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WB«V 


l__i-i. 


LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


PRESENTED  BY 
ROBERT   B.    STACY-JUDD 


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THE  WONDERS  OF  TME  WORLD. 


RoBT.  B.  Stacy-Judd 

ARCHITBCT 


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Painted  In 


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A  PAGODA  THAT  ROCKS  WITH  THE  WIND. 

This  boulder  stands  on  the  very  backbone  of  thu  lofty  Kelasa   Hills.  Burma.     The  temple   is  called   Sampan,  or  Boat 

Pasoda.  on  account  of  the  shape  of  the  rocldns  stone  upon  which  it  is  built. 


THE 


WONDERS 


OF    THE 


WORLD 


A  POPULAR  AND  AUTHENTIC 
ACCOUNT  OF  THE  MARVELS  ^ 
OF  NATURE  AND  OF  A\AN  A5 
THEY     EXIST     TO-DAY      ^      «      «      ^ 


BY 


eniNENT     TRAVELLERS 

JNCLUDINC 

SIR    HARRY    JOHNSTON 

G.C.M.C,      K.C.B. 

ALAN    H.    BURGOYNE 

M.P.,      F.R.C.S. 

PERCEVAL    LANDON 
J.    THO/nSON 

F.R.C.S. 

AND     MANY     OTMKK5 

Vol.    I 
ILLUSTRATED 

WITH       14     COLOURED     PLATES      AND 

492    REPRODUCTIONS   IN    BLACK  AND 

WHITE,     INCLUDING    /^ANY    UNIQUE     . 

PHOTOGRAPHS   OF   RECENT    DISCOVERIES 


Coiwrit/hl  iihnin  1,11  II.   C.   l;,nNii,i.   F.R.II.S, 

THE    GRE.M     WALL    OF    CHINA 


London:  Hutchinson  &  Co..  paternoster  row 

A' 


Fnnfcd  at  the  Chapel  Ktvcy  Ficss^ 
Kingston  on   'Ihaiiies 


CONTENTS    OF    VOL.    1, 


INTRODUCTION.     By  Sir  Harry  Johnston,  G.C.M.G. 

ASIA. 

I.  By  Perceval  Landon     - 

II.  By  Perceval  L.vndon  and  others 

ur.  By  B.  Ij.  Putnam  Weale 

IV.  By  Alan  H-  Burgoyne,  M.P.,  P.R.G.S. 

V.  By  Philip  \V.  Sergeant 

V[.  By  Philip  W.  Serge.vnt 

vn.  By  Perceval  Landon 

\lll.  By  .1.  Thomson,  F.R.G. S.- 
AUSTRALASIA   AND    THE    PACIFIC 

[X.  By  F.  LA!\rBERT,  F.R.G.S. 

X.  By  F.  W.  Christian,  F.U.G.S.,  and  others  - 

XI.  By  L.  "  Alien  "  Bakek 


i 


1 

3H 
6.') 
i)8 
1»0 
164 
208 
■241 


251 

260 
200 


AFRICA 


XII.  By  Sir  Harry  Johnston,  G.C.M.G. 

XIII.  By  Sir  Harry  Johnston,  G.C.M.C. 

XIV.  By  Sir  Harry  Johnston,  G.C.M.C. 


34.5 
885 
415 


1LTAJSTKAT10N8 


COLOURED     PLATilS 


.V  Pagoda  that  rocks  with  the  wind    - 

The  Ta.i  Mahal,  A(;ra 

The  Sacred  Tank.  Alwar- 

Amida,  The  Giant  Diaiiutsu     - 

The  Schway  Dagon  P.vgoda 

The  Pearl  Mosque,  Delhi 

The  Sarnath  Tope     

The  Ruins  of  Martand,  Kashmir   - 
The  Broken  Column.  Lucas  Cave,  Jenolan 
The  Sutherland  Ivm.ls     ...        - 
Milford  Sound 

The  Sphin.x 

The  Island  of  Phil.e       .... 
The  ToMiiS  of  the  Caliphs,  Caiko 


P.IC.K 

Fronlitipiccc 


F(u 


IIKJ 


3!) 

6r, 

97 
120 
101 
193 
225 
257 
289 
321 
353 
385 
117 


BLACK    AND    WHITE    ILLUSTRATIONS. 
EUROPE. 


ARCTIC 

Sun,  The  Midnight 


GREECE 

Athens,     the 
Acropohs 


Partlienon     at     the 


ITALY 

Pisa,  The  Leaning  Tower  of  . 
Rome,  The  Cemetery  of  the  Capu- 
chin Monks  .... 


PACK 

ARABIA 

Jeddah,  The  Tomb  of  Eve    .  .     218 

I'etra,  The  Uock-liewn  city    . 

62,  63,  64,  193,  194,  195 

lilKMA 

Bangkok    Wat  Snthat  .  .  .189 

\Vat  I'o     .  .       196,  197,  198,  199 

liingyi  Caves  .119.  120,   121 

Kyaik-Ti-Vn  Pagoila,  Tile     .  .      125 

Mandalay,  Tlieebaw's  Palace       116,  117 

Tlie  Kuthodavv  .  .       104,  105 

The  Arakan  Tern])le  .  .      216,  217 

.Mingoon,  The  Pagoda  .  .  132 

The  Great    Bell  .  .221 

-Mijiihnein,  Buddhist  cave  near         .       21 
Pagan,  The  Janada  Pagoda  .  6 

Pegn,  The  Great  Buddha  14,  15 

Rangoon,     The      Slniay      Dagon 

Pagoda    1.55,  1.56,  157,  158,  159,  160 
Ruby  Mines,  The         .  .  .     228 

CA.MBODIA 

Angkor,  or  Nakhun  Wal  i41,  242, 

243,   244,  245,  246,  247 

Nakhon  Tlium  .      248,  249,  250 

CEYLON 

Adam's  Peak  .      181,  182 

.\llagalla.  Lightning  on  139 

Anuradliapnra,  The  Brazen  Palace 

134,  135 
lluanweli  Pagoda  .  .  .      202 

Bamhiio,  (ii;nit    ....       37 
Isnrmnuniya  temple  and  hath  188 

Karidy,  Temple  of  the  Holy  Tooth     201 
K.nnhoda,  Waterfall      .  .  .      115 

Rameswaram        ....        20 
Sci-eHpine  Rnot,s  .  .  .  .170 

CHINA 

Great  Wall  of  China,  The       .  ■      1,  2 

Tomb  in  Northern  China  144 

Canton,  Marco  Polo  as  a  God  27 

Temple  of  Five  Hundred  Genii  85,  86 

The  Clepsydra  ....       72 

The  Yellow  Temple  .  .  .191 

Kiatang,  Giant  Buddha  .  .         7 

Omi,  Fire  Gods  on  Mount       .  .       87 

Peking,  The  Ming  Tombs      33,  34,  35,  36 


ASIA. 

CHINA  (continued) 

The  .\ltar  of  Heaven 

The  Great  Bell 

The  Royal  Throne-Koom 

The  Royal  Throne    . 

The  Twin  Tree 

The  Temple  of  the  Five  li 

The  Walls  of      . 

The  Yellow  Temple  . 
Soo-Cho»,  The  Leaning  Toh 
Tsien-Tang  River  Bore 
Yangtse  Kiang  Gorge    . 

I.VDIA 

Abu,  Jain  Temples 

The  Toad  Rock 
Agra,  The  Tomb  of  AKb 


169.  1 


I'AI^E 

60,  61 

92 

106 

ir.6 

110 

168 
■(1,171 

192 
40 
53 
59 


•*,  5 


Sikandra     65, 
66,  67,  68 
The  Taj  Mahal.  .  .     38,39,40 

The  Most  Beautiful  Gale  in  the 


World 
The  Tomb  of  I'timad-ud-d; 


166 
ulah      97, 
98,  99 
.       96 
225,  226 
183 
184 
70 
10,  11 
133 


The  Hiran  Miiuir 
The  Pearl  Mosque 

Ajanta,  The  Rock  Temple      . 
The  Caves 

Amber,  Interior  of  the  Palace 

Amritsar,  The  Golden  Temple 

Baltistan,  A  Glacier  Table     . 

Benares,  Sacred  Well  of  Vishnu 
The  Burning  Ghats    ...       53 

Bhilsa,  The  Sanchi  Tope  44,  45 

Bijapur,  The  Lord  of  the  Plain        .      175 
The  Go!  Gumbaz       .  .  .239 

Bombay,  Tower  of  Silence    .  .     109 

Buddhgaya  ....     227 

Calcutta,  Banyan  Tree  .  16,  17 

The  Badri  Das  Temple        .  .      127 

The  Jain  Temple        .  .128 

Dariiling.  Sacred  Cave,  Observatorv 

Hill  ....'.     206 
Mount  Kangchenjunga,  from  3 

Delhi,  The  Kutab  Minar         .  18,19 

The  Iron  Pillar  ...       84 

The  Great  Mosque  .  129,  130,  131 
The  Diwan-i-khas  .  230,  231,  232 
The  Pearl  Mosque  .  .      177 

Elephanta,  The  Cave  Temples     54,  55,  56 

Ellora.  The  Caves  of      .  .  .30,  31 


INDIA  [continued) 

The  Kailas  Temple  ...  32 
Everest.  Moimt  ....  107 
Ganges,  Bathers  in  the  .  .  ■      141 

Gwalior 236 

Jabalpur,  the  Marble  Rocks  .  .       6£ 

Huge  Granite  Boulders       .  .      148 

Jeypore,  The  Hawa  Maha!     .  .       77 

Kanarak,  The  Black  Temple         237,  238 
Madras,  Sahadeva's  Rath      .  .      138 

Madura,  The  Great  Temple   178,  179,  180 

Martand 234 

Mohammedan  Shrine    ...       22 
Mysore,  The  Sacred  Bull        .  .       49 

Narbada 209 

Puri,  The  Temple  of  Jagaimath,  223,  224 
Sikkim,  A  Cane  Bridge  .  .      143 

Mount  .Siniolchu  ...  41 
Sravana  Belagola,  Gomatesvara  28,  208 
Srinagar,  Deodar  Bridge        .  .      149 

Tanjore,  The  Car  of  Krishna  .  .      118 

Uilaipur,  The  White  Lake  Palace    .      136 
Ulwar,  The  Sacred  Tank        .  .     22E 

lAPAN 
.\sama-Yama  in  eruption       .  23 

Aso-san        .  .  .  .13,101,10? 

Chuzenji,  The  Waterfall,  "  Kegon- 

no-Taki  "  .  .  .  .       93 

Enoshima,  The  Sponge  Rocks  126 

Fuji    .  .  .73,  74,  75,  76 

Iwahuni  Bridge,  The    .  .124 

Kamakura,  The  Daibutsu      .  .114 

Kameido  Park,  AVistaria        .       145,   146 

Kasuhabli,  Giant  Wistaria     .  .      146 

Katsura  River,  The  Rapids  .  .       29 

Kyoto,  A  Botanical  Wonder  .  .      103 

Chionin  Temple,  The  Great  Bell      137 

Temple  of  33,333  Gods        .       122,  123 

Matsushima,  Natural  arch      .  .     215 

Minobu,  The  Temple  of  Mount  94,  95 

Miyajima,  on  the  shores  of    .  .     233 

Nara,  The  stone  lanterns        .  .      108 

Nikko,  The  Temple  lanterns  .  .       79 

The  Great  Torii  ...        78 

Hear  not,  speak  not,  see  not  Evil     173 

The  Yoniei  Gate        .  .  .172 

Stone    Buddhas    by    the     River 

Daiya        .       "  .         .         .42 


Black  and  White  Illustrations 


JAPAN  {continued) 
Okit.su,__Stone  Images  of  J'ive  Hun- 
dred Disciples     ...       58 
Tokyo,  Graves  of  forty-sevi'ii  lioriln.s    li;.") 

JAVA 

Boro-I!odoiT,  'I'll!'  'ri-iupl.'  of       24,  2.'),  2(i 

PAI,!^STI.^K 

licllileliem.     Tin-    Sliriiie    of     llie 

Manger      ....  1.50 
Hebron,    Tlie   Tomb   of   Abraham, 

Isaac  and  Jacob           .          .  140 

Jebel  Usdum,  Interior  of  a  sail  cave  71 

Jericho,  Tlie  Walls  of    .  142 

Jerusalem,  Ancient  sepulclire  51,  52 

Tomb  of  Christ          .          .          .  i 

Rock  cistern     ....  88 

Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre      .  203 

Gordon's  Calvary      .  .  .204 

Mosques  of  the  TiMiiplc  .\rea       .  207 


AFUICA  (CE.VTKAL) 
Termite  .'Vnt-hill  . 

AFIUCW,  HKITISU  80I'TH 
lirandvlei,  Hot  Water  Springs 
Capeto^vn,  «ith  Table  Mountain 
Drakensberg  Mountains,  The 
Kimberley,   Diamond  .Mines 
Diamonils 


403 
375 
410 
408 
409 
Zindiabwe,  The  Huins  of       411,  412,  413 


AI.GKKIA 

Algiers,  Street  of  Camels 


427 


(Eastern)  (iorge  of  the  Knirutiel  371,  372 
Natural  Bridge  over  the  Uunmiel     370 
Ilamniam    Maskutin,    Cascade    of 

Boiling  Water         .  439 

TIenicen,  The  (irand  Mosque     437,  438 
A  Sand  Sea  .421 


CONGO 

Ikoko,  An  Anthill 


404 


KGVl'T 

Alexandria,  The  Catacombs  .         .     391 

I'onipey's  Pillar  .     447 

Assouan,  The  Obelisk  .  .420 

The  Great  Dam  .     418,  419 

Cairo,    Sarcophagus   of    a    Hull    at 

Memphis       ....     422 
Tombs  of  the  Mamluks      .         .     414 


A81 A —  loiiliiiiuii. 

PAGE 

PALESTINE  (coiilinutd) 

Wailing-place  of  the  Jews  .  200 

Lebanon,  .Natural  Bridge  at  Mount         9 

PKU.SIA 

Damigban,  The  Miliar  .          .  .  147 

Isfahan,    The     Bridge    acro.ss  the 

Zendah  Kua        .          .  .  235 

Kum,  Fatima's  Shrine  .          .  .  190 

Per.sepolis,  The  Huins  of         .  210,211, 

212,  213 

Sbusbter,  Valerian's  Bridge    .  .  222 

Silence,  The  Tower  of    .          .  .  xii 

Tur(pioise  Stores,  The  U'orld's  .  205 

RUSSIAN  TURKESTAN 
Samarkand,  The  Tomb  of  Timor    .     240 

SIAM 

Ayutlia,  The  Bronze  Hu.ldba  of     .       81 
Ayulba,  Tlie  Kuins  of  .  82,  83 

Chang,  The  Wal  .  .  .89,  90,  91 

Pagoda  in  fbe  Kivi'r,  Tin-        .  .      1,51 

AFKK'A. 

VkiiS. 

EGYPT  (coHtiniud) 

Sandstorms       .  .  .       401,  402 

Cairo 380 

The  Mosques     .       381,  382,  383,  384 
The  Mosque  Al-Azhar         .      429,  430 
(iiza.  The  Pyramids       .     345,  34fi,  347, 
348,  349,  350,  351,  352,  353,  354, 
355,   351),   357,   358,  359 
Heliopolis,  The  Obelisk         .  .     400 

Karnak,  The  Great  Temple    .     3tM),  301, 
362,  363 
The  Obelisk   of  Qneen   Hatjthop- 

situ       .....     304 

The  Obelisks  of  Tehutinies  1.  365 

A  Pharaoh  Portrait-bust  .  .     366 

Temple  of  Tehutimes  1.      .  .     367 

Temple  of  Ramses    .  368,  369 

Pbihu  Island         .  385,  387,  389 

Pharaoh's  Bed  .  .386 

Temjile  of  Isis  .  .      388,  390 

Sakkara,  The  'I'omb  of  Thiy  .      '443,  444 

The  Serapeion  .     423,  424,  425 

Sakkara-Menijihis,        Slatue        of 

Ramses  11 399 

Siwab,  Oasis  of    .  .     398 

Suez  Canal  .         .         .      373,  374 

Thebes,    The    Pavilion    of    Ramses 

111 415 

Great  Temi)le  of  Hantses  III.  416 

Gallery  of  Tehutimes  I.  .417 

Statue  of  Ramses  II.  .     432 

The  Kamesseum         .  .      433,  434 


SIAM  [continued) 

Pechaburi  Cave  Temples,  The        .      167 
Phra-Keo,  The  Wat       .  .     46, 47, 48 

SIBERIA 

Khirghiz  Tombs   .  ,      112,  113 

SYRIA 

Anion,  The  Gorge  of  the  .171 

Baalbek,  The  Ruins  of  .  .        ix,  161, 

162,  163,  164 
Dead  Sea,  Tlie      .  .         185,  186, 187 

Palmyra,  The  Huins  of  .         152, 153, 154 

THIBET 

Changchenmo      Valley,      Thibetan 

Yaks  crossing  river  in  .  .      Ill 

Chiimbi  Valley,  Frozen  waterfall    .         8 

Lhasa,  The  Potala  .      219,  220 

TheJo-Kaug    .  .211 

Tasbi  Lhnmpo,  Tomb  of  the  First. 

Tashi  Lama        .  .  .1011 

Tsang-Po,  A  wonderful  bridge  12 


EGYPT  {continued) 

The  Colossi  of  Meiunon     .  .     435 

The  Temple  of  Halshopsitil  436 

The  Valley  of  the  Kings  445,  446 

NUBIA 

Abu  Simbel,  Temple  of        405,  4(16,  407 
Dareheib 397 


RHODESIA 

A  Baobab  Tree    . 


428 


TENERIFE 

Chinzeros,  Eruption  of  .  .     442 

Teide,  The  Peak  of  1411,  441 

TUNIS 

Az-Zeitonna  Mosque  379 

Carthage      .         ,  376,  377,  378 

Human  .\(pieduct  .           ,           .      42fi 

WADI  ALLAIH 

A  Sheikh's  Tomb  ,  .  .390 

YORUBA 

Ibadaii,  I'l'lish  Temples  at      ,  ,      448 

ZAMBESI 

Victoria  Falls    xvi.,  392,  393,  394,  395 


AHGKNTINA 
Tandil,  The  Rucking  .Stone 

MEXICO 

Oaxaca,  A  Mighty  Tree 


AMERICA. 


OKLAHOMA 

A  Cyclone  at 

Hill   DK  JANl.lHli 
A  Tiiial  Wave  at 


YELLOWSTONE   LAKE 
A  F'isli  Hot-pot  Spring  . 


Black  and  White  Illustrations 

AUSTRALASIA 


ANTARCTIC 
An  ioeberti 
Ice- Caverns 
Ice-Fuinarole 
Mount  Erebus 

liObNTV    ISLES 
Penguins      • 


.  288 
291,  292 

.  306 
307,  308 


331,  332 


NEW  SOUTH  WALES 

Blue  Mountains,  The     .  .       278,  279 

Jenolan     Caves,     Stalactites     ami 

Stalagmites    .      vii.,   251,   252,   253, 
254,  255,  256,  257,  258,  259,  260, 
261,  262,  263,  264,  265 
Sydney  Harbour  ....     315 
Wollondilly  Caves  .  .     303 

Wonibeyan  Caves  .  •     302 

Yarrangobilly  Caves      .  .      293,  294 

NEW  ZEALAND 

Auckland,  Pohuta  Geyser      .          .  272 

Egniont,  Mount   ....  304 

nawkesbury  River  Bridge,  The      .  295 


NEW  ZEALAND  (coJitinutd) 

Karapiti  Blow-Hole,  The  'Ml 

Kereru  Geyser      .  .  .  ■     270 

Manapouri  Lake  .  342 

.Milford  Sound  .  326,  327 

Rotomahana  Lake         .  .  •      343 

Southern  Alps,  "  Aorangi  "  .  .     273 

Tasman  Glacier       274,  275,  276,  277 
Southern  Alps,  The  Franz  Joseph 

Glacier  .  .        311,  312,  313 

Tarawera,  Mount  .  .  .      344 

Taupo,  1  he  While  Terrace    .  .     283 

Tikitere  .  .  .  284,  285,  286 
Tonga,  A  Prc-Historic  Monument  .  296 
Wairoa  .  .  .  .  .287 
Wairoa  Geyser     .         .       267,  268,  2611 

Waikite 305 

Waimangu  Geyser  .       iii.,  333,  334 

Waiotapu    ....      289,  29(1 
Wairakei,  The  Dragon's  Mouth      .     341 
The  Champagne  Pool  .     340 

The  Aratiatia  Rapids         .         .     282 
Wangaroa,  The  Sphinxes       .  .     314 

Whakarewarewa  .  .      266,  271 

While  Island,  The  Boiling  Lake     .     325 


PACIFIC  ISLANDS 
Borneo,  Sea  Dyaks 

Dyak  Idols 
Hawaii,     Kilauea, 
Mauna  Loa  . 
New  Guinea,  Houses 
Temple 
\illage     . 


.     316 

.      317 

the    tiatei     ol 

321,  322,  3^3,  324 

.      298,  300 

.     297 

.      299 


Ponapi,  Nan-Tauach    .  280,  281 

Samoa,  Coral  Beef        .         .  .309 

Blow-Hole         .  31(1 


TASMANIA 

Eaglehawk  Neck            .  .          .      318 

The  Devil's  Kitchen      .  .          .319 

The  Tessellated  Pavement  320 


WESTERN  ALSTR.iLIA 

Buflalo  Ranges      .          .  328,  329,  330 

Blackboy  Hollow  Cave  .      337,  338 

Calgardup  Cave    .          .  .          .339 

Yallingup  Caves  .          .  .      335,  336 


I'hoio  by  tne\ 


THK 


MlU,\H>ti  1      .-^L  N 


i/'/totochrotu  Co.,  /.oTui'm. 


In  Polar  regions,  within  the  arctic  and  antarctic  circles,  the  sun  never  sinUs  below  the  horizon  from  about  tlie  middle 
of  May  to  the  end  of  July.  Of  course,  against  these  weeks  of  perpetual  daylight  must  be  set  the  six  weeks'  sunless 
skies  of    the  dead  of    winter.       The    above  photo  was  taken  at   midnight   in  Tromso.    Norway. 


INTRODUCTION 

By   Sir    HARRY  JOHNSTON,  G.C.AIG. 


THE  feeling  of  wonder  at 
stupendous  or  curious 
natural  objects  or  the  pheno- 
mena of  the  skies  is  certainly 
coeval  with  the  birth  of  the 
human  species.  Even  our 
nearest  relations  among  the 
anthropoid  apes  are  said  to 
be  agitated  at  the  rising  of 
the  full  moon  with  its  disc  of 
gold  mottled  with  grey.  Apes 
and  monkeys  are  only  less 
inquisitive  than  humans,  and 
are  readily  attracted  by  bright 
colours  and  strange  objects. 
Amongst  the  lowliest  races 
of  mankind  existing  at  the 
present  day  Nature  seems  full 
of  wonderment,  and  perhaps 
inspires  more  awe  to  their 
amazed  and  ignorant  contem- 
plation than  she  does  to  the 
sophisticated  white  men  and 
women  of  later  intellectual 
growth.  The  savage,  more- 
over, is  not  impressed  by 
mere  bulk ;  he  respects  the 
intricate  and  can  marvel  at 
perfection  of  structure. 


/•'rom  Steritj  aip^riijht'i 


irndrruood  i<-  riuUrteootl. 


TRADITIONAL    TOMB    OF    CHRIST. 

This  ecpulcKre  was  discovered  outside  Jcruaalctn.  and  it  i«  traditionally  •upposed 

to  be  the  actual  tomb  given   by  Joseph  o(   Arimothca  for  lite  burial  o(  Christ. 


11 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Hotten':ots  and  Bushmen  wor- 
shipped the  Mantis,  or  "  pray- 
ing-insect,"  on    account   of    its 
strange  attitudes  and   coloura- 
tion.    The   Forest  Negroes   all 
over  Tropical  Africa  think   the 
Spider     one    of    the     Woi'ld's 
wonders,  and  endow  this  highly 
specialized      arthropod       with 
human  attributes  in  their  folk- 
lore.    The   pre-historic  savages 
of  Pleistocene  Europe  collected 
and    valued     strangely-marked 
pebbles    or  odd-shaped    bones. 
Their  analogues  of  the  present 
day,    the   peoples  of    primitive 
culture    in    Africa,    Asia,    Aus- 
tralasia,   and    South    America 
admire  or  worship    upright    or 
prostrate       stones,      mountain 
peaks,   volcanoes,   lakes,    trees, 
flowers,  shells,  waterfalls,  whirl- 
pools,   rivers,    fish,    crocodiles, 
snakes,    lizards,    birds,    beasts, 
the   sun   or  the   moon,  certain 
constellations,    thunder,    light- 
ning,   sand-storms    and    water- 
spouts. 

As  Man  waxed  in  intelligence 
and  himself  created  wonders 
with  his  hands  and  by  the 
instruments  of  his  own  making, 
he  more  often  reserved  his 
awe  and  admiration  for  great 
human  achievements,  rather 
than  for  the  phenomena  of 
Nature.  The  first  enumeration 
of  world-wonders — known  as 
the  "  Seven  Wonders  of  the 
World  " — dealt  entirely  with 
the  works  of  man.  The  list 
(probably  compiled  by  Pliny 
the  Elder  or  some  other  Roman 
writer  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Christian  Era)  comprised 
(I)  the  Pyramids  of  Egypt ;  (2)  the  Walls  and  Hanging  Gardens  of  Babylon  ;  (3)  the  Temple  of 
Diana  of  Ephesus  ;  (4)  the  Statue  of  the  Olympian  Jupitei  by  Phidias  (at  Olympia)  ;  (5)  the 
Mausoleum  raised  by  Artemisia  at  Halicamassus ;  (6)  the  Colossus  of  Rhodes ;  and  (7)  the 
Pharos  or  Lighthouse  of  Alexandria. 


'  New  Photographic  Co,"] 


IStrriHtt. 


THE    LEANING    TOWER    OF    PISA 


The  tower,  which  is  constructed  entirely  of  white  marble,  is  180  feet  high,  and 
has  eight  stories  divided  by  rows  of  columns,  the  last,  which  contains  the  bells, 
being  smaller  in  diameter  than  the  others.  It  was  built  in  1174  and  succeeding 
years,  and  slants   14   feet  from  the  perpendicular. 


i 


[Dtinfilin. 


WAIMANGU    GEVZER.    NEW    ZEALAND. 


The  e«ploBion   of   Waim.neu   Gfyzcr.   the   l.rscsl   B-^yzcr    in    the   World.   i>    .t    lime,     terrific,   boilint    w.lcr    «nd    mud    brins 
thrown   up   to  a  heilihl   of    1.500   feet       When   thi.  photo   w«.  t.ken   the   height   reoched  w..  over   1.000   feet 


IV 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


jZ'fidtf 


Pholo  hiq 


[X  r.  EJtcanh. 


AN     INSECT    -SKYSCRAPER."    TERMITE    ANT-HILL    IN    CENTRAL    AFRICA. 


These,  so  called,  ant-hills  are  very  common  in   tropical  Africa,  and  are   built  of  mud   by  the   "  white  ants  "  for  their  home        The 
height   frequently  reaches  -40   feet        Termites  are  not   really  ants,    but  insects  of  a   totally  different  order. 


In  the  Eighteenth  century  writers  in  France  and  England  were  wont  to  add  to  this  enumeration 
a  series  of  "  modern  "  world-wonders  :  (i)  the  Coliseum  (or  Colosseum)  at  Rome  ;  {2)  the  Cata- 
combs of  Alexandria  ;  (3)  the  Great  Wall  of  China  ;  (4)  the  Druidical  Temple  of  Stonehenge  ;  (5) 
the  Leaning  Tower  of  Pisa  ;  (6)  the  Porcelain  Tower  of  Nanking  in  China  ;  and  (7)  the  Great  IVIosque 
(once  a  Christian  Church)  of  Saint  Sophia,  at  Constantinople. 

The  Pyramids  are  familiar  to  us  all,  though  they  are  still  legitimately  reckoned  among  the 
Wonders  of  the  World.  The  name  we  give  to  this  structure  seems  to  be  derived  through  the  Greek 
Pyramis  (pi.  Pyramides),  from  an  Egyptian  word,  piremus,  meaning  "  a  vertical  height."  The 
PjTamids  are  probably  evolved  from  a  sudden  exaggeration  of  the  "  mastaba,"  or  oblong  tomb- 
cover,  the  roof  of  an  underground  dwelling  hewn  in  the  rock,  which  contained  a  chapel  or  place 
for  votive  offerings  and  worship  immediately  over  the  grave.  On  to  the  basal  slab  of  this 
(originally  stone)  cover  or  roof  of  the  tomb  were  placed  other  slabs  of  lessening  size,  so  that 
when  finished  the  "  mastaba  "  had  sloping  sides  in  steps,  and  a  flat  top.  It  needed  only  to 
continue  in  lessening  gradation  of  size  this  apposition  of  one  stone  slab  on  another  to  arrive 
at  last  at  an  oblong-shaped  pyramid.  When  these  "  mastabas  "  or  p\Tamids  increased  in  bulk 
beyond  a  mere  grave  cover  the  layers  of  single  stone  slabs  were  imitated  by  level  courses  of 
brick  or  masonry. 

The  Pyramids  were  never  a  burial-place  or  monument  of  a  family  ;  each  was  invariably  the  tomb 
of  one  person.  In  their  gigantic  development  and  typical  form  they  were  probably  first  constructed 
for  the  Kings  of  the  IVth  Dynasty,  beginning  at  about  3700  B.C.,  or  five  thousand  six  hundred  years 
ago.     But  the  earliest  type  of  the  colossal  pyramidal  tomb  known  to  us  (and  still  existing)  was  the 


Introduction  v 

Step  Pyramid  at  Sakkara,  supposed  to  date  back  to  ab3ut  3900  B.C.,  and  to  have  been  built  by 
Tcheser,  a  king  of  the  Ilird  Dynasty. 

The  Walls  and  Hanging  Gardens  of  Babylon — a  city  which  in  its  prime,  some  two  thousand  five 
hundred  years  ago,  had  an  area  of  about  100  square  miles — were  computed  to  be  in  places  335  feet 
high  and  85  feet  wide.  They  were  pierced  with  one  hundred  gates  of  brass  wfiich  had  brass  posts 
and  Untels.  The  Hanging  Gardens,  grouped  with  these  colossal  Walls  as  forming  the  second  in  the 
list  of  the  World's  marvels,  were  plantations  of  trees  and  flowers  growing  in  soil  placed  in  immense 
brick  receptacles  and  raised  to  a  height  of  seventy-five  feet  above  the  ground  on  arches.  Appar- 
entl}'  these  "  roof  "  gardens  (an  adjunct  of  the  monarch's  palace)  formed  a  hollow  square,  each 
side  of  which  measured  four  hundred  feet.  The  vegetation  in  these  immense  elevated  troughs  was 
irrigated  by  water  raised  from  the  Euphrates  by  means  of  a  revolving  screw. 

The  Temple  of  Diana  of  Ephesus — destroyed  by  the  Goths  in  262  a.d. — w-as  a  building  designed 
by  Greek  architects,  constructed  during  the  lifetime  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and  finished  about 
330  B.C.  It  was  calculated  by  the  late  Mr.  J.  T.  Wood  (who  explored  it  for  the  British  Museum  in 
1863-4)  that  this  building  measured  418  feet  long  by  239  feet  broad.  It  became  a  magnificent 
repository  and  museum  of  the  finest  specimens  of  Greek  art  in  sculpture  and  painting.  There  have 
been  three  or  more  temples  on  this  spot,  each  erected  on  the  ruins  of  its  predecessor.  According  to 
tradition,  a  Greek  colony  of  lonians  under  an  Athenian  leader  landed  at  Ephesus  in  about  iioo  B.C. 
They  found  here  an  already  important  city  grouped  round  the  temple  of  a  goddess  of  many  breasts, 


yru  rh'tloiirapldc  ( 


IHE    CEMETERN     OF     THE    CAPUCHIN     MONKS. 


It  is  a  custom  of  these  Capuchin  Monks  to  remove,  from  time  lo  time,  the  mummiBcci  reniuins  01  the  Frinrs  from  tlicir 
place  of  burial  to  this  vault,  where  they  ore  clad  in  the  fiabits  ihey  were  accustomed  lo  wear  when  alive,  and  labelled  witli 
their  names.  When  in  the  course  of  time  their  hodies  fall  into  decay,  the  bones  arc  collected,  classified  and  'utilized  for 
decoratine   the  walls  of   the   vault. 


VI 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


whom  they  identified  with  their  own  female  deity,  Artemis  (Diana)  ;  a  goddess  who  typified  fertihty 
and  the  fruits  of  the  Earth.  Ephesus,  situated  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Cayster,  in  south-west 
Asia  Minor,  fell  into  utter  ruin  after  the  Temple  was  destroyed  by  the  Goths,  and  did  not  revive  under 
the  blighting  rule  of  the  Turks.  It  is  now  known  as  Ayasuluk,  a  corruption  of  Hagios  Theologos, 
a  name  apphed  to  St.  John  and  given  to  the  city  in  Byzantine  times. 

The  Statue  of  the  Olympian  Jupiter  was  erected  at  Olympia  in  Elis  (South-west  Greece)  by  the 
great  sculptor  Phidias,  in  about  450  B.C.  It  was  forty  feet  high,  and  represented  Jupiter  seated  and 
robed,  and  holding  forth  in  his  right  hand  a  figure  of  Victory,  while  his  left  hand  rested  on  a  sceptre 
on  ^^■hich  an  eagle  was  perched.  It  may  be  that  the  whole  Statue  was  of  wood  in  its  main 
substance,  but  in  its  outer  aspects  the  face,  bust  and  arms  were  of  ivory,  and  the  robes  were  of 
gold,  enamelled  with  flowers  and  figures. 

Mausolus,  a  Persian,  became  about  the  year  3S0  b  c.  the  satrap,  or  ruler,  of  the  important  town 
and  district  of  Halicarnassus  (nowadays  known  by  the  Turkish  name  Budrun),  which,  hke  Ephesus, 
was  situated  on  the  south-west  coast  of  Asia  Minor.     His  wife  Artemisia  was  ardently  attached  to 


Pholo  li/] 


IJ.  W.  UcLeltan. 


THE  PARTHENON  AT  THE  ACROPOLIS.  ATHENS. 


This  Doric  Temple,    dedicated 
The  buildi, 


to    the 

ig  is  of 


goddess    Athena,   is  the  finest  example   extant    of    Greelc   architecture   at    its   perfection, 
marble.    228   feet  in  length  and  6-4   feet  to  the  top  of   the  pediment. 


him,  and  after  his  death  resolved  to  erect  in  his  memory  a  superb  monument.  She  employed  Greek 
architects  to  design,  and  Greek  sculptors  to  decorate,  this  first  "  Mausoleum,"  portions  of  which  are 
now  in  the  British  Museum 

The  Colossus  of  Rhodes  was  a  bronze  statue  of  Hehos,  the  Sun-god,  about  120  feet  high,  erected, 
in  280  B.C.  at  the  entrance  to  the  harbour  of  Rhodes  (in  the  island  of  that  name).  Chares,  a  Greek, 
was  the  designer.  The  statue  did  not,  however  (as  popularly  believed),  bestride  the  entrance  to 
the  harbour,  but  was  placed  on  one  side  of  the  entrance.  It  fell  down  in  an  earthquake  about 
224  B.C.  The  fragments  remained  in  situ  for  hundreds  of  years  ;  in  fact,  until  after  Rhodes  was  taken 
by  the  Arabs  in  656  a.d.  Soon  after  that  date  the  pieces  of  bronze  were  sold  to  a  Jewish  merchant, 
who  employed  a  thousand  camels  to  remove  them. 


Jty  prrmitiion  «/] 


IHE    MINARET     JENOLAN    CAVES.     NEW    SOUTH    WALES. 


This  beautilul  stalaemite  in  one   of   the   caves  is  caused   by   ihc   constant   drippinn  ol   lime-water  on  one   particular   spot.       The 
water  evaporates,   and   the   lime   deposits  arc  alone   left   to  accumulate   by   slow  degrees  in   these   fantastic   forms. 


Vlll 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


From  the  collection  o/] 


THE    BIGGEST    TREE     IN    THE    WORLD 


This    tree   isUa    cypress    and    measures    1  54    feel    in    circumference, 
ttiat    it    would    require    30    men    with    outstretched    arms    to    span    its    1 
IVlexico. 


It    will    give    a    better    idea    of  its  enormous   size  to  say 
irth.      It    is    situated    at    Tule,    in    the    State    of    Oaxaca, 


The  Pharos  or  Lighthouse  of  Alexandria — pattern  of  the  world's  hghthouses — was  built  on  the 
eastern  extremity  of  the  isle  (now  peninsula)  of  Pharos  by  Ptolemy  Soter,  King  of  Egypt,  in  about 
300  B.C.     It  was  400  feet  high. 

The  Colosseum  or  Cohseum  at  Rome  was  built  by  the  Emperors  Vespasian  and  Titus  as  an 
amphitheatre,  in  which  games,  gladiatorial  displays,  and  shows  of  wild  beasts,  sham  fights  of  soldiers 
and  ships,  chariot  and  horse-races  took  place.  Also,  during  the  times  of  persecution  many  Christians 
were  killed  or  tortured  here.  During  the  early  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  down  to  about  550,  it 
continued  in  use  for  public  spectacles  and  remained  intact  as  late  as  the  ninth  century.  From  that 
time  onwards  it  was  partially  destroyed  by  the  medieval  barons  and  architects  of  Rome  as  a 
handy  quarry  of  buUding  stones  required  for  the  palaces  and  churches  of  Papal  Rome.  Benedict 
XIV.,  however,  put  a  stop  to  this  in  1750,  and  announced  the  Papal  intention  to  preserve  this  rehc 
of  Imperial  Rome,  formerly  the  scene  of  so  much  Christian  suffering  and  fortitude.  It  therefore 
remains  to  the  present  day  the  most  remarkable  existing  vestige  of  Rome's  ancient  monuments. 

The  Catacombs  of  Alexandria  were  vast  burial  places  for  the  dead,  excavated  in  the  calcareous 
rock  to  the  south-west  of  the  modern  city  of  Alexandria.  This  is  the  same  Umestone  rock  as 
that  of  Southern  Tunis  and  Western  Tripoli,  in  which  the  modern  "  cave-dwellers  "  have  their 
homes.  From  a  remote  antiquity  there  have  been  cave-dwellers — "  troglodytes  " — throughout 
North  Africa,  from  Morocco  to  Egypt  ;  people  who  found  it  easy  to  carve  dwelhngs  in  the  soft 
limestone  rock,  the  surface  of  which  when  exposed  to  the  air  hardens,  and  does  not  crumble.  The 
underground  catacombs  of  Alexandria  where  the  dead  were  buried  in  Ptolemaic  and  Roman  times 
were  of  great  extent,  and  were  remarkable  for  their  spacious  dimensions  and  beautiful  carvings. 

The  Great  Wall  of  China — made  known  to  Europe  first  by  the  travels  of  Marco  Polo,  and  further 
described  by  the  Roman   Catholic  missionaries  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries — was 


Introduction 


IX 


commenced  in  about  214  B.C.  by  the  great  Emperor  Che  Hwang  Te.  It  was,  of  course,  intended  as- 
a  defence  work  to  keep  out  the  Tatar  and  Mongol  cavalry,  and  when  completed,  about  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era,  extended  from  Shan-hai-kwang  on  the  Gulf  of  Pe-chi-li  to  the  westernmost 
comer  of  the  province  of  Kan-suh,  where  the  Wall  finished  on  the  slopes  of  the  lofty  Nan  Shan 
mountains.  The  Wall  was  an  instance  of  Chinese  futihty,  for  it  did  httle  to  prevent  the  constant 
invasion  of  China  by  Tatar  and  Mongol  conquerors  between  200  B.C.  and  1644  a.d. 

England  was  considered  in  the  later  eighteenth  century  to  possess  a  world-wonder  in  the 
remarkable  pre-historic  monument  of  Stonehenge,  perhaps  2,600  years  old.  This  "  Wonder  of  the 
World  "  will  be  fully  described  in  a  later  number. 

The  Leaning  Tower  of  Pisa  was  the  Campanile  or  bell-tower  of  the  cathedral  of  that  city.  It 
was  designed  by  two  Tyrolese  architects  (of  Innsbruck)  and  commenced  in  1174.     Through  some 


-^" 


Ji^m- 


X^iHyytr'^- 


^^^^ 


From  Slfrto  (V/>y;'iyA/] 


ll'iulntcoo't  .{-  t'ndfr{C"'i(i. 


IHE    MIGHIIEST    STONE    EVER    HEWN.     BAALBEK.    SYRIA 


This  Hone  is  71   feet  in  lenKtli,   14  (eel  wide,  and   13  (eel  hi«h.  nnd  il  weinhs  over  3.000.000  Ibi.     Il  i«  in  one  iolid  piece.  «nd 
ilhere  ore  other  «lone»  nearly   os   Inrae   in   the  ruin«  o(   the   Temple  o(   the   Sun   at    Baalbelt.   which  con   be   teen   in   the  di«tonce.-i 


X  The   Wonders   of   the   World 

accidental  settlement  in  the  foundations  the  Tower  leans  on  one  side,  so  that  the  coriiice  of  its 
summit  is  fourteen  feet  out  of  the  perpendicular.  The  Tower  is  round,  and  constructed  entirely 
of  marble.  The  walls  are  thirteen  feet  tlrick  at  the  base  and  six  feet  tliick  at  the  top  ;  but  it  is  now 
ascertained  that  the  foundations  are  "  miserably  narrow  "  in  their  reach,  are  shallow,  and  rest  on 
a  bed  of  clay  through  which  water  percolates.  Some  additional  earth  tremor  perhaps  has  occurred 
to  weaken  the  Tower's  stability,  and  whilst  these  lines  are  being  penned  urgent  measures  are  being 
taken  to  save  this  world-wonder  from  the  collapse  which  a  few  years  ago  laid  low  another  great 
marvel  of  Medifeval  Italy — the  Campanile  of  St.  Mark  at  Venice.  Indeed,  it  is  quite  possible  that 
those  who  look  on  the  last  photograph  (here  given)  taken  of  the  Leaning  Tower  of  Pisa  may  never 
look  upon  its  exact  likeness  again,  as  regards  the  angle  of  inclination  and  the  details  of  the 
surroundings. 

The  wonderful  Porcelain  Towei  of  Nanking,  a  great  Chinese  city,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Yang- 
tse-kiang  river,  is  now  no  longer  in  existence.      It  was  destroyed  between  1853  and  1864  by  the 


Pholo  hit  tfif'] 


IJ'hotai'hivlll  Co..  Loiidull, 


FISH    HOT-POT    SPRING.    YELLOWSTONE    LAKE.     U.S.A. 


The 


spring  is  in   the  middle  of  this  little  island,   which   is  a  cone  of  a  gcyzer.      Fish   from  the  lalie  can   be  caught  and  cooked 

immediately   by  placing  them  in  the  hot  spring. 


Tai-ping  rebels.  This  wonderful  achievement  of  Chinese  fantasy  was  constructed  by  the  Emperor 
Yung-lo  in  1413  to  commemorate  the  virtues  of  his  mother,  and  was  called  the  "  Token-of-Gratitude 
Pagoda."  The  Tower  was  about  260  feet  in  height,  was  an  octagon  in  shape,  and  divided  into  nine 
storeys.  The  outer  surface  of  the  building  was  cased  with  the  finest  white  porcelain  bricks  and  the 
roofs  of  each  storey  were  covered  with  green  glazed  tiles.  Bells  were  hung  on  the  eaves  of  each 
storey,  totalling  in  numbers  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  ;  and  in  hke  manner  were  suspended 
lanterns  for  illumination  at  night.  The  siunmit  was  surmounted  by  an  iron  rod  encircled  by  nine 
iron  rings  and  crowned  with  a  gilded  ball.  Five  chains  were  stretched  from  this  golden  apex  to 
the  eaves  of  the  roof  below,  and  on  each  chain  was  strung  a  "  pearl  of  good  augury,"  devoted  to 
the  welfare  of  the  city.  One  pearl  stood  for  protection  against  dust-storms,  another  availed  to 
avert  fire,  a  third  allayed  tempests,  a  fourth  prevented  floods  of  the  river,  while  the  fifth  pearl 
guarded  the  city  from  riots. 

The  Great  Mosque  of  Constantinople,  which  was  once  the  Cathedral  Church  ot   "  Holy  Wisdom/' 


Hy  penniiiioii  " /^ 


{Thf  One  and  All  Assorintion. 
A    CYCLONE    IN    OKLAHOMA.    U.S.A. 

c.rcular  .term  of  Krem  force,  which,  extendina  over  a  Uritc  area.  «nd  rcyolvina 

th   it  »ond.  and    in    foci    onythinK    liaht    and 


This  extraordinary    effccl   is    produced  by 
round  a  calm   centre,    travels  at  a    ra.eof    from   17    to   30  mile,  an   hour,   carryina   wi 
easily  collected. 


Xll 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Pholo  bi] 


[iV.  I'.  E<lwnr,1s. 


THE     rOWER    OF    SILENCE.     PERSIA 


The  Parsis  regarding  earth,  water  and  fire  as  sacred,  have  to  dispose  of  their  dead  by  other  methods.  The  corpses 
being  considered  unclean,  are  carried  up  to  these  towers  of  silence  and  placed  on  tiers.  Vultures  eat  the  flesh  off  the  bones, 
which  are  then  placed  in   the  centre  of  the  to%ver.   where  they  remain   until   they  crumble  away 

or  Saint  Sophia,  is  called  by  the  Turks  "  Aya  Sofia  Jamisi."  (The  word  "  Aya  "  prefixed  to  so  many 
buildings  and  place-names  in  Turkey  is  a  corruption  of  the  Greek  Hagia^Sa.int,  Holy.)  It  was 
commenced  in  the  year  532  a.d.  by  the  orders  of  the  Emperor  Justinian,  on  the  site  of  the  first 
Christian  Church  erected  in  Constantinople  by  Constantine  the  Great.  The  interior  effect  of  the 
great,  shallow  dome,  and  the  bold  span  of  the  arches,  together  with  the  splendid  colours  of  the 
pillars  and  mosaics,  are  captivating  to  the  eye,  though  one  feels  oneself  to  be  in  the  very 
antithesis  to  a  Christian  Church.  In  1847  the  dome  showed  signs  of  collapsing,  as  the  walls 
had  ceased  to  be  strong  enough  to  support  it.  The  great  Mosque  was  then  taken  in  hand  by 
two  Christian  architects  (Fossati  and  Salzenburg),  who  executed  the  most  able  and  ingenious  repairs 
which  have  greatly  added  to  the  stability  of  a  building  reputed  to  be  the  seventh  modern  wonder 
of  the  world,  before  the  nineteenth  century  increased  oiu"  scope  of  amazement. 

Before  the  wonderful  nineteenth  century  (an  era  in  which  the  advance  of  man's  mind,  imagina- 
tion, conceptions,  and  knowledge  of  the  universe,  was  out  of  all  proportion  in  rapidity  and  extent  to 
the  progress  of  the  preceding  ages),  natural  marvels,  both  large  and  imposing  and  minute  yet  powerful 
attracted  less  attention  and  admiration  than  at  the  present  day.  Niagara  has  been  known  to  the 
civilized  world  since  the  first  report  of  the  existence  of  these  Falls  by  Samuel  Champlain  in  1613, 
and  the  careful  description  of  Father  Hennepin  in  1G78.  Yet  this  splendid  displa}'  of  a  vast  river 
plunging  into  a  chasm    met  with    no    enthusiastic    appreciation  till  the  middle  of    the  nineteenth 


Introduction 


Xlll 


century.  The  A4ps  were  styled  '  horrid,"  Uke  most  other  lofty  mountains,  by  the  writers  of 
classical  times,  and  even  of  the  Renaissance.  Natural  phenomena,  where  they  were  dangerous  to 
man's  life  or  even  comfort,  inspired  terror  and  disgust,  but  very  rarely  excited  aesthetic  admiration, 
such  as  we  of  the  New  Age  would  feel  for  the  ruthless  Tidal  Wave  ;  for  the  Simum  of  the  Desert 
rising  like  a  gigantic  Jinn  of  the  Air  to  overwhehn  and  suffocate  man  and  beast ;  the  Midnight 
Sun — low  in  the  heavens,  yet  never  setting  during  the  height  of  a  Polar  siunmer ;  the  Iceberg ;  the 
Columns  of  Steam  and  Ashes  shooting  up  from  a  volcano  ;  the  Geyzer ;  the  Glacier  ;  the  Tornado 
and  the  Forest  Fire. 

Nor.  unto  the  period  of  the  Romantics  began  in  France  and  Walter  Scott  published  his  novels 
in  England,  until  Millet,  Daubigny.  Turner  and  David  Cox  originated  new  schools  of  landscape 
painting,  was  there  any  real  love  of  the  wonderful,  weird,  mystic  and  subtle  in  landscapes,  seascapes 
and  skyscapes  ;  any  feeling  for  atmospheric  height,  dim  glory,  shimmering  sunshine  through  stained 
glass  and  incense  fiunes  in  vast  cathedrals  ;  any  gratification  at  the  sight  of  some  Alpine  giant  peak, 
carrying  unruffled  snow  and  blue-green  glacier  edge  into  a  sky  of  deep  ultramarine,  or  half  veiled  by 
a  thin  drapery  of  clouds.  All  previous  renderings  of  landscapes  had  been  hard  and  matter-of-fact. 
Such  of  these  pictures  as  are  worth  looking  at  at  all  in  the  present  day  are  merely  interesting  to  us 
from  an  archfeological  point  of  view,  if  they  picture  faithfully  the  life  of  town  and  country. 

A  false  idea  of  religion  checked  the  development  of  the  right  sense  of  wonder — awe  combined 
with  admiration — which  fiUs  nowadays  all  thinking  men  and  women  when  they  contemplate  the 
achievements  of  the  human  mind  and  hand,  or  the  infinitely  varied  manifestations  of  natural  forces. 
From  the  twelfth  century  onwards  the  human  intellect  of    the  European   world  began  to   revive, 


ritoio  iij/} 


IJ'iUiiiiim'  ^inj. 


IIDAL    WAVE    AT    RIO    DE    JANEIRO. 


Tidal  waves  are  almost  invariably  the  result  of  a  submarine  carlhquolte."*  Immediately  before  the  approach  of  the  actual 
wave,  the  sea  flows  bacl<  a  long  distance  from  the  shore.  Then  comes  the  tidal  wave  <  one*  ofl  which  is  recorded  lo  have 
reached   210   feet',   and   the  onslaueht   of   water  carries  everythine  before   it.   causins  destruction   to  anylhine   within   its  reach. 


XIV 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


expand,'  and  shake  itself  free  from  the  fetters  of  bigotry  and  false  religion.  The  Persia  of  Omar 
Khayyam,  the  Spain  of  Averroes,  the  Provence  of  the  Troubadours,  Italy  of  the  Renaissance, 
France  of  Villon,  and  England  of  Chaucer,  are  full  of  a  slowly  giowing,  tremulous,  delicious 
wonderment  at  the  marvels  of  the  world  ;  at  the  contrast  between  the  lofty  peak  and  the 
smiling  valley,  the  springing  fountain  in  the  wilderness,  the  pale  green  gloom  of  the  beech- 
woods,  the  stalactite  miracles  of  limestone  caverns,  the  growth  of  the  plant,  the  migration  of 
the  birds  ;  and  the  existence  beyond  the  confines  of  Romanized  Europe  of  strange  wild  beasts, 
naked,  dark-skinned  savages,  birds  of  paradise,  gigantic  birds  of  Madagascar,  mountains  of  lode- 
stone,  unicorns  and  phoenixes,  sheep  drawing  their  fat  tails  on  little  sledges,  elephants  carrying 
castles,  volcanic  craters  revealing  the  Earth's  fire  ;  and  the  thousand  and  one  stories  obtained  from 
the  Arabs  and  Chinese  by  Crusaders,  Venetian  traders  and  Papal  envoys  of  the  Crusades,  and  of  the 


[Underwood  d-  I'nderuood,  London. 
THE    CLIFF    DWELLINGS    OF    MANCOS    CANON.    COLORADO.     U.S.A. 

These  are  the  most  wonderful  buildings  that  have  yet  been  found  of  the  prehistoric  cliff  dwellers.  Some  of  the  houses  are 
built  at  a  height  of  800  feet  above  the  valley  level.  To  reach  many  of  the  rooms  in  these  buildings  a  man  would  have  to 
enter  an  aperture  only   11   inches  high  and    30  inches  wide,   and  crawl  through  a  tube-liUe  passag-    20   feet    in   length. 

period  of  commercial  and  religious  expansion  which  followed.  The  revival  of  interest  in  Greek 
literature  gave  to  men's  minds  in  the  Europe  of  the  Renaissance  the  myths  (with  a  sub-stratum  of 
fact)  of  the  Greek  heroes.  But  it  was  perhaps  the  Crusades  most  of  all  which  implanted  in  the 
European  mind  the  desire  of  adventures  for  the  mere  sake  of  feeding  the  imagination  with  wonder- 
ment. The  Crusading  voyages  of  the  Christians  swarming  out  from  Western  Europe  to  attack  the 
JMuhammadans  in  the  Mediterranean,  carried  men  in  ships  to  the  coasts  of  Portugal  and  Morocco,  as 
well  as  to  Asia  Minor  and  Syria  (and  thence  to  Persia,  Tartary,  India  and  China).  More  and  more 
attention  was  concentrated  on  the  mysteries  that  lay  beyond  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Italian  monks 
and  Italian  explorers  as  early  as  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  had  reached  the  coast  of 
the  Pacific  and  had  realized  the  existence  of  the  Malay  Archipelago.  The  desire  to  behold  new 
wonders,  as  much  as  any  inducement  to  spread  Christianity  or  obtain  gold  and  slaves,  sent  men 
across  the  unknown  Atlantic  to  discover  the  islands  and  continents  of  the  New  World. 

Perhaps  at  the  present   day  it   is  amazing  scenery  that   attracts    our   eyes    and    minds    more 


k 


-e: 


This  is  a 
probably  bcc: 
parent  rocU.   I 


[/.  n.  Dnrihfr,  Esq.,  F.RM.S. 


THE     ROCKING     STONE.    TANDIL.     ARGENTINA. 


perfectly 
1  formed 
eavine   be 


nnccd  boulder  of  immen.c  .izc.  <■•  c.n  be  .een  by  comBi.rin»  il  with  the  men  .landing  near.  It  has 
the  action  of  wind  and  rain  in  triturating  and  removing  by  degree,  the  more  friable  port.  o(  the 
d  the  harder-gritted  core.      It  i.  .o  perfectly  lodged   that  it  can   be  rocked   without   fear  o(   it.  falling. 


XVI 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


completely  than  any  other  wonders.  Later  we  shall  be  expending  our  money  and  our  attention  on 
the  publications  which  give  us  without  a  hiatus  or  a  guess  every  stage  in  the  unfolding  development 
of  the  germ  into  the  perfect  animal  or  plant  ;  which  illustrate  the  life-cycle  of  the  parasitic  worm, 
the  changes  in  the  grey  matter  of  the  brain,  the  formation  of  crystals,  the  development  and  arrest 
-of  disease. 

New  wonders  will  arise  of  new  species  in  animals  and  plants  created  by  means  of  the  application 
-of  natural  laws.  An  extended  study  of  chemistry  and  an  application  of  mathematics  will 
immensely  increase  the  scope  of  our  admiration  and  awe,  in  the  revelation  of  new  wonders 
which  will  have  become  possible  to  man  as  a  scientific  creator. 

Meantime,  there  can  be  no  more  liberal  education  than  to  pass  in  review  what  are  commonly 
reputed  as  world's  wonders  at  the  present  day.  It  should  tend  not  only  to  delightful  recreation,  but 
to  an  enlargement  of  our  sympathies.  Many  of  us,  not  only  in  the  United  Kingdom  and  the 
British  Colonies,  but  throughout  the  world,  have  not  the  privilege  of  travel  ;  are  retained  within 
the  narrow  limits  of  a  town  or  vOlage  by  force  of  circumstances,  by  indifferent  health,  or  lack 
of  sufficient  means.  To  all  such,  a  book  dealing  with  the  Wonders  of  the  World  as  seen  with 
accuracy  by  the  photographic  lens,  and  described  often  by  eye-witnesses,  should  come  as  a 
-delightful  compensation  for  home-staying. 


liy  pet-mission  of^ 


{The  ISrilish  SoiKh  Africa  Co. 


THE    VICTORIA    FALLS,    SOUTH    AFRICA. 


At  some  period  in  the  geologic  history  of  Africa  a  crack  occurred  across  the  bed  of  the  Zambesi  River,  creating  a  big 
-chasm  into  which  the  river  rushed  in  a  sheer  descent;  thus  forming  these  famous  falls,  by  far  the  largest  in  the  world.  The 
iNiagara  Falls  are  only  half  as  wide  and  half  as  deep. 


Copyri'jfit  pfi'if"  /'vj 


[//.  <;.  PofUing,  r.fiAi.S. 

construclio 
of  the    barrier,    built    over    two    thousand    years    ago    by    the    first    Chinese    Emperor     Che-HwanE-te. 


THE    GREAT    WALL    OF    CHINA. 

This    picture,    which    includes    the    PalalinR    Gate    of    the   Great    Wall,  gives    a    good    idea    both    of    the    construction    and    course 


THE    WONDERS    OF    THE    WORLD. 


BOOK    I.      ASIA. 


CHAPTER    I. 
By   PERCEVAL   LANDOX. 

The  Great  Wall  of  China. — Best  known  by  repute  of  all  the  wonders  of  the  world,  the  Great 
Wall  of  China  has  remained  for  twenty-one  centuries  the  most  amazing  construction  of  human 
hands.  Ruined  and  broken  as  it  is,  it  is  clear  at  first  sight  that  the  amount  of  human  labour 
required  to  build  this  majestic  barrier  is  without  parallel  on  earth.  Fifteen  hundred  miles  long, 
with  additional  loops  that  add  another 
thousand  miles,  there  were  originally 
twenty-five  thousand  watch-towers  upon 
it.  The  Wall  was  built  at  the  end  of 
the  third  century  before  Christ  by  the 
first,  and  perhaps  the  greatest,  of  all 
Chinese  Emperors.  Yin  Cheng,  Prince  of 
Tsin,  better  known  as  Che-Hwang-te. 
succeeded  as  a  boy  to  the  throne  of  a 
comparatively  small  kingdom,  and  at  once 
began  to  put  into  a  state  of  order  and 
defence  a  territory  that  had  ''long  been 
allowed  to  degenerate  into  a  mere  prey 
to  annual  northern  invaders.  After  a 
few  years  the  young  king  assumed  the 
style  of  Emperor,  and  organized  the 
forces  of  what  for  the  first  time  in 
history  was  China.  For  he  at  once  gave 
to    the    whole    of    this    new    empire    the 


--*t4^ 


From  .Stfreo  <-opf/rii//i(}  lUndfrvood  A;  Ctutfrtcood. 

A    view    alons    ilic    lup    of    the    Tartar    Wall. 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


name  of-  his  own  small  state.  He 
then  maiched  out  against  the  Tatars 
— or  as  the  English  prefer  to  spell 
the  name,  Tartars — his  hereditary  and 
perennial  enemies  in  the  north.  After 
routing  these  marauding  pests,  he 
was  recalled  for  the  usual  oriental 
need  of  crushing  out  the  seeds  of 
rebellion  at  home.  It  was  probably 
in  order  that  he  should  not  again 
find  himself  thus  between  two  ene- 
mies, that  he  conceived  the  gigantic 
defence  of  which  the  larger  part  re- 
mains to  this  day.  Undeterred  by  the 
magnitude  of  the  task  and  the  terrible 
loss  of  life  that  its  construction  must 
involve,  Che-Hwang-te,  like  Khufu  be- 
fore him,  gave  the  word,  and  the 
huge  structure  slowly  forged  its  way 
from  many  centres  at  once  along 
the  entire  northern  boundary  of  what 
was  then  the  Chinese  Empire.  Che- 
Hwang-te  enlisted  the  workers  in  many 
ways  and  from  many  quarters.  Some 
of  his  press-gang  work  was  hardly 
creditable,  for  it  is  on  record  that 
the  mere  possession  of  a  book  con- 
demned the  wretched  owner  to  four 
years'  hard  labour  on  the  Wall, 
as  the  Chinese  proverb  has  it  : 
annihilation  of  one  generation 
proved  the  salvation  of  others,' 
for  many  centuries  the  Great 
served  its  purpose  well. 

The  nature  of  its  construction  can 
be  well  seen  in  the  accompanying 
photographs.  The  height  and  size  of 
the  Wall  diminish  somewhat  as  it 
progresses  westward,  but  to  the  end 
it  maintains  its  high  quality  of  work- 
manship. Starting  from  Shan-hai  Kwan, 
the  "Wall  of  Ten  Thousand  Miles" 
runs  west  across  the  mountains  until  Kalgan  is  reached,  where  it  is  pierced  by  the 
main  north-western  road  from  Peking ;  thence  it  takes  its  way  over  the  plains  and 
lesser  ranges  of  the  Hwang-ho  basin,  crossing  the  river  at  Pien  Kwan.  From  that  point  the 
existing  boundary  between  the  provinces  of  Mongolia  and  China  proper  is  faithfully  followed 
by  this  huge  fence,  until  Kiayu  Kwan  beyond  Su-chow  is  reached,  where  the  Wall  comes  to 
a  sudden  end.  Modern  investigation  has  demonstrated  the  fact  that  the  Great  Wall  branches 
off  into  two  distinct  loops  near  Chunwei,  and  that  another  loop  enclosed  a  large  tract  of   land 


But, 

'The 

has 

and 

Wall 


Copyright  ph.'lo  1 1]  [H.  G.  Panting,  F.R.O.S. 

THE    GREAT    WALL    OF    CHINA. 

A    characteristic    and    picturesque    view    taken    near    Nankow    Pass. 


Cojuri'ifit  photo  hy^ 

MOUN  1 

1  hird    amoRK    iKe    BfeatcBt    mounlnint    of    the 
Mount    Everest    or    K    2    in    the    KnraUorom    ranice. 
beautiful    on    earth. 


[//.  a.  I'onlXH'j^  I'Ji.H.S. 


kANGCHENJUNGA     FROM     DARJILING. 

world.    KanRchcniunKa'a     28.1 56    feet    are    infinitely    more    imprciitive    than    either 

It    has    often     been     laid     that     this    view,    in    ill    entirety,    i*    by    far    the    moat 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


J 


west  of  the  capital.  Ex- 
cluding these  loops,  in  length 
the  Great  Wall  is  somewhat 
greater  than  the  Grand  Trunk 
Road  from  Calcutta  to  Pesha- 
war in  India,  or,  to  take  a 
more  easily  accessible  simile, 
it  may  be  said  that  it  would 
stretch  from  Berlin  to  Tiflis  in 
the  Caucasus. 

A  recent  writer,  Mr.  Geil, 
writes  of  it  thus  :  "  Dis- 
appointment generally  awaits 
the  mortal  who  has  heard 
much  about  some  celebrated 
object,  and  does  visit  it  ;  so 
seldom  does  the  reality  come 
up  to  expectation.  But  the 
Great  Wall  is  not  overrated. 
Behold  it  by  starlight  or  moon- 
light, gaze  on  it  in  twilight  or 
in  sunlight ;  view  it  through 
the  haze  of  a  dust  fog,  or 
the  spindrift  of  a  rain-shower, 
or  between  the  flakes  of  a 
snowstorm,  ever  is  the  Wall 
one  great,  grey,  gaunt,  still 
spectre  of  the  past,  cresting 
the  mountain  peak  or  re- 
posing in  the  shady  valley. 
So  vast  is  it  that  perhaps 
alone  of  all  man's  handiwork  it  could  be  discerned  from  the  moon.  So  vast  is  it  that  were 
its  materials  disposed  around  the  world  at  the  equator,  they  would  provide  a  wall  eight  feet  high 
and  three  feet  thick.  When  we  reflect  on  the  labour  needed  to  erect  it,  we  slowly  divine  the  toil 
exacted  from  countless  thousands,  the  sweat  and  tears  and  blood  that  must  have  been  shed  ;  and 
we  are  prepared  to  hear  that  after  two  millennia  the  name  of  Chi  is  cursed  all  along  the  Wall  by 
the  descendants  of  those  who  were  driven  to  the  hateful  task,  who  laboured  in  deathly  fear  lest 
when  flesh  and  blood  failed  to  respond  to  the  taskmaster's  scourge,  that  flesh  and  blood  should 
be  hurled  into  the  mass  of  concrete  to  provide  more  material  for  the  all-devouring  monster.  It 
is  a  Wall  of  Blood  !  " 

Kangchenjunga,  from  Darjiling. — That  which  has  been  described  by  many  travellers  as  the 
most  beautiful  view  on  the  face  of  the  globe  lies  before  the  reader.  There  is,  of  course,  room  for 
only  a  small  part  of  the  panorama  in  the  plate.  The  mountain  wall  stretches  interminably  to 
right  and  left  and  snowy  mountain  peaks  of  lesser  height  rise  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach  from 
the  darker  masses  of  moraine  and  naked  rock  below.  But  Kangchenjunga  is  the  centre  and  focus 
of  the  whole  great  picture.  From  among  the  tropical  vegetation  of  the  hill  side  the  eye  falls  to  the 
trimly  cultivated  plains  that  thrust  themselves  between  the  mountain  ridges.  At  this  distance 
the  carefully  levelled  shelves  where  paddy  is  grown  look  like  the  stairs  of  a  doll's  house,  and  the 
rare  buildings  no  bigger  than  those  that  might  crowd  a  shelf  in  a  London  toy-shop.     Beyond  them 


Fi-om  Stej'eo  copyHght'] 


dertcood  it  Uiidericood. 


JAIN     TEMPLES    AT    MOUNT    ABU. 


These  exquisitely  finisKed  Dilwarra  Temples  at  the  summer  capital  of  Raipulana 
were  built  respectively  by  Prince  Vimala  Sah.  in  1030  A.D.,  and  by  the  brothers 
Tejahpala  and  Vastupala,  about  the  year  1200  A.D.  The  records  that  remain  of 
their  nominal  cost  in  those  days  mean  little  now.  but  it  is  clear  that  it  would  be 
represented    by    not    less    than    two-and-a-half  millions    sterling    to-day. 


Asia  5 

the  barren  mountain  spurs  thrust  themselves  forward  from  the  main  mass  of  the  Himalayas,  and 
behind  them  again  the  sombre  curtains  of  eternal  rock  rise  nobly  and  indistinctly  in  deeper  and 
deeper  tones  of  ash-blue  till  twenty  miles  away  the  glaciers  mark  here  and  there  the  irregular 
fortress  wall  of  mountain  scarp  and  battlement,  untrodden,  remote  and  lifeless.  Five  hundred 
feet  higher  still,  and  all  warmth  is  gone.  Above  this  waste  of  ice  and  moraine  there  is  a  lavender 
haze  for  most  days  throughout  the  year,  but  if  you  are  lucky — if  the  haze  by  some  happy  chance 
is  dispersed  while  you  wait — you  will  see  something  that  will  repay  you  for  all  your  impatience, 
something  that  you  will  hardly  believe  for  its  very  magnificence  even  as  you  look  at  it.  Up  above 
that  lavender  haze  that  crowns  the  glaciers,  up  in  mid-heaven,  up  where  b\-  rights  there  should  be 
nothing  but  the  night-riding  stars — there,  separate,  detached,  unconnected  with  anything  on  earth, 
there  rise  the  rose-pink  ice  peaks  and  saddles  of  Kangchenjunga.  Fifty  miles  away,  yet  clearer 
than  the  glacier  plinth  below  them,  the  crannies  and  caves,  the  towers  and  pinnacles  of  the 
mighty  mountain  stand  out  in  pale  crimson  glorj'  upon  the  cold  ash-blue  sky,  more  like  some 
heavenly  vision  of  an  old  painter  than  anything  that  can  possibly  be  real  in  this  world. 
Motionless,  silent,  ethereal,  those  untrodden  peaks  hold  the  colour  as  a  great  shell  from  a  South 
Sea  beach  glows  with  twenty  shades  of  pink.  Long  after  the  sun  has  set  upon  Darjiling  you  ma\- 
watch  from  your  mountain  coign  that  wonderful  set  scene,  immovably  fixed  for  all  the  interplay 
of  fading  rose.  Then  Kangchenjunga  dies  out  again,  and  only  the  dark  starless  patch  in  the  patined 
sk\-  will  tell  you  all  night  long  that  what  you  saw  was  no  mere  vision  or  delusion  of  your  senses. 


I'hoto  iy] 


ll.c 


ui      tllCHC       Jailt         K 


I  I/...    .,  .'.''..iji.ii  .{•  livj'fiutiin. 
c\\    tiltuwn    in    this    pliotuuruph 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Jain  Temples  at  Mount  Abu. — Since  Mount  Abu  was  selected  as  the  hot-weather  station  of 
the  Rajputana  Agency,  it  has  become  one  of  the  best-known  places  in  North-Western  India. 
There  is  here  a  natural  plateau  two  or  three  miles  long  stretching  among  the  mountain  peaks,  level, 
fertile  and  well  watered.  The  rich  vegetation  of  the  mountain-side  jungle  and  the  flat  barley 
field  of  vivid  green  refresh  the  eye  of  the  traveller  and  form  a  rich  setting  for  some  of  the 
most  extraordinary  buildings  that  man  has  ever  constructed  in  the  world. 

The  two  Jain  Temples  of  which  illustrations  are  given  are  built  of  the  purest  white 
marble  and  are  decorated  as  no  other  buildings  in  the  world  have  ever  been  or  ever  will  be 
decorated.  A  glance  at  the  second  illustration  will  give  an  idea  of  this  supreme  wealth  of 
ornament  better  than  the  most  elaborate  of  descriptions.  Originally  built  by  the  piety  of  Jain 
devotees  of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  the  temples  were  allowed  to  fall  into  a  state  of 
disrepair  that,  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  threatened  their  speedy  ruin.  But 
energetic  and  skilful  underpinning  staved   off  immediate  danger,   and  for  the  last  twenty  years 


Copyright pholo  iiji]  [//,  a.-Ponlimi,  F.H.G.S. 

THE  ANANDA  PAGODA.  PAGAN. 

This    Temple    is    the    most    conspicuous    and    beautiful    object    still    remaining    among    the     deserted    ruins    of    Pagan,    at    one 

time    the   capital   of    Burma. 

the  work  of  restoration  has  been  steadily  going  on.  Leaf  by  leaf,  flower  by  flower,  curve  by 
curve,  the  new  work  challenges  detection  amid  the  old,  and  though  to  occidental  tastes  the 
buildings  are  terribly  over-encrusted  with  ornament  the  sight  of  these  Dilwarra  temples  at 
Mount  Abu  silences  the  most  blase  and  the  most  critical  of  their  visitors.  They  seem  rather 
the  miraculous  creation  of  some  Aladdin  than  the  work  of  human  hands.  We  are  accustomed 
to  think  of  Roslin  chapel  as  exquisitely  and  perhaps  over  decorated,  but  the  most  intricate 
adornment  of  the  Prentice's  pillar  is  mere  hatchet  work  beside  the  lace-hke  decoration  of  these 
temples. 

Of  the  Jain  religion,  which  reared  these  jewels  of  alabaster,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  it  claims — 
and  probably  with  truth — an  antiquity  equal  to  that  of  Buddhism,  with  which  faith,  indeed,  it  is 
closely  associated  both  in  history  and  in  symbolism.  The  Jains  carry  the  doctrine  of  the  trans- 
migration of  souls  to  an  extremity.  The  life  even  of  a  microscopic  insect  of  the  Indian  road- 
side is  respected  by  them,  and  a  devout  Jain  will  always  brush  the  ground  he  is  to  sit  on  before 
allowing  himself  to  rest.       In  many  ways  Jainism  is  now  fast  approximating  to  Hinduism.      Caste 


i'hi'to  by] 


GIANT    BUDDHA    AT    KIATANG.    CHINA. 

The    full    fisure    is'  oboul    one    hundred    and    fifty    feet    in    height    and    is    perhaps    the    most    remarkable    of   these 
Kisontic    clifT-hcwn    representations   of     Buddha. 


[AVr.  Olin  l'«</». 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Photo  hy]  [Messrs.  Johnson  i-  Hoffmann. 

FROZEN     WATERFALL    IN    THE    CHUMBl     VALLEY,    TIBET. 

This    annual    phenomenon    takes    place    a    lew    miles    south-west    of     Phari.    the    famous     fort 
at    the   head    of    the    valley. 


restrictions  are  strictly- 
enforced,  the  cow  is  wor- 
shipped and  Hindu  rules  of 
inheritance  are  observed. 
Except  in  the  externals 
tlie  kinship  with  Buddhism 
is  now  small.  But  it  is 
with  the  utmost  difficulty 
and  uncertainty  that  the 
existing  relics  of  Jainism 
are  distinguished  from 
those  of  Buddhism. 

The  Jains  are  divided 
between  the  Digambaras, 
or  "  sky-clad  "  sect,  who 
eat — and  in  extreme  cases 
entireh^  live — naked,  and 
deny  that  women  can 
attain  salvation  ;  the 
Svetambaras,  who  wear 
clothes  and  have  hopes  for 
the  salvation  of  their 
womenkind ;  and  the 
Dhondiyas,  who  wear 
white  clothes,  filter  the 
air  they  breathe  and 
worship  their  Gurus,  or 
spiritual  teachers.  A  re- 
cent writer  has  denied  the 
present  usefulness  of  a 
sect  that  merely  "  denies 
God,  worships  man,  and 
nourishes  vermin."  But 
the  Dihvarra  temples  stand 
as  a  lasting  proof  that 
there  were    years  in  which 


the  Jains  as  builders,  designers  and  carvers  of  marble  could  challenge  the  world. 

The  Ananda  Pagoda,  Pagan. — In  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word,  this  e.xquisite  structure  by 
the  side  of  the  Irrawadi  is  no  more  a  pagoda  than  the  so-called  Arakan  Pagoda  near  IMandalay 
is  a  pagoda,  if  by  that  word  it  is  intended  to  signify  a  development  of  the  original  stupa,  or 
tope,  which  was  the  earliest  form  of  commemorative  structure  in  the  Buddhist  religion  For 
the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  stupa  is  that  it  has  no  rooms  or  corridors  within  it.  It  is 
in  its  essence  a  simple  mound  of  earth.  The  Shwe  Dagon  in  Rangoon  offers  the  latest  and  the 
most  highly  decorated  example  of  the  stupa  pure  and  simple.  Such  buildings  as  the  Arakan 
Pagoda  and  this  in  the  deserted  riverside  capital  of  Burma  should  rather  be  called  temples,  though 
in  many  cases  the  conventional  form  of  the  stupa  may  still  be  traced  buried  beneath  a  wealth  of 
masonry  and  ornament.  This  Ananda  Pagoda  at  Pagan  is  pierced  interiorly  by  a  network  of 
major  and  minor  corridors  enmeshing  a  central  solid  square,  into  which  four  deeply-set  chapels  are 
sunk,  each  containing  a  large  statue  of  Buddha.     These  four  statues  represent  four  reincarnations 


Asia  9 

of  the  Buddha ;  they  returned  to  the  world  in  different  ages  for  the  edification  and  regeneration  of 
mankind. 

This  is  the  most  majestic  temple  that  stiU  exists  in  Pagan  of  over  a  tiiousand  pagodas  of 
different  sizes,  shapes,  and  degrees  of  repair.  Ruined  or  semi-ruined  for  the  most  part,  they  crowd 
in  upon  the  river  Irrawadi,  where  the  remains  of  Burma's  ancient  capital  can  still  be  traced  for 
more  than  five  miles  along  the  river. 

Mr.  Scott  O'Connor  well  describes  the  general  effect  of  Pagan  even  in  its  present  dilapidated 
and  depopulated  state  :  "  As  we  near  Yenan  Gyat  there  become  visible  for  the  first  time  countless 
pyramids  and  spires  of  Pagan,  the  most  stately  capital  Burma  has  ever  known.  The  nearer  ones 
are  cut  in  dark  outlines  against  the  sky,  but  the  most  distinct  are  so  faint  that  they  seem  like 
the  unreal  fabrics  of  a  city  of  dreams.  Yet  there  is  nothing  in  this  superb  picture,  in  all  these 
hosts  of  pinnacles  and  domes  and  spires,  to  hint  that  before  one  lies  a  city  of  the  dead. 
Instead,  it  looks,  hung  here  between  the  drowsy  clouds  and  the  mirror-like  calm  of  the  mighty 
river,  like  some  new  evidence  of  the  East  destined  to  play  an  immortal  part  in  the  history  of 
the  world." 

The  temple  takes  its  name  from  Ananda,  the  beloved  disciple  of  the  master,  who,  with  Upali, 
the  St.  Paul  of  Buddhism,  was  largely  instrumental  after  Gautama's  death  in  casting  into  a 
permanent  tradition  and  canon  the  life  and  teaching  of  the  Buddha. 

Great  Buddha  of  Kiaiang.  —This  strange  cliff-Buddha  is  described  by  Mrs.  Little  as  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  height.  It  is  full  length,  and  the  feet  are  washed  by  a  foaming 
mountain  torrent.  It  was,  indeed,  she  writes,  to  guard  against  the  dangers  of  the  rapids  here 
that  the  figure  was  cut  in  the  cliff-side  by  the  life-long  labour  of  a  single  priest.  The  rock  is 
somewhat  soft,  and,  as  can  be  seen,  there  is  much  earth  in  the  crevices.  This  has  been 
ingeniously    utilized     for    a    monstrous   growth   of   hair,    eyebrows    and    moustache,    which    adds 


.,■  « 


Photo  by] 


[\ir/-itji'irt  ilrot.,  llfl/rotil . 


NATURAL    BRIDGE    Al     MOUM     LtBANO.N. 

A    Kood    illustration    o[    natural' architecture         The    proporliona     of    it    can    be    imavined     by    nolicins    the    size    of    the    men 

on    horceback    upon    it. 


lO 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


Copyrinht  photo  (../]  l"-  '•■  ''■•"H'HI,  f-R.CS. 

THE    GOLDEN    TEMPLE,    AMRITSAR. 

A    cKaracteristic    view    about    noon    of    iKc    approach    to    the    Golden    Temple    and    the    crowds    that    frequent    it. 

considerably  to  the  appearance.  There  are  other  rock-cut  Buddhas  in  the  neighbourhood. 
Mrs.  Little  mentions  one  near  Yung-Hsien.  In  this  case  an  entire  hill  has  been  carved  into 
the  shape  of  the  head  and  shoulders  of  Buddha  and  heavy  gilding  has   been  apphed. 

Frozen  Waterfall. — Until  the  recent  expedition  of  Sir  Francis  Younghusband  to  Lhasa  no 
white  man  had  ever  seen  this  curious  natural  wonder  which  every  winter  falls  like  a  veil  of 
lace  from  the  top  of  the  hills  that  shut  in  the  Chumbi  Valley  on  the  east.  It  is  to  be  seen 
about  ten  miles  south-west  of  Phari.  One  can  climb  up  on  to  the  frozen  mass  below  and  find 
a  clear  way  behind,  between  the  wall  of  rock  and  the  pillar  of  fluted  ice,  through  which  the 
afternoon  sun  glows  as  through  a  gigantic  aquamarine.  From  the  outside,  however,  there  is 
no  suggestion  of  colour  in  this  strange  white  pillar  which  begins  to  be  formed  in  the  latter  days 
of  October,  and  remains  in  ever-increasing  beauty  untU  the  first  warm  breath  of  the  south  wind 
thaws  again  the  little  stream — for  it  is  only  a  little  stream — of  which  the  ceaseless  dripping  causes 
this  gargantuan  work.  The  total  height  of  the  faU  is  about  ninety  feet,  and  in  1904  it  was  about 
thirty  feet  wide  at  its  base.  The  waterfall  has  no  attendant  beauties  of  vegetation,  for  it  is  not 
less  than  fourteen  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  level,  where  little  but  dwarfed  rhododendron  and 
brief-lived  alpine  flowers  flourish  during  the  short  summer  months. 

Natura.  Bridge.  Mount  Lebanon,  Palestine. — This  natural  arch  is  perhaps  as  good  a 
representation  as  could  be  found  of  a  not  infrequent  effect  in  nature.  It  is  a  curious 
illustration  of  how  often  the  work  of  man,  even  in  the  application  of  technical  principles, 
seems  to  have  been  anticipated  by  nature.  For  though  at  first  sight  it  would  appear  that  the 
beam,  rather  than  the  arch,  was  here  exemplified,  the  natural  shape  assumed  by  the  rock  gives  it 


12 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


all  the  stability  of  a  con- 
structed arch,  and  it  may  con- 
fidently be  said  that  this 
gigantic  span  is  fixed  over 
the  narrow  gorge  below  as 
permanently  and  in  as  work- 
manlike a  form  as  any  con- 
struction of  man  could  be. 

The  Golden  Temple,  Amrit- 
sar.  —The  golden  temple  of 
Amritsar  is  by  repute  one 
of  the  best  known  buildings 
in  Asia.  It  is  to  the  Sikhs 
what  St.  Peter's  is  to  the 
Roman  Catholics  and  the 
Ka'abah  is  to  the  Moham- 
medans. In  it,  as  the  object 
of  limitless  devotion  and  ser- 
vice, lies  the  "  Granth,"  or 
Holy  Book.  This  most  sacred 
volume  is  set  upon  an  altar, 
and  is  worshipped  with  offer- 
ings of  flowers  and  the  con- 
tinual waving  of  fans  and 
chauris,  or  fly-whisks.  In  front 
of  it  is  stretched  a  sheet,  upon 
which  the  offerings  of  the  faith- 
ful are  cast  in  silver  or  nickel, 
or  cowrie-shells,  while  the  re- 
citation of  the  droning  priests 
fills  the  ear  with  the  drowsy 
spirit  of  religious  ecstasy. 

The  temple  is  reached  by  a 
causeway  running  from  the  western  side  of  the  tank.  The  door  of  the  temple  that 
faces  this  causeway  may  not,  however,  be  used  by  non-Sikhs.  The  "  feringhi,"*  what- 
ever his  rank  and  importance,  is  obliged  to  use  the  side  door  on  the  north.  Once 
inside,  he  is  welcome  to  go  where  he  pleases,  and  he  will  be  doubly  welcome  if  after  he  hcis 
passed  beneath  the  ghttering  gold  walls  and  domes  of  the  Darbar  Sahib  he  presents  the  customary 
offering  to  the  memory  of  the  great  soldier  saints  who  founded  this  most  militant  of  all  creeds. 
For  the  Sikh  does  not  believe  much  in  the  efficacy  of  prayer.  But  he  does  believe  most  mightily 
in  the  virtue  of  breaking  the  heads  of  heretic  enemies.  They  are  fighters  by  birth  and  training 
and  trade.  When  we  snatched  from  the  hands  of  Ranjit  Singh  the  dangerous  dominion  that  he 
had  acquired  over  the  Punjab,  they  shrugged  their  shoulders  and  turned  as  readily  to  the  work 
of  war  under  British  officers  as  they  ever  have  beneath  those  of  their  own  blood.  This  clan  of 
fighters  was  founded  about  four  hundred  years  ago.  Caste  prejudice  and  the  worship  of  idols 
were  denounced,  and  the  unity  of  God  enjoined.     Completely  sundered  as  they  at  first  were  from 

*This  word,  which  in  one  form  or  another  is  almost  universally  used  in  Central  and  Southern  Asia  to  denote  Europeans, 
is  an  -attempt  to  pronounce  the  word  "  fran9ais,"  the  French  or  Franks  having  stood  from  early  times  for  all  white-skinned 
foreigners. 


Pholo  by] 

A    WONDERFUL 
Readers   will    notice    the 


BRIDGE    ACROSS    THE 


curious    way    in    which 
by    ropes    to    the     iron 


[Cap(.  C.  O.  Raiding,  CLE. 
TSANG-PO    IN    TIBET. 

scanty    gang-planks    are    bound 


Asia 


13 


their  Hindu  brethren,  the  austerity  of  the  Sikh  rule  is  now  much  relaxed,  and  caste  distinctions  are 
creeping  back  among  them. 

It  will  be  noticed  in  the  illustration  that  only  the  upper  part  of  the  temple — that  which  shows  a 
darker  tint — is  of  gold.  Plates  of  copper  are  coated  heavily  with  the  precious  metal,  and  their 
effectiveness  for  decorative  purposes  could  hardly  be  better  exemplified  than  by  this  building. 

A  Wonderful  Bridge  Across  the  Tsang-po. — This  is  an  excellent  illustration  of  a  kind  of 
bridge  very  popular  among  Tibetans.  The  footway  of  the  bridge  is  supported  by  a  coarse, 
interwoven  net  of  ropes,  which  bind  it  to  the  iron  chains  on  either  side.  These  chains  are  in. 
many  cases  of  great  age  ;  in  fact,  it  would  probably  be  impossible  for  the  Tibetans  to  repeat 
to-day  the  prowess  of  their  ancestors  in  the  art  of  welding  iron. 

The  finest  example  of  these  suspension  chains  that  remains  to-day  may  be  found  forty  miles- 


Pholo  lip]  ITIit  Keifilone  Vitic  Co. 

IHE    GREAT    CRATER    OF    ASOSAN.    JAPAN. 

Perhaps   amons    the    many    extinct    volcanoes   of    tKc    world   this   portion    of    Aso-san    retains   best    the    features   and   plan    of 

the   active   crater. 


1 4  The  Wonders   of  the   World 

south-west  of  Lhasa,  where  the  main  road  to  the  Gyantse  crosses  the  Tsang-po,  at  a  place  called 
Chak-sam  {i.e.,  iron  bridge).  The  huge  quadruple  chains  still  swing  out  across  the  stream  as  strong 
and  unrusted  as  when  Tang-Tong  drew  them  taut  from  bank  to  bank  in  the  fifteenth  century.  As 
may  be  imagined,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  beasts  of  any  kind  to  cross  these  bridges,  and, 
probably  in  consequence  of  this,  large  ferr^^-boats  have  entirely  displaced  the  older  method  of 
transit  at  Chak-sam. 

The  Crater  of  Aso-san.  Japan. — If  geologists  may  be  believed,  there  was  a  time  when  craters 
existed  on  this  planet  no  less  in  size  than  those  of  which  the  remains  may  still  be  traced  almost 
with  the  naked  eye  upon  the  surface  of  the  moon.  But  though  this  no  doubt  is  the  case,  these 
craters  have,  as  a  rule,  lost  to  a  great  extent  their  original  structure,  and  the  picture  that  we  give 

of  the  extinct  portion 
of  the  crater  of  Aso- 
san,  in  Japan,  presents 
a  good  idea  of  what 
is  probably  the  largest 
existing  crater  in  the 
world,  of  which  the  preci- 
pitous and  almost  circular 
hill-sides  and  the  flat  bed 
are  still  clearly  visible. 
It  requires  little  imagina- 
tion to  reconstruct  the 
terror  of  the  scene  when 
in  remote  geological  ages 
this  mighty  blow-hole  of 
the  earth's  interior  in- 
candescent activity  was 
in  full  blast,  and.  more- 
over, it  should  be  men- 
tioned that  even  at  the 
present  day  a  portion 
of  Aso-san  is  still  in 
activity. 

The      grim      thought 
comes  over  a  visitor  that, 

after  all,  this  crater  may  not  be  as  totally  extinct  as  its  trim  and  well  irrigated  fields  and  copses 
suggest.  The  Vesuvian  crater  of  Monte  Somma  was  notoriously  extinct  and  filled  with  vegetation 
m  the  year  79  a.d.,  and  we  can  imagine  that  the  horror  and  confusion  in  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum 
was  mcreased  tenfold  by  the  complete  unexpectedness  of  the  eruprion  which  without  warning 
blew  one  half  of  the  whole  crater  of  Monte  Somma  into  thin  air,  and  deluged  the  sides  of  what 
is  now  known  as  Vesuvius  with  the  lava  that  still  hes  heavily  over  Herculaneum. 

The  Great  Buddha  of  Pegu. — It  is  a  curious  fact  that  of  the  marvellous  structures  of  man 
dealt  with  in  this  section  of  this  work  two  were  discovered  by  the  merest  accident.  As  will  be 
seen  elsewhere,  the  temple  of  Boro-bodoer,  in  Java,  was  brought  to  light  only  by  the  chance 
prospecting  of  an  Englishman.  This  statue,  which  without  fear  of  contradiction  may  be  said  to 
be  by  far  the  largest  representation  of  the  human  form  that  exists  in  the  world,  was  exposed  to 
the  light  by  an  even  more  extraordinary  stroke  of  luck.  The  railway  runs  north-east  from 
Rangoon  to  Mandalay,  and  twenty  or  thirty  miles  out  from  the  former  city  Pegu  is  reached.  It 
was  the  construction  of  this  railway  that  occasioned  the  discovery  of  the  statue.     In  18S1,  while 


'''"'"'  ''y'^  ^  li-t-rcn-al  landon,  Ksq. 

GREAT    BUDDHA    AT    PEGU. 

This  photograph  of  the  mosaic  decoration  upon  the  soles  of  the  feet  will  give  a  good 
idea  of  the  vast  sums  now  being  spent  upon  the  decoration  of  this  huge  recumbent  statue. 
The    darU     mass    of     rock    to    the    right   will    indicate    the    state    in    which    it    was    when    found. 


i6 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


1 


^ 

'  ^!-tl 

^^^iv^is^s^x.  '-i    - 

I'Uoto  hy'] 


[N.  P.  Edwards. 


THE  GREAT  BANYAN  TREE  IN  CALCUTTA. 


The    Banyan    is    remarL:able    for    its    rooting    branches    which    soon    become    new    stems,    and    in    this    manner    the    tree    spreads 

over    a    great    surface. 

the  permanent  way  was  being  banked  up  to  protect  the  lines  from  occasional  floods,  the  engineer 
in  charge  required  for  the  solidity  of  his  work  a  harder  ballast  than  the  alluvial  deposit  over  which 
the  line  was  running  could  give  him.  It  was  a  little  difficult  to  find  anything  to  suit.  Jungles 
stretched  five  or  six  miles  westward  from  the  river  to  the  foot  of  the  hills.  Here  and  there,  how- 
ever, they  were  diversified  by  a  fold  of  laterite  half  concealed  beneath  the  luxuriant  vegetation 
that  clothed  its  side.  This  kind  of  rock  had  been  used  by  the  contractor  before  and  had  been 
found  entirely  satisfactory  for  his  purpose,  and  he  therefore  sent  a  small  body  of  men  to  prospect 
in  the  jungle.  Less  than  a  mile  away  a  tree-clad  mound  raised  itself  conspicuously  from  the 
vegetation.  The  work  of  clearing  away  some  of  the  trees  took  but  an  hour  or  so,  and  then  shafts 
were  sunk  to  find  the  needed  stone.  Before  the  diggers  had  gone  down  more  than  a  yard  they 
struck  a  solid  formation  which  promised  at  first  to  provide  the  necessary  material.  But 
a  cursory  examination  showed  that  the  material  thus  discovered  was  of  hard  burnt  brick,  and 
the  curiosity  of  the  contractor's  agent,  who  was  superintending  operations,  was  aroused.  He 
determined  to  dismantle  a  portion  of  this  unknown  ruin,  and  was  almost  immediately  rewarded 
by  the  discovery  that  the  long,  low  hill  upon  which  he  was  engaged  was  no  other  than  an  enormous 
and  fairly  well  preserved  figure  of  Gautama.  Perhaps  the  figure  of  the  man  sitting  upon  the  left 
hand  of  the  recumbent  statue  will  give  the  best  standard  of  dimension  for  the  purpose  of  estimating 
the  actual  size  of  the  Shwetha-Yaung,  as  the  figure  is  known  in  the  neighbourhood.  In  actual 
length  the  statue  is  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet,  and  it  is  forty-seven  feet  high  to  the  point 
of  the  shoulder.  The  Government  has  contributed  to  the  work  the  overhanging  shade  which, 
indeed,  protects  it,  but  which  sadly  disfigures  the  general  effect  of  the  statue,  and  makes  it  almost 
impossible  to  obtain  any  comprehensive  sight  of  the  image.  Private  enthusiasm  has  done,  and  is 
still  doing,  all  that  is  needed  to  turn  the  plainly  moulded  brick  figure  that  was  originally  found 
into  an  almost  resplendent  witness  to  the  faith  of  the  land.  For  example,  the  soles  of  the 
feet  have  recently  been  adorned,  at  a  very  large  cost,  with  Burmese  glass-mosaic,  as  may  be  seen 
in  the  accompanying  photograph. 

The  history  of  it  is  known  to  no  one.     Judging  by  the  severity  of  the  type  this  figure  cannot  be 
less  than  five  hundred  years  old  ;    but  no  record,  no  tradition,  not  even  the  scantiest  legend  exists 


Asia 


17 


to  tell  us  when  or  by  what  reverent  hands  this  strange  figure  was  first  constructed.  It  has, 
however,  appealed  very  strongly  to  the  imaginations  of  the  modern  Burmese,  and  already  it  has 
taken  rank  with  the  Shwe  Dagon  and  the  Arakan  Pagoda  as  a  building  of  such  holiness  that  merit 
is  acquired  by  the  pious  restorer. 

The  Great  Banyan,  Ca/ca//a.— Probably  there  is  no  better  known  characteristic  of  the  East 
than  the  banyan  tree.     In  '   Paradise  Lost  "  Milton  thus  describes  it  in  a  well-known  passage  : — 

"  The  fig-tree  at  this  clay  to  Indians  known 
In  Malabar  or  Deccan  spreads  her  arms 
Branching  so  broad  and  long  that  in  the  ground 
The  bended  twigs  take  root,  and  daughters  grow 
About  the  mother  tree,  a  pillared  shade 
High  over-arched  and  echoing  walks  between." 

The  great  banyan  tree  in  the  Botanical  Gardens  of  Calcutta  is  famous.  That  it  deserves  its 
fame  wiU  be  apparent  on  the  merest  glance  at  the  photograph  opposite.  It  is  with  some  difficulty 
that  a  visitor  brings  himself  to  beheve  that  the  huge  mound  of  vegetation  in  front  of  him  is  actually 
the  product  of  one  single  tree,  for  it  covers  some  two  and  a  half  acres  of  ground. 

The  utmost  care  is  taken 
of  this  might}'  tree.  Every 
tender  succulent  young  root, 
as  it  begins  to  fall  like  a 
stalactite  from  the  branch 
(A'erhead,  is  encased  and 
protected  from  harm  in  a 
bamboo.  Along  the  Grand 
Trunk  Road  a  visitor  will  re- 
peatedly notice  that  the  roots 
of  the  banyan  are  cropped 
by  passing  animals  to  as 
regular  a  height  above  the 
ground  as  the  trees  in  an 
English  park.  Rarely  before 
has  it  been  possible  to  test  the 
limit  of  growth  of  the  banyan 
tree,  and  the  size  ultimately 
attained  by  the  banyan  in 
Calcutta  will,  therefore,  be 
watched  with  interest.  It 
is  not  improbable  that  the 
original  trunks  will  vanish 
altogether  and  leave  the  still 
expanding  outer  growths  as  a 
ring  of  vegetation  round  an 
empty  circle.  Of  course,  this 
Calcutta  specimen  is  quite  ex- 
ceptional. The  natural  enemies 
of  the  banyan  generally  confine 
its  size  to  something  scarcely 
larger  than  a  well-grown 
horse-chestnut  tree  at  home. 
It  is  not  impossible,  however. 


Frnm  Stereo  fopyritj/tt] 


[r,i./^/if.., 


This    picture 


BANYAN   TREE. 

lose    qunrtcri     the     manner    In    wKich    ihe    daugliler    trunks 


illustrnles 

form    under    the    brancKe 


of    the    mother    tree. 


i8 


The   Wonders   of  the   World 


that    under  careful  treatment  the  Calcutta  banyan  may  be  encouraged  to  cover  some  fifteen  or 
twenty  acres  in  the  course  of  the  next  fifty  years. 

This  Calcutta  specimen  is  supposed  to  have  fifteen  hundred  aerial  roots,  a  number  from  which 
it  is  probable  that  a  cypher  has  been  accidentally  omitted.  The  mother  trunk  is  an  almost  shape- 
less mass  by  this  time,  and  contributes  very  little  to  the  sustenance  of  its  multitudinous  progeny. 

The  Kutab  M'nar.  — Eleven  miles  south  of  Delhi  the  Kutab  Minar  marks  the  southern  extremity 
of  the  broad  tract  of  plain  over  which  the  capital  of  India  has  slowly  travelled  northwards 
for  a  thousand  ^years.  The  tall,  perfect  tower  stands  alone  and  unrivalled,  the  only  perfect 
building  within  the  horizon.  It  is  a  monument  of  victory — the  victory  of  a  slave  Emperor.  This 
splendid  minaret,  which  rises  two  hundred  and  forty  feet  above  the  plain,  was  begun  by  Kutab-ud-din 
after  the  capture  of  Delhi  in  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  and  was  completed  by  Altamsh  forty 
years  later.  As  is  clearly  seen  in  the  photographs,  the  shaft  is  divided  into  five  separate  storeys,  of 
which  the  varied  fluting  deserves  careful  attention,  and  the  use  of  te.xts  from  the  Koran,  ringing 
the  pillar  at  interv'als  of  twenty  or  thirty  feet,  is  perhaps  the  best  existing  illustration  of  the 
wonderfully  decorative  effect  of  mere  lettering. 

The  interest  of  the  spot  is  by  no  means  exhausted  when  the  visitor  has  inspected  the  Minar 
itself.  A  few  yards  away  outside  the  enclosure  rises  the  stump  of  a  tower  planned  while  yet  the 
red  sandstone  of  the  Kutab  Minar  was  raw  from  the  mason's  chisel.  This  gigantic  shaft  was 
intended  to  be  over  five  hundred  feet  in  height,  and,  had  it  been  completed,  it  would  have  eclipsed 

every  human  structure  on 
earth,  except  the  Eiffel  Tower. 
But  this  Indian  Tower  of 
Babel  was  abandoned  after  it 
had  been  raised  to  a  height  of 
about  ninety  feet. 

Ramesivaram.  —  Third  in 
holiness  among  the  shrines  of 
India  is  Rameswaram.  In- 
deed, only  Benares  and  Purl 
surpass  it  in  spiritual  efficacy 
But  compared  with  the  other 
two  shrines  it  cannot  boast 
anything  like  as  large  an 
annual  attendance  of  pilgrims. 
The  cause  is  simple  enough. 
It  is  not  every  Hindu  who 
can  aft'ord  the  cost  of  the  long 
journey  that  must  be  taken 
before  the  temple  is  reached  ; 
for  it  stands  on  an  island  be- 
tween India  and  Ceylon,  and 
not  one  in  ten  thousand  of 
even  the  wealthy  Europeans 
who  visit  India  takes  the 
trouble  to  visit  it.  Other 
temples  in  Southern  India 
may  surpass  it  in  sheer 
majesty  ;    but  no  one  who  has 


From  Stereo  copyritjht'] 

THE    BASE    OF 
This   illustration    presents   an   excellent 

introduced   as   on   ornament    to   thi 


[  Vndericood  i("  i'ndericood. 

THE    KUTAB    MINAR. 

idea   of    the  'manner  in  which  lettering    has    been 
s   great   tower. 


I  M  r.     K.  O  I  .  \  ti     Ml.N  .■\i\ 

Thii    tplendid    ahaft    file*    eleven    miles    •outK    of    ihe    present    cily.    nnd    mirlts    ihe    toulhern    edge    of    the    ruins    of    byionr 

Delhi.      It    was    beffun    about    the    yenr    1200    as    a    Tower    of    Viclory.    and    is    now    238    feel    in    heisHl. 


20 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


once  lost  himself  among  the 
maze  of  mile-long  corridors 
that  shut  in  the  central 
shrine  will  ever  forget  the 
beauty  of  Rameswaram's 
architecture.  The  illustra- 
tion shows  fairly  well  its 
character,  but  a  sense  of 
the  warm  tropical  sunlight, 
masked  and  filtered  as  it  is 
before  it  reaches  these  long 
arched  tunnels,  is  needed 
to  give  the  charm  of  this 
thrice  holy  spot. 

Rameswaram  is  holy 
ground  because  of  the 
famous  warfare  between 
I^ama  and  Ravana,  king  of 
Ceylon.  The  latter  had 
carried  off  Sita,  Rama's 
beloved  wife,  and  the  be- 
reaved husband  called  upon 
all  Nature  to  help  him  in 
his  quest  of  recovery  and 
revenge. 

It  was  Hanuman,  the 
monkey  god.  who  saved  the 
situation.  The  straits  we 
now  know  by  the  name  of 
Palk  were  bridged  by  the 
monkey  battalion  holding 
each  other's  tails,  and  over 
this  living  road  Rama 
marched  to  victory  against 
the  hydra-headed  ravisher. 
There  is  no  more  favourite 
scene  in  modern  Hindu  art  than  this  assault  by  Rama  upon  Ravana's  stronghold.  It  may  be  seen 
in  every  material  and  size  from  rock-sculptures  at  Mahabalipuram  to  cheap  German  oleographs 
in  the  shops  of  Delhi  or  Muttra  in  the  north.  This  story  is  not  entirely  complete  without  a  reference 
to  one  of  the  commonest  and  prettiest  of  Indian  legends.  The  monkeys  could  not  succeed  in  wholly 
bridging  the  vast  chasm.  A  six-inch  gap  still  existed  between  the  utmost  stretch  of  the  outermost 
monkeys  of  India  and  Ceylon.  Apparently  Rama,  for  all  his  strength,  was  unable  to  stride  across 
this  tiny  space,  and  all  the  work  and  loyalty  of  the  monkeys  would  have  gone  for  nothing  had  not  a 
grey  squirrel  suddenly  appeared  and  volunteered  to  fill  it.  He  laid  himself  down  in  the  gap  and 
all  was  well  ;  but  in  gratitude  for  the  invaluable  service  thus  rendered  him,  Rama,  as  he  crossed 
the  bridge,  stooped  down  and  drew  his  fingers  caressingly  along  the  grey  squirrel's  back.  And  that 
is  why  the  Indian  squirrel  has  two  black  marks  down  his  back  to  this  very  day. 

Buddhist    Cave   near   Moalmein. —Theve    are    many    curious    things    near   "  the    old    Moulmein 
Pagoda,"  but  few  of  them  are  as  curious  as  that  of  the  cave  of  Kogun. 


Photo  hti'\  [J*ercerfil  Landon,  Ki<i. 

RAMESWARAM. 

A  fair  idea  is  here  given  of  one  of  the  many  corridors  for  which  the  Temple  of 
Rameswaram  is  famous.  The  Temple,  which  is  of  vast  size,  occupies  the  southern  end 
of  a  small  island  in  the  sea  between  India  and  Ceylon.  It  is  dedicated  to  Rama,  the 
conqueror   of    Ceylon,    a    popular    reincarnation    of    Vishnu. 


Asia 


21 


These  strange  accumulations  of  images  are  found  in  almost  every  country  in  which  Buddhism 
is  now  or  has  ever  been  flourishing.  The  underlying  principle  is  that  virtue  can  be  acquired  by 
limitless  repetitions  of  prayer  or  of  any  act  of  homage.  To  add  to  this  strange  medley  of  useless 
and  fast-disintegrating  statuary  is  to  acquire  merit,  and  the  poor  man  is  as  anxious  to  justify 
himself  in  this  way  as  his  richer  brother  is  to  save  himself  from  further  reincarnations  by  the 
more  ostentatious  means  of  constructing  pagodas  or  by  the  endowing  of  monasteries. 

Mr.  O'Connor  quotes  the  words  of  a  bygone  traveller  : — 

"  It  is  of  vast  size,  chiefly  in  one  apartment,  which  needs  no  human  art  to  render  it  sublime. 
The  eye  is  confused,  and  the  heart  appalled.  .  .  .  Everywhere,  on  the  floor,  overhead,  on  the  jutting 
points,  and  on  the  stalactite  festoons  of  the  roof,  are  crowded  together  images  of  Gautama — the 
offerings  of  successive  ages.  Some  are  perfectly  gilded  ;  others  encrusted  with  calcareous  matter  ; 
some  fallen,  yet  sound  ;  others  mouldered  ;  others  just  erected.  Some  of  these  are  of  stupendous 
size  ;  some  not  larger  than  one's  finger  ;  and  some  of  all  the  intermediate  sizes — marble,  stone, 
wood,  brick  and  clay.  Some,  even  of  marble,  are  so  timeworn,  though  sheltered  from  change  of 
temperature,  that  the  face  and  fingers  are  obliterated.  Here  and  there  are  models  of  temples, 
kyoungs,  etc.,  some  not  larger  than  half  a  bushel,  and  some  ten  or  fifteen  feet  square,  absolutely 
filled  with  small  idols,  heaped  promiscuously  one  on  the  other.  As  we  followed  the  path,  which 
wound  among  the  groups  of  figures  and  models,  every  new  aspect  of  the  cave  presented  new  multitudes 
of  images.      A  ship  of  five  hundred  tons  could  not  carry  away  the  half  of  them." 


This    plot?    Kivcs    A 


[Itoui-nr  ,(■  Shr/therd   Jlotnbay. 


BUDDIil-Nl     I    \\l      \l    \l<     \l  JUL.MEIN, 

:Karacteri8lic     view    of     the   cave    at     KoKun,     on     the    Salwin.        Mulliplicalion    of     repreaenlationa    of    tlie 
Buddfia   is  eveO'where   rcsarded    by    Buddfiiat*   a*   a   holy   duty. 


22 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


Strange  Mohammedan  Mosque.— These  quaintly  built-up  shrines  are  not  infrequent  beside  the 
road  in  India.  In  the  majority  of  cases  they  have  been  long  abandoned,  and  the  tree  roots  that 
originally  supported  them  have,  in  turn,  slowly  thrust  the  flimsy  masonry  apart.  But  here  and 
there  one  may  still  be  found  used  as  a  place  of  retirement  for  some  holy  man.  This  is,  so  to  speak, 
his  private  oratory.  Services  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word  are  never  held  in  these  curious  little 
shrines,  though  informal  prayer  of  course  takes  place  wherever  two  or  three  Mohammedans  are 
gathered  together  at  the  office  hours  of  their  creed.  It  is  a  far  cry  from  this  little  bricked  up  tree- 
temple  to  the  imperial  splen- 
dour of  the  Jumma  Musjid 
at  Delhi,  but  the  faith  that 
prompted  the  construction  of 
both  the  one  and  the  other 
is  of  cast  iron  unchange- 
ability,  and  at  sunset  the 
same  quiet  service  of  prayer 
and  praise-giving,  the  same 
in  word,  in  deed,  and  in  spirit, 
goes  up  wherever  the  simplest 
and  strongest  of  faiths  makes 
once  more  declaration  of  the 
eternal  oneness  of  God  and 
the  everlasting  service  of  His 
great  prophet,  the  camel- 
driver  of  Mecca. 

Asama  -yiama,  Japan.  — 
The  active  volcano  of  Asama- 
yama  is  situated  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Shinano,  seventy  miles 
north-west  of  Yokohama, 
and  is  still  liable  to  sudden 
eruption.  This  vent-liole  of 
the  interior  ebullitions  of  the 
planet  is  of  very  uncertain 
activity.  From  the  earliest 
days,  however,  it  has  been 
recognized  as  a  volcano  ;  and 
in  1650  a  severe  eruption  en- 
abled Europeans  resident  in 
the  island  to  place  it  among 
the  powerful  active  volcanoes  of  the  world.  Little,  however,  was  known  about  its  activity  till  tlie 
year  1783,  when  one  of  the  historic  eruptions  of  the  world,  an  event  which  may  be  compared  with 
the  explosions  of  Mont  Pelee  or  of  Krakatoa,  took  place.  As  is  w'ell  known  to  those  who  live  in 
seismic  districts,  it  is  a  difficult  thing  to  obtain  a  photograph  of  a  volcano  in  eruption.  The  usual 
lurid  pictures  of  flames  and  tire  and  trickling  lava  are,  of  course,  nonsense.  Geologists  doubt 
whether  flames  have  ever  issued  from  any  volcano.  What  is  mistaken  for  them  is  merely  the 
reflection  of  the  heated  lava  below  upon  the  thick  ascending  column  of  cloud  and  ash  which,  of 
course,  is  the  most  marked  feature.  Here  the  column  of  cloud  is  clearly  seen  ascending  far  above 
the  cloud-line,  and  just  beginning  to  assume  the  mushroom  shape  which  has  always  been  observed 
in    connection    with    these     phenomena.       The    pillar    of    ashes    which    at     the    moment     of    the 


am  .N/cvty  <:u^yii,jlt!\ 

MOHAMMEDAN 

A    curiously    constructed    oratory    built    in 


SHRINE. 

the    hollow 


\^Uiulerwuud  d*  L'/uiericoini. 


o  f    a    B  rea  I    t  ree    trunk 


Photo  fcy] 


[/Uv.  (t.  I'.  .VliVi. 


ASAMA-VAMA     IN     ERUPTION. 
A    eood    view    of    the    ercnlcst    active    volcano    in    Japan,    in    the    cJintrict    of    Shinano,    ■cvcntv    miles    N.  W.    of     I  okohama 


Asia 


25 


from  atereo  ropyrtghtl 


t  Undfruood  <t  Undervood. 


Two  of  the  Daeobas  on  the  summit  of  Boro-Bodoer.  TKe  covering 
of  soil  and  jungle  has,  as  will  be  seen,  helped  to  preserve  almost  every 
detail   of   the   work. 


photograph  was  probably  between  a  mile 
and  a  mile  and  a  lialf  high,  has 
taken  a  very  characteristic  shape,  and 
a  close  study  of  its  convolutions  will 
readily  explain  to  the  student  of  human 
nature  why  it  is  that  the  Oriental  de- 
tects the  actual  faces  of  terrible  under- 
ground spirits  of  evil  upon  this  slowly 
mounting  and  unnatural  mass.  Asama- 
yama  is  about  8,500  feet  above  the  sea, 
and  owes  much  of  its  impressiveness  to 
the  fact  that  of  this  about  6,000  feet 
rise  directly  from  the  surrounding 
country.  The  crater  is  of  unusual  pre- 
cipitousness  and  depth.  Though  only  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  in  diameter,  the  normal 
height  of  the  lava  bed  within  it  is  a 
thousand  feet  below  the  lip,  a  fact 
which  perhaps  explains  the  comparative 
perpendicularity  with  which  the  ash  is 
discharged.  The  volcano  is  regarded  as 
one  of  the  regular  sights  of  Japan,  and  is  within  easy  access  both  of  Yokohama  and  of  Tokio. 

The  Temple  of  Boro-Bodoer,  Java. — Just  a  hundred  years  ago  Sir  Stamford  Raffles  annexed 
the  Island  of  Java  to  the  British  Empire.  His  heart 
was  almost  broken  when,  in  1815,  it  was  re-ceded 
to  the  Dutch,  in  whose  possession  it  still  remains. 
But  during  the  short  period  of  his  Governorship  he 
did  at  least  one  thing  for  which  he  deserves  a  lasting 
fame.  He  discovered  the  long-lost  Temple  of  Boro- 
Bodoer.  The  story  of  its  finding  is  a  strange 
romance.  The  very  villagers  at  its  feet  were  as 
ignorant  as  anyone  of  its  whereabouts  when  Sir 
Stamford  made  inquiries.  But  by  a  happy  chance 
a  clearance  made  almost  at  random  betrayed  to 
the  excavators  that  the  hill  itself  on  which  they 
were  at  work,  some  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in 
height  and  six  or  seven  hundred  in  width  at  the 
base,  was  no  other  than  the  famous  temple.  It 
is  supposed  that  when  the  Mohammedan  invasion 
of  Java  occurred  in  the  thirteenth  century,  the 
Buddhist  priests,  rather  than  give  up  their  most 
treasured  possession  to  be  defiled  by  the  infidels, 
filled  up  its  terraces  with  earth  and  planted  the 
quick-growing  tropical  jungle  upon  the  slopes  of 
the  hill  thus  formed. 

Boro-Bodoer  stands  to-day  on  the  top  of  a 
slight  eminence  about  five-and-thirty  miles  from 
the  ancient  capital,  Djok-Djokarta,  and  almost  in 
the  centre  of  the  island.     If  is  pyramidal  in  shape, 


t-itliyri.iltl] 


[I'nttfiuoi'd  it    I'tidmi" 


Inside    carh     of     the    DaBobns    shown    above     sits    n    statue    of 
Buddha,   of    which   an   illustration    is   here  siven. 


26 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


I'hoto  bii'\ 


/  Ldiiihin,  Kni. 


A    few    yards    of    the    famous    frieze    that    is    cut    upon    the    terraces    of    Boro-Bodoer. 


rising  from  a  paved  terrace.  In  the  centre  of  each  side  there  is  a  staircase  leading  from  one  to 
another  of  the  five  terraces  of  which  it  is  composed.  Each  terrace  completely  surrounds  the  temple, 
following  the  fortification-like  outline  of  the  ground  plan.  On  these  terraces  is  the  carving  for  which 
Boro-Bodoer  is  famous  above  all  other  buildings.  It  has  been  estimated  that  not  less  than  three 
miles  of  this  strange  frieze  is  wrapped  round  and  round  the  temple.  Roughly  speaking,  it  may  be 
said  that  as  the  visitor  ascends,  the  subjects  illustrated  by  this  carving  signify  a  higher  and  higher 
grade  in  the  ethical  development  of  Prince  Gautama.  The  story  begins  with  his  early  life  as  a 
gay  and  boyish  young  prince,  free  from  care  and  anxiety,  free  even  from  the  very  knowledge  of 
sickness  or  sin  or  death,  and  his  trials  and  his  triumphs  are  recorded  terrace  by  terrace,  until  the 
central  cupola,  or  dagoba,  is  reached,  in  which,  buried  to  the  neck,  still  exists  the  most  mysterious 
of  all  Asiatic  statues.  It  is  a  mere  roughly-hewn  head  on  a  shapeless  body.  The  theory  I  have 
just  been  referring  to  interprets  this  with  a  subtlety  that  is  scarcely  Eastern.  It  contends  that 
this  is  intended  to  represent  the  final  achievement  of  Buddha  when  the  divine  essence  and  all  that 
it  created  are  received  once  more  into  the  bosom  of  nothingness — if  Nirvana  may  thus  be  translated. 
Perhaps  re-absorption  into  the  universal  soul  is  a  better  phrase. 

But  another  and  prettier  legend  has  it  that  Boro-Bodoer  was  built  to  win  the  affections  of  a 
capricious  young  woman  who  lived  in  the  village  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill.  She  insisted  that  her 
lover,  who  lived  at  the  top  of  the  hill,  should  design,  construct  and  complete  the  finest  temple  on 
earth  as  a  wedding-gift  to  her  within  the  space  of  twelve  months.  This  the  energetic  youth  promised 
to  do,  and,  indeed,  nearly  succeeded  in  doing,  for  he  was  able  to  enlist  the  services  of  the  entire 
population  of  the  globe.  But  the  sharp  eyes  of  his  lady-love,  when  at  the  close  of  the  twelve  months 
she  was  proudly  taken  over  the  gigantic  and  exquisite  structure,  noted  that  this  last  and  highest 
statue  alone  among  all  the  tens  of  thousands  of  figures  which  crowd  the  decorated  walls,  or  are 
sitting  in  meditation  within  the  latticed  dagobas — that  this  was  unfinished.     Whereupon  she  coldly 


Asia 


reminded  her  lovei  that  her  conditions  had  not  been  fulfilled,  and  returned  downliill  to  wed  another 
and  more  favoured  youth.  They  must  have  had  some  appreciation  of  the  feminine  character  even 
in  those  remote  ages. 

But,  legends  apart,  when  was  this  stupendous  temple  built  ?  No  one  will  ever  certainly  know  ; 
but  it  seems  likely  that  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century  of  the  Cliristian  era  is  the  most 
probable  period.  Thanks  to  its  long  concealment,  it  is  almost  perfect.  But  the  roots  of  the 
mountain  jungle  have  thrust  themselves  between  and  disturbed  the  mortarless  courses. 

The  actual  human  workmanship  bestowed  upon  this  building  is  so  veist  that  even  that  which 
raised  the  Pyramids  of  Egypt  pales  beside  it.  Each  side  of  the  temple  is  a  hundred  feet  longer  than 
the  Great  Pyramid,  and 
though  it  is  but  one-third 
of  the  height,  the  wealth 
of  carving  lavished  upon 
every  corner  and  corridor, 
every  pinnacle,  every  stair- 
way, every  fiat  surface  of 
masonry,  however  small,  is 
something  that  defies  de- 
scription afterwards,  just  as 
at  the  moment  it  baffles 
the  bewildered  eye  of  the 
visitor. 

Boro-Bodoer  will  never 
be  a  place  of  popular 
pilgrimage.  It  can  only 
be  seen  by  making  a  long 
detour  from  Singapore,  and 
it  must  be  admitted  that 
there  are  healthier  places 
than  Java  for  the  white 
globe-trotter.  But  Boro- 
Bodoer  remains,  and  will 
always  remain,  the  most 
gorgeous  product  of  that 
religion  which  to  this  day 
claims  more  adherents  than 
any  other  in  the  world. 

Statue  of  Marco  Po.o, 
Canton. — Every  schoolboy 
knows  that  it  was  the 
Polos  of  Venice,  who  in 
the  thirteenth  century  were 
"  the  first  to  reveal  to 
Christendom  in  a  complete 
and  accurate  as  well  as 
picturesque  manner  the 
splendours  and  attractions, 
the  wealth  and  commerce 
of   China   and   Indo-China, 


I'ltUtll   t'fj\ 


[I'^rr^ral  Latuion,   Ki'i. 


MAi<(  ( >    r.  II 


\-<      \    GOD 


An 
i*  iiiiid, 
probable 


ancient     imasc    of 
on    ihe    alrcngth    ol 
ascription. 


European    amonc    ih 
in     ancient    Chineie    trnd 


Five    Hundred     Deiliet     in 
to    repreaenl    Marco 


Canton.       It 
Polo,    a    very 


28 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


of  the  Deccan  and  the  Indian  Archipelago." 
From  them  Europe  first  learnt  of  Mesopotamia 
and  Persia,  Mongolia,  Siam,  Burma,  Formosa 
and  Japan.  Of  Java  and  Sumatra  and  Tibet, 
too,  they  were  the  first  to  write,  and  their 
pictures  of  other  countries  of  which  uncertain 
histories  already  circulated  in  Europe,  were 
often  the  best  that  the  world  was  to  possess 
until  the  dawn  of  modern  scientific  exploration. 
The  details  of  the  life  of  Marco  Polo  are  hard 
to  collect  and  are  often  inconsistent ;  but  one 
flash  of  nature  on  his  death-bed  tells  us  much 
about  this  far-travelled  soul.  Jacopo  D'Acqui 
tells  us  that  as  Marco  lay  dying  his  best  friends 
came  to  him  and  implored  him,  for  the  sake  of 
his  reputation,  to  revise  his  book  of  travels 
and  cut  out  all  that  was  untrue.  He  sturdily 
replied  that  he  would  do  nothing  of  the 
sort,  and  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  had 
not  told  one-half  of  all  the  wonders  he  had 
seen. 

There  exists  in  the  Temple  of  the  Five 
Hundred  Deities  in  Canton  a  statue  which  has 
often  been  quoted  as  a  witness  to  the  truth  of  his 
pretensions,  and  as  a  souvenir  of  the  greatest  of 
all  travellers,  it  is  here  included.  Photography 
is  strictly  discouraged  in  this  temple,  and  the 
picture  here  given  was  obtained  by  the  writer 
more  by  good  luck  than  management.  Why, 
one  wonders,  was  he  included  in  this  strange 
company  ?  All  we  know  for  certain  is  that  in 
1277  Marco  Polo  was  made  a  Privy  Councillor 
by  the  Chinese  Emperor  Kublai  Khan,  and 
about  eight  years  later  was  made  Governor  of 
the  city  of  Yang-Chau.  Unless  Khanfu  is 
identical  with  Canton,  Marco  Polo  makes  no 
mention  of  any  stay  in  the  city  which  is  now 
the  southern  capital  of  China  and  in  which 
this  strange  figure  is  to  be  seen.  The  ascription  of  the  statue  to  him  is  based  upon  Chinese 
tradition,  not,  as  is  sometimes  alleged,  on  mere  European  fancy ;  but  the  inherent  probability  of  its 
truth  will  be  clear  to  anyone  who  looks  at  the  almost  hideously  un-Chinese  traits  of  the  face, 
the  little  ruff  round  the  neck,  the  sailor's  rough-weather  cloak,  and  the  equally  foreign  hat.  That 
the  sculptor  must  have  had  a  European  before  him  as  he  made  his  model  is  beyond  question,  and 
the  writer  has  been  assured  by  residents  in  Hong  Kong  that  this  famous  image  may  well  be  as  old  as 
the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth  century.  Where  it  was  made,  whether  in  Canton  or  elsewhere, 
and  when  it  was  first  given  its  present  place  of  honour,  there  is  no  means  of  knowing.  But  there 
seems  little  reason  to  doubt  the  tradition.  To  deprive  the  world  without  reason  of  one  of  the  most 
interesting  and  unexpected  testimonies  to  the  restlessness  and  pluck  of  Western  races  would  be 
wantonness.     That  the  figure  represents  a  European  is  obvious  :   that  it  is  nearly  coeval  with  Marco 


COiMATESVARA.     INDIA. 

A    huge    monolithic    statue,  about     fifty  feet    in    height,  carved    by 
the  Jains  out  of  a  hilltop  at   Sravana   Belagola.  in   South   India. 


_,    , JLf--  <' 

[ '  ndfruood  d'  Vndfrtrood. 
SHOOTING     TME     RAI'IDS    OK    THE    KATSURA     RI\  ER.     KYOTO. 

One    of     Ihc    «porl-    of    Japan     thni    l,o.    mo.t    coubHi    the    fancy    of     European    vi.itor.    it    thi.    rxciting    po.limr    of    •hootinB 

the    kalsuragawo    in    boat*   or   on    rafta    of    bamboo 


o 


o 


The   Wonders   of   the    World 


Photoby;\ 


l/iou7-ne  <{•  Shepherd.  Bomf-au. 


THE    CANES    OF    ELLORA. 


Most  famous  of  all  the  rock-cul  temples  of  India,  those  at  EHora  would  repay  a  month's  careful  examination.  Excepting 
Mohammedanism,  nearly  all  Indian  religions,  past  and  present,  have  at  one  time  contributed  to  this  amazing  series  of 
excavations  in  a  curving  hill-side  near  Daulatabad  Ajanta  alone  competes  with  them  in  antiquity,  but  Ajanta  cannot 
boast    a    Kailas  Temple. 

Polo  is  also  clear.     The  tradition  that  it  is  Marco  Polo  himself  is  so  universal  that  a  copy  of  it  was 
sent  to  the  Geographical  Congress  held  at  Venice  in  1881. 

Gomatesvara,  India. — One  of  the  most  curious  statues  in  the  world  may  be  found  by  an 
energetic  traveller  in  the  little  Jain  village  of  Sravana  Belagola,  about  ten  miles  north  of  the 
station  "  French  Rocks  "  on  the  railway  near  Seringapatam.  Marvellous  as  the  work  is,  it  is  rarely 
visited  or  even  referred  to  by  travellers  or  writers.  It  is  cut  from  the  projecting  crest  of  hard 
rock  on  the  top  of  a  hill,  and  has  been  skilfully  adapted  to  the  formation  of  the  stone  without 
sacrificing  in  any  way  the  intention  of  the  designer.  The  figure — of  which  the  nudity  betrays 
the  Jain  rather  than  the  Buddhist  origin — is  nearly  fifty  feet  in  height. 

It  will  be  remembered  by  visitors  to  Gwalior  that  the  modesty  of  the  great  Emperor  Baber  was 
outraged  by  the  sight  there  of  the  great  nude  images  that  stand  sentinel  about  the  rock-fortress. 
This  example,  far  away  in  the  south,  escaped  his  puritanic  hand,  and  has  a  peculiar  interest  on 
account  of  its  position.  In  most  cases  it  is  impossible  to  obtain  a  good  view  of  these  rock-cut 
figures,  owing  to  the  overpowering  mass  of  the  mountain-side  behind  them.  The  Gomatesvara  statue 
stands  out  both  actually  and  metaphorically  alone  in  the  effectiveness  of  its  position,  and  well  repays 
a  visit. 

The  Katsura  Rapids. — To  the  west  of  Kyoto  the  Katsura  river  descends  through  precipitous 
defiles  to  the  ancient  capital.     The  waterway  is  used  for  the  transport  of  timber  from  the  province 


Asia 


3A 


of  Tamba,  but  the  beauty  of  the  defiles,  the  rushing  and  rapid  stream,  and  the  excitement  of 
shooting  the  torrents  on  bamboo  rafts  or  boats  are  all  features  to  be  notified.  In  autumn  the 
woods  are  of  orange  and  scarlet  and  gold,  and  the  dark  river  and  blue  sky  just  seen  overhead 
between  the  cliffs  make  up  a  picture  that  the  visitor  to  Japan  will  long  remember. 

The  Caves  of  Ellora,  India. — First  among  the  many  groups  of  caves  in  India  for 
variety  and  importance,  and  sharing  the  claims  of  age  with  that  at  Ajanta  only, 
are  the  strange  rock-cut  cells  and  chapels  and  temples  at  Ellora,  within  a  ride  of 
Daulatabad  in  the  north-western  corner  of  the  Nizam's  dominions.  The  road  from  the 
bungalow  descends  over  the  crest  and  almost  in  the  centre  of  the  curving  hill  in  the 
side  of  which  they  are  cut,  and  the  caves  may  be  made  out  stretching  for  nearly  a 
mile  on  either  side  to  right  and  to  left.  Many  of  them  are  difficult  to  detect,  so  carefully 
has  the  entrance  been  masked  by  leaving  in  front  of  the  opening  a  grass-grown  curtain 
of  the  virgin  rock  of  which  the  hill  is  made.  These  caves  lie  one  close  beside  another 
in  a  half  circle,  and  to  the  student  of  ancient  India  there  is  no  more  interesting  or  instructive 
a  district  in  the  whole  sub-continent.  In  the  first  place,  they  were  probably  begun  by 
Buddhist  hermits,  who  found  here  both  quietude,  a  fertile  and  pleasant  neighbourhood,  and 
no  doubt  the  worship  and  service  also  of  the  inhabitants.  From  simple  cells,  not  unlike  those 
which  still  exist  at  Bhuvaneshwar  and  elsewhere,  more  ambitious  structures  were  graduahy 
designed,  and  an  almost  perfect  series  of  the  ecclesiastical  buildings  of  Buddhism  can  be  dis- 
covered here  within  the  space  of  a  few  hundred  yards.  Of  course,  some  of  the  features  of 
Buddhist  architecture  were  modified  by  the  fact  that  everything  had  here  to  be  excavated  from 
the  living  rock,  and  not  built  up  with  individual  stones  in  the  usual  way.  but  shrines  and  monasteries 
and  council  rooms  are  all  to  be 
found,  and  nearly  all  of  them  are 
still  in  a  state  of  perfection. 

But  the  Buddhist  caves,  although 
the  oldest,  are  by  no  means  the  only 
structures  here.  Indeed,  for  most 
visitors  the  famous  Kailas  Temple 
is  apt  to  eclipse  the  memory  of  any 
of  the  other  caves.  The  architects 
of  this  marvellous  building  were 
not  content  to  hew  out  the  in- 
terior economy  of  the  temple 
from  the  hill-side.  Instead,  they 
cut  away  the  rock  both  out- 
side and  inside  the  temple  walls. 
To-day  there  may  be  seen  with 
every  detail  of  construction  and 
ornament  a  perfect  temple  stand- 
ing in  a  courtyard,  and  sur- 
rounded by  all  the  cells,  pillars, 
symbols,  figures  and  screens  that 
the  Hindu  worship  loves,  and 
covered  within  and  without 
with      elaborate     carving.        Not 

one    square     inch    of    this    temple         /■««/„ /.v]  [//.//i  .(c...  am., /.•'■.•"' 

has      been      laid      upon      another.  ^  ^^i_^(  ^,  EMor».  rrprccMin,  shiv.  one  o(  .he  ihr«  Diviniiie.  of 

It     is     all     one     giant     monolith,  <^'  Hindu  Trinity. 


o-" 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


one    stone   with  the  mountain-side   that   surrounds  it  and   frowns  over  it,  capped  with  long  grass 
and  ak  plants. 

The  beauty  of  this  Kailas  Temple  may  be  guessed  from  the  illustration.  The  reader  will 
admit  that  he  needs  to  have  been  given  this  explanation.  Even  after  reading  it  he  may  still 
have  to  look  closely  at  the  plate  before  he  entirely  realizes  that  this  exquisite  building  is  a  single 
mass  of  seamless  and  virgin  rock.  It  is  impossible  from  any  point  to  give  any  idea  in  a  photo- 
graph of  the  size  and  exquisite  decoration  of  this  temple.  The  illustration  here  given  was 
taken  from  the  top  of  an  elaborately  carved  screen,  which  stands  across  the  entrance  and  almost 
entirely  hides  the  treasures  within  from  the  gaze  of  the  passer-by.  The  reader  must  con- 
struct as  best  he  can  in  his  own  imagination  the  courtyard  that  entirely  surrounds  the  temple, 
the  encircling  wails  of  rock  pierced  and  decorated  with  pillared  corridors  and  cells,  the  carved 
elephants  outside  and  the  exquisite  columned  architecture  within  the  temple,  none  of  which 
unfortunately  can  be  included  in  this,  the  best  though  a  very  incomplete  view  of  the  Kailas. 
The  smaller  building  in  the  foreground  of  the  plate  contains  the  sculptured  bull,  or  Nandi,  the 
svmbol  of  strength  and  reproduction,  which  is  to  be  found  in,  or  beside,  all  temples  dedicated  to 
Shiva  from  one  end  of  India  to  the  other.  It  is  many  ages  since  prayers  and  ceremonies  have  been 
formally  offered  within  these  walls,  though  a  few  marigolds  and  champaks  will  often  be  found  laid 
reverently  on  the  long  desolate  thresholds. 


^wowMwn 


Photo  by']  [rrtlh  <l-  ('.V.  /,(,;.,  Rei.jalf. 

THE    MOST    MARVELLOUS    MONOLITHIC    BUILDING    IN    THE    WORLD. 

It  is  difficult  from  any  point  of  view  to  obtain  a  good  view  of  the  Kailas,  the  most  marvellous  monolithic  building  in  the 
world.  The  entire  temple  and  all  its  adjuncts  are  cut  straight  from  the  virgin  rocU  of  the  hill-side,  which  may  be  seen  above 
it.      Inside   and    outside    it    is    carved    with    the   same   minute    perfection. 


Photo  ?t]  [ir.  J.  Ham- II,  i:,-j. 

ENTRANCE    GATE    TO    THE    MING    TOMBS. 

This    beautiful    Pai-low     forms     tKe     entrance     Bate     to    the     Tombs    of    the    Chinese     Mins     Dynasty,     near    Peking. 
It     is    of    white    martir,     roofed    with    darU    red    tiles 


CHAPTER    II. 

Tombs  of  the  Kings  of  the  Ming  i?ynas/>— The  establishment  of  the  Ming  Dynasty  upon 
the  throne  of  China  is  one  of  tlie  romances  of  history.     The  great  Mongol  ruler,  Kublai  Khan,  had 

extended  and  consolidated  his  power  by  welding  the  states  and  tribes 
'  of  Central  Asia  into   one   immense  empire.      When  he  died  in  1294 

A.D.,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three,  after  reigning  eighteen  years  as 
Emperor  of  half  Asia,  his  kingdom  e.xtended  from  the  China  seas 
and  the  Himalayas  to  the  northernmost  extremity  of  Siberia,  and 
from  the  eastern  shores  of  Asia  to  the  frontiers  of  Poland  and  the 
European  states. 

Tlie  empire  held  together  for  seventy-three  years  after  the  death 
of  Kublai,  the  last  of  his  line,  Shun-te,  ascending  the  throne  in  1331. 
This  indolent,  sensuous,  weak  monarch  sat  on  the  throne  for  thirt}^- 
five  years,  watching  in  feeble  wrath  his  army  deteriorating,  his 
empire  being  pared  down  by  rebellions  and  conquests,  and  his  world- 
wide power  being  curtailed  on  every  side. 

Meanwhile,  a  youth  named  Choo,  the  son  of  a  labouring  man  of 
the  state  of  Nan-king,  who  had  been  found  to  be  too  delicate  for 
manual  labour,  was  placed  by  his  father  in  a  monastery  with  a  view 
to  his  becoming  a  bonze,  or  priest.  Choo  found  himself  to  be  lacking 
in  enthusiasm  for  the  priesthood,  but  in  his  quest  for  knowledge 
he  had  gained  health  and  strength,  so,  after  some  years  spent  in 
semi-seclusion,  he  left  his  monastery  to  enter  the  imperial  army. 
Once  enlisted  in  its  ranks,  his  skill  in  arms  secured  him  rapid 
promotion.  He  attained  high  rank  and  married  a  widow  of  large 
means,  but  with  prosperity  came  also  ambition.  Choo  could  hardly 
have  spent  these  years  in  military  circles  without  imbibing  the 
general  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with  Tatar  rule  wiiicli  was  rife  in 
China ;  and  not  long  afterwards  he  saw  his  opportunity  and  carried 
out  a  successful  insurrection  in  Nan-king.  His  fame  as  a  leader 
spread,  and  the  rebel  army  increased  in  size  and  efficiency.  The 
insurgents  took  Peking,  whence  the  worthlass  Shun-te  had  fied,  and 

4 


Lull''. 


A  Minister  of  Slate  in  effigy 
standintE  attentive  to  wait  on  the 
v/ialies  of   hig   departed    Emperor. 


34 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


in  1366  Choo  ascended  the  Imperial  Throne 
under  the  title  of  Tai-Tsoo,  and  founded 
the  Ming,  or  "  Bright  "  Dynasty,  which 
endured  in  power  for  three  centuries. 

The  tombs  of  many  of  the  Ming 
Emperors  are  situated  forty  miles  north  of 
Peking,  and  form  one  of   the  best-known 


sights  of  China. 


Entering  bj'  a  magnifi- 


cent Pai-low  of  five  gateways  in  white 
marble,  the  visitor  passes  through  the 
dromos,  nearly  a  mile  long,  where  thirty- 
two  colossal  figures  are  ranged  in  pairs  on 
either  side  of  the  roadway.  Some  are 
human,  some  are  figures  of  camels,  griffins, 
or  elephants.  There  are  thirteen  tombs 
ranged  round  the  base  of  a  hill,  and  they 
extend  for  several  miles.  Each  is  simply  a 
huge  mound  of  earth  about  half  a  mile  in 
circuit,  with  a  crenellated  retaining  wall, 
twenty  feet  high,  at  the  base.  There  is  no 
entrance  to  the  mounds,  nor  is  there  any- 
thing to  mark  the  exact  spot  of  burial  of 
their  occupants. 

Giant  Bambccs,  Ceylcn.  -  Nature  has 
run  riot  in  Ceylon.  The  island  is  like 
a  vast  forest  rising  out  of  the  sea, 
and  as  the  traveller  approaches  b}-  the 
water  it  is  impossible  to  see  the  earth 
tor  the  lavish  growth  upon  it. 

This  wealth  of  natural  beauty  finds  its 
highest  expression  in  the  Government 
Botanical  Gardens  of  Peradeniya,  at 
Kandy.  The  entrance  is  through  an 
avenue  of  india-rubber  trees  towering  one 
hundred  feet  into  the  air,  with  huge  roots 
creeping  like  snakes  about  the  earth  below. 
The  gardens  swarm  with  squirrels  and 
tropical  birds,  humming-birds  flash  like 
jewels  about  the  flowers,  as  evening  falls 
the  leathern  flying  foxes  play  in  the  trees. 
M.  Chevrillon,  the  French  traveller,  has  written  this  eulogy  of  the  beauties  of  the  place  : 
"  One  can  walk  for  many  leagues  in  this  place,  meeting  no  human  being,  yet  still  conscious  of  a 
certain  order,  lines  and  plan  in  this  marvellous  wild  garden.  There  are  wide  lawns  where  tropical 
plants  can  grow  freely  and  attain  their  full  size  :  there  are  ferns  of  improbable  hues,  blue  ferns  as 
subtle  as  vapours  :  there  are  leaves  as  delicate  as  dream  vegetation — green  lace  like  a  cobweb, 
varieties  of  Adiantum,  the  hair,  not  of  maidens,  but  of  very  fairies.  And  at  last  I  reach  the 
triumph,  the  apotheosis,  so  to  speak,  of  the  island's  vegetation.  On  the  edge  of  tlie  gardens, 
beside  the  slow-moving,  yellowish  waters  of  a  stream,  there  is  a  sheaf  of  bamboos  one  hundred 
feet    in    circuit.      They   are    crowded    together,   smothering   each  other,  each  one  as  large  as  a 


Copyt'i'jht  photo  by'\ 

Another  figure  ir 
that     mount     guard 
departed    Emperors. 


the  dromo! 
n     the     dromos 


One  of  the  colossal  stone  warriors 
avenue,    over     the     spirits     of 


i'hotni  \  and  1  I'y  //.  ''.  Wtnt^  Co.,  Lon.l-m.] 


THE     MING    TOMBS. 


There    ore    (wo    ccmcteric*    of    the    Mine    Dynaaty.    one    at    Nan-king    and    the    other    forty  milet     north    of     Pckinic.        Each 

is    npproachcd    by    a    dromoa,    or    avenue,    of    colosani    atone    fieurca    repreacnline   mtniatcra    of  atate,   warriors  and  animala.     At 

PcUinR    theac    figurea    number    thirly-two.    ranucd    in    pairs    either    aide    of    ihc    roadway    lor    a  diatnnce    of    a    mile         1  Key  vary 
from    ten    to    fifteen    feet    in    heittht 


36 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


European  tree.  The  hard  stems,  bluish  and 
glossy,  in  joints  two  feet  long,  perfectly  round, 
are  gorged  with  water.  They  grow  so  crowded 
that  only  the  outer  stems  are  visible :  the 
others,  covered  and  repressed,  spring  straight 
up  in  darkness  ;  at  the  height  of  one  hundred 
feet  they  separate  with  a  supple  move- 
ment, spread  apart  in  the  form  of  a  vase, 
and  are  lost  in  a  great  rustling  mass  of  dark 
leafage." 

M.  Chevrillon  might  have  said  even  more  than 
he  has.  One  specimen  of  the  Dendrocalamus 
giganteus,  which  ultimately  attained  the  height 
of  125  feet,  was  observed  carefully  and  was 
proved  to  have  grown  thirtv-six  inches  in 
twenty-four  hours. 

The  Taj  Mahal,  Agra. — There  is  no  traveller 
whose  pulse  does  not  quicken  as  he  turns  in 
through  the  dark  red  gateway  a  mile  outside 
the  modern  city  of  Agra  and  at  last  catches 
sight  of  the  famous  Taj.  By  common  consent 
the  tomb  of  Shah  Jehan's  loved  wife  is  the  goal 
and  centre  of  Indian  travelling. 

Nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at  ;  for  after  the 
last  word  of  praise  and  appreciation  of  the  Taj 
as  a  building  has  been  said,  there  is  something  more,  something  greater  about  it  still.  That 
which  perhaps  weighs  heaviest  in  our  estimation  and  lives  longest  in  our  memories  is  that  side 
of  it  which  photographs  cannot  give.  Surely  the  dullest  of  visitors  must  be  impressed  by  the 
mere  fact  that  the  Taj  stands,  as  nothing  else  in  the  world  stands,  for  the  great  and  lasting  devotion 
of  a  man  for  a  woman.  Remember  that  it  was  erected  in  eternal  honour  of  a  woman  at  a  time 
when  women  were  regarded  as  little  but  the  playthings  of  their  owners,  and  by  tlie  disciple  of 
a  faith  which  to  this  day  denies  to  woman  the  possession  of  a  soul.     The  story  of  the  love  of 


STONE    TURTLE    BEARI^G     MhiMOKIAL    lABLET. 

These  turtles  are  seen  at  tKe  end  of  the  tombs  at  Nan- 
Icing.  The  Ancestral  tablet  of  the  deceased  is  held  in  great 
reverence  through  the  belief  that  one  of  his  released  souls 
attaches  itself  to  the  tablet.  The  turtle  is  known  as  "  Pi 
Ti."   the   burden    bearer. 


Photo  hy'\ 


The    double    row    of    stone    images    at    the    Ming    Tombs.    Nan-king 


[.V.  /'.  Kdicards. 


38 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


I'holo  hy'] 


\Xf''ssrs.  Johnston  A:  Iloffnunm. 


THE    TAJ    MAHAL.    AGRA 


This  macnificent    tomb    was    built    by    Shah    Jehan    as    a    great    and    lasting    memorial  of    his  favourite    wife    Mumtaz-i-Mahal. 
When    Shah    Jehan    himself    died,    his    body    was    placed    beside    hers    in    the  tomb. 

Shah  Jehan  for  j\Iiimtaz-i-I\Iahal  is  one  of  the  great  romances  of  this  world's  history.  We  may 
well  ask  who  was  this  Arjumand  Banii,  Mumtaz-i-Mahal,  or  the  "  Chosen  of  the  Palace  "  ? 

Arjumand  Banu  was  the  daughter  of  Asaf  Khan,  and  niece  of  the  famous  Nur-jehan,  the 
wife  of  Jehangir.  By  what  slight  chances  the  course  of  the  world's  history  is  changed  could 
hardly  be  better  illustrated  than  by  the  story  of  the  flight  into  India  of  Nur-jehan  and  her  brother 
with  their  father,  Itmad-ud-Daula,  as  he  fled  southwards  from  Teheran  across  the  desert  roads 
of  Persia  and  Afghanistan.  On  one  day  of  tormenting  thirst  Itmad-ud-Daula  saw  no  help  for 
it  but  to  leave  his  dying  daughter  by  the  roadside  in  order  that,  relieved  of  the  burden  of  her, 
the  remainder  might  have  some  bare  chance  of  reaching  water  before  nightfall.  This  was  done, 
and  a  few  miles  were  covered  by  the  silent  and  ashamed  party.  Then,  struck  with  remorse, 
Itmad-ud-Daula  turned  back  to  where  the  infant  was  lying,  still  unhurt  by  the  gathering  vultures. 
Cost  what  it  might,  the  father  intended  to  live  or  die  with  his  little  daughter,  and  the  miserable 
journey  was  resumed.  The  unexpected  arrival  of  travellers  an  hour  or  two  later  enabled 
Itmad-ud-Daula  and  the  children  to  come  down  safely  into  India.  Here  Nur-jehan — in  all  cases 
we  are  giving  the  later  names  by  which  these  individuals  were  best  known — entered  the  harem  of 
Jehangir  and  made  her  way  into  imperial  favour  at  a  sham  market  in  the  palace  by  her  famous 
and  impertinent  demand  of  a  lakh  of  rupees  from  her  master  for  a  piece  of  moulded  sugar-candy. 

