general service. It had become a mere rabble, addicted to all sorts of vice and disorder, till Lord Hastings placed them on their present footing. In the first instance, he proposed to arm two companies with rifles, but the men disliked the service exceedingly, having a great objection to wear green; they now therefore are fusileers, but trained to light infantry manœuvres, in which they are said to excel. Their numbers, however, are reduced from 1300 to 700, of whom 200 are not genuine mountaineers, but Hindoos from the plain,a mixture which is not found advantageous to the former, and which must, from their superstitions, materially impede the efficiency of the unfettered and unprejudiced Puharree; these last are said to be admirably adapted for soldiers, and to be very fond of the profession. Having no caste, and eating any food indiscriminately, they would be available for foreign service at a shorter notice than any Hindoo could be, accustomed to mountains and jungles, they would be extremely valuable on the eastern and northern frontier, as well as on the Nerbuddah and in Berar, and in the possible event of any general insurrection in India, it might be of great political importance to have a force of native troops who prefer (as these do) the English to the Hindoos, and whose native country occupies a strong and central place in the British territory,-a sort of little Tyrol.

At the school I met the present native commandant, one of Mr. Cleveland's surviving pupils, an old man much reverenced by his countrymen, and who passes a great deal of his time there, being extremely proud of his people, and interested in their improvement. He has also the character of a smart and intelligent soldier. His influence has been very valuable in getting the school together again, much pains having been taken by a Portuguese or two in the neighbourhood to persuade the Puharrees from attending, or sending their children. Even now, though many of the younger children of the mountain-chiefs are sent, the eldest sons are kept away, owing to a notion circulated among them by these people, that they would forfeit the reversion of their pensions by receiving any benefit from the Company of another kind. This is an utter mistake, which Mr. Chalmers hopes to rectify, but it has already done some harm. Captain Graham is very popular among them, and by all which I hear, most deservedly so, and when once or twice he has talked of leaving them for some other regiment, they have expressed exceeding distress and concern. Those whom I saw were middle sized, or rather little men, but extremely well made, with remarkably broad chests, long arms, and clean legs. They are fairer, I think, than the Bengalees,

have broad faces, small eyes, and flattish, or rather turned up noses; but the Chinese or Malay character of their features, from whom they are said to be descended, is lost in a great degree on close inspection. I confess they reminded me of the Welsh; the expression of their countenances is decidedly cheerful and intelligent, and I thought two or three of their women whom I saw, really pretty, with a sort of sturdy smartness about them which I have not seen in their lowland neighbours. These tribes have a regular administration of justice among themselves, by the ancient Hindoo institution of a "Punchaet," or jury of five old men in every village, and as I mentioned before, they remain free from all taxes, and are under the government of their own chiefs, but in all other respects they were great sufferers by Mr. Cleveland's death; all his plans for teaching them the simple manufactures, as well as for furnishing them with seeds and implements of husbandry, fell with him. Even the school was dropped. The pensions which had been promised to the Hill Chiefs in consideration of their maintaining peace and the authority of the Company in their districts, though regularly paid by the Supreme Government, never reached their destination, being embezzled on various pretences. And the old encroachments of the Zemindars on their frontiers were allowed to be renewed with impunity. The only man who, during this interval, appears to have done. his duty towards these people, was Lieutenant (afterwards Colonel) Shaw, who was appointed to the command of the Rangers in 1787, and whose memory is still highly respected by them. He published an account (which I have not seen) of their customs, in an early volume of the Asiatic Researches.

Lord and Lady Hastings went on a short excursion into the hills in their return from the upper country, and were greatly interested by them and their highlands. Lord Hastings promised their chiefs to send a good stock of the most useful tools of husbandry (they have at present no implements of this kind but sharpened stakes) and a quantity of seed potatoes. He did not forget the promise, and Captain Graham heard him give orders for its performance after his return to Calcutta. But a sovereign can seldom do all the good he desires; nothing in fact was done, and the chiefs have since more than once complained that they were forgotten. They are, however, better off now than at any time since the death of Cleveland, for Mr. Chalmers, who is an active and honourable man, has seen justice done to them in the payment of their little stipends, which had frequently been embezzled on various pretences by the native agents;

