MR. KINNEAR'S CAIRO, PETRA, AND DAMASCUS.

MR. KINNEAR is a resident of (lasgow, who had occasion during the past )ear to visit Egypt and Syria on mercantile business. At Cairo he fell in with Mr. Romtars the artist ; and was readily pre- vailed upon to join him and Mr. Pm.r, in a journey through the Wilderness where the children of Israel wandered, and suosequently to visit the rock-formed city of Petra, the capital of Idumea, and the subject of the denunciation of Isaiah. Accomplishing this latter task in safety, and remaining some time in the deserted city, in spite of Arab rapacity and guile, our travellers proceeded on to Palestine; where Mr. KINNEAR parted front his friend, who was Journeying to Jerusalem, he himself proceeding to Beyrout and Damascus.

The narrative of this journey is in the form of letters; written doubtless on the road, and subserviently revised. The writer puts forth no claim to scientific or artistical acquirement, and the inci- dents of his journey were not of an uncommon kind ; yet is his vo- lume of a very agreeable and lively character. Competently read, especially in the Bible, and possessing a good deal of native shrewd- ness and judgment, without pretence or straining after protbundness, Mr. K INN EAR has stamped upon his page the charm of simplicity and reality. Writing without an idea of print, (for we divine that the late events in Syria suggested his publication,) he put down what struck him just as it struck him. Hence there is no elaborate dis- quisition on subjects already exhausted ; no affectation of rapture with antiquities because rapture is expected ; no puttying up of lofty sensations that would not spontaneously rise; and no suppression of seeming trifles that characterize the people and really mark the difference between the East and the West. Often as the journey between Alexandria and Cairo, and often as these cities have been described, the narrative of Mr. KINNEAR may be read with pleasure, simply because he does not aim at spinning out, or writing Egyptian, but contents himself with telling of what made an impression on him at the tune.

These remarks apply still more to the journey in the Desert. The route Mr. KINNEAR followed to the city of Petra seems the same as LABORDE'S ; but he is as superior to the Frenchman in his sketches of Arab characters and the little incidents of Desert- travelling, as the work of the Frenchman was superior in graphic illustration and antiquarian description. In that portion which re- lates to Scriptural topics—as Mount Sinai, Horeb, and the prophe- cies connected with Edom—Mr. KINNEAR also surpasses Lanonnu, or his English translator ; if sound sense and true religion, but a scepticism as to idle tradition or rash interpretation, are superior to a kind of poetical fanaticism. Passing over some sensible re- marks on the prophecies of Isaiah, and .an exposure of the pious fraud which suppresses part of the prediction to nmke it appear to have been literally fulfilled, we will take front this section some excuses for the conduct of the Israelites in the Desert. They furnish another proof to the argument that the full force of the Scriptures cannot be apprehended by Occidentals without con- siderable study.

AN Acor,OGY Fort Tlic isicArLITES.

How little do we think, in reading the history of 1,4rael's wanderings in the wilderness, of the trials and tempt a ti4404 to which they were exposed. Our rnbals are too apt to dwell on their rebellion and want of faith ; their fbrget- fulness of the mighty signs and wielders w hich had no recently hcen wrought for their deliverance ; their want of trust in Ilis power and wisdoln, who with a mighty bawl and an out arm had brought them forth out of' their Louise Of bondage ; and perhaps we may at times feel as if their murmurings against tile Lord and. ugainst :Moses were sone :hill': so extraordinary and un- ITEU4011111)1C, that we could never have !wen euiity a the like under the same eiretimstatiCeS. But how much must all that they had to endure of mere phy- sical privations have been enhanced, and 11114, more overwhelming by the almost irresistible despondency which oppresses the mind, amid this fearful silence and solitude, It is impossilde to look around on the ghastly mid el most unearthly desolation of this " great /Old terrible wilderness," without feeling that their trials were far greater than we had ever heliwe imagined—without feeling sympathy with their sufferings, as pity bur their frailty.

T110 TWO DESI:rcrs.

