THE LAST OF THE MAMELUKES.

THE above cut is a portrait of the only survivor of the band of Mamelukes, that powerful corps who once exercised so much influence over the destinies of Egypt. A late traveller to the scene of their horrid massacre, gives us the following account of his visit:

built, or at least enlarged to its present dimensions, in the twelfth century, by the famous Saladin. It is a place of great strength, and may be considered as the key of all the upper parts of Egypt. On passing the heavy exteriour gateway, we found ourselves in the court, where twenty-five years ago, by order of Mohammed Ali, was perpetrated the bloody massacre of the Mamelukes. It is of irregular shape, with high walls on one side, and on the others steep ascents or precipices, surrounded by ramparts, above which again are heavy buildings, and among them the ruins of Saladin's palace. It was a place well chosen for such a butchery, and the whole plan of operations was strikingly characteristick of the man.

"Early in the morning of the 21st, we found the grooms with our horses in the court below, and after breakfast mounted for a visit of ceremony to the Abdi Effendi, the governour of the city. Having traversed the whole length of the city, we began, near its southern outskirts, to ascend, and presently found ourselves before the frowning walls of the citadel of Cairo. Here, in this strong eyry, well guarded by It will, perhaps, be recollected by the reader that both nature and art, the pacha of Egypt has built his the Mamelukes, as a distinct body, owed their origin palace and gathered his treasures, and formed his to Saladin, who distrusting his native troops, formed arsenal for arms. The citadel stands on a spur from a body-guard of slaves, procured by purchase, or the range of Kebel Mokattam, the mountains that, stretching along on the east, help to form the valley of the Filo. Here they make a bend, and stretch off far to the eastward; and at the angle, on an irregular platform thrown off from it, the citadel was

capture from the countries bordering on the Caspian. They rose gradually under successive sultans, and all the fortresses at length being trusted to them, they concluded to turn the power to their own use, and through their beys became the governours of

Egypt. Various, after this, were their changes of | di has been in England and France, and speaks the fortune; the hardy soldiers, being generally success-language of the latter country fluently. He received ful in the field, but circumvented by their cunning us with great politeness, and entertained us with the adversaries in the council-room. The French found usual Eastern hospitalities. His questions with rein them most obstinate and determined opposers; gard to our country were pertinent, and evinced a and when, at the close of this war, the British arms good knowledge of its laws and institutions. He were triumphant, Lord Hutchinson demanded of the spoke in terms of high admiration of his own sovSultan of Constantinople, to whom the country was ereign; and indeed Mohammed Ali seems to have yielded, restitution of the Mamelukes to their former the faculty of creating a strong attachment for himprivileges. He promised compliance, but had deter- self in all his officers. The governour said that if the mined on the extinction of this race of dangerous sub-pacha could live twenty years longer, he would make jects. The Turkish admiral, who was sent for this Egypt more civilized and more prosperous than it purpose, first enticed a great number of them to a has ever yet been; but added that he stood alone, pleasure excursion in boats off Aboukir, and his and greatly needed some one who could be a second ships opening fire upon them, the greater portion self to him. were destroyed. War with their race being thus declared, Mohammed Ali, then first rising into notice, was sent with a force against them, but was defeated and compelled to retreat. This was the origin of the inveteracy of Mohammed Ali toward

the Mamelukes.

On the invasion of Egypt by the English in 1807, the beys united with the rising pacha; but it was only a momentary truce; and the defeat of the English, giving him entire possession of Egypt, sealed at the same time the fate of his too trustful allies. He immediately formed a plan for the total destruction of the Mamelukes. His son Tousson was about this time preparing to lead an army against the Wahabees, and as this was a religious war, it was determined to invest him with the command under circumstances of unusual splendour. The Mameluke beys were invited to the ceremony, which was to commence in the citadel. They came, led by their chief, Chahyn Bey; and a more splendid cavalcade never filed in through the portals of this fortress. They amounted to four hundred and seventy men, on horseback, together with about an equal number of attendants of the same race on foot. Their reception was flattering. The pacha addressed them individually, and with a blind aspect and smiles welcomed them to the festivities. At length, it was necessary to form a procession, and the Mamelukes were honoured by being put into a body near the head of it: they filed down and entered this rocky court; but when their whole body had gained it, the gates were suddenly shut both in front and rear, and they found themselves cruelly entrapped. The heights above were in a moment covered with the pacha's soldiers, and a deadly fire was poured down on them. Rage and execration were in vain: they were coolly shot down till not an individual remained alive. One of the beys escaped by spurring his horse up the steep outer wall; in the descent the animal was killed, but the rider was unhurt.

