Unknown Land.-Washington has her great unknown land like the interior of Africa. According to the Seattle Press the country shut in by the Olympic mountains, which includes an area of about 2500 square miles, has never, to the positive knowledge of old residents of the territory, been trodden by the foot of man, white or Indian. These mountains rise from the level country within ten to fifteen miles of the straits of San Juan de Fuca in the north, the Pacific ocean in the west, Hood's canal in the east, and the basin of Quinault lake in the south, and rising to the height of 6000 to 8000 feet, shut in a vast, unexplored area. The Indians have never penetrated it, for their traditions say that it is inhabited by a very fierce tribe, which no coast tribe dared molest. White men, too, have only vague accounts of any white man having ever passed through this country, for investigation of all the claims of travelers has invariably proved that they have only traversed its outer edges. The most generally accepted theory in regard to this country is that it consists of great valleys stretching from the inward slopes of the mountains to a great central basin. This theory is supported by the fact that, although the country around has abundant rain, and clouds constantly hang over the mountain tops, all the streams flowing towards the four points of the compass are insignificant, and rise only on the outward slope of the range, none appearing to drain the great area shut in by the mountains. This fact appears to support the theory that the streams flowing from the inner slopes of the mountains feed a great interior lake. But what drains this lake? It must have an outlet somewhere, and as all of the streams pouring from the mountains Latinized Proper Names (Vol. v, p. 27)-De Charpentier took the name of Fabricius; De Valet that of Servilius, and Du bout d'Homme that of Virulus. Desiderius Erasmus changed his family name from Gerhard. These and other curious instances of changed names in different languages may be found in D'Israeli's "Curiosities of Literature." By the way, what was the original name of the D'Israeli family? The Earl of Beaconsfield says the original Gothic surname was dropped, and the name of D'Israeli adopted out of gratefulness to the God of Jacob. Their present name, he says, has never been borne before or since by any other family. vaults." Malory places it at Winchester. Ernest Rhys, in a note to his edition of Malory's "King Arthur," says, "There can be little doubt that Queen Camel, near South Cadbury (Somersetshire), must be the shrine of the latter-day pilgrim who wishes to materially approach old-time Camelot." E. G. KEEN. WARWICK, PA. There are two places so called. The place referred to in" King Lear" is in Cornwall, but that of Arthurian renown was in Winchester. In regard to the first, Kent says to Cornwall: 66 Goose, if I had you upon Sarum Plain I'd drive ye cackling home to Camelot," i. e., to Tintag'il or Camelford, the "home" of the duke of Cornwall. But the Camelot of Arthur was in Winchester, where visitors are still shown certain large entrenchments once pertaining to "King Arthur's palace." CHICAGO, ILL. MRS. L. T. George. Robert Merry (Vol. iv, pp. 312, etc.). Charles Lamb tells a good story ("Last Essays of Elia") of Merry's flight to America on the day appointed for his marriage with an opera dancer. The wedding guests arrived-in six coaches-the whole corps-duballet, and the bride's father, Signor Delpini. The thought of what he was about to do now first struck Merry seriously, and quite overcame him. Slipping out on some pretense, he fled to the nearest sea-port and shipped himself to America. Soon after he made a more congenial match in the person of Miss Brunton. A Question in Grammar (Vol. v, p. 27). It strikes me that the explanations given of the last two lines of the verses of Mary Howitt are all wrong. The poem is all about Mary and her domestic work, and it would be contrary to all principles of rhetoric to change the subject from the girl to the kettle. It is Mary who "in the kettle sings a part," that is, a musical part, in the sense in which the word is applied to soprano, contralto, etc. She does this indirectly, but none the less truly, by putting the kettle on the fire and attending to it. Any other interpretation of the passage is, to my thinking, inadmissible. Spiders and Bees (Vol. iii, p. 284).There is a Hemipterous insect and also a species of Arachnida (spider) that conceal themselves in the composite flowers of some plants, and lie in wait for other insects that visit those flowers, for the purpose of feeding upon or extracting the honey therein, and these the hidden ones seize, penetrate with their proboscides or fangs, and immediately proceed to suck the juices out of their bodies, through which they perish. The honey visitors are small species of moths or bees and other Hymenoptera. This is more particularly the case in late summer and autumn flowers, and to facilitate the deception, these pirates are similar in color to the flowers, and less liable to be noticed. S. S. R. LANCASTER, PA. Ambrosia (Vol. v, p. 46).