women, and affords them protection, in whatever places they may reside, or be. We, the true believers and successors, feel it our duty to protect the Christian subject, while he continues to discharge the duties of a subject. This convention shall not be violated, except by their own fault, in attempting to withdraw from obedience and submission. Protection shall be equally afforded to their churches, lands in the country, to the places of their pilgrimage within the city and without, viz. to the Church Ramane (Holy Sepulchre) to Bethlehem, the birth-place of Jesus, to the great church in the cavern; also to the three gates towards the south, the north, and the west. The same privileges to be extended to other Christians that frequent these places; to the Georgians and Abyssinians, Nestorians, Jacobites, and others that are followers of the Prophet Jesus. The Christians are entitled to these benefits, as they were formerly honoured by the prophet with a document signed and sealed by himself, wherein he exherts us to shew them favour, and to grant them protection. In conformity to which, we, true believers, are disposed to act with benevolence towards them, in honour of him who recommended benevolence. They are to be exempted from the capitation tax, and from all imposts and tolls, throughout all the territories and seas of the Moslems. On their entering Ramane (the Holy Sepulchre) and in the rest of their pilgrimage, nothing is to be exacted from them. Such Christians as visit the Holy Sepulchre to lay down a silver diam and a half, for the patriarch. All true believers of both sexes, rich and poor, the Sultans and Chiefs not excepted, to yield obedience to these injunctions. Given in presence of all the disciples of the prophet. ABDALLAH, OSMAN, B. AFAN, SAAD, ABDOR RAHMAN, IBN AUF. Into whose hands soever this writing shall come, let them give credence to it, that the divine benediction may rest upon the prophet and his disciples. Let us praise God, Sovereign of the world, on whom we repose, as on the prophet our advocate: the 20th Ribuel, Ewel of the 15th year of the Hegira. Whosoever reads this writing, and cts contrary, from this day to the day af the last judgment, contravenes the onvention of God, and of his well beoved prophet. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, N many districts, complaints are ge water, and this large village of Tottenham, never, until lately, could procure any, except from one spring; but that proving a nuisance by the resort of so many persons to it, which occasioned contention and noise-the parish some time since sunk a well, and obtained an excellent, and continued supply of pure soft water. This is carried about and sold to the inhabitants; the poor, however, find it a heavy expence, and to the rich it is often unpleasant, but I have now the pleasure of informing you that several fine springs have been lately found by a new system of boring which is performed in the simplest manner, by the mere use of iron rods, forced into the earth by a windlass. The workmen (only three) in a few days get to a genuine spring of pure water, fit for every purpose of life; after the water is found, they merely put tin pipes down the aperture, and it throws up a fine stream from four to five feet high. The parish, observing its utility, have, much to their credit, sunk one, which they have ornamented very prettily, with a bronze pillar, &c. The first that was formed gives a supply of twenty-nine gallons a minute. But the most important circumstance is the smallness of the expence. Several artizans have agreed, and will agree to perform the work for from twenty to twenty-five pounds; from this statement it will immediately occur to you, how easily large neighbourhoods may be supplied with water." Surely Sir, when we consider the disposition to monopoly and extortion, which all the water companies manifest, would it not be highly advantageous to landlords, who possess hundreds of small houses, for which they pay a large rent, to supply their tenants with water, by having one of these fountains? Those trades, such as brewers, dyers, &c. &c. would for thirty or forty shillings a year, have a continual supply of this desirable article. Indeed, independently of the diffe TH HE same fatal adherence to old me. thods, which has retarded some of the most useful modern improvements, especially in those invaluably useful branches of gardening and farming, seems to have operated with full force against the introduction of a most excellent species of bark, for the purposes of tanning. I mean that which may be derived in amazing quantities from the Larch Tree. That the said species of bark possesses those genuine astringent qualities which are necessary for the purpose of converting the raw material into leather, and that of the most excellent quality likewise, I ascertained when I resided in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. My friend, Mr. Richard Embleton, made an experiment as to its actual strength upon some hides and skins of different qualities and weights. At the ensuing August Leather Fair, in that town, he produced an exhibition of his novel experiment before a considerable number of country master tanners there assembled; and the result of the closest scrutiny on their part, was, that "better leather than Mr. E. then produced, was never tanned." The passing the above favourable judgment, proved a complete refutation to the avowal repeatedly made on previous occasions by Mr. Robert Hall, of Morpeth, who, although allowed to be an excellent tanner, openly declared that he was convinced there was no tanning particle whatever in Larch Bark. What an assertion! what a prejudice! Another respectable tanner of Newcastle, Mr. Beaumont, likewise asserted that Larch Bark might perhaps answer for light calf, deer, or sheep skins, but that in its strength, it did not possess sufficient innate virtue to tan a stout hide, or even one of middling weight, whereas, some of those hides which Mr. Embleton produced at the period I allude to, were of that kind which are denominated backs, and several (a hide divided in two) weighed upwards of sixty pounds each pair; now, as respects the wearing properties of leather so tanned, Mr. John Sillick, jun. nephew to Mrs. Sillick, the prin cipal currier of the town, informed me that the craft (shoemakers) spoke in the most favourable terms of the kindness of this leather, in working, a sure sign of its goodness; and Mr. Embleton, to carry the demonstrative effect of leather, tanned with the Larch Bark, to the greatest practicable evidence, had on one of his boots a sole of Valonia tannage, and one on the other of Larch Bark tannage, and he frequently afterwards declared that the latter imbibed less moisture, and made a better resistance in the wear, than the tanners' favourite, the Valonia tannage did; needs there Dutch or German bark to be imported after this successful trial on the part of Mr. E. ENORT SMITH. