lieving only just half of what the world says. She was no re- | tailer of scandalous "on dits." She did not combat wrinkles with rouge; nor did she labour to render years less respected by a miserable affectation of girlish fashions. She did not stickle for the inviolable exclusiveness of certain sects; nor was she afraid of being known to visit a friend in an unfashionable quarter of the town. She was no worshipper of mere rank. She did not patronize oddities; nor sanction those who delight in braying the rules of common decency. She did not evince her sense of propriety, by shaking hands with the recent defendant in a crim. con. cause; nor exhale her devotion in Sunday routs.'-(pp. 243, 244.)

Mrs. Clotworthy, we are afraid, will not be quite so well pleased with the description of her rout. Mrs. Clotworthy is one of those ladies who have ices, fiddlers, and fine rooms, but no fine friends. But fine friends may always be had, where there are ices, fiddlers, and fine rooms: and so, with ten or a dozen stars and an Oonalaska chief'; and, followed by all vicious and salient London, Mrs. Clotworthy takes the

field.

hours would awake into active energy and motion, seemed like a city of the dead.

There was little to break this solemn illusion. Around were the monuments of human exertion, but the hands which formed them were no longer there. Few, if any, were the symptoms of life. No sounds were heard but the heavy creaking of a solitary waggon; the twittering of an occasional sparrow; the monotonous tone of the drowsy watchman; and the distant rattle of the retiring carriage, fading on the ear till it melted into silence: and the eye that searched for living objects fell on nothing but the grim great-coated guardian of the night, muffled up into an appearance of doubtful character between bear and man, and scarcely distinguishable, by the colour of his dress, from the brown flags along which he sauntered.'—pp. 297—299.)

The picture at the exhibition is extremely well managed, and all the various love-tricks of attempting to appear indifferent, are, as well as we can remember, from the life. But it is thirty or forty years since

we have been in love..

The horror of an affectionate and dexterous mamma following lecture deserves to be committed to memory by all managing mothers, and repeated at proper intervals to the female progeny.

