being filled with wine unto excess, were not capable of using it dexterously, insoin ich that they overset the boat, and she turned bottom upwards, having the Doctor under her, who was drowned, yet the rest of his companions were saved. This was the greatest misfortune we met with in our whole voyage ; and the more so to me because the Doctor was of evil fife and conversation, and much given to excess of drinking. The manner of his getting intoxicated was as follows. W hen be had got on board the aforesaid Dutch vessel, the Master sent for a Can of wine, and said. 4 Doctor will you drink f 9 He replied, ' Yes, with all my heart, for I've drank no wine a great while.' Upon which he drank a hearty draught that made him merry, as he said in bis dream. And notwith- standing the admonition which was so clearly manifested to him bat three days before, and the many promises he had made to Almighty God, some of which I was a witness of when strong convictions were upon him yet now he was unhappily overcome, and in drink when he was drowned. This is, I think, a lively re- presentation of the tender mercy, and just judgment of the Al- mighty to poor mortals, and worthy to be recorded to pos- terity, as a warning to all lovers of wine and strong drink. O intemperance, hell is indebted to thee for many of her millions.
— ••^•"•^
HISTORY OF GIANTS.
A curious memorandum of the opinions of various writers upon this subject.
The romances of all ages have furnished us with so many extravagant accounts of giants of incredible bulk and strength, that the existence of such people is now generally disbelieved. It is commonly thought that the stature of man hath been, at lea>t very nearly, the same in all ajjes ; and some have even pretended to demonstrate the impossibility of the existence of giants mathematically. Of these, our countryman M'Laurin bath been the most explicit. " In general, (sa*s he) it will ea- sily appear, that the efforts tending to destroy the cohesion of beams arising from their own gravity, only increase in the quadruplicate ratio of their lengths ; but, that the opposite efforts
i
64 The Wonders of
tending to preserve their cohesion increase only in the triplicate proportion of the same lengths. From which it fbUftws that the greater beams must be in greater danger of breaking than the lesser similar ones : and though a lesser beam may be firm and secure, yet a greater similar one may be made so long that it will necessarily break by its own weight. Hence Galielo justly concludes, that what appears very firm and succeeds very well in models, may be very weak and infirm, or even fall to pieces by its own weight, when it comes to be executed in large dimensions according to the model. From the same principle he argues, that there are necessary limits in the operations of nature and art, which they cannot surpass in magnitude. Were trees of a very enormous size, their branches would fall by their own weight. Large animals have not strength in proportion to their sixe ; aud if there were any land animals much larger than those we know, they could hardly move, and would be perpetu- ally subject to the most dangerous accidents. As to the animals of the sea, indeed, the case is different ; for the gravity of the water in a great measure sustains those animals ; and in fact these are known sometimes to be vastly larger than the greatest land animals. Nor does it avail against this doctrine to tell as that bones have sometimes been found which were supposed to have belonged to giants of immense size ; such as the skeletons mentioned by Strabo and Pliny, the former of which was sixty cubits high, and the latter forty-six : for naturalists have con- cluded on just grounds, that in some cases these bones have be- longed to elephants; and that the larger ones were, bones of whales, which had been brought to the places where they were found by the deluge. Though it must be owned that there ap- pears no reason why there may not have been men who have exceeded by some feet in height the tallest now living."
It will easily be seen, that arguments of this kind can never be conclusive; because, along with an increase of stature, in any animal, we must always suppose a proportional increase in the cohesion of the parts of its body. Large works sometimes fail when constructed on the plan of models, because the cohesion of the materials whereof the model is made, and of the large work, are the same ; but a difference in this respect will produce a very remarkable difference in the ultimate result. Thus, sup- pose a model is made of firewood, the model may be firm and strong enough ; but a large work made also of fir, when exe- cuted according to the plan of the model, may be so weak that it will fall to pieces with its own weight. If, however, we make use of iron for the large work instead of fir, the whole will be sufficiently strong, even though made exactly according to the plan of the model. The like may be said with regard to large
Nature qn& Providence.
and small animals. If We could find an animal whose bones ex- ceeded in hardness and strength the bones of other animals as mnch as iron exceeds fir, such an animal might be of a monstrous she, and yet be exceedingly strong. In like manner if we sup- pose the flesh and bones of a giant to be greatly superior in hard- ness and strength to the bones of other men, the great size of his body will be no objection at all to his strength. The whole of the matter therefore, concerning the existence of giants must rest on the credibility of the accounts we have from those who pretend to have seen them, and not on auy arguments drawn a priori.
