Being a great amateur of alchemy and female beauty, he resolved to visit Turkey: for which purpose he attended the oriental academy at Vienna, studying the languages and making acquaintance with all the Greeks, Turks, Armenians, and other Asiatics that fell in his way. These new pursuits diverted him from the attention requisite to success in his profession; he therefore in 1773 accompanied Count Stuart to Venice. From this place he embarked in 1776 for Smyrna, and then proceeded to Constantinople, where he obtained the protection of the British ambassador, and made some friends at the Turkish court by means of his medical skill. In 1778 the plague broke out at Constantinople, upon which our adventurer setout for Persia; but meeting on the road with a Georgian ambassador on his return from the Porte, he was persuaded to accompany the latter to Teflis, the capital of Georgia, where he was introduced to the Zaar Heraclius. The eldest son of this prince was soon after seized with a violent fever, but being placed under the care of Dr. Reineggs recovered; and the father to shew his gratitude conferred on the physician many splendid presents, and admitted him to his particular friendship. In return Dr. R. made himself useful by introducing into the country the manufacture of gunpowder and the art of casting cannon, for which he was rewarded with the rank of Bey, and a domain containing 500 families. He engaged also very deeply in political intrigues, the result of which was that in 1781 he repaired to Peters'burgh, and returned in the course of the same year to Teflis with a commission, on the part of the Empress Catharine, to negotiate the annexation of Georgia to the Russian empire. Having succeeded in this object he returned to Russia, where he received a pension for his services, and was appointed a privý councillor. In 1789 he accompanied Prince Potemkin to assist in the negotiations for peace between Russia and Turkey and in 1793 died of an apoplexy, in the 49th year of his age, The object of the work is to give a description of the topography of that mountainous district which stretches between the Caspian and Euxine seas; and to notice the origin, manners, and customs of the various tribes by which it is inhabited. The extent of the Caucasian chain from east to west is about 380 miles, and its breadth varies from 200 miles to 60. Its mean elevation is between 3000 and 4000 feet, but some particular summits are not far short of 6000 feet. The lower and exterior ridges are composed of granite and micaceous schistus, which rocks appear to serve as the foundation of the whole chain, but the south and south-eastern sides of the loftier and central ridges are covered with trap and columnar basalt, and the northern and western sides by calcareous and other strata of recent formation. The ✩vers that rise from this mountainous district flow towards one or other of the two seas which it divides. Those that take their course to the Euxine are very rapid, and carry off any accidental influx of water very speedily. Those that flow towards the Caspian have a very sinnuous course, a slow current, are liable to prodigious floods, and in several instances are unable to force a passage into the sea, their channels being converted into wide shallow lakes, where the water stagnates and evaporates. Of the tribes who inhabit Caucasus many are Mohammedan, others Pagan, and a few are Christian. Holding the frontier barriers of Turkey and Russia, and acknowledging the nominal supremacy sometimes of one, sometimes of the other of these empires; being moreover divided into a number of petty independencies, in each of which the government is very lax, they dwell in a state of perpetual hostility, and are the most daring and skillful robbers in the world. They are split into a greater number of little states than even ancient Greece was, but the principal are the following: I. The Zschetschens. These are Mohammedans, very devout, and very great robbers. If they meet with a Christian, they not only take away the property which he has with him, but oblige him to ransom his person or sell him into slavery. If a Mohammedan falls into their hands, they first strip and then kill him, as they hold it abominable to make slaves of their brethren in the faith. They live in a semi-barbarous state, transferring to their women not only the whole care of their domestic economy but also of their agriculture and horticulture, reserving for themselves only the more active employments of robbery and the chase. II. The Lesghaes. These people have long been established in Caucasus. They defended themselves with valour against the hostile attempts of the first successors of Mohammed, and though obliged to retire from the plains and large vallies, maintained a haughty independence among the fortresses of their mountains. They are subdivided into several small tribes, many of whom have adopted, at least in part, the religion of Mohamined, while the rest continue Pagans. Their government is so loosely constituted, that each is possessed of the utmost personal freedom. Robbery is in high estimation among them, and they willingly enter into the military service of any neighbouring Prince who will subsidize them. "When they have been successful in plundering, and have kidnapped children, besides men, they take the former, after much coaxing, on their backs, and carry Should a prisoner escape and be rethem over the mountains and valleys. taken, a Lesghae never meets him with severity, much less would he beat him; (if he is not refractory ;) but he ingenuously tells him, "It is no fault of thine that thou seekest thy freedom, for I should not do it a hair's breadth the less, were I in thy stead; the error is mine own, that I had not secured thee better; but now (while he smiles in his face, and ties his hands behind him) thou wilt certainly not escape from me again." They do not murder the men whom they have stolen, not even when they are pursued, and cannot carry off their prey; but if they have secured