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 through a wet tatty; I believe they might be rendered much less objectionable. The Kyburries supply very good examples in the construction of their houses, which we might imitate, by excavating a chamber in the face of a hill, with only a small opening for ingress, and a hole in the top for light and ventilation.

3. EFFECTS OF CLOSED DOORS.—It is a common custom in the hot weather to shut up every door and window soon after sunrise, and not to open them till an hour or two after sunset; nor is the exclusion of all fresh air thought enough, but every Venetian is also closed, and the darkness is so great, that visitors on first entering a drawing-room cannot see the inmates. In a very large room, where the residents are few, and the consumption of air trifling, this practice may not be very injurious; but where the family is large, the domestics numerous, with, perhaps, two or three dogs requiring their breathing room, the vital air must before night be greatly deteriorated. Inspiration in a hot temparature is more frequent than in a cool one, as are also the,pulsations of the heart:hence more cubic feet of air pass through the lungs in a hot day than in a cold day, and the room is sooner exhausted of its pabulum vitæ. Besides, each inmate may be considered as a living laboratory of heat, and not of heat only, but of carbonic acid gas, which neutralizes all the


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 of four or five degrees of coolness gained by closed windows and Venetians, for the difference is no more. But breathing impure air is not the only inconvenience of closed doors and Venetians; the prevading darkness is equally as prejudicial to health: the parallel between animal and vegetable Use is too generally true not to hold good in the circumstance of light. That darkness is injurious to the healthy growth of vegetables is well ascertained; plants that live in darkness remain pale, flaccid, and feeble, and those accustomed to sunshine, if removed to a dark situation, rapidly lose their health and droop and die. The bills of mortality clearly show that the inhabitants of dark lanes and alleys are more unhealthy than those in well lighted streets, and nice investigations have proved, that the tenants of the shady sides of streets are less healthy than those of the sunny—moreover, practical experiments have demonstrated that tadpoles do not become mature frogs if kept in the dark.

The indigo planters are good examples of the truth of this theory. They are the most healthy looking people in India, though exposed all day, at all seasons, to the sun; the injurious effects of heat being counterbalanced by fresh air, light and exercise. The contrast between such men at the end of a hot season and those shut up in close dark houses is very remarkable.

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 '''4. SHRUBBERIES'''.—Much contrariety of opinion prevails respecting the cultivation of shrubs and trees round houses, some going so far as to shroud the house in foliage, and others condemning every plant to transportation or death. The one cultivates trees for the sake of their beauty and their cooling shade,the other forbids their growth, believing them to generate malaria, and afford shelter for mosquitoes. Much may be said on both sides. On the whole,I should prefer living in a house without trees to one surrounded with many. At the same time, I should like two or three, if judiciously placed. A few shady trees, in front of a house, is a great comfort to the whole establishment, and a favourite place of resort for both master and servant.

Trees exert a much more important part upon climate than is generally believed; the aridity of some countries, and the humidity of others being in a great measure caused by their deficiency or profusion. The scantiness of rain in the Punjaub and Sirhind is, I have no doubt, caused by the scantiness of forest; and, when the country is abundantly planted, as I have no doubt it eventually will be, there is every reason to expect more abundant rains.

5. FURNITURE.—The furniture of houses in Calcutta is of a very superb and even ostentatious description; and the different component parts


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 are constantly circulating through society. Upon any change in the members of the family, or change of appointment, the whole goods and chattels are brought to the hammer; and it is found good economy to have every thing of the best description, thus insuring a ready sale. In the Mofussil the furniture is much more scanty and portable, and in bachelor's quarters, a camp table or two, a bed, a couple of chairs, and a couple of camel trunks form the bulk of the property.

6. PUNKAHS.—No house, or rather no room, is thought furnished without a punkah, viz., a frame of wood about three feet broad and nearly the length of the room,covered with cotton cloth white washed, and suspended edgewise by ropes from the ceiling, just so low as to admit of a tall man's walking under it. To the middle of the punkah a rope is attached, and passed through a hole in the wall, so as to admit of being pulled by a man in the verandah; thus acting as a fan, and producing strong gusts of air.

7. THERMANTIDOTES.—Thermantidotes are frequently used, a machine very similar to the barn fanners of home, with this addition, that the large openings round the axle of the fan are closed with a tatty kept constantly wet. These are most useful in calm weather or at night, when the large tatties in the doorways do not act. Besides


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 these, there are numerous sorts of hand punkahs, all very useful. To live without the punkah in the warm weather would be indeed a severe penance, for it is one of the greatest necessaries in India. It is good economy to have it pulled both day and night, relieving the pullers every two hours like sentries on their post; indeed few people sleep without a punkah.

Punkahs have become universal in all European barracks and hospitals, government defraying most of the expense,though the men contribute a certain proportion.

It must be remembered that the punkah does not lower the temperature of the room; the thermometer, either under it or in a corner of the room indicating the same heat.

Punkahs are had recourse to in the North West about the 15th April, and stopped about the 15th October. In Calcutta they are continued nearly the whole year.

8. TATTIES.—A tattyis a frame work of bamboo open like a riddle, covered thinly with the roots of a sort of grass called kus-kus, the ends of the grass being upwards. It is fitted neatly into a door on the weather side of the house, and kept constantly wet by water thrown upon it from the outside; another door is opened on the lea side, and the tatty being pervious to the slightest breeze, a current of cold air is produced, which,


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 so long as it blows, keeps the house as cool as can be desired. The following experiments will show the value of the tatty in upper India, in the month of May; during the regular north-west wind at noon, the thermometer,placed on the ground in the sun, stood at 120°; in the shade of a verandah, 104° in centre of house, 83°, in an earthen jar of water adjoining tatty, 68°, in a deep well, 78°.

Nothing can exceed the delightful coolness of this most refreshing breeze, and, did the wind continue steady all night, the hot winds would be little complained of; but the wind generally lulls at night, and the tatty does no good, though the thermantidote does. Besides, there are frequent alternations of an easterly wind, which have no cooling effects on the tatty, and only fill the house with steam. The climate of Bengal is too moist to admit of any benefit being got from the tatty; and, even in the Upper provinces, all tatties are discontinued as soon as the rains begin. Some discretion and self-denial are necessary in the use of a tatty. Strangers, tempted by the enjoyment, are apt to sit too near them, and subject themselves to colds, cramps, and rheumatism. The safest plan is to sit in the middle of a room, adjoining that of the tatty.

Tatties are now supplied in all European Hospitals and barracks.


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 '''9. FIRE AND LIGHTS'''.—Wood and charcoal are the principal fuels used in cooking. Coal, of fair quality, is procured in any quantity, not far from Calcutta; but it is not much used. During the cold weather of Upper India, fires are universal in the houses, but in Bengal they are seldom seen. I think this a mistake; a fire now and then in the rainy season would be very beneficial; most articles of furniture and clothing of all kinds are then damp in the extreme, and a good fire is the best thing to dispel it. Smoky chimneys are very common nuisances, and it may be useful to know how to cure them. A general mistake is to apply the remedy at the top instead of the bottom. The following plan I have found most effective in curing the most inveterate smoker. Take a common earthen pot, or naund, such as is used by native washermen, of a hemispherical shape, and about two and a half feet diameter. Punch a hole in the bottom about nine inches diameter and budd it into the chimney, mouth down, about two and half feet above the fire.

In the excessively damp climate of Rangoon a brazier of burning charcoal and a large basket over it is a regular piece of furniture,and clothes, boots, and shoes, and every article perishable in mildew is subjected to frequent airings. Cocoa-nut oil is chiefly used for lights. In the


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 not transformed like those at Langeais and Rochefoucauld, where what was externally a 14th-century castle developed internally into a 16th-century mansion; both Chenonceaux and Azay-le-Rideau were built as residences, and yet in both are displayed those features which belong to the fortified castle; at the angles of the main structure in both cases are circular towers, in the latter case crowned with machicolations and hourds, which, however, are purely decorative, pierced with windows, and broken at intervals with dormer windows, a feature which gives it the aspect of an attic storey. The lofty roofs and conical terminations to these angle towers, with dormer and chimney, give the same picturesque aspect to the grouping as that which was afforded in the fortified castle, where, however, they originated in the necessity for defence. The entrance portals of both châteaux are beautiful features, absolutely Gothic in design, and only transformed by cinque-cento detail.

In the château of Chambord (1526) we find the same defensive features introduced, in the shape of great circular towers at the angles, but here with more reason, as the château was intended more for display than habitation. The château itself, about 200 ft. square, has circular towers at the angles, and in the centre a spiral staircase with double flight, leading to great halls on each side, which give access to the comparatively small rooms in the angles of the square and the towers beyond, and to the roof, which would seem to have been the chief attraction, as there is a fine view therefrom; and the elaborate octagonal lantern over the staircase, the dormer windows, chimneys and lanterns on the conical roofs of the towers, are all elaborately carved. There are three storeys to the building, subdivided horizontally by string courses, and terminated with a fine cornice carrying a balustrade, and vertically by a series of pilasters of the Corinthian order. The varied outline of this building, with the alternation of blank panels and windows between the pilasters, relieves what might otherwise have been its monotony. The château is situated on the east side of a great court measuring about 500 ft. by 370 ft., with a moat all round. To the right and left of the central block the walls are carved up three storeys, and an attic, with open arcades inside, leading to the angle towers of the enclosure. At a later period Louis XIV. continued the unfinished structure by a one-storey building round. The carving of the capitals, corbels and other decorative work was all done by Italian artists, under the direction of some architect whose name is not known.

