sent to Aliu Amba market, it would not be difficult to assign the greater amount of wealth in Shoa to the possession of the Christian subjects of Sahela Selassie; but, on the other hand, it appears to be a principle of religion almost among the Mohammedans to conceal the riches they possess, so that appearances are not to be trusted. Had I not known that the more wealthy of their religion invariably invest their money in slaves, to supply the Dankalli and Hurrah dealers, I should certainly have inferred, from the scanty and very limited stores placed before the saleswomen of that faith in Aliu Amba market, that the Islam inhabitants of Shoa were exceedingly poor. Many of these women sit for a whole day, offering, in exchange for anything in the shape of corn that may be offered, a thimbleful of "col" [kohl?] (antimony used for blackening the edges of the eyelids), a few lumps of gum myrrh, a handful of frankincense, or a little shumlah, the blue and red threads of unwoven cloth brought from the sea-coast, and which is used in forming the ornamental borders of their large body-cloths. Sometimes their scanty stock is increased by three or four lemons, or as many needles. On the contrary, the Amhara (the name now given only to Christians of this country) bring an abundance of cotton cloths, of cattle, of corn, and are the only moneychangers I saw, some of them sitting behind high walls of new and good-conditioned salt-pieces.

Trade, in a great measure, is carried on by barter, an exchange of commodities being much more general than purchasing with ahmulahs [pieces of salt]; except in the case of cattle-buying, when the price is generally fixed at a certain number of these salt-pieces. For two ahmulahs a very fine young sheep or goat may be bought, and the very best of the kind will not sell for more than five. A good-sized goat, however, commands a much higher price, ten or twelve ahmulahs being sometimes asked. An ox for ploughing brings about seventy ahmulahs, or, if small, and intended for killing, may be bought as low as thirty. Horses and mules vary in price from seven to twelve dollars. The latter are preferred by the Abyssinians. I have been offered a very excellent horse for two dollars, and have seen one blind, but in good condition, sold for twelve ahmulahs, or about two shillings and sixpence. The next principal thing in the market is the cotton cloths, which are woven of one general width, about three quarters of a yard, and from ten to fifteen yards long. Of the common kind are made the "sennafil," or wide short trousers of the men, and the " shumah," or waist-cloth of the women. The body-cloth, or tobe, is common to both sexes; but those of the men being much larger than those of the women, are generally double folds of the cloth, or four cubits in breadth, and at least seven cubits long. Sometimes they are of an extravagant size. A narrow border of the blue and red woollen stuff, called shumlah, woven into the cloth, is the only ornament, and these coloured stripes will be sometimes repeated at the distance of a foot from each other through the whole length of the cloth. These tobes vary in price according to the number of these ornamental additions to the simple cotton thread, of which the greater number are entirely composed. Four or five dollars is a great price to give for one, but the one forwarded to our queen by Sahela Selassie was worth thirty dollars. I gave for a cloth for Walderheros, which was ten yards long and three quarters broad, ten ahmulahs; but when I wanted one a little finer, with a stripe across each end of the blue and white worsted, for my own use, I had to give a dollar for it.'

Except weaving, which is performed by means of a rude loom, and a very primitive mode of turning with a lathe, there are no manufactures worthy of the name carried on in Shoa. Although the sugar-cane is grown in the country, no means of extracting the pure sugar are employed; the cane being cut into small pieces, and masticated as a sweetmeat. Mr Johnston therefore extracted a quantity of the pure sugar, and presented it, at his next interview, to the Negoos. The king received it

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with every expression of gratification, although, as Mr Johnston discovered, he had been forestalled in this manufacture and present by M. Rochet. Both gentlemen also made some gunpowder for his majesty, with which he was extremely delighted. Mr Johnston declares his regret that he was unable, from ignorance, to teach the art of knitting, and recommends future travellers to acquire it, as there is nothing which Sahela Selassie appears to desire so much as a knowledge of the useful arts himself, and their dissemination amongst his subjects.

