stating my suspicion in the ram's horns having, at some period or another, furnished the first idea of the Ionic volute; and supported my belief of this, by the reflection that among the Egyptians the heads of animals sometimes served as capitals of columns; as Denon has shown in a shaft with a bull's head for the capital; also, that in the early ages of Greece, the heads of sacrificial animals were probably suspended on the architraves. I added in my letter, that it is plausible to infer that the ram's head often took place there, as well as the bull's and stag's; the skulls of which bor. rowed, no doubt from this custom, were sometimes carved on the Roman Doric friezes, and sometimes on the Corinthian. Now, is it not plausible to surmise, that a ram's head accidentally suspended over a Doric abacus may have struck the imagination of some Grecian, who had travelled perhaps in Egypt for instruction about the time of Herodotus, and that he cradled in his brain this fœtus of the Ionic order, destined afterwards to be bred, and receive the finish of its education under the architects of Greece? Denon gives us an Egyptian capital, in which it is easy to trace considerable resemblance to the Ionic volute; and he conjectures that this capital, evidently of remote antiquity, may have been the architype of the order. Perhaps- But what furnished the origin of this capital? The ram's horns, are (is) my answer."

The date on the title page is somewhat antiquated, as well as the periods described in the body of the work. There is no error in our setting it down as belonging to a year since the death of which the birth and death of many more seasonable books might be recorded.

THE

MONTHLY REVIEW.

DECEMBER, 1838.

ART. I.-A Winter's Journey (Tatar) from Constantinople to Tehran ; with Travels through various Parts of Persia, &c. 2 vols. By James BAILLIE FRASER, ESQ. London: Bentley. 1838.

Ir does not very clearly appear what were the precise and particular objects of Mr. Fraser's "Journey," although from various statements and hints, there can be no error in declaring it to have been of a diplomatic character, where the utmost despatch was required. In fact, it is not disguised that in so far as the undertaking between London and Tehran is concerned, the author was employed by the Foreign Secretary to convey instructions to our Ambassador in Persia, or to facilitate communications with that country at a period when extraordinary difficulties or necessities were likely to arise on the expected death of the then reigning monarch, Futeh Alee Sháh. We may also conclude that Mr. Fraser's "Travels through various Parts of Persia, &c." were not altogether independent of political purposes, and that he was specially commissioned not only to test the state of national feeling in regard to the succession to the Persian throne, but to report upon the general condition and opinions of the people.

Our author left London in December 1833; and as the occasion was pressing, his "Journey," the account of which is thrown into the shape of letters, was at a rate, in respect of speed, and considering the season and the route, of an almost unprecedented character. As to the account or narrative itself as a literary production, all who are in the least acquainted with the merits and spirit of Mr. Fraser's former publications-his "Tour in the Himalaya Mountains," his "Kuzziibash," "Persian Princes," &c., will at once anticipate a treat of no ordinary quality. A more lively and energetic picture of personal adventure, a more satisfactory proof of prudence amid appalling, prolonged, and varied perils, or a more arresting series of picturesque scenes, we have never perused, the whole being elucidatory of the regions and people described, as if a panorama of the reality was before us. The chief fault of the book, indeed, consists in this, that the author being perfectly master of the pen, of the art of working up description and representation, too often forces the reader to question the reality of the portraiture, seeing that each figure, group, landscape, or vicissitude seems to surpass its predeVOL. III. (1838.) No. IV.

I I

cessor both as regards subject and painting; although very often the writer must have drawn upon recollections, and, as we presume, relied fully as much upon the powers of a creative fancy during the intervals lent by comfort and tranquillity, as upon a very precise and distinctive perception of each scene or passage.

Be this as it may, there cannot be a question about the general merits and beauties of the work; and still less as to the seasonable light it throws (we wish that this light had been fuller, or not forced to labour so much as it undeniably does under a diplomatic veil,) upon certain circumstances and reports at the very moment we write, of a most engrossing nature as regards Great Britain and the prospects of her eastern empire.

We believe we could not furnish a better proof of Mr. Fraser's author-artistic skill than to direct the reader's attention to the effect which he produces when describing a route that may now be declared hackneyed-that route too having been accomplished at a flying speed, while the traveller was in his chaise-we mean his journey from England to Turkey. He tells us that after having had a trial of posting through several countries of Europe-having dashed along the splendid roads of England-having experienced "the noisy flashy prétentionne, but slow and inefficient régime of France," having been jolted along "the straight, tedious, spring-breaking chaussées of Belgium-having been comforted and solaced by the "good roads and regulations of respectable Prussia,"-having "groaned over and cursed the abominable highways of Bavaria, with its sulky, sullen boors,"-and having been "relieved by the slow but sure progress of the imperturbable but civil Austrians;"-after all these vicissitudes of travel, together with what he encountered among the "proud, self-sufficient Hungarians, with their ratlike horses and devious steppes,"-the Hungarians who "are as yet scarcely civilized;"-after all these and other circumstances, as well as distinctions, which are minutely noticed with a graphic vivacity which one is apt to suspect must leave the remainder and the body of the work lame and fatiguing, we find our traveller at Semlin and thence at full tilt for Constantinople.

But whatever may be the fears entertained on reading Mr. Fraser's preliminary letters as to the likelihood of his being able to sustain their graphic vivacity and vigour of picturesque and circumstantial effect, it only requires starting with him on his Tatar, or Tartar, gallop to find that he is perfectly equal to every diversity, and able to produce an adequate picture of all.