One of the gems of Francis I.’s work is the small hunting lodge originally built at Moret near Fontainebleau, to which at one time the king thought of adding, before he began his great palace there. This was taken down in 1826, and re-erected in the Cours-la-Reine at Paris. Though small, it is the purest example of the first Renaissance. Other examples are the hôtel de ville of Paray-le-Monial (1526); the Hôtel d’Anjou at Angers (1530), built by Pierre de Pincé; the Hôtel Bernuy at Toulouse (1530); the Hôtel d’Ecoville at Caen (1532); the Manoir of Francis I. at Orleans; the Hôtel Bourgthéroulde at Rouen (1520–1532) and other buildings opposite Rouen cathedral, and what remains of the château known as the Manoir d’Ango (1525) at Varengeville, near Dieppe. The château of St Germain-en-Laye (1539–1544), the upper half of which is built in brick, belongs also to the early period, as also the hôtel de ville at Paris, built in 1533 by Domenico da Cortona, an Italian, who after spending some thirty years in France would seem to have caught the spirit of the French Renaissance so well as to be able to produce one of the most remarkable examples of the Francis I. style. In the existing building the original design has been copied from the building burnt down by the Communists in 1871.

From this we pass to the palace at Fontainebleau, begun by Francis I. in 1526, to which there have been so many subsequent additions and alterations that it is difficult to differentiate between them. The building owes its picturesque effect more to its irregular plan (as portions of an earlier structure were enclosed in it) than to any brilliant conceptions on the part of its architect. There is an endless variety of charming detail in the capitals, corbels and other decorative features, but the employment of pilaster strips purely as decorative features (without any such structural property as that in the Porte Dorée at the Cour Ovale) suggests that the Italian architect Serlio, to whom sometimes the work is ascribed, certainly had nothing to do with it.

On the other hand, there is every reason to believe that the designs made by Pierre Lescot for the Louvre, begun in 1546, were, as regards their style, largely based on the principles set forth in Serlio’s work on architecture, published in 1540. The south-west angle of the court of the Louvre is the earliest example of the third period of the Renaissance, in which the orders are employed in correct proportions with columns or pedestals carrying entablatures with mouldings based on classic precedent. The portion built from Lescot’s designs (Plate VIII., fig. 83) consists of the nine bays on the east and north sides, the latter not being completed till 1574, as the workmen would seem to have been transferred to the building of the Tuileries, begun in 1564.

The Corinthian order is employed for the ground and first storeys and an attic storey above, in which the pilaster capitals run into the bedmold of the upper cornice. Of the nine bays, the central and side bays are twice the width of the others, and project slightly with the cornices breaking round them; this feature, and the crowning of the western bays with a segmental pediment, give a variety to the design, which otherwise might have become monotonous by its repetition of similar features. The balustrade also is replaced by the chêneau, a cresting in stone, which hereafter is found in nearly all French buildings. The sculptor, Jean Goujon, would seem to have worked in complete harmony with the architect, thus producing what will always be considered as one of the chef-d’œuvres of French architecture.

The architect employed by Catherine de’ Medici for the Tuileries was Philibert de l’Orme, who combined the taste of the architect with the scientific knowledge of the engineer. Only a portion of his design was carried out, and of that much disappeared in the 17th century, when his dormer windows were taken down and replaced by a second storey and an attic. Bullant and du Cerceau also added buildings on each side.

The Tuileries were built about 500 yds. from the Louvre, and Catherine de’ Medici conceived the idea of connecting the two. The work, which began with the “Petite Galerie,” with the south wing, as far as the Pavillon Lesdiguieres, was started in 1566, being of one storey only. The mezzanine and upper storey were not completed till the beginning of the 17th century. In 1603 the remainder of the south front and the Pavillon-de-Flore were completed by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau.

Of Philibert de l’Orme’s work at Anet (1549), only the entrance gateway, the left-hand side of court, and the chapel remain, sufficient, however, to show that he had already at that early date mastered the principles of the Italian Revivalists. The chapel is in its way a remarkable design, but the hemispherical dome, pierced by elliptical winding arches inside, is not happy in its effect. The frontispiece which he created opposite the entrance, now in the court of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, shows great refinement in its details, but proportionally errs in many points. De l’Orme built also the bridge and gallery on the river Cher, forming an addition to the château of Chenonceaux.

Amongst other work of this period are the additions made by Bullant to the château de Chantilly, where he traversed the principles of classic design by running Corinthian pilasters through two storeys and cutting through the cornice of his dormer windows. At Écouen (1550) he destroyed the scale of the earlier buildings of 1532 by raising in front of the left wing of the court four lofty Corinthian columns with entablature complete, which he copied from the temple of Castor in Rome.

Among the early Renaissance work are the château of Ancy le Franc (Yonne), Italian in character, which may be by Serlio (1546); the Hôtel d’Assézat at Toulouse (1555), in which there is a strong resemblance to the court of the Louvre; the houses at Orleans, known as those of Agnes Sorel, Jeanne d’Arc and Diane de Poitiers (1552); and there is other work at Caen, Rouen, Toulouse, Dijon, Chinon, Périgueux, Cahors, Rodez, Beauvais and Amiens, dating up to the close of the 16th century. In this list might also be included the fine town hall of La Rochelle, the Hôtel Lamoignon in the rue des Francs-Bourgeois, Paris (1580), and the Hôtel de Vogüé at Dijon, which retained the Renaissance character, though built in the first year of the 17th century.

In the reigns of Henry IV. and Louis XIII. the first work of importance in Paris is that of the Place Royale, now the Place des Vosges; in this brick was largely employed, and the conjunction of brick and stone gave a decorative effect which dispensed with the necessity of employing the Classic orders. At Fontainebleau, where Henry IV. made large additions, the same mixture of brick and stone is found in the Galerie des Cerfs, and in the great service court (cour des cuisines). The example set was followed largely through the country, and numerous mansions and private houses in brick and stone still exist. Henry IV.’s most important work at Fontainebleau is the Porte Dauphine, of which the lower part, with rusticated columns and courses of masonry, does not quite accord in scale or character with the superstructure, in which is put some of the best work of the century.

Except perhaps for the monotony of the rusticated masonry which is spread all over the building, the palace of the Luxembourg, by Salomon de Brosse (1615), is an important work, in which he was probably instructed by Marie de’ Medici to reproduce the general effect of the Pitti palace at Florence. The three storeys of the main block are well proportioned, but the absence of a boldly projecting cornice, such as is found in the Riccardi and Strozzi palaces, is a defect; the same architect reconstructed the great hall of the palace of justice at Paris, burnt in 1871 but now rebuilt to the same design.

In 1629 the building subsequently known as the Palais Royal was begun from the designs of Lemercier; but it has been so materially altered since that scarcely anything remains of his design, though the works carried out from his designs at the Louvre were of the greatest possible importance. The court of the latter, as begun by Pierre Lescot, was of small dimensions, corresponding with that of the palace of Philip Augustus, but Lemercier proposed to quadruple its dimensions. It is not certain whether he built the lower portion of the Pavillon d’Horloge, but he designed the upper part, with the caryatid figures sculptured by Jacques Sarrazin. On the north side of this pavilion he built a wing similar in length and design to that of Pierre Lescot, and continued the wing along the north side to the centre pavilion; this was continued by Levau, the architect of Louis XIV., round the other sides of the court. His design for the

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 cold weather it is solid and requires to be melted by fire before using it; but, in the hot weather it is liquid and transparent, and gives a very fine light. It is burned either in Argyle lamps or in plain glasses with a wick floating on its surface. The common Argand lamp is extinguished under a punkah. Wax and sperm candles are often used. Gas has, hitherto, not been introduced in India, though preparations are far advanced for lighting up Calcutta by it.

10. CLOTHING.—In the cold weather clothing, warm as in Europe is worn; but in the hot, nothingbut white cotton all over. Calico shirts, jean jackets and vests, drill pantaloons, all white as driven snow. Linen is very seldom worn, it is too easily affected by change of temperature, and after perspiration it becomes cold as lead. Most people wear flannel under their clothes, and a very prudent practice it is, and the best protection against sudden alternations of weather. When flannel irritates the skin, as it does, and is not endurable to some, silk is an excellent substitute. Manufacturers have not supplied the Indian market with under garments of silk as they have of merino, and they have overlooked their own interest by this oversight, for if procurable there would be a very extensive demand for them, and they would be found a great improvement upon those now in use. Since my return to London


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 I have seen and worn the above silk under-garments, and found them very pleasant. They are light and elastic, and a valuable addition to the wardrobe in hot climates. A couple of silk hand-kerchiefs sewed together, leaving intervals for the head and arms to go through, forms a very convenient and most comfortable under dress.

Silk pyjamas, a sort of wide pantaloon, tied round the waist, is a common indoor dress, and is generally worn when in bed, and in the hot weather is the only covering.

In making up clothes for Indian wear,it is of the utmost importance that every raw edge of the cloth be hemmed and secured with extra sewing, for if sewed as if for home wear, the seams will be torn open in one or two washings. In India all washing is done by men, by beating the clothes against a stone or grooved plank, and the destruction caused by the dhoby is much greater than the ordinary tear and wear. So great is this that in families a tailor is constantly entertained to repair his damages, yet we submit to the mischievous practice. I have had the curiosity to weigh a complete suit of clothes worn by me in the hot season, and found that the jacket, vest, and pantaloons weighed only sixteen ounces. This is about the one-sixteenth part of the weight of a winter dress in England.