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, ΟΙ N reading your paper of a skull being found in the middle of a tree, as related in your Magazine for April, 1821, I was put into some difficulty to account for so extraordinary an occurrence, until memory brought to my recollection a circumstance that took place in my practice more than twenty years ago; if you think it will serve to throw any light on the subject, it is at your service to publish it. A woman brought a child to me, to inquire if a swelling it had in the Scrotum was Hernia. I gave it as my opinion, it was so, she thanked me, but said she knew how to cure it. I asked what she purposed doing to relieve the sufferer. Her reply was, to draw it through a maiden ash, which was to be effected by splitting a young tree in two, and making the child to pass through its separated sides, and if the sides after united, the child was cured; if not, it was to be drawn through a second, and a third time was certainty of relief. Had it been a girl, it must have been passed through a male ash. I made no further inquiry, but think it likely that some such experiment had been made with the tree on Pinley Abbey Farm, and there a skull of a deer was used as a wedge, to keep the sides of the tree asunder, which they neglected to remove, after passing the patient through between its separated sides, but which surviving the violence, poured out its cementing fluid, and continued to live and grow with this extraneous substance within its body, to the size described by the gentleman who has made the valuable communication. T. TOOKE, Surgeon. For VIEW TAKEN IN THE RUINS OF POMPEII. For the Monthly Magazine. LETTERS from the SOUTH of ITALY, by a recent Traveller. (Continued from No. 358, p. 102.) LETTER III. Naples, July 20, 1819. N my last I described the ruins of are the vines which produce the famous wine called Lachryma Christi. After marching an hour you come to a torrent of lava about three quarters of a mile in breadth. The astonishment with which I beheld the first aspect of these lavas, makes me despair of giv IPompeii, accompanied by three ine you a' satisfactory description of drawings, and I now subjoin another view of the ruins, representing the house of a dealer in milk, indicated by the figure of a she-goat, sculptured on the stone. The allurements of pleasure, to which even the climate transports us, have not prevented me from visiting the curious objects of nature and art diffused around Naples; I have already ascended three times to the summit of Vesuvius. Can you conceive that a great number of Neapolitans have never had the curiosity to go to the mountain? Yet such is the fact. The sight of a volcano is certainly one of the most curious objects in the world. The first time that I went with my friend, M. Camille Rey, we hired mules: but mine proved so bad, that I swore I would go the next time on foot. In a frightful road you march for some time by the light of torches, the smoke of which greatly annoys you. As this road is difficult, you generally keep behind the guide. On both sides them. They are huge blocks of blackish stone, the surface of which is pierced into a number of holes, a sure sign that it has formerly boiled out and become cold by the air. If I wished to compare the sight of a torrent of lava to any thing, it would be to a field of heavy land newly ploughed, supposing each lump of earth infinitely more singular than another, more irregular in its form, and twenty or thirty times larger. These pieces of lava, are in fact, sometimes more than eight or ten feet in height. Having traversed the torrent, and ascended a steep rock, we arrived at the Hermitage. It is surrounded by great elms; these are the last trees of the mountain: we could hardly perceive even a few briars. A single hermit formerly lived in this place; at present there are two and sometimes three. I don't know if it is with reason that they are accused of being the harbingers of the brigands of Vesuvius. You find at the hermitage, bread, fruit and HERMITAGE AT VESUVIUS. and wine of the mountain, all articles for which they very humbly demand twice their value. However this may be, the stay which you make there is very curious: the hermitage, the church, the great trees which surround them, the whole is lighted up in a very picturesque manner, at one time by the light of the torches, and at another by the modest lamp of the hermits. places they are still burning; and by thrusting down a piece of paper, it will speedily take fire. Here you generally boil eggs for your breakfast, a repast which you cannot dispense with making on the borders of the crater. The day now began to dawn: we extinguished the torches; the march became easier, and every moment the mountain trembled, and threw out red hot stones, half dissolved, to a great distance. Our guide, in order to avoid them, made us keep to the side of the wind. At length we arrived at the brink of the gulph. At the bottom a reddish matter rose up and descended slowly; all of a sudden it began to swell, a thick cloud of smoke traversed it and rose up into the air, carrying along with it pieces of burning lava. By degrees this blackish flake expanded itself and totally disappeared; some stones again rolled down the abyss, which seemed for an instant to suspend its workings. On my first journey, we halted at this place. A noise was heard similar to that of thunder, but without its rolling. The guide took me by the arm and discovered to me the summit of the mountain; it was all on fire. We quickened our march, still riding on the mules. In the course of half an hour we