The Selector. "WE CULL THE CHOICEST" JANUARY, 1827. No. 13.] SKETCHES OF CORNWALL. To the Editor of the Selector. SIR, You have stated it to be your intention to make the Cornish Magazine both amusing and instructive, and that it might be agreeable to your readers to have some detail of the most interesting Places that abound in Cornwall:-it is in truth a County as valuable to the State as any, considering its rich Mineral productions, its natural curiosities, its valuable Fisheries and its population; this County likewise from its shape being very similar to Italy, in the form of a Boot, possesses numerous harbours on every side, except at the junction with its next neighbor Devonshire; the Prospects in almost every case of united Sea and Land are either wild and grand, or are beautifully rich and picturesque, interspersed with Mansions of the Nobility and Gentry. The principal Sea-Port is Falmouth; the Commerce of the kingdom from the Metropolis to every Southern nation must pass by the Port through the British Channel; and so capacious and so safe is this Harbour that whole Fleets can at all times take shelter therein, and so admirable its situation that FoRry armed Packet Vessels are established to convey Letters and Passengers to distant parts. The entrance to this valuable Harbour is full a mile wide with great depth of Water at all times of tide; it is protected by two castles Pendennis and St. Mawes; and as the former is interesting in the poliVOL. 1. B [Price 3d. tical history of England, a short account is first offered. Pendennis-Castle is situated on a lofty peninsular Rock or hill more than 300 feet above the level of the the Sea, and the connecting isthmus though on a rocky cliff, is much lower land; the Fortress completely commands the entrance of the harbour, and the banks and ditch of the old Citadel still rem in which are well calculated for protection from the approach of an enemy over the isthmus. The inside of the Castle is now made a convenient residence for the Lt. Governor; and here it will be but justice to mention the late Lt. Governor Philip Melvill, who besides performing his duty as a Soldier during his command here, was like a kind father to his men, and in his private life spent his time in doing good, uniting piety with charity-He died at the Castle in 1811, and so much beloved and lamented was this worthy man that all the regular and Volunteer troops, and a great proportion of the town attended his Funeral; his remains were deposited within the Church, in the Vault of the ancient family of the Killegrews, and a mural Tablet records his merit, placed there by one of his sorrowing friends.-The memoirs of Gov. Melvill were soon published with very interesting details of his campaigns in the East Indies, his sufferings and wonderful preservation; a lesson for all young men to persevere in their duty, and "never despair,"-trusting in Providence for Support in the midst of many and great dangers. His loss would still be felt but for the value of his successor Lt. Governor, Colonel William Fenwick, the private worth of whom and his amiable family justly deserves and meets with the sincere esteem of every one. The history of Pendennis begins with Henry VIII, who being at war with the French King, first erected this Castle, and he made Sir John Killegrew, the Owner of the lands, the first Governor A. D. 1560; then Queen Elizabeth being threatened by the Spaniards in their Grand-Armada, increased and strengthened the fortifications;-afterwards during the Civil Wars of Charles Ist, it was very valuable to the Royal cause; the Queen Henrietta Maria rested there in 1644 and embarked thence for France; in the same and following year the Duke of Hamilton was a Prisoner in this Castle;-Prince Charles (afterwards Charles IInd,) was in 1645 entertained there by Governor Arundell, of Trerice. The Parliamentary Forces commanded by Admiral Batten and Colonel Fortescue closely beseiged it in 1646 by Sea and Land; the said veteran Governor Arundell at the age of 80, most bravely defended it, and it was the last Garrison (with Ragland,) that surrendered to the Cromwellites; such was their royal valour, that their provisions being very nearly exhausted, they resorted to the horses and dogs for support, never admitting any herald for treaty, until Famine compelled, and then shewed such boldness that their terms of surrender were as good as any other Garrison had submitted to. The ancient seat of the Killigrew family, called Arwenack on the low shore of the harbour, within half a mile of the Castle, was the head-quarters