Cotton quilts, lined with silk, are the usual bed


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 covering. The silk, besides being a pleasant wear, is also a non-conductor of electricity, and I have heard of persons being by its use saved from the shock when all around them was struck by lightning. Mattrasses are rare things in India, and feather beds unknown, the general substitute being a lace-work of stout tape stretched on the bed frame, with a quilt over it. Every bed has its mosquito curtains,composed of thin gauze, which is useful in keeping off insects, in moderating the current of wind when sleeping with open doors, affording protection against damp,and even against miasma, when that exists, and no one should pass through a feverish belt of jungle without being encaged in mosquito gauze.

In violent fevers great relief is got by lying in bed corpore nudo.

At formal parties one is expected to appear in cloth,but that is generally made of so light material as not to be oppressive, unless on very great occasions. Full dress uniform is now rarely worn, indeed, uniform of all sorts is seldom seen off duty, a great improvement upon the old pipeclay and martinet system. Alpacca has been found an admirable article of clothing in the hot weather, and ought to be universal.

On ordinary occasions mufti, in all its varieties, is indulged in, various as the tastes of the owners, and not a bad idea may be formed of the


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 character and disposition of parties by a survey of their morning dishabille; such savage cuts, such exquisite ties, such fantastic hats, such immeasurable continuations, such comprehensive shooting coats, pea coats and cut-aways, all so comfortable and on such easy terms with the wearers that would drive a Buckmaster crazy. Very considerable indulgence has of late been allowed in the article of dress, still there is room for greater improvement, and perhaps the long expected reform may embrace all that is desirable. The most objectionable part of the present uniform is the forage cap and shako; the former has shrunk into the dimensions of a night-cap, the crown and the peak being only nominal, and the latter is so heavy, as to require the left hand to keep it on, and neither of them give any adequate protection against heat and glare. There is no want of excellent models from which to choose a good cap. The Grecian helmet, with a large peak in front and a fantailed peak behind, in general use as a solar topie, appears to me perfection both in comfort and appearance.

11. BATHING.—Next to a glass of cold water a cold bath is the most grateful luxury, and most persons indulge in one after their morning's exercise. Some use the cistern-bath,others the shower-bath, but the most common and the best is to pour five or six jars of water over head while


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 standing in the upright position. If earthern jars, filled with water, be kept out of doors all night, and brought in at daylight, the water will be as cool as can be desired. Not a few use the tepid bath, but I do not recommend it to one in good health,it is too relaxing, and not to be compared with the cold douche. Few bathe oftener than once a day, and most continue bathing during the coldest weather, when they shriek aloud at the shock.

Cold bathing is one of the most healthy pieces of discipline practised in India, and no small part of its advantages is a free use of soap all over, and the brisk friction in drying the skin with a huckaback towel. The cold bath is the best protection against sudden changes of temperature, the tepid against internal chronic affections.

The watercloset should be visited every morning at a fixed hour, as regularly as the bathroom. Such habitual visits are the best preventative against constipation, a very common complaint in India.

12. DIET. As most people get up early, it is customary to take a cup of coffee or newly-drawn milk, a couple of plantains or a wine biscuit before going out. This I believe to be a good system, it has part of the effects of a dram without its bad consequences, and prevents that squeamishness—that sinking of the heart as it is


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 commonly called—which is apt to ensue if nothing be eaten before breakfast. The general hour of breakfast is between nine and ten. Bread and butter and tea or coffee satisfy some; others have rice and fish, with eggs and butter, or cold meat and curries. Tiffin is served about two, and often consists of merely a glass of wine and a biscuit; dinner is served after dark, and consists of nearly the same materials as seen on an English table. Some prefer dining at three p.m.; most married parties do. The milk in use is either cows', goats', or buffaloes. Butter is made every day, the milk being churned as it comes from the cow. In the cold weather it is very good; in the hot white, curdy and insipid, resembling concentrated foam. Bread is in general excellent, and is leavened by being kneaded with the juice of the date palm tree, which ferments immediately after being drawn from the tree. Very good bread is made by flour and water kneaded into a thin cake called a chou-patty; and if an egg and a bit of butter be added, it is still better. Beef, mutton, and pork are very good; all being carefully fed on grain some months before being killed. In the hot weather it is necessary to cook the meat the same day on which it is killed, for it will not keep two days. English preserved provisions are common, and Stilton or Dunlop cheese always has its appropriate corner. Fish is universally to be


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 got of very good quality, and game in great variety—wild hogs and venison,quails, partridges, pheasants and peacocks. Some keep a native game-killer on purpose, and have a plentiful supply at a moderate rate. In fact, there is no lack of good fare, and the stranger must be careful and abstemious till he becomes acclimatised.

As a curry is a standing dish on every table, it may be well to have an idea of its constituents. It is a most heterogeneous compound of ginger, cloves, and cinnamon, cardamums, coriander, and cayennepepper, onions, garlic, turmeric, and even assafœtida, all in quantities consistent with peculiar tastes, ground to a powder by a pestle and mortar, and made into a paste with gee (clarified butter) or mustard oil,and stewed up with apiece of kid or a fowl. It is, therefore, well adapted to stimulate the appetite after a hot day, when most articles of diet are not cared for.

Almost all the cooking utensils are made of copper, tinned on the inside. It is customary to have the tinning renewed once a month, but from the native custom of scouring the vessels with sand in cleansing them, the tin is often worn off before the month is over, and the food cooked is apt to be tainted by copper to a hurtful extent. Acid preparations are not the only things that act rapidly on copper if allowed to remian in them, but oily ones also, and none more


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 so than oleaginous messes. Every pot should be cleaned and dried immediately after being used, and those who consult their health will do wisely in making occasional visits to their cook room. Enammelled iron cooking-pots are admirably adapted for India; but opposition may be expected, as the monthly tinning is a general source of peculation to the Khansaman, and the enamelled vessels are not.

13. FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.—As I have elsewhere mentioned, many people have a strong prejudice against the use of fruit. I would so far coincide in this opinion as to advise every newcomer to be sparing in their use and discriminating in his choice. He will soon find out what agrees or disagrees with him, and will act accordingly. Ripe grapes, peaches, guavas, custard, apples, pine-apples, oranges, pummaloes, pappias, and plantains are all wholesome, and a, green cocoa-nut affords a delicious draught. Mangoes,though the best fruit in India, he must eat with great circumspection, and gourds, water-melons, and cucumbers he will do well not to taste. Most English vegetables grow very well in the cold weather, potatoes, turnips, cauliflower, beans, peas, carrot, and beet-root. The agricultural society has conferred a great boon on the public by their expense and exertions in providing seeds from


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 Europe, and distributing them throughout the country.

Apples from America, grapes from Cashmere, dates from Arabia, and figs from Smyrna, are all in the market, and China ginger, English jams and jellies, Scotch marmalade, and French peaches preserved in brandy are equally procurable.

A few words respecting teeth may not be out of place here. The tooth-powder generally used is made from the charcoal of the betel nut. It is pleasant to use, and effective in keeping the teeth white, and the sirdar-bearer makes it well and saves all trouble, but it is as hard and attritive as pounded emery, and after ten or fifteen years it saws into the necks of the teeth and destroys them. A powder, composed of chalk, camphor, and myrrh is much preferable.

14. DRINKS.—The beverage most in use, is Bass or Allsop's pal,e bitter ale; and,no doubt,it is the best. A bottle at dinner is reckoned a moderate allowance; and,in fact, an essential article of diet.

Much bad wine finds its way to India; and, therefore, most messes get their wine direct from the vineyards of Europe. Though I would recommend as sparing a use of liquors to the stranger as animal food and highly-spiced dishes, yet I am not an advocate for meagre fare and water-drinking. I have seen many a man drowned by pouring cold water into him, and am, therefore,


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 not a hydropathist. I believe much harm has been done by indiscriminate abstinence, and consider the one extreme as hurtful as the other. The water drinker in avoiding the diseases of the intemperate contracts an opposite train; no less intractable and no less fatal the asthenic and chronic instance of the plethoric and acute. Some stimulus is actually necessary in the hot weather when the heart labours and the vital energy is exhausted, and I have recovered patients from the brink of the grave, and was once so recovered myself (thanks to a kind confrere) by judiciously ministered wine glasses of beer repeated every hour.

Fortunately intoxication is now a rare vice in India: the old system of hard living has been exploded, the hard livers have died off or taken themselves off to safer quarters. It is a very rare exception to see an officer the worse of liquor at a mess table, and he is a marked man who is so. Nothing is more injurious to an officer's character than sottishness: nothing more quickly estranges his comrades, and no misdemeanour is more severely punished.

Sodawater is freely used by old residents, and I think is carried to a hurtful extent. It is often taken under the impression that it possesses alkaline properties, as its name indicates, and consequently that it is good for acidity of stomach,


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 rupees during the season. He may depend upon the shops for supplies, and may draw his pay through the collectorate of Dhera.

These stations are situated on a narrow ridge of mountains, with numerous offshoots and eminences, on the summits of which a house is generally built. A great proportion of the houses are built upon terraces cut out of the solid rock; the eaves of the back of the house being lower than the bank. Of these stations it may be said, that man has done every thing for them, and nature very little; they do not contain an acre in all, of level ground, and not a bit of good building stone. At Missourie there is no timber within twenty miles, fit for carpentry, and few trees of any sort; with naked limestone rocks sticking out every where, very little soil fit for vegetation, and no water within 300 feet or more of the ridge. The tops of the rocks have been cut away, or their ribs have been scooped out into flats, to obtain foundations for the houses; and fine roads of many miles in extent have been blasted and cut out of the solid rock at immense labour and expense, affording the most picturesque views; the mountains are very steep, and here and there precipitous with continuous descents of eight or ten miles between top and bottom. The wooding, as I have said, is scanty and only fit for burning, the fine oak trees being for the most part hollow; the rhododendron


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 that Landour is about 1000 feet higher than the generality of houses in Missourie. They are placed in N. Lat. 30° 35. E. Long. 78° 10. The elevation of Missourie is 7500, of Landour 8500.