In the scripture we are told of mighty men who were prt>- dnced from the marriages of the sons of God with the daugh- ters of men. In other parts of the scripture, giants with their dimensions are mentioned in such a manner that we cannot pos-i ribly doubt ; as in the case of Og, king of Bashan, and Goliah. In a memoir read before the academy of sciences at Rouen, M. Le Cat gives the following account of giants that are said to have existed in different ages.
" Profane historians have given seven feet of height to Her- cules their first hero ; and in our days we have seen men eight feet high. The giant who was shewn in Rouen in 1735f measured eight feet some inches. The emperor, Maximin was of that size ; Shenkius and Platerus, physicians of the seven- teeth century, saw several of that stature, and Goropius saw a girl who was ten feet high. The body of Orestes, according to the Greeks, was eleven feet and a half ; the giant Galbara* brought from Arabia to Rome, under Claudius Caesar, was near ten feet ; and the bones of Sccondella and Pusio, keepers of the garden of Sallust, were but six inches shorter. Funnara, a Scotsman who lived in the time of Eugene II. king of Scot- land, measured eleven feet and a half ; and Jacob le Maire, in his voyage to the straits of Magellan, reports that on the 17th of December 1015, they found at Port Desire several graves covered with stones : and having the curiosity to remove the stones, they discovered human skeletons of ten and eleven feet long. The chevalier Scory, in his voyage to the Peak of TenerifTe, says, that they found in one of the sepulchral cai'- enis of that mountain the head of Guanch which had eighty teeth, and that the body was not less than fifteen feet long — The giant Ferragus, slain by Orlando, nephew of Charlemagne, was eighteen feet high. Rioland, a celebrated anatomist, who wrote in 1614, says, that some years before there was to be seen in the suburbs of St. Germain the tomb of the giant Isoret, who was twenty feet high. In Rouen, in 1509, in dig- ging in the ditches, near the Dominicans, they found a stow
0
The fVonde* <rf
tomb containing a skeleton whose skull held a" bushelpf corn, and whose shin-bone reached up to the girdle of Mb tallest man there, being about four feet long, and consequently the body must have been seventeen or eighteen feet high. Upon the tomb was a plate of copper, whereon was engraved, " In this tomb lies the noble and puissant lord, the chevalier Ricon de Vallemont, and his bones." Platerus, a famous physician, declares that he saw at Lucerne the true human bones of a sub- ject which must have been at least nineteen feet high. Valence in Dauphine boasts of possessing the bones of the giant Bucart tyrant of the Vivarais, who was slain by an arrow by the count De Cabillon his vassal. The Dominicans had a pnrt of the shin-bone, with the articulation of the knee, and his figure painted in fresco, with an inscription, shewing that this giant was twenty-two feet and a half high, and that his bones were found in 1705, near the banks of the Morderi, a little river at the foot of the mountain of Crussal, upon which (tradition says) that giant dwelt.
"January 11, 1613, some masons digging near the ruins of a castle in Dauphine, in a field which (by tradition) had long been called the giant's field, at the depth of eighteen feet dis- covered a brick tomb, thirty feet long, twelve feet wide, and eight feet high; on whcih was a grey stone, with the words Theutolochus Rex, cut thereon. When the tomb was opened, they found a human skeleton entire, twenty five feet and a half long, ten feet wide across the shoulders, and five feet deep from the breastbone to the back. His teeth were each about the she of an ox's foot, and his shin-bone measured four feet. — Near Maiarino in Sicily, in 1516, was found a giant thirty feet bigh ; his head was the size of an hogshead, and each of his teeth weighed five ounces. Near Palermo, in the valley of Maiara, in Sicily, a skeleton of a giant thirty feet long was found, in the year 1548 ; and another. of thirty-three feet high in 1550; and many curious persons have preserved several of these gigantic bones.
It is certain, that there have been nations of men considera- bly exceeding the common stature. Thus all the Roman his- torians informs us, that the Gauls and Germans exceeded the Italians in size ; and it appears that the Italians in those days were of much the samje. stature with the people of the present age. Among these riottjiern nations, it is also probable, that there would be as great differences in stature as there are among the present race of men. If that can be allowed, we may easi- ly believe that some of these barbarians might be called giants, without any great impropriety. Of this superiority of size, in<feed> the historian Floras gives a notable instance in Teuto-
Nature and Providence. 67
bochus, above mentioned, king of Teutones : who being de- feated and taken prisoner by Marius, was carried in triumph be* fore him at Rome, when his head reached above the trophies that was carried in the same procession.
