1826.] 



Domestic Varieties. 



427 



features and foreign aspect ; and lils hair, 

 which was long and black, hung loosely 

 over liis shoulders. The head, legs, and 

 feet were without covering, but the boily 

 was clothed in a tight dress, covering also 

 the limbs as far as the knees and elbows. 

 This dress w;us composed of the skin of 

 some animal, laced in front with thongs of 

 the same material, and having the hairy 

 side inwards; and it is not improbable that 

 it might have been that of the Moose-deer. 

 Jle hiui no weapon, but near him, at each 

 side of the body, Wius found a long statf or 

 pole, which it was snp])oscd he h;i<l used 

 for the purpose of bounding over streams ; 

 and as the body was found near a rivulet, it 

 was further conjectured by the peasantry, 

 that the man had met his death accidentally 

 in crossing this stream, or some such man- 

 ner. The antiseptic power of bogs is well 

 known, and the frequent discovery of human 

 liodies in a high degree of jircservation in 

 those of Ireland has been already recorded ; 

 the finding of this body would not therefore 

 deserve particular notice, nor would it, ))ro- 

 bably, have e-xcitcd much attcjition at the 

 time, but for the singularity of the costume. 

 And this iiotice is tlie more necessary, as the 

 dress no longer exists, having been buried 

 witli the body ; an instance of thoughtless- 

 ness of which the better informed in Ireland 

 are ashamed. Their antiquity is shown by 

 the great depth of bog under which they 

 lay ; but as the growth of bog must dcjjcnd 

 oil various circumstances, as situation, hu- 

 midity, soil, &c.,that fact alone can give us 

 no certain criterion of its age. On this j)oint, 

 jierhaps, the rude dress in whicli the body 

 was clothed is likely to afford more satis- 

 factory ground for accurate eonjectiu'e. 

 That it belonged to a jicriod antecedent to 

 the an-ival of the Engli.-<h, may be con- 

 *'luded from the evidence of Girald Barry, 

 who says, the Irish were but lightly clad in 

 woollen garments, barbarously shaped, and 

 for the most part black, because the sheep 

 of the country were usually of that colour : 

 and from the spirit of that author's work, 

 we liavc little reason to suppose, that if any 

 portioh of the Irish, in his time, had been 

 clothed in skins, he would have failed to 

 have noticed it. From this it is conjectured 

 that the body was that of one of the Belgic 

 inhabitants of Ireland, as it was in a district 

 tmquestionably inhabited by them, and the 

 close skin dress seems to have been used 

 by them. 



Africa. — The newspapers afford late ac- 

 eoimts relative to our African travellers. 

 On the 2oth Nov., Mr. Dickson was at 

 Whydah, proceeding towards Dahomey, 

 with a Portuguese who had lived at that 

 court for many years. Captains Cla])perton 

 and I'earce, and Mr. Morrison, were at 

 Yalto, where poor Belzoni died. Thence 

 they purposed going to a place called OhiOj 



where they expected nn escort from the 

 king Bello to convey them to his Cripital, 

 Saceatoo. 



Meridians. — Tlie suggestions of M. do \ix 

 Place on this i<ubje(t is well worthy of 

 attention. *' It is very desirable," he ob- 

 serves, " that all the nations of Knrope, 

 instead of referring their calculations of lor- 

 gitude to the nieriilian of their )>rincipal 

 obseivatory, should tave some common 

 meiidian, which nature seems to have 

 l)oiiiti<l out for tJmt purjiose. That agree- 

 ment would intro<lnco into the geography 

 of the wrtrld the same imiformity that exists 

 in its almanacks and in its arithmetic, a 

 unifonnitywliich, extending to Iheninnerous 

 objects of ihi'ir nuitual relations, forms 

 various countries into an immense family." 

 M. de la I'lace reconnnends the Peak of 

 Teneritfe, or Mont Blanc, a.s the point 

 through which this common meridian should 

 jiass- 



Uiflunce to ultich minutely diriled matter 

 mail he carri-d !»/ irind. — On the morning; 

 of the lyth of January last, Mr. Forbes., Ort 

 board the Clyde, East-Indiaman, bound to 

 London, in lat. 10° -W N., and long. 27° 

 '11' W., and about COO miles from the coast 

 of Africa, was astonished to find the sails 

 covered with a browniinh sand, the |)ai tides 

 of which being examined by a mif roscope, 

 appeared exceedingly minute. During the 

 night the wind had blowed fresh N. E. by 

 E , and ilie African c<inst, lying between 

 Cape de \'erd and the river Gambia, was 

 the nearest land to windward. I\Iay not 

 the seeds of many plants found in remote 

 and newly formed islands, have been thus 

 conveyed ? 



Sleam I'essels. — There is now a contri- 

 vance employed on boai-d a Scottish steam 

 boat, which might be generally adopted 

 with great advantage in other vessels of a 

 similar kind. By ihe simple motion of a 

 small handle or index placed on a table 

 upon deck, in view of the man at the helm 

 a7id of the master of tho vessel, every move- 

 ment which the engine is capable of giving 

 to the i^addle-wheel may be at once com- 

 mamled. The vessel may be moved for- 

 wards or backwards, or may be retarded or 

 entirely stopped at any given moment, by 

 merely turning the liandle to the places 

 denoted by the graduations of a dial-plate. 

 No skill is required for this purpose ; the 

 master himself, or a sailor under his direc- 

 tion, can perform the office as well as the 

 ablest engineer. Thus the conft^ion which 

 frequently arises at night in calling to the 

 engineer below is avoided, and any ambi- 

 guity arising from the word of command 

 being transmitted through several persons 

 entirely avoided (circuuistandes which may 

 lead to the most serious accidents). The 

 engine is by this contrivance as much 

 under command as the rudder. 



•■i I 2 