Mr Johnston abruptly closes his narrative without letting his reader know how he got back to England. After remaining about eight months in the country, That he did so in safety, there can be no doubt, for he dates his preface London; and he has made one or two appearances at the Royal Geographical Society's meetings, at which he communicated some valuable corrections to the not very correct information we pos sess concerning the district through which he has travelled. Of these corrections it is our intention to avail ourselves, in an article on Abyssinia, in a future number.

Hotels

FOR part of the present summer, Paris has been a scene THE EXPOSITION IN PARIS. to it not only from all parts of France, but from Engof more than ordinary bustle. land, Germany, and other foreign countries. Strangers have flocked and lodging-houses were for two months crammed with temporary residents; and such was the demand for accommodation, that the price of house-room rose to double and triple the usual amount. The cause of this excitement was an exhibition of articles produced by the arts and manufactures of France, which takes place once in five years under the encouragement and patronage of royalty, and in which, as might be expected, something like a national interest is felt. Not to be behind in the general scramble of travellers from London, I got over to Paris about the middle of June, and had the pleasure of paying my respects to the exhibition some dozen times previous to its close. Exhibitions usually make but dull work in description; but this tion of Englishmen, and as an indication of the progress one, as a French exhibition presented to the consideramade by a rival nation in some of our own lines of exertion, may possess more than ordinary interest.

The sun beat down in his greatest fervour; in crossing the Place de la Concorde, I almost felt as if exposed to The weather, to begin with, was excessively hot. the heat of a furnace, and gladly hastened to seek refuge in the cool shade of the Champs Elysées. Many having followed the same impulse, I found streams of people pursuing their way beneath the trees towards the open glade in which the building for the exhibition has been erected. Emerging on the scene, we observe a large edifice, covering probably a hundred yards square, and rising to a height of sixty or seventy feet, with its glasscovered roof, therefore, nearly on a level with the tops of the tallest trees. Soldiers guard the various entrances, and over the principal, which faces the roadway to the Arc de l'Etoile, is conspicuously inscribed― EXPOSITION DES PRODUITS DE L'INDUSTRIE NATIONALE.'

gigantic scale, so as at once to impress us as something worthy of a great and aspiring people. England perhaps Well may it be called national. The thing is on a requires to give no such proof of its advance in the useful arts. The shop-windows of London are in themselves an Exposition; and the tokens of England's greatness in this line are scattered over the globe. The case is different with France, which, being a comparatively new country as regards the arts of peace, stands in need of some such

means of collecting and exhibiting examples of its manufactures, and of showing by comparison what progress is from time to time made. A glance at the present vast assemblage of articles cannot fail to give a conviction that the French are not more eminent for their inventive faculties than their powers of imitation. Peace, and the gradual accumulation of capital, have latterly permitted them to make the most gratifying advances in the useful arts. That the policy of Louis Philippe has contributed to this result, no one will deny. Friendly to social advancement, and acquainted with the principles of mechanism and manufacture, as well as with the humanising influence of commerce, he has had the advantage of living in an age when the human mind, disgusted with the empty results of a struggle for military glory, was disposed to something more honourable and useful than war and its accompaniments. At the close of the last Exposition in 1839, when the king assembled the exhibitors for the purpose of distributing honorary rewards, he said, Accept my thanks; by your labours you protect and aid humanity; your talents, your success, tend to the melioration of all classes; and you thus fulfil the dearest wishes of my heart. Our progress, great as it is, will not stop here. To what extent it will go I know not. We will continue to respect the independence of our neighbours, as our independence is respected by them. No man can predict or estimate the impulse which our national genius will give to the conquests of industry-conquests which contribute to public wealth, which despoil no man, violate no rights, and which cause no tears to flow.' Sentiments like these will be responded to by every friend of humanity.

are many difficulties in the way of its becoming practically useful.