But whether these accounts are credited or not, we are very certain that the stature of the human body is by no means ab- solutely fixed. We are ourselves a kind of giants in comparison of the Laplander ; nor are these the most diminutive people to be found upon the earth. The abbe la Chappe, in his journey into Siberia, in order to observe the last transit of Venus, pass* ed through a village inhabited by people called Wotiacks, neither the men nor women of whom were above four feet high. The accounts of the Patagonians also, whicli cannot entirely be discredited, render it very probable, that somewhere in South- America (here is a race of people very considerably exceeding the common size of mankind, and consequently that we cannot altogether discredit the relations of giants handed down to us by ancient authors ; though what degree of credit we ought to give them, is not easy to be determined.
There is according lo Mr. Morse, see his Geography, p. 611, upon the Rocky ridge, in the island of Ceylon, a tomb of im- mense length. How many feet long a tomb of immense length is, would be hard to tell, but 1 think it not unreasonable to say twenty feet.
Further remarks upon the subject of Giants.
At this day it is conceived, by some, extravagant to believe,- tliere ever existed persons denominated a'iants. Although at first thought upon this subject, we are inclined to abandou such accounts as untrue ; perhaps it would be well to consult the scriptures, which embrace the most ancient and the most authen- tic history of giants, before we pronounce the accounts alluded to altogether fabulous. First, in the book of Genesis, 6th chap- tf,r, verse 4th, it is said, " there were giants in the earth in those days." This was previous to the deluge, and the inhabi- tants of that time 1 ved to the age of many hundred years.
There can be no doubt that the people of that age possessed n hardiness of constitution and a robustness of person quite un- known to the present inhabitants of any part of the globe.— From this very circumstance of longer date of life, greater mag- nitude of person might be expected to be the natural result. If so, where then is the absurdity of supposing them to be, in general, persons of greater stature ? If at the present day there are found persons who are' an exception from the common site flf men. of which Doct. Adam Clarke, of London, gives us the
68
The H'ondeps of
account, in bis comment of the scriptures, upon the subject of giants ; viz : that he had known a young man who measured eight feet and six inches in height, and every way well propor- tioned. If, therefore, at this day such a monster of a man is known to exist, how much more may we say, and with confi- dence too, that in those ages, when man lived longer on the earth; there were exceptions from the general sixe of men, of a more monstrous and astonishing description ? Therefore it is said there were giants in the earth in those days.
The book of Numbers in the second place, chap. 1 3, notices tltis subject in the following manner. At the time when Moses sent out the spies to explore the country of the Canaanites, they returned with this account : that they had found cities which were walled, and very great ; and that they had seen the chil- dren of Anak there, who were giants. And on this very ac- count they were afraid, and discouraged the people from such an enterprise ; declaring that they were notable to go up against them, because they were stronger than they.
And further, they said, that they were a people who eat up the inhabitants thereof ; alleging that all the people they saw were men of great stature. And besides all this they had seen the sons of Anak, who came of the giants ; in whose presence they felt themselves to be but grasshoppers, in comparison of them : while the giants esteemed the Israelites in the same light, as grasshoppers. When, therefore, this account was spread abroad, through the camp of Israel, they were terrified be- yond measure, and wept all that night, for very fear that they should all be devoured of the giants : for the spies had said that they eat up the inhabitants of the land. But Moses, and Aaron, and Joshua, and Caleb, and some of the spies, endeav- oured to encourage the people not to fear them, but to go up and possess the land. But this only enraged them, and they made haste to stone their leaders : which was prevented only by the sudden appearance of the glory of God in the taberna- cle, who reproved them for their anger and unbelief.
Thirdly, we will notice the 2d chap, of Deuteronomy upon this subject, see verses 10, 11. 20, 21. The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall as the Anakims ; which also were accounted giants. Verse 20 ; That also was accounted aland of giants : giants dwelt therein in old time. Verse 21; A people great, and many, and tall as the Anakims ; but the Lord destroyed tliem. From the above quotations it appears that there were an abundance of gigantic people in ancient days ; but sdme may say, truly this is proved, but unfortunately their height is not spoken of so clearly as fright be desired. To this we will answer, that the design of
JYatuve and Providence.
