11-11-52 MFP

11-7-52

LONDON

NOXIOUS, adj.

Lat. noxius. HurtNox'IOUSNESS, n. s. ful; baneful; mischievNox'IOUSLY, adv. ous; unwholesome : hence criminal; guilty; unfavorable: the substantive and adverb correspond.

The writers of politics have warned us of the noriousness of this doctrine to all civil governments, which the Christian religion is very far from disturbing. Hammond.

Those who are norious in the eyes of the law are justly punished by them to whom the execution of the law is committed. Bramhall against Hobbes. Preparation and correction is not only by addition of other bodies, but separation of noxious parts from their own. Browne.

Dryden.

Kill norious creatures, where 'tis sin to save : This only just prerogative we have. Norious seeds of the disease are contained in a Blackmore. smaller quantity in the blood.

See pale Orion sheds unwholesome dews, Arise, the pines a noxious shade diffuse; Sharp Boreas blows, and nature feels decay, Tune conquers all, and we must all obey. Pope. Too frequent an appearance in places of much resort is norious to spiritual promotions. Swift.

NOY (William), attorney-general under Charles I, was the son of William Noy of St. Burian, gent. In 1593 he was sent to Exeter College, thence to Lincoln's Inn, where he became eminent in juridical knowledge. He was twice elected M. P. for Helston, and in both parliaments zealously opposed king James's attempts to increase the royal prerogative. In 1625 he was elected M. P. for St. Ives, and in that and the following parliament continued to shine as a popular patriot; but in 1631 the court converted him by appointing him attorney-general; after which he pleaded for the extension of the royal prerogative as zealously as he had formerly opposed it. He wrote several treatises; particularly, 1. The Complete Lawyer; 2. Arguments of Law, and Speeches; 3. The Principal Grounds and Maxims of the Laws of England, 4to. He died at Tunbridge Wells, in August 1634.

NOYON, an ancient and pretty post town, and chief place of a canton in the arrondissement of Compiegne, department of the Oise, France, containing 5750 inhabitants. Situated at the foot and on the side of a hill, this town is surrounded with a number of richly cultivated gardens, presenting an appearance of the greatest abundance and riches. It is very well built and very airy, adorned with public fountains and crossed by the Vorse, which here separates into two branches, and falls into the Oise at the distance of about a mile from the town. Noyon was, for some time, the capital of the emperor Charlemagne, who was crowned here. Hugh Capet was elected king bere in 987. Three times it was devastated by VOL. XVI. PART. I.

fire, in 1131, 1152, and 1228. There are manufactories here of linen, muslins and caps, and large tan-yards; and a trade is carried on in these articles, and in corn, leather, &c. This is the native place of the celebrated Calvin. It is eighteen miles north-east of Compiègne, and thirty-one S. S. W. of St. Quentin.

NOZ'LE, n.s. From NOSE, which see. The nose; the snout; the end.

It is nothing but a paultry old sconce, with the nozle broke off. Arbuthnot and Pope's Mart. Scrib.

NUBIA, a country of Africa, situated between the cataract of the Nile, at Syene or Assouan, Abyssinia, and the Red Sea. It sometimes is considered as including Sennaar, but this seems of sufficient importance as a separate state to be treated distinctly, see SENNAAR: the whole is a part of the ancient Ethiopia. Nubia consists almost entirely of rocks and sandy deserts. Along the banks of the Nile it is indeed occasionally fertile, and divided into a great number of petty principalities or states, governed by absolute chiefs, called meleks or cachefs. But the whole population of this territory, which is about 500 miles long, but very narrow, is estimated by Mr. Burckhardt at only 100,000 individuals. It is divided into two parts, called Wady Kenous, and Wady el Nouba, sometimes also called Sayd: the inhabitants of these two divisions speaking different languages, although their manners and customs appear similar. The city of Dongola, to which the Mamelukes retired on their being driven by the pacha of Egypt from that country, is the largest place along this line. Its neighbourhood is particularly famous for the breed of horses, one of which is said to be valued on the spot at ten or twelve slaves. But Dehr is regarded as the capital of Nubia.

