by open violence being committed. At our night-quarters, therefore, we placed our palanquins side by side round the chowltry, and lay down amidst our heathen attendants, without any fear of being injured by them, after having committed ourselves to the merciful keeping of an ever-gracious Providence.

Feb. 8. We rested at Arcot. In this neighbourhood are considerable cantonments for cavalry, belonging to the East India Company. The horses are exposed to all varieties of weather, day and night, without any shelter but the occasional covering of a blanket in heavy rain. By this treatment the animals are much better inured to bear the changes and chances of campaigning than if they were fostered in stables; and very few, we understand, die in the seasoning. They are principally Arabians, fifteen hundred of which are annually imported to supply the demands of the army. Arcot is a native town of great antiquity, and surrounded with cocoa-nut trees. It was formerly fortified, but the works are in ruins. The inhabitants for the most part are Mahommedans, and the population of the neighbourhood is immense, being estimated at nearly a million, within a circle of three miles diameter. The famous chunam or lime of India is prepared here from a peculiar kind of calcareous substance, called conkar, in which the valuable material is found in the form of nodules.. The manufacture and traffic of this commodity are very great.

Feb. 15. At Pungalore, when we wished to proceed towards Guramconda, we found one of our head men drunk, and four others so sick that they were incapable of further duty. We now regretted heartily (from experience which we had at Madras) having engaged our bearers by the month, instead of travelling post or by the mile. The former may appear to be the least expensive; but to strangers the inconvenience and vexation of having to deal with people whom they cannot command or persuade under any consideration to be prompt or punctual in anything they do, far overbalance any moderate pecuniary saving. It is the interest of the hired bearers to do as little labour as possible and occupy as much time on the road. Their object and ours, therefore, being in diametrical opposition, we are involved in perpetual differences with them. When the hour of starting arrives, they have frequently to get their food or take a nap; or one or two of them may be missing; perhaps there are no torches to be had, or no oil to supply them; it is too hot, too cold, or the distance is too far for them to venture upon in their exhausted state; with a thousand other frivolous and provoking excuses, against which reasoning is of no more avail than it would be with mosquitoes, when the wearied traveller cannot get a wink of sleep for their annoying attacks.

Feb. 16. In the evening, being on the road to Guramconda, which is a mere foot-track, winding among rocks and dells, and where a few yards of level ground can rarely be found, we were repeatedly obliged to alight from our palanquins, and walk as well as we might, or

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submit to be carried across, swamps on the backs of our attendants. We crossed the beds of several rivers, now nearly dry, but in the rainy season, as their channels indicate, pouring impetuous torrents through the country. The miserably poor soil supports a few stunted shrubs, with here and there a patch of riceground.

This wilderness-region is much infested with tigers, and we were not always out of peril by the way. Mr. Bennet, accompanied by one of the Musshaulchees, carrying a lighted torch, had unthinkingly walked onward to a considerable distance from the rest; suddenly a rustling was heard among the bushes, and a motion appeared under their foliage, which gave instant alarm of danger-and danger so near that escape seemed improbable. "Is there a tiger there?" he exclaimed. "Many tigers," was the reply of the terrified torch - bearer, who nevertheless had presence of mind to stoop down and set fire to the dry grass, which burst out quickly into fire and smoke, flaring and obscuring at the same time all surrounding objects. In this crisis Mr. Bennet and the man stood still till his palanquin and attendants arrived. Providentially nothing more was seen or heard of the beast, which the Musshaulchee declared he had distinctly perceived couchant, as if in the very act to spring, when, had it done so, either one or the other must inevitably have been its victim.

Feb. 21. On our arrival at Cuddapah, William Haigh, Esq., the Zillah-judge, introduced himself to us, kindly saying that he did not doubt who we were on our first appearance, as he had been expecting us in the course of the day. Other distinguished persons also welcomed us with much cordiality; among the rest, P. Brown, Esq., register of the court, a son of that eminent Christian minister and one of the genuine apostles of India, the late Rev. David Brown, of Calcutta.