From the audience-hall we were taken to visit a number of schools in the same building; they occu py a number of rooms, and contained altogether four hundred youths preparing for publick employments in the country. As far as I could judge, they seemed to be awkwardly conducted. At the extreme end of the building we came to the Hall of Justice, where, on an ottoman and all alone, sat the judge, a man of prodigious corporeal dimensions. He was at this time unemployed, but our attention was drawn to a new mat with which the floor was covered. It had just been put down in place of one that, a few days before, had been worn through by the writhings of a poor wretch, who had been bastinadoed here; the punishment having followed close on the heels, if not of justice, at least of the culprit.

The adjoining side of the court into which this palace looks, is formed by a large palace of Mohammed Ali, to which, in the course of sight-seeing, we were next conducted. It is quite new, and in some parts not quite finished; and is more remarkable for the airy and spacious character of the rooms than for any beauties of architecture. Indeed, all the palaces which we visited in Egypt, though cool and spacious, are marked by great simplicity. A hall of great width passes across at the centre of the building, and is intersected by another of somewhat narrower dimensions, running lengthwise; and thus at each angle a chamber is formed. These chambers are carpeted, and have the most luxurious ottomans passing quite around. These, with sometimes a glass lustre suspended from the lofty ceiling, constitute the only furniture. In the palace, which we were now visiting, the ottomans were covered with the richest French silks, with raised figures in beautiful patterns worked on them. In front of the seats hung down an impenetrable veil of silken tassels.

Rev. G. Jones' Excursion.

Ivy. This plant saves many animals from want This was the end of the Mamelukes. On the fol- and death, in autumn and spring. In October, it lowing day the soldiers rushed into the city, and un-blooms in profusion, and its flowers become a der the pretext of searching for more victims, plun- universal banquet to the insect race. The great dered a large part of it before the pacha and his son durst venture out to suppress their fury.

Our horses, on reaching this bloody court, seemed themselves to be seized with the very spirit of violence; for pricking their ears, they rushed up the steep ascent with headlong speed, and, whirling through Saladin's court, and then through a larger one, brought us up at length in front of the governour's palace. It is a long building and spacious, but is otherwise by no means remarkable. Abdi Effen

black fly (musca grossa) and its numerous tribe, with multitudes of smallwinged creatures, resort to them: also, those beautiful animals, the latest birth of the year, the admiral and peacock butterflies. In its honey, it yields a constant supply of food, till the frost of November. In the spring, in the bitter months of March and April, when the wild products of the field are nearly consumed, the ivy ripens its berries; and almost entirely constitutes the food of the missel-thrush, the wood-pigeon, and other birds.

AMERICAN CAVERNS.

low rough rocks, and pushes himself forward. At the distance of a few feet the roof is so high that he ABOUT twelve miles west of the Knox cavern, the can assume an erect position. The passage varies village of Schoharie is situated, in the midst of a in width from five to thirty feet, and the water from delightful valley, surrounded by mountains from four two to thirty feet in depth. A few hundred feet to six hundred feet in height.-These mountains are from the entrance he meets with a semicircular dam composed principally of secondary limestone, in formed of calcareous tufa. This is a brown spongy which are hundreds of caverns. Many of these are mass of lime, sand, &c., deposited by water. Over interesting from the circumstance of their being nat- this dam the water falls twelve or fifteen inches, and ural ice-houses, so cold as to contain ice all the the navigator is obliged to stand on this frail barrier year, others on account of their vast size, and others and draw the boat into the water above. But he because they contain some of the most curious speci-soon meets with thirteen similar dams formed in the mens that nature forms in these dark and deep re

cesses.

same manner, from fifteen to twenty feet apart, and from two to fourteen inches above the water. The light reflected from these little waterfalls, presents a view of almost unrivalled beauty. Having passed these obstructions he soon reaches the termination of the water and ascending a small rocky hill, ho enters, through a narrow opening, the Square Room,

Upon the floor lie scattered masses of rock, which appear to have just fallen from the roof, and huge shapeless blocks hang upon the poise and seem to threaten the intruder with instant death.-At this spot he hears the mournful sound of an unseen waterfall, resounding through the chasms of the rocks, which he easily imagines to be his funeral knell. There are in this wing of the cavern no peculiar formations, except the dams, in consequence of the abundance of sandstone mingled with the limestone.

