theft, adultery, and any disrespect, even the slightest, towards the emperour, were capital crimes, and punished with death; but all other misdemeanors found an easy pardon.

they went round the fire seven times, and then sitting down to receive a share of the heat, the marriage was accomplished. Then the husband demanded the bride's portion, which he was obliged The children of the common people were instruct- to return in case of separation, which often took ed in publick schools, and those of the noble in well-place by mutual consent in that case the father endowed colleges, where they passed through three took care of the boys, and the mother of the girls; classes; in the first of which they were taught to and the marriage being thus dissolved, the parties decipher the characters and hieroglyphicks, and to were forbidden to join again on pain of death: an repeat the historical songs; in the second they institution wisely calculated to check the natural learned to acquire a modest, civil, and polite deport- levity of the people. ment; and in the third they were employed in robust exercises, as wrestling, managing their arms, and carrying weights; and inured to the hardships of suffering hunger and thirst, and bearing the inclemencies of the weather. These qualifications being acquired, the young noblemen who were designed for war, were sent as volunteers to the army, to accustom themselves to the dangers and hardships of a campaign, and were often placed among the baggage-men, and loaded with provisions, to mortify their pride and inure their bodies to fatigue, before they were enrolled as soldiers, an honour to which none were admitted, who had not given proofs of their intrepidity.

In every town there was a regular militia, so that their armies were formed with ease; for the princes, caciques, and governours, were obliged to repair to the rendezvous, with a certain number of soldiers. Their troops were better disciplined than those of the other Indian nations; and the emperour, with a view to reward acts of valour, instituted several orders of knighthood.

It has been asserted, as a proof of the grandeur of the Mexican empire, that Montezuma had thirty vassals, each of whom could bring one hundred thousand armed men into the field.

The Mexican year, like ours, consists of three hundred and sixty-five days, but was divided into eighteen months, of twenty days each, and at the end of the year five days were added to make it answer the course of the sun, and these were entirely appropriated to pleasures and diversions. They had likewise weeks of thirteen days, to which were given different names; and a longer period, called ages, which consisted of four weeks of years.

This period. of time was represented in a very singular manner in the centre of a large circle, divided into fifty two degrees, allowing a year for every degree, they painted the sun, from whose rays proceeded four lines of different colours, which equally divided the circumference, leaving thirteen degrees to each semi-diameter; and these divisions served as signs of their zodiack, upon which the ages had their revolutions, and the sun his aspects, adverse or prosperous, according to the colour of the line. In a larger circle which enclosed the other, they marked with their characters the principal occurrences of the age, and these secular annals were considered as publick instruments, serving for proofs of their history.

The Mexican marriages were celebrated in the following manner: the contract being settled, the parties appeared in the temple, and the priest having examined them respecting their mutual passion, tied the tip of the woman'a veil, and the corner of the bridegroom's garment together, and accompanied them, joined in this manner, to their dwelling, where

RACEHORSE.

THE horse has been deservedly a great favourite with man, in all countries, aud in every age. Beautiful in his appearance, grand and lofty in his bearing, and graceful in his carriage, he commands our admiration. But when, added to these, we see his noble and generous nature, how, with all his mighty powers, and the native ardour and boldness of his character, he yields himself to our will, and, as required, ministers to our pride, or adds to our pleasure, or aids in our labours, our admiration rises into an esteem, that compels us to place him at the head of the quadruped race. Whether viewed as bearing us into battle, or in the chase, or on the turf, or as harnessed to the chariot, the car, or the plough, we see him ever the same true and faithful servant, devoting his energies with a fitness appropriate to the demands of the occasion with a zeal unabating, and a fidelity untiring, even unto death. It is not surprising, then, that he has been regarded with great interest and deep solicitude by the people of every country, from the most remote ages. But the Arabians in particular appear to have entertained a very high sense of his merits at an early period, when they formed studs of the wild horses inhabiting their deserts, (descendants, as we are informed by history, of the famed Persian race, so highly esteemed by the ancients,) and introduced a system of breeding, which, having especial regard to a preservation of the purity of their blood, and the improvement of their qualities, and being pursued, through a succession of ages, with the strictest ref erence to the attainment of these objects alone, has at length resulted in producing a race superiour to that of any other nation.

The mountain Arab stands acknowledged the first of his species. He has never been permitted to form alliances with any race less noble than his own; (for so he is denominated by the Arabians ;) and as it has ever been the custom to have attestations of all he has been allowed to form, made by creditable witnesses, who swore to, and sealed them, generally before some publick person; and as they have been preserved with great care, and handed down from generation to generation his genealogy may be traced with perfect certainty for centuries back. There can be no doubt, from the testimony of history, that his is the pure and ancient race here described, and that taken altogether, he forms the model of the horse in his most perfect state. His hair or coat is fine and silken, and his proportions just and beautiful; he is vigorous in his constitution; bold and intrepid in character; mild, generous, and affectionate in disposition: and in his temper

LIFE IN THE EAST.

[Tiger hunting.]

