joys one of the finest prospects of the Himalayas to be had from any part of the plains. A very handsome Gothic Church, (designed by Mr. Price, the gentleman to whom I was indebted for a breakfast) had been recently erected, and this, with the open, turfy common in front of the town, and the absence of tropical trees, reminded me strongly of England.

The Ganges Canal is one of the grandest undertakings of the present day. It has been constructed under the direction and at the expense of the Government, mainly for the purpose of irrigating the level, fertile tracts between the Ganges and Jumna, but also to afford the means of transporting the productions of the country to the head of navigation on the former river, at Cawnpore. The labor of more than ten years had been expended on it at the time of my visit, and four or five years more were considered necessary to complete it. It will be eighty feet wide, varying in depth according to the season, but probably averaging eight feet, and, including its numerous branches, will have an extent of eight hundred miles! It taps the Ganges at Hurdwar (eighteen miles to the north-west of Roorkh), and returns to it again at Cawnpor, a distance of more than four hundred miles. The total cost, when completed, will not fall much short of £2,000,000, but it is expected to yield a return of £500,000 annually. This calculation is based on the success of the East and West Jumna Canals, which are comparatively on a small scale. The former of these was finished in 1825, since when it has paid all the expense of construction, together with an annual interest of 5

The water was let into the main trunk of the Ganges Canal in the summer of 1854, and the work, so far as it has gone into operation, is perfectly successful

SYSTEM OF IRRIGATION.

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per cent. thereupon, and £320,000 clear profit. The latter, finished a few years since, has paid the cost and interest, with £30,000 profit.

The use of the water for irrigation is not obligatory upon the inhabitants, but they are generally quite willing to avail themselves of it. There are three ways in which it is furnished to them: First, by villages or companies of cultivators. contracting for as much as they want; secondly, by a fixed rate per acre, according to the kind of grain, rice being the most expensive and cotton the cheapest; and thirdly, by renting an outlet of a certain fixed dimension, at so much per year Along the Juina Canals the people do not wait, as formerly, to see whether the crops will be likely to succeed without irrigation, but employ it in all seasons, and are thereby assured of a constant return for their labor. The Ganges Canal will be of vast importance in increasing the amount of grain produced in Hindostan, the design of the Government being to render famine impossible. It is to be hoped that such a dreadful spectacle as the famine of 1838, when hundreds of thousands perished from want, will never again be witnessed in India. That such things have happened is the natural result of the tenure by which land is held and cultivated. The Government is the proprietor, and the zemindars, or tenants, pay 75 per cent. of the assessed value of the products. The land is sub-let by the zemindars to the ryots, or laborers, and these, the poor and ignorant millions of India, of course gain little or nothing beyond a bare subsistence. If the crops fail, they have nothing at all. The Ganges Canal will therefore, to a certain extent, prevent famine, by assuring perennial crops. It will enrich the Government, because, in addition to the sale

of the water, it will increase the rent of the lands as they become more productive, but it will very slightly mitigate the condition of the ryots.

The greatest modern work in India is the Canal Aqueduct over the Selanee River, at Roorkhee. It is entirely constructed of brick, and, including the abutments, is about a quarter of a mile in length, by a hundred and eighty feet in breadth. There are sixteen arches, of about seventy feet span, and rising twenty feet above the river, the foundations of the piers being sunk twenty feet below the bed. The arches are four feet thick, in order to support the immense pressure of such a body of water. Hundreds of workmen were employed on the structure, and a small railroad had been laid down for bringing the materials. A locomotive was imported from England, but, through the neglect of the native firemen, soon became a wreck. During the short time it was in operation a great number of accidents occurred. It was found almost impossible to keep the natives off the track. Their stupidity in this respect is astonishing. If you have a hard heart you may run over as many as you like in a morning's ride, for they will assuredly not get out of your way unless you force them to it.

Native Workmen at Roorkhee-Their Wages-Departure for Hurdwar--Afternoon View of the Himalayas-Peaks visible from Roorkhee-Jungle grass-Jowa'apore -Approach to the Siwalik Hills-First View of the Ganges-Ganges Canal-Prediction of the Brahmins-An Arrival-The Holy City of Hurdwar-Its Annual Fair-Appearance of the Streets-The Bazaar-A Himalayan Landscape-Travel in the Jungle-A Conflagration-The Jungle by Torch-Light-Arrival at Dehra.

BEFORE leaving Roorkhee I paid a visit to the workshops, where I was much struck with the skill and aptness of the natives employed. The shops are instituted for the purpose of constructing the implements used on the Canal works The machinery is driven by steam and conducted entirely by natives under European superintendence. One of the departments is devoted to the construction of mathematical instruments, which are fully equal to those of English manufacture. "The natives," to use the words of the Superintendent. "learn in one sixth of the time which an English workman would require." Their imitative talent is wonderful, but they totally lack invention. This makes them a people easily im proved, as they are anxious to learn, but never knowing more than is taught them, never using their knowledge as a lamp to explore the unknown fields of science or art. These workmen

are paid from four to eight rupees a month, according to their skill, but the ordinary laborers on the Canal, though hired at four ($2), do not, owing to their indolence, generally receive more than two rupees per month, out of which they find themselves. It is said that one rupee (fifty cents,) monthly, covers all their necessary expenses.

After two days at Roorkhee, I summoned the bearers to be in readiness at sunrise, the next morning. Capt. Goodwyn was kind enough to see that all the arrangements were complete, besides ordering me an early breakfast, and his amiable lady provided me with a tiffin, which I was to eat in Col. Cautley's bungalow at Hurdwar. The morning was bright and cold, and as I was borne down the bank to the Selanee River, I noticed that a light rime lay upon the grass. The bearers shivered as they waded through the chill water, though their bare legs were nearly as tough and leathery as an elephant's. I opened the palanquin so that I might look on the Himalayas, as I lay, but their cold morning gleam was not so beautiful as the warm red flush which had lain on them during the previous afternoon and evening. I had accompanied my hosts to the cricket-ground, where there was a match between the military and the civilians. The game was explained to me, and politeness required that I should take an interest in its progress; but my whole soul had gone off to the Himalayas, and I could see or think of nothing else. I was most struck with their exquisite beauty of form and coloring. The faintest pink of the sea-shell slept upon the steeps of snow, and their tremendous gulfs and chasms were filled with pale-blue shadows, so delicately pencilled that I can only compare them to the finest painting on ivory. When I reflected that each of