22.

From Ait's bitumen-lake
That heavy cloud ascends;
That everlasting roar
From where its gushing springs
Boil their black billows up.
Silent the Arabian youth,
Along the verge of that wide lake,
Follow'd Mohareb's way,

Toward a ridge of rocks that bank'd its side,
There, from a cave, with torrent force,
And everlasting roar,
The black bitumen roll'd.
The moonlight lay upon the rocks;
Their crags were visible,
The shade of jutting cliffs,

And where broad lichens whiten'd some smooth spot,

And where the ivy hung
Its flowing tresses down.
A little way within the cave

The moonlight fell, glossing the sable tide
That gush'd tumultuous out.

A little way it entered then the rock
Arching its entrance, and the winding way,
Darken'd the unseen depths.

27.

So saying, from beneath

His cloak a bag he drew:

"Young Arab! thou art brave," he cried; "But thus to rush on danger unprepared, As lions spring upon the hunter's spear, Is blind, brute courage. Zohak keeps the cave Against that Giant of primeval days: No force can win the passage." Thus he said, And from his wallet drew a human hand, Shrivell'd, and dry, and black; And fitting, as he spake,

A taper in its hold,

Pursued: "A murderer on the stake had died;
I drove the Vulture from his limbs, and lopp'd
The hand that did the murder, and drew up
The tendon-strings to close its grasp,
And in the sun and wind
Parch'd it, nine weeks exposed.

The Taper, but not here the place to impart,
Nor hast thou undergone the rites
That fit thee to partake the mystery.
Look! it burns clear, but with the air around
Its dead ingredients mingle deathiness.
This when the Keeper of the Cave shall feel, —
Maugre the doom of Heaven, —
The salutary spell

Shall lull his penal agony to sleep,
And leave the passage free."

28.

Thalaba answer'd not.

Nor was there time for answer now,
For lo! Mohareb leads,
And o'er the vaulted cave,

Trembles the accursed taper's feeble light.
There, where the narrowing chasm
Rose loftier in the hill,

Stood Zohak, wretched man, condemn'd to keep His Cave of punishment.

His was the frequent scream

Which when, far off, the prowling Jackal heard,
He howl'd in terror back:
For from his shoulders grew
Two snakes of monster size,
Which ever at his head
Aim'd their rapacious teeth,
To satiate raving hunger with his brain.
He, in the eternal conflict, oft would seize
Their swelling necks, and in his giant grasp

39.

Then joy suffused Mohareb's cheek,

And Thalaba beheld

The blue blade gleam, descending to destroy.

40.

The undefended youth
Sprung forward, and he seized

Mohareb in his grasp,

And grappled with him breast to breast.
Sinewy and large of limb Mohareb was,
Broad-shoulder'd, and his joints
Knit firm, and in the strife
Of danger practised well.

Time had not thus matured young Thalaba;
But high-wrought feeling now,
The inspiration and the mood divine,
Infused a force portentous, like the strength
Of madness through his frame.
Mohareb reels before him; he right on,
With knee, with breast, with arm,
Presses the staggering foe;

And now upon the brink
Of that tremendous spring,-

There with fresh impulse and a rush of force,
He thrust him from his hold.
The upwhirling flood received
Mohareb, then, absorb'd,
Engulf'd him in the abyss.

41.

Thalaba's breath came fast;
And, panting, he breathed out
A broken prayer of thankfulness.

At length he spake and said,
"Haruth and Maruth! are ye here?
Or hath that evil guide misled my search?
I, Thalaba, the Servant of the Lord,
Invoke you. Hear me, Angels! so may Heaven
Accept and mitigate your penitence !

I go to root from earth the Sorcerer brood;
Tell me the needful Talisman!"

42.

Thus, as he spake, recumbent on the rock
Beyond the black abyss,

Their forms grew visible.

A settled sorrow sate upon their browsSorrow alone, for trace of guilt and shame None now remain'd; and gradual, as by prayer The sin was purged away,

Their robe of glory, purified of stain,
Resumed the lustre of its native light.
43.

In awe the youth received the answering voice"Son of Hodeirah! thou hast proved it here; The Talisman is Faith."

NOTES TO BOOK V.

Laps the cool wave, &c.-3, p. 266.

The Pelican makes choice of dry and desert places to lay her eggs; when her young are hatched, she is obliged to

bring water to them from great distances. To enable her to perform this necessary office, Nature has provided her with a large sack, which extends from the tip of the under manIdible of her bill to the throat, and holds as much water as will supply her brood for several days. This water she pours into the nest, to cool her young, to allay their thirst, and to teach them to swim. Lions, Tygers, and other rapacious animals resort to these nests, and drink the water, and are said not to injure the young. Smellie's Philosophy of Natural History.