THE hunting of the common tiger is a favourite sport in countries where they abound. We owe to the pen of Bishop Heber the following description of a scene, of which he was an eyewitness :"The young rajah, Gourman Singh, a border chieftain, whose father had been the sovereign of all Kemaoon, till driven to take shelter within the company's borders, having called to pay his respects to the bishop, during his stay at Kulleanpoor, mentioned that a tiger, in an adjoining wood, had done a good deal of mischief and that it would be fine diversion for the bishop, and Mr. Boulderson, the collector of the district. The bishop assured him that he was no sportsman; but the collector's eyes sparkled at the name of a tiger, and he expressed great anxiety to go in search of him that very afternoon. The bishop, therefore, not liking to deprive him of his sport, went with the intention of being a mere spectator.

marshy ground, and while Mr. Boulderson was doubting whether they should pass through, or skirt it round, some country-people came running to say that the tiger had been tracked there this morning. They accordingly proceeded to the spot. It was a novel and stirring scene. The attendants were all eagerness and animation; they looked earnestly for every waving of the jungle grass, while the continual calling and shouting of both horse and foot excited an indescribable feeling of interest and surprise. The grass grew so wild, and rose so high, that it reached up to the howdah of the tallest elephant, and almost hid the Rajah's entirely. In the distance appeared, what might have been taken for clouds, had not their base been stationary, and their outline so harsh and pyramidical, the glorious range of the Himalaya mountains, the patriarchs of the continent, white and glistening as alabaster, and seen even at the distance of probably one hundred and fifty miles, towering above the nearest and secondary range, as "The party set out on their elephants, with a much as these, which are said to be seven thousand servant behind each seat, or howdah, carrying a six hundred feet high, lifted their giant buttresses large hunting tiger, which, however, was almost above the plain on which the hunting party were needless. A number of people, on foot and horse-assembled. It was impossible to gaze upon them back, attended from the bishop's camp, and neighbouring villages; and the same sort of interest was excited as in England by a large hunting party. The rajah was seated in a low howdah, with two or three guns ranged beside him, ready for action; his elephant was the smallest of the party, hardly larger than a Durham ox, and almost as shaggy as a poodle; she was the native of a neighbouring wood, where her race was generally smaller than those of Bengal and Cittagong. Mr. Boulderson had also a formidable apparatus of muskets and fowling-pieces, projecting over his mohaut or driver's head. Thus equipped, they proceeded about two miles across a plain, covered with long jungle grass, from out of which quails and wild fowls rose in great numbers, and beautiful antelopes were seen scudding away in all directions.

"At length, the party came to deeper and more

without a feeling of delight and awe: but in a few moments, the clouds closed round, as on the fairy castle of St. John, and left a cold gray horizon, encircling the green plain, and broken only by scattered tufts of peepul and mango trees.

"At last, the elephants all threw up their trunks into the air, began to roar, and to stamp violently with their fore feet; the rajah's little elephant turned short round, and, in spite of all her mohaut could say or do, she posted herself, to the rajah's great annoyance, close in the rear of the collector's. The other three, for one of the baggage elephants had come out, went on slowly, but boldly, with their trunks raised, their ears expanded, and their sagacious little eyes bent intently forward. close upon him,' said Mr. Boulderson; fire where you see the long grass shake, if he rises before you.' Just at that moment, the bishop's elephant stamped

We are

At

I saw his head; a short roar, or rather a short growl, followed, and the motion of some animal was seen stealing away through the grass. I fired as directed," continued the bishop, "and a moment after, seeing the motion still more plainly, fired a second barrel. Another short growl followed, the motion quickened, and was soon lost in the more distant jungle. Mr. Boulderson said, 'I should not wonder if you had hit him that last time; at any rate we shall drive lim out of the cover, and then I will take care of presented himself to Mehemed Ali, and 'pretending him.' At that moment, the attendant crowd of horse and foot began to run off in all directions. We hastened to the place, but found that the alarm was a false one; in fact, we had seen all that we were to see of the tiger, though we went twice more through the jungle. A large extent of high grass stretched out in one direction, but this we had not now sufficient daylight to explore. Whether the animal so near me was really a tiger," adds the narrator, "I have no evidence but its growl, the collector's opinion, the assertion of the mohaut, and the alarm expressed by the elephants."

most violently. There, there!' cried the mohaut. In 1820, when archeologists were attempting most zealously to avail themselves of the protection granted to them by the pacha of Egypt, Mehemed Ali, Messrs. Saulnier and Lelorrain, conceived the project of bringing this circular zodiack to France. the commencement of October in the same year, M. Lelorrain embarked for Alexandria, taking with him saws, chisels, vices, and other instruments which mght be necessary for its removal; also a carriage of a new construction. On his arrival at Cairo, he that he wished to visit the antiquities of Upper Egypt, obtained from him a letter of introduction to Achmed Pacha, the governour of upper Egypt, and also a firman in the Turkish language, commanding the governours and other officers of the province, to aid and protect him.

