vernor-General, at this time in particular, to depute a perfon to the Lama's court; and added, that when I learnt the road to Tibet lay through his dominions, and not very diftant from his capital, knowing alfo his attachment to the Governor, as well as having heard the fame of his exalted name, it became an object of much anxiety with me, to have the honour of paying my respects to the friend of my patron, and to a prince of fo great renown. With respect to any other reafons there might be, for my waiting upon him, the contents of the letter would amply explain them.

"Three fmall benches, fimilar to that before the Raja, were brought and placed before us; and prefently a fervant came, bearing a large tea-pot of white metal, emboffed, and highly ornamented with fome other metal, of a yellow colour. He approached the Raja, and then giving a circular turn to the tea-pot, fo as to agitate and mix its contents, he poured a quantity into the palm of his hand, which he had contracted to form as deep a concave as poffible, and haftily fipped it up. To account for a custom which has fo little either of grace or delicacy, in its obfervance, however recommended by extenfive fafhion, we are obliged to have recourfe to the fufpicions fuggefted in remoter times, by the frequent and treacherous ufe of poifon. Hence originated a caution, in which the national character of this people readily difpofed them to acquiefce; and the fame jealousy and distrust which gave birth to its adoption, has contributed inviolably to preferve it to the prefent day; fo that however humble or exalted the rank of the perfon, who introduces to his guests the refreshment of tea, the cup-bearer, which is an office of the first credit, never prefumes to offer it, without previously drinking fome of the liquor that he brings.

"The Raja held out, upon the points of the fingers of his right hand, a fhallow lacquered cup, of small circumference, which was filled with tea. Three cups had been fent, and were fet down before us; the Raja directed his fervants to fill them alfo: ftill holding the cup in his right hand, he repeated, in a low and hollow tone of voice, a long invocation; and afterwards dipping the point of his finger three times into the cup, he threw as many drops upon the floor, by way of oblation, and then began to fip his tea. Taking this as a fignal, we followed the example, and partook of the dishes of parched rice that were ferved up with it. We found this liquor extremely unlike what we had been used to drink under the fame name; it was a compound of water, flour, butter, falt, and bohea tea, with fome other aftringent ingredients, all boiled, beat up, and intimately blended together. I confefs the mixture was by no means to my tafte, and we had hitherto fhunned, as much as poffible, thefe unpalatable libations, yet we now deemed it neceflary to fubmit to fome constraint; and having at laft, with a tolerable grace, fwallowed the tea, we yet found ourselves very deficient in the conclufion of the ceremony. The Raja with surprising dexterity turned the cup, as he held it faft betwixt his fingers, and in an inftant paffed his tongue over every part of it; fo that it was fufficiently cleanfed to be wrapped in a piece of fcarlet filk, which bore evident marks of having been not very recently devoted to this fervice. The officers, who had entered with us, were not permitted to partake of this repast, and, but for the honour of it, we would wil.

lingly have declined fo flattering a diftinction. They spoke feveral times during our vifit, delivering themselves deliberately in a ready flow of language, by no means inharmonious, with confidence, but at the fame time with profound refpect.

"The Raja defcanted on the very limited produce of his moun tains, and magnified greatly the fcarcity of provifions, yet begged me to command every thing that the country could fupply. Trays of fruit were placed before us, confifting of oranges, dried apples, walnuts, vegetables, and fome preferved fruits of China and Cafhmeer. He delivered to the Zempi, or mafter of the ceremonies, a filk scarf for each of us, which being thrown across our shoulders, he dismissed us, with many admonitions to be careful of our health, and wishes that it might fuffer no injury from the change of climate.

"We then took leave, and returned to our quarters, with no unfavourable impreffion of the Raja, from his manner and reception of us, His figure was much concealed, from the attitude in which he continued fitting all the time, cross-legged, and enveloped in a quantity of thick frieze like woollen cloth; yet he exhibited enough of his perfon to fhew that he was tall, and muscular in his make, but not inclined to corpulency. His garment was of the religious order; a close vest, leaving the arm bare to the fhoulder, unless when drawn beneath the mantle, which ferves occafionally to cover the head, and reaches almoft to the feet.

