arrived at the Oafis, and proceeded into the defert, its final def tiny is unknown, as not a fingle man ever returned. Herodotus informs us, on the authority of the Ammonians, that the Perfans being overtaken in the defert by a storm of wind, their whole army was ovewhelmed and buried alive in the fands *. Mr. Brown, however, ridicules the idea of the fands accumulating with fuch rapidity as to bury an army of 50,000 men, which must have extended over a confiderable furface, and cannot be fuppofed to have been penned up like fheep in a fold. As this intelligent traveller very judicioufly obferves, The guides which the general of Cambyfes must neceffarily have employed, were either Ammonians or of a cognate race. With the greatest facility of deceiving, and the ftrongest motives for defeating the fuccefs of the expedition, it is highly probable that they might have led the Perfians aftray. To keep them two or three days on the route beyond the time for which their provitions and water were calculated, was in fact to annihilate their whole army, particularly as in that weak ftate, if fome corps yet remained, they might be attacked and slaughtered with eafe t. Such was, in all probability, the manner in which the Perfian army perished; but the Ammonians had the strongest of all poffible motives to give a different relation of the fact." P. 102.

"Prefent State, political and moral-Religion-GovernmentLaws Army Navy-Revenues-Commerce-Manufactures — Population-Political importance-Language-Literature-Polite Arts-Education-Manners and Cuftoms-National Character. "Religion.] The religion of Perfia, ever fince the country was conquered by the Caliphs, is well known to be the Ma homedan. But the Perfians being of the fect of Hali, adopt the mildeft fyftem of Mahomedanifin, and are regarded as he. retics by the Turks and Arabians, who call them chias, but diftinguish themselves by the name of funnis, or orthodox. Fakirs, or wandering monks, abound in Perfia; but they are neither fo numerous nor fo extravagantly fanatical as thofe of Hindoftan. The Perfees, or Guebers, the only remnant of the religion of Zoroafter, have been almoft extirpated by Mahomedan zeal; and fcarcely any of them remain in Perfia, except a few igno

"The feite of the temple of Jupiter Ammon, fo famous in hiftory, cannot at this time be afcertained. Mr. Brown, after the most diligent fearch and enquiry, failed in the attempt. Trav. p. 30. Rennell, however, makes no doubt that the ruins feen by Brown in the Oafis of Siva were thofe of the temple. Geog, of Herodot. fect. 21."

"Brown's Trav, p. 281,"

rant

rant votaries of the everlafting fire, who visit the eruptions of Naphtha, near Baku, on the western fhores of the Cafpian *.

"Government.] The government of modern as well as an. cient Perfia is defpotic. The ftate of the people is deplorable, being fubject to the arbitrary power of the numerous Khans, who are governors of provinces, or poffeffors of fmall districts, and pretend to hereditary fucceffion, although lying at the abfo. lute mercy of the fovereign.

"Laws.] The laws ought, as in other Mahomedan countries, to be thofe of the Koran; but it appears that in Perfia, at leaft during the frequent feafons of anarchy, fcarcely any other law is known but that of power.

"Army.] The military ftrength of Perfia is extremely dif ficult to estimate. Dr. Pallas fays, that in 1784 Ali Murat had an army of 70,000 men t. Perhaps the two kingdoms of eastern and western Perfia might each mufter and maintain near 100,000; but this is mere conjecture.

"Navy. The hiftory of Perfia affords no inftance of its ever having been a maritime power. The fleets of Darius, Xerxes, &c. were manned by feamen from the conquered provinces, Egypt, Phoenicia, and Afia Minor, and not by native Perfians. The averfion which that people feems always to have had against navigation, has been afcribed to fome particular precepts of Zoroafter, impoffible, or at leaft extremely difficult to be obferved in a feafaring life; but whether this was the fole reafon of their neglect of maritime affairs, appears fomewhat doubtful. More than eleven centuries have elapfed fince the religion of Zoroafter loft its influence; but Mahomedan has never, any more than Magian Perfia, been a maritime power. Few Perfian veffels manned with Perfian mariners have in any age been feen on the fea. So great indeed is the abhorrence with which the Perfians regard navigation ‡, that they stigmatize all feamen with the name of atheifts.

"Revenue.] No calculation can be made of the revenue of Perfia, divided as it is into two separate kingdoms; but it muft be confidered as extremely fmall after the dreadful commotions that have defolated the country.

"Commerce.] The Perfians have never been a commercial any more than a maritime people. The ftaple commodity is filk;

**Dec. Ruffes, tom. ii. p. 19. Hanway's Travels, vol. i. P. 263."

"Pallas's latter Trav, vol. ii. p. 10, p. 18. Mr. Pinker. ton is mistaken in giving this army to Aga Mahmet. Geog. vol. ii. p. 335.".

"Sanfon's Voyage, p. 1c8."

but the trade of Perfia has always been chiefly in the hands of ftrangers, and is now infignificant.

“Manufactures.] The Perfian manufactures of carpets, filks, brocades, velvets, fabres, and other works in fteel, braziery, lea ther, fhagreen, earthen-ware, &c. were in the feventeenth century carried to great perfection, chiefly through the encouragement given to thefe pursuits by Shah Abbas the Great. Except a few carpets, the manufactures of this country, as well as its commerce,

are almost annihilated *.

"Population.] The population of this extenfive region has been vaguely estimated at 10,000,000; 6,000,000 for the western, and 4,000,000 for the eaftern part, which compofes a portion of Candahar. This is indeed only a fmall number for fo extenfive a fpace; but no documents exift that can ferve as a bafis of calcu.

lation.