Riding Tatar, is to ride post. But posting in Turkey is different from the analogous sort of travelling in England, in various particulars; one of these being that the Tatar proceeds the whole way with his charge, though it may amount to thousands of miles, and what is more, the rate at which they proceed, where the roads, as we are about to see, are not exactly Macadamized or over a dead

level, is such that even in Old England it would be thought marvellous. We are told of one Tatar riding two thousand miles in seventeen days. Our author himself was conducted from Constantinople to Amasia, being seven hundred miles, in six days; and when we learn that the remainder of his journey to Tehran, being in length nearly two thousand miles, was accomplished in rather more than seven weeks, the season being the depth of winter, and the regions traversed mountainous, and almost blocked up and impassable in consequence of snow, not to mention the inclemency of the sky and the rarity of post-houses, it must be regarded as an exploit that has few parallels, at least in other countries. It was an exploit, too, which has seldom been paralleled in regard to danger and anxiety, toil, and exhaustion-the greatest marvel, perhaps, being that an European could bear up against the accumulated and protracted privations and sufferings he endured, and all this when other travellers fell victims in similar circumstances. But we must now "off" with our author in good earnest, after having obtained a glance at his outfit for the perilous journey from Constantinople. Mr. Fraser says

"My own equipment was, however, somewhat improved in point of compactness from its state when I left Semlin. Taught by experience, I had made further provision against the cold. Two pair of stockings, one of fleecy hosiery, such as gouty subjects wear, and the other of large thick worsted, covered my lower extremities; and over these were drawn the thick Tatar stockings and large boots I had already found so useful. I had cut down my Turkish shulwars to a more manageable size; and they, with cotton and chamois-leather drawers, besides a pair of English cloth pantaloons, bid fair to guarantee my lower man from the nipping blasts."

After a hearty recommendation of chamois-leather, and directions to the traveller how to wear it, our author's equipment is further detailed:

6

"A stout flannel-lined long-skirted riding-coat, a fur cloak, or rather gown, which I had procured at Frankfort, promised well for excluding the enemy from the nobler parts,' as they are called, including, I presume, that important organ the stomach, to keep the cold out of which, by a liberal internal application of cordial drops, is the zealous business of many a good old gentleman and lady at home. But as my furs alone would have made a poor defence against rain or falling snow, I had provided myself with a good Mackintosh india-rubber cloak, which now did worthy service. My upper works were guarded by a travelling fur-cap, and sundry shawls and wrappers were at hand to comfort ears and nose in case of need."

The wonder here is that any quadruped short of an elephant could have borne a rider so covered and enveloped; and yet what use would an elephant have been in the ascents, the descents, and the paths of which we are to hear? But the Tatars who have the art

ય of taking out of their steeds, not only all that is in them, but who seem to imbue them with miraculous powers, and by sympathising with them in all their disasters to re-inspire them after every mishap, have also the talent and tact, it would appear, of leading on less practised, agile, and picturesque riders, who, like our author, may require their guidance.

Among the Tatars or nearly allied to them, there is a peculiar class that has been less frequently described, and never with half the spirit of Mr. Fraser; we refer to the Soorajees, a species of grooms attached to the post-houses of Turkey, and who form as distinct an order and one as fully marked as that of our hackneycoachmen or our cabmen. They are trained from childhood among the animals of which they have the care, and are also accustomed to take the road and brave exposure in all weathers; thus becoming intrepid and skilful guides in the lines of country where they ply, as well as capital horsemen. Take Mr. Fraser's amusing and vigorous sketch of the class and other accompaniments :

"A more useful, dashing, hard-working, purpose-like set of blackguards," he says, than these same impudent Soorajees in their own vocation, are not to be found; and were you to meet such a party as ours was (Mr. F. had a Mr. Bonham for a companion), making the best of a bit of good road, the two Soorajees in their smart jackets, mounted on their little nags, ragged and tough like themselves, with their short stirrups and knees up to their breasts, like monkeys astride upon terriers; each with bridle hanging loosely from the left hand, and the thong that guides the two load-horses held out with an air in the other; the head erect, but inclined a little to one side, as the owner casts back a look, first at their loads and then at their feet, as they pelt away at the top of their speed, but never deigning at his own, which he knows will take care of itself: the Tatar, in his gorgeous habiliment, and whip raised on high, following like a tower of strength, a perfect contrast to the slim lightness of the others, Yahullahing' it away to a running bass of blows, his horse scattering showers of mud and gravel from each hoof as he scours along ; were you to see this vision tearing like the wild hunter and train over hill and down dale, along the mountain side and across the level plain, you would say it was a gallant sight, and that these imps of Soorajees are a splendid set of rascals; verily, tchelebee, on these occasions, in his sober surtout or cloak, and travelling cap, cuts the poorest figure of the party."

But it is in times of danger, we are told, that the true value and the best achievements of the Soorajee can alone be fully appreciated. Look at him, says Mr. Fraser

When the snow is deep, when the road is lost, when the load-horses stick in the mud, or flounder over head and ears in the snow; or roll, luggage and all down a hill-face, carrying the snow with them like an avalanche. See then the fellows spring from their nags, plunge into the mud or snow, extricate the fallen animals and set them on their legs, or