The following is a dark specimen of such cases of complicated villany as now and then come-too often certainly-before the tribunals of justice in India. It was lately brought forward and exposed in the Zillah-court at Cuddapah. A Brahmin being indebted to another Brahmin in a sum of money, payment of which had often been demanded in vain,-he to whom it was owing at length determined to act upon a custom sometimes observed here, namely, to go and live under the roof of the debtor till he could obtain his due. A woman of the same sacred caste was on a visit to the latter at the time when the former took up his abode with him. She had been at Madras to receive some money, which, being known to the creditor, he urged his debtor to avail himself of the circumstance for means to discharge the obligation. "This woman has money," said he; "why don't you rob her and pay me?" "I cannot do that," answered the other," she is a guest in my house, and I do not like to use her so." But the importunity of the tempter prevailed, and the two Brahmins, too dastardly to do the deed themselves, bribed a pariah, a wretch of no caste, to commit the crime, with a promise

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of a share of the booty. Even he at first revolted from the service, saying, "I am not in want of money at present, and I have no mind to the work." The holy men, however, persuaded him against his better feelings. Accordingly he watched his opportunity, waylaid the woman and robbed her of her treasure, which he delivered to his employers, and claimed the wages of his iniquity. When the bulk of the spoil had been equally divided between the parties, there remained two rupees and a half; whereupon they said, "Let us not take these for ourselves, but let each sacrifice his portion of them to his own God." And they did so. Thus two proud Brahmins, who would have trodden down the hated pariah" as mire in the streets," rather than have had any honest dealings with him, could stoop to the infamy of making him their proxy and accomplice in a conspiracy to plunder a helpless woman of their own order, and at the very time under the protection of one of her betrayers.

Cuddapah is the capital of the eastern district of the Balaghaut ceded territory, and is situated in latitude 14° 28′ N.; longitude 79° E. It is often called Cripa, which is a corruption of Cuddapah, and which means a threshold; as it is situated at the entrance of a valley, visited, formerly, and held sacred by the Hindoos. This town is situated on a hot sandy plain of considerable extent, and surrounded by distant hills. It is remarkable for its great heat, and on this account it is vulgarly called by Europeans "the fryingpan of India," resembling in its locality that utensil. From general testimony, and especially from Mr. Howell, who was born in the country, and has travelled a great deal in India, the heat must be prodigious. During the dry season, if there be any wind in the daytime, after the sun sets it dies away, and the atmosphere becomes suffocating; and this continues through the night. There are no dews, and the common people sleep out in the open air. The soil is sandy, and of a brownish colour; and during the hot season all vegetation, excepting trees, is burnt up. The heat imbibed during the day by the earth is retained through the night; while the many trees about the town tend to prevent the circulation of the air, and to aggravate the evil. Ever since last September fever has raged here, and few have escaped its assaults, though it has not been very destructive.

The town of Cuddapah was formerly much more extensive than at present, as the ruins all around indicate. These ruins, however, in general, are but the ruins of poor, wretched, mudwalled cottages. The town consists principally of such hovels, of one story, placed in tolerably good street-order, while those that are fallen down, and suffered to remain in that state, are almost as numerous as those which are inhabited. This will give a general idea of towns in all parts of India. Here are several mosques and Mahommedan burying-grounds, crowded with tombs, built in the style peculiar to that people, together with two ancient palaces belonging to them, the one of which is now the

jail, and the other the treasury. In the latter building are kept both the cash collected in the district as taxes, and the public records. General appearances indicate the former dignity of the Moors here, and strikingly demonstrate their present degradation. As to extent of population, indeed, the Mussulmans are numerous in this place, being about one-third of the whole; but they are wretchedly poor, ignorant, and sensual. The other two-thirds of the population are Gentoos. They have but few pagodas in the town, and these are very small.