But,  striking  as  Nur-jehan's  career  was,  it  pales  into  insignificance  beside  that  of  her  niece. 
Arjumand    Banu  was  married  to    Shah  Jehan  in  1615,  twelve  years  before  the  succession  of  her 


Asia 


39 


husband  to  the  throne.  Indeed,  she  knew  httle  of  the  splendours  of  Shah  Jehan's  court,  for 
in  1629  Mumtaz-i-Mahal  died  in  childbed  at  Burhanpore,  the  capital  of  the  Deccan  Province, 
and  with  her  the  light  went  out  of  the  life  of  the  most  splendid  of  all  emperors.  Crushed 
with  grief,  Shah  Jehan  determined  that  his  lost  love  should  have  such  a  memorial  as 
neither  woman  nor  man  had  ever  had  in  the  history  of  the  world  before.  So  he  called  to 
him  one  Ustad-Isa,  a  cunning  architect,  and  bade  him  prepare  as  noble  a  design  as  his  imagina- 
tion could  furnish.  We  do  not  know  very  much  about  the  actual  building  of  the  Taj. 
The  minarets,  which  are  perhaps  the  most  criticized  details  in  the  structure,  were  moved 
away  from  the  central  building,  and  stand,  instead,  at  the  four  corners  of  the  marble  plateau, 
or  plinth,  on  which  the  Taj  is  built.  We  know  from  Tavernier  that  the  cost  of  the 
scaffolding  was  as  great  as  that  of  the  tomb  itself,  because  there  were  at  that  time  no  trees  near 
by  from  which  timber  could  be  obtained  for  this  purpose.  We  are  told  that  Austin  de  Bordeaux, 
an  absconding  French  jeweller,  was  called  in  to  ornament  its  white  marble  walls  with  the  famous 
"  pietra  dura "  work.  Tradition  also  has  it  that  Verroneo,  an  Italian,  had  a  hand  in  the 
decoration  of  the  tomb.  But  of  the  part  that  Shah  Jehan  himself  played  in  this  colossal 
enterprise  we  know  nothing.  The  Emperor  stated  that,  apart  from  the  materials,  to  which  half 
Asia  contributed  her  marbles,  the  masons  alone  were  paid  the  sum  of  about  six  hundred  thousand 
pounds.  Seventeen  years  were  occupied  in  the  building.  The  body  of  Arjumand  was  then 
placed  under  the  centre  of  the  dome  in  the  place  of  honour.  Years  afterwards,  when  Shah 
Jehan  himself,  a  broken,  disappointed  and  dethroned  man,  came  to  die  as  his  own  son's  prisoner 
in  the  fort  he  had  himself  built  at  Agra,  the\'  laid  his  body  beside  that  of  his  loved  mistress. 
Not  even  then  did  they  dare  break  the  great  tradition  of  love  that  the  Taj  was  built  to  immortalize. 


Copyright  photo  6y] 


THE    TAJ     REFLECTED    IN     IHE    RI\ER    JUMN.A 


[//.  (/.  Pontini/,  F.R.a.S. 


Ap«rl    from    mnlrrioli.    lo    which    hnlf    A.in    conlrlbul<-d    her    mnrhlc.    the    m»«on.     nlonc    were    pnid    the    .urn   of    £600,000    in    ihc 

buildinR'  of    ihe    T  oi. 


40 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Shah  Jehan's  tomb,  though  larger — as  befits  an  emperor — is  placed  on  one  side  of  Arjumand's 
central  resting-place.  These  tombs,  in  accordance  with  Eastern  custom,  are  not  the  actual 
resting-places  of  the  bodies.  Arjumand  and  Shah  Jehan  lie  in  the  crypt  underneath,  where 
the  relative  positions,  as  already  noted,  are  faithfully  maintained. 

Inside,  beneath  the  dome,  there  is,  round  the  tombs  of  the  two  lovers,  an  exquisitely, 
beautiful  pierced  marble  trellis  heavily  inlaid  with  precious  and  semi-precious  stones. 
The  beauty  of  this  interior  apartment  cannot  be  better  described  than  in  the  words  of  Mr. 
Fergusson  :  "  The  light  is  admitted  only  through  double  screens  of  white  marble  trellis- work 
of  the  most  e.xquisite  design,  one  on  the  outer  and  one  on  the  inner  face  of  the  walls.  In 
our  climate  this  would  produce  nearly  complete  darkness  ;  but  in  India,  and  in  a  building 
wholly  composed  of  white  marble,  this  was   required   to  temper  the  glare   that  otherwise  would 


Copyfigltl  pholo  by^ 


[U.  G.  I'oKling,  t'.Ii.G.. 


THE    MARBLE    SCREEN    IN    THE    TA]     MAHAL. 


This    exquisitely    beautiful    marble    trellis,    heavily    inlaid    with    precious    and    semi-precious    stones,    is    built    around 
the    actual    resting-place    of    Shah    Jehan    and    Mumtaz-i-Mahal. 

have  been  intolerable.  As  it  is,  no  words  could  express  the  chastened  beauty  of  that  central 
chamber,  seen  in  the  soft  gloom  of  the  subdued  light  that  reaches  it  through  the  distant  and 
half-closed  openings  that  surround  it." 

Of  the  essential  and  eternal  charm  of  the  Taj  another  writer  has  written  : 
"  You  will  understand  the  Taj  best  if  you  will  wait  till  the  rosy  fleeces  have  faded  in  the 
afterglow  and  the  ripples  of  the  Jumna  run  steel-grey  in  the  waning  light.  A  bird  springs  up, 
and  the  leaves  of  the  thuia  and  the  pepal  murmur  together  as  the  darkness  grows.  A  flying-fox 
with  leathern  wings  wheels  down  from  above,  and  a  morrice  of  bats  heralds  the  coming  of  the  moon 
in  the  evening  silence.  And  then  you  will  understand  that  it  does  not  matter  whether  you  can 
still  see  the  Taj  or  not.  It  is  no  question  now  of  dome  or  gateway,  silver  work,  or  inlaid  jewels. 
But  as  the  dusk  deepens  you  will  come  to  know  that  the  frail  little  body  buried  far  down  in  its 
jewelled  alabaster  beside  her  faithful  lord  stands,  and  will  always  stand,  for  all  that  men  hold  dear 
or  sacred  in  this  world.     However  splendid    or    costly  it    may  be,  however    renowned,  however 


V,i 


^.iSk.  wJ^^^dLx.  ^^^    Wt  Teit-.,-;*^-^*  Mi in^ahn -Malirtti 

PhUo  by]  [Vittorio  ,Sflla. 

MOUNT    SIMOLCHU.    SIKKIM. 

Beyond    oil    question    Sintolchu    is    the    mo*t    brauti(ul    of    all    ihc    known    peaks    of    the    world.       Otiiers    turpaat    it    in    lieisbl. 
but    they   cannot    khow    the    clean    precipitous   majesty    of    this    needle    summit    of    SilcLim. 


42 


The  Wonders   of  the  World 


beautiful,  tlie  Taj  itself  is  but 
an  emblem  and  a  symbol. 
So  long  as  men  and  women 
love  upon  this  earth,  so  long 
shall  they  go  to  the  quiet 
garden  beside  the  Jumna  to 
lay  their  flowers  in  the 
honour  of  Mumtaz  alone,  not 
of  Ustad  Isa,  not  of  Shah 
Jehan,  nor  of  another.  For 
she  loved  and  was  much 
beloved." 

Mount  Siniokhu,  Sikkim. — 
Not  very  many  Englishmen 
have  ever  seen  Siniolchu. 
Its  e.xtreme  summit  may  just 
be  seen  as  one  descends  from 
the  Darjiling  tea-fields  to- 
wards the  bridge  across  the 
Tista,  but  it  is  not  until 
Gangtok,  the  little-visited 
capital  of  Sikkim,  is  reached 
that  the  twin  peaks  of 
Siniolchu  and  Simvoo  betray 
their  exquisite  and  lonelv 
magnificence.  Beyond  all 
question,  Siniolchu  is  the 
most  beautiful  of  all  the 
known  peaks  of  the  world. 
Others  surpass  it  in  mere 
height,  but  Mount  Everest 
is  but  the  highest  fold  of 
an  immense  ice-field;  Kangchenjunga's  peaks  are  sublime,  but  crowded  upon  by  the  mighty 
rivals  that  stand  to  north  and  south ;  even  K2  cannot  show  the  clean  precipitous  majesty  of  this 
needle  summit  of  Sikkim. 

In  shape,  there  is  something  of  the  Matterhorn  ;  but  the  Matterhorn's  highest  pinnacle,  four 
thousand  feet  above  the  Alpine  line  of  eternal  snow,  would  not  reach  up  even  to  the  base  of  the 
picture  of  Siniolchu  that  is  here  given.  The  Matterhorn  has  been  picturesquely  described  as  a 
mile-high  wedge  of  rock  and  ice  placed  upon  a  plinth  two  miles  high.  Siniolchu  may  be  said 
to  be  a  wedge  two  miles  high  upon  a  three-mile  plinth.  Moreover,  those  extra  two  miles  of 
height  by  which  Siniolchu  surpasses  the  Matterhorn  are  of  such  beauty  that  woids  fail  utterly 
even  to  hint  at  their  beauty.  The  photograph  will  reveal  to  the  reader  much  of  their 
perfection,  but  it  will  only  be  understood  by  remembering  the  delicate  aquamarine  of  these 
huge  suspended  glacier-crevasses  and  the  ever-changing  hues  of  grey  and  ash  that  pass  across 
these  silver  and  virgin  slopes  as  the  clouds  draw  in  all  day,  and  by  reconstituting  the  rosy 
splendour  of  the  peak  when  the  last  rays  of  the  vanished  sun  still  light  up  this  most  inaccessible 
and  most  exquisite  of  all  the  hills  of  this  earth. 

Nikko. — "  Call  no  place  beautiful  till  you  have  seen  Nikko."  Thus  runs  a  well-known 
Japanese   proverb,  and   beyond   question  it  is  the  most  exquisite  spot  in  all  the  land.     It  is  the 


STONE    BUDDHAS    BY 


[//.  '  .  Whiu^  Co,,  London, 
THE    DAFYA     RI\ER.    NIKKO. 

A  Japanese  legend  says  that  these  forgotten,  moss-grown  figures  are  nlimberless. 
and  certainly  the  traveller  finds  great  difficulty  in  counting  them  correctly.  One  of 
them  once  fell  off  his  pedestal  into  the  river  and  was  carried  down  to  the  village  of 
Imaichi.  where  he  was  set  up  with  his  face  to  NikUo  and  is  honoured  as  a  god  by 
the   countryside. 


Asia 


43 


burial  place  of  two  Shoguns,  the  two  greatest  of  Japan's  rulers,  who  were  deified  after  their  death. 
Their  Temple-tombs  are  situated  in  a  scene  of  such  natural  splendour  and  majestic  beauty  that 
it  is  impossible  to  give  an  adequate  description  in  a  few  words.  They  lie  among  mountains  which 
are  capped  with  snow  through  most  of  the  year,  and  clothed  with  dense  forests.  There  are 
deep  and  cool  ravines,  dark  lakes,  and  waterfalls  like  silver  lace.  Through  a  gorge  of  solemn 
grandeur  the  impetuous  Daiya  river  flings  itself  down  the  mountain  side  from  the  snows  to 
the  sea. 

To  a  spot  on  the  slope  of  Hotokc  Iwa — sacred  ever  since  a  Buddhist  hermit  made  his  dwelling 
there  in  767 — the  first  Shogun  of  the  Tokugawa  Dynasty,  lyeyasu,  was  brought  after  death,  in  1617. 
After  his  deification  temples  were  erected  and  decorated  in  his  honour  by  the  loyal  and  the  devout. 

The  approach  to  this  sacred  spot  is  extremely  impressive.  There  are  two  roads  running 
through  glorious  avenues  of  giant  cryptomeria  trees,  the  one  fifty,  the  other  thirty  miles  long 
Many  of  the  trees  are  as 
much  as  twenty-seven  feet  in 
girth,  and  spring  to  a  height 
of  fifty  or  sixty  feet  before 
branching.  They  are  said 
to  have  been  planted  as  a 
humble  offering  to  the  god 
by  a  man  too  poor  to  afford 
to  place  a  bronze  lantern 
before  the  shrine.  A  wide 
carriage  road  runs  between 
them,  which  ends  at  length 
at  the  Mihashi,  the  sacred 
bridge  only  used  by  the 
Shoguns,  built  in  1636,  of 
red  lacquered  timber  sup- 
ported on  stone  piers,  which 
was  swept  away  during 
a  flood  a  few  years  ago. 
The  Daiya  river  thunders 
here  through  its  narrow  gorge, 
and  across  its  foaming  waters 
are  colossal  flights  of  stone 
stairs  leading  up  to  Xikko — 
Nikko,  the  grand  and  lonely 
forest  sepulchre,  the  home  of 
cloud  and  mystery.  Terraced 
roads  lead  through  crowding 
cryptomerias  and  magnolias  ; 
shrines  and  figures  appear 
at  every  turn.  The  grand 
approach  is  up  a  broad  path 
with  a  granite  torii  at  the 
top  twenty-seven  feet  high, 
and  with  one  hundred  and 
eighteen  magnificent  bronze 
lanterns    bordering   the   way. 


ffom  ,SlrrfO  coptiriij/it] 

THE 


LEANING    TOWER    OF 


SOO-CHOW 


■ifci'./  .(■  l'n<Uruooi1. 


This  Tower  of  SoocKow,  which  ia  also  named  "  I  he  1  iRcr  Hill  Pnsoda."  ho»  been  GUI 
of  the  pcrpendiculBr  from  time  immcmoriol.  It  ia  Renernlly  ncl<nowledKcd  as  heinK  well  over 
1.300  yeara  old.  but  there  are  aome  authorilica  who  thinU  it  wna  huill  na  early  09  the 
fifth   century. 


44 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Entering  the  temple  precincts,  several  gorgeous  buildings  are  found  surrounding  a  court 
enclosed  by  a  wall  of  bright  red  timber  ;  of  which  one  is  the  stable  for  the  three  sacred  albino 
horses  which  were  dedicated  to  the  use  of  the  god.  A  bell  tower,  a  drum  tower,  a  magnificent 
cistern  for  holy  water,  and  bronze  lanterns  of  marvellous  workmanship  are  here  too.  Within, 
there  are  seemingly  endless  corridors,  quadrangles  and  buildings,  and  to  pass  from  court  to  court, 
from  splendour  to  splendour,  through  all  this  profusion  of  ornament,  gilding  and  colour, 
renders  the  visitor  dazed  by  the  multitude  of  his  impressions. 

From  the  imposing  entrance,  through  courts,  gates  and  temples,  among  shrines,  pagodas, 
colossal  bronze  bells  and  lanterns  inlaid  with  gold,  the  visitor  passes  through  golden  gates  to  the 
inner  Gold  Temple.  Enshrined  in  this  opulent  building,  instead  of  the  image  one  would  expect  to 
find  there,  there  is  merely  a  table  of  black  lacquer  with  a  circular  mirror  of  metal  upon  it. 

The  actual  resting-place  of  the  Shogun  is  not  in  the  midst  of  this  wealth  of  manufactured  beauty. 
Nature  herself  has  collaborated  with  Art  to  render  the  tomb  of  this  great  man  a  scene  of  dignity  and 


iHC   SANCHi    lori; 

Cn    an    exquisitely    wooded    hill    near    Bhilsa.    stjnds    the    Sanclii    Tope,    the    oldest    historical    ruin    in    India.      N^  r 

not    yet    bestowed    its    secret    origin    to    the   outer    world. 


ipped 


[^L.  (..   llovtt. 
silence,    it    he 


grandeur  unsurpassed.  A  staircase  of  two  hundred  and  forty  steps  leads  to  the  hUl-top,  where 
he  sleeps  in  an  unadorned  tomb  of  stone  with  a  bronze  urn  above  it.  In  front  is  a  stone  table 
with  a  bronze  incense  burner,  a  vase  of  lotus  blossoms,  and  a  bronze  stork  with  a  candlestick  in 
his  beak.  That  is  all.  A  lofty  stone  wall  surrounds  this  place  of  majestic  silence  and  simphcity, 
and  giant  cryptomerias  make  a  solemn  twilight  there  on  the  brightest  day.  The  masonry  of  this 
vast  retaining  wall,  the  stone  staircase  and  the  gallery  is  contrived  without  mortar  or  cement  ; 
it  has  stood  for  two  hundred  and  sixty  years,  and  looks  as  if  the  centuries  would  slip  by  it  as 
easily  as  the  waters  of  the  Daiya,  of  which  the  murmur  comes  up  from  the  base  of  the  hill.  The 
great  granite  cistern  for  holy  water  on  the  top  of  the  hill  is  an  admirable  piece  of  work.  The  water 
of  a  little  cascade  is  caught  and  brought  into  this  cistern  from  above,  while  the  lower  edge  is  so 
truly  and  daintily  cut  into  steps  that  the  water  pours  so  evenly  over  the  lip  of  the  tank  and 
down  the  undulations  of  the  stone  that  it  loses  the  appearance  of  water  and  looks  as  if  it  too 
were  carved  from  some  piece  of  translucent  marble. 

The  burial  place  of   the  other  Shogun,   lyemitsu,   is  close  by,  and  is  even  more  bewildering. 


Painted  by  J.  R.  yh.l.thmn 


TH1-:    TAJ    MAHAL.   AGUA. 


The  Taj  is  acknowledged  to  he  the  most  perfect  huildint;  in  the  world      This  last  resting  place  of  Shah  Jehan  and  his  heloved  wife 
is  constructed  ot  white  marble,  and  is  said  to  have  taken  20  000  men.  employed  incessantly,  17  years  to  build. 


'^■fH     I 

^ 

.:yJ 

Si^%iiiiiiL..St;:^ 


f 


IKJ^ 


J'ri'iios  iii] 


THE    BEAUTIFUL    CAR\  ED    GATES    OF    THE    SANCHl     1  OPE 

Al    the    four    c»rdinol    point,    of    tlic    comp...    there    i.    on    enlr.nce    lo   .  curiou.    .mbulotory   which    encircle,    the    Top.-,   ivith    on    exqui.itely 
cor%ed    note,    the   ornomenlotion    of    which    cannot    be    .urpm.ed    in    the    whole    of    India 


46 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


yVw/.>  l;u] 


THE    WAT    PHRA    KEO. 


[A'.././.  L.h:  .{•  Co.,  Bangkok. 


L.ike  all  Siamese  Temples,  \\  at  Phra  Keo  contains  a  great  array  of  monster  figures  of  men  and  beasts  that  guard  the  entrances 
and  defeat  the  macfiinations  of  evil  spirits.  The  pious  Siamese  "acquire  merit"  by  building  endless  ohrAChedees^  or  pagodas,  which 
are    richly    gilt    and    ornamented. 

because  here  the  Buddhist  ceremonial  still  holds  full  sway.  The  stone  buildings  of  this  temple 
are  roofed  with  sheet  copper  or  with  richly-coloured  tiles,  giving  it  an  effect  of  great  brilliancy. 

Mrs.  Bishop  has  thus  summed  up  her  impression  of  this  wonderful  place  :  "  The  details 
fade  from  my  memory  daily  as  I  leave  the  shrines  and  in  their  place  are  picturesque 
masses  of  black  and  red  lacquer  and  gold,  gilded  doors  opening  without  noise,  halls  laid 
with  matting  so  soft  that  not  a  footfall  sounds,  across  whose  twilight  sunbeams  fall  aslant  on 
richly  arabesqued  walls  and  panels  carved  with  birds  and  flowers,  and  on  ceilings  panelled  and 
wrought  with  elaborate  art  :  of  inner  shrines  of  gold,  and  golden  lilies  six  feet  high,  and 
curtains  of  gold  brocade,  and  incense  fumes  and  colossal  bells,  and  lacquer  screens  and 
pagodas,  and  groves  and  bronze  lanterns  :  of  shaven  priests  in  gold  brocade  and  Shinto 
attendants  in  black  lacquer  caps :  and  gleams  of  sunlit  gold  here  and  there,  and  simple  monu- 
mental urns,  and  a  mountain  side  covered  with  a  cryptomeria  forest  with  rose  azaleas  lighting 
up  its  solemn  shade." 

The  Leaning  Tcwer  of  Soo-choiv. — Soo-chow  and  Hang-chow  enjoy  the  distinction  of  being 
the  two  most  beautiful  cities  in  China.  Indeed,  their  beauty  is  proverbial.  "  Above  there  is 
Paradise,  below  are  Soo  and  Hang,"  says  one  Chinese  proverb.  And  according  to  another  well- 
known  native  saying,  to  be  perfectly  happy  a  man  must  be  born  in  Soo-chow,  live  in  Canton, 
and  die  in  Liau-chow.  This  saying  has  reference,  no  doubt,  to  the  fortunate  position  of  Soo- 
chow  from  the  point  of  view  of  its  "  fung-shui."  This  fung-shui  bears  such  a  large  part  in 
Chinese  iife  that  it  is  perpetually  offering  problems  for  the  study  of  the  Westerner.  So  far  as  it 
is  possible  to  unravel  the  intricacy  of  Oriental  ideas,  fung-shui  appears  to  be  a  faint  inkling  of 
natural  science  overlaid  and  infinitely  distorted  by  superstition.     It  is  believed  that  through  the 


Asia 


47 


surface  of  the  earth  there  run  two  currents  representing  the  male  and  female  principle  in  Nature, 
the  one  known  as  the  "  Azure  Dragon  "  and  the  other  as  the  "  White  Tiger."  The  undulations  of 
the  earth's  surface  are  held  to  indicate  to  the  professors  of  fung-shui  (aided  as  they  always  are  by 
magnetic  compasses)  the  whereabouts  of  these  occult  forces.  To  obtain  a  fortunate  site,  these 
two  currents  should  be  in  conjunction,  forming,  as  it  were,  a  bent  arm  with  their  juncture  at  the 
elbow.  Within  the  angle  formed  by  this  combination  is  the  site  which  is  calculated  to  bring 
wealth  and  happiness  to  those  who  are  fortunate  enough  to  secure  it  for  l)\iililing  purposes,  or  for 
a  place  of  burial.  As  it  is  obviously  impossible  to  command  such  a  conjunction,  the  necessary 
formation  may  be  supplied  by  artificial  means.  In  a  level  country  a  bank  of  earth  and  a  grove 
of  trees  answer  all  the  purposes  of  the  "Azure  Dragon"  and  the  "  Wliite  Tiger."  Of  such  an 
origin  is  the  Tiger  Hill  at  Soo-chow.  It  is  a  monstrous  mound  of  earth,  produced  artificially 
long  years  ago  to  accommodate  the  fung-shui  of  the  spot  whereon  the  great  Ho-lu-Wang  was 
buried. 

He  is  said  to  have  founded  the  city  of  Soo-chow  in  484  a.d.,  though  there  is  great  divergence 
of  opinion  as  to  the  exact  date.  Some  authorities  put  it — at  least  that  of  the  construction  of  the 
great  Pagoda  of  Ku-su-tai,  said  to  have  been  built  by  him — as  late  as  600  a.d.  The  poetic  name 
of  the  city  is  Ku-su,  so-called  after  the  great  tower  of  nine  stories,  which  is  considered  the  finest  in 
all  this  land  of  pagodas.  Soo-chow  owes  its  beauty  to  the  fact  that,  like  Venice,  it  is  built  upon  a 
cluster  of  islands,  on  the  eastern  side  of  Lake  Tai-hu,  in  the  province  of  Kiang-su,  about  fifty  miles 
nortli-west  of  Shanghai.     The  Tai-hu  Lake  is  celebrated  for  its  size  and  beaut}',  and  it  is  dotted 


t'lwtu  by] 


WW.    WAI     I'HUA     KF.O. 


IKoU.  l<ii:  i  Co.^  liauykok. 


The    Temple    colled    ihe    Phr«    Morodop    in    (he    centre    of    the    court    ia    planned    in    the   form   o[   a   cross,    and    the    KinK    goes    there 
on    festive   occasions   to   hear  m   sermon   from    llic    Prince  Hiah-Priest. 


48 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


over  with  islands  on  which 
are  temples  and  pleasure- 
houses.  The  Grand  Canal, 
the  magnificent  artificial 
river  which  connects  the 
waterways  of  North  and 
South  China,  after  leaving 
Hang-chow,  passes  round 
the  eastern  side  of  Lake 
Tai-hu,  and  surrounds  the 
city  of  Soo-chow  before  it 
trends  north-east  through 
a  densely-populated  and 
fertile  country. 

Sanchi  Tope.  ^Hardly 
one  of  the  more  important 
sights  of  India  is  as  little 
known  to  travellers  as  the 
Sanchi  Tope,  yet  here,  on 
the  top  of  an  exquisitely 
wooded  hill  near  Bhilsa, 
within  the  territories  of 
the  Begum  of  Bhopal, 
there  are  to  be  found  not 
only  the  oldest  historical 
ruins  in  India,  but  a 
wealth  of  architectural 
carving  which  might  well 
surprise  a  man  who  has 
visited  all  the  most  famous 
of  Eastern  shrines. 

The  tradition  is  that 
immediately  after  the 
death  of  Buddha  in 
Kusinara,  two  of  the 
Master's  chief  disciples 
set  off  on  a  mission  of 
evangelization  into  South  India  and  Ceylon.  Within  a  short  time  Ceylon  seems  to  have 
established  a  regular  connection  with  the  Buddhist  region,  and  one  of  the  halting  places  of  this 
sacred  traffic  seems  to  have  been  at  Sanchi.  Perhaps  the  beauty  of  the  situation,  as  well  as  the 
convenience  of  a  common  half-way  house,  helped  to  decide  the  choice  of  the  early  missionaries. 
No  doubt  also  the  fact  that  the  great  Buddhist  Emperor,  Asoka,  found  his  first  wife  in  a 
neighbouring  village,  and  that,  in  consequence,  his  attention  was  especially  directed  to  the 
district,  accounted  for  much  of  the  religious  importance  of  Sanchi  in  later  generations.  On 
several  of  the  hills  round  Sanchi,  Buddhist  structures  have  been  found,  though  none  of  them, 
with  one  exception,  is  of  great  importance.  Asoka  paid  a  special  honour  to  Sanchi  by  lavishing 
upon  it  architectural  ornamentation  of  a  kind  that  has  been  surpassed  nowhere  else  in  India, 
and  rivalled  only  at  Bharahat. 

The  gateways  that  surround  the  central  mound  are  almost  as  perfect  to-day  as  when  they 


Photo 
Uilhin 


hy'\  \_Rohl.  Lenz  .(■  Co..  liant/kok. 

THE    WAT    PHRA    KEO. 

the    Temple    boundaries    tliere   are    a    mu'litude    of    temples,    shrines,    pagodas    and    dwellings 
for    priests,    the    whole    enclosed   within    walls    covered    with    elaborate    frescoes. 


50 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


;;---„--/"    -^ 

..^^ 

K 

^^^ 

m^ 

,    .. 

iksij 

9^H 

W      r- 

■^-^^-■v -■- ■    ■■■- 

■  -  -    ■   -^^^-^^  -^v 

'  ■  -^.s--.- 

.~^i^^^v^«aw^ 

THE    BORE    ON    THE    TSIEN-TANG    RIVER.    CHINA. 

This  great  tidal  wave  sweeps  up  the  river  from  the  sea  in  a  wall  of  water  twenty  feet  high  It  traverses  thirty-five 
to  forty  miles  in  less  than  four  hours  when  the  moon  is  at  the  full  or  change.  No  boat  or  even  large  vessel  can  live 
before    its    onslaught. 

were  first  set  up.  A  faithful  restoration  was,  indeed,  carried  out  in  1883,  but  scarcely  any  new 
material  was  needed,  and  the  central  tope  itself  is,  with  the  exception  of  a  stone  palisade  upon 
the  summit,  almost  exactly  as  it  was  left  by  Asoka  in  the  middle  of  the  third  century  B.C.  But 
the  place  was  holy  long  before  King  Asoka  bedecked  it  with  these  sculptured  portals.  The 
ashes  of  Sariputta  and  Moggalyana,  two  of  Buddha's  nearest  friends  and  comforters,  have 
been  found  buried  within  a  smaller  mound  a  few  miles  away.  The  central  tope  at  Sanchi 
then,  the  oldest  and  by  far  the  most  important  of  the  religious  buildings  of  this  district, 
has  not  yet  yielded  its  secret.  No  relic  chamber  has  as  yet  been  found  within  it,  and  the 
tradition  that  it  was  built  in  honour  of  no  other  than  Yasodhara,  Buddha's  long-deserted  wife, 
has  no  historical  basis  whatever.  This  mound,  which  is  one  hundred  and  six  feet  in  diameter, 
is  placed  upon  a  plinth  fourteen  feet  in  height  :  round  this  again  is  the  famous  railing,  of 
the  gates  of  which  illustrations  are  here  given.  The  railing  itself  is  of  a  typical  Asokan 
character.  The  stone  posts  are  about  nine  feet  six  inches  in  height,  and  the  broad  stone  rails 
between  them  are  two  feet  two  inches  long.  The  aspect  thus  given  is  rather  of  a  wall  than 
of  a  fence,  especially  as  a  heavy  stone  coping  crowns  the  entire  structure.  At  the  four 
cardinal  points  of  the  compass  there  is  an  entrance  into  this  curious  ambulatory,  which 
encircles  the  tope,  and  each  of  the  gates  would  repay  a  week's  careful  study.  That  to  the 
east  is  perhaps  the  most  famous,  though  in  point  of  richness  there  is  little  to  choose  between 
the  four  portals.  The  groups  of  elephants  which  surmount  the  heavy  square  gateposts  and 
support  the  elaborate  superstructure,  deserve  special  attention,  and  from  the  details  of  the 
carving  that  covers  every  inch,  back  and  front,  of  the  stone  beams  above,  no  small  amount 
of  our  knowledge  of  early  Buddhist  life  in  India  has  been  drawn. 


Asia 


51 


The  Wat  Phra  Keo. — The  great  Temple  of  Phra  Keo  is  intimately  bound  up  witli  the  Hfe 
and  history  of  Bangkok,  the  capital  of  Siam. 

King  Chulalok,  who  founded  the  present  dynasty,  founded  also  the  city  of  Bangkok  in  1782, 
and  three  years  later  he  inaugurated  the  building  of  the  Temple  there  with  a  grand  religious 
ceremony  "  as  a  Temple  for  the  Emerald  Buddha,  the  palladium  of  the  capital,  for  the  glory  of 
the  King,  and  as  an  especial  work  of  Royal  Piety."  The  work  of  royal  piety,  however,  stopped 
far  short  of  completing  the  whole  design,  and  only  the  library  and  chapel  were  finished.  But  King 
Chulalonkorn  ascended  the  throne,  and  it  is  recorded  that  on  Tuesday,  23rd  December,  1879, 
he  made  a  vow  to  complete  the  work,  which  was  commenced  the  next  month  and  finished, 
after  a  period  of  two  years,  three  months  and  twenty  days,  in  1882,  and  on  the  one  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  founding  of  Bangkok  the  crowning  glory  of  the  city  was  to  be  seen  in  all  its 
perfection.  The  King  defrayed  the  whole  of  the  enormous  outlay  out  of  his  private  purse. 
His  many  brothers  and  relatives  were  entrusted  with  the  different  sections  of  the  work. 
One  relaid  the  marble  pavement :  a  second  renewed  all  the  stone  inscriptions  inside  the 
Obosot  :  a  third  laid  the  brass  paving  of  the  Obosot :  a  fourth  restored  the  pearl  inlaid  work  : 
a  fifth  repaired  the  ceilings. 

Included  under  the  general  designation  of  Wat  Phra  Keo  are  various  buildings.  A  temple, 
called  Phra  Marodop,  in  the  centre,  is  planned  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  Thither  the  King 
goes  on  state  occasions  to  hear  a  sermon  from  the  Prince-High-Priest.  The  walls  of  it 
are  decorated  with  inlaid  work,  the  ceiling  is  blue  and  gold,  the  beautiful  doors  of  ebony  are 
elaboratel}'  inlaid.  Behind  this 
Chapel  Roval  is  the  great 
Phrachedee.  covered  with  gilt 
tiles,  of  which  the  effect  is 
gorgeous.  The  Obosot  shelters 
the  Emerald  Buddha,  a  very 
beautiful  figure  of  "emerald" 
green  jade,  found  at  Kiang  Hai 
in  1436,  and  brought  hither 
after  various  vicissitudes.  The 
figure  has  different  costumes, 
all  richly  ornamented  with  gold, 
for  use  at  different  seasons  of 
the  year.  Here,  too,  the  half- 
yearly  ceremony  of  drinkint; 
the  Water  of  Allegiance  is  held, 
when  the  Siamese,  tlnough  their 
representatives,  the  princes  and 
high  officers  of  state,  renew 
tiieir  oath  of  fealty  to  tiie 
King.  The  ceremony  takes 
place  on  April  ist  and  Sep- 
tember 2ist.  and  consists  in 
drinking  a  draught  of  watei 
sanctified  by  priests.  Thi> 
great  Temple  is  a  symbol  ol 
the      rule      of      the      Siamese         /'"'.>V"..,-,w,-,V'.'] 

,  X  •..    ■      v  1  xi  ANCIENT    ROCK-HEWN    SEPULCHKIi.    JERUSAL.LM. 

dynasty;   it  is  bound  up  with        .^^       „  j        ,    u    1   ■       ■  j    >         1 

•^  ■      •»•  '  "^    rolline-tlone    moved    partly    bock    into    its    cfoove.    disclose*    the    entrance     to     the 

the      progress      of      the       Civihza-  tomb,    which    is    opprooched    by    sloirs    cut    in    the    rock. 


52 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


tion  of  the  people,  and  its 
completion  marks  an  epoch  in 
Asiatic  history,  for  the  city 
founded  by  King  Chulalok  one 
hundred  and  twenty-eight  years 
ago  now  numbers  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  inhabitants. 

The  Sacred  Bull,  Mysore. — 
This  stone  Nandi,  or  Sacred 
15ull  of  Shiva,  on  a  low  hill 
near  the  city  of  Mysore,  is  one 
i)f  the  finest  Nandis  in  India. 
There  is  a  similar  figure  at 
Tanjore,  carved  in  one  block 
of  granite,  which  is  rendered 
the  more  remarkable  by  the 
fact  that  the  nearest  super- 
ficial formations  of  granite  are 
hundreds  of  miles  distant. 
Mysore  city  lies  at  the  foot  of 
the  Chamundi  Hill,  an  isolated 
peak  rising  fifteen  hundred  feet 
sheer  from  the  plain.  The 
Brahmin,  not  content  with  his 
million  gods,  reveres  animals, 
and  among  them  the  bull  and 
the  cow  are  pre-eminently 
holy.  Sacred  cows  block  up 
his  temples,  bulls  freely  roam 
his  streets.  To  buy  fodder  and  give  it  to  them  is  a  meritorious  act  :  to  let  them  eat  of  the 
grain  exposed  for  sale  outside,  and  even  inside  your  shop,  is  counted  to  the  unhappy  grain- 
seller  for  righteousness,  though  of  late  years  a  pirate  bull  is  apt  to  receive  a  smart  but 
surreptitious  slap  on  the  nose  if  he  continues  his  depredations  too  long.  The  Nandi,  or 
image  of  the  bull,  is  especially  Shiva's  emblem.  It  is  the  companion  emblem  of  the  lingam, 
and  is  to  be  found  in  the  same  recumbent  form  wherever  the  God  of  Life  and  Death  is  wor- 
shipped in  India. 

The  Bore  at  Hang-ch(no. — The  Bore  is  found  in  miniature  in  at  least  six  rivers  of  the 
British  Isles.  There  are  also  two  or  three  estuaries  in  France  where  it  occurs,  and  is  known  as 
the  Mascaret ;  but  it  is  only  seen  in  all  its  grandeur  at  the  mouths  of  the  Amazon  in  South 
America  and  of  the  Tsien-tang  river  in  China.  According  to  Vice-Admiral  Osborne  Moore,  R.N.. 
who  has  made  a  special  study  of  the  subject,  "  the  conditions  necessary  to  produce  a  perfect 
bore  are  (i)  a  swiftly  flowing  river  ;  (2)  an  extensive  bar  of  sand,  dry  at  low  water,  except  in 
certain  narrow  channels  kept  open  by  the  outgoing  stream  ;  (3)  the  estuary  into  which  the  river 
discharges  must  be  funnel-shaped  with  a  wide  mouth,  open  to  receive  the  tidal  wave  from  the 
ocean.  When  any  one  of  these  conditions  is  absent,  the  bore  is  not  known.  Thus,  in  the 
Thames,  although  the  third  condition  is  present,  the  first  and  second  are  absent  :  for  the  stream 
is  not  swift,  and  there  is  no  dry  bar  at  low  water.  In  the  Severn  all  three  conditions  are  present, 
and  there  is  a  bore,  not  a  very  large  one,  but  the  highest  in  these  islands.  The  bore  of  the 
Tsien-tang  river  in  China  has  the  three   conditions  developed.     The  estuary  into  which  the  river 


From  tStereo  copyriy/it} 


THE    ROLLING  SI  0.\E. 

TKis  view,  taken  from  above,  sliows  the  manner  ir 
serves  its  purpose  of  opening  and  closing  trie  tomb, 
standing    with    her    back    to    the    entrance 


which     the 
The    girl 


rolling-stone 
may     be    seen 


THE     BUKMNG     CH  A  1 .1.     ilKNAKES. 
After    hnvinK     bcrn     dipped     in     t'lc     sncrrd    Gansea,     the     morinl     remain*    of     llic     Hindu    dead    ore    very    tenderly    placed 
upon    the    prepared    fire.        Two    or    three    loss    are    ihrn    put    lonEiludinalty    upan    the    csrpae.    the    aacred    nre    it    applied,    and 
within    half    an    hour    the    flaked    cinders    arc    let    adrift    upon    the    boiom    of    the    broad,    placid    river 


54 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


.-^^f/       '**J^:- 


Cojjyrijhi  plt<ilo  ^</] 


III.  a.l''jiUlnil,  f.Ji.U..-i. 


CAVE  TEMPLES  AT  ELEPHANTA. 

This    is    the    entrance    to    the    principal    Cave    Temple    on    the    island    of    Elephanla,    Bombay.        These    Hindu    temples    date 
from    about    the    10th    century,    and    are    chiselled    from    the    living    rock    of    the    island, 

falls  has  a  vast  area  of  sand  at  its  head,  and  is  favourably  situated  for  the  reception  of  the 
tidal  wave  from  the  Pacific.  The  range  of  the  tide  immediately  outside  the  Hang-chow  gulf  is 
twelve  feet ;  but  as  the  wave  becomes  compressed  on  advancing  towards  its  head,  it  is  as  much 
as  twenty-five  feet  in  height  at  ordinary  spring  tides,  and  thirty-four  feet  when  the  wind  is 
blowing  on  shore  and  the  moon  in  perigee  at  the  time  of  full  and  change.  ...  In  crossing  the 
bar,  first,  of  course,  through  the  narrow  river  channels,  the  flood  meets  with  the  swift  outgoing 
stream,  which  trips  up  its  foot  and  causes  an  overfall ;  then,  as  more  rushes  of  water  overlie  the 
first  of  the  flood,  the  inequality  of  level  becomes  greater  until  the  water  rises  to  a  bore, 
which  advances,  with  increasing  velocity  but  great  regularity  of  front,  towards  the  mouth  of  the 
Tsien-tang.  .  .  .  The  bore  maintains  its  breadth,  height,  and  speed  for  twelve  or  fifteen  miles 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Tsien-tang.  As  the  bed  of  the  river  slopes  gradually  up  from  Haining 
to  Hang-chow,  the  range  of  the  tide,  and  consequently  the  height  of  the  bore,  decreases  from 
about  twenty  to  six  feet.     It  usually  then  breaks  up." 

The  speed  of  this  bore  is  estimated  at  about  fifteen  miles  an  hour.  It  flies  up  the  river  at 
the  pace  of  a  galloping  horse,  its  front  is  a  gleaming  cascade  of  foam,  a  wall  of  agitated  water 
ten  to  twelve  feet  high,  pounding  along  upon  itself,  and  roaring  up  the  sandy  flats  at  the  river 
side.  On  a  calm,  still  night  it  can  be  heard  fifteen  miles  away,  a  fuU  hour  before  it  passes  with 
a  roar  like  the  rapids  of  Niagara.  This  devastating  waU  of  water  sweeps  the  channel  every 
low  tide,  but  in  calm  weather,  and  at  neap  tides,  it  is  only  two  or  three  feet  high.  It  is  at 
spring  tides,  when  the  moon  is  at  the  full,  that  it  arrives  in  all  its  force.  The  life  of  this  bore 
is  three  or  four  hours  from  the  time  it  forms  in    the  bav  to  the  time  when    it  dies  above  the 


Asia 


00 


city  of  Hang-chow,  and  it  travels  about  forty  miles  in  the  time.  Opposite  the  city  it  is  quite 
innocuous  for  fifteen  or  twenty  days  a  month. 

At  Haining  it  is  always  dangerous  for  boats,  and  at  spring  tides  no  ship  could  live  before  it. 

The  Bhota  Pagoda  is  the  best  spot  at  which  to  watch  the  bore  enter  the  river. 

This  pagoda  is  said  to  be  over  one  thousand  years  old ;  it  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet 
high,  he.xagonal,  and  has  six  stories.  The  native  version  of  the  building  of  the  pagoda  and 
explanation  of  the  bore  are  as  follows  :  Many  hundred  years  ago  there  was  a  certain  general 
who  had  obtained  many  victories  over  the  enemies  of  the  emperor.  But  being  constantly 
successful  and  deservedly  popular  among  the  people,  he  at  last  e.xcited  the  jealousy  of  his  sovereign. 
The  emperor  therefore  caused  him  to  be  assassinated  and  thrown  into  the  Tsien-tang,  when  his 
spirit  conceived  the  idea  of  revenging  itself  for  the  ingratitude  by  bringing  the  tide  in  from  the 
ocean  in  such  force  as  to  overwhelm  the  city  of  Hang-chow,  then  the  capital  of  the  empire.  The 
spirit  flooded  a  large  part  of  the  country,  and  the  alarmed  emperor  failed  to  appease  it  until  he 
had  built  a  handsome  pagoda  upon  the  sea-wall  at  the  spot  where  the  worst  breach  in  the  defences 
had  been  made  by  the  waters.  We  may  presume  that  mending  the  breach,  too,  had  some  influence 
also  in  ensuring  the  better  behaviour  of  the  resentful  general. 

The  Tombs  of  the  Kings,  /erasalem.—The  name  given  these  tombs  by  tradition  is  apparently 
not  sanctioned  by  authority,  for  no  Kings  of  Judah  were  buried  here.  The  place  is  known  to 
the  Jews  as  the  "  Gorged  Dog  "  (Kalba  Shebna),  from  the  legend  that  a  rich  Jew  once  lived 
here  who  fed  all  the  dogs  of  the  city  during  the  last  siege  of  Jerusalem — the  story  is  referred  to 
in  the  Talmud.  It  hes  three-quarters  of  a  mile  distant  from  the  Damascus  Gate,  and  is 
composed  of  several  sepulchral  chambers  containing  sarcophagi,  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock. 
These  chambers  vary  in  size  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  square. 

The  largest  is  entered  by  a  portico  with  columns  and  pilasters  in  the  Doric  style,  but  the 
architecture  proves  it  to  be  not  later  than  the  Roman  period.     There  is  a  descent,  by  rock-cut 


I'hoto  byl 


IJohiulon  it-  lltt^mt'i 


TEMPLE    OF    SHIVA.     ELEF'HANTA- 


The   subterranean   Imll   of   this   lemplc   if    1  30   feci   »quare,    and   the   roof   is   upheld   by    26    massive   pillars        Much   of   the   damase 
it   has   suffered   is   said   to    be   the   work   of    Portuguese   iconoclasts 


56 


The  Wonders   of  the  World 


stairs,  to  a  large  rectangular 
chamber  excavated  in  the  solid 
stone  to  a  depth  of  twenty  feet. 
The  entrance  is  guarded  by  the 
curious  rolling-stone  shown  in 
our  illustration.  In  shape  it  is 
something  like  a  mill-stone, 
and  it  can  be  made  to  roll 
backwards  and  forwards  along 
a  deep  groove  hollowed  in  the 
rock  outside,  thus  concealing 
or  revealing  the  opening  into 
the  tomb.  This  ancient  form 
of  construction  throws  some 
light  upon  the  reference  in  the 
New  Testament  to  the  need  for 
rolling  away  the  stone  from 
the  door  of  the  sepulchre 
wherein  Christ  was  buried. 

The  Burning  Ghats,  Be- 
nares.— Few  visitors  to  Benares 
fail  to  make  a  visit  to  the 
famous  Burning  Ghats  by  the 
side  of  the  sacred  river  Ganges. 
There  are  few  things  that 
seem  on  the  face  of  them  to 
be  more  repulsive  ;  in  reality 
there  are  few  that  are  more 
simple  and  more  significant. 
Very  tenderly  the  mortal  remains  of  the  dead,  after  having  been  baptized  in  the  waters  of  the 
Ganges,  are  placed  upon  the  prepared  pyre.  Two  or  three  logs  are  then  placed  longitudi- 
nally upon  the  corpse,  so  as  to  conceal  the  unbeautiful  process  of  cremation  from  the  eyes  of 
the  curious.  One  of  the  special  caste  which  alone  may  fulfil  the  offices,  draws  near  and  apphes 
the  sacred  fire.  The  flame  licks  upwards  through  the  logs,  and  in  twenty  minutes  or  half  an  hour 
all  is  over,  and  from  among  the  white,  charred  ashes  of  the  wood  the  flaked  cinders  of  what 
was  once  a  human  being  are  set  adrift  upon  the  bosom  of  the  broad,  placid  river.  Thus, 
as  the  Hindus  most  faithfully  believe,  will  the  spirit  that  once  occupied  the  mortal  frame 
attain  certain  peace. 

Benares  is  the  most  sacred  city  in  India.  It  is  to  Hinduism  what  Lhasa  is  to  the  northern 
Buddhist,  and  what  Mecca  is  to  the  followers  of  Mohammed.  Moreover,  it  is  not  only  the 
white-hot  centre  of  the  fanaticism  that  clings  round  the  worship  of  Shiva,  but  it  is  one  of  the 
oldest  universities  that  the  world  possesses. 

The  god  Shiva  has  perhaps  a  stronger  hold  upon  the  mind  of  Hindus  than  anything  else 
within  their  lives.  Sir  Alfred  Lyall  well  sums  up  the  nature  of  the  worship  of  Shiva  in  the 
following  words  : 

"  Shiva  represents  what  I  have  taken  to  be  the  earliest  and  universal  impression  of  Nature 
upon  men — the  impression  of  endless  and  pitiless  change.  He  is  the  destroyer  and  rebuilder 
of  various  forms  of  life  ;  he  has  charge  of  the  whole  circle  of  animated  creation,  the  incessant 
round  of  birth  and  death  in  which  all  Nature  eternally  revolves.     His.  attributes  are  indicated 


Pluilo  hy'] 


[Bourne  <{■  ."^Ifplterd. 


IN    THE    TEMPLE    OF    SHiVA. 

und    ihe    walls   are    Rroups    of    colossal    fisrures. 


ELEPHANTA. 

twelve    to    twenty    feet    high 


58 


The   Wonders   of  the   World 


by  symbols  emblematic  of  death  and  of  man's  desire  ;  he  presides  over  the  ebb  and  flow  of  sentient 
existence.  In  Shiva  we  have  the  condensation  of  the  two  primordial  agencies  :  the  striving  to  live 
and  the  forces  that  kill ;  and  thus,  philosophically  speaking,  we  see  in  this  great  divinity  a 
comprehensive  transfiguration  of  that  idea  which,  as  I  repeat,  I  hold  to  be  the  root  of  Natural 
Religion.  He  exhibits  by  images,  emblems,  and  allegorical  carvings  the  whole  course  and  revolution 
of  Nature,  the  inexorable  law  of  the  alternate  triumph  of  life  and  death — Mors  Janiia  Vitce — the 
unending  circle  of  indestructible  animation." 

And  of  this  grim  deity  Benares  is  the  chosen  home. 

The  Caves  of  Elephania,  ^omfojy.  — The  island  of  Elephanta  lies  six  miles  out  across  the 
water  from  Bombay.  It  is  a  conical  hill  six  hundred  feet  high,  for  the  most  part  covered  with 
coarse  vegetation,  and  instead  of  beaches  there  are  mangrove  swamps  which  creep  up  to 
the  very  side  of  the  slippery  concrete  blocks  on  which  visitors  step  ashore. 

A  long  flight  of  steps  leads  up  to  the  caves,  which  date  from  the  tenth  century,  and  are 
witnesses  to  the  skill  of  the  chisels  of  the  early  inhabitants  of  the  harbour.  The  island  is  sacred 
to  Shiva,  who  is  largely  represented  in  the  decorations.  The  temple  to  Shiva-linga  is  one 
hundred  and  thirty  feet  square  ;  the  roof  is  upheld  by  twenty-six  massive  fluted  pillars  and 
sixteen  pilasters.  Round  the  walls  are  groups  of  figures,  twelve  to  twenty  feet  high,  carved  out 
of  the  solid  rock,  as,  of  course,  is  the  whole  building.  In  past  years  these  caves  have  been 
considerably  damaged  by  the  Portuguese,  but  they  still  remain    to  testify  to   the    splendour  and 

spaciousness  of  Hindu  archi- 
tecture in  the  early  centuries 
of  our  era. 

The  Toaa  Rock,  Mount 
Abu. — Mount  Abu  is  a  popular 
hot-weather  resort,  and  there 
are  a  number  of  private 
houses  and  bungalows  on  the 
outskirts  which  cluster  round 
the  shores  of  the  Gem  Lake. 
The  Lake  is  dotted  with  little 
toy  islands  that  are  reflected 
in  the  still  water,  while  over 
all  hangs  a  curious  natural 
rock  that  looks  like  a  gigantic 
toad  about  to  spring  into  the 
water.  It  has  the  squat  out- 
line and  the  heavy  slothful  air 
of  its  hideous  prototype.  Its 
dun-coloured  mass  throws  a 
dark  and  sinister  shadow  upon 
the  sparkling  water  in  the 
brightest  of  mountain  sun- 
shine. The  heights  of  Mount 
Abu  are  so  broken  up  that 
practicable  roads  are  few ;  it 
is  mostly  traversed  by  foot- 
paths   that     wind    their    way 


STONE    IMAGES    OF    THE    -500    DISCIPLES' 


OF    BUDDHA. 


Go-Kyaku    Rahan,    or    the    "  500     Disciples."    were    the    Arya,  or    Holy    Men,    who 
were    O    Shaka    Sama's     immediate    disciples.        The    most    f^mDUs    company    of    these 
effigies  is    that    at    the    Temple    of    Seikenji,    near    Okitsu.    Japan 


among  the    scattered  boulders 


and     masses    of     rock. 


The 


Asia 


59 


I'/ioto  tju] 

THE    BEAUTIFUL    GORGE    OF    THE    YANGTSE    KIANG. 

The    ^angtsc    Kiang    is    the    chief    river   of    China,    and    is   one   of    the   longest    and    noblest    in    the    World. 

as   about    5S4.000    square   miles 


[./.  Thnmstin,  Eiq.,  t.li.CS. 
Its    area   is   calculated 


Toad  Rock  was  tossed  into  its  position  by  the  hand  of  some  primeval  giant  long  ages  ago, 
and  now  sits  looking  darkly  down  into  the  green  heart  of  the  little  lake  that  men  have  made 
at  its  feet. 

Images  of  the  Rahan,  or  Disciples  of  Buddha. — These  holy  men  provide  one  of  the 
favourite  subjects  of  Buddliist  art.  They  figure  in  the  sacred  paintings  ;  their  images  are  placed 
within  the  temples,  and  groups  of  statuary  out  of  doors  representing  these  earliest  disciples  are 
frequently  found.  This  band  of  disciples  was  gathered  round  him  by  the  Master  when  after  long 
wanderings  and  much  self-mortification  the  truth  of  his  Buddhahood  had  been  revealed  to  him 
beneath  the  Bo-tree  near  Gaya.  Inspired  by  a  Divine  call  to  teach  to  his  suffering  and  deluded 
fellow-men  the  way  to  attain  peace,  he  hastened  to  the  Deer  Forest  near  Benares,  where  his  late 
pupils  lived  He  had  disappointed  them  when  he  had  given  up  in  despair  tiie  life  of  relentless 
self-mortification  he  had  been  practising  in  their  company  ;  but  he  knew  tiiat  by  that  road  alone 
the  truth  could  not  be  found.  He  found  them  in  the  Deer  Forest,  and.  it  is  said,  preached  to  them 
with  the  greatest  earnestness  and  eloquence  for  five  days,  when  they  became  convinced  of  the 
truth  of  his  revelation  of  the  Way  of  Perfection  and  gladly  embraced  the  new  faith. 

These  men  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  band  of  five  hundred  disciples.  Here  in  the  Deer  Forest 
many  eager  hearers  gathered  round  him,  till  his  personal  followers  soon  numbered  three-score. 
After  due  instruction  he  sent  them  forth  on  preaching  expeditions.  To  the  newly-formed  Sangha, 
or  Society  of  Mendicants,  he  gave  a  regular  organization  and  the  most  minute  rules  for  the  conduct 


6o 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


of  those  who  entered  it.  They  were  permitted  to  eat  no  sohd  between  sunrise  and  noon  :  they 
might  drink  no  intoxicating  liquor  :  they  were  to  beg  their  food  in  a  begging  bowl  from  house  to 
house  without  distinction  of  rich  or  poor.  Their  dwelling,  wherever  possible,  was  rather  to  be  in 
a  grove  or  forest  than  in  the  houses  of  those  to  whom  they  were  sent.  Their  heads  were  to  be 
shaven.  Such  a  monk  might  possess  but  eight  articles  :  his  three  robes,  a  girdle,  an  alms- 
bowl,  a  razor,  a  needle,  and  a  water-strainer— this  last  in  order  that  by  no  accident  should  he 
swallow  any  living  thing  as  he  drank. 

The  effigies  of  these  first  Rahan  are  set  up  as  ensamples  of  right  living  and  right  thinking  to 
their  weaker  brethren  of  to-day.  In  many  a  Buddhist  centre  we  may  see  them,  with  their  grave 
faces,  their  high,  shaven  foreheads,  their  emaciated  limbs,  their  scanty  covering.  In  Japan,  the 
most  famous  company  of  these  holy  men  is  perhaps  to  be  seen  at  the  great  Buddhist  Temple  of 
Seikenji,  near  Okitsu,  which  is  the  subject  of  the  illustration. 

Gorge  on  the  Yangtse  Kiang. — The  immense  waterway  of  the  Yangtse  Kiang  rises  in  tlie 
mountains  of  Tibet,  follows  a  course  of  something  like  three  thousand  miles  through    fertile  and 


I  **   "-f  ^*  ^Ti  T'-'   ,  .-    »--*  '71^  t*'-^  'l"»*  ^^  ^^  Tir  ^    ■ 


'">•'"» ''."]  iJ.  Thoimoi,.  &./.,  F.n.a.s. 

THE    ALTAR    OF    HEAVEN 

The  altar  is  open  to  the  sky  on  the  summit  of  three  terraces,  the  topmost  beins  paved  with  stones  laid  in  nine  concentric 
circles.  The  Emperor  repairs  here  once  a  year,  in  winter,  to  adore  "' the  Azure  Heaven"  with  solemn  ritual.  The  Emperor 
claims    to    represent    Man    in    the    Divine    Trinity    with    Heaven    and    Earth. 

densely  populated  territory,  and  empties  itself  into  an  estuary  on  the  Chinese  shore  of  the  Yellow 
Sea.  It  is  the  chief  river  of  China,  and  one  of  the  longest  and  noblest  in  the  world.  Its  basin, 
of  which  the  area  is  calculated  as  about  five  hundred  and  eighty-four  thousand  square  miles,  includes 
the  greater  part  of  China  proper.  At  the  juncture  of  its  two  main  affluents,  where  it  is  already  a 
formidable  torrent  and  barely  fordable  even  at  low  water,  its  height  above  the  sea  level  is 
estimated  as  thirteen  thousand  feet.  From  this  great  height  it  hurls  itself  down  through  leagues 
of  wild  and  forest-grown  country  and  through  barren  mountain  passes,  tumbling  over  rapids  and 
tearing  through  the  narrow  channels  of  its  bed.  Soon,  however,  the  steep  descent  yields  to  a  flat 
tableland,  and  as  the  gradient  ceases  the  long,  quiet  journey  is  made,  among  the  shifting  sand- 
banks, to  Hang-kow.  Here  it  flows  so  placidly  and  mildly  that  the  incoming  tide  ripples  up  its 
bosom  full  two  hundred  miles  from  its  mouth. 

By  far  the  most  beautiful  scenery  along  its  course,  if  we  except  the  inaccessible  wilds  of  Tibet, 
which  are  forbidden  land,  is  found  among  the  mountain  gorges  above  I-chang.  Here  the 
mountain  spurs  thrust  themselves  down  to  the  bed  of  the  river,  at  times  forcing  the  mass    of  the 


.  i'onltn-j,  I'.li.ii. 


THE    TEMPLE    OF    HEAX  E\.     PEKING 

\X  ithin  ihc  icmpic  enclosure  ore  several  fine  huildinns.  Amons  these  are  the  Chnmber  of  Imperiil  Heaven,  where  the  Emperor 
repairs  to  worship  "the  Supreme  Ruler"  and  his  ancestors,  and  the  Hall  of  Abstinence,  where  he  retires  lor  fastins  and  visil  durinK 
the    cumbersome    ceremonies    in    which    he    takes   pan.    according   to   a   ritual   cider    than    any   olher    now   in    use    in    the   world. 


62 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


moving  current  into  so  narrow 
a  channel  that  it  becomes  a 
boiling"^  torrent  of  foaming 
water.  Then,  again,  the  moun- 
tains seem  to  stand  back  as 
though  to  observe  their  handi- 
work, and  the  tortured  river 
spreads  itself  out  into  wide, 
peaceful  pools,  wherein  the 
exquisite  scenery'  is  reflected. 

The  Temple  of  Heaven, 
Peking. — This  is  a  remarkable 
building  in  itself,  but  to  West- 
ern ideas  it  is  yet  more  re- 
markable for  the  fact  that  it 
is  bound  up  with  the  claim  to 
divinity  of  a  human  being.  The 
Emperor  of  China  does  not 
claim  to  be  King  by  Divine 
Right,  he  claims  to  be  Divine, 
and,  therefore.  King.  In  the 
Chinese  religion  there  is  a 
Divine  Trinity — Heaven,  Earth 
and  Man — of  which  the  Em- 
peror represents  the  third. 
"  The  Emperor,"  says  Profes- 
sor Douglas,  "  is  the  possessor 
of  a  power  limited  onlv  by  the 
endurance  of  the  people,  the 
object  of  profound  reverence 
and  worship  by  his  subjects, 
and  the  holder  of  the  lives 
of  '  all  under  Heaven.'  As  pos- 
sessor of  the  Divine  authority, 
he  holds  himself  superior  to 
all  who  are  called  gods,  and  takes  upon  himself  to  grant  titles  of  honour  to  deities,  and  to 
promote  them  in  the  sacred  hierarchy.  He  alone  is  entitled  to  worship  the  azure  heaven,  and 
at  the  winter  solstice  he  performs  this  rite  after  careful  preparation  and  with  solemn  ritual.  The 
Temple  of  Heaven,  where  this  august  ceremony  is  performed,  stands  in  the  southern  portion 
of  the  city  of  Peking,  and  consists  of  a  triple  circular  terrace,  two  hundred  and  ten  feet 
wide  at  the  base,  and  ninety  feet  at  the  top.  The  marble  stones  forming  the  pavement 
of  the  highest  terrace  are  laid  in  nine  concentric  circles.  On  the  centre  stone,  which  is 
a  perfect  circle,  the  Emperor  kneels  facing  the  north,  and  acknowledges  in  prayer  and  by 
his  position  that  he  is  inferior  to  Heaven  and  to  Heaven  alone.  Round  him  on  the  pa\'e- 
ment  are  the  nine  circles  of  as  many  heavens,  consisting  of  nine  stones,  then  of  eighteen, 
then  twenty-seven,  and  so  on  in  successive  multiples  of  nine  until  the  square  of  nine,  the  favourite 
number  of  Chinese  philosophy,  is  reached  in  the  outermost  circle  of  eighty-one  stones  *  On  the 
evening  before  the  winter  solstice  the  Emperor  is  borne  in  a  carriage  drawn  by  elephants  to  the 

*  Williamson.      "Journey  in  North  China.'' 


THE    ROSE-RED    ROCKS    OF    PETRA 

The  approach  to  Pelra  from  the  east  is  by  a  narrow  defile,  known  as  "the  Sik  " 
Located  in  this  canyon-like  and  narrow  Sik  is  the  wonderful  temple  of  El  Khasneh, 
cut    out    of    the    rose-red    rock    in    Graeco-Roman    architecture. 


Asia  63 

mystic  precincts  of  the  Temple,  whence  after  offering  incense  to  Shangti,  the  Supreme  Ruler,  and 
to  his  ancestors,  he  proceeds  to  the  hall  of  penitential  fasting.     There  he  remains  till  5.45  a.m., 
when,  dressed  in  his  sacrificial  robes,  he  ascends  the  second  terrace.     This  is  the  signal  for  setting 
fire    to    the  whole  burnt  sacrifice,  which  consists  of   a  bullock  of  two  years  old  without  blemish. 
The  Supreme  Ruler  having  been  thus  invoked,  the  Emperor  goes  up  to  the  highest  terrace,  and 
offers  incense  before  the  sacred  shrine,  and  that  of  his  ancestors.     At  the  same  time,  after  havmg 
knelt  thrice  and  prostrated  himself  nine  times,  he  offers  bundles  of  silk,  jade  cups,  and  other  gifts 
in  lowly  sacrifice.     A  prayer  is  then  read  by  an  attendant  minister.      One  solemn  rite  has  still  to 
be    performed   before    the 
sacrificial  service  is    com- 
plete.   While  the  Emperor 
remains     on     his     knees, 
officers  appointed  for   the 
purpose    present     to    him 
'  the    flesh   of    happiness  ' 
and  the  '  cup  of  happiness. ' 
Thrice  he  prostrates  him- 
self before  the  sacred  em- 
blems   and    then    receives 
them  with    solemn    rever- 
ence.       By    this     solemn 
sacrifice  the   Emperor  as- 
sumes  the  office  of  Vice- 
Regent    of    Heaven,     and 
by     common     consent    is 
acknowledged       the       co- 
ordinate   of    Heaven    and 
Earth,    and  the  represen- 
tative   of    Man      in      the 
Trinity    of     which     these 
two  powers  form  the  other 
persons." 

The  whole  Temple  of 
Heaven  is  contained  in  an 
open  space  about  a  milr 
square,  within  a  triple  en- 
closure, which  is,  or  was. 
used  to  secure  the  animals 
intended  for  sacrifices.  Ti  > 
the  south  is  the  very 
sacred  structure  of  terraces 
on  the  summit  of  which  i 
the  altar,  open  to  the  sky. 
The  northern  structure, 
which  is  more  of  a  temple 
proper,  is  roofed,  but  not 
enclosed,  by  walls.  The 
main  roof  is  supported 
by  four  columns,   and  tlie 


liL    kHASNF.H.    OR      -THE    TREASURY 

The     wonderful     rocU-iicwn     temple     of     El     Kho.neh     U    ■■ 
erecled    by    the    E nperor    Hodrlnn    when    he   vi.ited    Pelra    in    131 

The    Bedouin    Arobl    believe     il     contain, 
temple   tdUes   it»    name. 


treaiure    ol 


OF     PHARAOH" 

temple    ol     l»i«.    and    waa    probably 

A.D 

Phnrnoh."    and     from     this    fad    iKc 


64 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


two  lower  roofs  round  if  by 
twenty-four  shorter  columns,  the 
whole  being  richly  gilt  and 
sculptured. 

El  Khasneh.  The  Treasury;  of 
Pharaoh. — This  is  the  crowning 
gem  in  the  collection  of  rock- 
built  tombs  and  temples  in  the 
\-alley  of  the  Wady  Musa,  where 
was  the  ancient  Nabataean  town 
of  Petra.  This  rocky  and  almost 
inaccessible  valley  is  situated  in 
the  mountains  between  the  Dead 
Sea  and  the  Gulf  of  Akaba.  El 
Khasneh  is  a  Temple  of  Isis, 
and  was  probably  erected  by  the 
Emperor  Hadrian  when  he  visited 
Petra  in  131  a.d.  The  building 
owes  much  of  its  wonderful 
beauty  to  the  rose  colour  of  the 
living  rock  from  which  it  is 
liewn.  For,  with  the  exception 
of  the  two  central  columns  of 
the  portico,  the  entire  edifice 
is  fashioned  from  the  rock  of 
the  hillside. 

The  fa9ade  of  the  "  treasury  " 
has  two  stories  and  is  sixty- 
five  feet  high.  The  handsome 
portico  of  the  lower  story  is  supported  upon  si.x  massive  Corinthian  columns.  All  the  capitals, 
cornices,  and  the  pediment  are  of  fine  workmanship.  Above  the  pediment,  the  symbol  of  Isis,  a 
solar  disc  between  two  horns,  can  be  distinctly  traced.  At  either  corner  are  sphinxes.  Columns 
in  the  same  style  adorn  the  upper  story  also,  and  in  the  centre,  interrupting  the  pediment  in  a 
curious  manner,  is  a  large  and  deep  recess.  Within  this  is  poised  a  kind  of  cylinder,  or  circular 
lantern,  and  upon  the  pointed,  conical  top  of  this  rests  an  urn,  within  which,  as  the  Bedouin  Arabs 
believe,  is  deposited  the  "  treasure  of  Pharaoh,"  whence  the  building  takes  its  name.  No  doubt 
some  object  of  great  veneration  or  of  mythical  value  was  contained  in  this  strange  receptacle  when 
the  Temple  was  originally  built,  but  there  is  now  no  trace  of  it  left,  however  slight,  by  which  to 
determine  its  nature.  In  front  of  it,  standing  between  two  columns,  stands  Isis,  holding  in  her 
hand  the  horn  of  plenty.  The  figure  of  the  goddess  is  unfortunately  much  damaged.  She  is 
supported  on  the  right  and  left  by  attendant  figures  popularly  supposed  to  be  Amazons. 

The  interior  of  the  Temple  is  reached  by  a  richly-decorated  door  beneath  the  principal  portico. 
The  chief  hall  is  of  large  dimensions,  and  is  absolutely  devoid  of  ornament.  The  pale  rose- 
coloured  walls  with  their  delicate  veinings  rise  in  austere  plainness  from  the  smooth  pavement 
under-foot.  The  light  is  dim,  the  echoes  are  loud,  the  place  has  just  that  air  of  mystery  which 
to  this  day  often  clothes  an  Eastern  shrine  with  legend  and  romance.  There  are  three  smaller 
chambers  grouped  round  it,  all  as  plain  and  unadorned  as  the  central  hall.  The  whole,  as  we  have 
said,  is  carved  from  the  ruddy  sandstone  rock  of  this  wild  hillside,  and  offers  to  the  student,  the 
artist,  or  the  traveller  one  of  the  strangest  and  most   beautiful  works  of  architecture  in  all  Syria. 


r/iolo  hu]  [Airi'^rirati    I'ol'irit/,   J'TUsnlem. 

Entrance    to   the    rose-red    rocli-hewn    temple    of    El    Khasneh,    Petra. 


L'opyriijlU  I'hoto  ol] 
This    is    tKe    actual    nnausolcuin 


[//.  *;.  i\.unn.j,  r.lij;..- 


THE    TOMB    OF    AKBAR.    SIKAXDRA. 

pyramidal    building    of    four    stories         The    three    lower    ones    are    of    red    sandstone,    in 
elaborate    arcades.       The    topmost    is    of    dazzling    white    marble. 


CHAPTER    III. 

/>'-/  />'.   L.  PrrXAM    ]VKALE. 


Akbar's  Tomb,  Sikandra. — Akbar. 
the  great  Moghul  emperor,  died  in 
1605,  at  the  age  of  sixty-two.  He 
was  a  contemporary  of  Queen  Ehza- 
beth,  and  the  splendour  of  his  reign 
equalled,  if  it  did  not  excel,  that 
magnificent  period  of  English  history 
when  the  world  was  ringing  with 
English  doings.  During  his  lifetime 
Akbar  built  himself  a  magnificent 
tomb  at  Sikandra.  a  suburb  of  Agra, 
his  capital.  In  doing  this  he  was 
only  following  the  example  of  many 
Eastern  potentates  ;  but  the  building 
he  erected  is,  as  Fergusson,  the 
highest  authority  on  Oriental  archi- 
tecture, says,  "  quite  unlike  any  other 
tomb  built  in  India  either  before  or 
since,  and  of  a  design  borrowed,  as  1 
believ-e.  from  a  Hindu,  or  more  cor- 
rectly a  Buddhist  model.  It  stands 
in  an  extensive  garden,  still  kept 
up,  approached  by  a  noble  gateway. 
In  the  centre  of  the  garden,  on  a 
raised  platform,  stands  the  tomb  it 
self,  of  pvramidal  form.  The  Iowli 
story  measures  tiiirty  feet  in  height. 
pierced  by  ten  great  arches  on  each 
face,  and  with  a  larger  entrance, 
adorned  with  a  mosaic  of  marble,  in 


THE     BEAUTIFUL    ENTRANCE    GATE     lO    .VKBAR'S    TOMB. 

1  he  Kmperor's  tomb  is  in  a  luxuriant  Rnrden-  I  he  sale  that  leads  to  the 
enclosure  is  imposing  both  from  its  size  and  Roudiness.  It  is  of  red  sandstone. 
sUilfully   inloid    with    white  and   coloured    marble. 

G 


66 


The   Wonders   of  the   World 


the  centre.  On  this  terrace 
stands  another  stone  far  more 
ornate  ;  a  third  and  fourth 
story  of  similar  design  stand 
on  this,  all  these  being  of  red 
sandstone.  Within  and  above 
the  last  is  a  white  marble  en- 
closure one  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  feet  each  way.  or  exter- 
nally just  half  the  length  of 
the  lowest  terrace,  its  outer 
wall  composed  entirely  of 
marble  trellis-work  of  the  most 
beautiful  patterns.  Inside  it  is 
surrounded  by  a  colonnade  or 
cloister  of  the  same  material ; 
in  the  centre  of  which  on  a 
raised  platform  is  the  tomb- 
stone of  the  founder,  a  splendid 
piece  of  most  beautiful  ara- 
besque tracery.  This,  however, 
is  not  the  true  burial  place  ; 
the  mortal  remains  of  this 
great  king  repose  under  a  far 
plainer  tombstone  in  a  vaulted 
chamber  in  the  basement,  ex- 
actly under  the  simulated  tomb 
that  adorns  the  summit  of  the 
mausoleum." 

The  Moghul  princes  made 
their  sepulchres  places  of  gaiet)'' 
and  amusement  ;  so  long  as 
the  founder  lived  his  tomb  was 
a  rendezvous  for  his  friends 
and  a  festive  place  of  retreat. 
When  once  the  place  had  been 

consecrated  by  the  interment  therein  of  its  founder,  it  immediately  ceased  to  be  used  as  a  place 

of  festivity. 

The  sarcophagus  of  Akbar  is  inscribed  on  one  side  "  All.\hu  Akb.\r  "  ("  God  is  greatest  ")  and 

on  the  other  "  J.\lla  J.\lalahu  "  ("  May  His  glory  shine  ").      This  story  on   the  summit  of  the 

great  building  is  of  wonderful  beauty.     The  magnificent  cenotaph,  of  white  marble,  most  delicately 

carved,  lies  unsheltered  beneath  tlie  sky.     The  full  blaze  of  the  tropic  sun  falls  on  it  ;    it  is  washed 

by  the  tropic  dews. 

Akbar  was  a  man  with  the  most  liberal  conceptions  of  religion ;  he  tolerated  all  creeds.     And 

now  on  his  monument,  carved  by  his  orders  among  the  flowers  that  adorn  it,  stand  the  impressive 

words  :    "  God  is  greatest."     All  his  doubts  and  aspirations  seem  to  be  summed  up  in  that  last 

sigh  from  his  dying  lips  ! 

He  was  not  only  an  unconquerable  soldier,  a  patron  of  art  and  literature,  a  great  builder  and 

lover  of  fine  architecture,  but  he  loved  all  forms  of  beauty,  and  his  collection  of  gems  was  one  of  the 


VopuniJ/it  photo  by"} 

AkBAR-S    lOMB 

There    is    a    masnificent    cenotaph    on    the   top   story 
all   over  in    exquisite    designs   of     flowers.        Far     below    is 
slab   devoid  of   ornament. 


Pouting,  l\li.t!.s. 


It    is    of    white     marble  and    carved 
the   actual     tomb,     a    plain    marble 


Cvpyrighl  photo  6j/] 


[//  n.  i'on/tinj,  /■./^^^ 


AkBARS    TOMn. 


View    of    the    (treot    red    sntcway    ihrounh    one    of    the    fine    morbic    Inlticca    of    the    moutolrun 


68 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


marvels  of  the  world.  Among 
them  was  the  famous  "  Koh- 
i-noor  "  diamond,  now  one 
of  our  own  Crown  jewels.  A 
small  marble  pillar  can  be  seen 
close  to  the  cenotaph  on  the 
tomb.  This  was  once  covered 
with  gold,  and  within  a  re- 
ceptacle in  the  upper  part  the 
Koh-i-noor  reposed,  it  is  said, 
for  the  space  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty  years,  until  carried 
oft  by  the  Shah  Nadir  of 
Persia.  The  entrance  to  the 
gardens  and  tomb  lies  through 
a  marvellous  gateway  of  the 
proportions  of  a  palace.  This 
gateway  merits  some  attention. 
It  is  of  red  sandstone,  pro- 
fusely inlaid  with  white  marble. 
There  are  minarets  sixty  feet 
high  at  the  corners,  and  the 
interior  contains  spacious  halls. 
From  the  platform  on  the  top 
^  ^        -^  2iJ^''^'-   ■'''''''''.  IK       ''^  this  wonderful  structure  the 

l^fc        ^^  ^     flr^Clf     II  a^Sv.   ^      Moghul  emperor  could  see  the 

waters  of  the  Jumna  river 
washing  the  walls  of  the 
massive  red  sandstone  fort  he 
had  reared  on  its  banks  to  pro- 
tect his  rich  capital  of  Agra. 
The  most  impressive  feature  of  this  magnificent  royal  mausoleum  lies  behind  a  plain  doorway 
in  the  lowest  story.  A  narrow  passage  ends  in  a  simple  undecorated  vault,  and  here  beneath 
a  marble  slab,  bare  of  all  inscription  or  ornament,  lies  the  body  of  the  greatest  of  the  IMoghul 
emperors. 

Marble  Rocks,  Jabalpur. — Twelve  miles  by  road  from  the  city  of  Jabalpur  the  solemn  hills 
have  been  cleft  as  if  by  the  blow  of  a  giant  sword.  The  turbulent  waters  of  the  Nerbudda  river 
have  carved  this  passage  through  the  mountain,  and  now  lie  like  a  silver  sword-blade  along 
the  bottom  of  the  gorge.  Sheer  on  either  side  tower  the  white  cliffs,  gleaming,  marvellous.  The 
gorge  of  the  "  Marble  Rocks  "  is  a  mile  long,  a  mile  of  rare  and  wonderful  beauty.  To  say 
that  these  gleaming  white  walls  of  magnesian  limestone  are  from  ninety  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  in  height  can  give  no  adequate  idea  of  their  singular  dignity.  An  unearthly  beauty 
clothes  every  rock  and  green  thing  in  the  gorge.  To  pass  from  the  Smoke  Cascade  at  its  head, 
where  the  Nerbudda  fiings  itself  over  the  lip  of  the  cliff  into  the  boiling  cauldron  below,  past 
the  narrow  spot  known  as  "  Monkeys'  Leap."  past  the  curious  shaped  rocks  the  "  Foot  of  the 
Elephant,"  to  the  wild  welter  where  the  river  springs  over  the  rock  barrier  at  the  foot  of  the 
gorge,  and  leaps  foaming  out  into  the  open  valley,  is  like  a  journey  in  fairyland.  And  when 
the  brilliant  Indian  moonlight  lies  like  a  sih'ered  veil  upon  the  glistening  walls,  and  every  crevice 
and  rift  is  sketched  with  a  pen  of  ink,  the  scene  is  one  never  to  be  forgotten.     The  Nerbudda 


AKBAR'S    TOMB. 

All    round    ihe    sides    of    the    topmost    terrace    is    an    exquisite    cloister,    witli    walls 
marble    trellis    work. 


Asia 


69 


ri\-er  runs  swift  and  deep  down  tlie  echoing  gorge,  singing  its  wild  song,  or  sinking  its  voice  to 
a  mysterious  murmur  wliere  the  rocks  fall  away  and  it  grows  deep.  The  stream  is  said  to  be 
no  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  deep  in  parts. 

Quantities  of  wild  bees  make  their  nests  in  these  marble  rocks,  and  travellers  are  warned  to 
do  nothing  to  disturb  them.  There  is  a  warning  in  the  shape  of  a  simple  memorial  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  ravine  to  a  young  English  engineer  officer  who  was  drowned  there  in  trying  to  escape 
the  attack  of  the  venomous  insects. 

The  Old  Palace,  Amber. — The  deserted  city  of  Amber,  in  Rajputana,  is  one  of  the  most 
romantic  and  entrancing  spots  in  wliich  to  wander  in  all  the  romantic  East.  To  quote  Sir 
Frederick  Treves,  Amber  is  "  a  wizened  old  city  hidden  among  hills  at  the  end  of  a  lonely  gorge. 
So  very  ancient  is  this  town  that  Ptolemy  (the  Greek  historian)  knew  of  it  and  wrote  of  it,  while 
a  century  or  more  before  the  Norman  Conquest  of  England  Amber  was  already  great  and 
prosperous.  Here  many  maharajas  reigned  in  splendour,  and  here,  in  1600.  was  built  the  great 
palace  which  still  stands  defiantly  at  the  blind  gorge's  end  with  its  back  to  the  hills. 

"  At  last  there  came  to  the  throne  one  Jey  Sing.  He  was  a  prince  of  unexpected  talents  and 
of  original  mind.  .  .  .  Although  his  palace  was  one  of  the  statehest  in  India,  although  centuries 
of  romance  and  the  memory  of  great  deeds  hung  about  the  old  city  and  its  huddled  streets,  he 
determined   to  abandon   Amber  and   to  rebuild  a  capital  in   the   plains   that  opened  at   his  feet. 


*r^ 


*■»■»!>««■ 


-/ 


tl>-  A>::- 


It 


j^EOg^CsS^k 


[AViM  ,(■  Co.  Llil.,  liii^jotf. 


IHE     MARBLE    ROCKS.    JAB.-\LPUR, 


The  GofKC  of  the  .Marble  Rocks  is  n  mile  lonK.  where  ihc  Ncrbuddo  river  flows  between  those  Rle»ininR  white  walls  o( 
moKnesian  limestone  that  look  like  the  walls  of  a  calhedrnl.  They  lower  to  a  heiuhl  o(  120  (eel.  and  their  unearthly  benuu  is  a 
thins    travellers   gladly  i!0    the    twelve    miles   out    from    Jabalpur    to    see 


Pitintvil  hy   l\  Scfh. 


THIC    SACUI-:i)    TANK,    L'LWAR. 


I'imto.  by  H.  a.  noiiti$iti.  F.n.G.s. 


The  Sacred  Pool  of  Ulwar  is  one  of  (he  most  lovely  spots  in  all  India.     The  lomh  of  a  native  cliiefiain,  Uakhtawa  Sint;h, 
who  died  in  1815,  stands  on  one  side,  and  temples  dedicated  to  Vishnu  on  the  other.     The  place  is  deemed  iio  holy  ihat 

visitors  may  only  approach  without  their  shoes. 


Asia 


71 


Thus  it  was  that  he  founded  the  surprising  city  and  called  it  Jeypore  after  his  own  name.  .  .  . 
The  old  city,  Amber,  clings  to  the  hillside  at  the  blind  end  of  the  ravine,  a  medley  of  winding 
ways,  of  steep  causeways,  and  of  houses  built  up  on  steps  of  rock,  crowned  by  a  palace.  ...  On 
the  summit  of  the  highest  hill  is  a  deserted  fort,  while  on  a  low  ridge  in  the  valley  is  the 
deserted  palace. 

"  The  town  of  Amber  covers  each  slope  of  this  ridge  together  with  all  that  part  of  the  valley 
which  gives  access  to  it.     The   palace  stands  well— a  fine,   solid,   square  mass  of  masonry  with 
white  walls,  stout  buttresses,  and  many  cupolas  and  domes.     Its  monotony  is  broken  by  arcades 
and     passages    with     columns, 
by  an  occasional  verandah,  or 
by  the  trellised  walls  of  hidden 
courts.   ...   It    is    maintained 
in  perfect  state,   and  its    halls 
and  corridors  are  endless.   .   .   . 
The  whole  city  can   be  viewed 
from  a  balcony  whicli  juts  out 
from  the   palace  wall.     It  is  a 
city    of     ruins,    utterly    silent, 
empty    and    forlorn.       At    the 
foot  of  the  palace  hill  is  a  lake, 
with  an  island  of  gardens.     The 
island    has    around    it    an  em- 
bankment,  in   which   are  steps 
leading    down    to     the     water 
Its    gardens     are    in     terraces. 
traversed  by  paved  paths  antl 
covered   walks,  with    here   and 
there    a  summer  house  or  cool 
court.      Upon    the    island    and 
its  gardens   a   woeful  ruin    has 
fallen.    A  wild  undergrowth  has 
spread  over  it,  so  that  there   is 
now  reflected  on  the  surface  of 
the  lake  little  more  than  a  lonely 
arch,    a    crumbling  balustrade, 
or   a   heap   of    stones    covered 
with   a  cobweb    of   briars  and 
brambles      So  utterly  desolate 
is    this   once    laughter-haunted 
spot  that  the  poor   pleasauncc 
may  be   a   garden  of  Babylon, 
and    the    little   stairs   may    be 
hiding    their    broken    steps    in 
the  waters  of  Babylon." 

Yet    there    are    in    the    old 

palace  many  halls  that  present  ^- ^/v,,.  .i„„.,i.-.i.mwo„!/,  ^/./uwm 

fine    specimens  of    Rajput  art.  '  imekiok   oi-    s.\Lr  ca\e.   jebel  usdum. 

The  Diwan-i-Am  is  particularly  The  hiii  c  J.bd  u.dun,.  in  P,ic..i„c.  i.  350  icc  hi.h  .„d  .bou,  .cvc„  „,iic. 

.  '^  loni.       It    ii    compo.cd    ol    o    Sf"'    nio..    ol    rock    •nil. 

fine.       Tlie  rajah's  apartments        xhc  iiiu.iroiion  .how.  ihc  .lainciiic.  o(  .nii 


which   ore    tortuous   cave. 


72 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


are  situated  on  the  higher  terraces  and  separated  from  the  main  portion  of  tlie  palace  by  a 
splendid  gateway  covered  with  mosaics.  Above  this  is  the  exquisite  little  pavihon  known  as 
the  Suhag  Mandir.  with  beautiful  latticed  windows.  On  one  side  of  a  garden  cool  and  green 
where  fountains  play  is  the  Jey  Mandir,  or  Hall  of  Victory,  adorned  with  panels  of  alabaster, 
some  inlaid  and  some  carved  with  fine  relief  of  flowers.  Near  this  a  narrow  passage  leads 
down  to  the  bathing  rooms  where  the  rajah  and  his  intimates  disported  themselves.  These 
are  all  of  a  pale  cream-coloured  marble,  in  which  the  delicate  veining  has  drawn  faint  natural 

patterns.  The  light  is  dim  and  full  of 
tender  gleams  and  pale  shadows.  It 
is  an  ideal  place  of  refuge  from  the 
fierce  heats  of  an  Indian  summer. 
<  )ne  wonders  with  what  keen  regrets 
the  dwellers  in  this  luxurious  palace 
loft  it  for  the  new  splendours  of  the 
I  a  and  new  city  in  the  plain  below. 
But  such  was  the  influence,  or 
authority,  of  Jey  Sing  that  they  left 
the  old  city  just  as  it  was,  and  as 
they  left  it  so  it  remains  to  this  day, 
save  for  the  havoc  wrought  by  time 
and  the  elements  in  one  hundred  and 
seventy  years.  The  dwellers  in  this 
palace  moved  out  in  a  body  down  the 
very  narrow  streets,  down  the  narrow 
hill  paths,  to  the  road  across  the  plain 
that  led  them  to  the  pink  and  white 
palace  ready  and  waiting  for  them  in 
the  empty  new  town  of  Jeypore. 

Jebel  Usdum. — Tradition  commonly 
places  the  cities  of  the  plain,  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah,  in  this  now  barren 
and  desolate  spot,  although  they  were 
more  probably  situated  at  the  more 
fertile  northern  end  of  the  Dead  Sea. 
Jebel  Usdum,  or  the  Mountain  of 
Sodom,  is  a  great  mass  of  rock  salt 
three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high  and 
about  seven  miles  long  from  north  to 
south.  It  is  covered  by  a  loose  crust 
of  gravel,  flint  and  gypsum.  It  is 
full  of  cracks  and  fissures,  whilst  blunt  and  pointed  pinnacles  are  crowded  together  on  its 
heights  like  hundreds  of  gaunt  figures  pointing  skyward.  The  salt  cliffs  continually  fall  and 
leave  perpendicular  precipices  with  a  heap  of  rubbish  at  their  feet.  And  in  this  salt 
mountain  are  long,  narrow,  tortuous  caverns,  penetrating  far  into  its  harsh  and  glittering 
heart,  looking  like  the  labyrinths  of  a  deserted  mine.  Stalactites  hang  from  the  roofs,  their 
fine  fragments  strew  the  uneven  floors  :    to  enter  is  to  walk  in  a  natural  salt  mine. 

All  the  appearance  of  the  surrounding  country  points  to  eruptions  and  upheavals  in 
comparatively  historic  times.  There  are  sulphur  springs  all  round  the  south  shores  of  the  cruel 
and  lifeless  sea.      Sulphur  is  strewn  over  the  plain,  bitumen  is  deposited  with  the  gravel  on  the 


This 


llii      CLEPSYDRA.    OR    WATER    M.otk.    Ol      CANTON. 

is  a  monster  Kour-glass.  five  hundred  years  old.  The  water  drips 
slowly  from  one  copper  jar  to  the  next,  and  in  the  lowest  a  float  marks 
srainst  a  scale  its  gradual  rise.  It  takes  twelve  hours  to  transfer  the  water 
from    the    topmost    to    the    lowest    jar. 


Copj/ritjht  pfioto  6j/] 


[//.  a.  I'onlini;,  t'.lt.(j.!<. 
MOUNT    FUJI.    JAPAN 

The   distant   view   o(    Fuji,    the   .acred   mountain    of   Japan.    i>   very   impre.iive        It   ri.e.   in    lonely    maie.ty    to   a    hei.ht   ol 

over    12.000   (eet. 


74 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


MOUNT    FUJI. 

This   is  a    beautiful    view   of    Fuji,    with    the    winter   hood   of   sno%v   on    its   shoulders.        The 
pretty   cascades,    and    there   are   also  a    number  of    hot    springs   ir 


[//.  <;.  I'oniiiiij,  f./i.a.s. 


low    hills    round   about   are    threaded    with 
the   vicinity. 


beach  and  oozes  out  through  the  rocks. 


Tristram,  the  great  authority  on  the  environs  of  the 
Dead  Sea,  discusses  the  probable  position  of  those  four  cities  of  the  plain  whose  destruction  the 
Bible  story  attests.  "  If  there  be  any  physical  evidence  left  of  the  catastrophe  which  destroyed 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  or  of  a  similar  occurrence,  we  have  it  here,"  though  he  adds  that  there 
are  no  remains  to  be  found  of  the  cities  either  here  or  at  the  more  likely  northern  end  of  the 
sea.  But  "  the  kindling  of  such  a  mass  of  combustible  material  either  by  lightning  from  heaven 
or  by  other  electric  agency,  combined  with  an  earthquake  ejecting  the  bitumen  or  sulphur  from 
the  lake,  would  soon  spread  devastation  over  the  plain,  so  that  the  smoke  of  the  country 
would  go  up  like  the  smoke  of  a  furnace."  That  gloomy  and  terrible  things  should  be  associated 
with  such  a  region  is  only  too  natural. 

The  Water  Clock  of  Canton. — Threading  the  narrow,  dark,  winding  streets  of  Canton,  it  is 
easy  for  the  traveller  to  imagine  that  he  has  been  suddenly  transported  into  some  forgotten 
century.  There  is  no  large  city  visited  by  the  tourist  that  is  so  entirely  "  native  "  in  its  aspect 
— that  is  so  immersed  in  its  own  peculiar  civilization.  Canton  looks  practically  the  same  to-day 
as  it  must  have  looked  nearly  six  centuries  ago  when  the  celebrated  \'enetian  adventurer,  Marco 
Polo,  visited  it  and  wrote  his  vivid  descriptions  of  its  many  curiosities.  Among  the  quaint 
survivals  of  another  age  the  famous  Water  Clock  must  take  a  prominent  place.  This  is  a  primitive 
form  of  time  register  and  hour-glass  worked  by  water. 

To  visit  it  the  stranger  makes  his  way  along  the  picturesque  and  crowded  Street  of  the  Double 

Here  are  the  largest  and  most  fashionable  book  stores,  and  it  is  this 


Gateway  in  the  Old  City. 


Asia 


75 


street  that  is  the  most  favourite  haunt  of  the  literati.  The  Double  Gateway  itself  pierces  a  section 
of  a  very  fine  old  wall  dating  from  the  seventh  or  eighth  century,  and  above  it  is  seen  the  curious 
erection  in  which  the  Clepsydra,  or  Water  Clock,  is  housed.  This  consists  of  four  large  copper 
jars  mounted  on  steps  one  above  the  other,  in  such  fashion  that  when  the  top  one  is  filled,  the 
water  flows  very  slowly,  drop  by  drop,  into  the  next  one,  and  then  on  into  the  lowest.  In 
this  last  one  is  a  float  to  which  is  attached  an  indicator  or  measure.  And  it  takes  exactly  a  day 
of  twelve  hours  for  the  contents  of  the  top  jar  to  be  emptied  completely  into  the  lowest.  As  the 
water  steadily  rises  in  this  last  receptacle,  the  float  points  to  the  hour  marked  on  the  indicator. 
This  archaic  time  gauge  was  first  erected  about  1324  a.d.  It  has  a  history  full  of  incident  :  it 
has  been  many  times  destroyed  during  invasions  from  without  and  riots  within  the  city.  But 
it  has  always  been  restored,  so  that  to-day.  in  spite  of  the  advances  made  in  mechanical  methods 
of  measuring  time,  we  find  the  old  water  clock  in  practical  use  as  it  was  five  hundred  years  ago. 
For  at  intervals  during  the  day  the  (more  or  less)  correct  time  is  exhibited  on  a  board  outside  the 
building,  and  the  native  Cantonese  are  quite  content  to  pin  their  faith  to  this  unique  servant  of 
old  Father  Time. 

Fu/i-san. — Mount  Fuji  is  the  sacred  mountain  of  Japan,  and  is  held  dear  and  holy  by  every 
sect  in  the  country,  however  widely  they  may  differ  from  one  another  on  other  points.  Pilgrims 
crowd  its  steep  paths  all  through  the  summer  days,  although  the  ascent  is  well  known  to  be  a 
very  hard,  long,  and  toilsome  business.  Indeed,  a  Japanese  proverb  runs,  "  There  are  two  kinds 
of  fools,  those  who  have  never  ascended  Fuji,  and  those  who  have  ascended  twice."  In  spite  of 
this,  nowadays  many  women  and  girls  j'early  make  the  ascent. 


y 


.r^;-- 


I'l'iirnjlil  JifKif"  ''I/] 


[//,  (,-.   fl'UlllUJ.    I 


I'ttKlNCi     liNlO     IHt;    CRAIER    OK     MOUNT     lUJI. 

AllhouBli    once    on    oclivc    volcano.     Mount     Kuii    now    no    lonacr    pourt    forth    tumo    ond    •moUc.     The    .'nponc«e    hold    it    Mcred.    «nd  ' 
pilRfiml    toil    up    its    steep   BidcB   oil    the    summer   throush    to   KO/c   down    into    its    tremendous    crater. 


76 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


Fuji  stands  between  the  provinces  of  Suruga  and  Koshu.  Its  highest  peak,  Ken-ga-mine.  is 
well  over  twelve  thousand  feet.  It  is  a  quiescent  volcano.  From  books  of  the  period  we  learn 
that  smoke  was  commonly  issuing  from  it  as  late  as  the  fourteenth  century.  It  is  surrounded 
by  low  hills  of  volcanic  origin  in  which  hot  springs  are  found.  The  belt  of  cultivation  extends 
about  fifteen  hundred  feet  up,  whereafter  a  wide  belt  of  grassy  moorland  is  separated  by  sparse 
forest  from  the  cone  of  perpetual  snow. 

The  distant  view  of  Fuji  is  singularly  impressive  and  beautiful.  It  rises  skyward  in  majestic 
loneliness,  there  being  no  other  peak  to  detract  from  its  appearance  of  height  and  dignity.  It  is 
famed  among  the  world's  volcanoes  for  the  unequalled  grace  and  perfection  of  its  sweeping  lines. 

Mrs.  Bishop  describes  her  first  view  of  its  beauty  from  the  sea.  "  Looking  heavenwards,  I  saw 
far  above  any  possibility  of  height,  as  one  would  have  thought,  a  huge  truncated  cone  of  pure 
snow,  thirteen  thousand  feet  above  the  sea.  from  wliich  it  sweeps  upwards  in  a  glorious  curve. 


WATCHING    IHE    SUN    RISE,     FROM     ABOVE    THE    CLOUDS 

This    unique    photo    was    taken    above    the   clouds    from    the    lop    of    Mount    Fuji,    and    pictures    the    sun    rising    in    the    early    morning. 

against  a  very  pale  blue  sky,  witli  its  base  and  the  intervening  country  veiled  in  a  pale  grey  mist- 
It  was  a  wonderful  vision,  and  shortly,  as  a  vision,  vanished.  No  wonder  that  it  is  a  sacred 
mountain  and  so  dear  to  the  Japanese  that  their  art  is  never  weary  of  representing  it." 

It  is  mentioned  by  the  verv  oldest  Chinese  writers,  under  the  name  of  Horaisan,  as  a  mountain 
of  perfect  beauty  and  whiteness  rising  out  of  the  Eastern  Ocean.  Numberless  are  the  traditions- 
and  legends  that  cleave  to  Fuji-san,  even  as  its  descriptive  names  are  numberless.  In  Japan 
the  ideal  feminine  forehead  is  known  as  the  Fu/i  hitai,  for  it  should  be  white,  shapely,  and  rise  up 
in  a  smooth  cone  like  the  holy  mountain. 

Legend  says  there  is  a  mystic  law  that  no  unconsecrated  soil  may  remain  on  the  bosom  of  the 
holy  mount,  and  that  when  alien  grains  of  sand  and  dust  are  brought  up  it  in  the  sandals  of 
pilgrims  they  go  racing  down  the  mountain's  sides  again  during  the  night. 

Mrs.  Hugh  Fraser  says  that  "  Buddhists  call  it  the  '  Peak  of  the  White  Lotus.'  To  them  the 
snow-covered  mountain,  rising  in  unsullied  purity  from  the  low  liills  around  it,  was  the  symbol  of 


I'hoto  ty]  [M'tsti.  Johmtnn  ,(■  J/ojfmann. 

THE    HAWA    MAHAL.    OR    HALL    OF     IHE    WINDS.    JEVPORE. 

Part    o(    the   Palace    ol    the    Mnfiarajahi    of    Jcypore.    it    ia    composed    cnltrety    of    pink    and   white    ttucco.    and    ■■   a    unique    piece 
of    Indion    architecture.        It    waa    built    by    the    founder   of    the   city.    Jey    SinR.    in    I72S> 


78 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


THE    GREAT    TORil.    MKKO 

The   grand    approach    to    the    Tombs   of     the    Shosuns.    at    Nikko,    Japan, 
giant   cryptomeria    trees,    and   at    the    top   there    is    a   great    granit 


_  -;^ 

[//. 

C.  U'hitf  Co. 

an.    is 

by 

an    avenue    of 

Torii 

27 

feet  ^high. 

the  white  lotus,  whose  foot 
grows  green  under  its  wide 
leaves  in  the  stagnant  water, 
while  its  cup  of  breathless 
white  holds  up  its  golden  heart, 
its  jewel,  to  the  sky  ;  and  the 
wonderful  symmetry  of  the 
mountain,  with  its  eight-sided 
crater,  reminded  them  of 
the  eight-petalled  lotus  which 
forms  the  seat  of  the  glorified 
Buddha.  ...  So  the  queen 
of  the  mountains  hangs  be- 
tween the  stars  of  heaven  and 
the  mists  of  earth,  dear  to 
every  heart  that  can  be  still 
and  understand.  Fuji  domi- 
nates life  here  by  its  queenly 
beauty,  sorrow  is  hushed, 
longing  quieted,  strife  forgotten 
in  its  presence,  and  broad 
rivers  of  peace  seem  to  flow 
down  from  that  changeless 
home  of  peace." 

The  Hall  of  Winds,  Jey- 
pore. — Jeypore  is  the  finest 
of  modern  Hindu  cities,  and 
is  beautifully  situated  in  an 
amphitheatre    of    rugged    and 


precipitous  hills  whose  summits  are  crowned  by  picturesque  fortifications.  The  city  itself  is 
dominated  by  the  Tiger  Fort,  which  is  on  the  very  top  of  a  scarped  and  quite  inaccessible  rock. 
A  solid  wall  of  masonry,  twenty  feet  high  and  nine  feet  thick,  surrounds  the  city,  with  bastions 
and  towers  marking  its  course  at  regular  intervals.  The  palace  and  gardens  of  the  maharajah 
cover  a  seventh  part  of  the  whole  city.  The  grand  entrance  to  the  palace,  the  Siran  Deorhi.  is 
in  the  most  central  spot  in  the  town  opposite  the  College. 

The  only  portion  of  the  palace  visible  from  the  street  is  the  celebrated  Hawa  Mahal,  or  Hall 
of  the  Winds.  It  is  one  of  the  most  curious  and  bewildering  examples  of  Eastern  architecture. 
It  is  constructed  of  a  delicate  shell  pink  and  creamy  white  stucco.  The  varied  designs  in  the 
elaborate  ornamentation  of  each  of  the  multitude  of  windows  are  rare  and  beautiful,  but  the 
number  of  these  windows  gives  a  bizarre  effect  to  the  building.  Sir  Edwin  Arnold  has  left  a 
record  of  his  sincere  admiration  for  it  :  he  calls  it  "  a  vision  of  daring  and  dainty  loveliness,  nine 
stories  of  rosy  masonry  and  delicate  overhanging  balconies  and  latticed  windows,  soaring  with 
tier  after  tier  of  fanciful  architecture  in  a  pyramidal  form,  a  very  mountain  of  airy  and  audacious 
beauty,  through  the  thousand  pierced  screens  and  gilded  arches  of  which  the  Indian  air  blows 
cool  over  the  flat  roofs  of  the  very  highest  houses.  Aladdin's  magician  could  have  called  into 
existence  no  more  marvellous  abode,  nor  was  the  pearl  and  silver  palace  of  the  Peri  Banou  more 
delicately  charming." 

It  was  to  this  fairy  edifice  that  Jey  Sing  conducted  his  bewildered  and  possibly  "reluctant  Court 
when  he  brought  them  from  Amber  to  inhabit  the  fine  new  city  he  had  constructed  after  his    own 


Asia 


79 


design.  Amber  had  not  a  street  that  could  be  called  straii,'lit;  it  was  like  a  rabbit  warren  on  a 
very  lovely  hillside  :  Jeypore  resembles  an  American  city,  being  laid  out  in  rectangular  blocks 
divided  by  cross  streets  into  six  equal  parts.  Jey  Sing  thus  anticipated  the  triumphs  of  modern 
town  planning  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Temple  Lanterns,  Japan. — The  elaborate  and  varied  beauty  of  the  bronze,  metal  and  stone 
lanterns  that  adorn  all  the  temple  precincts  is  a  noteworthy  feature  of  Japanese  art.  These  lanterns 
are  for  the  most  part  offered  separately  by  the  devout  as  a  tribute  to  the  tutelary  deity  or  hero 
of  each  particular  temple,  and  such  offerings  are  highly  respected.  For  instance,  it  is  recorded 
that  the  wonderful  avenue  of  cryptomeria  pines  leading  to  the  tombs  of  the  Shoguns  at  Nikko 
was  planted  by  a  humble  countryman  too  poor  to  offer  a  bronze  lantern  to  decorate  their  temple 
courts.  The  temple  of  Kasuga-no-Miya,  near  Xara,  is  especially  famed  for  its  hanging  lanterns 
of  bronze  and  brass.  Their  decoration  is  wonderfully  elaborate.  Many  of  them  are  of  immense 
age,  although  an  equallj-  large  number  are  comparatively  modern.  The  temple  is  said  to  have 
been  founded  in  767  .\.d.,  so  there  has  been  much  time  in  which  the  faitliful  could  add  to  the 
collection  of  lanterns.  These  are  variously  dedicated  to  the  Shinto  god  Ama-no-Koyane  or 
his  wife,  or  certain  mythical  heroes  to  whom  the  temple  is  sacred.  It  is  approached  by  way  of  a 
delightful  deer  park,  where  the  deer  are  very  tame  and  have  their  horns  cut  every  autumn  to 
ensure  that  they  do  not  hurt  any  of  the  worshippers.  At  the  end  of  a  long  avenue  of  stone 
lanterns  stands  the  main  temple,  which  is  a  riot  of  rich  colour,  wherein  the  gleaming  brass  lanterns 
which  hang  in  countless  numbers  from  its  roof  beams  combine  with  the  brilliance  of  its  red  lacquer 
to  dazzle  the  eye.     There  is  an  open  shed  or  oratory  here  where  in  ancient  days  the  Daimyos  used 


Ci'pyriijIU  photo  l/i/] 


[II,  a.  /'untin<;,  /■'.A'.f/..s. 


IIIF.     TEMPLE    LANTERNS.    JAPAN. 

These    beautiful  bron7e  and  brais    lonlernB    decornle    the    temple    of    KaiURn-no-Miyn.    near    Nara.     The    variety    and    elejtance    of 
deaisn    seen    in    the   lanterns   that    adorn   all   the   temple   precincts   arc   a    feature   of   Japanese   rclifcious  art- 


8o 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


to  gather  for  worship  :    it  is  now  used  by  the  townsfolk  of  Nara  for  a  quaint  ceremonial  on    the 
eve  of  Setsu-bun  (February  3rd),  the  scattering  of  beans  to  expel  evil  spirits. 

The  giant  cryptomeria  pines  stand  in  solemn  dignity  about  the  temple  courts  and  their  green 
magnificence  is  in  striking  contrast  to  the  restless  and  bewildering  multiplicity  of  lanterns  and 
ornaments. 

Well  of  Vishnu,  Benares. — In  all  the  holy  city  of  Benares  the  most  sacred  spot  to  the  devout 
Hindu  is  this  well  on  the  Manikarnika  Ghat.  Massive  piers  running  out  into  the  river  enclose 
the  great  flight  of  stone  steps  up  and  down  which  the  faithful  jostle  and  thrust  from  the  river's 
edge  to  the  topmost  platform.     The  temple  of  Tarkeshwara  stands  at  the  head  of  the  steps,  and 

behind  this  is  the  sacred  well. 
It  is  a  railed-in  tank  thirty- 
five  feet  square,  with  stone 
steps  leading  down  from  every 
side  to  the  water.  Every  pil- 
grim who  visits  Benares,  and 
their  name  is  legion,  flings  his 
tribute  into  this  well — offer- 
ings from  the  Bel  tree,  flowers, 
milk,  sandalwood,  sweetmeats 
and  the  sacred  water  of 
Ganges,  are  all  cast  by  pious 
hands  into  this  foul-smelling 
tank  already  choked  with 
rotting  and  putrid  gifts.  The 
water  of  this  pool  is  never  re- 
newed except  by  the  rain  from 
heaven  ;  evaporation  slowly 
removes  the  water  and  leaves 
the  sta.gnant  filth.  Such  are 
the  extraordinary  results  of 
piety  in  certain  parts  of  the 
world  I 

Here  are  the  actual  words 
in  which  the  Rev.  Arthur 
Parker  describes  this  scene  : 
"  Within  a  railed  enclosure  is 
a  square  tank,  having  on  each 
of  its  sides  a  staircase  of  stone 
leading  down  to  a  pool  of 
•stagnant  water,  fetid  with  the  rotting  flowers  which  have  been  cast  into  it  as  offerings. 
In  this  the  visitor  sees  the  most  sacred  spot  in  Benares.  To  bathe  in  that  filthy  water  means 
to  the  Hindu  to  obtain  deliverance  from  all  penalties,  even  for  sins  of  the  deepest  dye.  The 
liar,  the  thief  and  the  murderer  may  here  wash  and  be  clean,  in  a  spot  which  the  foot  of 
the  purest  Christian  would  instantly  defile.  The  visitor  to  this  spot  is  at  the  very  heart  of 
Hinduism.  Around  him  surges  a  motley  throng  of  pilgrims  and  devotees  of  all  kinds  ;  here  is 
the  naked  yogi,  with  matted  locks  and  smeared  from  head  to  foot  with  sacred  ashes,  and  side  by 
side  with  him  the  gentle  sanyasi,  as  clean  as  the  other  is  foul,  carrying  in  one  hand  his  gourd  of 
■sacred  water  and  in  the  other  his  bamboo  wand  which  never  touches  the  ground. 


FromSlereo.copprujhQ  ICndei-moil  ,<:  Urulfi-unnil. 

THE    S.A.CRED    WELL    OF    VISHNU.     BENARES 

The  well  on  the  ManikarniUa  Ghat  is  one  of  the  most  sacred  spots  in  all  Benares 
Countless  pilgrims  visit  it  to  bathe  in  its  foul  and  stagnant  waters.  The  temple  c 
Tarlieshwara    stands   at    the   head   of    the    ghat,    which    leads   down    to    the    river   Ganges. 

rotting    flowers    which 


Nuzzling  about 


among  the    crowd,  foraging    for  sacred    flowers  and  leaves  and  dropped  rice,   are  sacred  bulls 


THK    BRONZE 

and    the    clcmcntB    hove    corroded    the    bronze,    but    the 
o(    ihc    urti«l    who   den  It 


IHE    RUINS    Oh     A'lUlHIA. 

bcnian    diRnily    of    the   colossnl    feolureii   remain*    (o    beor   witness    to 
ilh    such    mOBBivc    nnd    unwieldy    materialB. 


82 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


In    ihe    heart    of    the 
buried 


[AV.  hn:.  i:a,u,k.-k. 

AMONG    THE    RUINS    OF    AYUTHIA. 

ruins,    amidst    crumbling   masonry,    broken    sculptures    and    spires   half 
in    vegetation,    a    Kuee    bronze    Buddha  still    keeps    watch. 


Every  pilgrim  is  absorbed  in  a 
passionate  endeavour  to  reach 
the  sacred  well,  to  cast  therein 
his  crumpled  wreath,  all  crushed 
in  the  crowd,  his  handful  of  dirty 
rice,  or  his  little  potful  of  Ganges 
water  that  gets  more  than  half 
--pilt  as  he  struggles  through  the 
press. 

There  are  many  legends  con- 
necting the  good  lord  Vishnu 
with  this  well.  One  of  them 
declares  him  to  have  dug  it  out 
himself  with  pain  and  labour  at 
a  time  of  great  drought  to  give 
drink  to  his  worshippers,  and  his 
sacred  sweat  filled  it  to  the  brim 
with  a  pearly  flood.  Between 
the  well  and  the  ghat  is  the 
(  harana  Paduka,  a  round  slab 
(if  stone  on  which  upon  a 
pedestal  are  the  imprints  of  two 
small  feet  in  the  marble.  Here 
It  is  said  the  god  alighted  and 
marked  the  spot  as  holy  by  the 
sign  of  his  own  footprints. 

The  Ruins  of  Ayathia, 
Siam. — The  great  city  of  Ayuthia 
was  founded  by  the  famous 
Siamese  ruler,  Phaya  Uthong. 
in  1351,  as  the  capital  of  the 
kingdom  which  he  had  widely 
extended,  and  whose  power  he 
did  much  to  consolidate.  He  and 
subsequent  monarchs  enriched 
the  capital  with  temples,  shrines 
and  pagodas,  and  filled  these 
with  treasures  of  fabulous  price. 
This  rendered  the  city  the  El 
Dorado  of  invading  armies,  and 
the  jealous  Burmans  and  Peguans 
In  its  most  prosperous  days  in 


three  leagues  in  circumference. 


frequently  assailed  it,  attracted  by  rumours  of  its  vast  wealth. 

the  sixteenth  century  it  covered  an  immense  space  of  ground 

Within  its  walls  it   contained  distinct   quarters   for   foreigners   of  different  nationality — Chinese, 

Peguans,   Malays,   Japs  and  Portuguese.     It  withstood  several  sieges  from  Burmans  and  others. 

In  1555  they  succeeded  in  taking  it,  when  Siam  was  reduced  to  dependence.     But  a  few  years 

later  the  national  hero,  Phra  Naret,  restored  the  independence  of  Siam,  subdued  Lao  and  Cambodia, 

and  invaded  Pegu,  which  was  utterly  overthrown. 

But    once    again   Ayuthia   fell.     In   the   eighteenth   century   Siam   was  weakened  by  internal 


Asia 


83 


wars  and  feuds,   and   the  Burman   took  advantage  of  this   to  invade  her  and  reduced  Ayuthia, 
the  Magnificent,  to  ruins. 

The  city  was  never  rebuilt.  The  modern  city  of  Bangkok  was  founded  by  King  Chulalok 
in  17S2,  and  became  the  new  capital  of  the  realm.  Ayuthia  is  still  a  city  of  ruins  and  splendid 
memories.  The  way  thither  from  the  modern  village  of  Krung  Kao  on  the  banks  of  the  river 
Menam  is  through  a  dense,  dark  jungle,  in  which  the  heat  is  stifling.  And  in  the  silence  of  the 
forest  jungle,  overgrown  with  rank  weeds,  flowering  creepers,  orchids  and  tropical  vegetation, 
are  palace  walls,  towers,  topes,  statues  and  spiral  pagodas,  all  in  various  stages  of  decay,  and 
all  immersed  in  a  brooding  spirit  of  desolation.  The  most  prominent  building  of  Ayuthia  was 
the  pyramidal  structure  known  as  the  Golden  Mount,  some  four  hundred  feet  high,  surmounted 
by  a  dome  and  spire.  And  above  the  trees  a  tall  pagoda  of  the  sixteenth  century  rears  a  slender, 
tapering  spire  that  glistens  in  the  sunbeams.  The  greatest  of  the  relics  of  Ayuthia's  golden  past 
is  the  immense  grey-green  bronze  image  of  the  sitting  Buddha,  Amida.  It  has  been  well  described 
by  Maxwell  Summerville  :  "  One  would  not  suppose  that  the  artist,  in  making  so  colossal  a 
figure,  would  have  been  able  to  produce  and  preserve  in  it  the  dignity  of  Deity.  Yet  those 
enormous  features  are  expressive  of  benignity  ;  the  tender  glance  of  those  great  eyes  seems  to 
be  that  of  a  being  tarrving  here  to  bless,  yet  belonging  above  :    those  placid  lips  mutely  console 


rh-l.:  hjil 


{Kl.  Irm,  Dfinylok. 


RUINED    A^UTHIA. 


Ayuthia.  the  famous  capital  of  Siam.  was  founded  in  1351.  After  lour  centuries  of  brilliant  life,  durinc  which  it  contained 
fabulous  wealth,  which  made  it  the  object  of  attack  from  countless  invaders,  it  waa  almost  destroyed  by  the  Burmese  in  1767, 
and    has    since    fallen    into    complete    decay' 


84 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


those  who  approach,  beheving.     Time  and  the  elements  have  corroded  the  bronze,  but  the  serenity 

inspired  by  the  sculptor  still  prevails  in  that  impressive  face. 

"There  is  food  for  thought  as  we  stand  in  the    wilderness    and    underbrush,  brambles    and 

desolation,  looking  up  at  the  same  image  that  centuries  ago  was  the  patron  deity  and  hope  of 

thousands  in  that  metropolis,  of  which  naught  else  remains  save  the  ruined  walls  that  still  rise 

in  this  jungle  in  evidence  of  the  monuments  that  once  graced  its  avenues.     Portions  of  the  walls 

of  the  temple  in  which  the  image  once 
reigned  supreme  are  standing  on  four  sides, 
supported  by  dilapidated  pilasters  with  Corin- 
thian capitals,  which  were  placed  there  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  Greek  colonists  who  lived  and 
fraternized  with  the  Ayuthians  at  the  time  of 
the  construction  of  the  shrine." 

Although  the  Portuguese  were  the  first 
Europeans  to  establish  relations  with  the 
Siamese,  in  15 ii,  after  the  conquest  of  Malacca 
by  D' Albuquerque,  other  nations  followed, 
and  English  traders  were  known  to  be  in 
Siam  early  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

Asoka's  Pillar,  Delhi.— '^^e  poignant  in- 
terest of  this  plain  iron  pillar  lies  in  the 
fact  that  it  is  the  oldest  cast-iron  pillar  in  the 
world.  It  astonishes  us  to-day  to  learn  from 
this  post  that  when  the  world  was  young,  in 
the  India  of  the  third  century  before  Christ, 
an  iron  pillar  could  be  cast  and  adorned 
with  inscriptions  of  a  particularly  clear  tj-pe, 
in  characters  that  are  the  oldest  in  form  of 
any  yet  discovered  in  India.  In  spite  of  their 
beautiful  decision,  however,  the  mediaeval 
Emperor  Feroz  Shah,  who  found  and  took 
possession  of  the  pillar,  placing  it  in  its  pre- 
sent position,  assembled  all  the  learned  of 
his  day,  that  they  might  decipher  for  him 
the  inscriptions,  but  all  in  vain.  Their  secrets 
lay  hid  until  the  patient  genius  of  the  late 
Henry  Prinsep,  the  Oriental  scholar,  discovered 
the  true  key  to  the  characters. 

Feroz  Shah  brought  the  Lat.  or  column, 
from  Topra,  which  is  on  the  banks  of  the 
Jumna  river.     He  set  it  up  on  the    top    of    a 

lofty  platform  in  the  Kotila,  which  formed  the  citadel  of   Firozabad,   the  city  founded  by  him. 

The  city  is  a  heap  of   ruins    now  ;    its   bones   and  sinews   strew   the  plain  outside  the  walls  of 

modern  Delhi.     The  Kotila  still  stands  fronting  the  sun,  a  little  way  outside  the  Delhi  Gate  on 

the  eastern  side  of  the  city. 

The  pillar  is  ten  feet  ten  inches  in  circumference  where  it  leaves  the  platform,  to  soar  straight 

as  an  arrow  to  a  height  of  forty-two  feet  seven  inches,   of  which  four  feet  is  embedded  in  the 

masonry. 

The  real  spread  of  Buddhism  in  India  dates  from  the  reign  of  Asoka  (272-231  B.C.),  who  ruled 


ASOK.^'S     PILLAR. 


DELHI. 


The  oldest  cast-iron  pillar  in  the  world,  dating  from  the  third 
century  B.C.,  may  be  seen  standing  at  Delhi.  The  spread  of 
Buddhism  in  India  dates  from  the  reign  of  .-Xsoka.  He  caused  the 
Fourteen  Edicts,  or  nioral  rules,  to  be  engraved  on  certain  pillars 
and   rocks   and   set    up    for   the    instruction    of    his   people. 


t'lom  .Stereo  ropyritj/if]  ICwl-ruov.i  .(    L  uUn  uwd. 

THE    TEMPLE    OF    "THE    FI\E     HUNDRED    GENII."    CANTON. 

The    Icmpic   of    "(he    Five    Hundred   Genii."   or    Flowerv    Foretl    Monostery.   al    Canton,    is   of    very   early    orisin.        Il    datei   from    50J    A.D., 

and    ia   one    of    the    wealtKieit    in    the   city- 


86 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


all  India  north  of  a  line 
drawn  west  from  Nellore.  He 
is  known  to  us  chiefly  for  his 
Edicts  which  he  caused  to  be 
carved  upon  rocks  and  mono- 
lithic columns,  or  lats.  There 
are  several  "  Asoka  rocks " 
and  posts  known  in  different 
parts  of  India,  a  notable  one 
being  at  Allahabad.  Henry 
Prinsep,  who  deciphered  their 
inscriptions,  found  them  to 
embody  for  the  most  part  all 
the  moral  rules  of  Buddhism, 
the  full  number  of  general 
edicts  being  fourteen.  They 
forbid  the  shedding  of  blood, 
inculcate  obedience  to  authority 
and  charity,  refer  to  rules  of 
conduct,  the  appointment  of 
censors  of  morals,  and  the 
creation  of  such  works  as  hos- 
pitals, roads  and  wells.  And 
they  all  conclude  with  pious 
aspirations  for  the  spread  of 
Buddhism. 

The  Delhi  Lat,  besides  the 
Pali  inscription  of  Asoka's 
Edicts,  bears  a  Nagri  inscription  of  the  date  1524  a.d.,  which  was  put  up  after  the  lat  was 
removed  to  Delhi.  There  are  two  other  curious  inscriptions,  dating  from  the  twelfth  century,  set 
above  and  below  the  Edicts,  which  record  the  victories  of  Prince  Visaladeva,  whose  kingdom 
extended  at  one  time  from  Himadri  to  Vindhya. 

Temple  of  "Five  Hundred  Genii,"  Canton. — This  temple  is  said,  in  Mr.  Bowra's  translation 
of  the  native  history  of  the  province,  to  have  been  founded  by  Bodhidharama,  a  Buddhist  monk, 
about  520  A.D.  We  are  all  familiar  with  this  Bodhidharama,  for  it  is  he  whom  we  so  frequently 
behold  on  Chinese  cups  and  saucers  ascending  the  Yangtse  river  on  his  frail  bamboo  raft  !  The 
rebuilding  of  the  temple  in  1755  was  the  pious  work  of  the  great  Chinese  Emperor  Kien  Lung, 
whose  name  is  familiar  to  every  collector  of  porcelain.  With  all  its  temple  buildings,  its  houses 
for  priests  and  its  lovely  gardens,  it  covers  a  large  tract  of  ground  on  the  outskirts  of  Canton.  It 
is  also  known  as  the  Flowery  Forest  Monastery,  and  is  one  of  the  wealthiest  temples  in  the  city. 
Very  large  sums  of  money  are  spent  by  the  rich  and  devout  upon  certain  of  the  ceremonies  here. 
There  is  a  fine  marble  pagoda,  presented  by  the  Emperor  Kien  Lung  in  the  later  eighteenth 
century.  On  the  north  side  of  the  quadrangle  immediately  behind  the  pagoda  is  the  Hall  of  "  the 
Five  Hundred  Genii"  or  Disciples  of  Buddha.  These  richly-gilt  images  are  seated  on  elevated 
platforms  arranged  in  aisles.  In  the  centre  aisle  is  a  bronze  pagoda  with  bronze  images.  The 
variety  in  the  features,  expression  and  posture  of  the  five  hundred  holy  men  would  repay  hours 
of  study. 

In  his  later  edition  of  "  Marco  Polo  "  Colonel  Yule  says  that  one  of  the  statues  in  this  temple 
is  a  portrait  of  the  celebrated  Venetian  traveller  of  the  fourteenth  century. 


.SV^/V'i  /.(/] 


[//.  C.  Whitr  Co. 


■THE    FIVE    HUNDRED    GENII." 

These  images  are  sealed  in  two  rows  on  an  elevated  plaiform.  and  the  variety  of 
posture,  expression  and  type  of  feature  is  worth  a  close  study.  There  is  a  leeend  that  the 
efHey    of    the    Venetian    traveller.     Marco    Polo,    is    to    he    found   among    the    "  Disciples." 


Asia 


87 


The  Abbot  who  rules  over  the  httle  company  of  shaven,  silent,  thoughtful-looking  monks  who 
have  the  guardianship  of  the  temple  receives  visitors  with  kindly  hospitality.  His  private 
apartments  show  an  austere  plainness  and  the  strictest  neatness  and  uniformity.  The  floor  is  of 
marble  ;  the  tables  and  chairs  are  all  either  marble  or  ebony  ;  while  by  way  of  comfort  there 
is  a  block  of  polished  marble  in  one  corner,  and  one  or  two  glazed  porcelain  stools.  Texts  from 
the  sacred  classics  adorn  the  walls.  There  is  an  inner  court  where  under  huge  plantain  trees 
the  monks  have  their  tables  and  seats,  and  practically  spend  all  their  leisure.  There  is  also  a 
lotus  pool  in  the  centre,  which  is  a  vision  of  loveliness  when  the  sacred  blossoms  are  in  full  bloom. 
Finally,  there  is  the  Lo-hang-tang,  or  Hall  of  Saints,  full  of  solemn  brooding  figures.  The 
interior  of  the  inner  shrine  is  very  dim  and  dark  and  mysterious,  and  the  air  is  heavy  with  the 
smell   of   incense. 

Mount  Omi,  China.—"  Many  beautiful  descriptions  have  been  written  of  Mount  Omi,  that 
mountain  that  stands  alone  in  its  sacredness."  says  Mrs.  Little,  "  alone  in  the  far  west  of  China, 
with  an  all-round  view  from  its  summit,  where  the  beholder  stands  on  the  verge  of  one  of  the 
most  gigantic  precipices  in  the  world,  said  by  Mr.  Baber  to  be  a  mile  deep.      Hut  it  would  be  hard 

to  surpass  that  of  Fan  Yii-tsz, 
of  the  Ming  dynasty,  who  tells 

how   he  saw   the   Wa-Wu,  and 

the  snowy  mountains  '  running 

athwart  like  a  long  city  wall,' 

and  India,  and  the   mountains 

of    Karakorum,    together    with 

all    the    barbarous    kingdoms, 

the  great  Min    river,    and    the 

rivers    of    Kiating,    the    Tung 

and  the  Ya  ;    and  winds  up   by 

saying  :   '  The  advocate   and    I 

clapped    our    palms    and    cried 

out  :    "  The  grandest  view  of  a 

lifetime  !  "  ' 

"  And    day  after  day,   year 

after  year,  all  the  year  round. 

pilgrims    come    and    prostrate 

themselves  on  the  different  out- 

jutting    bastions    of    the    cliffs 

upon    boards    laid   in   the   wet 

grass     for     their    convenience, 

while    they    venerate    Puhsien, 

who,   they  say,   came  up  from 

India     on     his     elephant     and 

settled  here  ;   just  as  their  an- 
cestors probably    came,    before 

ever  Buddha  was,  to   veneraii 

the  Sun  (lod.  .  .  .  The  men  and 

women  of  the  province  come  in 

great  numbers  :    the  men  with 

their    brows    bound    with    the 

white    Szechuan     handkerchief 

like  Dante,  and  with  mouths  like 


HRE    AND    TIGEK    GODS.     MOUNT    OMI 

A  con.l.m  .ircom  of  pilgrim,  climb,  up  ihe  .Iccp  .nd  Icil.omc  palh.  ol  ih.. 
..crtd  mounl.in  in  Wc.ttrn  Chinii.  and  ihc  m.nT.linj  liccr.  ihot  inh.b.t  il. 
in.ccc.iblc  cove.  Inkc  their  loll  yc.rly  ol  ihc  .lr«««lcr.  ond  ihc  (ccblc  Here  .re 
ol    ihe    effiiie.   on    the   mounloin    lop    lo    whom    re.pecl    i.    poid. 


Iwo 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


the  old  Greek  gods,  with  rich,  regular  curves  ;  the  women  with  their  skirts  only  to  their  knees,  and 
feet  of  the  natural  size,  or  only  slightly  deformed,  and  in  each  case  bound  with  Indian  corn  husks 
the  better  to  contend  with  the  steep  stone  steps  that  lead  up  and  down  the  ten  thousand  feet  of 
mountain-side.  .  .  .  Some  of  the  wild  tribes  also  come,  without  pigtails,  like  decent  people, 
but  with  their  hair  strangely  sticking  out  in  front  of  their  heads,  as  if  they  wore  their  tails  in 
front.  And  all  prostrate  themselves  and  do  reverence,  as  they  look  over  the  edge  of  the  great 
precipice,  and  there  on  the  mist  below  see  the  circular  halo  of  three  primary  colours,  very  brilliant, 
and  in  its  central  brightness  the  shadow  of  their  own  head  and  shoulders  ;  or,  if  their  heart  be 
such,  Puhsien  himself  riding  on  his  elephant  as  he  came  from  India  more  than  two  thousand  years 
ago.   .   .  .  Then  we  meet  a  pilgrim  who  is  standing  staring  at  some  caves  far  below  with  protruding 


eyes  ;  and  he  says  :  '  There  are 
tigers  in  there  !  '  then  stands 
speechless.  But  on  our  laugh- 
ing, we  are  told  again  of  six 
men  already  eaten  this  year 
by  tigers."  There  are  many 
tales  told  of  the  tigers  in  these 
mountains  and  of  their  ruthless 
attacks  on  pilgrims ;  and  so 
it  is  customary  for  the  worship- 
pers on  Omi  to  take  care  to 
propitiate  the  spirits  of  these 
sinister  inhabitants  of  the 
sacred  mount. 

In  a  shrine  upon  the 
mountain  there  is  an  unburied 
saint — the  figure  of  an  old 
man  gilded  all  over,  who  sits 
squatting  on  an  altar.  He  is 
said  to  have  been  a  priest 
here  long  ago,  and  such  a 
true  saint  that  his  body  would 
not  decay,  so  he  was  gilded 
and  set  upon  an  altar.  And 
pilgrims  to-day  still  prostrate 
themselves  before  him  and 
burn  joss-sticks  to  his  spirit. 
The  Rock  Cisterns  of  Palestine— In  all  Eastern  countries  the  well,  or  cistern,  still  continues 
to  play  a  central  part  in  the  daily  life  of  the  people,  as  it  once  did  even  in  Europe.  All  Eastern 
gatherings  take  place  near  some  well  of  note.  Where  civilization  is  still  primitive,  it  is  the  water- 
springs  that  determine  the  road  the  traveller  shall  take,  not  the  contours  of  the  country  ;  and  in 
Palestine,  morning  and  evening,  the  women  come  to-day  with  their  water-pots  to  draw  from  the 
well,  just  as  they  did  in  the  Bible  stories.  We  can  still  visit  the  Well  of  Jacob,  dug  out  by  the 
patriarch  himself,  where  the  "  Woman  of  Samaria  "  came  to  draw  water  and  receive  her  great 
lesson.  This  well  is  sunk  through  the  solid  rock,  reaching  down  to  a  depth  of  seventy-five  feet, 
and  is  said  always  to  have  at  least  twelve  feet  of  water  in  it.  And  the  water  in  such  a  well  is 
ever  cool  and  pure. 

At  the  entrance  to  Bethlehem  we  can  see  another  of  these  historic  and  long-lasting  rock-hewn 
cisterns,  the  Well  of  David.     This  well  is  immensely  deep,  with  two  or  three  narrow  openings  into 


From  Stereo  copyrighC] 


lUndfricood  <(■  Undertcood. 


ROCK    CISTERN.     PALESTINE. 

The  ancient  dwellers  in  Palestine  who  carved  themselves  cisterns  of  water  in  the 
living  rock  have  left  monuments  from  Biblical  times  that  endure  to  this  day.  This  one 
lies    beside   an   ancient    khan    or    inn    on   the    road    from    Jerusalem   to    Nazareth. 


Photo  hp} 

The    Mat    Chone,    a  I     BnncUoU.    lies    wilhin    oi 
(of    pricslB* 


IHt    WAI     CHANG. 

~t    enclosure    nineteen    acres    in    extent,    with    lo 
1  he    poEoda    is    one    of    the    most    imposinic    in 


[AV.  l.fnt,  linnijkok. 

k-ely    Rordens.    temples    and    dwclUnRS 
Siam- 


90 


The    Wonders   of   the   World 


it,  and  is  situated  in  an  un- 
tidy yard  reached  by  a 
narrow  passage  on  the  left- 
hand  side  as  you  enter 
Bethlehem.  It  is  possibly 
the  well  "  at  the  gate,"  for 
\\hose  water  David  longed 
so  sorely  in  the  Cave  of 
.A.dullam. 

At  Shiloh,  beside  the 
picturesque  ruins  of  the 
"  House  of  God."  is  yet 
another  of  these  wells  cut 
out  of  the  solid  rock,  of 
considerable  size.  A  likely 
place  for  the  dance  of  "  the 
daughters  of  Shiloh." 

At  Bethel  is  a  large 
tank  or  cistern,  some  three 
hundred  feet  by  two  hun- 
dred feet,  into  which  the 
water  flows  at  the  upper 
end  from  a  spring,  being 
drained  off  by  a  culvert  at 
the  lower  end.  From  Bethel 
a  rough  road  leads  along  a 
fine  glen,  called  Robber's 
Valley,  a  lonely  road 
threading  the  wildest  and 
most  enchanting  scenery. 
In  the  northern  ravine, 
up  which  the  path  leads, 
stands  the  famous  "  Rob- 
ber's Fountain,"  with  the 
remains  of  a  large  rock 
cistern  beside  it.  One  of  the  most  interesting  of  these  rock-hewn  cisterns  is  found  at  Athlit, 
among  some  of  the  finest  "  Crusader  "  ruins  in  Palestine.  The  walls  of  the  town,  the  towers 
and  fortress,  are  fallen  into  decay,  while  poor  Arab  huts  are  huddled  among  the  heaps  of  ruin. 
But  the  splendid  Banqueting  Hall  still  stands  where  the  Crusaders  are  said  to  have  held  their  last 
solemn  feast  together  on  the  eve  of  their  final  departure  from  Palestine.  These  are  the  best 
preserved  of  the  ruins  in  Athlit.  And  through  a  low  doorway  close  beside  it  we  can  get  inside 
an  ancient  cistern,  all  cemented  within,  and  having  a  manhole  in  the  roof.  This  fine  cistern 
probably  supplied  the  whole  town  with  water,  and  is  capable  of  holding  two  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  gallons.  To  give  a  full  list  of  these  historic  wells  is  impossible,  but,' in  ^conclusion,  it 
may  be  noted  that  after  leaving  Jerusalem,  on  the  road  to  Nazareth  via  Nablus,  a  ruined  khan, 
or  inn,  is  passed,  and  then  not  far  from  Ramah  and  a  little  off  the  main  road  is  another  ancient 
rock-hewn  cistern  in  a  state  of  very  good  preservation. 

The  Wat  Chang,  Bangkok. — This  great  temple  is  within  an  enclosure  nineteen  acres  in  extent, 
full  of  the  most  bewitching  gardens,  and  the  usual  array  of  temples,  shrines,   dwellings  for  the 


J'/ioto  di/] 

THE    WAT    CHANG. 

The     pagoda     is    covered    ^vlth      tiles     and    porcelain     plates 
225    feet,   its    cone-shaped    spire    being     indented     with     niches     in 
are    hung. 


[lit.  Lenz,  I'.aiKjkok. 


It    tapers    to    a    heielit    of 
which     pieces     of     faience 


Asia 


9' 


bonzes,  novitiates  and  higher  clerics,  a  library  and  a  great  array  of  griffins,  dwarfs,  giants,  and 
fantastic  animals,  standing  about  in  groups,  many  of  them  reflected  again  on  the  surface  of 
ornamental  pools  of  water,  or  guarding  the  portals  of  temples  and  the  approaches  to  shady  grottoes. 
The  pagoda  is  one  of  the  most  imposing  in  Siam  ;  its  cemented  exterior  is  covered  with  tiles,  China 
plates,  saucers,  etc.,  of  faience  and  porcelain.  Its  graceful  lines  taper  gradually  upwards.  At 
a  height  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  from  the  ground  it  is  crowned  by  a  cone-shaped  spire, 
in  whose  side  are  many  rows  of  ornamental  niches  in  which  are  hung  pieces  of  faience. 

Below  this  spire  are  groups  of  elephants  and  seated  Buddhas,  also  in  faience.  The  lines  of 
the  groups  and  the  twisted  trunks  of  the  elephants  have  been  most  skilfully  utilized  to  enhance 
the  architectural  beauty  of  the  building.  The  whole  thing  is  adorned  with  multitudes  of  figures, 
all  with  extended  arms  and  gestures  of  admonition  and  supplication.  It  is  as  if  the  mission  of 
the  building  were  to  point 

the    eye     heavenward     in  i 

search  of  Nirvana,  for  it 
is  almost  without  entrance 
way  to  the  dim  interior. 

The  Great  Bell  at 
Peking.—"  In  some  re- 
spects this  may  be  called 
the  most  remarkable  work 
of  art  now  in  China  :  it  is 
the  largest  suspended  bell 
in  the  world,"  says  Mr. 
Williams  of  one  of  Yung- 
lo's  five  bells,  in  his 
classical  survey  of  the 
wonders  of  "  The  Middle 
Kingdom." 

This  great  bell  is  to  be 
found  in  an  obscure  lane 
near  Peking,  and  in  a 
country  where  the  main 
roads  are  scarce  better 
than  beaten  tracks  filled 
with  miry  holes,  the  ob- 
scure lanes  are  very  rough 
indeed.  About  two  miles 
to  the  north  of  the  city 
of  Peking,  passing  through 
a  ruined  gateway  dating 
from  the  days  of  the  re- 
doubtable Marco  Polo,  we 
find  the  Ta-chung-sz,  or 
the  Great  Bell  Temple. 
Here  is  the  deep-voiced 
giant,  one  of  five  immense 
bells  that  were  cast  in  the 
reign  and  under  the  per- 
sonal    direction      of      the 


I*hoto  by] 
About   the   courts    ore    the 


THE    WAT 

array    of    colosaal 


CHANG. 

monalcri    and 


uiual     array    of    colosaal     monalcri    and     sianU. 
KuarJinK    the    portal*   of    the   temples 


\_tii.  t.rm,  /ianfftot. 


landing    in     eroups    or 


92 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Emperor  Yung-lo.  This  emperor  was  the  third  of  the  Mings  or  native  Chinese  dynasty, 
and  ascended  the  throne  in  1403.  An  exceptionally  able  administrator,  it  was  he  who 
framed  the  code  of  laws  which  has  ever  since  formed  the  basis  of  Chinese  legal  usage.  This 
bell  is  presumed  to  have  been  cast  in  1406.  It  was  not  covered  by  a.  small  temple  until  many 
years  later,  in  1578  ;  and  as  one  looks  at  it  one  is  struck  with  the  opportunity  which  was  then  lost, 
for  had  it  been  housed  in  some  great  hall  it  would  have  been  infinitely  more  impressive.  The 
bell  stands  fourteen  feet  high,  including  the  umbones  ;  it  is  thirty-four  feet  in  circumference  at 
the  rim  ;  its  weight  is  fifty-two  tons,  whilst  the  uniform  thickness  of  the  metal  is  nine  inches.  It 
is  struck  by  a  heavy  beam  of  wood  swung  against  its  rim  on  the  outer  side,  and  a  square  hole  in 
the  top  prevents  its  fracture  under  the  heaviest  blows.  It  is  covered  both  on  the  outside  and  the 
inside  with  myriads  of  fine  Chinese  characters,  which  are  extracts  from  the  two  great  Buddhist 
classics,  the  Fah-hwa  King  and  the  Ling-yen  King.  Only  one  of  the  emperor's  five  monster  bells 
was  ever  hung.      Another  lies  half  buried  in  a  neglected  spot  outside  the  walls  of  Peking.       This 


This   is   one   of    fiv 
ana    is 


IHE    GKEAl     BtLL    L'lING     NEAR    PEKING. 

immense    bells   that    were   cast    in    the   reign    of    \'ung-lo.    of    the    Min?    Dynasty 


thirty-four  feet    in    circumference  at    the   rim.        Only   one    of    the    five    bells   is 


1406 
known    to    have    been    hu 


w-^*ir>»riaiii»- 


',  Thoiitmn,  Esi/.,  F.H.C.S. 
It    weighs    fifty-two    tons. 


bell  is  dumb  ;  its  great  voice  has  never  spoken  ;  the  fine  characters  engraved  on  it  are  hidden  by 
a  coating  of  dust.  Seeing  that  it  weighs  more  than  fifty  tons,  the  difficulties  of  removing  it  from 
its  lowly  bed  and  hanging  it  in  some  great  temple  as  it  should  be,  are  well-nigh  insuperable.  But 
there  is  something  tragic  in  the  sight  of  that  splendid  bell  lying  helpless  on  its  side  during  the  passage 
of  six  centuries.  Countless  generations  of  boys  have  hung  on  its  arched  rim  and  clambered  up  its 
curving  sides,  and  have  grown  old  and  passed  away.  While  the  bell  has  only  settled  a  little  deeper 
in  the  mud  and  rubbish  of  this  obscure  lane,  waiting  in  dumb  patience  for  the  day  when  it  shall 
be  set  up  to  fulfil  the  beautiful  function  for  which  it  was  brought  into  being  so  very  long  ago. 

The  Cascade  of  Kegon-no-taki,  /apan.— There  is  no  more  entrancing  view  in  all  Japan 
than  this  delicious  waterfall,  at  whatever  time  of  the  year  it  may  be  visited.  The  river  Daiya 
issues  from  the  Lake  of  Chuzenji,  a  benign  and  quiet  stream,  though  liable  at  certain  seasons  to 
sudden  swellings  and  floods,  when  it  will  fly  impetuously  between  its  tree-clad  banks.     But  at  the 


I't'pylijlil  Ji/i'ilo  f'tj] 


..i„j,  IJt.O.f. 


THE    BEAUTIFUL    WATERFALL    OF    "  KEGON-NO-TAKI."    AT    CHU7.ENJ1.    JAPAN. 


The    lovely    lull    o(    ■•  KcEon  no-lolii  "    ii    one    of    the    fineil    in    Jopan.      It    dropi    Irom    a    liei«lit    of    over    250    feel,    cind    i>   a    favourite 

place    for    Japanese   luicides 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


Copyri(/ht  photo  fey]  [//.  G.  Pontint^,  fJi.G.S. 

THE    TEMPLE    ON    MOUNT    MINOBU.    JAPAN 

The    Buddhist  monastery    on    Mount    Minobu    was    founded    by     the     saint,    Nicheren.    who    retired     to  ^this 


meditate.        Much    of    it    was    destroyed    by    (ire    in     1875.     but     new     buildings     and     temples     have    been     erect 
specimens    of    modern    Japanese    temple    architecture.       The    illustration    shows    the    exterior    of    the    rounder  s 


beautiful 
:d  which 
Temple. 


spot    to 
are    fine 


cascade  known  as  Kegon-no-taki  the  river  suddenly  pours  out  from  the  overhanging  edge  of  a 
great  precipice,  and  roars  down  in  a  racing  mass  of  tortured  water  on  to  the  rocks  two  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  below. 

There  is  a  little  picturesque  tea-house  from  whose  garden  paths  the  finest  views  of  the  fall  are 
obtained.  Roughly  it  may  be  said  that  the  waterfall  has  three  moods.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
year,  when  the  river  is  almost  dry,  it  murmurs  as  gently  as  a  dove  among  its  bare,-  upstanding 
rocks,  and  pours  like  a  soft  veil  of  silver  lace  over  the  lip  of  the  cascade  and  dances  down  into  the 
gorge  below.  At  that  season  the  hills  are  clothed  with  maple-trees  still  wearing  their  spring  dress 
of  pallid  green,  and  the  fertile  valley  spread  below  looks  soft  and  very  far  away.  But  after  the 
summer  rains  the  Daiya  races  between  its  banks,  and  a  huge  volume  of  water  leaps  far,  far  out 
over  the  cliff  edge  in  a  glittering  sheet  of  green  and  white,  and  the  sound  of  its  thunderous  descent 
can  be  heard  long  before  you  turn  the  corner  of  the  tea-house  and  the  grand  sight  breaks  on  your 
eyes.  Then  the  maples  flaunt  their  crimson  mantles,  and  the  whole  valley  is  steeped  in  colour, 
and  the  gorgeous  beauty  and  power  of  the  scene  is  such  as  almost  to  take  away  your  breath.  With 
the  coming  of  winter  there  is  the  third  and  final  change.  Snow  falls  constantly  until  the  ground 
is  covered  to  a  depth  of  several  feet  :  the  temperature  falls  lower  and  lower  ;  the  lake,  from  whence 
comes  all  this  water,  gradually  freezes  over,  until  at  last  Kegon-no-taki  is  nothing  but  a  mass  of 
superb  icicles,  which  in  the  sunshine  gleam  and  flash  like  a  million  swords. 

Mount  Minobu,  Japan. — The  Buddhist   Monastery   of   Kuenji,  on  Mount  Minobu,  was   founded 
by  the  Japanese  saint,  Nicheren,  who  is  still  held  in  the  greatest  reverence  throughout  the  country. 


Asia 


95 


His  followers  are  not  very  numerous,  but  owing  to  their  controversial  and  uncompromising  attitude 
towards  other  Buddhist  sects,  the  disciples  of  the  "  lierv  Xicheren  "  have  been  called  the  Jesuits 
of  Buddhism.  Their  doctrine  is  a  complete  pantheism  ;  as  Dr.  Griffiths  puts  it,  Xicheren  "  was 
destined  to  bring  religion  down,  not  only  to  men,  but  even  down  to  the  beasts  and  the  mud."  The 
headquarters  of  this  peculiar  sect  is  the  monastery  on  Mount  Minobu.  and  thither  the  faithful 
yearly  make  their  pilgrimage.  Much  of  the  monastery  was  destroyed  by  a  great  fire  in  1875,  but 
new  buildings  and  temples  have  been  erected  to  replace  the  old,  and  all  these  later  editions  are 
fine  specimens  of  modern  Japanese  temple  architecture. 

