B is the tool which is called a saw, and is similar to the last, except that the edge of the disk is made very sharp, and cuts deeper into the stone.

C is a similar tool, but has the edge rounded, and is very useful.

D is called by the French the bouterolle, and terminates in a small knob or ball. It is a very useful tool. By means of a small one, dots are made; and the larger ones serve for finishing, by rounding off all the angles that may have been left.

E is a small hollow tube, with a cutting edge, and serves for boring circular holes, and marking small circles, as the pupils of eyes.

These are nearly all the forms employed for tools;

Those re

but the sizes are much more numerous.
presented in the cut are of the real size of about the
largest: but some are so small, as to be scarcely visible
to the naked eye.

THE SYRIAN COAST. VIII.

THE tract of country lying between the Nahr-el

Gebir and the branch of the chain of Taurus called

Jawur Dagh (Amanus) and Akma Dagh (Rhosus,) bore anciently the name of Antiochene or Seleucis, a comprehensive appellation including the minor districts of Pieria and Casiotis. It was also often termed Tetrapolis, from its four great cities founded or rebuilt by Seleucus Nicator, the first Greek king of Syria, and named Antiochia, Seleucis, Laodicea, and Apamea, in honour, respectively, of his father, himself, his mother, and his wife. Apamea, now a village called Kalaat-el-Medyk, lies far inland, behind the Ansary Mountains, and it is therefore foreign to our present purpose to notice it further; but the other cities are situated upon or near the coast, and will be described as we reach them.

At the distance of twenty-five miles from Jebilee, The seal-engraver generally prepares his own tools; a small plain projects from the foot of the mountains, the working parts of which consist of soft steel: it and runs about a league into the sea, terminating in a requires a great deal of time and patient attention to point called Cape Ziaret, nearly opposite to the northmake the tools run true: the test is to apply the east extremity of the Island of Cyprus. In the thumb-nail to the working part of the tool; if it do centre of this plain is situated Ladikiyah, a place of not run true, there is a sort of vibration which is considerable trade, with a population of 6000 perreadily detected, and which is altogether absent sons, a large number of whom are Christians. It when the tool is properly prepared for work. The stands amid groves of orange trees, and occupies diamond-dust is prepared by pounding fragments of a portion of the site of Laodicea, styled Ad Mare, diamonds, or coarse diamonds, in a hard steel mortar, to distinguish it from numerous cities of like name* the dust is mixed with oil and applied constantly to the in other quarters. The present port is two miles tool: it is this dust which is the efficient agent in seal- north of the town, but fragments of walls, cisengraving: the soft steel tool acts merely as a sort of terns in the rock, broken columns, and other remains, mould or case, whereon the diamond-dust is spread. prove that the old city extended to the sea on the one Tools of hardened steel have been found quite in-hand, and spread far beyond the present in every efficient in seal-engraving, either with or without diamond-dust; so that it is supposed that this dust penetrates into the pores of the soft steel tools, or forms a sort of compact outer crust upon the surfaces of their working parts.

other direction. Some of the ruins appear to have been Christian churches, but most of them are of Roman origin, and, notwithstanding the frequent earthquakes that have happened in this quarter, a triumphal arch in honour of Septimius Severus still remains in a tolerably perfect state: as does also a large castle of Saracenic origin, built on an isolated rock near the port.

When the artist is satisfied with his work, the excavated part of the stone is of course rough and dead: it is, therefore, polished by the friction of tools of copper, pewter, or hard box-wood, which are so There was formerly a spacious artificial harbour, and chosen as to fit the various parts of the engraving, and the present port, though small, is reckoned one of so to polish it without any tendency to alter its form. the safest on this coast. The ancient city was celeThe powder used for this purpose is Tripoli or rotten-brated for its export of wines, but this has long stone, moistened with water; and, lastly, in order to remove all the superfluous powder, &c., a small brush is used, which, like all the other instruments, is fixed into the mill, and has the stone applied to it.

It must be remembered that all this applies chiefly to intaglios, or that kind of engraved gems most commonly used for seals, where the figure cut in the stone is sunk or concave, and, consequently, the impression is raised or convex.