Be

While here we had an opportunity of attending a great Hindoo festival, called Gangamma Tirnal, or the great goddess Gangamma, held in the village called Cocotapetta, distant from Cuddapah about five miles. This was a most novel and affecting sight. About 50,000 people were assembled in a sort of grove around the filthy pagoda, in which was the object of attraction and adoration. Before the door of this swamy-house the people were sacrificing sheep and goats to the idol all the day, and streams of blood flowed in all directions. Around this place is a wide road, on which multitudes of bullock basket-carts were driven, from which grain of various kinds was thrown to all such as chose to receive it, in fulfilment of vows. tween twelve o'clock at noon and six in the evening we saw twenty men and six women undergo the ceremony of swinging upon hooks put through the skin of their backs. The machine which was used for this purpose was a bullock-cart. Over the axletree a post was erected, over the top of which a beam, about thirty-five feet in length, passed, and moved upon a pin. The longer end of this beam extended over the bullocks; at the end of it was a square frame attached, adorned with young plantain - trees, in which two persons could stand. When the hooks were inserted into the skin, the ropes attached to the hooks were lashed firmly to the top bar of the frame, so as to allow the people to stand upon the lower bar. This being done, and we saw the operation performed in several instances, the beam was raised upon its fulcrum, and the persons on the frame were elevated about twentyfive or thirty feet above the ground. Each person was furnished with a dagger in one hand and a pocket handkerchief in the other. The machines, to some of which were yoked six, eight, ten, or twelve bullocks, were now driven at full speed round the pagoda three times, while the deluded wretches were brandishing the dagger and waving the handkerchief, occasionally resting their weight on the lower part of the frame, but often suspending their entire weight on the hooks. Sometimes six or eight of these machines were driven round at the same time. On inquiring why the deluded beings submitted to this punishment, some told us it was in fulfilment of vows made to the goddess; others, that they were hired by persons standing by, and received one or two rupees for their trouble. Among the trees were stalls and booths, in which were sold sweetmeats, victuals, trinkets, &c. Here were jugglers, beggars, and

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parties of pleasure; but very few took any notice of those horrid scenes which most attracted our attention. Never were we before so powerfully impressed with the importance of Missionary exertions, to make known the merciful religion of Jesus, to enlighten the heathen, and put a stop to these dreadful cruelties.

March 7. At Bellary our Missionary friends, Mr. Hands and others, made the time delightful as well as profitable to ourselves, and we trust that we were not merely partakers, but in some degree helpers, of their joy. While we were here, the annual festival of Cama, the Hindoo Cupid, was in the course of celebration, during nine days, on one of which, that of the full moon, it closed with a variety of fantastic processions and pantomimic sports, after sunset. The people paraded the thoroughfares in crowds, throwing a kind of red powder at one another, till all their clothes were discoloured with it. Many of the grandees had temporary sheds erected in public places, under which dancing girls and bands of musicians were exercising their abilities; while song and revelry were heard and seen within, without, and on every hand. Garlands of flowers were presented to passengers in the streets, rose-water was sprinkled upon their persons, and wine and cakes were offered to them with the utmost frankness. Everywhere bonfires of dried cow-dung, old baskets, and other castaway things, were blazing in the open air; in the heart of each of these was planted a stake, bearing on the top, on a breadth of paper, a picture of the Cupid, which ultimately fell into the flames, and was consumed. Two gaudy cars meanwhile were drawn through the city, on each of which an image of the same divinity, represented as a youth caressing an infant, was mounted, and received the homage of the multitude. Blue lights and fireworks were exhibited before these idols. Boys, dressed as girls, were also seen dancing in the streets to the sound of jingling, jarring, and 66 ear-piercing" instruments. A man, feigning to be dead, was carried upon a bier, and represented a corpse. The intended jest was that the people might be actually deceived; the bier, therefore, was set down, first in one place and then another, as though the body were on the way to interment, being covered with a funeral cloth, and the face only, stamped with the image of death, left bare. Over this, then, while the curious spectators were gazing, the signs of re-animation suddenly appeared; the eyes opened, the lips moved, they spoke, and the dead-alive was welcomed back to the world with roars of universal merriment.

