The Progress of Ethnology

In regard to a communication between the settlements, it is the decided opinion of the Doctor, that no line of road can be effected direct from Fort Bourke to the northern settlement. A route from Moreton bay to the gulf of Carpentaria will be easily constructed. The whole coast is backed by ranges of mountains, consisting, nearest the sea, generally of granite and basaltic rocks, which he calls the granite range; behind this is a second range of sandstone. Descending from this and again rising, they entered upon the table-land; which they could nowhere penetrate, so as to determine what might be the character of the central country. It was covered with a dense shrub, had no water; and frequently there was difficulty in descending from it, owing to the perpendicular cliffs and deep ravines. They passed several rivers all of which ran easterly towards the coast. After reaching the Gulf of Carpentaria, they again ascended the table-land, and suffered extremely for want of water. The country beneath them was delightful to look at, but they were unable to descend to it, until they reached the dip towards the Alligaters. Here the country surpassed in fertility any thing that they had seen.

By later advices from Sydney, it appears that this enterprising and zealous traveller, is again making arrangements for another expedition to explore the interior of this great island.[60 - London Athenæum. Nov. 3, 1846.] The Doctor now proposes to leave Moreton bay and endeavor to trace the sources of the rivers which flow into the Gulf of Carpentaria. He will then proceed northwest, penetrating directly across the unknown and unexplored interior, forming the are of a circle, to Swan river. This will be the most daring journey yet attempted; but under the direction of one who has already shown so much perseverance and undergone such severe hardships, it is to be hoped that his efforts may be crowned with success.

An expedition for the exploration of Australia, under the command of Sir Thomas L. Mitchell, is at present employed in traversing the unknown parts of this vast country. When last heard from, the expedition had reached the latitude of 29° 45' longitude 147° 34'. The particulars of Dr. Leichardt's journey have been sent to him to guide him in his course of future operations.[61 - Simmond's Colonial Magazine, Nov. 1846.]

The following list embraces the latest works on Australia.

Physical description of New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land, accompanied by a Geographical map, by P.E. de Strzelecki. 8vo. 1845.

South Australia and its Mines; with an account of Captain Grey's government, by Fr. Dutton. 8vo. London, 1846.

History of New South Wales, from its settlement to the close of the year 1844, by Thomas H. Braim. 2 vols. post, 8vo. London, 1846.

Reminiscences of Australia, with hints on the Squatters' life, by C.P. Hodgson. post, 8vo. London, 1846.

A visit to the Antipodes; with some reminiscences of a sojourn in Australia. By a Squatter. 8vo. London, 1846.

Enterprise in tropical Australia. By George W. Earl. 8vo. London, 1846.

Impressions of Savage life, and scenes in Australia and New Zealand. By G.F. Augas. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1847.

Travels in New South Wales. By Alexander Majoribanks. 12mo. Lond. 1847.

Simmonds' Colonial Magazine contains a vast deal of information relating to Australia, as well as to other British Colonies, and is unquestionably the best book of reference on subjects relating to the history and present condition of the British colonies of any work extant.

ASIA

Lycia, Asia Minor. This interesting region has been further explored by two English gentlemen, Lieut. Spratt, R.N., and Professor Forbes, who, accompanied by the Reverend E.T. Daniel, embarked from England in the year 1842, in H.M. ship Beacon, for the coast of Lycia, for the purpose of bringing home the remarkable monuments of antiquity discovered by Sir Charles Fellows.

This gentleman, it will be remembered, was the first who in modern times successfully explored the interior. He visited the sites of many ancient cities and towns; copied numerous inscriptions, by means of which he was enabled to identify the names of fifteen out of eighteen cities; and made sketches of the most interesting sculptures and monuments.

It is remarkable that a country so often spoken of by the Greek and Roman historians should not have sooner attracted attention, when districts contiguous to, as well as far beyond, have been so thoroughly explored. The ruins on the southern coast of Asia Minor, were first made known by Captain Beaufort, who discovered them when employed in making a survey of this coast. Several travellers subsequently made short excursions into the country; but it was not until Mr. now Sir Charles Fellows, in 1838 and 1840, made his visits and explorations, that the riches of the interior in historical monuments were disclosed.