On entering the gallery on our left, a new order of objects bursts on the sight. The first table we come to is loaded with a variety of crystal wares, cut, tasteful in design, and of divers colours, the produce of the famous glass-works at Choisy-le-Roi. I was informed that the reputation acquired by this manufactory, as well as the low price at which it is enabled to sell its articles, is due to Mr Jones, an Englishman, who has the management of the stained-glass department. As in the case of lenses, already noticed, there are no fiscal arrangements in France to prevent improvement in the fabrication of tinted and gilt glass; hence the great advance in this department of art. duce of Choisy-le-Roi is exported to England and other Much of the procountries. The stoneware of a common kind, of which there are numerous specimens, is as far behind that of Staffordshire as the coloured crystal is in advance. The French, it appears, have yet had no Wedgewood; and though the products of Sévres excel as works of art, they exert no perceptible influence in improving ordinary domestic wares. The next articles in order are artificial diamonds and gems, done up as necklaces, bracelets, and other bijouterie. The brilliance and beauty of these objects could not, I think, be greatly surpassed by stones from the hand of nature. The most remarkable articles which fill up the remainder of the gallery are specimens of plate, in the form of dinner, tea, and coffee-services. A dinner-service, by Durand, claims special notice. The articles are elegant in design, and chased in the Cellini style. There are likewise some handsome specimens of the workmanship of Odiot, one of the first silversmiths in France. Lebrun, another of the same craft, exhibits some pretty silver articles, among which are four champagne vases, ordered by Baron de Rothschild, costing 5000 francs each. Next in order are specimens of plated articles, showing approaches to the English workman. The silver and plated spoons throughout are inferior. At a short distance from these specimens is an altar-piece, in good style, intended for a country church, and which is to cost 14,000 francs. The specimens of jewellery, both in solid gold and gilt, are, as might be expected, tasteful and beautiful, and so likewise are a number of articles in bronze. The candelabras of this material are elegant in pattern, but somewhat heavy. Of table-lamps there are many specimens, and in these great ingenuity has been displayed. Instead of burning oil, some are designed for self-generating gas from a mixture of turpentine and alcohol. They give, as I am told, a brilliant light, but are dangerous, and not economical. While on this subject, it is but fair to state, that for nearly all the improvements in lamps, from the time of Argand downwards, the English have been indebted to French inventiveness. have still much to learn in this department. There are At the present moment the English here lamps of an elegant description for the table, economical in their consumption, which are yet unknown in England.

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Of the tones, however,

stamped or embossed leather, resembling rich mountobjects. In this department the English have lately ings for roofs, cornices of apartments, and other made advances equally great with those of the French, designed for the new houses of parliament in Westas may be witnessed in the public exhibition of articles minster. In an analogous branch of art, the making made some remarkable discoveries well worth notice of ornaments from peat, the French have, as I learn, across the Channel. The peat, when taken from the bog, is reduced by beating to a fine pulp, and is then placed under a press, to force out all humidity except such as is necessary to keep it sufficiently moist to receive impressions in the mould in which it is placed. every kind, such as are made in embossed leather. In this state it may be converted into ornaments of Rendered firm by a solution of alum or other adhesive material, it forms flooring of a cheap and durable kind. Of billiard tables there are various specimens: one, rich and beautiful, is offered at 15,000 francs. There are some, however, at a fourth of the price; and we are informed that one of a cheap class was lately furnished by the same maker to Queen Pomare of Tahiti. A few of the slabs of these billiard tables purport to be of stone and iron-neither material an improvement on to the pianos, of which there are numerous specimens well-seasoned wood. From the billiard tables we turn by the most eminent makers of Paris-Erard, Pleyel, Pape, and Hertz. cases, of handsome shapes. I can say nothing, and it would have been of no use Several are in very finely carved trying them, for all delicate sounds would have been drowned in the loud blasts of a coarse-toned organ which some one was playing at a few feet distance. Still further on, amidst rows of trombones, clarionets, flutes, harps, and other instruments, we find nicon, or some such instrument. Occasionally, also, as if to master these hostile sounds, there is sent forth a person playing vigorously on a large keyed harmofrom a corner a burst of martial music, performed by an automatic combination of trumpets, kettle-drums, and other instruments. It is impossible to get a look of this noisy apparatus, as it has attracted around it a large and admiring crowd. competing performances, the visitor is apt to overlook some plain and neat violins, manufactured at Mirecourt Carried away by these in the Vosges, a mountainous district in the east of France. Made by a rustic people, with moderate desires, and whose time is of little value, some of the violins of the Vosges are sold at as low a price as three francs each. It is pleasing to know that there are men in the very heart of rural simplicity who turn their attention to the production of instruments of harmony. The facility with which the peasants of some countries practise the mechanical arts connected with music is ing his flocks, manufactures musical boxes; the serfs of marvellous. In Switzerland, the peasant, whilst watchRussia, in the depths of their forests, make flutes and hautboys, inlaid with the bark of different trees; and in made by the peasantry. the Tyrol, many of the best musical instruments are

