In the Nepaul valley, we are told, there are as many temples as houses, and as many idols as inhabitants; there not being a hill, a river, or a fountain, that is not consecrated to some one or other of the Hindoo deities1. The Ganges issues out of a bed of snow; and above its outlet hang large masses of icicles. The width of the stream is twenty-seven feet, its greatest depth eighteen inches, and its shallowest eight inches. At this spot the Ganges first sees the sun; and its height is 12,914 feet above the level of the sea. The Celts also peopled their rivers with subordinate deities; the Sicilians adored the Agragas of Agrigentum; and the Simetus, the Acis, and the lake Beircre were for many ages esteemed sacred. "The Siamese once worshipped the Meinam; the ancient Gaurs enacted a law, prohibiting. any one from sailing on rivers; and the Shastah directs frequent washings in rivulets, and frequent pilgrimages to distant streams. The Cachmirians universally believe, that they derive all their beauty from the purity and brilliancy of their rivers and springs. The ancient Indian kings were accustomed to throw bulls and black horses into the Indus, at the time of its overflow. Many Tartar tribes, particularly those that trade to Astrakhan, worship water, which is always kept ready in a large marine shell; and the Icelanders never pass a river without taking off their 'Asiat. Journ. i. p. 552. • Visited by Captain Hodgson, and discovered May 31, 1817. 3 Complures genios colunt. Acreos terrestres, et alia minora dæmonia, quæ in aquis fontiûm et fluminûm versari dicuntur.-Procop. de Goth. 4 Philost. in vit. Apol. ii. c. 19. hats before they cross; and, after they have crossed, they never fail to return thanks for their safety. An almost general homage was paid throughout the east to the Adonis; so named from the beautiful, but unfortunate boy, who despised the love of Venus: the anniversary of whose death was celebrated over a great part of the pagan world; and the feasts, instituted in honour of whom, were observed with the greatest solemnity. They lasted two days. On the first the women wept, beat their breasts, tore their hair, and imitated by their lamentations the distress of Venus for the loss of her beautiful hunter. These solemnities were observed by the Phenicians and Lycians; by the Syrians, Greeks, and Egyptians. They were celebrated at Antioch, in the time of the Emperor Julian; and at Alexandria, in that of St. Cyril. That reverend father relates, that a letter was written by the women of Alexandria to those of the city of Bibulus, where the river Adonis, which rises in Mount Lebanon, empties itself into the sea, to inform them that Adonis still lived. The letter, thrown into the sea, was conveyed to the place of its destination in the course of seven days: and upon receiving it, the women of Bibulus, as if Adonis were actually risen from the dead, gave themselves up to the most extravagant joy. About the time these feasts were held, the river was believed to assume the colour of blood, in sympathy for Adonis's misfortune; because he was supposed to have been slain in the mountains, among which the stream rises. Something of this kind does actually come to pass in the present day; for, at a certain season of the year, the river is stained with deep crimson, caused by torrents of rain1 washing a quantity of red earth into it. The Missouri, in the same manner, assumes a crimson colour after the falling of violent rains. The water of the Aspro Potamo, on the contrary, is white; and deposits a calcareous substance at its mouth, which forms a species of alabaster: and from a similar cause the Hoangho3 is black near its source, and yellow near its confluence. 4 Adonis is feigned to have had a garden so magnificent, that Pliny mentions it with those of Alcinous and the Hesperides. In reference to this, a custom obtained, among the women of the eastern part of the Roman empire, of filling pots with earth, and sowing them with herbs on the day of his festival. Being kept warm in the dressing-rooms of the ladies, these herbs were soon in flower, soon seeded, and in consequence soon faded. Hence it became a proverb, when any thing was designed to last but a short time, to compare it to "the gardens of Adonis." The flower, named after this celebrated youth, is thus alluded to by Camöens. "There, bedew'd with love's celestial tears, "When lost Adonis shall revive again." 1 Lucian.-Maundrell. Mickle. 2 Travels to the Source of the Missouri, 4to. P. 208. 3 "Hoangho ou fleuve jaune," says Du Halde," ainsi nommé à cause de la couleur de ses eaux troubles mêlées d'une ⚫ cesse de son lit par la rapidité de son cours. 1 Plin. xix. 4. terre jaunâtre, qu'il détache sans - Tom. i. 97. 12 Artaxerxes;-Fall of Crasus; Project of Cyrus. The water spirits of the east are invariably represented as good; those of the north not unfrequently bad. Collins has a pathetic description of a peasant destroyed by a water-fiend. In conclusion,— His fear-struck limbs soon lost their youthful force, And down the waves he floats, a pale and breathless corse. Ode on Popular Superstitions, stanza vii. V. Ælian relates a curious anecdote of a Persian's having presented water of the river Cyrus to Artaxerxes Mnemon, who accepted it with great pleasure; principally because he esteemed water the best of all things. Croesus hesitated to pass the river Halys; but at length did so, against his own sense of religion, and against all military propriety, in consequence of an ambiguous answer of an oracle he had consulted. "If Croesus pass the Halys, he shall ruin a mighty kingdom.” He passed; and a mighty kingdom was ruined; but that kingdom was his own! Herodotus1 also relates a curious instance of folly in Cyrus. As he was marching with his army against Babylon, arriving at the Gyndes, he lost one of his white consecrated horses, the current having borne it down. Cyrus was so exasperated at this, that he vowed he would make that stream so insignificant, that even women should be able to cross it without wetting their knees. To accomplish this threat, he suspended his design against Babylon; he employed his army in digging trenches; divided the river into three hundred and sixty rivulets on each side; and thus lost the whole of the summer! 1 Clio, 189, 202. Rivers Favourites with Poets. The Ilyssus. 13 Rivers have, in all ages, been themes for the poet; and in what esteem they were held, by ancient writers, may be inferred from the number of authors, who wrote of them previous to the time of Plutarch. The Aufidus, the Tiber, and the Po, have been celebrated by Horace, Virgil, and Ovid; Callimachus has immortalized the beautiful waters of the Inachus; and while the Arno, the Mincio, and the Tagus, boast their Petrarch, Boccacio, and Camöens; the Severn and the Trent, the Avon, Derwent, and the Dee, have been distinguished by the praises of many elegant poets. On the banks of the Ilyssus1 Plato taught his system of philosophy; and on the shores of the Cam and the Arno, Milton enjoyed the happiest moments of his life. On the shores of the Rocnabad, a river flowing near the chapel of Mosella, the poets and philosophers of Shiraz composed their most celebrated works; while on the banks of the Ganges, in the environs of Benares, the professors of philosophy instruct their pupils, after the manner of Plato, walking in their gardens3. Ossian This river is personified in the exquisite reclining sculpture, which some call Neptune, brought from Athens by Lord Elgin. This, with the Theseus, has been esteemed even superior to the Apollo Belvidere *, and the Laocoon †. 2 Nec me tam ipsæ Athenæ Atticæ cum suo pellucido Ilisso, nec illa vetus Roma suâ Tiberis ripâ retinere valuerunt, quin sæpe Arnum vestrum, et Fæ ulanos illos colles invisere amem.-Milton, Epist. viii. 3 Anquetil. Vol. v, p. 378. * Vide Report from the Select Committee on the Earl of Elgin's Marbles, p. 33. + Ibid, p. 37. |