PARADISE

PARADISE, a term principally used for the garden of Eden, in which Adam and Eve were placed immediately upon their creation.

As to this terrestrial paradise, there have been many inquiries about its situation. It has been placed in the third heaven, in the orb of the moon, in the moon itself, in the middle region of the air, above the earth, under the earth, in the place possessed by the Caspian sea, and under the arctic pole. The learned Huettius places it upon the river that is produced by the conjunction of the Tigris and Euphrates, now called the river of the Arabs, between this conjunction and the division made by the same river before it falls into the Persian sea. Other geographers have placed it in Armenia, between the sources of the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Araxis, and the Phasis, which they suppose to be the four rivers described by Moses. But concerning the exact place we must necessarily be very uncertain, if indeed it can be thought at all to exist at present, considering the many changes which have taken place on the surface of the earth since the creation.

"Learned men (says Mr Miln *) have laboured to find out the situation of Paradise, which seems to be a vague and uncertain inquiry; for the Mosaic description of it will not suit any place on the present globe. He mentions two rivers in its vicinity, viz. Pison and Gilon, of which no vestiges can now be found. The other two still remain, viz. the Hiddekel, supposed to be the Tigris, and the Euphrates, whose streams unite together at a considerable distance above the Persian gulph; in some part of which, it is highly probable the happy garden once lay (a). This gulph

Paradise. is eastward both of the land of Midian and the wilderness of Sinai; in one of which places Moses wrote his history. But since the formation of this earth, it has undergone great changes from earthquakes, inundations, and many other causes. The garden, however, seems to have been a peninsula, for the way or entrance into it is afterwards mentioned. We are told that a 'river went out of it;' which, according to some, should be rendered 'run on the outside of it,' and thus gave it the form of a horseshoe: for had the Euphrates run through the middle of the garden, one half of it would have been useless to Adam, without a bridge or boat wherewith to have crossed it?

The learned authors of the Universal History, in their account of rarities natural and artificial in Syria, mention "a spot which is still shown as the place where once stood the garden of Eden, or Terrestrial Paradise. And indeed it is in all respects so beautiful and rich, and yields so delightful a prospect from the adjacent hills, that there is hardly another place in the world that has a fairer title to the name it bears. Its proximity to Damascus, the capital of Syria, near the fountain head of the Jordan; its situation between the Tigris or Hiddelkel, the Euphrates, the Phasis or Phison, the Araxes or Gihon (which last has those names from its vast rapidity above all other known rivers), its bordering upon the land of Chus, famed for its fine gold; all these and many other marks specified by Moses, together with its charming and surprising fruitfulness, and constant verdure, have induced a great number of commentators to settle that celebrated and so much sought after spot here, and to deem it the most valuable of all the natural rarities of this country."

Christians, however, need not be told, that however curious or amusing this inquiry may be, the determination of it is of no importance, since we are all well assured that the celestial paradise is that place of pure and refined delight in which the souls of the blessed enjoy everlasting happiness.

It may not be improper, however, in this place to give a description of the paradise of the Mohammedans. The sensuality and absurdity of that impostor must be apparent to all men. Their religion has no consistency in its parts, and the descriptions of the future enjoyment of the faithful are miserable instances of human weakness and folly.

"The paradise of the Mohammedans is said by them to be situated above the seven heavens, or in the seventh, and next under the throne of God; and to express the amenity of the place, they tell us that the earth of it is of the finest wheat-flour, or of the purest musk, or of saffron; and that its stones are pearls and jacinths, the walls of its buildings enriched with gold and silver, and the trunks of all its trees of gold, amongst