Missourie is not far distant from Merut, and the journey can be made in two or three nights dawk. Before reaching the hills, the Sewalic range must be passed through by a very tedious road up the stony bed of a torrent,requiring alone three hours to accomplish it. There-after the Dhera Dhoon must be crossed ten or fifteen miles in breadth,in the middle of which is the station of Dhera. Should the invalid feel fatigued, he will do well to halt a day or two at one of the very good hotels here,he will find the temperature very pleasant, and may consider himself out of the heat of the plains. Early in the morning, he should go on to Rampore to breakfast, where there is a good hotel, and having written to the postmaster there, to have bearers ready, he may be up at Missourie in four or five hours either by pony or jampan. A stranger on arriving at Missourie,is very ill off for accommodation. There is but one hotel, and that a very miserable one, and in the bazar; the club is a desirable resort, but of course, open only to its members, and early in the season it is full. The best plan is to have a house engaged ready for his reception. These are to be got furnished, and vary in expense from 500 to 800


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 whereas it contains no alkali whatever. Its property as a simple diluent is lost by the profuse perspiration that follows the draught; and its advantages counterbalanced by the stomach and bowels being surcharged with flatus.

Liquids of all kinds have a tendency to increase perspiration, the urgent thirst is only temporarily allayed by drinking, for as fast as a liquid is drunk an equal quantity of fluid passes off by the skin. Hence, a reason why a mouthful of cold water now and then will moderate thirst almost as effectually as an equal number of tumblers. Liquors of almost all kinds are imported from Europe. Some attempts on a small scale have been made to brew beer at Missouri, and very good beer it is, for I have drunk it; but the beverage has not been patronised in the plains.

Though the grape grows luxurious in most parts, it has not been made into wine. This may be owing to excess of fertility, and possibly a superior grape might be cultivated on some barren konkar soils so common in Upper India. Arrack, distilled from the juice of certain palm trees, is occasionally served out to Europeans instead of rum.

Potable water is obtained either from rivers, tanks, wells, or from rain. The water of the Ganges is excellent, and although very muddy on first lifting, it soon deposits an abundant sediment


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 and remains pure. It is further rendered more transparent by the addition of a little alum.

The water of most tanks is filled with animalcules, and not fit for use till filtered. A very good filter is easily made bypassing water through three earthem jars,half filled with charcoal and sand, with sponge plugs in the bottom, and fitted on a slight frame, one above the other. Those who are very particular about water collect all that falls from the houses during the rainy season, and store it up in large earthern jars for future use.

15. ICE.—In the hot weather, every dinner is closed with ice, and the greatest luxury in India is a glass of cold water. Every larger station in India has its ice pits for the manufacture of ice, and its ice houses for storing it up for the hot weather. Though the temperature of almost no station in Bengal is so low at any season as to cause water to freeze in the natural way, yet an artificial process is contrived to produce congelation. If a porous earthen vessel be filled with water, and exposed to the atmosphere upon straw during a clear night in the cold season, a pellicle of ice will be formed on it in the morning. On this principle, thousands of earthen plates full of water are so exposed during November, December, January, and February. The ice is collected in baskets, and stored up for use. Most residents


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 have shares of ice; and,by paying forty or sixty rupees during the season, they have as much ice as they require.

American ice is imported in great abundance, and is sometimes as cheap as an anna a pound.

The surgeons of all hospitals are permitted to indent on the commissariat for ice, on its being thought necessary for their patients.

Saltpetre and Glauber salts are extensively used for cooling liquids. These salts are abundantly developed from the soil in Upper India, especially in Oude and Behar, and are consequently obtained at a cheap rate.

When water is once cool, the grand object is to keep it cool, and the best thing is to put it into a bottle, and enclose it in sack of quilted cotton or in a pith case called solar. Many combine their larder and their ice-pad, and thus are able to preserve meat a couple of days.

16. SMOKING.—Tobacco-smoking is a very common habit; so much so that two-thirds of the European population indulge in it; nor is the vice contracted in India only. A large proportion of cadets acquire the habit in England, and are not a little proud of their accomplishment, Young men think it manly to be able to blow as big a cloud as their commanding officer. Their breath not only smells of an old pipe,but everything that comes out of their house—a book, a


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 newspaper, or a letter—does the same; so that the perusal, by any one not seasoned to such fumes, is sickening; and, to ladies, disgusting. The very difficulty of learning to smoke, the headache, and nausea, and vertigo with which that is acquired, are enough to show that the habit is most injurious; only made endurable by long habit, and persevered in from want of some more congenial occupation. Habitual smoking, too, often leads to habitual drinking; the drain upon the system must be replenished,and brandy and water is the succedaneum. Some pretend to gainsay this, and maintain that they do not spit; but this only shows the torpor of the salivary glands; for, if they werein a healthy state,saliva would be as copious as when they were learning the habit.

Some smoke from medicinal motives,and to produce alaxative effect, or from absurd notions that it neutralises malaria; but these same persons would grumble loudly at being obliged to take a pill every evening to produce the same effect. If a general order were issued, rendering smoking compulsory, how the fathers of youthful heroes would protest against so very expensive a habit being imposed upon their sons, what an outcry there would be amongst the married ladies for having such an intolerable nuisance forced upon their domestic economy. How the surgeons would be


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 with applications for certificates recommending exemption from the rule on the score of their constitutions being too delicate to admit of smoking being practised with impunity. Strange infatuation! Great smokers blow away money enough during their career in India to purchase them a moderate annuity; they waste more good health than their pensions can redeem; and shorten the period of their lives several years by this filthy habit.

Hookah smoking, though to appearance less hurtful than cigar smoking, is in reality more so. By it the smoke of the tobacco is inhaled into the very lungs, and, generally, a large proportion of carbonic acid gas with it. Hookah smoking is now gone out of fashion. One seldom sees more than one or two hookahs in a large party, and these in the hands of regular veterans who have grown old in their devotion.

All praise is due to tobacco as a medicine, and I have derived a soothing, sedative, soporific effect from a temporary use of it when opiates failed.

17. EXERCISE.—If early rising were considered a proof of industry, certainly no people would be thought more industrious than Europeans in India. Few indeed (ladies excepted) are in bed so late as sunrise, and most are upon their legs at gun-fire or break of day, and ready for their


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 on the tops of the higher mountains rarely fall so low as its elevation. Almorah has further the advantage of government bungalows in different directions, towards Loohooghaut four marches distant, and Petoraghur seven marches, where the invalid can find change of air and change of scene, advantages not to be overlooked, when the monotony of life renders time heavy on hand. Should he find the cold of Almorah too severe, he can descend 1500 feet to the pretty retreat of Hawulbagh only six miles distant,and where there are several houses for rent; and the lofty mountain of Binsur 9000 feet is only eight miles distant, where he could pitch his tent in a grove of cedar trees, amidst the most picturesque scenery in the world.

Should he wish to visit the Snow line, he can do so at Pinduree which is eight days journey distant. The most delightful tour in these hills is to Kedarnath, at the snow line, and this may be done in one month. October and April are the best months for the snow excursion,giving the preference to the former.

Should he tire of all these varieties,he will find a bridle road along the mountains to Missourie, seventeen days distant, but he must depend upon tents for shelter.

12. MISSOURIE AND LANLOUR.—Landour and Missourie may properly be called one station, as they are in conjunction; the only difference being


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 unfertile, and crops are rare. Its rocks are composed of slate and quartz, and large boulders of granite abound. Formerly a corps of the line was stationed here,but of late that has been withdrawn, and the duties of the province are performed by a local corps. Houses are consequently cheap and abundant, and there are four or five government Bungalows, which officers on sick leave are allowed to live in rent free, on application to the magistrate.

The town is a very respectable collection of well-built houses, partly of stone and partly of wood, with the roofs well covered with large slabs of slate, six, eight, or ten feet square, and the streets are well paved with the same material. The bazar is but scantily supplied with European supplies, and these must be procured from the plains. There is a well-built modern fort here, the old Goorkah Fort being converted into a jad.

The climate of Almorah is a happy medium between Naineethal and the plains, the thermometer rarely rises to 80°, and the frost and snow in the winter are not severe, and are welcomed rather than disliked. Its chief advantage is its exemption from heavy fogs and rains, the great drawback to places of higher elevation. The rains there are comparatively mild, a succession of showers with about equal portions of sunshine and shower, and the fogs that brood almost


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 walk, their ride, or their drive, or their duty as circumstances admit. The stranger will find few pedestrians to keep him company, but, as it is probable that his pay will not admit of his keeping a horse, let him not give way to the absurd prejudice of thinking walking infra dig, and injure his health by remaining in-doors. Let him, therefore sally out every morning, and take a moderate walk, enough to tire, but not to fatigue. He will see many an individual deeply impressed with the advantages of a morning walk padding along with their horses led behind them, or their buggy at their heels; not that they have any intention of using either, but that they dread being seen by vulgar eyes shorn of their establishment or being taunted with niggardliness for trudging through the dust like a coolie to save their horses shoes or their buggy wheels.

