"I think I can see the precise and distinguishing marks of national character more in these nonsensical minutiæ, than in the most important matters of state."

IN thus taking up my pen but to jot down some of my stray reminiscences of India, I would endeavour to perpetuate the memory of days passed amidst its peculiar scenes and people. Early impressions, indeed, are not easily eradicated. The memory clings to them with a wonderful tenacity; they fade not from the mind, however roughly we may afterwards be tossed about upon the stormy waves of life.

Early happy hours are the "green spots on memory's waste ;" and on the recollection of such green spots we all delight to dwell. Life is not altogether a vale of tears and sorrow; the Almighty, in his great goodness, has provided largely for our solace and gratification, if we would only use his

MINUTE NATIONAL PECULIARITIES.

37

gifts aright; but there are those who go grumbling through the world, with their eyes closed to all its fair creations. With such I would not wish to travel.

It is not my intention to discuss or dwell much upon the rise of our magnificent eastern empire; nor upon its progress, since the fortunes of war placed India under the dominion of Great Britain. Celebrated historians have already done justice to this singularly interesting subject; and have laid before the reading public, volumes teeming with instruction and amusement.

As a simple sketcher of common life and everyday scenes, in this country once the land of fable, I will endeavour, as I proceed, to note down the various little peculiarities that struck me as illustrating the character of its inhabitants—a character thought to be but little changed since the death of Nadir Shah, or the destroyer, Timour. The hand of despotism, indeed, now no longer desolates this once oppressed land—robbing a happy, or shedding the blood of a peaceful, race, like that of the Hindoo. The Christian banner of England now waves over a large portion of the East Indies. Our protection and assistance were offered, and accepted with a readiness clearly manifesting that the Mohammedan reign of terror was still fresh upon the national

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NATURAL RICHNESS OF INDIA.

memory. As opportunity may offer itself, we will occasionally leave the busy haunts of men, and wander among woods and silent forests; mark the seasons as they roll along; and take a glance at whatever may be interesting to the naturalist, and to all who love to ponder and commune with Nature in her wildest moods.

All the treasures which earth offers to man have, as is well known, been liberally scattered over the face of this double-harvest-bearing clime; which, in consequence, has excited human ambition, and spurred men on to explore it, in its never-failing resources, even from the snowy heights of the wondrous Himalaya range, down to the spicy shores of Cape Comorin.

I shall take care to avoid the folly so often committed and complained of the folly of giving too high a colouring to pictures of domestic life in the East; but of the beauty and the magnificence of its landscapes and scenery, I do not think it possible that language can convey an adequate description. Truth has been said to be at times more startling than fiction; and with good old sober truth for our guide, my readers and I may, I hope, make our way onwards very agreeably.

India is now brought so near us, through the medium of steam, that our English readers natu

A STUFFED TIGER.

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rally look for a little more of the minutiae of Indian life than they formerly found in the narratives of travellers. It is true, I can hold out no attractive promises of tiger-hunts or daring adventures in the jungle-a species of information which, as I well know, has cast a charm over the works of some writers on life in India. These subjects, however, having of late entered largely into the descriptive volumes of almost every adventurer who has ever had an opportunity of letting off a percussion-cap in the East, and of startling his friends at home by its effects, have become familiar to the fireside traveller; so, leaving the tigers to those who have had the good fortune to meet with so many of them, and who have turned them to such good account, I must candidly confess, strange though it may appear, that I never had the honour of meeting either lion or tiger in my rambles in India, with the exception, indeed, of a stuffed tiger, that occupied a very important position in the bungalow of a kind friend of mine at Colabah, and glared upon you just as you entered the reception-room.

My friend used to stroke down the skin, and to lament that so noble an animal as the tiger should have become so scarce as seldom to be met with in western India. I once expressed some little surprise at this remark; for having but just come over to

40

A BEAUTIFUL BUNGALOW.

the country, I fancied that every clump of brushwood sheltered some horrible wild animal of some kind or another, that was always in readiness to pounce upon you unexpectedly. The kind captain, however, informed me that I was about to commence my griffinage; and assured me that I should think very differently before that eventful period should have expired.

What a beautiful bungalow was that of my friend! From the road you looked down a long vista of mogree and scarlet-flowering acacia trees. In front of a large and handsome porch, grew the custard apple and the guava, in clumps, intermingled with the lovely pomegranate, bearing, at one and the same time, the blushing calabash fruit and its waxlike flowers. Shading the dining-room windows was a shrub, about eight feet high, that every morning during the two months of my residence with my friend, was loaded with hundreds of large brilliant yellow blossoms, which attracted around them all the beautiful butterflies in the neighbourhood. The building was octagonal in shape; so that from whatever quarter a stray breeze might come, you could open the Venetian shutters and admit it at once. But instead of lingering here, we must go back to Fort George and Bombay, and cast another glance upon its houses and people.