The geography of the whole valley of the Nile south of Philae is very defective. Its geology and mineral products, the probable elevation of the stream of the Nile, and its natural history, even as to the plants and animals, &c., have been wholly neglected until the journey of Burckhardt, who himself did not penetrate farther into this region than about 20° N. lat., and who has by no means exhausted these topics. We shall give, however, the particulars that have been furnished, and add a few extracts from the observations of recent travellers.

Beyond Egypt the 'eastern bank of the Nile is said to be better watered and adapted to cultivation than the western; although almost all the ruins of this region are on the opposite bank. It is thought, therefore, that this last must have been formerly more fertile, but has been reduced to its present state by the continual encroach

B

ment of the immense moving sands of the west. The territory is irrigated here not by the overflowing of the Nile, but by sakies, or wheels, constructed for the purpose of raising the waters of the river; the government receiving for the use of each wheel so many fat sheep, and measures of grain, called dhourra. This forms the great object of Nubian culture; it is the botanical holcus arundinaceus. The people grind it by strewing the grain upon a large stone, and rubbing a smaller one over it. If the bread is to be of superior quality, the dhourra is well washed and then dried in. the sun. This pains, however, they do not often take. It is placed in an earthen jar, and left to ferment from twenty-four to thirty-six hours, when it acquires a sourish taste; and the substance being merely poured upon an iron plate, or flat stone, placed over the fire, in a few minutes it is baked into cakes resembling the Abyssinian liff. They are brought to table hot, in a wooden bowl, with onion sauce, broth, and milk, or butter. Cakes of a thinner kind, and well toasted, are prepared for the caravans, and will keep for some months. They have also, after the dhourra, a crop of barley here, French beans, lentils, or water-melons. Tobacco is cultivated every where, and is a chief luxury, either smoked or sucked rather than chewed. Animal food is scarce. The liquors (in which they indulge) are palm wine, a spirit distilled from dates, and, above all, bouza, a fermented liquor made from the dhourra. No fruit is cultivated

except palms for dates.

The climate of Nubia, though intensely hot in summer, is very dry and salubrious. The plague, which is so common near the lower parts of the Nile, never reaching beyond the second cataract. So healthy was this country during Mr. Burckhardt's visit, that in a journey of five weeks he did not observe a single person laboring under disease. The small-pox, however, makes occasionally great havoc here. In general the inhabitants are of full stature, well made, and have fine features. The women possess sweet countenances and pleasing manners. They are also said to be modest and reserved: but, if the wealthiest Nubian happen to have a daughter whom the chief demands in marriage, the father cannot venture to refuse him: and the chiefs have thus wives in every considerable village. The Nubian is extremely jealous of his wife's honor, and on the slightest suspicion of her infidelity, we are told, would carry her in the night to the side of the river, lay open her breast by a cut with his knife, and throw her into the water, as he says, 'to be food for the crocodiles.' Their houses are either of mud or loose stones; the last being usually planted two together, one for the male, and the other for the female members of the family. The mud huts are roofed with dhourra stalks or palm leaves. The utensils of the family generally consist of about half a dozen coarse earthen jars, a few earthen plates, two stones for grinding the dhourra, and a hatchet. The domestic employment of the females consists in weaving coarse woollen and cotton cloth for shirts and mantles, and mats of date leaves; they also make the small drinking bowls and plates used for the dhourra bread. A woollen

cloth and linen cap form the dress of the rich The women wrap themselves in black woollen gowns; but boys and girls go about naked. In ascending the Nile, the dress of all classes becomes more and more scanty.

Although fire-arms are comparatively rare, the Nubian is seldom unarmed; the first purchase a boy makes is a short crooked knife, tied over the elbow, and ready to be drawn on the slightest quarrel. The Kenou and Nouba tribes are almost always engaged in bloody quarrels ; and, when death ensues, the family of the deceased may demand the price of blood, or retaliate on the brother, son, or near relative, so that a whole family is often thus obliged to fly. Great numbers of the lower orders repair to Cairo to act as porters.

The natives of Dar el Mahass, the most southerly district, differ considerably from the other Nubian tribes. They are perfectly black, and their lips like those of the negro, but not the nose or cheek. The king of Mahass is described by Burckhardt as a mean-looking man, attended by half a dozen naked slaves, armed with shields and lances. This is the nearest part of the black country whence slave traders arrive at Cairo. Their houses are constructed of mats made of palm leaves, fastened to high poles, the extremities of which go through the roof.