The evening is the grand season of recreation; every one who can set a couple or two of wheels in motion turns out to his constitutional drive; the course is crowded with carriages of every description; nor do they withdraw till the shades of evening close over them, rendering it difficult to recognise the faces of their friends as they pass. It is one of the anomalies of India that Europeans think it infra dig to take exercise on foot; to walk they are ashamed, even to preserve their precious health; yet many of the ills they


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 To the north an endless series of mountain ridges come in view, crowned with the snowy peaks of the Great Himalayah, Kedar Nath, and Budrinath, and Nundi-devy, and Juwahir, fit altars to look from nature up to nature's God. No wonder that the Hindoos considered those peaks so sacred, and enjoined pilgrimages to be made to them to offer up their prayers to Mahadeo, with an assurance of a happy immortality to the pilgrims that died of fatigue on the way; or that they offered up themselves as a sacrifice by ascending their heights till they perished in the snow,in "The valley of death." Not fifty years ago, this religious rite was prevalent at Kedarnath, but like many other modes of human sacrifice it was suppressed, when Kumaon became a dependance of the company.

11. ALMORAH.—Almorah is about thirty miles distant from Naineethal towards the north; there is a good road between the two;and staging Bungalows at Ramghur and Powree, but the journey with a spare pony can easily be made in one day. Almorah stands on the summit of a range of mountains considerably lower than its neighbours, at an elevation of only 5500 feet. The country within six or seven miles of it is quite naked, the forests having been cut down for firewood during centuries gone by,but the station is well planted by the householders. The soil is


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 during the winter, and to avoid these many visitors proceed to Almorah or the plains.

The scenery on the first half of the ascent is not very interesting, but towards the top it becomes very grand, the perpendicular cliffs of Aya-patta being the chief features in the landscape.

The principal attraction of the station is the Lake or Thai; a sheet of water darkly, deeply blue, about a mile long, and varying from a a quarter to half a mile in breadth; fringed with the broad leaved lotus, overhung with luxuriant forest trees, and walled in by ranges of mountains rising by moderate slopes one or two thousand feet above the lake. The greater number of the houses are built low down, near the lake, but numbers are perched along the brows of the hills, and many on the summits of the ridges. There is an excellent road all round the lake, and numerous rides in all directions, even to the top of Cheenur, about 9,000 feet high. The views from the top of Cheenur are exceedingly grand; towards the south the plains of Rohdcund appear like a rich carpet spread out for nature herself to repose upon; the towns and the fields, the woods and waters, diminished to spots, pourtrayed like patterns, melting away in aerial perspective till the landscape is lost in the hazy horizon one hundred miles distant.


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 of might be avoided by well regulated pedestrianism. A few sturdy independent characters, men in high office, who can afford to laugh at the fetters that society rivets upon its own ankles, may be seen enjoying their morning and evening walks; and their fine robust figures and healthy countenances give proof of its advantages; but men of moderate status in the service would hardly venture upon an evening walk, and ladies would think it a sin to do so, especially married ladies. Even in the fine cold weather, when active exercise is the greatest enjoyment, they prefer sitting shivering in cloaks and carriages; even in their own houses many of them think it too much trouble to walk up their own stairs, and though not invalids claim the privileges of the invalid, and by this system soon become invalids in real earnest.

Why do not the residents of Calcutta raise a subscription and have a ladies' walk made along the side of the Hoogly from Chandpal Ghaut to Prinsep's Ghaut. If they could prevail upon the partners of their lot to take a turn on such a mall every evening, I feel assured they would be greatly the better for it, and the husbands would save long bills, long voyages, and long absences, caused by sending their wives to England. If the two accomplished ladies, now at the head of Calcutta society, would condescend to set the example


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 men, two or three in front and behind. The dandy is fit only for people in robust health;and consists of a sort of hammock strapped to a pole twelve or fourteen feet in length, on which the traveller sits with his arms resting on the pole, and his feet dependent. A palanquin can easily be carried, and if the traveller goes to Kalidoongee by dauk, he cannot do better than go up in his palkee, even though the bearers may object to its extra weight. The first four or five miles is over the stony bed of a river, the rest is one continuous but easy ascent.

There is a tolerably good hotel at Naineethall, and houses can easily be got for rent at from C. R. 400 to 800 during the season. There may be 80 or 100 houses,now built at the Thai. The commissioner of Kumaon, and one of his assistants live part of the year there. All ordinary supplies can be procured in the bazars, but most residents get up their European stores from Meerut or Cawnpore.

An assistant surgeon and a chaplain are stationed here, but their tour of duty is limited to two years.

The most agreeable months at the Thai are April, May, and June, October and November. During July, August and September, the rains are very heavy, almost incessant, and very unpleasant; severe frost and heavy snow are prevalent


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 and make pedestrianism fashionable, they would effect a reform that would contribute materially to the improvement of the public health in India. Riding is by far the most common mode of exercise,and many take their morning and evening ride as commonly as their meals. Dumbells and other gymnastics, shampooing and friction, with a flesh-brush or rough woollen glove, are very beneficial. Sponging with cold water and soap every morning is a very good practice. Too much attention cannot be paid to the state of the skin, for its functions are no less important than those of the intestines or lungs. Many persons in good health are apt to neglect these apparent trifles, nor do they think of attending to them until their health is broken.

When restlessness occurs during the hot nights it is best to get up and get cool by walking up and down the room, taking a turn out of doors, or by changing one's night clothes, and going to a fresh bed.

18. AMUSEMENTS.—These,of course, vary with the taste of the individual. Shooting engages the leisure hours of many. Of all sorts of this sport, snipe shooting is the most dangerous. These birds are found only in marshy miry bogs, the very hotbeds of fever, and can only be got at by plunging up to the knees in mud, with a burning hot sun overhead. Many sportsmen thus contract fever,


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 There was formerly a good hotel at Darjiling, but it has lately been given up from want of visitors, and the only public accommodation available is the staging bungalow. Houses equal to the demand, furnished,may be got for rent,but supplies of all sorts must be provided from Calcutta by the residents themselves.

The rains and fogs are excessively heavy, much more so than farther westward. They are almost incessant during June, July, and August, as much falling each month as thirty inches. Severe frost and heavy snow prevail in winter.

Darjiling has not answered general expectation, and has of late retrograded rather than advanced. It is used as a Sanitarium for European troops belonging to regiments in the lower provinces.

10.NAINEE-THAL.—Nainee-thal is situated in the province of Kumaon, in N. lat. 29-36, E.Ion. 79-20; elevation, 7,000 to 8,000 feet. It is distant from Bareilly and Moradabad about seventy miles. Kalidoongee stands at the foot of the hills in a forest of bamboos, &c., on dry hard shingle; its distance from the Thai is 16 miles, and the journey up is easily made in one day either by a pony, a jampan, or a dandy, any of which could be provided from the Thal. The best conveyance for' a lady or an invalid up the hill is a jampan, a sort of covered chair, supported upon two poles, and carried by four or six


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 Darjiling may be approached either by land or by water. The following is the best route for an invalid,and can be made in from six to nine days, according to the rate of halting. From Calcutta—

At each of these stations there is a government bungalow where supplies can be got.

Punkabarry, the first station in the hills, is only 1,600 feet high, and consequently not a desirable place to halt at. Kursion is the second, 4,500 feet high, and a very good place to rest at.

A good boat can proceed as far as Dulalgunge by the river Mahanuddy during the rains, and within 30 miles of Dulalgunge in dry weather, in 20 to 30 days. Dulalgunge is about 30 miles from the foot of the hills, and ready conveyance Can be procured thence to Darjiling.

Travellers bound to Darjiling, either up or down the Ganges by steam, should land at Beauleah, and join the above route at Bergatcha.


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 and sacrifice their health, or even their lives, in pursuit of this worthless game.

Boating is a good deal practiced, but from want of skill many accidents attend it, and many are drowned in consequence.

Cricket, quoits, rackets, billiards, all have their votaries, while backgammon, cards, and chess attract the more sedentary.

It is much to be regretted that gambling, under many different forms, is too prevalent, and large sums of money are often staked on very trifling matters, e. g. heads or tails, the longest or shortest straw drawn from a thatched house; high points at cards, high stakes on horses to run at the Derby, and betting upon any circumstance that admits of a bet. Some young men render themselves a nuisance at a mess table by their pertinacity in offering bets. I need not say that gambling of all sorts is stringently prohibited by the authorities, and that a fortunate gambler, though a notorious character, is a very unenviable one.

When idleness and inactivity are so common, and apathy and ennui, like the dry rot in a ship of the line pervades the community, and entails disease, both bodily and mental, any rational amusement that would ventilate society, and give a fillip to the languid pulse of passing events, that would break the monotony of time, and set the moral elements into circulation, ought to be


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 been equally confined in the plains; and instead of sitting by a roaring pinewood fire in a snug room, they would be stretched on a couch fanned by a punkah, overwhelmed with heat and dust, and perspiration, with no hope of relief for many months. But every dark cloud has its margin of silver;and a week or two of dismal weather is generally followed by some glorious breaks. There is generally a lull at sunrise or sunset;presenting a panorama of dissolving views that no power of the pen, or the pencil, could describe. I might throw out a few general hints for the invalid during his stay in the hills; but shall content myself with only one; and that is to put himself, immediately after his arrival, under the advice of the medical officer of the Sanitarium; there being one or two appointed for the express purpose of attending visitors.

9. DARJILING.—Darjiling, the most eastward of the Sanitaria of Bengal, is in the Sikhim country, (lately absorbed,) in N. lat. 27° E. long. 90°. Distance from Calcutta about 370 miles. elevation 7,220 feet above the sea. Range of thermom. 29° to 74°. Annual fall of rain 128 inches,(enormous.) Its aspect is to the north; the view of the snowy range from it is very magnificent, and the highest mountain in the world, Kun-chinjunga, 28,000 feet high, is about 50 miles direct distance.


