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NOTES AND QUERIES, p* B. ix. MARCH i, 1902.

possessed of a genuine curiosity. From the, date 1805, this is the earliest of Lamb's books written for children. Such details must be sought in tho introduction, in which Mr. Lucas justly says tha the fact that it is by Lamb is vindication enougl for its reappearance. Mulready's illustrations executed when he was a youth, are very quain and characteristic. Concerning these the reade may consult, if he can, the facsimile of 'Th< Looking-Glass ' issued by Mr. F. G. Stephens ir 1885. Lovers of Lamb and collectors of curiositie will at once secure this delightful little volume.

The Gold of Ophir. By A. H. Keane, F.R.G.S

(Stanford.)

WHERE the auriferous Ophir, the Eldorado of the ancients, was situated is a problem that has been waiting its solution for many a century. At las the hour and the man have come the man of insigh capacitated by the arrival of the hour of increasec knowledge and discovery. If it were not, indeed for the latter the best scholar might theorize in vain. But in Prof. Keane we find one standing on the firm foundation of modern research, and able consequently, to draw a conclusion which, strange and unexpected as it is, as bringing the most ancient and most modern of interests into close connexion, yet demands our assent. It makes Mr. Rhodes shake hands across the ages with King Solomon, and finds the earliest outpost of prehistoric colo- nization in a country so actuel as the Transvaal. Working on the discoveries by Mr. Theodore Bent of the Zimbabwe monuments in the present Rho- desia, and bringing these into connexion with the researches of Dr. Glaser and others in Southern Arabia, Prof. Keane makes out a strong case for identifying the Biblical Ophir with Ptolemy's Sapphar, Arrian's Portus Nobilis, i.e., Moscha, the harbour par excellence on the south coast of Arabia, to the east of Hadhramout. Ophir itself seems to be the same word as Aphar, which is only a variant of Saphar or Sapphar, the metro- polis, of which the port was Moscha. But his chief point is that Ophir itself was not a gold- bearing district, but merely the emporium or mart where gold was imported and distributed to other countries, and that the actual seat of the gold mines which yielded the supply must be sought in Rhodesia; and, further, that Rhodesia was really the Havilah of Genesis ii. 11, the gold of which land is good. Thence it was conveyed to Moscha in the trading vessels of the Himyarites, Sabpeans, and Phoenicians. All this is very cleverly worked out in Prof. Keane's ingenious and learned essay, which also identifies Sheba with Yemen, and Tarshish with Sofala, in Rhodesia. Another inter- esting surprise is provided for us in his proof that the Himyarites, on their way to South Africa, to some extent colonized and occupied Madagascar and that undoubted remains of this prehistoric occupation may still be traced in the language and calendar of the Malagasy. " It is certainly a reve- lation, as the author remarks, " to find the Sabreo- isabyloman astronomic nomenclature still surviving amongst the unlettered and semi-barbarous Oceanic populations of Madagascar."

THE current number of Folk-Lore begins with an excellent paper on the difficult subject of totemism which is followed by a minute description of the festival known as Garland Day at Castleton, in Debyshire, while a third article relates to the

silver bough in Irish legends. The collectanea and correspondence of this useful journal embody many notes which must in the future prove of great value to students of ancient custom and belief.

THE Antiquary for February contains a brief account of the old hall at Mickleover, Derbyshire, and a notice of some Essex brasses which illustrate Elizabethan costume. It also gives a description of mediaeval library fittings.

THE Intermediaire for 10 February is quite as good as any of the numbers preceding it. Among the subjects with which it deals are the nails of the Passion, Louis XVI. and the Swiss Guard, and churches used by both Catholics and Protestants.

GREATLY to our regret, we find that with the con- clusion of the tenth volume our lively and erudite friend and rival Melmine comes to a temporary stop. Whether M. Gaidoz will be able in any shape or at any time to reissue it we know not. We are at least sure that many readers, French and Eng- lish, will regret the interruption, temporary even though it be, to its appearance.

WE hear with much regret of the death of Dr. Samuel Rawson Gardiner, one of the most capable and distinguished of English historians. On the subject of England under the first two Stuart kings, the Civil War, and the Protectorate he was our greatest authority. Born on 4 March, 1829, at Alresford, he was on the point of reaching his seventy-fourth year. Dr. Gardiner was educated at Winchester and Christ Church, Oxford. In 1884 he was made Fellow of All Soul's, in 1892 Fellow of Merton. He held the Professorship of Modern History at King's College, London, and was Ex- aminer in History at Oxford. A frequent con- tributor to our columns, his name appears from the Fourth Series up to p. 30 of our present volume.

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