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Rambles . Speaking of the Medusa , named CArysaora , he notices that" a little shrimp-like creature makes thesechambers his residence ; " m them he snugly ensconces himself , occasionally taking a swim in the water and returning . " That this is the natural habit of life followed by this crustacean I ^ have no doubt . " Then why should he doubt that it is also the natural habit of There are passages in this book which will be excessively misleading to all persons not conversant with the animals spoken of * , we allude particularljri to those in which the lowly-organized animals are credited with the posstes-^ sion of tissues and organs not a trace of which can be found . ^ Here u a typical instance . Having described the vegetable appearance of the polypes , ^ he says they are animals because " they have muscular , nervous , circulating , ASiMttiJvA Rvstems . special organs of sense , special weapons of 'ofiertce— -some diflrestive' stiemsj speciRi organs «» oci . o ^ , oi ^^«~» .. — >— . — __
---sy ofthese , it is true , not distinctly appreciable to our observation , but inferrible by legitimate deduction from observed phenomena . It is almost m-, credible that , any one who had studied polypes could write , such a sentence . Muscles and nerves are as purely hypothetical ( and as absurdly so , Jet us add ) as that green cheese of which the moon is said to be made : ^ fluctuation of globules is not to be styled circulation ; and as for the special organs of sense , no one that we remember has ever pretended that such organs , We must not close with an objection , so we will notice Mr . Gosse ' a very ingenious suggestion respecting the 'bird's-liead process' on the polyzoa . Rising from beneath the cell in which the polype lives , there is what under the microscope looks very like a vultureVhead stripped of its integument ,: and to make the resemblance more complete , the formidable bill is incessantly snappingand the whole organ swings to and fro , as on a joint . The
func-, tion of this organ has been much disputed- Several observers having noticed that these snapping bills seized small animals roving that way , not " unnaturally concluded that in some way or other these bills were connected with the feeding of the poljpe . " But it seems to have been forgotten , " adds Mr . Gosse , " not only that these organs have no power of passing the prey thus seized to the mouth , but also that this latter is situated at the bottom of a funnel of ciliated tentacles , and is calculated to receive only such minute prey as is drawn within the ciliary vortex . I venture to suggest ^ a new explanation . The seizure of a passing animal and the holding of it in the tenacious grasp until it dies , may be a means of attracting the proper prey to the vicinity of the mouth . The presence of decomposing animal substance in water invariably attracts crowds of infusory animalcules , which then breed with amazing rabidityso as to form a cloud of living atoms living around
, tKe decaying body . Now a tiny aunelid or other animal caught by the iird ' s-head of a Polyzoan and tightly held , wpuld presently die ; and though x 6 l its own substance it would not yield any nutriment to the capturer , yet by becoming tne . ce . ntre of a crowd of busy Innasoria , multitudes ot which would be constantly drawn into the . tentacular vortex ^ and swallowed , it would be ancillary to its support , and the organ in question would thus plap . no unimportant part in . the economy of the animal . " ¦¦¦ ¦¦ , In conclusion we beg Mr . Gosse to give , us as much zoology as he can , and fts little of anything else . Pen and pencil will find ample s . cope in the delineation of animals , and the public will gratefully acknowledge all labour in inat direction . , ¦ i
