bamboos constituted as complete a groined roof as that of Winchester or Westminster, on a scale of grandeur far beyond the bold conception even of those wonderful artists who devised that glorious school of architecture, which, in the opinion of many people, has raised the dark centuries immediately subsequent to the era of the crusades almost to the level of the days of Pericles.

On counting the separate bamboos in some of the smallest, and also in some of the largest clusters, I found the numbers to vary from twenty or thirty to upwards of two hundred, and the height generally from sixty to a hundred feet from the ground to the point of intersection of the curves overhead. Most of the bamboos were somewhat thicker than a man's thigh at the ground, where, as I have before said, they are clustered so close as to be almost in contact. They then taper off very gradually to the extreme end, where the point is not thicker than a quill. There occurs a joint at about every foot and a half, distinguished not only by a slight flat ring or fillet, but by a set of small branches, eight or ten feet long, striking out at right angles to the main bamboo. These minor shoots are again divided into joints, from which minor series of shoots, still more minute, are thrown out; and so on for many successions, the last always terminating in a sharppointed narrow leaf, two or three inches long, and half an inch wide in the middle, not unlike a large tea-leaf when spread out.

As each bamboo of the hundred or more forming the cluster sends out shoots from every joint, and as all the joints of these subordinate branches do the same, a compact mass is formed by these innumerable little branches, which cross one another at every possible angle. If a person were to fill a hat full of pins or needles, and shake it about for some minutes, it might give a notion of the inextricable confusion which is presented to the eye on looking into one of these clustered columns of bamboos. It is only at the top, where the bend takes place, that the foliage has full room to play, or where the tapering arms of this magnificent plant form, by their meetings and crossings, a complete system of pointed arches.

What surprised me very much, and greatly puzzled me at first, was to observe that, notwithstanding the multi

tude of lateral shoots from each of the main bamboos, and from all the subordinate branches, not a single trace of displacement, or the slightest obstruction to the growth of any branch, could be detected. Every person must have heard of the astonishing rapidity of the growth of the bamboo. It is said, indeed, that in one season it starts up to its whole length. I do not know if this be true, but I am quite certain that if one of the main bamboos were to spring from the ground in the centre, or even near the sides of the cluster, and that from its joints there were at the same time to sprout out the lateral branches I have described, it would be impossible for the main stem to force its way through the obstructions presented by the network, formed by the little branches growing from the joints of the other bamboos in the cluster.

After examining a considerable number of the clusters, however, we can, I think, discover how Nature manages this difficult affair. When the bamboo first springs out of the ground, it is about as thick as a man's wrist, but it is armed with a very sharp point, not unlike that of a wooden instrument called a fid, which sailors make use of in splicing ropes. As this point is extremely hard, and the bamboo always highly polished, it readily makes its way through the very thickest masses of the little branches, as one might thrust a sword through a quickset hedge. Thus, the bamboo, whose growth is prodigiously rapid, starts upwards, and, by reason of its smooth sharp end, and perfectly smooth sides, easily makes its way to its extreme length and thickness, without, as I conceive, sending out a single lateral shoot from any of its joints till the utmost extent has been gained. The subordinate branches from the joints then, and not till then, begin to start out horizontally, all these being, after the manner of the principal stem, exempted from lateral shoots at their joints, till their utmost length has been reached, In consequence of this beautiful arrangement, none of these successive branches, however numerous or delicate, find any difficulty in piercing the confusion.

I saw bamboos in every different stage of this process, and, in particular, I noticed several of the main stems rising to the height of seventy feet and upwards, of a clear yellow colour, and evidently of recent growth; but with

out a single lateral branch growing from their joints from top to bottom; and this led me to infer that their extreme height had not yet been attained, or was just attained.— Basil Hall.

THE CATACOMBS OF ALEXANDRIA.

