mont Imaiis (pron. the s), the Hindu Kush

Page 18. 1. 16. Memphis (pron. Min-fiss), the oldest capital of ancient Egypt. Remains of the royal tombs there still exist in the neighbourhood of Cairo.

1. 17. Hermès (pron. the s). The name was probably chosen because Thotli, a deity of Egypt, ' tlirice-gieat Hermès,' was identified with the Greek Hermès, the tutelary god of art and science.

1. 18. vî«i<er= examiner quelque chose avec soin pour en tirer quelque connaissance ou quelque conjecture.

Page 20. 1. 34. Arnoult. ' Il y avait dans ce temps un Babylonien, nommé Arnoult, qui guérissait et prévenait toutes les apoplexies, dans les gazettes, avec un sachet suspendu au cou.' (Note de Voltaire.)

1. 39. Tchinavar : Chinvat, ' the bridge of the Gatherer,' according to tiie Zoroastrian belief, thrown across space from one of the peaks of the Elburz Mountains. The soûls of the faithful pa.ss over to tlie ' Abode of Song ' : the wicked miss their footing and fall into endless darkness. Addison u.ses the myth in liis Vision of Mirza, but lie takes it as an image of human life.

Asrael : the Mohammedan angel of death. Tlie author présents lus story as having bcen translated from the ancient Chaldean by a Persian poet in the Hfteenth century.

P.\ge21. 1.13. Vabsinthe, ' wormwood,' a plant noted for its bitterness. ...

1. lô. difficile à vivre : [«u complaisante, ' gey ill to livo v\i'.';.