—Mr. H. A. Clarke evades the only point of criticism I made against him, namely, his assertion, "Ambrosia was the food of the gods." Let us now examine his criticism against Mr. Hamilton's translation: "And her purpureal hair breathed forth ambrosia sweet." Of this Mr. Clarke says: "It is as if one should write of the cook, she shook beefsteaks from her horrent hair,' when he simply meant the odor of beef." Hardly, my friend, ambrosia was a perfume as well as a food or a drink. In "Paradise Lost (v. 57), Milton has written : "His dewy locks distilled ambrosia," a construction identical with Mr. Hamil ton's, and it is safe to say that both writers comprehended the true meaning of the Banjula Trees (Vol. v, p. 29).—In the "Gita Góvinda," of Jayadéva, from which Arnold derived "The Indian Song of Songs," I find the following allusions to banjulas or vanjulas, b and v being interchangeable: "One of the damsels seizes the mantle of Heri (Krishna) and draws him toward her, pointing to the bower on the banks of the Gamuna, where elegant Vanjulas interweave their branches" (p. 239). "Why comes he not to the bower of bloomy Vanjulas assigned for our meeting?" (p. 252). "Follow gentle Rádhica, follow the foe of Madhu, his discourse was elegantly composed of sweet phrases; he prostrated himself at thy feet, and he now hastens to his delightful couch of branching Vanjulas" (Sir William Jones' Works, Vol. iv, p. 261). Referring now to "Botanical Observations on Select Indian Plants," by Sir W. Jones, we find Vanjula to be only another name for the Asóca, of which flowering tree he gives the following description : "The flowers are fragrant just after sunset and before sunrise when they are fresh with evening and morning dew, beautifully diversified with tints of orange scarlet or pale yellow, or of bright orange, which grows deeper every day and forms a variety of shades according to the age of each blossom." This explains why so many colors are attributed to the same plant, as later in Arnold's poem these lines occur: "Oh, follow where the Asokas wave Their sprays of gold and purple." Sir William continues: "The vegetable world scarce exhibits a richer sight than an Asóca tree in full bloom; it is about as high as an ordinary cherry tree. A Brahmin informs me that one species of the Asóca is a creeper.' In "The Toy Cart" occurs a very poetical description of the same plant: "And here the Asoka tree with its rich crimson blossom shines like a young warrior bathed in the sanguine shower of the furious fight." The Asóca is sacred to the god Siva, the third person of the Hindu triad, and is found planted near his temple. Of this favorite of Sanskrit poetry, Tennent remarks: "Its loveliness vindicates all the praises bestowed on it by the poets of the East." F. T. C. HARTFORD, CONN. Nainsook (Vol. v, p. 40).-May not this word and the French nansouk be arbitrarily formed after the Nainsuckh valley? Twenty-five or more years ago that valley was somewhat famous as the scene of the valorous exploits of Lieutenant Abbot, its heroic English conqueror. Cf. Rhadames, Vol. iv, p. 209, for an arbitrarily named fabric, taking a town name. Compare also paramatta, an English worsted fabric named The Discovery of the Ancient City of Norumbega By Eben Norton Horsford. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1890. This beautiful volume sets forth Prof. Horsford's reasons for identifying a site at Watertown, Mass., with the ancient town of Norumbega. The book is the first installment of a long-promised publication on the subject, and the author believes that he has in his possession facts as yet unpublished which will fully establish the truth of his position. Prof. Horsford believes that Norumbega was a Norse settlement, and that its name comes from an Algonkin mispronunciation of the name Norbega, an ancient form of Norway. He ap pears to have really found ancient remains of much interest, and his publication will certainly lead to further