of the General in command of the Parliamentary troops. In the year 1660 however, on the restoration of Charles IInd, Sir Peter Killegrew resumed the station of his Ancestors in the Governorship of the Castle, as well as in this house and estate. Arwenack-house is now the residence of Capt. W. King, R. N. Commander of the Packets at this Port What mortal War could not effect, the celestial element performed in an instant, for in the year 1717, during a terrible Thunder-storm, the Lightning struck the fortress, destroying part of the massy walls, and as the record tells,-"The Fort was so much damaged as to be for a time quite indefensible." Pursuing the account onward to the present time, must be noticed the protection it afforded to the numerous merchant Vessels and large fleets that sought temporary shelter in this fine Harbour during the late War: this Castle also was a great Depôt for stores, and when in the year 1797, the Country was roused to defend itself, this town and vicinity nobly joined in evincing their patriotism by the formation of Volunteer Corps, whose headquarters were at Pendennis. In one of the Store-houses is a very interesting Museum of Military and Naval curiosities. This Fortress could be mounted with 80 to 100 pieces of Cannon, the fortifications, which from the rocky nature of the ground are irregular, were much improved in the late long War. In the vacant hours of military duty Govr. Melvill induced his men to cultivate the sides of the hill, allotting them portions of ground on which they built huts for their families; this produced comfort by industry, and added beauty to the scene; the walk to Pendennis Castle must ever continue the favorite promenade for health and pleasure, for when arrived at the top you survey the great Ocean, and then in your mind's eye pursuing a straight line in a S. S. W. direction over the mighty deep, no Land would be met with until you reach the Antipodes! In the opposite view you survey over the land, the Churches, Villages and Towns, the busy haunts of men; the spacious harbour and the Ships therein, with the inland waters stretching between the hills; such a scene will call to mind the sublime exclamation of Milton,"These are thy glorious works Parent of Good, Almighty, "-thine this universal frame Hoping the foregoing Sketch may not prove unacceptable, I remain, Sir, Yours, Mount-Sion, 1st Jaunary 1827. J. THE PRECIPICE. " BY THE AUTHOR OF "GILBERT EARLE. THE inhabitant of a level country can form no idea of the influence which mountains possess over the mind of a mountaineer. His spirit would almost seem to have emanated from his native soil, and to rejoice in proportion as it approaches its original home. His pulse beats more briskly-his foot bounds more lightly, as he breathes the keen air, as he treads upon the giddy ledge of the mountain side. As the old song has it, "He feels the blood mounting Like streams in a fountain, That merrily sparkle and play," when his eye rests upon the snowy peak, and precipice rises above precipice around, above, and below his dwelling. Accordingly, we find the love of country, in its stricter sense especially-the arva paterna as contradistinguished from patria-of peculiar warmth and force in the heart of a mountaineer. The Swiss-the Scotch highlanders-are instances too familiar to need more than a bare mention. They wander, it is true from home; but they bear the image of that home, impressed upon their hearts, indelibly. It is the "one green spot in Memory's waste:"-the affections revert to it through years of absence,—across the distance of half the globe the song of the valley still sounds in their ear the breeze of the mountain still blows upon the cheek-and, after years of expectation, and toil, and sickness, and danger, they return to lay their bones upon their own hill-side, at last. Among the sublime Alps, or the beautiful Pyrenees, it is, perhaps, not extraordinary, that this feeling should exist: but the principle holds good in even the most inhospitable regions. We go to stroll away the Summer among the mountains I have named: but who was ever known to make a tour of pleasure into Norway?