which the most remarkable is the tree tuba, or tree of happiness. They pretend that this tree stands in the palace of Mohammed, though a branch of it will reach to the house of every true believer, loaded with pomegranates, dates, grapes, and other fruits of surprising bigness, and delicious tastes, unknown to mortals. If a man desires to eat of any particular kind of fruit, it will immediately be presented to him; or if he chooses flesh, birds ready dressed will be set before him, and such as he may wish for. They add, that this tree will supply the blessed, not only with fruit, but with silk garments also, and beasts to ride on, adorned with rich trappings, all which will burst forth from the fruit; and that the tree is so large, that a person mounted on the fleetest horse would not be able to gallop from one end of its shade to the other in 100 years. Plenty of water being one of the greatest additions to the pleasantness of any place, the Alcoran often speaks of the rivers of paradise as the principal ornament. Some of these rivers are said to flow with water, some with milk, some with wine, and others with honey: all of them have their sources in the root of this tree of happiness; and, as if these rivers were not sufficient, we are told that the garden of this paradise is also watered by a great number of lesser springs and fountains, whose pebbles are rubies and emeralds, their earth of camphor, their beds of musk, and their sides of saffron. But all those glories will be eclipsed by the resplendent and exquisite beauty of the girls of paradise, the enjoyment of whose company will constitute the principal felicity of the faithful. These (they say) are not formed of clay, as mortal women, but of pure musk; and are, as their prophet often affirms in his Alcoran, free from all the natural defects and inconveniences incident to the sex. Being also of the strictest modesty, they keep themselves secluded from public view in pavilions of hollow pearls, so large, that, as some traditions have it, one of them will be no less than 16, or, as others say, 60 miles long, and as many broad. With these the inhabitants of paradise may taste pleasures in their height; and for this purpose will be endowed with extraordinary abilities, and enjoy a perpetual youth."

Paradise-Lost, the name of a modern epic poem, the first and finest of those composed by Milton.

The subject of this poem is extraordinary; it had never before been attempted, and seemed to be above the efforts of human genius. Angels and devils are not the machinery, but the principal actors in it; so that what would appear marvellous in any other composition, is in this only the natural course of events.—The poet's intention was, as he expresses it himself, to vindicate the ways of God to men. How far Milton was happy in the choice of his subject, may be questioned.

every way to keep the way of the tree of life. In Scripture, the extraordinary judgments of God are said to be executed by his angels, who are sometimes compared to flames of fire. Therefore the cherubim and the flaming sword may probably mean nothing more than that a large portion of ground on the eastward of Paradise was set on fire during the above awful occasion, and continued burning with such violence, that the flame thereof at a distance appeared like a brandished sword, turning every way with the wind. Now if the soil of Eden was bituminous, like that of Gomorrah (which was once so fertile as to be compared to the "garden of the Lord"), the fire would continue burning till it produced the same effect in the one place as it did in the other, and turned a great part of that tract into sea: which seems to countenance the opinion of those who place the situation of Paradise in some part of the Persian Gulph."

Paradise, questioned. It has led him into difficult ground, though it certainly suited the daring sublimity of his genius. It is a subject for which he alone was fitted; and, in the conduct of it, he has shown a stretch both of imagination and invention which is perfectly wonderful.

Bird of PARADISE. See the following article.

Plate CCLXXIV. PARADISEA, in ornithology; a genus of birds belonging to the order of picae. The beak is covered with a belt or collar of downy feathers at the base; and the feathers on the sides are very long.

"Birds of this genus (says Latham) have the bill slightly bending; the base covered with velvet-like feathers. The nostrils are small, and concealed by the feathers. The tail consists of 10 feathers; the two middle ones, and sometimes more in several of the species, are very long, and webbed only at the base and tips. The legs and feet are very large and strong: they have three toes forward, one backward, and the middle connected to the outer one as far as the first joint. The whole of this genus have, till lately, been very imperfectly known; few cabinets possessing more than one species, viz. the Greater, or what is called the common bird of Paradise; nor has any set of birds given rise to more fables, the various tales concerning which are to be found in every author; such as, their never touching the ground from their birth to death; living wholly on the dew; being produced without legs; and an hundred such stories, too ridiculous even to mention. This last error is scarcely at this moment wholly eradicated. The circumstance which gave rise to it did not indeed at first proceed from an intention to deceive, but merely from accident. In the parts of the world which produce these birds, the natives made use of them as agrets, and other ornaments of dress; and in course threw away the less brilliant parts. The whole trouble they were at on this occasion, was merely to skin the bird, and, after pulling off the legs, coarser parts of the wings, &c. thrust a stick down the throat into the body, letting an inch or two hang out of the mouth, beyond the bill; on the bird's dying, the skin collapsed about the stick, which became fixed, and supported the whole. They had then no more to do than to put this end of it into a pocket fitted to receive it, or fasten it in some manner to the turban, &c. By degrees these were imported into the other isles for the same uses, and afterwards were coveted by the Japanese, Chinese, and Persians, in whose countries they are frequently seen, as well as in many parts of India; the grandees of these last parts not only ornamenting themselves with these beautiful plumes, but adorning even their horses with the same."