The desert here has a very dillerent appearance from that of Suez, which presents an expanse of hard gray gravel, with here and there a few prickly shrubs. There the desert ttilpellre11 to ine to be only dreary end monotonotas ; but here 1 felt impressed by the grim:tear of the wild solitary. waste, surging away, sand-hill over sand-1111, all beibless and lifeless as far as the eye could reach. Perhaps this might partly arise from having got rid of the common vulgar assaciations by which the " overhoul " route to India has unroniaaved the Desert of Suez. It has become a regular high-road, marked by carriage- wheels, and furnished with three " stations," as they arc called, where travellers may indulge in potations of champagne or London porter. Sixty miles of had road, with three very had inns, where gentlemen in hats and pea-jackets drink bottled porter and smoke che netts. There was a sublimity in the desolation and perfeet solitude of the desert Lent : 110 trace of man, not even tile track of camels' feet in the sand : the recent thotstepo of our own were limit hut us, mid ended at our encampment, and all beyond was as if it had never been trodden.

No 1141111 IOW ye,. to ,pot ilw wilderness, The dark blue .1; yu Robed round, Arid ie•ted like a detto, Clop, the eirelim; us :1,1o. Every thing about us too—the tents, the camels, the Redaweena, with their wild Meta and picturesque costume—was in keeping with the scenery. • • We had now left the more open part of the desert, and our route lay among narrow sandy willies, between rugged precipitous crags of calcareous rock, mixed with beds of gravel and indurated sand. You can hardly imagine a more savage scene. The crags rose sometimes perpendicularly, like enormous walls, their summits riven and shattered into the most wild and fantastic forms: occasion- ally the willies opened out wider, and high isolated masses of rock rose aheoptly from tIte sand, cerieusly turreted atul embattled, anul haviiig their naked sides worn mid undermined by the drifiing, sand, as if they' had been subjected to the action of a torrent. Nature has often been represented as smiling: ffere she might he said to wear a ghastly and frantic grin. Nu living thing was to bc seen, except the little gray lizards that darted across our path, or lay basking in the hurtling sunshine on the stones : the air was hot and motionless, and the glare from the white rocks and sand became painful to the eyes. For the first titne I began to feel the thirst rather distressing; and the water hying heated by the sun, and having already Re:wired a nauseous taste from the skins, afforded little refreshment.

We have seen the change made by the Pasha's rule in the Desert of Suez ; and whatever his government may be towards his subjects, a wondrous change has also taken place as regards foreigners. had any Ettglish captain been daring enough to resent a whipping under the sway of "our ancient ally," he would have been dealt with differently front Captain L—.

a. SAILOR AND A SMIACLIO-CCARDIAN.

The black eunuchs in the service of persons of distinction are the most in- tolerable, insolent, swaggering puppies you ever saw. 'I'll)' are always hand- somely dressed; and in the streets they " keep the cantle o' the causeway," and care no more Lou' an English khounhyt than for a water-carrier oe a donkey-

boy.

Two days ago, us Captain L— was walkiag slowly towards the hotel, (at Cairo,) he was overtaken by the carriage of Abbas Pasha, the Governor ; an old- fashioned French chariot, drawn by finn. horses, driven by an Arab coach- man, with t no or three Arab fliottnen sticking on behind, and a dozen or t no running on but on each side—altogether a very odd-lookitig turn-ont. On this occasion it contained some of the ladies of' the Go- vernor's ibmily, and was preceded by a black eunuch ; who, thinking that the G hitter did not move quickly enough out of t he way, gave him it smart cut avross the shoulders with his kaarluali (a whip made of hippopotamus hide.) But, alaS fin poor Blackie 1 the Englishman possessed a weapon of the power of which an Oriental has no idea. The Lit5 hit right and left on the Nabhin's head and chest in ma shower of blows, fioun which lie in vain attempted to defend himself with his whip ; and lie receiveit It pretty severe punishment before the crowd began to collect, ;mil the Captain I hought it prudent to retreat into the hotel. Having taken the punislinteut of the personal insult into his own hands, he went to the Consulate and desired that an apology fur the national insult shim iId be demanded from the Governor himself; antl, in reply to the message of the Consul, his Excellency snid that if Captain would come to the Semi next day, and point out the offender, he should be hastioadoed until the Captain and any friend lie 'night brim, with. him were satisfied. Next dit.y, accordingly, the party proceeded to the'llouse of Abbas Pasha; the servants were paraded before them, and the aggressor identified : Iuuit, however severely our countryman might have punished aim on the spot and in the irritation of the rnotnent, he had too much good feeling to stand by alai see him beaten during his pleasure. After the first hvo or three blows with the stick, his feelings relented, and lie declared himself satisfied.