God, in giving to us the history of his works and ways, was not to satisfy a vain curiosity, by telling us of the heights of men or the balk of beast, &c. but to shew us his wonderous power, and amazing goodness and holiness, to excite our fear and love of him, and to imitate his holiness. Yet the scriptures have stooped and condescended to afford us four instances, the only that I recollect, which -intimate pretty clearly what the height of some of those giants were : but this 1 consider is only to shew us that the Lord is stronger than the strongest ; for it is said he destroyed those nations.
The scriptures I allude to are, first, the 3d chap, of Deu- teronomy, 11th verse, where it is said, for only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants ; behold, his bedstead was bedstead of iron : is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon ? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it. Doct. Adam Clarke, in his comment upon this, remarks, that bishop Cumberland, in his account of the length of a cubit, says it contains 21 inches and a trifle over. This being correct, we have, at once, the length of his bed- stead, which was 1 5 feet ; and 7 feet 8 inches in width.
The second instance is in the book of Amos, 2d chap. 9th verse, where the prophet relates what God had done for his people in times past, viz : that he destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oak. This it is conceived is spoken in the strongest terms ; representing the height of some of those peo- ple at least, to be equal to the height of the cedar tree, which in that country is a tree of considerable magnitude and height.
The third instance is that of Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span ; which is eleven feet and three in- ches.
From the above remarks and quotations, we think it is safe to conclude, that anciently, giants were more common and enor- mous than at the present day And we think by these that the accounts on page 63 of this work, are in some measure cor- roborated ; and the reasons given for the finding of those large skeletons of the human kind, in the enrth in various ages.
The fourth scripture account, which is upon this subject, is Chronicles, 11th chap, verse 23. And he, (Benaiah, one of David's captains,) slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high ; which is eight feet and nine inches.
It is not unreasonable to believe that the autideluvians, many of them, and also since thedelug*, of the ancient nations, were men of great stature ; which is shewn, both from sacred ami profane history.
70
The Wonders of
The above scripture accounts seem to place the subject in a very definite light ; and subdues the mind to a belief of the ex- istence of giants anciently. If there have been beasts once, which now are extinct, of a greater size than any known at the present day, why not men therefore ? one is as possible as the other. But what beast ever existed, that does not now exist ? In the book of Job God says to Job, Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee ; he eateth grass as an ox : bis bones are as strong pieces of brass ; his bones are like bars of iron : be trustetb that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth : he njoveth his tail like a cedar* Behemoth cannot be supposed to be the elephant ; because it is said of behemoth, that he moveth his tail like a cedar; for it is well known that the tail of the ele- phant is remarkably small, considering the great bulk of the animal. From this one circumstance, which God himself has pointed out as being remarkable, viz: that his tail has the ap- pearance of a cedar tree, goes to show the great magnitude of behemoth. From this we will argue, and with safety too, that as this beast far exceeds, in bulk, any beast known on the globe at this time ; so might some men at that day, as far exceed the largest men, now known among men. Perhaps behemoth is the same beast spoken of by authors of later years, called the mam- moth } whose skeletons have been found in the earth, of such vast dimensions as to justify the above remarks, in application to behemoth. Our conceptions of things are apt to accord with such things as we have seen : but most assuredly the earth has afforded beasts larger than it does now ; and men of greater bulk and strength than it affords at this day.
A WONDERFUL CONVERSION.
Conversion of a wicked sea Captain, by means, through grace, of his cabin Boy.
" A brand plucked from the burnijig.'*
[Zion's Herald.]
A few months since, a vessel sailed from England with a cap- tain whose habitual blasphemy, drunkenness, and tyranny, so dis- gusted the crew, that some of the most fatal consequences might have taken place, but for the sudden and alarming illness of this cruel and depraved commander. The mate took charge of the ship, and the captain, greatly afflicted in his cabin, was
JVatune and Frovideacr.