1

It is perhaps from this power of carrying a supply of water that the Pelican is called Jimmel el Bahar, the Camel of the River. Bruce notices a curious blunder upon this subject in the translation of Norden's travels. "On looking into Mr. Norden's Voyage," says he, "I was struck at first sight with this paragraph: We saw, this day, abundance of camels; but they did not come near enough for us to shoot them.' I thought with myself, to shoot camels in Egypt would be very little better than to shoot men, and that it was very lucky for him the camels did not come near, if that was the only thing that prevented him. Upon looking at the note, I see it is a small mistake of the translator, who says, that in the original it is Chameaux d'eau, Water Camels; but whether they are a particular species of camels, or a different kind of animal, he does not know."

Every where scattered, &c.-5, p. 266.

These prominent features of an Oriental city will be found in all the views of Sir John Chardin.

The mosques, the minarets, and numerous cupolas, form a splendid spectacle; and the flat roofs of the houses, which are situated on the hills, rising one behind another, present a succession of hanging terraces, interspersed with cypress and poplar trees. - Russel's Nat. Hist. of Aleppo.

The circuit of Ispahan, taking in the suburbs, is not less than that of Paris; but Paris contains ten times the number of its inhabitants. It is not, however, astonishing that this city is so extensive and so thinly peopled, because every family has its own house, and almost every house its garden; so that there is much void ground. From whatever side you arrive, you first discover the towers of the mosques, and then the trees which surround the houses; at a distance, Ispahan resembles a forest more than a town. Tavernier.

Of Alexandria, Volney says, "The spreading palm-trees, the terraced houses, which seem to have no roof, the lofty, slender minarets, all announce to the traveller that he is in another

world."

Thou too art fallen, Bagdad! City of Peace.-6, p. 266. Almanzor, riding one day with his courtiers along the banks of the Tigris, where Seleucia formerly stood, was so delighted with the beauty of the country, that he resolved there to build his new capital. Whilst he was conversing with his attendants upon this project, one of them, separating from the rest, met a Hermit, whose cell was near, and entered into talk with him, and communicated the design of the Caliph. The Hermit city would one day be built in that plain, but that its founder replied, he well knew, by a tradition of the country, that a would be a man called Moclas, a name very different from both those of the Caliph, Giaffar and Almanzor.

The Officer rejoined Almanzor, and repeated his conversation with the Hermit. As soon as the Caliph heard the name of Moclas, he descended from his horse, prostrated himself, and returned thanks to God, for that he was chosen to execute his orders. His courtiers waited for an explanation of this conduct with eagerness, and the Caliph told them thus:- During the Caliphate of the Ommiades, my brothers and myself being very young, and possessing very little, were obliged to live in the country, where each in rotation was to provide sustenance for the whole. On one of my days, as I was without money, and had no means of procuring food, I took a bracelet belonging to my nurse, and pawned it. This woman made a great outcry, and, after much search, discovered that I had been the thief. In her anger she abused me plentifully, and, among other terms of reproach, she called me Moclas, the name of a famous robber in those days; and, during the rest of her life, she never called

Almanzor named his new city Dar-al-Salam, the City of Peace; but it obtained the name of Bagdad, from that of this Hermit, who dwelt upon its site.

Thy founder the Victorious, &c.-6, p. 266. Almanzor signifies the Victorious.

Bagdad was founded in consequence of a singular superstition. A sect called Ravendiens conceived, that they ought to render those honors to the Caliphs which the Moslem hold should only be paid to the Deity. They therefore came in great numbers to Haschemia, where the Caliph Almanzor usually resided, and made around his palace the same processions and ceremonies which the Moslem make around the Temple at Mecca. The Caliph prohibited this, commanding them not to profane a religious ceremony which ought to be reserved solely to the Temple at Mecca. The Ravendiens did not regard the prohibition, and continued to act as before. Almanzor, seeing their obstinacy, resolved to conquer it, and began by arresting a hundred of these fanatics. This astonished them; but they soon recovered their courage, took arms, marched to the prison, forced the doors, delivered their friends, and then returned to make their procession round the palace in reverence of the Caliph.