Nubia is principally visited for its splendid remains of antiquity, rivalling the most colossal monuments of Thebes or Hindostan. The most magnificent is that of Ipsambul, still in a state of almost complete preservation, and sculptured out of the living rock. It has at least ten colossal figures attached; six in front, and four that Mr. Burckhardt found buried in the sand, at about the distance of 200 yards. One of them, from the dimensions of the shoulder, could not, if uncovered, be less than sixty-five or seventy feet in height. They were conjectured to have been constructed to serve as ornaments to an immense temple: some of their countenances were beautifully expressive.

Another extensive part of Nubia extends from the Nile to the Red Sea; and here modern travellers have only penetrated in the line taken by the caravan to Sennaar. It is said to contain not a single permanent abode, but is a complete desert, interspersed with wadys or valleys, affording some few trees and shrubs, with a few wells or rills. Burckhardt, after passing through the deserts of Suez and Sinai, did not think, however, this quite so dreary. Unlike the other African deserts, it is covered with hills.

At the southern extremity of this tract is Berber, consisting of four large villages, employed in a brisk trade between Egypt, Arabia, and Central Africa. The people are said to be a handsome race, of a dark red-brown color. The men are taller than the Egyptians, and much stronger; the nose is often perfectly Grecian here, and the cheek bones not prominent. We are Arabs, not negroes,' they say; and they are careful to maintain the purity of their race. Few men have more than one wife; but every one who can afford it keeps a slave or mistress, called his companion. Few traders pass through Berber without taking one of them, were it only for a

week or two; and a general dissoluteness of manners is the natural effect. Every thing discreditable to humanity is said to be found in the character of this race; but treachery and avidity predominate. Quarrels are frequent and violent, especially at their drinking parties; and they commonly end in bloodshed. The chief scenes of these disorders are the bouza huts, kept by women of infamous character, by whom the liquor is manufactured: no one ventures there without taking his sword with him; and various persons of distinction who have entered have never been known to return. A common trick is to entice strangers to one of these women, who next day is owned as a relation, and vengeance or presents demanded for the dishonor done to the family. Another part of the miscellaneous territory is the road to Souakin, through the populous and fertile district of Taka.

The chief trade of Berber, and of Nubia generally, consists in slaves imported from the intenor of Africa, and conveyed northwards into Egypt, or across the Red Sea by Souakin and Jidda. The annual number is estimated at 5000, of whom about 2500 are for Arabia, 1500 for Egypt, and 1000 for Dongola and the Bedouins of the mountains. Few of these unhappy beings are above the age of fifteen; they are chiefly used in the east as domestics. The most valued are between eleven and fifteen; if males they sell for fifteen or sixteen dollars; if females, for twenty-five or twenty-six. While they remain within the negro territories they are treated with great indulgence; but when once in the desert, where they have no chance of escape, the treatment is entirely changed.

Mr. T. Legh, M. P., is the earliest of the modern band of travellers whose contributions to the illustration of this region are before us. He penetrated further along the banks of the Nile into the ancient Ethiopia than any preceding traveller. At Siala it was deemed expedient to wait on the Douab cacheff, who was encamped about a mile and a half from the river, forming a sort of advanced guard of the Nubians: they found the men in wigwams; the women and children apart in tents; the whole body about 400; the horses and camels feeding around them. The cacheff received them kindly; made no sort of objection to their proceeding up the river, and told them he would send an express to Dehr, to inform Hassan cacheff of their intended visit to his capital. He offered them milk, flour and butter, invited them to eat out of the same bowl with him, the strongest mark of hospitality and friendship, and, in return for some coffee and tobacco, presented them with a sheep.

At Dondour was a small temple containing nothing more remarkable than the character 4+2 upon the fragments showing it to have been the possession of some early Christians. The weather began now to be exceedingly sultry; the thermometer in the cabin was at 86°; in the outer air 96°, and in the sand 126°; but it was a great relief to find the inhabitants every where peaceably disposed; they brought the travellers dates, milk, and whatever their scanty means enabled them The temple of Sibhoi was minutely

to afford.

examined, and no doubt remained of its having been a celebrated sanctuary of pure Egyptian architecture. Mr. Legh thinks it probably of an earlier date than those in Egypt; the walls being built in a ruder style, and the hieroglyphics, though bold, of inferior execution; but the statues, he adds, and the sphinxes would bear a closer examination. He was greatly struck with the high state of preservation of the stone and outward walls of these venerable ruins, as compared with the state of those below the cataracts. 'No reasonable allowance of difference of date,' he says, will explain this; and we must seek for the cause in the mild unalterable climate between the tropics. The corroding hand of time has no effect upon them, but they are abandoned to the desert, and many of them will in a few years entirely disappear.'