71
left by the unanimous voice of a hardened crew, to perish. He had continued nearly a week in this neglected state, none ven- turing to visit him, when the heart of a poor boy on board was touched with the sufferings of this wicked man, and he determin- ed, notwithstanding the opposition of the crew, to enter the cabin, and speak to the captain. He descended the companion ladder, and opening the state room door, called out, ' Captain, how are you ?' A surly voice replied, * What's that to you ; be off!' Thus repulsed, the boy went on deck ; but next morning he determined to make another attempt, and at the state-room cried, ' Captain, 1 hope you are better ;' ' O Bob lam very bad, been very ill all night.' Tiie boy encouraged with this mild answer,, drew nigh the bed-place, and said, Captain, please let me wash your hands and face, it will refresh you very much.' — The captain nodded assent. Having performed this kind-office, the boy said — * Please master, let me shave you.' He was per- mitted to do this also, and having adjusted the bed clothes, he grew bolder, and proposed ' some tea.' The captain had been a desperate and wicked man beyond many, and as he knew he had no mercy to expect from his crew, so he was determined not to solicit any. 'I'd perish,' said his obstinate perverse *oul, rather than ask one favour of them.' But the un olicited and undeserved kindness of this poor hoy found way to the heart of this violent man, and in spite of all his daring independent spirit, his bowels melted, and his iron face displayed the starting tear, while his soul involuntarily sighed. O brotherly kindness, in the hour of need, though issuing from a stripling, how amiable thou art ! How many ways has the Almighty of gaining access to the hearts of his stubborn and rebellious creatures ! A little cap- tive maid directs the leprous Naaman, and a menial servant mildly subdues the haughty general into compliance with the prophet's order, 2d Kings, chap. v. The captain scon felt the good effect of the boy's attendance, and then fore permitted him to do what he pleased in future for the alleviation of his pains, or the restoration of his health.
The captain now declined apace ; his weakness was daily in- creasing, and he became gradually convinced that he should not live many weeks at farthest. His mind was filled with increasing terror, as the prospect of death and eternity drew nearer to his confused and agitated view. I le was as ignorant as he was wick- ed. Brought up among the worst of seamen -in his early life, he had imbibed all their principles, followed their practices, and despised remonstrance or reproof. A man-of-war had fin- ished his education, and a long course of successful voyages, a> master of a vessel, had contributed to harden hi-; heart, and not only to say there is no God, hut to act under that persuasion.
The Wonders of
Alarmed at the idea of death, and ignorant of the way of salva- tion, with a conscience now thundering conviction to his soul, he cried, one morning just as Bob opened the state-room door, and affectionately inquired, 4 Well, master, how is it with you this morning ?' 4 Ah, Bob, I'm very bad, my body is getting worse and worse, but I should not mind that so much, were it not for my soul. O Bob, what shall I do ? I'm a great sinner, I'm afraid I shall go to hell, I deserve it. Alas, Bob, I'm a lost man !' 4 O my master,' said the boy, 4 don't be alarmed ; God is merciful, and I am sure you will not be lost. He knows what sailors are, and I dare say he'll save you.' 4 No, Bob, no, I cannot see the least prospect of being saved. O what a sinner I have been, what will become of me ?' His stony heart was bro- ken, and he poured out his complaints before the boy, who strove all he could to comfort him, but in vain.
One morning the boy just appeared, when the captain sling out, 'O Bob, I've been thinking of a bible, I know there is not one in the cabin, go forward, and see if you can find one in the men's chests.' The boy succeeded, and the poor dying man beheld him enter with tears of joy. 4 Ah, Bob, that will do, that will do, you must read to me, and I shall soon know whether such a wicked man as I can be saved, and how it is to be done. Now Bob, sit down on my chest, and read to me out of the blessed book.' 4 Where shall I read, master ?' 4 1 do not know* Bob, I cannot at present read myself ; but try and pick out some places that speak about sinners and salvation.' 4 Well master, then I'll take the New-Testament : you and I shall understand it better, for as my poor mother used to say, there is not so many hard words there.' The boy read for two hours, while the captain, stretching his neck over the bed-place, listened with the eagerness of a man on the verge of eternity. Every word conveyed light to his mind, and his astonished soul soon beheld sin as he had never seen it before. The justice of God in his eternal ruin, struck him with amazing force, and though he heard of a Saviour, still the great difficulty of knowing how he could be saved, appeared a mystery unfathomable. He had been ruminating a great part of the night on some passages Bob had read, but they only served to depress his spirits, and terrify his soul. The next morning, when the boy entered the state- room, he exclaimed, 4 O Bob, I shall never live to reach the land, I'm dying very fast : you'll soon have to cast me over- board, but all this is nothing — my soul ! my poor soul ! Ah, Bob, my dear lad, what will become of my soul ? O I shall be lost forever.' 4 No, no, master, don't be alarmed. I believe you will be saved yet ; remember I read many fine things yes- terday about salvation/ 4 Bob. can you prey?' 4 No, master.
ffaturie dtid Providence.