and Government are making a fresh survey of the debateable land, with a view to an equitable arrangement of the claims both of the Puharrees and the Zemindars, by which it is said the former will be great gainers. Mr. Chalmers, and Captain Graham, with Colonel Franklin, well known as an excellent Oriental scholar and antiquarian, who is inspecting field-officer of this district, think very favourably of the Puharrees. Notwithstanding their poverty, their living chiefly by the chase and always going armed, the general conduct both of chiefs and people has been orderly and loyal ever since their fathers swore allegiance. They are hospitable according to their small means, and have no sort of objection to eat with or after Europeans. They are a little too fond of spirits, a taste which Cleveland unfortunately encouraged, by sending them presents of the kind, and allowing them to drink when at his house. Though accustomed to make predatory inroads on their lowland and hereditary enemies, among themselves they have always been honest; and what is an immense distinction indeed between them and the Hindoos, they hate and despise a lie more than most nations in the world. The soldiers who have committed any fault, own it readily, and either ask pardon or submit to their punishment in silence; in the Cutcherry, the evidence of a Puharree is always trusted more than that of half a dozen Hindoos, and there is hardly any instance on record of a chief violating his word. Though dirty in their persons in comparison with the Hindoos, they are very clean in their cottages, and their villages are kept free from the vile smells which meet us in those of Bengal. The men dislike hard work, and are chiefly occupied in hunting, but the women are very industrious in cultivating the little patches of garden round their villages. They are also generally chaste, and it no doubt contributes to keep them so, that the premature and forced marriages of the Hindoos are unknown; that their unions take place at a suitable age, and that the lad has generally to wait on the lass during a pretty long courtship. They make very good and faithful household servants, but are not fond of the way of life, and do not agree well with their Hindoo fellow domestics. Both men and women are intelligent and lively, but rather passionate, and they differ from most of the Hindoos, in being fond of music, and having a good ear. Captain Graham has instructed some of their boys as fifers, and found them apt scholars. They are fond of pedigree and old stories, and their chiefs pique themselves on their families. No clanship, or feudal subjection, however, appears to exist. If a man is dissatisfied with the head of his village, there is nothing to prevent his removal to another. In short, Emily,

they are Welsh, and one of these days I will take you into their hills, to claim kindred with them!

Mr. Corrie has obtained a little vocabulary of their language, which, certainly, differs very remarkably from the Hindoostanee, and I am told from the Bengalee. The old commandant, who has been on service towards the Berar frontier, says he could converse perfectly with the Bheels and Gooand tribes, so that they are apparently different branches of the same great family which pervades all the mountainous centre of India, the "Gaels" of the east, who have probably, at some remote period, been driven from all but these wildernesses, by the tribes professing the brahminical faith.

The following is Captain Graham's account of their religion. The Hill-people offer up frequent prayers to one Supreme Being, whom they call "Budo Gosaee, " which in their language means "Supreme God." Prayer to God is strictly enjoined morning and evening. They also offer up propitiatory sacrifices of buffaloes, goats, fowls, and eggs to several inferior, and some evil deities.

"Malnad" is the tutelary genius of each village; "Dewannee" the household god. Pow" is sacrificed to before undertaking a journey. They appear to believe in a future state of rewards and punishments chiefly carried on by means of transmigration, the souls of the good being sent back to earth in the bodies of great men, and those of the wicked in brutes and even trees.

The great God made every thing. Seven brothers were sent to possess the earth; they give themselves the credit of being descended from the eldest, and say that the sixth was the father of the Europeans. Each brother was presented, on setting out, with a portion of the particular kind of food which he and his descendants were to eat. But the eldest had a portion of every kind of food, and in a dirty dish. This legend they allege as their reason for observing no restriction of meats, and for eating with or after any body. They say they are strictly forbidden by God to beat, abuse, or injure their neighbours, and that a lie is the greatest of all crimes. Hogs blood appears to answer with them all the purposes which holy water does with some other nations. If a person is killed by a tiger, it is the duty of his relations to avenge his death by killing one of those animals in return, on which occasion they resort to many strange ceremonies. They are great believers in witchcraft; every ache which the old commandant feels in his bones, and every disappointment or calamity which befalls him or any of his friends, he imputes to this cause, and menaces or bribes some old wo

man or other. They have also many interpreters of dreams among them, whom they call "Damauns," and believe to be possessed by a familiar spirit. When any of these die, they expose his body, without burial, in the jungle. They also suppose certain diseases to be inflicted by evil spirits, to whom they expose the bodies of such as die of them, those who die of small-pox are cast out into the woods, those who die of dropsy into the water.

They have no idols or images of any kind; a black stone found in the hills, is by some ceremonies consecrated and used as an altar. They have several festivals which are held in high reverence. The Chitturia is the greatest, but seldom celebrated on account of its expense. It lasts five days, during which buffaloes, hogs, fruits, fowls, grains, and spirits are offered up to the gods, and afterwards feasted on. This is the only festival in which females are permitted to join. During its continuance they salute nobody, all honour being then appropriated to the gods. Polygamy is not forbidden, but seldom practised. The bridegroom gives a feast on occasion of the marriage; the bride's father addresses a speech. to him, exhorting him to use his daughter well; the bridegroom then marks her forehead with red paint, links his little finger in hers, and leads her to his house. The usual mode of making oath is to plant two arrows in the ground thus,

the person swearing taking the blade of one and the feather of the other between his finger and thumb. On solemn occasions, however, salt is put on the blade of a sabre, and after the words of the oath are repeated, the blade being placed on the under lip of the person sworn, the alt is washed into his mouth by him who administers it.

Thus far I have learnt from Captain Graham; Mr. Corrie tells me that further particulars of this interesting race are given in the Calcutta Annual Register for 1821; what follows I learnt from different persons in the course of the day.

The Hill country is very beautiful, and naturally fertile,