He

About fourteen miles further brought them to Dehr, the capital of Nubia, to wait on Hassan cacheff, the chief of the Barabras. At this moment the people were celebrating the festival of the cacheff's marriage, which our travellers were rather surprised to hear them call (in lingua Franca) a fantasia. They rode through scattered plantations of date trees, among which were interspersed a number of mud huts, till they reached the house of the chief, distinguished only by being built of brick, and consisting of two stories. The natives, many of whom were drunk, were greatly astonished at the sudden appearance of the strangers; but offered them no incivility. They brought them paste, with boiled goat's flesh swimming in butter. After waiting about four hours, the cacheff made his appearance, attended by five or six officers, and a number of Negro guards; he was a young man, about six feet high, of a handsome person, half drunk with araki, a spirit distilled from dates. asked them boisterously what they wanted, and why they came to Dehr? This was but a discouraging reception from a man who had 300 armed negroes at his elbow, and at least 3000 in the district, ready to execute any of his commands. On retiring, he ordered his secretary, who spoke Arabic, to conduct them to a lodging for the night; this was a mud hut of two apartments, but without a roof; it was, however, next to that of the cacheff, the best in all Dehr. Early in the morning the secretary called upon them, and hinted that his master expected a present, and that one of their swords would be acceptable. On waiting on the Cacheff, they offered him a watch, of which he declined the acceptance, as they were unable to comprehend its use. Perceiving that any facilities for the further progress of their journey depended on the sacrifice of one of their swords, Mr. Legh presented him with a fine Damascus blade worth at least 500 piastres: the effect was instantaneous: his eyes sparkled with pleasure, and his lips uttered nothing but friendship. He enquired after. our author's harem—if he had left it at the cataract, meaning,' says Mr. Legh, as I understood, to give me a female slave to wait upon my wife.' He afterwards made him a present of a negro boy, and granted permission for them to proceed to Ibrim, offering horses and dromedaries, or any thing else that could be of service.

ment of the immense moving sands of the west. The territory is irrigated here not by the overflowing of the Nile, but by sakies, or wheels, constructed for the purpose of raising the waters of the river; the government receiving for the use of each wheel so many fat sheep, and measures of grain, called dhourra. This forms the great object of Nubian culture; it is the botanical holcus arundinaceus. The people grind it by strewing the grain upon a large stone, and rubbing a smaller one over it. If the bread is to be of superior quality, the dhourra is well washed and then dried in the sun. This pains, however, they do not often take. It is placed in an earthen jar, and left to ferment from twenty-four to thirty-six hours, when it acquires a sourish taste; and the substance being merely poured upon an iron plate, or flat stone, placed over the fire, in a few minutes it is baked into cakes resembling the Abyssinian liff. They are brought to table hot, in a wooden bowl, with onion sauce, broth, and milk, or butter. Cakes of a thinner kind, and well toasted, are prepared for the caravans, and will keep for some months. They have also, after the dhourra, a crop of barley here, French beans, lentils, or water-melons. Tobacco is cultivated every where, and is a chief luxury, either smoked or sucked rather than chewed. Animal food is scarce. The liquors (in which they indulge) are palm wine, a spirit distilled from dates, and, above all, bouza, a fermented liquor made from the dhourra. No fruit is cultivated except palms for dates.