During a few years past I have explored many of these caverns, but as I would weary you were I to describe all I have seen, I will only give you a sketch of the Great cavern, the most interesting one, by far, in this part of the United States. This cavern is situated about three miles north-which is about fifty feet square, and sixty feet high. east of Schoharie Court House, and was first explored in 1831. The first opening is a gradual depression in the earth, about twelve feet in depth, which reaches to a perpendicular passage in the limestone, about ten feet in length, six in breadth, and seventy-five in depth. This opening was at first descended by a rope but it is now by a ladder, which, in its present condition, is by far the more dangerous of the two. At this depth is a narrow fissure in the rock, from which the mineral, prickly arragonite has been procured. From the base of the ladder commences a passage from four to ten feet in width, and fifty-five in length, running in a southerly direction, at an angle of at least sixty degrees with the horizon. The walls of this passage, when first discovered, were covered with some of the most beautiful arragonite ever found in this country, but they were soon stripped of this interesting mineral and the cavern, it was supposed, contained no more.

During my last visit I saw a quantity of clay adhering to the rock at the height of about forty feet, and it seemed possible that a deposite of arragonite might be concealed under it. With considerable difficulty I succeeded in reaching this spot by means of a ladder, placed upon a projecting rock and extending across the passage. After removing the clay, I had the pleasure of finding what I had anticipated, and in the course of a few hours obtained about a bushel of this elegant mineral. But I might have paid dearly for my treasure, for the least slip or unsteadiness would have sent me headlong down a gulf of one hundred feet in depth, upon a floor of pointed rocks.

From the perpendicular passage the subterranean traveller creeps a distance of twenty feet, when he arrives at a narrow opening to the left, leading into a room about twenty feet in diameter, and about thirty feet high. Returning by the aperture, he proceeds thirty feet farther, when he reaches a second lake extending across the cavern. This lake is about ten feet below the level of the first; (to which it is connected by a small brook that runs on the west side of the low opening :) and is in many places about thirty feet deep, consequently it can be crossed only by a boat. Into this he now enters, and after sailing three hundred feet over water so transparent that the smallest pebble can be seen by torch-light at the bottom, he reaches the spot where the water disappears beneath the rocks. After climbing up the steep acclivity to the right, he stands in the Rotunda, the noblest room in the cavern. It is of a regular and circular form, one hundred feet in diameter and nearly one hundred feet in height. The floor descends gradually to the centre, forming a spacious gallery all around it. When first discovered this room was very rich in mineralogical specimens, but they were long since removed to the cabinets of the curious.

At the end of this inclined passage is a second perpendicular descent of fifteen feet, and from this to the bottom of the cavern, is another descent of To the right of the Rotunda were at first several thirty feet and of about the same inclination as the rooms, but they last winter, were united by the clay third passage. Here the opening is about ten feet being dug away which separated them. In this clay wide, but the perpendicular walls reach about one have been found vast numbers of beautiful white hundred feet in height. On the north is an aper- stalagmites and stalactites, and vast slabs of alabasture sufficiently high to admit a person lying flat ter, in and on which were found stalagmites weighupon the rocky bottom. Here is seen a lake, as ing four or six hundred pounds each. Some of the smooth as a mirror, and clear as crystal, on whose most curious specimens that have been found here, bosom lies a boat just large enough to contain a are in Peale's museum in New York, the most sinsingle person. Whoever has the boldness to navi-gular of which is a stalagmite exactly resembling gate this gloomy region, unaided and alone, places the human mammary or suckling organ. lights on the bow and stern of the boat, falls upon As you are acquainted with the manner in which his knees, inclines his head to protect it from the these specimens are formed, you may be surprised

you

N. B. Times.

NATURAL HISTORY.

