"From an examination of the Canons, or Code, of Sultan Selim, it may be prefumed, that prince rather capitulated with the Mamalukes, than obtained a complete conqueft of Egypt. It is plain, that he left the government of the kingdom to the four-and-twenty beys, and only endeavoured to balance their authority by that of a pacha, whom he appointed governor-general and prefident of the council. This power fubfifted as long as the Porte could afford af

fistance to its officers; but the decay of its ftrength foon obliged it to endeavour, by dividing the beys, to maintain itself against their encroachments. Thus, by always taking part with the weakest fide, the Turks have continually created themselves new enemies; and these frequent errors have reduced the word pacha to a mere title, to which the Mamalukes fometimes pay homage, but always keep him, by whom it is poffeffed, in clofe confinement."

CLAS

HILOSOPHERS, whofe curiofity has not been active enough to overcome their averfion to labour, have been fond of attributing to a Divine revelation the invention of language. This, it must be confeffed, is a very concife method of getting rid of the difficulty; but fince it can only ferve to reprefs the free fpirit of inquiry, I hope to ftand excufed if I profefs myfelf difcontented with this pious folution, and, with no ill intention, prefume to extend a little farther my researches.

"It is not enough to fay, that we have no authority from Scrip. ture for afcribing the invention of language directly to the Supreme Being; we have its authority to affert, that at least a confiderable part of the first language was of human production, for "Adam gave names to the different creatures. Should the miraculous confufion of language at Babel be adverted to, I reply, that it is impoffible to fay what was the nature of that confufion; whether it confifted in the invention of new terms, or in the improper ufe of the old. The miracle at Babel might be only a temporary confufion, fufficient to set aside that use

:

lefs and abfurd undertaking and it is more natural to fuppofe, that the confequent difperfion of mankind was the effect of diffenfions occafioned by having misunderstood each other, than that they could not live together, because they did not all continue to fpeak the fame language.

"The origin of language, as well as of mankind, is a fubject neceffarily involved in much obfcu rity. The most ancient traditions favour the hypothefis, which derives languages as well as nations from an original or primitive stock. A whimsical experiment was made in Egypt, by which it was thought to be determined, that the Phrygians were the most ancient people. Two infants were taken from fociety, before they had an opportunity of learning any articulate found: they were carefully observed, in order to find in what language they would begin to exprefs themselves; and the first word that they pronounced was Bezos (bekos) the Phrygian word for bread. The experiment was abfurd, the refult was probably accidental, and the fact only ferves to prove what were the opinions of the Egyptians upon these fubjects, and that they favour

ed

the most eminent Turks have no other way to get rid of this rabble, but by giving them money, which

only ferves to render them more trouble fome, and more infolent.”

HE conftruction of these baths ought to be defcribed, in order to calculate the refult, after having examined their cffects. "Two fmall chambers, built with brick, and faced with marble or plafter, communicate, and are each enlightened by fmall cupolas cut in chequers. This little edifice is commonly joined to the houfe by a fmall room, in which they undrefs: double doors, folding over, and lifted with felt, hut in the firit and fecond part of the stove.

"A wood fire is kept up in a fubterranean vault, the entrance to which is without. This fire-place is under the farthermost chamber, and heats a caldron immediately beneath the marble floor, which ferves as a cieling to the vault. Pipes, placed within the walls, come from the infide of the caldron, and go out at the cupola, to evaporate the water, which is kept continually boiling. Other tubes, communicating with a refervoir, are likewife contained within the brick work, and furnish the infide with cold water, by the means of cocks placed at the fide of those which yield the warm water. Small feats of fmooth wood are made to fit on, and drains cut in the marble to carry off the water which is thrown down.

"Thefe private baths, always heated twenty-four hours before they are ufed, by being thus confructed, have fo great a degree of heat, that, after being entirely un

dreffed in the exterior chamber, and having put on very high fandals of wood, to keep the feet from being burnt by the marble floor, it is impollible to enter the first room, till you have ftopt a moment between the two doors to let the lungs dilate; after which you cannot enter the fecond ftove, under which the heat is most active, without taking the fame precautions: and it is probable, that the air of this room bears the fame proportion to that of the first, as this does to the external air. A fudden perfpiration, rushing through all the pores, is felt immediately as they are entered; but the violence of this heat does not prevent the women from ftaying in thefe baths five or fix hours together, and returning to them very frequently.

Those who have not private baths go to the public ones: they are always prepared, and contrived in fuch a manner as to contain a great number of people.

"Some of the women, a little more delicate and fcrupulous than the reft, take the bath for themfelves alone, and go thither with their particular friends. To complete the entertainment, they carry with them their provifion. The pleasure of enjoying greater liberty, and converfing all day together, no doubt makes them amends for having fo ill chofen the place.

