ion of the honours
attached to the title of hadjy for the remainder of their lives; besides
the gratification of religious feelings, and the hopes of futurity, which
influence many of the pilgrims. The hadjys who come by the caravans pass
their time very differently. As soon as they have finished their tedious
journey, they must undergo the fatiguing ceremonies of visiting the Kaaba
and Omra; immediately after which, they are hurried away to Arafat and
Mekka, and, still heated from the effects of the journey, are exposed to
the keen air of the Hedjaz mountains under the slight and inadequate
covering of the ihram: then returning to Mekka, they have only a few days
left to recruit their strength, and to make their repeated visits to the
Beitullah, when the caravan sets off on its return; and thus the whole
pilgrimage is a severe trial of bodily strength, and a continual series
of fatigues and privations. This mode of visiting the holy city is,
however, in accordance with the opinions of many most learned Moslem
divines, who thought that a long residence in the Hedjaz, however
meritorious the intention, is little conducive to true belief, since the
daily sight of the holy places weakened the first impressions made by
them. Notwithstanding the general decline of Musselman zeal, there are
still found Mohammedans whose devotion induces them to visit repeatedly
the holy places.--_Burckhardt's Travels in Arabia_.

* * * * *

RUSSIAN BOTANICAL GARDEN.

The botanical garden of St. Petersburg, like all the rest of the
institutions, is of gigantic dimensions. It contains sixty-five acres: a
parallelogram formed by three parallel lines of hot-houses and
conservatories, united at the extremities by covered corridors,
constitutes the grand feature of this establishment. The south line
contains green-house plants in the centre, and hot-house plants at each
end; the middle line has hot-house plants only, and the north line is
filled with green-house plants. The connecting corridors are two hundred
and forty-five feet. The north and south line contain respectively five
different compartments of one hundred toises each, that is to say, they
are together six thousand feet. The middle line has seven compartments,
that is, three thousand more, making in the whole length nine thousand
feet!--_Granville's Travels_.

* * * * *

THE HIRLAS HORN.

[Illustration: THE HIR