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: AN UNKNOWN KINGDOM . ' IVrst Footsteps in East 4 / Wewi ? -or , An Exploration of Harar . By R F . Burton , ?•• ' Authorof " Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Mficcah . ' ? , . . . .-,,. . ¦ ¦ ; ,. , .: ¦;• ¦ ' . ¦ :, ¦¦ ¦ : '' ¦ ¦ ¦¦' ¦ •¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ . ¦ ' ¦ liongman and . Co . Harar is a city of Eastern Africa , the capital of the ancient Hadivab . Empire . Its name has long been famous . It is of great ; antiquity ; and'was once the metropolis of a mighty race , ' it is still a centre of Mohammedata . learning ; its vttxllB and houses are constructed of stone ; its king is independent : The people speak an unknown dialect , hitve a peculiar coinage , ahdform a distinct nationality . They carry on a great trade in coffee and in slavfeSjin cotton cloths , sad in the celebrated drug called ' Kat , which is sold , at Aden , to Arabian merchants . : Rochetv travelling among the Adels , heard many singular accounts of Harar ; Harris * Shoa , > was told of its carious history and inannera ; voyagers along the East African coast have frequently been
interested by rumours from that strange interior kingdom ; but the modern Somali remained unexplored * and Harar—tire Eastern * Timbuctoo —* Un-¦• iflited , uutil Lieutenant Burton , returning from'the- Arabian shrines , volunteered to undertake a * geographical' and commercial expedition under the sanction of the East India Compariy . ¦ l ! u ' Orosslngthe Indian Occafr ; from Aden to Zaylah , he travelled , through tho Sotkiaii region across the 'Marar plains and the- Galla frontier , to IJjafaiv ii walled city '" with , five gates , a " nd returned bj rf another route to Borberah , the inost important point on ' that coast . < i Hnsdisgulse was that of an Arab mdr > CtlVOV lUrUVl VAHV liVl ^ V \ JAM VUAU VVM « U * * \ Jfcrf *!*** ' iir " / * , " »¦« - * ' w « 4 wv ^* rm mm * m » »» « . * w ——— -v
—dhant , ?' some riegro * Merlin' ? , having' predicted that > the first visit ; of a Jfcuropean 1 < would-bring ruin upon-Horai * ,: rTlius , though that' place is scarcely three < hundred miles from-Aden * Salt and Stuart , Krapf and Isont * erg , Bntrfccnr arid Rochet , « ad -theCatholic-missionaries attemptod in vain t » Teach it . < El Mamtnajl , tho-Porter ' j al native agent of police , -with bright blue and yollow iturban andivjvriegnted raiment , G-uled , a Bedouin youth , and Afbdy Abokr , « urnamod the Enft' of Time , were- thfe companions of Lieutenant Burton . At ^ Zaylali , n city on the coast , he stayed t > venty-six b ; o > ttT 8 , 6 bsorving'thteZayliui coquettos , brightly ( tattooed , — . dancing , 1 singing , find slapping their slavc . girlsi ^ feasting in African fashionplaying African
^ gatnes ^ convertsKng with the oflioiuls , inspectiuff the public buildings , making eXouiFeiOnsJland reading thoaarrativooi" Ibu llatuta - ' ; ' . ;> aPtlre « rf' dibtihetracea inhabit tho-territory of Eastern i Africttt—ihe < Aborigine 8 "Saw « isilv : fnogroos , Unshinon illotteutota , unds < other etcatopygio tJlibcB ; the hlnioBtMpubcliOiwibrteianH , whoae immigration £ fa of uecent dftto , ttdihe hnlficafitcefKWJlAibysiimdnns , iGallas ^ Somais , iuid > Kaffirs ; wlioso origin ie ^ buried' iii < bb !) ourity . < iiij ieiat * i < i « n < i dBurtoin ' a . opitii ^ al is that tho Kiuflini of iW Cape are the ( Id « B « cndanfca < xfr / Ndrtln Afrioan trifctea / i ' ptMih « tli « oUtliwAid byttifakn < Wvni > c ( d » iKe ^ ii '/ Llne Sainul iioidateiciniiaes toibe « . ( half-omto nationv' » n dfehqot ^ of I tk * x » rca < GaJbi / acatwf Tipriro ^ u ^ tetly li ^<^ u *« rigu « ally : i !> rt ) igr «