As  is  usual  in  Japan,  on  entering  the  gardens  and  crossing  a  courtyard,  the  cluster  of  temples 
is  approached  by  one  of  two  broad  and  long  flights  of  stone  steps.  At  the  top  is  the  large  Founder's 
Temple,  and  thence  galleries  lead  to  the  Temple  of  the  True  Bones,  to  the  Temple  of  the  Posthumous 
Tablet,  to  the  pilgrims'  dormitories,  the  reception  rooms,  the  Archbishop's  dwelling,  and  the 
various  other  offices  of  the  sect.  Most  of  the  buildings,  as  well  as  their  ornamentation,  look  fresh 
and  brilliant,  in  great  contrast  to  many  other  temples  in  Japan,  where  great  age  has  tarnished  the 
gilding  and  subdued  all  the  colours. 

The  chief  treasure  of  Minobu  is  the  Temple  of  the  True  Bones,  where  sacred  relics  of  the  great 
founder  of  the  sect  are  preserved.     The  e.xterior  of  this  small  octagonal  building  is  unpretentious. 


ColJljn'j'.!  j 


IMERIOR    OV     THE    TOUNUEKS     1  EMI'LE,     MOU.N'l     ^n^■O^U. 


/'•■nitiuj.  r.n.c.s. 


1  hiH  IB  a  biozr  of  colour  and  Rold.  and  is  thr  most  brautilul  interior  ii 
Jeet  bv  1 5  feet,  is  of  scarlet  locqucr  decorated  with  uildcd  fieures.  Notice 
•aid   to  be  worth  £30.000. 


1    the    whole     of     Jopan.        The    central    nllar.    which     is     24 
tfie     wealth    of     ornament    on    the    honRinK    betls.    which    is 


96 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


but  within  is  a  blaze  of  colour  and  a 
glitter  with  gold.  All  round  the  walls 
on  a  golden  ground  are  full-sized 
white  lotus  blossoms,  the  emblem  of 
purity  and  of  the  Buddhist  faith. 
The  actual  shrine  is  of  gold  lacquer 
in  the  shape  of  a  two-storied  pagoda 
about  two  feet  high.  In  it  reposes  a 
casket  of  gold  and  precious  stones,  in 
the  form  of  a  tiny  octagonal  pagoda, 
which  rests  on  a  carved  lotus  flower 
of  a  translucent  jade.  Within  lie  the 
bones,  or  a  portion  of  them,  of 
Xicheren.  the  holy  founder.  One  of 
the  pillars  of  this  little  slirine  bears  a 
date  corresponding  to  .-^.d.  1580. 

The  Founder's  Temple  is  the 
largest  and  most  imposing  of  the 
buildings.  Its  centre  hall  is  seventy- 
five  feet  by  one  hundred  and  twenty 
feet.  The  high  altar  is  twenty-four 
feet  long.  The  pillars  and  framework 
of  the  walls  are  all  of  brilliant  black 
and  red  lacquer.  The  altar  is  par- 
titioned off  by  gilded  pillars,  and  is 
itself  lacquered  scarlet  and  decorated 
with  gilt  lions  and  peonies.  In  the 
shrine  is  a  life-size  figure  of  Nicheren. 
The  whole  is  ablaze  with  colour,  and 
has  an  effect  of  unsurpassed  richness 
and  brilliance. 

A  feature  of  the  ceremonial  here 
is  the  insistent  beating  of  drums  and 
gongs,  whilst  the  invocation  of  the 
sect  "  Namu  Myoho  Renge  Kyo  "  ("  Hail  to  the  Doctrine  of  the  Lotus  and  the  Wonderful 
Law")  is  repeated  in  a  constant  and  monotonous  iteration  by  all  the  worshippers. 

The  Htran  Minar. — The  strange  tower  known  as  the  Hiran  Minar  (Deer  Tower)  has  a  curious 
history.  It  was  built  by  the  great  jMoghul  Emperor  Akbar  over  the  grave  of  his  favourite  elephant. 
Twenty-two  miles  from  Agra,  across  the  cotton-fields,  lies  Fatehpur-Sikri,  the  deserted  city  built 
by  the  emperor.  It  remains  just  as  it  was  left,  in  a  wonderful  state  of  preservation.  Akbar  built 
it  in  1570,  and  after  a  few  years  of  brilliant  life  the  palace  and  the  town  that  had  grown  up  about 
its  walls  were  mysteriously  abandoned.  Near  to  Fatehpur-Sikri  stands  the  tower  Akbar  erected 
over  the  dead  favourite  who  had  no  doubt  borne  him  gallantly  on  its  broad  shoulders  many  a  time 
in  the  chase,  and  had  doubtless  by  its  courage,  docility  and  perfect  training  preserved  his  Hfe 
in  the  jungle  when  out  after  the  tigers  that  were  then  more  plentiful  in  Indian  forests  than  they 
are  to-day.  So  after  its  death  he  is  said  to  have  conceived  the  idea  of  erecting  a  tower  of  stone 
among  the  woods,  from  whose  summit,  as  from  the  howdah  on  the  elephant's  back,  he  could  shoot 
game.  Hence  its  name.  Deer  Tower,  for  deer  and  antelope  and  the  shy  creatures  of  the  forest  were 
driven  past  the  tower  below  the  royal  sportsman,  as  grouse  are  driven  across  the  butts  on  a  Scotch 


I'fwlo  01/1 


THE    HIRAN    MINAR.    OR    DEER    TOWER. 


This     t 
erave   of    li 


er     was     raised    by    the    great     Moghul    Emperor     Akbar     over     the 
Favourite    elephant.        Its    sides    are    studded     with     elephant    tusks 

of    stone      From   the    lantern    he  used    to  shoot    the  deer  and  other  game  driven 

down    to    him    out    of    the    neighbouring   forest. 


Asia 


97 


:j^'.: 


riMio  (.1] 


[AVif/OK  (£■  Co. 


0\  THE  ROAD  TO  A  FAMOUS  TOMB. 


Tl,( 


Tomb    of    I'limad-ud-daulah    is    one    o(    the    most    remarkable    edifices    in    India.       It   is    situated    at   Acra.   and    is    built 
of    marble    of    tfie    purest    ^vhite.      The    above    sho%vs    the    approach    to    the    mausoleum. 


moor.  There  is  a  sort  of  lantern  on  the  top  from  which  the  emperor  could  shoot,  fully  con- 
cealed from  sight.  To  the  north  and  west  the  country  was  all  under  water  in  Akbar's  day,  and 
from  the  shores  of  this  large  lake  no  doubt  the  wild-fowl  were  also  driven  down  to  the  tower. 

It    is  a  circular  tower,  some  seventy  feet    high,  studded  with  protruding  elephants'  tusks  of 
stone. 

The  Sacred  Tank,  Ulivar. — This  is  one  of  the  most  lovely  spots  in  India.  The  sheet  of 
artificial  water  lies  at  the  foot  of  a  splendid  tomb,  the  cenotaph  of  Bakhtawa  Singh,  a  native 
cliief  who  died  in  1815.  The  city  of  Ulwar  is  beautifully  situated  on  rising  ground,  and  is 
dominated  by  a  fort  which  towers 
high  above  the  winding  white- 
washed streets,  perched  on  a  peak 
of  rock  nine  hundred  feet  high. 
It  is  the  capital  of  the  Rajput 
State  of  Ulwar,  and  as  things 
go  in  India,  is  comparatively 
modern,  having  been  founded  in 
1771. 

The  palace  is  a  group  of  di 
tached  buildings  in  a  variety  ol 
styles,  and  is  only  divided  from 
the  foot  of  the  mountain  range 
by  the  splendid  Tank  referred  to 
above.  The  Shish  Mahal  and  the 
latticed  windows  of  the  zenana 
actually  overlook  it ;  and  the  pre- 
cincts are  deemed  so  sacred  that 
no  visitor  may  approach  either  tin 
Tank  or  the  cenotaph  of  Bakh- 
tawa Singh  without  taking  off  his  ^^^  chamber  diviaions  of  the  interior  of  thi«  tomb  arc  of  wonderful  marble 
,  lattice-work.  In  the  above  photo  the  two  actual  tombs  may  be  seen  surrounded 
SnOeS,                                                                                       by    these   exquisitely-worked   screens. 

8 


IHE    NELLOW    MARBLE    TOMBS. 


98 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


CHAPTER   IV. 

By   ALAN  H.   BURGOYyE,    M.P..  F.R.G.S. 

The  Tomb  of  I'timad-ud-dautah. — Despite  the  claims  of  a  thousand  cities  of  India  to 
historic  distinction,  there  is  not  one,  perhaps,  more  ricli  in  varied  interest  both  to  the  student  and 
the  traveller  than  Agra.  Apart  from  the  temples  and  other  oriental  edifices  naturally  associated 
with  the  country,  there  are  within  the  town,  or  dotted  about  its  immediate  environments,  a  series 
of  tombs,  the  fame  of  which  has  not  a  little  to  do  with  the  popularity  of  Agra  as  a  tourist  resort. 
Pride  of  place  is  given  to  the  Taj  Mahal  ("  The  Crown  Lady's  Tomb  "),  erected  in  1640  by  the 
Emperor  Shah  Jehan,  but  a  close  rival  to  it  both  in  beauty  and  in  interest  must  rank  the  mausoleum 
of  I'timad-ud-daulah.  This  tomb,  which  is  situated  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Jumna  opposite 
the  town,  was  erected  to  one  Ghiyas  Beg,  a  noted  Persian  refugee,  grandfather  of  the  lady  of  the 

Taj,  who  became  high  treasurer 
to  Jehangir.  It  stands  in  an 
extensive,  well-tended  garden, 
and  is  raised  from  the  ground 
about  four  feet  upon  a  base 
measuring  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  square.  The  mauso- 
leum has  a  breadth  and  depth 
of  sixty-nine  feet,  and  is  fitted 
with  a  flat  roof,  at  each  of  the 
four  corners  of  which  rises  an 
octagonal  tower  forty  feet  in 
height  from  platform  to  pin- 
nacle. From  the  centre  of  the 
roof  is  built  a  small  pavilion, 
twenty-five  feet  square,  with 
triple  latticed  windows,  la\dslily 
decorated,  on  each  side.  It 
has  a  curved,  oriental  roof  and 
wide,  overhanging  eaves. 

The  lower  building  is  divided 
up  into  rooms  around  a  cen- 
tral chamber  twenty-two  feet 
square,  in  which,  side  by  side,  are  the  tombs  of  I'tunad-ud-daulah  and  his  wife.  These  are  made  of 
beautifully  chiselled  yellow  marble,  and  are  strikingly  effective  in  the  simplicity  which  contrasts 
in  strange  fashion  with  the  ornate  decoration  and  gilding  of  the  walls.  The  side  rooms  are  devoted 
to  a  display  of  paintings  of  flower-vases  and  fruit,  the  intervening  passage  walls  being  made  of 
exquisite  marble  lattice-work,  which  allows  plenty  of  light  to  reach  the  exhibits.  In  the  pavilion 
on  the  roof  are  facsimiles  of  the  two  tombs  in  the  central  room  below.  Perhaps  the  special  feature 
of  this  tomb  is  the  show  of  marble  ;  it  has  been  claimed,  and  with  justice,  that  the  inlay  and  mosaic 
work  to  be  found  in  this  building,  though  it  dates  from  162S  and  is,  therefore,  the  earliest  known 
in  India,  is,  nevertheless,  the  most  perfect  and  pleasing  specimen  in  the  country.  Much  of  the 
interior  and  the  whole  of  the  exterior  is  of  glistening  white  marble.     The  tomb  of  I'timad-ud-daulah 


Pholo  ;.)/] 

ONE    OF    THE    FOUR 

At  each  corner  of  the  main  building  i 
the  tombs  are  placed  directly  over  them  in 
reverence    common    in    the    East 


CORNER    TOWERS 

a     beautiful    octagonal     tower, 
pavilion     a    duplication 


of 


Copies    of 
of    oriental 


lOO 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


I'llcIO  hi,} 


ICnpl.  C.  a.  Rnicling,  CLE. 


TOMB    OF    THE    FIRST    TASHl     LAMA.    THIBET 


This    sarcophaeus,    one    of    five    in    the    Tashi    Lhumpo    Lamasery,    is    of    pure    gold,    studded    with    turquoises    and 

precious   stones, 

owes  its  existence  to  Nur  Jehan,  daughter  of  Ghiyas  Beg,  who  also  designed  and  built  the  tomb 
of  her  husband,  the  Emperor  Jehangir,  at  Shah  Dara,  about  six  miles  from  Lahore.  It  is  of 
melancholy  note  that  whilst  the  tombs  of  her  father  and  husband  are  both  well  tended  and  amongst 
the  marvellous  buildings  of  the  world,  that  erected  to  Nur  Jehan  herself,  also  at  Shah  Dara.  was 
never  completed  and  is  now  nearly  in  ruins. 

The  Tomb  of  the  First  Tashi  Lama. — Close  to  Shigatse,  Thibet,  the  head-quarters  of 
the  Tashi  Lama,  is  to  be  found  the  most  beautiful  lamasery  in  the  country.  It  is  called  Tashi 
Lhumpo  and  consists  of  numerous  temples  and  dwelling-houses  built  down  the  slopes  of  a  rocky 
hill.  Here  four  thousand  five  hundred  lamas  spend  their  lives  and  keep  guard  over  their  most 
valuable  possession — the  five  golden  tombs  of  the  former  Tashi  Lamas.  Though  many  of  the 
buildings  of  this  monastery  are  two  and  three  stories  in  height,  the  gilded  roofs  of  these  magnificent 
tombs  rise  high  above  all  the  structures  around.  Describing  them  after  a  visit,  Captain  C.  G.  Raw- 
ling  ("  The  Great  Plateau  ")  saj^s  :  "  Externally  and  internally  they  were  very  similar,  with  the 
exception  that  that  of  the  first  Tashi  Lama  was  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  and  lavishly  decorated. 
The  sarcophagus,  which  has  a  width,  depth  and  height  of  about  twenty-five  feet,  stands  in  the 
centre  of  the  room,  the  roof  of  which  is  of  Chinese  design  and  heavily  gilded,  closely  painted  and 
hung  with  silks  and  tapestries.  The  base  of  the  tomb  is  square,  the  back  perpendicular,  and  the 
front,  which  faces  the  doorway,  slopes  backwards,  rising  in  tiers  until  the  summit  of  the  tomb  fades 


Piiinteil  by  F.  Sclh. 


l*lii>to  by  ficrniisstatt  (»/  lite  tdtrt  o/  iionaldahtiy. 


AMIDA,   TIIH    CIANT    DAIIUTSI.  . 


The  most  famous  representation  or  Amiiia  is  to  he  found  ;it  K;im;iliur;i.  Japan.     The  hoss  in  the  htaJ,  which  is  of  solid 
silver,  weighs  thirty  pounds,  and  the  eyes  arc  of  pure  Bold. 


Asia 


lOI 


away  in  the  darkness.  The  sarcophagus  itself  is  of  gold,  covered  with  beautiful  designs  of 
ornamental  work,  and  studded  with  turquoises  and  precious  stones.  The  turquoises  appear  to  be 
all  picked  stones,  arranged  in  patterns,  and  in  such  profusion  as  to  cover  every  available  spot, 
including  the  polished  concrete  of  the  floor.  Along  the  ridges  at  the  side  of  the  tomb,  stand 
exquisite  old  china  vases  and  ancient  cloisonne  ware,  whilst  golden  bowls,  each  holding  a  liglited 
taper,  and  vases  and  cups  of  the  same  material,  are  placed  along  the  front  of  the  base  of  the  tomb. 
At  the  summit  and  situated  in  a  niche,  sits  a  figure  of  the  dead  Tashi  Lama,  with  pearls  hanging 
in  festoons  from  above  and  around  the  neck."  The  ornaments  forbidden  him  during  life  decorate 
his  image  after  death.  A  feature  almost  as  striking  as  the  richness  and  quality  of  the  precious 
stones  used  in  the  ornamentation  of  this  tomb  is  the  presence,  suspended  from  a  gilded  rail,  of 
five  coloured  glass  toys  of  the  kind  sold  in  thousands  in  this  country  for  decorating  Christmas- 
trees.  It  is  of  interest  to  note  that,  despite  this  tangible  wealth  (and  the  value  of  the  jewels  attached 
to  the  tombs  is  perfectly  well  known),  the  lamas  themselves  live  in  a  state  of  wretched  poverty 
and  dirt.  The  writer  has  visited  many  Mongol  and  Chinese  monasteries  and  never  yet  has  found 
one  that  appeared  sanitary,  cared  for,  or  habitable.  In  spite  of  these  conditions,  so  detrimental 
to  health,  the  monks  and  lamas  live  in  numberless  cases  to  a  ripe  old  age. 

Next  to  the  Delai  Lama,  whose 
temporal  seat  is  Lhasa,  and  whose 
sanctity  is  such  that  it  is  believed 
that  anyone  (unless  belonging  to 
the  highest  nobility)  who  casts 
his  eyes  upon  his  sacred  features 
will  promptly  lose  his  sight,  the 
Tashi  Lama  is  head  of  all  the 
Buddhist  faith,  to  which,  it  is 
said,  one-third  of  the  world  owes 
allegiance.  The  Tashi  Lamas  are 
longer  lived  than  the  Delai  Lamas, 
despite  the  secluded  and  sedentary 
life  that  they  arc  forced  to  lead  ; 
this  may,  perhaps,  be  due  partly 
to  the  distance  at  whicli  they 
live  from  the  constant  intrigues  of 
Lhasa.  To  these  intrigues  many 
an  early  death  may  safely  be  as- 
cribed. The  present  Tashi  Lama 
is  about  thirty  years  of  age  ;  he 
is  described  by  those  who  ha\i' 
met  him  as  gentle,  intelligent, 
fair  in  complexion,  and,  taken  as 
a  whole,  possessed  of  a  most 
pleasing  personality. 

The  Adi-ve  Crater  of  Aso-san. 
— In  Part  I.  of  this  work  ap- 
peared a  remarkable  view  of  the 
extinct  crater  of  Aso-san,  the 
largest  volcano  in  the  world.  We 
are  here  able  to  illustrate  the 
active  crater,  at  all  times  a  roaring 


VCIIVF.    CRATER    OF 


ASO-SAN. 


ABO-Bon   IB    the   world'B   miRliticBl   volcano;    its   main    cratrr,    ten    mileB    l>y    fourteen 
in   extent.    18.    however,   extinct.      This   ia  o   view   o(    the   active   vent 


I02 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


-^ 


•f 


-■''% 


cauldron       of       incandescent 
matter       But    for    this    vent, 
which     is     situated     on     the 
western  side  of  the  mountain, 
the     position    of     the     many 
villages      within      the      huge, 
fourteen-mile  quiescent  crater 
would     be     full     of      danger. 
Eruptions      of      Aso-san      go 
back   to    the   earliest  days  of 
Japanese    history,     the    most 
notable  in  recent  times  having 
taken  place  in  the  vears  1884. 
1889    3-nd    189-I.      During    the 
first    of    these    the   dust    and 
ashes  ejected  hung  suspended 
in  the  air   in   such    quantities 
that    even    as    far    as    Kuma- 
moto,  thirty   miles    away,  the 
darkness  was  so  great  that  for 
three  days  artificial  light  was 
everywhere     necessary.       The 
1894     outbreak     altered     the 
configuration     of     tlie      inner 
crater,    besides    causing   great 
rifts  in  the  outer  walls.     It  is 
on  record  that  the  ashes  from 
this  eruption  fell  continuously 
until  1897,  so  much  so  that  garments  left  out  of  doors  were  destroyed  and  crops  withered.     There 
are   five  peaks  to  the  crater  wall  of  Aso-san  :    namely,   Kijima-dake,  Eboshi-dake,  Naka-no-take, 
Taka-dake,  and  the  loftiest,  Neko-dake  ;    this    has   a   height   of   five    thousand   six  hundred  and 
thirty  feet.      Aso-san  is  not,  therefore,  remarkable  for  elevation.      It  is  situated  in  the  southern 
island  of  Kyushu.     According  to  popular  tradition,  the  whole  inner  crater  was.  in  years  gone  by, 
a  great  lake  ;    one  day  the  god  of  the  mountain,  seeing  to  what  poor  use  the  sheet  of  water  was 
being  put,  kicked  a  breach  in  the  containing  wall  and  let  the  waters  out,  leaving  the  land  there- 
after  fit    for   cultivation.     The  break  to  which  this  story  refers   is   on   the    Kumamoto  side,  and 
through  it  runs  the  Shirakawa  river. 

Pine-tree  at  the  Kinkakuji  Temple,  Ayo/o.— Japan  is  the  true  home  of  the  pine-tree, 
nearly  every  species  growing  in  this  land  of  botanical  contradictions  with  equal  strength.  It  does 
not  appear  strange,  therefore,  that  the  national  bent  for  training  plants  in  directions  not  intended 
by  Nature  should  have  extended  to  the  pine.  The  picture  given  here  represents  a  most  famous 
specimen,  and  it  is  hard  to  realize  that  this  native  sampan,  or  boat,  has  been  developed  from  but 
a  single  root.  It  is  situated  in  the  Kinkakuji  Temple,  Kyoto,  and  is  said  by  tradition  (frankly 
untrustworthy  in  this  case)  to  date  back  to  1397,  when  Ashikaga  Yoshimitsu,  having  resigned 
from  the  Shogunate,  built  himself  a  palace  to  serve  as  a  retreat.  Of  this  palace  nothing  remains 
but  a  pavilion  three  stories  high  and  measuring  thirty-three  feet  by  twenty-four  feet,  in  which 
are  a  number  of  unimportant  statuettes  of  Amida,  Kwannon  and  Seishi,  by  the  well-known  carver, 
Unkei.  Hence,  not  a  few  travellers  entirelj-  ignore  Kinkakuji  and  its  tree.  The  pine-tree,  now  so 
curiously  shaped,  was,  according  to  the  most  reliable  data,  planted  about  two  centuries  ago,  and 


.Steyuyrnph  byl 


.["■ 


II.V/'    '"'(>.,  LoikJoh. 


A     GLiMrsii    OF     INFERNO, 
ne    slip    on    the    treacherous   edge    of    a   volcano's   crater   would   precipitate    the 
many   hundred    feet    down    into  a    lake   of   molten    lava. 


atche 


[l^nitrru^>ott  .{■  t'nitTUittht 


'        ^-    '^'"  A     BOTANICAL    WONDEK    OF     kVOTO.    JAPAN 

The   above   tree,    (nshionedv  in   the   .hope   ot    o    boot.   .prim,   from   «   .insle   .leiti.     It   i.  olrendy   over   200   year.   old. 


Asia 


105 


had  not  reached  many  years  of  age  before  a  roHgious  old  monk  conceived  the  idea 'of  training  it 
in  the  form  it  possesses.  At  his  death,  another  monk  took  on  the  work  as  a  pious  duty,  and  so. 
from  generation  to  generation,  the  tree  has  developed,  and.  having  in  view  its  robustness  at  the 
present  time  and  the  incomparable  skill  of  the  Japanese  in  these  matters,  it  seems  not  improbable 
that  in  yet  another  century  it  will  be  flourishing  as  healtiiy  as  it  is  to-day. 

The  Kuihodaiv,  or  Four  Hundred  and  Fify  Pagodas,  Mandata^.—'^o  the  north-east  of  Fort 
Dufferin,  and  at  the  foot  of  Mandalay  Hill,  there  is.  in  the  city  of  that  name,  a  remarkable  group 
of  miniature  pagodas.  They  are  described  both  by  the  natives  and  Europeans  as  numbering  four 
hundred  and  fifty,  though,  in  fact,  there  are  seven  hundred  and  twent\r-nine,  and  they  owe  their 
existence  to  a  religious  uncle  of  King  Theebaw.  This  worthy  man  was  desirous  of  recording  in  a 
manner  that  time  could  not  affect  the  words  contained  in  the  holy  books  of  Buddhism.  To  this 
end  he  summoned  a  concourse  of  the  most  learned  priests,  and  instructed  them  to  prepare  the 
purest  version  of  the  commandments  for  transcription  on  to  stones.     These  stones  are  all  identical 


rhot''  I'll] 


BrinE.    in    foci.    729' 


[.1.//.  r,nn,  /,;./. 

THE  KUTHODAW.  OR  THE  450  PAGODAS. 

These   were  erected   by   an   uncle  of    Kins   Theebaw.    who.    it    is   not    scnerally    known,    is   stilt   nlivc. 
They    fill   a   space  approximately   half   a   mile   square. 


in  pattern,  and  on  the  completion  of  the  task  the  royal  enthusiast  set  them  up  row  on  row  in  parallel 
lines  within  a  space  appro.ximately  half  a  mile  square.  Over  each  stone  a  small  domed  building 
was  erected  to  preserve  the  writing  from  the  weather,  and  the  whole  surrounded  by  a  high  wall  fitted 
with  an  ornamental  gate  in  the  centre  of  each  side.  Tlie  writing  on  the  slabs  is  executed  in  the 
Pali  language,  but  transcribed  in  Buimese  characters.  Of  the  inscriptions,  one  hundred  and  eleven 
stones  contain  Vini  or  Canon  Law,  two  hundred  and  eight  have  Ab-bhi-Dhamma-pitaka  cut  into 
them,  and  the  remaining  four  hundred  and  eight  stones  contain  Sutta  Law  or  Nike.  In  tlie  m-dst 
of  the  smaller  buildings  is  a  much  larger  and  more  ornate  structure,  witli  a  gi'ded  dome,  where 
prayer  may  be  offered  by  devotees  who  visit  this  strange  place. 

The  Throne,  Peking. — There  are  several  throne-rooms  situated  in  tlic  Forbidden  (.  ity,  Peking, 
each  having  a  distinctive  appellation  and  use.  Thus,  T'ai-ho-tien,  "  Throne  Room  of  Supreme 
Concord,"  is  set  aside  for  certain  solemn  occasions  and  ceremonies,  notably,  tlie  keeping  of  tiic 
\ew  Year  fete.     The  Tchong-ho-tien,  or  "  Throne  Room  of  Comparative  Agreement,"  is  where 


io6 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Photo  In]  [77i.-  K.ji.joiie  Vii-ic  Co. 

THE  ROYAL  THRONE  ROOM.  PEKING. 

There   are  several   Throne    Rooms   in   the    Forbidden    City.       This   i; 

the    most    notatle    and    in    it    are    kept    the    Royal    Seals. 


presents  of  grain  and  comestibles  for  sacrificial 
purposes  are  handed  to  the  Emperor.  In 
the  Pao-ho-tien,  "  Throne  Room  of  Assured 
Concord,"  the  examination  for  candidates  for 
the  Han-lin  academical  honours  are  now  held. 
Finally,  after  passing  tlirough  the  huge  hall 
where  imperial  audiences  are  granted,  the  Kiao- 
t'ai-tien,  "  Throne  Room  of  Sublime  Union." 
is  reached.  Here  royal  marriages  aie  celebrated 
and  the  imperial  seals  kept.  The  throne  itself, 
backed  by  a  wonderful  gold  screen,  is  raised 
upon  a  platform,  some  three  feet  in  height,  and 
approached  by  three  short  stairways  from  the 
front  and  a  further  similar  flight  of  steps  at 
each  side.  The  legs  are  very  short — ^merely  a 
few  inches  in  length — and  so,  to  give  dignity  to 
the  occupant,  the  actual  seat,  with  its  stumpy 
gilt  legs,  is  raised  to  a  comfortable  height  on 
a  plain  carved  dais.  Few  Europeans  had  been 
privileged  to  view  this  throne  prior  to  the 
Chinese  insurrection   in  the  first  year  of    this 

century.       On  August    28th,   1900,  subsequent  to  the  relief  of  the  legations,  General  Linevitch 

marched  an  international  division  of  soldiers,  drawn  from  the  British,  American,  Japanese,  German, 

French,  Austrian  and  Russian  relief  columns,  through  the  Forbidden  City  to  signify  that,  owing 

to  the  outbreak,  the  secrecy  of  the  past  could  no  longer  be  respected.     The  first  time  the  Ministers 

of  foreign  Powers  resident  in  Peking  were  allowed  an  audience  of  the  Emperor  within  the  Forbidden 

City  was  in  1895.      The   palace  and  gardens, 

with   the  many  interesting    outbuildings    and 

the   picturesque    lakes,   are    now   open    to   all 

comers. 

Mount    Everest. — It     is     a    curious    com- 

mentaiy  on   the  wonderful   view   we    give    of 

Mount    Everest    that,   had  there  been  as  free 

access  to  Thibet   as  to   every   other  inhabited 

country  of  the  earth,   this   giant   peak   would 

not  have  remained   so    long    an    unconsidered 

factor  as  was  the  case.      For  only  from  Thibet 

can  a  clear  view  of  Everest  be  obtained  ;  from 

nowhere    in    India   is   it   visible    except    as    a 

point  showing   not   too    clearly   over  the    im- 
mense shoulders  of  other  and  nearer  ranges  of 

giant  mountains.    The  traveller  who  would  look 

on  this  peak  is  directed  to  Darjeeling,  whence, 

having  ridden  six  miles  to  Tiger  Hill,  a  view  of 

it  may,  weather  permitting,  be  obtained,  but  at 

a  distance  of  at  least  one  hundred  and  twenty 

miles.       From  this   vantage-point   it  is   quite 


overshadowed  by  Kinchin] unga,  a  mere  forty- 
five  miles  away  and  twentv-eiglit  tliousand  one 


!;tereograph  !>,!/]  [//.  C.  Kliite  Co.,  lonilon. 

THE    THRONE.    PEKING. 

Probably    the    most    valuable    seat    in    the    world,    being   ornate    with 
cold   and   precious   metals 


io8 


The   Wonders   of   the   V/or!d 


l-'ophrKjttt  pituto  bii\ 


THE    STONE    LANTERNS    OF    NARA.    JAPAN. 


[/r.  a.  rouiiiiff,  /'./;.(;..s. 


Emblems    of    respect    for    the   dead,    tficse    lanterns   are   erected    along    the  approaches    to    temples    to    light    the    departed 
souls   either   in    their   new   sphere  or  on    their   return    to   their  earthly    haunts 

hundred  and  ftfty-six  feet  high.      Everest  just  tops  the  twenty-nine  thousand,  being  twenty-nine 
thousand  and  two  feet.    The  manner  of  its  discovery  about  sixty  years  ago  is  quite  worth  narrating. 

The  custom  of  the  department  charged  with  measuring  tliese  huge  mountains  was  to  choose 
certain  known  altitudes  separated  by  calculated  distances  and  triangulate  with  the  various  visible 
snow  peaks.  Results  were  worked  out  at  leisure — almost  haphazard  ;  when  a  measurement  one  daj' 
surpassed  anything  so  far  attained  the  excitement  may  well  be  imagined.  The  Surveyor-General 
of  India  most  noted  for  his  work  in  our  Oriental  Empire  was  named  Everest  ;  to  do  him  honour, 
the  newly-discovered  mountain  was  called  after  him,  and  [Mount  Everest  it  has  remained.  It 
is  related  that,  not  entirely  satisfied  with  the  name,  a  Captain  Wood  was  dispatched  in  1903  to 
Katmandu  to  find  out  whether  the  Nepalese  had  given  the  peak  a  name.  But  these  folk  had 
never  considered  it  as  worthy  of  particular  note,  owing  to  its  inaccessible  position.  It  was  not 
until  the  British  Mission  opened  up  freer  communication  with  Thibet  that  the  full  beauty  of  the 
mountain  could  be  appreciated  and  its  immense  altitude  properly  ascertained.  From  the  tracks 
taken  by  the  various  parties  tliat  have  penetrated  the  Great  Plateau  of  Asia  many  a  good  view 
of  Mount  Everest  has  been  obtained  at  no  greater  distance  than  forty  to  fifty  miles.  One  traveller 
who  saw  it  under  exceptional  circumstances  wrote :  "It  is  difficult  to  give  an  idea  of  its 
stupendous  height,  its  dazzling  whiteness  and  overpowering  s'ze,  for  there  is  nothing  in  the 
world  to  compare  it  with  " 

The  Stone  Lanterns  of  Nara.,  Japan. — The  lantern  plays  a  very  considerable  role,  in  the 
life  of  the  Japanese,  though  the  advent  of  European  ideas  has  largely  negatived  their  significance. 
Thus  there  are  Bon    Matsuri,  or  Feast  of  Lantern    festivals,  in  many  of  the  chief  towns,  which 


Asia 


109 


have  for  their  raison  d'clre  the  lighting  up  for  departed  souls  of  those  haunts  they  most  cherished 
during  their  hfetime.  Outside  all  temples — and  their  name  is  legion — will  be  found  a  row  of 
stone  lanterns,  sometimes  many  rows  of  them.  These  have  been  presented  at  various  dates  in 
history  by  devout  followers  of  the  faith  to  which  the  temples  are  dedicated,  either  to  light  the 
givers  on  their  way  to  the  hereafter,  to  perform  that  office  for  a  revered  relation,  or  to  illume 
the  world  of  worship  for  the  soul  that  never  dies.  Whatever  be  the  reason,  the  result  is  peculiarly 
picturesque.  The  illustration  given  shows  a  few  of  the  lanterns  stretching  through  Nara  Park 
on  the  road  to  the  Kasuga-no-Miya  Temple.  This  temple  was  founded  in  .\.d.  767  and  is  dedicated 
to  the  ancestor  of  the  Fujiwara  family,  the  Shinto  god  Ama-no-Koyane,  to  his  wife  and  to  certain 
mythical  heroes  dear  to  the  minds  of  the  Japanese  people.  It  holds  a  great  festival  every  year 
on  December  17th.  during  which  the  lanterns,  all  illuminated,  take  an  important  part.  Though 
of  one  general  design,  these  lanterns  differ  very  considerably  in  detailed  conception.  Whilst  some 
are  purely  ornamental,  their  lighting  capacity  being  almost  neglected,  others  are  well  hollowed 
out  and  fitted  with  transparent  paper  windows  to  protect  the  little  oil  lamps  when  alight  from 
the  action  of  the  winds.  One  of  these  latter  is  seen  to  the  right  hand  of  the  photograph.  Tlie 
park  in  which  these  lanterns  are  situated  is  full  of  tame  deer,  to  feed  which  the  attendants  at  the 
gate  sell  wheaten  biscuits  to  visitors  desiring  them.  Each  year  their  horns  are  cut  lest,  during 
the  rutting  season,  they  should  attack  and  hurt  any  of  the  crowds  that  daily  walk  through  the 
park.  Having  once  purchased  and  distributed  these  biscuits,  the  gentle  deer  refuse  to  leave 
you,  and  the  writer  recalls  his  experience  when  for  half  a  mile  or  so  he  walked  along  surrounded 


^itfm^Mi^-^Mhi 


'"   !^#.4rV.>j 


^•^.^^■.;^'-"^- 


i'hutu  l.y] 


A    PARSEE    TOWER    OF    SILENCE.    BOMBAY. 

Erected    Lv    Sir    J<im*cliec   Jeeirebhoy    for    the    dispoKitl    of     tlie    bodiea   of    dead    Parnecs.       The    corpnes    ore    placed. naked 
Within    the   Tower   and    devoured    by    the    hordes    of    vultures   always    in    ottendancc. 


I  lO 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


by  them,  pushing  their  noses  into  his  pockets,  rubbing  their  heads   against  his  coat  in  their  nearly 
human  demands  for  a  delicacy  they  greatly  appreciate. 

Parsee  Toivzr  of  Silence,  Bombay. — On  the  western  side  of  Back  Bay,  Bombay,  is  Malabar 
Hill,  whereon  have  been  erected  five  huge  Towers  of  Silence,  the  burial  places  of  the  Parsee  sect. 
The  Parsees  pay  a  veneration  to  the  elements  Earth,  Fire  and  Water  which  cannot  permit  their 
pollution  by  the  contact  of  dead  bodies.  Also,  and  the  second  reason  serves  if  faith  in  the  first 
is  not  sufficient,  it  was  laid  down  by  Kartasht  that  in  death  the  rich  and  the  poor  shall  meet  as 
one.  Hence  the  Towers  of  Silence  were  devised.  The  following  is  a  description  of  that  in  the 
photograph,  which  cost  thirty  thousand  pounds  to  build,  as  also  an  account  of  the  mode  of  burial. 

Within  the  gateway  of  an  outer  enclosure  is  a  flight  of  steps  leading  to  an  inner  wall  twenty-five 
feet  in  height  and  having  a  circumference  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  feet.      The  bier  is  carried 

up  these  steps  by  four  Carriers 
of  the  Dead  (Nasr  Salars), 
followed  by  two  bearded  men 
and  a  number  of  mourners. 
The  two  bearded  men  are  the 
only  ones  permitted  actually 
to  enter  the  tower.  The  outer 
wall  of  this  is  whitewashed, 
the  interior  having  semblance 
to  a  circular  gridiron  sinking 
downwards  towards  the  centre, 
where  a  deep  well,  five  feet  in 
diameter,  is  located.  The  dead 
bodies  are  placed  entirely 
naked  in  compartments  built 
between  the  outer  and  inner 
walls,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
every  particle  of  flesh  is  torn 
off  the  bones  by  the  loathsome 
vultures  always  found  in  at- 
tendance. The  skeleton  thus 
left  is  exposed  to  the  sun  and 
wind  until  bleached  and  drj' ; 
the  Carriers  of  the  Dead  then 
take  the  bones  with  tongs  held 
in  gloved  hands,  and  cast  them 


Sl^r^ogrfiph  hy'] 


To   be 


[11.  C.  imu  Co.,  Lvml; 

THE    SACRED    TWIN    TREE.     PEKING. 

I    in    the    Temple    of    the    Empress    CKing-Ou-Tien,    Peking. 


into  the  weO,  where  they 
speedily  crumble  to  dust.  The  rain-water  running  down  from  all  around  sets  up  disintegration, 
and  channels  are  made  at  the  well-bottom  allowing  the  collected  moisture  to  trickle  out  over 
a  bed  of  charcoal,  whence  it  flows  into  the  sea.  Should  the  perforations  for  escape  become 
choked,  the  attendants  descend  a  ladder  attached  to  the  well-side  and  remove  the  ob- 
struction. Thanks  to  the  torrential  rains,  the  blazing  sun,  the  keen  sea  winds  and.  most 
important  of  all,  the  voracity  of  the  vultures,  this  method  of  disposing  of  the  dead  is  not  as 
insanitary  as  appears  on  the  surface.  So  complete  is  the  destruction  that  the  accumulations  in 
the  well  of  the  tower  we  illustrate  have  only  attained  five  feet  in  forty  years.  The  bearded  men 
who  do  most  of  the  work  in  connection  with  the  burial  ceremony  proceed,  on  its  completion,  to  a 
purifying  place,  where,  having  rid  themselves  of  their  clothes,  they  wash  themselves.  The 
following  of  general  mourners  link  their  clothes  together  in  a  certain  understood    fashion,   thus 


I  12 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


'S*- 


The: 


edific 


A    KHIRGHIZ 

und    on    ihi 


TOMB.    SIBERIA 


rolling   plains   of    Southern    Siberia— a    crude    testimony 
to  religious  fervour 


giving  a  mystic  meaning  to  their 
attendance  and  displaying  a  re- 
verential respect  for  the  departed. 
The  land  around  the  five 
Bombay  towers,  amounting  to  one 
hundred  thousand  square  yards, 
was  given  to  his  co-religionists 
by  Sir  Jamsetjee  Jeejeebhoy, 
whose  body  was  subjected  to  the 
treatment  outlined  above.  The 
gardens  about  the  towers  are  laid 
out  in  such  fashion  as  to  suggest 
and  foster  meditation  in  all  mour- 
ners, whilst  banks  of  cypresses 
form  a  dark  and  solid  background 
to  the  grey-white  towers,  and,  as 
the  Parsees  themselves  say,  point 
the  way  to  Heaven  with  their 
long,  tapering  shoots.  One  very 
unpleasant  feature  resulting  from 
the  proximity  of  these  Towers  of  Silence  to  a  numl^er  of  European  residences  is  that  fingers  or 
ears  are  occasionally  found  in  the  gardens  around  these  houses,  dropped  there  by  a  passing  vulture 
or  hawk. 

Sacred  Tivin  Tree,  Peking. — The  religious  and  hallowed  significance  of  growths  such  as 
that  illustrated  here  is  not  what  it  used  to  be,  say,  twenty-five  years  ago.  Doubtless  many 
thousands  of  trippers  have  now  desecrated  (in  the  eyes  of  the  devout  Chinese),  the  opening  presented 
bv  this  twin  tree,  to  be  found  in  the  private  temple  of  the  Empress  Ching-Ou-Tien,  Peking.  The 
curious  feature  here  is  that  the  doorway,  through  which  the  photograph  has  been  taken,  was 
erected  exactly  to  coincide  with  the  span  of  the  double  tnmk.  The  effect,  with  the  handsome 
marble  stairway  in  the  back- 
ground, is  very  striking. 

A  tree  of  different  kind,  but 
equal  interest,  is  situated  in  the 
courtyard  of  the  Kasuga-no-Miya 
Temple,  Nara,  Japan.  Here,  on 
a  single  tree-trunk,  seven  ab- 
solutely different  species  have 
been  grafted  inextricably  to- 
gether. There  are  camellia, 
cherry,  wistaria,  maple,  icho 
(Japanese  oak),  and  two  other 
varieties.  To  this  unusual  em- 
blem of  inseparable  affection 
Japanese  lovers  are  wont  to 
attach  little  pieces  of  paper,  on 
which  are  written  their  vows 
and  short  prayers  that  these 
may  be  maintained  during 
life. 


ANOTHER    FOR^^    OF    1 OMB. 

The    Khirghiz    have    quaint    notions   of   decoration.       Being    thenrtselves    nomads,    their 
Views  on  architecture  are  very   unformed- 


Asia 


•13 


A      lOiMH     l\     A     WILD     shlilMJ. 

For   scores   of    miles,   often,    a    lomb    such    as    tfiia   !s    the   only    visible    thing   on    the  flat, 
sandy    land    frequently   snow-covered  *  plain. 


An  Ice  Bridge. — This  illustra- 
tion of  an  ice  bridge  is  probably 
unique.  Its  utility  as  a  means 
of  passage  across  a  difficult  spot 
is  evidenced  by  the  two  heavily- 
loaded  yaks  and  their  driver. 
It  was  taken  by  Captain  C.  G. 
Rawling  in  the  Changchenmo 
Valley,  Central  Thibet.  He 
writes  that  "  these  causeways 
proved  invaluable,  as  we  were 
compelled  to  cross  the  river 
several  times,  and  only  in  one 
place  was  much  difficulty  ex- 
perienced." The  especial  feature 
of  J  the  stnicture  lies  in  this, 
that  during  summer  months  the 
banks  and  hills  of  the  valley- 
through  which  the  spanned  river 
runs  are  covered  with  luxuriant 
grass,  glorious  flowers  and  wild  cereals  growing  riot  beneath  a  blazing  sun.  A  sudden  change  of 
climate  is  characteristic  of  the  Thibetan  lowlands — unlike  the  changes  from  winter  to  summer  in 
Canada  or  Manchuria,  the  difference  in  cause  and  effect  are  seen  in  the  course  of  a  single  week. 
Snow,  frost,  deadly  gales  and  icy  fogs  give  way  as  if  by  magic  to  all  the  attractions  of  a 
perfect  English  summer. 

The  Khirghiz  Tombs  of  Siberia.— in  Central  Siberia,  localized  around  the  Tian  Shan 
plateau,  there  lives  a  tribe  of  nomads  of  wliich  perhaps  less  is  known  than  of  any  other  people.  The 
tombs  illustrated  here  express  more  eloquently  than  words  the  character  of  these  simple,  peace- 
loving    folk ;    around  the  tombs  may  be  seen  the   stretching  plains  of  sand  and  grass,  typical  of 

the  country  in  which  they  live. 
The  name  Khirghiz  embraces 
Indo-Europeans,  Mongols  and 
the  Turanian  tribes  linked  alike 
in  habits  and  character.  Their 
language  is  such  that  a  know- 
ledge of  Turkish  makes  com- 
munication easj',  and  the  hos- 
pitality of  these  nomadic  shep- 
herds is  of  a  nature  that 
payment  for  services  is  an 
unknown  feature  to  them.  The 
Khirghiz  is  forced  to  change  his 
residence  twice  a  year — and  his 
family  goes  with  him.  This  is 
necessary  to  obtain  the  best  pas- 
turi's  fur  tiie  hertls  and  flocks, 
invariably  to  be  found  close 
below  the  ever-shifting  snow- 
line.    Again,  since  at  night   tiie 

9 


THE    INTERIOR    OF    A    KHIRGHIZ    TOMB. 


The    heodstone    is    seen    here.       Oflimes 
a    reminder    that    a   small 


Utile 
child 


cradle   lies    pathetically    oKainsI    the    wall 
8    buried    with   its    parent* 


114 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


animals  are  herded  close  around  the  camp,  the  environments  become  foul  beyond  bearing  after 
the  first  shower  of  rain.  To  meet  these  novel  conditions  of  life,  which  know  no  change, 
their  houses  are  collapsible.  They  are  made  of  willow,  based  on  a  willow-trellis  wall,  circular 
in  section  and  having  a  smoke-hole  in  the  top.  The  willow  is  covered  with  woollen  cloth,  and 
the  whole  has  the  appearance  of  a  huge  inverted  white  pudding-bowl.  These  folk  are  sociable 
to  one  another  and  friendly  to  strangers  ;  though  Mohammedan  in  rehgion,  their  women  go  about 
unveiled  and,  moreover,  have  a  strong  influence  in  the  affairs  of  the  community.  Beside  the 
tombs  shown  here  will  frequently  be  found  a  baby's  cradle — a  sad,  small  emblem  that  a  little  one 
has  been  buried  close  to  the  holy  shrine  of  past  great  men. 

The  Daibutsu   of  Kamakura,  Japan. — Here  is  an  image  which,  by  general  acceptance,  stands 
without  rival  in   the  world.     The   Kamakura  Daibutsu,   by  its  massive  serenity,  by  its  majestic 


Copiiriijht  photo  /'(/] 

THE     DAIBUTSU    OF    KAMAKURA. 

This  representation    of    Amida.    the    most    massive    bronze    figure    in    the    world,  is  forty-nine  feet  high.       It    is    now    necessary  to  obtain 
an    official    permit    to    take   a    photograph,    owing    to  the    damage   resultant   on    the    former   ease    of    access    permitted   to    tourists. 

calm,  holds  those  who  have  seen  it  in  irresistible  fascination.  It  is  set  in  environments  moulded 
by  nature  to  add  a  natural  charm  to  that  afforded  by  the  sculptor.  Those  who  once  have  seen 
it,  go  to  see  it  again,  the  better  to  grasp  its  colossal  size,  its  harmonious  bearing,  its  impressive 
atmosphere. 

A  description  of  it  seems  nearly  sacrilegious  when  brought  down  to  measures  and  weights.  Its 
height  is  forty-nine  feet  and  circumference  ninety-seven  feet  two  inches.  The  length  of  the  face 
is  eight  feet  five  inches,  and  in  the  huge  forehead  is  set  a  silver  boss  thirty  pounds  in  weight  and 
fifteen  inches  in  diameter.  The  eyes,  fashioned  in  pure  gold,  look  out  from  lids  three  feet  eleven 
inches  long,  whilst  the  ears  and  nose  have  dimensions  of  six  feet  si.x  inches  and  three  feet  nine 
inches  respectively.  The  mouth  is  three  feet  two  inches  from  corner  to  corner,  and  on  the  head 
are  eight  hundred  and  thirty  curls,  nine  inches  high  each.  The  image  is  of  pure  bronze  cast  in 
sheets  and  brazed  together  afterwards,  being  finished  off  outside  by  chiselling.  In  the  interior  is 
a  shrine  with  a  ladder  leading  up  to  the  head.      The  history  of  this  Daibutsu,  which  represents 


IHE    RAMDODA    WAIKKKALL.    CE>LON. 

rial',    omid    the    wildrst    Iropic.l    .ccncrv.    it    caused    by    a    rivrr    .tckini:    nn    c«il    (rom    the    hiehland.  ol    Nuwar.- 
Eliya    lo    the    lore.t    plain,   many    thousand    (eet    beloiv.       It    >•    the   mo.t    (amoui    [all    in    Ceylon. 


ii6 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


Amida,  is  very  interesting.  Tradition  accords  its  conception  to  Yoritomo,  who  first  organized  the 
system  of  military  government  known  as  the  Shogimate.  Though  he  had  discussed  his  plan  very 
well  with  his  associates,  he  died  before  he  could  personally  superintend  its  execution.  The 
Daibutsu  dates  from  the  year  1252  a.d.  Originally  it  had  about  it  a  huge  temple  fifty  yards 
square,  the  roof  of  which  was  supported  on  sixty-three  wooden  pillars  firmly  fixed  on  stone 
foundations.  Twice,  in  1369  and  1494,  seismic  waves  have  swept  the  covering  temple  away,  but 
left  the  image  unmoved,  and  it  now  stands  in  the  open  air  unharmed  by  six  and  a  half  centuries 
of  existence — the  embodiment  of  intellectual  and  passionless  serenity. 

Ramboda  Falls,  Ceyton. — Twelve  miles  from  Nuwara-Eliya,  the  well-known  summer  resort 
and  ancient  royal  town  of  Ceylon,  is  a  marvellous  valley,  looking  down,  with  vistas  of  great 
mountains  upon  every  side,  over  the  elephant  lands  so  much  sought  after  by  the  hunter.  Here, 
tucked  away  amid  banks  of  magnificent  verdure,  are  to  be  seen  a  series  of  waterfalls  which,  if 
they  do  not  vie  with  others  better  known  in  volume  or  in  height,  can  lay  claim  to  features  of 
beauty  and  situation  unequalled  the  world  over.  Ramboda  would  never  have  been  heard  of  but 
for  these  falls  ;  over  the  jutting  edge  of  a  giant  precipice  there  leaps  a  foaming  torrent,  falling 
first  in  a  flight  of  steps  and  then  clear  into  a  boiling  cauldron  whence  the  eye  cannot  follow  it. 
Tlie  very  raggedness  of  the  containing  rocks  comes  as  a  shock  after  the  surrounding  forest  : 
it  is  all  so  unexpected,  so  stupendous,  that  this  liquid  mass  should  hurl  itself,  willy-nilly,  several 
hundred  feet  down  from  the  glorious  highlands  of  Nuwara-Eliya.  This  wonder,  too, 
possesses  an  unique  advantage  :  unlike  so  many  world-curiosities  described  in  this  work,  it  is 
close  to  the  beaten  track  of  the  leisured  traveller.       Comfortable   trains   take   him  to  his   hotel, 


Phntn  hy'] 


[.Vf'.\-.<r5.  Johnston  d-  Iloj^niann. 


THE    CENTRE    OF    THE    UNIVERSE. 


A   ^vonderful    seven-storied  erection    directly    over   the    Royal    Throne    Room   of    Mandalav    Palace.       This    Palace,    or    Nandaw.   has. 
since   the   exiling   of    Theebaw.    who   is  still    alive,    lost  much    of    its    beauty  and   historical    aspect. 


Asia 


117 


in  comfort  the  manager  of 
his  hostelry  will  arrange 
his  trip  to  the  falls.  And 
they,  once  seen,  remain 
embedded  in  the  memory 
of  the  fortunate  observer  ; 
for  in  majesty,  beauty  and 
situation  they  are  unsur- 
passed. 

Theebaiv's  Palace  :  The 
Centre  of  the  Universe. — 
There  are  man}'  royal 
palaces  in  Asia  famed 
either  for  their  gaudy 
magnificence,  their  archi- 
tecture, or  their  history, 
but  none,  perhaps,  ap- 
proaches that  at  Mandala}- 
for  general  interest.  This 
palace,  or  Nandaw,  is  situ- 
ated exactl}'  in  the  centre 
of  Fort  Dufferin — in  itself 
a  remarkable  conception, 
being  a  huge  square  en- 
closed by  walls  twenty-six 
feet  high  and  surrounded 
on  every  side  by  a  moat 
about  three  hundred  feet 
wide.  There  are  but  five 
bridges  giving  access  to 
the  fort,  and  three  of 
these  lead  by  roads  direct 
to  the  palace.  This  palace 
was  formerly  a  strongly 
fortified  post,  but.  subse- 
quent to  the  annexation, 
the  outer  stockade  and  brick  walls  were  removed,  leaving  the  chief  buildings  as  they  were 
originally. 

These  buildings  are  mainly  of  teak,  profusely  carved  and  gilded  after  the  manner  of  the  country, 
and  though  in  certain  cases  put  to  uses  more  acceptable  to  the  present  owners,  are  still  known  by 
their  old  names.  The  largest  and  most  striking  erection  is  the  Audience  Hall,  which  formerly 
contained  the  Lion  Throne.  This  hall,  now  used  as  a  church,  has  a  length  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  from  wing  to  wing,  and  is  forty-five  feet  deep.  At  one  end  rises  the  shwepyathat,  or  gilded 
spire,  the  external  emblem  of  royalty.  This  spire  has  seven  stories,  and  is  remarkable  for  its  ornate 
decoration.  The  Lion  Throne  itself,  over  which  it  was  built,  has  been  removed  to  the  Calcutta 
Museum.  It  is  this  tawdry  yet  unusual  pinnacle  that  was  known  as  the  "  Centre  of  the  Universe," 
the  Burmans  arguing,  so  the  story  goes,  that,  being  the  centre  of  Mandalay,  it  was  also  that  of  the 
world.  Directly  behind  the  Audience  Hall  was  the  stable  of  tlic  sacred  White  Elephant,  whilst 
to  the  east  of  it  rises  a  richly  decorated  shrine  in  which  Theebaw  passed  the  period  of  his  priesthood. 


■■'j'urighl'] 


■■I  .(■    r,„l.r,f0.l. 


These  massive  %v 
regime.  Spaciousness, 
architecture. 


1  HEEBAWSylPALACE.    MANDALAY. 

ooden     pillars     arc     indicative     of     the     departed     nlory    of    a    ereat     heathen 
ornate    decoration    and    solidity   arc   the    distinctive    features    o(     Burmese 


ii8 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


iluch  of  this  palace  was 
brought  from  Amarapura,  the 
Immortal  City,  lying  a  few 
miles  to  the  south  of  Mandalay. 
The  private  audience  halls 
were  used  for  many  years  by 
the  Upper  Burma  Club.  A 
stop  was  put  to  this,  and 
rightly,  by  Viscount  Curzon 
of  Kedleston  wlien  Viceroy  of 
India ;  he  feared  that  an 
accidental  fire  might  destroy 
for  ever  that  which  remains 
the  finest  palace  in  a  land 
of  palaces — a  gem  of  native 
architecture,  unique  in  design 
and  workmanship,  and  fulfil- 
ling in  aU  respects  the  tradi- 
tions of  ancient  Burma.  King 
Theebaw,  who  succeeded  hs 
father  on  the  throne  in  1878, 
began  soon  to  murder  his 
relatives  and  m  srule  his 
kingdom.  At  last  the  British 
Government's  patience,  after 
many  protests,  was  exhausted. 
King  Theebaw  was  sent  an 
ultimatum,  and  General  Pren- 
dergast  sailed  up  the  Irra- 
waddy  and  deposed  him.  The 
annexation  of  Upper  Burma 
to  Great  Britain  was  pro- 
claimed. Theebaw  was  sent  in  1885  to  Rangoon.  Later  on  he  was  taken  to  British  India.  He 
survives,  and,  although  he  is  under  British  control  and  deposed  from  power,  his  life  is  made  as 
comfortable  as  possible. 

The  Car  of  Krishna.,  Tanjore. — Tlie  curious  vehicle  seen  here  represents  the  ceremonial  car 
of  Krishna,  one  of  the  nine  incarnations  of  Vishnu,  the  Protector.  The  modern  Hindu  religion 
acknowledges  one  God,  called  Brahma.  During  religious  history,  Brahma  has  given  three  personal 
manifestations :  the  first  as  Brahma,  the  Creator  ;  the  second  as  Vishnu,  the  Protector  ;  and  the 
third  as  Shiva,  the  Destroyer  and  Reproducer.  With  the  first  and  third  of  these  we  have  nothing 
to  do  ;  but  Vishnu  is  the  central  being  with  which  Krishna  is  associated.  Vishnu,  when  represented, 
holds  in  one  hand  a  quoit,  in  another  a  shell,  in  a  third  a  club,  whilst  a  lotus  flower  is  held  in  the 
fourth.  Vishnu  has  come  down  to  earth  on  nine  different  occasions,  and  the  advent  of  his  tenth 
appearance  is  eagerly  awaited.  The  forms  of  these  first  nine  incarnations  were  as  follow  :  (i)  A 
Fish  ;  (2)  A  Tortoise  ;  (3)  A  Boar  (Varaka)  ;  (4)  A  Lion  (Narsingh)  ;  (5)  A  Dwarf  (Vamana)  ; 
(6)  Parasu  Rama  ;  {7)  Rama  ;  (8)  Krishna,  and  (9)  Buddha.  The  traditional  history  of  Krishna 
is  curious  :  he  is  the  God  of  the  poor  people,  fo:,  though  of  noble  birth,  his  youth  %\as  spent  amongst 
shepherds  and  peasants,  from  whom  he  learnt  the  laboured  existence  of  the  poorer  classes.  As  a  boy 
he  killed  the  snake  Kali  by  stamping  his  life  out  with  his  feet,  and  followed  this  up  by  raising  the 


%: 


■*i»i! 


Fruin  .sierco  copyrighf] 

THE    CEREMONIAL    CAR 

Cre&l    fetes    take    place    in    India    in     honour   of    Krishna  ; 
incemalions  of    Visfir.u.    ihe    Protector,    the    second    1 


\_Undiricood  .C   Vnd'iuooii 

OF     KRISHNA. 

Krishna    is    one    of    the    nine 
lanifeslation    of    Brahma. 


I20 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


Mount  of  Govardhan  (fourteen 
miles  from  Muttra)  in  such 
manner  on  his  finger  that  the 
cowherds  of  the  plain  were 
protected  from  a  violent  storm 
created  by  Indra,  the  Rain- 
God,  as  a  test  of  Krishna's 
divinity.  Vishnu  first  appeared 
as  Krishna  at  the  village  of 
Gokul,  where  sundry  relics  of 
antiquity  are  kept.  Krishna 
was  blest  with  innumerable 
wives  and  a  large  family  ;  in 
all  representations  he  is  painted 
blue,  and  is  standing  on  a 
snake,  tlie  tail  of  which  he 
holds  in  one  of  his  left  hands. 
In  his  corresponding  right 
liand  is  a  lotus,  and  the  second 
pair  of  hands  frequently  hold 
a  flute  which  he  is  playing. 
It  is  a  curious  commentary  on 
the  status  of  this  religion  that 
the  adoption  of  Buddha  as  the 
nintli  incarnation  of  Vishnu 
was  a  compromise  with  Bud- 
dhism ! 

The  popularity  of  Krishna 
may  well  be  imagined  when 
it  is  mentioned  that  Vishnu, 
in  this  incarnation,  is  said  to 
deliver  mankind  from  the  most  fearful  miseries  of  life.  These  miseries  are  divided  up  into 
three  sections  as  follow :  (a)  lust,  anger,  avarice,  and  any  evil  consequence  resultant  there- 
from ;  (b)  beasts,  snakes,  and  danger  from  men  ;  (c)  demons.  The  final  incarnation  of  Vishnu 
will  also  be  as  a  man  ;  the  former  human  appearances  being  Krishna,  described  above,  and 
Rama.  On  this  tenth,  and  last,  occasion,  he  will  come  down  from  above  as  a  mounted  warrior 
on  a  superb  flying  steed,  and  with  a  sweep  of  his  arm  he  will  shatter  the  earth,  scattering  it  and 
its  inhabitants  over  the  heavens  as  dust.  Since  the  date  of  this  eventuality  has  been  fixed  safely 
ahead — to  wit,  in  four  hundred  and  thirty-two  thousand  years — it  troubles  none  of  the  eastern 
worshippers  overmuch.  At  that  date,  which  will  be  by  Brahman  reckoning  the  fourth,  or  Kali  age, 
the  world  will  have  become  wholly  depraved  and  worthy  of  immediate  and  complete  destruction. 
There  are  several  Hindu  festivals  in  which  Krishna  takes  a  leading  part.  The  most 
important  is  called  Holi.  held  fifteen  days  before  full  moon  in  the  month  of  Phagun  (March). 
This  is  a  wild  carnival,  when  free  licence  is  permitted  to  everyone ;  the  chief  joy  is  the 
throwing  of  red  and  yellow  powdei  over  all  and  sundrj-.  Janam  Ashtami  takes  place  on 
the  eighth  day  of  the  dark  half  of  Sawan  (August),  when  Krishna  is  supposed  to  have  been 
born  at  Gokul.  On  this  day,  no  strict  Hindu  will  eat  rice,  but  he  contents  himself  very  fairly 
with  fruit  and  other  grains  until  the  evening,  when  he  washes  before  an  image  of  the  God  whose 
natal  day  he  celebrates. 


stereograph  bii] 


\_H,  C.  White  Co.,  Lomion. 


A    GAUTAMA    BUDDHA    OF    THE    BINGYI    CAVES. 

No  details  as  to  the  age  of  these  figures  have  been  ascertained.  From  time  im- 
memorial, the  historical  treasures  of  Buddhism  have  found  refuge  in  these  huse  natural 
cavities.       These    figures  are    raised   from    the    ground-level    on    roughly-hewn    shelves. 


Asia 


121 


The  Bingy)i  Caves.  Burma. — In  the  neighbourhood  of  Mouhnein  there  are  the  five  most 
remarkable  scries  of  caves  ever  discovered.  They  are  known  as  the  Farm  Caves,  on  the  Attaran 
River,  ten  miles  from  Moulmein  ;  the  Dammathal  Caves,  on  the  Gyaing  River,  eighteen  miles  from 
Moulmein  ;  the  Pagat  Caves,  on  the  Salween  River,  twenty-six  miles  from  Moulmein  ;  the  Kogun 
Caves,  on  the  Kogun  Creek,  Pagat,  twenty-eight  miles  from  Moulmein,  and  finally  the  Bingyi 
Caves,  on  the  Dondami  River,  fifty-one  miles  from  Moulmein.  Only  the  first  of  tiiese  is  much 
visited,  whilst  the  last,  of  which  photographs  are  given,  have  only  been  scientifically  explored  in 
quite  recent  years.  The  Bingyi  Caves  are  situated  in  some  low  hills  three  mUes  from  the  small 
village  of  Binlaing,  on  the  Binlaing  or  Dondami  River  ;  the  entrance  is  reached  after  crossing  a 
pool  of  very  liot  water,  fnjm  which  a  stream  descends  to  the  valley  below,  and  after  a  climb  up 
the  hillside  of  about  one  hundred  feet.  The  main  cave  is  deep  and  dark,  requiring  especially 
strong  lights  for  adequate  exploration.  At  the  farthest  end  is  a  pool  of  water  flush  with  the  floor 
and  by  it  a  pagoda  so  situated  as  to  be  lighted  from  a  hole  in  the  roof  or,  more  correctly,  the 
hillside.  Just  outside  the  entrance  is  another  pagoda,  which  is  unusual,  and  down  the  transept 
— if    the    word    may    be   used — are,    or    have    been,    a    series    of    pagodas,    or    chaityas,    with 


images 
arranged 


of  Gautama  Buddha 
on  shelves  along 
either  side.  The  Buddhas 
are  represented  as  dressed  in 
monks'  robes,  their  curly  hair 
drawn  up  into  a  knot  on  the 
top  of  the  head  and  the  lobes 
of  their  ears  stretched  out 
so  as  to  meet  the  shoulder. 
Quite  recently  the  caves  of 
Burma  have  received  a  well- 
merited  attention,  having  been 
carefullv  explored,  cleared  and 
cleaned,  and.  in  many  cases, 
repaired.  Hence,  ninnerous 
devout  people  flock  to  them 
and  pray  to  the  gods  erected 
in  such  profusion.  In  the 
early  days  of  their  discover}' 
as  caves  worthy  of  closer 
notice,  exploration  was  hin- 
dered by  the  presence  ol 
myriads  of  bats.  So  many 
were  collected  here  that  the 
caves  were  noisome  from  their 
droppings  and  dead  bodies 
which,  in  many  places,  covered 
the  floor  to  the  depth  ol 
several  feet. 

These  groups  of  ca\-es  art 
now  a  favourite  resort  of 
picnic  parties,  both  of  the 
European  and  nati\e  jiopu- 
lation.  "  and      most      of      the 


1HF.    BINGM    I  .W  K.s 


Tl-e  Btruclure  of 
here  well  illuttralcd. 
careful   inipection. 


tficte    cavet,    probably     d< 
Or.ly  in  recent   limei    have 


to    prehistoric     aeitmic  diaturboncc*.     i 
they    been    explored    and    cleaned    fo 


122 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Photo  Sji]  [Alan  11.  Hurgomf,  Esq.,  M.F. 

IHt     lEMPLE    OK    ii.iii    GODS. 

This  lemple  was  founded  in  1132  bv  the  Emperor  Toba  :  it  has  a  length  of  389  fetl.  and  is  filled  from  end  to  end  with 
representations  of  Kwannon-  Archers  test  their  sUill  against  its  length,  and  are  greativ  looked  up  to  if  able  to  send  a  shaft 
from   one   end    to   the  other. 

difficulties  there  were  in  reaching  them  are  gradually  being  overcome  by  the  energy  of  tourist 
agencies.  They  are  all  situated  in  isolated  limestone  hills,  which  rise  picturesquely  and  abruptly 
from  the  alluvial  plains  surrounding  them.  It  is  beheved  that  these  caves  may  have  been 
excavated  by  the  action  of  the  sea  in  prehistoric  times,  and  they  are  to  this  day  in  most  cases 
full  of  stalactites  and  stalagmites.  It  is  quite  obvious,  even  after  a  most  cursory  examination, 
that  at  one  time  every  available  spot  held  an  image  of  one  of  the  many  incarnations  of 
Buddha  ;    their  fragments  lie  on  every  hand,  representati\-e  of  all  periods  and  all  ages. 

The  secrets  of  these  caves  still  untapped  must  form  a  remarkable  field  for  inquiry,  but  enough 
has  been  said  to  show  how  rich  they  are  in  historical  associations  and  how  well  worthy  of  more 
detailed  study.  Many  of  the  manuscripts  and  terra-cotta  tablets  already  found  have  served  to 
clear  up  difficult  points  in  Burmese  history — the  caves  would  seem,  therefore,  to  have  been  the 
hiding  places  of  those  precious  relics,  nearly  always  historical,  which  from  age  to  age  are  handed 
to  the  priests  for  preservation. 

San-i'u-san-gen-do,  the  Temple  of  Thirty-three  Thousand  Three  Hundred  and  Thirty-three 
Goc/s.— Probably  the  longest  temple  in  the  world  is  the  San-ju-san-gen-do  at  Kyoto,  its 
dimensions  being  an  over-all  length  of  three  hundred  and  eighty-nine  feet  and  a  breadth  of 
fifty-seven  feet.  Here  are  housed  no  less  than  thirty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  representations  of  Kwannon,  the  Goddess  of  Mercy.  In  1132  Emperor  Toba,  having  been 
deposed,  founded  this  temple  and  placed  in  it  the  first  one  thousand  and  one  images,  which 
were  added  to  by  the  Emperor  Go-Shirakawa,  he  giving  no  less  than  one  thousand  one  hundred 


Asia 


12 


O 


and  sixty-five.  In  1249  a  disastrous  fire  destroyed  both  building  and  goddesses,  to  the  dismay  of  all 
who  were  associated  with  it.  Seventeen  years  later,  in  1266,  the  Emperor  Kameyama  ordered 
it  to  be  rebuilt  and  filled  it  from  end  to  end  with  images  of  the  Thousand-Handed  Kwannon. 
Thus  it  stood  for  some  centuries,  falling  more  and  more  into  disrepair,  until  in  1662  tiie  great 
Shogun  letsuma  restored  it  as  it  now  stands. 

A  more  remarkable  gathering  of  goddesses  there  cannot  have  been  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
Tier  on  tier,  they  fill  the  vast  edifice  from  end  to  end,  there  being  one  thousand  main  figures,  five 
feet  high  each,  containing  upon  themselves  further  representations  and  carvings  of  Kwannon,  which 
in  their  aggregate  mount  to  the  enormous  total  of  thirty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
three.  Each  image  is  perfectly  worked  and  superbly  lacquered  in  gold  :  three  liundred  are  due  to 
the  art  of  Kokei  and  Koei.  two  hundred  were  executed  by  Unkei,  and  the  remainder  by  the  equally 
famous  Shichijo-Dai-busshi.  One  feature  worthy  of  notice  is  that,  though  in  each  case  the  deity 
represented  is  the  same,  each  figure  differs  from  the  other  in  some  particular — the  arrangement 
of  the  many  hands,  of  the  clothes,  or  of  the  ornaments.  In  the  centre  of  these  serried  rows  is 
one  large  figure,  of  which  we  give  a  picture.  This  also  is  a  Kwannon,  and  round  about  her  are 
posed  the  Bushu,  or  Eight-and-Twenty  Followers.  Around  this  central  Kwannon  is  woven  an 
interesting  tradition.  The  ex-Emperor  Go-Shirakawa  was  troubled  with  persistent  headaches, 
and  made  a  pilgrimage  to  the  shrines  of  Kumano  to  pray  for  relief.  He  was  directed  to  apply  to 
a  celebrated  Indian  physician,  then  residing  in  a  temple  of  his  capital.  On  his  way  there  he  fell 
asleep  and  dreamed  that  a  monk  of  stately  presence  came  to  him  and  told  him  that,  in  his  former 
state,  he,  the  Emperor,  had  been  a  pious  monk  of  the  name  of  Renge-bo.  Renge-bo  had  for  his 
merits  been  promoted  in  the  person  nf  Go-Shirakawa  to  the  position  of  emperor.     But  Renge-bo's 


/'/■"/.■  '.i] 


[Man  n.  Iliir.jofinr,  Ai.;.,  .V.P. 


IHF      IRNU'LE    OF     33.333    CODS 

ThiB    central    finure    ii    snid.    by    tradition,    to    hnvc    t!ic    bI<u1!    o(    RcnBcbo.    a    [omoUR    monlt.    embedded    in    its    bead 


124 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


skull  lay  uncared  for  in  a  river  and  from  it  sprang  a  willow-tree  ;  whenever  this  tree  shook  in  the 
breeze  the  head  of  Go-Shirakawa  began  to  ache.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  story,  the  Emperor 
awoke  and  set  out  to  find  the  skull,  in  which  quest  he  proved  successful.  Having  attained  his 
object  and  banished  his  headaches  for  ever,  he  caused  the  skull  of  Renge-bo,  his  former  self,  to  be 
embedded  in  the  head  of  the  large  Kwannon  that  now  forms  the  centre  of  these  thirty-three 
thousand  or  so  similar  representations. 

A  visitor  to  this  temple  gives  the  following  quaint  description  of  his  impressions  :  "  They  are 
a  tawdry,  motley  company,  these  tiers  of  gilded  goddesses,  whose  serried  ranks,  a  hundred  yards 
long  and  a  full  battalion  strong,  fill  the  vast  building  from  end  to  end.  The  images,  many  of 
which  are  of  great  age,  are  continually  being  restored.  In  a  workshop  behind  the  vast  stage  an  old 
wood-carver  sits,  his  life  occupation  being  the  carving  and  mending  of  hands  and  arms,  which  are 


Ptiotolni]  [J'Mnl: 

THE    IWAKUM     lUxlIii.l  ,     JAPAN. 

SpanninB    the    Nishiki-gawa    River,    this    bridre    has   a    length    of    five   hundred    feel.      The   stone    piers   supporting   its 
arches    are    bcund    together    with    lead.       No    known    bridge    is    richer    in    historical    associations. 

constantly  dropping  off  like  branches,  from  the  forest  of  divine  tnmks — for  Kwannon  is  a  many- 
limbed  deity,  and  few  of  the  images  have  less  than  a  dozen  arms.  Rats  scuttled  over  the  floors  and 
hid  in  the  host  of  idols  as  we  made  our  way  round  them  ;  and  at  the  back  of  the  building  we  were 
stopped  by  an  old  priest,  who  sat  at  the  receipt  of  custom  and  demanded  a  contribution  from 
every  visitor.  One  day,  as  I  suddenly  turned  a  corner  in  this  temple,  I  saw  a  tourist,  who  supposed 
no  one  was  looking,  dehberately  break  a  hand  off  one  of  the  gilded  figures  and  put  it  in  his  pocket. 
It  is  strange  to  what  acts  of  vandalism  the  mania  for  collecting  useless  relics  leads  some  people." 

In  the  old  days  it  was  the  custom  for  skilful  archers  to  try  how  many  arrows  in  succession 
they  could  shoot  from  one  end  of  the  temple  balcony  to  the  other.  This  sport  was  designated 
"  o-ya-kazu,"  or  the  "  greatest  number  of  arrows."  Many  Japanese  may  still  be  seen  enjoying 
this  game,  and  an  archer  is  seen  in  the  act  of  releasing  a  shaft  in  the  photograph. 

The  Iivakuni  Bridge,  Japan. — On  the  Inland  Sea,  in  the  district  of  Suwo,  is  a  busy  little 
fortified  town  called    Iwakuni,  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  river   Nishiki-gawa.      Iwakuni  was. 


Frnm  ^^*r''ograph'] 


THE    KNAIKTI-'iO    PAGODA.     liURMA 

This   Icmpic    in    .ilualcd    3.650   f«l   above   •rjilcv<!l  ond    can    onlv   b-   reached    from   the   parent    rock   by   mean«   o(   ladders.       Kvaik-li-yo 
i>   the   name   of    the  northern    •ummit  oF    the   Kela««   Hei»ht«.    in    the  Shweiyin   dialrict   ot    Burma. 


126 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


lr)»r..,ir»n»  '  #maBrtll»ri  S 


THE    SPONGE    ROCKS    OF    ENOSHIMA.    JAPAN. 


1^.  Malstmtn. 


The    sacred    isle   of    EnosKima    is   one    of     tfie    loveliest    spots   of     the    Japanese    arcfiipelago.       It    is    famed    far   and    wide    for    its    curious 
rocks,  whicfi  many  believe  are  fossilized  sponges.     Amongst  tfiese  are  found  giant  crabs,   stretchinc  ten  feet  from  claw  to  claw. 

onginally  tlie  headquarters  of  a  famous  Daimyo,  Kikkawa.  and  the  position  of  his  castle,  which 
successfully  withstood  all  assaults  during  the  most  troublesome  period  of  Japanese  history,  is  now 
marked  by  a  charming  temple  dedicated  to  Kato  Kiyomasa.  Around  this  there  still  is  kept  up  the 
original  park  in  wliich  the  warlike  Daimyo  took  so  great  a  pride.  But  though  historicalh'  of 
interest  and  importance,  the  main  feature,  the  one  extraordinary  attraction,  of  this  little  seaport 
is  the  great  bridge  spanning  the  Nishiki-gawa  River.  Kintaikyo,  the  "  Bridge  of  the  Damask 
Girdle,"  is  famous  to  the  whole  world,  and  no  structure  has  better  right  to  be  included  amongst 
terrestrial  wonders.  From  end  to  end  it  is  nearly  five  hundred  feet,  the  five  curved  arches 
resting  on  massive  stone  piers,  which  to  secure  them  the  one  to  the  other  are  bound  together 
with  lead.  The  custom  followed  for  the  preservation  of  this  bridge  is  to  repair  one  arch 
every  five  years  ;  this  led  to  the  entire  structure  being  practically  renewed  four  times  in  each 
century. 

The  K\aik-ti-yo  Pagoda,  Burma. — The  Kyaik-ti-yo  Pagoda  has  been  described  as  the  most 
curious  object  in  Burma.  Here  we  see  an  edifice  about  twenty  feet  high,  erected  on  a  huge 
boulder,  so  balanced  on  the  edge  of  its  parent  mass  that  it  rocks  in  any  passing  breeze.  Indeed, 
viewed  from  the  position  whence  the  photograph  was  taken,  it  would  almost  seem  as  though  the 
laws  of  gravitation  themselves  had  been  set  at  naught. 

The  history  of  this  curiosity  is  writ  large  for  all  to  see  :  first  comes  the  handiwork  of  Nature, 
driving  from  around  the  hard,  rocky  core  those  softer  materials,  which  at  one  time  made  it  part  of 
the  base  upon  which  it  rests.  Wind,  rain  and  heat  have  all  played  their  part  here  ;  rain  has. 
softened  the  friable  matters  ;    the  sun,  scorching  down  from  all  sides,  has  cracked  and  disintegrated 


Asia 


127 


these  until  they  were  but  dust ;  and,  last  step  of  all,  the  winds  have  caught  this  up  and  cast  it  far 
and  wide,  leaving  the  giant  rock  precariously  poised  as  we  see  it  to-day.  Here,  doubtless,  it  was 
found  many  years  ago  ;  the  finder  rocked  it,  and,  no  doubt,  ground  its  base  a  little  firmer  into  the 
socket  containing  it.  Thus,  despite  lapse  of  time,  it  rests  firmer  and  more  secure  to-day  tlian  ever 
in  its  liistory. 

M  one  period  came  a  holy  man  directed  (as  they  all  arc)  by  a  iidl,  or  spirit.  Imbued  with  the 
faith  that  was  in  him,  he  erected  a  pagoda  on  its  summit,  and  to  this  little  temple  pilgrimages  are 
undertaken  year  in.  year  out.  Tradition  relates  that  beneath  the  rock  lie  relics  of  the  great 
Gautama  Buddha,  and  that  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year  it  floats  in  space  with  the  pagoda  on  its 
back.  These  relics  are  supposed  to  be  the  hairs  from  Buddha's  head,  and,  as  if  to  testify  to  their 
sanctity,  there  lies  before  the  pagoda  a  great  mass  of  human  hair  cut  off  from  the  iieads  of  pilgrims 
and  left  there  as  a  sacrificial  offering.  The  frontispiece  of  Part  I,  of  this  work  gave  a  view  of  the 
Sampan  Pagoda  on  the  Kelasa  Hills.  It  is  a  coincidence  out  of  the  ordinary  that  the  only  two 
such  structures  based  upon  rocks  cast  loose  by  the  hand  of  Nature  should  both  be  found  in  Burma. 
But  of  the  pair  any  unbiased  observer  must  give  the  palm  for  originality,  precariousness  of  position 
and  interest  of  historical  association  to  that  at  Kyaik-ti-yo. 

The  Sponge  Rocks  of  Enoshima,  Japan. — Four  miles  from  Kamakura,  the  once  populous 
capital  of  Eastern  Japan,  is  a  delightful  little  peninsula,  formed  at  iiigli  tide  into  an  island.  This 
is  Enoshima,  the  home  of  sea-treasures.  Well  equipped  with  first-class  native  inns,  Enosjiima  is 
a  ]X)pular  holiday  resort  for 
European  residents  in  Japan, 
who  are  fond  of  the  sea- 
bathing to  be  ,got  there  and 
the  excellent  sea-fishing.  To 
the  curious,  however.  the 
fisheries  of  the  glass-rope 
sponge  (Hyalonema  sieboldi) 
is  a  fascinating  feature  ;  this 
and  the  ordinary  sponge  is 
found  ill  immense  quantities, 
and  it  is  for  these  things  that 
tlie  tiny  town  has  become 
most  noted.  Shells,  corals  and 
marine  curiosities  of  all  sorts 
are  part  of  the  life  of  Eno- 
shima. Back  to  tiie  earliest 
days  the  island  or  ])eninsula  of 
Enoshima  has  been  sacred  to 
Benten,  the  Goddess  of  Luck, 
who,  to  save  the  children  of 
Kosliigal  from  being  devoured 
by  a  voracious  dragon,  mar- 
ried the  monster  and  there- 
after held  him  in  check.  To 
this  day  the  natives  of  Eno- 
shima believe  there  is  a  sub-  . 
terranean  passage  connecting 
the  large  cave  on  the  far  side 
of  tlie   island  with  I'nji-yama. 


Nf-i-i-otjrnph  I'l/] 


THE    BADRl     DAS    TEMPLE. 


Buill    by    the    Juin».    India's   mo»t    famoui   erchitcctB,    no   •pecimrn 
this  in    bcBUty   and   deiisn. 


/.<ii../i.n. 


CALCUriA. 

'I    iKcir   work    ■urpastcs. 


128 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


This  cave  is  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four  yards  deep  and 
thirty  feet  high  at  the  en- 
trance. 

Yet  even  without  this  garb 
of  legend,  it  were  hard  to  find 
a  more  charming  spot  tlian 
Enoshima.  A  long,  weak-look- 
ing bridge  connects  the  little 
peninsula  with  the  mainland, 
and  the  inhabitants  take  small 
Iieed  to  the  repair  of  this 
stnicture,  preferring,  perhaps, 
that  visitors  to  their  little  Eden 
sliould  patronize  the  many 
boatmen  who  depend  for  a 
living  largely  on  the  payment 
t  hey  receive  for  their  ferrying. 
At  the  landing-stage  a  fine 
torii.  one  of  those  quaint  arch- 
like erections  that  are  amongst 
the  most  striking  features  of 
Japan,  faces  you.  and  small 
bronze  tortoises,  exquisitely 
carved,  are  placed  in  natural 
positions  at  the  base  of  the 
great  uprights,  which  also  are 
of  bronze.  Then  rises  a  steep 
and  rocky  path  to  the  shrines 
perched  on  the  hill  above ; 
along  each  side  of  this,  decked 
in  green  foliage,  and  with  all 
the  charm  of  nature  to  support 
their  natural  quaintness.  are  many  old  inns,  and  tlie  Japanese  equivalent  to  our  "  curiosity  shops." 
Here  are  displayed,  and  readilv  sold,  many  marvellous  things  from  the  sea.  Mr.  H.  G.  Pouting 
narrates  a  delightful  little  story,  whereby  he  shows  how  the  unwary  traveller  is  lioodwinked. 
"  Down  on  the  rocks  wrinkled  veterans  of  the  island  earn  a  living  by  waylaying  visitors  to  the 
Dragon's  Cave,  and  inducing  them  to  throw  small  coins  into  the  water,  which  are  caught  as  they 
slowly  sink.  They  also  dive  for  shellfish,  and  infallibly  bring  one  up  from  tlie  clear  green  depths  ! 
Noticing  that  every  time  a  diver  plunged  in  he  first  retired  to  the  cave  for  a  moment,  I  became 
suspicious,  and,  stopping  one  old  fellow,  just  as  he  prepared  to  plunge,  found  he  had  a  crayfish 
concealed  in  his  breech-clout.  This  e.xposure  of  the  trick  caused  uproarious  merriment  amongst 
them  all !  " 

The  Jain  Temple,  Calcutta. — Though  the  strain  of  Oriental  ornamentation  runs  through 
the  whole  of  the  architecture  of  India,  there  are,  nevertheless,  clearly  recognized  styles  of  building 
that  have  developed  in  well-defined  periods.  Perhaps  the  most  famous  builders,  and  certainly  the 
most  painstaking,  were  the  Jains.  The  central  idea  governing  all  Jain  temples  is  a  series  of  ornate 
squares  divided  by.  and  supported  on,  rows  of  carved  columns.  The  word  "  simplicity  "  does  not 
apply  to  their  conceptions,  and   in  most  cases  the  temples  were  erected  on  sites  where,  from  every 


From  l^erfio  copyright'\  [  Vndfrteood  i<-  Vntlericood. 

THE    JAIN    TEMPLE.    CALCUTTA. 

Around  the  temple  are  <;ardens  and  ponds  whicK  vie  in  picturesqueness  with  the 
building  itself.  The  Jains  were  a  wild  people  with  a  marvellous  aptitude  for  erecting 
exquisite   and    lasting    buildings. 


Asia 


129 


point  of  view,  the  detailed  beauty  of  their  ideas  could  receive  adequate  publicity  and  admiration. 
.Minarets,  domes,  points,  spires  jut  out  everywhere,  colours  being  blended  in  perfect  confusion 
to  render  the  curious  buildings  even  more  picturesque. 

On  pages  4  and  5  (Part  I.)  were  given  views  of  the  Dilwarra  Temples  on  Mount  Abu.  with  some 
account  of  the  Jain  religion.  Here  we  have  a  building  by  the  same  people, and  yet  quite  different 
in  appearance.  This  temple  is  situated  in  the  Badri  Das  Garden.  Calcutta,  and  is  dedicated  to  the 
Tenth  Tirthankar-Sitalnath-Ji.  The  main  building  is  of  white  marble,  and  the  exquisite  orna- 
mentations both  within  and  without  are  carefully  preserved. 

The  Jains  frequently  constructed  a  number  of  temples  in  a  group,  as  at  Parasnath,  Palitana  and 
Girnar,  whilst  their  love  of  the  picturesque  induced  them  to  place  their  designs  in  entirely  opposite 


f^g  '.ii'^T-- 


Copyright  photo  hy]  {/!    '..  I'-'uftni/,  I'Jt.O.S. 

THE    JAMA    MASJID.    OR    GREAT    MOSQUE.    DELHI. 

1  Iu8  is  India's  Rrralesi  mosque,  and  the  second  largest  in  the  world.  201  feet  long  by  120  feel  broad.  It  was  buill  by  Shah 
Jrhan  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  5.000  men  beiniE  employed  upon  the  worU  for  six  yearn.  Its  most  preciou* 
relic    is    an    alleced    hair   from    the    beard    of    the    Prophet,    %vhich    is    red    in    colour. 

places.  Mount  Abu  temples  are  situated  high  on  a  hill  ;  others  are  to  be  found  in  deep  and  secluded 
valleys.  The  two  towers  of  Fame  and  of  Victory  at  Chitor  are  splendid  specimens  of  Jain  work, 
with  remarkable  carved  pillars.  Pieces  dating  from  the  tenth  century  are  to  be  found  in  the  great 
mosques  of  Kutab  Minar,  south  of  Delhi,  and  in  Ajmer  Ahmedabad.  Of  modern  Jain  work  the 
most  notable  examples  are  the  temple  of  Hathi  Singh  (a.d.  1848)  at  .•\hmedabad,  tlie  hundred- 
year-old  Delhi  temple,  and  that  at  Calcutta  described  above. 


I30 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


CHAPTER   V. 

By   PHILIP    W.    SERGEANT. 

The  Jama  Masjid,  Delhi. — The  Jama  (Jumma)  Masjid,  the  "  Great  Mosque  "  at  Delhi,  is  the 
second  largest  Mohammedan  place  of  worship  in  the  world,  and  has  as  its  chief  treasure  what  is 
said  to  be  an  actual  hair,  red  in  colour,  from  the  beard  of  the  Prophet.  It  was  built  by  the  famous 
Shah  Jehan,  grandson  of  the  Emperor  Akbar,  during  the  years  1631-1637  .\.d.,  in  honour  of  his 
daughter  Jehan  Ara  Begam — whence  comes  its  original  title  of  the  Masjid  Jehannama,  though 
it  is  universally  known  by  the  name  given  above.  Five  thousand  men,  it  is  said,  were  employed 
on  the  construction  of  the  building,  and  the  cost  was  ten  lakhs  of  rupees. 

The  Jama  Masjid  is  not,  perhaps,  the  finest  mosque  in  India,  being  eclipsed  in  beauty  by  the 
Moti  Masjid,  the  "  Pearl  Mosque,"  which  Shah  Jehan  put  up  at  Agra,     But  it  is,  nevertheless,  a 


4iJii#'^i«Ainrs. 


Photo  hjj] 


THE    CHEAl     .MOSQUE.    DELHI 


[E.  G.  Wood. 


jeneral    vie^v.    showing 


the    mosque    is    raised   above    the    plain 


very  imposing  piece  of  architecture.  The  whole  is  raised  up  from  the  plain  on  a  high  platform 
built  round  an  outcrop  of  rock.  At  each  of  the  angles  of  this  platfonn  is  a  tower,  and  three 
magnificent  flights  of  steps  lead  up  to  the  main  and  the  two  side  gateways.  All  round  runs  an 
arcaded  cloister,  open  at  both  sides,  which  is.  like  all  the  exterior  parts  of  the  building,  of  red 
sandstone.  Upon  the  platform  the  visitor  entering  by  the  principal  gate  finds  a  courtyard  three 
hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  square,  paved  with  granite  inlaid  with  marble,  and  having  in  the 
centre  a  large  tank  for  the  ablutions  of  the  faithful.  Across  this  lies  the  mosque  itself,  with  its 
door  in  a  line  with  the  main  gateway.  In  its  construction  red  sandstone  and  white  marble  are 
mingled,  the  three  large  domes  being  of  pure  marble,  while  the  minarets  at  each  of  the  front  corners, 
one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  high,  combine  the  two  materials  in  alternating  stripes,  as  is  plainly 
shown  in  two  of  our  photographs.  On  the  top  of  these  minarets  are  marble  pavilions,  which 
can  be  reached  by  staircases  ;  and  there  are  also  four  smaller  pavilions,  two  over  the  corners  of  the 
doorway  and  two  on  the  flat  part  of  the  roof. 

The  mosque  is  an  oblong,  two  hundred  and  one  feet  long  by  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  broad. 


Frofti  Sr^rfo  roptji'iij/if] 


[t'ndrneood  ,i-  riulrrtcot"i ' 
THE    GREAT    MOSQUE.    DELHI. 

View  ot  the  courlyord.  i25  feci  .quBre.  on  the  latt  day  o(  ll,e  .nnuol  K..on  of  fnul  in  Rnm»d»n,  llie  ninth  month  of 
the  Mohammedan  year.  The  mo.que  it.elf.  a.  well  n.  the  court,  i.  filled  with  wor.hipper..  A.  the  Inr^e  portal  i.  in  the  m.ddle 
ol  the  (.cade  and  the  building  i.  -el  .vmmetricallv  in  the  courlvird.  it  may  be  .een  that  not  more  than  two-th.rd.  ol  th,.  v..t 
outdoor  conKretcation    is   in    light 


132 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Stei-fo  ovj 


[y/.  V.  i\fitte  t'o. 


THE    MINGOON    PAGODA.    BURMA. 


"  Bodawpaya's  Folly"  is  the  largest  mass  of  brickworU  in  the  world,  iltKouph  the  kin?  who  buih  it  died  before  he  could 
carry  it  to  more  than  a  third  of  the  heiirht  he  intended.  In  1839.  twenty  years  after  his  death,  an  earthquake  split  it  from  top  to 
bottom   and  other^vise  damaged   it. 

Within,  the  whole  pavement  is  of  white  marble,  and  the  walls  and  ceiling  are  lined  with  the  same, 
30  that  there  is  a  generous  display  of  marble  throughout  the  building. 

The  great  front  doors  are  never  opened  except  for  the  admission  of  royal  persons  and  the 
representatives  of  royalty,  like  the  Viceroy  of  India.  Before  them  stands  a  pulpit  presented 
eighty  years  ago  by  a  pious  donor,  who  wished  that  all  gathered  in  the  courtyard  might  be  able  to 
hear  the  voice  of  the  preacher. 

It  is  on  the  last  day  of  Ramadan,  the  Mohammedan  equivalent  of  the  Christian  Lent,  that  the 
Jama  Masjid  presents  the  most  extraordinary  spectacle  :  but  it  is  a  spectacle  not  willingly  allowed 
to  the  eyes  of  unbelievers.  On  that  day,  not  only  the  mosque  itself  but  the  whole  vast  courtyard 
also  are  filled  with  worshippers  just  released  from  their  month  of  fasting  all  day  from  food,  drink 
and  smoke^ — that  is  to  say,  if  they  are  orthodox  Mohammedans,  and  have  not  had  a  partial 
dispensation  on  the  ground  of  being  labourers.  Some  idea  of  the  scene  may  be  gathered  from  the 
photograph  on  page  131,  though  only  about  two-thirds  of  the  congregation  in  the  courtyard  can 
be  seen. 

The  "  Great  Mosque  "  of  Delhi  played  its  part  in  tlie  Indian  Mutiny,  being  strongly  held  by 
the  rebels  during  the  assault  which  followed  the  siege  of  1857.  It  was  not,  however,  seriously 
damaged  in  the  struggle  and  has  since  been  excellently  restored,  the  Government  co-operating 
with  munificent  native  rulers.  It  remains  to-dav  a  fine  testimonv  to  the  artistic  taste  of  Shah 
Jehan,  and  even  those  who  do  not  much  admire  its  general  colour-scheme  of  red  and  white  are 
bound  to  admit  the  charm  of  its  lines. 

Mr.  H.  C.  Fanshawe,  in  his  "  Delhi  Past  and  Present,"  says  :  "  The  Jama  Masjid  should  be 
visited  with  the  morning  sun  shining  on  it,  and,  if  possible,  under  the  full  moon,  which  gives  a  lovely 
softness  to  the  facade  and  domes  :  it  is  specially  beautiful  when  it  can  be  seen  of  a  morning  with 
a  bank  of  dark  clouds  behind  it." 


^^ 


l\unle(l  ?)>•  G    H.  lul.nirils. 


From  II  t>hntoKrat*li  by  Uitderwooit  «v  Uiuicrwooii. 
THE    SCHWAY    DAGON    PAGODA. 
Surroundins  the  mnin  PaKoda.  «hich  is  covered  with  pu«  sold  from  top  to  bottom,  there  is  a  platform  crowded  with  small 


shrines,  colossal  animals,  and  figures  of  various  kinds,  all  combinmi!  to  make  a  matimficcnt  effect. 


Asia 


133 


The  Mingoon  Pagoda  on  the  Irra'wadi,  Burma. — On  the  western  bank  of  the  Irrawadi,  about 
seven  miles  from  Mandalay  on  the  opposite  bank,  there  stands  the  greatest  mass  of  brickwork 
on  earth,  in  the  shape  of  an  unrtnislicd  pagoda  resting  on  a  five-terraced  platform  of  four  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  square.  On  the  uppermost  terrace  rises  a  pile  two  hundred  and  thirty  feet  square, 
slightly  contracting  as  it  goes  up,  and  one  hundred  feet  high.  On  this  again  three  terraces  are 
placed,  bringing  the  total  height  up  to  over  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet.  From  a  small  model 
which  stands  near  it  on  the  river-bank  it  is  gathered  that  it  was  intended  to  carry  the  pagoda  to  a 
height  of  five  hundred  feet,  in  which  case  it  would  have  been  the  largest  single  building  in  the 
world.  As  it  is,  though  only  about  a  third  of  it  is  completed,  it  contains  six  or  seven  million  cubic 
feet  of  brick,  and  is  easily  the  biggest  example  of  this  kind  of  structure  which  is  known  to  exist. 

The  builder  was  Bodawpaya,  a  Burmese  king  of  vast  ambitions  and  cruel  character,  who  died 
in  1819  A.D.  He  worked  on  the  pagoda,  by  means  of  the  forced  labour  of  his  subjects,  for  about 
twenty  years,  and  gave  much  personal  attention  to  its  erection.  Underneath  it  he  is  supposed 
to  have  buried  great  treasure.  After  Bodawpaya's  death  none  of  his  successors  seem  to  have 
made  any  attempt  to  complete  his  work,  and  in  1839  an  earthquake  rent  it  from  top  to  bottom 
and  dislodged  great  quantities  of  brickwork,  beside  wrecking  two  gigantic  lions  which  had  been  set 


■\d'^"*-t' 


A    (-.LAelL.Kl.\L;LL. 

Ihc  pholo  .hows  o  Glocicr  Inblr  o(  rxlrnordinnrv  .izc  met  with  by  the  BullocU  Workmon  Expedition  in  ihc  lummcr  of  1908  on 
tl,c  Bi«(o  Gl.ci.-r  in  BaUi.lon.  Hcilihl  of  icc-.hnfl.  3.8  mclr<-.  '12  feci  5!  inchc):  Icnulh  of  bouWcr-top.  5  mclrc.  '16  feci  5  inchc.  '  : 
total   licisht,    5.5    metres   (18    feet   J    inch>. 


134 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


Photo  from  "  The  Book  of  Ceylon,"  by^  \_Uenry  W.  Catf 

THE    BRAZEN    PALACE,    ANURADHAPURA.    CE'iLON. 

The     only     remains    of     the   once    greatest     monastery     in     the    world     are    1.600    rough-hewn    granite    pillars,    which    were    originally 
cased    in    bronze   and    supported    a    building    nine    stories    high, 

up  near  the  eastern  entrance.  Along  the  principal  rent  in  the  pagoda  the  feet  of  sightseers  have  worn 
a  smooth  path,  by  which  it  is  possible  to  climb  to  the  summit  and  obtain  fine  views  toward  Mandalay 
and  in  other  directions. 

The  story  of  "  Bodawpaya's  Folly."  as  it  might  be  called,  sounds  like  a  tale  of  Egypt  in  the 
time  of  the  pyramids,  and  yet  the  building  of  the  pagoda  was  still  in  progress  a  hundred  years  ago  ! 

Huge  Glacier-Table  in  Baltistan. — ^The  Biafo  Glacier  in  Baltistan  ("Little  Tibet"),  on  the 
Northern  frontier  of  Kashmir,  is  one  of  the  two  largest  glaciers  known  outside  the  Arctic  regions, 
and  certainly  one  of  the  most  magnificent  in  the  world.  It  extends  for  thirty-five  miles  ;  and. 
according  to  the  enthusiastic  account  of  those  intrepid  climbers,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Workman,  e\evy 
step  up  it  "  carries  one  to  different  scenes  of  varied  and  ever-increasing  grandeur,  until  it  becomes 
impossible  to  look  in  any  direction  upon  a  commonplace  outline  or  into  a  vista  of  monotonous  or 
banal  colour."  One  of  the  curious  phenomena  to  be  met  with  upon  the  Baltoro  is  the  glacier-table, 
of  which  the  photograph  gives  an  example,  found  on  the  lower  portion  of  the  glacier  in  the  summer 
of  1908. 

These  tables  are  formed  in  the  first  instance  by  the  fall  of  a  great  boulder  upon  the  snow-clad 
surface  of  the  glacier,  compressing  the  snow  underneath  until  it  becomes  much  denser  than  the 
surrounding  snow.  Then  the  action  of  the  sun  leads  to  the  melting  of  this  surrounding  snow,  while 
that  under  the  boulder,  being  sheltered  from  the  rays  and  hardened  by  the  downward  pressure, 
combined  with  alternate  thawings  and  freezings,  turns  into  a  shaft  of  ice  which  makes  the  support 
of  the  "  table."  The  warmth  of  the  ground,  reflected  from  the  sun,  is  sufficient  to  make  the  shaft 
smaller  ir  diameter  than  the  rock-covering  above,  and  as  time  goes  on  the  shaft  begins  to  suffer 
further  diminution,  especially  on  the  southern  side— owing  to  the  fact,  explained  by  Dr.  Workman, 
that  the  sun  passes  over  the  tables  somewhat  to  the  south  and  wamis  the  southern  face  more  than 
the    northern.      Gradually,  therefore,  the  boulder  begins  to    tilt    over  to  the   south,  and    at    last 


Asia 


oo 


it    slides    off    entirely,    leaving    behind    the    upstanding    ice-shaft,    now   reduced   to   the   form   of 
a  pyramid. 

The  measurements  of  the  particular  table  illustrated  here  were  as  follows  :  total  height.  5.5 
metres  (over  eighteen  feet)  ;    height  of  ice-shaft,  3.8  metres  ;    length  of  boulder  top,  5  metres. 

The  Brazen  Palace,  Anuradhapura. — -Among  the  many  wonders  of  the  great  ruined  Buddhist 
city  of  Anuradhapura,  in  the  North  Central  province  of  Ceylon,  few  are  more  wonderful  than  the 
Lohamahapa3-a.  or  "  Great  Brazen  Palace."  although  all  that  remains  of  it  is  the  sixteen  hundred 
monolithic  pillars  of  granite  on  which  the  building  was  formerly  upreared.  These  pillars,  once 
sheathed  in  beaten  bronze  or  copper,  cover  an  area  of  about  two  hundred  and  fiftv  feet  square  and 
are  arranged  in  forty  rows  six  feet  apart,  those  of  them  which  are  still  unbroken  standing  twehe 
feet  out  of  the  ground.  Originally,  it  is  said,  they  supported  a  magnificent  structure  nine  stories 
high,  each  of  the  upper  stories  being  somewhat  smaller  than  the  one  below,  with,  no  doubt,  a  terrace 
round  it  which  could  be  used  for  walking  by  day  or  for  sleeping  in  the  open  on  hot  nights.  The 
roof  was  covered  with  beaten  bronze  plates.  The  principal  room  was  the  great  audience-hall,  in 
which  the  pillars  were  overlaid  with  gold,  while  in  the  centre  there  stood,  under  a  white  canopv. 
an  ivory  throne  with  golden  lion's-claw  legs.  The  old  Cingalese  chronicle  makes  each  floor 
contain  a  hundred  rooms,  but  this  is  questioned  by  modern  critics  as  highly  improbable. 

The  Brazen  Palace  .was  built  in  the  second  century  b.c  by  a  king  named  Dutthagamini.  to 
commemorate  his  victor}' 
in  single  combat  over  the 
Tamil  usurper  Elala,  who 
had  descended  on  Ceylon 
from  Mysore  and  seized 
Anuradhapura,  driving  out 
the  native  line  which  had 
ruled  in  Ceylon  for  four 
centuries.  It  was  designed 
as  a  royal  monastery  for  a 
thousand  monks. 

In  a  subsequent  reign  thr 
number  of  stories  was  re- 
duced from  nine  to  seven, 
and  then  at  the  beginning 
of  the  fourth  century  .^.o. 
a  king  named  Mahasena,  an 
apostate  from  Buddhism, 
almost  entirely  destroyed 
the  building. 

Either  Mahasena,  on  his 
reconversion,  or  his  son  {for 
the  accounts  vary),  rebuilt 
it  with  five  stories  onlv- 
The  removal  of  the  seat  oi 
government  from  Anurad- 
hapura was  followed  by  tin- 
gradual  falling  to  pieces  <  ^ 
what  had  once  been  the 
largest  monastery  of  its 
day ;    and   it    is   long   since 


.VTrV    fejf] 


WtlUt  Co. 


THE    BRAZEN     PALACE. 

Each    pillar  Atnnds   twelve   feel   above   the   Rround,   and    there  arc   forty   row*   of    forty   encli 

covcrinK   an   area   of   about    250    feet   square. 


136 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


anything  of  it  has  been  left  to  view  except  the  sixteen  hundred  pillars  which  the  modern 
tourist  sees. 

Island  Palace,  Pichola  Lake,  Udaipur. — The  late  James  Fergusson,  who  did  so  much  for  the 
introduction  to  Europe  of  the  knowledge  of  India's  architectural  beauties,  said  of  the  two  island 
palaces  in  the  Pichola  Lake  at  Udaipur  (Oodeypore)  :  "I  know  of  nothing  that  will  bear  comparison 
with  them  anj^^here."  The  nearest  rivals  to  them  in  Europe  he  found  in  the  Borromean  Islands 
in  Lago  Maggiore,  Northern  Italy  ;    but  he  declared  the  Indian  beauty-spots  far  superior. 

The  two  palaces  are  known  as  Jagmandir  and  Jagniwas  respectively,  of  which  the  former  is 
represented  in  the  photograph.  This  island  is  completely  enclosed  within  the  walls  of  the  palace 
(whereas  in  the  case  of  the  other  island  the  trees  in  places  overhang  the  water),  and  its  area  of  four 
acres  contains  not  only  the  palace  buildings,  but  also  three  distinct  gardens,  divided  from  one 
another  by  arcaded  cloisters,  in  which  grow  oranges,  mangoes,  and  other  fruit  trees,  and  a  few 
palms,  cypresses  and  plantains.     The  buildings  are  beautifully  white,   and  the  photograph  brings 


THE    BEAUTIFUL    WHITE    LAKE-PALACE    AT    UDAIPUR. 

This  photograph  represe-nts  one  o(  the  two  beautiful  palaces  erected  on  islands  in  LaUe  Pichola  at  Udaipur.  capital  of  the 
Indian  native  State  of  iMewar.  It  was  taken  from  a  window  in  the  royal  palace  of  the  Rana.  overlooking  the  lake.  It  is  from 
this   island    that    Outram   is   said    to    have    swum    ashore,    in    spite   of    the   crocodiles    in    the   lake. 

out  admirably  the  dazzling  effect  of  the  whole,  as  weU  as  the  beauty  of  much  of  the  detail,  such  as 
the  stone  trellis-work  in  the  arcades  overlooking  the  lake.  The  two  halls,  of  two  stories  each,  on 
the  side  of  the  island  facing  Udaipur  Palace,  are  also  shown,  and  that  at  the  northern  end. 
a  square  with  twelve  pillars  in  the  centre  and  a  deep  verandah  all  round. 

The  two  island  palaces  are  both  attributed  to  Jagat  Singh,  Rana  of  the  Rajput  State  of  Mewar, 
of  which  Udaipur,  "  the  City  of  the  Sunrise,"  is  the  capital.  They  would  thus  date  from  the 
seventeenth  century ;  while  Pichola  Lake  was  formed  three  hundred  years  earher  by  Udai  Singh, 
the  Rana  of  those  days,  when  he  fled  before  the  conquering  Akbar,  and,  taking  refuge  in  the 
mountains  of  Mewar,  founded  a  new  capital.  He  built  a  dyke  in  the  valley  and  so  formed  a  lake 
two  miles  and  a  quarter  long  by  a  mile  and  a  half  at  the  greatest  width. 

Outram,  the  •'  Bayard  of  India,"  is  said  once  to  have  swum  from  the  Jagmandir  to  the  shore, 
in  answer  to  a  taunt  from  the  Rana  of  Mewar.  The  presence  of  many  crocodiles  in  the  lake  made 
this  feat  one  of  no  httle  danger. 


138 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Plmto  ly] 


lUltjate. 


"SAHADEVA'S  RATH,"    THE    OLD    DRAX'IDIAN     MONOLITHIC 


At  Mahabalipuf  tliere  are  five  monolithic  temples  hewn  out  of  the  sranite  roclc  by  the  Dravidians.  in  about  the  sixth  century. 
Beside  the  fifth  temple,  which  is  shown  in  the  illustration,  there  stands  a  laree  granite  elephant,  which  was  formerly  buried  in  a 
mound. 

Visiting  Udaipur  lately,  Pierre  Loti  found  the  island  palaces  rather  dilapidated  and  their  gardens 
overrun  with  weeds.  Nevertheless,  he  draws  a  charming  word-picture  of  their  somewhat  saddened 
beauty. 

The  Great  Bell,  Chionin  Temple,  Kyoto. — In  the  picturesque  Chionin  monastery, 
standing  on  a  pine-clad  hillside  at  Kyoto,  and  belonging  to  the  Jodo  sect,  one  of  the  most 
influential  divisions  of  modern  Japanese  Buddhism,  two  of  the  chief  treasures  are  a  set  of  screens 
painted  by  celebrated  artists  in  the  early  seventeenth  century  and  a  bell  hanging  in  a  pavilion  in 
the  grounds,  which  dates  from  about  the  same  time,  having  been  cast  in  1633.  Kyoto  possesses 
the  two  largest  bells  in  Japan,  the  other  being  that  in  the  temple  of  the  Daibatsu,  which  was  cast 
eighteen  years  earlier.  The  Chionin  bell — it  is  nearly  eleven  feet  high  as  against  the  Daibutsu 
bell's  fourteen  feet — is  of  the  same  diameter,  nine  feet,  and  weighs  seventy-four  tons  against  the 
other's  sixty-three.  The  method  of  ringing  it  is  bj-  striking  with  a  great  wooden  beam  against 
the  gilded  chrysanthemum,  which  may  be  plainly  seen  in  the  photograph,  in  the  lower  centre  of 
the  bell.  It  is  said  that  it  requires  no  less  than  twenty-five  men  to  manipulate  the  beam  so  that- 
the  bell  may  ring  properly.  But  its  voice  is  seldom  heard,  \"isitors  are  not  allowed  at  the 
Chionin  monastery,  as  at  the  Daibutsu  temple  and  at  Nara  (where  is  the  third  largest  bell  in 
Japan),  to  pay  a  small  sum  for  the  pleasure  of  hearing  the  sound.  Perhaps  it  is  because  of  its 
being  so  rarely  rung  that  it  is  said  that,  once  heard,  the  tone  of  the  Chionin  bell  can  never 
be  forgotten. 


Asia 


139 


It  may  be  interesting  to  the  reader  to  give  for  the  purpose  of  comparison  the  weights  of  some  of 
the  other  great  bells  of  the  world.  The  largest  is  that  at  Moscow,  the  "  Tsar  bell,"  wliich  weighs 
one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  tons.  This  has  never  been  used,  having  been  cracked  at  the  foundry. 
Moscow  has  another,  however,  which  is  the  largest  bell  in  use,  weighing  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  tons.  The  Mingoon  bell,  on  the  Irrawadi,  near  tlie  brick  pagoda,  is  ninet}'  tons.  Peking 
has  one  of  fifty-three  and  a  half  tons.  Our  bells  in  this  country  are  mere  pigmies  in  comparison, 
the  Great  Bell  at  St.  Paul's,  which  is  the  heaviest,  being  only  seventeen  and  a  half  tons. 

Monolithic  Temples  at  Mahabalipur,  near  Madras.— ^-^  a  point  on  the  south-eastern  coast 
of  India,  between  Madras  and  Pondicherrj-,  are  some  of  the  most  important  architectural  remains 
in  the  whole  peninsula,  including  what  are  supposed  to  be  tlie  oldest  examples  of  the  Dravidian 
rock-hewn  temple.  They  are,  at  any  rate,  the  oldest  at  present  discovered,  and  are  assigned  by 
some  authorities  to  the  seventh  century  a.d.,  by  others  to  the  century  before.  The  Dravidians 
(who  inliabited  part  of  India  long  before  the  Aryan  invasion,  and  may  practically  be  called 
aborigines),  however  intellectually  inferior  they  were  to  the  Aryans,  were  gifted  architects  ;  and  to 
this  apparently  Turanian  people  must  be  attributed  the  largest  amount  of  originality  which  is 
displayed  in  Indian  temple-construction. 

As  might  have  been  expected,  the  rock-hewn  monuments  have  withstood  tlie  wear  and  tear 
of  time  better  than  any  others,  and  hence  for  ancient  Dravidian  work  in  its  most  perfect  form  it 
is  to  such  monolithic  temples  as  those  at  Mahabalipur  that  we  must  look.  Notwithstanding 
tlieir  age  they  have  lasted  extremely  well,  and  their  granite  lines  have  suffered  but  little  in  the 
course  of  twelve  or  thirteen  centuries. 

Although  the  place  is  commonlv  called  in  English  "  Seven  Pagodas  "   (after  a  native  legend 


'  TVi**  liook  of  Cft/lon,"  hv'] 

A    WO.NDERKUL    LIGHTNING     LI  1  EC  1 


ON     ALLAGALLA     MOUNIAIN 


AliaKalla  Mountain,  Central  Ceylon,  is  remarUable  lor  its  majestic  appearance  durinR  the  numerous  thunticrstorms  which  vi 
•Nowhere  is  a  tropical  storm  more  impressive  1  he  thunder  seems  to  shaUe  the  whole  mountain,  and  cataracts  ol  water  roar 
its   sides 


sit    it. 
'down 


140 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


which  classes  together  the  two  temples  on  the  shore,  dedicated  to  Vishnu  and  Siva,  with  five  others 
which  are  said  to  have  been  buried  beneath  the  waves),  the  real  interest  attaches  to  a  group  of  five 
monoliths,  standing  close  together  biit  not  near  the  other  two  temples.  These  "  five  raths  " 
(that  is  to  say,  chariots,  from  the  shape  of  the  shrines)  lie  four  in  a  straight  line  and  apparently 
all  cut  out  of  a  single  granite  rock  of  gigantic  proportions,  and  the  fifth  close  to  the  others  but 
a  little  detached  and  not  in  a  line  with  them.  It  is  this  fifth.  "  Sahadeva's  lath."  which  is 
represented  in  the  photograph.  "  Though  small,"  Fergusson's  "  History  of  Indian  and  Eastern 
Architecture"  says,  "  it  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  whole  ;  but  like  the  others,  it  is  very 
unfinished,  especially  on  the  east  side.  Its  dimensions  are  eighteen  feet  in  length  by  eleven  feet 
across,  and  about  sixteen  feet  in  height.     It  faces  north,  on  which  side  there  is  a  small  projecting 

portico    supported    by    two    pillars, 
and  within  is  a  small  empty  cell." 

There  is  no  sure  explanation  of 
the  fact  that  all  these  five  mono- 
lithic temples  are  unfinished.  For 
some  reason  or  other  the  construc- 
tors left  all  of  them  with  parts 
merely  blocked  out  more  or  less 
roughly.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  a  race  from  the  north,  in 
temporary  possession  of  this  part 
of  Madras,  began  the  raths.  but  was 
driven  out  before  they  could  be 
completed.  Archfeologists.  however, 
liave  not  yet  satisfied  themselves 
or  each  other  with  regard  to  the 
problem  of  Mahabalipur. 

Beside  the  fifth  temple  there 
has  been  brought  to  light  a  large 
granite  elephant,  shown  in  the 
photograph,  which  was  formerly 
buried  in  a  mound  that  can  be 
seen  in  earlier  pictures  adjacent  to 
the  temple. 

AUagalla  Mountatn.—'^hii  three- 
thousand-three-hundred-and-ninetj-- 
four-feet-high  peak,  not  far  from 
Nuwera  Eliya,  is  one  of  the  j^finest  ^sights  of  Central  Ceylon.  A  precipitous  mass  of  granite, 
it  towers  above  beautiful  vallevs  and  never  fails  to  impress  those  who  look  up  at  it  from 
the  railway  which  has  been  carried  along  its  side.  The  mountain  is  always  majestic,  says  Mr. 
Henry  W.  Cave,  but  especially  after  excessive  rainfall  has  caused  cataracts  to  dash  down  from  the 
peak  into  the  valleys,  increasing  in  volume  as  they  go.  He  continues  :  "  Tea  grows  upon  its  steep 
acclivities,  and  those  who  are  occupied  in  its  cultivation  on  these  giddy  heights  are  enviable 
spectators  of  the  most  varied  and  beautiful  atmospheric  scenes  that  are  to  be  found  in  Ceylon. 
Unsettled  weather  is  extremely  frequent  and  is  productive  of  an  endless  variety  of  cloud  and  storm 
effects.  ...  At  one  time  a  vast  sea  of  mists  is  rolling  in  fleecy  clouds  over  the  lowland  acres,  and 
the  summits  of  the  hills  are  standing  out  from  it  like  wooded  islands;  at  another  every  shape  of 
the  beautiful  landscape  is  faultlessly  defined  and  every  colour  is  vivid  beneath  the  tropical  sun  ; 
then  an  hour  or  two  will  pass,  and  rolling  masses  of  dense  black  vapours  will  approach  the  mountain. 


From  Strrt'o  ri'puri^jh!'] 

THE    TOMB 


ABRAH.-XM.    ISAAC, 


The  photograph  shows  the  staircase  of  the  great  mosque  which  now  covers 
the  supposed  Cave  of  Machpclali.  at  Hehron.  where  the  three  patriarchs  and  their 
wives    were    buried 


142 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


J«*-. 


i'/iu/K  by] 


THE    WALLS    OF    JERICHO. 


lAinerican  Coiuiiy^  Ja-UMtli'i 


The  excavations  which  have  been  carried  on  since  1907  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  Jericho  have  revealed  a  wonderful  piece  of 
Canaanitish  architecture,  which  proves  that  Joshua's  capture  of  the  place  was  indeed  a  great  feat.  The  photograph  shows  two  of 
the  features  of  the  great  walls  the  courses  of  large  stone-blocks  which  \vere  laid  over  the  rock  foundations,  and  the  remains  of  the 
mud-bricU    top    wall 

while  the  sunbeams  play  on  the  distant  hills  ;  now  the  sun  becomes  obscured,  a  streak  of  fire  flashes 
through  the  black  mass,  and  immediately  the  whole  mountain  seems  shaken  by  the  terrific  peal 
of  thunder — thunder  of  a  quality  that  would  turn  any  unaccustomed  heart  pale.  Then  follows 
a  downpour  at  the  rate  of  a  full  inch  an  hour  ;  the  cascades  turn  to  roaring  cataracts,  the  dry 
paths  to  rushing  torrents  and  the  rivulets  to  raging  floods.  The  rice-fields  suddenly  become 
transformed  into  lakes  and  the  appearance  of  the  valleys  suggests  considerable  devastation  by 
water  ;  but  it  is  not  so  ;  the  torrent  passes  away  almost  as  suddenly  as  it  comes,  and  the  somewhat 
bruised  and  battered  vegetation  freshens  and  bursts  into  new  life  as  the  heavy  pall  of  purple  cloud 
disperses  and  the  gleams  of  the  golden  sun  return  to  cheer  its  efforts." 

The  Cave  of  Machpelah. — Among  the  various  places  in  Palestine  connected  with  Biblical 
history  a  special  authenticity  is  claimed  for  the  sepulchres  of  the  patriarchs  Abraham.  Isaac  and 
Jacob,  and  their  respective  wives,  Sarah,  Rebekah  and  Leah.  It  will  be  remembered  that,  on 
the  death  of  Sarah,  Abraham  purchased  from  Ephron  the  Hittite,  for  four  hundred  shekels  of 
silver,  "  the  field  of  Machpelah  " — or  "  the  field  of  the  Machpelah,"  as  it  is  said  the  correct 
translation  should  be — at  Hebron  in  the  land  of  Canaan.  In  this  field  was  a  cave  in  a  hillside, 
which  was  used  as  the  last  resting-place,  not  only  of  Sarah,  but  also  of  Abraham  himself,  his  two 
successors,  and  their  wives.     Overlooking  the  modern  Hebron  is  a  large  Mohammedan  mosque, 


Asia 


143 


which  stands  over  an  underground  cave,  said  by  the  continuous  tradition  of  the  last  eight  centuries 
to  be  this  identical  cave-tomb.  Before  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  a.d.  there  is  no  certain 
record,  but  it  is  known  that  at  this  period  pilgrims  were  wont  to  visit  the  spot.  The  old  Jewish 
traveller  Benjamin  of  Tudela  writes  : 

At  Hebron  there  is  a 
large  place  of  worship  calico  1 
Saint  Abraham,  which  was 
previously  a  Jewish  syna- 
gogue. The  natives  erected 
there  six  sepulchres,  which 
they  tell  foreigners  are  those 
of  the  patriarchs  and  theii 
wives,  demanding  money  as 
a  condition  of  seeing  them. 
If  a  Jew  gives  an  additional 
fee  to  the  keeper  of  the  cave 
an  iron  door,  wliich  dates 
from  the  time  of  our  fore- 
fathers, opens,  and  the  visitor 
descends  with  a  lighted  can- 
dle, crosses  two  empty  caves, 
and  in  the  third  sees  si.x 
tombs,  on  which  the  names 
of  the  three  patriarchs  and 
their  wives  are  inscribed  in 
Hebrew  characters.  The  cave 
is  filled  with  barrels  contain- 
ing the  bones  of  people,  which 
are  taken  thither  as  to  a 
sacred  place.  At  the  end  of 
the  field  of  the  Machpelah 
stands  Abraham's  house,  witii 
a  spring  in  front  of  it." 

Whatever    the    nature    (if 
the    earlier    building    on    the 
site,    the    Crusaders    in     the 
second    half    of    the    twelfth 
century  built  a  church  there, 
which  the  Mohammedans  con- 
verted into  a  mosque,  known 
as  El  Haram.    The  celebrati  ^ 
cave  is  beneath   the   found,  1 
tions    of    this,    which    are   " 
hard    red    rock.      The    ca\  1 
however,    is    most    jealously 

1     J  A  !■  A  ^  rftotti  I'U'i  Mini  t'/ns^r. 

guarded.      Accordmg    to    an  ■'  ^  ^^^^^  3^,^^^   ,,^   ^,^^,^,, 

account  given  by   \'ere   Monro  TI,<t  bridse   ran>itla  o(    three  pint:     ihe  .pUl    cone..   »vhich  provide  ihe  rail,  on  eilher 

in    iS"^^    ^which    he    anDarentlv  •ide:     ihe    uneplil     bamboo.,    two    or    three    tosether,    *vhich     mnlcc    the    RanRway  ;    and     the 

withe.,    bark'.trand.,   or   .trip,   of   cane     that   form    the   loop,    in  which    the  gangway  hanga 

got  from  a  Mohammedan),   it       between  the  rail. 


144 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


was  never  entered,  but  was  constantly  illuminated  by  a  lamp  lowered  by  cords  through  the 
floor  of  the  mosque.  Jews  were  allowed  to  peep  at  it  through  a  small  hole,  but  Christians  were 
strictly  warned  off.  ,  Describing  a  visit  in  1865,  H.  B.  Tristram  writes  :  "  We  were  permitted 
to  ascend  the  staircase  which  rises  gently  from  the  south-east  corner  of  the  enclosure,  having 
the  massive  stones  of  the  Haram  wall  at  our  left,  smooth  and  polished  like  marble.  The 
enclosure  embraces  not  a  level  space,  but  the  side  of  a  very  steep  hill,  just  such  as  would  contain 
a  sepulchral  cave." 

The  visitors  then  were  not  allowed  to  see  more  than  the  staircase  of  the  mosque.     Things  have 
changed   but   Httle   since   that  day.      The  wall  of  the  Haram,  some  fifty  feet  high,  prevents  the 

inquisitive  eye  from  seeing  more,  even 
of  the  mosque,  than  its  guardians 
choose,  and  the  question  as  to  what 
lies  now  in  the  cave  still  remains  un- 
answered. "  The  discovery  of  Jacob's 
Egyptian  wrapping  (the  mummy  will 
be  missing),"  says  the  Rev.  F.  \V. 
Birch,  "  beneath  the  great  mosque 
would  virtually  settle  the  site  of  the 
cave  of  Machpelah."  But  there  is  no 
opportunity  at  present  even  for  making 
a  search. 

The  Sacred  Water  of  the  Ganges. — 
Few  scenes  of  religious  observance  are 
more  remarkable  than  those  which 
may  be  witnessed  in  connection  with 
the  ablutions  of  Hindu  pilgrims  in 
the  river  Ganges,  where  it  flows  past 
Benares,  Northern  India's  holiest  city. 
The  Ganges  is  said  to  spring  from 
Siva's  head.  It  rises,  in  fact,  in  the 
Himalayas,  Siva's  legendary  abode, 
and  it  is  to  a  city  which  particularly 
venerates  Siva  that  it  comes  when 
it  reaches  Benares.  Therefore  the 
devout  are  receiving  special  edifica- 
tion when  they  visit  Benares  and 
dip  themselves  in  the  sacred  stream. 
Ganges  water  is  of  a  greenish  tint  and 
somewhat  thick  with  the  mud  brought 
down  from  the  Himalayas.  In  addition, 
it  receives  a  heavy  burden  at  Benares  of  flower-offerings  and  funeral  ashes,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
dead  bodies  of  ascetics  of  unusual  sanctity,  which  it  is  customary  to  entrust  to  the  stream. 
Nevertheless,  the  water  is  esteemed  to  have  wonderful  virtue  and  to  be  able  to  cleanse  from 
both  disease  and  sin.  Baths  are  taken  by  men,  women  and  children  alike,  either  in  the  river 
itself,  in  tanks  filled  from  it,  or  in  holy  wells  in  the  city.  The  great  tank  of  Pischamochan 
("  Deliverance  from  Demons  ")  is  much  frequented  by  pilgrims,  as  to  wash  in  it  is  considered  a 
most  efficacious  way  of  driving  out  evil  spirits.  Western  observers  are  wont  to  shudder  at 
the  sight  of  so  many  and  so  various  specimens  of  humanity  bathing  together  in  one  spot — and 
in  water  already  so  polluted  :    but  the  pilgrims  enter  the  tank  witli  the  utmost  joy  and  faith. 


Stereo  by] 


[//.  C.  White  Vo. 


A    NORTH    CHINA    TOMB. 


In  NortK  China  the  character  of  ih?  tombstones  varies  very  little.  There 
is  a  slab  in  front  of  the  tomb,  and  immediately  above  the  inscription  of  this 
there  is  engraved  the  head  of  a  reptile.  The  stone,  which  is  placed  in  a 
perpendicular    position,    rests   upon    the    fiirure    of    a    tortoise. 


146 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


From  Stereo  eopyriLjIW]  \_l'ndericood  J:  i'tuiericood. 

GIANT    WISTARIA    AT    KASUKABE.    TOKYO. 

This    thousand-year-old    tree    covers  an    area  of   60    by    100   feet. 


The  Walls  of  Jericho. — Few  excavations  of 
recent  times  have  had  results  of  a  more  interesting 
nature  than  those  on  the  site  of  the  ancient 
Jericho,  and  they  have  revealed  that  the  Jews  had 
every  right  to  be  proud  of  their  capture  of  the 
Canaanitish  fortress. 

Four  years  ago  there  stood  at  a  distance  of  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  the  modern  Jericho  a  huge 
oval  mound,  known  as  Tell  es-Sultan,  about  four 
hundred  yards  long  by  one  hundred  and  eighty 
\ards  at  its  greatest  breadth,  and  rising  from  forty 
to  fifty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  surrounding 
plain,  with  a  few  smaller  mounds  standing  on  the 
top.  Professor  Sellin  began  work  on  this,  aided 
first  by  the  Austro-Hungarian  Government  and 
then  by  the  German  Oriental  Society.  He  has 
unearihed  a  tremendous  surrounding  wall  and  part 
of  the  interior  of  the  town,  including  the  citadel 
within  the  northern  end  of  the  oval.  The  outer 
wall  proved  to  consist  of  three  parts.  The  lowest 
section  was  a  solid  natural  rock  foundation,  with  a 
few  feet  of  loam  and  gravel  on  it.  On  this  was 
built  a  stone  wall  about  sixteen  feet  high,  the  two 
lower  courses  being  of  enormous  blocks,  in  some  cases  as  large  as  six  feet  by  three,,  while  in  the 
subsequent  ones  the  stones  grow  gradually  less  in  size.  The  stone  wall  itself  also  diminishes  in 
thickness  as  it  ascends,  being  eight  feet  at  its  base.  The  top  section  is  of  mud-brick,  which 
reaches  now  to  a  height  of  about  eight 
feet,  but  may  originally  have  been  con- 
siderably higher.  Towers  of  mud  -  brick 
project  at  intervals  round  the  whole  enclo- 
sure. 

Such  a  fortification  must  indeed  have 
been  difficult  to  capture,  especially  as  in 
the  central  tier  of  the  wall  the  spaces  be- 
tween the  blocks  were  filled  with  smaller 
stones  as  a  protection  against  the  besiegers' 
tools.  The  builders  were  very  skilful  crafts- 
men. Those  who  have  examined  the  remains 
of  both  Jericho  and  Troy  find  strong  resem- 
blances between  the  walls  just  described  and 
those  of  the  "  second  city  "  discovered  by 
Professor  Schliemann  at  Troy,  and  it  is 
suggested  that  the  architects  had  something 
in  common,  or  learned  from  the  same 
masters. 

The  citadel  at  Jericho  is  hardly  less  in- 
teresting than  the  outer  fortifications.  Its 
walls  are    built  in  much  the  same  way,  but         stereo  ky]  [//.  c.  iVMie  co. 

they    are    double,      with     a    space    of      eleven     to  Wista.ia  blossoms  in  swaying  sarlands  in  Kameldo  Park  Tokyo 


B^^c^^^  "^^ 

^.  J 

^^^i 

1^^ 

B^hSQS«Sp^^tv^B 

H^^^Hv  BhBI 

^1 

|BnHr^<dnJH| 

H^S 

uHk^^lU 

Asia 


147 


W^^ 


twelve  feet  between  them.  Two  towers 
rise  at  the  two  northern  angles.  Within 
is  what  the  writer  of  an  article  in  the 
Builder  describes  as  "  a  perfect  warren 
of  small  houses,"  with  only  a  single 
thoroughfare  among  them,  as  is  the 
case  with  many  Eastern  bazaars  of  to- 
day. These  houses,  of  which  one  is  in 
a  very  fair  state  of  preservation,  seem 
to  be  later  in  date  than  the  city  walls, 
and  to  belong  to  the  period  after  the 
Jewish  capture  of  the  place.  The 
Canaanites,  between  the  seventeenth 
and  fourteenth  centuries  B.C.,  erected 
the  walls,  and  probably-  the  greater 
part,  if  not  all,  of  the  citadel ;  but  the 
Jews,  while  utilizing  the  shell,  re- 
modelled the  interior.  A  thorough 
examination  of  the  finds,  however,  is 
necessary  before  anything  can  be  de- 
duced as  to  the  history  of  Jericho  after 
its  fall  before  the  army  of  Joshua. 
Two  interesting  points  have  come  out 
already — one,  that  much  Egyptian 
pottery  was  in  use  ;  the  other,  that 
under  the  floors  of  some  of  the  houses 
were  earthenware  jars  containing  the 
bodies  of  infants. 

The  sand  which  composed  the  mound 
of  Tell  es- Sultan  has  had  an  excellent 
preservative  effect,  and  now  that  much 
of  it  has  been  cleared  away,  it  is  pos- 
sible to  realize  vividly  how  imposing  a 
place  Jericho  must  once  have  looked 
from  the  plain  for  miles  around. 

Cane  Bridges  in  Sikkim. — A  bridge 
constructed  chiefly  of  the  bamboo 
cane,  which  grows  abundantly  along 
the  banks,  is  the  ordinary  means  of  crossing  the  rivers  of  Sikkim.  That  which  is  illustrated  in  the 
photograph  is  suspended  over  the  Tista,  a  tributary  of  the  Brahmaputra.  In  appearance  it  much 
resembles  the  iron,  rope  and  plank  bridge  in  Tibet  already  described  :  and  also  the  all-rope  bridge 
over  the  Astor  River,  North-West  Provinces,  of  the  crossing  of  which  Colonel  Algernon  Durand 
gives  a  vivid  account  in  his  "  Making  of  a  Frontier."  Indeed,  the  general  plan  of  these  bridges 
is  the  same  all  along  the  northern  boundary  of  India.  The  only  differences  are  in  the  materials 
used.  Wherever  possible,  a  high  take-off  is  secured  on  both  sides  of  the  stream  to  be  traversed, 
thus  allowing  for  the  inevitable  sagging  in  the  centre.  The  ends  are  made  fast  to  rocks  or  trees. 
In  Sikkim  the  bridge  itself  consists  of  three  parts — the  split  canes  which  provide  the  rails  on  either 
side  ;  the  unsplit  bamboos,  two  or  three  together,  wliich  make  tlie  gangway  ;  and  the  withes, 
bark-strands,  or  strips  of  cane  that  form  the  loops  in  which  the  gangway  hangs  between  the  rails. 


1 


Photo  by']  \l'r.  AhiloUah  Afir:n. 

THE    MIXAK    Al     DAMullW. 

ThiB  tower  opparrntly  bclones  to  the  early  days  of  the  Mohammedan 
dominalion  in  Persia.  It  is  the  most  noteworthy  objeci  amon^  the  extensive 
remains  of  what  was  a  creal  city  until  two  disasters  in  the  seventeenth  ccnttir>' 
brought   it   to  rujn 


^.^w^- 


Asia 


149 


That  it  is  an  unpleasant  sensation  to  pass  along  one  of  these  frail  structures  over  a  raging  torrent 
can  easily  be  imagined.  In  her  "  Lepcha  Land,"  Mrs.  Donaldson  writes,  of  such  an  experience : 
"As  it  was  impossible  to  cross  without  picking  one's  way  very  carefully  along  the  swaying  line 
of  bamboo,  the  unaccustomed  eye  was  dazzled  and  bewildered  with  the  tumultuous  white-crested 
water  dashing  over  the  boulders — it  being  completely  visible  to  the  traveller,  as  there  were  practically 
no  sides  to  the  bridge  and  nothing  between  him  and  the  dangerous  waters  beyond  the  slender 
bamboo  line,  not  more  in  width  than  half  the  length  of  his  foot." 

These  cane  bridges  are  sometimes  as  much  as  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long.  They  are 
renewed  every  year ;  or,  at  least,  should  be,  for  often  the  task  is  neglected,  and  then  the  supports 
give  way  after  the  rainy  season,  with  the  result  of  accidents  and  even  deaths  in  the  waters 
beneath. 


Pholo  61/] 


i-  s}ii'p)ift\l ,  [ioinlfay. 


DEODAR    BRIDGE,    SRI.NAGAR,    KASHMIR 

Tnc  loundAlions  of  ihe  bridge  arc  mad=  o\  old  boats  filled  with  stones  and  sicnite.  Above  these  are  piled  up  loss  of  the 
deodar  in  alternate  layers  at  right  angles  to  each  other.  On  the  top  of  these  more  logs  are  laid  on  the  cantilever  principle,  and 
the  roadviray   is   carried  over   these. 

A  North  China  Tomb. — Nowhere  in  the  world  is  the  tomb  so  much  in  evidence  as  in  China 
— north,  south,  east,  or  west.  The  veriest  globe-trotter  has  this  fact  forced  on  his  attention  as  he 
visits  the  coast  ports.  Vast  cemeteries  surround  the  big  towns,  and  isolated  graves  are  scattered 
broadcast  over  the  hillsides.  There  is  a  great  varietj'  in  the  style  of  these  tombs,  according  to  their 
age,  their  locality,  and  the  rank  of  their  occupants  ;  but  everywhere  they  are  a  feature  of  tiic  scene 
which  cannot  be  overlooked.  In  the  south  the  prevalent  type  is  the  horseshoe-shaped  grave.  In 
East  Central  China  one  finds  many  mausoleums  built  of  brick,  with  the  coffins  raised  above  the 
ground  upon  trestles.  In  the  north  tombs  with  a  superstructure  such  as  is  represented  in  the 
photograph  are  common,  for  the  more  illustrious  dead,  at  least.  The  character  of  the  tombstone 
varies  less.  The  Rev.  J.  H.  Gray,  though  he  was  speaking  chiefly  from  his  observations  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Canton,  might  have  been  describing  the  picture  before  us  when  he  wrote  :  "  The 
slab  which  is  placed  in  front  of  the  tomb  of  a  duke,  marquis,  or  earl,  is  ninety  Chinese  inches  iiigh 
and  thirty-six   Chinese    inches   wide.     Immediately   above    the   inscription    there   is    engraved    a 


I50 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


representation  of  the  head  of  a  reptile  thirty-two  inches  broad,  called  by  the  Chinese  Lee.  The 
stone,  which  is  placed  in  a  perpendicular  position,  rests  upon  the  figure  of  a  tortoise  thirty-eight 
inches  thick." 

The  tombstone  of  each  descending  class  is  marked  by  a  diminution  in  size,  and  the  carving 
on  the  top  of  the  stone  changes  according  to  the  rank  of  the  person  buried  under  it. 

The  epitaph  gives  the  name  and  generation  of  the  deceased,  the  days  of  his  birth  and  death, 
his  titles,  the  names  of  his  sons  and  grandsons,  the  village  in  which  he  lived,  and  in  some  cases  a 
summary  of  his  virtues. 

Japan's  Giant  Wistarias. — 
Japan  is  happy  in  possessing 
the  lovely  wistaria  among 
its  common  plants.  But,  al- 
though it  grows  wild  about 
the  country,  the  Japanese  de- 
vote much  attention  to  the 
training  of  it,  so  as  to  make 
of  its  strong  green  cables  and 
purple  and  white  flower- tassels 
the  most  fascinating  arbours, 
roofs,  verandahs,  etc.  After 
the  cherry  -  blossom  season  is 
over,  toward  the  end  of  April, 
the  wistaria  becomes  the  chief 
attraction  of  temple  enclo- 
sures, tea-houses  and  private 
gardens.  Supported  by  trellis- 
work,  the  plant  attains  to 
dimensions  which  in  some  cases 
are  truly  astonishing. 

The  most  beautiful  example 
of  the  Japanese  culture  of  the 
wistaria  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
grounds  of  the  Kameido  temple 
at  Tokyo,  in  making  pilgrimages 
to  which  the  natives  at  least 
can  combine  sesthetic  satis- 
faction and  pious  observance. 
For  the  temple  is  dedicated 
to  Tenjin,  the  god  of  learning 
and  of  handwriting,  whose 
history  is  rather  interesting.  In  the  ninth  century  a.d.  a  certain  Sugahara  Michizane  won 
for  himself  the  title  of  "  The  Father  of  Letters."  He  was  banished,  but  afterwards  canonized 
as  the  god  Tenjin,  on  account  of  manifestations  of  the  wrath  of  Heaven.  The  Kameido  temple 
is  not  in  itself  very  magnificent  nor  w-ell  kept,  but,  at  any  rate,  its  wistarias  make  it  a  popular 
resort.  About  half  of  the  grounds  (which  are  said  to  have  been  laid  out  in  imitation  of  some  at 
Sugahara's  place  of  exile)  consists  of  fish-ponds,  surrounded  by  flagged  paths  and  roofed  over 
with  wistaria,  growing  so  thickly  on  the  wooden  trellis  that  the  view  of  the  sky  is  almost 
completely  shut  out.  Concerning  the  pendant  trails  of  blossom,  Mrs.  Hugh  Fraser  says  in  "  A 
Diplomatist's    Wife   in   Japan  "  :    "  Their  odorous  fringes  hang   four  or  five  feet   deep  in   many 


From  Stf'rro  atpiirighf]  li'iiilericoud  ^(.   !  n.i     ,.      - 

THE    SHRINE    OF    THE    MANGER.    BETHLEHEM. 

In  the  copl  under  llie  Cliarch  of  St.  Mary,  which  the  Emperor  Constantine  erected 
on  the  site  of  the  inn  at  Bethlehem,  are  shown  both  the  spot  where  Jesus  Christ  was  born 
and  a  facsimile  of  the  manger  in  which  He  was  laid.  The  original  manger,  discovered 
by    Constantine's   %v:fe.    it    was  said,    was  carried   away    to    Rome 


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^52 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Pftoto  hy']  \^The  Amei'icnn  Colony,  Jerusalem. 

THE    RUINS    OF    PALMYRA. 

Palnnyra.  built  on  the  site  of  Solomon's  foundation,  "  Tadaior  in 
the  wiIde«Tiess."  renwins  to  this  day  the  completest  collection  of 
ruins  in  Syria,  the  walls  at  the  period  of  the  Palmyran  republic's 
greatness  having  a  circumference  of  about  a  dozen  miles,  as  their 
vestiges  show.  The  pKotoEraph  represents  a  view  looking  westward 
along  the  Grand  Colonnade,  which  ran  down  the  centre  of  the  main 
street  and  consisted  of    1.500  columns   in    a  double  row 


■-v^ 


/■'       '  i.}  [Tyw  Am^-ican  Colony,  Jerusalem. 

THE    TEMPLE    OF    THE    SUN.    PALMYRA. 

The  area  covered  by  the  ruins  of  this  Temple  is  about  a  mile 
in  circumference.  Part  of  the  building,  including  the  inner  shrine, 
is  'n  a  fair  state  of  preservation,  and  the  colunnne.  with  their 
beautiful  capitals,  charm  the  eye  of  the  modem  visitor.  The 
Bedouins,  who  no%v  dwell  in  the  place,  have  chosen  the  Temple  in 
which  lo  erect  their  huts  of  clay,  as  the  photograph  sho\vs  in  the 
foreground 


places.  Little  breezes  lift  them  here  and  there  and  sway  the  blooms  about,  so  as  to  show  the 
soft  shadings  from  pale  lilac  to  dark  purple,  and  the  flowers  as  they  move  shed  drift  after  drift 
of  loose  petals  down  on  the  water,  where  the  fat  red  goldfish  come  up  expecting  to  be  fed  with 
lard-cakes  and  rice-balls." 

The  semi-circular  bridge  in  the  photograph  of  the  Kameido  wistaria-arbour  spans  what  is  called 
the  "  Pond  of  the  Word  '  Heart  '  "  from  its  fancied  resemblance  to  the  shape  of  the  Chinese 
character  for  "  heart."  It  leads  to  the  main  entrance  to  the  temple  and  has  a  quaint  superstition 
attached  to  it.  Those  who  can  walk  in  clogs  over  its  high  arch  are  supposed  to  do  special 
honour  to  the  patron  god.  The  task  is  no  easy  one,  as  may  be  imagined.  Mrs.  Fraser  describes 
amusingly  how  she  and  another  European  lady  once  performed  the  feat  in  boots,  ignorant 
of   the    fact    that  they  were  thereby  doing  honour  to  the  deified  Michizane. 

Among  the  celebrated  wistarias  in  Japan  there  is  also  another  at  a  place  called  Kasukabe. 
This  covers  an  area  of  no  less  than  sixty  by  one  hundred  feet  and  is  reputed  to  be  five  hundred 
or  even  a  thousand  years  old.  When  it  is  in  full  bloom  it  presents  a  truly  extraordinary 
spectacle,  which  is  much  enhanced  by  the  crowd  of  visitors  who  gather  under  its  trellis-supported 
branches. 

The  Damghan  To'wer. — Among  the  extensive  ruins  of  Damghan,  situated  on  the  Teheran  road, 
Northern  Persia,  and  just  on  the  outskirts  of  the  Great  Salt  Desert,  the  most  striking  object  is 


Asia 


1 5: 


certainly  the  minar  represented  in  the  photograph.  This  high  tower,  with  its  surface  of  ornamental 
brickwork  (curiously  like  basket-work  in  appearance,  and  siiowing  how  the  compulsory  avoidance 
of  the  use  of  animal  figures  stimulated  the  ingenuity  of  the  Moslem  architect),  cannot  be  precisely 
dated,  but  it  has  inscriptions  in  the  old  character  known  as  Kufic,  and  should  probably  be  assigned 
to  the  early  days  of  tlie  Mohammedan  domination  in  Persia.  Damghan's  former  greatness  is  attested 
by  tradition  as  well  as  by  the  remains  of  its  buildings.  In  the  seventeenth  century,  however,  two 
great  disasters  befell  the  place :  first  an  earthquake,  which  killed  forty  thousand  of  its 
inhabitants  ;  and  then  capture  by  the  Afghans,  who  slew  another  seventy  thousand.  The  city 
must  have  suffered  heavily,  as  well  as  its  people,  from  these  two  blows,  and  seems  to  have  been 
allowed  gradually  to  fall  into  the  state  of  ruin  in  which  it  is  to-day. 

There  is  a  curious  legend  connected  with  the  neighbourhood.  Not  far  from  the  minar  and 
other  remains  of  old  Damghan  is  a  spring,  which  is  said  to  resent  any  pollution  of  its  waters  by- 
raising  a  great  storm.  A  Shah  of  Persia  once,  it  is  told,  having  heard  this  tale  and  disbelieving  it, 
ordered  his  suite  to  throw  dirt  into  the  spring.  Straightway  a  great  wind  arose  and  swept  away 
all  the  tents  of  the  Shah's  encampment.  High  winds  are  certainly  prevalent  around  Damghan, 
and  no  doubt  the  spring  is  often  accidentally  polluted,  which  is  sufficient  to  keep  the  quaint  story 
alive  to  this  day. 