I ufever prayed In my life any more, than say the Lord's prayer' my mother taught me.1 *6 Bob, pray for me';*go" down on yonr knees and cry for mercy \ do Bob, that's a good lad. God will bless you for it. O kneel down and pray for your poor wicked captain.'— -The boy hesitated, the master urged, the lad wept, the master groaned, 'God be merciful to me a sinner.9 Both cried greatly. ' O Bob, for God's sake kneel down and pray for me'. Overcome by importunity and compassion, the boy fell on his knees, and with heavy sobs cried out, 'Lord, have mercy on my poor dying captain. O Lord, I'm a poor ignorant, wicked sailor boy. — Lord, I don't know what to say : Lord, the captain says I must pray for him, but 1 don't know how— I am but a child. I should be glad to get him tea, or do any thing I can for him; but, Lord, I don't know how to pray for trim — Lord, have mercy on him. He says he shall be lost, Lord save him ! He says he shall go to bell, Lord, take him to heaven. He says that he shall be with devils, O that he may be with angels. Don't let him perish, O Lord. Thou knowest that I love' him, and am sorry that he's so ill. The men won't come near him, but I'll do the best I can for him as long as he lives, but I can't save him. O Lord, pity my poor captain ; sec htm thin and weak he is ! O comfort his troubled mind. Lord, I never prayed before like this. O help me, Lord, to pray for my master!' Rising from his knees, he said, 4 1 have, master, I have done the best I could for you. Now cheer up : I think you'll get to heaven.'
The captain was too much affected to speak, the simplicity, sincerity, and humility of the lad's prayer, had much impressed his mind, so that he lay groaning inwardly with spiritual auguish, and wetting his couch with his tears. Bob retired on deck, for the scene had quite overcome him. In the evening he again read the Bible to the captain, whose soul appeared to receive every word with indescribable eagerness. The next morning on entering the state-room, the boy was struck with the extra- ordinary change visible in his master's features. That gloomy horror, which had so long added to the natural ferocity of his weather-beaten countenance, was fled, and while his affliction had softened and more fully exhibited the various parts of his countenance, the circumstances of the past night had settled the *hole arrangement of his features into a holy, pleasant, calm, and resigned state, that would seem to say,
The men of ^rr«ce have fuiin'i Glory U-£un bclo.v*.
Bob had scarcely time to notice, with a smile of congratula- tion, this pleasing change, when the master in a low
10
m Wonder* of
voice, but with great humility, began, 'O Bob, my dear lad, f fell into a sort of a doze — my mind was full of the blessed tilings you have been reading to me from the precious Bible: all on a sudden I thought I was in that corner of my bed-place, Jesus Christ hanging bleeding on the cross. — Struck with the sight, I arose and crawled to the place, and casting myself at his feet in the greatest agony of soul, I cried out for a long time like the blind man you read of, ' Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.' At length I thought he looked on me — yes, my dear lad, he looked at your poor wicked captain — and O Bob, what a look it was— I shall never forget it. My blood rushed to my heart— my pulse beat high — my soul thrilled with agitation, and waiti.tg for him to speak,with fear not unmixed with hope, I saw him smile; yes, and be smiled on me— on me, Bob. O my dear boy, he smiled on wretched me. Ah, what did I feel at that moment! My heart was too full to speak: but I waited and ventured to look up, when I heard him say, hanging as he did on the cross, the blood streaming from his hands and feet, and said: O Bob, what sounds were these, shall I ever hear his beloved voice again ? I heard him say, in sounds that angels cannot reach, ( Son, be of good cheer, thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee !' My heart burst with joy; I fell pros- trate at his feet ; I could not utter a word, but glory, glory, glory ! The vision vanished, I fell back on my pillow. I open- ed my eyes ; I was covered with perspiration ; I said, O this can- not be a dream. No, Bob, this is no vision, now I know my sins are pardoned; I know that Jesus bled and died for me; I can believe the promises, the many precious promises, you have read to me out of the Bible, and I feel that the blood of the cross can cleanse even me. I am not afraid to die ; no, Bob, ray sins are pardoned through Jesus. I want no more, I am now ready to die, I have no wish to live. 1 cannot, I feel I cannot be many days longer on this side of eternity. The ex- treme agitation of mind, of late, has increased the fever of my body, and I shall soon breathe my last. (The boy, who had silently shed many tears, now burst into a flood of sorrow, and involuntarily cried, 'No, my dear master, don't leave me.') ' Bob, said he, calmly, my dear boy, comfort your mind ; I am happy ; I am going to be happy forever. I feel for you, my bowels yearn over you as if you was my own child ; I am sorry you live in such a wicked world, and with such wicked men as sailors are in general. O may you ever be kept from those crimes into which I have fallen. Your kindness to me, my dear lad, has been great : God will reward you for it. To you I owe every thing, as an instrument in God's hauds ! surely he sent you to mel God bless you my dear boy, tell my crew to (or-
•Valor* tiad ProviiUnce.