"His reception of us was fupported with dignity and good humour; he was grave, but animated; his behaviour collected and compofed. He fpoke rather in a low tone of voice, but very articulately; his delivery was accompanied with a moderate action; and the whole of his conduct exhibited a degree of urbanity that I confefs furprised me, in one separated from intercourfe with the world, by a mafs of impervious mountains, and who was almoft totally fecluded from the fight of any other than his own fubjects," P. 66.

Mention of a difeafe is introduced at p. 86, exceedingly refembling the Goiter of the Alps, and probably originating from the fame cause. The fixth chapter defcribes fome commotions in the country, and the proceedings on the part of the prince and the rebels. Thefe, however, were fortunately quelled, which gave Mr. Turner an opportunity of becoming more intimately acquainted with the fingular manners of this fecluded people. The mode of warfare, the conftruction and ufe of military weapons, the conduct of the rebels, and of government, afford ample materials for philofophical difcution. Of animals, the traveller appears to have seen very few in his excurfions, with which Europeans are unacquainted. The fpecies of monkies, defcribed at p. 147, is very far from common; and the story of the men with tails, at p. 156, would have been more amufing to Lord Monboddo, than it will probably be to any other perfon. A curious anecdote on the fubject of men with tails, may be feen in Struys's Voyages, p. 57.

The

The fecond part of this agreeable work, which introduces the traveller and reader on their way to Tibet, commences at p. 168; and here we must present the reader with an account of a very fingular animal, the Yak of Tartary, the figure of which is well delineated.

"The Yak of Tartary, called Soora Goy in Hindoftan, and which I term the bushy-tailed bull of Tibet, is about the height of an English bull, which he refembles in the general figure of the body, head, and legs. I could difcover between them no effential difference, except that the Yak is covered all over with a thick coat of long hair. The head is rather fhort, crowned with two fmooth round horns, which, tapering from the root upwards, terminate in fharp points; they are arched inwards, bending towards each other, but near the extremities are a little turned back. The ears are finall: the forehead appears prominent, being adorned with much curling hair: the eyes are full and Large: the nofe fmall and convex: the noftrils fmall: the neck short, defcribing a curvature nearly equal both above and below: the withers are high and arched. The rump is low; over the fhoulders rifes a thick mufcle, which feems to be the fame kind of protuberance pecuJiar to the cattle of Hindoftan, covered with a profufion of foft hair, which, in general, is longer and more copious than that along the ridge of the back to the fetting on of the tail. The tail is compofed. of a prodigious quantity of long, flowing, gloffy hair; and is fo abundantly well furnished, that not a joint of it is perceptible; but it has much the appearance of a large clufter of hair artificially fet on the fhoulders, rump, and upper part of the body, are clothed with a fort of thick foft wool; but the inferior parts with ftraight pendent hair, that defcends below the knee; and I have feen it fo long in fome cattle, which were in high health and condition, as to trail upon the ground. From the cheft, between the legs, iflues a large pointed tuft of ftraight hair, growing fomewhat longer than the reft: the legs are very fhort; in every other refpect he refembles the ordinary bull. There is a great variety of colours amongst them, but black or white are the most prevalent. It is not uncommon to fee the long hair upon the muscle above the fhoulders, upon the ridge of the back, the tail, and tuft upon the cheft, and also the legs below the knee, white, when all the reft of the animal is jet black.

"Thefe cattle, though not large boned, feem, from the profufe quantity of hair with which they are provided, to be of great bulk. They have a downcaft heavy look; and appear, what indeed they are, fullen and fufpicious, difcovering much impatience at the near approach of firangers. They do not low loud, like the cattle of England, any more than thofe of Hindcftan, but make a low grunting noife fcarcely audible, and that but feldom, when under fome impreffion of uneafinefs.

"Thefe cattle are paftured in the coldest parts of Tibet, upon the fert herbage peculiar to the tops of mountains and bleak plains. The chain of mountains, fituated between the latitudes 27 and 28°, which divides Tibet from Bootan, and whofe fummits are most commonly clothed with fnow, is their favourite haunt. In this vicinity, the