Gigantic  Boulders,  Jabalpur. — The  district  of  Jabalpur  (Jubblepore),  in  the  northern  division  of 
the  Central  Provinces  of  India,  has  been  mentioned  once  in  connection  with  the  beautiful  Marble 
Rocks  already  illustrated  and  described.  The  boulders  represented  in  the  present  photograph 
are  very  different  in  appearance,  but  are  no  less  interesting  in  their  way.     They  are  the  remains 


■J, 


'M  A. 


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Photo  by] 

TRIUMPHAL    ARCH.    PALMYRA. 


[Thf-  Amtrti-an  Cuiuuj/t  JmfH*'it^H. 


One   of    the    mo«t    striltins    (rnlures   of    ihc    mini,    the    arch   erected    lo   commemorotc    llv    Emperor    AureJinn's    victoo'    over    Zonobia. 
which    brouuhl    the    independent    career    of     Paimyrn    to   nn    end 


154 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


I'fioto  by]  [T/ie  Aittiraafi  Cvhnv,  Jermnlein. 

THE  GRAND  COLONNADE.  PALNn  RA. 

The    western    half  of    the    Grand    Colonnade   appears   above.      The    brackets    which    stand    out    about    half-way    up    the    columns   ssrved 
to   support    the  statues   of    celebrated    Palmyrans.    or    benefactors    of    the    city.      The  arc 
which    cut   across    the   double   row    of    columns  at    right   angles. 


the  extreme   right    formed   part  of  an    arcade 


of  great  blocks  of  granite,  marked  out  originally  by  joint-planes  in  the  rock,  and  afterwards  rounded 
by  the  action  of  wind  and  weather  until  they  have  assumed  a  shape  much  resembling  that  of  many 
of  the  pebbles  which  we  find  on  the  sea-shore.  Sir  T.  H.  Holland,  Professor  of  Geology  at  the 
University  of  Manchester,  writes  that  "  small  hills  composed  of  such  apparently  loosely  piled  blocks 
of  granite,  or  granitoid  gneiss,  are  common  in  various  parts  of  peninsular  India,  as,  for  instance, 
near  Jubblepore,  in  Northern  Hazaribagh,  in  North  Arcot,  Salem,  Bellary  and  Mysore."  In  some 
places  the  boulders  have  been  worn  into  various  fantastic  shapes,  in  others  they  have  been  carved 
by  human  hands  as  they  lay.  The  photograph  shows  very  clearly  the  huge  size  of  the  Jabalpur 
specimens  and  the  smoothness  of  their  weather-worn  surfaces. 

Deodar  Bridge,  Srinagar,  Kashmir. — Unfortunately  for  lovers  of  the  picturesque,  the  two 
bridges  in  Srinagar  which  used  to  recall  to  mind  Old  London  Bridge,  in  that  they  had 
shops  running  along  them  from  end  to  end,  have  recently  been  robbed  of  their  chief 
attraction.  The  bridges  remain,  but  the  shops  have  been  cleared  away.  Doubtless  this  is  an 
improvement  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  health  of  the  place.  But  visitors  to  the  "  City  of  the 
Sun  "  go  in  search  of  quaint  sights  rather  than  of  sanitation. 

The  bridges  themselves,  however,  are  very  interesting.  The  Jhelum  River,  the  Hydaspes  of 
the  classical  writers,  forms  the  real  high  street  of  Srinagar,  cutting  the  town  in  two  and  having 
most  of  the  principal  business-houses  built  along  its  banks.  It  is  spanned  by  seven  bridges,  all 
built  according  to  the  same  general  plan.  A  bridge  in  Kashmir  is  constructed  in  an  extremely 
ingenious  way,  which  seems  peculiar  to  the  country.  The  foundations  are  made  of  old  boats  filled 
with  stones  and  sunk  at  the  requisite  points.  On  the  top  of  these,  which  project  just  above  the 
water-level  in  summer-time,  is  placed  an  erection  of  rough-hewn  logs  of  the  deodar,  which  grows 


Asia 


155 


so  plentifully  in  Kashmir.  The  logs  are  piled  up  in  alternate  layers  at  right  angles  to  each  other, 
as  children  often  build  with  sticks.  On  the  top  of  these  again  more  deodar  logs  are  laid  on  the 
cantilever  principle,  and  the  roadway  is  carried  over  these.  In  order  to  protect  the  piers  against 
the  force  of  the  stream  coming  down  and  to  minimize  the  resistance,  planks  of  deodar  are  built 
in  a  V-shaped  cutwater,  and  placed  in  front  of  the  sunken  boats.  The  photograph  brings  out 
admirably  most  of  the  details. 

The  deodar  wood,  a  kind  of  cedar,  seems  to  be  remarkably  proof  against  rot,  and  the  common- 
sense  underlying  the  construction  of  the  bridges  is  proved  by  the  way  in  which  they  have  held  out 
against  the  periodical  heavy  rushes  of  water.  In  1893,  however,  very  heavy  floods  carried  away 
six  out  of  seven  of  Srinagar's  bridges.     They  have  since  been  rebuilt  in  the  same  old  style. 

The  Shrine  of  the  Manger,  Bethlehem.— Among  all  Christian  places  of  pilgrimage,  the  greatest 
autlienticity  is  claimed  for  the  chapel  of  the  Nativity  in  the  crypts  of  the  fine  Church  of  Saint  Mary 
at  Bethlehem.  It  has  been  pointed  out  that  Jerome  (whose  tomb  is  also  in  tlie  crypts)  was  born 
but  a  few  years  after  the 
Emperor  Constantine  built 
the  original  church  ;  and  he 
says  that  it  was  on  the  site  of 
the  former  inn  of  Bethlehem 
that  the  emperor  built.  The 
Mohammedans,  compelled  by 
miraculous  intervention,  ac- 
cording to  the  legend,  spared 
the  place  ;  so  that  the  altera- 
tions which  have  been  made 
since  Constantine's  days  have 
been  due  to  Christian  restorers 
and  enlargers  of  the  church. 
That  the  hand  of  the  destroyer 
was  feared  at  one  time  is 
proved  by  the  striking  insig- 
nificance of  the  main  entrance 
down  to  the  present  time,  the 
west  door  being  so  small  that 
the  visitor  has  to  stoop  to 
enter  by  it.  Nowadays,  how- 
ever, the  great  majority  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Bethlehem 
are  Christians,  mainly  of  the 
Greek  and  Latin  Churches. 
Bethlehem,  Nazareth,  and 
Cana.  indeed,  are  the  three 
most  Christian  localities  in  the 
Holy  Land.  The  chief  danger 
at  Bethlehem  lies  in  the  rivalry 

of    the    different    sects.      The  ,     „    . 

Greeks    and    Armenians    used  southern'   appro.-xch.  shwav   dagon   i'agoda 

to     share      the     guardianship    of  I'hii    i«    tKc   most    (rcqumlcd   entrance    to     the    Rfeal    open-air    colhedral    facioK    the    road 

the      snot       until         tlimilP'h       fhp  which    Iead»   up   from    the    river-bank    ihroueh    the    heart    of     Rannoon.        The    spire    of    the 

'  ^  paRodo    appears    in    the    baclcRround.    over    the    tree*,    while    near    the    middle    of    the    picture 

agency      of      Napoleon      III..      m  is  one  of  the  quaint  ttidamic  leoRryphs  which  RUnrd  the  entrance  on  either  side. 


156 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


1852,  the  Latins  were  also  ad- 
mitted into  an  inharmonious 
partnership. 

Perhaps  the  best  brief  de- 
scription of  a  visit  to  the  tra- 
ditional place  of  the  Nativity  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  that  given  by  Mr. 
Rider  Haggard  :  "  The  transept 
and  aisle  of  the  basilica,"  he 
says,  "  have  been  walled  off 
during  the  last  century,  so  that 
all  the  visitor  sees  as  he  comes  in 
is  the  noble  naked  nave  and  its 
aisles,  supported  by  pillars,  each 
hewn  from  a  single  rock.  This 
part  of  the  building  is  remark- 
able for  its  disrepair  and  ne- 
glected aspect "  (owing  to  its 
being  the  joint  property  of  the 
warring  sectaries,  he  explains). 
"...  After  admiring  the  nave 
and  aisles  we  passed  into  the 
transept  and  apse,  where  we  saw 
the  gorgeous  altars  of  the  various 
sects,  and,  alongside,  the  Latin 
church  of  Saint  Catherine.  Then 
we  went  down  some  steps  into 
the  chapel  of  the  Nativity.  It  is 
lighted  by  many  lamps  of  a  good  size,  and  marble-lined  throughout.  Beneath  the  altar  a  plain  silver 
star  is  let  into  the  pavement  and  with  it  the  inscription  :  Hie  de  Virgine  Maria  lesus  Christiis  naiiis 
est.  .  .  .  Close  at  hand,  at  the  foot  of  a  few  steps,  is  a  kind  of  trench  lined  with  marble,  said  to  be 
the  site  of  the  manger  in  which  the  Lord  was  laid,  the  original  (of  course,  discovered  by  the  Empress 
Helena)  having  been  despatched  to  Rome." 

The  altar  with  the  silver  star,  described  above,  is  at  the  east  end  of  the  crypt,  directly  under 
the  choir  of  the  Church  of  Saint  Mary.  The  Praesepium.  or  shrine  of  the  Manger,  faces  it  obliquely 
in  an  angle  of  the  rock.  Both  have,  no  doubt,  gone  through  many  alterations  since  the  days  of 
Constantine  and  Helena.  The  priests  of  the  Latin  rite  have  charge  now  of  the  manger,  in  which 
they  have  laid  a  waxen  image  to  represent  the  infant  Christ. 

Island  Temple  in  the  Menam  River. — Visitors  to  Bangkok  arriving  from  the  south,  up  the 
Menam,  are  sure  to  have  their  attention  attracted  by  one  beautiful  sight  after  they  have  crossed 
the  river-bar  and  passed  between  Paknam  village,  on  the  right  bank,  and  the  fort  which  faces  it  on 
the  left.  Described  by  Mr.  Warrington  Smyth,  in  his  "  Five  Years  in  Siam,"  as  "  one  of  the 
prettiest  and  most  characteristic  things  of  the  kind  in  the  country,"  the  Klang-nam  prachedi  and 
its  accompanying  buildings  give  a  pleasant  first  impression  of  Siam.  The  snowy- white  bell-shaped 
edifice  crowned  with  a  tapering  spire,  which  a  broad  band  of  scarlet  cloth  divides  from  the  bell, 
stands  out  boldly  against  the  sky  and  the  verdure  of  the  river-banks  ;  and  the  triple  roof  of  the 
bawt  (the  principal  room  of  the  temple,  in  which  the  seated  figure  of  the  Buddha  is  lodged)  allures 
with  its  ridge-ends  and  eaves  curving  up  into  horns,  which  to  the  Eastern  eye  represent  the  heads 
of  snakes,  though  to  the  Westerner  they  often  suggest  rather  the  shape  of  a  flame. 


Pholo  by] 


[H.  C.  White  Co. 

heat 


Entrance    colonnade    to    tKe    Shway    Dagon,    in    which     visitors     can    shelter     from    thi 

of  the  tropical  sun 


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/•ftofoby] 


SHWAY    DAGON     PAGODA.    FROM 


\  Hrjtrj.'Jflhntlon  .f  floffmann. 

IHE    NORIH 

-n.i.    W    con.    368     .„.     hi.h    ..„d    .Kcclorc     ..Ilcr    .K.n     S,      P,.!..    i.     .he    c.„.r»l    poin,     o.    .V.,..    i.    ccr,.in.v    on,    of    .Kc 
"Seven    Woodc-    ol    .Kc    modern    world.        I.    i.    covered    w„h    re.l    «old    (rom    it.   pinn.cle    .0    ...    b..e.    .nd    .he 
ia    Kl    wi.h    over    4.600    diamond.,    etneraldi   ond    rubie.. 
EoU   relic-cukel    wid    .0   conlain    lour    h«ir«    Irom    .he 


(he 
Undcrn«.th    .he    «oid    i.    «>lid    brick,     while    buriod    in    ■..    lound.lioc«    i.    1 
nd    ot    the    Buddh.-whence    i.  i>  «>melime.  called  .he   P.«od»  ol   the   Sacred   Hair. 


158 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


The  Klang-nam  island  temple  is  picturesque  rather  than  historically  interesting.  At  one 
season  in  the  year,  however,  it  is  the  goal  of  many  thousands  of  Siamese  peasants  eager  to  combine 
a  cheerful  excursion  by  water  with  the  "  making  of  merit  "  dear  to  the  unsophisticated  hearts  of 
the  Buddhist  populace  in  this  part  of  the  world.  Merit  is  made  in  this  instance  by  the  presentation 
of  offerings  of  clothes  to  the  monks,  who  naturally  extend  a  hearty  welcome  to  their  lay  friends 
and  encourage  them  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  shrine.  Mr.  Warrington  Smyth  draws  a  charming 
picture  of  the  festival,  which  takes  place  when  the  floods  are  at  their  height  in  October.  "  From 
sunset  on  to  dawn,"  he  says,  "  the  little  isle  lies  in  a  blaze  of  brightness  in  the  great  dark  river; 
the  crowded  boats  come  and  go  into  the  ring  of  light,  and  the  long  peaked  yards  of  the  fishermen 
stand  inky  against  the  glare.  The  deep  bass  of  the  monks  intoning  in  the  high-roofed  bawt  swings 
across  the  water,  with  the  subdued  mirth  and  chatter  of  the  never-ending  stream  circling  round 
the  pagoda.  Laughing,  love-making,  smoking  and  betel-chewing,  the  good  folks  buy  their  offerings, 
and  none  omit  a  visit  to  the  bawt,  to  light  their  tapers  before  the  great  Buddha." 

The  name  Prachedi  Klang-nam,  by  which  this  temple  is  known,  may  be  translated  "  the 
pagoda  (or  shrine)  in  the  waters." 

The  Ruins  of  Pa.myira. — Lying  about  one  hundred  and  fifteen  miles  distant  from  one  another 

and  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
great  range  known    as  Anti- 
;  Lebanon,  Palmyra  and  Baal- 

bek are  the  two  most  won- 
derful ruined  cities  of  Syria. 
Baalbek  is  perhaps  the  finer, 
but  Palmyra  is  marvellous 
enough,  and  has  a  far  more 
romantic  history — thanks  to 
its  association  with  Zenobia, 
"  Queen  of  the  East,"  who 
attempted  to  rival  the  great 
Cleopatra,  claimed  by  her  as 
a  kinswoman,  and  dispute 
the  sovereignty  of  the  world 
with  Rome. 

The  foundation  of  the 
city  is  ascribed  to  Solomon, 
who  "  built  Tadmor  in  the 
wilderness  "  (2  Chron.  viii.  4), 
doubtless  on  the  site  of  an 
ancient  trading  -  post  ;  for 
Tadmor,  or  PalmjTa,  is  on 
the  desert  route  between  the 
Persian  Gulf  and  the  Medi- 
terranean. From  the  time 
of  Solomon  to  that  of  Antony 
it  vanishes  from  history, 
though  there  is  a  legend  of 
its  capture  and  destruction 
by  Nebuchadnezzar.  When 
it  emerges  again  we  find  it  an 
independent   republic,  which 


Fro?n  Stereo  copyrighfl 


li'ndericoo-l  ((-  Vndeficood. 


A  pause  on  the  steep  stairway  formed  by  the  lower  sections  of  the  central  pagoda, 
Shway  Dagon  This  view  gives  an  idea  of  the  manner  in  which  the  whole  platform 
is  crowded  with  spires,  chapels,  pillars,  artificial  trees,  etc..  gifts  of  merit-making 
Burmans    to    the    great    shrine 


Asia 


159 


managed  to  secure,  and  sur- 
vive for  some  time,  the 
friendsliip  of  Rome.  To  this 
period — roughly,  the  first 
three  centuries  a.d. — are  to 
be  ascribed  nearly  all  the 
present  remains  of  Palmyra. 
The  Emperor  Hadrian  pat- 
ronized the  place  and  named 
it  after  himself,  Hadriano- 
polis,  while  about  the  end  of 
the  second  century  it  was 
made  a  Roman  colony,  keep- 
ing its  own  elective  senate. 
But  the  inscriptions  dis- 
covered among  the  ruins 
sliow  the  buildings  to  have 
been  tiie  work  of  the 
Syrian  inhabitants.  The 
great  Temple  of  the  Sun  was 
plundered  and  damaged  after 
the  revolt  which  followed 
Aurelian's  capture  of  Pal- 
myra in  270  ;  but  Aurelian 
directed  that  it  should  be 
restored  to  its  former  state, 
apportioning  a  very  large 
sum  to  the  work. 

This  Temple  of  the  Sun 
(within  the  ruins  of  which 
the  whole  of  the  Bedouin 
population  of  Tadmor  to- 
day lives  in  huts  built  of 
clay)  covers  no  less  than 
six  hundred  and  forty  thousand  square  feet,  and  is  over  a  mile  in  circumference. 

The  innermost  shrine  has  a  magnificently  carved  ceiling,  still  intact.  But,  alas  !  there  is  little 
else  of  the  temple  which  can  be  so  described. 

The  two  other  principal  sights  of  Palmyra  are  the  Grand  Colonnade  and  tlic  Triumphal  Arcli. 
The  former,  which  ran  down  the  central  street  of  the  city,  from  the  Temple  of  the  Sun,  for  a  distance 
of  over  four  thousand  feet,  is  estimated  to  have  included  fifteen  hundred  columns,  fifty-seven  feet 
in  height,  in  a  double  row,  each  having  a  bracket  for  tlie  support  of  statues.  These  inscriptions 
show  to  have  represented  celebrated  Palmyrans,  among  them  Zenobia  and  her  husband  Odenathus. 
The  second  photograph  of  the  Colonnade  shows  a  bit  of  the  central  arch,  wliicli  formed  part  of  an 
arcade  originally  intersecting  the  two  rows  of  columns. 

The  threefold  Triumphal  Arch  was  set  up  to  commemorate  Aurelian's  victory  over  Zenobia, 
which  enabled  him  to  lead  her  to  Rome  to  walk  behind  his  car— that  degradation  which  her  much- 
admired  CleiijKitra  had  escaped  with  the  aid  of  the  asp. 

The  Shivay  Dagon  Pagoda,  Rangoon— \i  it  were  necessary  to  pick  out  "  Seven  Wonders 
of  the  Modern  Worid  "  to  match  the  old  list  of  seven  mentioned  in  the  Introduction  of  this  book. 


I'JtOtO  ftl/]  L 

Curious  figures  representinK  Ndts.  the  Burmese  equivalent 
innumerable  erections  on  the  great  plaifofm  of  tfie  Shway  Dreon 
tolerated    the    belief    in    these    beings,    wliich    is    firmly    implanted    in 


rn>'  ,(■  sluyh-'rd,  fiiwtban. 


of     fairies, 
Buddhii* 
tfie    he«rts 


on  one  of  the 
1.  in  Burma,  has 
af    the    pcosnnIO' 


» 


i6o 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


and  if  we  were  compelled  to  restrict  the  modern  list,  like  the  old,  to  the  works  of  man's  hands,  then 
certainly  the  Shway  Dagon  Pagoda,  the  great  open-air  cathedral  of  the  capital  of  Burma,  would 
have  one  of  the  first  claims  to  inclusion.  No  visitor  from  the  West,  however  little  he  may  be 
touched  by  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of  the  East  and  with  the  Bunnese  development  of  the  Buddhist 
religion,  can  look  upon  it  unmoved.  And  even  the  most  materially  minded  must  be  forced  to 
reflect,  if  only  by  the  prodigious  outlay  of  wealth  which  has  been  lavished  by  those  thirsting  to 
"  make  merit  "  with  their  gifts  to  the  shrine,  which,  according  to  legend,  encloses  a  gold  relic-casket 
containing  four  hairs  from  the  Buddha's  head. 

The  great  glory  of  the  place  is  the  central  pagoda  itself,  at  the  base  of  which  the  casket  is  said 


Photo  Sy]  IPfi-c^vnl  Lnndon.  Esq. 

A  view  showing  the  strange  medley  oi   the  liclily  lietoiated  tapeiing  spiles  which  greet  the  visitor  to  the  Shway  Dagon. 

to  be  buried.  The  total  height  of  this  tapering  pyramid  is  three  hundred  and  sixty-eight  feet ;  from 
top  to  bottom  its  solid  brickwork  is  covered  with  a  layer  of  pure  gold,  which  is  completely  renewed 
once  in  every  generation.  Formerly  this  was  done  entirely  with  gold-leaf.  But  at  the  beginning 
of  the  present  century  a  new  departure  was  made  by  the  substitution  of  gold  plate  for  leaf  on 
the  upper  part,  which  is  fifty-nine  feet  high.  The  surface  to  be  covered  was  two  thousand  seven 
hundred  square  feet,  and  the  cost  of  the  operation  was  five  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  eighteen  rupees  (thirty-six  thousand  seven  hundred  and  twelve  pounds).  The  lower 
part  is  still  covered  with  gold-leaf,  which,  apart  from  the  periodical  renewal,  is  daily  put  on  by 
pious  pilgrims,  who  climb  up  and  with  their  own  hands  affix  a  few  leaves.  The  gold  plating  was 
substituted  above  owing  to  the  inaccessibility  of  the  upper  section  of  the  pagoda,  and  its  con- 
sequently poor  appearance  after  the  annual  rains  had  washed  away  much  of  the  leaf. 


Asia 


i6i 


It  is  not  only  the  gold  covering  which  gives  the  pagoda  its  material  value.  The  hti  (tee)  alone 
— the  seven-ringed  part  of  the  pinnacle,  which  can  be  seen  under  the  vane  in  the  first  and  third 
photographs — cost  sixty  thousand  pounds,  and  is  hung  with  one  hundred  bells  of  gold  and  about 
fourteen  hundred  of  silver.  As  for  the  vane,  it  is  a  mass  of  diamonds,  emeralds  and  rubies,  to  the 
number  of  over  four  thousand  si.\  hundred.  Yet  nothing  of  these  jewels  can  ever  be  seen  from 
below.  "  One  cannot  but  recognize  the  nobilit\'  of  sentiment  underlving  this  matter."  writes  ^Ir. 
Scott  O'Connor.  "  In  a  like  spirit,  one  sees  placed  at  the  climbing  pinnacles  of  some  grey  cathedral 
in  Europe  the  line  work  of  the  artist  lavished  on  hidden  gargoyles  and  saintly  figures  far  out  of  reacli 
of  the  thronging  world  below.  .  .  .  But  it  is  only  in  Burma,  so  often  accused  of  superficiality,  that 
men  put  a  great  ransom  in  jewels  where  no  eye  can  testify  to  their  splendour." 


t'liolo  t'lj] 


THE    RUINS    OF    BA.-VLBF.K.    S^RIA. 


ilioii/Ui. 


The  ancient  Heliopolis.  ihe  "City  oi  the  Sun."  of  ^vhich  there  are  such  %vonHcrful  reinnina.  is  one  of  the  most  my»teriou«  cities  of 
antiquity.  It  was  obviously  a  place  of  the  hiehest  importance,  yet  next  to  nolhine  is  recorded  ahout  it  in  Jewish,  GreeU.  or  Latin  authors. 
Its  most   notable  ruins  are  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  *  of   %vhich   the  six   ereat  columns  stand  out   so  plainly'   and  the  Temple  of  Jupiter. 

It  is  practically  impossible  to  describe  the  Shway  Dagon  in  detail  (as  is  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Scott 
O'Connor,  whose  own  description  of  it  in  that  beautiful  book  "  The  Silken  l-Iast  "  is  the  most 
satisfactory  in  the  English  language),  owing  both  to  the  elaboration  of  its  architecture  and  to 
its  constant  changes  as  the  pious  Burmans  add  new  feature  to  new  feature.  Fresh  chapels, 
columns  and  figures  are  continually  being  set  up,  so  that  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  the 
aspect  of  all  except  the  great  golden  cone  in  the  centre  changes  very  greatly.  We  must  be 
content,  therefore,  to  notice  a  few  of  the  most  notable  points  about  the  shrine. 

The  Shway  Dagon  stands  on  a  height  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  feet  above  the  level  of  Rangoon. 
The  platform  which  surrounds  the  main  pagoda  is  about  fourteen  hundred  feet  round,  and  is 
ascended  by  four  flights  of  steps  facing  north,  south,  east  and  west.  Of  these,  the  southern,  the 
most  used  bv  visitors,  is  shown  in  our  first  photograph.     The  road  in  front  of  the  steps  leads  up 


l62 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Pholo  ?•«] 


THE    TEMPLE    OF    JUPITER.     BAALBEK. 


inoiifh. 


Although  ihis  must  have  been  a  far  )ess  imposing  structure  than  the  great  Temple  of  the  Sun,  it  is  in  a  much  better  state  of 
preservation-     Like   the  larger  temple,  it  is  remarkable  for  the  largeness  of  th=  stone  blocks  used  in  its  construction. 

from  the  Rangoon  River  right  through  the  city.  The  entrance  colonnade,  which  is  a  late  addition, 
is  remarkable  for  the  complexity  of  its  roof.  On  either  side  sits  a  gigantic  leogryph,  of  which  one 
appears  in  the  photograph. 

On  the  platform  the  mass  of  small  shrines,  etc.,  is  positively  bewildering.  Some  idea  of  the 
effect  can  be  gathered  from  the  fourth  picture,  taken  from  the  actual  side  of  the  central  pagoda. 
With  the  aid  of  this  the  reader  may  be  able  perhaps  to  realize  the  strange  medley  of  tapering  spires, 
richly  decorated  chapels,  golden  trees  with  crystal  fruit,  and  tall  pillars  covered  with  vermilion  or 
with  glass  mosaic,  which  greets  the  eyes  of  the  visitor  to  the  Shway  Dagon.  The  figures,  too, 
which  surround  the  pagoda  are  worthy  of  study,  whether  they  be  of  Nais — the  fairies  or  nature- 
spirits  of  primitive  Burma,  tolerated  by  Buddhism  because  the  belief  in  them  is  ineradicable  among 
the  Burmese  peasantrj'^ — or  of  elephants  and  the  various  fabulous  beasts  that  share  with  the 
elephant  the  animal  world  as  it  appears  in  the  temples  of  the  Far  East.  In  few  places  on  earth 
can  tliere  be  seen  so  curious  and  charming  a  blend  of  the  beautiful  and  the  grotesque  as  on  the 
platform  of  Shway  Dagon.  And  in  the  midst  rises  the  great  golden  mass  which,  in  the  word?  of 
Mr.  H.  Fielding,  seems  to  shake  and  tremble  in  the  sunlight  like  a  fire,  while,  as  the  wind  blows, 
the  tongues  of  the  bells  at  its  summit  move  to  and  fro,  and  the  air  is  full  of  music,  so  faint,  so 
clear,  like  "  silver  stir  of  strings  in  hollow  shells." 


7f -y,    TT—*— 


^ 


iiiiili'triiii'*^tfe 


Jy-fi. 


Painlcil  by  O.  H.  Uiluards.  '  '"  *  Hn.ifnuinil. 

THE    PHAKM.    MOSQUE,    l)i;i.Hl. 

ThouKh  only  sixty    feet    squnre.    AuninK/.ch's  little    nlnsgue    iit    white    marble    is    wiinderluMy    beautiful    when    seen  at   cliise 

quarters.     In  Kraec.  simplicity,  and  perfect  proportion,  it  has  been  said,  this  IVarl  .Mosgue  cannot  be  surpassed.     Particularly 

noteworthy  is  the  curving  parapet  with  its  rich  traciiv  •■'  t.  n.lrjK    r.li.vmL;  i  lu    ni,.n,,t,i.n   cif    thi-  wliUt-    (.n.ule. 


/•/,-.(..  I'll  III-  ] 


(V.  1.1  J.,  /.nn.hii. 


COLUMNS    OK    1HE    TEMPLE    OK     THE    SUN.    BAALBtk. 

Thcuc  six  srenl  columns  nre  -ilmosl  nil  ihol  rcmoin.  o(  ihc  srcol  Temple  o(  tlic  Sun.  wliicli  the  Roman  Emperor  Anloninu«  Pius  creeled, 
probably  on  ihe  aile  o(  on  earlier  nhrine  o(  llie  Syrlnn  Kod  Bool.  The  diwippeariince  of  ihe  bulk  of  ihe  lemple  ««•  due  portly  lo  llie  Kenerjl 
inlroHuclion  of  Clirislionity   ihrouehoul   llie   Empire,   pnrlly  lo  ihe  convertio.n  of   ihe  file   into  n  forlre..  bv  ih-  Aroba  in   tlie  Middle   A«e». 


164 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


CHAPTER    VI. 


B>/   PHILIP    W.   SERGEANT. 

Baalbek,  the  "  City  of  the  Sun." — This  famous  ruined  city,  lying  north  of  Damascus  and 
close  to  the  foot  of  the  Anti-Lebanon  range,  remains  to  this  day  somewhat  of  a  mystery,  although 
the  excavations  of  German  archaeologists,  which  began  in  the  year  1900,  have  helped  to  solve  some 
of  the  problems  in  connection  with  it.  There  is  very  little  that  is  known  for  certain  of  its  history, 
considering  how  important  a  place  it  was  through  its  situation  on  the  land-route  from  Egypt  to 
Asia  Minor  and  Europe.  No  recognizable  reference  to  it  is  found  in  the  Old  Testament.  Greek 
and  Latin  writers  of  the  period  when  it  was  a  great  Roman  colony  are  strangely  silent  about  it. 
An  early  Christian  author  says  that  "  Antoninus  Pius  built  a  great  temple  at  Heliopolis,  near 
Libanus  in  Phcenicia,  which  was  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world."  but  he  does  not  gratify  our 
curiosity    with    details.     In    fact,  it    may   be    said    that    there    are    practically    no    sure    records 

about  it  except   the    stones    of 
its  ruins. 

The  chief  temple,  mainly 
the  work  of  the  Emperor  An- 
toninus Pius  in  the  second 
half  of  the  second  century  a.d., 
must  have  been  a  stupendous 
concern,  r'.nough  unhappily 
little  reir.  ^ms  beyond  six  tall 
columns  with  a  cornice  on  the 
top  and  three  enormous  stones, 
all  over  si.xty  feet  long,  four- 
teen feet  high,  and  about 
twelve  feet  thick.  These  three 
stones,  known  to  archcTologists 
as  the  Trilithon,  formed  part 
of  the  supporting  wall  at  the 
western  end  of  a  huge  artificial 
mound,  roughly  eight  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  by  four  hundred 


this 


teet. 

On 
raised      liis 
its     courtyards 


mound    Antoninus 

mighty       temple, 

and      portico, 

the 


Photo  bv] 

THE    TEMPLE    OF    JUPITER. 

TKe  porlal  of  the  smaller  temple  at  Baalbek  is  in 
servation  to  show  how  fine  must  have  been  even  the 
at    this   marvellous  city 


BAALBEK. 

sufficiently 

good     state 

of     pre- 

s    important 

of    the     two 

'  shrracs 

fifty  feet  above  the  original 
level  of  the  ground,  from 
which  a  long  flight  of  steps 
led  up  to  the  entrance.  It 
-(•ems  to  have  been  intended 
at  first  to  place  gigantic 
blocks  of  stone  similar  to  the 
Trilithon  on  the  north  and 
south  sides  of  the  temple  ;  and 


Asia 


165 


GR.WES    OF"    THE    FORT^-SE^E^     ROMNS.     lOK^O. 

These  are  the  actual  graves  of  the  heroes  of  a  tale  of  barbarous  chivalry  made  familiar  to  the  West  by  numerous  writers  on  Japan.  The 
affair  tool*  place  at  the  bettinninj;  of  the  eighteenth  century,  but  the  cemetery  is  still  unceasingly  visited  by  pilgrims.  On  the  large  tomb 
'that  of  the  lord  of  Alco.  whose  death  the  ronins  avrnged  J  may  be  seen  the  visiting-cards  of  those  who  have  paid  their  respects  to  the 
memory  of  the  dead. 

there  is  in  the  ancient  quarries  just  outside  Baalbek  one  of  them.  sevent\--one  feet  long,  thirteen 
high  and  fourteen  thick,  and  estimated  to  weigh  no  less  tlian  three  million  pounds.  (A  photograph 
will  be  found  in  the  Introduction.)  It  is  supposed  that  the  architects  found  it  impossible  to  move 
this,  the  mightiest  stone  ever  hewn,  and  so  left  it  in  the  quarries  and  abandoned  the  idea  of  placing 
such  blocks  on  the  north  and  south  sides,  completing  the  temple  foundations  without  them. 

The  building  was  apparently  finished  in  the  course  of  the  third  century.  Then  came  tiie  othi^ial 
adoption  of  Christianity  in  the  Roman  Empire.  Theodosius  closed  this  last  of  all  the  pagan  temples, 
but  did  not  go  so  far  as  to  destroy  it.  He  seems  to  have  been  content  to  erect  a  church  upon  its 
courtyard,  probably  utilizing  some  of  the  temple  materials  to  do  so.  The  church  was  rebuilt 
later,  but  when  the  modern  excavators  dug  down  they  found  still  embedded  in  its  pavement  the 
old  stone  altar,  twenty-eight  feet  square,  which  had  stood  before  the  temple  steps.  This  seems  to 
date  from  the  time  of  Antoninus,  not  from  the  prs-Roman  period,  as  was  at  first  supposed  :  but 
there  may  ha\c  been  an  earlier  altar  to  the  Syrian  god  Baal  before.  Baal  was  a  sun-god.  and 
Antoninus's  temple  was  dedicated  to  Jupiter  in  liis  aspect  of  the  sun-god — whence  the  name 
Heliopolis,  City  of  the  Sun. 

.\fter  the  Christians  came  the  Arabs  in  the  Middle  Ages,  who  converted  the  whole  of  the  great 
l^latform  into  a  fortress,  using  up  much  of  the  temple  buildings  for  its  walls,  but  happily  leaving  a 
few  remains  to  us  to  wonder  at  to-day. 


1 66 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


So  these  six  columns  and  the  Trihthon  record  the  remarkable  history  of  a  spot  first  Syrian,  then 
pagan  Roman,  then  Byzantine  Christian,  then  Arab — and  now  no  man's. 

The  smaller  ruin,  which  is  on  a  lower  mound  to  the  south  of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun,  was  a  shrine 
of  Jupiter  in  his  more  ordinary  Roman  aspect.  JMuch  more  of  its  structure  is  still  standing,  including 
some  fine  columns  and  a  good  deal  of  the  main  walls.  Some  surprisingly  large  hewn  stones  were 
used  in  its  construction,  if  none  to  match  the  giants  of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun.  It  had  a  flight  of 
thirty-five  steps  leading  up  to  it.  which  have  been  discovered  embedded  in  the  Arab  building  which 

covered  part  of  it    in    medisval 
times. 

Of  the  Christian  remains  at 
Baalbek  nothing  seems  very 
ancient,  except  perhaps  the 
triple  apse  at  the  west  end  of 
the  church  in  the  great  court- 
yard. This  is  attributed  to  Theo- 
dosius's  reign  (378-395  a.d.), 
the  rest  of  the  church  being 
tlie  work  of  restorers. 

Of  the  Baalbek  of  to-day 
Mrs.  G.  Lowthian  Bell  writes  : 
The  great  group  of  temples 
and  enclosing  walls  set  between 
the  double  range  of  mountains, 
Lebanon  and  Anti-Libanus,  pro- 
duces an  impression  second  to 
none  save  the  temple  group  of 
the  Athenian  Acropolis,  which  is 
easily  beyond  a  peer.  The  de- 
tails of  Baalbek  are  not  so  good 
as  those  at  Athens.  .  .  .  But 
in  general  effect  Baalbek  comes 
nearer  to  it  than  any  other  mass 
of  building,  and  it  provides  an 
endless  source  of  speculation  to 
such  as  busy  themselves  with  the 
combination  of  Greek  and  Asiatic 
genius  that  produced  it  and 
covered  its  doorposts,  its  archi- 
traves and  its  capitals  with  orna- 
mental devices,  infinite  in  variety 
as  they  are  lovely  in  execution." 
TTie  Graves  of  the  Forty-seven  Ronins,  Tokyo. — No  tale  of  old-time  Japan  is  more  impressive 
than  that  of  the  revenge  exacted  by  the  forty-seven  loyal  retainers  of  the  lord  of  Ako  for  their 
master's  death.  Western  visitors  to  Tokyo  are  naturally  drawn  to  the  little  cemetery  on  the  hillside, 
known  as  Sengakuji,  where  lie  buried  the  remains  of  the  heroes  whose  story  has  long  been  familiar 
to  them  through  the  works  of  various  writers  on  Japan.  It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  repeat  here 
how  Asano  Takuni-no-kami.  in  return  for  a  series  of  insults,  struck  a  court  official  and  was  forced 
therefore  to  commit  suicide;  how  his  retainers  in  consequence  became  ronin  ("wave-men" 
i.e.,    attached  to  no  master),  and   determined  to  wreak  vengeance  on  the  insulter  ;    how,  after  a 


^ereograph  htt'\ 

THE    MOST    BEAUTIFUL 
IKis  title   is    claimed    for    Akbar's   arch    i 
FittehpurSikri.    near  Agra.      Both  the  signs  o 
a  saying  of      Jesus,  on  whom  be  peace  !  ""  sh< 


GATE 


[y/.  r.  liVc/r'  Co.,  London 
IN    THE    WORLD. 

i    front     of    the    courtyard    of    iKe  mosque 

Hindu  influence  and  an  inscription  quolin: 
vv  the   lolertttion  of  the  great  Mohammsdan. 


at 


11. 


ONE  OF  THE  PECHABURI  CAVE  TEMPLES. 

I  he  whole  of  a  limrslonr  hill  al  Prchnhuri,  in  ^^  citrrn  Siam.  it  nalurally  hollowed  out  into  cavrrn*.  which  have  been  converted  into 
Buddhist  shrineii  and  adorned  with  quantilirs  of  innaKc*  on  every  jullinK  crag  and  in  every  rcceit.  1  he  cave  represented  in  the  pKotoRraph 
■  fc  i.luminalrd  throush  on  openins  in  the  hilliidp'     Other*  have  to  he  seen   hy  Icrchliithl. 


1 68 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


.Stereograph  by'] 


III.  I'.  M'hite  Co.,  London 


PRINCIPAL    ALTAR    IN    THE    FIVE    GENII    TEMPLE.    CANTON. 


The    Temple    of    the   Five  Genii  is    dedicated    to  the    sods    presiding    over    Earth.   Air.    Water.   Metal,  and    Wood,   who    sit    upon    the    high 
altar,  with  five  stones  at  their  feet  which  are  supposed  lo  be  the  petrified  bodies  of  the  rams  upon  which  they  rode  to  visit  Canton. 

long  interval,  they  broke  into  his  castle  one  snowy  winter's  night,  slew  him.  and  carried  his  head 
to  their  master's  grave  ;  and  how  then  they  all  solemnly  committed  suicide,  in  the  approved 
Japanese  way,  and  were  buried  in  the  same  cemetery.  All  this  occurred  at  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century  ;  but  to  this  day  pilgrims  of  all  classes  of  society  have  never  ceased  to  come  to 
Sengakuji  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  memory  of  the  Forty-seven,  to  place  little  offerings  of 
evergreens  in  the  bamboo  vases  and  burn  incense-sticks  before  the  tombstones,  and  finally  to  leave 
their  visiting-cards — for  in  China  and  Japan  alike,  this  token  of  homage  is  never  omitted  at  the 
grave. 

There  are  in  the  cemetery,  as  even  the  merest  sightseer  is  bound  to  notice,  not  only  the  large 
tomb  of  Takuni-no-kami  and  the  smaller  ones  of  the  Forty-seven,  but  also  a  forty-eighth  small 
tomb.     In  this  was  buried  the  body  of  a  man  from  Satsuma,  who  committed  suicide  in  remorse 


Asia 


169 


«H«^ 


for  his  conduct  toward  Kuranosuke,  the  leader  of  the  roniiis.  The  latter,  in  order  to  put  his  dead 
lord's  enemy  off  the  scent  and  disguise  his  intentions  of  revenge,  gave  himself  up  temporarily  to 
riotous  living,  and  was  seen  Ij'ing  drunk  in  the  gutter  at  Kyoto.  Thinking  he  had  forgotten  his 
duty,  the  Satsuma  man  spat  in  his  face  and  reviled  him.  When  he  heard  of  Kuranosuke's  deed 
and  death,  he  came  to  Sengakuji  and  killed  himself  in  front  of  his  grave.  Having  thus  expiated 
his  offence,  he  w-as  buried  with  those  whom  he  had  misjudged. 

In  the  courtyard  of  the  temple  (which  lies  below  the  graveyard  on  the  hillside)  there  is  a 
chapel  where,  ranged  beneath  a  gilt  figure  of  Kwannon,  goddess  of  mercy,  stand  some  wooden 
images  of  the  lord  of  Ako  and  the  faithful  Forty-seven.  The  carving  is  good  and  extremely 
reahstic,  the  faces  being  coloured  in  natural  hues  and  the  clothing  lacquered.  To  this  chapel, 
as  to  the  cemetery  itself,  visitors  repair  to  pay  their  respects. 

Marvellous  Gateivayi  at  FaUehpur-Sikri. — The    great    Akbar    built    Fattehpur-Sikri.     not    far 
irom  Agra,  and  made  it  his  favourite  abode.      According  to  the  storv.   the  Mohammedan  prince 
was  returning  home  from  the  conquest  of  Khandesh,  having  in  his  company  his  Hindu  wife,  and 
rested  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  on 
which    he    afterwards    built.       It 
happened  that  the  twin  children 
of  the  royal  pair  had  just    died, 
to  their  great  grief.     On  the  hill 
dwelt  a  hermit  of  much  sanctity, 
who    promised     Akbar    that     he 
should    have    another    son    if    he 
would  set  up  a  palace  here.     Ak- 
bar  accepted    the    proposal,    and 
in   due    time    the    son,    Jehangir, 
was  born. 

The  buildings  at  Fattehpur- 
Sikri  are  mainly  of  the  red  sand- 
stone of  which  the  hill  itself  is 
composed.  Owing,  no  doubt,  to 
Abkar's  wife  having  been  a  Hindu 
princess,  strong  Hindu  influence 
is  evident  in  the  architecture, 
even  of  the  mosque — which,  by 
the  way,  Fergusson  considers  one 
of  the  finest  in  all  India.  As 
for  the  gateway  in  front  of  the 
mosque,  critics  have  not  hesitated 
to  call  it  the  most  beautiful  in 
existence. 

"  To  speak  of  it  as  a  gate- 
way conveys  no  meaning  of  the 
building,"  says  Mr.  G.  W.  Forrest. 
"  It  is  a  triumphal  arch,  and 
compared  with  it  the  Arch  of 
Constantine  or  the  Arch  of 
Titus  is  poor.  .  .  .  The  grey 
and  pink  sandstone  columns, 
the  marble  ornaments,    the  bold, 


From  .sr^rtv  foj/j/mj/tl] 


Ifwh-iicm.l   ,{■    T/i  ;.-;if,i.i.;. 


THE     WALLS    OF    PEKING. 
h<-    InbellcH 


lliit  picture  misht  hp  labelled  "  unchanRinK  CKina."  lor  Irom  lime*  immemorial 
aimilar  trairiB  ol  rameU  have  madr  their  way  to  PeltinR  Irom  the  Mongolian  deaerik  and 
returned  with  a  chanee  of  commoditiep.  The  actual  walU  which  we  »ee  in  the  hack- 
eround.  however,  only  dote  Irom  the  fifteenth  century,  as  lor  a»  their  brick  catinB  it 
concerned.      Previouily   PckinB  wob  walled  with   beaten  earth  only. 


lyo 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


flowing  Arabic  characters  on  the  white  ground,  all    lend    grace   to    one  of    the    finest    portals  in 
the  world." 

Strange  to  say,  on  this  memorial  of  his  victory,  Akbar  caused  to  be  carved  the  following  among 
other  inscriptions  :  "  Said  Jesus,  on  whom  be  peace  :  The  world  is  a  bridge,  pass  over  it.  but 
build  not  a  house  upon  it.     The  world  is  but  an  hour,  spend  it  in  devotion,  the  rest  is  unseen." 

Between  the  gateway  and  the  mosque  is  a  courtyard  five  hundred  feet  square,  with  a  cloister 
running  all  round  it ;  and  on  the  right  side  of  this,  after  entering  through  the  gate,  is  a  tomb  built 
entirely  of  white  marble.  This  covers  the  remains  of  the  holy  man  who  induced  Abkar  to  settle 
at  Fattehpur-Sikri,  and  who  was  thus  honoured  in  return  for  the  birth  of  Jehangir.      Close  at  hand 

are  the  remains  of  Akbar's 
palace  ;  but  the  whole  place 
is  deserted  now.  Happily  the 
beautiful  gateway  still  stands 
intact. 

Cave  Temple,  Pechabart, 
Siam. — The  town  of  Pechaburi. 
in  Western  Siam.  although  it 
is  up-to-date  enough  to  have 
a  railway  running  to  it  from 
Bangkok,  has  its  chief  claim 
to  attention  in  some  wonderful 
limestone  caverns  in  a  hill, 
which  pious  Siamese  have 
converted  into  underground 
temples  to  the  Buddha.  The 
hill  is  little  more  than  a  shell, 
so  much  is  it  honeycombed 
with  these  caves,  and  at  its 
summit  is  a  large  hollow,  which 
gave  early  observers  from  the 
West  the  mistaken  impression 
that  it  was  volcanic  in  origin. 
But  its  hollowing-out  is  to  be 
paralleled  elsewhere  in  the  case 
of  limestone  outcrops. 

Describing  how  the  Pecha- 


St/'iror/rtip/t  hu] 


THE    HATA-MEN. 


PEKING. 

in    the    wall 


vhich    divides   the   Tartar 


Th?  Hata-inen.  or  "Gate  of  Sublime   Learning, 
from  the  Chinese  quarter  of  Peking,  played  a  great    part   in  the  historic  siege  of  the  Legations 
in   1900.     The  adjacent  wall  ^vas  one  of    the  keystones  of  the  defence. 


buri  cave-temples  are  reached 
by  stairways  hewn  out  of  the 
solid  rock,  Mr.  Ernest  Young 
continues  :  "  One  of  them 
receives  its  light  through  a  crater-like  opening  in  the  hillside  ;  some  of  them  are  too  dark  to  be 
visited  without  the  aid  of  torches  or  lanterns.  The  floors  have  in  all  cases  been  nicely  levelled 
and  sanded,  while  one  has  been  neatly  tiled."  [This  is  the  cave  represented  in  our  photograph.] 
"  Idols  are  arranged  in  rows  round  the  sides,  and  Buddhas  in  standing,  sleeping,  or  sitting 
postures  occupy  every  jutting  crag  and  hollow  corner.  Tiny  holes,  often  hidden  behind  a 
gigantic  image,  lead  into  little,  dark,  dirty,  damp  recesses  with  plank-beds  and  torch-smoked 
altars,  where  hermits  live,  or  years  ago  lived,  in  retirement.  There  is  something  almost 
grotesque  in  these  cavern  interiors.  Huge  stalactites  and  stalagmites  shine  in  the  light  of  the 
entering  sun,  or  look  gloomy  and  solemn  in  the  fitful  spluttering  of  the  smoky  torches." 


apiiPJiF'*''" 


■  m  □  vra^  or 


'11.  i\  \nii.- 


,  /..ifi.l.'n. 


Stfi-fnarnph  hvl  «,-... ».^ 

THE    WALLS    OF    PEKING 

Grr.l  low«.  .urmounl  thrm  .1   in.<-rv.l..  «•  .1   ihc  anil..  rcDrr.rnlrd  .hove. 


172 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


Nature  has  done  much  for  the  appearance  of  these  cave-temples.  But,  as  Mr.  Young  remarks, 
the  grandeur  and  strength  of  the  great  pillars  and  deep  recesses  tend  to  make  the  gilded  figures 
which  man  has  introduced  among  them  look  more  tawdry  than  when  they  are  seen  in  their  more 
suitable  surroundings  in  brick  and  wooden  temples. 

The  total  number  of  images  in  the  series  of  caves  at  Pechaburi  is  very  large  ;  but  there  is  nothing 
like  the  accumulation  seen  in  the  cave  at  Moulmein,  described  in  Chapter  I.  The  Pechaburi  shrines 
are  certainly  the  more  impressive  for  not  having  been  made  to  look  so  much  like  old  curiosity 
shops. 

Temple  of  the  Five  Genii,  Canton. — The  Temple  of  the  Five  Genii  (or  Five  Immortals. 
as  it  is  also  sometimes  called  by  English  writers)  is  one  of  the  sights  of  Canton  which  tourists,  wisely, 
make  a  point  of  visiting  ;  for  it  has  many  points  of  interest.  Its  name  is  due  to  its  dedication 
to  the  five  gods  who  preside  over  the  elements  of  Earth,  Air,  Water,  Metal  and  Wood.  These 
divinities,  according  to  the  legend,  once  descended  from  heaven  and  rode  into  Canton  upon  five 
rams,  bringing  with  them  five  kinds  of  grain  as  a  gift,  and  bestowing  a  blessing  upon  the  markets 
of  the  city.  Then  they  rose  into  the  sky  and  disappeared.  The  rams  were  left  behind  and  took 
the  form  of  five  stones,  which  are  now  in  the  temple.  The  Five  Genii  sit  in  a  row  on  the  principal 
altar,  strikingly  vivid  in  their  colouring,  and  at  the  feet  of  each  is  placed  one  of  the  petrified  rams. 
To  this  quaint  legend  is  due  Canton's  title  of  "  the  City  of  the  Rams." 


THE    'lOMEl    GAIE.    MKKO.    JAPAN. 

This  is  the  most  beautilul  of  the  gateways  in   the  temple  buildings  at  Nikko     a  place  of  vi/hich,  takci 
Until  you  have  seen  Niklto.   don't  use   the  word  k^kko  CbeautifulJ. 


vholc,    ihe  Japanese  say  : 


Asia 


173 


t'fovf  Sierto  lopyri'j/i/ \ 


li'udfftcooil  tC  L'niii'rwood. 


■HEAR    NOT.    SPEAK    NOT.    SEE    NOT    E\  IL  ' 

Marvellous  cnrvinE  of   thrre   monlceys.    illustralinE  the   above   principle,   over  the  doorwny  of   one  of  tKe   leniple    buildings  al    Nikko. 

The  temple  has,  besides  these  figures  of  the  tutelary  genii  and  their  rams,  a  colossal  footprint  of 
the  Buddha  in  black  basalt  ;  a  great  bell  in  a  tower  in  front  of  the  main  shrine,  cast  in  the  fourteentli 
century  and  said  never  to  be  struck  without  bringing  ill-luck  upon  Canton  {which,  of  course,  explains 
why  on  one  occasion,  after  a  chance  shot  from  a  British  warship  had  pierced  the  bell,  the  city  was 
captured)  ;  and  altars  to  a  number  of  deities,  whom  the  hospitable  Five  Genii  permit  to  dwell  in 
their  temple.  These  lodgers  include  a  Cliinese  form  of  Hanuman,  the  Indian  monkey-god.  who 
appears  here  clad  in  a  brilliant  silk  robe,  and  the  Gods  of  War,  deified  heroes  from  the  past 
history  of  China, 

This  Temple  of  the  Five  Genii  must  not  be  confounded  with  tliat  of  the  Five  Hundred  Genii, 
mentioned  in  Chapter  III.  That  is  situated  in  the  western  suburb,  outside  the  city  walls.  This  is  in 
the  Namhoi,  or  western  half  of  Canton  itself,  not  far  to  the  left  of  the  Namhoi  Magistrate's  Court. 

The  Watts  of  Petting. — There  is  nothing  in  the  modern  world  more  suggestive  of  Babylon 
and  Nineveh  than  tlie  walls  of  Peking  as  they  stand  to-day.  Even  the  oldest  part  of  tlieir  outer 
casing,  however,  only  dates  from  the  early  fifteenth  century,  thougli  no  doubt  their  core  of  beaten 
earth  is  very  much  more  ancient.  It  is  their  stupendous  mass,  rather  than  their  actual  age,  wliich 
causes  the  mind  to  travel  back  to  the  great  cities  of  the  remote  past. 

The  vision  of  the  walls  bursts  upon  the  \isitor  to  Peking  with  surprising  suddenness,  especially 
if  he  approaches  by  the  road  from  the  coast.  Owing  to  tiie  conformation  of  the  vast  plain,  they 
are  not  to  be  seen  at  any  distance  from  the  south  or  east  ;  and  as  Peking  has  no  suburbs,  one  reaches 
it  abruptly,  to  find  the  walls  looming  up  above  one  in  a  most  awe-inspiring  way,  without  a  rival 
eminence  in  the  landscape.  A  close  e.xamination  of  their  condition,  revealing  the  dilapidation  of 
the  fortifications  of  the  Chinese  city  in  particular,  and  the  fact  that  the  guns  which  seem  to  peep 
through  the  embrasures  are  only  painted  imitations,  brings  disillusionment  ;  but  there  still  remains 
the  enormous  size  to  counterbalance  all  shortcomings. 

The  walls  that  surround  the  Tartar  and  Chinese  cities  (whicli  lie  toward  one  anotlier  in  the 
position  of  a  square  placed  upon  the  top  of  an  oblong)  are  of  a  deep  grey  colour,  and  have  at  intervals 
great  gateways,  which  have  been  not  inaptly  compared  with  Scottish  baronial  keeps,  and  high 
towers.  Those  of  the  Tartar  city  are  botli  more  massive  and  in  better  condition  than  the  Chinese 
walls.  They  are  about  fifty  feet  high,  with  a  six-foot  crenellated  balustrade  on  tlie  top.  In  tliickness 
they  are  sixty  feet  at  the  base,  diminishing  to  fifty  above.     Nine  gateways  pierce  them.     Of  these 


174 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


the  two  most  famous  are  the  Chien-men,  or  "  Front  Gate,"  which  leads  to  the  main  entrance  of  the 
Imperial  City  and  the  palaces,  and  was  partly  destroyed  by  fire  during  the  siege  of  the  Legations  in 
1900  ;  and  the  Hata-men,  or  "  Gate  of  Sublime  Learning."  which  also  played  a  big  part  in  the 
siege,  the  adjacent  wall  being  one  of  the  keystones  of  the  defence.  These  two  and  the  third  gate 
between  the  Tartar  and  Chinese  quarters  are  shut  nightly  from  one  hour  after  sunset  to  the  following 
sunrise.  Over  them  and  the  si.x  exterior  gates  on  the  north,  east  and  west  sides,  are  huge  square 
towers,  over  eighty  feet  high.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  fortifications  are  kept  in  quite  as  good  repair 
on  the  southern  side,  fronting  the  Chinese  quarter,  as  on  the  others.     But  the  distinction  between 

Tartars  (Manchus)  and  Chinese  has  been  gradu- 
ally obliterated,  especially  since  the  late  Em- 
press Dowager  turned  reformer  after  the  Boxer 
troubles. 

The  walls  of  the  Chinese  city,  built  over  a 
hundred  years  later  than  the  casing  of  the 
Tartar  walls,  are  about  thirty  feet  high,  and 
are  much  less  impressive  than  the  others, 
especially  as  they  are  in  bad  condition,  and  in 
places  even  have  shrubs  growing  out  of  them. 
They  are  pierced  by  seven  gates,  if  we  exclude 
those  communicating  with  the  Tartar  quarter. 

Peking    has    also    two   other  sets  of  walls. 

those  of    the   Imperial    and    Forbidden    Cities, 

which  are  within  the  Tartar  city.     These  are 

pink,  or  rather  faded  vermilion,  in  colour,  and 

are  capped  with  tiles  of   imperial  yellow.      A 

7'  JMX. '  'W^^^^^^S^M'     L,aS  ?     deep    and    broad    moat    further    protects    the 

jt/^I^^^^J^KI^^B^^^Si^^i  ■■■  '■■^SitM     Forbidden  City,  otherwise  the  "Six  Palaces," 

'      '  ^KiV^^Ht^K^^^^^E^islMr '^MHI^S     the  innermost  kernel  of  the  Tartar  section  of 

Peking,  to  which  the  envoys  of  the  Western 
Powers  for  so  long  strove  unsuccessfully  to 
penetrate,  and  to  which  now  again  even  their 
official  visits  are  so  jealously  limited. 

The  Gateivays  of  lyieypasu's  Temple,  Nikko. 
— In  earlier  chapters  of  tliis  work  some  of  the 
marvels  of  beautiful  Nikko  have  been  mentioned, 
including  the  collection  of  magnificent  buildings 
which  lead  up  to  the  tomb  erected  over  the 
remains  of  lyeyasu,  the  first  Shogun  (roughly, 
"  Mayor  of  the  Palace  ")  of  the-  Tokugawa 
family.  In  the  whole  collection  there  is  nothing 
more  worthy  of  admiration  than  the  various 
gateways  leading  into  the  three  courtyards  of  the  temple.  Elaborate  carvings  decorate  them 
all.  and  also  the  doorways  of    various  buildings  in    the  courtyards. 

The  first  gateway  is  known  as  the  Ni-o-mon.  or  Gate  of  the  Two  Kings,  from  two  huge  figures  of 
guardian  gods,  which  once  stood  in  niches  outside.  These  were  removed  when  Buddhism  was 
disestablished  during  the  present  Mikado's  reign  and  lyeyasu's  temple  handed  over  to  the  Shinto 
priests.  The  rest  of  the  gateway  was  left  intact,  and  is  remarkable  for  its  carvings  of  tapirs,  of 
unicorns  and  other  fabulous  monsters,  of  elephants  and  tigers,  intermingled  with  peony  flowers  in 
a  most  fascinating  way.     These  carvings,  however,  are  surpassed  in  interest  by  one  which  may  be 


rhoto  by^ 


'tiloiiy,  J^j'usafeijt. 


{Til,-  Aiiier 

GORGE    OF    THE    ARNO.N. 

The  River  Amon,  nowadays  known  to  the  Arabs  as  v\  ady 
Mojib,  flows  into  the  Dead  Sea  through  a  gorg*  not  more  than  a 
hundred  feet  across,  between  sandstone  cliffs  as  high  in  places  as 
fotir  hundred  feet. 


176 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


seen  after  one  has  entered  the 
courtyard.  It  is  over  the  door  of 
the  sumptuous  stable  of  the  sacred 
white  horses  kept  for  the  use  of  the 
spirit  of  tlie  mighty  dead.  On  it 
are  represented  three  monkeys,  one 
of  wliom  covers  its  ears,  the  second 
its  mouth,  and  the  third  its  eyes. 
Less  artistic  representations  of  this 
trio  are  common  in  Japan,  carved 
on  stone  slabs,  etc.  The  monkeys 
illustrate  vividly  the  e.xcellent 
principle  of  "  not  hearing,  not 
speaking,  and  not  seeing  evil."  It 
has  been  remarked  how  admirably 
Japanese  artists  succeed  in  por- 
traying monkeys  compared  with 
many  other  animals  which  they 
introduce  in  sacred  and  other 
decoration.  But  they  are,  of  course, 
familiar  with  the  monkey,  a  native 
of  Japan — which  is  not  the  case 
(need  it  be  said  ?)  with  some  of  the 
other  beasts. 

The  second  gateway,  the  Yomei- 
mon,  is  a  thing  of  exquisite  beauty. 
Mrs.  Bishop  thus  describes  it  in 
her  "  Unbeaten  Tracks  in  Japan  "  : 
"  The  white  columns  which  support 
it  have    capitals    formed  of   great 

From  Stei'eo  copiirighll  {^Cmtericood  A-  rnih'riciWfl,  .  ,  i  r      1  \    ■        1 

AERIAL   ROOTS  OF    A   scREWPiNE.  red-throated  heads  of  the  mythical 

Peradeniya  Gardens,  near  kandy.  Kivill     [a      mOUSter      borrOWed     frOm 

the  Chinese].  Above  the  architrave  is  a  projecting  balcony  which  runs  all  round  the  gateway 
with  a  railing  carried  by  dragons'  heads.  In  the  centre  two  white  dragons  fight  eternally. 
Underneath,  in  high  relief,  there  are  groups  of  children  playing,  then  a  network  of  richly  painted 
beams,  and  seven  groups  of  Chinese  sages.  The  high  roof  is  supported  by  gilded  dragons'  heads 
with  crimson  throats.  In  the  interior  of  the  gateway  there  are  side-niches  painted  white,  which 
are  lined  with  gracefully  designed  arabesques  founded  on  the  botan,  or  peony.  A  piazza,  whose 
outer  walls  of  twenty-one  compartments  are  enriched  with  magnificent  carvings  of  birds,  flowers 
and  trees,  runs  right  and  left,  and  encloses  on  three  of  its  sides  another  court,  the  fourth  side  of 
which  is  a  terminal  stone  wall  built  against  the  side  of  the  hill." 

A  curious  feature  in  connection  with  this  gateway  is  that  one  of  the  pillars  supporting  it  has  its 
pattern  carved  upside  down.  It  is  known  as  the  "  evil-averting  pillar,"  and  was  designed  to  placate 
the  jealousy  of  Heaven,  which  might  have  been  aroused  against  the  house  of  Tokugawa  had  the 
whole  building  been  perfectly  flawless  ! 

The  courtyard  to  which  the  Yomei  gate  leads  was  designed  to  be  used  chiefly  for  the  recitation 
of  the  sacred  liturgies  in  the  June  and  September  of  every  year,  when  Nikko  observed  festival. 
And  the  old  customs  are  still  kept  up.  Visitors  to  Nikko  in  summer  or  autumn  have  the  opportunity 
of  witnessing  wonderful  processions  and  dances,  in  which  all  the  performers  are  clothed  in  genuine 


Asia 


177 


costumes  of  Old  Japan,  brought  forth  for  the  occasion  from  the  storehouses  of  the  temples.  Then, 
too,  they  may  see  the  palanquins  of  the  Shoguns.  usually  kept  in  a  building  in  the  second  courtyard, 
borne  in  procession  bj'  sev-enty-tive  men  each  ;  and  after  them  walking  the  sacred  white  horse, 
riderless — except,  perchance,  to  the  spiritual  eyesight,  which  may  be  able  to  re-embody  the  mighty 
Tokugawa  Shogun  of  three  hundred  years  ago.  The  third  courtyard  is  entered  through  the  Kara-mon. 
the  Cliinese  Gate,  which  is  not  so  imposing  as  the  others,  but  leads  to  a  shrine  of  sucli  luxuriant 
and  fantastic  decoration  that  the  eye  welcomes  with  relief  the  severe  simplicity  of  the  Siiinto  altar 
in  its  midst. 

The  Arnon  River  Gorge.— In  Israelitish  days  tiie  Arnon  formed  the  soutiiern  boundary  of 
Palestine  beyond  the  Jordan— at  least,  after  David  had  finally  broken  up  the  power  of  the 
Ammonites,  as  narrated  in  the  Second  Book  of  Samuel.  Earlier  still,  when  Moses  led  the 
Twelve  Tribes  into  the  Promised  Land,  the  northern  bank  of  the  Arnon  was  the  first  spot  in 
the  subsequent  territory  of  Israel  at  which  he  pitched  his  camp.  When  the  country  east  of 
Jordan  was  conquered  the  Tribes  of  Reuben  and  Gad  settled  here,  having  the  Moabites  as  their 

neighbours  in  the  south. 

The  Arnon  thus  has  an  interesting  place  in  Palestinian  history,  and  allusions  to  it  in  the  Old 

Testament  are  not  a  few,  especially  with  reference  to  its  position  as  Israel's  southern  boundary 

beyond  the  Jordan. 

Nowadays  the  Arnon  is 

known  to   the    Arabs    who 

form  the  scanty  population 

of  the  country  east  of  the 

Dead    Sea    as    the    Wady 

Mojib.     It  is  a  poor  stream 

except     after     the     winter 

rains  have  swollen  it,  for  it 

takes  its  rise  in  a  dry  region 

and  normally    collects  but 

little  water  in  its   journey 

of  forty-five   miles    to    the 

Dead   Sea.     It    enters    the 

Dead  Sea  through  a  mag- 
nificent gorge,  and  the  cliffs 

on  either  side  rise   sheerly 

to  a   height    varying    from 

about    a     hundred    to    as 

mucli  as  four  hundred  feet. 

They  are    formed  of  sand- 
stone,    beautifully     traced 

and    corrugated,    and     re- 
deem the  Arnon   from   the 

insignificance  of    which    it 

might     otherwise     be    ac- 
cused. 

It  seems  probable  that 

the  river  was  once  greater 

than  it  is  now,  for  the  way 

in  which  a  passage  has  been 

cut  tiuouL'h  the  sandstone 


/'/('»/.«  hji] 


A  view  of  the    interior    of    AuronK/e 

paloce  of   liii  falKer,  SKafi  Jelian 


il;.\i<l  .mosquf.   dflhi. 

b*«    bcnuliful   little    private   motque.    whicf^ 
1  lie  carvinu  of   tlie  marble  ia   both  ricli 


f)e    added    to    the 
and   chaale. 


IJ 


178 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


argues  considerable  force.     From  the  noise  made  by  the  waters  as  they  flow  through  tlie  gorge 
into  the  Dead  Sea.  the  river  took  its  name  of  old;   for  "  Arnon  "  means  "  noisy." 

Huge  Sixteenth-Century  Gun  in  India. — At   Bijapur,    in  Bombay   Presidency,   are   the  remains 
of  extremely  powerful  fortifications,  and  in  the  citadel  some  large  pieces  of  ordnance,  which  show 

that  the  place  was  once  the  stronghold 
of  a  warlike  people.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  we  know  that  from  about  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  there 
was  an  independent  Mohammedan  state 
of  Bijapur,  whose  rulers  joined  with 
other  Mohammedan  chieftains  in  fighting 
against  a  strong  neighbouring  Hindu 
state.  The  fortifications  are  assigned  to 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  the  gun  here  illustrated  was  cast, 
according  to  an  inscription  on  it,  in 
1548,  at  Ahmadnagar.  sixty  miles  away. 
It  is  known  by  the  name  of  Malik-i- 
Maidan  ("  The  Lord  of  the  Plain")  and 
is  of  bronze.  Its  principal  measurements 
are  :  length,  fourteen  feet  three  inches  ; 
muzzle  diameter,  five  feet  two  inches ; 
breech  diameter,  four  feet  ten  inches ; 
bore,  two  feet  four  and  a  half  inches. 
Mr.  James  Douglas  writes  :  "  '  Mons 
Meg.'  at  Edinburgh  Castle,  is  nothing  to 
it  ;  and  how  it  was  placed  in  its  present 
position  is  a  question  that  no  man  yet 
has  been  able  satisfactorily  to  answer." 

In  1686  Bijapur.  both  state  and  city, 
was  conquered  by  the  Mughals,  and  the 
fortifications  fell  to  ruins,  though  "  The 
Lord  of  the  Plain  "  and  some  smaller 
guns  were  left  to  bear  witness  to  the 
wars  of  old. 

Aerial  Roots  of  a  Screiupine,  Pera- 
deniya  Gardens,  Ceylon. — Many  of  the 
most  striking  sights  in  the  exceedingly 
beautiful  Peradeniya  Botanical  Gardens, 
four  miles  from  Kandy,  have  already 
been  described  in  Chapter  II.  But  there 
is  one  so  curious  that  it  seems  to  merit 
an  article  to  itself.  The  Gardens  contain 
more  than  a  score  of  varieties  of  the 
"  screwpine  "  family,  scientifically  called  the  PandanacecB.  Some  of  these  are  indigenous  in 
Ceylon,  but  the  majority  have  been  introduced  through  the  zeal  of  those  who  have  had  charge 
of  the  Botanical  Department  of  the  island,  and  came  originally  from  Malaya,  the  Dutch  Indies, 
the  Nicobar  and  Andaman  groups,  Indo-China,  Madagascar,  and  the  Pacific  islands.  The  screw- 
pines  are  not  only  in  themselves  handsome  objects,  but  also  share  with  some  other  plants  and 


From  Stereo  cvpyrigh!'^ 


[Vnderuood  <{■  Cndt'iicood. 


A  near  view  of  one  of  tlie  gopuras,  or  pyramids,  of  Madura's  Great 
Temple,  showing  the  inconceivable  elaboration  with  representations  of  Siva 
and  his  consort,  other  deities,  demons,  bulls,  etc..  all  painted  in  the  most 
glaring  colours. 


=_        •«? 


i8o 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


[1.  //.  riiui,  Esq. 


Some  of   the  wonderful  frescoes.  illustralinB  Hindu  legends,  on  the  wails  of  Siva's  temple  at  Madura. 

trees,  notably  the  banyan-tree,  the  power  of  sending  out  adventitious  roots.  These,  in  the  case 
of  the  banyan  and  screwpine,  do  not  develop  underground,  but  are  aerial  and  extend  for  a 
considerable  distance  from  the  main  trunk,  assuming  a  very  solid  and  massive  appearance. 

The  most  noteworthy  of  the  various  screwpines  at  Peradeniya  is  the  gigantic  one  introduced 
thirty  years  ago  from  the  Andaman  Islands  and  therefore  called  Pandanus  Andamanensiitm — a 
name  whose  length  appears  to  match  its  bulk  very  well.  Standing  at  the  southern  end  of  the 
Gardens,  near  the  carriage-drive,  this  monster  shows  off  its  aerial  roots  to  great  advantage  and 
reduces  the  human  figure  to  insignificance  beside  it. 

The  Pearl  Mosque,  Delhi. — The  Moti  Masjid,  or  "  Pearl  Mosque,"  at  Delhi,  was  added  by 
Aurangzeb  to  Shah  Jehan's  magnificent  palace,  the  father  having  apparently  been  content  to  leave 
his  palace  without  a  private  mosque  when  he  had  the  Jama  Masjid  so  near  at  hand.  Western 
critics  are  divided  as  to  whether  the  Pearl  Mosque  is  worthy  of  its  setting  in  Shah  Jehan's  handiwork. 
Some  are  disappointed  at  its  small  size — it  is  only  sixty  feet  square — while  others  point  to  its  lovely 
decorations  and  declare  that  it  fully  merits  the  name  which  it  bears,  "  In  grace,  simplicity  and 
perfect  proportion,"  says  Mr.  G.  W.  Forrest,  one  of  its  warmest  admirers,  "  the  Moti  Masjid  cannot 
be  surpassed," 

Red  sandstone  walls  enclose  it  all  round,  so  that  from  outside  there  can  only  be  seen  the  three 
white  marble  domes,  the  centre  one  larger  than  the  two  side  ones,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Jama 
Masjid,  etc.  Within  the  walls,  however,  the  beautiful  finish  of  the  carved  marble  becomes 
apparent,  and  the  interior  is  worthy  of  careful  study.  In  a  small  compass  this  mosque  is  a  wonderful 
piece  of  work.  It  is  said  to  have  cost  Aurangzeb  one  hundred  and  si.xty  thousand  rupees  to 
build  it, 

Delhi's  "  Pearl  Mosque  "  must  not  be  confused  with  that  of  the  same  name  at  Agra,  which 
was  erected,  like  the  Jama  Masjid  at  Delhi,  by  that  princely  builder,  Shah  Jehan,  Both  Jama 
Masjid  and  Moti  Masjid  are  comparatively  common  names  for  mosques. 


Asia 


i8i 


TTie  Siva  Temple,  Madura. — Madura,  the  second  largest  city  in  Madras  Presidency,  is 
celebrated  chiefly  for  its  Great  Temple,  dedicated  to  Siva,  under  his  form  Sundaresvara  ("  the 
Excellent  Lord  "),  and  to  Minakshi  ("  the  Fish-Eyed  Goddess  "),  a  local  deity  identified  with 
Siva's  wife  Parvati.  When  the  Mohammedans  overran  India,  they  captured  Madura  and  damaged 
much  of  the  temple,  but  spared  the  shrines  of  Siva  and  Minakshi.  Madura  threw  off  again  the 
Mohammedan  yoke,  when  the  temple  was  rebuilt  with  more  than  its  former  splendour  round  the 
shrines. 

The  ground  covered  by  the  buildings  has  an  area  of  eight  hundred  and  fifty  feet  by  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  feet.  In  the  outer  wall  are  four  great  gopuras  (pyramids  or  pagodas),  while  five  more 
surround  the  inner  court.  These  gopuras,  of  which  the  tallest,  though  not  completely  finished,  is 
over  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  are  sculptured  in  almost  inconceivable  elaboration  with 
representations  of  Siva  and  his  consort,  in  human  and  monstrous  shapes,  other  deities,  demons, 
bulls,  etc.,  and  are  painted  in  the  most  glaring  colours,  so  that  undoubtedly  they  gain  by  being 
looked  at  from  a  distance  rather  than  close  at  hand.  The  same  may  be  said  of  a  good  proportion 
of  the  sculptures  and  paintings  throughout  the  temple,  for  the  bizarre,  repulsive  and  obscene  are 
present  everywhere,  as  in  nearly  all  Sivaite  places  of  worship.  Nevertheless,  there  is  much  that  is 
beautiful  in  the  frescoes  illustrating  Hindu  legends,  in  the  other  decorations  of  ceilings  and  walls, 
and  in  the  carvings  of  the  columns,  while  there  is  a  tremendous  wealth  of  jewels  in    the   temple. 


nil       MIMlMW 


Thic  ahadow.  which  i«  produced  by  the  co-operation  of  the  riainff  aun  and  the  morninR  miala,  haa  no  doubt  helped  to  R«in  the 
mountain  ila  reputation  for  holineaa.  The  ahadow  haa  been  compared  with  both  the  BrocUen  "Spectre"  and  the  "Glory  of  the  Buddha" 
on   Mount  Omi. 


1 82 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Specially  notable  sections 
of  the  group  of  buildings 
are  the  Hall  of  a  Thou- 
sand Pillars,  the  Golden 
Lily  Tank,  and  the  inner- 
most shrines  of  Siva  and 
Minakshi.  These  shrines 
are  jealously  shut  against 
Europeans,  although, 
thanks  to  the  influence  of 
the  Maharajah  of  Tra- 
vancore,  M.  Pierre  Loti 
was  allowed  to  enter  a 
few  years  ago  and  see  the 
marvellous  jewellery  and 
other  treasures  of  the 
goddess.  The  ordinary 
\  isitor  sees  nothing  of 
these  oldest  parts  of  the 
temple  except  the  gilded 
copper  plates  which  cover 
the  roofs  above  them. 

In  the  Hall  of  a  Thou- 
sand Pillars  the  sculp- 
tures are  particularly  rich 
and  fantastic,  and  the 
shadows  and  silence  which 
envelop  the  hall  make  it 
very  impressive.  By  way  of  contrast,  the  Golden  Lily  Tank  is  a  brilliant  sight  under 
the  open  sky.  with  its  cloistered  arcade  all  round,  and  its  views  of  temple-roofs,  gopiiras, 
and  tall  palms  beyond.  The  tank  is  a  broad  rectangle,  about  fifty  yards  each  way.  and  its 
waters  are  of  a  very  green  hue.  which  adds  to  the  beauty  of  the  colour-scheme,  but  is  due,  alas  ! 
to  the  innumerable  worshippers'  ablutions  of  their  feet.  Overhead,  parrots  and  other  birds  are  in 
constant  flight,  for  they  build  their  nests  freely  about  the  temple  and  roost  at  will  on  the  gopiiras 
and  trees.  Bats,  also,  in  hordes,  make  the  buildings  their  home,  and  elephants  and  sacred  cows 
wander  at  liberty  among  the  cloisters  and  about  the  grounds.  The  whole  picture  is  most  strange, 
magnificent  and  grotesque. 

Adam's  Peak,  Ceylon. — Like  "  Adam's  Bridge  " — the  link  between  India  and  Ceylon,  which  is 
said  to  have  been  destroyed  about  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  is  claimed  by  Mohammedans 
to  have  been  the  way  by  which  Adam  left  Paradise,  by  Hindus  the  means  of  Rama's  invasion  of 
Ceylon  in  search  of  his  stolen  wife — "  Adam's  Peak  "  is  enshrined  in  the  legends  of  the  followers 
of  various  religions.  The  fact  that  the  mountain  has  on  its  very  summit  a  depression  roughly 
resembling  a  footmark  led  the  early  Christian  and  Mohammedan  visitors  to  say  tliat  Adam  had 
set  foot  there.  Similarly,  the  Buddhists  claimed  the  footprint  as  that  of  the  Buddha,  Hindus  as 
that  of  Siva,  and  later  Christians  as  that  of  St.  Thomas,  the  apostle  to  India.  When  the  peak  first 
became  a  goal  for  pilgrims  is  uncertain.  Priests  appear  to  have  been  established  on  the  summit 
for  very  long  before  history  took  notice  of  them.  At  the  present  day  there  is  a  little  open  shrine, 
or  shed,  over  the  sacred  spot  ;  and  just  below  is  a  small  monastery-hut  tenanted  by  Buddhist  monks, 
which  is  surrounded  by  a  wall  to  prevent  falls  down  the  very  steep  sides  of  the  peak.     In  May  every 


Photo  hyl  [/■'.  Skeen  d-  Co. 

ADAM'S    PEAK.    CEYLON. 

Adam's  Peak,  about  7.400  feet  hiRh,  is  the  most  celebrated,  if  not  the  tallest,  mountain  in 
Ceylon.  It  has  been  visited  by  pilgrims  from  time  immemorial.  On  the  very  summit  is  a 
"footprint"  attributed  by  the  early  Christians  and  Mohammedans  to  Adam:  by  the  Buddhists  to 
ihe  founder  of  their  religion.  There  is  a  shelter  built  over  the  footprint,  and  below  stands  a 
Buddhist  monaslcry-liut.  as  shown  on  the  left  hand  of  the  photograph. 


I'lwto  iy] 


/    yth  .(•  Co.  till.,  Itrigalt. 
ROCK    TEMPLE.    AJANTA. 
The  (.code  ol  one  o\  ihc  morvcllous  slirinc.  hewn  oul  o(  the  lohd  cli(f-(iice.     Notice  the  imilotion  woodwork  in  .lone  about  the 

Inrceit  window. 


1 84 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


ritoio  (.!/] 


ifrilh  ,(  Co.  1.1,1.,  Hei.jalf. 


THE    CAVES    OF    AJANTA. 

A  genera!  view  of  the  five  temples  and    twenty-four    monasteries    excavated  in   tKe    semi-circuiar  face  of  a  cliff  near  Aianta.  Hydera 
These  roclc-hewn  churches  and  dwelHngs  represent  the  work  of  eight  hundred    years    of    Indian    Buddhism.       Both  the  ston* 


bad    State. 

carvings  and  the  paintings  all  over  the  interior  of  the  caves  are  remarl 


liable 


year  pilgrims  come  in  thousands,  and,  camping  on  tlie  slopes  by  night,  bring  their  prayers  and 
offerings  to  the  shrine  by  day. 

The  legend  of  the  discovery  of  the  Sripada,  or  sacred  footmark,  relates  that  a  certain  king 
Walagambahu,  about  90  B.C.,  was  out  hunting  and  espied  a  very  beautiful  stag,  which  led  him  on 
up  the  mountain  until  finally  it  reached  the  very  summit.  Here  it  suddenly  disappeared — for  in 
reality  it  was  not  a  stag,  but  a  spirit,  sent  to  guide  the  king  to  the  Sripada. 

A  certain  amount  of  human  artifice  has  heightened  the  similarity  of  the  mark  to  a  footprint, 
but  there  is  certainly  a  natural  oblong-shaped  hollow,  about  five  feet  long  and  between  one  and 
two  inches  deep,  in  which  the  pious  visitors  see  what  they  come  to  see.  Similar  marks  are  to  be 
found  in  Siam,  the  Malay  States,  Tibet,  and  at  Canton,  where  the  same  reverence  is  paid  to  them. 

One  of  the  most  curious  things  in  connection  with  Adam's  Peak  is  beyond  the  power  of  man 
to  alter  or  improve,  and  that  is  the  shadow  of  the  mountain.  Of  it  Mr.  Edward  Carpenter  writes  : 
"  The  shadow  of  the  peak,  cast  on  the  mists  at  sunrise,  is  a  very  conspicuous  and  often-noted 
phenomenon.  Owing  to  the  sun's  breadth,  the  effect  is  produced  of  an  umbra  and  penumbra  ;  the 
umbra  looks  very  dark  and  pointed — more  pointed  even  than  the  peak  itself.  I  was  surprised  to 
see  how  distant  it  looked — a  shadow  mountain  among  the  far  crags.  It  gradually  fell  and 
disappeared  as  the  sun  rose." 

The  shadow  of  Adam's  Peak  has  been  compared  with  the  "  Spectre  "  on  the  Brocken,  and  with 
the  "  Glory  of  the  Buddha  "  on  Mount  Omi,  but  it  is  hardly  so  mysterious  in  appearance  as  either 


Asia 


185 


of  those  phenomena,  though,  hke  them,  it  requires  the  co-operation  of  the  sun  and  of  the  morning 
mist  to  produce  it. 

Ajanta  Rock  Temples. — Tlie  temples  and  monasteries  excavated  in  the  rock  of  the  Inhyadri 
Hills,  a  little  distance  away  from  the  village  of  Ajanta,  Hyderabad  State,  were  discovered  by 
Westerners  about  a  hundred  years  ago  ;  and  the  late  James  Fergusson  first  described  them 
minutely  in  1843.  They  had  lain  deserted  since  the  seventh  century  a.d.,  when  Buddhism  was 
driven  out  of  India.  Owing  to  this  fact,  however,  they  are  of  exceptional  interest,  for  no  later 
additions  have  concealed  the  early  workmanship  ;  and,  happil\%  time  has  dealt  lightly  with  the 
elaborate  carvings  and  with  some  of  the  paintings  which  decorate  the  excavations. 

In  all  there  are  five  cetiyas.  or  temples,  and  twenty-four  viharas,  or  monasteries,  hewn  out  of 
an  almost  perpendicular  cliff-face,  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  curving  round  in  a  semicircle 
and  overhanging  the  bed  of  a  stream.  A  ledge  of  rock,  now  very  difficult  to  pass  in  places,  is 
apparently  the  only  means  of  access  that  there  has  ever  been.  In  some  cases  the  caves  when  fDund 
were  filled  up  with  mud,  which  had  washed  in.  Few  of  them  were  completely  finished,  though  almost 
all  had  been  decorated  on  roof,  walls  and  columns.  Some  show  obvious  Brahman  influence,  and 
can  clearly  be  assigned  to  the  end  of  the  Buddhist  period.  The  earliest,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
attributed  to  about  200  B.C..  so  that  altogether  they  represent  Buddhist  cave-architecture  over  a 
period  of  eight  hundred  years.  When  they  were  first  discovered  there  was  a  tendency  to  attribute 
to  them  a  far  greater  antiquity,  to  place  them,  indeed,  among  the  oldest  monuments  in  the  world. 
A  closer  study,  however,  of  India's  numerous  other  rock  temples  and  the  decipherment  of  the 
literature  of  Buddhism  enabled  the  true  date  to  be  established  with  some  degree  of  certainty. 

The  general  plan  of  the  cetiyas  is  a  high-vaulted  chamber,  with  a  circular  apse  at  the  inner  end, 
in  which  stands  a  relic-mound  hewn  out  of  stone.  The  viharas  are  mostly  square  halls,  with  cells 
opening  out  of  them  for  the  monks  on  three  sides,  and  a  piUared  verandah  in  front,  though  the 
smallest  are  simply  verandahs  with  cells  opening  directly  out  of  them. 


I'hoto  by'\ 
Thii  view  of  the 


THE    DEAD    SEA. 

I  lake    brinfcs  out   the    curiously  oily   appearance  of  it*  surface  and  the    KCncrnl 
nothine  arowins  or  brcathinK  by  land  or  wal;r. 


[American  Colony^  Jerujalem. 
lifcletlnefi  of  the  scene  with 


1 86 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


Pholo  In' 


lAnterican  Colony^  Jei-usalenu 
THE    DEAD    SEA. 

A  vie%v  on  the  nortli  shore  of  the  Dead  Sea,  ^vhich  is  shown 
with  uprootsd  trees  and  reeds  brought  down  by  the  swift  stream  of 
the  River  Jordan. 


gloom 


The  carving,  especially  in  the  case  of  the 
cetiyas,  is  both  elaborate  and  interesting,  some 
of  it  showing  how  skilfully  wooden  decorations 
could  be  imitated  in  stone.  {This  can  be  seen, 
for  instance,  in  the  fat^ade  of  the  cave  known 
as  No.  26,  which  is  one  of  the  latest.)  The 
paintings  in  the  interior  are  even  more  note- 
worthv.  and  are  artistically  superior  to  the 
carvings.  They  represent  a  vast  variety  of 
subjects,  from  figures  of  the  Buddha  and  his 
disciples  to  domestic,  hunting  and  battle  scenes. 
Unfortunately  in  many  of  them  the  originally 
brilliant  colouring  has  faded  very  much. 

The  method  of  lighting  the  shrines  is 
worthy  of  notice.  Fergusson  writes  :  "  The 
whole  light  being  introduced  through  one 
great  opening  in  the  centre  of  the  facade 
throws  a  brilliant  light  on  the  altar.  .  .  .  The 
spectator  himself  stands  in  the  shade  .  .  . 
and  the  roof  and  aisles  fade  into  comparative 
It  is  perhaps  the  most  artistic  mode  of  lighting  a  building  of  this  class  that  has  ever  been 

invented,  certainly  superior  to  anytliing  that  was  done  by  the  Romans,  or  during  the  Middle  Ages." 
The  Dead  Sea. — Even  apart  from  the  exaggerations  of  legend  (which  make,  for  instance,  its 

exhalations  so  poisonous  that  birds  flying  over  it  fall  down  dead  through  suffocation),  the  Dead 

Sea  is  a  sufficiently  awe-inspiring  body  of  water.     Describing  it  as  seen  from  a  neighbouring  height, 

Mrs.   Goodrich  Freer    writes  :    "  You  look  down  at  the  lowest  spot  on  the  earth's  surface — the 

hollow    of   the    Dead  Sea,  blue  as    the    sky    in    the    morning    sunshine,    flecked    with    cloud-like 

wavelets,  beautiful,  gay,  and  smiling,  but  bitter, 

treacherous,  and  the   home  only  of  mystery  and 

death." 

Studied  at  closer  quarters  the    Sea    is    of    a 

peculiar    oily    greenish    hue.     and     its     strange 

qualities    become    vividly    apparent.       There    is 

no  life  in  it,  with    the    exception    of   some    few 

microscopic  specimens,    and    salt-water   fish    die 

when    put    into    it  :     while    fresh-water    species 

brought  down  by  the  Jordan  and  other  streams 

running  into  it   soon  float   dead    upon    the    sur- 
face. 

Bathers  who  venture  into  it  find  it  impossible 

to    sink    below    the    surface,    and    suffer    from 

irritation  of  the  skin  after   emerging,  owing    to 

the  extreme  saltness.     Analysis  has  shown  that 

the  water  contains   more    than    twenty-five    per 

cent,    of    saline    matter.     About    the    centre    of 

the    northern    section    the    depth   is  very   great, 

as  much   as    one    thousand    three    hundred    and 

,  .  Photo  bu]  [Americau  futony,  Jerusalem. 

eight  feet  havmg  been  fathomed.      The  surface       -r^        '      <  .    r>   ^  =  u        ,  .1,  ,  •,  •    „,„o»»,bi, 

^  The  waters  of  tlie  Dead    Sea  are  so  buoyant  that  it  is  impossible 

is  one  thousand  two  hundred  and   ninety-seven  to  sink  in  them. 


Asia 


187 


feet  below  that  of  the  Mediterranean.  And,  wliat  seems  most  mysterious  of  all.  the  Dead 
Sea  has  no  visible  outlet  ;  indeed,  can  scarcely-  have  an  outlet  owing  to  its  Ij'ing  so  low  ; 
and  yet  it  receives  daily  about  six  and  a  half  million  tons  of  water,  and  apparently  once 
received  a  good  deal  more,   from  tiie  Jordan   and  other  rivers  whicli  empty  themselves  into  it. 

The  secret  of  this  constant  addition  to  its  waters  and  yet  failure  to  increase  in  extent  or  depth 
(except  after  the  rains  of  winter,  whicii  are  responsible  for  the  stretch  of  submerged  trees  shown 
in  one  of  our  photographs)  is  to  be  sought  in  the  tremendous  daily  evaporation  caused  by  the  fierce 
sun  beating  down  upon  it  and  in  the  absorbent  nature  of  the  soil.  The  southern  end.  near  the 
salt-hills,  is  the  barest  and  least  inviting  to  the  eye,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  people  have 
looked  here  for  the  site  of  the  five  Cities  of    the  Plain. 

The  name  of  the  lake  has  varied  considerablv  durinij  historical  times.     In  the  Old  Testament, 


t*hotu  bt/'}  [Antrrii-nn  Cotnnij,  Jt-rnsdl^iL 

Tni»  pnotoeraph   shows  half  a  mile  of   submerged  forest  on  tfie  east  sfiorc  of  tfie  Dead  Sea,   provine  tiow  tliis  body  of   water  has 

erown   in  consequence  of  the  increased  rainfall- 

for  instance,  we  hear  of  the  "  East  Sea,"  "  Salt  Sea,"  or  "  Sea  of  Akabah."  In  the  classical  period 
it  was  known  as  the  "  Lake  of  Asphalt,"  later  as  the  "  Dead  Sea,"  whicii  title  was  adopted  by  tlie 
early  Fathers  of  the  Church,     Nowadays  the  Arabs  call  it  Bahr  l.ut,  "  Sea  of  Lot," 

Isurumuniya  Temple,  Ceylon. — The  tremendous  overgrowth  of  tiie  jungle  co\ered  up  iniu  h 
else  tiiat  was  beautiful  and  historically  interesting  beside  tlie  great  sinincs,  palaces  and  monasteries 
of  the  Anuradhapura  neighbourhood,  in  the  Nortii  Central  I'ro\ince  of  Ceylon,  About  forty  j'ears 
ago,  what  is  known  as  tlie  Isurumuniya  Temple  was  entirely  hidden  from  view  and  forgotten  amid 
the  jungle.  Since  then  tiie  overgrowth  has  been  cleared  away  and  some  of  the  depredations  of 
time  repaired  by  restorations — not  always  with  the  happiest  results, 

Isurumuniya  was  a  fortunate  find.  "  Tiiis  curious  building,  carved  out  ot  tiic  natural  rock," 
writes  Mr.  H.  W.  Cave,  "  occupies  a  romantic  jiositiiin.    .    .    .    To  the  right  of  tlie  entrance  will  be 


1 88 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


noticed  a  large  poknna.  or  bath.  This  has  been  restored  and  is  quite  tit  for  its  original  purpose  of 
ceremonial  ablution,  but  the  monks  now  resident  have  placed  it  at  the  disposal  of  the  crocodiles, 
whom  they  encourage  by  providing  them  with  food.  The  terraces  which  lead  to  the  shrine  are 
interesting  for  their  remarkable  frescoes  and  sculptures  in  bas  relief.  There  are  more  than  twenty 
of  these  in  the  walls,  and  all  of  them  are  exceedingly  grotesque.  .  .  .  Above  the  corner  of  the 
bath  are  the  heads  of  four  elephants,  and  above  them  is  a  sitting  figure  holding  a  horse.  Similarly 
there  are  quaint  carvings  in  many  other  parts.  The  doorway  is  magnificent,  and  for  beautiful 
carving  almost  equals  anything  to  be  found  in  Ceylon. 

The    temple    is    attributed    to    Tissa.     the     King    of    Ceylon    at     the     end    of    the     fourth 
century  B.C.,   who   was  a  friend  of  the  great   Indian  Emperor  Asoka. 


Photo  from  "  The  Ruined  Cities  of  Ceyioii,"^ 


ISURUMUNIYA    TEMPLE    AND    BATH. 


The  beautiful  Uurumuniya  Temple,  hewn  out  of  solid  rock  by  King  Tissa  about  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  B.C..  was  totally 
covered  up  by  jungle-growth  when  rediscovered  forty  years  ago.  Modern  additions,  such  as  the  entrance  which  stands  out  in  the  centre 
of  the  photograph,  have   not  improved  the  appearance:    but   the  old  parts  of  the  temple  are  very  interesting. 

Wat  Suthat,  Bangkok. — Although  not  so  familiar  to  the  tourist  as  Wat  Phra  Keo,  Wat  Chang, 
Wat  Po,  or  Wat  Pichiyat,  still  there  is  much  about  Wat  Suthat  to  make  it  also  noteworthy  among 
Bangkok's  many  temples.  It  has  a  curious  bawt,  or  "  holy  of  holies,"  with  singularly  plain  and 
unadorned  square  pillars  uplifting  an  elaborate  fourfold  roof,  whose  ridge-ends  terminate  in  very 
elongated  e.xamples  of  the  favourite  Siamese  decoration  of  the  snake's  head.  Then  the  doorway 
of  the  wihan,  or  image-house,  is  a  tremendously  tall  and  marvellously  decorated  piece  of  work,  with 
a  distinct  individuality  of  its  own.  The  images  within  are  reputed  to  be  old.  Their  arrangement 
is  certainly  striking.  Not  only  is  there  the  usual  colossal  figure  of  the  Buddha,  seated  in  the  attitude 
of  meditation,  according  to  the  canons  of  Buddhist  religious  art  ;  but  also,  below  this,  there  is  a 
smaller  seated  Buddha,  with  his  two  principal  disciples,  Sariput  and  Mokhalan  (as  the  Siamese  call 
them)  in  a  position  of  devotion  on  either  side  of  him.  and  a  crowd  of  other  disciples  sitting  in  orderly 
rows  facing  the  Master.  In  the  dim  light  which  is  invariably  maintained  in  the  image-chamber 
these  figures  look  very  impressive.     The  priests  in  charge  of  the  wats  fortunately  understand  the 


meditolicn."  i.e.,   wilh   the  Ices  cfossci 

Below  is  II  smaller  finure  ol   ihc   Baddlm.   Buppiri 

facine   him  on   ihe  riKht  and   tlje  left 


WAT    SUTHAT.    BANGKOK. 

thi.    icmplc    is    .he    «re».    h.ll    in    which    is    scaled  a    colossal  figure  ol    .I.e     Buddha  in  .he   "»"""<''■■'' 

d    ihe  rish.    hand    claspine    ihe    rishl    knee,  and    .he    le(.    hand    lyine    palm    uppennos.  across  ihe   .h,«hs. 

ed  by  his  two   chiel    disciple,  in  ihe  ollilude  o(    worship,   with  two    groups  o(    other  disciples 


The    most    interesting    feature    ot    this    temple    is    the    great    hall    in    which    is    seated  a    colossal  figure  ol    .he     Buddha  in  th 


i'hoto  by}  {.^''-  Abdiilla  Mirza. 

FATIMA'S    SHRINE    AT    KUM.    THE    SACRED    CIT^     OF    PERSIA. 

Kum  is  a  sacred  city  on  account  of  the  burial  there  of  Fatima.  sister  of  the  eighth  Imam.  The  photograph  represents  the  larger  of  the- 
two  domes  in  the  shrine  over  her  tomb.  This  dome  is  covered  with  copper  sheets,  overlaid  with  gold  to  the  depth  of  one  eighth  of  an  inch- 
It  is  the  ambition  of  pious  Persians  to  be  buried  as  close  to  Fatima's  shrine  as  possible. 


Asia 


191 


value  of  religious  gloom  where  tlie  sacred  images  are  concerned.  Far  Eastern  shrines  exposed  to 
the  full  light  of  day  and  seen  close  at  hand  are  almost  invariably  a  shock  to  the  eye.  whereas  the 
aid  of  semi-darkness  at  once  makes  tliem  pleasing  and  mysterious. 

Fatima's  Mosque  at  Kum. — Kum  (Koom),  generally  known  as  the  "  Sacred  City"  of  Persia, 
lies  about  a  hundred  miles  south-west  of  Teheran  and,  being  on  the  beaten  track  for  travellers 
between  Teheran  and  Ispahan,  would  be  more  or  less  familiar  to  visitors  from  Europe,  were  it  not 
that  the  fanaticism  of  the  inhabitants  (a  large  proportion  of  them  mullahs)  makes  inquisitiveness 
decidedly  dangerous.  What  makes  the  city  sacred  is  tlie  fact  that  here  was  buried  Fatima 
el-Masuma  (the  Immaculate),  sister 
of  Reza,  the  eightli  of  the  twelve 
holy  iiiiciiiis.  or  prophets,  whom  the 
Persians  reverence.  She  had  fled  from 
Bagdad,  according  to  the  legend, 
to  escape  from  persecution  at  the 
hands  of  the  Khalifs,  and.  dying 
at  Kum,  was  buried  here  by  her 
brother,  since  when  her  tomb  has 
become  a  great  resort  for  pilgrims, 
like  that  of  the  Imam  Reza  himself 
at  Meshed.  Moreover,  owing  to 
Fatima's  reputation  for  holiness,  it 
became  a  fashion  for  the  devout  of 
the  Shiah  school  of  Mohammedanism, 
to  wliich  nearly  all  Persia  belongs, 
to  have  their  bodies  buried  close  to 
the  shrine.  In  consequence.  Kum 
has  become  a  vast  necropolis.  Some 
ten  sovereigns  of  past  dynasties  have 
been  interred  here,  between  four 
hundred  and  five  hundred  saints,  and 
numberless  other  people.  Bodies  are 
brought  from  great  distances  to  this 
day  to  find  sepulchre  here,  and  the 
city,  indeed,  flourishes  on  the  dead, 
big  fees  being  charged  for  burial 
space — and  the  nearer  to  the  im- 
maculate Fatima  the  bigger  the  fee. 
Undertakers,  grave-diggers  and  stone- 
cutters naturally  abound. 

The  appearance  of  Fatima's  shrine 
at  a  distance  has  been  compared 
to  that  of  one  of  the  gilded  domes  of  tlie  Kremlin  at  Moscow.  The  Hon.  G.  N.  (now  Lord) 
Curzon,  describing  his  visit  to  the  place,  says  :  "  Another  low  ridge  is  climbed,  another  valley 
opens  out,  toward  the  southern  end  of  which  extends  the  belt  of  mingled  brown  and  green  that 
in  tiie  East  signifies  a  large  city.  Above  it  the  sun  flames  on  the  burnished  cupolas  and  the 
soaring  minars  of  Fatima's  mosque.  As  we  approach,  the  sacred  buildings  loom  larger,  and  are 
presently  seen  to  consist  of  two  domes  overlaid  with  gilded  plates  and  five  lofty  minarets, 
disposed  in  two  pairs  and  a  single  standing  in  close  pro.ximity  to  tlie  larger  dome. 

"  Emerging    from   sinall  chnnjis  of  trees,  or  standing  in  solitary  prominence,  are  to  be  seen 


Copyright  photo  6t] 

THE    LAMA-S    TOMB. 


[//.  U.  ronling,  F.lt.d.S. 
YELLOW  TEMPLE. 


This  tomb,  much  of  whose  architecture  auesests  India  rather  than  China, 
built  not  over  the  body  of  a  deceased  1  ashi  Lama,  but  over  liis  vellow  robe 
which  were  kept   behind  when  his  ausust  remains  were  sent   back  to  1  ibet. 


192 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


the  conical  tiled  roofs  of  scores  of  imamzadehs,  erected  over  the  remains  of  famous  saints  and 
prophets,  whose  bones  have  been  transported  hither  and  laid  to  rest  in  the  consecrated  dust  of 
Kum.  .  .  .  Some  of  them  are  in  good  repair  and  contain  beautiful  panels  or  lintel-bands  of 
tiles  with  Kufic  inscriptions  from  the  Koran.  Others  are  in  a  state  of  shocking  ruin,  the  blue 
tiles  having  peeled  off  their  cupolas,  upon  whose  summits  repose  enormous  storks'  nests." 

The  copper  sheets  which  cover  the  two  domes  are  plated  with  gold  one-eighth  of  an  inch  thick, 
the  work  on  the  larger  dome  being  due  to  Fath  Ali  Shah,  of  the  present  dynastJ^  On  the  top  is 
an  ornament  of  solid  gold,  said  to  be  one  hundred  and  forty  pounds  in  weight.  The  minarets  near 
this  dome  are  adorned  with  a  beautiful  mosaic  of  azure,  canary  and  iridescent  green  tiles.  Of  the 
tomb  beneath,  an  early  traveller.  Sir  J.  Chardin,  about  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  wrote 


Copyright  photo  by'\ 


ill.  U.  I'ontmg,  f.ll.G.S. 


THE    "lELLOW    TEMPLE.    NEAR    PEKING. 


This  shows  the  entrance  to  the  well-known  temple,  which  includes    among  its  treasures  a  tomb   built  over  the  yellow  robes  of  a  great 
Tibetan   Lama,  who  died  of  small-pox  at  Peking  near  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

that  it  was  "  overlaid  with  tiles  of  China,  painted  a  la  Moresca,  and  overspread  with  cloth  of  gold 
that  hangs  down  to  the  ground  on  every  side."  He  speaks  of  "  a  gate  of  massy  silver,  ten 
foot  high,  distant  half  a  foot  from  the  tomb,  and  at  each  corner  crowned  as  it  were  with 
large  apples  of  fine  gold."  This  silver  "  gate,"  or  grating,  is  said  to  be  still  round  the  tomb. 
But  it  is  practically  impossible  nowadays  for  a  non-Mohammedan  to  penetrate  inside  the  shrine 
and  see  the  tomb. 

The  YelloTV  Temple,  near  Peking^ — The  Hoang  Ssii,  or  "  Yellow  Temple,"  is  one  of  the  sights 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Peking  to  which  visitors  to  the  Chinese  capital  never  fail  to  make  an 
excursion.  It  is  not  easy,  nevertheless,  to  see  much  when  one  has  got  there,  for  the  monks  are 
neither  amiable  nor  inclined  to  encourage  sight-seeing  except  upon  receipt  of  exorbitant  donations. 


Asia 


19: 


The  principal  object  of  interest,  a  white  marble  tomb,  can  be  viewed  without  very  great  trouble  ; 
but  Westerners  seldom  get  a  glimpse  of  much  more. 

The  Yellow  Temple  derives  its  name  from  the  following  facts.  In  1780  the  Tashi  Lama,  a 
dignitary  scarcely  inferior  even  to  the  great  Dalai  Lama  himself,  came  on  a  visit  to  Peking  from 
his  home  at  Tashi  Lhumpo.  He  had  only  arrived  a  few  weeks  when  he  fell  ill  of  small-pox  and 
died.  His  body  was  sent  back  to  Tibet  in  a  golden  casket,  for  the  mortal  remains  of  an 
incarnation  of  Amitabha,  "  Boundless  Light."  were  too  holy  to  be  buried  elsewhere.  But 
his    yellow    robes    were    kept    behind    and    enclosed    in    another    casket,    and    over    them    was 


Photo  hy\ 


THE    ,\.MrHlIl!E.\TRE.     PETRA. 


After  traversing  the  narrow   "  Sil<."   there   lie*,   in  on  open   space   where  the  valley   widen!,  on   the  left   hand,   an    amphitheatre. 
It   it  cut   out  of   the  mountain,   and   was  made   to  accommodate  over   3.000   spectators.     There  are    3i   tieis  of   seats. 


erected  the  tomb  which  may  be  seen  to-day.  Upon  a  raised  terrace,  entered  through  a  pailow. 
or  triple  arch,  stands  a  tall  central  relic-tower  in  the  midst  of  four  smaller  towers,  one  at  each  corner. 
The  towers,  all  of  white  marble  like  the  arch,  are  Indian  or  Tibetan,  not  Chinese,  in  shape,  and  the 
central  one  is  charmingly  carved  witii  scenes  from  the  life  of  tiie  Tashi  Lama,  and  innumerable 
Buddhist  figures,  emblems  and  inscriptions. 

The  entrance  to  the  temple  is  a  picturesque  piece  of  architecture,  though  of  a  type  more  ordinary 
in  China  than  the  tomb  over  the  robes.  The  threefold  staircase  is  worthy  of  note,  with  its  middle 
flight  showing  an  example  of  the  "  spirit  staircase,"  not  cut  in  steps,  but  set  in  an  inclined  plane  and 

14 


194 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


foreign  devil ' 


ornamented  with  dragon-carv- 
ings— as  can  be  seen  on  a  larger 
scale  at  the  Temple  of  Heaven 
in  the  Chinese  City,  and  the 
Confucian  Temple  in  the  Manchu 
City,  of  Peking. 

The  monastery  contains  also 
a  foundry,  which  turns  out 
bronze  images,  bells,  and 
religious  vessels  and  ornaments 
of  all  kinds,  and  a  number  of 
other  buildings  into  which  no 
is  given  to  the 
to  pry. 
Peira. — The  rock-hewn  city 
of  Petra  is  exceedingly  interest- 
ing, and  also  of  astonishing 
beauty  owing  to  the  vividly 
variegated  hues  of  the  sandstone 
cliffs  out  of  which  its  palaces, 
temples,  houses,  tombs,  etc.,  are 
carved.  These  cliffs  have  been 
compared  with  Oriental  carpets, 
so  rich  are  their  reds,  purples, 
blues,  yellows,  blacks,  and 
whites,  running  in  bands  across 
their  face.  The  city  itself  has 
been  called  the  "  Red  City," 
owing  to  the  prevailing  tint  of 
its  monuments.  It  lies  in  a 
valley  about  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  long,  from  north  to  south, 
and  varying  in  width  from  five 
hundred  yards  at  the  northern  end  to  half  that  at  the  southern  end.  The  rocks  rise  up  almost 
perpendicularly  around  it,  and  in  ancient  times  there  was  only  one  approach,  through  a  deep  and 
narrow  gorge  on  the  east,  now  known  as  the  Sik.  In  places  this  gorge  only  allows  two  horsemen 
to  ride  abreast,  and  the  enclosing  rock-walls  vary  from  two  hundred  feet  high  at  the  start  to  about 
eighty  feet  at  the  finish. 

The  original  residents  of  Petra  were  the  Edomites,  or  Idumaean  Arabs,  but  they  were  succeeded 
by  the  Nabathaeans,  who  built  up  a  strong  state,  with  Petra  as  its  capital.  They  allowed  them- 
selves, however,  to  become  vassals  of  Rome,  and  at  last,  in  the  reign  of  Trajan  the  province  of 
Arabia  Petraea  was  formed. 

The  remains,  with  the  exception  of  some  of  the  tombs,  seem  all  to  belong  to  the  Roman  epoch, 
and  to  the  second,  third  and  fourth  centuries  of  that.  The  style  is  debased  Graeco- Roman,  with 
a  blend  of  native  art,  due  to  the  Nabatliaeans  themselves  ;  while  some  see  Egyptian  influences 
also.  A  certain  amount  of  damage  seems  to  have  been  done  to  them  by  earthquake  at  various 
times,  cracks  and  dislocations  being  visible  here  and  there  ;    but  they  are  still  wonderful. 

Besides  the  Treasury  of  Pharaoh  and  the  Kasr  Firaun,  or  "  Castle  of  Pharaoh,"  which 
appears  in  the  centre  of  one  of  the  photographs,   the   most   important  ruin  is  the  amphitheatre. 


■THE    PLACE    OF    SACRIFICE    ABOVE    PETRA." 

Of  the  many  wonderful  remains  of  Petra.  "The  Place  of  Sacrifice"  is  perhaps 
the  most  interesting.  This  site  of  religious  observance  gives  a  realistic  idea  of  t!ic 
"High  Places"  of  the  piimiti\e  inhabitants  of  the  Land  of  Israel,  where  the 
offered   was    such   a   snare    to   the    Israelites. 


vorsnip 


d     :^l 


196 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


cut  entirely  out  of  rock  and  capable  of  seating  over  three  thousand  spectators  on  its 
thirty-three  tiers. 

Petra  is  particularly  rich  in  tombs.  Indeed,  it  might  be  called  a  vast  necropolis,  so  full  of  tombs 
are  its  enclosing  walls  on  every  side.  They  are  to  be  seen  at  such  a  height  up  the  cliff-face  that  it 
is  clear  that  those  who  hewed  them  must  have  used  ladders.  Now  they  are  quite  beyond  reach, 
though  not  so  far  that  the  carved  fa(;'ades  of  many  of  them  cannot  be  appreciated. 

On  the  heights  far  above  and  a  little  to  the  south  of  the  amphitheatre  is  a  "  Place  of 
Sacrifice,"  one  of  the  ancient  "High  Places"  to  be  found  in  Syria  and  the  neighbouring 
countries,  of  which  frequent  mention  is  made  in  the  Old  Testament.  In  the  example  at  Petra 
are  two  altars,  a  large  one  for  the  sacrifice  of  victims  and  a  smaller  round  one.  a  pool  for 
ablutions,  and  a  courtyard,  all  of  them  cut  in  the  solid  mountain-top. 

Nowadays  Petra  is  known  to  the  Arabs  as  Wady  Musa,  or  "  Valley  of  Moses,"  from  the  stream 
which  runs  across  the  valley  from  east  to  west.  According  to  the  legend,  it  was  here  that  Moses 
struck  the  rock  with  his  staff,  whereupon  twelve  springs  gushed  out. 

Wa{  Po,  Bangkok. — In  the  heart  of  the  picturesque,  dirty  and  odorous  capital  of  Siam,  close 
to  the  great  enclosui-e  of  tlie  royal  palace,  there  is  built  Wat  Po,  the  largest  of  the  innumerable 
wats,  or  temple-monasteries,  in  the  only  remaining  independent  Buddhist  kingdom  in  south-eastern 
Asia.  Bangkok  has  been  called  "  the  city  of  temples."  but  few  of  them  are  better  worth  a  visit 
than  the  one  before  us. 


I' lull O   tjy\ 


WAT    PO.    BANGKOK. 


\_Kuberl    Lfnz^   Itflmjf,-'!,. 


This  is  the  largest  temple-monastery  in  Siam,  and  is  celebrated  for  a  Beure  of  the  Dying  Buddha.  175  [eel  lone,  built  of 
brick,  but  covered  with  gold-leaf  so  thickly  that  early  European  visitors  imagined  it  to  be  of  solid  gold.  The  photograph 
represents  some  of  the  inner  buildings  of  Wat  Po.  a  high  wail  enclosing  the  whole  and  making  it  impossible  to  obtain  a  general 
view.     Some  of  the  characteristic  features  of  Siamese  architecture  can   be  seen    in   this  picture. 


THI-:    SAKNATH    TOPH. 

This,  one  of  the  oldest  monuments  in  India,  was  set  up  in  the  earliest  days  of  Buddhism   to  commemorate   the  spot   in   the 
Deer-park  outside  Benares  in  which  Gautama  first  instructed  his  followers  in   the  new  Way.  or.  as  the    Buddhists  preferred 

to  say.  Hrst  "  turned  the  Wheel  of  the  Law." 


Asia 


197 


The  principal  sight  is  the 
"Sleeping  Buddha,"  as  it  is 
commonly  called,  though  as  a 
matter  of  fact  it  represents  the 
founder  of  Buddhism  in  the 
hour  of  death,  reclining  on  his 
right  side,  with  his  head 
propped  by  his  right  hand. 
The  figure  is  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  feet  long  and  is 
built  of  brick,  which  has  been 
covered  in  turn  with  cement, 
lacquer,  and  thick  gold-leaf, 
while  the  soles  of  the  feet 
(each  foot  is  five  yards  long) 
are  inlaid  with  mother-of-pearl 
in  the  conventional  designs 
always  associated  with  the 
soles  of  the  Buddha. 

The  photographs  which  ap- 
pear here  show  various  features 
of  the  Wat.  The  first,  for 
instance,  gives  a  good  idea  of 
the  ornateness  of  the  archi- 
tecture, especially  in  the  main 
hall  (in  the  centre  of  the 
picture),  and  in  the  large 
prachedi,  or  votive  spire  (to 
the  right).  Although  the  de- 
rivation is  not  at  first  sight 
obvious,  the  top  parts  of  these 
prachedis  represent  the  old 
umbrellas-of-honour  with  which 
pious  Indians  used  to  crown  their  relic-mounds.  Each  ring  in  the  spire  is,  as  it  were,  a  petrified 
umbrella,   the  number  of  such  rings  having  increased  as  this  style  of  architecture  developed. 

In  this  same  picture  the  guardian  spirits  at  the  gateway  are  also  noticeable.  Another,  and 
grimmer-looking,  guardian  is  shown  in  one  of  the  smaller  photographs.  The  Chinese  influence  in 
the  figure  in  the  smaller  picture  is  obvious. 

In  the  full-page  photograph  is  shown  a  cloister  with  a  row  of  Buddha  figures,  recognizable  by 
the  strangely-shaped  glory  (in  Siamese,  sirot)  on  the  top  of  the  head.  "  Amongst  the  marks  which 
the  popular  superstition  insisted  upon  as  characteristic  of  a  Great  Being,  and  which  were,  therefore, 
pre-eminently  marks  of  the  Buddha,  was  a  curiously  pointed  cranium  covered  with  refulgent  hair. 
From  this  the  Siamese  derived  their  idea  of  the  glory,  which  does  not  encircle  the  head,  but  rises 
flame-like  above  it." 

In  the  grounds  of  Wat  Po  are  some  ponds  containing  crocodiles,  which  the  priests  feed  ;  numerous 
granite  rocks  carved  into  monstrous  shapes  ;  and  a  multitude  of  trees,  both  growing  naturally  and 
artificially  dwarfed  and  deformed — which  latter,  again,  show  Chinese  influence. 

There  is  a  general  air  of  decay  about  Wat  Po  at  the  present  day.  but  it  continues  to  attract 
pilgrims,  if  only  to  see  the  gigantic  image  of  the  dying  Buddha. 


I'hoto  ^y] 


[Alan  n.  Burgoyne,  Etq.,  it.P.,  F.R.O.S. 
THE    GUARDIAN    OF    THE    GATE.    WAT    PO. 

Thr   figure   shows  obvious  Chinese   influence. 


198 


The   Wonders   of   the  World 


The  Wailing  Place  of  the  Jeivs  at  Jerusalem. — Few  sights  are  more  familiar  to  the  tourist  in 
Jerusalem  than  the  "  Wailing  Place  of  the  Jews,"  south-west  of  the  Haratn,  or  "  Noble  Sanctuary." 
It  seems  to  affect  various  visitors  in  various  ways.  For  instance,  here  is  what  Mr.  Rider  Haggard 
says  about  it  ; 

"  Facing  the  wall  about  a  score  of  Jews,  men  and  women  of  all  ages,  were  engaged 
in  '  wailing.'  The  women  really  wept,  with  intervals  for  repose,  but  the  men,  as  strange  a 
collection  of  human  beings  as  I  ever  saw,  did  not  give  way  to  their  feelings  to  that 
extent.     They  rubbed   their   faces  against   the   huge   blocks,  which   occasionally   they  kissed,    or 

read  from  the  Scriptures,  or  muttered 
prayers.  .  .  .  All  about  the  principal 
actors,  and  mixed  up  with  them, 
was  a  motley  crowd — beggars,  halt, 
maimed,  and  disease-stricken  ;  boys, 
who  drew  down  their  eyelids  within 
six  inches  of  your  face  to  reveal  the 
shrivelled  balls  beneath ;  men  with 
tins  the  size  of  a  half-gallon  pot, 
which  they  shook  before  you,  howling 
and  vociferating  for  baksheesh." 

Observers  find  great  pathos  in  this 
sight  of  men,  women  and  children, 
from  all  parts  of  the  world  where 
Jews  make  their  home,  bewailing  the 
past  glories  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
desecration  of  the  Great  Temple. 

The  wall  is  part  of  the  ancient 
fortification  of  the  temple,  over  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  long  and  fifty- 
six  feet  high,  and  its  lower  courses  are 
composed  of  vast  blocks  of  stone,  one 
being  as  long  as  sixteen  feet.  The 
labour  of  building  such  walls  must 
have  been  immense  ;  but,  as  we  know 
from  other  structures  which  have  been 
described  in  the  present  work,  the 
Palestinian  architects  were  skilled  in 
the  transport  and  employment  of 
gigantic  blocks,  which  certainly  liave 
justified  their  use  by  the  splendid 
condition  in  which  they  remain  to 
this  day. 

Temple  of  the  Holy  Tooth,  Kandy, — Of  the  Cingalese  temples  still  standing  and  not  in 
ruins,  the  Dalada  Maligawa,  or  Shrine  of  the  Holy  Tooth,  at  Kandy,  is  decidedly  the  most 
famous.  It  is  assigned  to  the  sixteenth  century,  when  Kandy  itself  was  founded.  Below 
it  lies  a  long  tank,  in  which  are  kept  many  tortoises  to  be  fed  by  visitors ;  above  and 
behind  it,  well-wooded  heights.  Trees  surround  it,  and  a  battlemented  stone  wall, 
within  which  a  lawn  is  grazed  over  by  some  humped  cattle.  A  massive  low  doorway 
gives  entrance  to  the  temple,  whose  roof  is  upborne  by  rows  of  short  square  pillars.  Frescoes 
depicting  incidents  of  Buddhist  history   decorate   the    walls.     The   innermost  shrine — or,  rather. 


[Alan  II.  Dur.j.iyiie,  I^s'/..   M.P.,  F.R.O.S. 
PRoiCHEDlS    AT    WAT    PO.    BANGKOK. 

The  prachedi  is  a  development  of  the  relic-mound  of  India,  and  the 
curious  rings  or  discs  in  the  spires  arc  a  convc.Ttionalized  development  of  the 
umbrella-of-honour  which  surmounted  such  mounds.  Each  ring  represents  an 
umbrella.  Generally  in  Siam  these  spires  are  purely  votive,  and  do  not 
actually  cover  lelics. 


200 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


THE    WAILING     PLACE    OF    THE    JEWS.    JERUSALEM. 

The  \Nall    is    pan  o(   the  ancient  fortification   of   the   letnple.   and  it  is  here  that  Jews  from  all   parts  of     the  world  come   to  bewail 
the  past  glories  of  Jerusalem  and  the  desecration  of  the  Great  Temple. 

series  of  seven  shrines — is  gilt  and  jewelled  with  exceeding  richness.  The  relic  is  kept  locked 
up  within  the  seventh  and  smallest  shrine,  and  is  very  rarely  exhibited  except  to  genuine 
Buddhist  visitors — and  they  have  to  pay  for  the  privilege. 

The  history  of  the  Tooth  is  a  curious  one.  It  was  brought  to  Ceylon  in  311  a.d.,  by 
a  fugitive  Indian  princess,  who  for  safety  carried  it  hidden  in  the  coils  of  her  hair.  On 
its  arrival  it  was  housed  in  a  temple  built  expressly  for  it  at  Anuradhapura,  in  the 
precincts  of  the  great  Thuparama  Dagaba.  The  ruins  of  this  first  Dalada  Maligawa  are  still  in 
existence  at  Anuradhapura.  During  the  wars  with  the  Tamil  invaders  it  was  often  necessary  to 
remove  the  Tooth  to  Polonnaruwa  for  security  ;  and,  finally,  when  Anuradhapura  fell  definitely 
into  Tamil  hands,  the  Cingalese  capital  was  moved  to  Polonnaruwa,  and  a  new  and  beautiful 
Dalada  Maligawa  was  built  there,  which  is  the  object  of  much  admiration  to-day.  Later  Indian 
raiders  succeeded  in  capturing  the  relic  and  carrying  it  away  from  Ceylon,  but  it  was  ransomed  by 
one  of  the  kings  and  brought  back.  Finally  the  Portuguese  got  hold  of  it  and  took  it  to  Goa, 
where  it  was  burnt  to  ashes  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Archbishop.  But,  as  one  story  runs,  it 
miraculously  reappeared  and  ever  since  has  been  enshrined  at  Kandy. 

Whatever  it  was  that  was  burnt  at  Goa.  the  actual  object  shown  as  the  Tooth  at  Kandy  is  not 
human.  It  is  stated  to  look  like  ivory,  and  a  plaster  cast  of  it  exhibited  to  the  present  writer  at 
Colombo  by  the  monk  Jinavaravamsa,  cousin  of   the   late    King   of   Siam,  showed  it   to   be   quite 


Asia 


20 1 


two  inches  in  length.  It  is  contended  by  some  upholders  of  the  relic's  genuineness  that 
what  is  now  seen  is  merely  an  ivory^  case,  within  which  the  real  Tooth  is  kept. 

Ruan'weli  Pagoda,  Anuradhapura,  Ceylon, — The  Ruanweli  dagaba  (or  "  Pagoda  of  Golden 
Dust "),  is  one  of  the  most  impressive  objects  amid  the  ruins  of  Anuradhapura.  When 
rediscovered.  Ruanweli  had  the  appearance  of  a  conical  hill,  surrounded  by  a  wall  and  topped  by 
a  small  spire.  Trees  and  bushes  having  taken  root  on  the  sloping  sides,  the  illusion  was  the 
more  complete.  Examination,  however,  proved  that  the  seeming  hill  was  a  brick  building  nearly 
one  thousand  feet  in  circumference  and,  not  counting  in  the  platforms  subsequently  e.xcavated, 
about  two  hundred  and  seventy  feet  high.  Great  alterations  in  the  aspect  of  the  pagoda  have  been 
taking  place  since  the  mound  was  first  discovered.  The  platforms  have  been  dug  out  from  the 
soil  which  buried  them  ;  and  tlie  offerings  of  pilgrims  are  enabling  extensive  restorations  to  be 
carried  out. 

The  general  plan  of  the  building  was  as  follows  :  In  the  centre  of  two  platforms,  one  superimposed 
on  the  other,  there  was  built  a  solid  brick  bell-shaped  mass,  two  hundred  and  seventy  feet  high 
with  the  spire,  and  two  hundred  and  seventy  feet  also  in  diameter  at  its  base.  Three  ambulatories, 
each  seven  feet  wide,  encircled  the  bell  in  order  that  worshippers  might  walk  round  it  thrice,  keeping 
it  on  their  right  hand  all  the  time,  according  to  the  prescribed  ritual.  Chapels  stood  at  the  four 
cardinal  points  of  the  pagoda,  while  on  the  upper  of  the  two  platforms  there  appear  to  have  been 
a  number  of  miniature  dagabas.  the  gifts  of  the  pious,  one  of  which  remains  almost  perfect  to  this 


/■/!..(..  /r.™     ■  rV  />:-'i 


THE  TEMPLE  OF  THE  HOLY  TOOTH.  KANDY. 


[^^  /Imrt  W   Carr.  .«  J 


This,    the 


O.I    f.mou.  o(   Cint.lc.c    Icmplt.    •till  .l.ndin,.   wa.   buih   in  ihc  .i.lccnih    ccnlurv.        LocUtd  up  wilhin   the  .cvtnth 
and  •mallcil   .hrinc   ia  an   ivorr  relic  which   ia  aiarrlcd  to  be  an  actual   tooth  ol    Buddha 


202 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


day.  There  were  also  other  erections  on  the  platform,  including  a  hall  in  which  were  sheltered  four 
statues  which  the  excavators  discovered.  Three  of  these  were  Buddha  figures  ;  the  fourth  and 
tallest,  ten  feet  high,  is  supposed  to  represent  King  Dutthagamini  himself. 

The  decorations  of  the  platforms  (one  sculptured  with  a  frieze  of  hons,  the  other  with  a  frieze 
of  elephants),  and  of  the  various  remains  surrounding  the  bell — statues,  friezes,  altars,  etc. — are 
admirable.  It  appears  that  the  general  body  of  the  pagoda  and  the  two  platforms  were  covered 
with  a  hard  white  enamel  called  chiinam,  so  that  the  effect  in  bright  sunshine  must  have  been  very 
dazzling. 

According  to  the  ancient  Cingalese  chronicle,  when  the  great  work  was  nearing  completion, 
Dutthagamini  fell  mortally  sick.  He  gave  instructions  that  he  was  to  be  carried  to  a  marble  couch 
(which  is  shown   to  this  day),  lying  on  which  he  could  let  his  dying  eyes  rest  upon  the  pagoda  and 

his  other  masterpiece,  the 
Great  Brazen  Palace.  Be- 
fore he  breathed  his  last 
he  adjured  his  younger 
brother,  Tissa,  to  finish 
his  work  for  him.  This 
Tissa  did,  while  subse- 
quent kings  added  to  its 
decorations  very  consider- 
ably. 

The  Holy)  Sepulchre  at 
Jerusalem.  —  It  has  fre- 
quently been  pointed  out 
by  modern  writers,  in- 
cluding some  of  the  most 
undoubted  piety,  that  the 
evidence  in  favour  of  the 
authenticity  of  the  site  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  is 
weak.  Helena,  mother  of 
the  Emperor  Constantine, 
is  said  to  have  been  in- 
duced by  a  dream  to  visit 
Jerusalem.  There  a  second 
vision  led  her  to  proceed 
to  a  temple  of  Venus, 
buiidine.  the  Brazen  Palace.  crectcd   by   Hadrian,    and 

destroying  the  temple,  to  dig  down  to  the  foundations,  when  there  were  discovered  both  the 
sepulchre  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  also  the  crosses  upon  which  He  and  the  two  thieves  were  crucified 
three  hundred  years  before.     This  is  Eusebius's  story. 

The  most  sacred  part  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is  what  is  known  as  the  "  Rotunda," 
a  circular  building,  sixty-seven  feet  in  diameter,  in  the  midst  of  which  stand  the  Sepulchre  itself 
and  in  front  of  it  the  Chapel  of  the  Angel,  through  which  alone  it  can  be  entered.  Within 
the  chapel,  which  is  illuminated  by  fifteen  lamps  belonging  to  the  various  sects,  is  a  little 
marble  altar  supposed  to  mark  the  spot  where  on  the  morning  of  the  Resurrection  the  angel  stood 
by  the  tomb  and  told  the  amazed  women  :    "  He  is  not  here  :    He  is  risen,  as  He  said." 

The  Sepulchre  is  inside  a  building  twenty-six  feet  by  eighteen,  westward  of  the  chapel,  and  is 
a  quadrangular  vault,  six  feet  by  seven,  with  a  high  domed  roof  supported  on  marble  columns. 


I'lwlo  tnmi'' Thf  l.oul,  of  l>i/l,:n,"] 

RUANWELI     PAGODA.    ANURADHAPURA.    CEYLON. 

Looking  at  a  distance  liUc  a  conical  hill  surrounded  by  a  wall  ana  surmounted  by  a  tiny 
spire,  Ruanweli  pagoda  is  in  reality  a  solid  mass  of  brickwork.  270  feel  high  and  nearly 
1,000  feel  in  circumference.  It  was  set  up  in  the  second  century  B.C.  by  the  greatest  of  the 
Buddhist    kings  of  Ceylon,   who    on    his    deathbed    let    his    eyes    rest   on   it  and    his    other    great 


ICndfrteood  .(   UmUruood, 
From  .Sifvro  covyrinhtl  ^ 

THE    CHURCH    OF    THE    HOLY    SEPULCHRE, 

Th.  pho.o.r.ph  .how.  the  f.c.dr  of  .he  Ch.pcl  of  .he  An„l  hun.  wi.h  .Imo..  ,„„umer.ble  l.mp..  NVi.hin  «'''=''•>"'• 
which  i.  ilium  n.,ed  by  fif.ccn  lamp,  belon.in.  .o  ,he  v.rlou.  .cc...  i.  .  I...ic  m.rbk  .l..r  ..ppo.cJ  .o  n,.rU  .he  .po.  where  on 
•  he  morn.n.   of   .he   Re.urr.cl.on   .he  .n«el   ..ood   by   .he   lomb   ,nd   .old   .he  «m..rd   women   .h..   Chr...   h»d   r.ien 


204 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Photo  by'] 


GORDONS    CALXARY. 


[J.  \y.  Mi-Lellan. 


Outside  the  present  walls  of  Jerusalem,  north  of  "  Herod's  Gate."  i 
Gordon,  to  be  the  actual  scene  of  iKe  Crucifixion  and  burial  of  Christ, 
in   the  illustiation )   to  the  west  of   the   mound  supports  this  theory. 


a  mound  which  is  thought   by  many,  including    General 
The   rock-hewn   tomb   Mhe   entrance   to   which   is   shown 


The  vault  is  lined  throughout  with  greyish  marble,  the  upper  part  of  which  is  quite  black  with  the 
smoke  of  incense  and  of  the  forty-three  lamps  of  gold  and  silver.  At  the  north  side  is  a  marble 
slab,  much  worn  away  by  the  kisses  of  the  pilgrims,  under  which  is  said  to  lie  the  actual  tomb, 
although,  as  the  marble  slab  has  been  in  its  position  since  mediaeval  times,  it  is  impossible  to  tell 
what  is  beneath  it.  The  vault  is  decorated  with  a  relief  representing  the  Crucifixion,  over  the  slab  ; 
another,  in  white  marble,  showing  Jesus  rising  from  the  tomb  ;  and  a  great  quantity  of  gifts 
resented  at  various  times. 

The  outside  of  the  Sepulchre  building  is  covered  with  white  and  yellow  stone,  and  there  is  a 
large  metal  crown  on  its  summit. 

Apart  from  the  relic  from  which  it  takes  its  name,  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  contains  a 
great  number  of  other  features.  There  is  Golgotha,  with  a  spot  which  is  pointed  out  as  being  where 
the  three  crosses  were  set  up.  There  are  also  the  Prison  of  Christ,  the  Pillar  of  the  Scourging,  the 
Chapel  of  the  Division  of  the  Vestments,  the  Chapel  of  the  Apparition  to  Mary,  the  Chapel  of  the 
Invention  of  the  Cross,  the  Chapel  of  Helena,  etc.,  etc.,  and  such  curious  places  consecrated  by 
legend  as  the  Tomb  of  Melchizedek,  the  Chapel  of  Adam  (who  was  supposed  to  have  been  buried 
where  the  Cross  was  later  erected),  the  Centre  of  the  Earth  (because  it  is  in  the  middle  of  the  church, 
which  is  in  the  middle  of  Jerusalem,  which,  again,  is  in  the  middle  of  the  world  !),  and  so  on. 

"Gordon's  Caharyi  "  and  a  Possible  Site  of  the  Holy)  Sepulchre.— Onisxde  the  present  walls 
of  Jerusalem,  a  little  to  the  north  of  "  Herod's  Gate,"  is  a  mound  which  has  notable  claims  to  be 
considered  the  scene  of  both  the  Crucifixion  and  the  burial  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  site  of  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  experts  say,  can  never  have  been  without  the  gates  of  the  fortifications  of 
Jerusalem,  whereas  the  true  Calvary  and  tomb,  according  to  the  Gospel  narrative,  were  without 


Asia 


205 


the  gates.  The  mound  in  question  is  a  very  conspicuous  place,  rising  to  a  lieight  of  about  fifty  feet, 
perpendicular  on  the  side  facing  Jerusalem,  sloping  on  the  other  sides,  and  in  general  shape  curiously 
resembling  a  skull. 

Moreover,  the  tomb  lying  to  the  west  of  the  mound  is  strangely  appropriate.  "  It  would  not 
be  too  much  to  say,"  writes  Mr.  Rider  Haggard,  "  that  here  the  Scriptural  description  seems  entirely 
fulfilled.  The  tomb  is  rock-hewn.  It  appears  never  to  have  been  finished,  for  some  of  the  surfaces 
have  not  been  smoothed.  It  was  closed  with  a  stone.  When  this  stone  was  rolled  away,  the 
disciples,  Peter  and  John,  by  stooping  down,  could  have  looked  into  the  sepulchre  and  seen  the 
linen  clothes  lie,  perhaps  upon  the  floor  of  the  little  ante-chamber.  This  tomb,  too,  was  a  family 
tomb,  such  as  Joseph  of  Arimathaea  might  well  have  made,  with  room  in  it  for  three  bodies,  one 
at  the  end,  as  it  were,  and  recessed,  and  two  at  right  angles.  Very  well  might  these  have  served  as 
seats,  such  as  those  on  which  Mary  must  have  seen  '  two  angels  in  white  sitting,  the  one  at  the  head 
and  the  other  at  the  feet,  where  the  body  of  Jesus  had  lain.'  " 

On  the  east  wall  of  the  tomb,  at  right  angles  to  the  only  finished  receptacle  for  a  body,  is  a  faint 
fresco  of  a  cross  with  sacred  monograms  about  it,  obviously  very  old.  and  seemingly  indicating  that 
what  was  originall}?  meant  to  be  used  as  a  place  for  a  second  body  had  been  converted  into  an 
altar.  Outside,  but  not  far  away  from  this  tomb,  there  are  to  be  found  early  Christian  graves,  on 
one  of  which  is  the  inscription  :  "  Buried  near  his  Lord." 


J'hoto  by] 


incf  AUtiitia  Mirtn. 


THE    WORLDS    TURQUOISE    STORE 


Enlmncr  10  one  ot  the  minei  where  999  out  o(  everv  1.000  lurguoiaea  which  come  into  ihe  market  are  found.  The  minea 
arc  in  a  hill  dislrici  about  forty  milea  iquarc.  usually  called  after  the  city  of  Niihapur.  althouch  a«  a  matter  of  fact  about  thirty 
milea  away       As   much  as  i^  2  3.000   worth   of   turquoises  have   been    turned  out   in   recent   yeais  from   these   mines. 


2o6 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


The  name  of  "  Gordon's  Calvary  "  has  been  given  to  the  place  owing  to  the  firm  conviction 
of  General  Gordon  that  this  was  the  true  site  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and  of  Calvary,  and  here, 
accordingly,  he  came  to  pray  when  on  a  visit  to  Jerusalem.  Commonly  it  is  known  '■  as 
"  Jeremiah's  Grotto,"  after  a  cave  in  the  steep  face  of  the  mound,  connected  by  legend  with 
the  prophet  Jeremiah. 

Nishapur  Turquoise  Mines. — Although  the  turquoise  is  not  reckoned  a  rarity  among  precious 
stones,  it  is,  nevertheless,  a  fact  that  almost  all  the  world's  supply  of  turquoises  is  derived  not  only 
from  one  country,  Persia,  but  also  from  one  district  about  forty  miles  square  in  that  country. 

The  city  of  Nishapur  is  not  far  from  Meshed,  and  lies  on  the  road  to  Teheran.  The  actual 
locality  of  the  mines  is  some  thirty  miles  away,  and  is  known  as  Madan  (that  is,  simply,  "  mines  "), 
but  the  former  fame  of  Nishapur  has  led  to  the  extension  of  its  name  to  cover  this  district.  The 
turquoises  are  found  in  a  range  of  hills,  where  there  are  a  great  number  of  mines,  both  old  and  new. 

Many  of  the  old  ones  are  not 

#\^  i       <        completely    worked    out    yet. 

l       Indeed,  some  of  the  finest  of 
*'"??si5''"''  '        I       ^^^  stones   nowadays  are  stiU 

to  be  found  by  careful  search 
among  their  galleries  and 
shafts.  In  tlie  new  mines, 
the  promiscuous  and  careless 
use  of  gunpowder  for  blasting 
results  in  the  ruin  of  many 
of  the  stones  got  out.  The 
mining  is  a  State  monopoly, 
but  the  Government  farms  it 
out  to  the  highest  bidder, 
who,  in  his  turn,  sublets  the 
rights.  The  Persian  dealers, 
in  order  to  dispose  of  their 
irregular-shaped  and  flawed 
stones,  cut  them  into  seals 
and  amulets.  They  gild 
Arabic  letters  over  the  flaws, 
and  sell  them  to  pilgrims 
visiting  Meshed. 

The  Nishapur  mines  have  yielded  as  much  as  about  twenty-three  thousand  pounds'  worth  of 
turquoises  in  recent  years,  and  work  is  found  at  Madan  for  some  fifteen  hundred  people,  mining 
and  hunting  through  the  old  debris-heaps  and  the  stuff  washed  down  the  hillsides. 

Sacred  Ca-ve  on  Observatory  Hilt,  Darjiting. — Observatory  HiU,  one  of  the  principal  heights  in 
the  town,  and  a  place  to  which  visitors  always  repair  to  enjoy  the  magnificent  panoramic  view 
of  some  of  the  highest  mountains  in  the  world,  has  a  great  reputation  for  sanctity,  owing  to  the 
presence  of  a  cave  with  two  curious  legends  attached  to  it.  It  is  known  as  "  the  cave  of  the 
thunderbolt,"  and  from  the  Tibetan  word  dorje  Darjiling  takes  its  name.  Dorje  is  the  same  as  the 
Indian  vajra,  the  thunderbolt  wielded  by  the  god  Indra,  who  was  admitted  into  the  very  mixed 
pantheon  of  latter-day  Buddhism.  The  cave  is  supposed  to  have  been  formed  by  Indra's 
thunderbolt  striking  the  hill. 

The  Mosques  on  tfie  Tempte  Area,  Jerusatem. — On  the  long  platform  which  crowns  ]Mount 
Moriah,  where  once  stood  the  Temple  built  by  Solomon,  is  now  the  Mosque  of  Omar,  or  Dome 
of  the  Rock,  about  which  so  many  visitors  have  written  m  enthusiastic  admiration  of  its  beauty. 


L  /'.'■  F'i'ft  Ayency. 

SACRED    CAVE.    OBSERVATORY'    HILL.     DARJILIN'G. 

This  hillside  cave  is  populatly  supposed  to  lead  to  Lhasa,  although  the  distance  by 
read  from  Larjiling  is  333  miles.  Legend  also  make^  it  hollowed  oal  by  Indra's 
thunderbolt,    from  the  Tibetan  name  of  which,  dorje.   the    na  ne  of   Darjiling   is  d-rivcd. 


208 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


But  even  more  beautiful  is  another  building 
close  at  hand,  the  Mosque  of  El-Aksa,  at  the 
southern  end  of  the  Haram-es-Sherif,  or  Noble 
Sanctuary,  as  the  whole  Temple  area  is  now 
called.  The  Emperor  Justinian  erected  on 
this  site  a  church  dedicated  to  the  \  irgin  Mary. 
•■  I  have  surpassed  thee,  0  Solomon  !  "  he 
exclaimed  when  he  had  completed  it.  When 
Omar  a  century  later  captured  Jerusalem,  so 
impressed  was  he  said  to  be  at  the  loveliness 
of  this  church  that  he  offered  up  his  pi'ayers 
on  its  steps,  refusing  to  enter  lest  an  excuse 
should  be  made  by  his  co-religionists  for  con- 
fiscating it  and  converting  it  into  a  mosque. 
He  even  gave  a  guarantee  tliat  it  should 
remain  in  Christian  hands,  it  was  asserted. 
Nevertheless,  the  Caliph  Abd-el-Malik  made 
a  Mohammedan  place  of  worship  of  it  in 
6S4  A.D.  Its  subsequent  history  is  full  of 
vicissitudes.  First  an  earthquake  reduced  it  to 
ruins.  Then  it  was  rebuilt  by  the  Moslems  to- 
ward tlie  end  of  the  eighth  century.  Next  the 
Crusaders,  after  their  capture  of  Jerusalem, 
made  it  a  church  again,  and  Baldwin  the 
Second,  founding  the  new  order  of  the  Knights 
Templar  in  1118  A.D.,  gave  them  as  their 
habitation  this  "  Temple  of  Solomon,"  as  it 
was  erroneously  called.  The  Mohammedans 
once  again  triumphed,  and  Saladin  and  his 
nephew  restored  the  mosque  with  sumptuous 
additions.  Another  restoration  followed  in 
the  fourteenth  century,  but  it  has  not  again 
changed  hands.  Owing  to  its  history,  the 
architecture  of  this  mosque  shows  a  mixture 
of  styles  scarcely  to  be  matched  elsewhere 
in  the  world. 

Colossal  Jain  Statue  at  Venur. — In  the 
South  Kanara  district  of  Madras  Presidency  there  are  considerable  remains  from  the  time  when 
a  large  part  of  the  district  was  under  rulers  professing  the  Jain  religion.  The  most  interesting 
objects,  perhaps,  are  certain  huge  monolithic  statues,  each  enclosed  within  a  walled  place  called  a 
betta.  One  of  these  is  found  at  the  small  village  of  Venur.  It  is  thirty-seven  feet  in  height,  and, 
therefore,  smaller  than  the  one  at  Sravana  Belagola. 

The  Venur  statue  represents  Gomata  Raya,  or  Gunta  Raj,  a  hero  of  Jain  legends  now  practically 
forgotten.  It  is  also  called  sometimes  Bahubalin.  The  figure  and  features  are  of  the  typical  Jain 
character,  easily  to  be  distinguished  from  the  work  of  Buddhist  sculptors.  The  most  remarkable 
point  about  it  is  that  it  is  carved  out  of  a  single  block  of  stone.  It  is  impossible  to  tell  whether 
this  block  was  found  on  the  spot  and  hewn  into  shape  where  it  lay,  or  whether  it  was  brought 
from  elsewhere  already  carved  and  erected  at  Venur.  The  illustration  of  the  "  Gunta  Raj  " 
appeared  on  page  28,  and  was  by  mistake  called  the  Gomatesvara. 


I'hi'lK  hy  ]"'ninsiion  of^ 


\_L.  Rice,  Kstj. 


Xhe  Gomatesvara  at   Sravana    Belagola. 


Asia 


209 


CHAPTER     VII. 
By   PERCEVAL    LAXDOX. 

The  Falls  of  the  Narbada. — The  story  of  the  exaltation  of  the  Ganges  and  the  consequent 
degradation  of  the  Xarbada  from  its  place  as  holiest  of  Indian  rivers  is  one  of  the  strangest  legends 
of  Hinduism.  In  old  da\'s  the  latter  was  so  far  the  superior  in  sanctity  that  a  mere  look  at  the 
Narbada  washed  away  sin,  while  actual  ablutions  in  the  Ganges  were  necessar\'  to  achieve  the  same 
object.  However,  the  Narbada  incurred  the  anger  of  the  Gods,  and  its  punishment  has  lasted  till 
to-day.  There  is,  however,  a  strong  feeling  in  India,  especially  among  those  by  whom  the  Xarbada 
is  more  get-at-able  than  the  Ganges,  to  claim  that  the  period  of  degradation  has  just  lapsed,  and 
that  from  henceforth  the  Narbada  must  take  its  place  once  more  as  the  holiest  of  Indian  rivers.  It 
seems  clear,  according  to  the  legend,  the  degradation  of  the  Narbada  was  to  last  for  the  first  five 
thousand  years  of  the  Kali  Yug,  i.e.,  the  era  in  which  we  are  now  living,  and  that  according  to 
most  calculations  that  period  expired  in  1899. 

The  river  rises  beside  the  sacred  temple  of  Amarnath  in  the  Pendra  Ghats.  Thence  the  river  makes 
its  way  to  Jabalpur,  near  which  city  the  famous  falls  and  tlie  Gorge  of  the  Marble  Rocks  distinguish 


I'holo  liji'j  (fn/A  *  Co.  Ltd.,  Rtignlt. 

THE    FALLS    OF    THE  N'ARRADA. 

