barking immediately; and when the sailors pointed out the danger of putting to sea, and entreated him to wait for more favourable weather, he exclaimed: "I have never heard of a king who was shipwrecked; weigh anchor, and you will see that the winds will be with us." The credulous historians, who have written a homily on this subject, perceive in the fate of the king's nephew, Prince Henry, the punishment of his presumption.

It was a bold saying of Rufus, no doubt, but the words of Henry II. were more consistent, when that monarch embarked for England from Barfleur in 1174. Perceiving some alarm in the countenances of the crew at the stormy state of the weather, he is reported to have uttered these remarkable words: "If the Supreme Ruler designs by my arrival in England to restore to my people that peace which He knows I have sincerely at heart, may He mercifully bring me to a safe port; but if His will be decreed to scourge the realm, may I never be permitted to reach its shore."

The immunity of an anointed king has its influence on the strong-minded German Emperor, Wilhelm I. A few summers past, a young married couple, sojourning somewhere on the banks of the Lake of Constance, visited the island of Meinau, where the emperor was residing with his son-in-law, the Grand Duke of Baden. On their departure, so furious a storm came on that their boatman found it impossible to proceed, and they were forced, after much buffeting from the waves, to return to the island. The emperor seeing their plight, met them on the beach, and ordering steam to be got up in his little iron steamer, placed it at their service. The lady, alarmed at her first encounter with the waves, demurred somewhat to trusting herself again to their mercies. "Do not be alarmed," said the emperor, "the steamer bears my name, and that ought to re-assure you."

CHAPTER II.

MINERS.

FROM

ROM the earliest times serpents and demons were supposed to guard the mines from intrusion. In an illustration of Ferguson's fine work on the culte of the tree and the serpent, are seen the aborigines of India, the Turanians, constantly guarded and followed by serpents, represented as darting from their shoulders, and who make a dais on the head. Thus seen, they appeared to be occupied in working metals. They serve as hammers, which, by virtue of their form, are evidently of stone. The stone hammer is an emblem of power; the sceptre of many of the gods of the aborigines, and especially of those who presided over metallurgy. Such are Indra, to the Indians famous as the giver of riches, whose throne is in the golden mountain of Meroe; Hephestus and Vulcan, gods of Greece and Rome; and the Scandinavian Thor, one of the oldest of the gods, since he had the earth for his mother, and his father Odin had the power to change himself into a serpent. The discovery of these stone hammers, thus connected with the first metallurgic gods, in the copper mines of Anglesea, and in Peru, is a significant fact, and the legends relative to serpents, or the god-serpents, who interfere in the working of metals, are too numerous and significative to escape observation. The serpents of India, regarded as demigods, are famous in tradition for their skill in working metals, especially gold. The grand serpent of Egypt, Kneph, is the father of Hephestus, god of

metals; and Hi, or Hoa, the serpent-god of Chaldea, master of all wisdom, is also the guardian of treasures.

The god-serpent of Greece, Cadmus, was regarded as the first miner, and he was, according to Pliny, the first workman in gold.

The Arabs entertain much the same superstitious fears with regard to mines that the ancients did, with the slight difference that mythological belief established. M. Caillaud, in his exploration of Mount Zubara, in Egypt, was cautioned against sleeping over the caves, as they were the refuge of snakes, wolves, and other beasts of prey; and the abode of demons, who would resent the intrusion.

The belief that evil spirits guard the treasures in emerald mines is as strong at the present day, among the Peruvian Indians, as it was in the time of Pliny with regard to the Scythian mines.

Stevenson, alluding to the emerald mine in the neighbourhood of "Los Esmeraldos," states: "I never visited it, owing to the superstitious dread of the natives, who assured me it was enchanted, and guarded by a dragon, which poured forth thunder and lightning on those who dared to ascend the river."

