BOTTLES OF THE EAST. IN the Book of Joshua there is a very interesting account of the wily artifice by which the Gibeonites prevailed upon Joshua to make a covenant of peace with them, when he was drawing near to their country in the course of subduing the lands in which the people of Israel were to be settled. A party of Gibeonites were sent to meet Joshua, pretending that they had come from a far distant land as ambassadors, on behalf of their countrymen. They took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles old and rent and bound up. They had also old shoes and garments, and a few remains of stale and dry provisions, to give the appearance of having just finished a long journey. When they came before Joshua, they informed him that their home was far distant, and that having heard of his great victories, they had been sent to entreat that he would make a league with them. "Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake unto us saying, Take victuals with you for your journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants, wherefore now make a league with us. This our bread we took hot for our provisions out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you, but now behold it is dry and it is mouldy; and these bottles of wine which were filled were new, and behold they be rent; and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey."

The bottles here spoken of were not like those now used in European countries, but were bags made of the skin of animals. The same kind of bottle is frequently referred to in Scripture, both literally and figuratively, but the mention of it occurs with peculiar interest in the three following instances. A bottle filled

with water was given by Abraham
to Hagar, when he sent her away
from his house. (Genesis xxi))
When "Sisera took shelter in the
tent of Jael, she opened a bottle of
milk and gave him drink.” (Judges
iv.) And in 1 Samuel xvi., we are
told that "Jesse took an ass laden
with bread and a bottle of wine and
a kid, and sent them by David his
son unto Saul."

In the East, water and other liquors are to this day carried and kept in skin bags, of which the con struction is exceedingly simple; andi thus we are enabled to illustrate, the present practices of a people our own day, one of the customs frequently referred to in the clear and familiar language of Holy Scrips ture.

Such bottles, when full, mi have differed greatly from the same when empty. On receiving the li quor they must be greatly swollen and distended, and no doubt, they must be swollen still further by the fermentation of the liquor within them, as that advances to ripenesst so that in this state, if no vent be given to it, the liquor may over power the strength of the bottle or, by searching every crevice and weaker part, if it find any weaker part, it may penetrate by that Hence arises the propriety of "pat2 ting new wine into new bottles," which being in the prime of their strength, may resist the expansion, the internal pressure of their ca tents, and preserve the wine to due. maturity, while old bottles may without danger contain old wine, the fermentation of which is already past.

These bottles are supposed not only to be frequently rent, when grown old and much used, but also to be capable of being repaired. Sir John Chardin describes the mARDS" in which they are mended:—

They do it (he says) sometimes

by setting in a piece; sometimes by | athering up the wounded place, in nanner like a purse; sometimes hey put in a round flat piece of food, and by that means stop the ble.

The same writer has also given the following amusing account of ese bottles :

countries of Asia, and so fine, that
there is no such thing as a coffer im-
penetrable to it; therefore it is that
butter, honey, cheese, and other like
aliments, are enclosed in vessels
made of the skins of this species of
animals.

The Arabs use a larger kind of
bottle, named Girba, which is thus
described by Bruce :-

A girba is an ox's skin squared, and the edges sewed together very artificially by a double seam, which does not let out water, much re

The Arabs, and all those that lead wandering kind of life, keep their ater, milk, and other kind of linors in these bottles. They keep them more fresh than otherwise ey would do. These leather bot-sembling that upon the best English es are made of goat-skins. When cricket-balls. An opening is left at e animal is killed, they cut off its the top of the girba, in the same et and its head, and they draw it manner as the bung-hole of a cask. this manner out of the skin, with- Around this, the skin is gathered to at opening its belly. They after- the size of a large handful, which, ards sew up the places where the when the girba is full of water, is gs were cut off, and the tail; and tied round with a whipcord. These hen it is filled, they tie it about girbas generally contain about sixty le neck. These nations, and the gallons each, and two of them are eople of Persia, never go a journey the load of a camel. They are all ithout a small leather bottle of then besmeared on the outside with ater hanging by their side like a grease, as well to hinder the water from oozing through, as to prevent rip. The great leather bottles are sade of the skin of a he-goat, and its being evaporated by the heat of he small ones, that serve instead of the sun, which, in fact, happened to us twice, so as to put us in immibottle of water on the road, are nent danger of perishing by thirst. ade of a kid's skin.