The  Narbada  is,  next  to  the  Ganset,  the  most  sacred  stream  in  India.  The  Hindus  upon  its  banks  claim  that    within    the  last 

few  years  the  period  of  its  inferiority  to  the  Ganses  has  rlapmcd.  and   that    now   the   .Narbada   t.iUes  the  premier  place. 

'5 


2IO 


The   Wonders   cf   the   World 


its  course.  The  "  smoke  cascade  "  is  tliat  wliich  is  here  represented.  The  water  falls  about  one 
hundred  feet  into  the  pool  which  at  the  western  end  escapes  through  the  Marble  Rocks.  These 
white  cliffs  are  one  of  the  famous  sights  of  India,  and  are  notorious  for  liarbouring  thousands  of 
swarms  of  savage  bees.  Several  lives  have  been  lost  by  accident  or  the  foolhardiness  of  visitors. 
A  memorial  records  the  death  by  drowning  of  an  Englishman  who  was  trying  to  escape  from  the 
indignant  insects. 

The  Ruins  of  PersepoUs. — Lord  Curzon  has  not  hesitated  to  say  of  these  famous  ruins  that 
"  no  more  sumptuous  framework  of  regal  magnificence  was  ever  wrought  by  man."  They  lie  upon 
a  long  artificially  constructed  platform  five  hundred  yards  in  length  from  north  to  south,  and  about 
three  hundred  yards  wide,  in  the  valley  of  Merdasht,  thirty  miles  from  Shiraz  on  the  road  to  Isfahan, 
This  platform  is  of  different  levels,  and  the  natural  ascent  of  the  ground  has  been  utilized  as  far 
as  possible.     Access  to  it  is  obtained  by  the  famous  staircase,  of  which  an  illustration  is  appended. 


:.g-4{,i^}jll»lL. 


Pliulo  lif] 


\_Alfrtd  nel7ttefcf. 


MEW    OF    THE     RUINS    OF    PERSEPOLIS. 


This  is  a  genrral  view  of  Persepolis  taken  from  tlic  east.  Immediately  in  front  is  the  famous  Hall  of  the  Hundred  Columns, 
burnt  down  by  Alexander  tl^e  Great  in  a  drunken  frolic.  Beyond  this  on  the  right  may  be  seen  the  few  still  remaining  columns 
of  the  Audience   Hall  of   Xerxes. 

This  is  of  such  an  easy  gradient  that  it  is  possible  for  the  visitor  to  ascend  it  on  horseback. 
Immediately  at  the  top  of  the  staircase  the  visitor  is  confronted  with  the  Porch  of  Xerxes.  These 
huge  bull-flanked  portals  are  of  a  style  somewhat  earlier  than  that  which  is  generally  associated 
with  the  Achasmenian  kings.  The  bulls  are  nearly  eighteen  feet  in  height  and  nineteen  in  length, 
the  corridor  between  them  being  about  twelve  feet  in  width.  Xerxes  has  placed  an  inscription 
upon  the  piers  of  the  gateway  just  above  the  bulls  :  "  By  the  grace  of  Ormuzd  I  have  made  this 
portal."  He  also  refers  in  it  to  the  other  buildings  on  the  platform,  definitely  stating  them  to  be 
the  work  of  himself  and  his  father  Darius.  In  spite  of  some  misapprehension,  it  is  clear  that  these 
buildings  were  intended  for  royal  and  not  priestly  ceremonies.  There  is,  indeed,  no  temple  of 
any  kind  among  them,  though  religious  scenes  form  a  large  part  of  the  ornamentation. 

Leaving  these  gates — which  are  grievously  defaced  by  the  names  that  tasteless  travellers  have 
carved  upon  them — the  Audience  Hall  of  Xerxes  is  approached,  of  which  the  few  remaining  pillars 


Phnto  fey] 

ThtBt    I 


lli:-     IoUlII     uI      Al.KXES.     I'l-.RSEPOLIS. 


[/v.  Al'Juna  ilxrtn. 


111.-     rout-ll     ul      Ai.n.Nt."-.     I  r.u3c.rui.iJ. 
use  m«n-hc«dcd  bulli  (uard  the  enlrance  to  the  pol.liol  buildinsa  of   Per«epolij.     Rulnoui  aa  they  ore.   ihev  •till  offer  the 
beat   autseation  ot   the  magnificence  o/   thoae   who  called  themielvea   Kim  ol   Kin«a  and   Lord  o(   the   Univerae. 


212 


The    Wonders   of   the   World 


Photo  by'\ 


•J 


[Alfre.1  Hnni.-ke. 


ST^•LOBATE    OF    THE    AUDIENCE    H  \LL    OF    XERXES 


This  huge  edifice  \vas  buill    upcn  an  elaborately  carved  platform,   of  which  a  good  view  is  here  civen. 


have  given  to  the  building  the  local  name  of  Chehel  Minar,  or  The  Forty  Columns.  The  building 
consisted  of  a  hall  supported  by  six  rows  of  six  columns  each,  with  porticoes  of  the  same  width  as 
the  main  building  thrown  out  to  the  north,  east  and  west.  There  were  thus  seventy-two  columns 
when  the  hall  was  perfect.  Of  these  but  thirteen  remain.  Two  at  least  have  fallen  within  the  last 
hundred  years,  and  it  is  only  too  much  to  be  feared  that  those  now  standing  will  shortly  be  reduced 
in  number.  Tlie  columns  of  the  porticoes  are  sixty-seven  feet  high  to  the  top  of  the  bull-head 
capitals.  Those  of  the  central  hall  are  somewhat  less  in  height.  This  great  building  covered  an 
area  of  about  sixty  thousand  feet. 

Beyond  the  Hall  of  Xerxes  lies  the  Palace  of  Darius.  Of  this  the  stone  doorways,  thresholds 
and  corners  alone  remain,  the  sun-baked  mud  of  which  the  walls  were  made  having  long  yielded  to 
the  assaults  of  the  weather.  Above  this  lies  the  Palace  of  Xerxes,  which  was  a  more  pretentious 
building.  Last  of  all  the  buildings  on  this  platform,  which  is  known  to  the  natives  as  the  "  Throne 
of  Jamshid,"  is  the  famous  Hall  of  a  Hundred  Columns,  which  is  larger  than  the  central  Hall  of 
Xer.xes,  and  is  estimated  by  Lord  Curzon  to  be  second  only  to  Karnak  in  the  ancient  world.  These 
columns,  of  which  not  a  single  one  now  remains  erect,  were  about  thirty-seven  feet  high.  The  whole 
was  surrounded  by  a  wall,  of  which  the  stone  doorways  and  windows  are  in  the  majority  of  cases 
still  in  situ. 

This  building  contains  evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  story  told  by  Diodorus  and  otheis  of 
Alexander  the  Great,  that  he  wantonly  burnt  down  the  Palace  of  Darius  as  a  drunken  frolic  : 
for  the  ashes  of  the  cedar  roof — detected  by  the  unerring  analysis  of  the  modern  microscope — were 
discovered  still  lying  in  a  thick  bed  upon  the  pavement  during  the  excavations  of  1878.  There  is 
perhaps  no  better  known  incident  in  Alexander's  life,  and  it  is  curious  after  two  thousand  two  hundred 
3-ears  to  find  ourselves,  as  Lord  Curzon  phrases  it,  contemplating  the  speaking  wreck  of  what  was 
either,  if  the  Greek  historians  are  to  be  believed,  the  drunken  freak  of    the    conqueror,  or.  more 


Asia 


21 


probably,  the  act  of  a  merciless  but  deliberate  premeditation,  in  revenge  for  the  burning  of  the 
Temple  of  Athens  by  Xerxes. 

TTie  Cathedral,  Lhasa. — The  exterior  of  the  Potala  and  the  interior  of  the  Cathedral  are  the 
two  most  interesting  tilings  in  Central  Asia — possibly  in  the  whole  of  Asia.  The  Cathedral,  or 
Jo-kang,  is  the  real  Lha-sa.  or  Place  of  God.  and  into  this  most  holy  of  holies  none  of  the  previous 
white  visitors  to  Lhasa  had  ever  dared  to  \enture  before  the  arri\-al  of  Younghusband's  expedition 
in  1904.  There  could  hardly  have  been  a  chance  in  a  thousand  for  any  solitary  intruder  discovered 
within  its  darkened  and  windowless  quadrangles.  For  the  Jo-kang  has  no  outside  wails  at  all. 
All  round  the  Cathedral  the  dirty  and  insignificant  Council  Chambers  and  offices  of  the  Tibetan 
Government  cling  like  parasites.  From  a  distance  the  five  great  gilded  roofs  may  from  time  to 
time  be  seen  blazing  in  the  sun,  but  the  only  view  possible  on  a  nearer  approach  is  that  of  the 
great  western  doors,  the  only  public  entrance  into  the  holy  place.  Inside  this  Cathedral  the 
oldest  and  incomparabh-  most  holy  chapel  is  that  at  the  extreme  east  end,  wherein  the  great  golden 
idol  of  Lhasa  sits.  The  first  sight  of  w'hat  is  beyond  question  the  most  famous  idol  in  the  world  is 
uncannily  impressive.  In  the  darkness  it  is  at  first  difficult  to  follow  the  lines  of  the  shrine  which 
holds  the  god.  One  only  realizes  a  high,  apparently  pillared,  sanctuary  in  which  the  gloom  is 
almost  absolute,  and  therein,  thrown  into  strange  relief  against  the  obscurity,  the  soft  gleam  of  the 


I'liola  lin] 


iAtfrni  lleinickt. 


THE    GREAT    b  1  All,.  A-.l..     TERSEPOLIS 


ThiB.   perl. apt   ll.e  motl   famoui  •leircaic  in   the  woild.   lead*  upward*  from   the  plain  of   Merdaiht   lo  tlic   platform   upon   which 
arc   L>i.ilt   thr   royal   buildinsa  of   Xrrxca  and   Darius  at    Pcrtcpolia. 


214 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


golden  idol  which  sits  enthroned  in  the  centre.  Before  him  are  rows  and  rows  of  great  butter- 
lamps  of  solid  gold,  each  shaped  in  curious  resemblance  to  the  pre-Reformation  chalices  of  the 
English  Church.  Lighted  by  the  tender  radiance  of  these  twenty  or  thirty  beads  of  light,  the  great 
glowing  mass  of  the  Buddha  softly  looms  out,  ghostlike  and  shadowless,  in  the  murky  recess. 

It  is  not  the  magnificence  of  the  statue  that  is  first  perceived,  and  certainly  it  is  not  that  which 
makes  the  deepest  and  most  lasting  impression.  For  this  is  no  ordinary  presentation  of  the  Master. 
The  features  are  smooth  and  almost  childish  ;  beautiful  they  are  not,  but  there  is  no  need  of  beauty 
here.  The  legendary  history  of  this  idol  is  worth  re-telling.  It  is  believed  that  the  likeness  was  made 
from  Gautama  himself,  in  the  happier  days  of  his  innocence  and  seclusion  in  Kapali-vastu.  It  was 
made  by  Visvakarma — no  man.  but  the  constructive  force  of  the  universe — and  is  of  gold,  alloyed 
with  the  four  other  elemental  metals,  silver,  copper,  zinc  and  iron,  symbolical  of  this  world,  and  it 


Photo  byl  {Perceval  London,  Esq. 

IHK     ]\)-\.\\i',.     iiR     I    \'I  HKliK  \l  .     I.H\s\ 

This  is  strictly   speaking  the  real   Lhasa.     The  word  "  Lhasa  "  means  the  "  Place  of  Gad."  and  below  the  golden  roofs  of 
the  Cathedral  rests  the  great   golden   image  of    Buddha,    the  most   famous  idol   in  the  world. 

is  adorned  with  diamonds,  rubies,  lapis-lazuli,  emeralds,  and  the  unidentified  indranila,  which 
modern  dictionaries  prosaically  explain  as  sapphire.  This  priceless  image  was  given  by  the  King  of 
Magadha  to  the  Chinese  Emperor  for  his  timely  assistance  when  the  Yavanas  were  overrunning  the 
plains  of  India.  From  Peking  it  was  brought  as  her  dowry  by  Princess  Konjo  in  the  seventh 
century.  The  crown  was  undoubtedly  given  by  Tsong-kapa  himself  in  the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  the  innumerable  golden  ornaments  which  heap  the  khil-kor  before  the  image  are  the 
presents  of  pious  Buddhists  from  the  earliest  days  to  the  present  time.  Among  them  are  twenty- 
two  large  butter-lamps,  eight  of  a  somewhat  smaller  size,  twelve  bowls,  two  "  Precious  Wheels  of 
the  Law,"  and  a  multitude  of  smaller  articles,  all  of  the  same  metal. 

These  are  arranged  on  the  three  shelves  of  the  khil-kor,  and  the  taller  articles  conceal  the  whole 
of  the  image  from  his  shoulders  downwards.  To  this  fact  may  perhaps  be  due  the  common,  but 
mistaken,  description  of  the  Jo  as  a  standing  figure.     Across  and  across  his  breast  are  innumerable 


Coy\,rxy/a  p/wl"  hjf] 


NATURAL    ARCH    AT    MAISUSHIMA. 

In   the    Bay  of  a   Thouiand   lalond*.   Japan. 


UA  O*.  yVHii/iy,  /•  H.U.^. 


2l6 


The   Wonders  of   the   World 


/Vwru (jj 


lliE    ARAK/5N    TEMPLE.    NEAR    MANDALA\. 

This  is  a  view  of  t!ie  gill   spire  of  the  Aralian    temple  from   the  Sacred  Tank. 


IJ'ercfvnl  Lait'ltin,  i'.sq. 


necklaces  of  gold,  set  with  turquoises,  pearls  and  coral.  The  throne  on  which  he  sits  has  overhead 
a  canopy  supported  by  two  exquisitely  designed  dragons  of  silver,  each  about  ten  feet  in  height. 
Behind  him  is  a  panel  of  conventional  wooden  foliage,  and  the  "  Kyung,"  or  Garuda  Bird,  overhead 
can  just  be  seen  in  the  darkness.  Closer  examination  shows  that  almost  every  part  of  the  canopy 
and  seat  is  gilded,  gold,  or  jewelled.  The  crown  is  perhaps  the  most  interesting  jewel.  It  is  a  deep 
coronet  of  gold,  set  round  and  round  with  turquoises,  and  heightened  by  five  conventional  leaves, 
each  enclosing  a  golden  image  of  Buddha,  and  encrusted  with  precious  stones.  In  the  centre,  below 
the  middle  leaf,  is  a  flawless  turquoise  six  inches  long  and  three  inches  wide,  the  largest  in  the  world. 
Behind  the  throne  are  dimly  seen  in  the  darkness  huge  figures  standing  back  against  the  wall  of  the 
shrine  all  round.  Rough-hewn,  barbarous,  and  unadorned  they  are,  but  nothing  else  could  have 
so  well  supplied  the  background  for  this  treasure  of  treasures  as  the  Eg^-ptian  solemnity  of  these 
dark  Atlantides,  standing  shoulder  to  shoulder  on  altar  stones,  where  no  lamps  are  ever  lighted  and 
no  flowers  are  ever  strewn. 

Matsushima. — Matsushima  looks  out  upon  a  ba\'  studded  with  islands  crowned  with  those  typical 
pine-trees  which  seem  to  grow  in  Japan  as  they  grow  nowhere  else.  Hundreds  of  these  islets  dot 
the  broad  shallow  waters  of  the  bay  from  Shiogama  on  the  west  to  Kinkwazan  forty  miles  away  to 
the  east.  Not  the  least  beautiful  fact  about  this  bay  is  that  the  friable  nature  of  the  volcanic  rock 
of  which  the  islands  and  the  countless  promontories  are  made  is  continually  wearing  away.  Islands 
disappear  in  the  course  of  a  few  generations  and  are  replaced  by  the  erosion  of   the  sea  along  the 


Asia 


217 


jrt  drive  of   Man.ialav.      In  form  the  temple  is  square. 


coast.  The  great  natural  arch,  of  which  a  picture  is  here  given,  represents  one  of  these  new  islets 
in  process  of  formation.  The  sea  has  worn  away  the  thin  curtain  of  rock  between  the  sturd\-  pillar 
of  the  cliff.  At  present  the  lofty  archway  overhead  is  intact,  but  that,  in  turn,  will  fall,  and  a  few 
centuries  hence  another  isolated  island  point  will  be  added  to  the  bay. 

The  Arakan  Temple,  Mandalay. — There  are  generally  said  to  be  onlj'  three  buildings  in  Burma 
the  restoration  (jf  which  enables  the  pious  to  acquire  merit.  As  is  well  known,  the  whole  countryside 
of  the  Silken  Kingdom  is  dotted  with  the  disintegrating  ruins  of  small  pagodas  put  up  by 
religious-minded  men  in  past  generations.  For  these,  howe\er.  their  descendants  have  no 
care  whatever.  They  can  only  do  themselves  spiritual  good  by  offering  for  themselves  new 
architectural  oblations  to  the  comfortable  religion  of  their  race.  But  to  this  rule  there  are 
three  exceptions.  Merit,  much  merit,  is  acquired  by  the  restoration  of  the  Shway  Dagon  in 
Rangoon,  the  Arakan  Pagoda  near  Mandalay,  and  the  temple  at  Pegu,  To  this  small  and 
se'ect  compan}-  there  has  been  added  by  universal  consent  within  the  last  few  years  the 
colossal  reclining  image  of  Buddha  at  Pegu,  of  which  a  descripti  n  has  been  given  earlier 
in    this  volume. 

The  temple  at  Arakan  lies  within  a 
An  arched  corridor  runs  all  mund 
the  central  block,  in  which  there  is 
a  deep  and  lofty  cell  containing  the 
image  which  makes  the  temple 
famous  throughout  Southern  Bud- 
dhism. This  is  a  large  gilt  image, 
about  ten  feet  in  height,  which  was 
brought  from  Akyab  about  one 
hundred  and  thirty-  j^ears  ago.  It 
shares  with  the  golden  idol  in  Lhasa 
and  the  amorphous  log  which  does 
duty  for  the  image  of  Jagannath  in 
Puri  the  reputation  of  having  been 
modelled  by  Visvakarma.  the  di\ine 
fashioner  of  the  imiversc.  But  it  is 
certainly  of  great  age,  though  we 
may  not  be  willing  to  assent  to  the 
tradition  that  declares  it  to  have 
been  constructed  during  the  lifetime 
of  Buddha  himself.  Nor  can  the 
well-known  legend  be  accepted,  alas  I 
which  tells  how  when  all  mechanical 
means  of  welding  the  pieces  together 
had  been  tried  in  vain,  the  Master 
himself  appeared  and  threw  his 
arms  round  the  statue,  of  which 
the  several  pieces  at  once  came 
together  so  exquisitely  that  no 
human  eye  has  since  been  able 
to    detect    the    sutures. 

The  fact  upon  which  this  legend 
is  based  is  that  the  offerings  of 
the     faitiiful     have    so:    completely 


I  HE  ARAKAN  PAGODA. 


[/'• /■(■«'ra/  Lantltin,  Est. 
NEAR     MANDALAY. 


1  his  photoeraph  Eives  a  partial  view  of  llic  famous  Arakan  Buddha  within 
the  Arakan  temple  near  Mandalay.  It  is  the  holiest  imasc  in  Southern 
[luddhism.  and  ranks  second  to  the  colden  idol  in  Lhasa,  which,  tradition 
*a\*.  was  made  by  the  same  artist. 


2l8 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


overlaid  with  gold-leaf  every  portion  of  the  statue  that  it  is  impossible  to  trace  the  lines  of 
juncture. 

Outside  in  the  darkening  corridors  is  a  crowd  of  gaily-clad  Burmans.  Their  silk  jackets 
and  skirts  reflect  every  hue  of  the  rainbow,  and  the  dainty  coils  and  oiled  black  hair  of  the 
merry  little  women  is  relieved  by  a  single  scarlet  hibiscus  flower  stuck  within  its  folds.  The  shops 
are  closing  down  and  the  last  prayers  of  the  day  are  being  muttered. 

The  Tomb  of  Eve,  hJdah. — Jeddah  is  a  little-known  city.  It  lies  beside,  but  far  off  the 
main  traffic  route  between  east  and  west,  and  the  traveller  will  have  to  put  up  with  some 
inconvenience  in  getting  to  it.  Moreover,  it  is  probably  the  most  fanatical  town  in  Asia.  It  is  only 
thirty-eight  miles  from  Mecca,  of  which  it  is  the  port.  So  jealously  do  the  Moslems  watch  for  any 
attempt  on  the  part  of  a  Christian  to  repeat  the  rash  enterprise  of  Burton  and  Palgrave,  that 


[Pe/'ceval  Lnntloriy  Esq. 


Photo  hi/] 

TOMB    OF     EVE,    JEDDAH. 

The    iraditional    resting-place    of     ihe    molher     of    all    living,     lies    about    a    mile     north    of    the  Arabian    city    of    Jeddah.     The 
photograph  shows  one  half  of  this  strangely-shaped   tomb,    which    is  nearly   500  feet  in   length  and   ten    feel   in   width. 


during  the  pilgrim  season  the  one  or  two  Christian  residents  in  the  town  are  practically  confined 
to  the  small  foreign  quarter  near  the  northern  gate.  At  no  time  in  the  year  does  the  European 
move  outside  the  walls  of  Jeddah  without  taking  his  life  in  his  hands.  Many  readers  will 
remember  the  murderous  assault  made  a  few  years  ago  upon  four  foreign  consuls  while  they  were 
innocently  smoking  their  cigarettes  a  few  yards  outside  the  Medina  gate. 

A  mile  to  the  north  of  the  town  lies  one  of  the  strangest  monuments  in  the  world.  Here, 
according  to  a  tradition  which  is  older  than  Mohammed,  the  mother  of  all  flesh  is  buried.  Adam 
is  believed  by  some  to  rest  at  his  own  peak  in  Ceylon,  but  this  is  debated  by  Oriental  scholars. 
There  had  been  a  difference  of  opinion  between  our  first  parents,  and  Eve  spent  the  last  years  of 
her  life  and  was  buried  at  Jeddah,  not  far  from  the  great  temple  in  Mecca,  which  Moslem  tradition 
ascribes  to  the  liands  of  Adam  himself.     A  common  legend  attributes  to  Eve  the  lieight  of  one 


[rrrcrti:  l.'i;,l,-n,  I.!-), 


THE     POTALA.     LHASA. 

Thi«    view   ol     ihc    Pololn    \vo»    lokcn    (lom    in.idc   tl.f   Porso   Koline.   or  wc.lcrn   lolt  .       Il   .how.  ihc  mnnnrr  in   which 


the   huge  caifice  dominate,   the  city   bclov> 


220 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


hundred  and  eighteen  feet,  but  this  does  not  correspond  with  the  dimensions  of  her  tomb,  which 
is  nearly  four  hundred  feet  long.  She  must  have  been  of  a  somewhat  strange  shape,  as  her  grave 
is  only  ten  or  eleven  feet  wide  I  At  her  head  and  feet  are  little  whitened  shrines,  and  in  the  middle 
of  the  grave  is  a  small  building  containing  a  curious  witness  to  the  devotion  of  the  Moslems.  On 
the  whitewashed  walls  of  this  little  temple  are  hundreds  of  thousands  of  pencilled  names,  as  far 
up  as  the  hand  can  reach.     The  attendant  contemptuoush'  allowed  the  writer,  although  a  Christian, 


J'latlu  I')]  ll'eic:  i:i!  Lamh'n,  rsq. 

THE    POTALA.    LHASA 

This  picture    presents  a   eood  vie\v  of   the  famous    palace  of   the  Grand     Lama  at    Lhasa.        It   is  about  900  feet   in   length  and 

its  gilded   roofs  aie  more   than   400  feet  from  t!ie  plain. 

to  go  inside — after  taking  his  boots  off,  of  course — on  the  score  that  all  men  are  the  children  of 
Eve,  whether  true  Moslems  or  outcast  infidels.  I  fancy,  however,  that  the  prospect  of  bakshish 
was  a  stronger  argument. 

The  Potala,  Lhasa. — Lhasa  has  stood  for  centuries  as  the  goal  of  all  the  greater  travelling 
of  the  world.  Once  or  twice  white  men,  for  the  most  part  members  of  religious  orders,  have 
reached  it  in  the  course  of  far  travel  across  the  central  plateau  of  Asia.  One  or  two  priests 
actually  took  up  their  abode  there  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  But  these  were 
expelled,  and  since  then  the  gates  of  Tibet  have  been  closed  with  ever-increasing  sternness  against 
the  white  man.  When,  therefore,  on  August  3rd,  1904,  Younghusband's  expedition  reached 
Lhasa,  no  living  w^iite  man  had  set  eyes  upon  the  forbidden  city.  So  far  as  the  policy  both 
of  India  and  Tibet  can  prevent  it,  no  other  living  white  man  would  seem  to  have  the  least 
chance  of   repeating  the   experience. 

The  following  description  has  been  given  of  the  view  which  greets  the  eye  of  the  traveller  as 
he  climbs  the  precipitous  little  neck  of  land  beside  the  western  gate  of  Lhasa  and  looks  down 
upon  the  panorama  of  palace,  of  park  and  town  :  "  There  was  nothing — less,  perhaps,  in  such 
maps   and  descriptions  of    Lhasa    as    we    had    than    anywhere   else — to    promise    us   this   city  of 


Asia 


221 


gigantic  palace  and  golden  roof,  these  wild  stretches 
of  woodland,  these  acres  of  close-cropped  grazing 
land  and  marshy  grass,  ringed  and  delimited  by  high 
trees  beside  lazy  streamlets  of  brown  transparent 
water  over  which  the  branches  almost  met. 

"In  front  of  us.  between  the  palace  on  our  left 
and  the  town  a  mile  away,  there  is  this  arcadian 
luxuriance   interposing    a    mile-wide    belt    of    green. 


Round  the   outlying 


fringes 


of  the  town   itself  and 


I'halo  /).v] 


THE    CRE.XT 


[/V/TCid/  Landort,  /.'i'/. 
BELL.    MINGUN. 


TKc   present  canopy    which   supports  and   protects  the 
great   bell   is   here  well   shown. 


creeping  up  between  the  houses  of  the  village  at  the 

foot  of  the  Potala   there   are   trees — trees  sufficiently 

numerous  in  themseh-es  to  give  Lhasa  a  reputation  as 

a  garden  city.   .   .   . 

"  Between  and  o\-er  the    glades    and    woodlands 

tiie  city  of  Lhasa  itself  peeps,   an  adobe  stretch  of 

narrow  streets  and   flat-topped  houses  crowned   here 

and    there    with    a    blaze    of  golden  roofs   or  gilded 

cupolas  ;    but    there   is  no  time  to  look  at  this  ;    a 

man    can    have  no  eye  for  anything   but   the    huge 

upstanding  mass  of  the  Potala  palace  to  his   left  ;    it 

drags  the  eye  of  the  mind  like  a  loadstone,  for,  indeed, 

sheer    bulk    and    magnificent   audacity  could  do  no 

more    in  architecture   than  the\-   ha\-e  done   in  this 

huge  palace-temple  of  the  Grand  Lama.       Simplicity 

has  wrought  a  marvel  in  stone,   nine  hundred  feet    in    length  and    towering   seventy    feet    higher 

than  the  golden  cross  of    St.  Paul's  Cathedral.     The  Potala  would  dominate   London— Lhasa   it 

simply  eclipses.     By  European  standards  it  is  impossible  to  judge   this  building  ;    there  is  nothing 

here  to   which    comparison    can   be    made.     Perhaps    in    tlie    austerity    of    its    huge    curtains    of 

blank,  unveiled,  unornamented 
wall,  and  in  the  flat,  unabashed 
slants  of  its  tremendous  south- 
eastern face  there  is  a  sugges- 
tion of  t lie  massive  grandeur  of 
Egyptian  work  ;  but  the  con- 
trast of  colour  and  surrountl- 
ings.  to  which  no  small  part  of 
the  magnificence  of  the  sight  is 
due,  Egypt  cannot  boast. 

"  The  vivid  white  stretches 
of  thf  buttressing  curtains  of 
stone,  each  a  wilderness  of 
close-ranked  wimlows  and  the 
home  of  the  lunidreds  of 
crimson-clad  dwarfs  who  sun 
themseh'es  at  the  distant  stair- 
heads, strike  a  clean  and  har- 
monious note  in  the  sea  of  green 
which  washes  up  to  tlieir  base. 
Once  a  year  tiie  walls   of  the 


THE    GREAT    BELL    AT 

Nine  or  ten  miles  north  of  Mandalay.  on  the  opposite  side  o(  th 
loruesl  huns  bell  in  the  w^rlu  Loid  Cur^on  hod  it  reset-up  within 
carved  belfry. 


MINGUN. 

opposite    side 


l/'ficrval  t^iutiin,  I't'i. 


river,     is    the 
»n    einborntely 


e 

o 


u 
H 

I 

D 
I 


Q     c 


E 


Asia 


22 


o 


Potala  are  washed  with  white,  and  no  one  can  gainsay  the  effect ;  but  there  is  yet  the  full  chord 
of  colour  to  be  sounded.  The  central  building  of  the  palace,  the  Phodang  Marpo,  the  private 
home  of  the  incarnate  divinity  himself,  stands  out  four-square  upon  and  between  the  wide 
supporting  bulks  of  masonry  a  rich  red-crimson,  and.  most  perfect  touch  of  all,  over  it  against 
the  sky  the  glittering  golden  roofs — a  note  of  glory  added  with  the  infinite  taste  and  the  sparing 
hand  of  the  old  illuminator — recompose  the  colour  scheme  from  end  to  end,  a  sequence  of  green  in 
three  shades,  of  white,  of  maroon,  of  gold  and  of  pale  blue.  The  brown  j'ak-hair  curtain,  eighty 
feet  in  height  and  twenty-five  across,  hangs  like  a  tress  of  hair  down  tlie  very  centre  of 
the  central  sanctuary,  hiding  the 
central  recess.    Such  is  the  Potala." 

The  Great  Bell,  Mingun. — Many 
claims  are  put  forward  by  different 
places  which  profess  to  possess  the 
largest  bell  in  the  world.  Of 
course,  the  largest  bell-shaped 
piece  of  metal  in  existence  is  that 
in  the  Kremlin,  at  Moscow,  the 
••Tsar  Kolokol."  It  weighs  about 
one  hundred  and  ninety-three  tons. 
But  this  huge  example  of  the 
founder's  art  has  a  piece  broken  out 
of  one  side  of  such  a  size  that  the 
bell  at  one  time  was  used  as  a 
chapel,  with  the  fracture  as  a  door- 
way. No  attempt  has  ever  been 
made  to  hang  or  ring  it.  Next 
to  this  doubtful  claimant  is  the 
famous  bell  of  Mingun  (Mingoon), 
about  nine  miles  above  Mandalay. 
on  the  western  bank  of  the  Irra- 
wadi.  This  bell  is  about  eighteen 
feet  in  diameter  and  thirty-one 
feet  in  height — this  latter  figure. 
of  course,  including  the  massive 
erection  of  metal  which  takes  the 
place  of  the  shackle.  Its  weight 
is  about  eighty  tons.  This  bell 
remained  for  generations  half 
buried  in  the  ground  and  silent, 
but  was  examined  by  order  of  Lord 
Curzon,  found  to  be  intact,  and  has  recently  been  hung  in  the  handsome  belfry  of  which  a  picture 
is  given  here.  Of  course,  it  cannot  be  rung  in  the  ordinary  way,  and  it  does  not  possess  a  clapper. 
A  heavy  piece  of  wood  is  used  as  a  ram  when  it  is  wished  to  sound  the  bell,  though  a  mere  rap 
of   the  knuckle   is  sufficient  to  bring  out  the  strangely  thrilling  low  note  of  this  monster. 

The  Emperor  Valerian's  Bridge,  Shushter.— There  exists  at  Shushter,  in  western  Persia,  not 
only  the  remains  of  some  of  the  most  important  engineering  work  constructed  in  ancient  times, 
but  a  curious  and  pathetic  memorial  to  the  one  Roman  emperor  who  died  in  captivity  among 
his  foes.  The  Emperor  Valerian  found  himself  elevated  to  the  purple  in  the  year  253,  at  a 
time  when  the  empire  was  sorely  pressed  by  enemies  on   all   liands.     Leaving  his  son   Gallienus 


[P^rffml  Lnudon,  Esq. 

ONL   01     nil.  G.\TES  OF  THE  TEMPLE  OK  JAGANNATH   AT  PURl 

This  forbidden  fcmple  is  the  centre  of  (he  worsliip  of  Vishnu  in  India.      1  lie 

central   sikra   may   be   sren   behind   the   forts  to   the  left. 


224 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


I'hnto  bu] 


W'-' 


cfui  Lauaoii,  L^q. 


ANOTHER  GATE  OF  THE  TEMPLE  OF  JAGAWATH. 

This  is  ihe  main  entiance.      In  front  of  it  is  an  exquibilely  carved  pillar  brouglit  from  tlie    Black  Temple   of  tlanarak. 

to  deal  with  the  western  foes.  Valerian  hurried  to  the  east  to  re-establish  the  Roman  dominion, 
which  was  being  threatened  by  the  inroads  of  the  Sassanian  monarchs  of  Persia.  He  met  with 
some  success  at  first,  but  as  the  result  of  long  operations  in  Mesopotamia,  the  course  of  which  has 
never  been  really  known,  Valerian  was  captured  in  the  year  260.  Shapur  I,,  who  achieved  this 
crowning  triumph  over  tlie  might  of  Rome,  made,  it  is  said,  a  curious  use  of  his  captive.  The 
story  goes  that  he  imprisoned  the  unfortunate  emperor  at  Shushter,  and  there  employed  him  as 
engineer -in-chief  for  the  great  irrigation  works,  of  which  traces  are  to  be  seen  for  hundreds  of 
miles  along  the  Karun  River,  and  in  the  construction  of  the  bridge,  of  which  a  photograph  is  given 
here.  This  bridge  is  known  to  this  day  as  the  Emperor's  Bridge.  The  Persian  poet  Firdusi  is  the 
authority  for  the  truth  of  this  legend,  though,  as  Lord  Curzon  remarks,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that 
a  captive  sovereign  would,  as  a  rule,  be  of  much  service  if  converted  into  a  civil  engineer.  This 
bridge  is  now  broken,  and  the  fast  current  has  scoured  a  channel  of  such  depth  in  the  artificially -paved 
bed  of  the  river  that  it  is  not   likely  that   any  repairs  will  now  be  undertaken. 

The  Temple  of  Jagannath,  Puri. — Of  all  the  temples  of  the  East,  Jagannatli  is  the  best  known 
by  repute  to  Europeans.  The  name  of  none  of  the  holiest  shrines — Benares,  Rameswaran,  Tanjore, 
Madura,  Buddhgaya.  or  tlie  noble  temples  of  Farther  Asia — is  so  familiar  to  the  European  ear  as 
that  o'  the  Temple  of  Jagannath.  For  this  there  is  a  curious  reason.  The  inter  or  of  the  temple 
is  unknown  to  the  white  man.  No  European  has  ever  set  foot  within  its  sacred  precincts.  The 
Viceroy  of  India  himself  has  been  refused  admittance,  and  a  Grand  Lama  of  Tibet  has  found 
it  impossible  to  penetrate  inside  the  temple,  which  has  been  built  in  honour  of  the  very  deity  of 
whom  he  is  regarded  by  manv  Hindu  theologians  as  a  living  re-incarnation.     The  tinkle  of  bells, 


Asia 


225 


the  long-drawn  scream  of  a  brass  trumpet,  the  continual  sodden  thumping  of  a  drum,  the  hoarse 
unison  of  voices — these  are  all  that  is  ever  heard  outside  of  the  services  that  night  and  day  go  on 
within  its  forbidding  walls.  Much,  indeed,  we  know  about  the  legendary  origin  of  the  temple. 
We  know  that  there  was  once  upon  a  time  a  King  of  Orissa  called  Indra-mena,  who,  after  much 
painful  digging,  re-discovered  the  Temple  of  Vishnu,  buried  nine  miles  deep  in  the'sand  of  the  shore 
at  Puri.  Having  found  it,  he  covered  it  up  again.  This  he  must  have  done  with  regret,  as  the 
temple  was  made  of  solid  gold.  By  command  of  Vishnu,  however,  he  built  the  present  temple, 
and  in  order  that  it  should  not  tempt  the  cupidity  of  mankind,  it  was  allowed  to  be  built  of  stone 
instead  of  gold.  When  it  was  finished  Vishnu  himself,  in  the  form  of  a  log,  was  washed  ashore, 
and  Visvakarma  came  to  carve  tlie  log  into  an  image  of  the  god.  This  lie  consented  to  do,  but  with 
the  reticence  of  an  artist,  he  stipulated  that  no  one  should  see  it  before  it  was  finished.  But  Indra- 
mena  was  as  inquisitive  as  Fatima,  and  peeped  in  through  a  chink.  Visvakarma  thereupon 
repacked  his  tool-bag  and  went  away  in  a  huff,  and  that  is  the  reason  why  the  image  was  never 
finished.     Certainly,  it  remains  an  armless,  legless,  unshaped  block  to  this  day. 

But  this  is  not  the  reason  why  the  world  knows  thenameof  Jagannathso  well.  Once  a  year  this 
extraordinary  rudely-hacked  log  is  carried  in  procession  to  the  Garden  House  upon  the  famous  Car 
of  Jagannath.     This  is  thirty-five  feet  square  and  runs  upon  sixteen  wheels.     Over  four  thousand 


rMo  hyl 


THE     PEAF^L    MOSQUE    AT    AGRA 


{Johnston  A  llojutann. 


Entirely  conilructed   of   clitterlns   whitr   marble,   the   dignity  and  simplicity  of   tliia   buildinn  and    the   outer   court   render   it 

one  of  the  most  beautiful  buildinics  in  India. 

16 


226 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


men  pull  at  the  ropes,  and  similar  cars  follow  after  with  equally  crude  representations  of  the  brother 
and  sister  of  Jagannath.  The  road  along  which  the  car  passes  is  a  wide  thoroughfare,  which  on  this 
annual  ceremony  is  completely  full  with  pilgrims  from  all  parts  of  India.  This  car  seems  to  have 
taken  the  imagination  of  Europe  by  storm.  It  has  done  so  because  it  is  commonly  believed  that 
men  in  hundreds  immolated  themselves  under  the  huge  wheels  of  the  slowly  moving  car.  Accidents 
will  always  happen  on  such  occasions,  and  there  will  always  be  a  certain  number  of  fanatics  whose 
brain  is  turned  by  the  popular  enthusiasm  at  such  times.  But  it  need  hardly  be  said  that  every 
possible  precaution  is  now  taken  to  prevent  any  such  well-meant  suicide.  The  car  goes  backwards 
and  forwards  nowadays  to  the  somewhat  daringly  ornamented  Garden  House  without  the  forfeit 


Priolo  bl/1 


The    facade    of    ific    Pearl    Mosque    at    Asra.    viewed    from    tKe    courtyard. 


of  a  life,  and  the  popular  enthusiasm  connected  with  these  festivals  has  not  suffered  in  the  least  on 
that  account. 

The  Pearl  Mosque,  Agra. — Once  inside  the  red  portals  of  the  palace  fort  of  Agra,  the  visitor 
mounts  slowly  towards  the  royal  apartments.  Just  before  reaching  the  open  space  to  which  the 
Hall  of  Public  Audience  gives  its  name,  right  in  the  heart  of  the  fort,  stands  the  Moti  Musjid,  or 
Pearl  Mosque,  which  was  built  by  the  great  Mogul  Emperor  Shah  Jehan  in  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  It  is  not  of  vast  size  ;  indeed,  so  far  as  dimensions  are  concerned,  it  cannot 
compare  for  a  moment  with  the  vast  Jama  Musjid  at  Delhi.  Yet  in  plan  the  two  buildings  are 
not  unlike,  except  for  the  absence  of  the  towering  minarets  which  form  such  a  landmark  for  miles 
round  the  capital  of  Hindustan.  The  external  measurements  of  the  Agra  mosque  are  two  hundred 
and  thirty-four  feet  by  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven    feet,  and  underneath  it  the  nature  of  the 


Photo  ly"] 


IJohmton  »t  /lo^innnn. 


BUDDHGA1  A. 


TKia  temple,  wKich  ts  more  in  iKe  style  of  touthern  than  of  norihern  Indian  architecture.  wa»  erected  on  the  vite  of  an  earlier 
temple  put  up  by  the  Emperor  Asoka  on  the  spot  where  Buddha  "received  enliKhtenmenl  "  under  the  Bo-tree.  Immediately  under 
the   tower  to  the   richi   of   the   picture   may   be   »rcn   the   descendant   of   the   orisinal    Ircc 


228 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


ground  compelled  the  construction  of  a  lofty  stylobate,  or  plinth.  It  is  not  until  the  visitor  has 
mounted  the  steps  and  entered  the  great  gateway  on  the  east  that  the  full  beauty  of  the  mosque 
bursts  upon  his  eye.  But  having  once  seen  the  Pearl  Mosque  at  Agra,  he  is  little  likely  to  be  over- 
impressed  by  any  other  courtyard  in  Asia.  The  place  deserves  its  name.  No  one  can  ever  forget 
the  blaze  of  pearly  white  light  that  almost  blinds  him  as  he  moves  from  under  the  dark  shadows  of 
the  red  gateway  into  this  marble  casket  of  swimming  and  dazzling  white  light.  Mr.  Fergusson, 
whose  knowledge  of  Eastern  architecture  has  never  been  surpassed,  rightly  describes  it  as  one  of 
the  purest  and  most  elegant  buildings  of  its  class  to  be  found  anywhere. 

As  soon  as  the  eye  becomes  used  to  the  dazzling  reflections  of  the  Oriental  sun  from  the  snowy 
pavement  that  surrounds  the  sacred  tank,  he  sees  that  the  beauty  of  the  building  does  not  in  any 
way  depend,  as  so  often  happens  in  India,  upon  the  ornamentation  of  its  surfaces.  There  is,  indeed, 
only  one  attempt  at  decoration,  and  that  is  a  graceful  black  marble  inscription  inlaid  into  the  frieze 
of  the  mosque.  For  the  rest,  the  exquisite  severity  of  this  silver  temple  is  one  of  its  greatest 
attractions.  Even  in  winter,  however,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  look  steadily  upon  the  flashing 
argent  of  its  marble  walls  and  flooring  except  through  smoked  glasses,  and  the  visitor  will  turn  with 
relief  to  the  pillared  shade  of  the  mosque  itself  at  the  western  end  of  the  courtyard.  Here  the 
shadow  half  conceals  and  half  reveals  a  triple  arcade  of  pillars,  within  which  a  pleasant  blue  darkness 
deepens  until  the  farther  wall  of  the  mosque  is  but  faintly  to  be  distinguished. 

Fergusson  observes  that  woodcuts  cannot  do  the  picture  justice,  and  the  same  is  unfortunately 


Pholo  is'] 


IPerceval  Landon,  Esq. 


THE    RUBY    MINES,    BURMA. 


Ail    the  best  rubies  of  the  world    have    come    from    a    single    valley    in    Upper    Burma,    not    far    from    the    Chinese  frontier. 
The  district  is  known  as  MogoU,  and  a  general  view  of  the  ruby   diggings  is  here  given. 


■n 


•E  £ 


-v;  V 

—  u    w 

^  y         C 

X  CI* 


2;      X 


=  i-r 


^1 


Asia 


229 


true  of  even  the  best  of  photo- 
graphs. Such  extremes  of  light 
and  shade  defeat  the  most  skil- 
fully constructed  lens ;  but  an 
idea,  at  any  rate,  maj'  be  obtained 
of  this  unequalled  gem  of  Mogul 
architecture.  Not  the  least  re- 
markable part  about  the  Moti 
Musjid  is  the  strange  contrast 
which  it  offers,  both  to  the  red 
strength  and  symmetry  of  the 
larger  part  of  Akbar's  fort,  and 
to  the  jewel-encrusted  Jasmine 
Tower  of  the  royal  apartments 
from  which  Shah  Jehan.  as  his 
own  son's  prisoner,  watched  with 
dying  eyes  the  gossamer  splen- 
dours of  the  Taj  Mahal  where  hi> 
darhng  awaited  him  and  wheri 
he  was  himself  to  lie. 

Buddhgaya. — The  temple  at 
Buddhgaya  marks  what  is  the 
holiest  place  on  earth  to  the 
largest  number  of  human  beings. 
Here  it  was  that  Prince  Gautama, 
after  learning  much,  and  suffering 
more,  received  enlightenment. 
Here  he  became  the  Buddha, 
after  a  last  night  of  struggle  and 
temptation  with  the  powers  of 
evil.  It  was  here,  under  the 
spreading  branches  of  the  Sacred 
Fig  (Ficus  Rdigiosa),  parts  of  the 
root  of  which  are  to  be  seen  in  the 
Museum  in  Calcutta  to  this  day, 
that  the  Master  won  to  truth  ; 
and  a  descendant  of  the  original 
tree  still  springs  from  under  the 
western  wall  of  the  great  temple.  It  may  be  clearly  seen  in  tlie  photograph.  Inside  the  temple 
there  is  a  large  cell,  in  which  a  statue  of  Buddha  is  seated  in  the  position  known  as  "  calling  the 
earth  to  witness."  The  temple  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Hindus,  \\\\o,  with  some  presence 
of  mind,  have  identified  Gautama  with  their  own  god  Vishnu,  and  have  painted  the  tridentine 
"  tilak  "  of  the  deity  upon  the  serene  brow  of  the  Master.  Buddhism  is  now  practically  extinct  in 
India  proper,  but  a  powerful  movement  has  lately  been  inaugurated  among  Buddhist  states,  such 
as  Siam,  Japan,  China,  Sikkim  and  Tibet,  to  re-obtain  for  Buddhists  tiie  rights  of  free  worship  at 
Buddhgaya,  the  heart  and  centre  of  their  faith.  The  Indian  Government  looks  favourably  upon  the 
proposal,  but  is  inclined  to  hesitate  before  taking  active  steps  whicii  might  stir  up  religious  strife. 

The  Ruby  Mines,  Burma. — From  the  earliest  days  rubies  have  been  the  jewel  of  jewels.     Not 
even  the  lilniy  nacre  of  the  pearl,  the  glittering  purity  of  the  diamond,  or  the  cold  perfection  of  the 


.strtf-i'ijfiiiih  by\  \ll-  '^-  ^^fiif^  Co.,  London. 

THE    S.XCRED    TANK.    NEAR    DELHI. 

Not  far  from  ific  famous  tomb  of  Humayun.  south  of  Dellii,  is  a  Sacred  Pool 
into  wfiicli  men  and  boys  will,  for  a  small  consideration,  leap  from  a  ereat  fieisht, 
to   the  amusement   of  visitors. 


230 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


sapphire,  has  ever  rivalled  the  crimson  fire  of  the  imperial  ruby.  Yet  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  all 
the  great  rubies — from  that  mythical  gem  as  large  "  as  a  man's  palm  "  which  Mandeville  and  "  Q  " 
have  alike  exploited,  down  to  the  single  stone  that  MM.  Boucheron  exhibited  at  the  French  Exhibition 
two  and  a  half  years  ago,  and  were  willing  to  dispose  of  for  fourteen  thousand  pounds — all  have 
come  from  one  small  valley  in  a  remote  district  of  Burma.  Mogok  is  the  name  of  the  settlement, 
which  may  be  reached  by  a  traveller  from  Thabeytkyin,  a  little  village  a  day's  journey  above  Mandalay, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Irawadi.  The  road  lies  eastwards  for  sixty  miles  through  almost  virgin  jungle, 
rising  at  last  into  the  scantier  vegetation  of  the  outpost  foot-hills  that  culminate  eventually  in  the 

mountainous  frontier  ranges  between 
Burma  and  China. 

The  little  town  of  Mogok  lies 
between  the  ruby  workings  and  the 
inevitable  polo  ground  which  is 
always  to  be  found  wherever  ten 
Englishmen  get  together  in  the  Far 
East.  The  ruby  diggings  are  slowly 
eating  their  way  through  the  town. 
.Already  the  houses  along  half  the 
High  Street  have  been  consumed, 
and  in  a  year  or  two  the  polo 
ground  itself  will  begin  to  fall  into 
the  jaws  of  the  ever- advancing 
mines.  All  day  and  all  night  the 
work  goes  on.  The  "  byon,"  or 
ruby-bearing  earth,  stretches  almost 
everywhere  along  the  Mogok  Valley, 
and  wherever  this  rich  old-gold- 
coloured  clay  is  found,  rubies  are 
found  also.  Yet  a  stranger  might 
hunt  among  the  cuttings  for  weeks 
and  see  never  a  glint  of  crimson. 
This  is  a  standing  jest  at  the  office, 
wliere  the  offer  is  often  made  to 
the  visitor  that  he  may  keep  any 
ruby  he  sees,  an  offer  of  which  no 
one  has  ever  yet  been  able  to  take 
advantage.  Yet  there  the  rubies 
are  and  after  the  iron  trolleys  have 
been  hauled  up  to  the  washing 
sheds,  and  their  sticky  burden  rotated  and  filtered  and  washed  and  stirred  and  cleaned  and 
distributed,  there  is  no  mistaking  the  rich  glow  of  the  rubies  that  lie  here  and  there  among  the 
heaps  of  dark  shingle  upon  the  slate  tables  of  the  sorting  shed. 

Diving  into  the  Tank  of  Nizam-ud-Din. — This  is  one  of  those  curious  places  of  popular  resort, 
so  frequent  in  the  East,  around  which  a  crop  of  legends  has  centred.  The  Tank  of  Nizam-ud-Din 
lies  at  a  little  distance  across  the  road  from  the  famous  tomb  of  Humayun,  and  has  been  visited 
by  many  travellers.  Here  at  one  time  dwelt  the  Saint  Dargahs,  who  lived  during  the  reign  of  the 
Emperor  Tughlak  in  the  thirteenth  century.  The  story  of  the  relations  between  the  two  is  by  no 
means  as  creditable  as  that  between  the  Emperor  Akbar  and  the  Saint  Shaikh  Salim  at  Fatehpur 
Sikri.    At  Delhi,  king  and  priest  came  to  open  war.     Tughlak  required  the  assistance  of  the  workmen 


Sttreograph  iy\  III.  C.  }nile  Co.,  London. 

The    perforated    alabaster    screen    separating    the   Diwan-i-khas    from    the 
Emperor's  private  apartments. 


\ 


Pluto  by] 


{II.  C.  WMIr  Co.,  LondOK. 


THE     DIWAN-I-KHAS.     DELHI. 


Thia  Hall  o(  Audience,  wliich  woi  buill  by  Shah  Jchnn.  ■■  ccrloinly  ihc  mo«l  beautiful  room  on  carlh.  It  ia  conatructcd  ol 
white  tranalucent  alabaater,  inlaid  with  precioua  and  aemi-precioua  atonca.  A  (amoua  Pcraian  inacription  upon  the  walla  clatma 
thai    i(   there   be  a   heaven   anywhere  on   earth   it   ia   there. 


232 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


who  happened  to  be  ex- 
cavating this  tank  for  his 
new  fortress-town  at  Tug- 
hlakabad.  Saint  Dargahs 
bowed  before  the  imperial 
will,  but  asked  that  he 
might  have  the  services  of 
his  men  at  least  during 
the  night.  The  emperor 
countered  by  denying  the 
holy  man  the  use  of 
oil,  which  was  apparently 
necessary  for  the  building. 
At  this  point  the  celestial 
deities  intervened.  Every 
night  the  water  of  tlie  tank 
was  miraculously  turned 
into  oil,  and  the  saint's 
purpose  was  served.  Tug- 
hlak  thereupon  promul- 
gated a  useless  curse  upon 
the  waters.  Backed  by  his 
divine  allies,  Dargahs  then 
cursed  Tughlakabad.  To  a 
modern  visitor  it  would 
seem  that  the  saint's  curse 
was  more  efficacious  than 
the  emperor's.  For  Tug- 
hlakabad is  to-day  only  a 
haunt  for  owls  and  bats, 
while  the  saint's  tank  still 
supplies  water  for  man  and 
beast. 

One  curious  custom  has 
been  initiated.  From  tlie 
eastern  side  of  the  tank 
boys  and  men,  who  are  promised  a  recompense  by  the  tourist,  will  make  a  long,  but  not  particularly 
dangerous,  dive  into  the  waters  of  the  tank. 

The  Di'wan-i-khas,  Delhi  Palace. — When  the  cunning  hand  of  the  jeweller — whether  he  were 
the  renegade  Austin  de  Bordeaux  or  not — inlaid  the  famous  Persian  text  upon  the  cornice  of  the 
Diwan-i-khas  in  the  palace  at  Delhi,  the  artist  boasted,  indeed  ;  but  if  ever  a  man  was  justified  in 
his  boast,  it  was  he.  Tlie  linr-,  run  :  "If  Heaven  there  be  on  the  face  of  earth,  it  is  here,  it  is  here, 
it  is  here."     And,  indeed,  there  is  nothing  like  it  under  the  sky. 

This  Court  of  Private  Audience  is  an  open  hall,  supported  on  a  double  row  of  many-cusped 
an  hes  daintily  gilded  here  and  there,  and  of  heavy  square  columns  of  marble,  panelled  and  inlaid, 
heie  white,  here  ivory,  there  old  gold  in  tint.  One  could  swear  that  this  forest  of  marble  is 
translucent.  The  gilding  upon  it  here  and  there  stands  forward  and  rejects  the  light  that  sinks 
softly  a  finger's  breadth  into  tlie  onyx-like  stone  upon  which  it  is  laid.  And  the  inlaid  flowers, 
whereof  every  leaf  is  jade  and  malachite,  every  petal  is  agate  and  lapis  lazuli,  so  stand  out  upon 


Stei-eOfjraph  bi/] 


[II.  C.  While  Co.,  London. 


TKis  is  a  view   through    the   Di\van-i-Uhas   in    the  palace  at   Delhi.        The   famous  inscrip- 
tion,   though     of     course     not     legible     here,     is    written    along     the     darU     cornice    above    the 


.iddl 


e  atcries. 


Asia 


233 


this  pearly  bed  that  you  miglit  vow  you  could  put  your  fingers  behind  the  stalk  and  snap  it.  You 
will  not  at  first  understand  the  beauty  and  splendid  restraint  of  the  Diwan-i-khas.  But  if  you  try 
four  afternoons  to  sketch  it,  you  may  begin  to  realize  that  a  dishonest  and  fugitive  jeweller  from 
France  may  yet  prove  to  have  been  the  first  decorator  of  all  known  periods — decorator,  not  artist, 
nor  perhaps  architect ;  the  point  is  in  dispute.  Quiet,  restrained,  his  riot  of  colour  spreads  over 
these  jewelled  walls,  unfailing  in  taste  and  perfect  even  in  the  veining  of  a  poppy-leaf  or  the  stamen 
of  one  of  those  Crown  Imperial  lilies  or  blue-purple  irises  which  his  craftsmen  can  never  have 
looked  upon,  though  at  the  bidding  of  this  immoral  genius  they  faithfully  translated  into  stone  the 
humbled  pride  of  the  one  and  the  cool  transparency  of  the  other.  Outside  there  is  hot  sunshine, 
the  blaze  of  a  scarlet  hibiscus  across  the  lawn,  and  the  soft  and  stealing  scent  of  jasmine  and  orange- 
blossom  . 

Upon  a  marble  base,  which  still  exists  in  the  Hall,  once  stood  the  famous  Peacock  Throne.  This 
throne,  which,  like  all  Oriental  thrones,  was  more  like  a  bed  than  a  seat,  was  made  of  gold.  But  the 
gold  was  scarcely  visible  for  the  rubies,  diamonds  and  sapphires  upon  it,  set  closely  together  from 
end  to  end  of  the  long,  low  seat.  A  peacock,  "  in  his  pride,"  stood  behind  at  either  end,  and  the 
displayed  tails  formed  the  greater  part  of  the  back.  In  the  centre  of  the  back  of  the  throne  was  a 
life-sized  parrot,  cut  out  of  a  single  emerald.  These  statements  about  what  was  unquestionably 
the  most  magnificent  jewel  ever  made  on  earth  would  be  incredible  had  not  a  French  professional 
jeweller,  Tavernier  by  name,  seen  it  before  it  was  stolen  by  Nadir  Shah  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
His  estimate,  as  an  expert,  of  the  value  of  the  gorgeous  thing  is  startling.  He  wrote  that  in  his 
opinion  it  was  worth  about 
^12,037,500  sterling — expressed 
in  the  currency  of  to-day.  We 
have  the  casket  of  this  jewel  ir, 
the  Diwan-i-khas,  and  it  is 
worthy  of  that  royal  seat,  even 
if  the  latter's  beauty  was  equal 
to  its  cost. 

Mya/Vma.— This  'exquisite 
village — for  it  is  hardly  more — 
upon  the  Inland  Sea  of  Japan, 
is  well  worthy  of  its  dignity 
as  one  of  the  Three  Beautiful 
Places  of  the  Japanese  Empire. 
It  can  easily  be  reached  by  rail, 
and  the  beauty  of  the  locality 
has  unfortunately  attracted  the 
notice  of  the  hotel-keeper  and 
the  commercial  exploiter  of  the 
world's  natural  beauties.  But 
the  Japanese  Government  have 
unintentionally  helped  to  pre- 
serve the  spot,  as  it  has  a  cer- 
tain strategic  importance,  and 
the  Japanese  abruptly  dis- 
courage the  over-inquisitiveness 
of  visitors.     It  is    in    shape   a        «"'°s"-M '^rt  [^.<•.^vM,rr.<..  i.ndon. 

,.,,        ,        ^    ^  ,,  J     J-      ,  ON    THE    SHORES    OF    MIYAJIMA    ON    THE     INLAND    SEA. 

hill,  about  two  thousand   feet  ^,  ,  ,    ,  ,  ,    ,    ,    ,  ,       , 

1  nia  la  one  ol    Inc   tamoui   beouly  apota  to  which    the  Japancae  point   \vitn   pride, 
in      height,      which      descends     all  The   famoua  Torii   U  aeen  a   hundred   yards  away   in   the  aea. 


234 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


round  to  the  sea  in  deep-cut  chines,  if  the  homely.  English  word  may  be  used  of  these 
verdured  and  magnificent  ravines.  All  along  the  coast  a  series  of  beautiful  pictures  is 
presented,  each  more  charming  than  the  last.  Here  an  aged  temple  hides  its  lacquered 
columns  beneath  a  green  cloud  of  darkening  foliage ;  there,  the  dainty  little  shops  of  the 
artists  and  the  ruder,  but  still  beautiful,  huts  of  the  fishermen  stretch  entrancingly  just 
across  the  road  from  the  white  shell-strewn  beach.  Out  in  this  almost  tideless  sea  stands  a 
giant  torii,  and  from  up  the  hill  comes  now  and  then  the  low,  reverberating  tone  of  a  deep  bell,  too 
soft  to  terrify  the  little  Japanese  deer  that  pick  their  way  daintily  along  the  roads,  certain  of  their 
welcome  from  even  the  rudest  of  Western  travellers.     In  short,  there  is  perhaps  no  more  beautiful 


Photo  Jy] 


L-  -  i.'.'.  .i  L ...  Lld.^  Reigate. 


MARTAND. 


Martand  19  the  finest  and  most  typical  of  tfie  existing  examples  of  Kasfimir's  arcflitecture.  Its  peculiar  interest  is 
that  it  leproduces  in  plan  the  great  temple  of  the  Jews  more  than  any  other  known  building.  It  is,  however,  im- 
possible    to    trace    any    connection    between    the    two    temples. 

walk  on  earth  than  that  which  follows  the  ascending  snake  like  spiral  by  which  the  track  reaches 
the  summit  of  this  fairy  island, 

Martand. — Five  miles  east  of  Islamabad,  the  old  capital  of  the  Kashmir  Valley,  the  ruins  of 
Martand  still  present  to  the  archjeologist  a  riddle  that  seems  as  insoluble  as  when  they  were 
first  discovered.  In  itself  it  is  but  a  small  building  sixty  feet  in  length,  with  a  facade  of  the 
same  size.  Its  ruins  stand  in  a  courtyard  two  hundred  and  twenty  feet  by  one  hundred  and 
forty-two  feet,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  General  Cunningham,  was  at  one  time  filled  with  water 
brought  by  a  conduit  from  the  river  Lambadari. 

There  is  a  general  consensus  of  opinion  that  the  courtyard  was  built  in  the  second  quarter  of  the 
eighth  century,  the  temple  itself  being  perhaps  of  the  same  date.  It  is  the  greatest  ruin  in  Kashmir, 
and  the  prevalence  of  architectural  forms  and  ornaments  of  a  European  nature  is  not  the  least 
remarkable  fact  of  this  strange  and  isolated  memorial  of  the  past.     Special  interest  attaches  to  the 


236 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


Photo  ly} 


[.V.  !•.  Edtrards. 


The    fortress    of    Gwalior    rises    abruptly    from    the    level    plain    some    distance    to    the    south    of    Agra-       Though    now 
abandoned,    it    possesses    many    gates    and    exquisitely    tiled    palaces. 

fact  that  it  probably  presents  a  more  exact  reproduction — in  plan,  for  in  dimensions  the  Jewish 
building  was  larger — of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem.  There  is  food  for  thought  in  this  for  those,  and 
they  are  many,  who  believe  that  in  the  fierce,  hook-nosed,  patriarchally  bearded  Pathans  of  the 
North-West  frontier  the  true  descendants  of  the  Lost  Tribes  are  to  be  found. 

The  Great  Bridge  of  Isfahan. — Isfahan,  as  all  the  world  knows,  was  the  ancient  capital  of 
Persia,  and  there  still  remain  many  memorials  of  this  pre-eminence.  Perhaps  the  famous  bridge, 
built  by  Ali  Verdi  Khan,  is  more  impressive  than  even  the  Chehel  Situn  or  the  magnificent  Royal 
Square.  During  the  larger  part  of  the  year  only  a  few  arches  are  required  to  carry  off  the  water 
of  the  Zendeh  Rud.  but  in  flood-time  the  whole  of  the  long  row  is  required  if  Isfahan  is  not  to  be 
submerged.  It  leads  from  Isfahan  to  Julfa,  a  suburb  founded  by  Shah  Abbas  in  1604.  The  name 
of  this  town  is  derived  from  that  which  is  notorious  as  a  city  on  the  Caucasian  frontier  between 
Russia  and  Persia.  The  splendid  bridge  built  by  the  Shah's  Field  Marshal  is  a  noble  trait  d' union 
between  the  two  towns.  It  is  three  hundred  and  eighty-eight  yards  in  length  and  thirty  feet  in 
width,  and  it  is  built  in  three  stories.     The  photograph  gives  a  good  idea  of  its  general  effect. 

G<zvatior,  the  capital,  residence  and  headquarters  of  Scindia,  the  strongest  and  most  capable  of 
Indian  chiefs,  is  divided  by  the  Chambal  from  the  better-known  districts  of  Agra.  Like  Chitor, 
it  is  a  deserted  rock  fortress  in  the  midst  of  a  plain,  with  precipitous  sides  and  a  well-guarded 
approach  on  the  eastern  flank.  In  old  days  it  must  have  been  almost  impregnable,  and  some  old 
guns  are  still  mounted  in  the  casemates.     Beside  the  main  entrance  at  the  top  of  the  rock  is  the 


Asia 


'61 


Painted  Palace,  the  most  interesting  building  still  standing  on  the  rock.  It  is  simply  designed, 
and  decorated  with  exquisite  tile-work  of  blue  and  green.  Inside  there  are  finely  chiselled  capital- 
brackets  and  latticed  windows  in  the  women's  court,  now  long  given  over  to  the  owls  and  bats. 
There  are  a  couple  of  interesting  temples  at  the  southern  end  of  tlie  fortress,  and  the  large  nude 
Jain  figures  still  stand  that  once  e.xcited  the  Emperor  Baber's  modest  anger. 

The  Black  Temple,  Kanarak. — Readers  of  the  "  Arabian  Nights "  will  remember  that  the 
intrepid  Sindbad,  in  the  course  of  his  voyaging,  had  the  misfortune  on  one  occasion  to  be 
shipwrecked  from  a  very  unusual  cause.  As  the  ship  in  which  he  was  travelling  approached  a 
certain  part  of  the  coast  of  India,  the  iron  bolts  with  which  the  beams  of  the  vessel  were  joined 
together  were  so  powerfully  attracted  by  a  magnet  in  a  building  on  the  shore  that  they  left  their 
positions  and  the  unhappy  ship  fell  to  pieces  on  the  sea.  Now  the  Black  Temple  was  the  cause  of 
this  disaster,  and  to  this  day  you  may  see  lying  upon  the  ground  the  iron  girders,  twenty-three 
feet  long,  which  originated  the  story. 

Years  and  years  ago  this  temple — which  represents  the  highest  achievement  of  purely  Hindu 
sculpture — was  consecrated  in  honour  of  the  Sun,  which  here  cured  a  son  of  Krishna  of  the  disease 
of  leprosy.  The  main  building 
is  modelled  in  the  shape  of  one 
of  those  processional  "  raths," 
or  ceremonial  vehicles,  of  which 
the  Car  of  Jagannath  is  by  far 
the  best-known  example.  Not 
the  least  remarkable  feature  of 
the  building  is  presented  by 
the  wheels  which  represent  the 
multitudinous  castors  of  tlie 
great  truck. 

The  most  casual  observation 
will  reveal  the  outstanding 
characteristic  of  the  Black 
Temple.  Every  inch  of  surface 
has  been  carved  with  exquisite 
and  loving  care.  There  is  not 
a  pillar  or  a  plinth  or  a  panel 
that  has  not  its  ow^n  special 
decoration. 

The  great  altar  is  the  most 
conspicuous  object  in  the  closed 
chamber,  or  Holy  of  Holies, 
of  the  Black  Temple.  The 
chamber  in  which  it  is  found 
was  full  of  debris,  and  has  only 
recently  been  cleared. 

The  Gol  Gumbaz,  Bijapur. 
The    tomb    of     Mahmoud     at 
Bijapur  is  one  of  the  mysteries 

of  the  world.     Internally,  it  is         pM.^-]  rr,r.,r.;  ^.n*-.,  n,. 

merely    a    square    room,    one  the   black  temple,   kanarak. 

hundred    and    thirty-five    feet       „.  I^"'  ""'"'''  "°7,  ^""''^-  ''  ■""'"''i'  ••>«  mo.,  e.qui.i.c  cx.mpic  <,f  pu«i, 

J  Hindu  art.         the   wailH,   fools    and    plaltorma  are   minutely    carved,   and   ihc   temple  in 

in     each      direction,      but      it      lias  general   very   sreatly   retemblet   the   forbidden   lemple  of  Jagannath   at    Puri. 


238 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


P- 


Photo  by'] 


THE    GREAT     CENTRAL    ALTAR    WITHIN    THE     BLACK    TEMPLE. 

Especial  attention  should   be   paid   to  tKc  elephant   frieze. 


[Pfrcfval  Landon,  Esq. 


the  distinction  of  being  the  largest  domed  space  in  the  world.  Compared  with  its  eighteen 
thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  square  feet,  the  Pantheon  at  Rome  can  only  boast  fifteen 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-three  square  feet.  Fergusson's  description  of  this  architectural 
marvel  must  be  quoted  :  "  At  the  height  of  fifty-seven  feet  from  the  floor- line  the  hall  begins 
to  contract,  by  a  series  of  pendentives  as  ingenious  as  they  are  beautiful,  to  a  circular  opening 
ninety-seven  feet  in  diameter.  On  the  platform  of  these  pendentives  the  dome  is  erected, 
one  hundred  and  twenty-four  feet  in  diameter,  thus  leaving  a  gallery  more  than  twelve  feet  wide 
all  round  the  interior.  Internally,  the  dome  is  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  high  ;  externally, 
one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  feet,  its  general  thickness  being  about  ten  feet. 

"  The  most  ingenious  and  novel  part  of  the  construction  of  this  dome  is  the  mode  in  which  its  lateral 
or  outward  thrust  is  counteracted.  This  was  accomplished  by  forming  the  pendentives  so  that 
they  not  only  cut  off  the  angles,  but  that  their  arches  intersect  one  another,  and  form  a  very 
considerable  mass  of  masonry  perfectly  stable  in  itself,  and,  by  its  weight  acting  inwards,  counter- 
acting any  thrust  that  can  possibly  be  brought  to  bear  upon  it  by  the  pressure  of  the  dome.  If  the 
whole  edifice  thus  balanced  has  any  tendency  to  move,  it  is  to  fall  inwards,  which  from  its  circular 
form  is  impossible  ;  while  the  action  of  the  weight  of  the  pendentives,  being  in  the  opposite  direction 
to  that  of  the  dome,  acts  like  a  tie,  and  keeps  the  whole  in  equilibrium,  without  interfering  at  all 
with  the  outline  of  the  dome." 

The  Tomb  of  Timur,  Samarkand. — Samarkand,  the  most  famous  of  Tartar  capitals,  is  composed, 
on  the  one  hand,  of  gardens  and  orchards,  and  on  the  other,  of  the  ruined  remains  of  Timur — and 
of  all  these  remains  the  tomb  of  the  great  butcher  is  pre-eminent.  You  may  travel  through  and 
through  Samarkand  in  all  directions  ;  you  may  buy  silks  from  the  placid  and  contemptuous 
merchants  in  the  bazaar  ;  you  may  sketch  among  the  trees  that  have  grown  up  round  the  Mosque 
of  the  Lady  Princess  ;  but  at  the  end  of  every  day  it  is  to  the  Emir's  tomb  that  you  wiU 
inevitably  return.      Here,    in    the    quiet    shadow,  you    will    recall  to  yourself   the  most  brilliant 


240 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


career  that  any  monster  of 
mingled  cruelty  and  shrewdness 
has  ever  lived.  Outside,  the 
brilliantly  tiled  gateway,  of 
which  a  picture  is  here  given, 
prepares  the  visitor  for  no  ordin- 
ary sepulchre  within. 

With  what  looks  like  an 
anticipation  of  Western  sym- 
bolism, his  plain  block  of  marble 
stands  out  black  under  the  dome 
among  the  surrounding  white 
cenotaphs  of  his  wives  and 
relations.  The  vault  rises  above 
the  little  platform  littered  with 
plain-cut  stones.  To  the  eye  of 
some  it  may  seem  but  a  dingy 
place.  The  translucent  belt  of 
jasper  that  runs  around  the 
walls  at  shoulder-height,  cr\'ing 
forth  the  nine-and-ninety  names 
and  the  ineffable  glory  of  God, 
is  darkened  with  centuries-old 
grime.  You  may  hardly  dis- 
tinguish it  at  first  from  the 
time-darkened  limestone  of  which 
the  walls  of  the  tomb  are 
built.  Yet  there  is  both  in 
the  jasper  and  the  limestone 
as  beautiful  a  play  of  tints  as 
ever  was  taken  on  by  the 
walls  of  a  human  shrine. 
Colour  there  is  in  profusion.  Mauves,  purples  lurk  in  the  recesses  of  the  stalactite 
masonry  that  here  and  there  clings  to  the  corners  of  the  tomb  like  a  gigantic  wasp's- 
nest  of  amber  and  dull  stone.  Here  in  the  light  the  belt  of  jasper  is  translucent  umber 
— there,  in  the  shadows,  smalt  grey,  and  over  the  plain  undecorated  surface  of  the  main  walls 
there  are  flashes  of  nameless  colours  that  change,  from  minute  to  minute,  as  the  sun's  mote-laden 
gnomon  of  light  wheels  slowly  over  the  quiet  tombs.  The  windows  are  heavily  traceried,  and  the 
sun's  intrusion  is  but  a  pastime  of  the  late  afternoon.  At  mid-day  the  light  creeps  in  through  the 
unglazed  gratings,  so  tempered  by  the  rich  verdure  of  the  forest  trees  outside  that  you  may  see  three 
mysterious  and  changing  tints  of  green  under-flushing  the  sombre  colouring  of  the  vault  overhead. 
There  is  silence  absolute  within  the  chamber.  Silence  such  as  this  does  but  remind  one  the  more 
of  the  stormy  life  of  him  who  sleeps  below. 


Photo  by']  IPf-rcinl  Landon^  Esq. 

THE    TOMB    OF    TIMUR.    SAMARKAND. 

Two  men  stand  out  in  the  world's  history  as  savage  and  unrelenting 
butchers  of  men.  Of  one  of  them.  Jenghiz  Khan,  the  sepulchre  is  lost.  Timur 
the  Tartar,  or  as  his  contemporaries  called  him.  Timur  the  Lame,  is  buried  here 
in  Samarkand. 


Asia 


241 


CHAPTER    YIII. 
By  J.    THOMSON,   F.R.G.S., 

C>fflcifr  tie  I'Ordre  dti  Cambodge. 

The  Antiquities  of  Cambodia. — The  Kingdom  of  Cambodia  lies  between  Siam  on  the  west,  and 
Cochin  China  and  the  Gulf  of  Siam  on  the  south  and  east. 

The  early  history  of  the  country  is  wrapped  in  obscurity,  and  it  is  chiefly  to  the  Chinese  annals 
that  we  are  indebted  for  authentic  notices  of  the  ancient  splendour  of  Cambodia  and  its  tributarv 
States.  It  is  said  that  Funan  (the  name  by  which  part  of  the  realm  was  known)  existed  as  a  kingdom 
in  the  twelfth  century  B.C. 

After  the  lapse  of  over  a  thousand  years,  during  the  reign  of  the  Chinese  Emperor  Heao-Wuti. 
about  123  B.C.,  the  king  is  said  to  have  sent  ambassadors  bearing  tribute  to  the  Chinese  Court.     But 
the  most  important  event  recorded  in  early  history  is  the  advent  of  Buddhism  from  Ceylon  soon 
after  the   time  when   the   followers  of  Gautama   were   driven   out   of   India   and   took   refuge   in 
the  island,    from  which    they 
sent    propagandists    to    ultra- 
India,   who   are   said  to  have 
founded  in  Cambodia  a  great 
outpost  of  Buddhism,  and  who 

reared    the    first   stone    cities  ^^^ 

and  temples  of  that  country. 
The  striking  similarity  that 
exists  between  the  ancient 
Buddhist  buildings  of  Ceylon 
and  those  of  Cambodia  goes 
far  to  confirm  the  report  of 
the  early  connection  between 
the  two.  There  are  no 
temples  in  India  that  have 
features  in  common  with  those 
of  Cambodia.  The  square 
pillars  are  characteristic  of 
the  latter,  and  of  tlie  anti- 
quities of  Ceylon  alone. 

Nakhon  Wat,  in  its 
massive  grandeur,  suggests  a 
vision  of  Oriental  splendour 
materialized  in  stone,  destined 
to  stand  as  a  monument  of 
human  endeavour  for  all  time. 
The  Pali  characters  used  in 
the  Buddhist  sacred  books, 
we  are  told  by  a  Chinese 
historian  of  the  Tsin  dynasty, 

£  11"  '''"""  'Vl  [■'•  Tlionum,  l.K.ti.S. 

205-419,    were    employed    in  angkor   or    nakhon   wat. 

the       books       and       WritinCrS       of        E^nterine    the    western    sateway    ot    the    outer    callcrv,    one    obtain*    a    view    o(    the    railed 

•  tone  cruciform  cautcway  Icadine  to  the  main  temple,  which  1%  leen  in  the  diatance. 

17 


Asia 


24: 


/Jj/]  IJ.  T/itimsiin,  F./tJi.S. 

A  plan  of  Nakhcn   \^'at 


Funan.  and  that  the  people  were  skilled  in  fashioning  vessels 
of  gold  and  silver,  and  in  the  art  of  sculpture. 

About  three  centuries  later,  Lim-yip.  another  State- 
apparently  included  in  Cambodia,  is  noticed  in  the  history  of 
the  Suy  dynasty,  and  its  position  may  be  identified,  as  it  is 
stated  that  the  shadow  cast  by  the  sun  in  June  when  at  the 
zenith  was  ten  degrees  south  of  the  gnomon.  At  that  time 
the  Chinese  invaded  the  country,  and  after  a  disastrous  war, 
carried  off  eighteen  golden  statues  from  one  of  the  royal 
palaces,  and  many  captives.  From  the  Tang  dynasty  onward 
to  1017  A.D.  there  are  notices  confirming  the  view  that  Cam- 
bodia played  a  leading  part  all  through  the  centuries  in  ultra- 
India  ;  and  we  gather,  further,  that  a  period  of  decadence 
ensued,  brought  about  by  constant  strife  and  the  blighting 
influence  of  war.  Unfortunately  the  exact  date  of  the  building 
of  Nakhon  Wat  is  unknown,  as  the  written  annals  of  the 
Cambodians  did  not  exist  prior  to  1346  a.d.,  about  the  time 
when  the  temple  was  building.  Our  brief  review  must  be 
confined  to  the  ruins  of  the  city  "  Inthapatapuri,"  or  "  Nakhon 
Thom  "  ("The  Great  City"),  and  Nakhon  Wat,  the  greatest 
and  last  work  of  the  race.  We  had  the  privilege  of  exploring 
the  ruins,  and  the  temple,  which  is  in  good  preservation. 
in  1S66,  taking  the  first  series  of  photographs,  and  producing 

the  first  plan  of  the  "  Wat."     We   spent   some  time    in    Nakhon  Thom.  which  was  buried  in  a 

forest  of  venerable    trees.     One  temple  alone,   "  Prea-Sat-ling-poun."   covered  a  vast    area,   and 

was    crowned    by    thirty-seven    stone    towers,    each    tower    sculptured    to    represent    the    four- 
faced   Buddha,    or   Brahma,    and    thus    one    Imndred    and    forty-six   colossal    sphinx-like  faces 

gazed    benignly    towards    the    cardinal    points.       Some    were 

contorted     and    torn     by    trees    and    parasitic    plants    that 

had    rooted    and    grown    through    the    crevices   in    the    huge 

blocks  of  stone  of  which  they  were  built,  while  those  intact 

were   full    of    that    expression    of    purity    and    repose    which 

Buddhists  so  love  to  portray,  and  all  wearing  diadems  of  most 

chaste  design  above  their  unruffled  brows.     Hard  by  were  the 

ruins  of  a  royal  palace,  described  by  the  Chinese  envoy  of  the 

thirteenth  century  as  "  a  place  of  great  magnificence,  partly 

built  of  wood,  exquisitely  carved  ;   with  statues  and  ornaments 

of  pure  gold,  and  approached  by  a  massive  stone   causeway. 

whose  entablature  was  sculptured  to  represent  a  hunting  scene 

with  elephants  in  the  forest." 

We    had    to  employ  a  gang  of   natives   for  some   days  in 

cutting  the  tower  of  "  Prea-Sat-ling-poun  "  from  the  growth  of 

ages.     The  city  walls  have  a  circuit  of  about  nine  miles,  and 

rise  to  a  height  of  thirty  feet,  and  are  pierced  by  five  gateways. 

In  photographing  the  gateway  represented  we  had  a  sort  of 

"  battle  of  the  apes"  ;  a  tribe  of  monkeys  persisted  in  shaking 

the  foliage,  coming    and  going  and  displaying  almost  human 

curiosity  in  studying  our  proceedings,  causing  a  loss  of  much       "^'oH:  [j.  nomion.  f  ii.n.s. 

1  ,        .  ,  .     I  The    Hone    italue    o(    ihc    leper    king    found 

time  and  valuable  material  .^„„,  ,^^  j.^,;. 


244 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Reared  above  the  gateway  stood  a  series  of  subordinate  towers,  having  a  single  large  one  in  the 
centre,  whose  apex  again  displayed  the  four  benign  faces  of  the  ancient  god  ;  the  image  was  partly 
hidden  beneath  plants  which  twined  their  clustering  fibres  in  a  garland  round  the  neglected  head. 

In  this  ancient  city  one  can  trace  tlie  evolution  in  native  architecture  from  primitive  design  and 
elementary  skill  in  building  to  the  mature  products  of  a  later  period.  In  the  early  buildings 
the  blocks  of  stone  used  in  construction  are  smaller,  and  the  examples  of  the  sculptor's  art 
are  crude  when  compared  with  the  decoration  of  Xakhon  Wat.  It  was  evident  that  the 
arch,  which  is  said  to  have  been  known  to  the  ancient  Egyptians,  and  certainly  to  the  Greeks 
and  Romans,  was  unknown  to  the  early  Cambodians.     Their  method  of  constructing  a  substitute  is 

clearly  shown  at  the  base  of  the 
tower  of  Prea-Sat-ling-poun,  whose 
huge  blocks  of  stone  are  super- 
posed, and  project  one  beyond 
another  from  each  side,  and  meet 
in  the  centre,  so  as  to  support  the 
enormous  weight  of  masonry  above. 
This  method  also  applies  to  Nakhon 
Wat,  the  Great  Temple,  about  two 
miles  distant  from  the  city. 

This  wonderful  building  is  per- 
fectly symmetrical  in  design  (as 
may  be  gathered  from  the  ground 
plan),  like  the  majority  of  Buddhist 
structures,  and  may  have  been 
meant  to  symbolize  the  sacred 
^Mount  Meru,  or  centre  of  the 
Buddhist  universe.  This  is  all  the 
more  apparent  when  we  consider 
that  Meru  is  surrounded  by  seven 
circles  of  rocks ;  that  there  are 
seven  circles  in  the  central  tower  : 
that  the  Sacred  Mount  is  supported 
by  three  platforms  (corresponding 
to  the  three  terraces  of  this 
temple),  one  of  earth,  one  of  wind, 
and  one  of  water,  and  that  it  rises 
out  of  the  ocean.  This  part  of 
the  symbolism  is  indicated  by  the 
temple  being  surrounded  with  a 
wide  moat ;  and,  indeed,  during 
the  rains,  when  the  place  is  flooded,  the  whole  stupendous  structure  would  rise  (like  Meru 
from  the  ocean)  out  of  an  unbroken  sheet  of  water.  In  some  of  the  ancient  temples  of  Java 
we  find  the  same  symbolic  architecture  :  the  Shrine  of  "  Kalisari,"  for  example,  is  an  oblong 
square  divided  into  three  floors,  and  there  are  many  more  of  the  same  design,  On  the 
ancient  Buddhist  Temple  of  Boro-Bodoer  there  are  seven  terraces  (and  no  central  tower) 
which  would  correspond  with  the  seven  circles  of  IMeru.  But  the  three  terraces  of  Xakhon  Wat  ma\- 
have  another  significance  ;  they  maj'  have  been  designed  originally  for  the  sacred  rites  and 
processions  still  practised  in  ceremonials  at  the  tonsnr  festivals  of  Siam  :  for  example,  at  the 
coronation  of  a  king  the  priests  march  thrice  on  three  successive  days  round  the  sacred  "  Khao- 


rh0(O    1:1/] 


[J.  Thonuon,  F.Ii.i 


A   p.-irt  of  one  of   the  four  tanUs. 


o 


o 


H    I 


246 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Khrai-lat,"  the  Siamese  Buddhist  Mount  Meru.  It  is  difficult  to  say  what  may  nave  been  the 
origin  in  many  lieathen  religions  of  the  sacred  number  three.  We  have  them  in  the  Holy  Trinity 
of  our  own  Church,  a  doctrine  which  does  not  claim  a  high  antiquity  ;  in  the  supreme  principles 
of  creation  ;  in  Orphic  mytho'ogy,  Council,  Light  and  Life  ;  in  On,  Isis  and  Neith  of  the  Egyptians  ; 
in  the  Magian  Trinity,  Mithras,  Oromazdes  and  Ahriman  ;  the  Indian  triad,  Brahma,  Vishnu  and 
Shiva  ;  while  in  China  we  liave  the  classic  doctrine  of  the  powers  of  Nature,  Heaven,  Earth  and 
Man,  and  the  Buddliist  Past.  Present  and  Future.  We  also  find  in  the  Temple  of  Heaven,  near 
Peking,  where  State  worship  is  performed,  an  altar  of  three  terraces,  on  which  at  certain  times  of 
the  year  three  sacrifices  are  offered.  These  are  the  Ta-sze,  or  great  sacrifice  ;  the  Choong-sze,  or 
medium  sacrifice,  and  the  Seaon-sze,  or  lesser  sacrifice. 

To  return  to  Nakhon  Wat.  The  ancient  Chinese  traveller,  in  his  narrative  of  a  tradition,  says 
something  relating  to  the  worship  of  the  snake  in  early  times  ;  but  he,  at  the  same  time,  tells  us 
that  Buddhism  was  the  religion  which  then  prevailed  in  Cambodia.  The  view  that  this  great 
building  was  created  for  snake  worship  suggested  by  Fergusson  can  hardly  be  maintained.  After 
visiting  China,  and  seeing  the  Hindoo  deities  that  guard  the  gates  of  Buddhist  temples  there,  and 
the  mythological  objects  which  adorn  these  shrines,  we  have  been  led  to  believe  that  Nakhon  Wat 
is  a  Buddhist  edifice,  decorated  about  the  roofs  and  balconies  with  effigies  of  the  seven-headed 
snake,  who  is  honoured  for  ever,  because  he  guarded  Gautama  when  he  slept.     Nagas  (snakes) 


rttoto  bii] 


{.r.   Tl:fm.«'n.   /'./l.O.K. 


SECTION    OF    THE    l.\.\ER    WESTERN    GALLERY. 

One   of  the  open  colonnades   which   form  a  very  conspicuous  pait  in  the  te.-nplc.   on  account  of   the   bas-reliefs  on   their  walls. 


Asia 


247 


rfwto  &y] 


The 


[J.  rhoi. 


AN     EXAMPLE    OF    THE    BAS-RELIEF. 


rlicis 


th<r 


inner    calleric*     in     *^ 
procession;    beneath   it 


Wi 


I.       The    upper   part    of    this    particular   example    shows   a    state 
a   scene   of   a    Bu<idhist    inlcrno. 


appeared  at  his  birtli  to  wash  liim  :  numbers  of  nagas  conversed  with  him  here  and  there,  protected 
him,  and  were  converted  by  him  ;  and  after  tlie  cremation  of  his  body,  an  eighth  portion  of  the 
rehcs  was  allowed  to  the  custody  of  the  nagas 

Nakhon  Wat,  like  the  majority  of  the  buildings  in  Inthapatapuri.  and  other  cities  of  Cambodia, 
is  raised  upon  a  stone  platform,  and  is  carried  upward  from  its  base  in  three  quadrangular  tiers,  with 
a  great  central  tower  above  all,  having  an  elevation  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet.  The  outer 
boundary  wall  and  galleries  enclose  a  square  space  measuring  nearly  three-fourths  of  a  mile  each 
way,  enclosing  a  moat  two  hundred  and  thirty  feet  wide.  Entering  the  western  gateway  of  the 
outer  gallery  shown  in  the  central  distance  on  page  245,  we  found  square  monolithic  pillars,  almost 
Roman  Doric  in  design,  with  a  gallery  and  cloisters  richly  decorated  with  sculptured  ornament  : 
the  first  glimpse  was  then  obtained  of  the  imposing  pile  of  masonry  which  forms  the  main  temple. 
This  approach  leads  to  a  raised,  wide  stone  cruciform  causeway,  having  ornamental  flights  of  steps 
descending  to  the  moat.  These  were  probably  intended  for  the  first  ablutions  of  the  worshippers 
at  the  shrine.  This  causeway  had  been  guarded  along  its  entire  length  by  a  stone  balustrade 
representing  the  body  of  the  seven-headed  snakes  rearing  their  crests  at  the  points  of  descent  to  the 
moat.  Ascending  a  terrace  by  a  flight  of  steps  again  sculptured  with  lavish  ornament,  and  guarded 
on  each  side  by  colossal  stone  lions,  we  stood  before  the  principal  entrance  of  the  temple,  whose 
facjade  on  this  side  is  over  six  hundred  feet  in  length,  and  is  willed  in  in  the  centre  for  a  distance  of 
some  two  hundred  feet.  Tliis  walled  sjiace  is  divided  into  compartments,  and  each  compartment 
lighted  with   windows.      In  every  window  tliere  are  seven  floral  stone    bars,  uniform    in    pattern 


248 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


with  a  height  of  six  and  a  half  feet, 
each  space  of  six  and  a  half  feet, 
average 


and  in  size  throughout.  The  floral  design  on  tliese  bars  represents  the  sacred  lotus, 
and  the  flowers  are  as  carefully  repeated  as  if  they  had  been  cast  in  a  single  mould.  These 
compartments  occur  in  the  centre  of  the  other  three  galleries  in  the  sides  of  the  square,  each  facing 
a  cardinal  point.  The  remaining  two-thirds  of  the  space  consist  of  open  colonnades,  the  inner 
walls  of  which,  with  their  bas-reliefs,  form  one  of  the  chief  attractions  of  Nakhon  Wat. 

The  building,  as  already  noticed,  rises  in  three  terraces,  one  above  the  other,  and  it  is  out  of  the 
highest  of  the  three  that  the  great  central  tower  springs  up  ;  four  lower,  or  inferior,  towers  rise 
around  it.     The  bas-reliefs  are  contained  in  eight  compartments,  measuring  each  from  two  hundred 

and  fifty  to  three  hundred  feet   in  length, 

In 
the 
number  of  men  and  animals 
depicted  is  sixty.  They  are  executed  with 
such  care  and  skill,  and  in  such  good  draw- 
ing, as  to  show  that  the  art  of  the  sculptors 
had  reached  a  high  degree  of  perfection 
among  the  "  Khamen-ti-buran,"  or  Ancient 
Cambodians.  The  chief  subjects  repre- 
sented are  battle  scenes,  state  processions, 
and  a  complete  series  illustrating  the 
"  Ramayana  "  and  "  Mahabharata,"  the 
ancient  Indian  epic  poems,  wliich  are  said 
to  have  been  received  from  India  about 
the   fifth  century. 

Perliaps  the  most  wonderful  subject  of 
all  the  bas-reliefs  is  what  the  Siamese  call 
the  "  Battle  of  Ramakean."  This  is  one  of 
the  leading  incidents  in  the  "  Ramayana," 
of  which  Coleman  says:  "The  Grecians 
had  their  Homer  to  render  imperishable  the 
fame  acquired  by  their  glorious  combats  in 
the  Trajan  War,  the  Latins  had  Virgil  to 
sing  the  prowess  of  ^Eneas,  and  the  Hindoos 
have  their  Valmuc  to  immortalize  the  deeds 
of  Rama  and  his  army  of  monkeys.  The 
'  Ramayana  '  (one  of  the  finest  poems  ex- 
tant) describes  the  incidents  of  Rama's  life 
and  the  exploits  of  the  contending  foes." 

In  the  sculptures  of  Nakhon  Wat 
many  of  the  incidents  of  the  life  of 
Rama  are  depicted,  such  as  the  ultimate 
triumph  over  the  god  Ravana,  and  the  recovery  of  his  wife  Sita.  The  chief  illustration  of 
the  poem,  however,  is  the  battle  scene  which  ensues  after  the  ape-god  Hanuman  had  per- 
formed several  of  his  feats  which  formed  the  daily  incidents  of  his  life,  such  as  the  construction 
of  what  is  now  known  as  Adam's  Bridge  at  Ceylon.  This  he  accomplished  by  a  judicious  selection 
of  ten  mountains,  each  measuring  sixty-four  miles  in  circumference  ;  and  being  short  of  arms,  but 
never  of  expedients,  when  conveying  them  to  Ceylon,  he  poised  one  on  the  tip  of  his  tail,  another 
on  his  head,  and  thus  formed  the  famous  bridge  over  which  his  army  of  apes  passed  to  Lanka.  In 
another  compartment  the  subjects  appear  to  be  the  avatar  of  Vishnu,  where  the  god  is  represented 


Plato  6ji] 

The    Sevcn-hcadcd    Sna!<c 


which 
of    Nakhon    Wat 


[/.    Tkoniion,   t\li.i;.S. 
one    time,    surrounded   the    temple 


[J,  nomton,  F.n.n.s. 

rholn  l.j] 

THE    TEMPLE    "  PREASAT-LING-POUN."     IN     NAVCHON    THOM. 

Th,.  icmolc  cover,  o  v„t  .re.  .nd  i.  crowned  b»  ihirtv-.even  ..one  lower.,  e.cl,  lower  .culptured  lo  repre.enl  .he  (our- 

t.ced   Buddh..  .nd  .o   1-16  C0I0...I  .Dhinx-like  f.ce.  e«/e  benienlv   low.rd.  .he  c.rdin.l  po.nl.. 


250 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


nolo  bv'i  W-  Thomson,  F.K.G.s. 

ONE  OF  THE  GATEWAYS  OF 
NAKHON  THOM. 

The  City  Walls  ol  Nakhon  Thorn,  or 
Inthapatapuri,  have  a  circuit  of  alsout  nine 
miles,  and  rise  to  a  height  of  thirty  feet, 
and  are  pierced  by  five  gateways. 


as  a  tortoise  supporting  the  Earth,  which  is  submerged  in  the 
Waters.  Tlie  four-armed  Brahma  is  seated  above.  A  seven- 
headed  snake  is  shown  above  the  water,  coiled  round  the 
Earth,  and  extending  over  the  entire  length  of  the  bas-relief. 
The  gods  on  the  right  and  the  dinvtas  on  the  left  are  seen 
contending  for  the  serpent.  Hanuman  is  pulling  at  the  tail, 
while,  above,  a  flight  of  angels  are  bearing  a  cable  to  bind  the 
snake  after  the  conflict  is  over.  The  example  of  bas-relief  on 
this  page  will  convey  an  idea  of  the  ornate  nature  of  the  battle 
scenes,  and  will  also  enable  the  reader  to  judge  for  himself, 
not  only  regarding  the  art  which  they  display,  but  also  of  the 
constructive  mechanical  skill  which  the  Cambodians  possessed, 
and  which  enabled  them  to  build  their  war  chariots  at  once 
strong  enough  for  the  rough  usage  of  war,  and  light  enough 
to  secure  that  degree  of  speed  upon  which  the  issue  of  a 
conflict  might  depend.  Take,  for  example,  the  wheel  of  the 
chariot.  It  must  have  been  strong,  and  nothing  lighter  or 
more  elegant  could  be  constructed  at  the  present  day  among 
ourselves.  Part  of  it  must  have  been  made  of  metal,  proving 
that  the  builders  were  experts  in  the  use  of  metals.  We 
must  note  that  this  splendid  monument  was  put  together  with 
immense  blocks  of  freestone  and  ironstone  without  a  trace  of 
mortar  ;  and  so  deftly  as  to  leave  but  a  hair-line  to  trace  the 
junction  of  the  blocks.     A  part  of  one  of  four  tanks  (shown 

at  B  on  the  plan  and  illustrated  on  page    244)  has  all  the  appearance  of  a  rock-cut  temple,  and  is 

adorned  with  the  sculptured  ornament  characteristic  of   the  exquisite  work  of  this  great  building 

race.     Nakhon  Wat  was  the  greatest  and  last  work  of  the  ancient  Cambodians,   probably  erected 

about  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  and  left  incomplete. 

There  is  a  tradition  of  a  later  king,  whose  stone  statue  we  found  among  sculptured  debris,  who 

is  said  to  have  built  a   Bud- 
dhist temple  in  the  hope  that 

he   might  be  cleansed   of    his 

leprosy. 

The  illustration  on  page  248 

represents  one  of  the  ancient 

guardians  of  the   temple,  the 

seven-headed     snakes     found 

around    the   building    for    the 

protection  of  the  sacred  image 

of  Buddha    enshrined    in    the 

lofty    central    tower.       Apart 

from     fragmentary    historical 

accounts  and  inscriptions,  the 

deserted    cities,    palaces    and 

temples  of  stone  tell  their  tale 

of  the  rise  and  fall  of  a  great 

empire,     which     reached     its 

zenith  when  building  the  still 

unfinished  shrine  Nakhon  Wat.  Basreliet   of   battle   scene   in   the   s.Ilery. 


AUSTRALASIA    AND    THE    PACIFIC. 


CHAPTER    IX. 
By   F.   LAMBERT,   FM.G.iS. 

The  Jenolan  Caves,  Neiu  South  Wales. — Unlike  the  land  of  Columbus.  Australia  can  claim 
but  little  in  the  nature  of  the  stupendous.  It  has  no  Niagara  Falls,  and  its  rivers  and  mountains 
are  small  as  compared  with  the  great  waterways  of  the  Amazon  and  the  Mississippi,  and  the  heights 
of  the  Andes  and  the  Rockies. 

In  the  limestone  caves  at  Jenolan,  New  South  Wales,  however,  Australia  possesses  a  natural 
phenomenon  which,  although  smaller  than  the  Mammoth  Cave  of  Kentuck\^  in  America,  need  fear 
no  comparison  with  this,  either  m  general  grandeur  of  effect  or  in  beauty  of  formation. 


Pholo  I'y  pf/Tittsnon  oj  ] 


[Tlf  A:j,nl-n,nT,tl  /nr  .V.  ir  Soul},   irn/j. 

THE    GRAND    ARCHWAY.    JRNOLAN    CAVES.    N.S.W. 
The  three  daylicht  covet,  of  which  the  Grand  Archway  it  an  example,  differ  very  materially  from  the  entirely  aubterranean 
cave*  :    they    are    open    to    the    air    at    both    end*,  and    exposure    to    all    Linda    of    weather  haa  Kivcn    them    moat    of    their    lovely 
colouring    and    aombre    ahadea.     The    tunnel    of    the    Grand    Archway    ia    450    feet    long    and    about    70  leel    hiuh.   with    a   width 
varying   from    35    to    180    feet. 


252 


The  Wonders   of   the    World 


Pfii^fo  hyl 


ITfi'  Phatorhrom  Co.  TJi. 


THE    DEVIL'S    COACH     HOUSE. 


This  vast  cavern,   which   tunnels  through   the  mountain   limestone,   is  of  an  enormous  size.       The  roof  is  decorated  from  end  to 
end  with  stalactites —some   twenty  feet   in  length— which  are  tinged    with  delicate  hues  of  almost  every  colour. 

These  caves  are  situated  in  the  Blue  Mountains  on  the  eastern  watershed  of  the  great  range 
which  divides  the  waters  of  the  Fish  and  Cox  rivers.  They  are  of  vast  extent,  and  of  singular  attrac- 
tiveness in  their  limestone  formations,  and  present,  when  illumined  by  the  electric  and  magnesium 
lights,  scenes  of  unparalleled  loveliness,  rivalling,  in  their  marvellous  and  fantastic  beauty,  the  airy 
fancies  of  the  Arabian  Nights,  and  the  brilliancv  of  Sindbad's  Diamond  Valley. 

The  caves  were  discovered  in  1841  by  a  Mr.  Whalan  and  two  mounted  policemen,  while  in  pur- 
suit of  a  notorious  bushranger,  named  McKeown,  who  had  retired  for  security  into  the  mountain 
strongholds  in  which  the  caves  lie.  For  about  a  quarter  of  a  century  after  their  discovery  little 
or  no  notice  was  taken  of  them.  They  were  regarded  by  the  few  who  frequented  the  neighbourhood 
for  the  purpose  of  hunting  wild  cattle  as  remarkable  freaks  of  Nature,  but  were  allowed  to  remain 
unexplored.  Their  hidden  beauties  soon  became  so  talked  about,  however,  as  to  arouse  the 
enthusiasm  of  a  Mr.  Jeremiah  Wilson,  who,  subsequently,  as  cave-keeper  for  thirty-five  years,  was 
instrumental  in  exploring  and  opening  up  some  twenty'  miles  of  subterranean  channels.  As  the 
fame  of  the  caves  became  bruited  abroad  the  number  of  visitors  rapidly  increased.  Among  them 
there  were  many  who  did  not  scruple  to  remove  portions  as  mementoes,  so  it  soon  became 
evident  that,  unless  something  were  promptly  done  for  their  protection,  their  beauty  would 
quickly  be  destroyed.  The  Government  of  New  South  Wales,  therefore,  took  the  matter  in 
hand,  proclaiming  the  district,  in  1S66,  to  be  public  property,  and,  to  their  infinite  credit, 
have  since  expended,  annually,  considerable  sums  of  money  in  the  work  of  development  and 
exploration. 

The  caves  lie  m  a  limestone  belt,  probably  of  Lower  or  Middle  Devonian  Age,  which  runs  with 


nolo  ij/] 


!iyin.-!i. 


THE    CARLOHA    ARCH. 


The    Cnrlotla    Arch    stands    200    feet    above    the    valley,  and    lies  briwcen   the    Grand    Archway  and    llic    Devil's    Coach    Hjuse. 
Its   roof    ond    sides    are    ornamented    with   a    pretty    frinse    of    blue    and    itrey    limestone    formitionj. 


254 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


a  comparatively  unbroken  crop  for  approximately  three  miles  from  north  to  west,  and  two 
miles  from  south  to  east,  varying  in  thickness  between  five  hundred  and  six  hundred  feet, 
corresponding  to  a  surface  width  between  six  hundred  and  seven  hundred  feet.  Through  this 
formation  two  main  creeks  have  excavated  a  number  of  subterranean  channels,  and  have  thus 
formed  the  caves. 

The  caves  may  be  classified  into  two  kinds — Day  and  Night.  The  Day  Caves  consist  of  three 
magnificent  natural  arches,  viz.,  the  Grand  Arch,  The  Devil's  Coach  House,  and  the  Carlotta  Arch, 
and  are  so  called  on  account  of  the  daylight  streaming  through  their  entrances.     The  Night  Caves, 


{The  Photochrom  Co.  ltd. 
IHE    WILLOWS.    NETTLE    CAVE. 

In    ihc    Nettle    Cave,    at    the    upper    end    of    some    stone    steps    cut    out    of   the    roclc.    are    the    beautiful    green    formations, 
termed    the    Willows,    because    of    the    resemblance    they    bear    to    the    graceful    foliage    of    that    tree. 

of  which  there  are  several,  are  the  interior  caverns  in  the  limestone,  into  which  a  ray  of  natural 
light  has  never  penetrated. 

•The  Grand  Arch  and  the  Devil's  Coach  House,  the  two  principal  Day  Caves,  run  right  through 
the  mountain  limestone,  to  a  depth  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  are  exposed  to  the  daylight 
at  both  extremities. 

The  Grand  Arch  runs  east  and  west.  The  western  entrance  is  seventy  feet  high  and  sixty  feet 
wide,  and,  in  its  graceful  semi-circular  form,  looks  hke  the  approach  to  a  railway  tunnel.  The 
eastern  entrance  widens  out  to  a  span  of  two  hundred  feet,  and  is  a  marvel  of  natural  architecture. 
Along  the  walls  inside  the  Arch  are  caves  running  into  the  limestone  to  a  depth  varying  from  ten 
to  twenty  feet,  the  bottoms  of  which  are  covered  with  fine  dust,  pulverized  from  the  rocks  lying 
about  by  animals  passing  from  one  rocky  hall  to  another.  Midway  between  the  floor  and  the  roof, 
Mr.  Wilson,  the  cave-keeper,  had  his  sleeping-place  for  twenty  years  in  the  midst  of  rock-wallabies. 


Australasia    and   the    Pacific 


255 


Pholo  ('!/] 


[K^rrj/  tt  Co..  .Ct'fi'V. 

THE    STYX. 
Below    "tie     Precipice."    lost    in    inky    darkness,    there 
is    a    deep    chasm,     lerminatini;     in     the     far    distance     in     A 
dismal    pool   whicti   liaa   been   nnn 


" rhe  Styx." 


and  near  to  the  haunt  of  a  Ivre  bird.     There  he 

strewed  his  bed  of  ferns,  grasses,  and  mosses,  and 

certainly   not   even   Robinson  Crusoe   had  a   more 

magnificent  dormitory. 

The  Devil's  Coach  House  runs  north  and  south, 

and  is  therefore  at  right  angles  to  the  Grand  Arch, 

from  which   it  is  separated  only  by  a  few  yards. 

This  huge  cavern,  which  rises  to  a  maximum  height 

of   three  hundred   feet,    or   nearly   as   high   as   tlie 

dome    of    St.    Paul's    Cathedral,    is    a    scene    of 

indescribable  grandeur.    Lying  about  in  the  wildest 

disorder  are  tumbled  blocks  of  limestone,  making 

a  scene  of  such  grand  confusion  as  the  soul  of  a 

Dore  would  love  to  picture  as  the  abode  of  some 

mythical  dragon.     High   up  on  the   roof   are   two 

natural    openings,     probably    blow-holes,    through 

which   water   spouted   in   remote   ages.     Scores  of 

gaps  in  the  roof  and  sides  lead  to  cave  upon  cave, 

the  bottoms  of  which  are  covered  with  bones.     The 

teeth  of    bats,  the  backbones  of    marsupials    and 

snakes,  the  wingbones  of  birds,  and  various  other 
fragments  of  the  animal  world  arc  mi.xed  together 
as  in  a  vast  charnel-house. 

The  Carlotta  Arch,  although  the  smallest  of  the 
three  Day  Caves,  is  by  no  means  the  least  import- 
ant. It  stands  at  an  elevation  of  two  hundred 
feet  above  the  Cave  Valley,  and  makes  a  beautiful 
framework  to  the  bush  and  mountain  scenery 
beyond.  The  jagged  fringe  of  blue  and  grey 
limestone,  and  the  pretty  natural  formation  of  the 
sides,  in  appearance  much  like  hanging  curtains, 
make  the  entrance  to  the  cave  look  like  a  ruined 
window  in  some  grand  monastic  pile,  fretted  and 
scarred  by  centuries  of  decay. 

Conducting  an  underground  survey  into  the 
(ireat  Unknown,  amid  rugged  rocks  and  tortuous 
pathways,  with  nothing  to  illumine  the  Stygian 
darkness  but  the  faint  flicker  of  a  candle  or  the 
rhcmical  rays  of  the  magnesium  light,  can  scarcely 
lie  regarded  as  a  pleasant  pastime.  In  all,  some 
twenty-five  miles  of  underground  channels,  radiating 
in  every  conceivable  direction,  have  been  surveyed; 
bui  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  access  not  all  are  open 
to  public  inspection.  Fortunately,  those  which  are 
not  accessible  are  of  a  minor  character,  and  aggre- 
gate only  a  small  total  of  distances.  How  far  the 
caves  e.xtend,  future  exploration  alone  can  reveal ; 
but,  in  consequence  of  a  peculiar  similarity  in  the 
rocks,    it.   is    believed    that,    in    addition    to    the 


Photo  dv]  [Krrry  .(r  Co.,  .^ydn'V. 

THE     FORMATION     OF    STALAC m  ES. 

Water  filtrrini;  throut^S  ihe  limestone,  deposits  particles 
of  lime  on  the  roof  of  the  cave:  these  gradually  form  an 
extended  tube,  and  when  this  becomes  choked,  the  water 
flows  down  the  outside,  and  the  stalactite  becomes 
encrusted. 


256 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


caves  which  have  already  been  opened,  the  subterranean  channels  continue  for  one  hundred 
and  eighty  miles,  i.e.,  from  Mudgee  to  Goulbourn,  where  the  Wombeyan  Caves  are  situated. 
Although  grandly  picturesque,  the  Day  Caves  differ  as  greatly  from  the  Night,  or  Crystal,  Caves  as  do 
the  pearls  in  a  costly  coronet  from  the  rough  oyster  shells  which  once  concealed  them.  Exposure 
to  all  kinds  of  weather  has  given  to  the  Day  Caves  most  of  the  lovely  colouring  and  sombre  shades 
which  distinguish  them  ;  but  the  Night  Caves,  shut  off  from  all  atmospheric  disturbance,  have 
been  preserved  in  all  their  virgin  purity.     As  it  is  not  possible  in  a  short  description  to  deal  with 

all  the  caves  known,  and  visited 
by  tourists  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  the  principal  ones  only 
can  be  described,  viz.,  the 
Nettle,  the  Arch,  the  Lucas, 
the  River  and  the  Imperial,  all 
of  which  contain  an  intricate 
network  of  chambers,  and  al- 
most every  type  of  limestone 
beauty  to  be  met  with  in  the 
subterranean  world.  With  the 
exception  of  ■'  the  Nettle." 
which  is  partly  exposed  to  the 
daylight,  and,  therefore,  may 
be  called  a  Twilight  Cave, 
the  limestone  deposits,  hidden 
away  in  the  deep  hollows  of 
the  mountain,  are  for  the 
greater  part  as  white  as  driven 
snow,  and  of  the  most  delicate 
and  fragile  nature.  Wherever 
the  eye  rests,  nothing  is  seen 
but  myriads  of  limestone  for- 
mations, streaked  with  the 
most  delicate  colours.  When 
the  electric  and  magnesium 
lights,  which  are  used  for 
illuminating,  are  thrown  on  to 
the  many  crystalline  forma- 
tions, the  effect  is  one  of  be- 
wildering splendour. 

The  Nettle  Cave  was  dis- 
covered in  1845.  The  origin 
of  its  unromantic  title  in- 
cautious visitors  will  quickly 
discover  by  the  abundance  of  stinging  nettles  growing  round  the  entrance.  After  ascending 
a  flight  of  steps  cut  out  of  the  rock,  the  tourist  descends  into  a  chamber,  beneath  a 
magnificent  cluster  of  formations  of  a  bright  green  shade,  called  the  Willows,  as  graceful  in  form 
and  in  harmony  of  colour  as  any  willow  in  Nature.  The  general  appearance  of  the  cavern  is  like  a 
ruined  palace,  or  the  silent  cloisters  of  some  ancient  abbey,  its  gloomy  recesses  and  dim  corners, 
its  rugged  roof  and  walls,  looking  like  the  remnants  of  past  splendour  and  glory.  In  one  part  is  a 
chamber  called  the  Ballroom,  containing  a  number  of  fluted  pillars  looking  like  Corinthian  columns. 


THE    FURZE     BUSHES. 

A    Eood    example    of    the    freakish    archileclure    of    thf 
formations    of    this    type    are    l<nown    as 


■y  .{■  L'o.,  Stjdnry. 


caves.      Unexplainabfe 
M vsteries  " 


Australasia   and   the   Pacific 


257 


while  in  another  the  curious  formation  of  the  stalagmites  into  groups  closely  resembling  partly 
finished  statuary,  have  earned  it  the  name  of  the  Sculptor's  Studio.  The  figures  are  tall  and  rough, 
some  life-size,  some  of  heroic  stature,  and  it  requires  no  effort  of  imagination  to  see  in  them  many 
striking  and  distinct  forms,  such  as  a  woman  looking  upward  in  a  big  bonnet  of  the  early  Victorian 
period ;  an  orator  in  the  act  of  exliortation,  with  one  arm  upraised ;  and  a  man  under  an 
eider-down  quilt,  in  a  calm  sleep,  with  liis  arms  thrown  back  and  his  hands  placed  on  his  head. 
Other  fantastic  resemblances  are  the  Hand  of  Joshua  and  the  Judge's  Wig. 

The  Arch  Cave  was  also  discovered  in  1845,  and  owes  its  name  to  its  being  under  the  Carlotta 
Arch,  and  also  because  it  forms  a  perfect  arcade,  one  hundred  j-ards  in  length.  The  roof  of  the 
cave  is  decked  with  a  rich  profusion  of  stalactite  formations. 

The  manner  in  which  stalactites  and  stalagmites  are  produced  is  simple  and  interesting.  Water 
percolating  through  the  roof  of  a 
limestone  cavern  is  enabled  to 
dissolve  a  small  amount  of  lime 
by  reason  of  the  carbonic  acid  it 
contains.  Upon  evaporation  of  the 
water,  the  lime  is  left  attached  to 
the  roof.  When  the  water  filters 
sufficiently  slowly,  the  lime  is  de- 
posited on  the  roof  in  the  form 
of  a  ring,  or  an  extremely  thin 
layer,  with  a  cavity  in  the  centri 
of  the  diameter  of  the  drop  of 
water.  Whilst  there  is  a  constant 
supply  of  water,  the  process  con- 
tinues, and  produces,  in  the  course 
of  time,  a  tube  more  or  less 
extended.  So  long  as  the  water 
continues  unceasingly  to  flow,  the 
tube  lengthens,  but  so  soon  as  the 
supply  ceases,  the  last  drop,  in 
leaving  its  deposit  of  lime  either 
at  the  top  or  at  the  bottom, 
blocks  it,  and  in  this  way  the 
tube  becomes  sealed.  In  times  <■! 
moisture  the  water  again  flows, 
but  finding  no  outlet,  either  at 
the  top  or  the  bottom  of  the 
tube,  makes  its  escape  at  the 
weakest  place,  which  is  usually 
where  the  stalactite  is  joined  to 
the  roof.  Encrustation  then  takes 
place  on  the  outside.  When  the 
water  drips  slowly  to  the  floor, 
the  lime  deposited  forms  a  sta- 
lagmite    on     the     spot      where      the  r/u>lo  i,ii  permimoti  u/]  lTI,r  Ajem-Urnti^tfor  ytiM^uHtWulrt. 

drops  of  water  fall  and  evaporate.  the   grand  column. 

.  I   .  r  .-  A    mammoth     fluted     •taloemite   of    an   amber    tint,    supported    by   a    second 

At     times     this     forms      continuous  ^^,_^^„     ,^^^    „^.^^    ,^^    cr,.,.lli„e    floor,    dc.ccd  m   .r.cdul    curve.   ..  . 

sheets     over     the     floor,     and    a       bc.uiifui  bower. 

18 


258 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


stalagmite  floor  results  ;    or    it   rises   into  columns,    which   meet   and   unite   with   the  stalactites 
above. 

In  the  centre  of  the  Arch  Cave  is  a  slender  column  tapering  from  the  roof  to  the  floor.  At  one 
time  there  were  five  pillars  as  perfect  as  the  one  which  remains,  but  in  i860  they  were  hacked  down 
by  someone  to  place  as  verandah  posts  in  front '  of  his  sumptuous  log-hut !  In  this  cave  there 
are  two  small  stalactites  of  exceptional  interest,  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and 
barely  an  inch  in  length,  which  have  been  under  constant  observation  for  thirty-five   years.     As 

they  have  never  been  dry,  and  no 
water  has  been  seen  to  drop,  they 
have  consequently  never  ceased 
growing,  and  yet  the  actual  addi- 
tion to  the  stalactite  has  only 
been  three-quarters  of  an  inch. 
The  rate  of  growth  of  the  stalag- 
mite deposits  is  appallingly  slow, 
and  affords  a  striking  object  lesson, 
not  only  of  the  enormous  age  of 
the  caves,  but  of  the  globe  upon 
which  we  live.  Mr.  Voss  Wiburd, 
who  is  the  present  curator  of  the 
caves,  was  born  and  bred  in  the 
Blue  Mountains.  He  has  been  in 
and  out  of  the  caves  nearly  all  his 
life,  and  computes,  from  careful 
observations  extending  over  a  great 
length  of  time,  that  the  rate  of 
increase  does  not  exceed  the  thick- 
ness of  a  sheet  of  notepaper  in 
thirty-five  years,  or  about  one 
inch  in  two  thousand  five  hundred 
years.  This  is  the  evidence  of  a 
practical  geologist,  whose  know- 
ledge of  limestone  caves,  and 
especially  of  the  peculiar  structure 
of  stalactites,  is  unlimited. 

The  growth  of  the  formations 
depends,  among  other  conditions, 
largely  on  the  temperature,  the 
degree  of  moisture,  and  the 
amount  of  carbonate  of  lime  in 
the  water.  The  mean  temperature 
in  the  caves  is  about  fifty-two  degrees  Fahrenheit.  The  fonnations  are  by  no  means  constituted 
on  any  given  plan.  Every  variety  of  shape  and  complexity  of  form  is  found,  accordingly 
as  the  water  becomes  distributed,  such  as  columns,  domes,  pinnacles,  minarets,  temples, 
cathedrals,  canopies,  shawls,  draperies,  and  contorted  forms  known  as  "  Mysteries."  The  rich 
tints  and  shades  which  lend  such  a  charm  to  the  formations  are  due  partly  to  atmospheric 
influence  (especially  near  the  entrances),  although  the  filtering  drops  of  water,  charged  with 
mineral  matter,  have  effected  a  great  deal  towards  the  harmonious  and  delicate  colouring 
of  the  whole. 


PfiOto  by  permtssion  o/] 


[7%«  Ayent -General  for  Neu  South  Waifs. 
THE    SHAWL. 

This  beautiful  formation  is  situated  in  tfie  Mons  Meg  Branch.  It  is 
superbly  banded,  but  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  its  size,  measuring  twentv  feet 
by    four   feet. 


I'aifiti-il  hy  G.  H.  K</uvir,/s 


I'luilo  hy  lii-rry  <•;  0>..  Syi/iic). 


THE  BROKEN  COLUMN.  LUCAS  CAVE,  JENOLAN. 


The  Broken X^olumn  is  surrounded  by  tinted  draperies  and  sparklint:  stalactites.  At  one  time  it  was  a  Krand  pillar  iiiniin^  nwf  and  floor, 
but  snapped  in  two  by  the  sinking  of  the  soil  beneath,  it  now  consists  of  two  sections,  the  one  separated  from  the  other  by  a  space  of 
ten  inches. 


I'hntn  bt/l 


THE    TEMPLE    OF    BAAL. 


In  the  centre  of  thin  maenificent  chamber  there   ttand*  a  superb  Rliatenint;  and  pure   white  stalaemile  man.   thirty   feel   acro4«      On 
either  side   white  and  reddish   shawls  ore   haneins  from  chocolate-tinted   walls,   which   cuive  upwards   to  a   lofly  dome. 


26o 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


The  Lucas  Cave  was  discovered 
in  i860,  and  consists  of  a  suc- 
cession of  large  chambers  and 
narrow  passages. 

One  of  the  most  majestic  in 
the  Jenolan  domain,  this  cave 
is  in  the  region  of  eternal  mid- 
night. It  presents  in  grand 
combination  almost  every  type  of 
limestone  beauty ;  and  although 
the  wealth  of  detail  is  less  than 
in  the  Imperial  Cave,  one  is 
awed  by  the  magnitude  of  its 
chambers  and  the  gloomily  im- 
pressive outline  of  the  deep  re- 
cesses and  tumbled  rocks.  The 
first  cavern,  named  the  Cathedral, 
is  so  vast  that  the  rich  chemical 
rays  of  the  magnesium  light  fail 
to  penetrate  its  vault ;  approxi- 
mately, it  is  three  hundred  feet 
high,  or  seventy  feet  higher  than 
Notre  Dame.  Its  lofty  dome 
provides  sanctuary  for  countless 
numbers  of  bats,  which  cling 
together  like  swarms  of  bees. 

Another  chamber  of  huge  di- 
mensions, leading  out  of  the 
Cathedral,  is  the  Exhibition  Cave, 
so  called  on  account  of  the  great 
variety  of  its  specimens.  This 
cave  has  an  unsupported  roof,  four 
hundred  feet  in  length,  enveloped  in  a  mysterious  and  soundless  gloom.  The  unresponsive  echo  of 
the  place  is  almost  painful,  the  only  sounds  apparently  audible  being  one's  quickened  respiration  and 
the  ticking  of  one's  watch.  An  object  of  universal  interest  is  the  Broken  Column,  a  beautifully 
fluted  piUar,  which  at  one  time  united  the  floor  and  the  roof,  and  which  is  not  even  now  shorn  of 
beauty,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  some  earth  movement  or  sinking  of  the  floor  has  fractured  it  at  the 
base.  The  stalagmitic  portion  rests  on  a  large  rock,  the  stalactitic  portion  being  suspended  from 
the  roof.     They  are  ten  inches  apart  and  about  four  inches  out  of  plane. 

Between  the  Cathedral  and  the  Exhibition  is  the  Shawl  Cave,  a  magnificent  chamber,  the  roof 
of  which  slopes  at  an  angle  of  forty-three  degrees.  Hanging  in  graceful  folds  from  the  sloping  roof 
is  a  group  of  "  shawls  "  as  white  as  virgin  snow,  fifteen  feet  wide  and  twenty  feet  deep,  and  of  this 
kind  of  ornamentation  the  Imperial  Cave  contains  the  finest  specimens.  They  are  usually  produced 
by  the  water  flowing  along  an  inclined  plane. 

Among  a  multiplicity  of  dazzhng  and  bewildering  formations  the  Jewel  Casket  attracts 
special  interest  by  its  exquisite  beauty.  It  is  only  one  foot  square  and  six  feet  long,  and  is 
hidden  away  in  a  small  cryptic  recess  four  feet  above  the   level  of  the  main  floor. 

The  scene  which  bursts  upon  the  senses,  when  the  light  is  flashed  on,  is  like  a  vision  of 
fairyland.      The    ceiling   is    literally   covered    with    tiny  glistening  pendants   of  the   most  fragile 


Photo  hy permission  of^  [Thf  Agfnt-Gfnfral  for  .Yrw  &)rtth  Wales, 

THE    SKELETON    CAVE. 

In  this  cave    there    is  a    skeleton     of    an    Australian    aboriginal.       It    is    difficult  to 
account   for  its  presence  at   such  a  depth. 


Australasia   and   the   Pacific 


261 


nature,  and  the  walls  and 
floor  are  a  mass  of  beauti- 
fully coloured  crystals,  whicli 
look  in  the  reflected  light 
like  a  rich  and  rare  collection 
of  gems. 

At  the  end  of  the  Exhibi- 
tion Cave  an  iron  bridge  spans 
a  j'awning  chasm  about  fifty 
feet  deep ;  below  the  bridge 
an  electric  light  illumines  the 
clear  waters  of  a  still  and 
silent  pool  from  sixteen  to 
twentj'  feet  deep.  The  pool 
is  connected  with  the  water 
way  which  drains  the  belt  of 
limestone  on  the  south  side  of 
the  Jenolan  River  and  forms 
many  of  the  caverns  in  the 
River  Cave. 

Looking  across  the  vast 
chasm  at  the  huge  rocks  lying 
piled  one  over  the  other,  the 
scene  is  weird  and  wild  in  the 
extreme.  Leading  out  from 
the  Exhibition  Cave  is  the 
Lurline  Cave. 

The  discovery  of  the 
"  River "  branches  of  the 
Lucas  Cave  in  1903- 1904  has 
added  over  half  a  mile  of 
caverns  of  unrivalled  beaut\- 
and  grandeur  to  the  revealed 
treasures  of  the  Wonderland 
of  Jenolan.  In  his  book  on 
the  Caves,  Mr.  0.  Trickett 
informs  us  that  the  branches 
are  all  contained  in  the  sj'stem 
of  channels  which  have  been 
excavated  by  the  waters  un- 
derground, and  running  from 
south  to  north,  find  their  wa\- 
through  the  western  bank  of 
the  Jenolan  River,  opposite 
the  outlet  of  the  underground 
waters  of  the  Imperial  Caves. 
Starting  from  a  point  about 
twenty-five  feet  from  the 
western    end    of     the    Lucas 


nmu  (,)/]  \_Kfrr\)  *  Co.,  .Syrfiify. 

GRANNN'S    SHAWL.    ORIENT    CAVE, 

This  formntisn.   in   ih.;   Orient   Cove,   bears  a   tlrikintE    reHcmblance   to  a    folded    ahawl    ol 
»o(t   woollen  texture,  complete  even  to  the  knot*  and  frinvei. 


262 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Bridge,  a  descent  is  made  to  the  mammoth  tumbled  rocks  forming  the  floor  of  the  Exhibition 
Cavern.  From  here  a  pathway  leads  down  to  the  present  waterway,  and  an  ascent  is  tlien  made  into 
the  Tower  Chambers.  In  these  there  are  groups  of  beautifully  tinted  pillars,  superb  cream- 
coloured  stalagmites,  forming  terraces,  and  including  that  named  The  Minaret.  (An  illustration 
of  this  beautiful  pillar   appears  in  the  Introduction.) 

A  ledge  at  the  end  of  the  Tower  overhangs  the  precipice,  which  terminates  in  a  partly  concealed 
pool,  varying  in  depth  from  thirty-five  to  forty-five  feet,  according  to  the  season  of  the  year.     From 

this  ledge  a  weird  and  awe-inspiring 
scene  is  presented  to  the  spectator ; 
sombre  walls,  whose  contour  is  lost 
in  inky  darkness,  surround  a  chasm 
which  seems  to  terminate  in  the  far 
distance  in  a  dismal  pool,  called  the 
Styx. 

Proceeding  thence  to  the  Junction 
Cliamber,  the  Shower  of  Shawls  comes 
into  view.  This  beautiful  formation  is 
one  of  the  many  amber  and  chocolate 
tinted  mantles  which  decorate  and 
drape  a  series  of  rounded  ledges. 

Leaving  the  Shower  of  Shawls,  a 
network  of  passages  is  traversed,  which 
leads  to  the  Furze  Bushes.  Deposits 
of  clean  sand  carpet,  in  a  fitting  way, 
tlie  approach  to  Olympia.  In  this 
gorgeous  chamber  the  central  figure 
is  the  Grand  Column,  a  mammoth 
amber-tinted,  fluted  stalagmite,  sup- 
ported by  a  secondary  column,  from 
the  base  of  which  the  crystalline  floors 
descend  in  graceful  curves  to  a  sym- 
metrical mantle  hanging  over  a  beau- 
tiful bower.  All  round  the  Grand 
Column  there  are  pillars,  stalactites, 
shawls  and  draped  recesses,  some 
majestic  and  imposing,  others  dimin- 
utive, but  all  resplendent  in  shining 
tints  of  varied  hues. 

Tlie  "  Mons  Meg"  branch  is  an 
upper  chamber  running  from  the 
formation  referred  to  as  the  "  Shower 
of  Shawls  "  to  Olympia.  It  is  lofty  in  places — upwards  of  forty  feet — and  is  named  from 
a"  huge  fallen  pillar  twenty-two  feet  long  and  five  feet  in  diameter,  which  lies  on  the  floor 
like  some  ancient  dismantled  cannon.  Near  this  pillar  there  are  some  beautiful  terraced 
stalagmites,  and  a  superb  Banded  Shawl,  twenty  feet  long  and  four  feet  broad,  which  is  especially 
interesting  on  account  of  its  unusual  size.  Looking  back  from  a  point  above  these  formations,  a 
splendid  group  of  shawls,  in  tints  varying  from  a  delicate  amber  to  a  deep  chocolate,  are 
revealed  by  the  magnesium  lamp. 

The  Temple  of  Baal  is  the  Western  brancli,  which  leaves  the  River  Cave  a  short  distance  from 


nolo  byl  IKerry  Jj  Co.,  Sydney. 

SUSPENDED    CRYSTALS.    ORIENT    CAVE. 


Photo  by] 


IKrrry  J:  Co.,  Sydney. 


LYRE     BIRDS-    NEST.    ORIENT    CAVE. 


Thi»  elistcnine  maas  of  Blolaclilic  formation  is  one  of  ihs  most  beautiful  examplci  of  "the  Mystery"  type.  Imperceptibly 
liay  ribs  of  lime  with  water  are  grudually  adding  further  pieces,  each  doing  ihcir  own  tittle  pari  lo  make  on  even  more 
detailed    and    dazzling    whole. 


264 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


THE    "GIANT    SAPPHIRES."    ORIENT    CAVE. 


lAfrry  &  ty.,  ^yaney. 


the  Furze  Bushes.  It  is  two  hundred  feet  long  and  reaches  a  width  of  sixty  feet  and  a  height  of 
eighty  feet.  In  the  centre  there  is  a  superb  glistening  and  pure  white  stalagmitic  mass  thirty  feet 
across  ;  on  eitlier  side  white  and  reddish  banded  shawls  of  great  length  hang  from  chocolate- 
tinted  walls,  which  curve  upwards  to  a  lofty  dome. 

The  Oriental  Cave  is  an  upper  branch  of  the  River  Cave,  which  rises  from  near  the  Furze 
Bushes,  and  runs  in  a  southerly  and  south-westerly  direction. 

After  climbing  up  sparkling  frozen  cascades,  past  crystal  walls,  and  a  beautiful  canopy  richly 
festooned  in  twisted  lime  sprays,  a  halt  is  made  at  a  glorious  basin,  whose  floor  and  sides  are  formed 
of  masses  and  bunches  of  amber  crystals.  In  the  ascent  over  crystalline  floors,  along  the  \\'estern 
branch,  many  beautiful  cream  and  amber  tinted  dripstones  are  passed,  among  which  a  folded  shawl, 
like  soft  wool  in  texture,  with  knots  and  fringes,  is  a  special  feature. 

Rising  over  a  ledge  canopied  by  the  Diamond  Wing,  a  passage  of  over  two  hundred  feet  in 
length  runs  southerly.  It  is  complete  from  end  to  end  wdth  a  succession  of  enchanting  bowers  and 
grottos,  decked  with  tendrils,  garlands  and  festoons.  Occasionally  a  be-ribboned  garland  seems 
to  glisten  with  a  silvery  radiance.  Close  inspection  shows  this  to  be  due  to  tiny  ribs  of  lime  charged 
with  water  which  are  silently  yet  imperceptibly  adding  further  floral  tributes,  "  The  ever-playing 
shuttles  which  weave  the  fairy  fabric." 

Proceeding  down  the  Underground  River  from  the  ladder  leading  to  the  Main  River  Cave,  an 
entry  to  the  Skeleton  Cave  is  found  on  the  eastern  bank.  About  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  from 
the  entrance,  the  skeleton  of  an  aboriginal  lies  partly  embedded  in  the  stalagmitic  floor.  It  has 
probably  lain  in  its  present  position  for  a  period  extending  long  before  the  colonization  of  Australia. 
How  the  unfortunate  man  got  there  is  difficult  to  conjecture,  knowing  the  antipathy  the  Australian 


Australasia   and   the    Pacific 


265 


mm:' 


aboriginal  has  to  enter  any  place  where  the  dayhght  is  excluded.  It  appears  possible  that  he  fell 
through  the  opening  from  the  face  of  the  chff  up  in  the  Cathedral,  thence  groping  in  the  intense 
darkness,  he  must  have  rolled  and  tumbled  into  the  Bone  Cave,  and  from  thence  through  a  chasm, 
which  appears  to  have  existed  at  no  distant  date,  immediately  above  where  the  skeleton  now  lies. 

The  Imperial  Cave  was  discovered  in  1879.  For  exquisite  beauty  and  the  delicacy  of  its 
limestone  deposits  it  is  not  only  the  finest  in  the  Jenolan  district,  but  is  unsurpassed  by  any  other 
cave  in  the  world.  It  is  divided  into  two  branches,  viz.,  right  and  left,  and  consists  of  a 
labyrinth  of  passages  and  chambers,  twisting  and  tw  ning  in  every  direction  for  miles  through 
the  mountain  limestone.  Through  a  gloomy  tunnel  below  the  general  level  of  the  floor  flows 
the  Underground  River,  car- 
ving out  of  the  raw  material 
its  beautiful  subterranean  chan- 
nels. In  a  compact  array,  a 
thousand  marvels  glitter  in  the 
electric  rays  ;  lovely  stalactites 
and  stalagmites  in  endless 
profusion,  alabaster  columns, 
sparkling  limestone  waterfalls 
and  cascades,  lilhputian  cities, 
caskets  of  rich  jewels,  recesses 
and  grottos  filled  with  crystals 
of  many  hues,  and  shawls  and 
draperies  of  wondrous  fabric 
like  delicate  lace.  Many  of  the 
formations  are  as  white  as  the 
foam  of  a  storm-tossed  billow  ; 
some  are  delicately  coloured  in 
brown  or  yellow,  or  in  deep 
red.  while  others  are  resplen- 
dent in  all  blended  tints  of  tlic 
rainbow. 

Where  all  are  so  beautiful 
it  is  difficult  to  make  a  com- 
parison, but  among  others 
which  may  be  marked  for 
special  distinction  are  Tlw 
Madonna  and  Child,  a  pure 
white  stalagmite,  resembling  a 
woman  carrying  an  infant  in 
her  right  arm ;  the  Snoie 
Drijt,  looking  as  crisp  and 
sparkling  as  if  a  hea\-3'  fall  of 
snow  had  just  descended ; 
Lot's  Wife,  a  remarkable  im- 
itation of  the  Pillar  of  Salt 
on  the  Dead  Sea  plains ; 
Crystal  Cities — a  magnificent 
creation — looking  from  the  dis- 
tance like  a    dazzling  Oriental 


.■.yiifi^y. 


GRAND    STALACTITES.    IMPERIAL    CAVE. 

Thcae  ■talactiter.  of  maftive  Krandeur  and  of  dazzlinR  whitenei*.  are  frinsed  al 
the  lop  with  a  aupcrb  drapery:  two  enormous  columnt  on  either  tide  reat  on  a  aolid 
liTncBlonc   base. 


266     "1 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


city,  whose  miniature  walls,  fortifications  and  buildings  are  of  the  purest  crystal ;  and  the 
Grand  Stalactites  of  massive  grandeur,  and  of  dazzling  whiteness,  fringed  at  the  top  with  a 
superb  stalactite  drapery,  and  flanked  on  each  side  with  an  enormous  column,  which  rests  on  a 
limestone  base  that  sparkles  like  diamond  drift. 

One  of  the  most  marvellous  spectacles  of  water  sculpture  is  a  superb  creamy  white  canopy 
of  a  nondescript  character,  projecting  eight  feet  from  the  wall,  called  The  Mystery.  It 
is  embellished  with  an  endless  variety  of  stalactites,  many  being  as  fine  as  the  filaments  of 
a  spider's  web,  others  like  spun  glass,  the  whole  complex  mass  looking  more  like  the 
freak  of  a  glass-blower  than  anything  else ;  moreover,  contrary  to  the  law  of  gravitation,  it 
sometimes  travels  upward,  at  other  times  grows  horizontally,  or  takes  a  twist  and  then  descends 
in  a  perfectly  straight  line.  The  Furze  Bushes  and  the  Lyre  Birds'  Nest  in  the  River  Cave  are 
other  examples  of  the  "  Mystery  "  type.  Currents  of  air  effect  formations  in  various  ways,  causing 
some  to  grow  obliquely,  others  to  assume  a  warty-looking  form,  others  to  thicken  more  on  one 
side  than  another.  Whether  air  currents  have  influenced  the  "  Mystery  "  it  is  difficult  to  say. 
Perhaps  future  scientific  investigation  may  reveal  the  secret. 


CHAPTER   X. 

Whakaretvaretva. — At  the  very  heart  of  the  North  Island  of  New  Zealand,  on  a  tableland 
varying  from  one  thousand  to  fifteen  hundred  feet  above  the  sea  level,  and  occupying  an  area  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in  length  and  from  ten  to  fifteen  miles  in  breadth,  may  be  seen  the 
greatest  geyserland  in  the  world.  White  Island,  in  the  Bay  of  Plenty,  on  the  east  coast,  may  be 
considered  its  most  northerly  point,  whilst  it  extends  south-west  to  Mount  Ruapehu,  a  snow-clad 
mountain  near  the  centre  of  the  island. 

The   whole   territory   within   th's  space  is  teeming  with  wonderful  sights,   the   plateau   being 


f/iuto  by} 


[-/.  Martin,  Auckland. 


WHAKAREWAREWA.    NEW    ZEALAND. 


Whakarewarewa  is  a  smdtl  Maori  village  two  miles  south  of  Rotorua.  the  very  centre  of  Geyserland.  A  thick  white 
fog  of  steam,  enshrouding  everything,  creeps  out  of  countless  holes  which  perforate  the  earth's  surface,  and  finally  loses  itself 
in  the  air  above. 


268 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


pitted  with  deep  wells  in 
the  earth's  crust  as  thickly 
as  the  holes  in  a  sieve  ; 
while  to  break  the  monotony, 
if  the  word  may  be  used  in 
such  surroundings,  volcanic 
mountains  rise  in  wild  and 
broken  outline. 

Countless  boiling  springs, 
escaping  from  the  earth's 
interior,  burst  on  all  sides  ; 
beautiful  clear  blue  waters 
of  heated  lakelets  contrast 
themselves  with  the  white 
and  brown  cones  of  geysers  ; 
and  with  its  fumaroles, 
volcanoes,  and  ever  bub- 
bling mud-springs,  the  whole 
stretch  of  country  possesses 
a  mass  of  marvels  which 
perhaps  cannot  find  its 
equal  anywhere  in  the 
world. 

In  the  very  heart  of  all 
this  activity  is  Whakare- 
warewa,  a  small  Maori 
village  two  miles  south  of 
Rotorua,  the  very  centre 
of  Geyserland.  Around  this 
district  may  be  seen  an 
endless  variety  of  Nature's 
extraordinary  handiwork, 
and  wandering  through  it 
is  an  experience  never  for- 
gotten. One  is  overawed 
by  the  great  hidden  power 
which  yet  manifests  itself 
on  every  side.  The  whole 
outlook  is  weird  and  even 
terrifying  ;  it  impresses  one 
with  its  might  and  one's 
own  complete  helplessness. 
A  thick  white  fog  of 
steam,  enshrouding  every- 
thing, creeps  out  of  the 
thousands  of  holes  which 
perforate  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  and,  chnging  to  the  dwarf  rocks,  rises,  and  is  wafted  gradually  away  to  lose  itself 
in   the   air.       It  is  this    cloud-like    mist,    enveloping    everything    and  filling   the   air    with   the 


Pholo  hy permission  of]  [77,,  A,jm-Umeral /or  Neui  Zmland. 

A    fine    view    of    Wairoa    hurling    its    boiling    water    into    the    heavens. 


Australasia   and   the   Pacific 


269 


fumes  of  sulphur,  that  more  than  anything  else,  perhaps,  renders  the  whole  atmosphere 
uncanny  and  full  of  mystery.  One  would  imagine  that  no  vegetation  could  exist  in  this 
heated  soil  with  the  turmoil  all  around  it ;  but  the  manuka  scrub  grows  on  quite  disconcert- 
ingly, and  may  be  seen  spreading  itself  everywhere  in  small  patches  between  the  geyser 
basins.  The  leaves  and  branches,  however,  lose  their  greenness  and  become  tinted  a  yellowish 
bro\vn  by  the  spray  from  the  surrounding  geysers,  and  the  hot  fumes  cause  the  leaves  to  shrivel 
somewhat.  On  every  side  the  surface  of  the  ground  is  broken  and  curled  up  into  fantastic  forms.  In 
one  direction  lies  a  great  grey  mass  of  molten  lava  ;  in  another,  a  huge  deposit  of  brown  mud  ; 
whilst  strewn  everyvvhere  are  small  rocks  and  stones  beautifully  tinted  with  different  hues,  mostly 
of  a  yellowish  and  grey-white  colour.  To  many,  one  of  the  most  interesting  spots  is  that  where 
smaller  jets  and  constantly  bubbling  fountains  have  produced  an  exquisite,  widely-cur\'ing  terrace 
of  numberless  shades  of  delicate  colour,  from  a  washed-out  yellow  to  a  pale  green. 

This  terrace  slopes  to  the  sulphurous  waters  of  the  clear  Puarenga,  a  cold  stream  winding  its 
way  in  its  narrow  channel  regardless  of  the  heated  springs  around. 

Next  to  an  extinct  geyser  is  a  rude  circular  basin,  known  as  Te  Komutumutu,  "  the  Brain 
Pot,"  standing  alone  on  a  raised  platform  of  decomposing  geyserite.  There  is  an  interesting  but 
yet  horrible  history  attached  to  this,  taking  one's  thoughts  back  to  the  days  of  cannibalism. 
Legend  says  that  a  chief  named  Te  Tukutuku  hid  from  his  enemies  for  two  years  in  a  cave  near 
Waikite.  After  this  time  had  elapsed,  however,  his  enemies  succeeded  in  finding  him,  and  having 
put  him  to  death,  they  then  cooked  his  brains  in  Te  Komutumutu  and  ate  them. 


Photo  bypermUtion  of} 


[Tftf  Agenl-Qeneral  for  A''* 


THE    MOUTH    OF    WAIROA    GEYSER. 
This  is  an  excellent  example  of  the  white  ailicateci  formationt.  worn  tmoolh  by  frequent  eruptiana.  which    aurrouikJ  the 

funnel-like  mouth  of  a  z^yt^t. 


270 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Not  far  from  this  "  Pot  "  is  Waikorohihi,  the  most  regularly  active  geyser  in  the  valley.  Rather 
nearer  to  the  stream  the  great  Pohutu  plays,  fed  daily  by  Te  Horo,  a  deep  well  of  boiling  water 
about  eighteen  feet  in  diameter  by  its  side.  The  beautiful  blue  waters  of  this  well  are  continually 
rising  and  sinking,  giving  off  swirling  clouds  of  steam  as  they  boil  furiously.  When  the  water  has 
reached  its  highest,  its  surface  is  covered  with  countless  bubbles  forming  and  bursting,  and  little 
fountains  rise  in  the  air  and  fall  again  in  a  shower  upon  the  geyserite  surrounding  them.  Then 
suddenly  the  overwhelming  column  of  Pohutu  is  thrown  skyward  to  a  height,  often,  of  one  hundred 
feet  from  the  depths  of  its  crater  below  :  a  magnificent  thrust  of  water  and  steam,  sometimes 
maintained  for  over  three  hours. 

Not  far  away  is  the  little  "  Kereru,"  with  its  thousand  tiny  steps  forming  terraces  of  gorgeous 
hues  on  one  side  and  a  small  cliff  of  geyserite  on  the  other. 

Below,  at  the  foot  of  the  hindmost  terrace,  one  has  a  view  of  "  The  Torpedo,"  keeping  up  its 
series  of  thundering  and  crackling  noises  and  occasionally  shooting  up  a  column  of  mud  ;  while  a 
short  distance  away,  on  a  large  terraced  cone  of  gleaming  white  silica,  rock-streaked  here  and  there 
with  various  faint  colours,  the  Waikite  geyser  spouts  away,  its  waters  heavily  charged  with  the  silica 
which  by  artificial  means  has  been  made  to  spread  over  a  very  large  surface.  This  has  been  done  in 
the  hope  that,  as  time  advances,  the  area  around  the  geyser  will  be  coated  with  a  delightful  enamel, 
and  eventually  form  a  terrace  similar  to  the  famous  Pink  and  White  Terraces  at  Rotomahana,  which 
were  so  unfortunately  destroyed  by  the  eruption  of  1886. 

Not  far  from  the  "  Waikite,"  but  higher  up  the  creek,  stands  "The  Giant's  Cauldron,"  a  very 
fierce  and  active  crater,  and  in  a  lower  part  of  the  valley  Te  Roto-a-Tamaheke,  a  great  boiling 
pond  some  four  hundred  feet  long,  bubbles  away,  filling  the  air  with  a  thick,  heavy  cloud.      In 
the  centre  is  a  little  geyser   incessantly  casting  up   its   tiny  "  shot  "   and  supplying  Te  Roto-a- 
Tamaheke  with  water  from 
its  bed. 

There  is  still  one  more 
sight  in  this  district  which, 
on  account  of  its  import- 
ance, must  be  particularly 
noted.  On  pages  267-8-9 
Nvill  be  found  photos  of  the 
great  "  Wairoa  Geyser." 
Irregular  in  action,  and 
seldom  seen,  it  is  truly 
magnificent  when  in  play, 
a  huge  column  of  water 
being  shot  from  its  enor- 
mous mouth  to  a  height 
which  rivals  even  that  of 
Pohutu. 