their booty, they take care to inform the friends and relations of the prisoners, that they may treat for their ransom. "The Mahommedan Lesghae does not even spare his own brethren, when they fall into his hands. Now if any one is not rich enough to ransom himself, and the Lesghae is obliged to sell him as a slave, (but that is contrary to their religion, as the prisoner was not taken in war, but stolen, and might therefore excite too much attention,) he obliges him, by threatenings, to call himself a Christian; gives him a Christian name, and then sells him. "When the Lesghae, as victor, takes prisoners in war, any one can ransom himself for a tumann; (ten roubles ;) but if one Lesghae falls into the hands of another, he must, according to an old treaty, pay two tumanns Prisoners of respectability are liberated for a greater if they can give security for the payment.. sum optionally; and even immediately, Yet the life of every prisoner of war depends entirely upon the mercy of the conqueror. But should a Lesghae carry them to his house, they immediately enjoy the rights of slavery, which according to the Ismail Koran, are, that they cannot be sold, alienated, given away, nor killed beyond the frontiers of of ransoming himself, he must serve in Caucasus. If the prisoner is incapable the house ten years, and it is his duty to attend to it in the best manner. "Should the Lesghaes be unfortunate in their predatory expeditions, or be attacked by too strong a force, they brave death with incredible firmness, and endure hunger and thirst rather than surrender themselves. To quench thirst, they drink the blood of their horses, and eat their flesh; and creditable witnesses in Georgia have assured me, that, after casting lots, they have eaten some of their comrades! () "The Lesghae, seized as a robber, and condemned for his crimes, meets death with firm resignation. Without changing his features, he reclines his bare head over the left shoulder, holds his cap under the right arm, and waits without trembling the stroke of death. In the same way he appears before a great man, courteously to salute him. "When he is old, and unfit for plundering and war, he visits, as a friend, all those whom he had so often harassed as an enemy; receives some farewell presents; and then hides himself for ever in the mountains. But he who has enriched himself by a long course of plundering, and only waits the appointed hour of death, thinks to insure his going to heaven by good works. He liberates some slaves; divides some sheep, goats, or cows, amongst the poor; settles what sum should be given for repairs of bridges and roads; makes presents to mosks; and at last divulges (but not before he is on the brink of the grave) where his treasure, in gold, silver, or jewels, lies concealed; and then dies in perfect peace." afraid of committing depredations on the Circassian territory. A defect in their political constitution at length brought them to decay. They had two royal families who alternately possessed the sovereignty of the state. Hence arose jealousies and discords, and each reigning prince allowed the nobility to encroach more and more on the privileges of the crown, in order by these concessions to secure the permanent establishment of the royal authority in his own family. The consequence of this was, that the state degenerated into an aristocratical anarchy; and in the year 1774, one of their princes named Kessai, placed himself, together with a few followers, under the protection of the Russian Empire. The other princes and the whole body of nobility flew to arms to punish this act of treason; and a war of three years ensued, which terminated as might be expected in favour of Russia, which power has enjoyed ever since an effectual influence in the country through the subserviency of the reigning prince. Of the far famed beauties of Circassia, the author gives us the following description: "I know not what can have given occasion to the generally received pre III. The Tscherkassians (Cir- judice, in favour of the female Tschercassians), or Kubardins. kassians. A short leg, a small foot, and glaring red hair, constitute a Tscherkassian beauty! But what is this to the vivid, animated youth of the unadorned Georgian maid! The slender form and attractive biue eye of the female Persian, are far more captivating than the round, thick-set shape of the petulant Tscherkassian! and whoever observes the female Lesghaes, is astonished at finding the beautiful female statues of the Greek sculptors amongst them! The comeliness of the Tscherkassian telles is certainly particularly inviting; they are gay, jocose, wanton, witty, and very loquacious. When kind of pride very becoming; but in old young, they sway their husbands with a age they are insufferably altercatious, and lie the whole day on a bedstead covered with carpet, the only piece of convenience in a miserable hovel, built of bushes or lattice-work, and covered with mud or dung." IV. The Iberians or Immeretians. These people possess that part of ancient Colchis through which flows the river Phasis, now called Phas. Their numbers amount to between 16,000 and 17,000 families distributed through several provinces or domains. There are no towns, and scarcely any villages in the whole country, the inhabitants for the most part being possessed of landed property, each family dwells on its own estate, paying a moderate annual tribute to the chief of the district. The supreme power is vested in an hereditary sovereign or Zaar who makes a leisurely progress every year through his dominions, and "wherever he pitches his tent, administers justice, hears all complaints, and establishes order to the utmost of his power." The territory of Iberia is of such singular fertility and beauty that its inhabitants are all strongly attached to a rural life, giving themselves however, very little trouble about the cultivation of the soil, and depending principally on the spontaneous products of nature and the easy acquisitions of the chase. "The