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velling being practicable at this season of the year with comfort afterwards. We staid two days, and were greatly pleased with every thing we saw, and above all with the kindness of Lord and Lady Amherst.

At Barrackpoor, for the first time, I mounted an elephant, the motion of which I thought far from disagreeable, though very different from that of a horse. As the animal moves both feet on the same side at once, the sensation is like that of being carried on a man's shoulders. A full grown elephant carries two persons in the "howdah," besides the

mohout," or driver, who sits on his neck, and a servant on the crupper behind with an umbrella.. The howdah itself, which Europeans use, is not unlike the body of a small gig, but without a head. The native howdahs have a far less elevated seat, and are much more ornamented. At Calcutta, or within five miles of it, no elephants are allowed, on account of the frequent accidents which they occasion by frightening horses. Those at Barrackpoor were larger animals than I had expected to see, two of them were at least ten feet high. That which Lord Amherst rode, and on which I accompanied him, was a very noble fellow, dressed up in splendid trappings, which were a present from the king of Oude, and ornamented all over with fish embroidered in gold, a device which is here considered a badge of royalty. I was amused by one peculiarity, which I had never before heard of; while the elephant is going on, a man walks by his side, telling him where to tread, bidding him "take care, step out," warning him that the road is rough, slippery, &c., all which the animal is supposed to understand, and take his measures accordingly. The mohout says nothing, but guides him by pressing his legs to his neck, on the side to which he wishes him to turn, urging him forwards with the point of a formidable goad, and stopping him by a blow on the forehead with the but end of the same instrument. The command these men have over their elephants is well known, and a circumstance lately occurred of one of them making a sign to his beast, which was instantly obeyed, to kill a woman who had said something to offend him. The man was executed before our arrival.

Capital punishments are described as far from frequent, and appear to be inflicted for murder only; for smaller crimes, offenders are sentenced to hard labour, and are seen at work in the public roads, and about the barracks, in groups more or less numerous, each man with fetters on his legs, and watched by police-men, or sepoys. These poor creatures, whatever their original crimes may have been, are probably still more hardened by a punishment which thus daily, and

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for a length of time together, exposes them in a degraded and abject condition, to the eyes of men. I never saw coun tenances so ferocious and desperate as many of them offer, and which are the more remarkable as being contrasted with the calmness and almost feminine mildness which generally characterizes the Indian expression of features. What indeed can be expected in men who have neither the consolations of Christianity, nor the pity of their brethren,-who are without hope in this world, and have no just idea of any world but this!

The cantonment of Barrackpoor is very pretty, consisting of a large village inhabited by soldiers, with bungalows for the European officers and other white inhabitants, who are attracted hither by the salubrity of the air, the vicinity of the Governor's residence, or the beauty and convenience of the river. In the Park several uncommon animals are kept: among them the Ghyal, an animal of which I had not, to my recollection, read any account, though the name was not unknown to me. It is a very noble creature, of the ox or buffalo kind, with immensely large horns, and a native of Thibet or Nepaul.

It is very much larger than the largest Indian cattle, but hardly I think equal to an English bull: its tail is bushy, and

its horns form almost a mass of white and solid bone to the centre of its forehead. It is very tame and gentle, and would, I should think, be a great improvement on the common Indian breed of horned cattle. There is also another beautiful animal of the ass kind, from the Cape of Good Hope, which is kept in a stall, and led about by two men to exercise daily. They complain of its wild and untameable spirit, and when I saw it, had hampered its mouth with such an apparatus of bit and bridle that the poor thing was almost choked. It is extremely strong and bony, of beautiful form, has a fine eye and good countenance, and though not striped like the zebra, is beautifully clouded with different tints of ash and mouse colour. We met two lynxes, or "siya gush,' during our ride, also taking the air, led each in a chain by his keeper, one of them in body clothes, like an English greyhound, both perfectly tame, and extremely beautiful creatures, about the size of a large spaniel, and in form and colour something between a fox and a cat, but with the silky fur and characteristic actions of the latter. The other animals, consisting of two or three tigers and leopards, two different kinds of bears-one Bengalee, the other from Sincapoor, a porcupine, a kangaroo, monkeys, mouse-deer, birds, &c. are kept in a menagerie, their dens all very clean, and, except one of the bears and one hyæna, all very tame. The Ben

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galee bears are precisely of the same kind with that which is described and drawn, but without a name, in "Bewick's Quadrupeds," as said to be brought from Bengal. They are fond of vegetables, and almost exclusively fed on them; three of these are very good-natured, and show their impatience for their meals, (after which they are said to be very greedy,) only by a moaning noise, raising themselves upright against the bars of the cage, and caressing, in a most plaintive and coaxing way, any person who approaches them. The fourth is a very surly fellow, always keeps himself in a corner of his den, with his face turned away from the light and the visitants, and if at all teazed, turns about in furious wrath. The Sincapoor bear is smaller than the others, and a very beautiful animal, with a fine, black, close fur, a tan muzzle and breast, very playful, and not greedy. All of them climb like cats, notwithstanding their bulk, which equals that of a large Russian bear. They were at one time supposed to be ant-eaters, but, Dr. Abel says, erroneously. They burrow in the ground, have longer shouts and claws than the European bears, and struck me forcibly as a link between the Badger and the common bear, though in every thing but their vivacity they bear a general resemblance to the sloth, or bradypus.