The climate of Nubia, though intensely hot in summer, is very dry and salubrious. The plague, which is so common near the lower parts of the Nile, never reaching beyond the second cataract. So healthy was this country during Mr. Burckhardt's visit, that in a journey of five weeks he did not observe a single person laboring under disease. The small-pox, however, makes occasionally great havoc here. In general the inhabitants are of full stature, well made, and have fine features. The women possess sweet countenances and pleasing manners. They are also said to be modest and reserved: but, if the wealthiest Nubian happen to have a daughter whom the chief demands in marriage, the father cannot venture to refuse him: and the chiefs have thus wives in every considerable village. The Nubian is extremely jealous of his wife's honor, and on the slightest suspicion of her infidelity, we are told, would carry her in the night to the side of the river, lay open her breast by a cut with his knife, and throw her into the water, as he says, to be food for the crocodiles.' Their houses are either of mud or loose stones; the last being usually planted two together, one for the male, and the other for the female members of the family. The mud huts are roofed with dhourra stalks or palm leaves. The utensils of the family generally consist of about half a dozen coarse earthen jars, a few earthen plates, two stones for grinding the dhourra, and a hatchet. The domestic employment of the females consists in weaving coarse woollen and cotton cloth for shirts and mantles, and mats of date leaves; they also make the small drinking bowls and plates used for the dhourra bread. A woollen

cloth and linen cap form the dress of the rich The women wrap themselves in black woollen gowns; but boys and girls go about naked. In ascending the Nile, the dress of all classes becomes more and more scanty.

Although fire-arms are comparatively rare, the Nubian is seldom unarmed; the first purchase a boy makes is a short crooked knife, tied over the elbow, and ready to be drawn on the slightest quarrel. The Kenou and Nouba tribes are almost always engaged in bloody quarrels; and, when death ensues, the family of the deceased may demand the price of blood, or retaliate on the brother, son, or near relative, so that a whole family is often thus obliged to fly. Great numbers of the lower orders repair to Cairo to act as porters.

The natives of Dar el Mahass, the most southerly district, differ considerably from the other Nubian tribes. They are perfectly black, and their lips like those of the negro, but not the nose or cheek. The king of Mahass is described by Burckhardt as a mean-looking man, attended by half a dozen naked slaves, armed with shields and lances. This is the nearest part of the black country whence slave traders arrive at Cairo. Their houses are constructed of mats made of palm leaves, fastened to high poles, the extremities of which go through the roof.

Nubia is principally visited for its splendid remains of antiquity, rivalling the most colossal monuments of Thebes or Hindostan. The most magnificent is that of Ipsambul, still in a state of almost complete preservation, and sculptured out of the living rock. It has at least ten colossal figures attached; six in front, and four that Mr. Burckhardt found buried in the sand, at about the distance of 200 yards. One of them, from the dimensions of the shoulder, could not, if uncovered, be less than sixty-five or seventy feet in height. They were conjectured to have been constructed to serve as ornaments to an immense temple: some of their countenances were beautifully expressive.

Another extensive part of Nubia extends from the Nile to the Red Sea; and here modern travellers have only penetrated in the line taken by the caravan to Sennaar. It is said to contain not a single permanent abode, but is a complete desert, interspersed with wadys or valleys, affording some few trees and shrubs, with a few wells or rills. Burckhardt, after passing through the deserts of Suez and Sinai, did not think, however, this quite so dreary. Unlike the other African deserts, it is covered with hills.

At the southern extremity of this tract is Berber, consisting of four large villages, employed in a brisk trade between Egypt, Arabia, and Central Africa. The people are said to be a handsome race, of a dark red-brown color. The men are taller than the Egyptians, and much stronger; the nose is often perfectly Grecian here, and the cheek bones not prominent. We are Arabs, not negroes,' they say; and they are careful to maintain the purity of their race. Few men have more than one wife; but every one who can afford it keeps a slave or mistress, called his companion. Few traders pass through Berber without taking one of them, were it only for a

week or two; and a general dissoluteness of manners is the natural effect. Every thing discreditable to humanity is said to be found in the character of this race; but treachery and avidity predominate. Quarrels are frequent and violent, especially at their drinking parties; and they commonly end in bloodshed. The chief scenes of these disorders are the bouza huts, kept by women of infamous character, by whom the liquor is manufactured: no one ventures there without taking his sword with him; and various persons of distinction who have entered have never been known to return. A common trick is to entice strangers to one of these women, who next day is owned as a relation, and vengeance or presents demanded for the dishonor done to the family. Another part of the miscellaneous territory is the road to Souakin, through the populous and fertile district of Taka.