There is a more beautiful and difficult kind of

gem-engraving, however, where the figures on the stone are raised, as in the impression of a common seal. They are called cameos; but they are seldom used as seals, because, of course, they give concave or sunk impressions. The most valued of these are executed in sardonyx, or some other party-coloured gem; in which the colours are so contrived, as to add to the effect, as has been mentioned in the third article. The most remarkable ancient cameos, for size and beauty, are the sardonyx of Tiberius, the apotheosis of Germanicus, and that of Augustus, which last is oval, eleven inches by nine, and composed of two brown and two white layers. Many beautiful cups and vases also belong to this class; especially the Brunswick and the Portland or Barberini vase, an account of the latter of which will be found in the Saturday Magazine, vol. viii., p. 31, together with a view of some ancient cameo-vases on the succeeding page.

ceased, and it is only of late years that the town has acquired any commercial importance; it now exports large quantities of tobacco, silk, and cotton, raised in the neighbourhood, and is considered as the port of Aleppo.

There are few events connected with the history of Laodicea requiring particular notice. Like many of the Syrian cities, it was, for a while, nominally independent, but it afterwards became a Roman colony.; was captured, first by Chosroes, then by the Saracens, retaken by the Greeks, but again lost; fell into the hands of Tancred by stratagem, and long remained a bishop's see, and a strong fortress of the principality of Antioch. With the expulsion of the Franks from Antioch (A.D. 1268) it fell into decay, but has since somewhat revived. From its vicinity to the northern frontier it was lately garrisoned by two regiments of the Egyptian army, but it was abandoned by them upon the appearance of the Allies.

The coast from Ladikiyah to the mouth of the river Aazsy (Orontes) is bold and rocky, with numerous bays and headlands; the range of Casius, however, flanks the shore, rising to the height of more than 5000 feet. The population is very scanty; and of the few small places on the beach, scarce one has attained cele

The Laodicea of the New Testament (Colossians iv. 10; Revelation ii. 14,) is situated in Asia Minor, about one hundred and fifty miles to the east of Ephesus.

brity in former days, or requires particular notice at present. Heraclea and Posidium, the most remarkable, are represented by the villages of Ebn Hamy and Bosseda, the latter having a small castle; the other viliages have not been satisfactorily identified. At the mouth of the river, on the southern side, is the isle of Melibe, anciently called Meliboa, and celebrated for its purple dye; while to the north is a small sandy plain on which stands the village of Swediyah, which serves as the port of Antioch. The ancient port, now quite useless, lies about a mile higher up the river, and between the two is the Harbour of St. Simeon, famous as a maritime station in the time of the Crusades, but at the present day almost choked up with sand brought down by the impetuous stream.

Although not immediately upon the coast, Antioch, now called Antakia, is too memorable a city to be passed unnoticed. Though shattered by war and by earthquakes, and as miserable when entered as most of the other Syrian towns, the city, viewed from the neighbouring hills, has a most majestic appearance, still seeming to justify the proud appellation of Queen of the East, by which it was so long known. It stands upon the eastern bank of the Orontes, about twenty miles from the sea, upon two rocky eminences, occupying also a portion of the space between them, the rest being a deep ravine, the bed of a mountain torrent that traverses the town. The western hill, which is much the most rugged, is crowned by a castle connected with the town by double walls, once sixty feet high, and built of hewn stone, but now broken and disjointed, patched with brick, and strengthened with rude blocks of granite. Much of the ancient walls, which are said to have been twelve miles in extent, also remain, but in a ruinous condition, and enclosing only vineyards and mulberry plantations. The present population is less than 12,000, and is decreasing; the trade once carried on having been transferred to Aleppo, from a Mohammedan prejudice against a city which had been for two centuries in the hands of the Franks. Its houses are mean structures, but, unlike any others in the country, they have tiled roofs, a custom introduced by the Crusaders.

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fire, famine, and earthquake; indeed, such events constitute almost its whole history. In B.C. 146 it was captured by Ptolemy, king of Egypt; in 145 it was burnt by the Jewish partisans of Demetrius, (1 Macc. xi.,) and in the following year it was seized by Tryphon. After various other changes, it was captured by Pompey, (B.C. 65,) and became the capital of the Roman possessions in the East. In A.D. 115 it was overthrown by an earthquake, and in 155 was desolated by fire. In 260 it was captured by Sapor, and its population massacred; and in the reigns of Constantine the Great, Julian, and Theodosius, it suffered most severely from pestilence and famine. In 458, 524, and 526, it was overturned by earthquakes; in 540, and again in 574, it was sacked by Chosroes; and in 587 it was again almost levelled with the ground by a convulsion of nature. In 611 it was captured by Chosroes II., and in 638 by the Saracens, and by them was reduced to the rank of a provincial town, as it had been more than once before by the Roman emperors on account of the turbulence of its inhabitants. In 966 it was recovered by the Greeks under John Zimisces, and held by them until the year 1083, when it was captured by Soliman, general of Malek Shah, the third prince of the Seljukian dynasty. Upon the death of Malek, (A.D. 1092,) a civil war broke out among his sons, and Antioch was held as an independent state by one of his family, Baghi Seyan, when, in October, 1097, the host of the first Crusade approached its walls.