In reply to Bishop Heber's inquiry of the collector if tiger-hunting was generally of the same kind, he was informed by that gentleman, that except when under very peculiar circumstances, or when a tiger felt himself severely wounded, and was roused to revenge, his aim was to remain concealed, and to make off as quietly as possible. It was after he had broken cover, or when at bay, that the serious part of the affray commenced. He then sprung out to meet his enemy, open-mouthed, like the boldest of all animals, a mastiff-dog, and was shot with little trouble; but, if missed, or only slightly wounded, he was truly formidable. To which we may add, from the same authority, that, though not swift of foot he can leap with amazing strength and violence; and that his large head, immense paws, and the great weight of his body in front, often enable him to spring on the head of the largest elephant, and pull him to the ground. When a tiger attacks one of these huge creatures, the latter is generally able to shake him off; and then wo be to him! the elcphant either kneels and crushes him at once, or gives him a kick which breaks half his ribs, and sends him flying, perhaps twenty paces. But a large old tiger sometimes clings too fast to be so dealt with, and the elephant is dreadfully torn: thús circumstanced, it often happens that the elephant himself falls, either from pain, or with the hope of rolling on his enemy; and the riders are then in considerable danger, both from friends and foes. Moreover, the scratch of this fierce creature is occasionally attended with inflammatory symptoms, though this rarely happens; and, in general, both wounded men and animals soon recover.

[For the Family Magazine.] CIRCULAR ZODIACK OF DENDERAH. THE zodiack of Denderah, sculptured in one of the upper buildings of the temple of Denderah, was first commended to the notice of scientifick men, by General Desaix; M. Denon who accompanied the expedition to Egypt, made drawings of it, and this remnant of antiquity soon became the subject of dispute.

On this, M. Lelorrain chartered a vessel, and lest Cairo on the 12th of February with an interpreter and a janissary of the pacha's guard to take care of his effects. After a voyage of a month, he arrived at Denderah, and was kindly received.

Denderah is an Arabian village, on the west bank of the Nile, 420 miles from Cairo and 60 miles from Thebes. The ruins of the ancient Tentyra, formerly one of the largest cities of Egypt, are about a mile and a half distant from this village; and it is in the ruins of the great temple, formerly dedicated to Isis, that the circular zodiack was found.

After making a short excursion to Thebes, to avoid the notice of some English travellers who were then sketching on the spot, M. Lelorrain returned; and on the 18th of April, began to chisel off the planisphere; it was supposed from the drawings published in France, that the whole was carved on one block, but this was found to be an errour; for the monument occupied one stone, and a quarter of another, as is seen in our plate of it. A scaffolding was now erected; the workmen proceeded to cut the stone with chisels, and in twenty-four days the zodiack was removed from its place on the wall. The transportation of it, for the distance of six miles to the Nile, was extremely difficult, on account of the ruined monuments, and the inequalities of the ground: but this was accomplished in sixteen days. On the 18th of July, 1821, the zodiack was embarked at Alexandria, and in January, 1822, the two stones were at Paris. It was then purchased by the French government, and placed in the royal library.

The planisphere of Denderah, is a large circle described in a square its diameter is seven feet nine inches; the diameter of the smaller circle is four feet nine inches. As we have already stated, and as is seen in the engraving, the monument consists of two parts; on one stone is carved three quarters of it, on another the remaining fourth. Near the centre of the inner circle, the twelve constellations of the zodiack are arranged in nearly a circle. Within are the northern constellations, among which the Ursa major is easily distinguished, it being placed directly in the centre of the planisphere. This constellation, according to Plutarch, was called the star of Typhon, and we find in its place a monstrous animal, with the head and body of a hippopotamus, an animal consecrated to Typhon. The other northern constellations, nineteen in number, have but little similarity in form to those represented in our spheres. Five other constellations are situated

in the centre of the signs of the zodiack, and exactly on the same line. Of the inferiour constellations, fourteen, are placed in the field of the planisphere, directly below the constellations of the zodiack. The others, thirty-seven in number, are all on the extreme edge of the internal circle, the head turned to the centre. All the figures proceed in the same direction, and describe circles which enlarge from the centre to the circumference, so that the pole is easily seen. The thirty-seven constellations which surround the planisphere, are all attended with a certain number of hieroglyphicks, which doubtless contain their names. by twelve figures, which are situated at the eight The whole circle is supported principal points of the circumference, while the arms are extended, as if to support the planisphere. the angles of the square stand four females, and at each of the intermediate points, we see a group of men, with the faces of frogs. A large circular band, which is entirely filled with hieroglyphicks, extends into the corners. They are situated at the two op

At

posite angles, one on the right, the other on the left,
of the diagonal. In the angles we see also other
marks, the signification of which is unknown.

Denderah, are those of the great temple of Esne
and that of Palmyra.
The most remarkable zodiacks beside that of

A COMPARISON OF SPEED.

ordinary rate is per second
A FRENCH Scientifick journal states that the
Of a man walking

:

Of a good horse in harness

4 feet.

12

Of a raindeer in a sledge on the ice 26
Of an English racehorse

43

Of a hare

88

Of a good-sailing ship

19

Of the wind

Of sound