confined position, being usually tied to a board, and sometimes in a cradle, which keeps it always in an upright position. When the mother moves, often while at work, she carries it fastened on her back; and, when left alone, it is hung to the branch of a tree, to swing in the wind, or set at its roots, leaning against the trunk. Yet, with all, as the quaint old writer, William Wood, remarked, as long ago as 1634, the Indian pappoose is as quiet "as if it had neither spleen nor lungs."

INDIAN NAMES.

The aboriginal names of places in this country have recently begun to excite new and well merited attention. A committee was appointed some months ago by the New York Historical Society, to make an aborigi nal map of the State; and they have already made some progress. Another important step was taken by them at their last regular meeting, in June. They directed that a blank or skeleton map should be sent to all persons likely to render assistance, with a request that they would supply as many Indian names as possible. This will lead to enqui ries and the searching of records, by which alone the desired information can be obtained. The example is worthy of imitation in other States.

The next thing will be to seek interpretations of the names. Many of these, being descriptive, or making allusions to local peculiarities, may yet be recovered, with the means still within reach. The Algouquin language covered all the northern parts of the United States, with the exception of the Six Nations in New York; and Mr. Schoolcraft has an acquaintance with some of its principal dialects, which might be turned to an important

use.

At the last meeting of the New York Historical Society, Mr. Thompson, author of the History of Long Island, read a paper on the Indian names in that part of the State.

He remarked that all, or nearly all of them were probably descriptive of localities. The Dutch names afterwards conferred, were generally so too, except where Holland names were borrowed from favorite places in the native country of immigrants. The English names were less significant, and more frequently imported.

Long Island had no general appellation among its inhabitants. It was called by the neighboring tribes Sewonhacket, or the country of shells, or shell money, because it furnished them with their money, made of clam shell beads, which they cailed Sewonk, the Long Island Indians being well supplied with the material, skillful in its manufacture, and long subjected to foreign control and tribute. They were poor and feeble, as a natural consequence. Their great chief was the

Sachem of Montauk, who lived on the peninsula, Wampanomen, and on its extremity, Monteek. He conveyed Smithtown to Barent Gardiner, on July 13th, 1659, by a deed, which is the foundation of all present titles. The last Sachem of Montauk was held in very high esteem for his superior intelligence and worth, as well as his hereditary rank and authority.

Several remarkable cases were mentioned, in which Indian names have been exchanged for English words of similar sound: as Jenezco for Jamaico, and Masketo for Musquito Cove, (now by morbidity, a new figure of speech, changed to Glen Cove.) Many substitutions have been made, even without such a shadow of excuse, by which we have, as some think, neither improvement in sonorous character, nor any other advantage. Thus Lusum is now called Jericho, Massipeke, Fort Neck; Maspet or Mispat, Newtown; Sunquams, Babylon; and Manotasquot, Blue Point.

The following is an extract from a small, but very interesting and entertaining book of Travels, entitled "Letters from the North of Europe: by Charles B. Elliott, Esq. The letters are dated in 1830, and the work was republished at Philadelphia, by Key & Biddle, in 1833. [This letter is from Norway.]

"On Tuesday morning we started for the Rierkenfoss. Only one horse was in the village, but the distance was short; and after the first ten miles, a horse could not proceed. For four miles we scrambled over rocks, where, in places, there was nothing more than a ledge just large enough to catch the side of the foot. The scenery is grand beyond description. The mountains on either side of the valley are covered to the very summits with wood, while in the middle, the river rolls its angry waters through a rugged channel, whose inclination augments constantly their velocity.

At length we reached the pass. I do not remember to have seen a sight so calculated to inspire terror. The Moen rushes through a rock blackened by time, and falls from a height of four hundred and fifty feet perpendicularly, into a caldron of the same dark material. The foam rises so high, as to conceal from the distant spectator the depth of the fall, which we could duly appreciate only when lying on the ground, and looking over the edge of the precipice at its highest point. Whether real or fancied, the earth seemed to tremble under the concussion of the continuous torrent.