The Portuguese first found these birds on the island of Gilolo, the Papua islands, and New Guinea; and they were known by the name of birds of the sun. The inhabitants of Ternate call them manuco dewata, the "bird of God;" whence the name manuco diata, used by some naturalists, is derived. According to some fabulous accounts, this bird has no legs, lives constantly on wing, and in the air; and, in confirmation of these accounts, the legs of all the dead birds offered to sale were cut off. But the inhabitants of Aroo, who resort yearly to Banda, undeceived the Dutch, and freed them from those prejudices. Another reason for cutting off

the legs is, that the birds are more easily preserved Paradisea, without them; besides that the Moors wanted the birds without legs, in order to put them on in their mock-fights as ornaments to their helmets. The inhabitants of Aroo, however, have brought the birds with legs for 80 or 90 years; and Pijafetta, shipmate of Ferdinand Magellan, proved, about the year 1525, an eye-witness that these creatures were not without legs. However, the peculiar length and structure of their scapular feathers hinders them from settling, in high winds, on trees; and when they are thrown on the ground by these winds, they cannot rise again. If taken by the natives, they are immediately killed, as their food is not known; and they defend themselves with great courage with their formidable bills.

Latham enumerates eight species, but suspects there may be more. We shall satisfy ourselves with the following:

1. The largest bird of Paradise is commonly two feet four inches in length; the head is small; the bill hard and long, of a pale colour. The head and back-part of the neck is lemon-coloured, a little black about the eyes; about the neck, the bird is of the brightest glossy emerald green, soft like velvet; as is also the breast, which is black; the wings are large, and chestnut-coloured; the back-part of the body is covered with long, straight, narrow feathers, of a pale brown colour, similar to the plumes of the ostrich. These feathers are spread when the bird is on the wing; for which reason he can keep very long in the air. On both sides of the belly are two tufts of stiff and shorter feathers, of a golden yellow, and shining. From the rump proceed two long stiff shafts, which are feathered on their extremities.

These birds are not found in Key, an island fifty Dutch miles east of Banda; but they are found at the Aroo islands, lying 15 Dutch miles farther east than Key, during the westerly or dry monsoon; and they return to New Guinea as soon as the easterly or wet monsoon sets in. They come always in a flock of 30 or 40, and are led by a bird which the inhabitants of Aroo call the king. This leader is black, with red spots; and constantly flies higher than the rest of the flock, which never forsake him, but settle as soon as he settles: a circumstance that frequently proves their ruin when the king lights on the ground, whence they are not able to rise on account of the singular structure and disposition of their plumage. They are likewise unable to fly with the wind, which would ruin their loose plumage; but take their flight constantly against it, cautious not to venture out in hard blowing weather, as a strong wind frequently obliges them to come to the ground. During their flight they cry like starlings. Their note, however, approaches more to the croaking of ravens; which is heard very plainly when they are in distress from a fresh gale blowing on the back of their plumage. In Aroo, these birds settle on the highest trees, especially on the ficus benjamina of the hortus malabaricus, commonly called the coarinda tree. The natives catch them with bird-lime or in nooses, or shoot them with blunt arrows; but though some are still alive when they fall into their hands, the catchers kill them immediately, and sometimes cut the legs off; then they draw out the entrails, dry and fumigate the

Paradise, dies with sulphur or smoke only, and sell them at Banda for half a six-dollar each; but at Aroo they may be bought for a spike-nail or a piece of old iron. Flocks of these birds are often seen flying from one island to the other against the wind. In case they find the wind become too powerful, they fly straight up into the air, till they come to a place where it is less agitated, and then continue their flight. During the eastern monsoon their tails are moulted, so that they have them only during four months of the western monsoon.

