one of his father's estates, where he amused
himself with watching the oxen treading out
the corn, a patriarchal custom which still prevails
in Turkey, as the flail is but little used.
When the work was concluded, he entered within
the circle which had been trodden by the animals
in their rounds; in a moment he observed standing
by his side a young girl about the same age
as himself, of extraordinary attractions, and
very richly dressed. Under the impression that
the lady must be the daughter or one of the
neighbouring landed proprietors, he was extremely
astonished at seeing her unveiled and
not wearing the accustomed outer garment, and
with the usual want of gallantry of Orientals
towards the fair sex, he said to her rather
roughly, " Haidé"!" which means, "Begone with
you!" But the beautiful creature, in tender and
supplicating accents, confessed that she was
dying with a passion for him which she could
not overcome, and assuring him that she was
visible to him alone, explained that she did not
belong to the race of Adam, but that she was a
Peri. He replied in such few words as his
timidity allowed him to utter, but she shortly
afterwards came to take up her abode with him,
and a liaison was formed which lasted eleven
years, during which time she did not permit him
to marry any woman of mortal race. At the
end of that period, when hunting one day in the
environs of Yanina, his beloved (who had passed
the previous night with him) appeared on the
banks of a rivulet, and told him that she was
about to set out on a warlike expedition, and
that if by the end of four days she did not
revisit him, it would be a sign that she had
been killed, in which case she had no objection
to his forming new engagements. To his great
sorrow that short period passed away without his
seeing her; he waited many months, and at
length married the lady who is his present wife,
but his Peri never reappeared.

This affair is well known in the town of
Yanina, for Isaak Bey had himself mentioned
his connexion with the Peri, and also related to
the friends who were hunting with him what
had taken place on the borders of the stream,
where they noticed him as if in conversation
with some one.

COACHING.

NERO doubtless thought himself a smart
young fellow, a fast man of the Roman type,
when he drove through the streets of his capital
in his decemjugis, or chariot drawn by ten horses.
It was not, however, a comfortable affair after
all. Those chariots must have been shaking,
jolting, rumbling, inelastic, bone-tormenting
vehicles; for they had no springs whatever. The
chariots which Pharaoh lost in the Red Sea, and
those which Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans
alike used, had the body or platform so connected
with the framework of the wheels, that
every shock received by the wheels was transmitted
to it; and the charioteer could only bear
these shocks by standing, and making the best he
could of the elasticity of his feet. Some of the
vehicles were strong, to override the enemy in
battle; some were elegant, with an arched covering
decked with costly trappings; but easy to the
drivers or occupants they could not have been.
Not until the makers devised springs, could any
such vehicles be pleasant to ride in. Thin laths
of wood, as we all know, are very elastic, if not
very strong, while resting horizontally on two
supports at the ends; and many forms of vehicle
have derived a certain degree of comfort from
being placed on such wooden springs. Another
arrangement is to pass strong straps or thongs
underneath the body of the vehicle, and fasten
them at the ends to standards raised upon the
carriage to which the wheels are attached.
Much later and much more efficacious was
the adoption of steel springs, in which a perfectly
elastic substance, disposed in various ways,
gives to the body of the vehicle a luxurious ease
of movement. When four wheels began to be used
instead of two, the vehicles were very difficult to
turn, because the front pair would not and could
not move except in harmony with the hind pair;
but by degrees the ingenious plan of locking was
adopted, which enables the front pair to turn
round independently on a vertical axis, and to
accommodate the vehicle generally to the curves
and windings of the road.

Beckmann and a host of other learned pundits
have dived into musty old records to discover
when and where these various improvements
were invented or first adopted. If they have
not fully succeeded in their search, they
have, at any rate, collected a curious amount of
gossip. In the feudal days men were, or professed
to be, scornful of riding in carriages,
deeming such a mode of travelling too effeminate;
but great ladies, after indulging in the luxury,
taught their husbands to do likewise. The queen
of Charles of Anjou towards the close of the
thirteenth century entered Naples in a caretta,
resplendent in velvet and gold; but what kind
of vehicle this caretta was, is not clearly told.
Chariot, charat, charotte, chariette, caretta, car,
chare, chair, carriage— all are supposed to have
been derived from some one word, modified in
different ways and in different countries. Froissart
speaks of charettes used by the English in
the days of Edward the Third. There are many
reasons for thinking that these vehicles, however
gorgeous they may occasionally have been,
would have wofully failed to realise modern
ideas of comfort; for, even if supplied with
leathern springs, they rocked to and fro when
driven at anything beyond a walking pace, and
tumbled the riders about in rather sea-sick
fashion. As to the first coach, closed in on all
sides, there have been almost as many claimants
to the honour of inventing it, as there were
cities which claimed to be the birthplace of
Homer. The palm, however, seems to be due to
Hungary, which possessed a kotzee, or cotzse, in
the fifteenth century, sent as a present from the
King of Hungary to the Queen of Bohemia.
About the year fourteen hundred and seventy,
the Emperor Frederick the Third came to
Frankfort in a covered coach; the novelty was