its Grecian lines of architecture, broken by green venetians, a picture of all the squares: one tank, with its green margin and encircling rails, with its dusky watermen filling their pigskins called "mussucks," to mussucks," to carry the water to the houses, a picture of every tank. The varieties of the human animal are the true curiosities of the town, and of these I have endeavoured to give you, good reader, a picture, however imperfect it may be.

CHAPTER IX.

HOW IT STRIKES A STRANGER.

"You will come to church with us to-day ?" said the fair Miss Ducklet to me, one Sunday in May, a week or two after my arrival in Calcutta. We were literally melting on two opposite sofas at the time, looking out upon the wide level plain surrounding Fort William -- the maidaun, as it is called there. A Hindoo was vigorously pulling to and fro the large fan suspended from the ceiling, in the vain attempt to keep the air of the room in an endurable condition. The heat was astonishing-" bohuth gurm”—very hot-were the words upon every one's lips.

"Bohuth gurm," said the servant, as he mopped himself with his scanty habiliments, untying the corner of his turban for that purpose.

Bohuth gurm," responded the Saheb, as he looked ferociously at the dusky automatonlooking native that was pulling the fan, and desired him to pull harder. Even Miss Ducklet, who was an iron-nerved young lady of the tragic order, that allowed nothing to ruffle or inconvenience her, and would never confess herself disconcerted or put out; even she did once deign to admit that it was "a remarkably hot season;" adding, however, by way of corollary, that she had known many hotter."

But, in fact, there never was a May yet in Calcutta, since the black-hole business, that was not solemnly denounced by plethoric, apoplectic-looking gentlemen, in short jackets and tight whites, as the hottest-the very hottestseason they had known. The oldest inhabitant-that respectable individual so invariably appealed to on all points of meteorological science-positively did not remember a hotter season; so the newspapers said, and, of course, they know everything, and, equally of course, all they say must be true.

We were reclining, I said, on two couches, both commanding a view of the level plain without, stretching away to the Fort, I in a

condition of incipient liquefaction, and finding it utterly impossible to do anything but mop, and mop, and mop again, as stream after stream kept coursing down my neck, Miss Ducklet enjoying the soothing influence of the breeze created by the punkah, as it gracefully waved her black curls about, and agitated pleasingly her muslin drapery.

Without, on the road that separated us from the brown grass on the maidaun, a native cart, drawn by two diminutive bullocks, occasionally creaked along, its driver sitting carelessly on the pole to which the bullocks were attached, using their tails, as the rudder of a ship is used, to guide the machine in the required direction. But it was only now and then that even he could muster up energy, amid the sweltering heat, to grasp the tails and shout out maledictions upon the mothers, sisters, grandmothers, and female relationship generally, of the innocent bullocks. For the most part, he resigned himself to an agreeable doze, out of which the bullocks would by no means have taken him by any violence of theirs, did not a deeper rut than usual start him,now and then from his propriety, and

make him grasp violently the rudder-like tails anew. On the dried-up, brown, crisp grass beyond, an occasional Muhammadan was to be seen at devotion, his little carpet spread out neatly before him, and his mouth constantly brought into contact with it as he stooped to kiss.

To the Anglo-Indian the sight is too common to cause a single turn of an eye, but to the reflective man of any race or clime, it is suggestive of many things. Faith is to be seen in its highest exercise in that man's unflinching eye and steady gaze; faith of the most exalted character, and hundreds of thousands of his co-religionists in India and elsewhere have similar faith, a faith that nothing can shake, which can make them endure anything, practise any amount of self-denial, do anything for their religion. Ludicrous, you say; yes, to us, the position is ludicrous; we are not accustomed to see the portion of our frame on which we sit elevated high into the air, whilst the face and feet are both upon the ground. It has its ludicrous aspect, too, like most other things, but it has also its deep sig