Although  Wairoa  plays 
very  seldom  of  its  own 
accord,  visitors  may  occa- 
sionally have  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  its  column  of 
water  forced  into  the  skies 
by  artificial  means. 

On  special  occasions 
leave     may     be    obtained 


Th 


Photo  by  permission  oJ'\ 

THE 

hows    how    the    water,  he 
forms  bcautifull 


[;■/,'■  A\jeni-(ifneral  for  liew  Zealand. 

GEYSER    KERERU. 

ly    charged    with    silica    from  the  geyser    cone, 
inted  terraces  around  the  geyser  cones. 


adua 


272 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


from  the  Government  Tourist  Department  in  Wellington  to  dose  the  geyser  with .  soap  ;  but 
this  is  very  rarely  granted,  for  the  reason  that  the  constant  throwing  of  soap  into  its  mouth 
often  causes  a  geyser  to  cease  playing  altogether.  This  process  of  "soaping"  is  a  very  interesting 
one,  and  is  one  well  worth  describing. 

A  certain  date  having  been  fixed  and  agreed  to  by  the  Government,  notice  is  given  to  the  town 
that  Wairoa  is  going  to  be  "  soaped,"  and  the  fascinating  operation  commences.  A  quantity  of 
soap  is  first  of  all  cut  up  into  small  pieces  ;  then,  when  everyone  is  ready,  the  whole  is  thrown 
into  the  gurgling  basin.  If  one  looks  over  the  cone  immediately  after  this,  rumbling  noises  from 
the  heated  mass  will  be  heard,  while  at  the  same  time  it  will  be  seen  that  lather  is  beginning    to 

form. 

After  this,  it  is  unsafe  to  remain  near  the  cone  any  longer,  as  the  geyser  may  begin  to  spout 
at  any  moment,  everything  depending  upon  the  actual  temperature  that  there  happens  to  be  at 
the  time  in  the  well  below.     After  some  minutes  water  will  bubble  over  the  basin's  sides  and  small 

fountains  will  be  lifted  a 
few  feet.  Then  follows  a 
tremendous  roar  as  the 
column  from  Wairoa  is  hurled 
up  to  a  height  of  over 
a  hundred  feet,  its  waters 
coming  down  with  a  tre- 
mendous splash  around  the 
geyser  cone  below,  its  spray 
scattered  with  the  wind  in 
all  directions.  Then  the 
monster  gradually  ceases,  and 
losing  its  power,  settles  down 
again  in  its  ugly  basin  once 
more  to  carry  on  its  grumb- 
lings amidst  the  heated 
atmosphere  around. 

Fires  would  certainly 
seem  out  of  place  in  such  a 
district  as  that  just  described, 
and  the  Maoris  are  not  slow 
to  make  use  of  Nature's  sub- 
stitute. Frequently  one  will 
come  across  them  washing 
in  the  naturally  warm  waters 
of  a  spring  or  lake,  and 
using  the  hot  soil  and  steam- 
holes  for  cooking  their  meals. 
In  the  midst  of  so  much 
that  is  mysterious.  Geyser- 
land,  as  one  would  imagine, 
is  full  of  romance  and  teem- 
ing with  Maori  legends.  The 
Geysers  are  the  sacred  fires 
"  of  Ngatoroirangi,"  the 
wizard-priest    of    the    Arawa 


[.^  Mijrtin,  Auckland. 

Its    overwhelminB 
to    a    height    of    100    feet    from    its    crater    below. 


nolo  ty] 

POHUTU    GEYSER. 

Pohutu    is    one    of    the    most    powerful    geysers    in    that    district 
"shot"    is    often    ihrov 


Australasia    and   the   Pacific 


273 


Vfujto  by  i>frini44\on  of^  \^T)if  Af/^nl -General /or  yea  Zealatui. 

"AORANGI."    OR     MOUNT    COOK. 

Aoransi    is   the   KigKrst    of    the   magnificent    erouD   of    peaks   and    sierras   of    the   Southern    Alps,    Soiith    Island,    New    Zealand. 
Cliff    mounted    on    cliff,    and    icefield    on    icefield.    Aoranei    soars    12,349    feet    hieh. 

Canoe,  and  to  the  biggest  of  them  poems  are  dedicated.  Many  a  fairy-tale  is  told  of  the 
spouting  springs,  and  every  deep  pool  claims  its  own  particular  taniwha  or  ngarara,  a  mythic 
dragon-like  monster  whose  origin  dates  back  to  time  immemorial.  There  is  a  very  favourite  Maori 
legend  that,  when  the  moon  disappears  each  month,  she  goes  to  the  great  Lake  of  Aewa,  and  in 
the  Wai-ora-a-Tane  ("  The  Living  Waters  of  Man  "),  bathes  to  renew  her  strength  and  prepare 
her  for  the  next  month's  work  of  travelling  again  over  her  accustomed  way  through  the  heavens. 
This  myth  has  a  modern  application,  for  in  the  warm  pools  Maoris  are  wont  to  stand  and  bathe 
themselves  daily.  Nor  is  such  bathing  confined  to  the  Maoris,  for  the  waters  are  believed  by  many 
to  have  great  healing  qualities,  and  they  are  now  used  by  thousands  of  people  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  who  come  to    be  strengthened  by  the  mineral-charged  waters  of  Geyserland, 

The  Southern  Alps. — ^That  sublime  range  of  mountains,  the  Southern  Alps,  runs  for  over 
three  hundred  miles  through  the  South  Island  westward,  dominating  with  their  superb  ice-peaks 
and  snow  domes  the  great  Canterbury  plains,  whose  mighty  and  swift  rivers  are  fed  at  their 
glaciers,  and  whose  blue  ice-lakes  are  nursed  in  their  arms,  their  dazzling  summits  silver  and  purple 
and  blue,  their  lower  ranges  densely  clothed  with  forest  and  fringed  with  flowers,  .\mong  the 
ranges  of  Southern  Westland,  untrodden  forests  climb  to  vast  snowfields  ;  cascades  tumble  and 
thunder  into  deep  ravines,  blue  lakes  covered  with  bright-plumed  ducks — sapphires  set  in  extinct 
craters.  Long  green  ascending  aisles  of  dense  fern,  where  the  sun  can  scarcely  penetrate,  open  to 
glimpses  of  foaming  cataract,  and  stainless  snowfields  bound  in  a  silence  sacred  to  the  ages,  except 
for  the  echoes  of  avalanches  falling  far  away  among  the  fastnesses  touching  the  sky. 

■9 


274 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


Until  comparatively  recent  years  mountaineering  in  New  Zealand  had  no  scientific  organization. 
The  Southern  Alps  in  all  their  glory  were  unexplored  except  by  a  few  adventurous  spirits,  who, 
with  more  courage  than  organized  skill,  aspired  to  the  conquest  of  heights  as  majestic  as  those  of 
Switzerland.  Skilled  mountaineers  from  Europe  afterwards  joined  the  adventurous  band  of  New 
Zealand  alpinists,  but  not  before  Mount  Cook,  or  in  native,  "  Aorangi,"  twelve  thousand  three 
hundred  and  forty-nine  feet  high,  had  been  captured.  The  early  alpinists  had  to  battle  with  trying 
weeks  of  travelling  to  the  base  of  the  mountains  to  be  scaled,  before  bridges  were  built  and  tracts 
cut  and  huts  erected.  Even  yet,  there  are  countless  unconquered  peaks,  for  one  peculiar  feature 
of  the  whole  range  of  the  Southern  Alps  is  the  comparatively  few  natural  passes. 

Mount  Cook,  or  Aorangi,  is  the  highest  of  a  magnificent  group  of  peaks  and  sierras,  "  a  glorious 
galaxy  of  snowy  heights."  Cliff  mounted  on  cliff,  and  icefield  on  icefield,  mount  to  a  rarefied 
world,  where  man  and  his  small  doings  seem  puerile.  Waterfalls  and  avalanches  voice  the  white 
solitude  ;    ice-cataracts  and  ice-spray  dazzle  the  vision.      To  right  and  left,  above  and  below,  a 


J'fialii  by  jjt'r- 


"/] 


ir.e  Ajenl-Ci 


■  Si-ic  ^■<l/lnif. 


THE    TOP    OF    TASMAN    GLACIER. 


Th 


Tasman    Glacier    is    the    most    lamous    one    of    the    Southern    Alps.        A    huge    sloping    glacier.    11.467    feel    hijh    and 
two    miles    \Nide.    it    is    studded    %vith    ice-towers,    and    broken    with    gorges    and    valleys    of    ice. 


stainless  paradise  of  glittering  beauty,  and  below  the  slopes,  where  the  avalanches  fall  from  the 
upper  icefields,  and  dancing  cascades  run  to  meet  them,  in  a  valley  rich  with  mountain  flora,  is 
the  Hooker  River,  one  of  those  white,  turbulent,  foaming  mountain  streams  that  has  its  origin  in 
the  glaciers. 

At  Mount  Cook  the  botanist  may  revel.  The  alpine  flora  is  exquisite.  At  three  thousand  feet 
above  sea-level  the  edelweiss  is  luxuriant.  Near  the  rivulets  of  the  lower  slopes  the  violet  and 
evening  primrose  and  forget-me-not  are  scattered,  and  many  blossoming  shrubs.  All  along  the 
Hooker  Valley  the  ferns  and  flowers  are  very  beautiful,  and  at  points  magnificent  views  of  Mount 
Cook  and  the  Hooker  Ice-Fall  are  obtained. 

Proceeding  down  the  lower  Hooker  Valley,  a  magnificent  view  of  the  Tasman  Glacier  is  seen, 
the  most  famous  glacier  of  the  Southern  Alps,  and  all  along  the  valley,  framed  by  ice-pinnacles  and 
majestic  forest-hills,  purple  shadows  alternating  with  gold,  the  luxuriant  banks  of  the  river  are 
abloom  with  flowers  and  flowering  shrubs.  Giant  mountain  lilies  and  alpine  daisies  vie  with 
violets  and  pimpernels. 

Eleven  thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty-seven  feet  high,  eighteen  miles  long,  and  two  miles  wide. 


"    *     X 

i    ' 

N  —    G 

is  ^ 


o 
m 


> 
r 
r 


r_  > 


z 

o 
r 
> 

o 

m 


■'«M 


W 


5  5    2         / 


/ 


276 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


r 


All    along    the    valley 


fr 


ed    by 


TASMAN    GLACIER. 

nacles    and    majestic    (oresl-h'ill 


4u^. 


Vast    icefields    stretch    on    its    slopes    and 


plateau,    and    blue    snow-streams    rush    through    its    valleys    and    gorges. 


this  stern,  proud  monarch  of  the  Southern  Alps  holds  its  snow-cowled  head  next  highest  of  the 
peaks  to  its  neighbour  and  giant  chief,  Mount  Cook.  The  Tasman  is  a  huge  sloping  glacier,  studded 
with  ice-towers,  and  broken  with  gorges  and  valley?  of  ice.  Vast  icefields  stretch  on  its  slopes  and 
plateaus,  and  blue  snow-streams  rush  through  its  valleys  and  gorges.  Numerous  ice-cascades 
descend  into  the  Tasman  Valley  from  its  neighbouring  glaciers  and  glittering  domes. 

The  Hochstetter  Ice-Fall  of  the  Tasman  Glacier  has  been  described  as  a  Niagara  of  frozen  ice, 
a  mile  wide,  falling  four  thousand  feet  in  waves  of  milky  whiteness,  plunging  down  a  rugged  mountain 
side  of  more  than  twelve  thousand  feet  in  height,  a  many-coloured,  downward- rolling,  frozen  cataract, 
"  its  hollows  glinting  a  wondrous  ethereal  blue,  and  its  splintered  bergs  and  minarets  glittering  like 
countless  points  of  fire."  At  the  foot  of  the  great  ice-fall  there  are  marvellous  ice-caves  and  grottos, 
"  gleaming  with  the  strange  lustre  of  refracted  light,  their  floors  gemmed  with  the  loveliest  of  little 
purple  pools." 

No  photograph  or  brush  can  give  the  faintest  idea  of  this  world  of  glittering  ice  and  dark  crag, 
with  waterfalls  flashing  in  sunlight  or  moonlight. 

The  Hochstetter  Ice  Cave  is  another  of  the  wonders  of  this  indescribable  region  :  a  grotto  or 
cavern  lustrous  and  gleaming  white-blue,  amid  a  wilderness  of  turrets  and  domes  of  ice,  which 
catch  and  flash  back  marvellous  colours  of  the  changing  sky — a  world  of  ice  afire  with  sparkling 
glints  of  rose  and  heliotrope  and  blue.  Under  the  undimmed  moonlight  the  region  is  a  magic  world, 
where  it  would  be  easy  to  imagine  that  in  the  exquisite  ice-caves  and  grottos  pure,  cold  spirits  dwelt 
apart  from  the  earth-dwellers  of  the  lily  fields  that  carpet  the  valleys  below.  In  that  upper  white 
world  of  the  Southern  Alps  thousands  of  sub-glacial  rivers  are  born,  which,  under  feet  of  solid  ice, 
seek  their  way  downward,  emerge  far  down,  and  with  the  triumphant  roar  of  white  foaming  rapids 
thunder  their  freedom  to  forest-shores. 


Australasia    and   the   Pacific 


■// 


The  Blue  Mountains,  NeTV  South  Wales, — In  tlie  Blue  Mountains  New  South  Wales  possesses 
a  feature  which  any  country  could  be  proud  of  including  amongst  the  natural  wonders  existing 
within  its  boundaries.  This  mountain  chain,  whose  highest  peak  is  Mount  Beemarang,  four 
thousand  one  hundred  feet  higli,  forms  part  of  the  Great  Corderillera,  which  runs  parallel  with  the 
coast  about  eighty  miles  inland.  The  construction  of  the  Blue  Mountains  is  of  ferruginous  sand- 
stone, whose  cliffs  and  headlands  rise  up  precipitously  from  the  gullies  ever  green  with  ferns  and 
other  thick  luxuriant  foliage. 

At  tlie  foot  of  the  mountains,  about  thirty-six  miles  from  Sydney,  there  are  the  Emu  Plains, 
after  which  the  elevation  of  the  country  gradually  heightens  until  it  reaches  well  over  three  thousand 
feet  in  the  extreme  west.  Proceeding  westward,  after  the  Emu  Plains,  the  "  Sassafras  Gully," 
which  is  not  far  from  Springwood,  demands  special  attention.  This  gully  is  very  deep,  and  presents 
an  absolute  mass  of  rich  fern  foliage,  shaded  on  every  side  by  immense  honeycombed  overhanging 
rocks  and  ending  in  a  lovely  lagoon.  Near  Faulconbridge,  forty-nine  miles  from  Sydney,  for 
the  first  time  Mount  Hay  becomes  visible.  This  lofty  summit  constitutes  one  of  the  precipitous 
sides  of  the  tremendous  ravine  called  the  "  Grose  Valley,"  rising  to  an  altitude  of  three  thousand 
feet.  Continuing  westward,  the  scenery  is  wild  and  romantic,  the  bluish  broken  hills  rising  and 
overlapping  each  other  in  the  far  distance.  Standing  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  forty- 
seven  ieet  high  is  the  famous  resort,  Lawson.  The  mountains  here  break  more  gently 
into  the  glens,  while  many  a  waterfall  pitches  over  the  brink  of  a  steep  precipice  ;  this  view, 
together  with  the  innumerable  hills  and  ravines,  presents  one  of  the  finest  sights  imaginable. 


This    cico 


\Jilv:  A^enl'U<nnal  Jul-  .Vctf  Zt^iUtnl, 
THE    HOCHSIETTER    ICE    CAVE. 

nt;    white-blue    CBVcrn    it    situated    in    the    Hochltetter  Ice-Fajls    amidst    a    wilderneit    of    lurretx    ond    domeb 
of    ice.    catchinc    and    flashinK    bacl(    the    marvellouii    colours   of    the   cliangins  sUy. 


278 


The   Wonders   of   the    World 


Soon  King's  Tableland  is  reached.  This  is  a  iine  promontory'  jutting  out  into  the  Jamieson 
Valley,  where  very  beautiful  mist -effects  are  often  observable.  A  further  attraction  liere  is  the 
curiously  weathered  sandstone  cliffs,  in  which  bands  of  ironstone  in  thin  layers  stand  out  in  bold 
relief.  To  the  north  the  waters  of  the  glorious  Wentworth  Falls  are  descending,  like  a  silver  current 
over  its  three  cascades  of  fully  a  thousand  feet,  to  the  basin  at  the  head  of  the  gorge.  In  the  final 
drop  the  depth  is  so  great  that  the  continuous  stream  is  scattered  into  spray.  Rambling  on 
through  sublime  and  picturesque  scenery,  one  approaches  the  I^eura  Falls,  wliere  many  think  the 
finest  views  of  the  Blue  Mountains  are  to  be  seen.  Near  here  stands  a  rocky  hill  whose  summit 
has  been  moulded  by  Nature  into  three  pinnacles  and  which  has  been  called  "  The  Three  Sisters." 
Not  far  distant,  also,  is  the  "  Orphan  Rock,"  a  grand  old  picturesque  pillar  of  grey  stone, 
detached    from   the   main    mass,    towering   far   up   into    the  sky.       Further    westward    at    Black- 


Photo  bff  permission  of] 


[T}if  Agent-General  for  New  Sortth  Wales. 
THE     BLUE    MOUNTAINS,    NEW    SOUTH    WALES. 

This    is    a    view    of    the    Blue    Mountains,    near    Govell'a    Leap,    showing    how    the    rocks    stand    out    on    cither    side    of    the 
corse,    wl.ich    is    thickly    covered    with    a    rich    luxuriant    foliaijc 

heath,  the  world-famed  "  Govett's  Leap  "  is  seen,  a  descending  mass  of  water  of  vast  height 
swaying  as  the  wind  blows,  to  and  fro,  like  the  veil  of  a  bride,  the  strong  contrast  of  colour  and  the 
undulation  so  produced  imparting  a  very  singular  and  charming  effect.  Near  by,  there  is  the 
"  ilermaid's  Cave,"  giving  one  the  impression  of  a  glimpse  into  fairyland. 

Some  distance  south-west  are  the  famous  Jenolan  Caves,  of  which  mention  has  already  been 
made.  The  Blue  Mountains,  with  their  innumerable  hills  and  ravines,  their  thousand  valleys 
stretching  hke  ocean  waves  to  the  horizon,  hundreds  of  waterfalls  with  their  beautiful  cascades 
tumbling  from  the  cliff,  present  extensive  panoramas  of  the  grandest  description. 

The  Great  Island-Venice  of  Nan-Matal. — On  the  east  coast  of  Ponape.  a  small  island 
on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  Caroline  group  in  the  North-Western  Pacific,  lies  a  remarkable 
ancient  water-town  called  Nan-Matal  ("  The  Place  of  the  Matal,  or  Water-ways  "),  which 
consists    of    a  parallax    of  over    fifty    artificial  islets  of  varying  sizes,  which  lie  dotted  amongst 


28o 


The   Wonders   of   the    World 


an      intricate       network       ol 
canals. 

Some  of  these  islets  are 
merely  small  platforms  of 
stone,  much  overgrown  with 
a  tangle  of  creepers,  ferns 
and  low  scrub,  standing  onlj' 
a  few  feet  out  of  the  water  : 
whilst  others  are  faced  with 
solid  and  lofty  walls,  en- 
closing paved  spaces,  neatly- 
designed  courts  and  ancient 
burial-places.  All  of  them 
are  constructed  of  prismatic 
basalt-blocks,  laid  alternately 
lengthways  and  crosswise  in 
the  shallow  water. 

The  most  remarkable  of 
the  larger  islets  of  the  Nan- 
Matal  Venice  are  Itet,  in  the 
south,  Pan-Katara,  near  the 
centre,  and  Nan-Tauach  in 
the  north-east  corner.  On 
Itet,  according  to  native 
tradition,  was  kept  an  Ft,  or 
sacred  Eel  of  enormous  size. 
It  lived  in  a  long  stone  house, 
or  den,  with  w'alls  five  feet 
high  and  four  feet  thick,  en- 
closed by  a  small  court.  On 
a  pavement  within,  regular 
offerings  of  food  were  laid — 
sometimes  the  entrails  and 
flesh  of  a  turtle  ;  sometimes 
the  body  of  a  slave  or 
prisoner  of  war. 

Pan-Katara  lies  about  half  a  mile  to  the  north  of  Itet.  Its  name  means  "  The  Place  of  Proclama- 
tion," or  "  The  House  of  Government."  It  was  the  scene  of  the  annual  assembly  of  the  Metalanim 
Parliament — king,  priests,  chiefs  and  commons  together. 

The  northern  angle  of  the  ruined  wall  formerly  surrounding  the  sacred  precinct  on  Pan-Katara 
is  twenty-seven  feet  above  the  canal. 

Nan-Tauach,  "  The  Place  of  the  Lofty  Walls,"  the  largest  and  most  important  structure  of  the 
Nan-Matal  ruins,  lies  about  two  miles  north  of  Pan-Katara,  a  little  to  the  right  of  Uchentau 
islet.  It  is  almost  square,  and  occupies  an  area  of  some  twenty-three  thousand  four  hundred 
square  feet. 

The  water-front  consists  of  a  terrace  of  immense  basaltic  blocks,  about  seven  feet  wide,  running 
the  whole  way  round  the  foot  of  an  outer  wall  of  very  solid  masonry,  fifteen  feet  thick  and  from 
twenty  feet  to  nearly  forty  feet  in  height.  Some  of  these  basaltic  shafts  of  which  it  is  constructed 
are  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  length,  three  to  four  feet  hi  thickness  and  three   and  a   half  feet    across. 


rhoto  by  the  Aulhor,-]  [/■.  jr.  cinulian.  F.K.O.S. 

THE    PRINCIPAL    GATEWAY    OF    THE    SANCTUARY    OF    NAN-TAUACH. 

The    entrance    lies    to    the    right    of    the    great    fallen    horizontal     basalt    pillar,    and 
shadowed     by     a     mighty     Ikoik-ltcc,    a    mass     of     deep     green     foliage     and     vivid 
bells    of    blossom. 


let 


Australasia   and   the   Pacific 


281 


The  style  of  architecture  is  massive,  and  grand  in  its  simpHcity,  the  blocks  being  laid  alternately 
lengthways  and  crosswise.  The  outer  wall  measures  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  feet  by  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  feet,  the  only  entrance  being  a  large  and  imposing  gateway  on  the  western  face 
towards  Uchentau,  and  a  small  ruinous  portal  in  the  north-east  corner.  As  one  enters  from  the 
terraced  landing-place,  the  wall  measures  twenty-five  feet,  and  on  the  right  side  some  thirty  feet  in 
height.  The  latter  is  almost  hidden  from  view  by  a  great  Ikoik.  or  Kanawa  tree,  a  mass  of 
splendid,  deep  emerald-green  foliage,  starred  with  small  scarlet  trumpet-shaped  flowers,  vivid  as 
sparks  of  fire.  Beyond  is  a  spacious  Hit,  or  courtyard,  strewn  with  fragments  of  monstrous 
fallen  pillars,  overgrown  by  weeds,  ferns  and  shrubs  of  varying  height  springing  up  between  them. 

An  inner  terraced  enclosure,  topped  by  a  projecting  frieze,  or  cornice,  of  quite  a  Japanese  design, 
forms  a  second  conforming  parallelogram  of  wall,  eighty-five  by  seventy-five  feet  in  length,  eight 
feet  in  thickness,  and  fifteen  to  eighteen  feet  in  height. 

The  great  central  vault  of  Nan-Tauach  presents  a  very  striking  appearance.  It  is  roofed  in 
by  basaltic  blocks  of  great  length  and  thickness,  and  resembles  some  of  the  sepulchral  structures 
of  the  mysterious  early  folk  who  preceded  the  Ainoe  in  Japan.  Native  tradition  declares  it  to 
be  the  mausoleum  of  King  Chau-te-Leur,  a  mighty  monarch  of  old,  slain  in  battle  with  a 
horde  of  invaders  who  came  in  a  great  war-fleet  from  the  south,  under  the  leadership  of  a 
fierce  and  terrible  warrior  named  Icho-Kalakal,  now  enshrined  as  a  formidable  local  deity,  the 
War-God,    and  ancestor  of  the  present  line  of  Ichi-pait,  or  titular  kings  of  Metalanim. 

It  seems  that  these  Metalanim  ruins  are  very  old,  and,  indeed,  the  presence  of  great  forest-trees, 
such  as  the  lofty  Indian  fig-tree,  or  ban3'an,  is  decisive  of  a  considerable    antiquity.      The   long 


riMobylhr  Aulhor.]  [''•  "'   ChrUlinn.  f.n.O.S. 

NAN-TAUACH. 

The     north-eastern   anctc    of   outer   wall    at    Nan-Tauacli.    showing    a   great   AlO^   or    Indian    fix-trcc.    (irm-rooled    in   the    ni.iionry, 
tocrlhcr    with    masses    of    micronesian    hartstonsue    or    bird^'-nejt     fern,    some    of    the    spathci    01    fronds    of    which    arc    nearly 

liix    feet    lone. 


282 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


root-sprays  buttressing  these  banyan-trees  are  continually  sending  out  myriads  of  tiny  root-fibres 
into  every  crevice  of  the  masonry,  which,  as  they  swell  into  growth,  are  continually  wrenching  the 
enormous  blocks  out  of  their  places. 

Local  tradition  is  somewhat  meagre  about  the  origin  of  this  mysterious  City  of  the  Waters;  the 
ruins  are  certainly  not  Javanese,  their  design  not  in  the  least  recalling  that  of  the  Buddhist  temple 
of  Boro-bodoer,  or  the  Shiva  temples  of  Brambanam. 

Javanese  settlers  have  certainly  visited  Ponape,  for  the  Kiti  district  on  the  south-west  coast  has 
several  well-defined  Javanese  place-names,  and  the  chief's  language,  or  court-speech,  of  the  island 
is  full  of  Javanese  words.  But  these  arrivals  probably  came  as  conquerors  and  civilizers  of  a  later 
date,  not  as  architects  or  engineers.     A  quaint  old  Ponapean  legend  declares  that  the  Nan-Matal 


i*noto  6y] 
Abot 


THE    ARATIATIA    RAPIDS. 

airaUei  the    river  WaiUato    rushes    with    la 


[Muir  J.  Muu 


t    three    and    a    half    miles    from    W 

channel    about    fifty    feet    wide,    forming    foaming    cataracts 


ous    speed    through    a    narro%v    roclt 
ushing    rapids    and    deep    darlt    pools. 


Venice  was  built  by  the  magic  power  of  two  great  princes  of  the  ancient  Ani-Aramach,  or  Titan 
races,  named  Olo-sipa  and  Olo-sopa,  who,  by  incantations  of  mighty  power,  caused  the  great  masses 
of  stone  in  the  hands  of  invisible  genii  to  come  flying  through  the  air  to  settle  in  their  appointed 
places. 

Perhaps  early  Japanese  adventurers  discovered  Ponape  before  the  Malays  and  Javanese, 
and  have  helped  the  rude,  clumsy  giant-folk  of  the  old  black  Ocean-Custite  races  to  plan  just  such 
a  structure  as  the  Water  City  of  Nan-Matal.  For  Japan  is  full  of  water-towns,  thickly  seamed  with 
moats  and  canals,  and  the  Japanese  of  old  were  mighty  builders  in  stone. 

Another  curious  piece  of  evidence  is  that,  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  south-south-east  of 
Ponape,  there  is  a  lagoon-island,  called  Lele.     This  small  speck  of  land,  onl\-  a  few  miles  square,  is 


•J     -0 

■J    o 


Australasia   and   the    Pacific 


285 


faced  with  solid  wharves  and  piers  of  stone,  and  covered  with  remains  of  vast  Cj^clopean  walls, 
built  of  basaltic  stones  of  an  extraordinary  size,  and  cut  through  and  through  with  artificial 
canals.  A  little  way  back  from  the  beach  lies  a  massive  ruinous  fortress,  witli  walls  fifteen  feet 
in  thickness  and  from  sixteen  to  thirty  feet  in  height. 

This  might  very  well  have  been  the  work  of  some  Southern  Japanese  Dai-Miyo,  or  great  feudal 
noble,  e.xil  ed,  perhaps,  in  one  of  the  civil  wars,  who,  coming  down  from  Nagasaki,  Hiro-shima  or 
Osaka,  in  a  big  war-vessel,  or,  possibly,  a  small  fleet  of  them,  conquered  this  little  spot. 

The  Cyclopean  fortress  of  Lele  is  laid  down  on  very  much  the  same  lines  of  ground-plan  as 
the  old  feudal  castle  of  Osaka,  but,  naturally,  on  a  somewhat  smaller  scale. 

So  quite  likely  it  was 
some  adventurous  noble 
or  great  sea  captain  of 
the  race-stock  and  daunt- 
less spirit  of  our  brave 
Japanese  allies  who  took 
the  chief  part  in  building 
these  wonderful  works  in 
stone,  the  standing  wonder 
and  mystery  of  these  far- 
off  Eastern  Carolines. 

The  White  Terrace, 
Taupo. — The  volcano, 
Tarawera,  which  in  June, 
1886,  destroyed  the  famous 
pink  and  white  terraces, 
is  in  the  great  volcanic 
track  known  as  the 
"  Taupo  Zone,"  but  Lake 
Taupo  and  its  white  ter- 
race were  too  distant  from 
the  eruption  to  suffer. 
The  lake  covers  an  area 
of  about  two  hundred  and 
forty-two  square  miles, 
and  the  White  Terrace, 
Taupo,  is  at  the  height  of 
a  hundred  feet  above  the 
]iresent  shores.  A  second 
terrace,  but  less  perfect, 
is  at  the  height  of  four 
hundred  feet  above  the  lake.  The  Maoris  told  Von  Hochstetter  that  the  White  Terrace, 
Taupo,  was  once  upon  the  level  of  the  lake,  which  has  subsided,  but  no  living  native 
knew  the  lake  at  the  terrace  height.  The  whole  area  of  the  Taupo  volcanic  zone  is  a  region  of 
hot  springs,  solfataras,  warm  creeks  and  active  geysers,  and  it  is  probable  that,  as  the  pink  and 
white  terraces  were  unknown  for  ages,  except  to  a  few  Maoris,  there  may  be  other  of  the  beautiful 
terraces  hidden  away  in  tlie  wild  tangle  of  mountains  and  lakes.  A  few  miles  south  of  the 
Kakaramea,  another  of  the  mountains  in  the  Taupw  volcanic  zone,  is  the  "  Primrose  Terrace,"  which 
Professor  Thomas  describes  amid  a  group  of  hot  springs  and  sulpliur  fumaroles  :  "  One  of  the  most 
considerable  of  these  springs  has  formed  a  deposit  of  sinter  which  has  received  the  name  of  the 


I'tMto  by']  iJ.  .1/-J   a...  -ii   i.'iui. 

TIKITERE    HOT    WATER    FALLS. 

Tlicre   in   n   place   wlierc   a   warm   stream   leaps   into  a   scries  of   cascades  over   a   rocUy   decline. 


286 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


I'ltolo  by  ^erint-iiwii  o/] 


•THE    INFERNO."    TlklTERE. 


L^'/ttr  -ii/tiit-uentral/or  Jifew  ^.tuMn 


"  The     Inferno  ' 


is     the     chief     boiling     pool     of     Tilcitere.     and     is     a     precipitous     yawning     black     pil     in     which     a     great 
mud    geyser    is    in    full    activity. 


Primrose  Terrace.'  On  the  flat  summit  of  a  slight  elevation  is  a  platform  of  sinter  some  five 
yards  in  diameter.  In  the  centre  is  a  large  circular  pool  of  water,  its  margin  formed  by  a  raised 
rim  of  sinter  of  beautifully-fretted  form.  .  .  .  The  water  falls  down  a  gentle  slope,  which  spreads 
out  in  fan-like  shape.  This  water  is  covered  with  greyish-white  sinter,  which  is  not  properly 
terraced,  but  shows  very  beautiful  ripple  marks.  To  the  right  is  a  pool  of  intensely  yellow  (or 
sometimes  orange-red)  mud,  which  owes  its  colour  to  the  presence  of  sulphur  containing  selenium." 
The  water  from  the  terrace  forms  a  waterfall  into  a  gully,  and  both  the  waterfall  and  the  bed  of 
the  stream  are  lined  with  grey  and  white  sinter,  and  the  course  of  the  stream  marked  by  small 
hot  springs. 

But  a  word  description  can  convey  little  of  the  marvellous  colour-scheme  of  the  setting,  the 
blues  and  golds  and  greens,  or  of  giant  Mount  Kakaramea  dominating  the  scene,  its  sides  covered 
with  many-coloured  earths,  with  steam-wraiths  beckoning  here  and  there. 

Although  the  White  Terrace  of  Taupo  and  the  "  Primrose  Terrace  "  by  no  means  approach  in 
lovehness  the  destroyed  pink  and  white  terraces  of  Lake  Rotomahana,  the  value  of  their  strange 
beauty  is  enhanced  that  they  are  still  in  existence. 

On  the  Waikato  River,  about  nine  miles  from  Taupo,  there  are  the  marvellously  beautiful 
Aratiatia  Rapids.  Here  the  river,  in  its  winding  course  between  steep  rocky  banks,  drops  over 
two  hundred  feet  in  the  short  distance  of  half  a  mile.  The  whole  is  confined  within  a  narrow  channel 
about  fifty  feet  wide,  which  still  further  increases  the  impetus   to  the  agitated  waters,  while,  as 


Australasia    and   the   Pacific 


287 


if  to  add  insult  to  injur}',  vast  boulders  stand  in  midstream  attempting  to  stay  the  foaming  torrent, 
which  is  always  endeavouring  to  release  itself  and  so  be  free  of  the  rushing  mass  behind  it. 

The  Valley  of  Tikttere. — A  drive  of  several  hours  from  Rotorua,  within  sight  of  the  fatal 
Mount  Tarawera,  is  the  valle\-  of  Tikitere,  a  portion  of  which  is  known  as  the  "  Gates  of  Hades," 
but,  unlike  the  popular  conception  of  Hades,  its  beauties  are  as  wondrous  as  its  horrors.  The 
hydro-thermal  action  is  so  great  that  the  ground  all  around  is  in  a  continual  tremble.  In  the 
centre  of  the  valley  are  two  boiling  lakes,  with  mud  volcanoes  and  boiling  springs  in  sinister 
activity. 

"  The  Porridge  Pot  "  is  one  of  the  most  famous  of  the  boiling  mud  pools  of  Tikitere  and  "  The 
Inferno  "  is  the  chief  of  its  boihng  springs.  Among  the  remarkable  thermal  wonders  of  the  district 
are  the  Tikitere  Hot  Waterfalls,  tumbling  over  a  rocky  decline,  between  ferny  banks  backed  by 
luxuriant  forest. 

This  "  Gate  of  Hades,"  as  Tikitere  has  been  called,  leading  to  an  inferno  of  sulphurous  horrors, 
is  entered,  not  by  those  who  have  "  abandoned  hope,"  but  chiefly  by  those  who  are  in  search  of  a 
new  term  of  life  by  bathing  in  the  warm  mineral  waters,  or  those  in  search  of  Nature's  strange 
and  awe-inspiring  sight.  The  whole  surrounding  country  is  rich  with  forests  and  streams  and  glows 
with  colour. 

It  is  the  diversity  of  the  scenery  that  makes  this  district  so  wonderful ;  the  horrors  and  terrors  of 
the  steaming,  hissing  and  trembling  earth  are  forgotten  in  the  vistas  of  blue  lake  and  shadv  forest 
and  swift,  bright  streams.    It  is  a  fainy'-spot  of  gorgeous  painting,  despite  the  Inferno  of  the  valley, 


I'hulo  liy\  [,(/.i     ,{  .1/ itf.  OuiirJin. 

ALL    THAT    IS    LEFT    OF    WAIROA. 

Wairoa   was  a   villaice   ncstlins   amidst   ereen   trees  on   the   borders   of   a   laUe   till    the   fatal    nisht    in    1 8S&,    when    the   Taraw:ra 
awolce.    without   warning,   from  o   slrrp  of   centuries,   and   poured  dcsiruclion   on   the   villaEc. 


288 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


the  dark  greens  of  the  bush-clothed  hills  contrasting  \vith  terraces  glittering  like  snow,  and  with 
the  reds  and  yellows  of  the  foliage.  Innumerable  bright,  cold  springs  gush  forth  over  fern  and 
rock,  forming  coloured  pools.  It  is  a  realm  of  sulphur,  and  within  a  mile  of  the  hot  valley  a  large 
quantity  of  the  sulphur  is  dug  by  the  Maoris.  It  is  the  sulphur  and  other  minerals  in  the  baths 
that  have  made  them  so  valuable  to  invalids.  The  sulphur  is  in  the  air  as  well  as  in  the  water,  and 
streaks  the  landscape  with  beautiful  colours — blue,  red.  orange  and  other  brilliant  hues. 

Icebergs. — Owing  to  the  spherical  form  of  the  earth  and  the  obliquity  of  its  a.xis,  the  sun's  rays 
are  entirely  withdrawn  from  the  land  in  the  Arctic  and  Antarctic  zone  for  a  portion  of  the  year. 
Of  course,  the  result  of  this  absence  of  any  warmth  from  the  sun  is  that  this  part  of    the  earth's 


yiwio  tj] 


{^yord'^nskjold. 


AN     ICEBERG    IN     THE    ANTARCTIC. 

Antarctic  Icebergs  have  excited   the  wonder  of   travellers  chiefly  by  their  enormous  mass.      Unlike   those  ol   the   northern 
seas,    they  arc   little   indented,   but  often   they  attain  a  precipitous  height  of  over  230  feet. 

surface  is  always  wrapped  in  ice,  and  intense  frost  rules  supreme  through  the  long  and  dreary  nights 
that  prevail. 

Huge  glaciers,  very  similar  to  the  great  icefields  of  the  Alps,  abound  everywhere  amidst  their 
snow-white  surroundings,  and  gradually  slipping  from  the  mountains  and  hills  from  which  they  take 
their  origin,  finally  reach  the  sea  coast.  On  this  downward  path  tremendous  pressure  is  brought 
upon  the  sHding  snow,  and  by  the  time  it  reaches  the  sea  it  has  become  a  huge  mass  of  ice  upon 
which  the  waves  are  constantly  breaking,  with  the  result  that  the  overhanging  parts  become  detached 
and  drift  out  to  sea  in  whatever  direction  the  prevailing  current  happens  to  lead  them.  These  bergs, 
as  they  are  now  called,  vary  considerably  in  size,  some  being  quite  small,  while  others  cover  large 
areas  and  rise  to  a  considerable  height.  It  is  estimated  that  as  only  one-ninth  of  the  bulk  of  an 
iceberg  appears  above  the  surface,  it  is  not  less  than  nine  times  as  large  as  it  looks. 


Australasia   and   the   Pacific 


289 


-  -Vt^-v* 


Icebergs  have  frequently 
been  mistaken  by  travellers 
for  little  snow-clad  islands, 
as  in  many  maybe  seen  small 
inlets  made  by  the  continuous 
washing  of  the  waves,  giving 
the  appearance  of  little  bays, 
and  so  helping  the  illusion. 

\o  sight  is  more  interest- 
ing than  the  view  of  a  number 
of  these  ice  formations  in  tlu' 
distance.  There  is  an  intinitc 
variety  of  shapes,  and  it  re- 
quires but  little  stretch  of  the 
imagination  to  picture  them 
as  towers,  churches,  obelisks 
and  pyramids,  or  a  floating 
mountain  range,  their  great 
beauty  and  grandeur  en- 
hanced by  their  slow  and 
stately  movements,  wliich 
bring  into  the  rays  of  light 
the  snow-white  ridges  and 
pinnacles  which  glisten  at 
every  angle.  As  these  ice- 
bergs drift  from  the  scene  of 
frost  and  snow,  they  gradually 
melt  away,  their  size  diminish- 
ing by  slow  degrees  until  they 
finally  lose  themselves  in  the 
oceans  of  the  world. 

Wairoa. — The  native  vil- 
lage of  Wairoa,  before  the 
eruption  of  Mount  Tarawera, 
in  1886,  was  one  of  the 
beauty  spots  in  the  Thermal 
district  of  the  North  Island,  connecting  Rotorua,  nine  miles  distant,  with  Tarawera  and  Lake 
Rotomahana.  The  old  road  from  Rotorua  was  of  enchanting  loveliness,  the  slopes  were 
crimson  with  rata  and  yellow  with  broom,  and  everywhere  the  glinting,  dancing  water.  But  the 
fatal  night  the  volcano  Tarawera  awoke  without  warning  from  a  sleep  of  centuries,  and 
poured  mud  and  lava  and  stones  on  the  valleys  beneath,  Wairoa  was  destroyed.  "  Wairoa 
is  gone  !  "  was  the  cry  of  those  at  Rotorua.  When  the  paroxysm  of  the  volcano  had 
spent  itself,  and  light  struggled  through  a  noonday  dawn,  a  weird,  desolate  world  emerged.  All 
that  was  left  of  the  village,  among  green  trees  which  had  stood  on  the  shores  of  a  lake  intensely  blue, 
were  the  roofs  and  broken  timber  of  the  old  mill  and  bridges  and  wares  embedded  in  ash  and  caking 
lavas.  All  the  once  flowering  hill-slopes,  green  valleys  and  prancing  streams,  for  miles  around, 
were  desolate,  lifeless  reaches  of  slate-coloured  mud,  and  the  once  lovely  lake  an  immense  and  awful 
basin,  studded  with  innumerable  volcanic  cones  and  geysers,  and  the  site  of  the  famous  pink  and 
white  terraces  a  hideous  abyss. 


i'hvni  hij]  y-  Martin,  Auctland, 

THE    DEVIL'S    BRIDGE.    WAIOTAPU. 
Nature     hat     thrown     «     perilous      bridne     over     thi«    minlily     crcvusae,     troin     whose 
horrible     depths     arise      sulphurous     fumes     and     stmnEe     rumblincs     ominously     bearint 
witness   of    the   volcanic   activity   of    thi»    district. 


290 


The  Wonders  of   the  World 


CHAPTER   xr. 
By   L.   "ALIEN"   BAKER. 

The  Sutherland  Falls. — In  the  Fieordland  of  the  South  Island  of  New  Zealand,  seven  miles 
from  Milford,  are  the  Sutherland  Falls.  But  the  overland  route  to  the  falls  from  the  head  of  Lake 
Te  Anau,  through  thirty  miles  of  magnificent  scenery  of  the  wildest  and  most  beautiful  description, 
is  more  popular.  The  way  through  inland  Fieordland  is  for  some  distance  beside  the  Clinton  River, 
which  cuts   through   the  great   valley-canon — a  billowy,   roaring,   white-crested   glacial   torrent — 


*Jf1^, 


"THE    GIAM'S     PUKKIU(jb     PU 1 , 


\\  AIOTAPU. 


seething     surface    of    this    lake    of    mud    is    covered    with     bubbles     caused    by    the    gas    thrown    off    in    the    ferment. 
These    bubbles    as    they    disperse    form    ever-chaneing    patterns    in    the    "  porridue." 

through  scenes  of  gorgeous  colouring,  between  cliffs  three  thousand  feet  and  four  thousand  feet  high 
which  slope  back  to  snowy  peaks  six  thousand  feet  and  seven  thousand  feet  high,  whose  summits 
vanish  in  the  clouds.  Much  of  the  track  through  this  marvellous  valley  goes  through  forest  which 
drapes  even  its  granite  walls.  Clumps  of  rata  are  red  with  blossom,  clematis,  whose  purity  rivals 
the  distant  peaks,  rests  lightly  like  a  snow-shower  on  the  dark  beech  trees,  or,  entwined  with  its 
purple  sister,  flings  garlands  from  bough  to  bough.  Tall  palm-ferns  grow  on  every  side,  and  through 
long  aisles,  carpeted  with  thick  moss  of  the  fallen  leaves  of  centuries— terra-cotta,  gold  and  green 
—the  over-arcliing  forest  roof  sheds  down  a  green  transforming  light.  The  strange  cries  of  the 
wekas  and  other  native  birds  accentuate  the  forest  silence.  But  approaching  the  Sutherland  Falls, 
there  is  a  mighty  roar  of  waters— not  from  this  fall  alone,  but  from  the  cascades  and  foaming 
cataracts  which  hurl  themselves  down  grim  precipices  and  rush  through  hidden  gorges  and  ravines. 
Waterfalls  are  everywhere.  The  quicksilver  of  cascades  flashes  from  dark  clii!s  and  quivers  in  the 
sunshine.     Many  of  the  falls  are  so  ethereal  that  they  sway  to  the  wind.     Mountains  are  every. 


AN     ICE-CAN'ERN     IN    THE    ANTARCTIC. 

The«c  pKotoerapha   of  ice-cavcrna  in   the  vicinity  of   Mount    Erebu*   weie   tal^cn   duiine    the  expedition   of   Sir   Erneat   SKaclcleton. 


292 


The  Wonders   of   the  World 


where.  And  amid  this  scenic  paradise  of  snow-capped  peak  and  fairyland  forest  and  stream  the 
Sutherland  Fall  bounds  down  its  one  thousand  nine  hundred  feet  in  three  great  leaps.  It  measures 
one  thousand  nine  hundred  feet  from  top  to  bottom,  the  first  is  eight  hundred  and  fifteen  feet, 
the  second  seven  hundred  and  fifty-one  feet  and  the  third  three  hundred  and  thirty-eight  feet,  but 
it  is  one  fall,  not  a  series  of  cascades. 

Waf'ofaptf.— Waiotapu,  one  of  the  three  wonderful  geyser-valleys  of  the  Thermal  Springs  country, 
lies  twenty  miles  from  Rotorua.  From  Wairoa,  for  some  distance  up  the  valley  which  at  one  time 
was  a  totara  forest,  traces  of  the  eruption  are  many.  At  the  top  of  the  hill  looking  towards  Tara- 
wera  its  enormous  chasm  is  seen,  and  the  magnificent  Munga-Kakaramea,  "  Mountain  of  Coloured 
Earth,"  or  "  Rainbow  Mountain,"  stands  a  gorgeous  sentinel  guarding  the  valley  steaming  with  hot 
springs  and  gleaming  with  coloured  pools.  On  every  side  is  evidence  in  the  coloured  earth  and 
the  fissured  sides  of  the  mountains  of  a  long-past  fierce  volcanic  activity— so  long  past  that  fern 
and  cool  green  forest  groves  shade  the  crater-cliffs. 

In  this  valley  of  colour  the  contrasts  are  exquisite.  Nature,  the  great  artist,  has  toned  the 
yellows  and  reds  with  the  greens,  has  set  cool  blue  and  heliotrope  lakes  beside  hot  cauldrons  and 
waterfalls.  Here  sinter  levels  and  gleaming  alum  cliffs  and  the  brilliant-hued  pools  that  vie  with  the 
coloured  earths  are  fringed  and  belted  by  dark  tropical  vegetation  and  manuk  shrubberies,  while 
the  leaping  Waiotapu  coursing  down  the  canon  to  meet  the  Waikato,  fringed  with  flax  and  palm, 
completes  the  picture. 

On  the  upper  Waiotapu  stream  is  the  large  mud-volcano   here   illustrated,   known  by  the  name 


rho,.^  hy\ 


[.N/-  trnfat  ^Ituckletun. 


AN    ICE-CA\ERN     IN    THE    ANTARCTIC. 


T^e  walls  tlial   suppoil  tlie  tDn-   of   snow  form  ng  the  roofs  o(   th^se  CJVerns  are  also  o(   snow,    packed  so  closely  thai  it 

becomes  ice. 


Australasia    and   the    Pacific 


293 


n'he  A'jenl-0<fii-  rat  for  2ita  SoiUh  H'l  W. 

THE    ^ARRA^GOBlLLY    CANES.    NEW    SOUTH    WALES. 

The  stalactites  in  King  Solomon..  1  cmplc.  as  this  cave  is  cillcJ.  are  par;icularly   remarkable   (3r  their  wonderful 

colourins  and  beautiful  shapes. 

of  "  The  Giant's  Porridge  Pot,"  a  conical  mound  ten  feet  liigh,  open  at  .the  top  and  filled  with 
thick  boiling  mud  that  resembles  porridge,  from  the  seething  surface  of  which  bubbles  of  gas  throw 
up  small  spurts  of  mud,  which,  faUing  into  the  pot  again,  take  on  sliapes  of  flowers  and  rosettes. 
Steps  have  been  erected  at  one  side  that  the  visitor  may  ascend  and  watch  the  action  of  the  crater. 

Another  of  the  remarkable  sights  of  Waiotapu  is  the  great  fumarole,  "  The  Devil's  Bridge,"  in 
formation  like  a  bridge  of  rock  over  a  chasm,  from  which  at  intervals  issue  sights  and  sounds 
reminiscent  of  the  "  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone  "  of  another  region. 

A  few  miles  further  away,  under  the  shadow  of  the  Paeroa  Mountain,  "  a  great  green  range 
sodden  with  thermal  action,"  is  Waikite,  with  its  boiling  river  flowing  through  a  natural  park  of  trees 
and  flowering  shrubs.  Here  are  enchanting  translucent  springs  of  boiling  water  bubbling  between 
forest  and  fern. 

The  Ice  Caves,  Antarctic— ^roiessor  Douglas  Mawson,  in  "  The  Heart  of  the  Antarctic," 
describing  tlie  beautiful  ice  and  snow  phenomenon  in  the  district  of  Cape  Koyds,  says  : 

"  During  the  autumn,  sea  spray,  dashing  on  the  coast,  remains  behind  as  ice.  Thus  a  huge  ice- 
foot develops  along  the  coast.  Grottos  are  not  uncommon  in  this  ice-foot,  resembling  limestone 
caves  of  remarkable  beauty,  filled  with  stalactites  (up  to  several  feet  in  lengtli)  and  stalagmites 
of  ice.  These  owe  their  origin  largely  to  the  fact  that  tlie  more  saline  residual  water  dripping  from 
the  roof  is  further  chilled  by  exposure,  and  thus  continual  additions  are  made  to  the  formations 
from  whicli  the  drip  has  taken  place.  The  water  is  highly  saline,  and  stalagmites  are  produced 
only  at  very  low  temperatures,  when  they  consist  entirely  of  cryohydrate." 


294 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


The  accompanjang  illustrations  convey  an  idea  of  these  beautiful  caves,  in  a  region  of  prisms 
and  crystal  flowers. 

King  Solomon's  Temple,  Y arrangobilly  Caves. — Tlie  caves  of  New  South  Wales  are  situated 
in  country  of  the  most  beautiful  description  among  the  hills  and  valleys  of  the  Blue  Mountains, 
"  far  from  the  madding  crowd,"  where  the  wallabies  run  free. 

The  route  to  the  caves  through  these  precipitous  gorges  and  valleys  of  gigantic  and  glorious 
views  is  a  preparation  for  anything  of  the  marvellous  that  Nature  may  have  further  to  offer.  Caves 
are  more  or  less  alike  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  but  the  wallaby  is  not  always  met  on  the  route,  nor 
does  the  route  always  afford  such  a  magnificent  panorama  as  that  spread  out  before  the  visitor  of 
these  caves  of  New  South  Wales.  Arrived  on  the  summits  where  the  caves  are  situated,  headland 
beyond  headland  and  miles  of  valley  stretch  out,  and  a  thousand  mountain  peaks  raise  their  heads 
from  gorgeous  forest. 

Not  volcanic  fire,  but  running  water  has  formed  the  caves.  They  are  in  a  bed  of  limestone, 
through  which  the  underground  creeks,  working  their  way,  have  carved  through  many  ages  fantastic 

caverns,  temples  and  grottos  and 
tunnels,  that  no  art  can  equal. 
They  take  innumerable  forms, 
these  glittering  stalactites  and 
stalagmites — statues,  birds,  deli- 
cately wrought  lace,  shawls  and 
cascades.  Some  of  them  are  pure 
white,  and  others  are  red,  yellow, 
,L,'rey  or  apricot.  In  these  Aladdin 
caves  lighted  by  electricity, 
gleaming  as  with  a  million  jewels, 
the  mystery  is  enhanced  by  the 
sight  and  sound  of  underground 
water. 

-  The  Yarrangobilly  River  has 
cut  its  way  through  in  a  belt  of 
limestone  from  half  a  mile  to  a 
mile  in  width  and  for  six  or  seven 
miles  long  :  the  weather-worn 
and  water- worn  precipices  are 
carved  into  grotesque  shapes, 
and  where  the  river  has  cut  its 
way  through  the  limestone  and 
flows  under  it  the  Yarrangobilly 
caves  are  formed.  The  entrance 
is  from  the  top  of  a  plateau. 

"  King  Solomon's  Temple," 
with  the  other  Yarrangobilly 
('aves,  has  a  kingly  surrounding 
uf  Alpine  scenery;  but  the 
beauties  of  the  upper  world  are 
forgotten  in  the  underground 
temple  that  Nature  built  long 
before  man  erected  his  sacred 
edifices.       It    is    gorgeous    with 


CAVES.    NEW 


VARRANGOBlLL-i 

Adorned  with  turrets  and  minarets  of  jewel-like  bi 
"fringed  curtain"  of  diamonds,  tfiese  caves  rival  th 
Aladdin  Palace. 


'■ul-i,'  o'rnl  for  iWew  .S',' 

SOUTH    WALES. 


Iliancy.    and    huns    with 
fabled    splendours    of    a 


o-  - 


296 


The  Wonders  of  the   World 


coral-like  drapery  and  ex- 
quisite carving  and  pillars, 
and,  as  its  name  suggests, 
might  have  been  one  of 
the  chambers  of  King 
Solomon's  Temple  which 
he  adorned  for  the  Oracle. 
The  Haivkesbur;^  Bridge. 
— The  Hawkesbury  Bridge, 
Hawkesbury  River,  New 
South  Wales,  one  of  the 
marvels  of  engineering,  was 
designed  to  unite  two  great 
sections  of  railway,  one 
starting  from  Sydney  and 
branching  in  a  westerly, 
southerly  and  south-west- 
erly direction,  the  other 
from  the  sea-coast,  one 
hundred  miles  from  Sydney, 
communicating  with  the 
'northern  district  and  with 
Queensland. 

At  the  site  of  the  bridge, 
about  seven  miles  from  the 
sea,  the  engineers  were  con- 
fronted by  an  estuary  width 
of  six  thousand  feet.  The 
bridge  from  embankment  to 
embankment,  according  to 
the  engineering  report  of  C.  0.  Burge,  is  "  of  seven  spans"'of  four  hundred  and  sixteen  feet  each, 
from  centre  to  centre  of  the  piers,  the  foundations  for  the'latter  being  of  concrete  encased  in  steel 
caissons,  while  the  upper  portions  of  the  piers  and  the  whole  of  the  abutments  are  of  masonry. 
The  girders  are  formed  of  built  steel  compression-members  and  solid  steel  eye-bar  tension-rods, 
all  the  connections  being  made  by  steel  pins.  The  cross-girders  and  rail-bearers  are  of  riveted 
steel  plate.  The  two  main  girders  of  each  span  are  four  hundred  and  ten  feet  and  a  half-inch 
long  from  end  pin  to  end  pin,  and  forty-eight  feet  deep  at  centre,  and  are  placed  twenty-eight 
feet  apart  from  centre  to  centre,  the  bridge  carrying  two  lines  of  railway." 

The  borings  for  the  bridge  showed  a  mud  bed  to  a  depth  of  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  and  seventy 
feet  below  high-water  mark.  The  greatest  depth  of  the  foundations  is  one  hundred  and  sixty-two 
feet  below  water,  which  is  stated  to  be  the  deepest  bridge-foundations  yet  sunk.  The  caissons  for 
the  piers  were  sunk  through  the  mud  as  follows  :  "  The  shoe,  having  been  built  on  shore,  and 
provided  with  a  timber  false  bottom,  was  floated  out  to  position,  and  sunk  to  the  bottom  of  the 
river  by  removing  the  temporary  bottom  and  partially  loading  the  caisson  with  concrete.  The 
caisson  was  then  sunk  through  the  mud  by  dredging  the  material  from  the  bottom  of  the  wells  and 
by  loading  the  space  between  the  wells  and  the  skin  with  concrete,  more  steel  being  built  up  as  the 
caisson  went  down.  As  soon  as  the  structure  was  firmly  in  the  sand,  the  dredging  wells  were 
filled  with  concrete,  and  the  masonry  was  then  begun  at  a  level  somewhat  below  low  water." 
The  bridge,  which  took  two  and  a  half  years  to  build,  at  a  cost  of  three  hundred  and  twenty-seven 


Photo  tjf] 


[y.  Alaiuti,  AucUa?id. 


A    PRE-HISTORIC    MONUMENT.    TONGA. 


So  old  is  this  "trilithon"  that  its  history  is  forgotten.  It  remains  to  be  an  enigma  for 
the  twentieth  century — how  was  the  centre  stone  raised  twenty  feet  to  its  present 
position    bv    a    people    who    knew    nothing    of    mechanics? 


Australasia   and  the   Pacific 


297 


thousand  pounds,  is  as  graceful  as  it  is  strong,  and  is  more  than  half  a  mile  in  length.  Before 
its  opening,  in  1889,  the  trains  from  Sydney  were  met  at  the  river  and  the  passengers  transhipped  and 
conveyed  across  to  the  connecting  cars  for  northern  stations.  At  the  site  of  the  crossing  the  scenery 
is  picturesque  and  wild,  and  at  all  points  along  the  river  is  grandly  impressive.  To  the  west  the 
Blue  Mountains  touch  the  sky,  and  the  grandeur  of  hill  and  vaUey  scenery  is  unsurpassed.  Anthony 
TroUope,  drawing  comparisons  between  the  Hawkesbury  River  and  the  Rhine  and  the  Upper 
Mississippi,  says  : 

"  The  Rhine  has  its  castles  and  its  islands,  and  it  has,  too,  in  its  favour,  the  bright  colours 
of  its  waters.  The  Upper  Missis- 
sippi has  no  castles,  nor  are  its 
waters  bright,  but  it  has  islands. 
.  .  .  The  Hawkesbury  has  neither 
castles  nor  ^  has  it  bright,  clear 
waters  like  the  Rhine,  but  the 
headlands  are  higher,  the  bluffs 
are  bolder,  and  the  turns  and 
manoeuvres  of  the  course  which 
the  waters  have  made  for  them- 
selves are  grander  and  to  me  more 
enchanting  than  those  of  either  the 
European  or  American  rivers." 

Prehistoric  Monument,  Tonga. 
Tlie  Tongan  and  Samoan  natives 
of  the  Friendly  Islands  had  in 
their  pre-Christianized  days  many 
strange  gods.  The  Tongans  as- 
cribed all  their  evil  to  the  angei 
of  the  good  gods,  or  to  the  evil 
intention  of  the  bad  gods.  The 
Samoans  had  a  multitude  of  gods, 
one  for  every  village.  They  had 
a  tradition  of  a  time  when 
only  the  heavens  were  inhabited, 
Bettany  says ;  then  a  long  time 
ago  the  heaven-inhabitants  fell 
down  into  the  sea  which  coveretl 
the  earth,  and  so  the  eartli  was 
peopled.  In  one  district  they  had 
a  stone  rain-god  ;  when  there  was 
too  much  rain  it  was  put  to  the 
fire  to  dry  to  cause  the  rain  to 
stop,  and  when  there  was  drought 
dipped  into  water. 

The  Tongans  had  spiritual 
chiefs  supposed  to  be  descended 
from  the  gods  ;   most  of  the  gods 

,       ,  J  J  1  1  /'I'^irt  "  T/if  yeu  A'ew  Gi'.iL'  ,,    <, .>^  the  aulh^T.  Mist  />iatrue  ai-itiu!iaw, 

had    a    separate     temple     and    a  .... 

.  ■      *  t>    *   *       i;.    1    *  A    CANNIBAL    TEMPLE.    NEW    GUINEA. 

separate  priest.      But  to  Bolotoo, 

.,  1        J  r     Ai  J  1  .11  A»»ociated    wilh    the    horror«    of    connibalitlic    ritei.     ihc    temple    la    auitalily 

the     abode    of    the    gods,     where    the  om.men.ed    with  .lli..><,r.'  .Un..  p,..-  law..  .nd  hideou.  carved  l.ce.. 


^x 


298 


The  Wonders   of  the  World 


souls  of  the  aristocracy  appeared  in  human  hkeness  immediately  after  death,  the  "  lower  classes  " 
did  not  go.  And  this  accounts,  perhaps,  for  the  rarity  of  their  prehistoric  tombs  and  monuments. 
Miss  Beatrice  Grimshaw.  in  "  The  Strange  South  Seas,"  commenting  on  the  tombs  of  the  chiefs  of 
Tongans  of  divine  descent,  says  that  for  many  centuries  they  were  buried  in  "  great  oblong  raised 
enclosures,  three-terraced,  and  built  of  rough-hewn,  closely-iitted  slabs  from  the  coral  reef."  Two 
of  these  great  tombs  remain,  but  they  are  older  than  the  recollection  of  the  Tongans,  and  there  are 
no  data  concerning  them. 

The  prehistoric  monument  of  the  illustration  is  evidently  that  of  which  Miss  Beatrice  Grimshaw 
says  :  "  There  is  also  a  '  trilithon  '  erection  of  three  large  blocks  of  stone  some  miles  away  [from 
the  tombs],  concerning  which  island  traditions  are  silent.  It  could  not  have  been  constructed  by 
hand  labour  alone  ;    some  mechanical  device  must  have  been  employed  to  raise  the  centre  stone  to 

its  present  position.  The 
ancient  Tongans,  however, 
knew  nothing  of  mechanics, 
and  an  interesting  problem 
is,  therefore,  set  for  anti- 
quarians to  solve.  The 
height  of  the  side  sup- 
ports is  about  twenty  feet, 
and  the  centre  cross-piece, 
which  rests  in  a  socket 
on  each  side,  is  a  little  less 
in  length." 

A  Cannibal.  Temple, 
Neiv  Guinea.— The  modern 
idea  of  a  temple  is  not 
associated  with  cannibal- 
ism :  rather  as  a  place 
where  worshippers  as- 
semble. But  the  older 
significance  of  the  word 
as  an  abode  of  the  gods 
and  a  place  of  sacrifice 
is  the  more  applicable  to 
the  temples  or  club-houses 
of  the  savage  gentlemen 
of  New  Guinea. 

The  unique  illustration  of  one  of  these  cannibal  temples,  or  rabis,  was  obtained  by  Miss  Beatrice 
Grimshaw,  who,  in  her  "  New  New  Guinea,"  describes  her  exploration  experiences  in  the  Purari 
delta  village,  where  this  particular  rabi  was  visited.  Like  the  houses  of  the  village,  set  upon  high 
piles  and  connected  by  "  nightmare  bridges  "  upon  tall  trembling  supports  eight  feet  high  or  more, 
the  temple  was  approached  by  such  another  rickety  platform.  "  Coming  out  of  the  dull  glare  and 
heat  outside,  the  dark  coolness  of  the  rabi  made  one  draw  a  breath  of  relief.  ...  It  was  partitioned 
off  into  four  separate  sanctuaries,  the  three  first  being  divided  from  each  other  by  rows  of  wooden 
pillars.  The  outmost  was  the  largest  and  highest  :  as  the  building  went  back  it  became  narrower 
and  lower."  Alligator  skulls  were  in  neat  rows  on  the  ground;  pigs'  jaws  hung  in  strings  do\.n 
the  pillars  ;  wooden  shields  were  carved  with  faces,  "  devilish,  bogey,  gobhn,  comic  or  fierce." 
The  human  skulls  have  been  removed  ;  for  although  the  taking  of  heads  is  a  distinction  in  Sarawak, 
the  white  rulers  have  other  views. 


From  Stereo  cupf^rvjht  iy] 


li'niii'ruood  <<■  thidertroocl. 


A    NEW    GUINEA    HOUSE. 


For  greater  securily  these  people  build  their  houses  on  piles.       For  ihjs   ihev  are  protected 
against   marauders  and   the   floods   th.it   occur  in    th:   rainy  s?a   ons. 


'&W- 


~rH. 


I'ainled  by  G.  H.  lulmirtls. 


Phtitti  by  Mtiir  iji  Moutttc,  Diiitciiin. 


THE    SUTHERLAND    FAI.l.S. 


This  famou!!  waterfall  in  the  Arthur  \'all(*y.  New  /ealatid.  measures  1.904  feet  from   the  top  to  the  bottom,  and  is  thus  the  hi>;hci.t  l(now(t 
fall  in  the  World.     It  is  divided  into  three  leaps  of  815  feat.  751  feet  and  338  feet. 


300 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


t  rom  ^tei'eo  copyriij.tt  liy'\ 


{_Utideiwood  «i:  Underwood, 


NEW    GUINEA    HOUSES. 


Travellers  report    that    these    houses    are    very    artistic,   but  most    insecurely  built.     The   floors  are  practically    of  lattice  work. 

The    verandah    is    the    "lounge"    of    the    house. 

The  second  division  of  the  rabi  was  a  rephca  of  the  first,  with  enlarged  alhgator  skulls  and  pigs' 
jaws,  and  handsomer  weapons;  so  the  third.  "  The  whole  rabi  seemed  designed  with  a  view  oi 
gradually  leading  up  to  and  enhancing  something." 

The  mystery  was  solved.  The  fourth  chamber  was  the  inner  shrine,  the  "  Unholy  of  Unholies," 
dedicated  to  four  dragons.  "  They  had  a  certain  resemblance  to  alligators,  a  shght  resemblance 
to  sharks;  but  dragons  they  were  in  all  essentials,"  with  tapering  tails  and  small  sprawhng  feet, 
red  eyes,  and  all  the  other  goblin  features.  They  were  made  of  plaited  wickerwork,  about  nine  feet 
long.  But  there  were  other  rumours  concerning  the  images  beside  their  ornamental  quahty — 
rumours  of  "  ceremonies  in  which  a  man,  hidden  inside  the  wicker  body,  feigned  to  devour  the  victini 
of  a  cannibal  feast,  stabbing  him  as  he  was  put  into  the  mouth  of  a  figure." 

This,  as  other  temples,  is  used  partly  as  a  club,  the  aristocracy  of  the  young  man  spending  much 
of  their  time  in  it. 

Native  Houses  in  New  Guinea. — The  isolation  of  each  island  of  the  Pacific  makes  each  a  separate 
country  distinct  from  any  other  of  the  many  groups,  and  New  Guinea  is  as  yet  but  half  explored. 
Miss  Beatrice  Grimshaw,  in  her  "  New  New  Guinea,"  says  :  "  When  the  secrets  of  South  America  are 
almost  all  told,  and  even  Central  Africa  and  Central  Asia  have  little  more  to  give,  New  Guinea  should 
still  flaunt  defiance  in  the  face  of  all  research.  There  have  been  numberless  exploring  parties,  but 
not  one  has  done  all  that  it  set  out  to  do,  though  each  has  added  a  little  to  our  knowledge  of  the 
interior.  Not  a  single  one  of  the  great  rivers  has  been  traced  to  its  source.  Most  of  the  high 
mountains  have  not  been  ascended.  No  one  knows  what  lies  in  the  great  blank  spaces  of  the 
Western  Division."  What  is  known  of  New  Guinea,  however — and  it  is  much,  though  much  more 
remains  to  know— has  all  the  attraction  of  the  unusual. 


Australasia   and   the   Pacific 


301 


The  romance  of  its  great  rivers- — seas  of  rivers  and  homes  of  the  aUigator — holds  the  explorer  by 
an  uncanny  spell,  for  they  flow  between  hundreds  of  miles  of  silent  shores  of  coconut-palms,  nipa- 
palms,  with  their  roots  in  the  mud  and  their  plumed  heads  against  the  burning  sky,  backed  by 
untrodden  forest.  Rivers  and  rivers  interlacing  and  crossing  over  submerged  forest,  past  pandanus- 
trees,  mangrove  wastes  and  sago-palm  swamps,  on  and  on  into  the  vast  unknown. 

The  native  villages  and  temples  that  here  and  there  accentuate  the  solitude  of  the  river-wilds 
are  built  on  piles  over  the  water  for  protection,  for  the  rivers  are  the  highways  of  the  "  Head- 
hunters  "  ;  while  this  is  a  peaceable  race  occupied  chiefly  among  the  sago-palms  fringing  the 
streams. 

These  quaint  land-houses  of  New  Guinea  are  built  upon  piles  out  of  reach  of  things  that  crawl,  as 
tlie  sea-houses  are  of  the  alligators.  Brown,  palm-thatched  and  windowless,  with  deep-pitched  roofs 
and  overlapping  eaves,  their  doorways  admitting  the  only  light,  they  are  dim,  cool  retreats  from 
the  tropic  sun,  set  in  the  midst 

of  luxuriant  vegetation.     Their  ! 

access  is  by  ladders,  and  their 
furnishings  chiefly  mats  and 
camphor-wood  boxes,  and  fire- 
clay pots  for  cooking  and  hold- 
ing water,  and  the  absolute 
necessities  of  the  simple  life. 

Although  the  New  Guinea 
houses  differ  in  construction  in 
various  parts  of  the  country, 
tlie  common  plan  of  building 
is  on  raised  platforms.  Wood 
and  bamboo  walls  and  palm- 
thatched  roofs  are  the  chief 
features,  the  roof  raised  some 
feet  above  the  walls  to  allow  a 
free  current  of  ventilation.  The 
broad  deep  verandah,  a  feature 
of  many  of  the  land  houses,  as 
of  all  the  sea-villages,  is  the 
social  hall  where  guests  are  re- 
ceived, and  the  women  perform 
those  arts  and  crafts  which  re- 
quire the  light  for  their  accom- 
plishment. The  groups  of  pile- 
dwellings  on  land,  set  amid 
plantations  of  bananas,  limes 
and  coconuts,  are  intersected  by 
broad  paths,  as  the  sea-villages 
are  traversed  by  waterways. 

The  bush-tribes  of  New 
Guinea  built  their  villages  in 
secret  places  among  the  hills, 
cleverly  concealed  from  their 
enemies  and  out  of  reach  amid 
the   tropical   forest.     Many   of 


THE     KARAl'llI 


BLOW-HOLE. 


Th.: 


•team    from    this    mishty    trumpel,    which    hat    been    called    the   safely    valve    of 
New    Zealand,    bursts    forth    at    a    pressure   of    I6J  lbs.    to    the    tquarc    inch. 


^02 


The  Wonders   of  the  World 


the  old  hill-villages  had  tree-houses  where  those  attacked  took   refuge  and  hurled  down   stones 
and  spears  upon  their  enemies. 

The  Karapiti  Bloiv-hole. — Tlie  wondrous  valley  lying  near  the  banks  of  the  Waikato,  through 
whicli  Karapiti  is  reached,  is  as  marvellous  as  it  is  exquisite.  The  wraith-arms  of  geysers  beckon 
to  a  fairyland  where  terraces  of  snow  whiteness  or  coral  pink  or  yellow  gleam  among  mosses  and 
vines,  backed  by  manuka-draped  hills.  Great  and  small  geysers  shoot  up  at  intervals  from  the 
rocky  beds.  The  sunlight  plays  upon  the  gleaming  spray  of  these  jewelled  fountains.  The  white, 
surging,  river  foam,  here  glancing  green,  there  steely  blue,  intensifies  the  colouring  of  the  sinter 

slopes.  Pools  of  brilliant  colour 
vie  with  the  pale  yellow  and 
Indian  red  patches  of  the  hills. 
Never  was  there  a  transforma- 
tion scene  so  perfect,  so  gor- 
geous, so  bewildering  in  its 
magnificence  ! 

The  Karapiti  Blow-hole  lies 
back  on  the  dark  hills.  This 
"  Devil's  Trumpet"  is  heard  for 
some  distance  as  the  hill  is 
approached,  roaring  with  cease- 
less energy.  What  would  hap- 
pen if  this  monster  steam-vent 
ceased  its  work  can  be  imagined, 
for  the  pressure  is  one  hundred 
and  eighty  pounds  to  the  square 
inch,  and  within  the  memory 
of  man  it  has  been  blowing  off 
steam  at  that  rate  continuously. 
It  is  said  to  be  the  safety-valve 
of  New  Zealand;  of  that  por- 
tion— the  hot-water  district — it 
must  be.  In  shape  it  is  like  a 
huge  stone  trumpet  or  funnel, 
ten  feet  across  the  top  and 
widening  at  the  bottom.  The 
sight  of  the  mighty  blow-hole 
is  awe-inspiring  and  more  sug- 
gestive of  the  tremendous  forces 
lying  under  the  crust  of  volcanic 
country  than  any  other  fumarole  in  the  North  Island,  and  it  is  long  before  the  visitor  can 
dismiss  the  uncanny  monster  from  his  mind. 

The  Tub,  Wombeyian  Cai;es.— The  Wombeyan  Caves,  situated  about  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
six  miles  from  Sydney,  are  on  the  Wombeyan  Creek,  a  picturesque  stream,  and  lie  in  a 
limestone  belt  about  two  and  a  half  miles  long  by  one  mile  wide.  The  rock  is  coarse  crystal- 
line white  marble  streaked  with  yellow,  and  fossils  that  have  been  found  show  that  the  limestone 
bed  is  an  old  coral  reef. 

The  surrounding  country  is  magnificent,  a  wild  scene  of  mountains  and  valleys  intersected 
with  streams.  The  Tub  is  one  of  a  group  of  cavities  in  the  Wombeyan  Caves.  A  descent 
from    the    main    cavern,    surrounding   which    are    many    wonderful    caves    and    passages,  leads 


By  penmisioii  of]  [TheAgeid  >.    .     .  *  a 

THE    TUB.     WOMBEYAN    CA\  Ej. 

Pinnacles,   talhcr  than  cavities,  are  the   usual  shapes  taken  by  stalagmites. 
extraordinary    formation    of    those     in     the     Wombeyan    Caves     has     given     them 
name   o^    "The    Basins." 


The 
the 


^w.^ 


By  permission  p/] 


LCTS    WIFE    AND    THE    COCKATOO.     WOLLONDILLY    CAVES. 

Unconsc.ou.    Na.urc    I...   I>cr=    modelled   .    woman    in    .   .hroud   and   «   bird   broodins   on   «    .now-whi.c    nesl    .o   f«i.hlully 

thai    ihcsc  slBlotmilcB  cnn   ca.ily   be   identified   by    iheir   no;iie«. 


304 


The  Wonders   of  the    World 


By  permission  of]  [The  AgeiU-Gentral  for  JVuw  Zealand. 

MOUNT    EGMONT. 

Towerine    8.200    feet    above    the   sea-level    as   though    proud    that    it    is    the    most    perfectly-shaped   volcanic   mountain    in 

the  world.   TaranaUi    rears  its  cone  of  snow  as  a  landmark   to  the  sailor  miles  away  in   the  Tasman  Sea. 

to  a  magnificent  natural  hall  one  hundred  and  seventy  feet  long  and  forty  feet  high,  to  the  left 
of  which  are  formed  stalagmite  cavities  which  are  called  "  the  Basins,"  owing  to  their  form, 
for  some  are  shaped  like  bowls,  others  like  tubs  of  various  sizes.  Professor  David,  B.A.,  F.R.S., 
accounts  for  their  formation  by  the  sloping  rock  on  which  they  stand,  once  forming  the  bed  of  an 
underground  stream,  dissolving  and  wearing  a  passage  through  the  marble  and  descending  in 
a.  series  of  small  cascades  into  the  channel  below.  These  cascades  where  they  fell  wore  out  the 
marble  in  basin  shape.  The  discovery  of  these  enchanted  coral-like  groves  and  chambers  of  the 
Blue  Mountains  is  attributed  by  one  report  to  a  bushranger,  who  made  one  of  the  caves  his 
hiding-place,  and  by  another  to  a  stock-drover.  But  to  whomever  the  discovery  of  Australia's 
great  limestone  caverns  is  due,  the  Jenolan,  Wombeyan  and  Yarrangobilly  Caves  of  New  South 
Wales  are  no  mean  addition  to  the  list  of  Nature's  wonder-works. 

Lot's  Wife  and  the  Cockatoo,  WoUondilly)  Caves. — A  steep  mountain  climb  leads  to  the 
WoUondilly  Caves  ;  then  a  difficult  descent  into  the  dim  tunnels  and  galleries  where  are  statues 
and  skeletons  of  stalactites  and  dripstones.  This  cave  is  one  of  the  group  of  the  great  Cathedral 
Cavern,  vast  and  silent,  and  dark  except  where  the  guide  turns  the  brilliant  flash  of  his  magnesium 
lamp.  In  the  foreground  of  the  Temple  are  the  two  strange  white  stalagmites  known  as  Lot's 
Wife,  which  resembles  a  pillar  of  salt,  and  the  Cockatoo,  that  might  have  been  a  marble 
•carving  of  the  bird. 

Mount  Egmont. — ^The  Maori  name  of  Mount  Egmont  is  "  Taranaki,"  and  it  stands  "  lofty  and 
lone  "  in  New  Plymouth.  Its  lovely  cone,  which  is  said  to  be  the  most  perfect  in  the  world,  is 
enhanced  in  beauty  by  the  fact  that  it  stands  out  in  splendid  isolation  from  other  peaks.  Its 
summit,  eight  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet  high,  is  a  striking  landmark  for  many  miles, 
both  by  sea  and  land.  Captain  Cook,  who  first  saw  the  peak  towering  above  the  clouds,  in  1770, 
noted  that  in  appearance  it  resembled  the  Peak  of  Teneriffe. 


Australasia   and   the   Pacific 


305 


The  ascent  of  Mount  Egmont,  above  the  lower  wooded  slopes,  is  steep  and  difficult.  To  the 
height  of  about  two  thousand  feet  the  forest  of  giant  pines  and  rata  is  very  beautiful,  but  it 
changes  gradually  to  a  tangle  of  stunted  trees  and  scrub,  which  at  five  thousand  feet,  beaten  and 
twisted  by  the  wind  into  fantastic  shapes,  is  called  "  The  Gobhn  Bush."  The  scrub  in  turn  gives 
place  to  grass  and  rushes  and  moss ;  the  moss-plateaus  end  in  the  rock  and  snow  and  ice  that  mass 
the  top.  But  although  the  cone  is  capped  with  eternal  snow,  during  the  summer  the  greater 
portion  of  the  mountain  is  without  its  white  mantle. 

There  is  an  extensive  and  magnificent  view  from  the  peaks.  Below  are  the  shores  of  Taranaki, 
towns  and  rivers,  waterfalls  and  forest,  and  in  the  distance  the  snow-clad  peaks  of  Ruapehu.  and 
of  Xgauruhoe  and  Tongariro,  and  the  shining  waters  of  the  sea. 

Whakoupoku  Boiling  Well. — The  Whakoupoku  Boiling  Well  at  Waikite  is  a  beautiful  sample 
of  the  many  hot  springs  that  abound  in  the  valleys  of  the  Paeroa  Mountains.  Of  unknown  depth, 
this  sparkling,  foamy  pool  bubbles  amid  luxuriant  vegetation,  warming  the  roots  of  the  ferns  that 
encircle  it.  These  wells  at  Waikite  are  extraordinary  in  their  character  ;  some  of  them  boil  furiously 
in  their  crater-basins,  others  lie  still  and  blue  though  at  boiling  point,  and  otliers  again  are  constantly 
rising  and  falling,  giving  off  dense  masses  of  steam,  their  erupted  waters  rising  perhaps  twenty  or 
thirtv  feet.  When  comparatively  quiet  the  surface  of  the  pools  is  often  gemmed  over  with 
thousands  of  coloured  bubbles,  which  dance  and  burst  and  reform.  Some  of  the  waters  are  highly 
charged  with  sihca  and,  where  they  fall  over  a  surface,  coat  it  with  a  beautiful  enamel.  In  the 
moist,  warm  atmosphere  of  the  valleys  of  hot  rills  and  springs  the  air  is  aromatic  with  the   scent 


Photo  tty] 

THE     BOILING     WKLL.     WAIKITE. 

Under  the  shadow   of   Paeroa   Mountain   in   the  midst   of   delicately-f rondcd  fern   and   flowerina 

bubble   up  nmoncal   the  trees  from  an   unknoivn   depth. 


■  hrubs.   ihevc   boiline   sprini:s 
21 


o 


06 


The  Wonders  of   the   World 


of  flowering  shrubs  ;  yellow  gorse  and  broom  contrast  with  the  green  flax  and  its  iris-like  blossoms, 
and  white  mountain  lilies  combine  to  rob  the  steaming  land  of  sinister  meaning.  The  acrid  and 
brilliant-hued  lakes  are  all  fringed  with  forest,  and  the  billowy,  rumbling  rivers  zig-zag  through 
forest-shores. 

Ice  Famarole,  Antarctic. — On  their  way  across  the  old  crater,  at  about  eleven  thousand  feet 
below  the  active  crater  of  Erebus,  the  Shackleton  exploring  party  were  attracted  by  the  strange  ice- 
formation  of  their  photograph,  which  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  a  couchant  lion,  and  from 
which  smoke  appeared  to  be  issuing.  The  peculiar  structure  proved  to  be  a  fumarole,  or  volcanic 
vapour-well ;  but,  whereas  in  warm  climates  the  emissions  would  be  steam,  at  the  Antarctic 
the  vapour  is  frozen  into  ice  as  soon  as  it  reaches  the  snow  line. 

The  Erebus  exploring  party  reported  :  "  About  fifty  of  these  were  visible  to  us  on  the  track  which 
we  followed  to  and  from  the  crater,  and  doubtless  there  were  numbers  that  we  did  not  see.     These 


Photo  6v] 


{Sir  Ernest  Sfiackleton. 


AN     ICE-FUMAROLE    IN    THE    ANTARCTIC. 


Th 


ese  unique  ice- 


nounds  are   the   result  of  the  combined  action  of   intense  heat  and  intense  cold — volcanic  steam  frozen 
immediately  it  issues  from  the  crater  of  a  volcano. 


unique  ice-mounds  have  resulted  from  the  condensation  of  vapour  around  the  orifices  of  the 
fumaroles.  It  is  only  under  conditions  of  very  low  temperature  that  such  stractures  could  exist. 
No  structures  like  them  are  known  in  any  other  part  of  the  world."  Varied  and  fantastic  in  shape, 
they  were  in  the  forms  of  mounds  and  turrets  ;  some  resembled  animals  and  others  beehives. 

Mount  Erebus. — Sir  Ernest  Shackleton,  in  "  The  Heart  of  the  Antarctic,"  gives  a  graphic 
description  of  the  ascent  of  Mount  Erebus,  named  after  one  of  the  ill-fated  ships  of  earlier  expeditions, 
at  whose  base  he  with  his  fellow- explorers  took  up  their  winter  quarters,  and  made  a  close  study 
of  the  great  volcano  which  stands  "  as  a  sentinel  at  the  gate  of  the  Great  Ice  Barrier." 

The  great  mountain  rises  thirteen  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  sea-level,  "  with 
its  enormous  snow-clad  bulk  towering  above  the  white  slopes  that  run  up  from  the  coast.  At  the 
top  of  the  mountain  an  immense  depression  marks  the  site  of  the  old  crater,  and  from  the  side  of 
this  rises  the  active  cone,  generally  marked  by  steam  or  smoke." 


[Sir  Urnfil  ShaMtlon. 
Fholo  hy] 

MOUNT     EREBUS. 
Thi.    .r...    „,ou„..,n    ri.»     U.3S0    .«.    .bovc    .He    .»-l.vcl.      The    ..„a,    r„.rU.    >h.    .c.ivc    cone    ''\    ^"""^^^^^l'^  ^'ll''    '    ' 
.u„.mi,   i.  th.  .i.c  o(   .he  old  cr..er.    .h.,   i.  .o  ..y.   .he  -<...   imp<.r..n..   for   .here  .re  ev.dence.  o(   (our  <i...,nc. 


3o8 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


PTioto  ly] 


[.Si/*  ilriietl  .^/il^■<^7^f"^. 


MOUNT    EREBUS    BY    MOONLIGHT 


It  is  by  moonlight,  according  to  Sir  Ernest  Shacklelon.  that  Mount  Erebua  is  seen  al  its  noblest,  when, 
rising  up  3.000  feet  from  the  crater  and  silhouetted  against  the  moon's  disc,  the  huge  column  of  steam 
travels    upwards.    "  not    quietly,    but    impelled    by    force    from    below." 

In  their  winter  quarters  Sir  Ernest  Shackleton  and  his  comrades  had  every  opportunity  of 
taking  observations,  for  the  great  mountain  was  only  about  fifteen  miles  off  and  within  full  view 
of  their  hut,  and  during  the  winter  encampment  of  the  expedition  they  saw  every  phase  of  its 
activity  ;  the  glow  was  much  more  vivid  at  times  than  at  other  times,  and  occasionally  great  bursts 
of  flame  illuminated  the  crater. 

By  moonlight  a  magnificent  view  of  the  huge  column  of  steam  that  rose  three  thousand  and  four 
thousand  feet  high  from  the  crater  into  the  cold  air  could  be  obtained,  for  when  the  moon  passed 
behind  the  crater  upon  its  disc  could  be  seen  "  the  great  cloud  travelling  upwards,  not  quietly,  but 
impelled  by  force  from  below." 

At  length  a  party  of  the  expedition  set  off  from  the  winter  quarters  to  take  the  fort  of  Erebus. 
A  sledge  was  packed  and  lashed,  which  on  the  moraines  and  steep  slopes  of  small  glaciers  proved 
difficult  to  negotiate,  the  sledgers  having  much  trouble  in  keeping  their  feet.  The  party  the  first 
day  made  seven  miles  from  their  winter  hut-home  and  camped  two  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  above  sea-level.  Next  morning,  in  a  temperature  ten  degrees  below  zero  Fahrenheit,  they 
proceeded  up  a  much  steeper  gradient,  the  sledge  capsizing  frequently,  and  only  three  difficult  miles 
were  accomplished  during  the  day,  camping  at  an  altitude  of  five  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty 
feet,  with  a  temperature  twenty-eight  degrees  below  zero. 

On  the  following  morning  the  climb  was  resumed,  the  snow  slopes  became  steeper,  but  the  third 
camp  was  eight  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet  up,  and  during  the  night  a  blizzard,  which 
increased  in  fury  by  the  morning,  swept  fiercely  down  the  rocky  ravine  where  they  had  halted, 
and  they  had  much  ado  to  keep  themselves  from  being  blown  off  the  precipice.  The  following 
day,  after  a  night  of  frozen  terrors,  the  blizzard  over,  they  made  a  fresh  start,  the  ascent  steeper 
than  ever,  the  dazzling  slopes  too  perpendicular  to  climb  without  cutting  steps  in  the  ice. 

They  had  long  abandoned  their  sledge,  leaving  it  on  the  lower  slopes.  The  progress  was  now 
very  slow,  and  at  a  thousand  feet  below  the  active  cone  they  had  to  be  roped  together,  and  make 
their  cautious  way  over  the  snow-plain  with  their  ice-axes,  above  them  being  the  coveted  crater, 
which  was  conquered  after  a  five  days'  struggle.     As  the  party  came  against  the  sky-line,  they  were 


Australasia   and   the    Pacific 


509 


seen  far  down  in  the  camp  by  their  comrades  in  the  winter  quarters,  who  for  two  days  had  followed 
their  ascent  through  the  telescope,  but  had  lost  sight  of  them  till  their  figures  were  silhouetted 
against  the  light. 

"  We  stood  on  the  verge  of  a  vast  abyss,"  the  report  runs,  "  and  at  first  could  see  neither  the 
bottom  nor  across  it  on  account  of  the  huge  mass  of  steam  filling  the  crater  and  soari  ng  aloft 
in  a  column  five  hundred  to  one  thousand  feet  high.  After  a  continuous  loud  hissing  sound, 
lasting  for  some  minutes,  there  would  come  from  below  a  big  dull  boom,  and  immediately  great 
globular  masses  of  steam  would  rush  upwards  to  swell  the  volume  of  the  snow-white  cloud  which 
ever  swells  over  the  crater.  This  phenomenon  recurred  at  intervals  during  the  whole  of  our  stay 
at  the  crater.  Meanwhile  the  air  around  us  was  extremely  redolent  of  burning  sulphur. 
Presently  a  pleasant  northerly  breeze  fanned  away  the  steam  cloud,  and  at  once  the  whole 
crater  stood  revealed  to  us  in  all  its  vast  extent  and  depth.  .  .  .  There  were  at  least  three  well- 
defined  openings  at  the  bottom  of  the  cauldron,  and  it  was  from  these  the  steam  explosions 
proceeded." 

When  on  the  top  of  ilount  Erebus  the  explorers  remarked  the  great  conical  shadow  it  threw 
at  sunrise  over  McMurdo  Sound,  and  even  as  far  as  the  western  mountains.  The  colour  effects  were 
often  ver\^  beautiful,  especially  at  the  intermediate  season  of  the  year,  and  at  sunrise  or  sunset  the 
mountain  was  often  bathed  in  a  delicate  pink  light,  or  seen  beneath  iridescent  clouds.  Some  of 
the  most  brilliant  displays  of  the  Aurora  Australis  were  in  the  vicinity  of  Mount  Erebus,  whose 
summit  it  sometimes  encircled. 


Pholo  (■!(] 


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!y    famous. 

COKAL     KEHf-b.     bAM  JA. 

c.    the    deep     transparent     water,     calchine     and     reflectins 
let    of    iKe    rainbow,    and    create*    a    maitical    tea -car  den 


the     tropic     sunltEht, 
lor    which    iheac    itiandt 


o 


lO 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Coral  Formation,  Samoa. — This  lovely  garden  of  living  coral-flowers  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
known.  Just  below  the  surface  these  coral-flowers  bloom  in  the  most  exquisite  colours,  of  delicately- 
tinted  shades,  pink  and  green  and  purple,  suggested  rather  than  realized,  for  it  is  the  water  flowing 
over  the  beds  that  frequently  gives  colour  to  much  of  the  white  coral ;  the  red  is  rare  :  the  coral  of 
the  Pacific  is  chiefly  white.  But  the  transformation  of  light  shining  through  water  makes  the  dull  or 
faintly-coloured  coral  alive  with  prismatic  ravs  and  forms  bouquets  of  the  hues  of  the  tropic  seas. 

Coral  Reef  and  Bloiv-hole,  Samoa. — The  innumerable  coral-reefed  islands  of  the  South  Seas, 
strange  with  relics  of  vague  traditions  and  multiplicity  of  graven  images  and  past  gods,  sacred 
groves,  stones  and  temples,  even  yet,  despite  their  semi-civilization,  present  the  barbaric  and 
grotesque  in  juxtaposition  with  the  wonderful  and  beautiful  in  Nature.  These  green  and  fertile 
oases  in  the  ocean  waste,  studded  with  great  mountains,  gemmed  with  rivers  and  waterfalls  and 
coloured   lagoons,  plumed   with  feathery  palms,  groved   with   coconut   and   banana,  scented  with 


A     BLOW-HOLE    IN    THE    SAMOAN    CORAL    REEF. 

issuing     from    a    chasm    in    the     deep     sea,    forces    its    way     through    the    water     and     prevents    the    coral 


They,    however,     build     as     closely     as    possible     round     it.    and     so     lorn 


This    column    of    steam, 
insects   (roin    building    over     the    centre    of    activity 
natural    chimney    for   the   steam. 

orange  and  lemon  blossom,  and  enriched  with  gorgeous  foliage,  are  encircled  and  guarded  round  their 
thousand  shores  with  rings  of  white  branching  coral  flowering  under  water,  over  which  the  sea-surf 
washes  on  coral  strands  whiter  than  snow. 

These  coral  islands  have  been  the  despair  of  the  word  and  colour  painter  alike.  Miss  Beatrice 
Grimshaw,  in  "  The  Strange  South  Seas,"  says  ;  "  Outside  the  windy  palms  a  dazzling  beach  runs 
down  to  the  open  sea  all  around  the  island — a  beach  that  is  like  nothing  the  travellers  ever  have 
seen  before,  for  it  is  made  of  powdered  coral,  and  is  as  white  as  salt,  as  white  as  starch,  as  white 
as  the  hackneyed  snow-simile  itself  can  paint  it."  And  the  description  paints  not  one  coral  shore 
alone,  but  hundreds — "  flowering  coral  under  water,  white  broken  coral  gravel  above,  with  here 
and  there  a  thin  skin  of  earth  collected  by  a  century  or  two  of  falling  palm-leaves  and  ocean  waste." 

The  blow-hole  illustrated,  in  its  setting  of  coral  coast,  is  after  the  nature  of  the  fumaroles 
scattered  by  thousands  throughout  Australasia  and  the  islands  of  the  Pacific — Nature's  safety-valves 
for  subterranean  fires. 


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Bif  peri/nsswn  t'/] 


[Tlif  .V 


THE    FRANZ    JOSEF    GLACIER. 


Thr.c  Alp.  ..(    M.oril.nd  «rc  .  bl.^c  o(    hi^h    dr.matic    colour.       Th=    cr,.,.allinc    ..mo.phcrc    in.cn.ific.    .1!    I»nd,c«p.    hu.^ 
cc.n.u„c.  all  .olden  li.h..  .nd  purple  ,h«dow..       The     .Uy     i.    »    deeper    blue    .h.„    on    .I.e    plain,    below.      The    .ce-hcld.    .low 


like   white   hrc. 


312 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


By  pei-missioii  or\  ITlie  Agent-General  Jor  yew  Zealand. 

IHE     FRAXZ     JOSEF     GLACIER. 

The  steeply  slanting     ice-flows    of     the    Franz    Josef    Glacier    descend    from    the    perpetual    snows  of     the    Southern    Alps,     while 

on  either  side  of   the  half-mile-wide  tongue  of   ice  the   roclty  scarps  rise  up.    smoothly  polished  by   the   pressure  of  the  mass. 

The  coral  reefs  have  been  divided  into  three  classes — the  atoll,  or  ring  of  coral  surrounding  a 
lagoon  ;  a  fringing  reef,  which  is  near  the  land ;  and  a  barrier  reef  at  a  much  greater  distance,  the 
deep-water  lagoons  being  within  the  reef.  The  upraised  fringed  coasts  show  that  they  have  been 
elevated.  Darwin  sa\'s  :  "  We  thus  see  vast  areas  rising  with  volcanic  matter  now  and  then,  and 
bursting  forth  through  vents  or  fissures  with  which  they  are  traversed."  The  Samoan  Islands  are 
in  the  vicinity  of  submarine  volcanoes ;    hence  the  issue  of  steam  from  the  reef. 

The  Franz  Josef  Glacier. — The  Franz  Josef  Glacier  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  world. 
Situated  on  the  western  side  of  Mount  Cook  in  the  Southern  Alps,  and  torrentlike  in  its  ice-flow, 
it  descends  steeply  from  dividing  ranges  to  within  about  seven  hunded  feet  of  the  sea,  where,  like 
all  the  snow-domes  and  ice-fields  of  this  incomparable  range,  the  forest  clothes  all  the  lower  slopes- 
One  of  Aorangi  the  cloud-piercer's  glittering  satellites.  Franz  Josef  is  a  flashing  ice-field  amid  a 
sparkling  array  of  mountain  domes  and  spires  among  monstrous  peaks  far  as  the  eye  can  travel 
into  distance  or  reach  upward,  a  stately  panorama  of  diamond  radiance  and  dark  rock  ;  ranges 
beyond  and  behind  ;    ranges  piercing  the  clouds  and  standing  above  them  in  the  purple  haze. 

The  Alpine  and  sub- Alpine  flora  of  the  lower  slopes  of  Franz  Josef  is  very  beautiful ;  the 
vegetation  is  almost  sub-tropical ;  the  rata,  with  its  gorgeous  masses  of  red  blossom,  the  beech- 
woods,  carpeted  with'gold  and  green  mosses  and  hung  with  pale  lichens,  meet  the  snow-line,  and  the 
groves  of  ribbon-wood,  and  plateaus  of  mountain  daisies  and  deep  golden-hearted  lilies,  veronicas, 
and  violets  entice  the  thought  from  the  mountain's  austerity.  In  the  autumn  a  variety  of  berries 
supplj'  the  colour-scheme. 


Australasia    and   the   Pacific 


313 


The  ice  pinnacles  of  Franz  Josef  Glacier,  a  mass  of  glittering  spires  of  a  glacial  city,  surmount 
walls  of  solid  ice,  which  it  is  the  Alpinist's  delight  to  scale.  Up  in  that  naked  world  of  scarred  and 
jagged  outline,  which  from  the  earth  valleys  below  presents  a  solid  white  rock-face,  are  crystal  caves 
and  glittering  dales  and  crags,  aglow  with  a  million  points  of  reflected  fires  of  green,  purple  and  blue. 
Nature  has  peopled  the  solitude  of  the  lone  ice-peaks  with  strange  images  cut  in  the  ice-groved  clefts, 
and  adorned  the  ice-caves  with  delicate  fretwork  and  carving  of  stainless  wliite,  set  with  twinkling 
diamonds  of  light. 

Looking  down  from  the  glacier,  weirdly  magnificent  lie  crest  below  white  crest,  ice  falls  and 
cataracts  and  snow-rivers,  fields  and  valleys  and  groves  of  snow — a  world  of  dark  rock  and  ice, 
dazzling  and  alive  with  ethereal  hues. 

Sydney  Harbour.- — It  was  Viscount  Sydney,  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies,  1787,  who, 
more  than  a  century  ago,  determined  to  "  plant  a  coloney  "  in  New  South  Wales  (so  named  by 
Captain  Cook  in  memory  of  the  mining  country  of  England  where  he.  as  a  boy,  worked  in  the  coal 
mines). 

The  First  Fleet,  carrying  the  roots,  five  hundred  and  sixty-four  men  and  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
tw^o  women,  from  good  British  soil  for  transplantation  in  the  untried  land,  consisted  of  eleven 
vessels.  The  military  section  of  the  expedition  comprised  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  marines, 
and  the  wives  and  children  of  those  who  were  married,  commissioned  and  non-commissioned  officers, 
medical  men  and  mechanics. 

But  on  arrival  of  the  fleet  at  Botany  Bay  and  Sydney  Cove  the  captain  in  command  was 
convinced  that  the  shallow  inlet,  exposed  to  the  full  swell  of  the  Pacific,  without  bays  or  coves  to 
afford  shelter,  and  witli  barren  shores,  was  undesirable  as  a  harbour. 


By  pf'f'i' 


AT    THE    EDGE    OF    THE     FRANZ    JOSEF    GLACIER. 

TKc    Glacieii    of    the    Southern    Hemisphere    descend    to    a    much    lower    level    than    those    of    the    Northern-        Itiis    result* 
in    the    extraordinary    inlerminKlinK    of    RlenminK    ice    and    semi-tropicnt    veiietBtion 


o 


14 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


After  exploring  the  coast  about  nine  miles  distant,  Captain  Phillip  discovered  at  close  quarters 
the  port — Port  Jackson,  now  known  as  Sydney  Harbour — which  Captain  Cook  had  sighted  from  a 
distance. 

The  first  sight  of  this,  the  most  magnificent  harbour  of  the  world,  as  the  traveller  sails  over  its  blue 
waters  on  which  innumerable  "  white  wings  "  gleam  in  the  vivid  sunshine,  gives  the  impression 
of  approaching  an  enchanted  land,  whose  city  runs  down  to  the  shores  stretching  out  hospitable 
arms,  a  forest  of  stately  houses  and  picturesque  villas,  set  amid  sub-tropical  verdure.  The  harbour 
is  not  one,  but  many  :  curved  all  along  its  shores  are  dreamland  bays  and  inlets  and  creeks  that 
have  been  the  inspiration  of  poet  and  painter  alike,  yet  the  whole  of  their  loveliness  remains  untold. 
The  breadth  of  the  harbour  varies  from  three-quarters  of  a  mile  to  two  miles  and  more  across,  and 
the  foreshores  extend  more  than  two  hundred  miles.  The  lake-like  expanse  of  water  stretches  inland, 
high  precipitious  cliffs  guarding  the  harbour  heads  for  ten  or  twelve  miles,  then  on  either  hand  the 


Pholo  ly'i 
Surrounded    by 


THE    SPHINXES,    WANGAROA.     NEW    ZEALAND. 

the    sea.    the    Sphinxes    stand    out    like    sentinels    from    the    mainland         The    action    o( 


[J.  Martin,  Aukfand. 
the     sea    has    given 


hese    rocks 


Us    their    peculi 


ar    shape. 


waters  wash  over  shelving  beach.  All  along  the  coasts  the  innumerable  harbours  and  bays  which 
indent  the  shores  are  secluded  and  calm  resorts  of  great  picturesqueness.  which,  where  cliffs  and 
forest  do  not  reign  supreme,  are  fringed  with  flowering  orchards  and  villa  gardens  rich  with  blossom. 

Village  of  Sea-Dyaks,  Borneo. — The  Sea-Dyaks  of  Borneo  (cultivators  of  maize,  sugarcane,  ginger, 
pumpkins,  etc.)  prefer  the  low-lying  land  swamps  of  the  river-sides  for  their  habitations.  Formerly 
the  Sea-Dyaks  occupied  only  a  few  of  the  Sarawak  rivers  and  their  tributaries,  but  now  that  the 
warlike  tribes  of  their  enemies  have  retreated  further  into  the  interior,  the  Sea-Dyaks  have  extended 
their  activities  to  many  rivers,  says  Haddon,  between  Sarawak  and  Dutch  Borneo. 

The  Dyak  villages  are  built  on  piles  running  out  over  the  mud-flats  into  the  river.  The  village 
consists  of  a  number  of  houses,  some  of  which  are  of  considerable  size.  The  traveller  quoted  describes 
these  riverside  houses  as  consisting  of  two  portions — "  a  verandah  extending  the  whole  length  of 
the  river  frontage,  and  a  series  of  domiciles  opening  on  to  the  verandah. r'lT he  verandah  is  entered 


3i6 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Phcto  bu] 


\ILL.\GE    OF    SEA-D'iAKS.    BORNEO. 
Notorious   for   their   cruelties,    these    people   are   nevertheless   more   cultivated  than  most    of    the    neighbouring    tribes 
of    these    houses    is    the    home    of     a    clan,    the    larger    containing    apartments    for    as    many    as    eighty    families 


\^Nfwton  <t  Co. 
Each 


at  the  end  and  by  two  or  three  doorways  at  the  side.  Tlie  ladder  consists  of  one  or  more  notclied 
tree-trunks,  usually  with  a  slight  hand-rail,  the  use  of  which  is  as  often  as  not  dispensed  with  by 
the  nimble,  bare-footed  inhabitants." 

Light  broad  ladders  also  lead  up  to  the  verandah,  which  is  partitioned  off  from  the  apartments. 
Every  door  gives  ingress  to  a  separate  house,  which  is  divided  into  various-sized  apartments.  Each 
dwelling  is  occupied  by  a  separate  clan,  and  the  larger  of  them  contain  from  ten  to  eighty  different 
houses,  or  "  doors,"  which  are  quite  private  to  the  families  occupying  them.  The  wife,  or  wives, 
and  daughters  of  each  house  have  each  a  separate  room  ;  the  men  occupy  their  own  quarters.  The 
verandah  is  the  great  social  lounge. 

Over  a  considerable  portion  of  New  Guinea  the  men  have  a  social  life  which  is  distinct  from 
family  life  and  "  hedged  round  with  observances  and  taboos."  In  that  respect  native  club  life  does 
not  much  differ  from  that  ot  the  civilized  world.  The  clubs  of  the  Papuan,  like  those  of  the  Mason, 
can  only  be  gained  by  undergoing  certain  "  initiation  ceremonies,"  the  mysteries  of  which  are 
jealously  guarded  from  women  and  children  and  the  stranger,  the  rites  of  which  are  performed  either 
in  sacred  spots  in  the  bush  or  in  tlieir  club-houses  or  temples. 

Dyak  Idols. — The  chief  deity  of  the  Sea-Dyaks  of  Borneo  is  called  Batava,  a  pure  Sanskrit  term 
for  God,  says  Bettany.  But  they,  like  all  the  natives  of  New  Guinea,  have  innumerable  spirits  and 
gods  with  whom  they  hold  commune  in  the  privacy  of  the  woods  The  Dyaks,  both  Sea  and  Land, 
have  more  religion  than  the  natives  of  many  of  the  islands,  and  traces  of  the  Hindu  faith  are  found 
in  their  beliefs.  They  attribute  all  their  evils  to  their  gods,  and  the  beginning  of  their  rehgious 
wisdom  is  certainly  fear.  Omens,  especially  bird  and  animal  omens,  and  dreams  are  reckoned 
among  their  superstitions  ;    the   medicine-man  with  his  incantations   ranks  high  with  the  people. 


Australasia   and   the   Pacific 


317 


and  human  sacrifice  on  rare  occasions  (out  of  reach  ot  the  Government)  is  even  now  not 
unknown. 

The  idols  and  images  of  Dyaks  bear  a  family  likeness  to  other  heathen  idols — usually  hideous, 
malevolent  and  fierce  in  appearance. 

Wooden  tablets  covered  with  strange  hieroglyphics,  small  figures  carved  in  wood,  reptiles,  war- 
gods  "  covered  with  coarse  red  hair  like  an  orang,"  are  among  the  aids  to  devotion  of  these  strange 
worshippers.  And  the  history  of  religions  shows  that  in  all  ages  the  world  over,  since  mankind  first 
dimly  recognized  the  mystic  something  outside  his  comprehension,  he  has  in  "  graven  images  " 
endeavoured  to  give  expression  to  his  conceptions  of  the  unseen. 

Eagkhaivk  Neck,  Tasnun  Peninsula. — Tasmania  is  separated  from  Austraha  by  the  one 
hundred  and  twenty  miles'  width  of  Bass  Strait,  but  although  the  smallest  State  of  Australia — 
it  is  about  the  same  size  as  Scotland — it  excels  in  natural  charms  and  scenic  beauties.  "  The 
Halcyon  Isle,"  and  "  The  Garden  of  the  South,"  are  equally  appropriate  names  for  the  island,  in 
the  vicinity  of  which  are  numerous  other  islands  of  considerable  size. 

The  Tasman  Peninsula,  scene  of  dramatic  incident  and  wild  and  rugged  beauty,  is  linked  to 
the  mainland  by  a  narrow  neck  of  rock  known  as  Eaglehawk  Neck,  which  is  barely  two  hundred 
yards  wide,  and  upon  which  in  the  early  days  of  the  colony  dogs  were  kept  chained  to  give  the 
alarm  should  a  convict  attempt  to  escape  from  the  peninsula,  a  natural  and  lovely  prison.  The 
old  convict  settlement  is  now  dismantled ;  many  of  the  buildings  have  been  pulled  down,  and  others 
destroyed  by  the  fires  of  surrounding  bush.  The  model  prison  and  the  fine  old  church  are  in  ruins, 
but  the  beautiful  avenue  of  oak  trees  that  led  to  the  church  and  is  amongst  the  finest  in  the 
State,  exists  unharmed  to-day. 


.lilSt^ 


[.V'if/    ■!  .£■ 


DVAK    IDOLS. 

I  he   DysKfl  arc   tccminB    wiih   superstition.       Every   Iree   and   rocU   ia  the  home  of  some   demon.     To   ward  off   the  altaclis  of 
the  evil   spiiil*  carved   imntceii   such   ai  thcae  are   set    up   outside   (he   villaee*. 


Phola  \iy\ 


TASMAN'S    AkCH.     EAGLEHAWK    NECK. 


iBtaiUe,  IJobarl. 


A    monumcnl.l    .,ch.    (ormcd    by    the    action    of    the    sea.    that    .tand,    upon    the    .hore    not    far    from    Eaelehawl.    Neck,    a    narrov 
isthmu.    alone    connecting    the  Tasman    Peninsula    with    the    mainland. 


Australasia   and   the    Pacific 


319 


The  Devil's  Kitchen,  Tasman  Peninsuia. — In  the  neighbourhood  of  Eaglehawk  Neck  are  a 
number  of  wonderful  and  strange  rock-formations,  for  which  this  peninsula  is  famous.  "  The 
Devil's  Kitchen,"  whose  roof  has  fallen  in,  derives  its  name  probably  from  the  seething  foam  of 
the  waves  that  boil  about  it.  It  is  an  extensive  specimen  of  the  tunneUing  power  of  the  sea,  which 
has  executed  some  magnificent  engineering  at  this  point  of  the  coast,  carving  great  arches  and 
chiselling  fantastic  fretwork  on  a  gigantic  scale. 

The  Tasman  Arch  is  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet  deep.  The  bottom  rock  is  of  blue  lava, 
through  which  the  sea  has  engineered  in  a  soft  place  and  then  has  washed  away  the  debris, 
leaving  the  arch.  Much  similar  tunnelling  has  formed  the  Devil's  Kitchen.  The  roaring  waves 
and  the  whirling  spray  add  to  the  fascination  of  this  giant-causeway  and  the  natural  bridges. 
A  near  waterfall  flashing  among  the  dark  rocks  gi\-es  enchantment  to  the  beauty  and  dignity 
of  the  spectacle. 

These  colossal  arches  and  bridges  of  rock 
look  like  the  picturesque  ruins  of  some  pre- 
historic castle  that  once  was  inhabited  by 
giants,  and  the  giants  that  were  lords  of 
this  domain  must  have  been  exceeding 
cunning  workers  in  stone.  But  only  the 
sea  was  the  architect  as  it  swept  tireless  at 
the  base  of  the  cliffs,  polishing  with  all 
the  care  and  delicacy  of  a  master- workman, 
or,  lashing  itself  to  fury,  jagged  out  great 
masses  of  rock  to  form  the  arches  where  it 
could  pass  through  into  the  land.  How 
terrific  must  have  been  the  force  that  thun- 
dered upon  the  blue  rock  until  the  whole 
wall  crumbled  beneath  the  gigantic  pressure 
and  a  mighty  arch  remained — a  triumphal 
arch  to  mark  the  victory  of  the  waves  in 
their  struggle  with  the  land  !  How  delicate 
must  have  been  the  soft  caress  of  the  ripples 
that  smoothed  the  wrinkles  out  of  old 
Mother  Earth  and  shaped  lofty  columns 
and  car\-ed  graceful  curves  !  Never  was  so 
great  an  artist  as  the  sea,  and  nowhere  is 
there  greater  proof  of  its  wondrous  skill  as 
here  in  the  Tasman  Peninsula  at  the  Bottom 
of  the  World. 

The  Tessellated  Pavement,  Eaglehaivk 
Neck. — The  Tessellated  Pa\emcnt  is  a 
unique  formation  in  this  district  of  stone- 
curios.  Not  far  from  the  blow-holes  and 
arches,  it  is  situated  on  the  peninsula,  near 
Eaglehawk  Neck,  in  a  region  of  remarkable 
caves  and  quarries. 

This  formation  of  silicious  clay  rocks 
has  taken  the  shape  of  squares  like  those 
of  a  pavement.  The  interstices  between 
these  rocks  are  filled  up  with  a  formation 


DEML'S    KITCHEN.    TASMA.V 


[Ariinif-,  tlohart, 

PENINSULA. 


A  rr.isKty  specimen  of  the  tunncllins  power  of  the  tea.  The 
Kitchen  probably  derives  it*  name  from  the  frothy  "brew"  of  the 
wo\ea   thai    tots   at   the   base   of   these   precipitous  clirfs. 


320 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


of  sand  and  cement-like  material  acted  upon  by  the  water  so  that  it  forms  a  kind  of  concrete. 
In  colour  it  is  brown,  somewhat  like  mud.  There  is  no  vegetation  on  it  save  here  and  there  a 
straggly  clump  of  seaweed.  These  rocks  stretch  by  the  sea-shore  for  a  distance  of  over  four 
hundred  yards,  and  are  so  even  that  in  all  respects  the  surface  is  equal  to  that  of  a  well-made 
pavement ;  scarcely  is  it  possible  to  trip  up  against  an  irregular  specimen.  The  pavement  is 
a  geological  puzzle,  and  authorities  have  not  been  able  to  come  to  a  decision  as  to  how  this 
curious  formation  came  about.  The  wildest  guesses  have  been  made  as  to  its  origin.  One 
suggestion  is  that  an  ancient  primeval  race,  after  the  manner  of  the  wonderful  Egyptian 
monuments,  had  built  a  sea  wall  which  is  the  only  monument  surviving  to  their  existence  ; 
but  such  an  idea  is  altogether  improbable.  Other  authorities  have  suggested  a  more  feasible"  idea 
It  has  been  observed  that  the  rocks  forming  the  nose  of  Cape  Raoul  are  of  the  same  substance 


/:— 


r.i ,.,- 


Tnis  wonderful    natural   for 


THE    TESSELLATED    PAVEMENT.    TASMANIA. 

ation   is  composed  of  squares  of  silicious  rocU.    neatly  cemented  together.      It   stretches   by   tfic 
coast    for  a   distance  of  about   400  yards. 


and  in  the  same  shape — that  is,  a  congregation  of  square  pillars.  In  another  part  of  the  island, 
five  thousand  feet  above  the  sea-level,  the  same  formation  occurs  on  Mount  Ben  Lomond,  and  from 
these  points  it  has  been  suggested  that  a  strata  of  silicious  material  runs  through  the  island,  and 
that  on  this  part  the  sea  has  filled  up  the  cracks  caused  by  erosion  in  ages  past,  and  covering  it,  as 
it  does  at  certain  high  tides,  has  worn  down  the  rugged  projections  and  so  formed  this  unique 
pavement.  But  science  has  not  made  a  final  pronouncement,  and  the  secret  of  the  formation  is 
yet  to  be  revealed.  The  geological  formation  at  Cape  Raoul  referred  to,  is  a  remarkable  specimen 
of  Nature's  workmanship.  Each  pillar  of  the  series  is  separate  at  the  top ;  the  columns  join  at  the 
base  and  are  of  irregular  height,  giving  the  rock  something  of  the  appearance  of  a  gigantic  organ. 
They  number  many  hundreds  and  rise  to  a  considerable  height.  The  hills  and  rocks  of  much  of 
the  Tasmanian  coast  are  cragged  into  a  thousand  fantastical  and  beautiful  shapes,  which  arrest 
by  their  unusual  form  and  picturesqueness  no  less  than  by  their  scientific  explanation. 


Australasia   and   the    Pacific 


?2I 


Mauna  Loa,  The  Island  Builder. — On  the  island  of  Hawaii  are  three  massive  peaks, 
Mauna  Loa,  Mauna  Kea  and  Hualalai,  and  the  greatest  of  the  three  is  Mauna  Loa.  This  is  the 
master  worker,  the  Island  builder.  The  other  two  are  but  satellites,  dark-browed  and  clumsy  ; 
from  a  distance  they  are  suggestive  of  three  stranded  whales  sprawling  over  the  island  that  they 
have  made.  But  looking  closer,  the  marvel  and  terror  and  beauty  of  their  handiwork  will  be 
appreciated.  For  Mauna  Loa  is  still  an  active  volcano  ;  he  and  his  companions  have  built  up  the 
island,  laj-er  by  layer,  hill  ot,  hill,  from  the  floor  of  the  Pacific  to  the  surface  of  the  sea,  and  from 
the  sea-coast  to  the  topmost  volcanic  crest  that  rears  its  forbidding  head  four  thousand  feet 
above  sea-level.  Out  of  the  awful  depths  far  below  the  ocean  bed,  from  which  he  derives  his  restless 
energy,  !Mauna  Loa  has  ejected  a  heap  of  lava  rubbish  great  enough  to  form  a  cone  almost  six  miles 
in  height.  Within  the  heart  of  the  mountain  this  melting,  forging  and  welding  have  been  going  on 
for  countless  centuries  ;  the  molten  matter  has  been  cast  forth  from  the  furnaces  within  the  crater, 
has  fought  with  and  conquered  the  ocean,  has  piled  up  cone  after  cone,  has  poured  dow-n  its  caked 
sides  fresh  streams  of  lava  charged  with  chemical  and  mineral  substances  favourable  to  vegetation. 
And  b\-  the  kindly  action  of  sun  and  wind,  heat  and  moisture,  tlie  la\-a  beds  have  in  time  been 
fertilized  and  the  naked  rock  clothed  with  tropical  verdure.  And  still  Mauna  Loa  is  unsatisfied. 
He  may  stand  quiescent  for  several  years,  but  at  intervals  his  great  throat  opens,  and  from  the 
far  high  crater  on  his  rounded  crest  which  is  known  as  JMokua-weo-w'eo,  streams  of  lava  break 
forth  to  deluge  the  surrounding  country.  The  scenery  is  of  the  wildest,  for  nothing  is  so  unutterably 
desolate  and  dreary  as  a  congealed  lava  stream  ;  while,  in  dramatic  contrast  to  these  barren  wastes, 
the  fertile  shores  and  the  extraordinary  luxuriance  of  its  tropical  forests  entitle  Hawaii  to  the  title 
of  "  The  Paradise  of  the  Pacific." 


kILAUt    \.     mi      sixOND    CRATER    OF    MAUNA     LOA. 

Mauna  Loa  has  practically  built  the  island  of  Hawaii,  on  which  it  stands.  For  centuries  it  has  emitted  vast  volumes 
of  lava,  the  soil  of  the  islandu  ;  but  it  has  u  second  crater.  Kilauea.  which  acts  as  a  s.ifcty-valvc  for  the  miBhtv  energy 
«f    this    volcano. 


322 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Like  several  other  volcanoes,  Maiina  Loa  has  its  safety-valve.  About  half-way  up  the  eastern 
flank  of  the  mountain  is  a  large  crater  named  Kilauea.  Its  existence  was  first  published  to  the 
civilized  world  by  a  party  of  missionaries  in  1823.  This  remarkable  crater  is  always  active,  yet  it 
builds  no  lasting  cone  as  a  monument  to  its  energies,  nor  does  it  pour  destroying  streams  of  lava 
from  its  lip.  It  lies  upon  a  high  exposed  tableland  many  miles  wide,  about  four  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea.  This  tableland  has,  of  course,  been  formed  by  the  activities  of  the  parent  mountain,  Mauna 
Loa,  and  is  covered  with  every  variety  of  lava  at  its  disposal.  There  are  long  stretches  of  smooth- 
faced, glossy,  cream-coloured  rock,  called  pa-hoe-hoe,  which  looks  as  if  a  swift  river  had  been 
suddenly  congealed  with  all  its  foam  and  ripples.  Although  in  places  very  slippery,  this  is 
not  very  difficult  to  walk  on.  and  is  nothing  compared  to  the  horrors  of  crossing  the  rugged 
streams  of  the  black  a-a,  which  resembles  huge  blocks  of  concrete  tossed  and  broken.  It  is  the 
hardest,  most  cruelly  jagged,  most  unyielding  of  all  kinds  of  rock.     To   this  lava  Kilauea  adds 


his    oval    crater 


wherein 


that    he 


nothing  of  its  own.  It  was  described  by  its  discoverers  as  an  oval  crater,  nine  miles  in  circum- 
ference, sunk  within  precipitous  walls  of  volcanic  rock,  with  a  lake  of  fire  at  one  end.  And  thus  it 
still  appears  to-day.  Kilauea  is  always  active,  but  its  works  are  confined  to  its  own  play- 
ground. Here  the  volcanic  agencies  that  make  and  unmake  the  world  are  to  be  seen  at  work, 
though  their  labours  come  to  nothing,  and  their  building  up  and  breaking  down  are  apparently  aim- 
less and  merely  self-destructive.  Every  traveller  who  visits  the  crater  has  something  different  to 
relate  of  what  he  has  seen  there.  But  there  is  always  the  oval  crater,  nine  miles  in  circumference, 
the  precipitous  rocky  walls,  the  grey  floor  of  cooling  lava,  and  the  burning  lake  at  one  end.  It  has 
the  appearance  of  a  huge  sunken  pit  paved  with  a  cold  blue-grey  substance  that  might  be  stagnant, 
leaden-coloured  water  when  viewed  from  above,  but  which  is  found  to  be  a  rugged  mass  of  the 
roughest  and  cruellest  lava  blocks  when  the  difficult  descent  has  been  made  and  the  traveller  attempts 
to  cross  the  floor  to  the  Lava  Lake.  This  inner  circle,  the  true  chimney,  is  known  as  Halemaiimau, 
or  the  "  House  of  Everlasting  Burning."     It  is  always  varying.     Some  have  seen  a  lake  of  living 


l.\     IHE    CRAIER    OK    KILAUEA.     HAWAII 

This    vast    wall    of    volcanic    roclt,    nine    miles    in    circumference,    encloses   ihe    narrower    circle    o( 

"House    of    EverlostinK    Burning. " 


[rii'Ifrimul  .t  Uml'riraoi 
d-col>ureJ    wills  of  .the 


324 


The   Wonders   ot    the   World 


Pholo  hy  pennission  o/^ 


[fflds.  /;.  fHsnu-ii.  Esq. 


THE    LAVA    DEPOSITS    OF     KILAUEA. 

The  eruptions  of   Mauna  Loa  are    repeated    on    a    small    scale    bv    Kilauea.      It    continuously    sends    forth    floods    of    this    flowing 
lava  called  p^-hoe-hoe,  %vhich  varies  in  appearance  from  polished  ivory   to  fawn-coloured  velvet. 

fire  three  miles  in  circumference,  wherein  burning  waves  of  liquid  lava  dash  themselves  upon  the 
walls  that  hem  them  in.  Fiery  spray  is  flung  high  into  the  air,  and,  in  falling,  turns  to  lava  rocks 
which  grow  up  round  the  shores  of  the  lake  and  pen  in  the  waves  of  fire,  which,  in  turn,  undermine 
the  crags  till  they  fall  with  a  crash  into  the  cauldron  to  be  re-smelted  and  thrown  up  once  again. 
Then  perhaps  within  a  few  weeks  the  tide  of  fire  recedes  into  the  awful  caverns  in  the  heart  of  the 
mountain,  leaving  the  high  crags  clustered  about  the  lake's  edge  in  tortured  shapes.  Or  perhaps 
they,  too,  will  go,  and  only  a  vast  mysterious  chimney  'remain  open,  from  which  clouds  of  steam  and 
noisome  vapour  ascend. 

The  mountain  is  regarded  by  the  Hawaiians  with  great  veneration  as  the  throne  of  the  goddess 
Pele.  Eruptions  are  the  signs  of  her  anger,  and  her  terrified  worshippers  endeavour  by  prayer 
and  incantations  to  appease  her  wrath,  and  by  flinging  into  its  burning  waves  things  precious  to 
themselves  seek  to  stay  the  destructive  lava  floods.  Many  are  the  stories  related  to  the  credulous  of 
the  miraculous  efficacy  of  these  simple  sacrifices. 

The  Boiling  Lake,  White  Island. — White  Island,  Bay  of  Plenty,  is  situated  on  the  volcanic 
line  that  stretches  from  the  great  cones  of  the  south  of  New  Zealand,  and,  says  Professor  Thomas, 
a  submarine  ridge  runs  from  East  Cape  and  Bay  of  Plenty  along  the  bottom  of  the  Pacific  Ocean 
in  a  north-easterly  direction  as  far  as  the  Tonga  group  of  islands. 

The  greater  number  of  the  famed  hydrothermal  phenomena  of  the  Taupo  zone  occur  on  or  near 
Ruapehu- White  Island  line,  which  is  its  normal  terminal.  White  Island,  a  S3dvan  spot  of  forest 
and  fern-groves  with  beautiful  shores,  is  a  volcano  now  in  its  solfatara  stage,  and  in  the  centre  of 
the  island  is  a  crater  half  a  mile  in  diameter,  which,  until  a  short  time  previous  to  the  eruption  of 


Australasia   and   the   Pacific 


325 


Tarawera,  was  occupied  by  a  lake  of  acid  water.  But  preceding  the  eruption  tliousands  of  dead 
fish,  poisoned  by  submarine  fumes,  were  cast  up  on  the  shores  of  the  bay,  and  the  crater- 
lake  suddenly  became  dry.  The  lofty  crater  now  continually  gives  off  a  dense  body  of  steam,  wliich 
rises  in  a  great  white  cloud  that  is  visible  for  fifty  miles  around. 

Milford  Sound. — That  wild,  and  but  half-e.xplored  vastness  of  magnificent  mountains  and 
deep  fjords,  known  as  the  West  Coast  Sounds  of  New  Zealand,  is  beyond  description — an 
unpeopled  wilderness  of  countless  snow-domes  and  prime\'al  forests  whose  silence  of  ages  is  scarce 
broken  save  by  the  echoes  of  faUing  fountains,  the  thunder  of  mighty  waterfalls  in  majestic  leap 
from  the  snow-capped  towers,  or  by  the  foaming  cascades  dancing  to  swift  snow  rivers  that  roar 
their  wa}-  through  deep  canons  to  the  Pacific  Sea. 

The  crowning-point  of  tliis  wonder-cruise  is  Milford  Sound.  It  is  the  last  of  the  fjords  that, 
thirteen  in  number,  stretch  for  hundreds  of  miles  from  beauty  to  a  grandeur  which  culminates  at 
this  point. 

Bounded  bj'  gigantic  granite  cliffs  that  rise  five  thousand  feet  sheer  out  of  the  water  and  dip 
a  thousand  feet  beneath,  Milford  has  been  robbed  of  the  glacial  austerity  of  its  origin  by  the  wealth 
of  the  forests  that  climb  over  its  shoulders  and  touch  the  snows  under  the  clouds.  That  this 
stupendous  inlet  was  once  filled  by  a  solid  block  of  ice  the  face  of  the  cliffs  testifies.  But  even.-where 
that  vegetation  could,  it  has  taken  hold,  and  the  forests,  musical  with  the  song  of  the  tut  and  bell- 
bird,  are  sub-tropical,  and  over  range  beyond  range  to  the  hoary  peaks  the  carpet  of  varied  greens 
is  spread  of  palm-trees  and  pine,  totara  festooned  with  flowering  vines  and  green-grey  mosses,  and 


I'lwlo  t.i]  [-'.  M'irlin. 

IHE     BOILING     LAKE.    W  Hll  E    ISLAND. 

This  cratrr  of  an   inactive  volcano  waa  once  a  lake  of  acid   water,  but  since   the  eruption  of   Mount   Tarawera.   the   waters 
aic   dried   up  and   the  crater  gives  off  clouds  of  steam. 


126 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


a  wealth  of  rata  in  red  masses  flaming  against  the  snow,  and  forming  giant-bouquets  amid  the  black- 
greens  that  overlap  at  the  water's  edge  in  a  luxuriant  fringe  of  orchids,  ferns  and  rushes  and  the 
golden-hearted  mountain  daisy. 

But  the  sense  of  majesty  is  never  lost.  One  of  the  towering  cliff  walls  is  capped  bv  ilitre  Peak, 
another  forms  the  Lion  Rock — a  dark  granite  perpendicular  monster  of  three  thousand  feet,  the 
outlines  of  which  resemble  the  animal  after  which  it  is  named.     Stirling  Falls  are  seen  on  the  north 

side,  five  hundred  feet  high. 
Leaping  from  tlie  snow-fields, 
and  approaching  the  head  of 
the  Sound,  the  music  of  the 
white  cascades  that  foam  down 
the  mountain-side  is  lost  in  the 
deep,  continuous  roar  of  the 
Bowen  Falls,  of  five  hundred 
and  thirty  feet,  that  pours  its 
torrent  into  a  great  basin  and 
spouts  up  again  to  some  height 
before  falling  into  the  waters 
of  the  Sound. 

Buffalo  Ranges. — This  moun- 
tain range  occupies  an  isolated 
position  in  the  north-east  divi- 
sion of  Victoria,  being  about 
twelve  miles  north  of  the  great 
Dividing  Range,  and  it  towers 
majesticallv  above  the  sur- 
rounding plains.  It  is  a 
gigantic  mass  of  granite,  which 
has  resisted  the  denuding  forces 
that  have  been  at  work  through 
countless  ages  stripping  off  the 
covering  of  sedimentary  rock 
and  cracking  and  crumbling 
and  washing  away  the  surface 
of  the  granite  itself.  It  is  one 
of  the  finest  spots  in  the  world 
in  which  to  see  the  dramatic 
e\-idence  of  the  infinitely  slow 
but  resistless  work  of  breaking 
down  and  building  up  that  is 
continually  proceeding  on  the 
face  of  our  apparently  stable 
world.  They  must  have  been  originally  an  undulating  surface  of  sedimentary  rock,  which  by 
the  action  of  weather  and  water  was  carried  away  and  spread  over  the  bedrock  of  the  surround- 
ing plain,  exposing  the  great  granite  dome  of  which  the  remaining  masses  of  the  Buffalo 
Mountains  are  the  rugged  bones.  Thus  the  plains  have  been  raised  many  feet  above  their 
original  level,  and  thousands  of  feet  of  the  granite  dome  have  been  worn  away,  yet  so  great  is  its 
resistance  to  the  gnawing  tooth  of  the  destroyer  that  the  Buffalo  stands  still  in  its  conspicuous 
position,  proudly  rearing  its  Horn  five  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-five' feet  above  sea- level. 


ISy  iKimissioi,  of]  [Th,-  .ht''ii'-l,'-H  i-'-tl  f.tr  .V.-if  Zmlnii.l . 

THE    GR.WITE    WALLS    OF    MILFORD    SOUND. 

These  massive  walls  tower  -4,500  feet  above  iKe  fjord  and  reacK  a  depth  of  over 
1.000  feet  beneath  the  surface  of  the  water.  Long  aeo  they  fornned  a  ravine  for  a 
glacier,  and  even  now  bear  the  deep  maiks  of   the  ice-teeth. 


3-  (Ji 


328 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


THE    KISSING    STONES.     BUFKALO     RANGES. 

Nowhere  is  the    process    of    denudation     shown    more    strikingly    than    on    this    ran^e    of    granite,    but    i 
tens  of  thousands  of  years  of  exposure  to  carve  out   these  huge  natural  monoliths 


lake 


The  general  surface  of  the  range  is  remarkable  for  the  abundance  of  tors  and  great  granite  blocks 
that  are  strewn  all  over  it.  Isolated  peaks  and  ridges  piled  with  loose  stones  and  rock  masses  of 
symmetrical  shape  are  a  feature  of  the  landscape.  The  Horn,  which  is  at  the  south  end  of  the 
range,  is  the  topmost  peak  ;  from  this  point  the  main  plateau,  though  broken  by  rocky  hills,  slopes 
downward  some  thousand  feet  to  the  Gorge,  which  is  four  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy  feet 
above  the  sea.  The  Gorge  is  a  prominent  feature,  and  is  the  result  of  the  development  by  denudation 
of  certain  joints  in  the  granite  running  north-east  and  south-west.  The  north  side  of  the  Gorge 
exhibits  a  granite  wall  eight  hundred  feet  high  and  half  a  mile  long. 

Buffalo  Creek  is  a  still  greater  achievement  standing  to  the  credit  of  these  denuding  agencies, 
for  in  this  case  a  mass  of  rock  three  miles  long,  from  half  to  one  mile  wide,  and  of  a  varying  depth 
of  anything  from  twenty  to  two  thousand  feet,  has  been  bodily  removed  to  form  a  sheltered  and 
luxuriant  valley  with  a  river  flowing  quietly  along  its  course.  The  direction  of  this  valley 
corresponds  with  that  of  the  north-east  and  south-west  system  of  joints.  This  jointing  of  the 
granite  has  been  the  principal  element  in  determining  the  present  features  of  the  Buffalo  Range.. 
Wherever  a  smooth,  clean  surface  of  hard  granite  is  exposed  these  joints  may  be  noticed.  In  their 
first  stage  the  fissures  are  fine  as  the  scratches  of  a  needle  point,  but  they  nevertheless  cleave  right' 
through  the  entire  granite  mass  down  to  its  very  roots. 

These  fine  joints  are  not  set  in  straight  lines,  but  branch  in  a  curious  manner,  and  the  whole 
structure  of  this  mountain  chain,  with  its  magnificent  and  varied  scenery,  its  huge  tors,  monoliths 
and  poised  blocks,  results  from  their  presence. 


Australasia   and    the   Pacific 


329 


These  tors  are  a  source  of  inexhaustible  wonder  and  interest.  There  is  the  Monolith,  the  most 
conspicuous  of  all  the  rocks  on  the  range.  It  is  twenty-two  feet  long,  fourteen  feet  broad,  and  thirty- 
feet  high,  and  is  perched  up  on  end  in  a  seemingly  precarious  position  on  a  high  peak  of  bare  granite. 
The  Sentinel  stands  in  a  somewhat  similar  position,  seeming  to  gaze  far  out  over  the  plains.  He 
is  about  sixty  feet  high.  The  Egg  Rock  is  the  best  example  of  a  poised  rock.  The  base  of  this  well- 
weathered  tor,  which  weighs  from  seventy  to  eighty  tons,  is  so  small  and  its  balance  so  delicate, 
that  it  testifies  that  for  some  thousands  of  years  no  earthquake  can  have  affected  this  locahty.  Its 
egg-shaped  block  is  poised  on  the  very  corner  of  a  square  mass  of  rock  about  twice  its  own  size, 
and  it  only  touches  the  supporting  rock  for  a  space  of  about  seven  feet  by  a  foot,  and  that  at 
an  acute  angle.  The  Kissing  Stones  are  two  poised  rocks  that  lean  together.  The  larger  stone  is 
eighteen  feet  in  length  and  the  pillar  it  stands  on  is  twenty  feet  high.  The  Torpedo  Ues  hke  a  monster 
at  rest,  with  a  little  grove  of  gum-trees  sheltering  his  retreat,  and  a  soft  blanket  of  green  vegetation 
to  he  upon.  The  girth  of  this  supine  monster  is  forty-six  feet,  and  from  tip  to  toe  he  measures 
forty-five  feet.  Mahomet's  Coffin,  another  egg-shaped  rock,  is  suspended  by  the  two  ends  only, 
among  a  hurly-burly  of  piled  slabs  and  boulders.  The  Sarcophagus  stands  like  the  tomb  of  a  hero, 
high  up  on  a  granite  ridge. 

The  Antipodes  Isles. — This  spot  on  the  far  side  of  the  globe  must  always  be  for  us  full  of 
possibilities  of  romance,  as  it  is  the  exact  antithesis  of  our  civihzed  homeland.  On  the  vast  bosom 
of  the  South  Pacific  Ocean  lie  these  little  groups  of  uninhabited  islands,  the  Antipodes  Isles,  lying. 


/ft  fiertms. 


This  rri' 
the   Bianitr 
toTM   will   be 


THE    TORPEDO.     BUFFALO    RANGES. 

on&ler  stone  measures  forty-five  feet  in  lenstK.  and  has  a  girth  ^f  forty-six  feet.  Notice  the  conspicuous  crack  in 
lab  on  which  it  lies.  In  aees  to  come  that  fissure  will  cleave  the  KfAnile  mass  from  top  to  bottom  and  other  husc* 
n   the   makins. 


330 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


>;,<^f~.*wviv 


it  is  said,  just  over  the  spot  where  an  enterprising  mole,  burrowing  straight  through  from  Greenwich, 

would  probably  emerge  into  the  light  of  the  sun  ! 

Such  rocky  islands  as  have  here  succeeded  in  thrusting  their  heads  above  the  level  of  the  Pacific 

are  dotted  about  in  small  groups  and  companies,  known  under  various  names.     All  are  desolate 

and  dreary,  the  home  only  of  the  albatross  and  the  penguin,  whose  mournful  crying  rises  above 

the  never-ceasing  roar  of  the  hungry  surf.     Some  of  the  larger  islands  are  covered  with  luxuriant 

vegetation,  the  gift,  no  doubt, 
of  the  sea-birds,  while  others 
are  bare  rock. 

Many  are  the  tragic  tales 
told  of  shipwrecked  sailors 
who  found  a  haven  on  one 
or  other  of  these  islands  only 
to  languish  in  the  greatest 
privation  for  months,  or  even 
a  year  or  two,  before  being 
discovered  and  rescued  by 
a  passing  whaler  or  some 
sailing  vessel.  Many  must 
have  landed  here  only  to 
die  a  lingering  death  from 
thirst  and  exposure. 

Indeed,  relics  and  in- 
scriptions have  been  found 
relating  the  most  heartrending 
stories  of  slow  torture. 

So  authentic  are  these 
tales,  that  some  years  ago 
the  New  Zealand  Government 
decided  to  establish  provision 
depots  on  each  group.  They 
caused  small  wooden  shelters 
to  be  erected  in  which  pro- 
visions are  stored,  with  fuel, 
matches,  bedding  and  clothing. 
About  twice  a  year  a  Govern- 
ment steamer  leaves  the  main- 
land to  visit  these  depots  and 
set  them  in  order,  and  relieve 
any  shipwrecked  mariners  from 
their  weary  vigil  among  the 
sea-birds.     Special  permission 

can  be  obtained  to  go  on  this  trip  to  the  Islands,   and  anything  more  romantic,   and  in  its  way 

exciting,  it  would  be  hard  to  imagine.     These  are  the  last  fragments  of  habitable,  if  not  inhabited^ 

land  before  the  silent  spaces  of  the  frozen  Antarctic  are  reached.' 

The  Auckland  Isles  form  the  largest  and  most  important  group.     They  have  a  luxuriant  growth 

of  vegetation  and  many  beautiful  flowering  plants  of  great  interest  to  naturalists.     Here  are  found 

both  land 

The  Campbell  group  is  also  very  fertile 


BUFFALO 


RANGES. 


liy  permission  of] 

THE    SENTINEL, 

Frost  splitting  the  granite  mass,  torrential  rain  washing  aw  a 
material,  and  the  fury  of  the  hurricane,  have  sculptured  and  poised 
to  lower  sixtv  feel  upon   ihe  summit   of   ihe  ranges. 


the 
'  the 


loosened 
Sentinel  " 


and  sea-birds,  and  it  is  one  of  the  few  breeding-grounds  of  the  albatross. 


The  Macquarie  Isles  belong  to  Tasmania.     Here  there 


c 

c 


332 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Photo  hy'\  [JfMi;-  tt  Mooilif,  Dunedin. 

PENGUIN    CAVE,    BOUNTY    ISLE. 

Penguins,  gulls,  puffins,  and  even  the  great  white  albatross  breed  here.  The  penguin,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  photograph, 
is  the  prevailing  species.  Provided  with  every  good  thing  and  sheltered  in  these  Isles  of  the  Blest,  so  that  they  had  no 
need    to    fly.    these    birds    now    possess    only    rudimentary    wings. 

was  once  a  station  for  procuring  the  oil  of  the  sea-elephant  and  king  penguin.  But  that  has  been 
abandoned  since  the  Tasmanian  Government  interfered  to  prevent  the  extermination  of  these 
creatures. 

The  Bounty  Islands  are  a  collection  of  rugged  rocks,  destitute  of  all  vegetation,  and  they  are 
crowded  with  sea-birds.  These  isles  are  the  breeding-place  of  the  "  MoUy  Mawks,"  a  name  given 
in  the  southern  hemisphere  to  one  of  the  albatrosses  (Diomedea  melanophrys).  These  birds  lay  only 
one  egg,  white  with  a  few  spots  ;  and  their  apology  for  a  nest  is  some  small  hollow  or  depression 
in  the  rock,  or  a  little  circle  of  earth  roughly  scraped  together  on  the  open  cliff.  The  Bounty  Islands 
are  crowded  with  these  great  albatrosses,  and  with  the  fussy,  important,  comical  penguins,  besides 
the  ubiquitous  "  mutton  birds  "  (Puffinus  brevicaudus).  The  chief  breeding  home  of  the  mutton 
birds  is  found  on  the  wild  little  islands  off  the  south-west  coast  of  Stewart  Island.  The  young 
are  a  very  favourite  food  of  the  Maoris.  The  ungainly  young  gulls  are  thickly  covered  with  very 
long  down,  and  are  extremely  fat.  These  islets  have  never  been  acquired  from  the  natives,  who 
preserve  the  birds  on  them,  and  e.xport  them  at  certain  seasons  in  large  numbers  to  New  Zealand 
for  sale. 

The  Wairrungu  Geyser. — Evidences  of  thermal  activity  are  on  every  hand  in  the  Hot  Lake 
district.  Tarawera,  seared  and  scarred,  with  latent  fire  gnawing  at  his  vitals,  rises  northward  of 
Waimangu.      Sulphur  and  boiling  springs   are  everywhere,    and   Lake  Rotomahana  steams  with 


Australasia   and   the    Pacific 


33: 


thermal  lieat.  But  it  was  ten  years  ago  that  another  phenomenon  was  added  to  the  wonders  oi 
tliis  land  of  gej-sers.  An  immense  column  of  steam  was  perceived  rising  up  from  a  new  geyser, 
which,  increasing  in  fur}-,  emitted  dense  volumes  of  boiling  mud  and  stones.  The  Maoris  gave  to 
the  new  geyser  the  name  of  "  Waimangu,"  or  "  Black  Water,"  and  "  Black  Water  "  is  no  unworthy 
addition  to  the  tale  of  this  district's  marvels.  Its  crater  is  open  on  one  side  level  with  the  surrounding 
soil.  It  extends  over  a  space  of  two  acres  and  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  diameter,  where  the 
adventurous  can  look  down  into  the  gloomy  and  troubled  swirl  of  black  boihng  mud.  An  eruption 
of  this  geyser  has  not  taken  place  since  1908,  but  in  the  days  of  its  great  activity  Black  Water  was 
not  quiescent  for  longer  than  thirty-six  hours.  A  flat  surface  on  the  open  side  of  the  crater  in  a 
continual  state  of  unrest,  and  named  "  The  Devil's  Frying-Pan,"  is  evidence  of  latent  energy  : 
and.  further,  in  the  same  crater  is  a  boiling  lake  known  as  Echo  Crater  Lake,  which  overflows  when 
a  fresh  eruption  of  Wai- 
mangu is  about  to  occur. 
These  outbursts  are  mat;- 
nificent  spectacles,  for  the 
volume  of  mud  obtains  a 
height  of  over  eleven  hun- 
dred feet,  and  dense  clouds 
of  white  steam  roll  up- 
wards many  thousands  of 
feet  before  they  are  lost  in 
the  atmosphere. 

The  Caves  of  Western 
Australia.— T:his  series  of 
most  beautiful  and  in- 
teresting caves  lies  in  tlie 
limestone  cliffs  of  Western 
Austraha  at  the  extreme 
south-western  corner.  Cape 
Leeuwin  is  the  first  point 
of  the  great  continent  of 
the  south  to  greet  the  eyes 
of  the  European  traveller. 
and  between  this  headland 
and  Cape  Xatiiraliste,  a 
few  miles  to  the  north, 
among  the  rugged  ravines 
and  wild  scenery  lying 
behind  the  tall  cliffs  that 
front  the  sea,  these  won- 
derful caves  are  to  be  found 
The  journey  thither  can  1" 
made  either  from  Yallingup 
or  Margaret  River. 

They  belong  to  that  im- 
portant  class  of  ca\-e  that         r/mio  i.n]  yi,,, 
has   been   hollowed   out  of                                            the   waim.^ngu   geyser 

C3.1C3.rGOllS       rock         \'iV        tllP  The   eruptions  of     Wotntanitu     took    sometimes    the    farm     ol     blacU.     boiline    mud    and 

"  sometimes    of    explosions    of    ashes,  cailh    and    stones.     They    attained    an    immense    heifthl, 

action  of  water.    The  rain-       fiomnimes  «»  much  »«  1.500  fed. 


