Captain Blogg, and myself, the embouchure of what they called the Khalij al Kadim, which we hastened to see.

It is marked by low banks of sand, the highest part of which did not exceed six feet in height, and ceased altogether about fifty paces from high water mark. I was unable to find any traces of banks below the water of the Red Sea, here very shallow. The banks abounded with sea shells, and masses of crystallized gypsum; the breadth of the bed between them was sixty-four paces. Diverging slightly from the sea shore we traced them in a northerly direction, varying from four to six feet in height, often interrupted and indistinct, to the camel track of the great caravan from Cairo to Mecca, where they pass round the head of the Red Sea. The surface of the country, from the commencement of the canal to this, was flat, little raised above the surface of the sea, and covered with sand and gravel. The bed of the canal was formed of the same sand; firm, and in some places moist enough to admit of the growth of a few salsolas, &c., the verdure of which, contrasted with the parched aspect of this dreary waste, over which the hot khamsin was blowing, was by no means unrefreshing. A thermometer on the sand of the desert exposed to the rays of the sun, sky clear, 141°.5.

Here was observed a heap of stones which an old Arab hajji who accompanied us said, had been piled up as a land-mark by the pilgrims to Mecca to guide them to the spot where they were to round the head of the sacred gulf. These piles are called alámát, standards or marks, by the Bedouins; near it lay the skeletons of several camels, bleached by the sun,-" ships of this desert," wrecked in this sea of sand. The hadji informed me, that during the winter

(filbard) the waters of the Red Sea rise suddenly and are impelled over this wide extent of now dry sand by the violence of the south-east winds. Suez bore hence S.10W., on its right the mountains of Ataka or Deliverance, through whose defiles the Israelites were pursued to the shores of the Red Sea; and on our left or to the eastward, the wilderness of El Tih, in which spring the wells of Moses, which I had visited only two years ago.

Beyond this, the embankments of the canal are more distinct and continuous; and, at about the distance of twelve miles northerly from Suez, were as perfect as if piled up a week ago, twenty feet high, formed of gravel and gypseous marl, and upwards of seventy paces apart. They become again gradually indistinct on reaching the southern extremity of the Bitter Lakes: a few low rocks of limestone break the monotony of the gently undulating desert. The surface of the bed

was quite dry, but a little below it consisted of a dark, moist, reddish clay; on whose surface grew a scattered vegetation of thorny acacias, tamarisks, and salsolas. The dimensions of the lake it is difficult to ascertain, forming, as it does, but a very slight bankless depression below the level of the surrounding, desert, the lowest and moistest parts being scantily clothed by the vegetation just mentioned. The surface of the surrounding track is covered by firm sand and gravel, chiefly of rolled pebbles of chert, quartz, and Egyptian jasper. In the bed of the canal, and in the sand of its banks, I found in an unfossilized state, many marine shells of species now existing in the Red Sea, viz.; Pecten, Nerantius, Murex, Scolopax, Cytherea, Callipiga, &c. Water of a saline bitter taste is found about a foot below the surface in the bed of the lakes; hence the name given them.

The surface of the desert around the lakes is rather more undulating and rocky than that surrounding the head of the Red Sea, but preserves the same barren and cheerless aspect. The Arabs assured us, that the same physical features prevail to the shore of the Mediterranean, where it again becomes flat and marshy. The same substratum prevails, viz., a tertiary calcareous rock, containing marine shells and corals of loose texture.

Not a vestige of animal life was seen between the ruins of Kolzum and the Bitter Lakes, save the footsteps of the bird "Bagha," and the track of a hyena that had stalked across the bed of the old canal.

The principal obstacles to establishing a navigable stream of water direct through the Isthmus are not the shifting nature of the sands, the amount and height of rocks to be blasted, and the depth of excavation necessary: the observations of Napoleon's surveyors go to show that the extreme height of the Isthmus above the sea's level is but insignificant; the expense calculated was £700,000; and as to the canal being choked up by the sands of the desert, my own observations tend to prove the very trifling amount of drift that has accumulated in the old channel since the days of the Caliphs.

The greatest difficulty to be surmounted appears to me to be the alleged shallowness and shoaliness of the Mediterranean, at the point nearest to Suez, viz.: the bottom of the Pelusiac Bay, of which, and the country between it and the northernmost of the Bitter Lakes, a careful survey is indispensable. Between Suez and the southernmost of this chain of lakes which are so favourably located for the undertaking, no greater natural difficulty exists than between Adfeh and Alexandria. The shallowness between the head of the Red Sea and the anchorage three miles off Suez would be a drawback: but one which, at the most, could be obviated by transshipment. The present

width of the channel of the old canal, as far as the Bitter Lakes, is more than sufficient for all purposes; it requires deepening; the banks put in repair; and fresh levels taken. The old channel, which turns off westerly at the Bitter Lakes towards the Nile must be there deviated from, and an entirely new cut made northerly to the bay of Pelusium.

If, as has been stated, it be true, that the water of the Red Sea at Suez is thirty-two feet higher than that of the Mediterranean at Pelusium, a current would be formed, which might be turned to advantage in clearing and deepening the channel, by the construction of a pier or an artificial channel of masonry at Pelusium. The difference of level of the two seas, has been, by some, calculated only at twenty feet, and latterly, I understand, at seventeen feet. I was informed by an intelligent Greek, Kodsi Manouli, that Suez, which stands nearly at the level of the Red Sea, is eighteen feet higher than the general level of the Delta of Egypt: hence, perhaps, the fear anciently prevailing of the Delta being submerged by the opening of the canal, These facts, coupled with that of my having observed recent marine shells in the bed of the canal and of the Bitter Lakes, militates against the assertion of Herodotus, that the former was filled with the fresh water of the Nile. It is also conclusive, from this trip, that the canal, latterly at all events, communicated with the head of the Red Sea.