fouthern

fouthern glens afford them food and fhelter during the feverity of winter; in milder feafons, the northern afpect is more congenial to their nature, and admits a wider range. They are a very valuable property to the tribes of itinerant Tartars, called Dukba, who live in tents, and tend them from place to place; they at the fame time afford their herdsmen an easy mode of conveyance, a good covering, and wholefome fubfiftence. They are never employed in agriculture, but are extremely useful as beafts of burden; for they are ftrong, fure footed, and carry a great weight. Tents and ropes are manufactured of their hair, and amongst the humbler ranks of herdfmen, I have seen caps and jackets made of their fkins. Their tails are esteemed throughout the Eaft, as far as luxury or parade have any influence on the manners of the people; and on the continent of India they are found, under the, denomination of Chowries, in the hands of the meaneft grooms, as well as occafionally in those of the first minister of ftate. They are in univerfal ufe for driving away winged infects, flies and mufquitoes, and are employed as ornamental furniture upon horfes and elephants: yet the beft requital, with which the care of their keepers is at length re warded, for felecting them good paitures, is in the abundant quantity of rich milk which they give, and the butter produced from it, which is most excellent. It is their custom to preferve this in skins, or bladders; and the air being thus excluded from it, it will keep in this cold climate throughout the year; fo that, after fome time tending their herds, when a fufficient ftore is accumulated, it remains only to load their cattle, and drive them to a proper market with their own produce, which conftitutes, to the utmoft verge of Tartary, à most material article of produce.

"I had the fatisfaction to fend two of this fpecies to Mr. Haftings after he left India, and to hear that one reached England alive. This,' which was a bull, remained for fome time after he landed in a torpid languid ftate, till his conftitution had in fome degree affimilated with the climate, when he recovered at once both his health and vigour. He afterwards became the father of many calves, which all died without reproducing, except one, a cow, which bore a calf by connection with an Indian bull.

"Though naturally not intractable in temper, yet, foured by the impatient and injudicious treatment of the attendants, during a long voyage, it foon became dangerous to fuffer this bull to range at liberty abroad. He had at all times been obferved to bear a marked hoftility towards horfes; and, from the accidental circumftance, of a crooked nail's remaining in his horn, after the knob which it had faftened, had been rubbed off, he happened to gore a valuable coach-horse belonging to Mr. Haftings, which had the range of the fame pafture with him, and, lacerating the entrails, occafioned his death. After this, to prevent further accidents, he was kept alone within a fecure enclosure. "An engraving of this bull, from a picture in the poffeffion of Mr. Haftings, painted from the life by Stubbs, is annexed; the landscape was taken from a scene on the frontier of Bootan, by Mr. Davis." P. 186,

The

The boundaries between Bootan and Tibet are afcertained by fmall banners, which are fuppofed, according to the fuperftitious prejudices of this people, to operate as a charm on the genii of the place, who are called Dewtas, from whom no mountain is believed to be exempt; but, to use the writer's words, they are peculiarly given to range in the molt elevated regions; where, drenched with dews, and worried by tempeltuous weather, they are fupposed to deal around them, in ill humour, their most baneful fpells, to harrafs and annoy the traveller. The foregoing account is merely introductory to what the book itfelf profefles to exhibit; but it is fo novel, fo curious, fo full of intereft, and fo fatisfactory, that we are certain it will not be accufed of occupying an undue portion of our work. The defcription of Tibet itfelf, and the very curious papers which compofe the Appendix, will be neceffarily referved to our next Number.

(To be concluded in our next.)

ART. II. Public Characters of 1799-1800. 8vo. 580 pp. 8s. 6d. Philips. 1800.

Al

TH HIS work must neceffarily excite much curiofity, because it profelfedly treats of living characters; and as no formal refutation of its affertions has appeared, the inference must be, that its information is tolerably impartial and correct. though many fentiments are expreffed, and fome principles avowed, in direct oppofition to our own, it is but juftice to fay, that we have been altogether aufed by the publication. We give two small specimens, that the reader may judge of the manner and ftyle of the performance. The firft is of Lord St. Vincent, and of a victory which can never be forgotten by Englishmen.

"The country was, at this time, on all fides, threatened with inva fion; the very bulwarks of the nation tottered; and the Irish confpiracy had infected the British fleet, which was taken poffeffion of by the mutineers. To blockade the fleets of the enemy in their own ports, and to prevent a junction, was the only mode of averting the impending blow.To have engaged a fleet fo numerous as the combined fleets, would have been moft hazardous; and with fuch an inferior fquadron to prevent the junction, feemed to be impoffible. Notwithstanding thefe obftacles, the mighty mind of Sir John Jervis, upon viewing the fleet of the enemy, inftantly conceived that bold project,