The relics of antiquity brought to light in these researches, consist first of the ruins of large cities, many of which, by reason of their isolated situation among the high lands and mountains, seem to have been preserved from the destruction which usually attends depopulated cities situated in more accessible places.

These ruined cities contain amphitheatres more or less spacious, and generally in a good state of preservation, temples, aqueducts, and sepulchral monuments, together with numbers of lesser buildings, the dwelling houses of the inhabitants. The ruins of Christian churches are also found in many places, and in one instance a large and elegant cathedral; the purposes of these are satisfactorily made out by their inscriptions; and the date of their erection, when not otherwise known, may be fixed by their style of architecture. The most numerous as well as the most interesting monuments of these ancient cities, are their sepulchres. In some instances where a mountain or high rock is contiguous, it is pierced with thousands of tombs, presenting an appearance similar to Petræa in Idumea, sometimes called the City of the Dead. The roads in all directions are lined with tombs and sarcophagi, many of them covered with elaborate sculptures and inscriptions. It is by means of the latter, which abound and which exist in a fine state of preservation, that the names of the cities are identified and other historical facts brought to light. The following is a translation of the most common form of sepulchral inscription.

"THIS TOMB APOLLONIDES, SON OF MOLISSAS, MADE FOR HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN: AND IF ANY ONE VIOLATES IT, LET HIM PAY A FINE."

Coins too are found, which possess considerable historic interest.

In architecture, we find excellent specimens of the several Grecian orders, exhibiting both the perfection and declension of the art. The works of Sir Charles Fellows abound in architectural representations. A pointed arch was discovered by Lieut. Spratt and Professor Forbes in the interior of a tomb (a sketch of which is given) among the ruins of Antiphellas. This conclusively shows, that this peculiar form of the arch was not first introduced with Gothic architecture, as has been generally believed, but belongs to a period anterior to the Christian era. An inscription in the Lycian and Latin was found on the monument.

The language of the ancient Lycians is an important discovery which has resulted from these researches. A bilingual inscription in Lycian and Greek first led to the key, and similar inscriptions, subsequently discovered, have furnished sufficient materials for ascertaining the values of the several letters of the alphabet, which consists of twenty-seven letters, two of which are still doubtful. Able disquisitions on the language have been written by Mr. Sharpe and Professor Grotefend.

In regard to the antiquity of the monuments, and the people who spoke the language called Lycian, now first made known through these inscriptions, we are enabled to arrive at conclusions which fix their era with some degree of certainty. The earliest inscription yet decyphered is a bilingual one, which consists of an edict, in which the name of Harpagus, or his son, a well known personage, is mentioned; which would give a date of 530 to 500 B.C. This is about the period of the earliest arrow-head inscriptions yet known – namely, those at Behistun, of the age of Darius, decyphered by Major Rawlinson. The language belongs to the same family as the Zend and old Persian, and is supposed to have been in use in the same age as the former, and along with that of the Persepolitan inscriptions. The sculptures too, bear some resemblance to the figures on the Persian monuments, particularly the well known figure with an umbrella, so common on the latter.

Other reasons are adduced by scholars for fixing the date of the Lycian language not before the fifth century B.C., or to the age of Herodotus. This historian was from the adjoining province of Caria; and as might be expected, gives accounts of the Lycians before his time, but does not say that they spoke a language different from his own, or from that of the entire region, – a fact that he would not have overlooked had such been the case.

It is believed that Cyrus, when he subjected this country, brought in some people from his Persian dominions, who afterwards became the dominant party, and introduced their language.[62 - Herodotus, in speaking of the subjugation of Lycia, by Cyrus and Harpagus, says; "When Harpagus led his army towards Xanthus, the Lycians boldly advanced to meet him, and, though inferior in numbers, behaved with the greatest bravery. Being defeated and pursued into their city, they collected their wives, children and valuable effects, into the citadel, and there consumed the whole in one immense fire… Of those who now inhabit Lycia, calling themselves Xanthians, the whole are foreigners, eighty families excepted." —Clio, 176. See also Clio, 171-173.Herodotus further states that the Lycians originated from the Cretans, a branch of the Hellenic race; and Strabo, in a fragment preserved from Ephorus, states that the Lycians were a people of Greek origin, who had settled in the country previously occupied by the barbarous tribes of Mylians and Solymi.Homer briefly alludes to the Lycians, who, at the siege of Troy, assisted the Trojans under certain rulers whose names are mentioned. —Iliad, b. v. and xii.]

