able numbers, and labouring unremittingly. On one occasion, we were gratified with the sight of an engagement, of short duration, between these works and two of our vessels of war; Company's cruizers they were called. On the previous day, they had passed up the river unmolested, their aim being to explore; but on their return the enemy pelted them with shot to the best of their ability, which our people of course returned with interest; but as fighting just then was not the object of their mission, they merely made the Burmans shew their strength in artillery, and then dropped down the stream, and as the light, fairy-looking craft quickly glided past us, several shot-holes in their snowy sails, and severed cordage, here and there fluttering in the breeze, were proofs of the enemy's fire not having been altogether without effect. The whole affair was like a scene in a play, and we youngsters thought it capital fun to look on during the performance.

It was, I think, on the day succeeding the above, that something similar occurred, though there was a curious circumstance connected with it. A small brig or gun-boat, armed with one or two long guns, was sent up to the same point, to make a closer reconnoissance, and for this purpose she carried an officer of rank in the adjutant-general's department, an engineer officer, and a party of troops from our stockade, which were taken on board en passant. The tide was running up, though slowly, and soon brought the little vessel abreast of the works. It had no sooner reached the furthermost point, however, than the tide was on the turn, and here the brig, unable to proceed either up or down, was exposed to a heavy fire on all sides, to which she could only reply with her one or two guns. We certainly were very nervous about her, for she was but a frail affair, and had a fearful odds to contend with; but we had great hopes from our knowledge of Burman gunnery in general, though to be sure their round shot and grape (for they had ever abundance of the latter) made a terrible splash in the water, and it was evident that she had been struck several times. She was in rather an awkward dilemma, no doubt; but in the middle of the affair, to our infinite surprise-for we could see it all from Kimmendine-up went a white flag to her mast-head ! The intent of it was, I conclude, to request them to "cease firing;" so, at least, it struck us lookers-on, but our ignorant opponents made no distinction between a white flag and a red one, for they did not abate their efforts. It was a curious fancy, certainly, that hoisting a white flag at such a juncture; a surrender, of course, was never dreamed of, but it was somewhat unreasonable to suppose that we were to enjoy the privilege of prying into their very loop-holes with impunity! After a time, the little vessel dropped off with the tide, with the loss of one man killed by a grape-shot (I forget how many wounded), and much damage in her hull and rigging.

There were many other little varieties to enliven us during our tour at the outpost, for reconnoitering parties were constantly sent out to watch the enemy, who were ever plying backwards and forwards in their war-boats, evidently meditating mischief. In one instance, a small party of the 10th N.I. had been sent out to scour the jungle to the river's bank, but they soon returned, bringing back with them the lifeless body of a fine old subadar (a native captain), who had been picked off by the enemy within a few hundred yards of the stockade. His loss, though only a native officer, was bewailed in a singular manner by all the European officers of his regiment, and the gallant old Major D- R-, a proper Highlander, mourned over the sable veteran as if he had been his own child. On another occasion, a party had two sepoys killed, and three wounded; and on another, some five or six of

the enemy were killed, without any loss to us. They were, however, beginning to get very saucy, and consequently some 6-pounders and additional troops were sent to strengthen the garrison. At this juncture, however, I returned to head-quarters, the detachment having been relieved.

We were rather disappointed at being recalled so soon, for an epidemic, in the shape of a fever—not a dangerous one, however—having broken out during our absence, we had rather hugged ourselves at the prospect of escaping the inconvenience. On reaching Rangoon, we were much struck with the melancholy change that had come over the place since we left it, only a week before. It was now one vast hospital, the best part of the force, including campfollowers, being under the influence of fever; and it was about as gloomy a scene as could well be conceived, to see our soldiers crawling about on all sides, in their hospital clothing, ghastly as ghosts. This fever was very sudden in its attacks, and was followed by an unusual prostration of strength and total loss of appetite; in no one instance, however, do I believe it proved fatal, which is remarkable, when we consider that hardly any individual escaped the disease; but the very enervated state in which it left our frames rendered them much more open to the attacks of those more malignant disorders, which so soon after committed such havoc in our camp. Not being a feverish subject, and having held out almost to the last, I fully calculated upon escaping the epidemic; but the ugly monster had not forgotten me; it ferreted me out, and laid me on my back, without a particle of remorse, thereby incapacitating me for duty, and depriving me of the gratification of sharing with my regiment in an attack of some importance on the enemy's position at Kumaroot. On the evening the order arrived for the corps to hold itself in readiness, I was stretched upon my cot, conversing with a knot of brother subs, and the disappointment I felt at the prospect of being left in the rear, when my comrades were gathering laurels, was extreme; yes, extreme is the word, though some doubtless there are, who would deny the existence of any acute disappointment in such a case. I never pretended to be a fire-eater, or to have any particular taste for fighting in the abstract; but I was proud of my corps, and very naturally wished to be a partaker, as well as a witness, of all its achievements, and in this instance to be debarred the pleasure, I felt as keenly as any schoolboy that had been cheated out of a holiday.

