The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 281, November 3, 1827, by Various

Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 281, November 3, 1827

Author: Various

Release Date: June 21, 2005 [eBook #16098]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION, VOL. 10, ISSUE 281, NOVEMBER 3, 1827***

E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia,
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team

THE MIRROR
OF
LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS.

NO. XIV.

The first of the above engravings represents one of the Body Guards of the Sheikh of Bornou, copied from an engraving after a sketch made by Major Denham, in his recent "Travels in Africa." These negroes, as they are called, meaning the black chiefs and favourites, all raised to that rank by Some deed of bravery, are habited in coats of mail, composed of iron chain, which cover them from the throat to the knees, dividing behind, and coming on each side of the horse; some of them wear helmets or skull-caps of the same metal, with chin-pieces, all sufficiently strong to ward off the shock of a spear. Their horses' heads are also defended by plates of iron, brass, and silver, just leaving room for the eyes of the animal; and not unfrequently they are hung over with charms, enclosed in little red leather parcels, strung together, round the neck, in front of the head, and about the saddle.

Their appearance is altogether of a warlike character, the horses being well caparisoned, and the riders well clothed for personal defence; and though their equestrian evolutions be somewhat wild, the lance or spear is doubtless a formidable weapon in their hands. The savage splendour of their dress, together with the pawing and snorting of their fiery steeds, render them appropriate auxiliaries to royalty, in countries where such attributes of power are requisite to impress the people with the importance of their rulers, and where the milder aids of civilization and refinement are wanting to protect the sovereign from violence.

The second engraving, copied from the same authentic source as that preceding it, is a somewhat grotesque portraiture of one of the Lancers of the Sultan of Begharmi, described, in an historical and geographical account by a native prince, as an extensive country, containing woods and rivers, and fields fit for cultivation; but now desolated, as the inhabitants say, by the "misconduct of the king, who, having increased in levity and licentiousness to such a frightful degree, as even to marry his own daughter, God Almighty caused Saboon, the prince of Wa-da-i, to march against him, and destroy him, laying waste, at the same time, all his country, and leaving the houses uninhabited, as a signal chastisement for his impiety."

Major Denham having applied for the covering of the above warrior and his horse, in his journal thus describes their arrival:—"Aug. 11. Soon after daylight, Karouash, with Hadgi, Mustapha, the chief of the Shouaas, and the Sheikh's two nephews, Hassein and Kanemy, came to our huts. They were attended by more than a dozen slaves, bearing presents for us, for King George, and the consul at Tripoli. I had applied for a lebida, (horse-covering,) after seeing those taken from the Begharmis; the sheikh now sent a man, clothed in a yellow wadded jacket, with a scarlet cap, and mounted on the horse taken from the Begharmis, on which the sultan's eldest son rode. He was one of the finest horses I had seen, and covered with a scarlet cloth, also wadded. 'Every thing,' Hadgi Mustapha said, 'except the man, is to be taken to your great king.'"

The Begharmis, it will be seen, were conquered by the people of Kanem; and Major Denham has translated, and given in the appendix to his Travels, a song of thanksgiving on the triumphant return of the governor, full of the characteristic beauty and simplicity of savage life. In these struggles it would appear the law of nations is severe on the weakest; for the son of the late sultan of the Begharmis is described as "now a slave of the sheikh of Bornou." So wags the world!

LIVING AT TOULOUSE.

Part of a house, sufficient for a small family, unfurnished, may be had for 14l. a year; and the most elegant in the city, in the best situation, for 60l., including coach-house, stable, cellar, &c. A horse may be kept well for 14l. a year. The wages of a coachman are 8l., a housemaid 8l., a noted cook 16l., and a lady's-maid 10l. The price of a chicken is 7½d.; a partridge 1s.; a hare 2s. 6d.; a duck 1s.; a turkey 2s. 6d.; the best bread 1½d. per lb.; common ditto 1d.; a bottle of wine 3d.; brandy is sold by the lb. of 16 oz. and costs 6d.; grapes ½d. per lb.; meat 3d.; butter 4d.; cheese 6d; 50 lbs. carrots 10d.; other vegetables at the same rate. A dozen very fine peaches now cost a halfpenny; pears 3d. a dozen; labourers, who work from sunrise to sunset, are fed by the proprietor, and have 6d. per day, which, in this part of the country, will go further than three times the sum in England. The horses and oxen used about the farms are fed chiefly on straw, and do not consume more than 3d. a day. The labouring people make a very nourishing diet from maize flour, which is fried with grease; and this, with beans, forms the principal part of their food. They neither use nor wish for meat; but at this season they have figs and grapes almost for nothing—Original Letter.

MOHAMMEDAN SUPERSTITION.

The eastern, and all Mohammedan people, considering Alexander the Great as the only monarch who conquered the globe from east to west, give him the title of "the two horned," in allusion to his said conquests. They likewise believe that Gog and Magog were two great nations, but that, in consequence of their wicked and mischievous disposition, Alexander gathered and immured them within two immensely high mountains, in the darkest and northernmost parts of Europe, by a most surprising and insuperable wall, made of iron and copper, of great thickness and height; and that to the present time they are confined there; that, notwithstanding they are a dwarfish race,—viz. from two to three feet in height only—they will one day come out and desolate the world. As Lord Mayor's Day is just approaching, perhaps some of the visiters of Gog and Magog on that occasion may decide this matter. It is almost akin to our nursery quibble of the giants hearing the clock strike, &c. &c.

PERSIAN BARBER.

The Khas-terash (literally, personal shaver) of the present sovereign has, in the abundance of his wealth, built