It is surprising to find the names of these Lycian cities so well preserved when the descendants of its ancient inhabitants have been so entirely swept out of the country, and replaced by a people differing in manners, in religion, and having no interest connected with the locality to induce them to respect the relics or names, and keep alive the memory, of the former possessors of the soil.

Travels in Lycia, Milytas and the Cibyrates, in company with the late Rev. E.T. Daniel, by Lieut. Spratt, R.N., and Prof. E. Forbes. 2 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1847.

A Journal written during an excursion in Asia Minor, by Charles Fellows. royal 8vo. London, 1839.

An account of Discoveries in Lycia, in 1840. By Charles Fellows, royal 8vo.

An Essay on the Lycian language. By Daniel Sharpe. (In the appendix to Fellows' Journal.)

ARABIA

If we now turn to the discoveries that have recently been made in the southern part of Arabia, we find much in them worthy of attention. This country, called in the Scriptures Hazarmaveth, by the natives Hadramaut, and by the classical writers of antiquity, Arabia Felix, is celebrated as being the kingdom of the Queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon, as well as for the gold, gems, frankincense and other precious productions, which it furnished in ancient times. It is represented by the Greek and Roman writers as a populous country, with many extensive cities, abounding in temples and palaces; though the palpable fables with which these accounts are intermingled, show that at least they had no personal knowledge of the facts, but retailed them at second hand.

After Europe had awoke from the intellectual slumber of the dark ages, the Arabs were long regarded only as objects of religious and political abhorrence. The discovery of the route to India by the Cape of Good Hope, at the close of the fifteenth century, by diverting the channel of Indo-European traffic from the Red Sea, left the countries bordering upon it in such a state of solitude, that when better feelings began to prevail, there was no means of obtaining any direct information respecting them.

In 1650, the illustrious Pococke, by the publication of his Specimens of Ancient Arabian History, extracted from native authors, created a curiosity respecting Southern Arabia and its ancient inhabitants, which successive collections of a similar nature, down to our own times, have served rather to increase than to gratify. The researches of Niebuhr, Seetzen, and Burckhardt, in the latter part of the last, and the beginning of the present century, made us somewhat acquainted with the western extremity of this country, along the shores of the Red Sea; but before the investigations of which we are about to speak, its southern coast had never been accurately explored, and the great body of the interior, with its once famous capital, Mareb, remained, as it ever had been, completely unknown to and unvisited by the natives of Europe.

The hordes of pirates, which until twenty years ago infested the Persian Gulf, caused the government of British India to order a complete survey of its islands and both its shores, with the view of laying bare their haunts, and putting an end to their depredations. In 1829, after this service had been performed, the project then recently set on foot of establishing a steam communication between England and Bombay, caused orders to be issued for a similar examination of the Red Sea.

The attention of the officers composing the expedition, was not restricted to the technical duties in which they were chiefly engaged. It was well known that information of every kind would be prized by the government which they served; and this, together with the monotony of life on board ship on the one hand, and the novelty of the scenes by which they were surrounded on the other, seems to have created among them a spirit of emulation that led to the most interesting discoveries respecting both the geography and the antiquities of the adjacent countries.