It may not be out of place here to detail another disappointment of this kind, which was still more annoying. My regiment had been warned one evening for a stockading expedition on the following day, in company with other troops. As ill-luck would have it, I was on picket, but as this was the first time my corps had been called out, I was of course most anxious to be one of the party, and to flesh my maiden sword in the carcase of a Burman; still the circumstance of being on duty seemed an effectual bar. Military ardour, however, burned strong within me; Mars was in the ascendant, and I was determined to make a desperate effort to see the fun on the morrow. Off, therefore, I posted to the colonel, whom I soon carried by a coup de main, though to be sure I took him rather at a disadvantage, for he was in bed and half asleep when I attacked him. I pointed out, in glowing terms, the hardship of my case, and how very practicable it was for the serjeant to take charge of the picket during the few hours I should probably be absent. He saw the justice of my arguments, and consented at once to my going. On the following morning, I fell in with my company, taking care in every way to escape the vigilance of our quick-sighted adjutant, by sheltering myself as much as practicable amongst the men. Ere we had cleared the camp, how2 K

Asiat Journ N S Vol 37 No 148.

ever, he had spied me out, and on finding that I was acting with the colonel's permission, my arguments were soon made to vanish before the adjutant's more powerful rhetoric. He was certainly a capital officer, and moreover had the experience of nearly twenty years' service, and on his pointing out to the too easy commandant the imprudence of leaving a picket without a commissioned officer, I was ordered forthwith to beat a retreat to my post, during which I met General McBean and his staff en route to join the column; all of whom, I fancied, gazed upon me as I sneaked back to the deserted lines with downcast and mortified look, as one quitting his duty under very equivocal circumstances. Here was gall and wormwood!

But to return to the previous disappointment, when fever laid an embargo on me. The military operations of that day were eminently successful, and I lost much by not being present. The troops employed formed two columns; one by water, under Sir Archibald Campbell, for the reduction of the works at Pagoda Point, before spoken of, and another by land, under General McBean, to attack the stockades at Kumaroot. The works were all, more or less, connected, and were defended by the main body of the hostile army, under their celebrated chief, Shumbah Woonghee. Suffice it to say, the enemy were defeated on all points; several stockades fell, one after another, like a pack of cards, and their chief and 700 men were left dead on the field. Upon this occasion, the Woonghee's gold chain of office fell to the lot of a soldier of the 13th Light Infantry. Its value, by weight alone, was Rs. 650, or £65. An officer of my own corps had the good fortune to secure an excellent double gun, London made, and nearly new! It was loaded, and in the hands of a wounded chief, when he got possession of it; the poor fellow was mortally wounded, and was crawling away under shelter, when C—, eyeing the prize, gently released it from his grasp; which was all fair enough. Ere the close of the war, however, the gun changed hands again, for C— fell in his turn by a Burman bullet, when it was sold with his effects.

It was about this period, the middle of July, 1824, that disease began to commit such ravages amongst us. Scurvy and dysentery were the most destructive disorders, and these soon filled our hospitals to overflowing. My own corps had soon 240 men in hospital, and most other regiments in proportion; and in such an impure state was their blood, from bad diet and other aggravating causes, that few of the poor fellows that had once entered the hospital ever left it again alive. To be on the doctor's list was almost certain death. The wounded men, too, died in an unusual proportion; a mere scratch, from the aforesaid cause, often ending in mortification and death. The total want, moreover, of fish, fresh meat, milk, bread, or vegetables, rendered the dieting of the sick a most difficult task. Funerals were now of daily occurrence; in our own regiment, three, four, five, sometimes six, men were carried out at a time. On one occasion, I remember ten men of the regiment being buried in one day. The process in such cases was very simple, coffins, and all such civilized paraphernalia, being quite out of the question; the cold clay was lightly sewn up in the blanket that had previously been used for warmth, and being conveyed on a sort of hurdle, was hurried into its shallow and humid grave, under the superintendence of the officer of the day, whose duty it was to read the funeral service. This melancholy office, of course, frequently devolved upon me; so often, indeed, that for years after the war in Ava, my prayer-book, when the leaves were turned over, invariably opened at the service for the burial of the dead!

CRITICAL NOTICES.

Map of China and the Adjacent Countries, drawn from the latest Surveys, and other authentic Documents. London, 1842. Wm. H. Allen and Co.

Map of the Overland Routes between England and India; shewing also the other Lines of Communication. London, 1842. Wm. H. Allen and Co.

In adding to their valuable collection of maps these two, so peculiarly wanted at the present moment, Messrs. Allen and Co. have rendered a great service not to readers and inquirers merely, but especially to persons about to visit China or India. These maps have been compiled from the most accurate sources, and are remarkably well-engraved, by Mr. Walker, and not their least merit is their cheapness. The first, which comprehends all the geographical information relating to China and the adjacent countries, from Burmah on the west, to the Japan islands (inclusive) on the east, is decidedly the best map of China which has yet appeared. The route of the last embassy to Pekin is laid down, as well as that of Capt. McLeod from Maulmain through Zimme and the Lao country, to the Chinese province of Yunan. The map of the overland routes to India is a complete thing of its kind, describing not only the usual lines through France, but those through Germany, Turkey, Persia, and India, and in separate compartments are exhibited (on the same sheet) the most interesting portions of those countries, upon an enlarged scale, with the routes between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean; between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea through Upper and Lower Egypt; and between England and Marseilles. The seavoyage round the Cape of Good Hope is likewise shewn. To persons about to perform either journey, this map is more than valuable; it is indispensable. Mesopotamia and Assyria, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time; with Illustrations of their Natural History. By J. BAILLIE FRASER, Esq. Being Vol. XXXII. of the Edinburgh Cabinet Library. Edinburgh, 1842. Oliver and Boyd.