In exploring the deserts wandered over by the Israelites, Mr. KINNEAR. discusses the question as to which wtts the true Sinai and llorch, from the Scriptural description; and arrives at the conclusion that nothing can be concluded. Ile, howevstr, visited the convent on the assumed Mount Sinai, and subsequently as- cended the mountain—both being rather difficult jobs.

ENTItANCE TO Trio CONVEN'r or sloe :'P

The sun had set before we reached the middle of the valley ; and I have seldom seen any thing, wander than the appearance of these bare granite moun- tains with their ragged peaks glittering in the moonlight. As we entered the narroie valley in schieli the convent stands, lights were seen moving about the building ; and when We Mlle up to the walls, a gray-bearded figure appeared with a torch at a small window high above our liezuls; and after reconnoitering cis for a few moments, withdrew without speaking a word. Presently another window opened, several monks appeared with lights, and a rope was let down for our letters. After a minute or two, (luring (11.11. friends above ap- peared Co he in deep consultation, the rope was again /et down f w ourselves. The ascent is somewhat lierVOUS, I assure you ; for the whole apparatus con- sists of a rope with mu loop al the end of it ; ratlier ominous—very like hying " kilted up in a tow," as Bailie Jarvis has it your whole safety depouds on your holding Chi : rope firmly with your hands, and you find (,)a,taat ciapiny- limit for your feet in keeping yourself from coming in collision with the rough projections atty.: wall. Then the old monks walk so slowly round their windlass abOVe, that you think you are to he left all night dangling in the air; and when you are fairly wound up, you find yourself lutoging two or three feet from the window, Is it hout the possibility of getting inn, tilt the monks get hold of the rope and land you like a bale of goods.

When LABORDE visited Petra he was accompanied by a sort of army. Our travellers had nothing but the Sultatt's finnan and their (twit skill in dealing with the Arabs, to escort them safely. The chieftain who undertook the tusk, and took the money, had no territorial authority in the city and its district, nor ally other right there at all than what was derived front the strongest arm. As this Wan not the first time he had carried strangers thither and retained all the guarantee-nenicy, a point was fairly ettough raised by the in- habitants of the place as to their title to something; and various ludicrous discussions ensued between the different Sheil:s, singu- larly characteristic of' Arab nm.aters. Here is a scene, where Marmilm., the chief of' Petra defireto, is supposed to have planned a scheme to plunder poor old Atm'', the chief de, jure, accortlitto. to his own account, of the traveller's tribute he had received to share with him.

" Ott leaving his tent in the morning, Al r. Pell had observed a fellow skulking rather stivirionsly among the rocks immediately almee our eticampitietil : file- much tly two or three long guns appeared allow: the hushes; another and another Arah came creeping on in the same stealthy mainter ; atul at bat the whole party started up, and with loud shouts rushed past the tents to the bivouac of our Bedaween allies. They were it branch of the Fellalteen of Wady alousa; who, having beard of our arrival and of the black mail ' we had paid, had come to demand their share of the money. The tumult was at its height when we reaclwd the tents : one savagednoking thilow had brought the muzzle of his gun within a few invites of old Sheich Ahed's breast, and the whole valley rang with their clamour, The Alloeerot kept nloOf from the contest ; and Slicich Magabel looked on in silence, lie was either too dangerous a per- son to meddle with, or, which is not improbable, be had hinmelf set on this party to rob old Abed of the hundred and fifty piastres which had been so un- willingly yielded to him the day before. The whole brunt of the attaek, however, fell on the old man. After a few vain attempts to remonstrate with his turbulent clansmen, be pulled the money from his bosom, and dashing it to the pound, cursed them and their tat heN to the loweAt depths of Jehennent ; while they gathered up the pieces of money, anal sat down to divide the plunder. " this socceeded a scene of which the quiet and orth:rly proceedings ap- peared the more extraordinary, after the tumult and violence whit•h we had just witnessed. A dispute arose about a donkey which One of the new-comers was said to ha VO St(1101), and the three Sheichs were called on to sit as judges 011 the ease. The whole party were seated on the grottod • and old Alsed, who had just lawn robbed with such barefimed violence, opened t'his Arab (wort of justice with great gravity, by reciting part of the introductory chapter of the Koran, and what appeared to be sonic of the Bed:twee!) laws; tO vhicIi 11114 ;audience listened with perfect decorum and great attentien. While speaking, he held in his band a drawn sabre, which at the conclusion of hi5 address he hod down : it tTas then taken up hi)' another ; and so on by tetch successive speaker; and no one attempted to interrupt him whi i 1,eld t he sword. When the ease was settled to the apparent satisfaction it all parties, our unwelcome visiters left us, disappearing among the rocks as suddenly as they had appeared. We could not learn with any certainty who they were, or who Sheich .Magabel was. Ile called hiirself guardian of the Null's. Bassein said that he %vas a notorioas robber; and old Abed shook his head and groaned when we put the sante question to him. Nobody' he said, had a right to receive tribute there but himself; that he was the •Sheich of W:ady Mousa but that the men whom we had seen in the morning were a branch of the tribe who had revolted from his authority."