study and discussion of the question already alluded to in our columns (Vol. v, p. 27). on The Atlantic for June has a discussion of hours of labor, by General Walker. The author of the article will be remembered as the writer of a criticism of Mr. Bellamy's "Looking Backward," which appeared in the Atlantic, and to which Mr. Bellamy replied at some length. General Walker has made social questions a study, and his criticisms and suggestions on the present Eight-Hour Law Agitation" come from a man more fully fitted to speak with authority than almost any one in the United States. Charles Dudley Warner's article The Novel and the Common School," is a keen analysis of the duty of the public schools in the supply of reading for our young citizens. This and Hannis Taylor's consideration of " The National House of Representatives: Its Growing Inefficiency as a Legislative Body," are the two articles which make up the solid reading of the number. Miss Repplier has a whimsical paper called A Short Defense of Villains," and Dr. Holmes discusses "Book-hunger," the uses of cranks, and tells a curious story, entitled "The Terrible Clock." Speaking of cranks, he makes one of the Teacups say, 'Do you want to know why that name is given to the men who do most for the world's progress? It is because the cranks make all the wheels and all the machinery of the world go round. I suppose the first fool that looked on the first crank that was ever made asked what that crooked, queer-looking thing was good for." Mrs. Deland's "Sidney" and the second part of "Rod's Salvation," furnish the fiction of this issue, and there are two poems, an account of a pilgrimage to the localities immortalized in the legends of King Arthur, and several short papers of interest. " A MEDIUM OF INTERCOMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, GENERAL READERS, ETC. Copyrighted 1890, by The Westminster Publishing Co. Entered at the Post-Office, Philadelphia, as Second-class Matter. American Notes and Queries PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY THE WESTMINSTER PUBLISHING COMPANY, 619 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. SAMUEL R. HARRIS, EDITOR. Single copies sold, and subscriptions taken at the publishers' office. Queries on all matters of general literary and historical interest-folk-lore, the origin of proverbs, familiar sayings, popular customs, quotations, etc., the authorship of books, pamphlets, poems, essays, or stories, the meaning of recondite allusions, etc., etc. are invited from all quarters, and will be answered by editors or contributors. Room is allowed for the discussion of moot questions, and the periodical is thus a valuable medium for intercommunication between literary men and specialists. Communications for the literary department should be addressed: EDITOR AMERICAN NOTES AND QUERIES. All checks and money orders to be made payable to the order of The Westminster Publishing Company, 619 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. $3.00 per year. $1.75, 6 months. $1.00, 3 months. 10 cents per number. CONTENTS. Weathercocks NOTES:-Ranpike, 61 - No Man's Land COMMUNICATIONS:-Grass-Poly - Deaf Smith - China and Babylonia-Altitudes, 66 Holtselster Joe DaveissOldest Christian Hymn-Arthur Kill-Names of the Days of the Week Worm's Tongue - Moslem - Brack - Avery's Fall, 67-Thimble Lore-Cheesecake Brook-Weeping Trees -Men as Things-William Percy-Barnabe Barnes-Porcupig, 68-Parallel Passages-Osgod Clapa-Jingo-Spoon of Ilford Rocking Stones - Cambrial Colchos Mahot, 69Norumbega-Gulf of the Lion-Losh "The" in Place Names-Swift and Slow-American and English Names for Marshy Tracts-Triumphs of Oriana, 70-Creek-Nomenclature of Streams-Good Old Etymologies-Hindu and Bengali Words, 71-Question in Grammar-Camelot, 72. BOOKS AND PERIODICALS :-72. (Can This word (which in "Worcester's Dictionary" is marked "obsolete," and which is defined as a tree which has begun to die at the top) is not yet quite extinct. In the Canadian province of New Brunswick it is still employed, in the form rampike, to designate a dead tree, still standing. Some connect the word with ran, or royne-old or Scottish names for the rowan tree. "aroynt thee, witch," be connected with this word royne, a name for a magic tree?) Scandinavian names for the rowan are rönu, runn, and the like. In Maine, they call it the Round-wood. Some think its name is related to rune, a charm; others name it from its roan-colored bark. Another roundabout but very ingenious derivation of ranpike, is from the ranny, or shrew. Ranny |