MAJOR SKINNER'S OVERLAND JOURNEY TO INDIA.

THE reputation Major SKINNER acquired by his Excursions in India will be increased by the present work, which is the most

charming book of travels that the year has produced. If none of the countries through which our author journeyed can be said to be untrodden ground, the season of the year in which much of it was traversed gave it a novel appearance. The Major lauded at Caifa, in Asia Minor, at the end of winter, when the waters were out and the ground hidden by snow ; he crossed the Desert, from

Damascus to Bagdad, in the early spring, when the earth, yet moist from the winter's rains, was a carpet of verdure, intermingled with flowers and sweet-smelling herbs,—so that both his personal adventures and his sketches of scenery derive a singularity from a seasonable accident. The character and qualifications of the traveller render him independent, however, of any adventitious circumstances. Accustomed to rough it through the world, he submits without a murmur to those hardships and privations Nvhich would horrify a common tourist ; familiarly acquainted with the remoter East, he enters into the Asiatic character, adapts him- self readily to its usages, and transfers to his pages the spirit of its manners ; whilst the skill with which he seizes the distinctive features of persons and things, his graphic and animated style, and the happy art by which he invests every incident and almost every scene with a personal interest, would impart an at- traction and a novelty to the most common occurrences and every- day scenes. In his description of the sandy neighbourhood and numerous olive-trees, the variety of costume, and the open manner of dealing in the shops, which gives Marseilles a semi-Oriental character, we not only gain a clearer idea of that seaport than we ever had before, but the stale is made fresh. Adventures in a heavy sea, with an uncomfortable vessel badly managed, and a sea-sick and timorous crowd of Oriental passengers, have been told before ; yet we read with pleasure undiminished by the familiarity of the subject, the Major's account of his passage from Marseilles to Egypt with a " bon enfant "—a very great man but a very small sailor; or his narrative of' the stormy voyage from Egypt to Syria with a cargo of officers and con- scripts for the Paella's army. Every one has read descriptions of Alexandria, even to satiety, as he might reasonably ima- gine; but he may pleasantly ramble with Major SKINNER through its streets, and acquire a truer, if not a minuter idea than he has yet received, of their character, motley population, and singular persons, with the changes in Oriental habits that MAHOMET Ala has produced. The convents of Palestine, the manners and religious characteristics of their monks as classes, and the individual qualities of the most marked among them, are touched off slightly, but with spirit. The religious ceremonies at Jerusalem and its vicinity during Lent, the various sanctified spots of the Holy City, and the mixture of ridiculous and in- decorous forms with the spirit of true although ill-directed devo- tion, are all perused with as much. zest as it' we had never read of them before. His descriptions of the landscapes where the Saviour walked and taught, seem to have more of truth and por nature than any others we remember to have met ; partly, per- haps, from their subdued and sober character. The adven- tures by the road in the journey to Damascus and dur- ing the sojourn at that city, suffer nothing from the pre- vious narratives of the Reverend VERB M usito and Dr. }loco, able as both writers were, and animated as was the divine. When the Major quitted the city of roses and sword-blades, and joined the caravan to cross the wilderness on a camel under the guidance of a guard of Arabs, he entered upon a comparatively unex- hausted subject; and very delightful are his brief pictures of life and scenes in a desert. His graphic sketches of Bagdad, and of the different groups of Bedouins he fell in with in his excursion to the ruins of Babylon, are full of variety and pleasant attraction ;

and his voyage down the Tigris and the Euphrates has a tem- . porary interest in addition to the intrinsic, from the project which is now under a partial trial to open up by that route a steam navi- gation with India. The voyage through the Persian Gulf to Bombay terminates the journey ; and if others are animated by our feelings, they will close the volumes with regret. Their pe-

rusal has been accompanied by something of the spirit of youth- ful reading, when one hung with enthusiastic delight over a nar- rative of strange lands, and watched the termination of the book with a feeling akin to that which might be felt at parting from an agreeable friend on a dull road.

As regards extracts, there is little difficulty. The volumes might be opened anywhere and furnish a picture from every page. But

we will so far follow a principle of selection, as to take some of those passages which have left the strongest impression. Here is a part of the results of the author's first day at Alexandria.