Egyptian , to . the Caucasian type by a steady influx oif pure Asiatic blood . They p ^^ d Lieutenant Burton l ^ e a child , forced him to drink milk and ^ muttontr' ^^^^^ l ^ m ^^ S- ^ * •» marriage , and begged him often to become a Somal chief , to lead wieir expeditions , kill their elephantsr and free their , country from Iipn 8 . _ r Once a man said . to . hji m ^ jn , ; a pitying tone , " V £ hat jhath brought thee , depqate as thou art , to sit witfi u ^ on a cow-bide in this cold desert , under a tree ? " Worn t ^ eir poverty , and their habifc ofbegging , the region of the Somali has been called , by the Arabs , tHe Mcdof Giveme-SometKing . Theii * language abounds i * pCNBtry , ** & , though it tea no written character , contains a myriad of ? songJBr * itbJB works of the poeW , poetasters , poetesfcos , aod poetaccios of Norw ^ Africa . Their / Wjosnestt resemble the sculptured models of Egypt—they are brown , solid ^ slUfppth , and so Kallipygan in their style of beauty , that the Arabs , ( XMnparethe hips of to inflated skinsThe Somal irlsin t" turnderide the
the Somal girls . ^ g , > , maidens of ^ Arabia , and affirm ihafr they are thinner than tadpole ^ . The old Russian ' custom prevails among them by which' ^ he bridej on the first night af ter her marriage , is submitted to a private : whipping from her Htts ^ - band ' s hand , to prove . her : humility . , The , whip , , on fact , seems almost as powerful , an instrument of government in Eastern Africa * as in Naples or Lombardy , even grown girls being liable for misbehaviour to suffer public discipline , aftet having two or three jars of water poured over their persons , in Avan fashion , to make ^ them ready for the punishment . Selecting a winding route from Zaylah to Harar , Lieutenant BrirtOn travelled among the various Somal tribes , crossed the maritime plains , aild commenced the > . ascent of the Ethiopian highlands , inhabited also by the Galla > nation . This gate of the interior , kjUigdprn was decorated with tropical tints , with trees , with growths of ^ the gigantic . cactus ,. with .: flowerhag
and berry-bearing plants , and with birds such as Audubon would liaye followed across a continent . We hiave hot yet seen the African or the Asiatic Audubon . Here the Bedouin held a council , seated iu fings , with their round shields and bright-headed spears forming a perfect African picture ; Upon this plateau v 3 a 50 feet above the sea , the climate reminded Lieutenant Burton of Southern Italy . In one place , by the way , he saw a ruined , eity —the remains of houses , with a mosque and a palace , extending a mile and a half along the road ; farther on he examine ^ the broken arches , the roofless houses , the dinted battle-plain of Aububah . Still advancing , be entered the broad valleys and the prairie leading up to Etarar , the natives coming out of their camps and fields to . gaze as the strangers passed . The white skin of the European had been detected , and finding that he was in danger of passing for a Turkhe avowed himself an Englishman . As an Englishman ,
, though he might be hated , he was . certain to be feared . As a Turk , ne would be hated and scorned . - / ' . " -. He crossed the Erar river—shallow , cool , and clear , and found himself among fields and gardens . The peasantry were compg from the city market with empty gourds , in which . they had , carried , their , muk , _ an 4 butter ; a noble of Ifarar was riding Alpng upon a itandsomeiy-rcapar . ispned mule , and attended by seven servants . He wore a . magnificent robe , with a white turban edged with , scarlet , and had an Abyssinian broad-sword hung over his left shoulder * Saluting this grandee of an unknown kingdom , Lieutenant Burton pressed on through a narrow-feneed lane ^ passed a number of women holding a-fair'under a treei reached the summit of a hill , and saw before him the object <) f his journey , Harar , a cluster of sombre buildings , with , two fields and coloured sides
