peasant's house is of mean construction, built of rough stones, heaped together without cement, and, on account of the strong winds that prevail here, it has never more than three or four small apertures to admit light. The roof is a flat terrace, surrounded with a parapet wall two or three feet high; on this are commonly placed piles of loose stones, intended to support a small flag, or the branch of a tree; or else as a fastening for a long line, with scraps of paper, or a white rag, strung upon it like the tail of a kite. This being stretched from one house to another, is used as a charm against evil genii, as infallible in its efficacy as horse-shoes nailed upon a threshhold, or as straws thrown across the path of a reputed witch.

The language of Thibet is the same as that spoken on the western frontiers of China. Their literature chiefly relates to religion; books are sometimes printed on blocks of wood. Of the diseases prevalent in this country, the first that attracts the notice of the traveller, is the goitre, a glandular swelling in the throat, such as is common in Savoy, and the Valais in Switzerland.

HINDOOSTAN.

THE GANGES.

The Ganges, the greatest river of Hindoostan, and one of the greatest in Asia, rises from the south side of the Himmaleh mountains, and after a comparative course, in a southeasterly direction, of about 1,600 miles, it flows into the bay of Bengal, by numerous mouths. Its length, following its windings, is upwards of 2,000 miles. It is regarded by the Hindoos as very sacred; and the point of its confluence with the Jumna, at Allahabad, is the most venerated place of Hindoo ablution. The Burrampooter flows into the main branch of the Ganges, 40 miles above the bay of Bengal. It is remarkable that although the sources of these two great rivers åre near each other, and their waters unite before reaching the ocean, yet in one part of their course they are about 1,200 miles apart.

The Ganges, at the distance of 500 miles from its mouth, is four miles wide, and 60 feet deep in the rainy season,

and 30 in the dry. Like the Nile, it has a very wide Delta, extending east and west about 200 miles, and commencing about 200 miles, or 300 by the course of the river, from the sea. A great part of it is uninhabited country, called Sunderbunds, overgrown with forests and infested with tigers. The westernmost branch, called the Hoogly, is the only one commonly navigated by ships. The country through which the Ganges flows, with the exception of the Sunderbunds, is healthy, and the water is salubrious and highly esteemed. Some of the principal cities on this river and its branches, are Calcutta, Dacca, Patna, Benares, Allahabad, Lucknow, Agra, and Delhi.

THE INDUS.

The Indus, the great river in the western part of India, is supposed to rise on the western side of the Himmaleh mountains, and flows by many mouths into the Indian sea. Its general course is south by west, and including its windings, its length is estimated at 1,700 miles. The Delta of the Indus extends about 150 miles along the coast, and 115 into the interior. It is navigable for vessels of 200 tons, 890 miles; and throughout this distance it is gener ally about a mile in breadth.

CALCUTTA.

Calcutta, a city of Bengal and the capital of the British possessions in India, is situated on the Hoogly, the western branch of the Ganges, nearly 100 miles from the sea, and contains about 600,000 inhabitants. The houses belonging to the British, amount to about 5,000, and mostly built of brick, plastered with chunam, and have a very elegant appearance. Many of them resemble the palaces of monarchs, rather than the houses of merchants. The streets

of the black town, belonging to the natives, are narrow and dirty; some of the houses are of brick, two stories high, but the most of them are mud cottages of only one story with thatched roofs.

The commerce of Calcutta is very great, amounting to about £10,000,000 per annum. Opposite to the city there is good anchorage for vessels of 500 tons, and the advantages of inland navigation by means of the Ganges, are

excellent. The environs are occupied by pleasant gardens and country houses, and the surrounding country is very populous. It is the seat of an English bishop, and contains a Mission college for the education of the natives for preachers and schoolmasters, and a college for the instruction of the Hindoos in European learning. The English society in Calcutta is more numerous than in any other city of India.

DELHI,

Delhi, formerly the capital of Hindoostan, the boast of India, and the seat of the great Mogul, is situated on the Jumna, a branch of the Ganges,toward the northern part of the country. At the time of its greatest splendour it was estimated to contain 2,000,000 inhabitants, and is said to have occupied a site twenty miles in length; the ruins now cover nearly as great a space. In 1739, it was taken by Nadir Shah, when 100,000 inhabitants were massacred, and £62,000,000 sterling of plunder are said to have been collected; and it has since been repeatedly pillaged. It now contains the remains of numerous splendid palaces, and is adorned with many beautiful mosques still in good repair: The population is estimated at from 100,000 to 200,000.