As my detention in Egypt was quite unexpected, the excursion was made without any instrument to determine the relative levels of the Bitter Lakes and that of Suez. Judging from the flat and gently undulating character of the intermediate tract of desert there cannot be many feet difference. That their bed is higher than the level of the Red Sea, is indicated by the greater depth of the channel of the canal in their vicinity, and the apparent general rise of the country.

In a paper on the Geology of Egypt, read before the Geological Society of London, I have shown that the shores of the Red Sea have undergone considerable elevation; and in a trip into the desert of El Tih, I found vestiges of an ancient beach near the head of the Gulf of Suez, left as the land was gradually elevated. That this elevation, in the vicinity of Suez, has been remarkably slow within the historic period, is proved by the ruins of Kolzum still being washed by its tides. According to the author of the Ajaib al Makhlukat,

, the Red Sea was called the Sea of Kolzum from this city, which, as also that of Yemen, is mentioned as standing on the sea shore. After stating that the "God of glory and majesty had drowned Pharaoh and his host in this sea:" he proceeds to relate a

great and remarkable physical change in the features of the country now forming its shores by the admission of the waters of the ocean. In ancient times, he says, a great space and a mountain existed between Yemen and the sea, when a prince, with the view of ruining the country of his enemy, cut the mountain for the space of an arrow's flight and let in the sea upon the land of Yemen: the inundation acquired such force that it could not be checked; it overwhelmed many cities, and a great sea was formed which came nigh to the land of Yemen, and extended to the cities of Juddah, Yembo, Medin, Ailah, (Akaba, the Elath of Scripture,) and Kolzum.

بلاد بسیار را بفساد آورد و بحری عظیم پدید آمد و دریا بارض

قلزم یمن نزدیک شد و تا جده و ينبع و مدین و ایله

برسید

,

The singular Gulf of the Red Sea, which Cazwini styles

وبحر

الهند

di, Shubah min Bahr al Hind, literally, a fissure in the rock, (where water stands or flows) from the sea of Hind, is on the line of the volcanic zone, which I have traced along its shores by Gebel Ezzeit, the warm springs of Tor, the semi-active island volcano, Gebel Tir, through the straits of Babelmandeb to Aden; the existence of which is doubtless connected with the profuse growth of its submarine forests of coral.

In the Bengal Asiatic Society's Journal, (No. 132, 1842,) I have already mentioned the possibility of the limestone beds, which extend easterly from Egypt far beyond the borders of the Red Sea into Arabia and the Holy Land, having been once continuous, and the portion now occupied by the Red Sea having been engulphed, like the centre of the Val del Bove, by a great subterraneous displacement of matter. The cliffs on each side have a singularly disrupted appearance, particularly in the Gulf of Suez. The tradition of Cazwini seems to strengthen the theory of the origin of the Arabian Gulf: the removal of the mountain which intervened between the sea (the Indian Ocean) and Yemen was probably the sinking of the lower parts of the mountain barrier of Babelmandeb, the Gate of Tears; by which the present narrow strait was caused, and which let in the Sea of Hind on the sunken tract now forming the bed of the gulf, and which flowed up so far north as Kolzum and Akaba, still at its head.

ART. XXI.-On the Secret Triad Society of China, chiefly from Papers belonging to the Society found at Hong Kong. By the REV. C. GUTZLAFF.

[Read 15th February, 1845.]

THE following is the account given by the Triad Society of themselves and of their origin:

The Selús (a Tatar tribe) invaded China, under the reign of Kang-he, (about 1675-79), and greatly disturbed the country. The people were very much alarmed; and the Manchús sent an army to resist the invaders, which was several times defeated without gaining a single advantage. Upon this, an officer named Kwŏ-ting-hwuy returned to the Court to ask for assistance, simply stating, that whilst the enemy were making inroads in the country, there were few soldiers to oppose them, or generals to command; he added, that the troops wanted provision, and that he came to give a representation of the state of things. The Emperor, on receiving the report, instantly called a council, and after some discussion, it was agreed to declare by proclamation, that if any able man would come forward and lead the army into battle, he should receive a present of 10,000 taels and a dukedom. This welcome news reached a monastery in Fokien, where there were above 1200 bonzes, who immediately proceeded to the capital and begged to be admitted to the imperial presence. One of their number was forthwith appointed commander-in-chief, and he successfully routed the Selú army. His victory was complete, and he returned in triumph to the Court; Kang-he received him and his followers with great courtesy, made them liberal presents, and then sent them back to their homes. They had scarcely left the Court, when some traitorous ministers, envious of their good fortune, denounced them as rebels, who had plotted in secret the ruin of the dynasty; and obtained permission to set fire to their whole establishment. The accusers, accompanied by their minions, hastily went in pursuit of the bonzes; and on arriving at their temple, were most hospitably and kindly received; during the night, however, they surrounded the building, and before the inmates awakened from their slumber, the house was in a blaze. So well had their enemies concerted the plan, that only eighteen escaped of the whole number; and out of those thirteen died of starvation. The remaining five bonzes then thought it prudent to retire into utter seclusion, to escape the vigilance of their