One of the most prominent characters of the book, and the best drawn, is that of Tyrrel, son of Lord Malton, a noble blackleg, a titled gamester, and a profound plotting villain-a man, in comparison of whom, nine-tenths of the persons hung in Newgate are pure and perfect. The profound dissimulation and wicked artifices of this diabolical person are The poor woman seemed half dead with fatigue already; painted with great energy and power of description. and we cannot venture to say whether the prospect of five The party at whist made to take in Granby is very hours more of this high wrought enjoyment tended much to brace her to the task. It was a brilliant sight, and an interest- good, and that part of the story where Granby coming one, if it could have been viewed from some fair vantage pels Tyrrel to refund what he has won of Courtenay ground, with ample space, in coolness and in quiet. Bank, is of first-rate dramatic excellence; and if any one beauty, and splendour, were richly blended. The gay attire; wishes for a short and convincing proof of the powers the glittering jewels; the more resplendent features they of the writer of this novel-to that scene we refer him. adorned, and too frequently the rouged cheek of the sexagen- It shall be the taster of the cheese, and we are conarian: the vigilant chaperon; the fair but languid form which vinced it will sell the whole article. We are so much she conducted; well curled heads, well propped with starch; struck with it, that we advise the author to consider well whiskered guards-men; and here and there fat goodhumoured elderly gentlemen, with stars upon their coats;-all seriously whether he could not write a good play. It these united in one close medley-a curious piece of living is many years since a good play has been written. It mosaic. Most of them came to see and be seen; some of the is about time, judging from the common economy of most youthful professedly to dance; yet how could they? at nature, that a good dramatic writer should appear. any rate they tried. They stood, if they could, with their vis- We promise Mr. Lister sincerely, that the Edinburgh à-vis facing them, and sidled across-and back again and Review shall rapidly undeceive him if he mistakes his made one step, or two if there was room, to the right or left, talents; and that his delusion shall not last beyond and joined hands, and set-perhaps, and turned their partners, or dispensed with it if necessary-and so on to the end of "La the first tragedy or comedy. Finale;" and then comes a waltz for the few who choose itand then another squeezy quadrille-and so on-and on, till the weary many "leave ample room and verge enough" for the persevering few to figure in with greater freedom. But then they talk; oh! ay! true, we must not forget the charms of conversation. And what passes between nine-tenths of them! Remarks on the heat of the room; the state of the crowd: the impossibility of dancing, and the propriety never-is a handsome young man without money and the theless of attempting it; that on last Wednesday was a bad Almack's, and on Thursday a worse Opera; that the new ballet is supposed to be good; mutual inquiries how they like Pasta, or Catalani, or whoever the syren of the day may be; whether they have been at Lady A.'s, and whether they are "True, my love, but understand me. I don't wish you going to Mrs. B.'s; whether they think Miss Such-a-one hand-positively to avoid him. I would not go away, for instance, some! and what is the name of the gentleman talking to her; if I saw him coming, or even turn my head that I might not whether Rossini's music makes the best quadrilles, and whether see him as he passed. That would be too broad and markCollinet's band are the best to play them. There are many ed. People might notice it. It would look particular. We who pay in better coin; but the small change is much of this should never do anything that looks particular. No, I description.'-(I. 249–251.) would answer him civilly and composedly whenever he spoke to me, and then pass on, just as you might in the case of anybody else. But I leave all this to your own tact and discretion, of which nobody has more for her age. I am sure you can enter into all these niceties, and that my observations will not be lost upon you. And now, my love, let me mention another thing. You must get over that little embarrassment which I see you show whenever you Granby followed them with his eyes; and now, too full meet him. It was very natural and excusable the first of happiness to be accessible to any feelings of jealousy or time, considering our long acquaintance with him and the repining, after a short reverie of the purest satisfaction, he General; but we must make our conduct conform to cirleft the ball, and sallied out into the fresh cool air of a sum- cumstances; so try to get the better of this little flutter; it mer morning-suddenly passing from the red glare of lamp-does not look well, and might be observed. There is no light, to the clear sober brightness of returning day. He quality more valuable in a young person than self-posseswalked cheerfully onward, refreshed and exhilirated by the sion. So you must keep down these blushes," said she, air of morning, and interested with the scene around him. patting her on the cheek, or I believe I must rouge you:It was broad day-light, and he viewed the town under an though it would be a thousand pities, with the pretty naaspect in which it is alike presented to the late retiring vo- tural colour you have. But you must remember what I tary of pleasure, and the early rising sons of business. He have been saying. Be more composed in your behaviour. stopped on the pavement of Oxford Street, to contemplate Try to adopt the manner which I do. It may be difficult; the effect. The whole extent of that long vista, unclouded but you see I contrive it, and I have known Mr. Granby a by the mid-day smoke, was distinctly visible to his eye at great deal longer than you have, Caroline.” '—(pp. 21, once. The houses shrunk to half their span, while the few 22.) visible spires of the adjacent churches seemed to rise less distant than before, gaily tipped with early sunshine, and These principles are of the highest practical impormuch diminished in apparent size, but heightened in dis-tance in an age when the art of marrying daughters is tinctness and in beauty. Had it not been for the cool gray carried to the highest pitch of excellence, when love tint which slightly mingled with every object, the brightness must be made to the young men of fortune, not only was almost that of noon. But the life, the bustle, the busy

We consider the following description of London, as it appears to a person walking home after a rout, at four or five o'clock in the morning, to be as poetical as any thing written on the forests of Guiana, or the falls of Niagara :

din, the flowing tide of human existence, were all wanting by the young lady who must appear to be dying for to complete the similitude. All was hushed and silent; and him, but by the father, mother, aunts, cousins, tutor, this mighty receptacle of human beings, which a few short gamekeeper, and stable-boy-assisted by the parson

of the parish, and the church-wardens. If any of these fail, Dives pouts, and the match is off.