- The journey through Syria has not perhaps so much interest as the pilgrimage in the Desert, but it has many descriptive touches of Oriental manners. Take for example a scene where the Vakeel had omitted to procure camels tin- our travellers.

ORIENTAL OPPICIAL PRACTICES.

Oddly enough the Sheich entered at that very monwnt. and was received with a storm of abuse from the Vakeel. Ile stood very patiently, with his hails folded in his sleeves; but it was evident front Ms liewildered look and the anxiety of the Vakeel to prevent him from speaking, that he had received no order for the camels. The poor man looked first at us, then at the V akeel, and made one or two unsuccessful attempts to speak. 0 then most unlucky ! did we not send to thee for camel; for these Ingles said the Vakeek

0 BY Allah! 0 Ellendee! your " —

" dog! thou wouldst lie to us. 0! be silent—be silent." 11.3y your soul, 0 —"

" Give him the kg:Am/J.'," whispes:ed the Aglet. " the hog! give Mtn the koortart/./,". cried the Vakeel: and two fellows started forward and seized the it Sheich by the shoulkrs, while a third, Ivith the hoitehadj in his hand, tucking up the sleeve of his Wil■ pre- paritg to strike, when Ire interfered. TI:ere was no caose taw punishing the man, we said—it was evident that he had reeeived no orders :about the ea Inch> :

we felt ourselves very ; and would as,timlly complain of the treatment we had experienced, .if we rvere detained longer than noon.

We were Ilion told that, having the Pasha s tirman, a okawoss would be sent with us; and that we might seize on any camels we could find. This was not a very agreeahle mode of proceeding ; but it appeared to he the only way of getting out of our dilemma. We had seen some camels at a khan which we passed in the morning, and thither we wettt, accompanied by the Governor's ekawoss.

We tried at first by fair means to hire the beasts we wanted ; but, although their camels were standing idle, not a man would engage on any terms to take us to Gaza. We were in the :Nino) dre,s, and there was no mistaking Is- Egyptian face; and the people evidently suspected that we were on the Pasha ti service, :111d Heat our promise to pay them so much above the usual

GorMIIIR !It rate Wsni tint Very likely 10 be tail lit We had 710 alternative, then, hot to act in the character whieh they were determined to filree 1111011 Its—to take the camels, and pay the hire we had promise:I on our arrival at Gaza. Six camels were aucoraliogly taken to carry the tents and baggage; and the ckawoss was sent 111 5CaliCil of asses fin us to ride, as neither nu les nor horses 11in re to be got. The tents were struck, and the lawgage arranplal ; and the eamel-driyers were me( ceiling unwillingly to load their heasts, when the ckawoss appeared, driving lirlfin-dozen donkies helhr.. him. We did nut tidal; of inquiring it hose they were or how they lead been procured ; and I was husv arranging a id:III:et On ohe of them, hy way of saddle, wheo we were surrounti.tal by a crowd of old Men Mid uot..eo, oho entreated its most earnestly not to take away their asses. It sets rather a perplexing scene; for Nls• had felt some compunction in foecing the eamel-drivers to go against their will. It was in vain that we promisel payment. But we tare not going to steal your asses. 0 Sheich ! vs sit sled] be paid ; your sh tll fix the price yourself.' ••• May your bounty he extolled, 0 :Hendee t1 an out gray: bearded S oh; •• but who will bring them hack to us: We use old; we cannot go to I iaza." It was ele.:r that, whatever Wl• mialst do with the camel-drivers, who were Sturdy h we could not take the as,es of these poor people; and they oat' aceors!iiil■ i5 kaS1,1, gr,:aliv to the delight or the owners, tool mot to the Of the ekatross and two or three soldiers who were looking on.