An ancient lead and silver mine, between Villa Cidro and Vill' Ermosa, in Sardinia, has been neglected and allowed to fill with water, from a dread, handed down from tradition, of the solifuga, a small, venomous spider, so named from its avoiding the sun, and haunting the darkest recesses of the mine, whose bite was considered to be mortal.

The tradition of the "solifuga" belongs to a very remote period, for Agricola mentions certain little animals resembling spiders, which he calls "lucifega," and which haunted chiefly the silver mines.

In the Ceylon Times of a recent date, is the relation of a horrible superstition among the Tamul population employed as labourers on a coffee estate: "It is the belief of all Orientals that hidden treasures are under the guardianship of supernatural

beings. The Singhalese, however, divide the charge between demons and cobra da capellos. Various charms are resorted to by those who wish to gain the treasures. A pooja is sufficient with the cobras, but the demons require a sacrifice. Blood of a human being is the most important, but as far as it is known the Cappowas have hitherto confined themselves to a sacrifice of a white cock, combining its blood with their own, drawn by a slight puncture in the hand or foot. A Tamul has, however, improved on this, as our readers will see by the following case, taken before the justice of the peace:

Some coolies of Agrawatte were led to believe that a vast treasure of gems was secreted somewhere in the neighbourhood, and consulted their codangy on the subject; he heartily joined in the project of searching for the gems, and undertook to invoke the demon in charge, and point out the exact locality where the gems were lying. For this purpose he made an "anganam," composed of ingredients supposed to produce a magic varnish, which, when rubbed on a betel-leaf, would show the locality of the treasure, and allow of the codangy having a personal interview with his satanic highness. In these invocations it is always customary for the priest to go into fits, which, from being feigned, often become (unintentionally) real. In this case the codangy appears to have been unusually favoured by the devil, who revealed to him all secrets, including the fact that the sacrifice of the first-born male of a human being was the only means of attaining the coveted treasure. This revelation was so explained by the codangy to his three partners, one of whom, having a first-born son, at once objected (blood was here stronger than avarice), and withdrew from the co-partnership. The other three were determined on making their fortunes, and again consulted the oracle, when the codangy insisted on a human sacrifice as the only mode of obtaining the riches. The same evening the first-born of the objecting party was missing. He at once informed the superintendent of the estate, and search was made for the boy. The police were informed, and Inspector Davis and two constables proceeded

to the spot, and apprehended the codangy and another on suspicion. Next day the poor boy was found in a bush with his throat cut, and every appearance of the blood having been taken to ensure 'Old Nick's' grace. One of the partners has disappeared, and he is supposed to have been the cut-throat. The case is adjourned until the apprehension of the absconding party. This shows a depravity among the Tamuls not hitherto known to the planters."

According to Hallywell, who follows "Marcus the Eremite, a skilful dæmonist," there are six kinds of demons, "the fifth sort of which are subterranean, living in caverns and hollows of the earth, often hurting and killing well-diggers and miners for metals, causing earthquakes and eruptions of flames, and pestilent winds.

The existence of spirits, or elemental beings, was a devout belief among miners; frequent accidents in mines showed the potency of the metallic spirits, which so tormented the workmen in German mines, and in those of other countries, by blindness, giddiness, and sudden sickness, that they were obliged frequently to abandon mines well known to be rich in metals. A metallic spirit, at one sweep, annihilated twelve miners, who were all found dead together. The fact was unquestionable, and the safety-lamp was undiscovered.

Malignity was constantly ascribed to the goblins of the mines. We are told by a demonologist quoted by Reginald Scot, "that they do exceedingly envy man's benefit in the discovery of hidden treasure, ever haunting such places where money is concealed, and diffusing malevolent and poisonous. influences to blast the lives and limbs of those that dare attempt the discovery thereof. Peter of Devonshire, with his confederates, who by conjuration endeavoured to dig for such defended treasures, was crumbled to atoms, as it were, being reduced to ashes with his confederates in the twinkling of an eye."

* "Modern authors," says Fuller, "avouch that malignant spirits haunt the places where precious metals are found, as if the devil did there sit