They put into these goat-skin and ad-skin vessels everything which hey want to carry to a distance in he East, whether dry or liquid, and ery rarely make use of boxes and ots, unless it be to preserve such hings as are liable to be broken. The reason is their making use of beasts of carriage for conveying these things, who often fall down under their loading, or throw it down; and also because it is in pretty thin woollen sacks that they enclose what they carry. There is another advantage, too, in putting the necessaries of life in these skin vessels; they are preserved fresher: the ants and other insects cannot make their way to them; nor the dust get in, of which there are such quantities in the hot

In making the bottles here described, the hide is stripped off entire, except at the openings where the head and feet of the animal have been cut off: these openings are sewed up, except one which is left for a spout and secured by a string removable at pleasure. While the skin is being prepared, it is filled with hot sand to stretch it to its proper size, and the hides of different animals being used, as the kid, the sheep or goat, and the ox, the bottles or bags are of various sizes, some scarcely larger than our ordinary bottles.

The water-carrier of India loads his bullock with a large skinful at the well, either to accompany travellers, or to sell the water to those

who live at a distance. Whenever troops or other large bodies of people proceed upon a march into the interior of the country, a number of water-carriers of this description accompany them.

Bags of skin are also used in Spain to carry wine from the vineyards to the places where it is sold, and sherry wine is very often observed to retain the flavour of the hides in which it has been transported.

ty

di

day ay w

the

and

corn that is poured in at the top
falls in between the two stones, and
the turning round of the upper stone
reduces it to flour, in which state it
works out at the rim, and falls on
cloth spread to receive it. The flour
is winnowed and sifted on the floor.
This sort of corn-mill is common
in all parts of the East, and has been, a
in use from the earliest ages. We als
find frequent mention of it in
Scripture. The family mill was
essential to the preparation of the
daily food, that it was forbidden by
the law of Moses to take in pledge

be

G

There is a passage in the hundred and nineteenth Psalm, which becomes peculiarly and powerfully beautiful to the reader who clearly" the upper or the nether milits understands what sort of "bottles" were used in the East. The Psalmist is describing the depth of his tribulation and grief-and the comfort he derives from reflecting on the certainty of God's promises. He likens his outward appearance to that of a skin bottle or bag, which, when not in use, is hung up near the fire, and becomes withered and blackened by the smoke. "I am become like a bottle in the smoke, yet do I not forget thy command-gradation of Babylon is thus foretold ments."

EASTERN HAND-MILLS. IT is the custom in the East for families to grind the corn and prepare the flour which they use at home. The occupation of grinding the corn is generally performed by women, though it is not unfrequently committed to men. The grain is first cleansed by pouring it on the floor against the wind, which carries away the dust and light particles that have become mixed with it. The corn thus cleaned is poured, a few handfuls at a time, into the hollow at the top of the hand-mill, which consist of two stones, about two feet and a half in diameter, and six inches thick. A stout wooden pivot connects the

or with the lower stone. The

stone;" and the reason stated for f
this prohibition is, that he whe
should do so, "taketh a man's life
to pledge." When Abimelech,after
the defeat of the Shechemites, a
tacked the town of Thebez, and was
about to set fire to the tower
which the inhabitants had taken
refuge, a brave woman destroyed
the oppressor by throwing on his
head from the wall a stone of the
household mill. The fall and de

in

in the beautiful imagery of the inspired prophet Isaiah: "Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon-sit on the ground. There is no throne, ◊ daughter of the Chaldeans; for the shalt no more be called tender and delicate; take the mill-stones, grind meal.”

There is a remarkable passage in St. Matthew, where our Saviour is pressing upon his disciples the ne cessity of being always in a state of preparation, as well for the signs! calamities of this life-such as the destruction which was to fall on Jerusalem-as for the sudden coming of the day of judgment. He warns them to reflect on the certainty that t what is announced by God would come to pass; and not to look for warnings which should give them time for individual preparation, for

e world will be found engaged in ▷ ordinary pursuits when such ghty events occur: "For, as in days that were before the flood, y were eating and drinking, rrying and giving in marriage, il the day that Noah entered the and knew not till the flood ie, and took them all away; so Il also the coming of the Son of a be. Then shall two be in the ; the one shall be taken and other left;-two women shall be iding at the mill-the one shall taken and the other left."