giveine, as I forgive and pray for them.' Thus the day passed in the most pleasing and profitable maimer, when Bob, after reading the Bible, as usual, retired to his hammock, full of mer- cy and good fruit.
Eager the next morning to meet again, Bob arose at day -light, and opening the state-room door, saw his master had risen from his pillow, and crawled to the corner of his bed-place where he beheld the cross.
There he appeared kneeling in the attitude of prayer, his hands clasped and raised, and his body leaning against the ship's ride. The boy paused and waited a few minutes, fearful of dis- turbing his master ; at length, he called in a sort of whisper, master ; no answer ! master ; no reply ! He ventured to creep forward a little, and then said, master ! all was silent ! again he cried, captain : silence reigned ! He stretched out his hand and touched his leg ; it was cold, and stiff, and clammy. He called again, captain ; he raised his hand to his shoulder ; he tenderly shook it. The position of his body was altered; it declined gently until it rested on the bed ; but the Spirit fled some hours before to be with Christ, which is far better.
"•#•»■-
OF THE FIERY SIMOOM OF ARABIA.
An Account of the Moving Pillars of Sand, in the desert of Au&uz, given by Mr. Bruce, who describes this fearful Pheno- menon, having encountered one in passing over (hat desert to Grand Cairo.
[From Mr. Bruce's Travels.]
On the 20th of October, 1772, Mr. Eruceleft Chendi, intend- ing to go to Grand Cairo, through the Nubian Desert. His com- pany consisted of Idris their guide, who promised Mr, Bruce that be would live and die with him, and a young man a relation of his; Ismael a Turk ; three Greek servants, one of whom was al- [nost blind ; and two Barbarians, who took care of the Camels ; in all nine persons, eight of whom were effective. They were all well armed, except Idris and his lad, who had lances, the only arms they could use. On the 9th of Nov. after having repeated the prayer of peace, they put on the best countenance possible, and committed themselves to the desert.
" On the 14th, (says Mr. Bruce) at seven in the morning, we khAssa Nagga, our course being due north. At one o'clock we alighted amongaomeaccacia-treesat Waadiel Halboub^has-
T/ie WonSers vjf
jog gone twenty-one miles. We were here surprised and terri- fied by a sight, surely one of the most magnificent in the world. In that vast expanse of desert, from N. W. of us, we saw a num- ber of prodigious pillars of sand at different distances, at times moving with great celerity, at others stalking on with a majestic slowness : at intervals we thought they were coming, in a very few minutes, to overwhelm us ; and small quantities of sand did actually more than once reach us. Again they would retreat so as to be almost out of sight, their tops reaching to the very clouds. There the tops often separated from the bodies ; and these, once disjoined, dispersed in the air, and did not appear more. Sometimes they were broken near the middle, as if struck with a large cannon shot. About noon they began to ad- vance with considerable swiftness upon us, the wind being very strong at north. Eleven of them ranged alongsid»of us about the distance of three miles. The greatest diameter of the larg- est appeared to .me, at that distance, as if it would measure ten feet. They then retired from us with a wind at S. E. leaving an impression upon my mind to which I can give no name, though Surely one ingredient in it was fear, with a considerable degree of wonder and astonishment. It was in vain to think of flying; the swiftest horse, or fastest sailing ship, could be ef no use to carry us out of this danger, and the full persuasion of this rivet- ted me as if to the spot where I stood, and let the camels gain on ine so much in my state of lameness, that it was with some diffi- culty I could overtake them.
The Arabs to whom this inhospitable spot belongs are the Ad- elaia. They are s>aid to be a harmless race, and to do no hurt to the caravans they meet. We went very slowly to-day, onr feet being sore and greatly swelled. The whole of our company were much disheartened, and imagined they were advancing into whirlwinds of moving sand, from which they should never be able to extricate themselves ; but before four o'clock in the afternoon these phantoms of the plain had all of them fallen to the ground and disappeared. In the evening we came to Waa- ii Dimokea, where we passed the night, much disheartened, and our fea/s more increased, when we found upon awakening in the morning, that one side was perfectly buried in the sand that the wind had blown above us in the night.