Enraged at this insolence, the Caliph put himself at the head of his guards, and advanced against the Ravendiens, expecting that his appearance would immediately disperse them. Instead of this, they resisted, and repulsed him so vigorously, that he had nearly fallen a victim. But timely succors arrived, and after a great slaughter, these fanatics were expelled the town. This singular rebellion, arising from excess of loyalty, so disgusted Almanzor, that he determined to forsake the town which had witnessed it, and accordingly laid the foundation of Bagdad. — Marigny.

The many-colored domes.-9, p. 266.

In Tavernier's time, there were five Mosques at Bagdad, two of them fine, their large domes covered with varnished tiles of different colors.

Kept their night-clatter still.9, p. 266.

At Bagdad are many cranes, who build their nests upon the tops of the minarets, and the loftiest houses.

At Adanaqui, cranes are so abundant, that there is scarcely a house which has not several nests upon it. They are very tame, and the inhabitants never molest them. When any thing disturbs these birds, they make a violent clatter with their long beaks, which is some time repeated by the others all over the town; and this noise will sometimes continue for several minutes. It is as loud as a watchman's rattle, and not much unlike it in sound. Jackson.

The cranes were now arrived at their respective quarters, and a couple had made their nest, which is bigger in circumference than a bushel, on a dome close by our chamber. This pair stood, side by side, with great gravity, showing no concern at what was transacting beneath them, but at intervals twisting about their long necks, and clattering with their beaks, turned behind them upon their backs, as it were in concert. This was continued the whole night. An owl, a bird also unmolested, was perched hard by, and as frequently hooted. The crane is tall, like a heron, but much larger; the body white, with black pinions, the neck and legs very long, the head small, and the bill thick. The Turks call it friend and brother, believing it has an affection for their nation, and will accompany them into the countries they shall conquer. In the course of our journey we saw one hopping on a wall with a single leg, the maimed stump wrapped in linen. Chandler's Travels in Asia Minor.

Met in her arch'd Bazars.—7, p. 266.

The Bittern's boom came far. -9, p. 266.

At Tauris, he says, "there are the fairest Basars that are in any place of Asia; and it is a lovely sight to see their vast extent, their largeness, their beautiful Duomos, and the arches over them."

At Bagdad the Bazars are all vaulted, otherwise the merchants could not remain in them on account of the heat. They are also watered two or three times a day, and a number of the poor are paid for rendering this service to the public.

Tavernier.

And Tigris bore upon his tameless stream.—7, p. 266. On the other side of the river, towards Arabia, over against the city, there is a faire place or towne, and in it a fair Bazarr for merchants, with very many lodgings, where the greatest part of the merchants strangers which come to Babylon do lie with their merchandize. The passing over Tygris from Babylon to this Borough is by a long bridge, made of boates, chained together with great chaines, provided, that when the river waxeth great with the abundance of raine that falleth, then they open the bridge in the middle, where the one-halfe of the bridge falleth to the walles of Babylon, and the other to the brinks of this Borough, on the other side of the river; and as long as the bridge is open, they passe the river in small boats, with great danger, because of the smallness of the boats, and the overlading of them, that with the fiercenesse of the stream they be overthrowen, or els the streame doth carry them away; so that by this meanes many people are lost and drowned. - Cæsar Frederick in Hakluyt. Here are great store of victuals, which come from Armenia down the river of Tygris. They are brought upon raftes made of goate's skinnes blown full of wind, and bordes layde

tern, and pools of water.

Isaiah, xiv. 22, 23.

Once from her lofty walls the Charioteer. — 10, p. 266.
Walls within

Whose large enclosure the rude hind, or guides
His plough, or binds his sheaves, while shepherds guard
Their flocks, secure of ill: on the broad top

Six chariots rattle in extended front.
Each side in length, in height, in solid bulk,
Reflects its opposite a perfect square;
Scarce sixty thousand paces can mete out
The vast circumference. An hundred gates
Of polished brass lead to that central point,
Where, through the midst, bridged o'er with wondrous art,
Euphrates leads a navigable stream,
Branch'd from the current of his roaring flood.

Roberts's Judah Restored.

Hath been the aerial Gardens, &c. - 10, p. 266.
Within the walls

Of Babylon was rais'd a lofty mound,
Where flowers and aromatic shrubs adorn'd
The pensile garden. For Nebassar's queen,
Fatigued with Babylonia's level plains,
Sigh'd for her Median home, where nature's hand
Had scoop'd the vale, and clothed the mountain's side
With many a verdant wood; nor long she pined,
Till that uxorious monarch call'd on art
To rival nature's sweet variety.