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 hailed as a public good. Of all the recreations of the home country, and more especially in London, none rank higher than those popular schools of art and science, the Polytechnic institutions. It is truly delightful to see how smooth the rugged mountains of science have there been made, how imperceptible the railway gradients that lead to their summits, how easily the canal locks lift the vis inertiæ of mortality to the clouds, how happily amusement is blended with instruction, that people of all ages and all tastes may gratify their predominant passion, while unconsciously learning something useful. If there be a royal road to knowledge it is there; for, by the aid of maps and models,and lectures,as much maybe learned in an hour as in a year elsewhere.

It is much to be regretted that such institutions are not attempted at all large stations in India. There would be found no want of talent amongst officers to officiate in some capacity or another. I remember the time when the scientific soirees given at Government House, by the Earl of Auckland, were anticipated with intense desire.

18. DOMESTIC PLAGUE.—Muchhasbeen written, and a great deal more talked of, respecting the annoyance of insects; and some would have it to be believed that all the plagues of Egypt were let loose upon society, and that their lives was a constant warfare against red ants and white ants,


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 east front, however, did not recommend itself to the king or to his minister Colbert, and a competition was held, the first place being given to the design by a physician, Dr Perrault. Prior to its being begun, however, Bernini was sent for, and he submitted other designs, fortunately not carried out, as they would have destroyed the court of the Louvre. In 1665 the works were begun on the design of Perrault, a grandiose frontispiece which appealed to Louis XIV., but in which no cognizance had been taken of the various rooms against which it was built; consequently no windows could be opened, and it forms now a useless peristyle. Moreover it was so much wider than the original building that on the north side it became necessary to add a new front. Fortunately the example set by Perrault of coupling columns together has rarely been followed since in France, so that in the Garde-Meuble on the south side of the Place de la Concorde, by Gabriel, we return again to the original classic peristyle. The works undertaken at the Louvre progressed but slowly, in consequence of the greater interest taken by Louis XIV. in the palace he was building at Versailles, an extension of the hunting-box built by his father Louis XIII., which he insisted should be maintained and incorporated as the central feature in the new building. But as it was comparatively small in dimensions, of simple design, and in brick and stone, it was quite unfit to become the central feature of the main front of the largest palace in Europe. To make it worse, the new wings built on either side were lofty and of more importance architecturally, and as they projected some 300 ft. in advance of the earlier building, they reduced it to still greater insignificance. But even then the architect, Jules Hardouin Mansart, might have redeemed his reputation by buildings of greater interest than those which now exist. The back elevation of the central block is 330 ft. wide, the returns 280 ft., and the length of the wings on each side 500 ft.; in other words he had nearly 1900 ft. run of façade, and it is simply a repetition of the same bays from one end to the other, in three storeys all of the same height, the lower one with semicircular arched openings, the first floor decorated with pilasters on columns of the Ionic order, and an attic storey above with balustrade. The slight projection given to the central and side bays of each block, just sufficient to allow of columns in the first floor as decorative features instead of pilasters, is of no value in fronts of such great dimensions. The great galleries inside have the same monotonous design as in the façades, relieved only by the rich decoration in the first case and the splendid masonry in the latter. There is one saving clause in the main front, the chapel by R. de Cotte on the right-hand side being externally and internally a fine structure, and the best ecclesiastical example of the period.

Among other buildings of the 17th century are those begun by Cardinal Mazarin in the rue de Richelieu, which now constitute the National library; the Hôtel de Toulouse (1626), now the Bank of France; the Hôtel de Sully (1630), by du Cerceau; the Hôtel de Beauvais (1654), by le Pautre; the Hôtel Lambert (also by le Pautre), in the Île St Louis; the château at Maisons, near St Germain-en-Laye, by François Mansart (1656); the Institute of France (1662), by Levau; two triumphal arches, of St Denis (1672), by Blondel, and St Martin (1674) by Bullet; the Hôtel des Invalides (1670), by Bruant; the Place des Victoires and the Place Vendôme (1695–1699), by Jules Hardouin Mansart, in which a series of large houses are grouped together in one design; the Trianon at Versailles (1676), and the château of Marly (1682), both by J. H. Mansart; and important monumental buildings in the principal provincial cities, such as Lyons, Bordeaux, Nantes and Tours.

In the 18th century those which are worthy of note are the Hôtel Soubise (1706), now the “Archives Nationales”; the fountain in the rue de Grenelle, a fine composition; the École Militaire (1752), by Gabriel; the École de Médecine (1769), by Gondouin; the mint (1772), by Antoine; the Place de la Concorde, with the Garde-Meuble, by Gabriel (1765); the Hôtel de Salm, now the Legion of Honour; the Place Stanislas at Nancy (1738–1766), in which are grouped the town hall, archbishop’s palace, theatre and other public buildings, with triumphal arch and avenues leading to the palace of the duke Stanislaus (with magnificent wrought-iron enclosures and gates by Jean Lamour, the greatest craftsman of the century); the theatre at Bordeaux by Louis; and the Odéon, Paris (1789).

The ecclesiastical architecture of the French Renaissance comes at the end of our description owing to the far greater importance of the palaces, mansions and public monuments, and also because in the beginning of the 16th century France found herself in possession of a much larger number of cathedrals and large churches than she could maintain. Some of these are still unfinished, so that her first efforts would seem to have been directed to the completion of those already begun rather than to the erection of new ones, St Eustache in Paris being nearly the only exception of importance prior to the 17th century.

We have from time to time dwelt upon the important consideration which must not be lost sight of, viz. that nearly all the buildings erected in France up to the accession of Henry IV. were conceived and carried out in the spirit of the Flamboyant Gothic style, cinque-cento details mixed up with Gothic at first, then superseding them, and even when the influence of the Italian revivalists began to exert itself, still retaining much of her traditional methods of design. If this was the case in civil architecture, it was naturally more pronounced in the additions made to ecclesiastical structures, and the gradual development of the style may be more easily followed in the latter. These are, however, so numerous, and they are so universally spread throughout France, that only a few of the most interesting examples can be here given; for instance, the porch of St Michel at Dijon; the upper part of the western towers of the cathedrals of Orleans and Tours; the three eastern chapels of St Jacques, Dieppe, built at the cost of Jean Ango, a celebrated merchant-prince of Dieppe, to whose château at Varengeville we have already referred; the eastern chapels of St Peter’s, Caen, from the designs of Hector Sohier (1521), both internally and externally of great interest; the west end of the church at Vétheuil (Seine-et-Oise); the magnificent work of the west front and tower of the church at Gisors; the upper part of the west front of the cathedral at Angers; the portals of the church at Auxonne (Fichot); the choir at Tillières; the lantern of the church of St Peter, Coutances (1541); the porch of the Dalbade at Toulouse; and the north front of the church of Ste Clotilde at Les Andelys, which dates from the age of Henry II.

The church of St Eustache at Paris, begun in 1533, but not completed till the end of the century, is a large cruciform Gothic structure with lofty double aisles on each side and carried round the choir, and rectangular chapels round the whole building, excepting the west end. Structurally also it possesses all the most characteristic features of the Gothic church, with nave arcades carried on compound piers, triforium and clerestory, vaulted throughout, and flying buttresses outside. Close examination shows that all the details are of the early cinque-cento work, panelled pilasters of varying proportions, but with Renaissance capitals, corbels, niches and canopies all grouped together in a Gothic manner, and quite opposed to the principles of the Italian revivalists; what is more remarkable is that though long before its completion these principles had already borne fruit in the Louvre and Tuileries, the original conception was adhered to, and the portals of the north and south transepts (the last features added, with the exception of the ugly west front of the 18th century) still retain the character of the early French Renaissance.

In St Étienne-du-Mont, sometimes claimed as a second example, the church is Flamboyant Gothic throughout, the chief additions being the magnificent rood-screen of 1600, and the west portal, in which the banded columns of the Bourbon period form the chief features.

Coming to churches of later date, Salomon de Brosse (c. 1565–1627), the architect of the Luxembourg palace, added in 1616 a fresh front to the church of St Gervais, finely proportioned and of pure Italian design, which contrasts favourably with the Jesuits’ church of St Paul and St Louis (1627–1641), overladen with rococo ornament; then came the churches of the Sorbonne (1629), by Jacques Lemercier, and of the Val-de-Grace (1645), by François Mansart, the dome of the latter, though small, being a fine design; the church of the Invalides, also by Mansart, the dome of which is the most graceful in France; the cathedral of Nancy (1703–1742), by Jules Hardouin Mansart and Germain Boffrand (1667–1754), the principal front of which is flanked by two towers with octagonal lanterns which group so well with the central portion (of the usual design, in two stages with pilasters and coupled columns, carrying a third stage with circular pediment) that it is unfortunate it should be almost the only example of its kind; and lastly the church of Ste Geneviève, better known as the Panthéon (1755), by Jacques Germain Soufflot (1713–1780), the dome of which is based largely on that of St Peter’s in Rome. The main building with its great portico is a simple and fine piece of design, and unlike St Peter’s the dome is well seen from every point of view; the decoration of its walls with paintings by Puvis de Chavannes and other French artists has now rendered the interior one of the most interesting in France.

In Spain, as in France, the revival of classic architecture was engrafted on the Flamboyant style of the country, influenced here and there by Moorish work, so that the earlier examples of Spanish Renaissance constitute a transitional style which lasted till the accession of Philip II. (1558), who introduced what was then considered to be the purer Italian style of Palladio and Vignola. This, however, did not seem to have had much attraction for the Spaniards, owing to its coldness and formality, so that in the latter half of the 17th century a reaction took place in favour of the most depraved and decadent architecture in existence.