THE SAGACITY OF THE SPIDER.

to learn that they have been found from two to three | fifteen times, and have endeavoured to draw for feet below the surface of the clay, I will therefore a faithful description; it is true it differs much from explain how they came in so singular a situation. what has been said and written of its magnificence, After a quantity of stalactites and stalagmites were but the wider the difference, the more nearly, I beformed, by some means the cavern became filled lieve, it approaches the truth. with water, in which was a vast quantity of clay in particles. The stalactites that had fallen off by their own weight, and those that were broken off by the rush of the water, together with the specimens formed on the floor, were buried by the clay as it fell down from the water. The cavern at length became drained by the water finding a passage, probably where we now see it, and formations again commenced. It is certain that there was a long period before the cave was filled with water, because the specimens required many hundred years to attain their size, and they could not have been formed whilst the water was in it, and it is equally plain that hundreds of years have passed away since the draining of the cavern, for stalagmites on the clay were found as large as those in it.

AMONGST all the insects, the spider appears to possess the greatest sagacity, and is, at the same time, formed by Nature to be in a state of combat, not only with other insects, but also against those of its own species. Its head and breast are covered with a very strong coat of mail, impenetrable to the attacks of other insects; its belly is enveloped with a soft and flexible skin, which eludes the sting of the wasp; and its limbs are articulated, like those of the craw-fish, each of them having at their ex

To the south of the Rotunda a long narrow pas-tremities large nails, which serve to keep its assailsage extends four hundred and fifty feet, but it contains nothing of interest. The whole distance that has been explored is three thousand feet, or about three fifths of a mile, but as there is a vast body of clay in the southwestern part of the cavern, no idea can be formed of its real extent. Its depth from the surface to the bottom of the water is one hundred and eighty feet.

Owing to the difficulties in the descent, but few ladies have had the boldness to examine the cavern. The first one who ventured was a lady about seven-ty years of age, but she only succeeded in reaching the bottom. The first one who entered its deep recesses and explored the whole southern wing, was Miss -, of New Brunswick, N. J.

I have visited this celebrated cavern twelve or

ants at a distance. The eyes of the spider are large, and covered with a scaly transparent substance: below its mouth are claws, or nippers, which enable it either to destroy or to make use of the prey that may fall into its claws or web, in the latter of which, however, it seems to place more confidence than in its arms offensive or defensive; and for this end Nature has furnished it with a glutinous liquor, which it spins to what size it pleases, either by opening or contracting the sphincter muscles. In order to spin its thread, as soon as it begins its operations, it presses out a drop of the liquor, which, as it dries, forms the thread it draws out, as the spider diverges from its first position. When it reaches its intended distance, it seizes the thread with its claws to stretch it properly, and fix

it In a similar manner it secures many threads | iment, (it was a cruel one,) one of its claws was freparallel to each other, which answer as a warp for quently snatched off, but always replaced by a new the web. To form the woof, it does the same thing one in two or three days. transversely, by fixing one end to the outward threads, which are always the strongest, and the other to the wall. All these threads, when neatly prepared or spun, are glutinous: and those parts, which are most subject to be torn, the spider secures by doubling them, in some instances, even six

To see how many webs a spider was capable of furnishing, this new web was destroyed; it made another, which was also demolished: it now seemed exhausted, for it spun no more. The artifices it then used, although deprived of its chief protection, were surprising. It drew up its claws like a ball, and remained for four hours immoveable, yet always on its guard: but when a fly approached near enough, it instantaneously darted on it, and seldom missed its prey. At length, as if disgusted with this sort of life, it determined to invade the possessions of another spider, and making an attack on a neighbour- They are exclusively birds of the American coning fortification with much vigour, it was repulsed. tinent, and in the rich and warm districts within the Far from being discouraged by this disappointment, tropicks, they swarm as numerously as flies do in it laid siege to another for three days, at the end of summer in the forests of Lapland or Canada. The which it killed the proprietor and took possession of known species amount to several hundreds; and as the premises. This spider lived for three years, their native localities are not easily explored, the and each year changed its skin. By way of exper-unknown species may be very numerous. IndividVOL. IV.-52