862 FAKIRS-

North America, 100 miles S. E. of Admiralty Bay ;Ion. 147° W., lat. 50° N. It is one of the principalsummits of the cordillera of New Norfolk, rising,according to accurate observations, to the height of14,900 feet above the level of the sea, and is coveredwith perpetual snow.

Fakirs. The’ name of a numerous and rathercelebrated class of fanatics who are found in many

f iarts of the East, but particularly in India. Theength and severity of their fasts and penances ex-ceed those of the ancient Anchorets. Some of themmake a vow of continuing all their life in one posture,and keep it effectually. Others never lie down, butcontinue in a standing posture all their lives, sup-ported only by a stick, or rope under the arm-pits.Some mangle their bodies with scourges and knives.They pretend to have conquered every passion, andtriumphed over the world; and accordingly scruplenot, as if in a state of innocence, to appear entirelynaked in public. The eastern people most implicitlybelieve in the virtue of this singular class ; thoughEuropean travellers accuse them of committing enor-mous crimes in private.

There is also another kind of Fakirs who do notpractise such severities ; these flock together, and gofrom village to village, prophesying and telling for-tunes. They are an abandoned race of men, and itis dangerous to meet them in a solitary place ; never-theless, the natives of India hold them in the greatestveneration. They make use of drums, trumpets, andother musical instruments, to work themselves up toan artificial ecstasy, the better to publish their pre-tended prophecies. The most sober Indians consultthem in the most preposterous attitude, and theirfemale votaries converse with them a considerabletime with the most indelicate freedom. They are soindulgent towards every living creature, that theysuffer themselves to be overrun with vermin, or stungby insects, without the least reluctance or complaint.It is more than probable these Indian friars employsome powerful opiate to lull their senses asleep, inorder to render themselves in a great measure insen-sible of the excessive torments they seem to undergo.Indeed a modern traveller states that “ as he was oneday in an assembly of Fakirs, he observed that theydrank opiates infused in water; the intoxicating cha-racter of which was enough to turn their brain.” Thedress of the chief Fakirs consists of three or fouryards of orange-coloured linen, which they tie roundthem, and a tiger’s skin, which hangs over theirshoulders. Their hair is w'oven in tresses, and formsa kind of turban. The superior of the Fakirs is dis-tinguished from the rest by having a greater numberof pieces in his garment, and by a chain of iron, twoyards long, tied to his leg. When he designs to restin any place, a carpet is spread upon the ground, onwhich he sits and gives audience, whilst his immediatefollowers publish his virtues. Some persons of qualityin India have attached themselves to this sect, andit is said by some writers that there are about twomillions of Fakirs in the East Indies.

Falaise. The name of a considerable town inLower Normandy. It is celebrated in history fromits having been the birthplace of William the Con-queror. The castle, which is situated on a rockcommanding the town, is an entire ruin, with the ex-ception of one tower, w-hich is considered one of thefinest in France. A great annual fair is held in oneof the suburbs of this town, called Guibray. It takes

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place, generally speaking, in the month of Augustand lasts about a fortnight. Merchandise of evervdescription is collected at this fair, which is one ofthe largest in France. The inhabitants are employedin the manufacture of linen, lace, and coarse woollensFalaise has a population of Tather more than 14,000persons. It is fifteen miles S. by E. of Caen I nn0° V W„ lat. 48° 54' N. '

Falasha. A people of Abyssinia, who are ofJewish origin. They are accurately described bvBruce, who took great pains to acquaint himself withtheir history. According to the accounts he receivedthey are the descendants of those Jews who came'from Palestine into Ethiopia, as attendants of Menilekor David I., the son of the queen of Sheba bv Solo-mon. They agree in the relations given "by theAbyssinians of that princess ; but deny that the pos-terity of those who came with Menilek ever embracedChristianity, as the Abyssinians say they did. Theystate that at the decline of the Jewish commercewhen the ports of the Red Sea fell into the hands ofother nations, and no intercourse took place betweenthem and Jerusalem, the Jewish inhabitants quittedthe sea-coast and retired into the province of Dembea.Here they carried the art of pottery to a high degreeof perfection, multiplied exceedingly, and becamevery numerous and powerful, about the time theAbyssinians were converted to Christianity. As thisevent was accounted by them an apostasy from thetrue religion, they now’ separated themselves fromthe Abyssinians, and elected one of their people,named Phineas, of the line of Solomon, to be theirking. Thus they, say they have still a prince of thehouse of Judah for their sovereign/* About A. 1). 960,Judith, queen of this people, after extirpating theAbyssinian princes in Damo, assumed the sovereigntyof the whole empire, which the Falashas retained forhome time; but their power being by degrees reduced,they were obliged to take up their residence amongsome rugged mountains of Samen, one of which theychose for their capital, and which has ever since beencalled the Jews’ Rock. About A. D. 1600 they werealmost entirely destroyed in a battle with the Abys-sinians, in which both their king and queen wereslain; since which time they have been in subjectionto the emperors of that country, but ara still governedby their own princes.

The language of this people is very different fromthe Hebrew, Samaritan, or any other which the Jewsever spoke in their own country. On being interro-gated concerning it by Mr. Bruce, they said that itwas probably one of those spoken by the nations onthe Red Sea, among whom they had settled at theirfirst coming. They arrived in Abyssinia, it is said,speaking Hebrew, and with the advantage of havingbooks in that language, but they had now forgotten it,and were entirely ignorant of the art of writing. Atthe time of their leaving Judea, they were in the pos-session of both the Hebrew and Samaritan copies ofthe law r , which were lost in the time of Rehoboam ;and as no further communication with Jerusalem tookplace, they were obliged to use translations ot theScriptures, or those copies which were in possessionof the shepherds, who, they say, were all Jews, beforethe time of Solomon. On being asked, however,where the shepherds got their copy ? and being told,that, notwithstanding the invasion of Egfypt by Nebu-chadnezzar, there was still a communication with Je-rusalem, by means of the Ishmaelite Arabs through