2. The smaller bird of Paradise is about 20 inches long. Its beak is lead coloured, and paler at the point. The eyes are small, and inclosed in black about the neck. The head and back of the neck are of a dirty yellow; the back of a greyish yellow; the breast and belly of a dusky colour; the wings small, and chestnut-coloured. The long plumage is about a foot in length, and paler than in the large species; as in general the colours of this bird are less bright than the former. The two long feathers of the tail are constantly thrown away by the natives. This is in all respects like the greater sort; and they likewise follow a king or leader, who is, however, blacker, with a purplish cast, and finer in colour than the rest. The neck and bill are larger in the male than in the female. They roost on the tops of the highest trees, and do not migrate like the other kind. Some say, that the birds of this species, finding themselves weak through age, soar straight towards the sun till they are tired, and fall dead to the ground. The natives draw the entrails, fear the birds with a hot iron, and put them in a tube of bamboo for preservation.

3. and 4. The large black bird of Paradise is brought without wings or legs for sale; so that no accurate description of it hath yet been given. Its figure, when fluffed, is narrow and round, but stretched in length to the extent of four spans. The plumage on the neck, head, and belly, is black and velvet-like, with a hue of purple and gold, which appears very strong. The bill is blackish, and one inch in length. On both sides are two bunches of feathers, which have the appearance of wings, although they be very different, the wings being cut off by the natives. This plumage is soft, broad, similar to peacocks feathers, with a glorious gloss and greenish hue, and all bent upwards; which Valentine thinks is occasioned by the birds being kept in hollow bamboo-reeds. The feathers of the tail are of unequal length; those next to the belly are narrow, like hair; the two uppermost are much longer, and pointed; those immediately under them are a span and a half longer than the upper ones; they are stiff, on both sides fringed with a plumage like hair, black above, but glossy below. Birds of this kind are brought only from one particular place of New Guinea. Besides the large black bird of Paradise, there is still another sort, whose plumage is equal in length, but thinner in body, black above, and without any remarkable gloss, not having those shining peacock-feathers which are found on the greater species. This wants likewise the three long pointed feathers of the tail belonging to the larger black species.

5. The white bird of Paradise is the most rare, and has two varieties; one quite white, and the other black

and white. The former is very rare. The second has the fore-part black, and the back part white; with 12 crooked wiry shafts, which are almost naked, tho', in some places, covered with hairs.

6. In the year 1689 a new species of the black bird of Paradise was seen in Amboyna. This was only one foot in length, with a fine purple hue, a small head, and a straight bill. On its back, near the wings, are feathers of a blue and purple colour, as on the other birds of Paradise; but under the wings and over all the belly they are yellow coloured, as in the common sort: on the back of the neck they are mouse-coloured mixed with green. It is remarkable in this species, that there are before the wings two roundish tufts of feathers, which are green-edged, and may be moved at pleasure by the bird, like wings. Instead of a tail, he has 12 or 13 black, naked, wire-like shafts, hanging promiscuously like feathers. His legs are strong, and have sharp claws. The head is remarkably small; and the eyes are also small, and surrounded with black.

7. The last species we shall mention is the king's bird. This creature is about seven inches long, and somewhat larger than a titmouse. Its head and eyes are small; the bill straight; the eyes inclosed in circles of black plumage; the crown of the head is flame-coloured; the back of the neck blood-coloured; the neck and breast of a chestnut colour, with a ring of the brightest emerald-green. Its wings are in proportion strong; and the quill-feathers dark, with red shining plumes, spots, and stripes. The tail is straight, short, and brown. Two long naked black shafts project from the rump, at least a hand-breadth beyond the tail; having at their extremities semilunar twirled plumage, of the most glaring green colour above, and dusky below. The belly is white and green sprinkled; and on each side is a tuft of long plumage, feathered with a broad margin, being on one side green and on the other dusky. The back is blood-red and brown, shining like silk. The legs are in size like those of a lark, three fore-toes and one back-toe. This bird affixes not with any of the other birds of Paradise; but flits solitary from bush to bush, wherever he sees red-berries, without ever getting on tall trees.

Those who wish for minute information respecting this curious genus, we must refer to Latham's Synopsis, and Buffon's Birds, vol. ix. &c.