I was almost giddy from the variety I had seen, and might have found much matter for reflection in the striking contrasts that had just engaged my atten-

tion ; but a new subject, promising more interest to myself, suddenly inter-

rupted the train of my thoughts, and brought me acquainted with one of a very numerous class that has grown out of the Frank intercourse with the

country. " Buou giorno, Signore ! " said a tall stout fellow as black as a coal,.

who stood nodding and grinning at a little distance from inc ; " do you want a servant ? I can speak French, Italian, Greek, English," he continued, giving me a specimen of his powers in each. " What can you do?" I asked in my own tongue; at which, exposing to view a most formidable array of white teeth, he replied, " Me cookie, too good ; leetle coffee—lectle broth." " Any- thing else?" " Leetle broth—leetle coffee." After a few more inquiries, I found this was the sum of his accomplishments ;. and although more useful than beating the drum ur manufacturing spatterdasbes, was scarcely enough to recommend him as my esquire in the doubtful expedi- tion I meditated. Ile served to guide me, however, to a " locanda," which was denoted by a fine brazen sign hanging so high in the air that it had escaped my notice. At the foot of the steps that lead up to the coffee-room of the " Aquila d'oro," I parted with my universal linguist ; having learnt from him on our way that he had been servant in succession to many' Franks, from whom he had learnt to make coffee and broth. Ile had lost all that is good in a Ma- hometan, both in manners and appearance, and had picked up all that is bad in an European ; and the many idle lads with whom he had left me to consort, showed that he had fellows in the same school whose education had kept pace with his own.

The first aspect of the Aquila d'oro was far from agreeable. At the top of a flight of perpendicular steps, excessively filthy, was a large room, in which a table, covered with a dirty cloth, showed that active operations had been lately carried on ; fragments of bread and fruit lay strewed about the fluor, and the most abominable smells proceeded from every corner of the building : in a narrow chamber beyond, were a collection of little tables, all neat enough, and at one of these I was soon seated with an exceedingly good dinner before me. While I was thus agreeably engaged, a room was to be prepared for me as much out of the way as could be, and a messenger sent off properly accredited to bring my baggage on shore. There was but one person in the room beside myself. He was dressed in a green jacket and trousers, very much braided, and had on a party-coloured silk sash ; the incessant red cap completed his cos- tume. His head had just been shaved ; and his newly-razored temples, con- trasted with the bronzed complexion of his countenance, gave him rather a wo- begone appearance. He was carefully examining the carte," and picking from it the cheapest dishes ; for every thing in the restaurant was managed in the manner of a French one, and each dish bore its price against it. I found, on entering into conversation with this man, that he was a native of Piedmont, and one of the instructors in Mehemet Ali's army. His pay was many months in arrear ; and the threadbare and darned uniform he wore gave evidence clear enough of the fact. Many of the figures, similarly dressed, which I had noticed roaming about the streets with pipes at their lips, I now perceived filled the same office. I was much pleased when he toll me that there was no Englishman in a similar capacity ; for all that I had seen bore so haggard and desolate an air, that I should have been loath indeed to witness a countryman so bowed down. To be a drudfe, ill-paid and ill-considered, in an Eastern army, seems to me the last refuge of the unfortunate.

Passing over, unwillingly, the pages descriptive of the land journey in Palestine, let us jump at once to Jerusalem, and take a few quotations embracing a picture of past and present manners, intermingled with specimens of priestly imposition.

It is still a common custom throughout the East, and I observed it this

morning in the streets of Jerusalem, to lay a cripple or a leper at the door of some wealthy man, or to place him in a public thoroughfare, stretched upon his mat or wooden litter. The blind, too, line the approaches to the city, and cry out with a loud voice to the passers by for mercy and for charity. • * • On this spot, which is close to where the Disciples found " the ass tied, and

the colt with her," I met a party of Arabs from Hahn, the modern name of Jericho. They were as black as Negroes, and the most wild-looking people I have seen. They were waiting until some of their tribe, who had gone into the city to make purchases, returned. I was glad of an opportunity of observ- ing these good people, who make it still so dangerous to go down to Jericho.

SCENE AT THE CHURCH or THU VOLT SEPULCHRE.

The moment I reached them (a group of women) the sacred building had been converted into a scene of the most unholy quarrel between', the Ar- menians and the Greeks. All feelings of solemnity were checked. The Ar- menians, richly dressed (the costume of the Patriarch is magnificent,) bearing banners, had just reached the arches that lead from the aisle where the " Stone of unction " is placed, to the centre nave ; the Greeks met them, for the pur- pose of resisting their approach to the sepulchre. A violent struggle ensued; blows, and, as far as I could understand, curses, were dealt in plenty about. The Turks flew to restore peace, and with their large sticks inflicted most con- vincing arguments in behalf of quiet upon the heads of each party. People rushed from all parts to the scene of action ; the Turks ranged themselves now on the side of the Armenians, and succeeded in beating back the crowd. My old friend of the porch seeing me in a dilemma—for I was too weak to struggle against the stream—seized me by the coat and placed me by his side in the procession, exhorting me to use toy stick without ceremony. I rejected this part of his advice, but continued to follow the Armenians in their tour round the sepulchre; v. hick holy office was performed under an escort of Ma- bometans ! Can Christianity ever be respected in the East? I left them as they knelt on the spot where Christ was stripped by the soldiers ; and continu- ing along the cloisters, as I may call them, found the tombs of Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin; and there quite alone sat down to think, if possible, after all I had witnessed, that I was at the foot of Calvary.