Among the most intelligent and enterprising of these officers was the late Lieut. Wellsted, who thus describes his reflections on joining the expedition in the Red Sea, on the 12th October, 1830. "From the earliest dawn of history, the northern shores of the Red Sea have figured as the scene of events which both religious and civil records have united to render memorable. Here Moses and the Patriarchs tended their flocks, and put in motion those springs of civilization, which, from that period, have never ceased to urge forward the whole human race in the career of improvement. On the one hand the Valley of the Wanderings, commencing near the site of Memphis, and opening upon the Red Sea, conducts the fancy along the track pursued by the Hebrews during their flight out of Egypt; on the other hand are Mount Sinai, bearing still upon its face the impress of miraculous events, and beyond it that strange, stormy, and gloomy-looking sea, once frequented by Phœnician merchants' ships, by the fleets of Solomon and Pharaoh, and those barks of later times which bore the incenses, the gems, the gold and spices of the East, to be consumed or lavishly squandered upon favorites at the courts of Macedonia or Rome. But the countries lying along this offshoot of the Indian Ocean, have another kind of interest, peculiar perhaps to themselves. On the Arabian side we find society much what it was four thousand years ago; for amidst the children of Ishmael it has undergone but trifling modifications. Their tents are neither better nor worse than they were when they purchased Joseph of his brethren, on their way to Egypt; the Sheikhs possess no other power or influence than they enjoyed then; the relations of the sexes have suffered little or no changes; they eat, drink, clothe themselves, educate their children, make war and peace, just as they did in the day of the Exodus. But on the opposite shores, all has been change, fluctuation, and decay. While the Bedouins have wandered with their camels and their flocks, unaspiring, unimproving, they have looked across the gulf and beheld the Egyptian overthrown by the Persian, the Persian by the Greek, the Greek by the Roman, and the Roman in his turn by a daring band from their own burning deserts. They have seen empires grow up like Jonah's gourd. War has swept away some; the varieties and luxuries of peace have brought others to the ground; and every spot along these shores is celebrated."

When the northeastern and the western shores of the Arabian peninsula had thus been investigated, there still remained to be explored the south eastern shore, the coast of the anciently renowned province of Hadramaut, extending from Tehama, on the Red Sea, to the province of Oman, at the entrance to the Persian Gulf; and it is to the discoveries made in this almost unknown part of the world that I now wish more particularly to allude.

In the year 1839 Capt. Haines, the commander of the expedition and the present governor of Aden, published his survey of about two fifths of this coast, extending from the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb as far east as Missenaat, in long. 51° east of Greenwich.[63 - Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London. Vol. IX.] In the year 1845, he published his further survey of about an equal portion extending to Cape Isolette, in long. 57° 51', leaving about one fifth of the whole extent on the eastern end still to be explored.[64 - Ibid. Vol. XV. p. 104.]

In June, 1843, Adolphe Baron Wrede, a Hanoverian gentleman, made an excursion from Makallah on the coast, into the interior of the country. He visited among other places an extensive valley called Wadi Doan, which he thus describes. "The sudden appearance of the Wadi Doan, took me by surprise and impressed me much with the grandeur of the scene. The ravine, five hundred feet wide and six hundred feet in depth, is enclosed between perpendicular rocks, the debris of which form in one part a slope reaching to half their height. On this slope, towns and villages rise contiguously in the form of an amphitheatre; while below the date grounds, which are covered with a forest of trees, the river about twenty feet broad and enclosed by high and walled embankments is seen winding through fields laid out in terraces, then pursuing its course in the open plain, irrigated by small canals branching from it. My first view of the valley disclosed to me four towns and four villages, within the space of an hour's distance." He also gives an account of some curious spots of quicksand, in the midst of the great desert of El-Akkaf, which are regarded with superstitious horror by the wandering Bedouins. A cord of sixty fathoms in length with a plummet at the end, which he cast into one of them, disappeared in the course of five minutes. His narrative is published in the fourteenth volume of the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London.

In spite of the glowing descriptions of ancient authors, the idea hitherto entertained of this region in modern times, has been that of a succession of desert plains and sand-hills, with nothing to give animation to the arid scene but solitary groups of Bedouins and occasionally a passing caravan. The recent explorations, however, of which the one just quoted is a specimen, show that this is far from being a correct view of the entire country. The coast is thickly studded with fishing-villages and small seaports, which still carry on, though on a diminished scale, the trade with India and the Persian gulf, which has existed ever since the dawn of history. It is true, the general appearance of the country along the coast, consisting as it does of successive ranges of sand-hills, is such as to naturally give rise to the views entertained and promulgated by navigators, who have had no opportunity of visiting the interior. But the deeper researches that have been made during the last ten or twelve years, show that these opinions are very erroneous; for besides that there are a number of green valleys running down to the coast, produced by streams provided with water for at least a good part of the year, no sooner has the traveller surmounted the first range of sand-hills, than his sight begins to be regaled with numerous well watered valleys and mountains covered with verdure. Besides this, even in those parts of the country where the surface is naturally a desert plain, the inhabitants have possessed from the remotest times the art of forming flourishing oases, in which to establish their hamlets and towns; an operation which, as Wellsted remarks, is effected with a labor and skill that seem more Chinese than Arabian. This traveller says: "The greater part of the face of the country being destitute of running streams on the surface, the Arabs have sought in elevated places for springs or fountains beneath it. A channel from this fountain-head is then, with a very slight descent, bored in the direction in which it is to be conveyed, leaving apertures at regular distances, to afford light and air to those who are occasionally sent to keep it clean. In this manner water is frequently conducted from a distance of six or eight miles, and an unlimited supply is thus obtained. These channels are usually about four feet broad and two feet deep, and contain a clear and rapid stream. Few of the large towns or oases but had four or five of these rivulets or feleji running into them. The isolated spots to which water is thus conveyed possess a soil so fertile, that nearly every grain, fruit, or vegetable, common to India, Arabia, or Persia, is produced almost spontaneously; and the tales of the oases will be no longer regarded as an exaggeration, since a single step conveys the traveller from the glare and sand of the desert into a fertile tract, watered by a hundred rills, teeming with the most luxuriant vegetation, and embowered by lofty and stately trees, whose umbrageous foliage the fiercest rays of a noontide sun cannot penetrate."[65 - Wellsted's Travels in Arabia, Vol. I. p. 92.]