t is very remarkable that mills à similar construction are menled by Pennant as in use in the hlands of Scotland and in the brides, and are called Querns. description of their form, and manner of using them, differ in material point from what we have wn to be customary in the East. introduction of a more expeous and effectual machine, seems have been opposed by the preices of the people for a long time, Pennant saw the hand-mill in in the Isle of Rum in 1769. The Quern or Bra," he says, Imade in some of the neighbourcounties on the mainland, and its about fourteen shillings. This thod of grinding is very tedious, it employs two pair of hands r hours to grind only a single shel of corn, Instead of a hairve to sift the meal, the inhabi- | ats have here an ingenious subtute a sheep-skin stretched and a hoop and bored with small les made with a hot iron." During the work the women used sing songs, sometimes of love, metimes of praise of their ancient roes, whose deeds they rehearsed slow and melancholy tunes. But ennant observes that "singing at de Quern was almost out of date ince the introduction of water-mills. The laird can oblige his tenants,

as in England, to make use of this more expeditious mode of grinding, and empowers his miller to search out and break any querns he can find, as machines that defraud him of the toll."

ON THE FOOD OF THE ANCIENTS. FROM what we read in the Book of Genesis, it appears that the earliest food of man was the production of the earth; for, "out of the ground, made the Lord to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food;" and it is highly probable that before the Deluge, vegetable food was alone eaten. The first permission to eat flesh was given to Noah and his sons immediately after; and in process of time, they learnt how to prepare it for eating by various methods, as baking, boiling, &c., incidental notices of which are scattered throughout the Sacred Volume.

Oxen, sheep, and swine, formed the chief articles of food with the patriarchs and warriors of old; and in Isaiah xxv. an allusion is made to the ample provision at the ancient banquets. At periods when particular honour was intended to be shown to a guest, the tenderest and best meat was slain. Thus, when Abraham entertained the three angels, "he ran and fetched a calf tender and good, and he gave it to a young man, and he hasted to dress it." And also on the return of the prodigal but repentant son, the kindhearted and indulgent father ordered Ihis servants "to bring hither the fatted calf and kill it."

It is pleasing to find that the works of profane authors illustrate the inspired writings. Accordingly, in Homer, the heroes whom he introduces entertain each other with exactly the same fare as is mentioned in the bridal banquet, in Matthew xxii. 4.

Garlic, leeks, onions, &c., appear on their travels. “The stranger to have been considerable articles Job says, "did not lodge in the of food, as the Hebrews complained street, but I opened my doors to the in the wilderness that manna grew traveller." insipid: they longed for the leeks and onions of Egypt.

Bread was, at a very early period, considered wholesome and nutritious, and has constituted the principal part of human food in almost all countries. The process of breadmaking is frequently alluded to in the Scriptures. "And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth." From this passage, it would seem that the mistress of every family baked the supply of bread. When the trade of a baker was introduced, is a subject on which the learned are divided. The fine meal of the ancients, we are to presume, was the flour produced from wheat, but barley bread was in common use, and John says, (vi. 9,) that our blessed Lord and his Apostles had but five barley-loaves and two small fishes, on which to feed five thousand persons. The term cheese (implying, in the original, curdled milk), and many phrases expressive of the methods of cooking, &c., are frequently met with.

The hospitality that characterised the ancient patriarchs must not be forgotten, and the Scriptures furnish many pleasing examplesamong which may be mentioned, that delightful picture of genuine primitive manners recorded in Genesis xviii., "and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat." It has been observed by a writer on Oriental mauners, that as there were, in the Eastern countries, few houses of entertainment, hospitality was a virtue more peculiarly seasonable and necessary there, than among us, especially as far as relates to the accommodation of entire strangers

Burder states, that the Hindoos. extend the rites of hospitality even to their enemies; saying, "The tree does not withdraw its shade even from the woodcutter."

The following extract from Forbes Oriental Memoirs shows that the in habitants of the East still retai many of the patriarchal customs

"Hospitality to travellers prev throughout Guzerat: a person past ing through the province, is p sented, at the entrance of a vige with fruit, milk, butter, firewood and earthen pots for cookery: the women and children offer bu wreaths of flowers. Small bows are constructed on convenient spo at a distance from a well or la where a person is maintained by the nearest villages, to take care of the water-jars, and supply all travellers gratis. There are particular vik lages, where the inhabitants compe all travellers to accept of one day provision; whether they be many few, rich or poor, European native, they must not refuse proffered bounty."-H. L

GREAT VALUE OF WATER
IN HOT CLIMATES.

of

For whosoever shall give you a cap
to drink in my name, because ye de
Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall
lose his reward.—MARK ix. 41.

In our temperate climate we scarcely understand the full force of this ex pression of our Saviour; but in bot Eastern climates, a cup of cold water is frequently a very essential relief and refreshment. In some parts of the East, considerable pains and ex pense have been bestowed on inver tions to supply travellers with wa