THE SEA or TIBERIAS.

At the upper end of the sea, between me and the hills, there is occasionally a very broad belt of pastureland ; and at the mouths of the glens opening into it, I could often perceive the tents of the Arabs whose flocks grazed it. 'There are many scenes where people would gather together for such purpose as the multitudes followed our Saviour. The most perfect seclusion may be enjoyed in all directions ; but I do not think that either the word " desert" or " wil- derness," according to our understanding of them, describes the species of solitude; and yet it would be difficult to find another expression, perhaps, to suit it so well. In two or three places on the banks of the lake, are the remains of towns.. At the upper end of it, near to the entrance to the hills, I found a few ruins, and sat there to rest, in the hope that I was, if not on the precise spot, some- where near the site of Capernaum. Some distance on my left hand, as I looked down the length of the sea, the Jordan ran into it I could just see it ; and- beyond it I thought I could perceive through my glass the position of Bethsaida. How completely desolate of living beings is this fine scene now ! I could se► nearly to the southern end of the lake; and, with the exception of poor Um-

ties, there is not a dwelling even in sight. How populous must thew shores have been when daily witness to our Savioul's mercies, when it was no doubt the custom to pass from city to city and coast to coast, in boats that plyed upon the waters incessantly There is not a vessel now to be seen upon them, nor, while I remained in my resting-place, one man upun the banks. I could scarcely quit the spot, it was so still and beautiful.

I entered the hills, and was soon lost among Aie rocks and wild crags ; over which fur three hours we stumbled and scrambled without meeting a soul, or hearing even the sound of the shepherd's voice. Occasionally, as we ascended, :She heights commanded a view (if the lake and of all its nem-it:this and hills. Sometimes the paths and the giro) slopes above them were covered with a rich -variety of flowers; the purple iris, anemones, tulips of every colour, geraniums, end the finest lupines I ever saw.

We will lass on further eastward. Here arc some

SIGHTS AT DAMASCUS.

The bazars arc superb; many of them, ruufed in, ate at all times cool aud dry. In an Eastern city each commodity has generally its man peculiar mat t. If in pursuit of a pair of slippers, there is a lung street with nothing to be seen but

slippers on each side of it ; all has the appearance of a fair iu a town in Eu- rope ; every lane of shops is crowded to excess, and the merchant is at all times vaunting Ids goods with a loud voice. The scene is one of such variety and of so much amusement, that I never felt dispowd to leave the bazars of Damascus. Second-hand goods are sold by auction, as well as clothes and bedding: a man hutries through the street with the zo tick hoisted over his head, while the seller screams out the bidding : the shops being all open, every thing is done in public. If a merchant is put into a passien by a customer, lie jumps up among his bales, and storms and raves to his fullest desire, without the least interruption. 'Women are as numerous as men in the streets, and make all the household purchases: the shopmen have an air of gellantry in their way of dealing with their muffled customers, that seems to invite them to hug( r about their pur- chases ; fur I noticed frequently groups of fair ladies, who remained an uncoil- sciouulde time to listen to the soft tones of the elroplweper. I thought so much of the Arabian Nifibts, when these scenes were before rue, that I could not resist loitering about them. Black slave. git Is very generally attended the better class of women in the bazar, rs carefully veiled, however. as their mistresses; and it was only by the peculiar white of the eye that they could be detected. The ready-made clothes-shops give the most entertaining scene, where cheapness more thau fashion is considered, and the pouter people dress themselves iu a mixture of all the costumes of the East : they try the articles on, either in the midet of the thoroughfare or um the beard of the tailor, and loungers stop frequently to offer their opinions on the style and fit.

Sometimes a procession of great men on horseback pushes through the ear. row bazars, and culprits are led about the streets as an example to the people. A Jew, who had exchanged Spanish dollars at a higher raw than that pro-

al by the Governor, was shaved for the off. nee, and e.corterl through the town, preceded by a man who shouted nut his crime and called upon all to take warning. The Jew was heartily ashamed of his notoriety, and endea- voured to hide his imulted chin. A Christian merchant, of very great respect- ability and wealth, received far the same disobedience of the proclamation, one humped bastinadoes, and was nearly killed by the iralietion. They had each given eighteen piastres for the Spanish dollar, the rate haying Ikea fixed at sixteen the day before.

This manner of punishment does not denote very even justice. The Jew may have a very respectable beard long before the Christian is able to walk ; the Turks, however, say he feels the disgrace more than the whet can do the pain.

TIIE DESERT.