The " Remarks on the Government oh' the Pasha," which figure in the titlepago, appear to have been an afterthought, prompted by

the tittles. Thee purport to have been written in quarantine at Alexandria : we suspect that they were composed nearer home. The substance is, that upon the whole, the Pasha's Government is better than the Sultan's, and that there would be no comparison between them were it not for the army, which MiturmET Am is compelled to maintain through the existing posture of atlitirs. The principal evil or the country is the conscription; or at least the evil peculiar to the Pasha's government, for the impressment of animals is quite as characteristic of the Sultzm's. In till other points the rule of :\letlEAIET is the superior : the taxation is regular, and the personal exactions of any officers are severely punished. As regards Christians, or other Giaours, there is no resemblance between the two rules ; they have as much toleration and as much protection as any class of' religionists in Europe—and rigid justice against Mahometans, which was never attainable betbre. When Mr. SALO:MINS' half-official narrative of the " Persecution of the Jews at Damascus" was noticed in the Spectator, we remarked upon certain peculiar not to say suspivions points in the statement or the case. In a supplementary chapter, 3.1r. KINNEAR asserts what we inferred, that they were not bastinadoed as Jews, but as criminals, and that their religion had nothing to do with the matter. "The first person," says he, "arrested on suspicion of the murder of Padre Tomas°, was a Jewish barber, who confessed bia own participation in the crime, and the names of his accomplices. Three of these fled to Bagdad, but the others were arrested, contimal in separate cells, anal separately examined; mid their confessions agreed in the most minute particulars as to the circum- stances of the murder and the rontwalment of the remains of the bodies. After their confession, the acemwd were taken, each separately, with a guard of soldiers, to show the place where the mutilated remains had been loaded. They all pointed out the same spa : the ground was opened, and the hones examined by Dr. LograSso, the superintendent of the military hospital, who pronounced them to be human hone& " All these confessions were given under the bastinado, and God forbid that I should appear to defend an barbarous and inhuman a practice; but no other mode oh' torture was tanplo.s oil, and the minute and divisting details which appeared in some of 'Mr [While journals were mere fabrications, got up for the purpose of exciting at feeling in this country against the Pasha of Egypt. " I state these facts on the authority of a highly-respectable British met-. chant, who was in Damascus while the investigation was going on, and who is as little under the influence of any prejudice against the Jews as any man I know.

"No one may justify the nmile in which these proceedings were conducted; but it is an error to characterize them as a religious persecution. Colifisssions are extorted by the saute t»eatis, in all similar judicial examinatien,,iii every part of the Turkish dominions; and the Datnaseene Jews were saljeeted to They would have Imam treated in

this torture, not as Jews but as criminals.

the same manner had they been NIalwontnedans. The assertiots that 0114 ac- cusation was got up for the pimp :se of extorting money from the Jews, is equally 111■10itsolett : on the contrary, it is well known that large sums were ()tiered to the local government to stay proceedings, anal refused. " During the excitement occasioned by these pt•raceedings, the Jews were ex- posed to violence from the populace; but the Government interfered with none except t1P,,e amused of the murder. " Amon!: Ilse Ettropeang 111 13t.■rout and Damascus, I learn that there is no doubt that the persons accused were guilty of the nuarder."

Coupling this statement with the accusations generally urged against our Embassy at Constantinople, and its diplomatic agents, there seen us to be little doubt as to the authors and disseminators of this atrocious calumny, and the purposes they had in view. Nor, whet) we consider the gatherings that were held at home, and the class of orators who attended them, is it too much to suppose that they were not disconnt,naneed by the Foreigo, Office. It is indeed possible that the feeling in Downing Street was one of bona fide interest for the Jews ; but it' so, what are we to think of their ignorance of filets, apparently known to every foreigner oo the spot ? Pretty sort of information on which to decide upw: - er or peace !