These oases and the towns situated in them, date from various periods; some of those already discovered being evidently of considerable antiquity. In describing some of these towns, Wellsted says: "The instant you step from the Desert within the Grove, a most sensible change of the atmosphere is experienced. The air feels cold and damp; the ground in every direction is saturated with moisture; and from the density of the shade, the whole appears dark and gloomy. To avoid the damp and catch an occasional beam of the sun above the trees, the houses are usually very lofty. A parapet encircling the upper part is turreted; and on some of the largest houses guns are mounted. The windows and doors have the Saracenic arch; and every part of the building is profusely decorated with ornaments of stucco in bas relief, some in very good taste. The doors are also cased with brass, and have rings and other massive ornaments of the same metal." These descriptions relate to the province of Oman, the eastern extremity of Southern Arabia. The glimpses already obtained of this ancient and famous land, sufficiently prove that the fortunate traveller who shall succeed in obtaining access into the interior of the country, which has always been a terra incognita to Europeans and their descendants, will find an abundance of objects of interest to reward his zeal and self-devotion.

There is however another class of interesting objects, relating to the ancient history of the country, which I have not alluded to until now, because I wish to speak of them more particularly. These are the ancient inscriptions, of which a number have already been discovered and in part decyphered.

Several Arabian writers have stated that there existed in the southern part of their country, before the time of Mohammed, a kind of writing which they call Himyaritic, after the name of the ancient inhabitants of the country, the Beni Himyar. But the confused nature of these accounts, together with the Arab practice of giving the name of Himyaritic to every ancient mode of writing which they were unable to read, caused the story to be regarded as little better than fabulous. In the year 1808 the late Baron de Sacy published a learned treatise on the subject, in which he collected all the Arabian accounts; but no further progress was made in the enquiry, until the discovery of a number of inscriptions on various massy ruins situated along the coast and in the interior, by officers attached to the surveying expedition already spoken of, in the years 1834 and '5.

Copies of these inscriptions were transmitted to the late Dr. Gesenius of Halle, one of the first Orientalists of Europe. After making some progress in the investigation, he gave up the subject to his colleague Dr. Rödiger, who had devoted himself to it with great ardor and success. The latter published a copious dissertation containing the results he had arrived at, which he reprinted in 1842 by way of an appendix to his German edition of Wellsted's Travels in Arabia. By comparing the characters of the inscriptions with the Himyaritic alphabets contained in some Arabic manuscripts and with the present Ethiopic alphabet, he was enabled to ascertain the powers of the letters, and even to interpret, with various degrees of certainty, many portions of the inscriptions themselves. Thus, these venerable records, which in all probability have for many ages been dumb to every human being, are in a fair way of being made to yield up to modern scientific research whatever information they may contain. That this information must be interesting and valuable to the historian is inferred from the imposing nature of the structures on which they are found, and whose existence but a few years ago was as little looked for in this part of the world as in the forest wilds of Oregon. A full account of these discoveries and of the attempts at decyphering the inscriptions was published in 1845 in the first volume of the Transactions of the Ethnological Society of this city. I will therefore merely proceed to state what has been accomplished in the matter since the time when that account closes.