At this moment the sun burst from behind a cloud, and shining upon the falling water and the playful spray, cast obliquely on the dark back-ground a perfect double rainbow, approaching nearly to a circle. The effect

was exceedingly striking. Placed in the only point where the circumference was incomplete, we saw ourselves clothed with the rainbow. Unprepared as we were for so extraordinary a position, it was too sublime; and we almost shuddered at the glory of the vesture with which we were surrounded; while in the beauty and grandeur of this masterpiece of his hand, we recognized the power of Him who weigheth the mountains in scales, and "covereth himself with light as with a garment.”

CHEPSTOW CASTLE, &c., IN WALES. Wales, and South Wales especially, is peculiarly rich in ruins-and three of the most celebrated we intended visiting.

We stood under the mighty arched gateway of CHEPSTOW CASTLE, gazing up at the old gray frowning battlernents-poking our walking sticks into crevices of walls, so thick that a six foot pole might have been lost in them; and curiously peering into loop holes, from whence, hundreds of years ago, issued the arrow flights of besieged men. High over our heads was the fissure for the massive portcullis, which once descended in two mighty grooves in the wall on either side of us, and the monstrous irons which supported the massive hinges of the outer door still remained.

But the great gate itself was gone, and so were its warders. In the place of the former, a clumsy boarded door was substituted, and a feeble, cracked voice old Welch woman, with a vinegar aspect, came forward, in place of the stalwart porter, gingling a bunch of monstrous keys, and holding out her skinny palm for the expectant fee. A little girl was despatched with our party, to open doors leading to the various dungeons and galleries. We had not gone far, however, before we discovered that she did not understand a word of English; and we were in a similar predicament with regard to Welsh.

Before we minutely examined the ruins, we all rested, for a time, on the soft green-sward which floored the banqueting hall. There, on the walls which had once resounded to martial music, grew weeds and wild flowers, which fantastically turned round ruined buttresses and battered corbels. Hundreds of starlings, daws, and rooks chattered and cawed from their nests in the holes, and amid the shrubberies; and the sunbeams, intercepted by neither roof nor window, fell on the green earth. With the exception of the sounds made by these birds, there was a strange, unnatural stillness, all about the place; and although, when we first sat down, our tongues rattled, and the joke and song went merrily round, a gradual feeling of solemnity imperceptibly stole over us, and we became wrapped in reverie.

I had, of course, heard a good deal of Henry Martin, one of the Regicides, who, after the restoration of Charles the Second, was

confined in Chepstow Castle for many years. Southey, it will be remembered, wrote, in his young days, a sonnet on the subject, which, in after years, he would have given much not to have penned. Martin's dungeon, therefore, was an object of great interest to all of us; and before we ascended any of the numerous winding staircases, we pryed into every hole and corner under ground, in the expectation of finding it; but in vain; and, in the absence of our guide, the quondam apartment of the king-killer would have been a place unnoticed particularly by us, but for the casual visit to the ruins, of an individual who, as one of his ablest works is now in the course of publication in America, I was glad

to meet.

Escorted by the Bishop of Llandaff, who very kindly proffered his services as guide, we mounted one of the spiral staircases, sinking knee deep at every step, in the ruined nests of generations of birds, and soon arrived at Martin's room-dungeon, it can scarcely be called, as it is situated in one of the towers of the castle. It was a large, square apartment, the window of which commanded a charming view; and, if report be correct, Martin was not only enabled to look over the adjacent country, but to extend his walks around the neighborhood.

After we had spent a very pleasant hour or two in the castle, we accepted the Bishop's invitation to a repast at his dwelling; after which, we grasped our trusty sticks, shouldered our knapsacks, and proceeded to the banks of the Wye, where we took a boat and rowed towards Tintern Abbey.