334 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


water  percolates  through  some  vertical  fissure  and  thence  threads  its  way  horizontally  till  it 
escapes  somewhere  in  the  side  of  the  cliff  or  ravine.  In  the  rain-water  is  a  certain  percentage  of 
carbonic  acid,  and  the  rock  is  composed  to  a  large  extent  of  carbonate  of  lime,  which  is  readily 
changed  to  soluble  bicarbonate  by  the  action  of  carbonic  acid.  Thus  the  rock  is  disintegrated 
along  the  path  of  the  water,  and  is  worn  away  and  away  till  the  tiny  runlet  grows  to  a  subter- 
ranean stream,  and  the  crack  in  the  rock  becomes  a  series  of  large  caverns  and  halls. 

The  lime  released  by  the  action  of  the  carbonic  acid  and  held  in  suspension  in  the  hurrying  water, 
is  caught  by  any  sort  of  projection  in  its  path,  and  proceeds  to  build  little  white  pillars  and  castles 
and  bridges  of  its  own.  Where  the  water  falls  in  a  miniature  cascade  the  lime  is  deposited,  and  hangs 
a  fringe  of  white  stone  icicles  ;    and  where  the  water  drops  slowly  upon  the  rock  floor  below  a  white 

boss  of  pure  limestone  will 
be  formed,  growing  ever 
larger,  till  it  becomes  a 
stout  pillar,  and  possibly 
will  eventually  join  the 
pendant  stalactite  from 
which  the  water  has  been 
dripping. 

Every  variety  of  stalac- 
tite and  stalagmite  (those 
peaks  that  grow  up  from 
the  rock  floor)  are  to  be 
seen  in  these    caves    near 


Yallins 


up. 


In  one    there 


By  pfi-iHission  (j/3 


VIEW 


WAIM.\\GU 


is  an  almost  perfect  opera- 
box,  with  lace  curtains, 
arm-rest,  pillars,  and  all 
complete.  Another  vast 
cavern,  called  the  King's 
Council  Chamber,  is  a 
grand  sight.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  get  sufficient  light 
to  see  the  marvellous 
traceries  and  incrustations 
of  white  stone,  as  this 
cave  is  of  enormous  size 
and  fully  one  hundred 
feet  in  height.  But  one 
sees  that  stalactities  drop  from  the  domed  roof  like  huge  crystal  chandeliers,  while  the  hangings 
that  are  draped  upon  the  walls  seem  as  if  they  stir  and  waver  in  the  draught,  as  the  lights 
we  carry  shed  their  uncertain  radiance  over  them.  Great  pinnacled  seats  rise  like  thrones  in 
the  midst  of  this  hall,  and  one  can  imagine  a  royal  court  being  held  in  a  scene  of  such  frozen 
splendour. 

Wallcliffe  Cave  has  a  very  narrow  entrance  hidden  among  bushes  and  ferns.  One  must  creep, 
bent  almost  double,  along  a  narrow  passage  for  about  thirty  feet,  and  then  one  is  rewarded  by  sight 
of  "  a  circular  chamber  richly  bedecked  with  gleaming  white  stalactites,  with  mammoth  bunches  of 
grapes,  fleecy  wefts  apparently  as  soft  as  lambs'  wool,  but  solid  as  marble,  and — upspringing  from  the 
floor  of  the  chamber  as  if  greedy  to  clutch  the  fruit  yet  frozen  in  making  the  grasp — a  monstrous- 
hand  several  feet  long  "  (M.  Vivienne). 


The  crater  of  this  vast  geyser  is  about   two  acres  in  extent.       For  some  time   \\'aimangu   ha 
been  quiescent,  no  eruption  having  taUen  place  since    1908. 


336 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


flu  p-ymissimi  i).r| 

THE    MILITARY 

A   splendid  example  of   th 


ITfie  A'jenI -General  for  W':f!<'rn  AustrnUn. 
RUG,    YALLINGUP    CAVES. 

stone   in    these 


jewelled  draperies   that  are  woven 
subterranean  palaces. 


hang  above 


it  are  so  faithfully 
white  fringe  is  droopini 


The  Warrawerrie,  or 
Blackboy  Hollow  Cave,  is 
about  two  miles  south  of 
Wallcliffe.  From  its  pit-like 
entrance  there  is  a  descent 
of  fifteen  feet  by  ladder. 
The  ffoor  of  this  cave  is  a 
mass  of  worn  and  rugged 
boulders.  In  one  place  is  a 
stalagmite  in  the  likeness 
of  a  broken  column,  that 
looks  as  if  carved  from 
Italian  marble  of  the  purest 
white.  Gauzy  draperies  that 
imitate  the 'finest  law-n  hang 
from  the  walls,  and  until  the 
iiand  is  laid  upon  their  cold, 
unyielding  substance  it  is 
cilmost  impossible  to  realize 
that  they  are  ■  woven  by 
water  of  stone,  instead  of  in 
tlie  looms  of  the  East. 

The  Cave  known  as 
Doodiijup  lies  about  a  mile 
trum  Blackboy  Hollow.  Ac- 
cess to  this  cave  is  by 
a  rather  toilsome  ascent,  but 
once  inside  the  traveller  is  re- 
warded by  the  magnificence 
of  the  spectacle.  There  are 
columns  like  the  crowding 
pillars  of  some  vast  white 
cathedral  and  pendants  that 
look  like  the  pipes  of  its 
great  organ, 

A  running  stream  gives 
its  name  to  the  Crystal  Cave, 
where  the  water  appears  to 
flow  through  a  series  of 
marble  basins  ornamented 
with  the  most  delicate 
reflected  in  tlie  water  that  it  is 
from  above  or  growing  up  like 


tracery,  while  the  stalactites  that 
difficult  to  discover  whether  the  gleamiu; 
frosted  flowers  from  the  depths  below. 

In  Calgardup  Cave,  too,  the  floor  is  still  damp  enough  to  show  that  it  has  been  the  bed  of  a 
subterranean  creek.  This  hall  is  fully  seventy  feet  across ;  its  walls  are  adorned  with  stalactites  of 
every  imaginable  shape,  and  these  take  on  beautiful  iridescent  colours  in  the  uncertain  light.  Here 
is  that  strange  formation  known  as  The  Pulpit,  apparently  supported  by  the  flimsiest  of  marble 
chains.     Here  "  is  the  gem  of  all  the  caves,  the  suspended   dome,  the  delicate  tracery  of  whose 


Australasia   and   the    Pacific 


337 


splendid  and  fantastic  fretwork  hangs  in  mid-air  held  by  almost  gossamer  crystalline  threads," 
says  M.  \'ivienne.  who  has  written  a  picturesque  and  enthusiastic  description  of  all  these 
caves. 

And  the  accompanying  pictures  will  demonstrate  more  clearly  than  words  can  do  the  infinite 
variety  of  this  beautiful  form  of  Nature's  artistry. 

Wairakei. — The  Wairakei  Valley  is  one  of  the  three  great  wonder- valleys  of  thermal-land, 
and  lying  near  the  banks  of  the  Waikato.  This  valley  of  gej'sers,  with  its  wooded  slopes  of 
manuka  forest,  tangled  vines  and  fern-groves,  leads  through  ever-changing  scenes  of  gorgeous 
colouring.  Flashing  streams  and  rapids,  banks  of  pink  and  white,  red  and  yellow  silica  are 
framed  with  luxuriant  fern  and  soft  moss,  and  at  intervals  in  the  valley  the  mar\-ellous  geysers 
shoot  from  their  rocky  beds  and  play  their  steam-fountains,  disappearing  only  to  reappear 
again  with  fascinating  re- 
gularity. 

The  pool,  known  by  the 
two  names.  "  The  Champagne 
Pool,"  or  "  Pirorirori,"  which 
is  a  Maori  name  signify- 
ing the  "  Ever-swirling," 
is  a  boiling  cauldron  of 
deep  blue-green  waters,  set 
within  an  oval  lake  with 
precipitous  banks,  one  side 
of  which  is  covered  by 
vegetation,  the  other  varie- 
gated with  stripes  of  the 
coloured  clays  in  which  the 
neighbourhood  abounds.  One 
side  of  the  lake  opens  into 
an  active  volcanic  area,  and 
it  is  within  a  circle  near 
the  shore  that  the  boiling 
pool  swirls  in  its  lake  setting. 

The  beautiful  colour  of 
the  pool  is  attributed  to 
the  clay  which  is  held  in 
suspension  in  its  active  crater- 
basin,  the  overflow  of  which 
forms  a  hot  stream  known  as 
Kiriohinekai. 

The  beautiful  geyser  of 
the  Dragon's  Mouth  is  one 
of  the  most  energetic  of  the 
Wairakei  Valley.  It  is  a 
fissure  opening  from  a  chasm 
about  thirty  feet  above  the 
level    of  the   creek,    through 

which      the      water      comes         /iv /"■-"„«,..„..' ,  ^l•w  .i,j.;„;,.;..r.,/ ,'.■,■»,•„.,„  A«..,,^h„ 

boiling  up  about  every  nine  ^"^   broken   column,   blackbov   hollow  cave 

,  ,  .  .  .-    I  StalttKmitc  and  Btoloctile  have  here  wrjught   Blender  fluted  columns  that  the  ■killed 

mmUteS,      thrOWmg      beautiful  .culp.or  o(   Anc.em   Greece   mi.ht   have   carved  oul   o(   l.ullle..    Parian   marble. 

23 


338 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


feather-like  fountains  into  the  air  which  last  aboutT^ten  seconds  and  then  disappear.  The 
eruptions  reach  to  a  height  of  about  ten  feet  above  the  cone,  then  fall  into  a  series  of  small 
cascades.  The  soil  around,  contrasted  with  dark  manuka,  is  in  bright  reds,  and  at  the  base 
of  the  geyser  is  a  small  boihng  pool  that  circles  in  a  round  basin  about  four  feet  in  diameter. 
The  pool  is  of  an  exquisite  blue,  its  surface  rippled  with  coloured  bubbles.  The  colour-scheme  is 
enhanced  by  the  pink  coral-like  sinter  of  the  lower  portion  of  the  terrace,  which  above  is  in  many 

shades  of  browns   and   reds,    black 
and  white. 

Lake  Manapouri. — Lake  Mana- 
pouri  is  one  of  the  most  en- 
chanting and  the  deepest  of  the 
New  Zealand  lakes  of  the  South 
Island.  Its  old  Maori  name  of 
Motu-rau — the  Lake  of  a  Hundred 
Islands — is  very  appropriate,  for 
it  is  dotted  with  innumerable 
islets.  The  area  of  the  lake  is 
estimated  at  fifty  square  miles, 
and  its  depth  at  two  hundred 
and  fifty  fathoms  at  its  deepest 
portion.  It  is  twenty  miles  in 
length  and  opens  into  two  long 
arms — the  South  Arm  and  the 
Western  Arm — and  is  surrounded 
on  all  sides  by  magnificent  moun- 
tains, forest-clad  and  snow-crowned, 
as  are  all  the  mountains  of  this 
coast.  The  liead  of  the  lake  is 
exceedingly  beautiful,  and  the 
Alpine  scenery  superb.  The  vast 
mountains  tower  skyward  six  and 
seven  thousand  feet  above  the 
sea,  and  for  three  hundred  feet 
tlie  mountain-birch,  fern-trees  and 
rata  cover  the  slopes  with  dense 
vegetation,  while  the  islets  in 
the  lake  are  bowers  of  green. 
The  northern  shore  gives  a  wide 
view  of  towering  mountains  with 
glittering  glaciers,  from  which 
tumble  white  waterfalls  into  deep 
ravines.  The  Matterhorn  Range 
and  the  Cathedral  Peaks  dominate 
the  blue  water-scape  with  their  silver  domes  and  pinnacles.  The  arms  of  the  lake  narrow, 
and  with  their  towering  cliffs  resemble  the  fjords  of  the  west  coast.  The  Western  Arm  is 
particularly  beautiful,  with  deep  indents,  cove  and  cape  beyond  cove  and  cape,  all  exquisitely 
wooded.  But  the  whole  lake  is  a  combination  of  lovely  scenes  and  colours  ;  far  as  the  eye 
can  reach  the  blue  waters  are  set  in  a  faultless  frame  of  splendour,  which  as  yet  is  unmarred 
by  the  habitations  of  man. 


Jty  perinission  "/]  [Tfie  Aiji'itl-Genernl /or  IlVi/fWi  AJfstrnlia. 

BLACKBOY    HOLLOW    CAVE.    WESTERN    AUSTRALIA. 

Stalactites  of  two  different  mineral  substances  aie  to  be  seen  in  this  cave. 
Tbe  rain  peicolating  through  the  rock  has  cariied  ^vith  it  besides  the  lime 
another  deposit  that  (he  rock  contains,  which  has  remained  in  the  stalactites 
and  has  caused  the  change  of  colour. 


o- 


40 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Lake  Rotomahana.  —  The 
"Warm  Lake"  Rotomahana, 
upon  whose  banks  rested  the 
exquisite  sinter  terraces  of  pink 
and  white  till  the  convulsion  of 
]\Iount  Tarawera,  is  the  site  of 
an  old  crater,  the  basin  of  which 
was  one  of  the  best-known 
beautiful  sheets  of  water  of 
the  district  as  the  approach  to 
the  world-famed  terraces,  these 
gleaming  sinter  deposits  adding 
to  the  interests  of  its  rush-girt 
shores.  But  on  the  night  of 
the  great  eruption  of  Tarawera 
the  original  Rotomahana  was 
blown  completely  from  its  bed, 
and  scattered  far  and  wide  in 
mud  and  steam  with  the  dust- 
fragments  of  the  marvels  of  its 
shores.  What  had  been  a  scene 
I  if  unique  natural  beauty  was  a 
desolation  of  strange  sights  and 
sounds.  The  bed  of  the  lake 
over  its  whole  area  was  covered 
with  hideous  mud-fountains 
and  fumaroles  that  sent  up 
great  volumes  of  dense  white 
steam.  The  steep  sides  of  this 
ghastly  cauldron  were  covered 
in  ash,  and  the  surrounding 
hills  deeply  fissured  ;  from  these 
cracks  in  the  rocks  innumerable 
steam  jets  emitted  a  mighty 
roar.  And,  above,  Tarawera 
was  rent  in  twain. 

Around  Rotomahana  the  ground  had  everywhere  testified  to  the  vigorous  hydrothermal  activity 
of  centuries.  Thomas  says  :  "  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  at  moderate  depths  from  the  surface 
the  rocks  were  [before  the  eruption]  saturated  with  water  at  a  temperature  far  above  its  ordinary 
boiling-point,  and  that  this  water  was  simply  kept  from  flashing  into  steam  by  the  pressure  of  the 
overlaying  rock.  If  that  pressure  could  have  been  relieved  by  the  surface  layers  of  the  ground 
the  superheated  water  would  have  been  explosively  converted  into  steam.  There  were  present, 
therefore,  around  Rotomahana  all  the  conditions  requisite  for  a  hydrothermal  explosion  except 
the  relief  of  the  pressure  due  to  overlying  rocks.  The  formation  of  the  fissure  during  the  eruption 
supplied  the  last  necessary  condition,  and  the  result  was  therefore  the  stupendous  hydrothermal 
explosion  of  1886."  Six  months  later  the  new  lake  had  risen  to  half  the  size  of  the  original. 
The  old  outlets  had  been  blocked,  and  the  waters  pouring  into  it  have  extended  its  area  to  thirty 
times  its  original  space ;  for  whereas  the  original  lake  covered  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  acres, 
the  present  lake  covers  five  thousand  six  hundred  acres. 


I  jm-misxicn  n/]  [7A,-  .hj,\ 

THE    CHAMPAGNE     POOL.    WAIRAKEI. 

This  boiling  lakelet    lakes  its  name  from  its  beautiful   colour,    which    is  attributed 
to  the  clay  held  in  suspension   by  the  bubbling  waters. 


Australasia   and   the   Pacific 


-511 


34 


But  Rotomahana  is  not  hot  over  the  whole  surface.  Long  reaches  are  cold,  others  warm,  but 
over  the  site  of  the  geysers  that  throb  like  engines  at  the  crater-bed  of  the  lake  the  water  is  boiling, 
and  boiling  springs  break  through  where  the  waters  are  shallow.  The  cliffs  of  the  lake  steam  with 
geysers,  and  the  roar  of  the  fumaroles  is  indescribable  as  the  traveller  approaches  their  vicinity  ; 
while  added  to  the  enchantment  of  the  richly-coloured  scene  are  the  gorgeously -coloured  pictures 
painted  on  the  rocks  by  the  pigments  of  volcanic  fires. 

Mount  TursL'wera.. — Mount  Tarawera,  one  of  the  volcanic  cones  of  the  great  ranges  of  the 
Xorth  Island  of  New  Zealand,  cuts  through  the  heart  of  the  thermal  district,  and  is  situated  on  the 
eastern  shore  of  the  lake  of  the  same  name.  The  highest  part  of  the  mountain,  before  its  eruption 
in  i8S6,  was  three  thousand  six  hundred  and  six  feet  above  the  sea-level,  and  seen  at  a  distance  its 
top  had  a  flat  appearance  without  sign  of  a  crater.  The  oldest  traditions  had  no  data  concerning  a 
past  activity,  and  its  forest-clad  sides  testified  that  for  ages  the  volcano  had  been  extinct.  Scientists 
are  agreed  that  Tarawera,  previous  to  its  recent  outbreak,  had  been  dormant  since  before  the  Maoris 
inhabited  New  Zealand. 

The  whole  great  Taupo  chain  includes  in  its  line  many  magnificent  mountains,  among  which 
are  Edgecombe,  Kakaramea.  Paeroa.  Tongariro,  Xgauruhoe.  and  Ruapehu  (nine  thousand 
feet    high),  that    dominate    the    table-land    of    the   solfatara    country   for    at    least    one    hundred 


By  penniiiion  of] 


;n.  .\.j-ui.':.i., '  r  /■■:■  y-n  z.-.ia....( 


THE     DRAGON'S    MOUTH.    WAIRAKEI. 


Thi«  ecyser   ia  renowned   (or  its   wonderful   colourinet.       The  boiline  sprinc.  ai   it   bubble!   up.   flows  over  coral-like   sinter 

steppes  into  a  p3ol  of  exquisite  blue 


o 


42 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


and  fifty  miles.  The  plateau-like  Tarawera  is  monarch  of  a  mar\-ellous  region,  no  less  amazing 
than'beautiful. 

The  Maoris  gave  different  native  names  to  Tarawera.  The  name  of  the  North  range  signified 
"  bursting  open."  the  South,  "  the  burst  cliff."  which  is  all  the  more  noticeable  as  there  had  been 
no  bursting  open  within  memory.  The  mountain  was  sacred  as  a  burial  ground  of  chiefs,  and  for 
long  its  ascent  by  the  white  man  was  opposed  by  the  natives. 

Many  signs  of  disturbance  preceded  the  eruption,  although  no  very  special  significance  was 
attached  to  these  disturbances.  Cauldrons  and  geysers  in  the  locality  had  been  unusually  active 
for  some  time  previously  ;  lakes  suddenly  rose,  and  in  a  crater-lake  some  miles  distant  the  water 
entirely  disappeared,  leaving  the  crater  dry.  All  through  the  year  preceding  the  outburst  there 
had  been  premonitions  that  something  more  than  of  usual  force  was  happening  in  the  subterranean 
world.     The  mighty  explosion  of  June  loth.  1886.  was  so  little  expected  that  the   inhabitants  of 


I 


By  pfrniiiiion  of\ 


\Tlii'  Atjeiil-Gt'neral  fur  Srtc  Zealand, 


LAKE    MANAPOURI 


The  melancholy   beauty  of  this  lake,    with  its  thickly  wooded  islands  and  sloping  shores,  and  the  snow-clad  summits  of   the 
Cathedral    Peaks,   rising  to  the   north,   has  given  it  its  name  —  Manapouri,    "Lake  of  Sorrowing   Heart." 

the  surrounding  towns  and  villages,   both  native  and   European,   were    peacefully    sleeping  when 
they  were  awakened  by  the  first  earthquake  shocks. 

At  Wairoa,  eight  miles  from  Tarawera.  the  sight  was  as  magnificent  as  it  was  appalling  ;  so  also 
was  it  at  Rotoraa,  fourteen  miles  distant.  Within  an  hour  from  the  first  sHght  earthquakes  and 
rumblings  the  shocks  had  become  frequent  and  violent,  and  the  roar  of  the  exploding  craters  deafen- 
ing and  awful.  Each  report  rattled  the  windows  of  the  houses  in  Auckland,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  off,  where  flashes  of  electricity  were  vividly  seen.  The  explosions  were  heard  at 
WeUington,  two  hundred  and  twenty-eight  miles  away,  and  even  as  far  as  Christchurch  in  the 
south,  four  hundred  and  twenty  miles  distant.  Dense  clouds  of  smoke  and  vapour,  outlined 
by  electricity,  rose  six  miles  high  into  the  sky,  and  spread  out  over  the  erupting  mountain 
hke  a  huge  umbrella,  which  opened  wider  and  wider,  till  a  vast  area  was  covered.  From  the 
main  column  of  fire  leaping  from  tlie  furnace,  fire-balls  rolled  downward  into  the  lake,  while  along 


;  2 


73 

o 

-1 
o 


I 
> 

Z 
> 


344 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


l:ij  p.Tnn  [Thi-  A,jri,l-t;,'ii,-rnl  fvr  Srir  Zrnlniul. 

MOUNT    TARAWERA 

This    photograph    shows    the    immense    rifts    in    the    side    of    the    mountain    caused    by    the    eruption    of    1886.    when    Tarawera 
awoke   from  a  sleep  of  ag^s.     At   the  base  of  the  mountain   is   Lalte   Rotomahana. 

the  top  of  the  range  volcanic  fires  burst  forth  till  the  whole  nine  miles  of  mountain  ridge  burned 
eruptive  altars. 

By  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  great  destruction  was  over,  although  the  eruption,  with  hourly 
abating  energy,  continued  for  some  days,  and  rumblings  were  heard  from  the  mountain  and  occa- 
sional stones  were  ejected  from  the  steaming  craters  all  along  the  range.  When  first  the  summit  of 
Tarawera  was  seen  through  the  columns  of  vapour,  it  was  found  to  be  higher  than  previously,  its 
flat  top  raised  in  the  middle,  and  the  whole  range  rent  with  huge  fissures,  the  series  of  vents  extending 
nine  miles,  the  depth  of  the  craters  varying  from  three  hundred  feet  to  eight  hundred  feet,  and  in 
width  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  to  three  hundred  yards.  The  Tarawera  Chasm  is  a 
mile  and  a  quarter  in  length,  from  the  edge  of  the  plateau  down  the  side  of  the  mountain  to  its 
foot. 

The  forests  had  disappeared  from  the  slopes,  and  tlie  lovely  colour  of  Lake  Tarawera  was 
destroyed.  But  industrious  Nature  has  been  busy  during  the  twenty-five  years  that  have 
elapsed  since  the  eruption,  setting  the  country  in  order  in  the  region  of  Tarawera,  getting 
vegetation  through  the  mud-flats,  covering  ugly  gashes  with  a  luxuriant  tangle  of  vines  and 
ferns,  reorganizing  streams  and  refilling  lakes,  and  calling  back  the  birds  and  fish  and  flowers. 
But  the  witch-dance  of  the  countless  steam  fountains  and  bubbling  cauldrons  has  been  more 
active  since  that  fiend-night  of  1886. 


AFRICA. 

CHAPTER   XII. 
By  SIR  HARRY  JOHXSTON,   G.C.M.G. 

The  Pyiramids  of  Giza. — It  has  been  already  pointed  out  in  the  prefatory  chapter  to  this 
work  that  the  Pyramids  of  Egypt  were  foremost  in  the  list  of  the  Seven  Wonders  of  the  World  in 
the  minds  of  intelligent  Romans  and  Greeks  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  Era.  These  colossal 
tombs  had  first  been  described  intelligently  to  the  European  world  by  Herodotus,  the  Greek  traveller 
and  historian,  who  was  born  as  a  Persian  subject  on  the  Greek-colonized  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  and 
who  made  a  long  stay  in  Egypt,  probably  between  460  and  454  B.C.  His  name  for  these  four-sided 
erections,  the  triangular  sides  of  which  converge  from  a  square  basis  to  a  sharp  apex,  at  an  angle 
of  about  fifty  degrees,  was  Pyramis,  probably  derived  from  an  Egyptian  term,  Piremiis,  meaning 
a  vertical  height.  The  plural  of  this  term  in  Greek  was  Pyramides,  from  which  the  English  term, 
Pj-ramid,  was  derived,  and  was,  according  to  Skeat's  Dictionary,  in  use  by  English  writers  as  early 
as  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  centurj'.  An  older  form  of  the  Egyptian  root  seems  to  have 
been  Ab-mer. 

By  those  whose  knowledge  of  Egypt  is  merely  vague,  it  is  imagined  that  there  are  pyramids 
all  over  Egypt,  from  Alexandria  to  the  vicinity  of  Khartum,  and  also  that  pyramids  are  amongst 


rhi'ln  111,-]  [lioiyfilt. 

THE     PYRAMIDS    OF    GIZA, 

\^  ithin    sikKi    of    Cairo,    at    Gi2a.    ihric    arr    the    tt.lrc    Pvramids    of    Khufu    or    Cheops,    his    brother    Khcfrcn,    and    Myccrinua. 
second,    third    and     fourth    Uini;     respectively     of     the     Fourth      Dvnostv,     who     reiencd     from     about     3733     to     somewhercl  about 

3600   B.C. 


346 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


the  oldest  monuments  of  Egypt  and  are  peculiar  to  that  country.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  earliest 
of  the  true  Pyramids  (namely,  a  four-sided  stone  building  rising  from  a  square  base  to  a  sharp 
apex),  is  probably  not  older  than  the  time  of  the  Fourth  Dynasty,  some  six  thousand  eight  hundred 
years  ago ;  and  the  beginning  of  Egyptian  civilization  may  be  five  thousand  years  farther  back  still. 
The  true  Pyramids,  moreover,  are  almost  entirely  restricted  in  their  distribution  to  the  northern- 
most part  of  Middle  Egypt,  on  or  near  the  left  bank  of  the  Nile,  just  above  the  Delta,  not  far  from 
Cairo.  The  small  and  late-built  pyramids  farther  south  in  Nubia  (Meroe)  are  poor  imitations  of 
the  colossal  achievements  erected  by  the  kings  of  the  Fourth,  Fifth,  Sixth,  Seventh,  Eighth,  Eleventh 
and  Twelfth  Dynasties,  a  period  ranging  {according  to  Petrie),  from  about  six  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  fifty  to  six  thousand  two  hundred  years  ago.* 

The  Pyramids  in  their  perfect  form — with  a  square  base  and  smooth  sides — seem  to  have  been 


[/;.>..//,<. 


IHE     PYRAMIDS    FROM    BEHIND    THE    PALMS. 


It  is  generally  acknowledged  now  that  the  Pyramids  were  nothing  more  than  the  tombs  of  the  monaichs  of  Egypt  who 
flourished  from  the  First  to  the  Twelfth  Dynasty.  The  king  made  his  "eternal  abode"  in  his  lifetime,  and  Lepsius.  a  lead- 
ing   savant,    is    of    the    opinion    that    he    made    additions    to    it    each    year. 

almost  suddenly  evolved  by  the  imagination  of  a  great  king  or  architect  from  the  humbler  and  much 
smaller  Masiaba,  or  stone  tomb,  in  which,  on  the  original  flat  surface  or  slab  which  roofed  in  the 
stone  grave  of  a  dead  person,  smaller  slabs  of  masonry  were  placed.  The  increase  in  number  of 
these  oblong  slabs  gradually  raised  the  roof  of  the  tomb  into  a  series  of  steps,  and  it  only  needed 
to  place  a  single  stone  on  the  apex  to  have  a  roughly  shaped  pyramid  such  as  grew  to  a  marked 
•development  in  the  step  pyramids  of  Sakkara,  which  will  be  illustrated  farther  on  in  this  book. 
The  change  of  the  tomb  shape  from  an  oblong  into  a  square  and  the  filling  up  of  the  "  steps  "  with 
smooth  masonry  completed  the  idea  of  the  true  pyramid. 

*  These  figures  are  according  lo  the  latest  published  statistics  (1906)  of  Professor  Flinders  Petrie.  Other  computations, 
however,  as  to  the  age  of  the  Pyramids  by  other  Egyptologists  fi.'c  their  period  as  being  much  less  remote  in  time — roughly 
speaking,  five  thousand  years  ago.  The  Sphinx  is  more  or  less  contemporaneous  with  the  Great  Pyramid  of  Giza  :  say,  six 
.thousand  eight  hundred  years  old. 


.  (VKt.lUl 


^ 


k  tr^ 


0,    ._ 


nt-BBPivr 


348 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


I'linin  ;.)/]  [.V.  r.   i.ditards. 

THE    GREAT    P^■RAM1D, 

This  is  the   "eternal  resting-place"  of    Khufu.     The  name    he    gave  to  it    was    Kh'lt,    which'  may    be    translated    as    "the    Lights." 

Very  early  in  the  development  history  of  man,  especially  of  the  white,  or  Caucasian,  variety  of 
man,  arose  the  idea  of  burjdng  a  dead  person  in  a  stone  chamber,  for  the  principal  reason  that  the 
body  was  thus  protected  from  destruction  by  hyenas,  dogs,  or  vultures.  The  ancient  negroid 
people  that  once  inhabited  the  northern  shores  of  the  Mediterranean — it  may  be,  as  far  back  as 
thirty  or  forty  thousand  years  ago — were  thus  protected  in  little  stone  chambers,  made 
usually  by  hollowing  a  place  in  the  rock  or  ground,  completing  the  walls  of  the  burial-place  with 
pieces  of  stone,  and  laying  other  pieces  over  the  top.  Gradually,  the  desire  to  prevent  hyenas 
from  dislodging  separate  fragments  of  stone  induced  the  relatives  of  the  deceased  to  apply  large 
single  slabs  of  stone.  In  this  way  grew  up  the  Dolmen,  which  is  found  so  widely  distributed  as  a 
prehistoric  monument  over  Europe,  North  Africa  and  Asia.  Stone  graves  are  unknown  amongst 
tnie  negro  races  that  have  not  been  subjected  at  one  time  or  another  to  the  white  man's  influence, 
and  wherever  they  are  met  with  south  of  the  Sahara  Desert  they  are  an  evidence  that  that  influence 
has  reached  the  negro  in  ancient  or  modern  times. 

In  Berber  North  Africa  a  form  of  tomb  analogous  to  yet  different  fiom  the  pyramid  was 
invented.  Here  (in  Algeria)  the  grave  of  important  personages  at  the  beginning  of  the  historical 
period  was  often  of  a  circular  shape,  possibly  arising  from  the  form  of  the  hut  or  house  ;  for  the 
idea  of  burying  a  person  in  the  home  in  which  they  have  dwelt  when  alive  was  not  an  uncommon 
one.  Over  the  top  of  this  circular  grave  was  a  round  masonry  roof,  on  which  again  a  smaller  circle 
of  stones  was  placed,  and  this  developed  into  the  "  circular  "  pyramids — step  circles  of  stones 
rising  to  an  apex — whicli  became  the  tombs  of  famous  Berber  kings,  and  which  may  be  seen  to  this 
day  in  various  parts  of  Algeria. 

The    idea    of    the  pyramid  was  not  confined,  however,  to  Egypt,  but  arose — no  doubt,  quite 


(Africa 


349 


independently — in  the  early  civilizations  of  Greece,  Italy,  Assyria,  India,  China,  and  even  Mexico 
and  Central  America.  In  all  these  cases,  but  especially  in  Egypt,  the  pyramid  was  never  a  family 
monument  but  the  tomb  of  one  person,  or  occasionally  of  husband  and  wife.  For  instance,  the 
Great  Pyramid  ofGiza — King  Khufu's  tomb — has  lesser  pyramids  alongside,  which  were  the  tombs 
of  other  members  of  the  royal  family  ;  though  it  is  possible  that  besides  the  remains  of  King  Khufu 
it  may  also  have  contained  the  sarcophagus  of  his  queen. 

As  may  be  seen  in  one  of  the  photographs,  the  outer  surface  of  these  typical  pyramids  was  of 
smooth  mortared  masonry,  a  casing  of  fine  stone,  elaborately  finished,  well  jointed  and  sharp- 
edged  at  each  of  the  four  angles.  Had  this  outer  stone  casing  been  left  undisturbed  by  man,  it 
is  doubtful  whether  in  the  climate  of  Egypt  the  Pyramids  would  have  looked  much  out  of  repair 
at  the  present  day,  after  nearly  six  thousand  years  of  existence,  and  it  would  have  been  extremely 
difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  ascend  them  to  the  apex.  But  from  the  time  when  Egypt  began  to  be 
invaded  by  "  barbarians  "  from  500  B.C.  onwards- — especially  during  the  long  and  devastating 
reign  of  the  Arabs  and  Turks- — attempts  were  made  to  effect  an  entrance  into  the  Pyramids  to 
discover  their  secrets  and,  above  all,  to  search  for  hidden  treasure.  The  outer  casing  of  well- 
constructed  masonry  was  hacked  away,  and  the  rougher  interior  structure  exposed  to  view.  This 
is,  in  the  best-made  pyramids,  composed  of  horizontal  layers  of  rough-hewn  blocks  of  stone,  with 
or  without  mortar,  but    in   the   later  pyramids  of  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  Dynasties  the  mass  of  the 


M 


Photo  hy-] 


[!>.>u-< 


THE    BASE    OF    THE    GREAT    PYRAMID. 


Tne  Pyramid  ia  built  of  nummulilic  limestone  broUKhl  from  the  quarries  of  Tu  ra  onci  MoBura,  on  the 
the  Nile.  The  outer  casing  was  of  granite  and  limestone  blocl<R,  bul  only,  below  the  level  of  the  k round 
traces  of    this   now. 


..    /.>/. 


other    side     of 
are    there    any 


ONE  CORNER  OF  THE  GREAT  PYRAMID. 


IJlmi/ils. 


vr   million   cubic   («,.  '  ''"'"'    °'    "'''    ^"'=    '=    '"    '"'■    ^^'''    ''"=    -li^    "n.ents   i.    eighty- 


Th 

H 


Africa 


351 


vf^  ^ 


A^- 


2?W 


.^iS 


tf^' 


'Jl'^r.^^^', 


■^azk 


structure  is  little  else  than  loose  rubble  and  mud,  and  at  a  still  later  period  the  bulk  of  each  pyramid 
was  composed  of  mud  bricks,  but,  of  course,  the  outer  surface  and  the  walls  of  the  chambers  and 
passages  were  of  good  masonry. 

The  actual  tomb  or  sepulchral  chamber  where  the  body  of  the  monarch  or  personage  was  placed 
was  nearly  always  below  the  level  of  the  ground,  and  was  reached  by  a  descending  passage,  which 
either  opened  on  the  north  face  of  the  pyramid*  or  farther  away  still  emerged  from  the  rocky  sides 
of  the  ground  on  which  the  pyramid  was  erected.  These  passages  sloped  downwards  from  the 
entrance  to  the  central  tomb  at  an  angle  of  about  twenty-six  degrees.  Their  outermost  entrance 
appears  to  have  been  closed  by  a  stone  door  turning  on  a  pivot.  Other  passages  would  branch 
off  from  the  main  one 
which  led  to  the  tomb 
and  communicate  with  out- 
or  more  large  chambers 
in  the  middle  of  the  pyra- 
mid, far  above  the  tomb. 
Not  infrequently,  however, 
such  subsidiary  passages 
were  found  to  be  blocked 
or  concealed,  either  for 
a  temporary  purpose  or 
with  the  intention  of  per- 
petuity. The  roofs  or 
ceilings  of  these  chambers 
were  of  horizontally-placed 
stones,  above  which  were 
gables  of  great  sloping 
stones  converging  from 
the  north  and  south  walls 
and  meeting  to  form  the 
ridge  of  the  roof.  In 
the  King's  Chamber  of 
the  great  Giza  Pyramid 
several  ceilings  of  horizon- 
tal stones  partially  filled 
up  the  great  space  between 
the  lofty  gables. 

It  is  possible  that  in 
the  great  Giza  Pyramid 
of  Khufu,  or  Cheops,  it 
may  have  been  intended 
to  place,  not  only  the  body  of  the  King  himself,  but  that  of  his  co-regent  or  partner  in  the  govern- 
ment, or  even  of  his  queen.  The  lowest  central  chamber  or  tomb  seems,  however,  never  to  have 
been  finished,  but  there  is  a  tradition  that  a  sarcophagus  was  found  in  the  smaller  and  second  of  the 
two  highly-finished  chambers  above  the  central  tomb,  that  which  is  known  as  the  Queen's  Chamber. 
The  King's  Chamber,  together  with  the  smaller  second  chamber,  was  almost  exactly  in  the  centre 
of  the  pyramid,  taking  the  tomb  below  the  surface  of  the  ground  to  be  the  bottom.  From  the 
entrance  on  the  north  face  of  the  pyramid  at  the  point  where  the  masonry  surface  detached  itself 
from  contact  with  the  natural  rock  or  rubble  which  is  now  the  base,  the  passage  led  downwards 

*  The  I'yramiils  were  so  placed  in  llieir  construction  lli.-it  tlieir  .sides  f.ice:I  north,  east,  south  and  west. 


>  .il*. 


V 


>^ 


Looking  down  ttie  soulli-wcsl 
The  crcat  hcieht  can  be  sauged 
centre    distance, 


corner    o(    the    Great 
from     the    size    of    th' 


[I'nthrtcoo.i  ,(■  ir,ut,-nco  d. 

Pyramid    on    to    the    desert    below. 
:    camel     which    is    standini;    in    the 


352 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


to  a  point  where  the  actual  base  of  the  pyramid  was  reached  (as  distinct  from  the  perpendicular 
plinth  of  its  underground  sides).  Here  it  divided  into  two,  the  descending  portion  continuing  till 
the  central  tomb  was  reached  at  the  very  bottom  of  the  whole  stmcture.  while  the  ascending  shaft 
led  to  the  King's  and  Queen's  Chambers  in  the  heart  of  the  pyramid,  giving  off,  however,  midway, 
a  horizontal  passage  leading  to  a  single  small  chamber,  the  purpose  of  which  is  not  very  clear. 
From  where  this  horizontal  passage  to  the  third  chamber  leaves  the  ascending  passage,  there  is 
the  trace  of  an  abruptly  descending  shaft  (possibly  the  work  of  treasure-seekers),  which  also  com- 
municated with  the  entrance  to  the  bottom  tomb. 

The  stones  of  which  the  Great  Pj'ramid  was  built,  according  to  Herodotus,  were  quarried  in  the 
Arabian  Mountains,  by  which  he  may  have  meant  Sinai,  or  even  the  Nubian  Alps,  near  Suez.  No 
stone  was  less  than  thirty  feet  long.  The  stones^were  conveyed  to  barges  on  the  Nile  and  thus  were 
carried  up  the  Nile  to  Giza.  From  the  banks  of  the  river  they  were  dragged — no  doubt  over  rollers 
of  palm  trunks — along  a  specially  constructedroad  si.xty  feet  broad,  three-quarters  of  a  mile  long, 

and  deeply  cut  into  the 
rock.  The  road  was  paved 
with  smooth  stone,  and  its 
rocky  sides  were  carved 
with  figures.  It  took  ten 
vears  to  construct,  after 
which  another  twenty  years 
were  devoted  to  the  build- 
ing of  Khufu's  Pyramid. 
When  complete,  the  Great 
P\-ramid  was,  according  to 
Herodotus,  eight  plethra 
square,  equivalent  to  eight 
hundred  and  eight  English 
square  feet,  and  the  height 
was  also  about  eight  hun- 
dred English  feet.  But 
these  measurements  were 
authoritatively  corrected, 
firstly,  by  the  members  of 
the  French  scientific  mis- 
sion to  Egypt  taken  out  by 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  and 
at  later  dates  by  Colonel 
Howard  Vyse,  Sir  Henry 
James  and  Professor  Piazzi 
Smyth.  According  to  the 
last  named  authority 
I  who  conceived  exaggerated 
ideas  about  the  pyramids, 
and  attributed  to  the 
builders  of  these  structures 
Photo  hy\  n.^nfiu.         mystic     intentions     which 

IHE    ENTRANCE   TO   THE   GREAT    PYRAMID,  they     probably     did     not 

The    entrance,  is   on     .he    north     (ace    abou.    forty-five    fee.    from    .he^.ound.     Af.er  posseSS),     Cach    of    the     four 

entering    a    descent    is    made    down    a    passage    5 1\)    tcet    lor.g,    so    straight    that    the    skv    can 
te    seen    even    ot    the    extreme    end;     this    leads    eventually    to    the    subterranean    chamber.  SlCleS    01     thC     baSC     is    SCVen 


Africa 


353 


hundred  and  sixty-three  feet  long  (excluding  decimals),  and  the  total  height,  four  hundred  and 
eighty-six  English  feet.  The  area  covered  by  the  base  of  the  pyramid  is  equivalent  to  thirteen 
acres,  and  until  the  erection  of  the  Eiffel  Tower  and  the  great  houses  and  offices  of  the  United 
States,  Khufu's  Pyramid  was  the  tallest  building  in  the  world.  As  it  is,  if  it  were  set  down  in  the 
middle  of  modern  New  York,  it  would  look  almost  humble,  though  it  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
loftier  than  St.  Paul's.  According  to  tradition,  its  building  required  the  labour  of  one  hundred 
thousand  men.  and  the  value  and  maintenance  expenses  of  these  men  (regarded  as  slaves  and  paid 
servants),  who  attended  to  the  quarrying  of  the  stone,  the  transporting  of  it  by  land  and  river 
to  the  scene  of  operations,  and  the  ultimate  building  of  the  pyramid,  was  once  computed  by 
Professor  T.  H.  Lewis  as  being  equivalent  to  a  capitalized  value  of  eight  million  five  hundred 
thousand  pounds.  The  implements  by  which  the  stones  were  quarried  and  cut  into  shape  were 
drills,  picks,  wedges  and  copper  saws,  these  last  said  by  earlier  Egyptologists  to  have  been 
furnished  with  jewelled  points  of  corundum  or  diamond  :  but  later  research  does  not  confirm  this. 
The  long  copper  saws  were  probabl\-  only  fed  with  emer\-  powder.  Limestone  was  chiefly  quarried 
with  picks  and  adzes  of  copper.     The  early  drills  were  pointed  with  flint  or  corundum. 

As  to  the  king  who,  ac- 
cording to  Herodotus,  built 
the  Great  Pyramid,  his 
native  Egyptian  name  was 
Khujii,  a  word  which  in 
later  times  was  pronounced 
Khi'iuf.  This  was  corrupted 
in  later  Egyptian  and  Greek 
forms  into  Kheop,  or 
Khembi,  and  was  further 
changed  by  the  Greek 
writers  on  Egypt  to  Cheops 
and  Suphis.  [It  is  perhaps 
needless  to  remark  that  the 
principal  Greek  name  is  not 
pronounced  like  the  English 
word  "  chop."  The  Greek  \ 
was  a  strong  aspirate  like  a 
German  "  ch."] 

Khufu  in  tradition  was 
a  harsh  monarch,  though  he 
succeeded  in  reigning  over 
the  people  of  Middle  Egypt 
for  about  fifty  years.  He 
had  a  contempt  for  the 
accepted  forms  of  religion. 
closed  the  temples  and 
abolished  the  sacrifices  to 
tlie  numerous  gods  and  god- 
desses. He  was  probably  a 
great  reformer,  enthusiastic 
for  public  works,  but  being 
very  egotistic,  thought  that 
the   noblest   public  work  on 


t'l-oni  Slfreo  (upyriijlit] 
Looking    down    th< 


passaitc     leadinR     lo     Khufu'a    sepulchre    witKin     the 
Grcnt    Pyramid. 


24 


354 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


which  he  could  compel  his  subjects  to  labour  would  be  a  tomb  for  himself  which  might  outlast 
all  time.  It  is  said  that  he  became  so  straitened  for  funds  to  meet  the  expenses  of  this  colossal 
undertaking  that  he  sold  the  favours  of  his  daughter  Hentsen  to  the  nonveaitx  riches  of  his  day  : 
no  doubt  an  exaggerated  description  transmitted  by  one  writer  to  another  of  something  like  the 
modern  bazaar  in  which,  in  the  sacred  cause  of  charity,  a  lady  will  consent  to  kiss  a  cigar  or 
bouquet,  or  even  possibly  the  purchaser  thereof,  in  return  for  a  good  sum  in  hard  cash.  Khufu's 
daughter,  apparently,  not  only  by  some  such  means  raised  funds  for  her  father's  pyramid 
building,  but  also  built  for  herself  in  addition  a  small  pyramid  out  of  the  stones  given  to  her  by 
her  friends  as  love-offerings.  Khufu  was  succeeded  by  Khafra  who  built  the  second  lai'gest  of  the 
Giza  Pyramids. 

Professor  Flinders  Petrie,  Mr.  J.   H.  Breasted  and    Dr.   F.   Llewellyn  Gritfith    all  suggest  that 

Khufu  may  have  been  a 
great  reformer,  who  at- 
tempted to  sweep  away 
much  time-wasting  nonsense 
connected  with  the  religion 
of  Egypt  at  that  period. 
He  seems  to  have  fa\'oured 
the  study  of  medicine  and 
to  have  had  very  marked 
artistic  tastes.  He  was  born 
in  Middle  Egypt,  near  Beni 
Hasan,  was  the  founder  of 
the  Fourth  Dynasty,  and 
made  such  an  impression  on 
the  history  of  his  country 
that  he  and  his  successor 
Khafra  were  commemorated 
in  funeral  ceremonies  almost 
to  the  end  of  the  real  Egyp- 
tian dynasties — that  is  to 
say,  for  a  period  of  some- 
thing like  three  thousand 
five  hundred  years. 

The    Great    Pyramid  of 

Giza,  as  has  already  been  stated,  was  built  by  Khufu,  the  first  King  of  the  Fourth 
Dynasty.  The  Second  Pyramid  was  raised  by  his  successor  and  (?)  brother,  Khaf-ra  or 
Khaf-re,*  who  reigned  traditionally  for  fifty-six  years,  and  who  may  have  been  quite 
possibly  not  the  brother  but  the  nephew  or  sister's  son  of  Khufu.  Khaf-ra  was  possibly 
succeeded  by  Dadef-ra,  but  this  personage  may  have  been  a  co-regent  or  coadjutor  either 
of  Khufu  or  of  Khaf-ra.  The  eventual  successor  of  Khaf-ra,  at  any  rate,  was  one  of  his 
sons — Men-kau-ra.  Men-kau-ra  (whose  name  was  corrupted  into  Men^eres,  or  Mykerinosj  by  the 
Greeks)  built  the  Third  of  the  three  Giza  Pyramids.  By  accident  or  design,  the  Second  Pyramid, 
attributed  to  I\haf-ra,  was  a  little  smaller  than  the  Great  Pyramid  of  Khufu,  and  only  reached 
to  a  height  of  four  hundred  and  forty-three   feet,  instead  of    four  hundred  and  seventy-six  feet. 

*  The  -ra  or  -;v  in  all  these  names  mean  the  Sun  or  Sun-God. 

t  Eg)-ptian  n.ames— changing  as  the  Egyptian  dialect  and  pronunciation  changed — were  first  niisrendered  in  Greek  (and  in 
early  Greek  y  =;  u  in  transcribing  foreign  names),  and  then  further  transmogrified  by  spelling  the  Greek  in  Latin  letters. 
Thus  Menyeres  is  also  spelt  Mencheres,  Mykerinos,  Mycerinus,  etc. 


From  Stereo  eapyririhl']  [CiidcricmiJ  ,(    rml,riri;„l. 

The  sarcophagus  of  Khufu  in  the  sepulchre  chamber  of  the  Great  Pyramid  of  Giza. 
It  is  supposed  that  this  sarcophagus  was  broken  into  by  treasure-seekers,  no  doubt 
during    the    twelve    hundred    years    of    [Vluhammadan    misrule    in    Egypt. 


5  ; 


ki 


i: 


"V;^. 


'■} 


^\ 


r   V 


•ItiJ: 


n 
— 

3 

'i. 

0 
C 

P 

o 

4 

2 

< 

3 

A 


M 


kii 


'ft 


^fc't^-' 


/J ' 


" » 


i'^^'^ 


:m.r^ 


,  /' 


-|3^>-- 


i  ■.'■•  f 


356 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


ritoto  bif} 


[/i.iuHls. 


The    Second    Pyramid    of    Giza,    that    of    fving    Khaf-ra    or    Khaf-re    (Chephren). 


And  the  Third  Pyramid  of  Men-kau-ra  was  considerably  lower,  for  it  rose  to  no  more  than  two 
hundred  and  sixteen  feet.  Over  about  three-fourths  of  its  surface,  from  the  ground  upwards,  it  was 
faced  with  red  granite  from  Assouan  on  the  verge  of  Lower  Nubia,  and  for  the  remaining  quarter 
up  to  the  apex  with  local  limestone.  But  while  the  Third  Pyramid  was  being  constructed,  Men- 
kau-ra  became  heir  to  the  monarchy  owing  to  the  death  of  intervening  brothers  ;  and  when  he 
succeeded  his  father,  it  was  decided  to  change  the  proportions  of  his  Pyramid  and  render  it  more 
worthy  of  him  as  a  sovereign.  He  decided  not  to  make  his  tomb  in  the  upper  part  of  the  Pyramid's 
interior,  but  constructed  a  passage  descending  downwards  from  the  second  chamber  into  a  secret 
crypt.  This  was  given  granite  walls  and  an  arched  or  circular  roof.  Here  was  placed  his 
sarcophagus,  which  was  constructed  from  a  single  block  of  pohshed  basalt,  bluish-black  in  colour, 
and  carved  in  the  form  of  a  house  or  small  temple,  with  three  doors  and  three  window  openings. 
The  mummy-case  was  of  cedar  wood  and  shaped  in  the  form  of  a  human  body  with  a  head. 

When  the  Third  Pyramid  of  Giza  was  opened  by  General  Howard  Vyse  in  the  thirties  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  it  was  found  that  its  interior  chambers  had  already  been  ransacked  ;  but  he 
discovered  the  blue-black  sarcophagus  already  mentioned,  the  mummy-case  bearing  the  name  of 
Men-kau-ra,  and  a  mummy,  which,  however,  was  not  thought  to  be  that  of  the  king.  Both  the 
mummy  and  the  mummy-case  are  now  in  the  British  Museum,  but  the  beautiful  basalt  sarcophagus 
was  lost  at  sea  on  its  way  to  England. 

The  Sphinx.- — Next  to  the  Pyramids  as  a  wonder  of  the  world  in  Egypt  ranks  the  Sphinx. 
This  colossal  figure  of  a  man-lion  has  a  face  of  somewhat  Ethiopian  outline,  and  a  style  of  hair- 
dressing  similar  to   that  in  vogue  among  Gala,  Somali  and  Nubian  women  at  the  present  day. 


Africa 


357 


But  in  spite  of  this  feminine  style  of  wearing  the  hair  (not,  after  all,  very  unlike  the  male  coiffure  of 
the  Hamitic  tribes  of  the  Red  Sea  coast),  this  earliest  of  the  Sphinxes  was  certainly  male  in  sex, 
for  according  to  historical  records  it  possessed  a  beard  until,  a  few  centuries  ago,  this  stone  appendage 
to  the  chin  crumbled  away,  as  also  did  the  helmet  that  surmounted  the  head.  The  Great  Sphinx 
was  called  "  Hu  "  by  the  Egj-ptians  of  later  times,  and  may  have  represented  the  Egj'ptian  god 
Har-em-akhu  (Greek,  HarmaYis),  or  "  Horos-on-the-Horizon."  Har  (Horos)  was  the  son  of 
Hesiri  (Osiris)  and  of  Hes  (Isis),  and  was  regarded  as  having  avenged  his  father,  who  had  been 
destroyed  by  the  bad  deity,  Set.  Har,  in  Upper  Egypt,  fused  into  the  later  god  Amon-ra.  and 
was  also  sometimes  identified  with  the  Moon-god  Khonsu,  and  was  manifested  in  other  forms  and 
developments. 

The  colossal  figure  of  the  Sphinx  rises  about  sixty-five  feet  from  the  angle  between  the  upright 
torso  and  the  prone  colossal  lion-paws.  It  is  supposed  to  be  about  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight 
feet  in  length,  and  has  been  hewn  out  of  a  natural  prominence  in  the  solid  rock,  defects  or  gaps  in 
which  have  been  partially  filled  in  by  masonry,  while  the  legs  have  obviously  been  added  and  built 
in  this  way.  Recent  excavations  indicate  that  this  monster  may  have  presided  over  a  temple  or 
shrine  between  its  front  paws. 

The  date  of  the  construction  of  this  remarkable  monument  is  still  unknown.  It  is  supposed 
to  have  preceded  in  time  the  earliest  of  the  Pyramids  of  Giza.  A  guess  at  its  age  is  sometimes 
made — 3800  B.C.  (say,  five  thousand  seven  hundred  years  ago).  Relatively  early  in  its  history. 
however,  it  tended  to  be  buried  by  the  desert  sands,  and  it  was  a  pious  work  on  the  part  of  the 
Egyptian  monarchs  of  the  later  dynasties — passionately  anxious  to  link  on  their  time  with  the 
great  days  of  early  Egypt — to  have  the  sand  round  the  Sphinx  cleared  away.     It  is  probable  that 


I'hilo  bu  ii.rmusioH  ../]  {Mnj.-C'n.  J.    ttnlfrru'Ut/: 

The  Great   <nnd  oldest)   Pyramid   of   Giza.    built    for   Kin«    KKufu   'Cheops';    also    the   Great   Sphinx;    and   in    the   foreground 

the  'eranite    temple    wronely    styled    the    "Temple    of    the    Sphinx." 


58 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


in  the  present  awakening  of  Egypt  tins  work  of  clearing  out  tlie  sand  from  all  approaches  to  the 
Sphinx  may  be  completed  and  something  of  the  mystery  surrounding  this  prehistoric  monument 
be  removed. 

In  the  middle  of  the  back  of  the  Sphinx  is  an  old  tomb  sliaft.  which  (Professor  Flinders  Petrie 
thinks)  was  made  in  the  original  rock  before  the  Sphinx  itself  was  carved  out  of  some  suggestive 
headland  ;  for  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  idea  of  the  Sphinx  arose  from  one  of  those  extraordinary, 
but  accidental,  resemblances  to  faces  which  may  be  seen  in  rocky  promontories.  In  one  of  his 
works  ("  A  History  of  Egypt  ")  Petrie  suggests  that  the  Sphinx  temple  may  be  about  coeval  with 
the  reign  of  Khufu  and  the  building  of  the  Great  Pyramids,  while  other  evidence  and  traditions 

associate  it  with  the  reign  of  his  successor, 
Khaf-ra.  The  granite  temple,  often  mis- 
named "  The  Temple  of  the  Sphinx,"  has 
really  nothing  to  do  with  that  monument, 
though  it  is  possibly  of  the  same  age. 

After  the  glories  and  achievements  of 
the  wonderful  IVth  Dynasty  came  a  period 
of  se\-eral  hundred  years,  in  which  various 
dynasties  rose  and  fell  and  left  as  their 
monuments  nothing  so  remarkable  as  the 
Sphinx  and  the  Pyramids  of  Giza  on  the 
one  hand,  or  the  great  temples  of  Karnak 
on  the  other.  Monarchs  like  the  celebrated 
Pepi  of  the  \Tth  Dynasty,  who  li\-ed  about 
J2O0  B.C..  erected  a  pyramid  at  Sakkara 
and  the  Red  Sphinx  of  Tanis.  now  in  the 
Louvre  at  Paris,  the  face  of  which  is  sup- 
posed to  be  a  portrait  of  Pepi  ;  and  there 
was  also  in  that  dynasty  the  celebrated 
Queen  Nitokris  (Nit-aqert).  commemo- 
rated in  several  monuments.  It  has  been 
suggested  that  Queen  Xit<jkris  took  pos- 
session of  Men-kau-ra's  tomb  in  the  Third 
Pyramid,  putting  that  king's  sarcophagus 
in  a  lower  vault.  The  name  "  Nit- 
aqert  "  is  supposed  to  have  meant  "  rosy- 
cheeked."  and  according  to  Greek  legends, 
"  Nitokris  "  ("  Rhodopis")  was  a  courte- 
san or  dancing  girl,  who  was  the  original 


Cinderella  of  fairy  stories.     It   was  said 


Photo  hi}  pfrmiision  o_r}  [.Unj.-ar„.  J.  W'al.rlious,-. 

THE    -TEMPLE    OF    THE    SPHINX." 

This  mortuary  temple,  now  below  the  surface  of  the  soil  and  built 
of  granite,  is.  as  near  as  we  can  judge,  as  old  &s  the  Sphinx  himself,  but 
has    no    connection    with    that    monument, 

that  when  she  was  bathing  in  the  river  an  eagle  stole  one  of  her  little  gilt  sandals,  and,  flying 
away,  let  it  fall  into  the  lap  of  the  King  of  Egypt,  who  was  holding  a  court  of  justice  in  the  open 
air.  He  was  so  taken  with  the  beauty  of  the  little  shoe  that  he  sought  everywhere  for  its  girl- 
owner,  and.  having  found  her.  made  her  his  queen. 

Karnak,  Thebes. — During  the  long  period  of  confusion  and  historical  darkness  between 
3000  and  2700  B.C..  the  twin  city  of  the  Apts,  Thebai  (Thebes)  in  Upper  Egypt,  was  rising  into 
prominence.  Hitherto  the  great  kings  or  rulers  of  Egypt  had  had  their  headquarters  at  Memphis, 
near  the  Pyramids  and  modern  Cairo.  Later  on.  the  capital  was  transferred  to  Heracleopolis  (to 
give  it  its  Greek  name),  situated  near  the  modern  Beni  Suet.  But  Thebes  was  situated  much  farther 
up  the  Nile,  at  the  point  where  that  river  in  its  windings  comes  nearest  to  the  coast  of  the  Red  Sea 


■y-'^ 


The    Great    Sphinx    ol    Gi/a    since    ihe    recent    clearing    avv.v    ol    the    .«nd    which    chokes    the    bose    o(    this    monumen 


[  llimtili. 


36o 


The   Wonders   of  the   World 


Pholo  from  "  T/ie  African   ir.ic/J."]  [/ii,  permisninii  of  Leo   WeinHal. 

The  avenue  of  Ram-headed  Sphinxes  leading  up  to  the  Great  Temple  of   A  Tion-Ra  at    Karnak.     This  avenue  was  made  by 

Ramses   II.   iThe  Great'. 

at  Kosser,  and  where  there  is  a  broad  stretch  of  cultivable  land  on  either  side  of  the  Nile.  Here- 
abouts, indeed,  grew  up  in  time  the  town  of  Qobt,  or  Koptos,  which  became  so  much  associated 
with  the  commerce  of  Egypt  in  the  minds  of  the  Phoenician  and  Greek  navigators  of  the  Red  Sea 
that  it  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  origin  of  the  Greek  Aiguptos  (Egypt).  Thebes  was:  higher  up 
than  Koptos  and  near  the  modern  Luxor,  on  the  same  side  of  the  river.  Indeed,  Luxor  became  in 
time  the  harbour  of  Thebes.  The  riverside  quarter  on  the  west  side  of  the  Nile  was  what  might  be 
called  the  "  dead  "  city  of  Thebes — the  cemeteries  and  the  temples  which  bore  reference  to  the  worship 
of  the  dead.  This  was  the  region  known  by  the  Greeks  as  Memnonia.  The  Egyptian  name  of 
"  Thebes  "  seems  to  have  been  Apt.  In  a  later  pronunciation  this  was  Apet,  or  Ape,  which,  in  the 
feminine  sense  often  applied  to  cities,  became  Tape.  The  Greeks,  realizing  that  there  were  two 
cities  of  Apt,  pluralized  the  name  as  "  Thebai,"  which  (in  the  mania  for  Latinizing  all  Greek  names) 
became  in  our  modern  speech  "  Thebes."  Apt  is  supposed  by  several  authorities  to  have  meant 
in  ancient  Egyptian,  "a  harem,  or  enclosure  for  women,"  but  it  is  far  more  probable  that  it  was 
Apt  the  Water-cow  or  Hippopotamus,  a  very  old  goddess  of  LTpper  Egypt  (see  the  late  Gerald 
Massey's  "  Ancient  Egypt,  the  Light  of  the  World  ").  Thebes  is  one  of  the  oldest  inhabited  sites  of 
Egypt.  Its  history  goes  back  (say)  ten  thousand  years,  to  palaeolithic  times.  From  about  2000  B.C., 
or  earlier,  there  were  the  two  cities  of  Apt — Apt-asut  (Karnak)  and  Apt-reset  (Luxor).* 

It  was  at  Thebes  that  the  great  Xllth  Dynasty  (the  "  Old  Theban  ")  was  founded  by  Senusert 
(or  Usertsen)  ist,  more  than  two  thousand  years  before  Christ  ;  and  this  monarch  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt  seems  to  have  commenced  the  construction  of  a  large  temple  at  Karnak  dedicated  to 
a  local  god,  Amon  or  Amen,  "  the  hidden."  But  there  were  other  local  deities  of  neighbouring  bourgs 
to  be  considered,  such  as  Mut  and  Amunt  (perhaps  a  feminine  form  of  Anion,  Amun,  or  Amen  ; 
the  Egyptians,  like  the  Arabs,  were  very  uncertain  about  their  vowels).  Mut  or  Atmu  was  the  great 
mother  goddess.  There  was  also  Khonsu,  the  handsome  young  Moon-God,  who,  in  course  of  time, 
became  somewhat  identified  with  Horos  of  Lower  Egypt,  and  was  taken  to  be  the  son  of  Amon  and 

*  Karnak  is  a  modern  Arabic  lerm  meaning  "a  window,"  from  the  window  openings  in  the  temples  ;   Luxor  is  the  Arabic 
Al-uksur  or  "  the  Castles  "  (plural  of  Ksar,  a  castle). 


Afr 


ica 


361 


Milt  (or  Anion  'and  Amunt).  These  conflicting  worships  were  reconciled  by  the  three  principal 
gods  of  Thebes  developing  into  a  trinity  of  divine  beings,  in  which  combination,  however,  Amon  was 
recognized  as  the  "  Father  "  and  as  "  King  of  the  Gods."  Still  later  in  the  history  of  Thebes  he 
was  styled  Amon-Ra,  and  identified  with  Ra,  the  great  Sun-God  of  Lower  Egypt. 

The  whole  history  of  the 
later  Egyptian  monarchies, 
commencing  with  the  Xllth 
Dynasty,  is  bound  up  with 
this  sacred  city  of  Karnak, 
adjoining  "  hundred-gated 
Thebes."  But  the  early 
temples  and  monuments  of 
the  Old  Theban  dynasty  fell 
into  ruin  or  were  destroyed 
during  the  long  period  of 
over  five  hundred  years 
when  Egypt  was  conquered, 
or  partially  conquered,  by 
the  Shepherd  kings  from 
Arabia,  the  •  Haq  -  su  ■  or 
"  Hyksos."  But  the  first 
Egyptian  monarcli  to  re- 
sume the  erection  of  places 
of  worship  dedicated  to 
Amon-Ra,  Mut,  and'Khonsu 
at  this  northern  city  of  Apt, 
was  Amenhotep  I.,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Aahmes,  who 
about  1625  B.C.  had  re- 
deemed Egypt  from  the 
Hyksos  oppression  and 
founded  the  XVIIIth  Dy- 
nasty of  Egyptian  kings. 
Amenhotep  and  his  suc- 
cessor, Tehutimes  I.,*  built 
a  splendid  temple  with 
many  chambers  round  tho 
original  shrine,  togetlu  1 
with  a  broad  court  and 
pylons  or  stone  gateway-^ 
(a  glorified  development  "I 
the  "  Druidical  "  menlm 
or  horizontal  stone  rcstin 
on  two  uprights).  Telni 
times  I.  also  erected  four 
obelisks  of  Assouan  granite, 

*  Tehulimcs  is  also  rendered 
Thothmes  by  some  authorities  and 
Telhmosis  by  others. 


PIv'to  hit"] 


\Tlu-  riiolochrom  Co.  lid. 
The  Colonnade  of  iKe  Grent   Temple  at   Karnalc. 


362 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


of  which  two  have  faUen.  Tehutimes  III.  added  to  this  temple  a  hall  resting  on  fiftv-six  columns, 
besides  many  other  chambers.  Other  monarchs  of  later  dynasties  built  two  more  large  pylons,  and 
Queen  Hatshopsitu  erected  two  fine  obelisks. 

The  "  Catharine  II.."  the  "  Empress-Dowager  "  of  Egypt,  the  celebrated  Hatshopsitu.*  who 
reigned  at  Thebes  between  about  1565-1530  B.C.,  added  a  great  deal  to  the  glories  of  Thebes  and  the 
temples  at  Karnak.  though  in  some  cases  r-he  merely  completed  the  work  of  her  father.  Tehutimes  I.  ; 
but  in  the  inscriptions  she  caused  to  be  engraved  on    the    monuments  she  attributed   the  whole 

structure  to  herself.  She  really  did, 
however,  cause  two  obelisks — one  of 
which  is  still  standing  amongst  the  ruins 
of  Karnak — to  be  erected  to  the  memory 
of  her  "  father,"  the  god  Amon.  in  order 
that  her  own  name  "  may  remain  and 
live  on  this  temple  for  ever  and  ever  ; 
for  this  single  block  of  granite  has  been 
cut  without  let  or  obstacle  at  tlie  desire 
of  My  Majesty  between  the  first  of  the 
second  month  of  Pirit  of  the  Vth  year  [of 
her  reign],  and  the  thirtieth  of  the  fourth 
month  of  Shomu  of  the  Vlth  year,  which 
makes  seven  months  from  the  day  when 
they  began  to  quarry  it." — (Sir  Gaston 
Maspero.) 
i  i_  (_)f  the  obelisk  which  is  still  standing 

/  '      ...(  im  amongst    the  ruins    of    Karnak    (ninety- 

'  ''  seven  and  a  half  feet  high),  it   has  been 

remarked  that  the  grace  of  its  outline, 
tlie  finish  of  its  hieroglyphics  and  the 
beauty  of  the  figures  which  cover  it, 
amply  justify  the  pride  which  the  queen 
and  her  younger  half-brother  and  hus- 
band, Tehutimes  II..  felt  in  contemplat- 
ing it.  The  apices  of  these  two  monoliths 
were  gilt,  so  that  they  could  be  seen 
from  both  banks  of  the  river,  "  in  order 
that  their  brilliancy  might  light  up  the 
two  lands  of  Egypt." 

Amongst  other  messages  for  posterity 
which  Hatshopsitu  left  inscribed  on  the 
wonders  of  Karnak  are  these  words : 
"  This  is  what  I  teach  to  mortals  who  shall  live  in  centuries  to  come,  and  whose  hearts  shall 
inquire  concerning  the  monument  which  I  have  raised  to  my  father,  speaking  and  exclaiming  as 
they  contemplate  it.  As  for  me,  when  I  sat  in  the  palace  and  thought  upon  him  who  created  me 
[i.e.,  her  father],  my  heart  prompted  me  to  raise  to  him  two  obelisks  of  electrum  [granite],  whose 
apices  should  pierce  the  firmaments,  before  the  noble  gateway  which  is  between  the  two  sreat 
pylons  of  the  King  Tehutimes  I.  And  my  heart  led  me  to  address  these  words  to  those  who  shall 
see  my  monuments  in  after-years  and  who  shall  speak  of  my  great  deeds.  Beware  of  saying,  '  I 
know  not,  I  know  not  why  it  was  resolved  to  carve  this  mountain  wholly  of  gold  I  '  .  .  .  but  say 
only,  '  How  like  Her  !  '  .   .  .   ."-f- 


'■"ud  MiUer 


1  he  South  Entrance  to  the  Great  1  emple  at  Karn 
was  built  by  Ptolemy  III.  lEuergetes)  as  an  approach 
hind  it  of   Ramses   III. 


This   Propylon 
the    temple    be- 


Hatshopsitu  is  also  spelt  Ilatslicpsu  or  ITatshepMrt. 


^   Sir  (;.  Maspero  and  Artlnu  \Vcii;all. 


'Xs^-^^^^i 


Pholo  htTS 


THE  COLONNADE  OF  THE  GREAT  I EMPLE  AT  KARNAK 


t77i.- 1  liolorlii-om  Co.  lid. 


364 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


Photo  hit'] 


The  ObelisU   of..Queen   Hatshopsilu   in  the  Temple  of  Amon-Ra,   Karnak, 


[/,'.  nliUhrmd. 


Queen  Hatshopsitu  was  the  daughter  of  Queen  Aahmes,  who  was  believed  to  be  of  much  better 
birth  than  her  husband  Tehutimes  I.,  that  is  to  say,  she  was  able  to  claim  a  nearly  unspoilt  descent 
from  divine  ancestors,  or,  in  other  words,  kings  of  early  semi-mythical  dynasties,  who  had  been 
deified  in  the  course  of  centuries.  But  her  sixteen  quarters  of  divinity,  so  to  speak,  were  not  quite 
perfect.  She  numbered  amongst  her  immediate  ancestors  a  grandfather  or  great-grandfather 
who  was  not  clearly  of  royal  blood  ;  that  is  to  say,  descended  from  the  Sun-God  Horos  (Har.)  This 
defect,  however,  might  be  remedied  by  a  miracle,  by  the  Sun-God  Har  (Amon-Ra  ?)  becoming 
incarnate  in  her  mother  at  the  moment  of  conception.  The  wish  was  father  to  the  belief,  and 
Hatshopsitu,  when  she  had  had  time  to  look  round  and  take  all  her  circumstances  into  account, 
caused  it  to  be  inscribed  in  one  of  the  chapels  which  she  built,  that  the  god  Amon-Ra  had  descended 
upon  her  mother  Aahmes  in  a  flood  of  perfume  and  light  and  had  announced  to  her  the  approaching 
birth  of  a  daughter  in  whom  his  godly  qualities  would  be  made  manifest.  This  remarkable  story, 
is  illustrated  by  a  number  of  pictures  showing  the  whole  story  of  the  conception  of  Hatshopsitu, 
her  birth,  attended  by  good  fairies  or  jinns.  and  her  earthly  father,  Tehutimes  I.,  accepting  his 
theoretical  paternity  and  presenting  to  his  council  of  nobles  the  newly-born  daughter  who  is 
eventually  to  reign  over  Egypt. 

Nevertheless,  her  father  caused  her  to  marry  her  younger  half-brother,  Tehutimes  II.,  who 
reigned  for  a  time  conjointly  with  her,  though  she  really  directed  affairs  with  as  much  arbitrariness 
and  vigour  as  the  late  Empress-Dowager  of  China.  In  fact,  she  became  so  greedy  of  power  and 
disdainful  of  her  sex  that  she  attempted  for  the  rest  of  her  life  (after  the  death  of  her  father, 
Tehutimes  I.),  to  conceal  her  sex  in  all  public  manifestations.  She  removed  the  feminine  termination 
of  her  name  (-itu)  and  called  herself  Hatshopsu,  and  also  adopted  the  title  of  King  Mat-ka-ra.  In 
all  public  ceremonies  she  dressed  as  a  man  and  wore  a  false  beard  affixed  to  her  chin.  The  activities 
of  this  remarkable  woman  extended  far  to  the  north  and  to  the  south-east.     She  reorganized  the 


Af 


rica 


365 


Delta  region  of  the  Nile,  which  had  been  much  neglected  by  hei  predecessors,  and  reopened  the 
canals  where  they  were  silted  up.  She  resumed  the  working  of  the  mines  of  Sinai  and  was  inspired 
by  the  god  Amon-Ra  to  assemble  a  fleet  at  Kosser  on  the  Red  Sea,  which  sailed  laden  with  rich 
merchandise  to  the  sacred  land  of  Punt  (or  Puoni). 

Punt  was    probably  what  we  now  know  as  Somaliland.     The  fleet,  indeed,  may  have  entered 
the  Bay  of  Tajurrah  and  have   dealt   chiefly  with   French   Somaliland.      From    these   regions  the 
vessels  brought  back  the  incense  trees  (Boswellia  ?)  so  loved  of  the  Egyptians,  who  were  passionately 
fond  of  burning  perfumes.     Besides  Boswellia  ihurifera,  which  is  the  East  African  incense  tree, 
there  were  substances  derived  from  other  aromatic  trees  and  plants  which  were  mixed  together  under 
the  name  of  incense.     The  type  of  people  met  with  in  the  land  of  Punt  was  very  like  the  modern 
Somali  or  the  Gala.     The  men  carried  boomerangs  and  daggers,  and  wore  necklaces  of  beads,  and 
rings  of  gold  or  copper  round  their  legs.     The  Eg\'ptians  bought  from  this  friendly  race  ivory,  gold, 
ebony,  perfumes,  dogs,  leopard- 
skins,    large    oxen    with    great 
horns  —  the    well-known    Gala 
type  of  ox — baboons  and  small 
monkeys,      besides      thirty-one 
incense     trees.     At    the    Abys- 
sinian ports  which  they   called 
at    on    their    return,    they    ob- 
tained a  giraffe  and  some   live 
leopards. 

The  incense  trees  were 
planted  near  the  western  bank 
of  the  Nile,  under  the  shelter  of 
the  rocky  hills  at  Khafit  Nibus 
(Deiral-Bahari),  and  the  temples 
of  this  western  suburb  of  Thebes 
were  painted  with  pictures 
giving  the  whole  history  of  this 
wonderful  expedition. 

Hatshopsitu  only  had 
daughters  by  her  marriage  with 
Tehutimes  II.,  but  by  a  humble 
concubine  of  low  birth  her  hus- 
band had  a  boy,  also  called 
Tehutimes.  After  his  death, 
Hatshopsitu  adopted  this  child 
as  her  successor  (being  the 
sister,  or  half-sister,  of  her  hus- 
band, she  was  therefore  the 
boy's  aunt  as  well  as  step- 
mother!). She  betrothed  him 
to  her  only  sur\-iving  daughter, 
Hatshopsitu  II.,  but  continued 
to  rule  during  his  long  minority, 
in  fact,  until  her  death.  After 
her  death  Tehutimes  III.  dis- 
played   his   rage,    and    perhaps  ihc  iw<.  rcm.inini:  obdi.k 


?66 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


ingratitude,  by  doing  all  he  could  to  efface  from  buildings  and  records  tlie  flamboyant  accounts  of 
the  great  queen's  doings,  and  wherever  he  could  he  erased  the  name  of  his  aunt,  stepmother,  and 
mother-in-law,  replacing  it  by  that  of  her  father  or  husband. 

Amenhotep  III.  (1411-1375),  a  successor  of  ^Tehutimes  IV.,  erected  the  pylons  at  the  east  end 
of  the  subsequently  built  great  hypostyle  hall,  the  largest  temple  in  the  world ;  but  it  was  reserved 
to  the  great  kings  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty,  which  reigned  between  1365  and  1225  B.C.,  to  supply 
those  features  which  make  Karnak  one  of  the  Wonders  of  the  World.  Harmahib,  Ramses  I., 
Seti  I.  and  Ramses  II.  began  and  completed  the  most  magnificent  hall  of  columns  that  was  ever 

seen  in  Egypt  or  elsewhere.  The 
columns  are  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
four  in  number  and  stand  in  sixteen 
rows.  They  support  a  stone  roof 
which  covers  a  space  of  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  feet  long  and  one 
hundred  and  sixty-four  feet  broad 
(a  total  area  of  fifty -two  thousand 
four  hundred  and  eighty  feet).  Each 
of  the  twelve  central  columns  is 
thirty-three  feet  in  circumference 
and  eighty  feet  high  beneath  the 
architrave.  The  other  columns  (ac- 
cording to  Lepsius),  are  forty  feet 
high  and  twenty-seven  feet  in  cir- 
cumference. "  It  is  impossible," 
wrote  Lepsius  in  his  description  of 
these  ruins  more  than  sixty  years 
ago,  "  to  describe  the  overwhelm- 
ing impression  which  is  experienced 
upon  entering  for  the  first  time 
into  this  forest  of  columns,  and 
wandering  from  one  range  into 
the  other,  between  the  lofty  figures 
of  gods  and  kings  on  every  side 
represented  on  them,  projecting 
sometimes  entirely,  sometimes  only 
in  part.  Every  surface  is  covered 
with  various  sculptures,  now  in 
relief,  now  sunk,  which  were,  how- 
ever, only  completed  under  the 
successors  of  the  builder ;  most  of 
them,  indeed,  by  his  son  Ramses  Meri-Amen.  In  front  of  this  hypostyle  hall  was  placed, 
at  a  later  period,  a  great  hypsthral  court,  two  hundred  and  seventy  and  three  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  in  extent,  decorated  on  the  sides  only  with  colonnades,  and  entered  by  a 
magnificent  pylon. 

"  The  principal  part  of  the  temple  terminated  here,  comprising  a  length  of  eleven  hundred 
and  seventy  feet,  not  including  the  row  of  sphinxes  in  front  of  its  external  pylon,  near  the  peculiar 
sanctuary  which  was  placed  by  Ramses  II.  (Meri-Amen),  directly  beside  the  wall  farthest  back  in  the 
temple,  and  with  the  same  axis,  but  turned  in  such  a  manner  that  its  entrance  was  on  the  opposite 
side.     Including  these  enlargements,  the  entire  length  must  have  amounted  to  nearly  two  thousand 


^SS 


FhotO  by] 

TKe    port  rail -bus 


Jt-  ■■ 


IJ.  lioud  Milhr,  F./i.'.-.. 
a    PKaraoh    (supposed    lo    be    of    the    Old    Theban 
lasty)    in    the    ruins    at    Karnak. 


ri,.in  ^,,] 


COLUMNS    IN    THE    TEMPLE    OK     KING    TEHUl  IMES    111      AT    KARNAK. 


368 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


Dioto  hy'\ 


IBonfiU. 


IThe    Temple    ot    Ran 


W. 


feet,  reckoning  to  the  most  southern  gate  of  the  external  wall,  surrounding  the  whole  space,  which 
was  of  nearly  equal  breadth." 

Ramses  II.  (the  son  of  Seti  I.,  and  perhaps  the  great-grandson  of  Harmahib,  the  founder  of  the 
Nineteenth  Dynasty,  and  planner  of  the  Great  Temple,  the  mighty  Hall  of  Columns)  not  only 
added  to  the  Great  Temple  and  embellished  it  in  many  ways,  but  made  an  approach  to  it  through 
a  great  avenue  of  stone  Ram-headed  Sphinxes,  which  now  lead  up  to  the  imposing  Propylon  con- 
structed (long  afterwards)  by  a  Greek  king  of  Egypt,  Ptolemy  III.  (Euergetes).  Ramses  II.  (The 
Great),  who  reigned  sixty -seven  years,  has  sometimes  been  identified  with  the  "  Pharaoh  of  the 
Oppression,"  who  harassed  the  Israelites  in  the  Egyptian  Delta.  In  all  probability  Ramses  con- 
cerned himself  very  little  with  the  fortunes  of  an  obscure  little  tribe  of  Semitic  serfs,  one  of  the 
many  Asiatic  peoples  who  entered  the  fat  land  of  Egypt  in  times  of  scarcity  and  became  a  nuisance 
to  the  Egyptians. 

Ramses  the  Great  extended  his  conquests  from  Northern  Syria  to  the  confines  of  Tripoli,  and 
from  the  Nile  Delta  to  Dongola  in  the  land  of  the  Blacks.  He  resided  less  than  his  predecessors 
at  Thebes,  and  in  order  to  give  more  attention  to  the  administration  of  the  Delta  and  commerce 
between  Egypt  and  the  civilized  States  of  the  Greek  Islands,  he  established  his  capital  at  Tanis, 
to  the  south-west  of  the  modern  Port  Said,  on  the  banks  of  what  is  now  Lake  Menzala. 

Some  of  the  kings  of  the  Twentieth,  or  last  Theban,  Dynasty  embellished  or  added  to  the 
monuments  of  Karnak,  notably  Ramses  III.,  and  in  a  lesser  degree  Ramses  IV.  and  XII.  During 
the  reign  of  the  last  Ramses  the  power  of  the  priests  of  the  now  supreme  god,  Amon-Ra,*  had 
become  so  great  that  they  were  able  to  displace  the  Ramsesides  and  to  install  as  Pharaoh  a  nominee 
of  their  own,  Herhor  the  High  'Priest .  (apparently  from  Tanis,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Nile).     This 

*  There  had  been  a  period  of  scission  under  the  heretic  Tharaoh  Amenophis  1\'.,  last  but  two  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty, 
in  which  the  worship  of  Amon-Ra  was  thrown  over  in  favour  of  Aton,  the  .Syrian  Adonis,  the  "  disk  of  the  sun. "J 


Af 


rica 


369 


king  restored  or  beautified'  the  sacred  buildings.  So  did  the  absentee  Pharaohs  of  the  Twenty- 
second  (Bubastite)  Dynasty  from  Lower  Egypt,  especially  Sheshonk.  the  invader  of  Palestine 
and  Syria  in  the  time  of  Kehoboam,  whose  exploits  are  recorded  on  the  walls  of  Karnak.  The 
Jewish  prophet,  Nahum,  got  a  chance  of  a  return  lunge  at  Thebes  when,  in  661  B.C.,  Egypt  was 
invaded  by  the  Assyrians,  and  when  Karnak  (called  by  Nahum  "  No-Amon  ")  was  stripped  of 
nearly  all  its  wealth  and  partially  ruined.  The  Ethiopian,  or  Nubian,  kings  who  had  ruled  at 
Thebes  between  about  B.C.  712  and  663,  had,  before  the  Assyrian  inrush,  done  their  humble  best  to 
carry  on  the  architectural  work  of  their  mighty  "  white  "  predecessors. 

We  may  suppose  that  some  repair  of  the  marvellous  buildings  of  Karnak  took  place  under  the 
last  revival  of  the  native  Egyptian  power — the  Psametik  Pharaohs,  who,  beginning  from  the  Delta, 
extended  a  somewhat  uncertain  rule  over  Upper  Egypt  between  660  and  525  B.C.  But  there  are 
very  few  traces  of  their  work  in  the  existing  monuments.  The  Persian  kings  or  viceroys  appeared 
at  Thebes  more  as  robbers  and  barbarians  than  as  national  monarchs  identifying  themselves  with  the 
past  glories  of  Egypt.  But  it  was  different  with  the  Greek  rulers.  Alexander  the  Great  and  the 
Ptolemies,  who  reigned  over  a  happier,  re-civilized  Egypt  from  B.C.  304  to  B.C.  23.  Ptolemy  II. 
<Philadelphus)  restored  several  of  the  buildings  and  built  several  gateways  or  pylons.  Ptolemy  III. 
<Euergetes)  erected  the  magnificent  Propylon  which  is  here  illustrated.  The  Roman  Caesars,  however, 
cared  little  for  Karnak  ;  and  when 
Egypt  was  ruled  from  Byzantium, 
Christianity  of  a  low  and  fanatical 
type  was  the  prevailing  religion  ;  and 
except  where  the  Christians  deigned  to 
convert  some  of  the  Karnak  buildings 
into  chapels  (such  of  them  as  they 
vised  are  marked  with  coarse  paintings 
of  Christian  emblems),  it  was  thought 
meritorious  to  allow  the  habitations  of 
strange  gods  and  devils  to  fall  into 
ruin.  Muhanmiadan  ignorance  and 
fanaticism  were  far  worse  for  Karnak 
(and  other  monuments  of  the  old 
Egyptian  faith  and  civilization)  than 
the  most  ignorant  type  of  Byzantine 
Christianity,  for  to  a  loathing  and 
scorn  of  other  faiths  and  of  statues 
and  pictures,  the  barbarian  Arabs  and 
I^Iuhammadan  negroids  added  a  thirst 
for  treasure-seeking. 

If  anj'  consciousness  has  been 
retained  of  earthly  things  by  the 
■deified  heroes  and  the  proud  Pharaohs 
of  Upper  Egypt,  they  must  have 
uttered  a  sigh  of  reUef  when  Napoleon 
Bonaparte  invaded  Egypt  and  so  began 
tiiat  train  of  circumstances  which  has 
led  to  the  revival  of  interest  in  and 
reverence  for  the  art  and  religious 
beliefs  of  ancient  Egypt,  and  the 
occupation  of  the  Nile  Valley   by  the 


/•/„.(..  /.J,] 


Caitoucho,   or   kienaturcf,   and   •vmbolical    pictures    on    ihe    walU    of    the 
1  ctnple  of  Ramsei  III.  at  Karnalf. 


370 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


troops  of  a   civilized   Power   able   to  assist  and  to  protect  the  recovery   and   restoration  of  these 
wonders  of  the  world. 

Algeria. — Algeria,  when  it  comes  to  be  better  known  by  tourists,  will  be  fairly  described  as 
one  of  the  world's  wonderlands.  It  is  not  easily  distinguished  geographically  from  Morocco,  but  is 
far  more  mountainous  and  elevated  than  Tunisia,  which,  in  a  sense,  represents  the  rubbing-down  of 
the  Algerian  mountains  and  is  a  much  flatter,  more  level  region  sloping  towards  the  eastern  half  of 
the  Mediterranean.  When  the  French  took  possession  of  Algiers  in  1830,  they  soon  realized  that 
this  region  lying  between  Morocco  and  Tunisia — nominally  a  dependency  of  Turkey — was  really 

governed,  more  or  less,  by  three 
potentates  of  Turkish  descent. 
On  the  west  there  was  the  Dey 
of  Oran,  in  the  centre  the  Dey 
of  Algiers,  and  on  the  east 
the  Bey  of  Constantine.  (Dey 
is  a  Turkish  term  meaning 
"  Uncle."  It  was  the  name 
given  by  the  Turkish  soldiers 
half  familiarly  to  the  elderly 
individual  whom,  at  one  time, 
they  elected  as  a  sort  of  pasha 
to  settle  differences  and  direct 
affairs.  Bey  means  a  highly- 
placed  military  officer — a 
colonel.)  The  Dey  of  Oran 
was  soon  settled  ;  but  the  Bey 
of  Constantine,  Hajji  Ahmad, 
who,  with  [the  help  of  the 
Berber  Kabail.  had  become  an 
independent  potentate  ^in  1826, 
for  a  considerable  period  main- 
tained his  position  as  an  African 
prince.  Constantine,  in  the  east 
of  Algeria,  is  a  place  of  extraordi- 
nary natural  strength,  a  penin- 
sula of  rock  nearly  surrounded 
by  a  natural  moat  in  the  shape 
of  the  river  Rummel.  It  was 
the  Kirtha  and  Cirta  of  Phoeni- 
cian and  early  Roman  days, 
and  was  re-established  by  Julius 


!>tereO'jtaph  by'] 
One     of    the 


rUabk 


lit,  C.  \^h%fe  (-'€. 

natural    bridges    over     the     Rummel     at     Constantine. 
Eastern  Algeria. 


Casar  as  Colonia  Settianorum.  Having  been  destroyed  in  a  native  rising,  it  was  rebuilt  by  the 
great  Constantine  in  313  and  was  henceforth  called  after  him.  Owing  to  its  position,  the  French 
were  repulsed  in  their  first  attempt  to  seize  the  place  (in  1836),  but  by  means  of  desperate 
fighting,  great  gallantry  and  the  use  of  superior  artillery,  they  finally  reduced  it  to  submission 
in  the  year  1837. 

The  Rummel  has  bored  its  way  through  the  limestone  rocks,  leaving  here  and  there  natural 
bridges,  some  of  them  several  hundred  feet  at  their  crests  above  the  gorge  below.  But  these 
are  not  safe  or  sufficient  means  of  communication  between  the  town  of  Constantine  and  the  open 
country  beyond,  and  the  stone  bridge  constructed  by  the  Romans  broke  down  in  1857.    Consequently, 


372 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


K% 


the  French  have  recently  constructed  a  bridge 
over  the  gorge  of  the  Rummel,  which  was 
said  to  be  the  highest  stone  bridge  in  the 
world.  It  is  a  viaduct  about  five  hundred 
yards  long  raised  on  twenty-seven  arches  of 
different  sizes,  the  highest  and  biggest  of  these 
arches  (which  has  a  span  of  more  than  two 
liundred  and  forty  feet)  being  approximately 
three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  bed  of  the  Rummel  (the  height  of 
the  dome  of  St.  Paul's  is  three  hundred  and 
sixty-five  feet).  This  stone  bridge  would  there- 
fore seem  to  be  the  loftiest  of  any  as  yet 
constructed,  its  nearest  rival  being  that  of 
Soils,  in  the  Engadine,  which  is  a  little  more 
than  three  hundred  feet  high.  The  central 
span  of  the  bridge  is  of  iron. 

The  Suez  Canal. — ^The  Suez  Canal  is  cer- 
tainly one  of  the  modern  wonders  of  the  world. 
But  the  idea  of  a  water  communication  across 
the  neck  of  land  which  separates  the  Mediter- 
ranean from  the  Red  Sea  was  not  reserved  for 
the  nineteenth  century.  It  entered  into  the  pro- 
jects of  the  monarchs  of  Egypt  as  soon  as  they 
took  a  special  interest  in  Asiatic  conquest  and 
in  commerce  between  the  Red  Sea  and  the 
Mediterranean.  The  Isthmus,  indeed,  must  have 
been  at  frequent  intervals  under  water  within 
tlie  human  period,  alternatelj'  making  Africa  an 
island  (though  probably  when  cut  off  from  Syria, 
Africa  was  joined  to  Sicily  and  Spain),  and  then 
constituting  itself  a  broad  path  between  Asia 
and  Egypt,  over  which  not  only  man,  but  many 
of  the  African  mammals  passed  to  and  fro. 
A  canal  from  the  Nile  to  the  Red  Sea,  via  Mansura  to  the  Bitter  Lakes,  is  beheved  to  have  been 
planned  by  Ramses  the  Great,  but  the  project  was  not  completed.  During  the  Persian  occupation 
of  Egypt  Darius  I.  resumed  work  on  this  scheme,  but  the  canal  was  not  finally  achieved  till  the 
reign  of  Ptolemy  II.,  Philadelphus,  in  about  266  B.C.  The  town  near  its  terminus,  almost  opposite 
the  site  of  modern  Suez,  was  named  Arsinoe,  or  sometimes  Cleopatris.  But  the  commerce  between 
the  Mediterranean  and  the  Red  Sea  did  not  take  very  kindly  to  this  artificial  water-route  between 
the  Nile  of  the  Delta  and  the  Gulf  of  Suez  :  e.xcept  during  the  most  prosperous  days  of  the  undivided 
Roman  Empire  the  merchants  preferred  to  send  their  goods  from  Alexandria  (which  had  replaced 
Tanis  as  the  Deltaic  port  of  entry)  round  to  the  Rosetta  mouth  of  the  Nile,  and  thence  up-stream 
to  Kus,  or  to  Koptos.  From  one  or  other  of  these  points  their  commerce  crossed  the  desert  on  asses, 
bullocks,  and  by  the  newly-introduced  camels  to  Aidhab,  or  to  Berenice,  on  the  Red  Sea,  whence 
ships  conveyed  the  goods  to  and  fro  between  the  Arabian  and  Indian  ports. 

But  the  great  Emperor  Trajan  cleared  out  and  enlarged  the  canal  of  the  Ptolemies  and  called 
it  "Augustus  amnis  " — the  august  river.  This  canal  probably  connected  the  Damietta  branch 
of  the  Nile  with  the  Bitter  Lakes,  by  way  of  Bubastis  ;    in  fact,  followed  somewhat  the  course'  of 


From  Slert'o  ropiiriijfit]  lUiiflmro^^it  it-  I'ruh-ncooti. 

The   Goree    of    tKe    Rummel.     Constantine,     Eastern      Algeria: 
showing    the  bridge,    which    is    about    350    feet    abo 
the    river. 


the    bed    of 


Africa 


o/o 


the  present  Sweet  Water  canal  which  was  constructed  fifty  years  ago  by  de  Lesseps  to  bring  Nile 
water  to  waterless  Suez.  From  the  navigable  Bitter  Lakes  another  cutting  conveyed  the  shallow- 
draught  boats  of  Roman  days  to  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Suez,  then  called  Sinus  Clysma  (afterwards 
corrupted  by  the  Arabs  into  Bahr  Kulzum) ;  for  the  name  of  Arsinoe,  or  Cleopatris,  had  given  place 
to  Clysma.  But  Trajan's  canal  does  not  seem  to  have  been  greatly  used.  No  doubt  it  had  a 
tendency  to  silt  up  in  the  annual  Nile  floods.  Still  the  Nile-Bitter  Lakes  canal  was  restored  to 
efficiency  under  the  first  Arabic  Cahphs  who  ruled  over  Egypt.  Harun  al  Rashid  is  said  to  have 
projected  a  canal  right  across  the  Isthmus  of  Suez  more  or  less  along  the  line  now  followed  :  a 
navigable  channel  from  sea  to  sea  which  would  obviate  the  difficult  entry  into  the  Nile  from 
Alexandria  or  the  crossing  of  the  bars  at  the  Rosetta  (Er-Rashid)  and  Damietta  (Dimiad) 
mouths.  But  he  was  dissuaded  when  it  was  pointed  out  to  him  that  the  Byzantine  navy  would 
certainly  take  advantage  of  this  direct  sea  route  to  the  Red  Sea  and  India,  and,  in  fact,  might  be 
tempted  by  the  existence  of  such  a  canal  to  put  forth  all  its  strength,  seize  Egypt,  and  so  cut  the 
Muhammadan  world  in  two. 

As  it  happened,  even  the  Nile-Bitter  Lakes-Kulzum  canal  fell  into  disrepair  and  disuse 
by  about  900  a.d.  Kulzum  and  its  opposite  suburb,  "  Bir  Suweiz  "■ — a  brackish  well 
protected  by  fortifications — fell  into  ruins.  But  when  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  became  Lord  of 
Egypt  after  1518,  a  new  seaport  town  arose  styled  Suweiz  (from  the  well),  and  became  the 
headquarters,  repairing-and-building  station  for  the  Ottoman  fleet  on  the  Red  Sea.  By  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  Suez  had  become  the  starting-point  for  a  sea  voyage 
to  India — in  the  ships  of  Muhammadans,  bien  eniendii.  Transhipment  was  effected  at  Jeddah, 
tlie  port  of  Mecca. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  who  laid  the  foundations  of  Modern  Egypt,  visited  Suez  in  1798,  and  at 
once  conceived  the  project  of  a  canal  between  this  place  and  the  Mediterranean  by  way  of  the  Nile. 
But  the  British  occupation  of  Suez  in  1800  arrested  for  ever  Napoleon's  schemes.  At  the  same 
time  his  seizure  of  Egypt,  having  been  deliberately  planned  as  a  means  of  making  a  flank  approach 


-^ 


riMlo  l>y] 


iMr 


[,V.   r.    /'.riMni*. 


The    narrowcBt    port    of    the    Suez    Cann!, 


374 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


to  India,  drew  the  attention  of  the  British  Government  to  the  supreme  importance  of  Egypt  as  the 
key  of  India  (in  those  pre-railway  days),  and  as  a  land  which  so  narrowly  separated  the  waters  of 
the  Mediterranean  from  those  of  the  (hitherto  neglected)  Red  Sea.  that  by  some  means  or  other  it 
must  be  pierced  by  a  canal  of  communication,  if  possible  under  British  control. 

But  for  the  time  being  British  designs  on  Egypt  (rendered  the  more  eager  in  the  early  years 
of  the  nineteenth  century  since  the  bringing  of  troops  from  India  to  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Nile 
to  cut  off  the  French  had  caused  them  to  realize  how  Egypt  and  India  reacted  each  on  the  other)  were 
frustrated  by  the  rapidly  rising  power  of  Muhammad  Ali.  A  British  descent  on  Egypt,  in  1806, 
was  in  fact  repulsed  by  this  Turkish  pasha.  After  the  Napoleonic  wars  were  over,  the  study  of 
Egypt  as  a  half-way  land  to  India,  Southern  Asia  and  Eastern  Africa  was  resumed  by  brilliant 
Frenchmen  and  plodding  Britons  ;  both  in  turn  armed  by  concessions  and  assistance  on  the  part  of 
Muhammad  Ali.  Between  the  years  1839  '1''"^  1845,  Lieutenant  Waghorn,  a  British  Engineer 
officer,  had  organized  a  service  of  boats  and  steamers  up  the  Nile  from  Alexandria  to  a  point  as 
near  as  possible  to  Suez,  the  "  overland  "  portion  of  the  journey  across  the  desert  being  performed 


From  Stfreo  copyriijht^ 

The    Suez    Cana 


[CiiJfrifjod  ,(■    rn.lrnroo:!. 
near    its    entrance    at    Port    Said.     The    quays    of     Port    Said    are    on    the    right-hand    side. 


by  carriages  and  camels,  and  on  horseback.  Later,  a  railway — the  first  constructed  in  Egypt — 
took  the  place  of  this  caravan  journey  across  the  sands. 

The  enormous  attraction,  however,  which  this  steamer  journey  from  England  via  Gibraltar 
(or  from  Marseilles)  to  Alexandria,  followed  by  the  overland  route  thence  to  Suez  and  the  steamer 
journey  from  Suez  to  Bombay,  possessed  over  the  three-months'-long,  inexpressibly  weary  and  often 
dangerous  Cape  voyage,  soon  impressed  the  British  Government.  The  Britannicizing  of  Suez  led 
almost  immediately  to  the  seizure  and  garrisoning  of  Aden  (1839)  as  a  port  of  call  between  Suez 
and  India  and  a  protection  to  steamers  against  possible  (then  still  existing)  Turkish  pirate  vessels. 

But  while  the  British  rapidly  built  railways  across  Lower  Egypt  to  connect  Alexandria  with 
the  Gulf  of  Suez,  a  Frenchman — Ferdinand  de  Lesseps — revived  the  bolder  scheme  of  a  Trans- 
Isthmian  Canal,  a  sea-level  channel  from  the  Mediterranean  to  Suez  by  way  of  the  Salt  Lakes,  which 
might  be  navigable  by  ships  of  the  largest  size  and  deepest  draught  then  built.  Lesseps'  plan 
was  not  only  denounced  by  English  statesmen  as  an  impracticable  one,  but  it  was  also  bitterly 
opposed  because  it  might  give  France  too  great  a  hold  over  Egypt.     However,  in  spite  of  obstacles 


376 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


PlKto  byl 


[The  flwlathrnia  Co.  Ltd. 


ON    THE    SITE    OF    CARTHAGE. 


The    "rock    Rarden  "    which    is    beins    formed    naturally    among    the    vestises    of    Roman    and    Byzantine    Carthage. 

■ — financial  and  diplomatic — this  tenacious  Frenchman  carried  his  scheme  through  to  absolute 
success.  The  canal  was  commenced  in  1859  ^.nd  completed  in  1869  at  a  cost  of  nineteen  million 
pounds.  In  1869  it  was  opened  to  the  traffic  of  the  world  by  the  Empress  of  the  French,  accompanied 
by  the  Khedive  Ismail    of  Egypt  and  the  late  King  Edward  Wll.  (then  Prince  of  Wales). 

The  Suez  Canal  was  named  after  the  now  almost  side-tracked,  moribund  Suez,  because,  fifty 
years  ago,  there  was  no  other  town  of  any  note  along  the  projected  water-route  across  the  Isthmus. 
Port  Said,  on  the  north-eastern  corner  of  Lake  Menzala,  is  built  on  soil  created  by  the  Canal 
construction  and  is  becoming  a  healthy  and  not  uncomely  city,  with  a  population  already  of  nearly 
fifty  thousand.  After  leaving  Port  Said,  the  Canal  passes  through  the  eastern  part  of  Lake  Menzala, 
then  follows  a  narrow  cutting  between  sand-hills  till  it  reaches  little  Lake  Timsa  (the  "  Crocodile 
Lake,"  wherein  crocodiles — extinct  for  a  hundred  years  or  more — at  one  time  swarmed).  On 
Lake  Timsa  is  situated  Ismailia,  the  midway  station  of  the  Canal. 

After  Lake  Timsa,  another  narrow  cutting,  and  then  with  relief  the  steamer  passengers  see  the 
wide  horizons  of  the  Great  and  Little  Bitter  Lakes  opening  before  them.  This  is  practically  one 
sheet  of  water  through  which  steamers  can  pass  easily  with  great  breadth  of  channel.  Then  follows- 
the  last  section  of  the  Canal  cutting,  and  vessels  emerge  at  Port  Taufik  (beyond  Suez),  in  a  gulf  of 
the  Red  Sea.  The  Suez  Canal  is  eighty-seven  miles  long,  of  which  sixty-six  miles  are  artificial 
canal,  the  remainder  being  the  deeper  water  of  the  lakes. 

Owing  to  the  suggestion  of  the  late  Mr.  Frederick  Greenwood  and  the  prompt  action  of  Lord 
Beaconsfield,  Great  Britain  became,  in  1875,  the  purchaser  of  the  Khedive's  large  share-holding  in 
the  Canal,  a  circumstance  which,  in  addition  to  the  great  preponderance  of  her  shipping  as  user  of 
the  Canal,  gave  her  a  strong  claim  for  consideration  in  the  manageinent  of  that  institution,  which 
had  remained  entirely  French  down  to  1886.     By  that  time  great  complaints  were  being  uttered 


Africa 


3/7 


by  British  ship-owners  as  to  the  inordinate  delays  inflicted  on  shipping  in  passing  through  the 
Canal.  Indeed,  after  the  British  occupation  of  Eg^'pt  in  1882  it  was  seriously  proposed  that 
Great  Britain  should  construct  a  rival  canal,  either  from  Alexandria  to  Mansura.  Ismaiha  and  Suez, 
or  "  a  second  canal  parallel  to  the  old  one  on  the  Syrian  side,"  or  even  more  fantastically,  a  canal 
through  the  Syrian  coastlands  to  the  Upper  Jordan,  which  would  have  spread  the  Mediterranean 
water  over  the  whole  Lower  Jordan  and  Dead  Sea  valley  (which  lies  in  a  rift  below  sea-level)  and 
have  left  only  a  short  cutting  to  be  made  into  the  Gulf  of  Akaba.  But  more  conciliatory  measures 
were  adopted.  A  British  Director  was  appointed  to  the  Board  of  Control  (which  still  remains  in 
Paris),  and  the  existing  Canal  was  widened.  Steamers  now  pass  through  in  twelve  hours  and 
can  travel  night  and  day.      A  large  number  of  the  Canal  employes  are  Maltese. 

Table  Mountain,  Capetoivn. — The  commencement  of  the  conquest  of  India  under  Lord  Clive, 
in  1757-60.  inevitably  directed  the  attention  of  British  statesmen  not  only  to  Egypt — whither  James 
Bruce  was  despatched  in  1770  by  Lord  Halifax  to  discover  the  source  of  the  Nile — but  also  to  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  the  necessary  calling-place  of  British  vessels  on  their  ocean  route  to  and  from 
India.  In  fact,  two  things  were  rendered  imperative  by  the  enlargement  and  retention  of  the  vast 
Indian  Empire  :  the  holding  of  South  Africa  and  the  occupation  of  Egypt.  In  both  cases  the  French 
Government  precipitated  British  action.  The  French,  before  their  revolution,  were  attempting  to 
replace  the  weak  Dutch  Company  government  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  by  a  French  settlement. 
Realizing  this,  the  British  Government  attempted  in  1781  to  seize  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  but  French 
victories  at  sea  thwarted  their  purpose.  In  1795  a  more  carefully  planned  armament  was  sent. 
and  the  Cape  became  ours,  only  to  be  relinquished  reluctantly  for  three  years  after  the  temporary 
peace  of  Amiens.      Already  in  the  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  few  Portuguese  had 


Pholo  iy] 


In    ihe    Rnrdcn    'n.fiont    of    the    Muicum    of    the    White    Kathers.    Carlhane 


378 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


noted  with  apprehension  British  interest  in  the  Nile  and  Abyssinia,  and  when  in  1795  a  British 
force  was  landed  at  Capetown,  the  great  Portuguese  colonial  official  and  explorer,  Dr.  Jose  de 
Lacerda,  uttered  from  his  camp  on  the  Zambezi  the  memorable  prediction  that  Great  Britain  would 
some  day  extend — or  attempt  to  extend — her  sway  from  Capetown  to  Egypt  :  in  fact,  he  fore- 
shadowed very  distinctly  the  Cape-to-Cairo  idea,  which  was  afterwards  revived  in  1876  by  the  late 
Sir  Edwin  Arnold,  and  again  by  the  present  writer  in  1888,  and  by  Cecil  Rliodes  in  1892. 

Capetown,  as  the  splendid  illustration    here  given  amply  shows,  is  one    of   the   world's  great 
predestined    capitals.     It    is    a    very    notable    city    so    far   as    position    and   magnificent    natural 

surroundings  are  concerned.  More- 
over, since  the  great  progress  in 
the  affairs  of  South  Africa,  which 
commenced  about  the  year  1890, 
the  citizens  and  the  local  govern- 
ment of  Capetown  have  realized 
the  magnificence  of  their  position 
and  their  opportunities,  and  much 
of  the  architecture  of  the  town 
is  of  a  character  to  enhance,  and 
not  to  belittle,  the  supreme 
lieauty  of  the  place. 

Of  course,  its  most  notable 
Icature  is  Table  Mountain  (3,540 
feet  high),  over  the  flat  top  of 
which  the  white  fleecy  clouds 
sometimes  lie  so  closely  as  to 
simulate  a  woolly  tablecloth. 
Table  Mountain  is  in  that  direc- 
tion the  last  prolongation  of 
that  region  of  lofty  plateaus  and 
mountain  ranges  which  makes  a 
kind  of  sub-continent  of  South 
Africa,  and  which  breaks  off 
abruptly  above  the  waves  of  the 
Southern  Ocean  in  the  regions  of 
Cape  Colony. 

Capetown  —  Kaapstad  —  was 
founded  in  1652  by  Dutch  settlers 
sent  out  by  the  Netherlands  East 
India  Company  under  Jan  van 
Riebeek.  The  country  in  the 
vicinity  of  Table  Mountain  was  in 
those  days  occupied  by  tribes  of  Hottentots,  who  kept  herds  of  long-horned  cattle.  The  Hottentots 
themselves  had  travelled  down  the  south-west  coast  of  Africa  several  centuries  before  from  the 
neighbourhood  of  Walfish  Bay  and  Damaraland.  At  a  still  more  distant  date  they  seem  to  have 
been  the  result  of  some  immigration  of  a  cattle  and  sheep-keeping,  herdsmen  tribe  from  the  vicinity 
of  the  Victoria  Nyanza,  a  tribe  resulting  from  some  ancient  mixture  between  the  superior  Hamitic, 
semi-white  stock  of  North-East  Africa  and  a  Bushman  race  of  East  Africa.  There  are  still  lingering 
people  of  this  mixed  stock  in  the  northern  part  of  Unyamwezi  land,  speaking  click  languages  akin 
to  Buslmien  and  Hottentot.     The  ancestors  of  the  Hottentots  appear  to  have  crossed  Africa  round 


Pholo  i'l. 


A    triangular    Phoenician    Tomb, 


[_Sir  Harry  Jokiiston.  G. 
Carthage, 


..I/.'.'. 


I 
m 


C 

C 
m 


I 
m 


O 

r 


> 

N 
N 

m 

o 
c 
z 

> 


o   "  i 

<         J: 

S  c 

—  _c 

a  - 


Afri 


rica 


381 


the  southern  limits  of  the  Congo  watershed  and  Northern  Zambezia,  and  to  have  reached  the  Atlantic 
coast'near  the  mouth  of  the  Kunene.  From  this  direction  they  advanced  slowly  towards  the  Orange 
Riv-er  and  the  Cape  peninsula,  driving  the  Bushmen  before  them  or  absorbing  Bushman  clans  into 
their  midst.  There  were,  however,  still  lingering  Bushmen  ("  Bosjesmen  ")  in  the  background  of 
Capetown  when  the  Dutch  first  settled  there  ;  but  the  united  action  of  the  colonists  and  the 
more  or  less  friendly  Hottentots  soon  drove  them  farther  into^the  wilderness  and  the  inaccessible 
parts  of  Table  Mountain.  Capetown  has  a  population  of  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
at  the  present  day,  of  wliich  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  are  whites  of  European  descent. 
It  has  an  imperial  garrison  of  troops,  and  close  by,  at  Simon's  Town,  is  one  of  the  great  naval  stations 
of  the  British  Empire. 

Carthage. — If  Capetown  be  the  most  southern  of  famous  African  cities,  Carthage  is — or  was — 
the  most  northern.  Carthage,  of  imperishable  fame,  has  actuaOy  a  railway  station  of  its  own  at 
the  present  day  witli  the 
magic  name  inscribed  on  it, 
but  this  is  of  little  more 
importance  or  magnitude 
than  a  roadside  halt  in  the 
countr}'  sections  of  our  own 
Metropolitan  Railway.  Car- 
thage was  founded  about 
the  year  S22  B.C.  by  the 
Phoenicians. 

Its  Syrian  name  was 
probably  Kart  -  liadjah, 
"  the  New  City."  It  was 
not  by  any  means  their 
oldest  colony  on  the  north 
coast  of  Africa,  for  they 
had  established  Utica  about 
three  hundred  years  earlier. 
But  Carthage  soon  rose 
into  prominence  owing  to 
its  splendid  position  on 
the  sides  of  this  deep 
gulf,  not  far  from  the 
outlet  of  tiie  only  im- 
portant river  in  Tunis, 
the  Majerda  (Bagradas).  Destroyed  completely  by  the  Romans  in  the  year  145  B.C.,  it 
was  afterwards  rebuilt  by  them  at  the  instigation  of  Juhus  Caesar  in  16  b.c,  as  the  result 
of  a  dream  and  partly  out  of  remorse,  and  in  the  four  first  centuries  of  the  Christian  era 
rose  to  a  degree  of  wealth,  importance  and  magnificence  exceeding  that  which  it  had  known  in 
its  most  flourishing  days  as  the  capital  of  a  Syrian  dominion  over  the  north  coast  of  Africa.  In 
spite  of  many  vicissitudes  under  the  rude  Vandals,  it  still  continued  to  exist  as  a  great  city  at  the 
time  of  tlie  first  Arab  invasion  of  Tunisia  in  the  seventh  century  .\.d.,  but  was  reduced  to  absolute 
ruin  by  Hassan  ibn  An-numan  in  698.  The  first  Arab  conquerors  of  North  Africa  did  not  persecute 
the  Christians,  but  allowed  tiiem  to  remain  round  Carthage  and  to  elect  their  own  bishops.  But 
this  toleration  ceased  when  the  Muhammadan  rulers  of  Tunis  became  more  fanatical  (owing  to  the 
attacks  of  Christian  powers)  in  the  eleventli  century.  Still.  Carthage  remained  to  attract  the  eye 
as  a  city,  even  if  it  were  a  city  in  ruins,  until  after  King  Louis  IX.  of  France  had  landed  here  in  the 


I'holoehftn  Co.   Ltd. 


rh"to  hp-] 

The    Citad«l    of    Cairo:    built,    or    al    anv    rale    mainly    built,    by    Sultan    Saladin    in 
1166    A.D..    and    captured    by    the    British    in    1882. 


382 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


year  1270,  on  an  insensate  crusade 
against  the  Muhammadan  power. 
King  Louis  was  defeated,  not 
by  the  Berber  rulers  of  Tunis, 
but  by  the  plague,  of  which  he 
and  a  number  of  his  captains  and 
soldiers  died.  By  agreement  with 
the  enemy  the  French  forces,  after 
his  death,  were  allowed  to  depart 
peaceably  in  the  autumn  of  1270  ; 
but  when  they  had  finally  aban- 
doned Carthage  the  ruins  were 
razed  to  the  ground  by  the  Arabs 
and  Berbers  in  order  that  they 
might  never  again  shelter  a 
Christian  force. 

Interest  in  Carthage  revived 
in  the  eighteenth  century  owing 
to  the  wonderful  researches  con- 
ducted by  that  truly  remarkable 
James  Bruce,  who  afterwards  dis- 
covered the  source  of  the  Blue 
Nile.  The  French  revived  their 
sentimental  interest  in  the  place 
after  their  complete  conquest  of 
Algeria,  and  obtained  from  the 
Bey  of  Tunis  the  cession  of  the 
supposed  portion  of  the  site  which 

I'hoto  bii}  U!uitlili.  ^'^  ^ 

XL    M  (  M  k         J  41  •■      .u    r.  J  I  r  •       1;  -  u  J  had  been  the  camp  and  the  death- 

1  he    Mosque    or    Muhammad    Ah    surmounting    the    Ciladel,  Cairo:    hnished  r 

about  1857.  place  of  Louis  IX.  (St.  Louis)  in 

1270.  This  site  was  then  (1841)  handed  over  to  the  care  of  a  religious  settlement  which  grew  into 
the  White  Fathers  of  North  Africa.  A  pretentious  and  ugly  chapel  of  villainous  taste  was  built  here  as 
a  shrine.  Subsequently,  the  late  Cardinal  Lavigerie,  Archbishop  of  Carthage,  built  a  cathedral  here. 
Cardinal  Lavigerie  also  encouraged  archaeological  research,  and  the  Superior  of  the  monastery 
and  those  working  under  him,  more  especially  of  late  years  the  Reverend  Father  Delattre, 
have  in  a  most  careful  and  praiseworthy  manner  found  and  preserved  wonderful  relics  of 
Phoenician,  Carthaginian,  Roman  and  Byzantine  times.  Such  of  these  as  are  not  exhibited  in  an 
admirable  Museum  are  placed  in  a  ver}'  picturesque  garden  near  the  Museum.  The  French 
government  of  Tunis  also  interests  itself  in  the  exploration  of  the  site  of  Carthage,  but  the  most 
notable  discoveries  are  those  of  Pere  Delattre.  Some  day,  no  doubt,  a  new  Carthage  will  arise 
worthy  of  the  old  traditions  of  splendour. 

Phoenician  Tombs  at  Carthage. — So  far  the  excavations  on  tlie  site  of  Carthage  have  not 
penetrated  low  enough  to  unveil  much  of  the  oldest  Punic  stratum  of  the  city.  But  a  good  many 
inscriptions  in  the  Punic  character  have  been  found  and  placed  in  the  Museum,  both  at  Carthage 
and  at  the  Tunisian  State  Museum  at  the  Bardo,  near  Tunis.  Further,  in  one  of  the  outlying  quarters 
of  Carthage,  named  "  Douimes  "  by  the  Arabs,  a  number  of  triangular  "  proto-Punic  "  or  early 
Phoenician  graves  have  been  laid  bare.  One  of  these,  similar  to  the  one  in  the  photograph,  was  dis- 
covered during  the  visit  of  Oueen  Alexandra  (then  Princess  of  Wales)  to  the  excavations  of  Carthage 
in  i8gg. 


Africa 


383 


Tunis. — Twelve  miles  away  across  a  shallow  lake  (through  which  the  French  have  made  a 
navigable  channel)  lies  the  beautiful  Moorish  town  of  Tunis,  less  picturesque,  perhaps,  at  the  present 
day  than  it  was  when  the  present  writer  first  saw  it  in  1879.  At  that  period  the  shallow  lake  beyond 
Goletta  was  populated  all  along  its  desert  banks  by  troops  of  pink  flamingoes,  large  pelicans  and 
herons,  and  in  the  winter-time,  storks,  geese,  duck  and  wild  swans.  Tunis  tlie  White — the  "  Burnus 
of  the  Prophet  " — rose  from  the  southern  shores  of  this  muddy  lake.  Away  to  the  north-east  were 
the  picturesque  outlines  of  the  extinct  volcano  of  the  Two  Horns  (Bu  Karnein)  and  the  table 
mountain  of  the  lead  mines — Jebe!  Resass.  The  Tunis  of  igio  has  developed  immense  accretions 
outside  the  gates  and  walls  of  the  old  city — a  whole  new  European  town,  with  buildings  like  those 
of  Marseilles  and  Nice.  But  the  Arab  town  remains  almost  unspoilt  with  its  flat-roofed  white  houses, 
its  noble  minarets  and  kubbas,  or  small  white  domes.  The  view  represented  in  the  accompanying 
illustration  is  taken  from  a  house-top  near  the  Great  Mosque,  Az-zeitouna  ("  The  Olive  Tree  "), 
of  which  the  new  minaret  replacing  the  one  which  fell  in  1888  rises  into  the  sky.  This,  the  largest 
and  most  celebrated  mosque  of  Tunis,  has  an  immense  library  of  ancient  Arabic  (and  perhaps  Greek) 
manuscript  books.  During  the  Spanish  occupation  of  Tunis  in  the  sixteenth  century  it  was  turned 
into  a  Christian  church.  No  Christian  is  allowed  now  to  penetrate  this  or  any  other  mosque  in  the 
city  of  Tunis. 

Cairo. — The  Cairo  of  to-day — Old  as  well  as  New — is  a  city,  or  a  combination  of  cities,  the 
name  of  which  dates  from  the  year  968  a.d.,  when  it  was  founded,  as  "  the  City  of  V'ictory  " — Al- 
Kahira — by  the  general  of  tiie  Fatimite  Caliphs  of  Egypt.      But  it  was  little  more  tiian  the  refounding 


Sl^reoijraph  '-//] 


IMRRIOR     01      NKXSQUH    OK     .MUH.\M.M  AD     ALL    CAIRO. 

ShuwiriK    wonderful    sldss    lamps 


(//.  C.    Wliilf  Co. 


384 


The  Wonders   of  the  World 


of  a  great  centre  of  human  habitation  witliin  an  area  eighteen  miles  by  ten  which  had  seen  many 
cities  arise  and  crumble  in  the  past.  To  the  south  (fourteen  miles  away,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Nile) 
had  been  Memphis  ;  and  to  the  north-east  Heliopolis^ — ancient  Egyptian  capitals  ;  almost  on  the 
site  of  Cairo  stood  the  town  of  Babylon,  founded  by  Mesopotamian  immigrants  during  the  Persian 
rule  over  Egypt,  and  remaining  a  town  down  to  Roman  times.  Babylon  was  succeeded  by  Al-Fostat, 
the  "  tent  "  city  of  the  Muhammadan  conquerer,  Amr-bin-'el-Asi.  The  "  Old  Cairo  "  of  to-day 
represents  the  actual  site  of  Babylon  and  Al-Fostat,  Al-Katai,  a  dead  city,  containing  the  mosque 
of  Ibn  Tulun,  is  an  outlying  bourg  of  its  successor.  Al-Kahira,  and  another  ancient  and  abandoned 
village  is  Al-Askar.     Bulaq  is  the  river-side  suburb.     When  the  Napoleonic  wars  were  over,  Cairo 


J'fwto  ii/] 


IBoii/ils. 


The    fountain    for    ablutions    in    tfie    Mosque    of    Muhammad    Ali.    Cairo. 


became  the  capital  of  Muhammad  Ali.  that  Turkish  sergeant  of  artillery  who  founded  a  monarchy, 
and  whose  descendant  is  the  present  Khedive  of  Egypt. 

The  Citadel  of  Cairo. — The  Citadel  of  Cairo  (built  by  Saladin  in  1166  on  a  spur  of  the 
Mokattam  hills  and  constructed  of  stones  from  the  Pyramids)  is  associated  with  many  of  the  exploits 
of  Muhammad  Ali.  amongst  which  one  of  the  most  terrible  was  the  slaughter  of  the  Mamluks  in  1811. 
Only  one  is  said  to  have  escaped  the  sudden  and  treacherous  attack,  and  he  did  so  by  boldly  leaping 
his  horse  over  the  ramparts  on  to  the  pavement  far  below.  The  horse  was  killed,  but  the  man  lived 
and  escaped — such,  at  least,  is  the  legend.  The  British  captured  the  Citadel  of  Cairo  in  1882,  and  have 
occupied  it  ever  since. 

The  Mosque  of  Muhammad  Ali. — This  mosque  is  not  a  particularly  tasteful  or  beautiful 
building  in  comparison  with  the  noble  mosques  of  Saracenic  art  in  the  older  parts  of  Cairo,  but  it  is 


Africa 


385 


reckoned  a  minor  wonder  of  the  world  from  its  size  and  the  magnificence  of  the  glass  lamps 
and  chandeliers  within  and  the  lavish  use  of  marble  and  Oriental  alabaster  which  adorns  it 
inside  and  out. 


Photo  from  "  The  African   W'orhl,'"^  \_Hii  permisaion  of  Uo   W'^int/int. 

PHIL/E    ISLAND. 

A    view'  oF    PKilae    Island    'above    the    First    Cataract)    partially    submereed.    sKowing    the    Great    Temple    ol    Isis    and    its    Great 
Pylon,    and    in    the    distance    the    Hypaethral    Temple    built    by    Augustus    Caesar. 


CHAPTER  XIIl. 

TTie  Island  of  Philx  and  its  Temples,  near  the  First  Cataract.— ^mm  the  shores  of  the 
-Mediterranean,  in  latitude  32°,  to  the  First  Cataract  just  above  Assouan,  in  latitude  24°,  the 
Nile  is  navigable  without  a  check  for  boats  of  relatively  light  draught ;  but  just  above  the  Island 
of  Elephantine,  the  Nile  narrows  and  rushes  down  in  a  tumultuous  flood  between  black  rocks.  The 
importance  of  this  First  Cataract  of  the  Nile  was  recognized  as  early  as  the  first  historical  dynasties, 
partly  because  of  the  granite  quarries  in  the  neighbourhood  ;  and  Meren-ra,  a  Pharaoh  of  the  Sixth 
Dynasty,  despatched  an  Egyptian  named  Una  to  be  Governor  of  the  South  and  to  dig  five  canals 
at  the  First  Cataract  to  facihtate  the  transport  of  boats  to  the  upper  river.  Una,  who  had 
previously  raised  a  negro  regiment  in  Nubia  to  combat  the  Beduin  Arabs  who  were  attacking  Egypt 
at  the  Isthmus  of  Suez,  invoked  the  aid  of  the  negro  chiefs  of  the  tribes  above  the  First  Cataract 
to  have  timber  cut  in  sufficient  quantities  to  build  boats  in  order  to  transport  red  granite  from  the 
quarries  above  the  First  Cataract  for  the  building  of  pyramids  and  other  monuments  in  Lower 
Egypt.  It  has  been  computed  that  nearly  a  thousand  acacia  and  albizzia  trees  would  have  been 
required  for  these  purposes.  Other  evidence  goes  to  show  that  the  banks  of  the  Nile  between 
Assouan  and  Khartum  have  been  greatly  deforested  through  the  action  of  man,  and  especially  the 
influence,  direct  and  indirect,  of  Ancient  Egypt.  The  Island  of  Elephantine,  just  below  the  First 
Cataract,  had  from  a  still  earher  period  in  the  Sixth  Dynasty  been  a  most  important  meeting-place 
between  the  white  Egyptians  and  the  darker-skinned  tribes  of  Lower  Nubia  and  the  absolute 
negroes  of  Upper  Nubia.  It  is  probable  that  the  Ancient  Egyptian  name  of  Assouan  meant 
market.  The  name  given  to  Elephantine  Island,  whereon  a  celebrated  Nilometer  is  situated,  was 
Abu  in  the  Ancient  Egyptian  tongue,  meaning  "  elephant,"  possibly  because  it  was  seized  in 
prehistoric  times  by  an  Egyptian  clan  who  had  adopted  the  elephant  as  a  symbol  or  totem.  But  it 
is  clear  from  the  roughly-scratched  drawings  on  the  rocks  bordering  the  Nubian  Nile,  that  elephants 

26 


386 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


=^£r= 


must  have  been  very  common  in  -this  region  before  the  riverside  forests  were  destroyed.  As  early 
as  the  first  historical  dynasty- — some  four,  thousand  years  before  Christ* — the  hmits  of  Egyptian 
power  or  influence  must  have  extended  as  far  south  as  the  Island  of  Phite  and  have  had  as  their 
headquarters  in  this  direction  the  fortified  Island  of  Elephantine.  This  region  was  called  by  the 
Egyptians  the  "  Door  of  the  South,"  and  was  the  starting  point  of  overland  caravans  which  travelled 
southwards  into  Negroland  ;  moreover,  when  the  First  Cataract  had  been  conquered  and  made 
navigable,  Egyptian  boats  must  have  passed  up  the  Nile  beyond  the  rapids  of  Bab  el  Kalabsheh 
to  the  Second  Cataract  just  beyond  Wadi  Haifa,  the  real  and  final  frontier  of  Egypt 

Though  Elephantine  may  have  been  the  stronghold  of  Egyptian  .power  at  the  First  cataract, 

Philas  Island  was  the  sacred 
place,  the  centre  of  religious 
interest  on  the  threshold  of 
Nubia.  It  was  here,  according 
to  legend,  that  the  god-man 
Hesiri  (Osiris)  —  the  deified 
leader  of  the  Egj-ptians  who. 
brought  cixalization  to  the 
Valley  of  the  Nile  —  was 
buried.  Yet  although  Phike 
must  have  been  an  import- 
ant centre  of  rehgious  wor- 
ship in  very  early  times» 
there  is  among  its  visible  or 
discovered  monuments  nothing 
dating  back  later  than  to- 
the  days  of  the  Twenty-fifth 
Dynasty,  about  six  hundred 
and  seventy  years  before 
Christ. 

Perhaps  further  researches 
may  bring  to  light  evidences, 
of  older  temples  to  account 
for  the  importance  attached 
by  the  Ancient  Egyptians- 
to  the  site  of  Osiris's  burial 
place.  On  the  wonderful 
"  orange  and  roseate-tinted 
boulders  of  granite,"  which 
are  piled  up  in  confused  masses  in  the  bed  of  the  river  north  of  Philae  (writes  Mr.  John  Ward,  in  his. 
interesting  work,  "  Pyramids  and  Progress  ") — and  also  on  the  adjacent  island  of  Knossos— are 
gigantic  cartouches  cut  deeply  into  the  rock  belonging  to  Pharaohs  of  the  Eleventh  Dynasty,  and 
there  is  also  a  record  on  the  rocks  of  the  visit  (in  about  1420  B.C.)  of  Tehutimes  IV.  The  Island 
of  Philas  is  about  five  hundred  square  yards  in  area,  and  is  situated  at  the  head  of  the  First  Cataract, 
about  two  miles  above  the  modern  dam  or  reservoir.  This  great  engineering  work,  by  banking  up- 
the  Nile  above  the  First  Cataract,  has  drowned  not  a  few  Egyptian  monuments,  and  annually  turns 
this  little  granite  island  of  temples  and  colonnades  into  two  or  three  islets  between  December  and 
April ;  though  for  the  rest  of  the  year  all  Philse  is  above  the  waters  and  apparently  uninjured. 
But  the  palms  which  appear  in  the  accompanying  pictures  (taken  before  the  rising;  of  the  water)j 

*  Flinders  Petrie  would  make  itja  thousand  years  earlier. 


f 

— 



i.        i. 

i 

. 

Photo  >•.. 

ri-lAKAUH'b     BlD 

The    Hypaethrum     (or     Kiosk)     known    as     Pharaoh's     Bed.     to     the     south-east     of     the 

Temple  of   Isis  at    Philas,   before  the  rising   of   the  dammed-up   waters  of  the   Nile. 


_   m 
."   r 


:?r  < 


o     ~ 

3-    3- 


•    r 

:u   > 


^ 


o 


88 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


are  mostly  killed.  When  first  it  was  proposed  to  construct  the  barrage  above  the  First  Cataract, 
much  sentimental  nonsense  was  talked  and  written  by  critics  of  the  British  administration  of 
Egyptian  affairs  as  to  the  effect  on  Philae  and  on  the  other  vestiges  of  Ancient  Egyptian  art  in  Lower 
Nubia,  which  would  be  produced  by  the  rise  in  level  of  the  Nile  waters  during  half  the  year.  Had 
the  buildings  on  this  island  and  most  of  the  others  between  Philae  and  the  Second  Cataract  been  of 
immense  antiquity,  there  might  have  been  some  reason  in  this  appeal  of  Archjeology  to  Industriahsm 
to  stay  its  hand  and  to  deprive  some  five  millions  of  agricultural  Egyptians  of  a  water  supply  which 
might  enormously  increase  the  cultivable  area  of  Upper  and  Middle  Egypt.  But,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  revealed  antiquities  of  Phite  and  most  of  those  in  lower  Nubia,  are  comparatively  modern. 
The  earliest  discovered  work  on  Philae  is  an  altar  raised  by  Taparka,  a  negroid  king  of  the  Twenty- 
fifth  (Ethiopian)  Dynasty.  There  are  also  fragments  of  buildings  dating  back  to  Aahmes  II. — say 
550  B.C.  The  oldest  of  the  existing  temples  was  erected  by  one  of  the  last  Pharaohs  of  Egypt, 
Nektaneb  II.,  about  the  year  350  B.C.  With  these  exceptions,  all  the  wonders  of  Philae  date  from 
the  Ptolemies  and  the  Cassars  (down  to  Diocletian*),  and  the  most  striking  of  these  are  not  materially 
injured  by  their  annual  standing  in  Nile  water  for  three  or  four  months.  This  being  the  case,  it 
lias  recently  been  decided  by  the  Egyptian  Government  to  raise  the  barrage  and  increase  the 
amount  of  stored-up  Nile  water  during  the  winter  and  spring.  This  wih  mean  the  gift  of  milhons 
of  money  annually  to  Egypt  and  a  resultant  large  increase  of  population  arising  from  the  applying 
of  this  stored  water  to  the  irrigation  of  a  far  larger  area  of  desert  land,  which  will  thus  be  rendered 
habitable  and  cultivable  by  many  more  peasants. 

*  Whose  Triumphal  Arch  will  be  complclely  covered  l>y  ihe  water  when  the  Nile  dam  is  raised. 


{nonJIU. 


lllE      ILMI'LE     01      lili      I'lllL.L 

The    Second     Pylon'  and     Forecourt    of    the    Temple,    showing    the    stele    cut    on    a    natural    block    of    granite,    and    a    colonnade 

of   the    Birth    House 


n,nnlc,l  by  C.  H.  F.,lti;iiils. 


THK     ISLAND    OI"     I'llll.r.. 
PhiUu  is  situated  at  the  hiad  of  the  first  cataract  of  the  Nile.     Since  the  huildini!  of  the  Assouan  Oam  the  Island  is  submerged 


hetween  IXcemher  and  April,  hut  durin«  the  rest  of  the  year  its  buildings  remain  untouched  by  the  waters  of  the  Nile. 


Afr 


ica 


389 


rho(o  from  "  The  A/H,nn    Wiirlil."] 


PHIL/E    IN    THE    FLOOD    SEASON. 


A    view    of    the    Hypaethrum    and    the    Temple    of    Isis,    at    Philae,    standing    in    the    dammed-up    Nile    waters    during    the    season 
of    artificial    flood    I  Decembei-May  I        This    view    is    lo3l(ing    from    the    east,    westwards. 

The  most  striking  monument  of  Philae  is  certainly  the  beautiful  httle  riverside  temple,  so 
ridiculously  misnamed  "  Pharaoh's  Bed,"  or,  more  vulgarly,  the  "  Kiosk."  This  hypaethral  temple 
was  commenced  by  Augustus  Caesar  and  finished  by  Trajan,  so  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  modern 
of  "  pagan  "  temples  in  Egypt.  The  most  characteristic  features  in  a  view  of  Philae  Island  from 
the  south  are  the  Great  Pylon  and  the  West  Colonnade  of  the  Temple  of  Isis.  The  Great  Pylon 
leading  to  the  forecourt  was  commenced  by  King  Nektaneb  II.,  and  finished  by  the  Ptolemies. 
The  West  Colonnade  was  mainly  the  work  of  the  Caesars — Augustus,  Tiberius  and  Claudius — as 
Pharaohs. 

The  Forecourt  and  Second  Pylon  of  this  temple  probably  date  from  the  time  of  Ptolemy  VI. 
(Philometor),  with  additions  down  to  Ptolemy  XIII.  (Neos  Dionysos).  The  eastern  side  of  the 
Second  Pylon  is  built  over  a  block  of  naturally- placed  granite,  the  outer  face  of  which  has  been 
planed  smooth  and  used  as  a  stele  for  a  picture  of  Ptolemy  VI.  and  his  queen  standing  before  the 
gods  Osiris,  Isis  and  Horos  ;  and  the  writing  below  recounts  how  a  portion  of  the  country  on  either 
bank  of  the  Nile  about  Assouan  had  been  dedicated  to  Isis.  The  boldly  incised  figures  on  this  half 
of  the  Pylon  represent  Ptolemy  XIII.  worshipping  Horos  and  Hathor,  and  above,  on  a  smaller  scale, 
the  same  monarch  offering  himself  to  Horos,  Isis  and  Osiris.  On  the  western  half  of  the  Pylon 
Ptolemy  XIII.  in  different  sizes  is  seen  performing  similar  acts  of  reverence  before  the  gods  Horos 
and  Unnefer  and  the  goddess  Isis.  (Unnefer  was  another  name  for  Osiris,  the  "  good  "  god.)  The 
building  which  abuts  on  this  western  half  of  the  Pylon  is  a  portion  of  the  Birth  House.  This  temple 
may,  like  other  adjuncts  of  the  Temple  of  Isis,  date  from  the  reign  of  Nektaneb  II.,  but  its  details 
are  chiefly  associated  with  the  si.\th,  seventh  and  thirteenth  Ptolemies  and  with  Tiberius  Caesar.  It 
is  mainly  concerned  with  the  worship  of  the  Osiris,  Isis  and  Horos  trinity  (or  these  principles  under 
other  names — Unnefer,  Hathor  and  Harpocrates,  etc.),  and  the  name  "  Birth  House  "  is  given  to 
it  because   it  illustrates  the  birth  of  Horos-Harpocrates.  ^    [Harpocrates  was  more  especially  the 


390 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


aspect  of  Horos  as  a  child.]  The  rectangular  Hypostyle  Hall  has  ten  columns  \vith  beautifully- 
carved  capitals  and  a  roof  in  good  preservation,  which,  however,  only  covers  half  the  hall.  This 
Hall  has  records  of  the  second,  third  and  ninth  Ptolemies,  besides  Coptic  paintings  of  Christ  and 
inscriptions  of  Coptic  bishops  of  the  sixth  century.  The  walls  and  columns  are  covered  with 
inscriptions  and  bas-rehefs,  some  of  which,  however,  were  cut  away  by  the  fanatical  Coptic  Christians 
during  the  hundred  and  fifty  years  which  elapsed  between  the  extinction  of  the  worship  of  Isis\ (under 
Justinian)  and  the  irruption  of  Islam. 

Although  Horos,  in  divers  aspects,  seems  to  have  been  the  oldest  of  the  gods  worshipped  at 
Philse,  pre-eminence  was  gradually  given  to  Isis,  the  goddess-mother  ;  and  the  worship  of  Isis  at 
Philse  spread  so  much  amongst  the  Fuzzy-wuzzy  tribes  of  the  Eastern  Sudan — the  Blemmues 
(Blemmyes)  of  the  Greek-Egyptian  writers  and  the  Bisharin  of  to-day — that  even  when  they  warred 
with  the  Romans  they  generally  arranged  truces  in  order  to  be  able  to  visit  the  Temple  of  Isis  at 


Photo  by'] 


THE    HYPOSTYLE    HALL    OF    THE    TEMPLE    OF     ISIS    AT    PHIL/E. 


[Ikinfils. 


Philje.  This  attraction  was  only  done  away  with  by  the  forcible  introduction  of  Christianity  into 
Philae  in  the  sixth  century  .\.d.,  and  at  a  much  later  period  by  the  conversion  of  all  these  regions 
to  the  faith  of  Islam.  The  Temple  of  Isis  here  illustrated  was  for  a  time  used  in  portions  for 
Christian  worship,  till,  in  the  twelfth  century,  the  Sultan  Saladin  sent  his  brother  with  a  force  into 
Lower  Nubia  to  drive  out  the  Christians  and  establish  Mohamedanism. 

The  Catacombs  of  Alexandria. — In  the  opening  chapter  of  this  work,  the  present  writer  drew 
attention  to  the  Catacombs  of  Alexandria  as  having  been  reputed  a  world-wonder  during  the  Middle 
Ages  and  down  to  the  eighteenth  century.  The  accompanying  picture  gives  an  excellent  illustration 
of  the  entrance  into  these  vast  underground  dwellings.  The  greater  part  of  Egypt  proper  is  of 
cretaceous  rock  of  late  Secondary  formation  ;  the  same  limestone  reappears  in  parts  of  Tripoli  and 
Southern  Tunis.  In  all  these  regions  it  lends  itself  with  peculiar  facility  to  carving,  and  from  a 
remote  antiquity  this  region  has  provided  shelter  and  habitation  for  mankind,  either  in  the  natural 
caverns  hollowed  out  by  the  dissolving  action  of  water,  or  by  the  ease  with  which  chambers  could 
be  scooped  out  of  the  solid  rock,  the  outer  surface  of  which  conveniently  hardens  under  the  action 


392 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


of  the  air.  These  Catacombs  of  Alexandria  were  no  doubt  in  their  origin  vast  caves  created  by 
the  action  of  underground  springs,  but  from  an  early  period  they  were  turned  into  underground 
dwellings  and  refuges  in  time  of  war,  and  in  later  ages,  especially  in  Ptolemaic  and  Roman  times, 
they  became  burial-places  for  the  dead.  Strabo,  writing  about  the  time  of  Christ,  describes  the 
vast  Necropohs,  or  City  of  the  Dead,  which  had  been  e.xcavated  in  the  rock  outside  the  walls  of 
Alexandria.     The  excavations  followed  a  very  symmetrical  plan,'  and  comprised  seven  chambers 

cut  out  of  the  hmestone,  with 
a  broad  central  passage  and 
six  subsidiary  passages,  besides 
a  seventh  which  led  into  this 
small  terminal  chamber. 

There  were  probably  three 
tiers  of  coffin-spaces  on  each 
of  the  three  sides  of  the 
seven  chambers,  the  fourth 
opening  into  the  passage-way. 
In  the  catacombs  used  by 
the  Christians  the  walls  were 
painted  with  many  pictures  of 
the  emblems  of  the  Christian 
faith  and  wth  portraits  of 
the  dead  buried  in  the  coffins. 
Now  they  are  abandoned,  or, 
at  most,  are  used  here  and 
there  for  keeping  cattle. 

The  Victoria  Falls.—The 
Zambezi  River  is  the  fourth 
longest  watercourse  in  Africa, 
the  other  three  greater  streams 
being  the  Nile,  the  Congo, 
and  the  Niger.  The  Zambezi 
takes  its  origin  on  the  granite 
plateaus  of  South-West  Central 
Africa  on  the  very  verge  of 
the  southern  basin  of  the 
Congo,  on  a  line  of  water- 
parting  so  indeterminate  that 
it  is  probably  due  to  the 
strength  or  absence  of  winds 
at  certain  seasons  that  the 
lakes  and  marshes  of  this 
region  send  their  overplus  of 
water  towards  the  Kasai- 
It  is  possible  tliat  at  one  time  the  River  Zambezi  created  an 
immense  freshwater  sea  in  Southern  Africa  of  which  the  last  remaining  nucleus  is  Lake  Ngami. 
Meantime,  there  was  another  river^  also  rising  on  the  Congo  water-parting,  the  Kafue,  which 
flowed  southwards  and  eastwards  and  received  the  waters  from  ancient  and  modern  lakeS'  in 
South-East  Africa,  which  it  carried  into  the  Indian  Ocean.  But  the  great  South  African  sea  "or 
lake  eventually   broke    through    the   granite    and    basalt   barrier   on    the   east,    and   the   Zambezi 


Photo  hv  l>r 


A    portion    of    the 


VICTORIA    FALLS.    ZAMBEZI. 

main    fail    of    the    \'ictoria    Falls.    Zambezi; 

the 

first 

fall    is    seen 

coming    in    on     the    right. 

Congo,  or  towards  the  Zambezi. 


Africa 


39 


o 


thenceforth  joined  itself  to  the 
Kafue  and  drained  South  Central 
Africa  towards  the  Indian  Ocean. 

The  principal  upper  stream  of 
the  Zambezi  is  considered  to  be  the 
Liba.  This  joins,  after  a  course 
of  some  two  hundred  miles,  with 
the  Kabompo,  which  has  almost 
equal  claims  to  be  considered  the 
main  stream.  The  Liba  then  re- 
ceives important  affluents  from  the 
far  west,  rising  on  the  confines  of 
the  Portuguese  province  of  Angola 
and  the  mountain  land  of  Bihe. 
Under  the  name  of  the  Liambai 
the  Zambezi  flows  through  the 
fertile  but  swampy  Barotse  valley, 
which  appeared  to  Livingstone — 
the  great  discoverer  of  the  Zambezi 
— to  be  the  bed  of  an  old  lake. 

At  Gonye  Falls,  the  original  out- 
let of  this  lake,  the  river  becomes 
straitened  in  breadth,  and  from  here 
to  Sesheke  its  navigability  is  hin- 
dered by  rapids  and  by  perfectly 
impassable  falls.  Beyond  Sesheke 
the  Zambezi-Liambai  unites  with 
the  Chobe  (Kwando).  About  a 
hundred  miles  east  of  its  confluence 
with  the  Chobe,  the  Zambezi — then 
flowing  nearly  due  south  and  over 
a  mile  broad — ^has  its  bed  suddenly 
cleft  by  a  chasm  about  four  hundred 
feet  deep — a  huge  zigzag  crack  in 
the  intrusive  basalt  rock,  which 
would  have  been  regarded  as  an 
impossible  feature  in  geography  if  it 
were  not  an  actuality.  The  whole 
river — over  a  mile  broad — plunges 
down  into  this  narrow  cliasni. 
throwing  up  immense  columns  of 
steam-like  spray.  On  the  extreme 
edge  or  lip  of  this  chasm  there  an 
four  or  five  raised  lumps  of  rock 
which  have  become  islands  densely 
covered  with  trees.  To  a  certain 
extent  they  break  the  uniform  de- 
scent of  the  whole  breadth  of  the 
river.    Beginning  on  the  south  bank. 


J'hoto  hp  pr-rint^iiii' 


of]  I  I /If  linliih  .'>"iit/i  A/rii-n  Viniij'niii/. 

\ICIOKIA    FALLS. 

The  tnuiii  iitWt  of  t!ic  Zoinbc/i.  where  t.^e  river,  pluntiini:  inl.>  ihe  Ion«. 
nurrow  chn«m.  ia  nboul  t5  i»«uc  Ion  Ine  lefli  llirjj^h  a  very  nnrrov  oullet 
between  Ihiah    walUi  ofl  rock. 