The magnificence of the earlier Renaissance work, which was introduced into Spain when she was at the zenith of her power, and (owing to the discovery of a new world) the possessor of enormous wealth, has scarcely yet been recognized, in consequence of the greater attraction of the Moorish architecture; there is

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 sand flies and mosquitoes, cockroaches and centipedes, scorpions, lizards, and snakes. Their noise during an evening in the rains is certainly tremendous; indeed,quite deafening; but few of these are allowed to intrude upon the interior, being prevented by the chicks, a sort of curtain made of very finely split slips of bamboo, the thickness of a crow-quill, neatly tied together, and suspended in the door-way. If these be tied up after dark, when dinner is on the table, an entomologist might make a magnificent collection without rising from his chair.

The mosquito is the most annoying. In Calcutta they swarm all the year round; but in the upper provinces they disappear during the cold weather. They insinuate their proboscis through one or two folds of cloth, even through a woollen sock; their sting is as pungent as a nettle's, and is immediately followed by a lump as large as a coffee bean,and intolerably itchy. Strangers are liable to scratch this, and often cause very serious sores. Mosquitoes are fond of novelty, and new comers may be recognised by the attentions paid them by the mosquito. The mosquito curtain, or the horse-hair chowrie, are therefore the only alternative. The mosquito is generated in stagnant water; his first appearance is in form of a maggot, zig-zagging about, and when he gets his wings he deserts his native element, and soars


text: Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Cutler, Ephraim


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 escape the "trot," but which is not a very serious affair.

Convalescence is a very delightful feeling at all times, and its delights partly recompence the patient for his past sufferings, and so long as it lasts he will be happy and contented. But when he is once more restored to his accustomed vigor, he will begin to feel the want of occupation, and idleness and ennui will render his days tedious and tiresome.

When the rains set in, and fall to the extent of 120 inches before they are over;when everything is enveloped in clouds; when confinement to the house for days and even weeks is unavoidable; when nought is to be heard but the splash of the rain as it falls from the roof, and the heavy drops pattering from leaf to leaf of the old oak trees; when nought can be seen through the impenetrable fog, still as a lake, and feeling so liquid that one almost fancies himself living under water; when the fog flits into the house like an unclean spirit, settles upon every article of furniture, and the body as well as the mind becomes blue with mould; the newly regained health, like a newly built house,is exposed to a severe trial,and many then wish themselves back in the plains. On those occasions it must not be forgotten,that though confined to the house for days, they would have


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 quite low enough to answer all the purposes of a sanitarium; the clouds that brood on the higher spots rarely fall so low, he rains are much lighter, and the winter most enjoyable. I will grant that a month previous to the rains and a month thereafter, the higher stations have the advantage, but as a residence throughout the year, the lower ones are decidedly preferable.

But let not the invalid rush to the hills unprepared for fatigue or inconvenience. A long dawk journey is not the only difficulty to be encountered:for when he has got to his destination, he will find many others he did not calculate upon. Even in a good hotel he will not be much at his ease: the want of baggage, of servants, of little domestic comforts, so essential to a man in delicate health, he will at first greatly miss; and if he take a house, he will, even though furnished, have many things to procure. Let him be prepared to meet these with patience and resolution. It is a general, and I think a well-founded opinion, that all hill stations are better adapted for preserving good health, than for restoring it when lost. When organic disease has occurred, such as diarrhœa, or dysentery, or hepatatis, or consumption, they are decidedly objectionable. Diarrhœa is epidemic in the hot weather, and few people visiting them even when in good health


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 aloft. One may watch the transformation in a glass of water.

The red ant abounds in myriads in every house; but he is too honest and independent to draw upon the most tender morsel of humanity. He finds sick flies, and broken legged beetles, and wounded mosquitoes, and invalid spiders, and gouty flies, enough to supply his wants.

Scorpions and centipedes seldom take up their quarters unless in very old and filthy houses. Lizards abound in all houses; but they are encouraged rather than disturbed, and are very active in destroying mosquitoes. In fact, they are all known individually by some particular mark, as they run along the wall in cunning pursuit of their prey, which they seize by suddenly jerking out their long tongue, coated, I was going to say, with bird-lime, but with something quite as sticky.

Even the loathsome spider is allowed to practice his profession undisturbed,provided he does not spread his net within the circuit of the sweeper's broom. Mosquitoes, in full life and vigour, form his staple article of food, and a sagacious spider rids the room of no small head of mosquitoes every day.

Moths are very destructive to woollen clothing, and frequent sunning is necessary to preserve them.


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 nut, the chesnut, and the walnut; while in their shade bloom the primrose, the clover, and the thyme, geraniums, jasmines, woodbine and eglantine. Apples, pears, plums, and apricots, come to perfection in the gardens; and of late years extensive tracts have been converted into tea plantations, supplying an article equal to that of China. Almost every English vegetable comes to perfection, and potatoes are transported in large quantities to the plains.

Such is a sketch of the Himalayan made from personal observation,and a residence of several years on duty there.

8. CLIMATE.—The most delightful months in these hills are April, May and June, September and October. The rainy season has its peculiar drawbacks. Few invalids reside there in winter. The climate of the plains is far superior. The 15th of April is the best season to repair to the hills; the 15th of October to leave them.

I am of opinion that all the Sanitaria on the Himalayah are pitched at too high an elevation, viz.:—7 to 8,000 feet;and that a much preferable climate is to be found at from 5,500 or 6,000. Tempted by the low temperature of the higher sites, their founders seem to have overlooked their inconveniences;their excessive rain, and fog, and severe winter. This is not the case at 5 and 6,000 feet. The temperature at that height is


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 Camphor wood trunks are the best places to keep them in.

Sand flies are very common in the Punjaub, and very annoying.

Of all the domestic plagues, the white ant is the most destructive,and as they do all their mischief in the dark or under cover either by mining below ground or by tunnelling their paths with clay when above ground, much watching is necessary to prevent their attacks. The beams of the houses require to be frequently sounded, for they are generally eaten to a shell without any symptom being perceptible outside. I once had an entire trunk eaten up; a deal one; nothing was seen externally; but on opening it I found that the leather alone kept in shape and it broke down in my hands. The very forests are kept in check by this minute insect, and probably every third tree is destroyed and eaten up by them. "When white ants abound, every article should have a plate of metal,—copper is best,—between them and the ground.

Immense flocks of locusts appear at certain times darkening the very sun like a heavy fall of snow in a very wonderful manner. Great consternation is caused among the natives by such a visitation, and with just cause, for if they settle even for a night, every blade of grass, and every leaf is devoured by them. On their appearance,the whole


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, and deer of various varieties; the wild goat and wild sheep, and wild donkey, there find food and protection.

Its rivers are worthy of the mountains that give them birth; roaring, raging, impetuous, irresistible floods;dashing over precipices, and cutting through rocks; at one place breaking into streams, where one might fish for trouts; at another expanding into pools, where a whale might lodge or a navy might ride: here sweeping away the giants of the forests, root and branch, like straws upon a rivulet; there washing away whole estates in landsslips; undermining the very mountains themselves, hurling their fragments audibly along their bottom like thunder, and piling up their colossal bones in boulders, that excite wonder and astonishment; compared with whose masses the stones of our Druidical circles are but putting-stones.

The slopes of these hills are studded with neat and commodious villages, tenanted by a primitive population in easy and comfortable circumstances; its uplands are sprinkled with numerous flocks and herds, and where the surface admits of being cut into terraces, with a command of water for irrigation, fertile crops of grain are produced. The greater part of European fruits and flowers grow spontaneously: the blackberry, the raspberry, the gooseberry and the currant;the cherry, the


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 population turns out against them, firing off guns, beating drums, burning fires, shouting and beating to drive them off. Now and then, they become exhausted and can fly no farther and cover the earth to a depth of some inches; the natives gather them up in baskets and live upon them for some days. A large flight of locusts is a wonderful sight and is remembered during a life time. These locusts are like large grasshoppers, about three inches long, of a rusty brown colour.

Much has been said about the danger of snakes, but really it has not been my fortune to see any of it. I have occasionally met a large one face to face,but always found them in as great a hurry to get out of my way, as I was in to get out of theirs. Man is not a subject of prey with them, they have too much sense to become the aggressor, but if trampled on, they will no doubt resent it. I have very seldom seen a living snake in my house. On one occasion I found the skin of a large one in the grate, having availed itself of the bars to strip off the old skin, it walked off.

20. WILD ANIMALS.—These exert a very considerable influence upon human life both European and native,and are worthy of a paragraph here. It is a curious fact that tigers, though so abundant in many parts of India, especially in Bengal and along the foot of the Himalayan are very little heard of and very seldom seen


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 agreeable, two or more good English blankets on one's bed, and personal clothing as warm as one would wear at home.

7.SCENERY OF THEHIMALAYAH.—The scenery of these hills is,I believe, the most stupendous, the most sublime in the world;—valley scooped out of valley, hill raised upon hill, crag hung upon crag, and mountain piled upon mountain, far above the limit of man's existence; far beyond the reach of the wild ass or the ibex; far above the existence of all vegetation; the glacier and the perpetual snow the only occupants; the avalanche, the thunderbolt,and the sunbeam the only visitants. In one summer's day one may taste of the climate of every region of the globe. One may start at early dawn with the heat oppressive, the thermometer at 100, and ascend before dark to the freezing point; through a succession of zones from the palm tree, the mango and the banana; through forests of the pine tree, the cherry, and the walnut; the oak, the rhododendron,and the yew; the chesnut, the cedar, and the cypress;the box, the holly, the mountain-ash, the alder, and the birch; and enjoy his evening dinner on a carpet embroidered with mosses and lichens, on the border of the vegetable world, with a glacier for his table, and a handful of snow to cool his wine.