This far-famed ecclesiastical relic of the olden time is, perhaps, the most picturesque ruin of its kind in the world. Situated on the banks of a winding silvery river, embosomed amongst hills, clothed from bases to summits with the richest verdure, it gives abundant proof that the Cistercian monks, to whom it belonged, were not such blockheads as some would make them out to have been. As we approached it, the sun was pouring a flood of mellow light upon its old grey walls, and we stood, for a time, in silent wonder, gazing on the beautiful gothic window over the entrance door, around the finely carved stone work of which the ivy, and a hundred parasitical plants crept and twined. There was no sound, save the song of innumerable birds, and the rippling of the river, as it glided past-and the very spirit of sanctity seemed to brood over the place. But if the exterior created feelings of astonishment and admiration, what were our emotions when the little door was opened, and we entered the ruin!

Those of our party who now saw it for the first time, involuntarily stood still, and almost suspended their breath whilst they feasted their eyes. I can conceive of nothing more striking than the spectacle which is seen on first entering Tintern Abbey. You gaze down a long aisle, on either side of

For the Amer. Penny Magazine. More Interesting Discoveries among the Ruins of Niniveh.

After several weeks of anxious expectation, we obtain, from a French paper, a very gratifying account of the wonderful relics of that ancient and renowned city, even whose site was unknown for centuries until a few months ago.

We doubt not that many of our readers participate in the interest naturally excited by the perusal of such particulars as are to be found in our second number, page 22d; and we are happy to say, that our curiosity is likely to be gradually gratified, to an unexpected degree, as they are further explored and are more rich than we had dared to hope. The distinguished French naturalist and artist, Mr. Flandin, has had the superintendance of the excavations, and at the same time has devoted himself with extraordinary zeal and labor to the task of making drawings; and, although the heat and the sickliness of the climate, and, for one period, the superstitions of the people, threw great obstacles in his way, he has, with the aid of two hundred laborers, (Arabs and Koords,) exhumed a multitude of sculptured and engraved blocks of sulphate of lime, selected some of the most valuable and solid, and shipped them in the Gulf of Persia, for France. A splendid place of exhibition is preparing for them in the Chaussée d'Antin in Paris, called "The Babylonian Museum."

We have not room to translate in full all that we find relating to this subject, but will select the most important facts from a French paper just received.

The excavations were begun in 1843, by M. Botta, the French consul at Mosul; and it was in consequence of his report, that M. Guizot, the French minister, sent out M. Flandin, after permission had been obtained of the Sublime Porte and the land purchased. In a short time fifteen halls were opened, forming an entire palace, with walls of unburnt brick, coated with a kind of marble gypsum, which, unfortunately, has crumbled in many cases, on the upper side, though, in most instances, the sculp

tured parts happened to fall face downwards, and are well preserved. Now, as to the nature of these specimens of ancient art, in that renowned and luxurious city. Are they rude, in bad taste, or such as indicate an advanced state of the arts? Will they afford any means of judging of the habits or history of the people, of whom all but their shadow has been long lost to the world? Shall we find only the stiff and unnatural productions of the Egyptian sculptors? Will there be anything to confirm in the few facts we have of the foundation, moral condition and destruction of that city? We are told in Genesis 10th, that Niniveh was built by Ashur, a great grand-son of Noah; by the prophets and evangelists, that it was a vast, magnificent, idolatrous city, and threatened with divine vengeance, but "repented at the preaching of Noah ;" and, by profane writers, that it was captured after a two years siege, flooded by the waters of the Tigris and burnt, after "Sardanapalus" had made it a scene of butchery.

It had been conjectured by Nicour, that the site of Nineveh must be near Mosul; and M. Botta, saw a ruin called by the inhabitants the Tomb of Ionah, and a village named Neiniouah (or Neynyoo-ah.) He was afterwards informed that great ruins existed four leagues distant; and there his time has since been occupied The floors of the houses of Niniveh were the surface of the ground, unpaved, levelled and smoothed with stone rollers, some of which have been discovered. Perhaps the ground was covered with carpets. The walls were of unburnt brick below, faced with slabs of gypsum, bearing bas reliefs, fastened with cramps [whether of wood or metal is yet uncertain,] and connected with bitumen. Only the remains of the walls are found, but the slabs lie flat under their proper places, apparently as they fell in the conflagration of Nineveh.