grey minarets— 'a remarkable contrast to the green of the mountains . " None had ever succeeded in entering that pile of stones , " he . thpughtf and ,, though it Was nb Qu ' ih ^ ai th af ; Jhe . saw ^ a , warder admHted the §( arange , cavwe ' , which proceeded up the mfdn , street ' ^ .. tho palace-rrarange q £ Iqw biuldings , plaqed round a . WMrt , in , which * he G * l | a chiefs , With ^> c arpcaiets , spears , and , sau 4 als , sUlked to and fr « , and were admitted into / the / audience chamber * There , in a vast- whitewashed hall , hung witlv matchlocks land polished fetters , satiupont a raised Indian -cot , the Sultan Ahmad bin Sultan Abibakr ; ; i ' ¦ ¦>¦ " ¦ ' " His appearance'was that of a little Indian rajaUj an etiolated youth twenty ^ four or twenty-five years old , plain and thiii-bearded ; with a yellow , complexion , wrinkled bro \ v 4 , and protruding eyes . His dress was a flowing robeT of crimson " cloth , edged with sn 6 wy fur , and a n ^ an'ow white turban tightly twisted rour > d a tall cap of , red velvet , like the old Turkish head-gear
ot our painters . ...... ¦ •¦* ,. ••'/< I ^ ow Harar . i 8 a city , about two hundred mjles from * he Indian Ocean , and five thousand five . hundred feet , above the s , ea-leveL It has an excellent ! eliiwate , and the country is well < 3 ultivated > - It . has its history of wars , mas * saaresy . and dynasties—the dynasties being * of tourBe ^ / tbjB'iorigin of the massacres and wars—and is at present a mile long , half a mile wide , enclosed by a w , alk ai } d built qf styne cemented with .. day . It ha&pot only its own dialect , " unintelligible to ' ally savei the citizens , but its pppu ] ia ( iion of . about 8000 persons forms a diatinict race . Harar ,, saj the Soiiials . is the > naradiso of feses And the XS ^ UtenaTat' Biirtoh af- d certainty uglyThe
V men . flays . . wotaeti ; slender and delicate , tire gr ^ efujlly '' 4 r < B ^ ea and , at festiyala ndorn themselves witj ^ wreaths of , fj- ^ grapt l > i ) il ^ "X ^ eyjiatlt ^ p i ^ heir bpsoms w * tu stoxs , pain ' . t : their , ey © hrowp ,, » s ^ kohi ' . to . fringe th < j eyes ,,, uud lionna to s * a » n the hands , an 4 feet . M » i \ y , iof . t ] ho prettiest U » v « been imported , from other African countries , Hararbeing » ^ reafe station for ( ha slave , oar * vanff fro m Zangaroy Gurague , and the other Gal 4 a . region » .- Ilarar' coffee « s well known in tl » o European market j ite ivory , tobacco ; saflf-ilowery nnd cloth are also i famous amonrf the tradem of the cOasb ; Three tertravan * : Utatve' the city ' usually for Sorberah , on the Iiidiatt Ocean—slaves biilhlg'ttie ' principal ¦
^' merchandize . . . ' ' ' '' . ' ' " ' ' ,,-,,.. ., < -. , v -. .... ¦ . ¦ ., (¦ ¦ ¦¦ .. ! , Lieutenant Burton ' s description of * Harar ai ^ d of his A ^ Vltatarmm general ' is ' ro ^ inrkable for its oVi tfnalityi and for- 'ili e ^ m . ^ . ' of ^ er ^ t ^ d ^ y ^ . jfp . I hits cplleeted on the modern condUjoiv . of /^ aa ^^ A ^ fripa .,., ^ Mt . bpon ^ is 4 Un tention , ^ ftor return ^ tp , Dn ? rbera ^ , ft xqn ^ v « : ( a £ d . i e » 4 ari ^ hya ^ inqpaicaUoiur . and jto pon ^ Lr ^ tp , by , t ^ ckp Mnknpw ^ . AanEu ^ iH ? , ^ p , (^ ftnzibarw CurouaiK s ^ aDfips , pr « viopl , efA tthol MprA « equtiQn , ( jofjRthis ! ,: « nteq ) rjiBe , ) v 4 uoli 1 woul < Li hftvc Ittdd odiwiaUniUly'to . ( pu ^> lu » owledgtt « foxAfBiwatti gdbogwaphy , and-of Arw sonroela whiclai maybftv eamfiqtod ^ undorni <' ortuBttt » i'i ^ Huohctf »» t * t « ujtei « ride . Ith ^ aiivv ^ trft ^ wttdi bubetitnt <« f < ir ' H ui !' kjgiumt * ttj O 0 mme * ob" » l » eHe ttil tWe
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. ¦— . ¦ ' ¦ ' <' ' : r I \ ' ¦ i . ' ' ¦ ¦'' ' '•' . - Jter-i 2 , 1866 ^— - ' -- ; ~ - "g-H-JB" ~^ i : BMr g « 5
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Leader (1850-1860), July 12, 1856, page 665, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2149/page/17/
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