We shall now take a turn down the arcade devoted to the exhibition of specimens of household furniture and musical instruments. we see nothing superior to the wares of a respectable perfumery, shoes, and other small articles. Paper for In the furniture department tains a large show of paper, bookbinding, leather, soap, The gallery into which we next direct our steps conLondon cabinet-maker, but much that is highly orna-writing has latterly undergone great improvements in mental and elegant. A number of the articles, such as France, from the introduction of machinery and capital cabinets, secretaires, and small side-tables, are richly into the manufacture. The article paper is also genecarved after old designs in the rénaissance. A finely rally cheaper than in England, in consequence of rags sculptured bookcase, calculated to hold 800 volumes, is not being allowed to be sent out of the country. Of charged 8000 francs. Two beautiful buhl-cabinets are offered at 9000 francs, and a highly ornamented table at nothing short of a tyranny on those who have rags to course, while this practice serves the paper-maker, it is 5000 francs. In looking through and admiring the dispose of. The specimens of the finer sorts of leather numerous specimens of this class, I felt that there was a great deficiency in plain joinery-a department in this branch, also, they are ahead of the English. In the are creditable to the skill of the French curriers. In which the French must still be pronounced a century making of shoes, particularly those for ladies, the French behind the English. A clever door and window-maker likewise excel; but, stimulated by the large importations would assuredly make a fortune in France. Near the of shoes into England, our makers are now striving to articles of furniture are exhibited some specimens of rival the French workmen-a natural result of such na

tional competition. It is curious to observe, that in this part of the Exposition are several specimens of wooden shoes or sabots-an article even so humble as this boasting of some improvements in its construction. Those exhibited are lighter and more neatly cut than usual, without, as is said, losing strength. Wooden shoes are universally worn by the peasantry and poorer classes of France and the Netherlands, and though, from their unyielding quality, they are not very convenient in walking, they are of great value in keeping the bare feet from the damp earth or cold floors. They are worn by many even of the higher classes over leather shoes, when going a short way out of doors, or when sitting at home. Strange, therefore, as French wooden shoes may appear, they are by no means deserving of that contempt which the English wits have poured upon them. Before joining in the ridicule, let us consider how much injury is done to health, how many consumptions promoted, by damp feet. That the use of wooden shoes in some situations-in earthen-floored cottages, for example would prevent many chronic complaints, can scarcely be a matter of doubt.

I must pass over a vast number of articles, to notice which in detail would require a volume. Lace of the most beautiful sorts, made into robes, pellerines, and other articles; brocades of silk and gold; carpets and rugs; dye stuffs; drugs; raw cotton, silk, and wool, in all stages of manufacture, attract our attention, one after the other, and bring us to the galleries devoted exclusively to the general products of the loom. In cotton yarn the French are still far behind, but their woollen manufacture is in a highly advanced state. In plain silks they have been rivalled by the English ever since the tissues of Lyons were permitted to come to England; but in the figured sorts the French are still observably in advance. In cotton fabrics they have made very considerable improvements within the last quarter of a century. The first impetus to the French cotton manufacture was given by a person of extraordinary energy of character, Richard Lenoir. This man, the son of a poor peasant of Normandy, began life as a washer of glasses in a coffee-house, and by dint of saving and enterprise, rose to be one of the greatest manufacturers in France. His fortune, however, rested on a hollow foundation-Bonaparte's exclusion of English goods from France-and when this was modified by a more enlightened policy at the restoration, he could no longer compete in the market, and was reduced almost to beggary. Seven or eight years ago, the ruined manufacturer owed the bread he ate to the private subscriptions of a few friends, who had remained faithful to him in his calamity. He is now no more; but the spirit which he infused into French industry has survived him, and many of the manufacturers who have specimens of their productions in the present exhibition, began to realise fortunes when the crisis which destroyed Richard Lenoir had passed away.