ABOUT a mile to the west of the column, and without the walls of the ancient city, are the catacombs, nearly in as ruinous a condition as the city whose dead they were intended to receive. The real entrance to these subterraneous abodes is unknown, and the present passes off from the sea like the entrance into a grotto. On arriving at the spot, we paused a little in the narrow passage to light our torches, and perform the customary prelusive ceremony of firing off a musket, and the still more uncommon one of sounding a bugle horn, to announce to the jackals and bats, the tenants of these abodes, that they were to be visited by human beings. Then each of us, armed with a lighted candle, and preceded by our guide, crawled along on our hands and feet for about twenty yards, under the horizontal stratum of calcareous rock. The first chamber that we entered into, was about ten feet square, and rather low in the roof; it contained a number of bones, and was pervaded by a damp unwholesome smell. The next chamber that we entered was larger, and higher in the roof, contained many more bones, and sarcophagi cut in the side of the floor for the reception of the dead; and was equally damp with the first. The third chamber was half full of sand, and showed the entrance into a fourth, which may be called the state chamber; the door of which was adorned with Doric pilasters, and a pediment, in the centre of which was a coarse half finished globe, surmounted by a crescent. This chamber is round, with three recesses, one fronting the door, and one on each hand; but contained no bones, no stony excavations in the form of sarcophagi, and very little sand. The other chambers that we entered were perfectly choked up with sand, and we moved on frequently in contact with the ceiling. Here there was nothing to be discovered without immense labour, and we soon became tired of crawling over sand without any object to animate the pursuit, so we retraced

our way through the chambers that we had already passed, and regained the open air without having been regaled with the sight of a jackal, or the flutter of a bat.

The form of these chambers, the doors, pilasters, and stone troughs, or sarcophagi, show them to be entirely Grecian; in size and proportion they are fully equal to the Egyptian catacombs in other parts of the country; but in the fitting up, decorations, or even preservation, they are not at once to be named in comparison with the latter. All along the shore of this western harbour are many sepulchres of inconsiderable note, some of them under the rock; many that are merely cut into it and open to the air, and many covered with water under the level of the sea. Many baths were also exhibited to us in this quarter, which were named, as usual, the baths of Cleopatra; they are small, incommodious, and of difficult entrance; and any that we were shown were of a description far too inferior to countenance the supposition that they had ever been used as baths by that enchanting and luxurious queen, the conqueror of the Roman heroes, or any of her royal predecessors. Their exposed and dreary situation, by the margin of the tombs, rather pointed them out as the common baths for the plebeian multitude of the luxurious and fastidious Alexandrians.-Richardson's Travels along the Mediterranean.

A TURKISH FUNERAL.

I THINK I never witnessed the assiduity of the women in the sick chamber anywhere so marked as in Turkey. The room where the dying man lies is crowded with his male relations: they tell him that the angel of death has summoned him to heaven; that he should go there with a cheerful countenance; that he should meet his fate as a man, and rejoice in dying a true believer in Mahomet, which ultimately must lead him to paradise, whatever may have been his crimes. Then they make very hyperbolical assurances of friendship: declaring that they would willingly die to have the pleasure of his society in eternity; and that, if possible, they would die for him. When the patient expires, they give way to immoderate sorrow; they weep over the corpse; the nearest relations rend

their garments; but gradually the distant ones dry their eyes, and give comfort to the others. All this time

with loud complaint,

The women speak their woe,

tear their hair, apostrophise the corpse, and ask the deceased why he left his wives, and servants, and horses? The shrillness of their screams pierces every ear in the neighbourhood. It is a peculiar yell, which could only be imitated by giving the tone of an octave to a watchman's rattle. This sound is indicative both of joy and sorrow; and it is strange enough, that all the women of the EastTurkish, Arabian, Coptic, and Armenian, should have the same method of demonstrating their delight at a wedding, and their grief at a funeral.

This howl over the dead, the eleleu of the Greeks, and ululalu of the Irish, is called arrhla in Turkish, and errawa in Arabic. I have been frequently surprised to find a strong resemblance between many of the customs of the Irish and Oriental people. No sooner is the breath out of the man's body, than all the women in the vicinity repair to the house of mourning, and howl for about a quarter of an hour. They "mimic sorrow when the heart's not sad," and torment the real mourners with forms of consolation which every well-bred woman has by heart. Where there are many wives, lamentation is also partitioned; and then it is only incumbent on her who has borne most children to be inconsolable to the last.

As no Christian is suffered to be present at the preparation of the body for interment, I risked my neck, on the roof of an adjoining house, to see the process. The corpse was laid naked in the court yard, and placed in the centre on a bier. The undertaker proceeded to his office: he turned the body round several times, reciting a sing-song sort of prayer, in which he was joined by the friends. The operation of washing and shaving being finished, some camphor was put into the ears; and rose-water, or some other perfumed liquor was sprinkled over the body. Several folds of linen were now rolled round it, one over the other; the face only was left exposed; a large pall was then thrown over all; and on this was placed the turban of the deceased: the characteristic mark of a male