will lead the way to the other, and they will think the better of a religion whose professors are seriously active in promoting their temporal interests. The Puharrees seem to have no prejudices hostile to Christianity, any other than those which men will always have against a system of religion which requires a greater degree of holiness than they find it convenient to practise. The discreet exertions of Missionaries among them will give no offence either to Hindoos or Mussulmans, and a beginning may thus be made to the introduction both of Christianity and civilization, through all the kindred tribes of Gundwana and the Western Bheels, who are, at this moment, in the same habits of rapine and savage anarchy which the Puharrees were in before the time of Cleveland.

Boglipoor is in a pretty situation, and said to be one of the healthiest stations in India. It is, however, much infested by snakes, particularly the cobra de capello. It stands nearly half-way between the Rajmahâl and Curruckpoor hills, and commands a distant view of mount Mandar, an insulated conical mountain, apparently about as large as the Wrekin, renowned as a place of Hindoo pilgrimage, and as having been employed by the gods to churn the ocean with, in order to procure the "amreeta," or drink of immortality. It is, Colonel Francklin assures me, remarkable as being a mass of granite, whereas all these nearer hills are of lime-stone. He also told me that he had been to the end of the cave of Puttergotta, which has been

used as a temple to Siva. It is pretty, and very accessible, but by no means deep. The hills to the south of Boglipoor, beyond Mandar, towards Deogur, are very wild, and now almost entirely uninhabited, but are full of vestiges, not of Brahminical but Buddhist worship. Colonel Francklin has himself a curious collection of idols of this latter kind, dug up in this part of India, and is employed in a dissertation on the subject. I forgot to mention that all these hills are full of wild poultry, exactly in crow, figure, and plumage, resembling bantams. Their flavour is superior to the domestic fowl, and resembles that of the partridge. They might, no doubt, be easily domesticated. The Rajmahal hills stand in a detached cluster, containing, perhaps, as much ground as Merionethshire, and Carnarvonshire. They are bounded on all sides by a plain, or nearly plain country; after which, on the east, are the Curruckpoor hills, and on the south the very impracticable districts of Beiboom, Dranghur, &c.

August 11.-I had a drive with Mr. Corrie this morning, and got a pretty good distant view of Mandar and the Curruckpoor hills. Colonel Francklin supposes the ancient Palibothra,—a celebrated city and metropolis of Gangetic India, in the time of the ancient Greeks, to have stood in this neighbourhood, and has published several learned essays to prove it, which I remember looking at many years ago, when I had little curiosity about the question. He is a very agreeable and

communicative old man, and his collections curious and interesting. His opinions are opposed to the alleged antiquity of the Brahminical worship, and he coincides in general with the late Mr. Bentley.

CHAPTER X.

BOGLIPOOR TO MONGHYR.

Width of the Ganges-Charity of Dandees-Seeta Coom-Monghyr— Fort-Zemindars-Pensioners—Baptist Mission—Desertion of Dandees-Cheapness of Fire-arms.

Ar noon I again set off, with Mr. Corrie's budgerow in company. This part of the Ganges has undergone great alterations since Rennell's map was made. Boglipoor is laid down by him as standing on a separate nullah; but now nothing remains of the separation except a few marshy islands, immediately opposite the town. I find that instead of exaggerating, as I feared to do, I have, in my previous descriptions, under-rated the width of this noble river. Last year, at the height of the inundation, a little below Boglipoor, it was nine measured miles across; and this year, though far less ground is covered, it is supposed to be full seven; and here we are perhaps 600 miles, reckoning the windings of the river, from the sea!

During this night I was completely wakened by the uproar which the jackalls made. On asking if any reason could be given for such an unusual concourse, I was told that there was a field of Indian corn adjoining, of which they are very fond,

and that the clamour which I heard was partly from the animals themselves, partly from the watchmen, who were endeavouring to scare them away. The noise was quite equal to that of an immense pack of hounds, with half the rabble of a county at their heels, except that the cry was wilder and more dismal. If his Excellency Count Falkenstein, the wild huntsman," still keeps up his aerial chase in Germany, it is exactly such a cry as I should expect from his hounds.

August 12.-We passed this morning another encampment of gypseys, only differing from the former in having no boats. The name by which they go in this country is " Kunja." The men, many of them, wore large pink turbans; three of the women, and the children, followed us begging. These did not conceal their faces, and indeed had no clothes at all, except a coarse kind of veil thrown back from the shoulders, and a wretched ragged cloth wrapped round their waists like a petticoat. They are decidedly a taller handsomer race than the Bengalee. One of the women was very pretty, and the forms of all three were such as a sculptor would have been glad to take as his model. Their arms were tattooed with many blue lines, and one of them had her forehead slightly marked in a similar manner. They had no bangles on their wrists and ankles, but the children, though perfectly naked, were not without these ornaments. As we could not stop our boat, I rolled up some pice in paper, and gave it to one of the dandees to throw ashore. Unfortunately the paper burst, and