arrived at the foot of the cone which encloses the crater, it is formed of lava, ashes, and stones. You there abandon the mules, and have only three quarters of an hour's walk to arrive at the summit. The slope is rapid, the ashes and the stones give way and roll under your steps, and the ascent is so fatigueing, that some persons are drawn up by ropes which the guide passes round their shoulders. An irregularity of the mountain makes you at first believe that you are near arriving, but soon the very summit presents itself at a distance, and you must again recruit your strength. It is generally in the midst of a torrent of lava such as burst forth in 1813, that the travellers arrest their progress. This lava is still hot, and as you are generally in a perspiration, although the morning wind is cold, you The summit of the mountain is sesit down with pleasure in the crevices veral acres in breadth, and hollowed or fissures of this torrent. In so me into apertures in the form of a funnel, I could not have seen it at a more favourable period. I was surprised with this grand effect; which my imagi nation could not have conceived. I remained there two hours; at every ten minutes a similar explosion took place. Every thing we can imagine of the nature of volcanos is lost at the bottom of the crater, which, in all the truth of description, seemed to be the mouth of hell. In the smallest works of nature, we see some utility: but what is there in that of a volcano? which frequently, by changing its figure, renders the description of travellers so very different. The largest of the present craters is, I think, one hundred feet deep, by three or four hundred in diameter. At the bottom are two apertures, which throw up alternately, the one stones and ashes, the other vapour and rubbish. On the side towards Naples, but lower than the large crater, there exists one truly curious: its sides are perpendicular. Three feet in breadth, it seems to be a chimney from whence issues continually a burning smoke. I believe that at the time of the eruptions of the grand crater, so far from pouring out its lava, it ceases altogether; but I could not make the experiment. On my second journey, which I made with some friends, the mountain was tranquil: the stones which roll without ceasing from the sides of the crater had stopped the mouth of it: I threw myself amongst them and was speedily followed by my companions. I experienced some pleasure at finding myself above the vault, that vast furnace which, fifteen days previous, appeared to me so terrible. I don't know if I have given you an idea of the form of the crater: at times it is stained by the finest yellow and the most brilliant white. The first colour proceeds from sulphur, the odour of which fills all the atmosphere around the summit; the white is owing to different oxides formed in this laboratory of nature. I picked up stones variously coloured; and soon after, like children, I threw them away to pick up others which appeared to me more curious; Salvator, our guide, possesses a very fine collection of them. The habitude of seeing scientific men has in some measure instructed him in the mineralogy of volcanos. The last time I went to Vesuvius there had been formed within a short time, a new crater still more profound; it threw out stones at every moment. I wished to make an oil sketch of the view before me, but it was entirely covered with ashes. The officers of a Swedish vessel being seated on the mountain, we shared the provisions which were to serve us for breakfast, and we directed our steps towards the edge of the crater, which had just made an eruption. The wind was sharp and cold, I wished to take shelter from it by seating myself some feet lower than the brink of the crater. The ashes gave way under my feet; I wished to rest on some stones, but they were burn ing, and I thought for an instant that I was about to roll down into the abyss. M. Nouchy, secretary of M. Rey, our guide, and the Swedes, immediately made a sort of chain, and drew me up just in time: for an instant after, the bottom of the crater opened and vomited a blast of ashes and burning stones, After walking for a long time on the black ashes, sometimes dry and sometimes wet, the guide conducted us under a kind of natural grotto, open on both sides, formed by pieces of lava, decorated with the most brilliant colours. The vapour which issues from it is so suffocating, that the first time I could not traverse it; but since, by retaining my respiration, I succeeded in the attempt. You generally breakfast on an elevated point, from whence you enjoy a panorama the most extensive which you can imagine: you are then nearly eighteen hundred feet above the level of the sea; the Gulph of Naples is at your feet. That city decorates the distant horizon; the Isles of Capri and Ischia, which are at its mouth, terminate the view on this side, instead of being prolonged to a distance, as on the other side, over the rich country which borders the route from Naples to Capua. On the east, the horizon is bounded by the blue summits of the mountains, and nearer is an immense valley formed by Vesuvius and Somma. Vesuvius seems to arise in the bosom of a greater volcano which, in a great eruption, (that, perhaps, which covered Pompeii), drove back to a distance every thing which formed its centre; and the circular mountain, called Somma, which surrounds Vesuvius on one of its sides, is the remainder of it. But there is another route more curious, perhaps, and less known: it is by the side of Somma. After descending five or six hundred feet, you find a kind of chimney, eighty-five feet in height, and four or five feet in width, at the base; at a distance it seems to be constructed like a swallow's nest. It is only a swelling of the lava; the middle of it is hollow, and almost entirely cylindrical; under it is an aperture from whence the lava escapes, which runs for a space of twelve miles towards the plain. Under this same chimney exists a canal three feet high and four broad, so regular, that it seems to be made by the hand of man: it is entirely cold. I entered it, but having no light, I could not penetrate far into this aperture, which seemed to be a secret door of the volcano. The declivity then becomes less rapid; you begin to see some |