March 22. From Camilapore, a small village in the vicinity, we walked over to see the ruins of Bijanaghur (lat. 15° 14′ N., long. 70° 34′ E.), once the capital of the great Hindoo empire. The ruins are situated on the south bank of the Toombuddra river, exactly opposite to Anagoondy, of old one of the most famous cities of the east. It was founded in 1336, and in its glory about the year 1525, when its rajah, Kistarow Nurputtee, subdued the whole of the Carnatic up to Nirbudda. He is recorded to have had

nine lacs of cavalry and twenty lacs of infantry (ninety thousand of the one, and two hundred thousand of the other). The third in succession from him, Burra Ram Row, having insulted the ambassadors of the Mussulman princes his neighbours, they united their forces, marched against him, vanquished and beheaded him; after which they gave the city up to plunder and destruction, in 1564. The booty was immense, and their armies remained three years upon the spot, demolishing palaces, temples, and dwellings of every description. The modern city is comparatively insignificant. The subsequent

possession of it, with a greater or lesser extent of adjacent territory, has been in the hands of various native princes. The present nominal rajah is a boy not more three years old.

On reaching the site, we crossed an ancient embankment, once strongly fortified, beyond which the ruins are scattered in dreary magnificence over a vast plot of undulated ground, the inequality of which gives extraordinary relief and effect to their dismantled forms-intermingled as they are with enormous piles of sienite rocks, or mouldering upon the crests of imperishable foundations of the same material, which their structures were intended by the builders to rival in durability. Among the prodigious remains of dilapidated palaces, we remarked a peculiar range of buildings, said to have been elephant-stables, over each of which, eleven in number, there is a distinct dome. Pagodas, of various sizes and different orders of architecture, appear on every side. One of these attracted our special attention; it is a stone enclosure without a roof, wherein is a Hindoo idol of great curiosity,-being a colossal image of the lion-god: a human figure having a lion's head, with a richly-ornamented conical crown upon it. This statue is admirably executed, of fine symmetry, and indicative of vast muscular strength: it is, however, much mutilated; both the arms and legs have been broken off. Though in a sitting posture, the height is nearly eighteen feet, the girth about the waist nineteen, and the breadth across the shoulders ten. Behind its back a serpent (the cobra capella), proportionately large, rises upon its tail, and spreads its hood as a canopy over the idol, above which are seen six additional heads belonging to the snake. This group is enclosed within a concave recess, supported by two pillars; both the shafts and the arch are lavishly adorned with emblematical devices. The whole has been sculptured from one solid and exceedingly hard mass of sienite, in its native bed, upon the spot.

Colonel Bowles informed us that when his regiment was quartered here, one night he heard a very unusual disturbance in the street, in which, certainly, human beings were not the agents. On looking out of the window he perceived that a tiger, having prowled hither for prey, had just seized a calf by the neck and was hurrying it off. The cow to which it belonged was tethered to a stake, but such was the agony and desperation of the bereaved brute, when she saw her offspring snatched from her side, that she actually broke the rope by a sudden plunge,

At

proofs of the genuineness of his conversion. the little town (or Petta) there are two schools, containing thirty boys, under Christian instruction; and Mr. Taylor daily meets the adults (such as will hear him), to converse with them on things that pertain to salvation. As the Hindoo converts are not suffered to draw water from the public wells, Mr. T. has been obliged to dig one expressly for their use.

April 13. Leaving Belgaum, we journeyed on towards Goa. The climate in this part of India is very fine, and the country beautifully diversified with hill and dale, trees and streams. The thermometer this morning, at sunrise, was down at 71°, with a fresh sea-breeze blowing from the westward. The buffaloes, in all these torrid regions are remarkably fond of water, and when they can find a river or a pool, they may be seen standing or lying in it, with their nostrils only above the surface, to allow them to breathe. Like swine, also, they love to wallow in the mire, and plaster their hides all over with fresh mud, to keep themselves cool. To-day we passed a herd of these animals, ruminating in a shallow river. A man was throwing water over the body of one of them, and rubbing down its limbs, while another stood by, so impatient to enjoy the same luxurious handling that it would scarcely allow the drover to finish his work with the former-biting, and pawing, and moaning till its turn came.

