tons, and comprising one ship of 1100 tons and upwards; one of 800; three of 700; three of 600; thirteen of 500; eighteen of 400; twenty of 300; twenty-six of 200; eighteen of 100; and five of 50 tons and upwards. These are all fine vessels, most of them being teak built; and, with the exception of a few, which are called godowns, from their capacious qualities, are fast sailers. I witnessed many ship launches from the different yards around me. The river at such times presents a splendid scene, as all the ships hoist their colours, and the banks are lined by natives of the higher ranks, whilst the yard where the launch takes place is crowded with Europeans, all having large umbrellas held over them by natives in coloured or white turbans and vests, which gives a depth of colouring to the scene which it is impossible for the pen to describe. Lady Amherst, attended by Bishop Heber, honoured one of Messrs. Vrignon's launches with her presence; and a splendid dejeuné was provided in the mould-loft, of which her Ladyship partook.

Of all the spectacles that I beheld on the river, a large ship on fire was the most awfully grand, and led me to form an opinion of the heart-rending scene which must necessarily follow when a ship takes fire at sea. I saw three large ships within the space of four years burnt in the river Hooghley. If I recollect right, their names were, the Commodore Hayes, the Morning Star, and the Stanmore. One of them was just ready to sail for

England, and had all her cargo and passengers' luggage on board, as well as her sails bent. The fire was occasioned by the carelessness of an ayah, (or female servant,) belonging to a lady passenger, who let fall a candle in one of the cabins, which ignited some loose paper; when, instead of calling for help, she endeavoured to extinguish the fire with her hands, but without effect, as it soon reached the bulkheads and venetians, which being all of deal, and in that climate excessively dry, blazed most furiously, and soon spread throughout the whole of the range of cabins on the gun-deck, and baffled all efforts subsequently made to stem its progress. The ship was towed clear of the other vessels in the harbour, and was soon burnt to the water's edge. I have seen many grand displays of pyrotechnical skill, but never saw any artificial fire equal in grandeur to the appearance which this ship presented, when the fire ran up her shrouds, and every rope became an illumined line. It was distressing to hear the cries of the pigs and other animals which could not be rescued from the devouring element. One poor pig made its way through a port on the forecastle, singed nearly as much as if it had been killed for bacon, and reached the Howrah shore in safety; but was soon released from its sufferings, by a humane person who beheld the poor animal's piteous condition. Fowls scorched in like manner were picked up by the boats; and many sheep were also found struggling in the water, being too

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much burnt to swim. Altogether, the scenes attendant on this fire were of the most distressing nature.

The conflagrations of the other two ships were much the same in appearance, but divested of the painful scenes of animals burning alive in the flames. One of them had nearly been the destruction of many others, as it was anchored opposite to Mr. Montgomery's yard, and the cable being burnt, it drifted towards the whole line of vessels moored to the Company's buoys; but, owing to the intrepidity of Messrs. A. Montgomery, W. Reeves, J. Bastard, and others, it was grappled, and towed clear of the shipping, and brought down to the shallow water opposite Howrah custom-house, where it was soon destroyed. The dingheywallahs were very active in securing any articles that floated from the wreck, but not one came to render any assistance in the salvage of the shipping, or of the cargo on board. The copper bolts were speedily extracted from the wreck, and many of the boatmen made fortunes by the spoils, (when I say fortunes, I do not mean such fortunes as Englishmen are fond of making); but some of them realised a hundred rupees, for goods and portions of the wreck picked up in the river, and afterwards sold to native merchants.

CHAPTER XIV.

"Say, ye bright throng, who breathe supernal air,
Who flock around the sacred throne of God,
And celebrate the triumphs of the skies,
Are ye not happy? Happier far than we,
Who toil 'midst tempests, quicksands, boist'rous seas,
With scarce one ray to mitigate our gloom!
Can human friendship, friendship most refin'd,
E'er urge you once to leave yon heavenly seats,
And bliss, so well adapted to your nature?
'Tis true, we feel your worth, your loss deplore,—
When sever'd from us, Nature's feelings woke,
And resolution soften'd into tears.

But why lament the loss? 'Tis only sleep!
Faith in the Lord draws e'en the sting of death,
And gives assurance of a better meeting.

FIRST VISIT TO HOWRAH-PREACHING THERE-CROSSING THE RIVER-PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPES-FREAKS OF DINGHEYWALLAHS-KINDNESS OF

FRIENDS

EPISCOPALIAN CHAPEL-CURIOUS MISTAKE-ERECTION OF CHAPEL

NATIVE CHAPEL AND SCHOOLHOUSES-ESTABLISH AN ACADEMY-FATIGUING LIFE -DEATHS OF MISSIONARIES-MISSIONARY ASPIRATIONS.

SOON after I had joined the mission families in Calcutta, it was deemed expedient to open a new station at Howrah, on the opposite bank of the Hooghley, there being many Europeans resident

there, as well as numbers of Indo-British families, and a large population of Hindoo and Mussulman natives, for the whole of whom no place of Christian worship existed. The consequence was, that from the dangers and inconvenience attendant on crossing the river to Calcutta, very few indeed of the Christian inhabitants could enjoy the privileges of the Sabbath. It is true, in fine weather some of the ship-builders who had bauleahs at command, would run across to the morning services, taking some part of their families with them; but in the freshes and rainy season, hardly any would venture to brave the dangers which the passage presented. My esteemed friend, the Rev. Eustace Carey, had often been induced to visit them, and occasionally to preach in a small bungalowe belonging to a protestant Portuguese, as well as to the natives in the bazaar, and beneath a large peepul tree, where four roads meet, at the corner of the old school grounds. Sebukram, a native preacher belonging to the Serampore establishment, had also for some years been actively engaged at Seebpore and the neighbourhood, in proclaiming the Gospel to his deluded countrymen. Still no regular plan had been followed for preaching the word of life to the inhabitants of Sulkea and Howrah. It was therefore proposed by our brethren, that I should accompany Mr. Carey to Howrah, with a view to the arranging of matters, so that stated services might be held there in future. Notice was accordingly sent to. the