The ground is teeming with lizards. The sun seems to draw then Irons the earth ; for sometimes, when I have fixed my (-ye on one spot, I have fancied that the sands were getting into life, so many of these creatures at once have crept from their holes. A greater variety of flowers covered the plain than we have met with yet : and a plant that IBMS; resembles rhubarb—a thick stein with a very broad leaf—was abundant. We have seen it to-day for the first time : some few of the Arabs eat of the stern, but it appeared to me more from curiosity than from being accustomed to do so. The plain is moreover ornamented by poppies of many colours' irises, lupines, mignonette, a very small species of basil (my- mum), and the larkspur, which grows over the plain in every direction as

thickly as blue• bells in a meadow. * * I ant so pleased with the independence of tire Arab life, that I think I could submit with good grace to such a lot for a few months. When the Desert ceased to be, as it now seems, a garden, I should probably change my mind ; but at this moment the mildness of the climate, the immense extent, the rich- ness and fragrance of the plain, render the life I lead must delightful. I was obliged this evening to pluck up a large bed of miut before I was able to spread carpet, the odour being too strong when pressed by my weight ; it is like the most powerful essence of peppermint, and is in very great quantity around. •

About noon the most perfect deception that can be conceived exhilarated our spirits, and promised an early resting-place. We had observed a slight mirage two or three times before, but this day it surpassed all I have ever fancied. Although aware that these appeatances have often led people astray, I could not bring myself to believe that this was unreal. The Arabs w re doubtful, and said that, as we had found water yesterday, it was not improbeable that we should find some to day. The seeming lake was broken in several parts by the little islands of sand that gave strength to the delusion. The dromedaries of the sheikhs at length reached its borders, and appeared to us to have com- menced to ford, as they advanced and became more surrounded by the vapour. I thought they bad got into deep water, and moved with greater caution. In passing over the san(Lbauks, their figures were reflected in the water. So con- vinced was Mr. Calmun of its reality, that he dismounted and walked towards tine deepest part of it, which was on the right hand. He followed the deceitful lake for a long time, and to our sight was strolline' on its bank, his shadow stretching to a great length beyond. There was nota breath of wind ; it was a sultry (lay, and such a one as would have added dreadfully to the disappoint- ment if we had been any time without water.

The magic once attached to the name of Bagdad has been greatly dispelled by the accounts of modern European travellers ; but when Major SKINNER visited the city of Eastern romance, though yet existent, she was but the skeleton of her former self. The scat of the Caliphs is nearly in ruins; for two successive seasons she was ravaged by the plague ; at the same time she suffered grievously from a siege by the present Paella, who came to displace his predecessor ; and whilst an enemy was without and plague and famine were within her walls, the river broke into the city and destroyed whole quarters at once, sweeping away, it is computed, in one dreadful night more than fifteen thousand souls. We would gladly have given the whole of the Major's description of the present appearance and late miseries of that spot, which must ever be associated with Persian poetical adventure; but it is far too long for our limits. Instead of it, we will close with ti graphic sketch of the

PRESENT ASPECT of BABYLON.

Though no antiquary, as I have said, I deternained in my mind, that I was passing along the walls of Babylon. Many fragments of bricks were lying among the sand, some marked with the character I noticed in flillah. All was barren around ; although at some distance, where the waters were shallowest, I could see the grass peeping above them. By the walls I had found a dry road to the base of the huge shapeless mound on which the tower is placed ; its circumference is estimated at little more than seven hundred yards ; a nar- row way divided it from a still larger and more irregular he ill, upun the side of which stood, facing the tower, a small mosque. If the dervishes to whom these memorials are erected, lived on the spots where the nimbi now stand that are to be seen over the remains of Babylon, they selected well for the abaralimment of the world ; more forlorn spots could scarcely be found ; for, in the Great Desert*, even, there is verdure and flower—here all is utter misery. On the height of the first mound stands a well-built tower, of sumethieg less

than fluty feet high. Such au erection in modern days would excite admire- thin for its workmanship; with what astonishment must it be viewed in the suppraition that its age exceeds tour thousand years ! liuge heaps of Laid: lie about, melted into solid masses, as if by the action of fire; and the wi,.ole mound on which the pillar stands is covered with fragments of well-baked bt icks : and this( is the Temple of Belus, it is said, or the Tower of Babel. At any rate, be it what it may, it stands un the plain of Shiner, where Babylon once stood ; and most completely, as my eyes wandered over the score of deso- lation, did I feel the truth of the fulfilment of the judgments pronounced against her ; yes, " Every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished:" It may be interesting to sonic of our readers to know, that Captain SKINNER entertains a favourable view of steam naviga lion to India, by the route of the Desert, the rivers Tigris or Euphrates, and the Persian Gulf. His experience, however, scarcely bears out his opinion. lie made his descent in the spring, when these rivers are not only full of water, but the country flooded ; yet even then, his boat, though of a small draught, grounded six times during four-awl-twenty hours in the Euphrates. That the passage can be made, is no doubt true. But what can be done under a favourable conjunction of circum- stances, and what can be done with regularity and profit, are two distinct things.