Although many of these were in a crumbling state, their sculpture was distinguishable, and some of them are hard and solid. M. Flandin found fifteen, forming a kind of

series, the execution of which, in some respects," is equal to the chef-d'œuvres of the Parthenon!"

All these are about 10 English feet in height; and five of them 110 feet long. Under the sculture extends a corresponding succession of inscriptions in the wedge or ar row-shaped characters, among which M. Botta distinguishes three sorts, of different periods. The architecture has no resemblance to that of Persepolis, but not so with the sculpture. In some of the halls are two rows of figures, in others but one, of colossal size. "In all the character of the heads is Persian, the eyes Greek, the legs and feet executed in an anatomical detail as pure as the style of Michael Angelo and Raphael the furture, dresses and arms, with a refinement before unknown, in chiselling, tissue and form."

There are found royal designs, which resemble the monchrome, or single colored reliefs of Sicily. Conquered kings are seen, bringing their cities under their arms; whips with three lashes, now used by the peasants in Anatolia; war engines like those used by Godfrey at the siege of Jerusalem; and the inclined plains by which battering rams were carried up to the walls of a besieged city. In one place the pieces of an idol are weighing in a pair of balances of a curious and delicate form, not exceeded at the present day; in another a "steeple chase" in a forest of northern pines, which are beautifully sculptured.

"Precious bas-reliefs lay before the eyes a complete history of the manners, arts, games, ceremonies and combats of that extinct people. There are men with and without beards, and some with the flat noses of Africans. Here a siege is going on, with battering rams; there they are landing merchandize, and at a distance building a bridge. The refinements of luxury abound in the feasting halls; and vessels and furniture of singular forms are executed in the highest style of art." There are observable traces of the "systeme d'oiseaux" of Egyp tian sculpture, negroes, a great scarcity of females, the tight breastplates of Herodotus,

the Parthenon style of drapery, the Greek palms, and the emblematic stags' horns of Ammon; but the horses are most admirable, and surpass those on the frieze of the Parthenon. "The harness, expression, model seem perfection." There are the remains of paint-shades of black, blue, red and yellow, altered by heat and time. The general aspect of the sculpture is simple. There is much repetition in heads and faces, but not in other points. The kings all wear the tiara. Except the emblems, all the scenes represented appear to be historical. The figures are from three to nine feet in height, and have a relief of about two English inches. Two gigantic bulls, from the entrance of the palace, are fifteen feet high, and two divinities sixteen. There is also a colossal lion of bronze. All the bas-reliefs found, if placed in a line, would extend half a league, while the inscriptions would reach much farther.

No wonder the Parisians are longing for the opening of the Babylonian Museum.

PRINTING PRESS.-There is hardly any machine which excites more universal curiosity than that by which written language is impressed upon paper, and left to open its silent communication with the human soul. What person, young or old, has ever witnessed the operations of a printing press for the first time, without high gratification, and a strong desire to remain and gaze at leisure on its ingenious and efficient movements? There are very good and sufficient reasons for the general interest taken in this wonderful machine. Every part has its appropriate use; and, among all the varieties of form which presses now present, the design of every part may be clearly understood by an intelligent observer, who will find many of the necessary explanations made by the actual operations submitted to his view.

Few combinations of mechanical powers are so compacted in a machine of moderate and convenient proportions; and in few are the movements and effects so clearly manifest to the eye. The soul, however, views its own nature as so far superior to all physical things, that there is another reason besides those above given, for the preference generally shown to the printing press, as an object of attention, above the cider mill, the cotton gin, and even the complex machinery of a cotton or woollen manufactory. The press is one of the greatest servants of the human mind; or rather one of its most distinguished friends; and whoever ac