-The wild and desolate mountains of that country are, probably, as it regards grand and striking scenery, at the least, equal, if not superior, to any to be found in Europe. But we look upon them only as if they were the throne of the King of Storms-the very chosen home of Winter. To the Norwegian, on the contrary, his forests of pine-his salient rocks his foaming torrents are dear as are the smiling of Andalusia, to the Gascon and the vales of Guienne, or the teeming plains Spaniard. which the physical aspects furnish Norway, however, is a country of sufficient ground for national pride and love. The change from Winter into Summer is a burst of sudden richness and beauty, such as no temPerate climate can even give an idea of. The rocks are buried under snow -the frost winds sweep through the gullies of the mountains with a force unknown in Southern Europe.-The land seems to be the region of eternal Winter:- when, lo! the breath of the South steals over these wastes of snow: the sources of the waters are unlocked-the snows disappear-and without tardy gradations, without relapse, or check, or stint-the gorgeous Summer is there, in all its bloom, in all its perfume, in all its beauty;-the sun glows in the air; the vivid verdure of the grass, and the bright hues of the flowers, shine from the earth;Winter has passed away, like the morning dream of a sleeper awakened ; and the land is glad in the living waters, and the sweet odours, and the fair colours of a very Eden! And if its Summer be more splendid in its appearances and its gifts, so is its Winter more grand and awful in its terrors. The phenomena of moun tain atmosphere are more frequent, and more perfect-The very name of the Aurora Borealis sufficiently betokens its country. The violence of the gusts, also, through the ravines and clefts which abound in the mountains, is of a degree to which even the Alps can scarcely afford a parallel. It was in a village situated among these mountains, that, one Winter night, a party of goatherds and hunters was assembled round the fire of the little inn,-whiling away the hours with tale, and song, and jest, to give a zest to their liquor. They were chiefly young men, and their conver sation turned upon their exploits and adventures of danger among the momntains: the pride, both of their calling and their country, occasioned them to hunter, and, therefore, am fond of the spirit which leads you into them, I will not strive to sift the grain from the chaff, the exact facts, from the colours, in which you have dressed them. But I will give you, in my turn, an account of an accident which, you all know, by report, did actually happen to me, as the limp in my gait can testify to this day. "It is now about twenty years ago, that I was, one day, out bunting as usual, I had got sight of a chamois, and was advancing upon him, when, having almost got within shot, I sprang across a chasm a few yards wide, upon a ledge of snow opposite. The outer part was, alas! only of snow;-it was frozen hard; but, as I came upon it with considerable force, I felt it giving way beneath me. The man, who says that he never felt fear, never was in a situation such as this. The agony of terror, and what agony is greater?-rushed throughout my frame. My first impulse was to spring forward, to reach the firm ground. But the very effort I made to save myself, accelerated my fate, the mass broke shor off,-and I fell! excel in the exercises which such a region must demand, and to exult in that excellence when acquired. If the very truth must be spoken, perhaps, tey added another point of similarity to the love of country, which I have stated them to possess in common with the Gascons-a quality for which the latter are so nationally famous, as to have conferred upon it their national name. At least, there was an old man, who had said very little, but had listened, attentively, as he smoked his pipe in the chimney-corner, who seemed to be of this opinion. For, as the members of the party were vying with each other in their narrations of "accidents by flood and field," the old man emitted, in the midst of an increased cloud of smoke, an ejacu latory "Humph!" of a most sceptical, nay, infidel intonation. He was a very fine old man; and, as the blaze of the pine-logs shone upon his brow, he might have formed a painter's study for a veteran mountaineer. His skin was hard and dry, but it was not much wrinkled; and his brilliant grey eyes was, to his face, what the sun is to the Heavens, it sheds, (without a figure.) brightness over his whole "Have since been to view that spot, countenance. His hair was grey and—and, standing in safety on its brink, thin upon the forehead, but flowing in long floating waves, from the rest of his scalp. His frame was wiry, strong, and active, although somewhat decayed through age: but, as well as his aspect, it gave sufficient indication that, in youth, his had been a body of steel and whalebone, and soul of fire. A dog lay at his feet; old, like his master, but, like