394 


The   Wonders   of  the   World 


there  is  first  a  fall  of  thirty-six 
yards  in  breadth,  uniform  in  depth 
of  descent  to  the  rest  of  the  Vic- 
toria Falls.  Then  Boaraka,  a 
small  island,  intervenes,  and  there 
is  only  a  thin  veil  of  water  de- 
scending over  the  rock  in  front  of 
it.  Next  comes  a  great  fall  with 
a  breadth  of  five  hundred  and 
seventy-three  yards  ;  a  projecting 
rock  separates  this  from  a  second 
great  fall  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty  -  five  yards  broad  ;  and 
farther  east  stands  Garden  Island ; 
then  comes  a  good  deal  of  the  bare 
rock  of  the  river  bed  uncovered 
by  descent  of  water,  and  beyond 
that  a  score  of  narrow  falls  which 
at  the  time  of  flood  constitute  an 
enormous  cascade  nearly  half  a 
mile  in  breadth. 

Those  falls,  however,  which 
are  between  the  islands  are  the 
finest,  and  there  is  little  apparent 
difference  in  their  volume  at  any 
period  of  the  year.  Their  vast 
body  of  water  separates  into 
spurts  of  comet-like  form,  and 
encloses  in  its  descent  a  con- 
siderable volume  of  air,  which, 
forced  into  the  cleft  to  a  great 
depth,  rebounds  and  rushes  up 
in  a  mass  of  vapour,  thus  forming 
the  three  to  six  columns  of  steam  of  smoke-like  appearance  which  are  visible  to  a  distance  of  twenty 
miles  and  which  gave  their  original  native  name  to  the  \'ictoria  Falls— Mosi  oatunya— "  smoke  is 
sounding  or  roaring." 

After  the  Zambezi  has  descended  into  this  narrow  gulf,  which  is  nearly  twice  the  depth  of  Niagara, 
its  wonder  does  not  cease.  Garden  Island,  almost  in  the  centre  of  the  falls,  divides  the  cascade  into 
two  main  branches  at  the  bottom  of  the  gulf,  which  flow  round  a  vapour-hidden  mass  of  rock,  and 
after  reuniting  in  a  boiling  whirlpool  find  an  outlet  nearly  at  right-angles  to  the  fissure  of  the  falls. 
This  outlet  is  nearer  to  the  eastern  end  of  the  chasm  than  to  the  western  extremity  and  is  no  more 
than  thirty  yards  wide.  Within  these  narrow  limits  the  Zambezi,  which  is  over  a  mile  wide  when 
it  plunges  down  the  falls,  rushes  and  surges  southwards  through  the  extremely  narrow  channel 
for  one  hundred  and  thirty  yards,  then  abruptly  turns  and  enters  a  second  chasm  somewhat  deeper 
and  nearly  parallel  with  the  first.  Abandoning  at  the  bottom  of  the  eastern  half  of  this  chasm  a 
growth  of  large  trees,  it  turns  off  sharply  to  the  west,  and  by  another  zigzag  eastwards  forms  a 
promontory  about  a  thousand  yards  long  by  four  hundred  yards  broad  at  the  base.  Again  another 
three  zigzags  through  deep  and  narrow  gorges  and  the  trough  begins  to  widen  into  a  less  abysmal 
gulf  which  gradually  broadens  and  straightens  as  the  river  flows  eastward    in  an  easier  descent.'  '  In 


np.ijiij. 


Pholo  by  pei-mission  o/1  [Thp  Biiliili  Smil/i  Afn 

VICTORIA    FALLS. 

An     island     of     rocU    in     the    main     channel     of     the     Zambezi,     just     helow     the 
Victoria    Falls,    the    smoke    of    which    may    be    seen    on    the    left    top    corner. 


I'hoto  hy  permiision  "/J 


[TVif-   lirilish  i<<>Hth   A/noi  tuf/i/xiny. 


VICTORIA     FALLS. 

The'Iip' of    ihcj  Victoria    Falls    secnt  from    the    wcBlern'  •ide, 


396 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


«. 

t  - 

•■«■(-  ■ 


C^^^^^^^/^Ww 


xjht  by} 


lUnde/'icood  <{■  Underwood. 


iThe    hous 


AN    ARAB    SHEIKH'S    TOMB.     WADI     ALLAGI. 

-liUe    tomb    of    an    Arab    sheikh    in    the    Dareheib    district    of     Eastern    Egypt    (near    the    Nubian    Afps). 


the  abrupt  turnings  of  the  sharply -cut  trough  the  zigzag  promontories  of  rock  are  flat  and  smooth 
and  reduced  to  quite  a  narrow  ledge  at  their  extremities. 

In  the  Mining  Districts  of  Dareheib,  Eastern  Egypt.— In  the  eastern  desert  of  Egypt,  between 
the  Nile  and  the  Red  Sea,  especially  in  the  Nubian  Alps,  which  rise  above  the  Red  Sea  to  heights 
of  six  thousand  feet  and  less,  there  are  traces  of  considerable  mineral  wealth.  The  Egyptians  knew 
nothing  of  petroleum,  which  is  now  being  sought  for  eagerly  in  tliis  direction  with  some  prospect 
of  success,  but  they  mined  for  gold,  for  emeralds  and  corundum.  At  places  like  Dareheib,  where 
the  smooth  surface  of  the  rock  tempted  them,  they  incised  inscriptions  describing  often  in 
magniloquent  terms  the  power  and  wealth  of  the  Pharaohs  who  sent  out  these  mining  expeditions, 
usually  composed,  as  far  as  labour  was  concerned,  of  prisoners  of  war  or  slaves. 

The  Wadi  Allagi,  or  Allake,  in  this  district,  is  the  dry  bed  of  what  was  once  a  great  river  with 
many  tributaries  draining  the  western  versant  of  the  Nubian  Alps.  Nowadays  it  rarely  has  even 
a  pool  of  standing  water,  though  about  once  in  seven  years  or  so  a  cloud-burst  over  the  Nubian 
Alps  sends  down  a  flood  towards  the  Nile  which  sweeps  away  men  and  beasts.  The  people  who 
hve  about  Dareheib  and  elsewhere  in  this  Nubian  Desert  are  scarcely  Arabs  so  much  as  people  akin 
to  the  Hamitic  race  of  North-East  Africa,  represented  by  the  modern  Bisharin,  etc.  The  dialects 
of  the  more  northern  of  these  descendants  of  the  Blemmyes  are  much  corrupted  with  Arabic,  but 
the  general  type  of  language  is  Hamitic,  and,  curiously  enough,  bears  a  shght  resemblance  in  its 
suffixes  to  Hottentot,  a  fact  already  noticed  by  Lepsius  a  good  many  years  ago.  Many  of  the  place 
and  tribal  names  in  this  eastern  desert  of  Egypt  finish  with  the  suffix  -ab,  or  -b  (Dareheib,  Amerab 
^the  Beni  Amer  tribe — Melikab,  Hamdab,  etc.).     A  similar  mascuhne  suffix  exists  in  Hottentot. 

In  the  Oasis  of  Sitvah. — It  has  been  mentioned  once  or  twice  how  the  "  white  "  element  in 
the  Ancient  Egyptians  was  probably  due  in  the  main  to  the  colonization  or  invasion  of  Egypt  by  the 
Berber  or  Libyan  tribes  of  North  Africa.  "  Libyan,"  perhaps,  is  the  most  convenient  term  to 
describe  this  remarkable  type  of  white  man  which  in  the  countries  north  of  the  Mediterranean 
is  knownlas  Iberian.|     The  Libyan,  or  Berber  race,  has  been  the  dominant  type  in  Mauretania  for 


Africa 


397 


thousands  of  j^ears,  but  it  lias  been  suggested  that  this  race  originally  dwelt  in  Syria,  crossed  the 
Nile  Valley  (sending  colonies  as  far  south  as  Abyssinia)  and  thenceforth  colonized  the  whole  rest  of 
Northern  Africa,  including  much  of  the  Sahara  Desert.  The  Libyans  speak  a  form  of  language 
(extending  even  at  the  present  day  from  the  oasis  of  Siwah,  in  the  western  part  of  Egypt,  to  the 
Atlantic  Coast  of  Morocco,  and  to  the  Upper  Niger  at  Timbuktu)  which  is  fundamentally  related 
not  only  to  the  Ancient  Egyptian,  but  to  the  Hamitic  speech  of  the  Galas.  Ethiopians,  and  Somali, 
and  even  to  the  Semitic  language  family  of  Syria,  Mesopotamia  and  Arabia.  The  ancestors  of  the 
Egyptians  who  founded  the  monarchy  and  the  civiUzation  of  the  Pharaohs  seem  to  have  been 
Hamites  allied  to  the  Gala  and  SomaU  who  entered  the  lowlands  of  Abyssinia  from  Arabia  and 
thence  made  their  way  to  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  Here  they  mingled  with  the  preceding  Libyans, 
and  also,  later  on,  with  the  Nubians  and  negroes.  For  many  centuries  the  Pharaohs  of  Egypt, 
however,  warred  with  the  Libyans  of  the  west,  who  occasionally  predominated  in  Egyptian 
affairs. 

At  some  ancient  period  these  Libyans,  or  Berbers,  developed  a  remarkable  architecture  in  sun- 
dried  mud  wth  a  wooden  framework.  Tlieir  use  of  Ftone  never  reached  the  science  of  the  Egyptians 
and  was  seldom  more  than  the  piling  up  of  unhewn  stones  without  mortar.  But  with  stones,  mud 
and  sticks  they  have  from  time  immemorial  built  themselves  vast  castles  throughout  the  oases  of 
North  Africa,  castles  which  are  not  only  intended  for  refuge  and  defence,  but  mainly  for  the  storage 
of  grain. 

The  Statue  of  Ramses  II. — On  the  site  of  Memphis  and  near  the  o'd  Step  Pyramid  of  Saqqara, 
already  referred  to,  there  lies  prone  a  gigantic  statue  of  Ramses  IL — Ramses^the  Great — of  whom 
a  description  has  already  been 
given  in  this  work  in  con- 
nection with  the  Temple  of 
Karnak.  This  colossal  statue 
near  Saqqara  was  originally 
nearly  forty-five  feet  high, 
and  probably  stood  erect  at 
the  entrance  to  the  long-since- 
destroyed  temple  of  Ptah  (the 
Vulcan  of  Egyptian  theology). 
The  statue  is  carved  out  of 
white  chert  (Umestone),  and  is 
considered  one  of  the  finest 
specimens  of  Eg^'ptian  art. 

During  the  centuries  of 
Muhammadan  rule  in  Egypt, 
this  noble  symbol  of  Egyp- 
tian sovereignty  has  lost  the 
greater  part  of  its  legs,  which 
have  been  broken  off  by 
Turks  and  Egyptians  to  burn 
for  lime.  Muhammad  Ali,  or 
a  succeeding  Pasha  of  Egypt, 
is  said  to  have  presented  this 
colossus  to  the  British  nation ; 
but  if  so,  no  attempt  was 
ever  made  to  remove  it  to 
the  British  Museum.     And  if 


l-'rom  St^rfO  eoppHfffitl'^} 


irniirrteood  rf-  Undfrwood. 


DAREHEIB. 


Ancient'  EiEyptian  in«cripliona  on  itic  natural  cliff  face  at  Darehcib,  near  the 
Nubian  Alps,  tejttifyine  to  the  worUins  oF  the  mines  in  thii  neitihbourhood  by  the 
Pharasha. 


598 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


the  story  be  true,  it  is  most  improbable  that  the  British  nation  would  now  perpetrate  such  a 
breach  of  good  taste  as  to  take  the  statue  away  from  its  native  land.  But  what  we  might  do  as 
a  graceful  act  towards  the  New  Egypt  which  is  rising  up  under  our  guidance  is  to  find  the  money 
to  set  this  statue  on  its  (restored)  feet,  and  replace  it  on  the  site  of  the  vanished  temple  of  the  god 

ptah the  patron  of  engineers  and  artisans,  the   deification  of  the  Metal  Age.     This  would  be  a 

respectful  tribute  on  our  part  to  the  genius  of  Ancient  Egypt    once  the  Light  of  the  World. 

The  Obelisk  at  Heliopolis.— Amongst  the 
capitals  of  Ancient  Egypt  was  the  city  of 
On,  or  An,  named  by  the  Greeks  Heliopolis, 
and  situated  four  or  five  miles  to  the  north- 
east of  modern  Cairo.  As  its  Greek  name 
indicates,  it  was  the  City  of  the  Sun,  and 
possessed  a  great  Sun-temple  which  was 
really  a  university  of  learning,  a  Greenwich 
Observatory,  and  a  cathedral  in  one.  Here 
the  mysteries  of  astronomy  were  patiently 
studied,  and  hither  after  the  fifth  century 
B.C.  came  Greek  philosophers  to  steep 
themselves  in  the  lore  of  the  Egyptians. 
All  that  remains  of  Heliopolis  to-day  is  a 
single  obelisk  of  red  granite  about  seventy 
feet  high,  which  in  a  simply  written  in- 
scription bears  the  name  of  Usertsen  (or 
Senusert)  I.,  a  Pharaoh  of  the  Twelfth 
Dynasty. 

Sandstorms  near  Khartum.- — One  of  the 
most  terrible  marvels  of  Nature  to  those 
m  its  proximity  is  the  sinwoin,  or  dust- 
storm  of  the  desert.  This  is  especially 
characteristic  of  the  Sahara,  Libyan, 
Nubian,  and  Central  Arabian  deserts  ;  but 
the  same  phenomenon  is  met  with  in  the 
desert  regions  of  Australia,  of  Mongolia, 
and  of  North  America.  Usually  before 
the  rain  comes,  in  most  of  the  hot  regions 
of  the  world  there  blows  a  hurricane  of 
terrible  force,  and  where  this  occurs  in 
or  near  a  desert,  over  a  surface  of  sand 
or  friable  soil,  the  wind  gathers  up  this 
dust  into  clouds  several  thousand  feet  in 
height  and  sweeps  it  over  the  sky,  blot- 
ting out  the  sun  or  stars,  and  covering 
everything  on  the  ground  with  a  varying  amount  of  dust  or  sand,  sometimes  to  the  extent  of  burying 
caravans  of  men  and  camels,  towns  and  plantations,  and  even  civihzed  states,  such  as  occurred 
some  fifteen  hundred  years  ago  in  Turkestan  and  Mongolia.  The  only  recourse  of  those  who  see 
such  a  sandstorm  advancing  on  them  is  to  turn  their  backs  to  it,  squat  down  and  bow  their  heads, 
sheltering  the  face  as  much  as  possible  with  the  arms.  Sometimes  the  sandstorm  assumes  the 
form  of  one  or  more  vast  pillars  of  whirhng,  revolving  sand,  called  zobaa  in  the  Egyptian  Sudan, 
and  believed  by  the  Arabs  to  be  "  jinn  " — genii,  devils— moving  rapidly  on  an  errand  of  destruction. 


THE    OASIS    OF    SIWAH. 

illage  on  the  confines  of  Egypt  (Oasiti  of  Siwah). 
These  great  clay  castles  are  found  right  across  North  Africa  from 
the  confines  of  the  Libyan  Desert  to  Morocco-  In  Siwah  was  the  great 
temple  of  Jupitcr-Ammon  visited  by  Alexander  the  Great, 


J'fiuto  ijj^ 


A     Libya 


> 

H 

C 
m 


w  s- 


3 

n 


O-  r-^ 


'o       a 


400 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


OBELISK.    HELIOPOLIS. 

the  only  relic  of  the  ancient  city  of  Helio- 
Eibout  five  miles  north  east  of  Cairo.  It  is 
of  red  granite,  seventy  feet  high,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been 
<rccled    hy    Usertsen    I.    of    the    Twelfth    Dynasty 


THE 

This    monument 
polls,   which    was  situated   . 


The  Hot  Springs  of  Brand'vlei,  near 
Worcester,  South  Africa. — After  so  much  of 
the  (Just,  bare  rock  and  mystery  of  Egypt, 
it  is  a  relief  to  the  mind  to  turn  to  a  cool, 
well-forested,  sheltered  land,  which  in  some 
respects  is  quite  a  new  country,  with  little 
about  it  in  tlie  way  of  ancient  history — so 
far  as  written  records  are  concerned.  If 
this  be  the  definition  of  history,  South 
Africa — more  especially  Cape  Colony — must 
be  regarded  as  a  relatively  new  country ; 
for  its  entry  into  relations  with  civilized 
man  begins  with  the  reaching  of  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  by  the  Portuguese  navigator, 
Bartolomeu  Diaz,  in  i486  (though  there  is 
now  some  evidence  to  show  that  the  Phoe- 
nicians, at  the  behest  of  Xeku,  a  Pharaoh  of 
the  Twenty-sixth  Dynasty,  sailed  round  the 
southern  extremity  of  Africa  and  back  to  the 
Mediterranean  about  600  B.C.). 

The  south-westernmost  portion  of  Cape 
Colony,  as  mentioned  earlier  in  this  work, 
is  a  region  with  a  climate,  a  rainfall,  and 
a  flora  peculiar  to  itself.  The  almost 
parallel  mountain  ranges  push  themselves 
in  a  triangle  of  earth-wrinkles  close  up  to 
Capetown,  where  they  terminate  in  Table 
Mountain.  When  the  Government  of  Cape 
Colony  first  sought  to  reach  the  far  interior 
by  means  of  railways,  the  traversing  of 
tliese  coast  ranges  was  a  matter  of  con- 
siderable engineering  difficulty.  But  by  a 
series  of  zigzags  the  main  line  to  the  north 
is  carried  over  the  Olifants  Mountains  and 
makes  an  important  junction  at  Worcester 
with  the  much  more  recently  constructed 
line  which  passes  thence  to  Mossel  Bay, 
Port  Elizabeth,  etc.  The  town  of  Worcester 
has  a  population  of  about  eight  thousand, 
and  is  situated  in  a  fertile,  well-wooded 
district  where  a  great  deal  of  vine  culti- 
vation is  carried  on  at  the  present  day. 

The  country  round  about  Worcester 
is  particularly  well  wooded  (for  South 
Africa),  and  is  abundantly  watered  by 
numerous  streams  descending  from  the 
mountains.  A  feature  of  considerable 
interest  and  possible  utility  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood    is     the     hot-water     springs     of 


Africa 


401 


Brandvlei.  about  ten  miles  from  Worcester,  near  the  Breede  River.  This  steaming  hot  water, 
which  comes  up  from  the  earth  in  a  boiUng  condition,  encourages  a  very  hixuriant  vegetation  of 
almost  tropical  African  character  in  the  vicinity  of  the  pool,  and  in  tiie  late  autumn  (the  Cape 
spring)  thousands  of  white  arum  lilies  shine  out  amongst  the  undergrowth,  ft  will  be  observed 
that  the  branches  overhanging  the  water  are  hung  with  the  pendulous  nests  of  weaver-birds,  the 
briUiantly  coloured,  scarlet  or  orange-and-black  tenants  of  which  add  to  the  charm  of  the  scene, 
together  with  the  flowers  and  the  richly  foliaged  trees.  The  water,  however,  is  too  hot  to  batiie  in, 
in  situ,  and  dogs  who  plunge  in  heedlessly  are  scalded  and  killed. 

An  Anthill,  Ikoko,  Congoland. — Amongst  the  oldest  of  existing  insect  types,  so  far  as  the 
zoological  record  goes,  is  the  Termite  or  "  White  Ant."  It  is  not  an  ant  at  all.  but  an  insect  of 
much  older  type,  and  more  related  in  grouping  to  the  cockroaches,  grasshoppers,  etc.  But  in  the 
course  of  ages  it  has,  like  the  far-more-recently-evolved  bees  and  ants,  developed  a  social  condition 


/"/l.)^>  hii) 


[i;„l..,-l     Wlitlhr.-,,.!. 


.\    SANDS!  ORM. 

An    instunlancous    pholoerapK    of    an    approacKinK    sondsloim    near    Kurluni,    tlKVPIian    Sudan. 


<if  life  bearing  a  considerable  superficial  resemblance  to  the  organization  of  thosi'  anls  and  bees 
that  live  in  colonies. 

Termites  are  found  at  the  present  day  nearly  all  over  the  warmer  regions  of  the  world,  from  the 
countries  bordering  the  Mediterranean  Basin  to  South  Africa,  Australia  and  South  America.  In 
earlier  periods  before  the  Glacial  ages  set  in  at  the  close  of  the  Tertiary  epoch,  termites  were  probably 
found  in  Great  Britain.  Their  existence  in  tropical  countries  at  the  present  day  attracts  the 
attention  of  the  unlearned  and  incurious  by  the  relatively  immense  dwelling-places  which  they 
construct,  usually  out  of  clay  and  masticated  wood.  Perliaps  in  no  part  of  the  world  are  these 
"  ant-hills  "  more  noteworthy  as  features  of  the  scenery  tlian  in  Tropical  Africa.  They  reach  their 
climax  of  fantastic  development  in  the  drier  part  of  Eastern  Equatorial  Africa  lietween  Galaland 
antl  B)ritish  East  Africa.  Here — for  example,  in  the  regions  round  Lake  Baringo — they  may  rise 
to  an  altitude  of  nearly  thirty  feet,  but  are  remarkably  attenuated,  like  hpge  fingers  pointing  skyward. 

27 


4o: 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


In  Senegambia  and  the  regions  of  the  Upper  Niger  they  have  many  spires,  but  form  a  block  as  large 
as  a  small  house,  and  often  resemble  a  model  of  some  fantastic  cathedral.  The  illustration  here 
given  shows  an  ant-hill  of  moderate  size  in  the  central  Congo  region,  within  which  the  termites  have 
enclosed  palm-fronds. 

These  insects  live  ordinarily  on  dead  wood,  or  vegetable  substances,  such  as  paper  or  matting. 
They  have  a  great  dislike  to  a  bright  light  and  to  the  heat  of  the  sun.  Consequently,  they  work 
away  from  their  homes  cliiefly  at  night  time  and  cover  their  path  as  they  go  by  an  arched  film  of 
clay.  This  they  build  as  they  go  along  towards  the  object  they  wish  to  devour,  and  then  pass  to 
and  fro  under  the  clay  roofing.  It  is  a  common  sight  in  Tropical  Africa  to  see  the  trunk  of  a  tree 
marked  with  these  meandering  lines  of  red  clay,  which,  it  will  be  seen,  are  directed  towards  some 
portion  of  the  tree  that  is  dead  wood. 

"  White  ants  "  have  an  elaborate  social  organization.     The  males  and  the  perfect  female  develop 


■iiiHiiMriK 


A    SANDSTORM. 

Another  vie\v  of  the  approach  of  one  of  these  storms  of  the  desert   thai   leave 


their  wake   nothing   but  an  arid   waste 


wings,  but  the  workers  and  soldiers — undeveloped  females — have  no  wings.  At  seasons  of  the  year, 
generally  connected  with  the  falling  of  rain  after  a  drought,  the  winged  males  and  the  winged  female 
issue  from  the  ant-hills  to  fly  about  in  the  sunshine  and  to  fall  a  victim  to  innumerable  enemies — 
including  man  ;  for  termites,  hke  locusts,  are  esteemed  a  very  great  delicacy — equivalent  to  a 
sweetmeat — amongst  nearly  all  negro  tribes.  [In  negro  "  fairy  "  stories  they  take  the  place  of 
sweetmeats  !]  Soon  after  their  issuing  out  into  the  world,  however,  the  great  object  of  these  winged 
insects  is  to  get  rid  of  their  wings,  for  what  purpose  it  is  not  very  clear.  The  wings  are  not  strongly 
attached  to  the  body  and  are  easily  removed  by  the  use  of  the  creature's  legs.  Many  an  African 
housewife  is  exasperated  after  a  rainstorm  to  find  these  wings  strewn  all  over  such  open  portions  of 
her  house  as  the  flying  ants  have  been  able  to  reach.  Each  community  only  rears  one  perfect  female 
at  a  time,  an  insect  with  a  very  long  body.  As  soon  as  she  is  impregnated,  the  queen  termite  is 
built  up  in  a  cell,  and  her  abdomen  grows  to  enormous  proportions  on  account  of  the  immense 
number  of  eggs  it  contains.     The  neuters,  or  undeveloped  females,  consist  of  the  humble  worker 


f'  '>■'  'l 


404 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


and  the  ferocious  soldier.      This  last  is  armed  with  a  large  pair  of  forceps  at  the  end  of  his  huge 
head,  and  can  inflict  (in  the  larger  species)  a  very  disagreeable  bite. 

But  apparently  white  ants  can  live  on  amicable  terms  with  other  creatures,  such  as  snakes 
and  earthworms.  A  termite  hill  is  constantly  used  by  snakes  as  their  place  of  refuge,  where  they 
lay  and  hatch  their  eggs.  But  there  are  also  blind,  snake-like  lizards  and  amphibians  which  frequent 
these  great  mounds,  or  live  in  them,  and  which  undoubtedly  feed  on  the  termites  being,  however, 
impervious  to  the  attacks  of  the  soldiers  owing  to  their  armoured  skin.  Not  only,  however,  do  white 
ants  serve  as  the  food  for  many  birds,  but  they  have  positively  called  into  existence  special  types 
of  ant-eating  mammals,  such  as  the  egg-laying  Echidna  of  New  Guinea  and  Australia,  the  great 
and  small  toothless  ant-eaters  of  South  America,  the  armoured  Manises  or  Pangolins  of  Tropical 
Africa  and  Southern  Asia,  and  the  Aard  Vark  (Earth  Hog,  Orycteropus),  restricted  at  the  present 
day  to  Tropical  Africa,  but  once  a  native  of  Greece  and  Asia  Minor. 

The  Sixiy-fi've-feet-high  Portrait  Statues  of  Ramses  II.  at  Aba  Simbel.—The  great  Temple 
of  Abu  Simbel  is  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Nile  in  Lower  Nubia,  about  forty  miles   north  of 

Wadi  Haifa,  at  a  place  where  a 
great  mass  of  sandstone  rock 
conies  down  abruptly  to  the  water- 
side. It  is  thought  that  at  one 
time  there  may  have  been  a  slight 
lapid.  or  obstruction  of  Nile  navi- 
gation, at  this  point,  wiiich  drew 
attention  on  the  part  of  travellers 
to  these  bold  and  smooth  rock 
surfaces,  offering  an  irresistible 
temptation,  as  in  many  other 
parts  of  Egypt,  for  writing  pur- 
poses. Having  once  mastered  tlie 
principle  of  conveying  ideas  by 
pictures  and  signs,  tlie  ancient 
Egyptians  seem  to  have  found  as 
great  a  pleasure  in  scratching, 
cutting,  or  scribbling  names  and 
announcements  on  smooth  surfaces 
of  rock  (and  no  doubt  tree-trunks) 
as   any    later   Cockney    tripper   or 


globe-trotter. 


Tlie  halting  at  this 


t'rvin  at^reo  copvfitjfll  &,v] 

AN    ANT-HILL    AT    IKOKO. 


iriiih-JinMl  ,t    riflfruoo,l. 

CENTRAL    BASIN    OF    THE    CONGO 


spot  on  the  Nubian  Nile  ])rovoked 
the  erection  of  shrines  and  of 
temples,  and  finally  the  great 
Ramses  II.  erected  a  splendid 
temple  at  what  w^as  tlien  probably 
called  Abshek.  and  finished  it 
about   the  year   1359  B.C. 

The  earlier  temples  had  (it  is 
thought)  been  dedicated  to  the 
cow-goddess  Hathor,  who  was  the 
presiding  deity  of  the  neighbour- 


This  slranee  erection  of    red  clav   is  the  work  of  the  Terinite   insect  lerroneousli 
calfed  "  Wfiite  Ant  "I. 


hood. 


But     the    great     temple 


built  by  Ramses  H.  was  ascribed 


Africa 


405 


to  '■  Tlie  Sun  on  the  Horizon  " 
— "  Har-em-akhu  "  (the  Greek 
■' Harma\is  ").  A  statue  of 
this  hawk-headed  deity  stands 
above  the  entrance  to  the 
temple,  and  regarding  it  Mr. 
Arthur  Weigall  writes  : — "  At 
early  morning  the  sun's  rays 
strike  full  upon  it,  so  that  the 
figure  appears  to  be  stepping 
forward  to  greet  the  sunrise. 
Along  the  cornice  of  the 
entrance  a  row  of  baboons 
has  been  sculptured  seated  in 
attitudes  of  worship,  as  in 
the  belief  of  the  Egyptians 
these  baboons  always  greeted 
the  uprising  of  the  sun  with 
loud  cries.  As  the  temple 
faces  towards  the  east  it  is 
onl\-  at  sunrise  that  the  light 
penetrates  into  the  sanctuary  : 
thus  the  whole  temple  is 
designed  for  the  one  hour  of 
sunrise." 

Mr.  Weigall  justly  remarks 
that  although  one  may  have 
wearied  of  the  word-painting 
of  the  literary  traveller  in 
Egypt,  one  may  in  this  in- 
stance adopt  his  enthusiastic 
language  and  describe  the  hour 
of  sunrise  here  as  one  of  pro- 
found and  stirring  grandeur. 

Mr.  John  Ward  (Pyramids  and  Progress)  gives  an  e.xcellent  description  of  the  effect  of  the  rising 
sun  in  lighting  up  the  interior  of  this  vast  rock  temple  : — "  Early  in  the  morning  we  were  awakened 
to  see  the  interior  of  the  temple  illumined  by  the  raj^s  of  the  rising  sun.  We  penetrated  in  almost 
total  darkness  two  hundred  feet  within  the  temple  to  the  holy  of  holies.  Suddenly  the  whole 
darkness  fled.  The  brilliant  rays  of  the  rising  sun  burst  through  the  wide  portal.  For  a  few- 
minutes  the  whole  interior  was  lit  up  :  the  avenue  of  statues  on  each  side  became  visible,  the  roof 
and  lintel  chsclosed  their  painted  decorations.  Ramses  in  his  chariot,  with  his  tame  lion  underneath 
it,  galloping  in  fierce  charge  against  the  hated  Hittites,  and  on  the  opposite  side  tlie  same  tyrant 
crushing  the  dark  sons  of  Kush.  Then  as  we  wondered  at  the  sudden  revelation  of  the  mysteries 
of  the  dark  interior,  tlie  sun  rose  higher,  and  we  were  once  more  in  darkness." 

The  main  feature  of  the  great  temple,  however,  is  the  four  colossal  seated  figures  hewn  out  of 
the  rock.  One  of  these  colossi  has  lost  its  head  and  torso,  but  the  others  remain  singularly  unmarred 
by  time  or  the  malice  of  man,  and  display  faces  of  real  beauty  which  have  been  sculptured  (on  an 
enormous  scale)  w-ith  remarkable  skill.  In  between  each  colossus  there  is  a  smaller  female  figure, 
and  between  the  legs  of  the  colossi  a  still  smaller  representation  of  a  male  or  female,  princess  or 


I  HE    lEMPLE    OF     ABU    SIMBEL.     NUBIA. 

7hr  sixtv-fivc-fcet-hiBh  portriiit  statues  of  Romscs  II.  before  the  rock-hewn  Temple 
of  Abu  Simbel.  .\ubia.  The  Pharaoh  is  sitting  in  the  ceremonious  posture  demanded 
of  the  divine  ruler  of  the  two  Esvpts.  with  hand»  reposing  on  his  knees.  He  wears 
the   tail   double  crown   symbolic   of   his  double   realm  of    Upper  and   Lower   Egypt. 


4o6 


The   Wonders   of  the   World 


prince.  The  legs  of  these  colossi  are  covered  with  inscriptions,  several  of  which  are  in  Greek  and 
date  from  the  sixth  century  B.C..  having  been  written  by  Greek  mercenary  soldiers  in  the  pay  of 
King  Psanietik  II.     There  are  also  inscriptions  in  the  Phoenician  language. 

Diamonds  and  Diamond  Mining. —'^'^^^  Egyptians  were  at  one  time  believed  to  have  found 
diamonds  in  the  mountains  of  Eastern  Nubia,  and  to  have  used  them  to  point  their  drills  and  the 
teeth  of  their  saws.     Rut  it  is  now  practically  certain  that  for  these  purposes  they  employed  flint, 

corundum,  emery  powder  and  obsi- 
dian. Nevertheless,  the  antiquity  of 
the  diamond  is  considerable,  and 
European  knowledge  of  it  goes  back 
to  Roman  writers  at  the  very  begin- 
ning of  the  Christian  era.  Many 
centuries  before  it  had  been  valued 
in  India  as  a  jewel  and  a  substance 
harder  than  any  other.  But  it  was 
also  believed  that  the  wearing  of 
diamonds  was  a  remedy  against  in- 
sanity and  a  neutralizer  of  poison. 
As  early  as  two  thousand  years  ago 
the  diamond  was  being  employed  in 
Western  Asia  and  Greece  as  a  point 
for  gem  engraving,  but  the  "dia- 
mond "  mentioned  in  Exodus  as  one 
of  the  stones  in  the  breast-plate  of 
the  High  iPriest  is,  states  Dr.  H.  A. 
Miers,  a  mistranslation  of  the  word 
vahaloiii.  The  diamond  no  longer 
holds  the  monopoly  for  hardness,  the 
maximum  rating  of  lo.  It  has  a  rival 
in  a  black  mineral,  tantalum,  which 
belongs  to  the  same  group  of  sub- 
stances in  vanadium,  arsenic,  and 
bismuth.  Diamonds  were  first  dis- 
co\-ered  by  intelligent  human  beings 
in  the  great  Dekkan  prolongation  of 
India — a  part  of  the  old  Gondwana 
land  which  once  was  united  with 
Tropical  Africa,  Brazil  and  Australia. 
The  diamonds  of  Golconda,  however, 
have  almost  ceased  to  be,  except,  of 
course,  in  the  splendid  collections  of 
jewels  belonging  to  the  Indian  princes 
and  the  regalia  of  European  monarchs.  The  next  region  to  Central  India  for  the  discovery  and 
working  of  diamonds  was  Brazil  in  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries,  and  Brazihan  diamonds 
are  probably  the  finest  in  the  world.  Diamonds,  again,  were  discovered  north  of  Brazil  in  British 
Guiana  some  twenty  years  or  more  ago.  Next  in  its  turn  amongst  Nature's  surprises  came  South 
Africa,  which  has  produced  more  diamonds  than  any  other  part  of  the  world.  Subsequently,  and 
quite  recently,  diamonds  of  a  Brazilian  character  have  been  discovered  in  Liberia  (West  Africa). 
They  have  also  been  found  in  Borneo  and  Austraha,  so  that  this  crystallization  of  carbon  seems 


'<l  .1   I'niUrtcood. 


Fi-om  stereo  fvpyriijht  i_i/]  \_i'ndr. 

THE    TEMPLE    OF    ABU    SIMBEL 

Interior  of  the  rock-hewn  Temple  of  Abu  Simbel.  showing  the 
of  Holies  with  the  statues  of  the  gods  in  the  rear.  The  statue  pillars 
represent  Ramses  II.  in  the  form  of  Osiris,  and  the  features  of  the  King 
may    be    recognized,    especially    in    the    next    to    the    last    on    the    right. 


Holy 


[t'/uti'ritiwil  ,{■  t'lulrrictHuI. 


From  Sl^reo  copyright  byi] 

THE    lEMPLE    OF    ABU    SIMBEL 

The  eaatern  facade  of  ihe  great  Temple  of  Abu  Simbel.  Nubia,  built  in  the  reicn  of  R«m»c«  II..  •hDwinu  three  of  the 
four  srcal  colossi  ol  the  entrance,  and  a  portion  of  the  row  of  sculptured  baboons  in  the  frieze  at  the  top.  These  doa-hcadod 
monkeys  were  cspeciallv  connected  with  sun  worship,  and  hence  we  find  them  here  facinR  the  risine  sun  with  fore-paw* 
raised    in    adoratisn 


4o8 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


[.V.  /•.  r.hrnr.ls. 


I.\     A    DIAMOND    MINE,     KIMBERLE-C. 


A    tunnel    at    a    thousand    feet     belDw     the     level    of    the    suiface    in    the    great    mine     of     fvimbcrley.     South     Africa,     which 

belongs    to    the    De    Beers    Company. 

to  be  remarkably  characteristic  of  the  now  broken-up  continent  of  Gondwana,  wliich  extended  over 
the  equatorial  and  southern  tropics  from  Austraha  past  India,  Ceylon,  Madagascar  and  Africa,  to 
Brazil.  It  is  true  that  there  was  also,  seemingly,  a  centre  of  diamond  manufacture  in  the  northern 
regions  of  the  world — circumpolar,  one  might  almost  say  :  and  that  small  diamonds  have  been 
found  in  Siberia,  Russia,  Lapland  and  North  America. 

The  diamond  mining  at  Kimberley,  which  began  with  mere  hand-digging  amongst  the  pipes 
of  blue  clay  in  that  desolate  region,  soon  descended  far  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth  into  what  are 
probably  ancient  craters  of  volcanoes  filled  up  with  this  "  blue  ground."  Some  of  these  tunnels 
reach  to  a  depth  of  a  thousand  feet  below  the  surface.  They  are  well  lit  by  electricity,  and  the 
general  conditions  of  work  in  the  Kimberlev  mines  for  both  white  and  black  are  on  a  high  level 
of  comfort  and  sanitation. 

Strange  Peaks  in  the  Drakensberg  Mountains. — Allusion  has  been  already  made  once  or  twice 
to  the  assistance  wliich  the  ancient  Egyptians  derived  (in  their  carvings  of  the  natural  rock  into 
sphinxes  and  Pharaohs)  from  the  accidental  resemblance  to  human  features  found  not  infrequently 
in  these  promontories.  In  the  Drakensberg  Mountains  of  South  Africa  (wherein  the  highest 
altitudes  of  South  Africa,  over  eleven  thousand  feet,  are  reached)  there  are  fantastic  crags  and 
columns  of  weather-moulded  rock  which  from  certain  points  of  view  bear  resemblances  more  or 
less  striking  to  the  heads  of  beasts  or  men.  Here  and  there  is  one  like  a  lion.  In  the  illustration 
given,  there  is  supposed  to  be  a  remarkable  resemblance  to  the  late  Paul  Kruger  in  the  topmost 
crag  of  all.  There  is  certainly  a  well-marked  human  face,  with  deep-set  eyes,  a  long  nose  and  a 
beard,  but  the  present  writer  cannot  agree  that  the  likeness  to  the  late  Paul  Kruger  is  particularly 
striking.  If  it  had  been  discovered  a  little  later  in  history  it  would  probably  have  been  called 
Cecil  Rhodes. 


Africa 


409 


The  Drakensberg  Mountains  (Kwathlamba  of  the  Basuto  and  Kafir)  are  of  igneous  origin  and 
date  from  the  remote  Permian  age.  They  rise  from  out  of  a  sandstone  formation  of  somewhat 
later  date  (Jurassic),  and  form  the  boundary  (more  or  less)  between  Basutoland,  Natal,  and  the 
South-West  Transvaal,  but  are  mostly  associated  with  the  country  of  the  Basuto.  This  African 
Switzerland  is  of  itself  a  wonderland  in  South  Africa.  It  has  a  mean  elevation  of  about  six  thousand 
feet,  and  in  area  is  a  little  smaller  than  Belgium.  In  every  direction  may  be  seen  luxuriant  valleys 
through  which  rivers  thread  their  silvery  courses,  frequently  plunging  over  chasms  in  magnificent 
cascades,  one  of  which — Maletsunyane — is  over  six  hundred  feet  in  an  unbroken  leap.  Above 
these  fertile  valleys,  prairies,  and  ravines,  rich  in  tree-ferns,  rise  the  mountains,  tier  above  tier,  till 
the  eye  rests  at  last  on  the  almost-eternal  snows  of  the  highest  crests.  The  Alpine  flora  is  very 
beautiful  and  is  related  to  that  of  Table  Mountain  :  but  a  good  deal  of  the  once-abundant  forest 
has  disappeared  during  the  last  fifty  years  before  the  ravages  of  the  natives'  bush  fires.  Similarly 
the  wild  animals  have  been  nearly  all  destroyed  by  the  Basuto  since  guns  became  common  amongst 
them. 

But  the  present  race  of  vigorous  Bantu  people  was  not  the  original  inhabitants  of  the 
Drakensberg.  This  mountain  region  sheltered  for  ages  in  its  caves  and  kloofs  the  little  yellow 
Bushmen,  whose  paintings  of  wild  animals  on  the  walls  of  rock  shelters  and  caverns  testify  mutely 
to  their  former  presence  in  the  land.  The  Basuto  formerly  dwelt  in  the  more  open,  less  mountainous 
plateau  country  to  the  north  (Orange  Free  State).  From  this  they  were  driven  out  by  the  raiding 
Zulu  under  Umsilikazi  in  the  early  nineteenth  century.  The  Trek  Boers  came  on  the  heels  of 
Umsilikazi's  bands  and  saved  the  remnant  of  the  Basuto  clans  from  destruction.  The  Basuto 
exterminated  what  remained  of  the  Bushmen  and  took  possession  of  their  mountain  home,  realizing 
its  wonderful  defensive  possibilities,  not  only  against  the  Kafir-Zulu,  but  against  the  white  man  ; 
for  the  wily  chief  of  the  Basuto — Moshesh — soon  realized  that  the  white  man  in  the  form  of  Boer  or 
Briton  might  in  time  come  to  envy  the  mountain  land  he  had  assigned  unwillingly  to  Basuto 
settlement.  First  the  Boers,  then  the  British,  and  later  the  Cape  Colonials,  attempted,  indeed, 
during  the  fifties,  sixties,  and  eighties  of  the  last  century,  to  subjugate  the  Basuto  and  dominate 
their  country.  But  the  sturdy  resistance  they  met  with  induced  them  to  desist.  In  a  way  the  whole 
allotment  of  South  Africa    between  the  black  race  and  the  wiiite  has  been  mismanaged.       The 


I'hoto  I'll  fifrtniiiii'n  c/] 


Roui:h    dinmond'.    Kimbcrlcy.   South   Africa. 


[77(^  I'npr  tlini'rnin^nt  littilway*. 


4IO 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Basuto  and  similar  clans  should  have  been — in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century — assigned 
sufficient  tracks  of  cultivable  and  grazing  land  in  the  more  open  country  of  the  Orange  Free  State 
and  Eastern  Cape  Colony  ;  and  tlie  Drakensberg  mountains  and  mucli  of  what  is  now  Basutoland 
should  have  been  constituted  into  a  sort  of  White  citadel  in  the  heart  of  South  Africa  :  the  centre 
of  British  Administration  and  an  ideal  home  for  the  white  race.      But  although  such  conceptions 
as  this  passed  through  the  minds  of  far-sighted  men  like  the  late  Sir  George  Grey,  the  home  states- 
men of  the  middle  nineteenth  century 
disliked  the  planning  and  carrying  into 
effect  of  any   far-reaching  scheme  for 
the    ruling    and    colonizing    of    South 
Africa  :    anything  which  might  pledge 
Great  Britain  to  expensive  or  hazard- 
ous   military    expeditions    at    a    great 
distance  from  the  sea  coast. 

The  Zimbabive  Ruins.— The  great 
unsolved  mystery  of  South  Africa  is 
the  origin  of  such  buildings  as  those 
(if  Zimbabwe  and  the  type  of  race 
which  executed  them.  The  news  of 
the  existence  of  these  remarkable  stone 
forts  and  pillars,  and  the  gold-mining 
operations  with  which  they  were  asso- 
ciated, was  first  conveyed  to  Europe 
by  the  Portuguese  soldier-explorers  of 
the  sixteenth  century.  The  Portu- 
guese were  conducted  to  places  like 
Zimbabwe  by  Arabs  from  the  coast. 
Thev  found  all  this  interior  country 
of  South-East  Africa,  from  the  Central 
Zambezi  down  to  the  Limpopo,  under 
the  rule,  more  or  less,  of  a  very 
powerful  negro  emperor,  "  Monomo- 
tapa,"  as  they  called  him  (a  corruption 
of  Mwene  miitapa,  "  Lord  of  the 
Mine").  But  the  mining  operations 
carried  on  by  the  negroes  of  that  day 
in  their  commerce  with  the  Arabs  were 
of  a  very  primitive,  surface  character, 
and  all  these  former  centres  of  a  great 
mining  industry  seem  to  have  been 
then  in  a  condition  of  ruin.  If  they 
were  inhabited,  it  was  in  huts  of  clay 
stuck  about  amongst  the  gaunt  evidences  of  the  architectural  skill  of 


riiiilii  by'] 

THE    DRAKENSBERG 


MOUNTAINS.    SOUTH 


[.V.  /'.  Kdicjnh. 

AFRICA. 


Strange  peaks  in  the  Drakensberg  Mountains  on  the  borders  of  Natal 
and  the  Transvaal.  In  the  middle  of  the  topmost  block  is  seen  enshrined 
a  natural  caricature  of    President    Paul   Kruger's  head. 


and  thatch  (or  thatch  alone) 
some  vanished  race. 

The  first  accounts  of  these  ruins  remained  buried  in  little-known  Portuguese  books,  but  Zmibabwe 
and  other  stone  cities  of  the  dead  were  rediscovered  about  forty  years  ago  by  Karl  Mauch.  a  German 
explorer  of  considerable  note.  Once  again,  however,  the  discovery  attracted  little  notice  until  this 
region  was  opened  up  to  civilization  by  the  efforts  of  Cecil  Rhodes  and  his  Chartered  Company, of 
South  Africa.     The  Rhodesian  pioneers  sent  back  such  remarkable  stories  of  Zimbabwe,  that  the 


IV 


rfi"f'<  >'V  p''r-mi.<xinn  of^  [77if  fii-Hish  Snt/th  A/ricn  ConifHtttv. 

THE     RUINS    OF     ZIMBABWE. 
The  ouler  wall  at    Zinibrtbwe.  witli    tlic  "  lierrin^-bone  "  pattern  round  the  top- 


Photv  hy  permitsion  of  [Th''  lir\li»h  South  A/rxcn  Cotnjiniiv. 

IHE    RtTNS    OF    ZIMBABWE 

I  he   interior  of   Zimbab\%e  <  Rhodctio.  Soulh-Eoat    A(ric«l,   Bhowinn    one    of    the    round    to\ver»,     like  ihoac    o(    Ireland,  Sarainio.  etc 


412 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Phvto  bp  pei'missu 


THE    RUINS    OF    ZIMBABWE 

A  view  of   ihe    western   temple-plalform  of   the  Acropolis   of   Zimbabwe- 


late  Mr.  Theodore  Bent  went  there  with  his  wife  to  investigate  what  seemed  to  be  the  rehcs  of  a 
Phoenician  civihzation.  Since  his  time,  the  chief  work  in  photographing  and  describing  Zimbabw^e 
and  similar  places  has  been  done  by  Mr.  R.  N.  Hall.  Besides  these  lofty  walls  of  carefully  adjusted 
stones  surmounted  with  a  handsome  herring-bone  pattern,  there  were  discovered  well-made  towers, 
big  monoliths  of  stone  sculptured  into  the  semblance  of  birds,  stone  phalli,  and  many  implements 
for  the  mining,  assaying  and  weighing  of  gold.  But  nowhere  was  there  a  single  inscription,  nowhere 
was  there  any  engraving  or  picture  on  the  rocks  to  assist  in  deciphering  the  history  of  these  dead 
stone  cities  (which  are  strewn  all  over  South-East  and  South-Central  Africa  between  the  Limpopo, 
the  Zambezi  and  the  Kalahari  Desert).  Nor  have  any  human  remains  been  found  of  any  antiquity 
buried  under  these  ruins,  except  those  of  negroes. 

Nevertheless,  most  of  the  explorers  of  Zimbabwe,  down  to  about  1905,  ascribed  the  origin  of  these 
ruins  to  some  non-negro  race,  probably  Arabians  from  South-West  Arabia,  or  Phoenicians,  or  even 
ancient  Egyptians,  who  had  found  their  way  along  the  coast  of  South-East  Africa,  had  discovered 
gold  in  the  streams  and  set  to  work  to  estabhsh  a  gold-mining  industry.*  Zimbabwe  was.  however, 
examined  with  close  attention  by  Professor  D.  Mclver  in  1905.  and,  later  still,  by  Professor  von 
Luschan,  of  Berlin.  These  and  other  scientific  archjeologists  have  decided  that  there  is  at  present 
no  evidence  whatever  that  Zimbabwe  and  similar  stone  ruins  in  South  Africa  owe  their  origin 
to  any  race  of  immigrants  of  an  earlier  date  than  about  1000  a.d.  That  is  to  say,  they  might  have 
been  built  by  the  Arabs  who  settled  along  this  coast  so  strongly  from  the  tenth  century  a.d.  onwards. 
But  as  there  is  not  the  slightest  indication  that  Muhammadan  Arabs  did  bui!d   these  stone  walls 

*  Theories  like  these  inspired  Kider  Hag^^ard's  no\eI  of  "She."' 


Africa 


41, 


and  towers,  and  carve  these  stone  birds  and  [ilialli.  the  only  alternative  is  to  suppose  that  the  stone 
cities  of  South  Africa  were  erected  by  some  vanished  race  of  negroes  which  had  attained  a  civilization 
higher  than  anything  (not  of  European  origin)  yet  known  in  Negroland.  The  stone  birds  at  Zimbabwe 
recall  the  art  of  Benin,  but  nowhere  throughout  the  whole  of  Negroland  has  any  negro  tribe  thought 
of  using  stone  for  building,  except  here  and  there  in  the  north-east  or  north-west,  when  influenced  by 
superior  races  from  the  North.  The  mysterv^  of  Zimbabwe,  therefore,  remains  completelv  unsolved. 
Yet  its  history  must  form  a  very  important  factor  in  the  past  of  Africa. 

The  Tombs  of  the  Mamluks,  Cairo. — To  the  east  and  to  the  south  of  the  walls  of  the  citadel  of 
Cairo  are  some  remarkable  buildings  exceedingly  picturesque  in  appearance  and  very  arresting 
to  the  eye  of  the  tourist  with  their  domes  and  minarets.  The  group  which  lies  to  the  north  on 
the  spurs  of  the  Mokattam  hills  is  known  erroneously  as  the  Tombs  of  the  Caliphs  (really  the 
Circassian  sultans  of  Egypt  in  the  fifteenth  century).  This  will  be  described  and  illustrated  in  a 
later  part  of  this  work.  The  illustration  here  given  is  of  the  Tombs  of  the  Mamluks.  which  lie  to 
the  south  of  the  citadel.  These 
are  tomb  mosques,  that  is  to  say, 
mosques  which  have  been  built 
for  purposes  of  prayer  over  the 
burial-place  of  some  Mamluk  nota- 
bility chiefly  of  the  Burji  group. 

The  word  Mamluk  in  Arabic 
means  a  purchased  slave  or  cap- 
tive, from  the  root  Malaka,  "  he 
possessed."  The  term  was  applied 
hv  the  decaying  rulers  of  the  great 
Caliphate  on  the  Euphrates  to  the 
Circassian,  Turkish,  Greek,  and 
Persian  slaves  whom  they  acquired 
in  war  or  by  purchase,  and  whom 
they  trained  specially  for  service  in 
the  army.  These  bold,  personable 
youths  became  the  dauntless  cavalry 
of  the  Arab  monarchs,  and  they 
were  especially  settled  in  Egypt 
under  their  great  leader,  Saladin, 
whose  full  name  was  An-Nasr  Salah- 
ad-din  Yusuf,  the  son  of  Ayub.* 
Saladin  was  the  nephew  of  Nur- 
ad-din,  the  Sultan  of  Damascus. 
Saladin  by  his  victories  over  the 
Crusaders  (against  whom  he  was 
despatched  by  his  uncle  the  Sultan 
of   Damascus),   proclaimed    himself 

*  Keduccil  to  c'ssc-iuials,  lii.s  name  was 
really  "Joseph,  the  son  of  Job."  The 
precctiin^  words  are  only  himorific  titles. 
Several  of  the  "Yusuf"  or  Joseph  place- 
names  dotted  about   Kg)'pt    have   nothing  to 

.   ,         ,  ,  ,  .        ,  r       ,  J'fioto  hit  iii-rinhuon  t>n  il'/f  /lrin.y/t  >i>'il/t  A  trim  I'l'iiipfii 

do    with    the     legendary    ijatnarcn    of    the  ' 

Hebrew  .Scriptures,  or  the  husband  of  Mary,  """^    RUI.NS    Ol      ZIMBABWE 

1ml   art'   rofemices  to  the  Preal   Sll'ldin  ^  '""    ^^o"'^*^'''"!    mnsonry    o(    llic    /.inibnb\\r    wnlln   nnd    Ittbyrinthii  of   alone. 


Africa 


4'5 


Sultan  of  Egypt  in  1169.  Saladin  built  the  citadel  at  Cairo  (Alburj),  which  was  known  by  an  Arabic 
version  of  the  latinized  German  word  borg  (burg,  burgus).  From  being  cliieHy  located  in  this  citadel, 
the  Turkish  and  Circassian  Mamluks  became  known  as  "  Burji."  They  were  the  Praetorian  Guards  of 
Egypt  and  raised  and  deposed  sultans  over  that  country,  not  infrequently  their  own  commanders. 
From  1388  to  the  Turkish  conquest  in  1517,  these  Burji  Mamluks  (increasingly  Circassian  in  extraction) 
were  the  ruhng  power  in  Egypt,  and  their  more  notable  sultans  or  commanders  raised  to  themselves 
these  magnificent  tombs,  now  such  a  picturesque  adjunct  to  the  eastern  side  of  Cairo.  This  Mamluk 
cavalry  continued  to  exist  even  after  the  establishment  of  a  Turkish  pasha  as  controller  of  Egypt, 
and  during  the  eighteenth  century  got  back  nearly  all  the  power  and  government  of  the  country 
into  the  hands  of  their  leaders.  They  were  finally  crushed  by  Napoleon  Bonaparte  and  exterminated 
bv  Muhammad  Ali  in  1811. 

The  Temples  at  Medinet  Habu,  Thebes.— -indent  Thebes  probably,  as  a  capital  city,  bestrode 
both  banks  of  the  Nile  and  thus  dominated  both  the  "  lands  of  Egypt,"  the  West  and  the 
East.*     But   in   course   of  time   the   portion   of   the  metropolis  on   tiie  western  side  of   the  great 

river  became  a  city  of  the  dead — 

the  Memnonia  of  the  Greeks — while 

the  living  town  lay  along  the  east 

bank,  and  is  represented  to-day  by 

Luxor  and  Karnak.     To  the  south- 
wards of  Old  Thebes,  of  the  city  of 

the    dead,    lies    the    \'alley    of    the 

Kings,  and  Medinet  Habu.  with  its 

three   mortuary   temples  and   pavi- 
lion.    Some  of  the  ruins  liere  date 

back      to     Amenliotep     I.     of     the 

Eighteenth     Dvnast\'    (about     1550 

B.C.). 

These  temples  are  about  a  mile 

to    the    south   of   the  great    Colossi 

of    Memnon,    wiiich    will    be    later 

described.      They    consist    of    two 

distinct    structures    side    by    side, 

dating    from    epochs    separated    by 

as    much    as    one    thousand   years  ; 

so   that    they    have    not    the    same 

angles    of    construction    seemingly. 

The  apparent    position  of    the    sun 

in    the    heavens     having    changed 

somewhat      in      this      interval     of 

time,    it    became    necessary   in    tiic 

later-built    temples    to   arrange  tiic 

openings    at    a    different    angle    in 

*  The  phrase,  "ihc  lands  of  Egypt," 
meaning  the  cminlries  west  ami  cast  of  tlu- 
Nile  in  Up|KT  Kgypt,  occurs  principally  in 
ihc  writings  of  ihc  Xltli  and  Xllth,  XVIIIih 
and  Xl.Xih  Dynasties,  and  must  not  lie  con- 
fused with  the  other  reference  to  the  doulile 
kingdoms  of  KgypI  (with  their  recognition  in 
the  double  crown) — Upper  and  Lower  Kgypt. 


I'lli'lo  hli'j 


[I'luilu^hntm  I'o.   1.1,1. 

THE     PAVILION    OF     RAMSES    III..     THEBES. 

The  famous  Pavilion  ol  Ramtci  III.  at  McdincI  Habu  iThebc*'.  wherein 
are  depicted  scenes  of  warlarc  and  of  harem  life  typical  of  the  life  of  an 
ERVPIian   monarch   in   the   period  of   the   last   Thcban   Dynasty. 


4i6 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


order  to  admit  the   sun's   rays  at  the  moment  of  sunrise  into  the  hohes  of   holies   on   the    day 
appointed  for  the  worship  of  the  sun-god. 

The  perfect  state  of  tlie  ruins  at  Medinet  Habu  is  due  to  a  populous  Christian  settlement  having 
been  founded  on  the  site  of  these  temples.  The  splendid  buildings  were  used  for  Christian  rites 
by  small  churches  or  chapels  being  built  inside  their  courts.  Some  lingering  superstition  no  doubt 
prevented  any  destruction  of  the  ancient  buildings  and  their  adornments.  Somewhere  about 
the  thirteenth  century  of  the  present  era  the  Coptic  village  was  succeeded  by  one  of  Muhammadan 
fellahin.  Medinet  Habu  became  a  populous  town  and  its  ramshackle  houses  rose  above  the  platform 
of  accumulated  rubbish  which  had  been  a  Coptic  settlement  for  six  hundred  years.     By  the  end 


■  *■>(- 


Vliulo  bii] 


[lh:iijih. 


THE  GREAT  TEMPLE  OF  RAMSES  III..  THEBES. 


The    Hyposlyle    Hall    ol    the    Mortuary    Temple    built    by    Ramses    III.,    the    last    of    the    "'great"    Pharaohs    of    Egypt,    who 

reigned    between    1198    and    1167     B.C 

of  the  nineteenth  century  the  Medinet  Habu  temples  were  completely  buried  in  rubbish  to  the 
depth  of  one  hundred  feet.  French  archaeologists,  working  under  the  direction  or  permission  of 
the  Egyptian  Government,  gradually  excavated  the  temples  of  Hatsliopsitu,  Seti,  Ramses  III., 
and  the  Ptolemies  ;  for  the  local  government  made  a  friendly  arrangement  with  the  townspeople 
of  Medinet  Habu  to  remove  to  another  site  provided  for  them. 

The  most  noteworthy  buildings  of  this  group  of  Thebes  ruins  are  these  here  illustrated — the 
Pavilion  and  the  great  Mortuary  Temple  built  by  Ramses  HI.  of  the  Twentieth  Dynasty,  the  last 
of  the  "  great  "  Pharaohs  of  Egypt,  who  reigned  between  1198  and  1167  B.C. 

The  Pavilion  has  a  somewhat  Asiatic  look,  with  its  crenellated  towers,  and  this  is  due  to  the 
strong  Syrian  influence  then  prevailing  at  the  Egyptian  court,  which  affected  the  architectural  style 
of  the  later  Ramsesides.     This  Pavilion  forms  a  kind  of  triumphal  entiance  to  the  great  Mortuary 


Africa 


417 


Temple  of  Ramses  III.,  which  was  probably  adjacent  to  the  King's  Palace,  and  which  lies  beyond 
the  first  and  second  courts  of  the  Temples  of  Amenhotep  I.  and  Tehutimes  I.  On  the  walls  of  tlie 
Pavilion  are  many  interesting  scenes  incised  on  the  stone  showing  Ramses  III.  warring  against 
Nubians  and  Libyans.  Hittites.  Amorites,  Sardinians,  Etruscans,  Sicilians,  and  that  mysterious 
people  the  Philistines.  In  the  great  Mortuary  Temple,  with  its  first  and  second  courts  and  its 
tremendous  Hall  of  Pillars  (illustrated  in  the  accompanying  photograph),  Ramses  III.  is  described 
as  "a  plundering  lion  terrifying  the  goats,"  and  "a  mountain  of  granite  which  fell  on  the  Libyans 
so  that  their  blood  was  like  a  flood  and  their  bodies  were  crushed  on  the  spot."  The  King,  in  these 
battle  pictures,  is  represented  as  charging  into  the  midst  of  the  Libyans  and  leaving  behind  him  in 
his  victorious  career  "  sixty  miles  of  butcher}'."  The  Libyans  are  represented  with  long  hair  and  side 
locks  and  abundant  beards,  very  like  the  Berber  peoples  of  Morocco  and  Algeria  at  the  present  day. 
The  Mortuary  Temple  ascribed  to  Amenhotep  and  his  successor  Tehutimes  I.,  in  the  desert 
region  bordering  Thebes,  is  preceded  by  a  First  Court,  and  by  a  vestibule  and  pylons  which  were 
erected  by  the  later  Ptolemies  and  the  Roman  Caesars.  The  old  Egyptian  temple  of  the  Pharaohs 
of  the  Eighteenth  Dj'nasty  (which  ruled  over  the  two  Egypts  between  15S0  and  1350  B.C.).  is 
generally  styled  the  Second  Court.  Although  tliis  temple  was  completed  probably  by  Tehutimes  III., 
it  subsequently  fell  into  ruin,  and  according  to  an  inscription  found  on  its  walls,  it  was  restored 
and  rebuilt  under  the  name  of  "  the  Splendid  Throne  of  Amon-ra  "  bv  a  little-known  Pliaraoh, 
Painezem  L.   who  reitjned  between   lofiy  and   1026   rx. 


Phnio  6k] 


1111;    G,\LLEI<^     OF     lEHUriMES    I. 


Tehutimc*     lor     lKollimes>    I,    wn*     the     BUcccssor.     prrhapB    tKp     son.    of     Amfnhotcp    I.,    and    a    Pharaoh    o(    the     Wlllth    or 
srcateat    1  hrban  "    dvna«ty.        This     second    court     waa     bcKUn     by     Amrnhoirp    I.    about     I5S7     B.C.     but     was    taken    over    and 
continued    by    Tehutimes    I.    and    added    to    by    his    successors. 

2S 


4i8 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

B^l   SIR  HARRY  JOHNSTOX,   G.CJI.G. 

The  Barrage  of  the  Nile  at  the  First  Cataract.— In  describing  preceding  jphotographs  of  the 
Island  of  Phite  and  its  temples,  the  history  of  Assouan  and  of  Egyptian  settlement  at  the  First 
Cataract  was  dealt  with  in  order  to  explain  the  subsequent  importance'  of  Philae.  Soon  after  the 
British  occupation  of  Egypt,  a  study  of  the  country  by  competent  engineers  led  to  the  conclusion 
that  no  really  great  advance  could  be  made  in  increasing  the  supply  of  water  for  irrigating  Upper 
and  Lower  Egypt  until,  and  unless,  the  Nile  was  dammed  at  the  First  Cataract.  In  spite  of  the 
great  weir  at  Assiut  and  the  barrage  at  Esna,  and  the  celebrated  Barrage  twelve  miles  north  of 
Cairo  (begun  by  a  French  engineer  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  finished  by  British 
engineers  in  1890-1901),  the  supply  of  Nile  water  during  the  months  of  May  and  June  was  completely 
exhausted.  In  those  months  no  water  flowed  out  through  the  mouths  of  the  Nile  into  the  sea.  It 
was  all  taken  up  in  irrigating  the  agricultural  regions  of  Egypt,  and.  of  course,  the  limit  of  the  water 

_^  supply  meant  the  limit  of  cultiva- 
tion. Given  enough  water  from 
the  Nile — that  is  to  say,  from  the 
tremendous  rainfall  of  Central 
Africa — and  the  Desert  of  Egypt 
(except  where  the  area  is  bare 
rock)  could  be  made  to  blossom 
as  the  rose  and  provide  the  world 
with  an  enormous  supply  of  cotton, 
wheat,  sugar,  and  other  vegetable 
products.  The  climate  is  so  genial, 
the  supply  of  sunshine  so  con- 
tinual, that  perennial  cultivation 
could  be  carried  on  throughout 
Egypt,  if  only  there  were  sufficient 
water  in  this  rainless  land.  Other 
considerations  in  selecting  the  site 
for  a  dam  higher  up  than  Assiut 
had  to  be  taken  into  account, 
namely,  that  during  the  times  of 
highest  flood  the  Nile  water  is  sa 
charged  with  alluvial  matter  that 
if,  in  this  late  summer  and  early 
autumn  season  of  the  year,  the 
flooded  Nile  were  banked  up,  it 
would  soon  deposit  enough  mud  at 
the  bottom  of  the  reservoir  to  fill 
this  vast  receptacle  in  the  course 
of  a  few  years.  It  was  necessary, 
therefore,  to  select  some  such  site 
as  the  head  of  the  First  Cataract, 
where     the    Nile    is    well    above- 


PttPio  bill 


Thr 


yiillri.!i. 

A    LOCK    IN    THE    GREAT    DAM    AT    ASSOUAN. 

is  one   of   ihe  upper    row    of    locks  or  sluices,  of  which   there    are   lorly 
in    all.    each    seventy-five  feet    square. 


420 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


ggfes- 


:^i 


.  / 


.-,- r; 


-a 

1 


sea-level,  to  make  a  dam  which 
would  bank  up  the  water  of  the 
river  when  it  was  not  in  flood, 
namely,  during  the  months 
from  December  to  April.  Con- 
sequently, the  site  for  the  great 
dam  of  the  Nile  was  fixed  at  the 
First  Cataract  above  Assouan, 
where  a  dyke  of  red  granite 
crosses  the  river  valley.  This 
granite  is  so  hard  that  the  river 
as  yet  has  been  unable  through 
countless  centuries  to  cut  a  deep 
channel  through  it.  The  dyke, 
in  fact,  was  a  sort  of  subscription 
tendered  by  Nature  towards  half 
the  cost  of  damming  the  Nile,  as, 
if  it  were  made  use  of,  there  was 
no  necessity  for  laying  the  foun- 
dations of  the  dam  under  water. 
This  great  feat  of  engineer- 
ing, nevertheless,  offered  many 
difficulties,  and  was,  of  neces- 
sity, extremely  costly.  The 
engineer  who  designed  it  was 
the  celebrated  Sir  William  Will- 
cocks.  The  contractors  who 
undertook  to  carry  out  the 
work  at  a  total  cost  of  two 
million  sterling,  were  the  firm 
of  the  late  Sir  John  Aird. 
The  original  plans  of  Sir  Wilham  Willcocks  were  interfered  with  by  the  outcry  raised  by 
archaeologists  as  to  the  fate  of  Philse  Island.  It  was  reaUzed  that  the  raising  of  the  level  of  the 
Nile  during  the  winter  months  would  submerge  a  good  deal  of  Phila;  Island  and  leave  some  of  the 
principal  temples  standing  in  the  water.  So  to  content  these  cavillers  (who,  as  events  subsequently 
turned  out,  were  exaggerating  the  damage  which  would  be  done  to  the  monuments)  the  scheme 
•was  modified.  At  present  the  greatest  depth  of  water  which  is  stored  up  in  the  dam  (which  is  one 
and  a  quarter  miles  long  across  the  river)  is  sixty-five  feet.  The  dam  is  pierced  by  one  hundred 
and  forty  under-sluices  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  square  feet  each,  and  by  forty  upper-sluices  seventy- 
ifive  feet  square.  When  these  are  fully  open  they  are  capable  of  discharging  three  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  cubic  feet  of  water  per  second.  The  storage  capacity  of  the  reservoir  (which  forms 
a  lake  above  the  First  Cataract  nearly  two  hundred  miles  long)  is  about  three  million  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  cubic  feet  of  water,  a  capacity  which  is  reached  about  the  end  of  March. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  dam  a  canal  has  been  made  with  four  locks,  so  that  the  navigation  of 
the  Nile  is  not  obstructed. 

The  success  of  this  work  has  been  so  great  that  it  has  silenced  the  protesters  against  damage 
which  might  be  done  to  some  of  the  architectural  remains  of  Ancient  Egypt.  In  1907  the  Egyptian 
Government  decided  to  carry  out  the  plan  originally  designed  by  Sir  William  Willcocks,  and  to 
raise  the  Assouan  dam  twenty-six  feet  higher  than  the  present  level. 


From  Stereo  copyrigfiQ 

An    obelisk    ninetv-lwt 
Cataract,    near     Assouan. 
some    fla\v-     in     the     stone. 
3.830    years    ago.        Large 
feet    of    unspoilt    granite. 


1 


[r„j,v,f:...,/ ,(  /■,,,/<, 


I  feet  long,  slill  lying  in  the  granite  quarry  at  the  First 
This  obelisk,  partly  cut  out.  was  probably  rejected  for 
by  the  architect  of  Senusert  I.  tXIIth  dynasty),  some 
blocks  have    been    hacked    off  it,    but   it   still  measures    forty 


o   -x 


<     s  = 


C2   a 


Af 


nca 


421 


Ninety-Ttuo  foot  Obelisk  still  lying  in  the  Granite  Quarry  near  the  First  Cataract,  Assouan. — 
The  region  round  Assouan  was  regarded  by  the  Egyptians  of  early  days,  even  as  far  back  as  the  First 
and  Second  Dynasties,  as  semi-sacred,  owing  to  the  beauty  of  its  red  granite  (syenite).  The  quarries 
from  which  this  stone  was  cut  lie  in  the  eastern  desert  between  Assouan  and  Shelal.  In  the  first 
quarry  to  be  reached  from  Assouan,  a  huge  unfinished  obelisk,  about  ninety  feet  in  length  and  nine 
feet  in  breadth,  may  be  seen,  quarried  but  not  removed  from  the  parent  rock,  and  with  sides  that 
have  not  been  fully  trimmed.  Another  obehsk  lies  similarly  amongst  the  rocks  near  the  railway 
station  of  Shelal.  Mr.  Weigall  points  out  that  a  similar  obelisk  erected  at  Karnak,  and  obtained 
from  these  quarries,  was  cut  from  the  granite  matrix,  despatched  two  hundred  miles  to  the  north, 
and  erected  in  seven  months  from  the  time  at  which  the  order  for  it  had  been  given. 

The  method  employed  for  quarrying  these  stones  in  the  times  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians  was  to 
make  a  series  of  wedge-shaped  holes  (by  means  of  drills  and  picks)  along  a  straight  line.  Into 
these  were  hammered  wooden  wedges,  which  were  then  soaked  by  water  being  poured  over  them. 
As  the  wood  expanded  it  cracked  the  stone.  The  blocks  split  off  from  the  hillside  were  then  roughly 
dressed  with  copper  tools  and  conveyed  along  a  paved  causeway  of  stone  till  they  could  be  dragged 
by  ropes  to  the  water's  edge.  Traces  of  the  wedge-shaped  holes  may  still  be  seen  in  the  rock 
surrounding  the  quarries. 

A  Sand  Sea  on  the  Algerian  Frontier.— The  Sahara  Desert  is  not  all  sand,  as  is  sometimes 
popularlv  supposed.  Much  of  it  is  stony  ground,  or  there  may  be  high  mountains.  But  all  the 
low-lying  regions,  some  of  them  at  no  great  altitude  above  sea-level,  and  almost  certainly  the  sites 
of  former  lakes  or  inland  seas,  are  covered  to  a  greater  or  lesser  depth  with  sand.  These  are  the 
areas  known  in  North  African  Arabic  as  Arg  or  Erg.  In  Southern  Algeria  there  are  two  main  regions 
covered  with  these  dangerous  shifting  sands — that  on  the  south-east,  which  extends  over  a  portion 
of  Southern  Tunisia,  and  that  of  the  south-west.     In  proximity  to  these  shifting  sands  there  may 


A    SAND    SEA    ON    THE    ALGERIAN     KRONTIER. 

Thfse   landscapes  of   sand,   with    their  hills   and    vallcVJ.   aie   conlinuallv    shiftinc   their    features  under 

They   are   firm   to  wall*   on   nevertheless. 


vind    or   even   a    breeze. 


422 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


be  oases,  which  in  the  peace  and  quiet  resulting  from  French  rule,  are  developing  an  important 
agriculture.  The  sand,  however,  carried  by  the  wind  has  been  gradually  encroaching  on  the  fertile 
parts  of  North  Africa,  and  if  it  were  not  checked  by  man,  would  in  time  extend  the  area  of  hopeless 
desert  very  considerably,  just  as  it  has  done,  and  is  doing,  in  Mongolia  and  Northern  Tibet. 

I  have  ridden  along  the  outskirts  of  the  sandy  sea  in  Southern  Tunis,  and  it  is  a  very  impressive 
sight  when  a  strong  wind  begins  to  blow,  to  see  the  landscape  alter  under  one's  eyes.  The  tops  are 
blown  off  ridges,  fresh  hillocks  are  formed,  and  valleys  tilled  up.  One  is  never  free  from  the  dread 
that  too  strong  a  wind  and  too  much  sand  may  blow  in  one's  own  direction  and  engulf  one's  horse. 
Of  course,  in  this  way,  under  the  strong  winds  which  create  the  dust-storms,  many  a  caravan  has 
been  buried;    while  by  a  subsequent  blowing  of  a  strong   wind    years   afterwards   the   mummied 

remains     of    dead     men     and 
beasts    have    been    once    more 
exposed  to  sight.     Very  slowly, 
little  by  little,  man  encroaches 
on    the    sandy    desert.       The 
only  way  in    which    the    sand 
can  be  fixed  is  by  the  spread 
of    vegetation,    and    this    can 
be     achieved      either      by      a 
change    of    climate,    which  in- 
duces rainfall,  or  by  irrigation. 
The  climate  is  changed  and  rain- 
fall is  attracted  by  the  growth 
of  trees.     Moisture  spreads  far 
and  wide  from  each  centre  of 
cultivation,  and  even  if  at  first 
it    produces    little    more    than 
heavy    dews,    these    make    it 
possible    for    small    plants    to 
maintain  existence  on  the  sand, 
and  so  by  degrees  to  cover  this 
fluctuating  soil  with  a  thin  coat- 
ing of  vegetation  which  arrests 
its  movements  and  prepares  it 
in  course  of  time  for  cultivation. 
A  Sarcophagus  in  the  Tombs 
of   the    Bulls,    Memphis. — The 
Tombs  of  the  Bulls  are  on  the 
site  of  vanished  Memphis,  near  Sakkara,  about  fourteen  miles  south-west  of  Cairo,  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  Nile.     These  enormous  sarcophagi  lie  in  subterranean  chambers  or  galleries  in  the  ruins  of 
what  was  once  called  (by  the  Greeks)  the  Serapeion — the  temple  erected  and  dedicated  at  a  very 
early  period  (First  or  Second  Dynasty)  to    the  god  Hesiri-hapi    (Osiris-apis,    or   Serapis,    as   the 
Greeks  rendered  it).     Very  early  in  Egyptian  civilization  began  the  deification  of  the  Ox  (BuU  or 
Cow),  a  religious  feeling  which  fingers  still  in  parts  of  Negro  Africa  and  throughout  Hindu  India. 
Hathor  (better  written,  Hat-hor,  or  -har) — the  house  of  Hor,  the  sun-god — was  the  Cow-goddess, 
symbolizing  the  fertility  and  productiveness  of  the  female  principle  :    Hapi  (Apis)  was  the  Bull-god, 
the  splendid  emblem  of  masculine  force  sometimes  associated  only  with  animal  worship,  sometimes 
treated  as  emblematical  of  the  perfect,  most  virile  type  of  man — Hesiri  (Osiris)  especially.     To 
accomplish  the  worship  of  Hapi  or  Hesiri-hapi,  it    became  the  practice  in  remote  times  to  select 


Slereogiaph  hy-\  [//.  c.  Wliilr  Co. 

THE    SARCOPHAGUS    OF    A    BULL    IN    THE    RUINS    OF    THE 
SERAPEION    AT    MEMPHIS.    NEAR    CAIRO. 

In  this  and  similar  gigantic  tombs  the  Sacred  Bulls  were  buried  with  solemn 
riles.  Tn£  tombs  are  of  syenite  (Assjuan*  granite,  and  are  large  enough  to  hold  five 
persons. 


H         £ 


k 


_  -1 

J  X 

C 

3  ■" 

S  33 

S  > 

r  > 


o     7-. 

2,    > 


'VJ  '-'Hi'/, 

km- 


424 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


special  black  bull-calves  born  with  peculiar  white  markings.  Such  a  calf  was  transported  to 
Memphis  and  sumptuotrsly  lodged  in  a  court  of  the  temple.  '  Here  it  remained,  an  object  of  worship, 
till  its  death.  Then  followed  a  period  of  mourning  and  a  costly  funeral.  The  carcase  of  the  bull 
would  be  buried  in  an  immense  stone  sarcophagus  (of  wliich  the  accompanying  photograph  is  a 
good  example),  and  over  tlie  sarcophagus  a  small  temple  would  be  built.  During  the  Nineteenth 
Dynasty,  and  down  to  the  times  of  tiie  Ptolemies,  however,  another  plan  was  adopted  by  the  priests. 
Two  great  galleries  were  excavated  in  the  rock,  and  the  sarcophagi  of  sacred  bulls  were  ranged  along 
the  sides  in  tomb-chambers.  In  these  later  times,  moreover,  careful  registers  were  kept  of  the 
sepultures,  giving  the  dates  of  birth,  of  deification  and  of  death,  and  often  the  name  of  the  birthplace 
and  the  name  of  the  mother  cow.  fin  all  reference  to  dates  in  Egyptian  chronology  it  must  be 
understood  that  they  were  the  number  of  the  years  of  a  Pliaraoh's  reign,  much  as  we  date  our  laws 
from  the  first,  fifteenth,  or  other  year  of  Victoria,  or  George  III.,  or  Edward  VII.,  etc. 

Lest  we  should  think  this  worship  very  ridiculous  on  the  part  of  the  Egyptians,  let  us  remember 
that  we  have  the  same  inclinations  about  racehorses,  pedigree  cattle  and  dogs  I 

The  Step  Pyramid  ai  Sak- 
kara. — This  interesting  monu- 
ment is  of  unknown  age,  but  is 
supposed  to  go  back  to  the  be- 
ginning of  the  great  dynasties 
of  kings  in  Egypt.  It  is  con- 
siderably older  than  the  Giza 
Pyramids,  and  is  often  cited 
as  an  example  of  the  Step 
Pyramid  which  preceded  the 
more  perfect  structure  with 
sides  of  smooth,  unbroken 
masonry.  Its  place  in  the 
genesis  of  the  pyramid  tomb 
has  already  been  alluded  to 
in  an  earlier  portion  of  this 
work.* 

The  Pyramid  of  Sakkara| 
is  situated  a  little  to  the  west 
of  the  site  of  the  old  Egyptian 

"  Piufessor  Flinders  Petrie  believes 
tliat  the  Step  Pyramid  was  built  (at 
any  rate  as  regards  its  nucleus)  by 
King  Neterkliet  of  the  Third  Dynasty 
about  6.000  years  ago. 

1  The  more  common  spelling  of  the 
name  is  Sakkara,  but  Egyptologists 
prefer  to  use  the  q  as  a  more  exact 
equivalent  of  the  thick  guttural  met 
with  in  Arabic,  in  Ancient  Egyptian 
and  in  allied  languages.  This  guttural 
seems  to  have  penetrated  to  the 
Southern  Aryan  tongues,  such  as  Greek 
and  Latin.  It  is  the  parent  of  our 
letter  q.  In  the  modern  Egyptian 
dialect  it  is  often  replaced  by  a  gasp 
or  a  hiatus,  so  that  Saqqara  is  often 
pronotmced  by  the  donkey-boys  Sa'ara. 


IHE  ENTRANCE  TO  THE  SERAPEION  AT  SAKKARA. 

Tne  exiraDrdinary  Srrapeion  tSerapeum'.  or  burial  place  of  the  Sacred  Apis  Bulls, 
was  discovered  by  Mariette.  a  French  Egvptclogist,  about  thiitv  years  ago.  Hel\vorIi«-'d 
cbiefly   on  slight  indications  in  the  writings  o\  the   Roman  geographer  Strabo. 


Africa 


425 


capital  of  Memphis  ("  Meii- 
nofer,"  or  "  the  good  place." 
as  it  was  called  by  the  Egyp- 
tians). It  is  probably  the 
tomb  of  a  king  of  the  First 
Dynasty,  and  consists  of  six 
courses  of  steps  made  of  small 
stones,  put  together  with  very 
rough  masonry.  Originally — 
namely,  when  first  constructed 
—it  was  much  smaller.  Then 
it  was  added  to  at  different 
times,  but  for  what  purpose, 
or  in  whose  honour,  is  not 
yet  known,  the  Step  Pj-ramid 
being  one  of  the  unsolved 
mysteries  of  Eg\'pt. 

The  Roman  Aqueduct  ai 
Tunis. — This  is  a  \ery  promi- 
nent feature  in  the  scenery, 
and  anyone  driving  about  the 
outskirts  of  Tunis  is  bound  to 
pass  and  re-pass  this  wonder- 
ful aqueduct,  which  originally 
covered  a  distance  of  over 
forty  miles.  It  was  built  by 
the  Romans  to  convey  the 
water  from  the  summit  of 
Zaghwan  mountain  to  Car- 
thage. The  ruins  near  Tunis 
are  chiefly  met  with  in  the 
slight  depression  of  the  Wadi 
Melam  (near  the  Bardo 
suburb),  and  are  usually 
known     as     the     "Spanish" 

Aqueduct,    because   the   Spaniards,    during   tla-ir   thirty-five   years'    ()ccu]>ation    of    Tunis 
sixteenth  centviry.  restored  the  aqueduct  to  partial  use. 

The  Street  of  the  Camels,  >l/^rer5.— Algiers,  like  so  many  towns  of  the  North  African  coast, 
is  of  great  antiquity  as  a  centre  of  human  habitation,  though  under  its  jircscnt  name  (which  is 
supposed  by  some  to  be  a  corruption  of  the  Arab  words  Al-jazair— the  islands— from  two  little  islets 
which  have  since  been  linked  to  the  mainland,  and  by  others  to  be  the  corruption  of  an  old  Berber 
name,  Jir  or  Zir)  it  only  dates  from  the  tenth  century  of  the  Christian  era.  wlien  it  was  built  or 
rebuilt  by  the  son  of  a  great  Berber  chief  named  Ziri.  In  this  period  it  was  sometimes  known  as 
Jazair  bini  Masghanna.  or  the  two  Islands  of  the  Sons  of  Masghanna.  But  it  was  simply  the 
rebuilding  of  the  Roman  town  of  Icosium,  which  had  been  partially  destroyed  in  the  fifth  century 
by  the  Vandals  ;  and  Icosium  was  only  a  Roman  continuation  of  a  Numidian  town  which  had 
preceded  the  Roman  settlement.  This,  again,  can  be  traced  back  to  the  remote  antiquity  of 
Neolithic  times.  Curiously  enough,  before  Algiers  became  a  human  settlement  the  site  or  the  vicinity 
of  this  town,  which  has  little  streams  of  fresh  water  flowing  down  from  the  hills  and  mountains 


THE     IMERiOR    OF    THE    SERAPEION     AT    SAKKARA. 

In   the  Serapeion   there  is  an  avenue    600     feet    long,   with    hundreds    of    sphinxes    to 


cuide  the  way.  On  either  side  of  a  vast  subterranean  hall,  to  w.-hich  this  avenue 
leads  a  hall  1.200  feet  Ions  there  were  v.jults  for  the  granite  sarcophagi  of  the 
Sacred   Bulls. 


the 


426 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


behind,  was  the  haunt  of  enormous  quantities  of  wild  animals.  In  the  truly  beautiful  botanical 
gardens  of  the  city,  which  are  half  an  hour's  tram  ride  from  its  centre,  the  remains  of  the  African 
elephant,  the  hippopotamus  and  a  huge  buffalo  with  enormous  horns  are  constantly  being  dug  up. 

The  Rue  des  Chameaux  is  one  of  the  many  picturesque  streets  of  Moorish  Algiers.  This  phase 
of  the  town — as  a  great  capital  of  the  Moorish  corsairs — began  in  the  sixteenth  century,  after 
Algiers  had  been  snatched  from  the  Spaniards  by  the  Turkish  pirates  nicknamed  the  Brothers 
Barbarossa,  who  not  only  repulsed  the  Spaniards,  but  laid  the  foundations  of  a  Turkish  dominion 
over  much  of  North  Africa.  During  the  si.xteenth  century  much  of  the  picturesque  part  of  the  town 
was  built.  Fortunately,  a  good  deal  of  it  remains  to  delight  the  eye  of  the  tourist,  for  beyond 
question  the  old  parts  of  Algiers  are  one  of  the  most  picturesque  incidents  in  the  world's  scenery. 
These  streets  ascend  by  innumerable  short  steps  to  the  heights  above,  on  which  the  great  Kasba. 


■.■t 


Steieoijtajtfi  Ity] 


[«.  C.  While  Vo. 


THE    ROMAN    AQUEDUCT.    NEAR    TUNIS. 


This  aqueduct   now  only  remains    in   portions,   but  it  extended    once    all   the    way    from    the    upper    part   of   Zaghwan    mountain    to 

Carthage,  a  distance  of  abjut  fortv-fivc  miles. 

or  fort,  was  constructed.  In  spite  of  the  steep  climb,  some  of  these  streets,  such  as  that  which  is 
here  illustrated,  could  be  ascended  by  camels.  Others  are  only  accessible  to  human  beings  on  foot. 
The  ascent  to  the  Kasba  by  these  narrow  streets  is  an  indispensable  excursion  to  all  who  are  able 
to  stand  a  little  fatigue.  The  fronts  of  the  houses  usually  project  to  meet  one  another,  and  the 
overhanging  balconies  are  supported  by  rough-looking  sticks,  but  the  doorways  are  frequently  of 
beautiful  Saracenic  designs,  and  every  now  and  then  the  passer-by  catches  a  vista  of  surprising  beauty 
as  he  looks  through  one  of  these  horse-shoe  arches  into  a  tiled  patio  glowing  with  bright  flowers  and 
tropical  plants.  In  some  of  these  streets  the  manners  and  customs  can  only  be  vaguely  indicated  in 
a  book  for  general  reading,  but  it  may  be  said  that  they  transport  one  at  a  glance  back  to  the  disso'ute 
times  of  the  Roman  Empire  :  consequently,  those  woo  are  easily  shocked  by  crudities  should  not 
be  pressed  to  traverse  the  old  Moorish  part  of  Algiers. 


Pholo  bjij 


THE    STREET    OF    THE    CAMELS.    ALGIERS. 


Th.  »lr«t.   of    AUier,.    o(    which    the    Strr.l    ..(    ih.    C.mcl.    „    o„c   of    .he    bet    .x.tnpi 


let.     a»cend    by     innumerable    short 


aleps    to    the    heicKts    above,    on    wh 


iich     trie     airr-ei     oi     mc    v^hhk^'v    .-    «..v.    -■     .         ,      ,  .      .l      ( •.    «f   ik- 

ich    the   ere..    K..b.  or  for.  „,.  conMrueted.     On   e.ch    side    of    .he.e    ..reel,   .he    fron..   of  .he 


s.eps    .o    .lie    heiuhta    aDove.    on    wn.tn    i..>:    n.^..    ■ .,;,L. 

hou.es    proiec.    .o    mee.    one    »no,her.    .nd    .he    overh„n,in.    balconie.    .re    .appor.ed    by    roueh-look.ne    ,.,ck.. 


428 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


The  Baobab  Tree. — The  Baobab  tree  {Adansonia  digHata)  belongs  to  the  natural  order  of 
Mallows  or  Malvacea.  and  to  the  tribe  or  group  Bomhacea:.  which  comprises  three  species  of  gigantic 
trees — Adansonia  (represented  by  two  species,  one  in  Africa  and  the  other  in  Australia).  Bomhax 
(the  magnificent  silk  cotton  trees  of  Tropical  Africa,  Asia  and  America — mainly  American),  and 
Eriodendron,  a  gigantic  tree  with  spiny  trunk,  also  found  in  South  America,  Africa  and  Eastern 
Asia.  The  trees  of  this  Bombax  group  are  very  prominent  objects  in  these  tropical  landscapes, 
and  from  time  immemorial  have  attracted  the  attention  of  savage  man,  who  has  sometimes  made 
them  objects  of  worship.  They  are  also  immediately  noticed  by  the  tourist  travelhng  through 
these  countries,  the  Baobab  on  account  of  its  enormous,  gouty  stem,  and  the  Eriodendron  and 
Bombax  from  the  huge,  rigid,  wall-like  buttresses  which  support  the  elegant,  lofty  stem  of  the  tree. 
The  Baobab  and  its  allies  are  related  to  the  Cotton  Plant  (Gossypium),  and  the  Bombax  trees  of 
America  yield  in  their  seed-capsules  a  beautiful  silky  substance  which  is  of  some  use  in  commerce. 
Tlie  very  large  seed-capsule  of  the  Baobab,  on  the  other  hand,  contains  nothing  but  a  pinkish- 
white  pith.  This,  however,  is  flavoured  with  an  agreeable  lemon  taste,  and  when  chewed  in 
the  mouth  of  a  thirsty  traveller  produces  almost   the  illusion  that  he  is  drinking  lemonade.     It  is 

sometimes  called  the  "  Monkey 
Bread  Tree,"  because  baboons 
break  up  the  large  calabashes 
to  eat  this  pleasant-tasting 
pith.  During  the  dr\-  or  winter 
season  the  Baobab  sheds  its 
leaves :  indeed,  it  is  so  prone 
to  this  condition  of  leafless- 
ness  that  most  photographs 
taken  of  it  represent  it  in  that 
condition. 

W'itli  the  first  rains,  how- 
ever, it  pushes  forth  its  digi- 
tate light-green  leaves  (some- 
thing in  shape  like  those  of  a 
horse-chestnut),  and,  above  all, 
develops  its  remarkable  flowers. 
A  Baobab  tree  in  full  flower  is 
a  very  notable  object  in  the 
African  landscape,  for  this 
gigantic  monster  (with  a  trunk 
perhaps  thirty  feet  in  diameter, 
covered  with  glabrous  pinkish- 
grey  bark  and  expanding  into 
huge  gouty  branches)  is  hung 
with  what  appear  to  be  at  a 
distance  little  golden  lamps 
hanging  by  strings  perpen- 
dicularly from  the  branches. 
These  are  the  flowers,  which 
are  large,  with  thick,  whitish 
petals,  looking  very  much  as 
though  they  had  been  cut  out 
of    felt.     The    flower    develops 


I-holn  by  pfjmisxiini  of]  [t.  ifnilfrtihngnu 

A    BAOBAB     IREE.    RHODESIA 

This    monster  is  rather  i  colossal    plant,  distantly  allied  to  the  Mallows  and  the  cotton 
plant,   than  a   true  tree.      Its  huge  trunk  is  hollow,  as  are  all   the  larger  branches. 


Africa 


429 


Pholos  6.v] 


ir.vnjil,. 


A  minaiel  of  the  Mos 
A  z  h  a  r ,  with  a  view  ■ 
of   Cairo. 


jue     of     AI- 

if     the     citv 


Another    minaret    of    the    Mosque    of 
Al-Azhar. 


A  minaret  of  the  Mosque  of  Al- 
Azhar,  with  the  Muezzins  callinR 
to  prayer. 

These  minarets  of  the  AI-Azhar  or  "  splendid  "  Mosque,  which  is  the  Muhammadan  University  <»t  Cairo,  are  much 
admired  (or  their  carving  and  for  the  alabaster  and  marble  introduced  into  their  decoration.  But  the  architectural  style  is 
Turkish    rather    than    pure    Saracenic. 

an  enormous  number  of  stamens  of  golden  yellow,  and  hangs~quite  perpendicularly  by  its  string- 
like stalk  from  the  branch  above. 

The  wood  of  this  gigantic  vegetable — for  it  is  little  else — is  very  light  and  pithy.  Consequently, 
the  tree  is  sometimes  hollowed  out  by  the  natives  to  form  a  temporary  house  or  shelter,  or  is  made 
into  a  cistern  to  hold  supplies  of  water.     The  bark  is  fibrous  and  of  some  use  in  commerce. 

The  Mosque  and  Uni'versity  of  AUAzhar,  CatVo.— This  word  is  pronounced  "  Az-har,"  not  as 
though  the  zh  were  pronounced  hke  z  in  azure.  The  foundation  of  Al-Azhar  ("  Gami-al-azhar  "  = 
"  The  Splendid  Mosque  ")  as  a  teaching  centre  seems  to  date  from  the  time  of  Jauhar,  the  general 
of  the  Caliph  Al-Moizz,  the  creator  of  Cairo.  Jauhar,  who  did  much  to  encourage  the  revival  of 
learning  in  Egypt,  made  this  mosque  a  university  in  988  .\.u.  ;  but  some  of  the  minarets  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  buildings  of  the  mosque  and  university  date  from  what  may  be  called  the 
"Silver  Age"  of  Muhammadan  Egypt — the  period  between  1270  and  1500.  Additions  were  also 
made    in  1720  and  1855. 

Though  Al-Azhar,  until  the  recent  uprising  of  Indian  institutions,  has  been  regarded  as  the 
principal  Muhammadan  university  in  the  world,  its  teaching  was,  and  is,  of  little  help  to  Egyptians 
wlio  wish  to  become  world  citizens  and  play  a  part  as  important  as  that  of  Christian  men.  Teaching 
in  the  courts  and  corridors  of  tliis  vast  mosque  was  hmited  to  a  study  of  the  grammatical  inflection 
and  syntax  of  the  Arabic  language  ;  the  principles  of  rhetoric  based  on  the  work  of  ancient  Greek 
philosophers  ;  versification  (about  as  useful  in  the  struggle  for  life  as  the  similar  fetish  worship  of 
the  Latin  verse  still  wasting  the  time  of  our  youth  at  notable  English  public  schools)  ;  logic  ;  juris- 
prudence as  based  on  the  law  laid  down  in  the  Koran  and  in  the  accepted  Traditions  (Hadith)  which 


430 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


are  a  kind  of  supplement  to  the  Koran  ;  and  also  algebra  and  a  certain  amount  of  mathematics, 
especially  such  as  are  of  use  in  the  fastidious  calculations  of  the  Muhammadan  calendar  and  religious 
observances  connected  with  times  of  prayer.  But  the  chief  purpose  of  the  university  was  the 
inculcation  of  the  orthodox  Sunni  views  on  Muhammadan  theology,  the  exposition  of  the  Koran 
and  the  traditions  of  the  Prophet. 

In  the  shght  revival  of   civilization  in  Egypt,  which  the  changes  wrought  under  the  reign  of 
Ismail  Pasha  brought  about,  an  attempt  was  made  to  introduce  modern  teaching  on  philosophical 

questions  into  the  Al  -  Azhar 
University  through  the  engage- 
ment of  Afghan  or  Indian 
lecturers  who  had  dared  to 
cast  aside  prejudice  and  study 
deeply  the  remarkable  works 
of  Spanish  Muhammadans  of 
long  ago,  such  as  those  of 
Avicenna. 

An  Afghan  professor,  named 
Jamal  ad-Din,  attempted  be- 
ween  1872  and  1878,  to  ex- 
pound Avicenna  and  similar 
writers  to  the  students  at  Al- 
Azhar,  and  to  open  their 
minds  in  regard  to  real  facts 
in  geography  and  astronomy 
(for  at  Al  -  Azhar,  probably 
till  the  present  day,  the 
students  have  been  taught,  or 
allowed  to  believe,  that  the 
sun  goes  round  the  earth  and 
that  the  earth  is  the  centre  of 
the  universe). 

Jamal  ad-Din  brought  with 
him  a  globe  into  the  Al-Azhar 
Mosque  with  which  to  explain 
the  form  of  the  earth  and  the 
chief  ideas  now  held  about 
mundane  geography  and  the 
universe  in  general.  But  the 
other  and  more  orthodox  pro- 
fessors opposed  him  almost  with 
violence,  forbade  his  entrance 
into  the  mosque,  and  in  1879 
procured  his  exile.  So  long  as  the  Muhammadan  world  allows  by  common  consent  knowledge  to  be 
strangled  by  religion  at  its  fountain  head,  so  long  they  will  occupy  a  position  of  hopeless  inferiority  to 
the  Christian  nations  who  have  now  shaken  themselves  free  of  similar  trammels.  No  doubt  the 
education  at  Al-Azhar  is  less  irrational  than  it  was  twenty-five  years  ago,  and  lessons  in  geography 
and  astronomy  are  more  in  accord  with  the  science  of  Europe.  But  there  is  no  information  to  hand 
that  its  course  of  teaching  is  such  as  to  fit  its  students  to  play  a  useful  part  in  the  administration 
of  Egypt. 


Photo  by] 

A    GENERAL 


/  ■',,nis. 
MOSQUE 


VIEW    OF    THE    MINAREIS    AT    THE 
OF    AL-AZHAR,    CAIRO. 

Though  the  Mosque  of  AI-Azhar  was  founded  in  the  tenth  century  and  though 
much  of  its  structure  dates  from  the  Silver  Age  of  Saracenic  art  in  EgvDt  (four- 
teenth and  fifteenth  centuries),  these  minarets  are  much  more 
been    built    or    restored    in    the    eighteenth    and    nineteenth    centuries. 


node 


and     ha 


432 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


A  good  deal  of  the 
architecture  of  the  mosque 
is  beautiful,  though  the 
style  has  been  spoilt  rather 
by  Turkish  influence  in 
the  last  two  centuries. 
From  its  minarets  resound 
with  peculiar  force  and 
fervour  the  calls  to  prayer 
by  the  Muezzin  and  the 
Muhammadan  profession 
of  faith:  "There  is  no 
other  God  than  Allah, 
and  Muhammad  is  the 
prophet  of  Allah." 

The  Ramesseum  at 
Thebes.  —  Amongst  the 
mortuary  temples  of  the 
Kings  of  Egypt  in  that 
curious  series  of  bifur- 
cating valleys  or  wadis 
{which  no  doubt  repre- 
sent an  ancient  back- 
water of  the  Nile  at 
Thebes)  are  the  temples 
of  Medinet  Habu  (already 
described)  and  the  Ra- 
messeum. 

To  reach  the  Rames- 
seum   the     tourists    ride 
away    from    the    western 
at  Assouan.  bank  of  the  Nile  opposite 

Luxor,  on  donkeys — one  or  more  of  wliich  is  sure  to  bear  the  name  of  Ramses — past  the 
Colossi  of  Memnon,  past  cultivated  fields  with  fragrant  crops,  full  of  flowers  and  lively  with  quail 
and  hoopoes,  to  the  unreclaimed  sand  of  the  desert,  out  of  which  rises  in  front  of  a  background  of 
chffs  the  Ramesseum,  the  only  remaining  temple  still  standing  out  of  a  group  of  six,  the  foundations 
of  which  were  brought  to  light  by  Dr.  Flinders  Petrie  in  1896.  These  si.x  temples  were  side  by 
side,  and  (according  to  Mr.  John  Ward)*  in  one  of  these  temples  was  discovered  the  great  Stele 
of  Merenptah  (the  successor  of  Ramses  II.),  the  supposed  Pharaoh  of  the  E.xodus,  whose  army, 
pursuing  the  retreating  Israelites,  was  engulfed  in  the  mud  or  the  waves  of  the  Bitter  Lakes,  or 
some  other  prolongation  of  the  Red  Sea.  On  this  stele  was  found  the  first  mention  in  any  Egyptian 
inscription  of  the  Israelites,  if  the  allusion  applies  to  this  people  rather  than  to  any  other  section  of 
the  gipsy  Semites — the  hated  Hyksos,  or  Shepherd  Kings. 

The  Ramesseum  is  believed  to  have  been  commenced  by  tlie  Plraraoh  Seti  I.,  the  father  of 
Ramses  II.,  though  it  is  always  regarded  as  the  mortuary  temple  of  the  last-named,  whose  tomb  is 
situated  farther  to  the  west  in  the  valley  of  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings.  Upon  the  walls  of  his  great 
mortuary  temple  Ramses  II.  caused  to  be  sculptured  various  scenes  from  his  wars  and  his  dealings 
with  the  gods  of  Egypt,  especially  Amon-ra.     Under  the  Ptolemies  this  Temple  of  Ramses  II.  was 

*    ■•  Pvramids  antl  Procrress. " 


-.v-afc-W'-^  •^■^'  -••  -  >-•■:.•:-  ■-..•at  ** 


-  V    -X- 


-f  -^,    ■■.-_ 


>'>0.t*V 


[//, 


W'hu 


^X'hen     coi 
seven    to  fift 


'inplet< 
eight 


FALLEN 

this     stati 
feet    in    hei 


STATUE    OF     RAMSES    II..    THEBES 

je    must     have     weighed    over    a    thousand    tons.       It    was    fif ty- 
ght.   and    was  cut    out   of   a   single  piece  of   red  granite  quarried 


Africa 


433 


called  the  Tomb  of  Osymandyas  (the  Greek  translation  of  one  of  the  names  of  the  titles  of  Ramses  II.) 
art  was  called  tl  e  Memnomon.  and  the  name  Ramesseum  was  only  given  to  U  by  one  of  the 
first  o    modern  Egyptian  arch.ologists,  Champollion  (1828).     Down  to  the  begannmg  of  the  Roman 
pr^od  in  Egypt  S£  temple  remained  m  excellent  preservation,  and  contamed  a  colossal  gn.mt 
statue    of  Ramses  II.  some   sixty  feet   in   height,  but  a  good  many  centuries  ago  this  figu  e  was 
hat'redby  ightning  and  is  now  a  heap  of  broken  blocks.     When  complete  this  statue  mus    hav 
weghel  ove    a  thousand  tons.     The  head  is  still  there,  with  an  ear  that  is  three  and  a  ha     fee 
Tn  length    and  a  face  nearly  seven  feet  broad.     Mr.  Arthur  Weigall  states  that    he  nail  upon 
middle  finger  is   about   tWrtv-five  square  inches  in  size.     On    the  west   side  of  the  wall  of  the 
Second  Cour     there   is   a   row   of    four   headless   figures   of    Osiris,  standing  against   four   squa  e 
pZ'    They  formed  a  portion  of  a  row  of  similar  figures  and  pillars  which  have  since  fallen  into 

""The  ^reat  Hypostyle  Hall  originally  contained  forty-eight  columns  those  of  the  middle  aisle 
posting  capitals  beautifully  car^.d  in  the  semblance  of  the  calyx  of  a  flower.  This  temple  1. 
fXof  designs  engraved  on  the  stone  surfaces  to  illustrate  the  wars  of  Ramses  II.  against  the 
H  tUes  "d  the  Syrians.  Amongst  other  names  of  towns  given  are  those  of  Jerusalem^  Damascus. 
A  kalon  and  t'he  Lorite  fortresfof  Zapur.  In  all  these  wars  the  Egyptians  (assisted  by  Sardinian 
trcnaries  in  horned  helmets)  were  pitiless,  and  m  one  picture  the  sons  of  Ramses  II.  are  shown 
7tZZ  and  slaying  the  old  men,  women  and  children  of  the  Amontes,  who  are  begging  piteously 

'"  Wnd  the  Ramesseum  Dr.  FUnders  Petrie  discovered  by  excavating  the  huge  -ne  cellars 

which  belonged  to  the  religious  sect  that  was  charged  with  the  special  worship  of  Ramses  II.     The 

1      arched  with  bnck.  were  m  perfect  preservation  and  contained  many  of  the  wme  ,ars  entire, 


-fJ.om   ""    \^„^    RAMESSEUM,    OR    MORTUARY    TEMPLE.    OF     RAMSE.    11.    AT     '■"'^"^.^-  ^^  ^,„, 

n.me  of   the    Mcmnonion.   or  ihe   tomb  o(   O.ymondyos     the   Oreek   nn 


434 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


with  their  corks  undrawn,  sealed'with  the  King's  seal,  and  tlie  name  and  date  of  the  vintage  scrawled 
on  the  outside,  but  (writes  Mr.  John  Ward)  they  were  hollow  mockeries,  for  during  the  three 
thousand  or  more  years  which  had  elapsed  since  their  storage  the  wine  had  somehow  all 
evaporated. 

TTie  Colossi  of  Memnon. — The  celebrated  Colossi  of  Memnon  were  long  reputed  as  a  minor 
wonder  of  the  world.  They  are  both  of  them  seated  statues  of  the  one  king,  Amenhotep  III. 
("  Amenhotep  the  Magnificent  "),  the  husband  of  the  celebrated  Queen  Thiy.  [There  is  a  splendid 
portrait  in  granite  of  Amenhotep  III.  to  be  seen  in  the  British  Museum.  Unless  he  has  been 
flattered   by   the   sculptor  of   his  day,   he  was  indeed  a  handsome  man,  and  according  to  certain 

inscriptions,  must  have  been  a 
mighty  hunter,  who  was  able  to 
relate  that  he  had  killed  one 
hundred  and  two  fierce  lions 
before  his  marriage  to  the 
Queen  !] 

These  two  Colossi,  and 
perhaps  a  third  of  which 
traces  have  been  seen  in  the 
Nile  mud,  probably  flanked 
the  front  entrance  to  the 
now  vanished  mortuary  temple 
of  Amenhotep  III.  This 
monarch  himself  recorded  that 
"  My  majesty  "  erected  these 
statues,  "  which  caused  great 
amazement  because  of  their 
size."  The  two  remaining 
Colossi  represent  the  monarch 
seated  on  a  throne,  and  be- 
tween the  legs  of  each  statue 
is  a  small  figure  of  his  wife, 
Queen  Thiy,  and  of  his  mother, 
.Mutemua.  A  figure  of  a 
daughter  stands  by  the  knee. 
(Jn  either  side  of  each  throne 
are  incised  pictures  of  the 
Nile  gods  of  Upper  and  Lower 


[//. 


117,,; 


Egypt,  who,  by  plaiting  to- 
gether symbolically  the  stems 
of  the  lotus  (representing 
unite  the  two   great    provinces 


FOUR     HEADLESS    STATUES    OF    OSIRIS    AT    THE    RAMESSEUM, 

THEBES. 

These  are  all  that  remain   of  a  long  row  of  Osiris    statues    and    columns    which    once 
flantied  the  west  side  of  the  wall  of  the  Second  Court  at   the'l'Ramesseum. 

Lower  Egypt)  and  the  papynas  (the  symbol  of  Upper  Egypt), 
under  one  rule.  The  material  out  of  which  these  Colossi  are  made  is  sandstone,  and  they 
were  both  originally  hewn  in  a  single  block,  though  they  were  each  about  seventy-  feet  in 
height,  and  perhaps  thirty  feet  at  their  greatest  breadth.  But  during  the  period  of  Roman  rule 
in  Egypt,  one  of  the  Colossi  (that  wfiich  lies  to  the  north)  partly  fell  to  pieces  as  the  result  of 
being  cracked  by  earthquakes,  which  were  frequent  in  the  Nile  Valley  at  the  commencement  of 
the  Christian  era.  It  was  restored  by  being  built  up  with  separate  blocks  of  stone.  This  was 
the  colossus  (cracked  in  the  great  earthquake  of  27  B.C.,  and  finally  repaired  more  than  two 
hundred   years   afterwards    by    the    Emperor   Septimius    Severus)    which    became    famous   in  the 


Pholv  hi/] 


lll»n/ili. 


THE    COLOSSI     OK    MEMNON     AT    THEBES. 


These  are   twin  utiituet  llherr   v.o8  once  a   third    which    has  become    enltulled   in    Nile    mudl   of    Amenholep    III..    XVlllth    dynasty 
The  name  of   his  dearly   loved   queen   is  ensraved  on   the   throne,  and  a   small   fiiiure  of   his  daughter  stands  asainst   his  knee. 


436 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


-^^  IMIHI" 


""j0t""'""' 


r/iolu  Jr. 


^J',\i  i^'-ran 


THE    GREAT    TEMPLE    OF    HATSHOPSITU    AT    DER-ALBAHRl.    NEAR    THEBES. 

This  is   ihe   "beautiful  white  temple  at  the  foot  of  the  vertical  cliff."       It   is  cut  out    of    the    limestone  rock    in    three    terraces,  and 
the  flat   walls  within   the  colonnades  are  covered  with    bas-reliefs,   finely  sculptured  and  richly  coloured. 

writings  of  Roman  geographers  for  its  musical  utterances  at  dawn.  The  earthquake  cracks 
expanded  and  contracted  with  the  alternations  of  early  morning  heat  and  cold,  and  the  wind 
whistling  through  them  produced  a  musical,  booming  noise,  which  had  never  been  noticed  before 
the  year  of  the  great  earthquake  (B.C.  27). 

The  Colossi  derive  their  Greek  name  of  Memnon  from  one  of  the  heroes  of  the  Trojan  War, 
who  was  believed  traditionally  to  have  led  an  army  of  Ethiopians  from  Upper  Egypt  across  the 
Mediterranean  to  the  Greek  Peninsula.  This  legend  was  due  to  the  Greek  historians  muddling  the 
name  of  Amenhotep  with  the  Memnon  of  their  own  traditions,  who  had  been  the  son  of  a  Nubian 
god  and  of  the  beautiful  dawn-goddess,  Eos.  The  Roman  writers  invented  the  poetical  idea  that 
the  musical  sound  thriUing  out  from  this  colossus  at  the  dawn  was  the  cry  of  Memnon  to  his 
mother  Eos.  The  sound  was  said  to  be  Hke  a  gong  or  blast  of  a  trumpet.*  Its  fame  attracted 
many  tourists  from  Rome  in  the  times  of  the  Csesars,  and  Roman  poetesses  as  well  as  poets 
wrote  verses  on  the  feet  of  the  Colossi,  much  as  modern  European  and  American  tourists  might 
like  to  do. 

The  Temple  of  Der-al-Bahri. — The  great  temple  of  Dt;r-al-Bahri  is  situated  to  the  west  of 
Thebes,  at  the  base  of  the  lofty  limestone  cliffs  which  flank  the  Theban  plain.  This  vast 
temple  was  excavated  and  constructed  by  the  wonderful  Queen  Hatshopsitu  (already  described 
in  these  pages),  who  dedicated  it  to  the  glory  of  her  father,  mother  and  herself.  Portraits  of 
Hatshopsitu  appear  on  the  walls  and  represent  a  handsome,  if  somewhat  Semitic  looking,  type. 
Amongst  the  pictures  is  a  quaint  one  of  the  Princess  Khebt-neferu,  a  naked  girl-child,  with 
elaborately  dressed  hair,  a  necklace,  armlets,  and  a  lotus  flower  in  the  right  hand,  who  was  a 
sister  of  Queen  Hatshopsitu,  but  died  in  infancy. 

The  beautiful  Der-al-Bahri  temple  lies  at  the  foot  of  vertical  cliffs,  and  is  mostly  white  in  tone, 
being  built  in  three  terraces  mainly  cut  out  of  the  limestone,  and  supplied  with  colonnades  of  white 

*  Mr.  Anhm  Weigall. 


Af 


rica 


437 


fluted  pillars  "  pure  in  style  as  those  of  a  Doric  temple."  [Indeed,  it  is  thought  by  some 
authorities  that  the  Doric  style  of  architecture  had  its  origin  in  this  and  similar  Egyptian  works 
of  the  same  period,  the  ideas  being  conveyed  thence  at  a  later  date  to  Greece  by  travellers  and 
mercenary  soldiers.]  The  actual  name  of  the  architect  of  this  building  (or  excavation)  is  recorded 
by  the  permission  of  Queen  Hatshopsitu.  His  name  was  Semut,  and  in  a  tomb  which  he  was 
permitted  to  build  above  his  masterpiece  he  recorded  the  story  of  liis  life  and  works.  It  is  at 
Der-al-Bahri — a  lasting  monument  of  the  greatness  of  Hatshopsitu — that  the  pictures  of  the 
expedition  to  Punt  are  given,  already  referred  to  in  my  description  of  Hatshopsitu's  life 
and  reign.  "  Everything  belonging  to  Hatshopsitu  was  beautiful  "  (writes  Mr.  John  Ward). 
The  doors  of  the  shrines  in  this  marvellous  temple,  the  wonders  of  which  are  only  just 
beginning  to  be  revealed  and  appreciated,  were  of  ebony,  which  must  have  come  either  from 
Tropical  Africa  or  the  tropical  parts  of  South-West  Arabia.  Der-al-Bahri  is  indeed  one  of  the 
wonders  of  the  world. 

The  Great  Mosque  at  TIemcen. — Let  us  now  turn  away  for  a  little  while  from  Egypt  to  a 
much  later  phase  of  African 
civilization,  the  wonderful  de- 
velopment of  Saracenic  art 
which  arose  in  Egypt,  in  Tunis. 
in  Western  Algeria,  Morocco 
and  Spain  between  the  end  of 
the  twelfth  and  the  end  of 
the  fifteenth  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era  ;  an  art  subse- 
quently crushed  or  vulgarized 
by  the  Catholic  Christians  of 
Spain  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  Byzantine  Turks  of  Con- 
stantinople on  the  other.  No 
doubt  this  evolution  of  beauty 
in  form  and  colour,  this 
great  renaissance  of  Saracenic 
art,  was  closely  connected 
with  the  impulse  of  the 
European  renaissance,  wliicli 
began  in  Italy  in  the  twelftli 
century. 

Before  the  fanaticism  of  tin 
Spanish  Catholics  and  thr 
bloodthirsty  stupidity  of  the 
Turks  had  inflicted  deadly 
blows  on  the  progress  ol 
civilization,  a  generous  feelint; 
of  emulation  and  interchange 
of  thought  and  commerce  was 
taking  place  between  East 
and  West,  North  and  South. 
The  Norman  conquests  in 
the  Mediterranean  and  on  the 
north  coast   of  Africa,  and  the 


rili'(o  I'll]  l.Wiir.ovill    I  r,i/l. 

THE    MAHRAB    AND     PULPIT    IN     1HE    GRAND    MOSQUE    AT 
TLEMCEN.     ALGERIA 

T  Kis  mosque  and  other  buildinRS  ot  TIemcen  reprcBcnt  n  veiy  notable  develop. 
ment  of  Saracenic  art  in  Vl'cstcrn  Aleeria  and  Morocco  which  arose  under  Berber 
dynasties    between    the    thirteenth    and   fifteenth    centuries. 


438 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Crusades  which  brought  the  warriors  of  France,  England  and  Germany  to  Syria  and  Egypt,  really 
stimulated  rather  than  checked  this  fusion  of  Muhammadan  and  Christian  ideas  and  this 
revival  of  Greek  and  Roman  culture.  The  Arab  rule  over  North  Africa,  especially,  had 
almost  faded  away  before  a  great  revival  of  indigenous  Berber  or  Libyan  peoples,  who 
founded  dynasty  after  dynasty,  kingdom  after  kingdom,  in  Mauretania  and  Spain. 
Prominent  amongst  centres  of  their  art  and  luxury  was  the  beautiful  city  of  Tlem9en 
(Tlamsaii)    situated  at    an    altitude  of    about  three    thousand   three  hundred   feet  on   the  flanks 

of  a  great  mountain  (Jebel  Tarmi), 
in  the  very  mountainous  country  of 
Western  Algeria,  at  no  great  distance 
from  the  modern  boundaries  of  Morocco. 
Tlem^en  was  no  doubt  a  Roman  colony 
under  the  name  of  Pomaria,  which 
may  have  meant  the  fruit  yielding, 
or  orchard,  city.  Here  the  invading 
Arabs  and  their  Berber  allies  built  the 
town  of  Agadir,  not  long  after  all 
traces  of  Byzantine  rule  had  dis- 
appeared from  North  Africa,  and 
Agadir  developed  into  Tlamsan  (written 
by  the  French  Tlemgen).*  After  many 
vicissitudes  under  the  different  Arab 
and  Berber  dynasties,  during  which 
Tlem^en  was  alternately  built,  burnt, 
plundered,  starved,  rebuilt,  and  left  to 
decay,  it  became  the  capital  of  a  great 
Berber  dynasty  known  as  the  Abd-al- 
Wad.  This  dynasty  really  began  to 
rule  Tlemgen  in  1227,  as  the  viceroys 
of  the  Al-Mohad  emperors  who  reigned 
over  Spain  and  North  Africa.  The 
great  warrior  Yaghmorassen-bin-Zeyan 
converted  this  vice-royalty  into  a  sove- 
reignty in  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century.  Tlem^en,  as  we  see  it  to-day, 
really  took  its  origin  from  the  magnifi- 
cent buildings  erected  by  Yaghmorassen 
at  this  period. 

The  Great  Mosque,  which  is  here 
illustrated,  was  commenced  and 
mainly  finished  by  about  1300  \.t>. 
It  is  a  vast  building  of  about  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  feet  square,  flanked  with  a  rec- 
tangular minaret  one  hundred  and  fifteen  feet  high.  This  minaret  is  decorated  with  small 
columns  of  marble  and  mosaics  of  lacquered  porcelain.  The  staircase  leading  to  the  top  contains 
one  hundred  and  thirty  steps.  The  great  mosque  itself  is  entered  by  eight  doors  which  open  on  to 
a  splendid  court  paved  with  what  the  French  call  "  onyx  "  (a  kind  of  marble),  and  with  a  fountain 
of  the  same  beautiful  stone.  The  sanctuary  of  the  mosque  itself  has  its  ceiling  supported  by  seventy- 
two  columns,  and  beautiful  arcades  of  the  style  illustrated  in  the  accompanying  pictures.     The 

•  The  Talensin  of  Leo  Africanus. 


Pholo  bill 
THE    MAHRAB    OF    THE    GRAND    MOSQUE 


[Nr-nnlffin  Frcres. 
AT    TLEMCEN. 


Note  the  exquisite  carving  of  the  fine  stucco  and  the  beautifully-shaped 
Mahrab  with  its  perfect  horse-shoe  arch.  The  Mahrab  or  Mihrab  in  a 
mosque  is  the  niche  which  represents  the  direction  in  which  lies  the  sacred 
city  of  Mekka.  In  reality  the  Mahrab  shrine  is  the  relic  of  an  esoteric 
worship    of    the    generative    principle. 


440 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Mahrab,  which  is  the  Holy  of  HoHes  in  all  Muhammadan  mosques,  but  which  originates  in  a  symbol 
of  a  very  early  form  of  Nature  religion,  is  a  miracle  of  artistic  beauty,  its  surfaces,  of  course,  of  hard 
white  stucco  exquisitely  carved.  Above  the  Mahrab  the  dome  has  been  sculptured  in  such  a  way 
as  to  turn  it  into  an  elaborate  lace- work  of  interwoven  tendrils  which  admits  daylight  and  air.  In 
short,  the  Great  Mosque  of  Tlem^en  is  one  of  the  most  exquisite  specimens  of  Saracenic  art  existing 
at  the  present  day. 

The  Boiling  Cascade  at  Hammam  Maskutin. — Algeria,  we  are  slowly  beginning  to  realize,  is 
full  of  wonders,  both  those  which  are  of  natural  formation  and  those  which  are  the  handiwork  of 
man.  Amongst  its  noteworthy  sights  are  the  cascades  of  hot  water  at  Hammam  Maskutin 
(Meskoutine)  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  province  of  Constantine  near  Guelma.  There  are  two 
principal  sources  the  waters  of  which  unite  in  one  stream,  the  course  of  which  is  marked  by  gigantic 
cones  of  limestone,  some  of  which  are  thirty-six  feet  high.  The  water,  issuing  from  the  ground  at 
boiling  point,  falls  into  natural  basins  of  a  creamy-white  colour,  due  to  the  deposit  of  carbonate  of 
lime.  The  total  fall  of  the  great  cascade  is  nearly  one  hundred  feet.  All  round  about,  the  warm 
water  percolating  through  the  soil  sustains  a  wonderfully  rich  vegetation  the  whole  year  round — 
olives,  pistachio  trees,  vines,  oleanders,  ash  trees,  caroubs,  oaks  and  pines.  As  the  boiling  water 
plunges  over  the  richly-coloured  limestone  terraces,  a  blue  steam  rises  into  the  air  which  gives  an 
alluring  touch  of  mystery  to  the  surroundings.  This  cascade,  in  fact,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
sights  in  Algeria.  The  hot  water  was,  of  course,  utilized  by  the  Romans.  Its  present  Arab  name 
Maskutin  means  the  accursed  baths,  as  they  are  thought  to  have  some  connection  with  Hell-tire. 
The  legend  of  the  Berbers,  or  Arabs,  to  explain  this  strange  natural  feature  is  to  the  effect  tliat 
there  once  lived  at  this  spot  a  man  of  importance  who  found  his  sister,  or  half-sister,  as  she  grew 

1 


'''"""  ''■*J  IMaximiUano  Lohr. 

THE    PEAK    OF    TEIDE    IN    TENERIFE.    SEEN    FROM    THE    VILLAGE    OF    MATANZA. 

The    name    of    ihis    village    means    slaughter,    and    it    was    here    that    a    great    massacre    of    the    indigenous    Guanches  of   the 
Cani;ry    Islands    took    place    during    the    Spanish    conquest    of    Tenerife    in    the    fifteenth    century. 


Africa 


441 


iTHE    GREAT    \ OLCANO 


TENERIFEi 


COVERED  WITH  SNOW. 


This  sublime  sp2clacle  rising  above  the  rich  vegetation  of  the  mountain's  lower  slopes  would  only  be  visible  ordinarily  in 
the  months  ol  January  or  February,  as  after  the  height  of  winter  the  snow  melts  as  soon  as  it  falls,  except  along  the  ridge  and 
peak  of  the  summit  Curiously  enough  the  peak  seems  snow-flecked  all  the  year  round,  but  this  is  due  to  tvhlte  deposits  or  veins 
of  lava  catching  the  sun's  rays. 

up  to  be  SO  beautiful  that  he  considered  no  suitor  was  worthy  of  her.  therefore  he  married  her 
himself.  But  whilst  tlie  marriage  was  being  celebrated,  the  judgment  of  heaven  descended  on 
the  incestuous  pair.  Fire  came  from  below,  the  water  of  the  stream  from  ice-cold  became  hot,  bride 
and  bridegroom  and  some  of  the  wedding  guests  were  turned  into  stone,  and  are  represented  by  the 
limestone  cones,  which  are  such  striking  objects  at  the  present  day. 

Near  to  Hammam  Maskutin  there  is  a  remarkable  subterranean  lake  at  the  bottom  of  a  cavern. 
The  lake  is  about  seventy  feet  deep  and  is,  no  doubt,  together  with  the  neighbouring  sulphurous 
springs,  connected  with  the  boiling  water  of  Hamman  Maskutin.  There  are  also  in  the  neighbour- 
hood the  ruins  of  the  wonderful  city  of  Tibilis.  an  important  Roman  city  built  amid  these  hot 
and  medicinal  waters  to  make  use  of  their  advantages. 

The  Peak  of  Teide,  Tenerife. — The  Canary  Islands  are  a  group,  mainly  volcanic,  situated  off  the 
north-west  coast  of  Africa,  though  the  eastern  members  of  the  group  are  probably  the  remains  of  a 
former  peninsula  stretching  out  from  the  Morocco  coast.  These  Islands  were  populated  at  an 
early  date  by  a  branch  of  the  Berber  race  coming  from  North  Africa.  They  were,  in  fact,  known 
to  the  Berbers  of  Mauretania,  who  told  the  Romans  of  their  existence.  They  were  celebrated  for 
an  indigenous  breed  of  dog  of  very  large  size,  which  probably  is  why  the  largest  of  the  islands  were 
called  Canaria  in  Latin.  [Tiiat  these  large  dogs  were  not  wholly  a  myth  has  been  shown  recently 
by  the  discovery  of  a  skeleton  in  a  cave.  It  was  possibly  a  breed  allied  to  the  large  white  collie 
dog  kept  by  the  Arabs  and  Berbers  of  North  Africa  at  the  present  day.]  The  most  noteworthy 
feature  of  this  interesting  archipelago  is  the  lofty  volcano  of  Teide,  the  celebrated  "  Peak  of 
Tenerife."     This  mountain  reaches  to  an  altitude  of  twelve  thousand  two    hundred    feet,  and    is 


442 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


''>""'  ^yl  [tloximiliniui  I.ohr. 

PANORAMA    OF    THE     ERUPTION    OF    THE    SMALL    VOLCANO.    CHINZEROS.    TENERIFE 

(19lh  November.  1910). 
There    were   considerabU   signs    in    1910    of    volcanic    activity— smoke,    steam,    ashes   and  even  boiling    lava    issuing  from    the 
minor  craters  of  the  volcanic  ridge  in   the   Island  of  Tenlrite.       There  has  been   no  eruption  of  lava  from  the  main  peak  of  Teide 
since  the  eighteenth  century  or  earlier. 

situated  in  the  western  part  of  the  island  of  Tenerife,  the  largest  of  the  Canary  group.  There  is 
snow  on  the  Peak  of  Teide  all  the  year  round  in  a  cavern  at  about  eleven  thousand  feet,  but  for 
nearly  half  the  year  the  snow  is  absent  from  the  visible  parts  of  the  summit.  In  the  late  winter 
and  spring  the  mountain  is  often  a  magnificent  spectacle,  especially  seen  from  the  sea.  its  flanks 
covered  with  snow  above  the  dark  vegetation  of  pines. 

The  beautiful  town  of  Orotava,  lying  to  the  north  of  Teide,  is  the  nearest  civilized  centre  from 
which  ascents  of  the  mountain  are  made,  and  it  has  become  a  favourite  winter  resort  on  account  of 
its  excellent  hotels  and  perfect  chmate.  The  vegetation  on  the  sea-coast  and  round  about  Orotava 
is  almost  tropical  in  luxuriance,  scarcely  any  tropical  palm  or  flower  refusing  to  grow  in  this 
wnterless  region,  where  the  atmosphere  is  moistened  by  the  rain  clouds  of  the  Atlantic  and 
protected  by  the  mountains  from  the  harsh  desert  winds  of  Africa, 

The  Tomb  of  Thi^*  must  not  be  confused  with  the  celebrated  Queen  of  the  same  name, 
who  was  the  spouse  of  Amenhotep  III,,  and  who  is  such  a  prominent  personage  in  the  temples 
and  tombs  of  Thebes,  The  Tomb  of  Thiy,  at  Sakkara,  is  believed  to  date  back  about  five 
thousand  years,  and  to  have  been  the  burial-place  of  a  great  personage  who,  amongst  other 
things,  farmed  on  a  large  scale  and  was  evidently  very  interested  in  beasts  and  birds.  He  was 
also  a  sportsman,  and  pursued  with  bows  and  arrows  the  big  and  small  game  of  Lower  Egvpt,  He 
attacked,  slew,  or  captured,  crocodiles  or  hippopotamuses  in  the  Nile,  He  kept  large  herds 
of  long-horned  cattle  of  the  type  now  confined  mainly  to  Equatorial  Africa,  and  troops  of  asses, 
besides  tamed  oryx  and  addax  antelopes,  ibexes,  gazelles,  and  probably  guinea-fowl  from  Nubia, 
On  this  and  on  some  similar  paintings  on  Egyptian  monuments  it  would  seem  as  though  at  a  period 
of  about  five  thousand  years  ago  (but  not  later)  the  Egyptians  had  domesticated  the  addax  antelope 
and  kept  it  tame  in  herds  like  cattle,     [This  interesting  creature — a  type  of  oryx,  but  with  spiral 

*  Also  spelt  "  Ty  "  and  "Tiy, '' 


Af 


rica 


443 


horns — is  an  inhabitant  of  tlie  desert  regions  stretching  between  Egypt  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 
Of  late  years  it  has  been  pursued  so  vigorously  by  European  and  Arab  sportsmen  that  it  has  been 
brought  almost  to  the  verge  of  extinction.]  In  the  paintings  on  Thiy's  tomb  are  shown  the  plan  of 
his  farm  in  the  country,  and  apparently  of  his  mansion  in  a  town.  At  the  country  estabhshment 
he  kept  quite  a  menagerie  of  rare  beasts  and  birds.  His  serfs  and  peasants  are  depicted  sowing, 
reaping,  and  storing  grain,  driving  asses,  ploughing  and  building  ;  peasant  women  are  bringing 
tributes  of  many  food  substances  ;  together  with  birds  that  appear  to  be  geese  and  pigeons. 
They  are  also  followed  by  little  lambs.  Thiy  himself  is  depicted  on  the  walls — a  fine-looking 
man  with  a  short  beard — together  with  his  wife  and  son,  the  boy  holding  a  tame  bird,  probably 
a  pigeon.  The  art  of  this  period  was  realistic  and  vigorous,  and  the  pictures  in  this  tomb  are  of 
the  highest  possible  interest. 

The  Tombs  of  the  Kings  of  Egypt  (as  distinct  from  their  mortuary  temples,  wherein  they 
were  worshipped  either  as  gods  or  as  manifestations  of  gods,  or  in  memory  of  their  great  deeds) 
are  situated  in  a  valley  of  the  hmestone  hills  behind  the  great  temple  of  Der-al-Bahri  and  the  Theban 
plain.  The  Pharaohs  buried  here  are  those  of  the  Eighteenth,  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth  Dynasties. 
Strictly  speaking,  the  tombs  are  excavated  in  the  face  of  the  limestone  rock  at  different  levels. 
Sometimes  the  earliest  Pharaohs  were  buried  with  the  greatest  secrecy,  and  no  doubt  the  tombs 
erected  over  the  burial-place  were  sometimes  at  a  great  height  above  the  actual   lodgment  of   the 


THE    PICIURES    ENGRA\  ED 


WALLS    OK     IHE    lOMB    OK 


Ihitlnrh. 
^H\\.    AT 


A.\D    COLOURED    ON     IHE 
SAKKARA. 

Thiy'wo*  a  Kfeat    Egyptian   landowner  ond   "Kcntlcman   former"  who   lived  about    >,000  ycnri  «KO  and  prepared   for  nimaelf   before 
hi*  death  a  maRnifirent   tomb,   the  picture*  on   the  walla  of   which   should  illustrate  hia   love  for   the  chose  and  for  dsriculture. 


444 


The  Wonders   of   the   World 


mummy  in  the  rock  chamber.  It  was  the  custom  to  bury  jewellery^and  other  precious  articles 
with  the  bodies  of  the  kings  and  of  such  few  queens  or  ministers  of  state  as  were  allowed  to  be 
interred  in  this  privileged  region.  As  soon  as  the  great  personage  had  been  buried,  the  entrance 
to  the  tomb  was  generally  concealed  by  debris,  and  it  is  supposed  that  the  men  who  undertook  the 
work  of  excavation  were  bound  by  the  most  solemn  vows  to  keep  the  location  of  the  tomb  secret. 
Possibly  the  slave-workmen  were  afterwards  killed.  It  even  happened  that  so  completely  would  the 
location  of  a  grave  be  forgotten  that  some  succeeding  Pharaoh  might  drive  the  shaft  for  his  own  tomb 
into  the  burial-chamber  of  one  of  his  predecessors,  even  someone  who  may  have  died  but  a  few 
years  before  him.  Sometimes  a  well  was  sunk  near  the  tomb,  not  only  to  draw  off  water  and  to 
keep  the  place  dry,  but  to  deceive  robbers  on  the  search  for  buried  treasure.  But  as  time  went  on, 
either  less  valuable  things  were  buried,  or  for  some  other  reason  there  was  less  risk  of  tombs  being 
rifled,  and  therefore  those  of  the  later  Pharaohs  were  not  so  much  concealed,  and  the  entrance  chamber 

to  the  tomb  was  frequently 
decorated  magnificently  with 
paintings  sucli  as  those  which 
may  be  seen  in  the  tomb  of 
Seti  I.,  a  Pharaoh  of  the 
Nineteenth  Dynasty  and  the 
father  of  Ramses  II. 

Belzoni  discovered  the 
entrance  to  Seti's  tomb  as 
far  back  as  1817.  In  the 
farther  domed  chamber  lay 
the  empty  coffin,  its  lid 
broken  into  fragments.  It 
was  of  purest  Egyptian  ala- 
baster, nine  feet  by  five, 
completely  covered  with 
hieroglyphics  within  and 
without,  which  were  beauti- 
fully engraved  and  filled  with 
blue  enamelled  paint.  It 
is  now  deposited  in  the 
Soane  Museum,  Lincoln's 
Inn  Fields.  But  about  1850 
some  Arabs  discovered  at  the 
bottom  of  a  deep  shaft  leading 
to  a  tunnel  in  the  rock  fifty  or  more  mummies  of  Egyptian  Pharaohs,  which  had  lain  in  this  place 
of  concealment  for  a  thousand  years  before  tlie  Christian  era,  evidently  removed  thither  by  the 
guardian  priests  of  the  tombs  in  some  time  of  trouble.  Every  mummy  was  labelled  and  separately 
rolled  up  (writes  Mr.  John  Ward)  so  that  they  could  be  easily  restored.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
they  are  all  now  in  the  Museum  at  Cairo,  and  amongst  them  is  the  body  of  Seti  I.,  who  died  about 
1292  B.C. 

Pompey)'s  PrY/ar.— Alexandria,  founded  after  the  great  days  of  Egypt  were  over,  contains  very  few 
remains  of  the  days  of  the  Pharaohs,  but  a  great  many  relics  of  the  Ptolemaic  renaissance  of  Egyptian 
art,  of  Roman  rule  and  of  early  Christian  monuments.  Perhaps  the  most  noteworthy  feature  of 
ancient  days  still  remaining  in  the  town  is  Pompey's  Pillar  (which  had  little  or  nothing  to  do  with 
the  Roman  general  of  that  name).  This  noble  column  is  a  great  shaft  of  Assouan  granite,  probably 
made  from  an  Egyptian  obelisk  of  vast  size  by  being  rounded  and  fitted  with  a  capital   of   Greek 


ENTRANCE    TO    THE    TOMB    OF    THIY. 


[Bonjih. 
AT    SAKKARA. 


Thsre  are  many  remarkable  Tomb  Temples  at  or  near  Sakkaia.  dating  from  the 
times  of  the  )st  to  the  VTth  dynasties.  Saklcara  is  not  far  from  the  site  of  the  old 
capital.  Memphis,  and  seems  to  have  been  its  necropolis.  The  tomb  of  Thiy  is 
specially  remarkable  for  its  paintings. 


"  -4 

S  I 

•  > 

r  z 


_  -^   o 

:,  ti     z 


c    o 

o    =-    t" 
n.  n 


S  3     I 


>   "  O 

^^  I 

n  CO 

5  S  C 


H 


o    no    > 
3--      ^ 

~  s.  r 


S-    :  O 

S   O  "" 

o.  t: 

>  z 

s  o 

3-  W 


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I 
m 
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m 


446 


The   Wonders   of   the   World 


Photo  (>}(] 


THE    MOUNTAIN    AND    VALLEY    OF    THE    TOMBS    OF    THE    KINGS.    NEAR    THEBES. 


llSnnfil, 


On  the  western  side  of  the  Nile,  opposite  Luxor  and  Karnak.  is  the  vast  necropolis  of  ancient  Thebes.  Here  are  the 
Colossi  of  Memnon.  the  Ramesseum.  Medinet  Habu.  and  Der-al-Bahri  and  other  mortuaiy  temples,  and  behind  all  are  the 
limestone     cliffs     into    which    innumerable    caves    have    been    tunnelled    to    form    tombs    for    the    Kings    of    Egypt. 

design.  Originally  it  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  Serapeion  temple,  of  which  scarcely  any  vestiges 
remain.  Dr.  Botti's  excavations,  however,  have  revealed  great  subterranean  corridors  near  the 
pillar's  base,  in  which  the  mysteries  of  Serapis  were  celebrated.*  But  not  only  that  :  Pompey's 
Pillar  rests  on  a  foundation  which  is  composed  of  remains  of  a  granite  temple  of  the  far  back  time 
of  Seti  I. — about  1300  B.C.  So  that,  evidently,  Alexander  merely  founded  another  city  on  an  old 
site  used  ages  before  by  the  Egyptian  Pharaohs  in  their  plenitude  of  power.  This  ancient  temple 
had  been  destroyed  to  make  a  foundation  for  a  Roman  column,  itself  apparently  made  from  an 
Egyptian  obehsk  between  four  thousand  and  five  thousand  years  old. 

Fetish  Houses  at  Ibadan,  Yorubaland. — Yorubaland,  in  West  Africa,  is  a  very  important 
division  of  the  British  Protectorate  of  Southern  Nigeria  (Lagos  division).  It  was  formerly  an  empire 
of  allied  states  with  its  centre  at  Oyo.  The  empire  seems  to  have  been  founded  and  the  beginnings 
of  civilization  introduced  a  thousand  to  twelve  hundred  years  ago  (perhaps  even  earUer),  by  negroid 
adventurers — hunters,  blacksmiths,  metal-workers,  soothsayers,  or  merchants — coming  from  the 
north  or  north-east.  In  Yoruba  was  founded  quite  a  remarkable  African  art  and  culture  which 
spread  to  Benin,  Dahome,  Ashanti,  and  in  cognate  forms  to  the  open  country  along  the  Benue  River 
and  the  Kamerun  hinterland.  With  these  arts  coming  from  the  north,  came  more  elaborate  ideas  of 
religion,  in  which  ancestor  worship  gave  place  to  the  adoration  of  definite  personal  divinities,  some  of 
them  embodying  natural  forces  and  phases.  To  these  small  temples  built  of  thatch,  or  of  clay, 
were  erected,  and  offerings  of  food  and  drink  tendered  ;  while  first  human,  and  then  later  beast  and 
bird,  sacrifices  were  attached  to  this  worship.     It  is  believed  that  the  extreme  north  of  Yorubaland 

*  The  worship  of  the  man-bull  or  bull-god. 


Af 


rica 


447 


even  obtained  some  inkling  of  Chris- 
tianity about  twelve  centuries  ago 
through  the  arrival  of  Berbers  (Tuaregs) 
from  across  the  Sahara  Desert,  who 
had  received  an  initiation  into  Chris- 
tian ideas  througli  the  Latin  Church 
of  Carthage. 

Muhammadanism  entered  Yoruba- 
land  about  four  centuries  ago,  and 
now  the  northern  Yorubas  are  nearly 
all  Muhammadans ;  but  the  southern 
half  of  this  region  (including  the 
celebrated  Abeokuta)  is  still  given 
over  to  the  worship  of  numerous  gods 
and  goddesses,  evil  spirits  and  good 
spirits.  To  honour  these  divinities 
fetish  houses  are  built  in  or  near  all 
centres  of  habitation,  or  occasionally  in 
sacred  groves.  Inside  the  fetish  house 
there  is  a  painted  clay  or  wooden  idol, 
or  group  of  idols,  representing  the  out- 
ward form  of  the  god  or  goddess,  and 
to  these  figures  gifts  are  made  of  cloth, 
beads,  kauri  shells,  etc.  Palm  wine 
and  trade  gin  are  offered  as  libations, 
fowls  or  goats  are  sacrificed,  and,  of 
course,  there  is  a  priest  or  fetish  man 
(or  woman)  to  act  as  the  intermediary 
in  these  acts  of  worship  and  propitia- 
tion. But  Christianity  is  spreading 
fast  in  the  south  and  Muhammadanism 
in  the  north,  and  these  fetish  temples 
will  soon  cease  to  e.xist. 

The  (so-called)  Tombs  of  the  Caliphs, 
Cairo. — These  beautiful  Mosque-Tcjmbs 
had  really  nothing  to  do  with  the 
supreme  Caliphs  of  Islam  who  ruled 
from  Baghdad,  nor  with  the  Fatiniite 
or  Western  Caliphs,  who  reigned  over 
Egypt  during  the  period  between  973 
and  1 1 71  A.I).  They  were  erected  as 
mausolea  (tombs  with  mosques  built 
over  them)  by  the  Burji  Mamluk  Sultans 
of  Egypt,  who  arose  as  a  dynasty  witli 
Barkuk,  a  successful  soldier,  in  1390. 
The  Burji  Sultans  were  mostly  of  Cir- 
cassian origin,  though  among  them  were 
several  Turks,  and  one  at  least  of  Greek 
origin.      It  had  long  been  the  custom  of 


t'rfwi  .sii'ii'iifii-npfi  i'u]  [II.  I'.    ll/,i/.   io. 

PO.MPEYS    PILLAR.     ON     THE    SITE    OF    THE    SERAPEION 

AT    ALEXANDRIA.     EGYPT. 

This  rnormou*  column  is  a  monolith  n  ainnlc  stone  and  probably 
an  ancient  Egyptian  obetitU  rounded  and  surmounted-  with  a  capital. 
It  is  the  most  prominent  object  in  Alexondria  at  the  present  day.  and 
is    over    120    feet    hii{h. 


448 


The  Wonders   of  the   World 


Pholo  6i/] 


[A'-' 


J.   T.   /■.   IMIiijfy. 


FETISH    TEMPLES    AT    IBADAN.    SOUTHERN    YORUBA. 


These  temples  are  built  of  sticks  and  clay,  with  rudely-thatched  roofs.  Inside  on  the  ffoDr  there  may  be  a  raised  plai- 
form  of  dried  mud  on  which  libatiDns  are  poured  and  offerings  of  food  are  made,  or  there  may  be  in  addition  idols  of 
painted  clay  or  wood  representing  divinities  of  the  native  religion.  Often  these  temples,  however,  are  erected  to  enshrine 
the    spirit    of    some    dead    person. 

the  degenerate  Caliphs  of  the  Muhammadan  world  to  employ  in  their  civil  and  military  service  slaves 
purchased  as  boys  (or  obtained  by  raids  or  as  presents  or  tribute)  from  Turkish-Tatar  tribes, 
from  Circassia,  Persia,  Greece  or  the  Balkan  peninsula.  Frequently  these  Mamluks  rose  to 
be  generals  or  viziers,  and  as  frequently  deposed  the  puppet  Caliph  or  Sultan  and  founded  dynasties 
of  their  own,  or  were  selected  by  their  soldiers  as  occupants  of  the  throne.  The  Circassians  who 
seized  the  supreme  power  in  Egypt,  beginning  with  Barkuk,  were  nicknamed  "  Burji  "  because 
they  sprang  from  the  force  of  slave-soldiers  which  occupied  the  Burj,  or  Citadel,  of  Cairo. 

Under  the  Burji  Mamluks  Egypt  enjoyed  a  period  of  about  a  hundred  and  twenty  years  of 
comparative  peace  (though  the  people  disliked  the  constant  exactions  of  these  foreign  princes  and 
their  soldiery)  ;  and,  as  always  happens  in  such  times,  the  forgiving  East  (so  prompt  to  smile  at 
the  least  excuse)  enjoyed  a  fresh  development  of  art  and  industry  ;  practically  the  last  before 
the  nineteenth  century.  For  in  1517  Turkey  closed  her  hand  on  Egypt,  kept  the  Mamluks  to  bleed 
her  to  death,  and  stifled  Egyptian  art  and  literature.  Sultan  Barkuk  and  his  successors  encouraged 
architecture  and  built  for  themselves  splendid  tomb-mosques,  with  lofty  gilt  domes  and  a  fanciful 
network  of  limestone  or  marble  tracery.  Perhaps  the  most  beautiful  of  all  these  mosques  is  that 
of  Kait  Bey  (built  about  1470).  This  mosque  (on  the  left-hand  side  of  the  picture)  has  a  minaret 
one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  high,  and  has  been  not  infrequently  instanced  and  illustrated  as 
a  fine  specimen  of  Saracenic  art.     It  was  carefully  restored  in  1898. 


Rout.  B.  Stacy-Judd 
architect 


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