and owls, that soar above the heights, seemingly annoyed at any one approaching their desolate habitations," proves how literally the predictions have been fulfilled. The screech owl shall also rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay and hatch, and gather under her shadow; there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate." Excavated dwellings in the clefts of the rocks, triumphal arches, the ruins of a magnificent theatre; innumerable mausoleums, with every variety of decoration; palaces and temples of exquisite workmanship; colossal statues, columns and pillars, all cut out of the solid rock, and in a state of surprising preservation,- are among the wonders of this desolate city.

Its position is in a deep valley, surrounded by high and inaccessible mountains; the only path leading to it, is through Bedouin Arabs, who threaten the lives of those that dare to approach "the strongholds of Edom."

The features of the defile which leads to Petra grow more and more imposing at every step as you advance towards the desolate city: the excavations and sculpture grow more frequent, till at last it presents a continued street of tombs, beyond which the rocks, gradually approaching each other, seem all at once to close without any outlet; there is, however, one frightful chasm for the passage of a stream, which furnishes, as it did anciently, the only avenue to Petra on this side. It is impossible to conceive any thing more awful and sublime than such an approach; the width is not more than just sufficient for the passage of two horsemen abreast, the sides are in all parts perpendicular, varying from about 400 to 700 feet in height, and often overhanging to such a degree, that without their absolutely meeting, the sky is intercepted, and shut out for 100 yards together, and there is little more light than in a cavern. Very near the first entrance into this romantic pass, a bold arch is thrown across at a great height, connecting the opposite sides of the cliff. As the traveller passes under it, its appearance is most surprising, hanging thus above his head, betwixt two rugged masses apparently inaccessible. Following this half-sort of subterranean passage for the space of nearly two miles, the sides increasing in height, and the path continually descending, while the tops of the mountains

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retain their former level, a gleam of strong light suddenly breaks in at the close of the dark perspective, and opens to the view, half-seen at first through the tall, narrow opening, columns, statues, and cornices of a light and finished taste, as if fresh from the chisel, without the tints of weather or age, and executed in a stone of a pale rose colour. The position is one of the most beautiful that could be imagined for the front of a great temple; the richness and exquisite finish of whose decorations offer a most remarkable contrast to the savage scenery which surrounds it. The area before the temple terminates to the south in a wild precipitous cliff. To the N.N.W. infinite variety of tombs, both Arabian and Roman, appear on both sides of the defile. This path conducts to the theatre, and here the ruins of the city burst on the view in their full grandeur, shut in on the opposite side by barren craggy precipices, from which numerous ravines and valleys branch out in all directions. The sides of the mountains (Jer. xlix. 16), covered with an endless variety of excavated tombs and private dwellings, present altogether (say the travellers) the most singular scene we ever beheld; and we must despair to give an idea of the singular effect of rocks tinted with the most extraordinary views, whose summits present us with nature in her most savage and romantic form, whilst their bases are worked out in all the symmetry and regularity of art, with colonnades, and pediments, and ranges of corridors adhering to the perpendicular surface.

The stream which traverses the city passes again into a narrow defile, along whose steep sides a sort of excavated range is continued of small and mean chambers, set one above another, without much regularity, like so many pigeon-holes in the rock, with flights of steps, or narrow inclined planes leading up to them. Following the defile, the river re-appears, flowing with considerable rapidity; but though the water is plentiful, it is with difficulty that its course can be traced, from the luxuriance of the shrubs that surround it and obscure every tract. Besides the oleander, which is common to all the water-courses in this country, we may recognize among the plants which choke this valley some which are probably the descendants of those that adorned the gardens and supplied the market of the capital of Arabia: the carob, the fig, mulberry-tree,

and pomegranate, line the river side; and a very beautiful species of aloe also grows in this valley, bearing flowers of an orange hue shaded to scarlet; in some instances it had upwards of a hundred blossoms on a branch.

Streets of tombs and stately mausoleums are standing in every direction of this now desolate place. "Great must have been the opulence of a city which could dedicate such monuments to the memory of its rulers,' was the observation of one of the unfortunate travellers who passed through Idumea. But Idumea has been "laid waste from generation to generation," according to the words of the prophet: "They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing." (Isaiah xxxiv. 10-12.) At the entrance of the city from the N.E. is a large sepulchre which had originally three stories; on the basement is one large and lofty chamber, having six recesses with grooves in them at the further end. On the establishment of Christianity, these recesses have been converted into three for the reception of altars, and the whole apartment has been made to serve as a Church; the fastenings for the tapestry and pictures are still visible in all the walls, and near an angle is an inscription in red paint, recording the date of consecration. These are the only vestiges of Christian establishment which the travellers could discover throughout the remains of Petra, though it was a Metropolitan see.