Having walked down the long alleys of cloth of different descriptions, we are brought to the terminus of this vast collection; and making our exit, gladly seat our selves outside under the refreshing shade of the Champs Elysées, and meditate on the singular spectacle which has for two long hours been engaging our attention. To those who may peruse the present imperfect sketch, without having seen the establishment to which it refers, I would wish to convey the impression, that the Exposition generally is highly creditable to the present state of French industry and talent. While in numberless instances the articles exhibited are inferior, or at least dearer, than those of English manufacture, it is equally evident, that in point of elegance and beauty of design the French are still considerably in advance of us. They clearly beat us in ornament. Some of the patterns of their higher classed laces and other tissues are among the finest products of taste. The establishment of schools of design will doubtless tend to improve our artisans in this respect; but a more general love of the beautiful would also require to be inspired in the minds

of the people at large; and to all appearance an improve. ment is happily setting in in this very desirable direc tion. Meanwhile, let us do an act of simple justice to our neighbours, and give them credit for their great and meritorious advances in the useful arts, demonstrated by the present national Exposition.

THE DISINTERRED.
Why from its sacred home
Bear the tired dust?

Would ye, too, bid the winged spirit come
Back to a broken trust?

THE grave, the last resting-place of our 'frail humanity,' has been invested, by the common consent of mankind, with so much of sanctity, that its wanton desecration is always looked upon with horror; and even those disinterments which are sometimes, as in cases of suspected murder, necessary for the ends of justice, are generally conducted with as little publicity as possible. Exceptions, however, there are to this, as to most other prejudices and customs of society; and there are on record some disinterments so remarkable as regards the feelings that occasioned them, as to have become matters not only of history, but also of poetry, and that too of the highest order. Many have thrown the halo of poetic colouring round the romantic story of Inez de Castro, the unhappy lady of Portugal, who, being privately married to Don Pedro, the heir of the kingdom, was assassinated by the order of her royal father-in-law, as not being noble enough to share the Pedro submitted in silence to the blow that thus ruined power of his son. This occurred in 1355, and Don his happiness. For thirteen years, during the lifetime of his father, he took no measure of revenge, only brooding on his loss; but no sooner did the death of the king render his own power supreme, than he put to a cruel death the assassins of his wife, and issued orders for a splendid coronation in the cathedral of Santa Clara in Coimbra. There, at noonday, in the presence of the assembled chivalry and beauty of the land, all that remained of Inez de Castro, 'his beautiful, his bride,' was clad in purple and cloth of gold; a royal crown was placed on those hollow temples once so fair to look upon, she was raised high on a chair of state, and Pedro stood beside her to see that none of the shuddering nobles failed to do homage by touching that fleshless hand. Time, place, and circumstance, all conspired to make the spectacle one of splendid horror. Never before nor since was the great lesson of the frailty of human life and the nothingness of earthly grandeur so sternly taught; for even he who had summoned this vast assemblage, that he might thus vindicate the fame of Inez and his own fidelity to her, was only mocked by the pageantry of the scene. It restored her to him, indeed, but not in the living and breathing loveliness which had first won his affections. He had avenged her death; he had made those haughty nobles, who feared degra dation if she came to be queen over them, humble themselves before her dust. Still, the heart yearned for more; but all that remained for him to do was to restore his queen to the loneliness of the sheltering grave. She was re-interred with great state in the church of Alcobaça; and her tomb, rich in elaborate sculpture, and containing at a later period the remains of Don Pedro also, was long a shrine for the visits of pious or curious travellers. It was finally desecrated and destroyed by the soldiery during the Peninsular war.

The histories of Spain and Portugal, almost more than those of any other country, mingle with their records of campaigns, treaties, and insurrections, those traits of individual character and feeling which are of the deepest