The chief trade of Berber, and of Nubia generally, consists in slaves imported from the interior of Africa, and conveyed northwards into Egypt, or across the Red Sea by Souakin and Jidda. The annual number is estimated at 5000, of whom about 2500 are for Arabia, 1500 for Egypt, and 1000 for Dongola and the Bedouins of the mountains. Few of these unhappy beings are above the age of fifteen; they are chiefly used in the east as domestics. The most valued are between eleven and fifteen; if males they sell for fifteen or sixteen dollars; if females, for twenty-five or twenty-six. While they remain within the negro territories they are treated with great indulgence; but when once in the desert, where they have no chance of escape, the treatment is entirely changed.

Mr. T. Legh, M. P., is the earliest of the modern band of travellers whose contributions to the illustration of this region are before us. He penetrated further along the banks of the Nile into the ancient Ethiopia than any preceding traveller. At Siala it was deemed expedient to wait on the Douab cacheff, who was encamped about a mile and a half from the river, forming a sort of advanced guard of the Nubians: they found the men in wigwams; the women and children apart in tents; the whole body about 400; the horses and camels feeding around them. The cacheff received them kindly; made no sort of objection to their proceeding up the river, and told them he would send an express to Dehr, to inform Hassan cacheff of their intended visit to his capital. He offered them milk, flour and butter, invited them to eat out of the same bowl with him, the strongest mark of hospitality and friendship, and, in return for some coffee and tobacco, presented them with a sheep.

At Dondour was a small temple containing nothing more remarkable than the character A+ upon the fragments showing it to have been the possession of some early Christians. The weather began now to be exceedingly sultry; the thermometer in the cabin was at 86°; in the outer air 96°, and in the sand 126°; but it was a great relief to find the inhabitants every where peaceably disposed; they brought the travellers dates, milk, and whatever their scanty means enabled them to afford. The temple of Sibhoi was minutely

examined, and no doubt remained of its having been a celebrated sanctuary of pure Egyptian architecture. Mr. Legh thinks it probably of an earlier date than those in Egypt; the walls being built in a ruder style, and the hieroglyphics, though bold, of inferior execution; but the statues, he adds, and the sphinxes would bear a closer examination. He was greatly struck with the high state of preservation of the stone and outward walls of these venerable ruins, as compared with the state of those below the cataracts. 'No reasonable allowance of difference of date,' he says, 'will explain this; and we must seek for the cause in the mild unalterable climate between the tropics. The corroding hand of time has no effect upon them, but they are abandoned to the desert, and many of them will in a few years entirely disappear."

After waiting

About fourteen miles further brought them to Dehr, the capital of Nubia, to wait on Hassan cacheff, the chief of the Barabras. At this moment the people were celebrating the festival of the cacheff's marriage, which our travellers were rather surprised to hear them call (in lingua Franca) a fantasia. They rode through scattered plantations of date trees, among which were interspersed a number of mud huts, till they reached the house of the chief, distinguished only by being built of brick, and consisting of two stories. The natives, many of whom were drunk, were greatly astonished at the sudden appearance of the strangers; but offered them no incivility. They brought them paste, with boiled goat's flesh swimming in butter. about four hours, the cacheff made his appearance, attended by five or six officers, and a number of Negro guards; he was a young man, about six feet high, of a handsome person, half drunk with araki, a spirit distilled from dates. He asked them boisterously what they wanted, and why they came to Dehr? This was but a discouraging reception from a man who had 300 armed negroes at his elbow, and at least 3000 in the district, ready to execute any of his commands. On retiring, he ordered his secretary, who spoke Arabic, to conduct them to a lodging for the night; this was a mud hut of two apartments, but without a roof; it was, however, next to that of the cacheff, the best in all Dehr. Early in the morning the secretary called upon them, and hinted that his master expected a present, and that one of their swords would be acceptable. On waiting on the Cacheff, they offered him a watch, of which he declined the acceptance, as they were unable to comprehend its use. Perceiving that any facilities for the further progress of their journey depended on the sacrifice of one of their swords, Mr. Legh presented him with a fine Damascus blade worth at least 500 piastres: the effect was instantaneous: his eyes sparkled with pleasure, and his lips uttered nothing but friendship. He enquired after. our author's harem-if he had left it at the cataract, meaning,' says Mr. Legh, as I understood, to give me a female slave to wait upon my wife.' He afterwards made him a present of a negro boy, and granted permission for them to proceed to Ibrim, offering horses and dromedaries, or any thing else that could be of service.

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