After a siege of seven months, the town was betrayed (June 3, 1098) into the hands of Bohemond, prince of Tarento, who ultimately obtained its sove. reignty. The citadel, however, still held out; the Crusaders were in turn besieged in the town by Kerboga, prince of Mosul, with an innumerable force, and reduced to the extremity of famine, when on the 28th of June, 1098, their courage having been excited by the pretended discovery of the Holy Lance, they sallied forth and defeated Kerboga, and the citadel immediately surrendered. The Crusaders passed the winter in Antioch, the time being chiefly occupied in discussions as to what was to be done with their conquest. At length it was decided that it should be granted to Bohemond, with so much of the country between the Nahr-el-Gebir and Mount Taurus as he might be able to subdue. Thus was founded the second principality of the Latins, the first having been already erected at Edessa, beyond the Euphrates, by Baldwin, brother of Godfrey of Bouillon, and afterwards king of Jerusalem.

Bohemond, the most able as well as the most unscrupulous of the chiefs of the Crusade, maintained his principality, which he pushed to its full extent, against all the efforts of the Greek emperor, to whom he had sworn fealty, and at his death, in 1108, trans

Antioch, as already mentioned, was founded by Seleucus, and continued the capital of the Syrian monarchy until the civil wars of his successors threw the whole country into the hands of the Romans, (B.C. 64.) Through the favour of the Seleucidæ, the Jews enjoyed many privileges in Antioch, and were very numerous; many converts to the truth of the Gospel were early made among them, and indeed "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch:" (Acts xi. 26.) Several of the apostles resided here for a time, and at length the city became the seat of a prelate who bore the title of Patriarch of the East. Paganism, however, long prevaled among its ready-mitted it to his son, Bohemond II., who married the witted and luxurious population, and even late in the fourth century idolatrous sacrifices were offered on Mount Casius, in honour of Seleucus, and the temple and groves of Daphne * were crowded with worshipWhen Christianity finally prevailed, the intellectual character of its population remained much the same, and many of the all but unintelligible disputes which distracted the Church in the time of the Greek empire had their origin in the perverse ingenuity of the citizens of Antioch.

ers.

Few cities have suffered more than this, from war,

Various are the sites assigned to this celebrated place, but the most probable seems to be Beit-al-Moie, a spot about five miles distant, among the hills to the south, where is still to be seen a very beautiful fountain gushing forth from the rock; but the groves and the temple are only represented by a few myrtle bushes intermingled with brambles, and three or four clay-built watermills.

daughter of King Baldwin, but was killed in Cilicia by the Turks, in 1130. His daughter, Constantia, married two Western nobles, who reigned in her right: first, Raymond of Poitou, who was obliged to acknowledge himself a vassal of the Emperor Manuel, and was in 1148 slain in battle against Noureddin; and afterwards Raynold of Chatillon, who in 1161 was captured by the prince of Aleppo*. The principality was next possessed by Bohemond III., son of Raymond of Poitou, whose quarrels with his wife and with the patriarch of Antioch procured his excommunication

*Raynold remained a prisoner until 1178, when he was ransomed; and he soon after obtained possession of Carac, (the ancient Petra,) a strong fortress on the verge of the Arabian desert. From heace he sent out parties to plunder the pilgrim caravans from Mecca, which so irritated Saladin, that having taken him prisoner at the battle of Tiberias, he put him to death with his own hand.

The jackdaw is very generally distributed over Europe, and is stationary in some countries, while migrant in others, though without any uniform regard to difference of latitude. In Great Britain and in the south of Russia it is a permanent inhabitant: in France, Germany, and some other places, it is partially migratory. In the extreme north of Europe it only

appears as a summer visitant. In the order of their migration, they form themselves into large bodies like the rooks and hooded crows, whose phalanxes they sometimes join, continually chattering as they fly. This argues no unfriendly feeling between the parties, and indeed we have several accounts which go to prove that a certain kind of intercourse, of an amicable nature, is carried on between rooks and jackdaws. They are known to seek their food in company, without showing any marks of hostility, and they have likewise been observed to greet each other in a manner which to them no doubt conveyed some definite meaning.

In the latter part of the season (says a popular naturalist), when the rooks from one of the most extensive rookeries in