natural fertility of the land spontaneously produces inore than the indolent inhabitants require. The forests present an abundance of ship timber; but the finest oaks, beeches, firs, and larches, which, on account of their size and height, are formed for masts, rot through age; and the Iberians now nothing of the great benefits to be derived from the rivers and from navigation. The devastations, in fact, seem to be the cause of the inability of the people; who, being exhausted by perpetual wars, are become listless and indolent. "Well flavoured fruits and grapes grow wild in abundance: scarcely any where else are vines of such a considerable age, height, and size, to be met with. I saw many, whose diameter was fifteen inches. They are neither pruned nor trained; but have entwined amongst the venerable old oaks, beeches, or alders, since time immemorial. One single stock bears so many bunches, that a whole family obtains from it their year's provision of the best wine; and, as the inhabitant is too lazy to gather them all, he leaves great part of the choicest fruit to its own corruption, or to the birds.. The traveller finds to his great refreshment, even in the latest autumn and winter months, grapes always hanging on the branches. "It is impossible to imagine the quantity of apples, pears, prunes, apricots, cherries, figs, and almonds; whole mountains are covered with chesnuts, full of granates and laurels. The almond hills overgrown with olives, and plains and medlar stand in thick forests of quince and apple-trees laden with fruit. Pear, apple, and prune trees, often bear twice a year. When even the autumnal fruits do not attain to their proper matu rity, yet their agreeable acidity is reviv ing, as I and my companion experienced, to our delight, on the 18th of November, All other fruit-trees blow at least 1782. twice, and are engaging in autumn from their vernal attire." V. The Georgians. The Georgians are the southernmost of the Caucasian tribes; being bounded on that side by Armenia, on the west by Emmeretia, and on the north and east by the Lesghaes and the province of Shirvan. The river Kur (the ancient Cyrus) with its tributary streams, rises in and flows through their territory; on the banks of which is Teflis, a town of considerable magnitude, the capital of the country, and the residence of the Zaar. In no part of Caucasus have internal feuds and civil wars been carried on with greater pertinacity or with more ruinous consequences. The turbulent aristocracy of this unhappy country having reduced the population of their estates by the detestable practice of selling the flower of their male and female youth into Turkish slavery, hired bands of respecting the towns of Derbend Lesghaes for the purpose of pro- and Baku. secuting their mutual hostilities. In a short time these mercenaries discovered the feebleness of their masters and overran the whole country except the domains of the Zaar, committing the most terrible ravages. To repress these destroyers, the Georgians placed themselves, as already mentioned, under the dominion of Russia and are now enjoying the quiet of despotism. The present population of Georgia is estimated at 61,000 families; of whom about one third dwell in the town and territory of Teflis. The lesser states described in these volumes need not be particularized; we must not however omit to mention that there are many interesting particulars communicated On the whole, there is enough of value in this work to excite our real regret on account of its ill arrangement, and of its being so scantily and imperfectly provided with the usual, though very necessary contrivances, for helping the memory of the reader. We have further to complain of the little care that has been taken by the translator; whose ignorance or inattention has rendered several passages wholly unintelligible, and has disgusted us by the continual recurrence of gross vulgarisms; nor can we avoid mentioning that a considerable part of the second volume is made up of lists of plants and botanical descriptions of no more value than so much waste paper. ART. II. Travels, in Asia and Africa: including a Journey from Scanderoon to Aleppo, and over the Desert to Bagdad and Bussora; a Voyage from Bussora to Bombay, and along the Western Coast of India; a Voyage from Bombay to Mocha and Suez in the Red Sea; and a Journey from Suez to Cairo and Rosetta, in Egypt. By the late ABRAHAM PARSONS, Esq. Consul and Factor Marine at Scanderoon. 410. pp. 346. TRAVELLERS seldom contrive to make their books so amusing as they might be, because in communicating their information they rarely observe these arts in the distribution of their materials which insure the communication of pleasure by the preservation of interest. Thus they usually relate that they departed from one place and arrived at another; that the way was long or short, the weather fair or foul, the temperature hot or cold, the country bleak or luxuriant. In describing the towns which they visit, we learn the longitude and Jatitude, the number of the people, the aspect of the buildings, and the breadth of the streets, the manufactories, the religion, the government. All this is very necessary to be told, but it is told with too little variation. The mind is fa tigued after a time by the most stimulant forms of composition, much more easily and more rapidly by accounts of ill built towns, and ill constructed governments. These dull narratives of which the greatest number of our tours, travels and voyages consist, employ both in the writer and the reader, only one faculty of the mind, and that faculty one, the exercise of which produces the least pleasure. and the least excitement of men ry, while the fancy and the intellect which produce the strongest and most delightful emotions, of which the mind is capable, are hardly called into action. Let the traveller aim at variety in his composition, let him with his description of towns, and people, intermingle adventure, and disquisition, and when he has dwelt on one |