236 Ancient City discovered—Celtic Antiquities— Earthquakes. 
DISCOVERY OF AN ANCIENT CITY. 
One of the Paris journals announces that a French traveller, 
now in Egypt, has discovered, at the distance of nine hours jour- 
ney from the Red sea, an ancient city built in the mountains 
between the 24th and 25th degrees of latitude. There are still 
about S00 houses in existence ; and among the ruins, temples de- 
dicated to various divinities. There are eleven statues, besides 
fragments of others. He has also discovered the ancient stations 
that were appointed on the route through the Desert, going from 
the Red sea to the valley of the Nile They are at regular di- 
stances of nine hours between each. This route was undoubtedly 
one of those traversed by the commerce of India which flourished 
at the time of the Lagides, and under the first emperors. 
CELTIC ANTIQUITIES. 
A Prussian officer who lately spent some time at Wisbaden, 
occupied himself in causing excavations to be made, in the hope 
of rendering his visit to the country of the ancient Celts profita- 
ble to science. In the course of his search he discovered a 
Druidical altar which had been overthrown, and was at first taken 
for an ordinary tumulus ; a vase and a patera for sacrifices, and 
various arms and rings, all of bronze; a glass vase with a cover ; 
several coloured glass rings; carnelians of various forms ; swords 
and spear-heads of exquisite workmanship ; various edge tools 
of stone, and among them a saw of flint. A vaulted cave was 
also discovered, containing ashes, calcined bones, and, what is 
still more curious, several perfect skeletons in Roman dresses : 
nearone of the skeletons was a concha veneris entirely petrified. 
EARTHQUAKES. 
On the 2d day of October, about half past one P.M. a very 
smart shock of an earthquake was felt at Brutenzorg, Batavia. 
The houses were violently shaken, the windows rattled, the mor- 
tar fell from the wallsy and the bells rung; people who were 
standing up became giddy by the motion of the ground. Some 
houses had the walls rent open. The shock lasted only a few se- 
conds. It was felt in the mountains as well as in Batavia. 
It was lately reported that Messina had been entirely destroyed 
by an earthquake, accompanied with the loss of some thousand 
lives ; but letters of a later date than that mentioned for the ca- 
tastrophe have been received from that city. 
A letter from Palermo of 4th of March announces, that during 
the fourteen preceding days the weather had been dreadful, du- 
ring which they had three shocks of an earthquake which had 
done much mischief on the south-east part of the island (Sicily), 
throwing down churches and destroying whole villages. Much 
damage was also done among the shipping. No mischief was 
done at Palermo. Meteoro- 