In Cal

While we were at Barrackpoor, a cobra di capello was killed close to our bungalow; it was talked of by the natives in a manner which proved them not to be common. eutta poisonous snakes are very seldom seen; nor are they any where to be much apprehended, except one goes into old ruins, neglected pagodas, or dry and rubbishy places, where Europeans have not often occasion to tread. The watersnakes which are met with in moist places, are very seldom, dangerous. Alligators sometimes come on shore to bask, and there is one in a small pond in the park. They are of two kinds, one, which seems like the common crocodile of the Nile, has a long nose, and is harmless, unless provoked. The other is somewhat smaller, has a round snubbed head, and frequently attacks dogs and other similar animals, and is sometimes dangerous to men who go into the river. I suspect that both these kinds are found in Egypt, or have been so in ancient times. I cannot else account for the remarkable discrepancy of the relations which are given us respecting their ferocity and activity, their tameness and sluggishness. The ancients seem to have paid most attention to the formidable species. The other is that which has been seen by Bruce and Sonnini.

November 2nd was sacrament Sunday at the cathedral, and there were a considerable number of communicants.

In

the evening we went to see the school for European female orphans, an extensive and very useful establishment, supported by subscriptions, of which Mrs. Thomason is the most active manager. It is a spacious and handsome though irregular building, airy, and well adapted to its purpose, situated in a large compound in the Circular Road. The neighbourhood has been fancied unhealthy, but we saw no appearance of it in the girls. The establishment seems well conducted; the girls are not encouraged to go out as servants; when they have relations in England, they usually send them thither, unless eligible matches occur for them among the tradesmen of Calcutta, who have, indeed, few other opportunities of obtaining wives of European blood and breeding. Even ladies going out are not always permitted to take white maids, and always under a bond, that in a year or two they shall be sent back again. The consequence is, that the free mariners, and other persons who go out to India, are induced to form connexions with women of the country; yet I never met with any public man connected with India, who did not lament the increase of the half-caste population, as a great source of present mischief and future danger to the tranquillity of the colony. Why then forbid the introduction of a class of women who would furnish white wives to the white colonists; and so far, at least, diminish the evil of which they complain? Security to a moderate amount, that the person thus going to India should not become burdensome to the colony, would be enough to answer every political purpose of the present restrictions.

Of opportunities for education there seems no want, either for rich or poor; there are some considerable schools for the children of the former, of both sexes. There is an excellent free school for the latter, and the children of soldiers and officers have the military orphan asylum, from which, where legitimacy exists, no tint or complexion is excluded.

November 4.I went to consecrate a new church at Dum Dum, having previously obtained the sanction of government for the performance of the ceremony, both here and at St. James's in Calcutta, as also a written assurance from the Governor in Council, that the building should thenceforward be appropriated to the worship of God after the forms and laws of the English church. This I thought a sufficient title, and it was certainly all that could be obtained in this country. Accordingly I determined not to lose the opportunity of giving the sanction of a most impressive form of dedication to these two churches, as likely to do good to all who shared in the service, and to offend nobody, while if, which is utterly unlikely, any future Governor should desecrate the piles, on his own head be the transgression.

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The road to Dum Dum is less interesting than that to Barrackpoor; like it, it is a military village, the principal European artillery cantonment in India. It consists of several long, low ranges of building, all on the ground-floor, ornamented with verandahs, the lodging of the troops, and some small but elegant and convenient houses occupied by the officers, adjoining an open space like the "Meidan" or large plain of Calcutta, which is appropriated to the practice of artillery. The Commandant, General Hardwicke, with whom we spent the day, resides in a large house, built on an artificial mound, of considerable height above the neighbouring country, and surrounded by very pretty walks and shrubberies. The house has a venerable appearance, and its lower story, as well as the mound on which it stands, is said to be of some antiquity, at least for Bengal, where so many powerful agents of destruction are always at work, that no architecture can be durable,-and though ruins and buildings of apparently remote date are extremely common, it would, perhaps, be difficult to find a single edifice 150 years old. This building is of brick, with small windows and enormous buttresses. The upper story, which is of the style of architecture usual in Calcutta, was added by Lord Clive, who also laid out the gardens, and made this his country house. We here met a large party at breakfast, and afterwards proceeded to the church, which is a very pretty building, di vided into aisles by two rows of Doric pillars, and capable of containing a numerous congregation. It was now filled by a large and very attentive audience, composed of the European regiment, the officers and their families, and some visiters from Calcutta, whom the novelty of the occasion brought thither. The consecration of the cemetery followed, wisely here, as in all British India, placed at some distance from the church and the village. On our return to General Hardwicke's, we amused ourselves till dinner time with looking over his very extensive museum, consisting of a great number of insects in excellent preservation, and many of them of rare beauty, collected during a long residence in India, or sent to him from most of the Oriental Islands; a large stuffed collection of birds and animals, perfect also, notwithstanding the great difficulty of preserving such objects here, besides some living animals, a very pretty antelope, a vampire bat, a gibbon, or long-armed ape, a gentle and rather pretty animal of its kind, a cobra di capello, and some others. The vampire bat is a very harmless creature, of habits entirely different from the formidable idea entertained of it in England. It only eats fruits and vegetables, and indeed its teeth are not indicative of carnivorous habits, and from blood it