From this day, subordination, though not entirely ceased, was fast on the decline ; all was discontent, murmuring, and fear. Our water was greatly diminished, and that terrible death, by thirst, began to stare us in the face, and this was owing in a great measure, to our own imprudence. Ismael, who had been left sentinel over the skins of water, had slept so soundly, that this 'had given an opportunity to a Tueorory to open one of the skins
Nature and Frovidenci.
that had not been touched, and serve himself out of it at his own discretion. I suppose that, hearing somebody stir, and fearing detection, he had withdrawn himself as soon as possible, with- out taking time to tie the mouth of the girba, which wc found in the morning with scarce a quart of water in.
On the 15th, at seven in the morning, we left Waadi Dimokea, keeping a little to the westward of north, just upon the line of Syene. The same ridge of hills being on our right and left as yesterday, in the centre of these appeared Del Antd. At two o'clock in the afternoon we came to an opening in the ridge of rocks ; the passage is about *- m*'e broad, through which we continued till we alighted at the foot of the mountain Del Aned.
The same appearance of moving pillars of sand presented themselves to us this day in form and disposition like those we had seen at Waadi Halboub, only they seemed to be more in num- ber and less in size. They came several times in a direction close upon us ; that is, I believe, within less than two miles. They began immediately after sun-rise, like a thick wood, and almost darkened the sun : his rays shining through them for near an hour, gave them an appearance of pillars of fire. Our peo- ple now became desperate : the Greeks shrieked out, and said k was the day of judgment. Ismael pronounced it to be hell ; and the Tucorories, that the world was on fire. I asked Idris if ever he had before seen such a sight ? He said he had often seen them as terrible, though never worse ; but what he feared most was that extreme redness in the air, which was a sure presage of the coming of the Simoom. I entreated Idris that he would not say one word of that in the hearing of the people, for they had already felt it in their way from Ras el Feel to Teawa, and again at the Acaba of Gerri, before we came to Chendij and they were now nearly distracted at the apprehension of finding it here.
At half past four o'clock in the afternoon we left Waadi del Aned, our course a little more to the westward than the direc- tion of Syene. The sands which had disappeared yesterday, scarcely shewed themselves at all this day, and a great distance from the horizon. This was, however, a comfort but of short duration. I observed Idris took no part in it, but only warned me and the servants, that, upon the coming of the Simoom, we .should fall upon our faces, with our mouths upon the earth, so as not to partakeof the outward air as long as we could hold our breath. We alighted at six o'clock at a small rock in the san- dy ground, without trees or herbage, so that our camels fasted all that night. This place is called El Movt, which signifies death, a name of bad omen.
On the 16th, at half past ten in the forenoon, we left ElMout, standing in the direction close upon Syene* Our men were in
78
T/ie Wonders of
better spirits than I had seen them since we left Qooz. At elev- en o'clock, while we contemplated with great pleasure the rag- ged top of Chiggre, to which we were fast approaching, and where we were to solace ourselves with plenty of good water, Jdris cried out, with a loud voice, Fall upon your faces, for here is the Simoom. I saw from the S. E. a haze come, in colour like the purple part of the rainbow, but not so compressed 01 thick. It did not occupy twenty yards in breadth, and was about twelve feet high from the ground. It was a kind of blush upon the air, and it moved very rapidly, for 1 could scarce turn to fall upon the ground with my head to the northward, when 1 felt the heat of its current plainly upon my face. We all lay flat on the ground, as if dead, till Idris told us it was blown over. The meteor, or purple haze, which I saw, was indeed passed, but the light air that still blew was of heat to threaten suffoca- tion. For my pa/t, I found distinctly in my breast that I had imbibed a part of it, nor was I free of an asthmetic sensation till I had been some months in Italy, at the baths of Poretta, neai two years afterwards.
An universal despondency had taken possession of our people. They ceased to speak to one another, and whan they did, it was in whispers, by which I easily guessed their discourse was not favourable to me, or else they were increasing each other's fears, by vain suggestion calculated to sink each other's spirits still further, but from which no earthly good tould possibly result, I called them together, and both reprimanded and exhortec them in the strongest manner I could ; I bade them attend tc me, who had nearly lost my voice by the Simoom, and desirec them to look in my face, so swelled as scarcely to 'permit me tc