The tiger, the leopard and the bear; the bison, the elephant and the rhinoceros; the ibex,


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 unless by hunters who go into their haunts in search of them. They only frequent heavy jungles abounding in deer, wild hogs, buffaloes, &c., on which they prey. When hard pressed by hunger, they occasionally carry off a cow from a village herd, and when old and unfit to live by hunting, they take to the roads, and now and then carry off a human being. Even when surprised in their own jungles they will sneak off if they can, but when wounded and brought to bay, they fight desperately, and numerous hair breadth escapes and casualties occur. In Bengal, no man is foolish enough to hunt them on foot, though this is done both in Madras and Bombay, but their accidents show the impropriety of the practice.

Elephants are equally shy in coming near civilized society, and unless provoked rarely indeed injure any one.

Leopards are much more daring, and prowl around houses at night, ready to pounce upon any dog or cat, sheep, goat, or calf that they can get within reach of, but I have not known them attack man.

Bears are comparatively harmless, and unless wounded,rarely injure any one; but if they once get a man in their hug his life is not worth much.

Wolves, when they abound, as they do in the Punjaub, are very fierce, and destructive to human


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 makes out his own case, and submits it to his commanding officer, who has the power to grant him permission to proceed to the head quarters of the division, where a regular committee can be assembled.

6. HILL STATIONS OF BENGAL.—The Sanitaria resorted to by officers of Bengal are Darjiling Naineethal, and Almorah,Missourie and Landour, Sindah and Subatoo, Dhurmsala and Murree. These are all seated on or near the outer range of the Himalayan, they have nearly the same altitude, 7,000 feet above the sea; and nearly the same climate, though many hundred miles apart, and many degrees different in latitude; for it is remarkable that latitude has less influence upon the temperature of the atmosphere than the altitude.

These Hill Stations are the brightest spots in our Indian service, the oases in the desert of our tropical exile, the lands of promise in the wilderness of our weary wanderings, where one and all at some period of their pilgrimage hope to resort to, as a refuge in time of trouble. A summer residence in these hills is quite delightful compared with the fiery ordeal of the plains. The climate is indeed European, even Italian. In the hottest weather the thermometer rarely rises above 76 in the shade, and frost and snow prevail in the winter; a fire in one's room is at all seasons


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 life, and some hundreds of children are carried off every year in the Punjaub.

Buffaloes are also very destructive. Where they are wild the tame herds are visited by the wild bulls, and they are always much dreaded.

Jackals, though very numerous, and alarmingly noisy, rarely do harm, and are not apprehended.

Alligators abound in all the great rivers. They are of two distinct kinds, the long-nosed one, called gurrial or gavial, and the short-nosed one called muggur or bocha. The former is believed to be harmless, the latter quite the contrary. On one occasion, while passing down the Ganges, I was called by an indigo planter to see a boy of about twelve years of age, who was seized on the water's edge by a muggur, and though the flesh was stripped from the bone, from the knee downwards, the little fellow got away with his life, by beating the monster over the eyes with a stick.

21. EARTHQUAKES are not common, and are most frequent on the north-east frontier and in Assam. They very rarely do any harm. The houses there are generally built upon trunks of trees, let into the ground; and though the earth heaves and rumbles, and the roof over head may crack, and the crockery rattle on the table, no one thinks of danger. However, serious consequences sometimes ensue. Much damage was recently done to the houses at Almorah and, the church


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60 forth, with regard to France and the principles of France, or to any country similarly circumstanced as to extent, population, manners, etc., Republican and fool are synonymous terms."

Canning had several qualities in common with Bonaparte, and one of them was the habit of classifying under the head of fools persons whose opinions he did not fancy,— from the man who believed in a republic to the man who liked dry champagne. In his mouth such persons were either fools or liars; and Americans, with few exceptions, came under one or the other of these heads. After the 18th Brumaire the world contained but one leader of a mob faction, brawling for liberty; but he was President of the United States. No miraculous sagacity was needed to foretell what treatment he was likely to receive at the hands of two men like Canning and Bonaparte, should the empire of the world ever be divided between them. To throw lasting ridicule upon all systems of democratic equality was Canning's most passionate wish, and his success was marvellous. Even his squibs exploded like rockets. In literature, his "Needy Knife-grinder" was a harmless piece of clever satire, but in the "Anti-Jacobin" it was a political event.

In Parliament Canning's influence was not yet very great. He relied too much on wit, and what was then called quizzing, or he imitated Pitt's oratory too closely; but even in the House of Commons he steadily won ground, and while Burke, Pitt,


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 was so much injured as to be pulled down. At the station of Goalpara, in Assam, a tank is still pointed out where a little hill, with its inhabitants, once stood.

22. STORMS AND INUNDATIONS.—Loss of life is of frequent occurrence during severe storms, the houses being blown down and the inhabitants being buried in the ruins. A good many years ago several barracks at Loodiana were overthrown and many soldiers were killed.

I have mentioned elsewhere that periodical inudations do no harm, but now and then unexpected ones occur from the bursting of a bund or an extraordinary spring tide, and cause great devastation. In 1832 the sea at the mouth of the Hoogly burst in upon the low land for many miles, drowning the inhabitants and their cattle by hundreds and thousands.

23. FAMINES.—Owing to unusual drought and want of the periodical rains, the crops of one or even two seasons are sometimes lost, and great famine and mortality occur amongst the native population.

24. ASSASSINATION.—Few years pass over in India without some horid act of assassination, the victims being officers in magisterial or political employment, sacrificed to jealousy, vengeance or fanaticism, in the performance of their duty. The names of Latter, in Burmah; White, in Assam;


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 more severe it may be necessary to repair to the Cape of Good Hope or Australia for a couple of years; while in the worst cases nothing less than a return to Europe for three years will restore the patient to health.

When the Surgeon thinks it advisable to recommend change of climate to a patient, he must make out a statement of the case according to rules laid down in the medical code; and forward this to his commanding officer, with a letter calling for a medical committee to report upon the case; and should the committee concur in the opinion of the regimental-officer, the patient forwards the statement through the commanding officer to the Commander-in-Chief, and the recommendation of the committee is invariably complied with. As many days or even weeks, are at times necessary to obtain the sanction of the Commander-in-Chief; the commanding officer has the power to allow the invalid to leave at once, in anticipation of general orders, upon the immediate departure of the sick officer being declared necessary.

At small stations, when a committee cannot be assembled, the personal certificate of the surgeon is sufficient.

It may often happen that the Surgeon himself falls sick at an outpost, far removed from any medical assistance, and change of climate may be urgently necessary. In such cases the surgeon


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 Richardson, in Calcutta; Alcock, at Agra; Fraser, at Delhi; Mackeson, at Peshawar; Macnaghton, at Cabool; Conolly, at Malabar; are lamentable instances of the danger to which officials of high position are unavoidably exposed in the faithful performance of their duty.

25. ACCIDENTS AND OFFENCES-LIGHTNING.—During the changes of the monsoon, and even during the rains,accidents and loss of Use both of man and animals, is not uncommon, and by it houses are at times set on fire. I have twice been almost in contact with lightning. On my voyage out to India, the main-mast of the ship Farquharson was struck; part of the crew were hauling upon the top-sail chain sheets at the time. Several of them were thrown down, and one man was so severely scorched that they did not recover for many days. His clothes smelled as if he had been thrown upon a fire, and his skin was covered with blisters. No material damage was done to the ship. The top-mast was found slightly splintered; the main-mast was blackened in several places, as if a current of smoke had passed up it, but the top-sail was so damaged that it was necessary to unbend it. The lightning appeared to descend the mast like a ball of fire down the main hatchway, and so convinced were the watch of its substantility, that a careful search was made for


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 with the responsibility of his position, viz., his duty to the State on the one hand, and his duty to his patient on the other. There is no denying that Medical certificates have been abused; that the confidence of the surgeon has been abused; and that certificates have been obtained by plausible pretences, or by exaggerated statements, or by id-founded apprehensions, when in reality there was no occasion for the patient to leave his station. Still, when the public service does not suffer, indulgence is commendable rather than too strict an interpretation of general orders. Government are most liberal upon this point;nor is this inconsistent with the good of the service; for an officer returning from sick leave is,in nine cases out of ten, a more efficient man than if he had remained lingering off and on the sick list in the plains with his regiment, where his duty was merely nominal.

When an officer is at an outpost, a trip on the river, a month or two's sojourn at a large station, or a visit to the Sand-heads, will often set him on his legs again;the sequestered life he led being the origin of the disease, and the pleasures of society being the best remedy for the effects of monotony. In more severe cases a residence during the hot season in some ill Station; or a short voyage to Singapore, or China, or Ceylon or the Mauritius may be advisable. In cases still


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 the thunderbolt, as they called it,but none could be found.

One afternoon, at Goalparah Assam, while watching the progress of a storm, a tremendous thunderclap occurred as if the electric discharge had taken place at my feet, and I felt as if enveloped with lightning. Immediately after I heard that the house of a native, about 150 yards from where I stood, had been struck. On going thither I found that the lightning had penetrated the thatch, descended along a post in the wall,and on reaching the floor, had separated into two parts, diverging in opposite directions. The mud walls were torn to pieces, every thing in the house was turned upside down,about a dozen yards of earth were ploughed up to a depth of three or four feet, large stones were splintered, and the fragments tossed several yards apart. The hole in the thatch presented the appearance as if an eighteen pound shot had passed through it, but with no trace of combustion. The man was in the house, a mere hut, of one apartment, when it was struck;and further than being bespattered with mud, and pretty well frightened, received no harm whatever.

All houses, to be safe against lightning, should have conductors. These are very general in Clacutta, but in the thatched bungalows in the interior