"Bathing women, named Telleks, with their hands wrapped

in little bags of ferge, rub the skin till it is dry. They likewife make ufe of a very fine clay, mixt up with rofe leaves, and afterwards dried in the fun, as a kind of foap, with which they rub the head, pouring on it warm water from large metal bafons: the women's hair, thus cleaned and perfumed, is afterwards tied up in a great number of fmall treffes.

"This defcription wants the pearls, the diamonds, the rich fluffs, and all the finery with which lady Montague has been pleased to ornament thefe baths. It is, indeed, difficult to believe, that that lady ever actually entered them completely dreffed as has been afferted. What is most certain is, that a too frequent use of thefe ftoves, at length, opens the pores to fuch a degree as to render them visible. It is equally certain that fo violent a dilatation of the fibres, by altering the fhape, brings on decrepitude before old age.

"Thefe public baths are very numerous in every part of the city, and are likewife frequented by the men; but at different hours from thofe fet apart for the women. A man who fhould dare attempt to enter while they are within, would be feverely punished, though he had the good fortune to efcape the taffes, fandals, and wet peftemals, that af fault him in fhoals. The Turkifh women are inexorable, when the audacity of a man means nothing more than infult; but it is impofi

ble to confider, without horror, the difinal confequences of the blind paffions to which they are fome times a prey.

"I do not fpeak here of thofe women who fo frequently fell their charms, and whofe mutilated ded bodies I have often feen in the environs of Conftantinople. The cru elty of the men who murder them, to evade paying, or to avoid the danger of being taken up when bringing them back into the city, is a villainy which may be account ed for, either by avarice or fear. But I fpeak of those women of a more exalted rank, whom an irre fiftible fury overpowers, and who efcape fecretly from their prifons. Thefe unfortunate creatures always carry off with them their jewels, and think nothing too good for their lover. Blinded by their unhappy paffion, they do not perceive that this very wealth becomes the caufe of their deftruction. The vil lains to whom they fly, never fail, at the end of a few days, to punish their temerity, and infure the poffeffion of their effects by a crime, which, however monstrous, the government is leaft in hafte to punish. The bodies of these miferable women, ftript and mangled, are fre quently feen floating in the Port, under the very windows of their murderers; and thefe dreadful ex amples, fo likely to intimidate the reft, and prevent fuch madness, neither terrify nor amend.”

VARIOUS

XCEPT the habits of the

pect these things from our Tartars.

without being rich, have a kind of ftudied elegance, the Tartars feck for little which is not strictly neceffary. The luxury of glafs windows is confined folely to the prince's apartment: paper frames are ufed in winter, and taken away in fummer, that they may breathe more freely, and have a full view of the Black Sea, which is difcovered at a distance. The fultan invited me to fupper, and, though very hungry, I foon perceived the excellent fish of the Niefter were worthy of better cooks.

"The pleasures of hunting, hawking, and courfing, feemed to be the only ones in which the Tartars took delight; and the fultan frequently formed hunting parties, attended by numbers of the mirzas. They depart for the chace with arms and baggage; it lasts feveral days: camps are formed every night; a body of troops always follows the ferafker; and fometimes thefe parties of pleafure ferve as pretexts for more ferious expedi

tions.

"The night was spent in repairing a fmall carriage I had bought at Yaffi, which I had converted into a kind of bed. A cart carried our trunks, with which my carriage had been loaded as far as Moldavia; and the orders of the fultan being expedited, I departed the next day with a mirza, whofe office it was to conduct me, with an escort of forty horfemen, armed with bows, arrows, and fabres, to Bactcheferay. "Little accustomed to military order and difcipline, I did not ex

however, which parts Beffarabia from Yedefan, in which province the hordes were fuppofed to be in a kind of rebellion, the officer who commanded the detachment put it into a regular military difpofition." A vanguard of twelve horfe preceded us about two hundred paces; four men were placed at each door of the carriage, which the officer took under his particular care; two carts followed after; eight men brought up the rear, and two pla toons, of fix men each, kept at a diftance of fix hundred paces to the right and the left.

"The plains we croffed are fo level and open, that no irregularity could be feen, not even fo much as a tree or a fhrub: nor did we fee any thing during the whole day, except fome Noguais, whofe heads the piercing eyes of our Tartars distinguifhed when the earth's convexity hid the rest of their bodies. Each of thefe Noguais were riding alone, and those whom our patroles interrogated, relieved us from the fear of the pretended troubles which had arifen.

"I was curious to know their bufinefs, and learnt that these people, fuppofed Nomades, because they live under a kind of tents, were fettled, however, by tribes in vallies eight or ten fathoms deep, which interfect the plains from north to fouth, and which are more than thirty leagues long, though but half a quarter of a league wide. Muddy rivulets run through the middle of them, and terminate towards the fouth in small lakes,