On many trees we observe ants'-nests, of great size, hanging like fruits from the branches. These are most ingeniously compacted of leaves, lapping over each other like tiles on the roof of a house, and firmly agglutinated by matter which oozes from the bodies of the architects themselves. The nests are of an oval form, of a dark colour, and as big as a man's hat. When disturbed in their airy citadels, the insectgarrisons become exceedingly fierce, and make such annoying resistance that it is not wise either for man or monkey to meddle with them. Large ground-ants swarm everywhere; their habitations are really deserving the name of hills, being heaped up, in great bulk, about the roots of trees, and often crowned with many conic spires-like Alpine peaks on a small scale.

We passed a party of Brinjaries,—a class of gipsies who act as carriers of rice, salt, &c., which they transport through the provinces on bullocks. They never locate themselves, or live in houses, but wander from place to place with their wives and children and cattle, pitching or striking their tents where they can find pasture, employment, or repose, as they want one or other of these. The men carry upon their backs gaily-ornamented bags, and other finery; while the women are fond of sporting unwieldy earrings and bracelets. These people, in times of war, are found of great service in collecting supplies, and removing baggage, in the train of armies.

CHAPTER XLVII.

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Arrival at Goa-Condition of Inhabitants-Buildings of the Inquisition-Visit to the Dungeons, &c.-Roman Catholics in India-Visit Cannonmore-Lion-ant-An Anecdote-Vengeance of an Elephant-Destruction of Tigers-Pendulous Bees'- Nests-Fish fed by the Hand -Arrival at Mysore-Royal Elephant-carriage-Pagoda -Animal-fights-Colossal Bull-image-SeringapatamWhimsical Mistake-Ants'-Nests-Chameleon - Nilgherry Mountains-Boa-constrictor-Scarecrows-Civet Cats-Cape Camorin-Right and Left-hand CastesHindoo Covetousness-Quilon-Travancore-Madras. APRIL 16. Boats having been engaged to take us and our palanquins down the river from Assunwarra to Goa, a distance of fourteen miles, we embarked very early, reached the harbour soon after daybreak, and landed at the admiral's stairs. The eldest of three brothers occupies the official house, and enjoys the honour of being admiral, under the Portuguese government here, which, however, is little encumbered with duties. Having letters of introduction to this gentleman, he received us with great courtesy, and to his countenance we were, in a considerable measure, indebted for much respect and attention shown to us by other persons of authority in Goa.

The

April 17. The extent of the Portuguese territory on the continent of India is about seventy miles along the coast, and twenty-three miles inland. The population is reckoned to be two hundred and seventy thousand, of which the small island of Goa comprehends seventeen thousand. latter is two leagues in length from east to west, and half as much from north to south. The harbour, which was once the rendezvous of ships laden with all the treasures of the east, is now filling up with sand, and has little more than four fathoms of water. There are computed to be eight hundred Roman Catholic priests in the Portuguese domains; Mahommedans and Gentoos are tolerated, but not allowed to decorate their mosques or temples with external signs of what they are, nor to celebrate their respective festivals by processions in public. The proportion of professors of Christianity, Islamism, and Hindoo idolatry, we have not learnt. There is not one printing-press throughout Portuguese India; we may add, almost as a matter of course in this age of the world, that the state of knowledge, of morals, and of civil polity, must be exceedingly low.

April 18. Accompanied by Signor Cypriano, secretary to the government, and Mr. Tasker, our Missionary friend, we visited several churches and converts, the venerable relics of former days of Portuguese glory. On these, however, we could not look without painful historical associations, which made us feel little regret that such glory had passed away, and that such power as once had been exercised here for purposes of secular and priestly aggrandizement, by the oppression, plunder, and persecution of the unhappy people who were its subjects, was utterly, and we trust for ever, extinct. At the magnificent convent of St. Dominic we were kindly entertained by the vicar-general. He is from Macao, and, as his features indicate,