his visit.

Snakes themselves have been long con

sidered as possessed of the power of charming, or

fascinating their victims.

The Cobra de Capella, and the rattle-snake of America, are generally ranked as possessing higher powers of fascination than others of their tribe. The usual victims of their powers are small birds, mice, and squirrels. The birds are said to make many unavailing efforts to escape; they flutter round the enchanter for some time, till at length, wearied and worn-out, they drop quietly into his jaws. It has been asserted that the charming faculty of these reptiles is capable of fascinating human beings; but so far as the Cobra de Capella is concerned, I can bear testimony that it has not the most distant approach to fascination. Small birds may have fallen into the power of these reptiles rather than desert their young, and observers may have attributed to fascination what was merely the result of maternal solicitude.

10th October. I have engaged a barber by the month; he shaved me in bed to-day for the first time; when he had shaved one side of my face, I turned on my pillow till he finished the other. He is an expert operator. He afterwards pared my nails, cleaned my ears, and cracked the joints of my fingers. I did not feel very comfortable when

the black barber was at my throat with his razor. I kept my eyes firmly rivetted on his all the time he had me by the throat.

"that a poor

It is related in a Sanscrit play, ascetic made a vow to stand all his life under the branch of a tree, and while he stood there the white ants came and commenced building, but he never budged, although their structure rose higher and higher every day, until he had not the power to move away, and was finally enclosed in the building, and died a martyr to superstition."

The manner of washing the hands and face is different in India from the European practice. The Indians pour water into their hands from a brass jug, and wash their faces with the water be'fore it falls, never using the water afterwards, but always pouring on fresh till purified.

6th November. I am awakened every morning at sunrise by one of my servants, who, after making the usual number of salaams, informs me that the sun is only waiting until I rise to show his glorious orb above the horizon. I immediately hold out my legs to the servant, who commences putting on my socks and trowsers: and I then get up and allow the valet to finish dressing me. One of my horses is waiting at the door ready saddled, upon which I mount and ride over the Indigo planta

tion till about 8 A. M., when I return home to breakfast. From breakfast time until 5 P. M. I remain close confined to the house: the extreme heat rendering it almost insupportable to be exposed to the sun out of doors. I have no books here except the Bible and Cowper's Poems, the latter of which I have read so often that I can repeat the greater portion of the poems from memory. Cowper's suppositious verses by Alexander Selkirk, independent of their beauty, have peculiar charms for me, as they in a great measure embody my own feelings, living as I have been now for nearly thirteen months in a state of total seclusion from the European world, surrounded by the natives, whose manners and religion are all strange to me. I take tiffin at 1 P. M.: it consists generally of Mulligatawny soup, cold roast fowl, curried fish, cucumbers, and fruit of various kinds, After tiffin, I smoke the hookah, and rest till near 6 o'clock, when I take my evening ride over the Indigo grounds. I dine at 7 P. M., sit smoking the hookah till half-past 8 P. M., take a glass of brandy and water, and retire to rest. This is the daily routine of my existence, and I feel it very monotonous indeed.

One of the greatest bounties of Providence in the East is the cocoa-nut tree. The nut furnishes

the inhabitants with a delicious milk and a sweet kernel; the shells are manufactured into domestic utensils, and the outer husks into ropes and cordage; the leaves into umbrellas, matts, &c.; indeed it has been said that the tree can be applied to several hundred different uses. A sweet liquor is extracted from the tree, by making an incision near the top, and applying a jar thereto—the liquor called "toddy," oozes through the wound into it. When fresh, this liquor is very sweet, but after being kept for twelve hours, it ferments, and becomes highly intoxicating.

15th November. The only luxury the natives seem to indulge in, is the hubble-bubble which they smoke on all occasions. The hubble-bubble is a hollow reed or cane, about a foot and a half long, with the lower end immersed in a cocoa-nut half full of water. On the upper end is a bowl made of earthen ware, which contains the tobacco.— There is a small hole in the upper part of the cocoa-nut, through which the smoke is drawn from the bowl above, and through the water below. Having drawn in the smoke till the mouth is full, they retain it for a few seconds, and then allow it to escape by the nostrils.

10th December. I sometimes amuse myself shooting at different species of cranes which fre

quent the margin of the river. I winged one of those birds this forenoon, and after I had picked it up, and while I was examining its wound, it made a stroke at one of my eyes with its long beak, and I was within half an inch of losing it.

23rd December. To-day I witnessed a Suttee. In riding along the banks of the river, I observed a great assemblage of natives, and on coming up to the spot I saw a funeral-pile, and, at a short distance off, the widow of the deceased, surrounded by Brahmins; she was clothed in red, and appeared to be about seventeen years of age, and very interesting-even beautiful. I spoke to one of the Brahmins to use his influence to make her alter her resolution, but he refused to do so. After she had been bathed in the river, and her ornaments removed from her person, she bade an eternal adieu to all her relations and friends, and slowly ascending the pile, placed the head of her departed husband upon her bosom. Immediately the pile was fired, and at the same time the crowd roared out" hoore bool, hoore bool," and shouted so as completely to drown the cries of their victim. I could see her, however, raise herself half up and shake her head as if in agony; she then fell down, and became completely enveloped in the flames