"Political importance and relations.] The political weight of Perfia, once fo preponderant in Afia, and at various periods fo formidable to the Greeks, the Romans, and the Turks, is now annihilated. The kingdom of Candahar has little to fear from any of its neighbours, and may probably enlarge itfelf at their expence. This kingdom, either as an ally, or an enemy, might be of great confideration in the fyftem of British East India po litics, efpecially if ever, in the circle of human affairs, any attempt fhould be made from Europe on Bengal by the way of the Cafpian and the Oxus.

"Language. The Perfian, though lefs copious than the Arabic, is the most celebrated of all the Oriental languages for ftrength and beauty; and in melody it yields only to the Malay. Of all the languages of Afia, the Perfian is regarded as the most adapted to poetry and every kind of elegant compofition.

Literature.] It has already been obferved, that no memorials of the literature of the ancient Perfians, between the age of Cyrus and that of Alexander, have been tranfmitted to modern times. The fame remark may be made on the literary monuments of the age of the Saffanides, which were probably, for the most part, deftroyed by the Mahomedan fanatics, on their con queft of the country. One of the oldest Perfian compofitions is the heroic poem of Ferdufi, entitled Shah Nama, or the Hiftory of Kings. Sadi is an excellent and entertaining moralift. Hafiz is the Anacreon of the east; his tomb in the vicinity of Schiras is held in great veneration; and a fplendid copy of his works is chained to his monument. In folid fenfe, and in clearness of thought and expreffion, the Perfian writers approach nearer to

"For an account of the Persian manufactures in their flou. rifhing ftate, fee Chardin's Trav. tom. iv. For the general de, cline of Perfian commerce, fee Hanway's Trav. paffim,"

the

the European standard than any of the other Afiatics. Yet their metaphors are too frequent and violent to bear the claffical touchftone of Greece and Rome. An eminent investigator of Oriental antiquities has difclofed fome of the treafures of Perfian litera ture *. But the fciences are little cultivated by the Perfians, who are loft in fuperftition, and bewildered in the abfurdities of ju dicial aftrology. The polite arts are almoft totally neglected. The education of the Perfians is chiefly military; but many of the Mahomedan priests exercife the office of schoolmasters +.

"Perfons, manners, and national character.] The Perfians are generally of a good ftature and robuft, with agreeable features and a comely countenance. Their complexion, though fomewhat tinged with olive, is tolerably fair in the northern, but very dark in the fouthern provinces. Black eyes and eyebrows, with long eyelashes, are effential requifites to a Perfian beauty. The dress of the Perfians, as well as their perfons, has a noble appearance. They fhave the head, but the beard is held facred and managed with great care. They wear feveral light dreffes fastened with a belt and fath, and often throw over all a long cloak. The men wear high crimfon bonnets, and the women wrap round their heads pieces of filk of various colours: in other refpects the drefs of both fexes is nearly fimilar. Among the Perfians, as among the ancient Greeks and Romans, fupper is the principal meal, confifting chiefly of rice boiled with meat, &c. In hofpitality and politenefs the Perfians are fcarcely furpaffed by any other nation. They are of a gay difpofition and an excellent genius. Although Mahomedans they are fond of wine. The late commotions have tinged with cruelty the national cha racter." P. 159.

From the above fpecimens of the work, there can be little doubt but moft readers will agree with us, that either for general reference, or for the particular ufe of young ftudents in hiflory and geography, this work may be confidered as important and valuable. References are perpetually given to the authorities employed, which are univerfally the beft. A circumftantial lift is also prefixed of thofe books from which the compilation has been made; and this lift of itself will be found exceedingly ufeful to all who may find it expedient to make a collection of geographical publications. It fhould have been remarked, that the work itself is introduced by fome judicious and very scientific

"Sir W. Jones's Oriental poetry."

+"At least this was the cafe in the time of Chardin. Trav. vol. x. p. 79."

obferva.

obfervations on geography and its aftronomical relations. Here alfo the beft authorities are progreffively placed before the reader, who are Halley, Kirwan, Derham, &c. &c. It may perhaps be a matter of confideration with the author, when a fecond edition fhall be called for, which most affuredly it will, how far it may be expedient to fubjoin a map for the defcription of each particular country; this may perhaps increafe the price, but its utility is too obvious to require any argument. The book is printed in a remarkably neat type, is very creditable to the press from which it comes, namely that of James Cundee, Ivy Lane.

BRITISH CATALOGUE.

POETRY.

ART. 13. Bidcombe Hill, with other Rural Poems, by the Rev. Francis Skurray, A. M. Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. 8vo. 153 PP: Miller. 1808.

Bidcombe Hill, whence this elegantly printed volume takes its name, is fituated at the weftern extremity of Salisbury Plain, near Longleat, the feat of the Marquis of Bath. In a fhort advertisement prefixed we read, that "as Bidcombe Hill furnifhes the fubject of the longest poem, and as that commanding eminence has, during feven years of happy refidence in the neighbourhood, been the frequent fcene of the author's walks and contemplations, he deemed it not improper that it should give its denomination to the volume."-The leffer poems, which make up the remainder of the book, are upon various fubjects, the choice of which feems to have been determined by fome particular circumstances in the courfe of the author's obfervation, or reading. These are explained either at the heads of the feveral poems, or in a fhort appendix of notes; all of which refer us to writings of particular eminence. We muft, for various reafons, confine our remarks to the principal poem of the collection.

There is fomething in what Dr. Johnfon calls local poetry, which is peculiarly interefting. We cannot avoid accompanying the poet in his rural walks; traverfing the fame meads and groves, and afcending the fame fteeps with him. We cannot but parti