In the beginning of 1843, the same year in which M. Wrede made his exploration, a French physician of the name of Arnaud being then at Jiddah, received from M. Fresnel, the French consular agent at that port, accounts of the Himyaritic inscriptions discovered by the officers of the Indian Navy, and of the interest they had created in Europe. M. Arnaud's enthusiasm being excited on the subject, he resolved to take a share in these arduous researches. The grand object of his ambition was to reach Mareb, the ancient capital of Hadramaut and the residence of the famous Queen of Sheba, whose name according to the Arabians was Balkis. Two English officers had undertaken the journey several years ago, and had reached Sana, a town within three or four days' journey of it; but the suspicions of the native authorities becoming excited, their further progress was prevented.

The mode of proceeding adopted by M. Arnaud, who spoke the Arabic fluently, was to travel as a Mussulman, in company with a caravan going to the place. His plan was happily crowned with success. In the middle of July he reached the city, where he saw the imposing remains of the ancient dam, said to have been built across the valley of Mareb by Balkis herself, and which, by collecting an immense body of water near the metropolis, whence the surrounding country was irrigated, had given rise to the fertility and beauty for which the region was celebrated in ancient times. On these remains M. Arnaud discovered a number of inscriptions, as also among the ruins of the former city; among the most remarkable of these is one called Harem Balkis, which is thought to be the remains of the palace of the ancient Sabean kings. The inscriptions of which Mr. Arnaud brought away copies with him amount to fifty-six in number. The tour of M. Wrede was also not unproductive in this respect. He copied, among others, a long inscription in Wadi Doan; which, according to the interpretations that have since been made of it, contains a list of kings more copious than those which have been left us by Albulfeda and other historians of the middle ages.

When M. Arnaud returned to Jiddah from his hazardous and toilsome expedition, M. Fresnel, who had originally moved him to the undertaking, set about studying the new inscriptions, aided by the previous labors of the German scholars and his own knowledge of Arabic and the modern Himyaritic. Possessing a far more abundant supply of materials than had been collected before, he was able to assign to a few doubtful characters their proper values. He transmitted to Paris a fair copy of the original inscriptions, and also a transcription of them in the Arabic character, showing how they should be read. A fount of Himyaritic types having been constructed for the express purpose at the Imprimerie Royale, they were all published in the course of last year in the Journal Asiatique, together with several letters on the subject from M. Fresnel. The form of the characters in these inscriptions is essentially the same as in those discovered before; but, whereas the former ones all read from right to left like the Arabic of the present day, some of the new ones are found to read alternately from right to left and from left to right, like some of the inscriptions of ancient Greece. M. Fresnel's attention has been mainly directed to the collection and identification of the proper names of persons, deities, and places, in which the inscriptions abound, and in which he recognises many names mentioned in Scripture, and in Greek, Roman, and Arabian authors. Thus he identifies the deity 'Athtor with the Ashtoreth or Venus of the Hebrews. He finds in an inscription at Hisn Ghorab the word Kaná, showing the correctness of the conclusion already arrived at that this is the Cane emporium of Ptolemy. He identifies the ruins of Kharibeh, a day's journey to the west of Mareb, with the Caripeta of Pliny, the furthest point reached by the Roman commander, Ælius Gallus, in his expedition into Arabia Felix, in the reign of Augustus Cæsar. He has also recognised many names of Himyaritic sovereigns mentioned by Arabian writers, among others those of the grandfather and uncle of Queen Balkis. M. Fresnel has also begun to translate the inscriptions connectedly, a work of great labor and difficulty. He has already furnished an improved reading and translation of one at Sana, which had been copied before by English officers, and interpreted by Gesenius and Rödiger, and has offered a translation of another found by M. Arnaud, on the Hiram Balkis at Mareb.

The discoveries already brought to light, merely serve to show the richness of the mine that yet remains to be explored. Other expeditions are now planning, or in progress of execution, for penetrating into other parts of the country; and eminent scholars are busied in elucidating the treasures which the enterprize of travellers is bringing to light. Their united exertions cannot fail, at least, to accumulate many curious particulars relative to the history of one of the most remarkable and least known nations of past ages.