SERINGAPATAM-MAUSOLEUM OF HYDER ALLY.

See Plate, No. 74.

Seringapatam, a city in the south of Hindoostan, formerly capital of Mysore, and the seat of Hyder Ally, is situated on an island in the Cauvery. In 1799 it was invested by the British forces, and the following year the population was reduced from 150,000 to less than 32,000.

In the great garden of Seringapatam is situated the Mausoleum of Hyder Ally, a splendid monument of oriental grandeur, erected by Tippoo Saib in honour of the deceased sovereign, his father. Beneath tombs of black marble, elevated about 18 inches from the ground, lie the bodies of Hyder Ally, his consort, and Tippoo Saib. The whole of this sumptuous edifice, together with its dome, is supported by brilliantly polished black marble columns. It is surrounded by a grove of beautiful cypress trees, and

is accompanied by a magnificent area, in which the fakirs have cells allotted to them; and on an elevated platform are the tombs of several faithful servants.

The Taje Mahal, situated on the Jumna, about three miles from the city of Agra, is perhaps the most superb mausoleum in the world. It was built by the emperor Shah Jehan, between the years 1631 and 1640, and is said to have cost about £1,000,000 sterling. It is constructed of white marble, inlaid with various precious stones. It is inclosed in a space of 300 yards, and is nearly 190 yards square.

CITIES AND PAGODAS.

The cities of Hindoostan are generally built on one plan, with exceedingly narrow and crooked streets, a great number of tanks and reservoirs, with numerous gardens interspersed. A few of the streets are paved with brick. The houses are variously built, some of brick, others of mud, and a still greater number of bamboos and mats. These different fabrics standing intermixed with each other, present a very motley and irregular appearance. The brick houses are seldom higher than two stories, and have flat terraced roofs. The mud and thatch houses greatly outnumber the other sort; so that fires, which are very frequent, seldom meet with the interruption of a brick building throughout a whole street.

There is perhaps no country in the world, where buildings destined for religious uses are more common than in Hindoostan. There is scarcely a village in which a Hindoo temple or pagoda is not to be seen; and it is proverbial that a man should not live where there is no temple. These buildings are also seen in places remote from all habitation, in woods, on the banks of rivers and lakes, and particularly on the summits of mountains and the steepest rocks. Most of these temples make a miserable appearance; but some are large edifices, and by the style of their architecture, excite the admiration of the traveller. The pagodas on the coast of Coromandel are built of large square stones in the form of pyramids; those on the coast of Malabar, are generally circular, and covered with plates of copper.

THE BANIAN OR BANYAN TREE.

See Plate, No. 75.

The Banian or Burr tree is considered one of the most curious and beautiful of nature's productions. Each tree is in itself a grove, and some of them are of an amazing size. They are continually increasing, and seem to be exempted from decay; for every branch from the main body throws out its own roots, at first in small tender fibres, several yards from the ground, which continually grow thicker, until by a gradual descent, they reach its surface; where, striking in, they increase to a large trunk, and become a parent tree, throwing out new branches from the top. These in time suspend their roots, and, receiving nourishment from the earth, swell into trunks, and shoot forth other branches; thus continuing in a state of progression so long as the first parent of them all supplies her sustenance.

A banian tree with many trunks, forms the most beautiful walks, vistas, and cool recesses, that can be imagined. The leaves are large, soft, and of a lively green; the fruit is a small fig, and when ripe, of a bright scarlet; affording sustenance to monkeys, squirrels, peacocks, and birds of various kinds, which dwell among the branches. The Hindoos are peculiarly fond of this tree, and plant it near their pagodas or temples, and the Brahmins spend much of their time in religious solitude under its shade.

The most celebrated banian tree in Hindoostan stands on an island in the Nerbuddah, near Baroach, and is called the Cubbeer Burr. It is said by the natives to be 3,000 years old; it is described by Milton in his Paradise Lost, and is supposed by some to be the same that is described by Nearchus, an officer of Alexander. High floods have, at various times, swept away a considerable part of this extraordinary tree, but what still remains is nearly 2,000 feet in circumference, measured round those branches which have taken root; the overhanging branches not yet struck down, cover a much wider space. Most of the large trunks of this tree, which amount to 350, are of a greater circumference than most English trees; the smaller trunks or stems exceed 3,000; each of these is constantly sending forth branches and hanging roots, to form other trunks, and become the parents of a future pogeny.