THE Countries, which were the cradle of the human race, the scene of some of the most important and interesting events in the history of the world, are, perhaps, less known than any other, although they are on the high road of communication between the great branches of that race, located in the eastern and western hemispheres. The spirit of inquiry, directed principally by commercial enterprise, is, however, now visiting Mesopotamia and Assyria, and it may, after clearing away fable and fiction, succeed in recovering a lost portion of the early records of mankind, which, Mr. Fraser justly observes, are now confined to the accounts contained in Holy Writ. The design of this work is "to bring under one view all that is known of the history and aspect, moral, physical, and political, of the provinces of Mesopotamia and Assyria, and to give at the same time a sketch of the causes that have produced the revolutions of which they have been the theatre." To have compressed the matter which relates to these subjects into one volume is evidence of the author's industry and skill. It comprises a general description of the countries, in a geographical view; the early history of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires; the government, religion, laws, &c. of those empires; their subsequent history, their present condition, and their natural productions. Mr. Fraser, having had the advantage of travelling through a part of the countries he has described, is the better qualified to be their historian, and he has evinced much diligent research, and a judicious choice of authorities. It is an interesting account of all that is yet known of ancient and modern Mesopotamia and Assyria.

Rudimentals; being a Series of Discourses on the Principles of Government, the Government of England, the East-India Company, the Court of Directors, the Board of Control, the System of Government in India, and on Jurisprudence, or the Principles of Administrative Justice: addressed to the Natives of India. By GEORGE NORTON, Esq., Advocate-General of Madras. Madras, 1841. Pharoah.

We do not know which most to admire and commend in this work-the motive in which it originated, or the judgment with which the design has been executed.

These discourses are the substance of some lectures delivered in the years 1833 and 1834, in the College Hall of Madras, to an audience chiefly composed of respectable natives, with the view of "opening to the minds and reflection of the native community a knowledge of the principles of government and of justice, an acquaintance with the plan of government under which they live, a knowledge of the nature of its laws, and of the appointed course for the administration of justice under them." This object has been carried into effect by expounding, in a plain, clear, and familiar manner, the topics mentioned in the title, so as to keep the attention of the audience alive, and facilitate their comprehension, for which purposes local and personal illustration, and even colloquial discussion, were admitted in the original lectures. The discourses are adapted to native minds not only by their style, but by the spirit which pervades them. They have a tendency to exalt the character of the people of India without weakening the tie which attaches them to our rule; they teach them the theory and advantages of liberal forms of government, whilst they shew the practical benefits of that under which they live.

In devoting his time and talents to this work, we think Mr. Norton has earned a claim to the respect of the natives and to the approbation of the Government. Israel in China: an Inquiry.

By JOSEPH WRIGHT. London, 1812. Nisbet and Co.

THE object of this little work is to attempt to establish the position, "that the testimony of the Divine Record, as well as the purport of some ancient writings, seem pointedly to bear reference to China as the probable locality of the long-hidden, and by some considered long-lost, ten tribes of Israel."

A Suggestion for the Cure of Cholera. By LIEUTENANT H. CONGREVE, Madras Artillery. London, 1842. Richardson.

Lieutenant Congreve's theory of the cause of cholera is new: he supposes that it arises from the introduction into the system of impure gases suspended in the atmosphere, whereby the blood becomes poisoned, and that it is propagated by the poisoned air from the lungs of a person who has inhaled the noxious gas; and he thinks that this theory accounts for the dissemination of the disease, and the exemption of particular places, where the noxious gas could not gain access. He observes, that the poison, which, floating in the air, has displaced the purer fluid, may insinuate itself into the animal system by the blood, when passed from the heart to the lungs, or it may reach it through the stomach by adhering to the food, or it may be taken into the system through the pores of the skin. The cure he suggests is, by inhaling protoxide of nitrogen, which, having half of its volume of oxygen, will restore the adequate measure of that principle to the blood, and thereby purify it from the noxious particles.

Three Panoramic Views of Ottacamund, the Chief Station on the Neilgherries, or Blue Mountains of Coimbatore. Lithographed by W. L. Walton, from Drawings by Major McCurdy. London, 1842. Smith, Elder, and Co.

THESE views shew the situation of all the houses, as well as public buildings, at this sanatarium of South India, of which it affords a good idea.

The Castles and Abbeys of England. By WM. BEATTIE, M. D. Part I. London, 1842. Mortimer and Haselden.

A VERY elegant and well compiled work, full of graphic illustrations of the antique appendages of our old castles and abbeys, as well as accurate representations of the edifices themselves, drawn with great taste.