him, to appearance still strong and agile. He was of a breed resembling what, in England, we call a lurcher, grey, shaggy, intelligent, and attached as a shepherd's dog, and almost as fleet as a greyhound. He was sleeping in the warmth of the fire, nestled between his master's legs. After listening, for some time, to the accounts which the young men were giving of their prowess, the old hunter, baving finished his pipe and knocked ane ashes out, took up the tale in his turn : "My young friends," said he, "you have been telling us some very marvellous adventures; but as I am an old When 1 per my nerves have shivered, as I looked TO BE CONTINUED. Ne. 13. PALESTINE, OR THE HOLY LAND. PANIAS. (From the Modera Traveller.) PANIAS, afterwards called Cesarea Philippi, has resumed its ancient name. The present Town of Banias is small. Seetzen describes it as a little hamlet of about twenty miserable huts, inhabited by Mahoniedans; but Buckhardt says, it contains about 150 houses, inhabited mostly by Turks: there are also Greeks, Druses, and Enzairies. It belongs to Hasheia, whose emir nominates the sheikh. It is situated at the foot of the mountain called Djebel Heish. To the N. E. of the village, is the source of the river of Banias, which flows under a well-built bridge on the North side of the village, near which are some remains of the ancient town. The ground it now occupies, is of a triangular form, enclosed by the river on one side, a rivulet on the other, and the mountain at the back. The "Castle of Banias," is situated on the summit of a lofty mountain; it was built, Seetzen says, with out giving his authority, in the time of the caliphs. Buckhardt says, it seems to have been erected at the time of the Crusades; he saw no inscriptions, but was afterwards told there are several,both in Arabic and in Frank (Greek or Latin.) Where was the temple erected by Herod the Great in honour of Augustus out of gratitude to the Emperor for having put him in possession of Trachonites? Seetzen remarks, that the circuit of the ancient walls of the city is easily distinguishable, but that no traces remain of this magnificent edifice. Buckhardt notices some remains of the ancient town near the bridge, but says that the principal part seems to have been the opposite side of the river, where the views extend for a quarter of a mile beyond the bridge. A very solid bridge, which crosses the winter torrent wady-al-kyd, leads to the entrance of the Castle, over which is an Arabic inscription, with a date coinciding with the era of the Crusades. There are five or six granite columns built into the wall of the gateway. There can be no doubt that these formed part of some ancient edifice, and possibly of the temple in question. The whole mountain, however, had the name of Pancium; and Dr. Richardson is disposed to imagine, that the Khallat-el-Banias on the mountain may be built on the site of the temple. The city of Panias owed its Roman name, and much of its consequence and architectural decorations to Herod Philip the Tetrarch, who called it Cesarea in honour of Tiberius Cæsar : it received the adjunct of his own name to distinguish it from Cesarea of Palestine It was indebted for further improvements to the royal liberality of Agrippa. The neighbourhood is very beautiful, richly wooded, and abounThe 44 ing with game. apparent source of the Jordan," flows from under a cave at the foot of a precipice, in the perpendicular sides of which are several niches, adorned with pilasters, having under them Greek inscriptions. Seetzen says. "The copious source of the river Banias rises near a remarkable grotto in the rock, on the declivity of which I copied some Greek inscriptions, dedicated to Pam and the Nymphs of the Fountain. The Ancients gave the name of source of the Jordan, to the spring from which the Banias rises; and its beauty might entitle it to that name. But, in fact, it appears the preference is due to ile spring of the river Hasberia, which rises half a league to the west of Ilasbeio, and which forms the largest branch of the Jordan. The spring of Tel-al-Kadi which the natives takes for the source of the Jordan, is that which least merits the name." The name Panias is of classic origin, and is supposed to be derived from the worship of Pan. The cavern and sanctuary of Pan, are described by Josephus. The niche in the cave:n probably contained a statue of the god. In the middle niche in the rock, the base of a statue is still visible. Round the source of the river are a number of hewn stones, which appear to have belonged to some ancient edifice. |