The fulfilment of the prophecies respecting Idumea has been brought to light by a most astonishing and overpowering evidence. So great are the difficulties and dangers which await those who dare attempt to visit the ancient capital of Idumea, that the English travellers could not but compare their case to that of the Israelites, when "Edom refused to give them a passage through his country." The natives thought they went to take the treasures, dry up the springs, and prevent the rain from falling; and it was not until after seven days spent in fierce dispute between the Arabs who had sworn to conduct them, and those who opposed their passage into the territory, that they succeeded in reaching Petra; and during the short time they were there, they were con stantly fired at and harassed. In describing the avenue to Petra they say, "The exact, spot was not pointed out

to us, but it was somewhere amidst these natural horrors

that upwards of thirty pilgrims from Barbary were murdered last year by the men of Wady Mousa, on their return from Mecca." The perils encountered by the English were related to the French travellers by their protector, nephew to the Arab chief who had guarded the former and the young man seized a favourable moment to conduct the latter in safety into the valley of Wady Mousa.Church of England Magazine.

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CROSSING THE DESERT.

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THE road through the desert is most wonderful in its features a finer cannot be imagined. It is wide, hard, firm, winding, for at least two-thirds of the way, from Kosseir. to Thebes, between ranges of rocky hills, rising often perpendicularly on either side, as if they had been scraped by art; here, again, rather broken, and overhanging, as if they were the lofty banks of a mighty river, and you traversing its dry and naked bed. Now you are quite landlocked; now again you open on small valleys, and see, upon heights beyond, small square towers. late in the evening when we came to our ground, a sort of dry bay; sand, burning sand, with rock and cliff, rising in jagged points all around-a spot where the waters of ocean might sleep in stillness, or with the soft voice of their gentlest ripple lull the storm-worn mariner. The dew of the night before had been heavy; we therefore pitched our tent, and decided on starting, in future, at a very early hour in the morning, so as to accomplish our march before noon. It was dark when we moved off, and even cold. Your camel is impatient to rise ere you are well seated on him; gives a shake, too, to warm his blood, and half dislodges you; marches rather faster than by day, and gives occasionally a hard quick stamp with his broad callous foot. The moon was far in her wane. She rose, however, about an hour after we started, all red, above the dark hills on our left; yet rose higher, and grew paler, till at last she hung a silvery crescent in the deep blue sky. I claim for the traveller a love of that bright planet far beyond what the fixed and settled resident can ever know ;-the meditation of the lover, the open lattice,

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the guitar, the villagers' castanets, are all in sweet character with the moon, or on her increase, or full-orbed; the traveller (especially in the East), loves her in her wane; so does the soldier at his still picquet of the night; and the sailor, on his silent watch, when she comes and breaks in upon the darkness of the night to soothe and bless him.

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Who passes the desert, and says all is barren, all lifeless? In the grey morning you may see the common pigeon, and the partridge, and the pigeon of the rock, alight before your very feet, and come upon the beaten camel-paths for food. They are tame, for they have not learned to fear, or to distrust the men who pass these solitudes. The camel-driver would not lift a stone to them; and the sportsman could hardly find it in his heart to kill these gentle tenants of the desert: the deer might tempt him; I saw but one; far, very far, he caught the distant camel-tramp, and paused, and raised and threw back his head to listen, then away to the road, instead of from it; but far a-head he crossed it, and then away up a long slope he fleetly stole, and off to some solitary spring which swells perhaps where no traveller, or human being has ever trod. Here and there you meet with something of green,‚—a tree alone, or two, nay, in one vale you may see some eight or ten; these are the acacias; small-leaved and thorny, yet kind, in that "they forsake not these forsaken places." You have affections in the desert, too; your patient and docile camel is sometimes vainly urged, if his fellow or his driver be behind; he will stop, and turn, and give that deep, hoarse, gurgling sound, by which he expresses uneasiness and displeasure.-Scenes, &c., in Egypt.

BROCK.

WITH respect to the situation of this village, it is built partly round the banks of a small circular lake; but these are the residences of the wealthier inhabitants, and are ornamented in the highest Dutch fashion, with plenty of green, white, and yellow paint, the favourite colours in the exterior of all Dutch houses. The whole appearance of these buildings bespeaks the most minute attention to