VIZAGAPATAM.

south, is called the Dolphin's Nose; there is a huge cave on the sea-line, and the cliffs are imposing. On the hill above the creek three striking

buildings meet the eye-a heathen temple, a Mohammedan mosque, and a Roman Catholic church. As we landed, we saw crowds of poor women working as porters, and carrying huge boxes of cargo. Vizagapatam is in the province called the Northern Circars, extending about five hundred miles along the Bay of Bengal, and among the earliest possessions of the East India Company. The natives are a fine class of men, both in physique and

in character, and live under the simple form of village government. The country about Vizagapatam is hilly and picturesque, and there is a Hindu temple of great fame and antiquity at Semachillum. The London Mission here was founded in 1805, at a time when the Company discountenanced missions. But it has held its ground, and its missionaries have translated the Scriptures into Telugu. I met the venerable John Hay, the chief translator, and master of the language, who has been here for forty years. The Telugu language is, Mr. Hay says, in its primitive forms, much

simpler than in its more modern development. On account of its soft accent and musical tones, it has been called by Europeans the Italian of the East. Our next day was spent in discharging cargo at Gopalpur, a small uninteresting village upon a sandy beach, up which a heavy surf rolls. The natives come out in their Masulah boats, like tolerably water-tight wooden baskets stitched together with rope, and wonderfully light and springy. Eight miles from Gopalpur is Berhampur, chief town of the district of Ganjam, and beyond is the Mahendra range, noted for its woods, its cairn-like temples, built up of huge rough blocks, and four thousand nine hundred feet above the sea. The outside of the chief building is ornamented with figures, and the roof is covered with vegetation. At Berhampur there is a flourishing Baptist Mission. This district forms the extreme north of the Madras Presidency.

Inland, and behind the strip of the Madras Presidency, running up thus far north along the coast, are two large tracts of territory, the CENTRAL PROVINCES, now belonging to Britain, and HAIDARABAD, belonging to the Nizam of the Deccan. The district called the Central Provinces is not thickly peopled, the country being hilly and forest land. The chief town, Nagpur, contains about eighty thousand inhabitants. There are extensive coal-fields, and cotton is much cultivated. The Deccan is a name applied to the entire central plateau of the Indian Peninsula, of which Haidarabad forms the northern portion. The Vindhya Mountains, running east and west, form a great wall, separating the Deccan and the Ganges valley. They extend from Mount Parasnath in the east to Mount Abu in the west. Near the city of Haidarabad is the British settlement called Secunderabad, eighteen hundred feet above the sea, where are the largest barracks in India. The Godavery river flows through this district eastward, and it is crossed by the railway connecting Madras with Bombay. Not far from Haidarabad is Golconda; and near the fort, on the top of a conical hill, the tombs of the kings are well worth a visit. Their vastness and solidity are most impressive. The diamonds of Golconda were merely cut and polished here, being found at Partial. Chanda stands amid charming scenery. The Free Church of Scotland has flourishing missions at Nagpur and at the settlement called Jalna, a British cantonment in the Nizam's dominions.

THE BENGAL PROVINCES.

ORISSA AND

THE BENGAL PROVINCES.

JUGGERNAUT-CALCUTTA AND ITS SURROUNDINGS-BARRACKPORESERAMPORE-DARJEELING AND THE HIMALAYAS-THE GREAT GANGETIC PLAIN.

we

IN
N the coasting voyage from Madras
have the Madras Presidency still to our
port, or left hand, northwards as far as
Gopalpur. Here the country of the Northern
Circars ends, and the coast of Orissa begins.
The maritime part of Orissa forms the British
district of Cuttack, called by seamen the Orissa
Coast. The shore is flat and dreary, and inland
appear several "saddle-hills" terminating in
a chain of mountains running south. The
extensive Chilka Lake is joined to the sea by
a narrow strait.

After leaving Gopalpur, our good steamer keeping near to shore, brought us next morning to Puri in Orissa, and the far-famed Temple of Juggernaut. This part of the coast is considered healthy, and the sea breeze is found very refreshing. The houses of English residents are on the sea-shore, and the native town and temple, surrounded by high wall and luxuriant vegetation, lie a little inland. The temple enclosure measures four hundred and twenty by three hundred

HIMALAYAN WOMAN.