The merit of this writer is, that he catches delicate portraits, which a less skilful artist would pass over, from not thinking the features sufficiently marked. We are struck, however, with the resemblance, and are pleased with the conquest of difficulties-we remember to have seen such faces, and are sensible that they form an agreeable variety to the expression of more marked and decided character, Nobody, for instance, can deny that he is acquainted with Miss Darrell,

at the conclusion, the French remained masters of a
dismantled town, and the English of the grandest and
most extensive colony that the world has ever seen.
To attribute this success to the superior genius of
Clive, is not to diminish the reputation it confers on
his country, which reputation must of course be eleva-
ted by the namber of great men to which it gives
birth. But the French were by no means deficient in
casualties of genius at that period, unless Bussy is to
be considered as a man of common stature of mind, or
Dupleix to be classed with the vulgar herd of politi-
cians, Neither was Clive (though he clearly stands
forward as the most prominent figure in the group)
without the aid of some military men of very consider-
able talents, Clive extended our Indian empire; but
General Lawrence preserved it to be extended; and
the former caught, perhaps, from the latter, that mili-
tary spirit by which he soon became a greater soldier
than him, without whom he never would have been a
soldier at all.

• Miss Darrell was not strictly a beauty. She had not, as was frequently observed by her female friends, and unwillingly admitted by her male admirers, a single truly good feature in her face. But who could quarrel with the tout ensemble? who but must be dazzled with the graceful animation with which those features were lighted up? Let critics hesitate to pronounce her beautiful; at any rate they must allow her to be fascinating. Place a perfect stranger in a crowded assembly, and she would first attract his eye; correcter beauties would pass unnoticed, and his first atten- Gratifying as these reflections upon our prowess in tion would be riveted by her. She was all brilliancy and India are to national pride, they bring with them the effect; but it was hard to say she studied it; so little did her painful reflection, that so considerable a portion of our spontaneous, airy graces convey the impression of preme-strength and wealth is vested upon such precarious ditated practice. She was a sparkling tissue of little affec-foundations, and at such an immense distance from the tations, which, however, appeared so interwoven with herself, that their seeming artlessness disarmed one's censure. Strip them away, and you destroyed at once the brilliant being that so much attracted you; and thus it became diffi cult to condemn what you felt unable, and, indeed, unwilling, to remove. With positive affectation, malevolence itself could rarely charge her; and prudish censure seldom exceeded the guarded limits of a dry remark, that Miss Dar

rell had "a good deal of manner."

parent country. The glittering fragments of the Portuguese empire, scattered up and down the East, should teach us the instability of such dominion. We are (it is true) better capable of preserving what we have obtained, than any other nation which has ever colonized in Southern Asia: but the object of ambition is so tempting, and the perils to which it is exposed so Eclat she sought and gained. Indeed, she was both numerous, that no calculating mind can found any duformed to gain it and disposed to desire it. But she requir-rable conclusions upon this branch of our commerce, ed an extensive sphere. A ball-room was her true arena : and this source of our strength. for she waltzed "à ravir," and could talk enchantingly about nothing. She was devoted to fashion, and all its fickleness, and went to the extreme whenever she could do so consistently with grace. But she aspired to be a leader as well as a follower; seldom, if ever, adopted a mode that was unbecoming to herself, and dressed to suit the genius of her face.'-(pp. 28, 29.)

Tremendous is the power of a novelist! If four or five men are in a room, and show a disposition to break the peace, no human magistrate (not even Mr. Justice Bayley) could do more than bind them over to keep the peace, and commit them if they refused. But the writer of the novel stands with a pen in his hand, and can run any of them through the body,can knock down any one individual, and keep the others upon their legs; or, like the last scene in the first tragedy written by a young man of genius, can put them all to death. Now, an author possessing such extraordinary privileges, should not have allowed Mr. Tyrrel to strike Granby. This is ill managed; particularly as Granby does not return the blow, or turn him out of the house. Nobody should suffer his hero to have a black eye, or to be pulled by the nose. The Iliad would never have come down to these times if Agamemnon had given Achilles a box on the ear. We should have trembled for the Æneid, if any Tyrian nobleman had kicked the pious neas in the 4th Eneas may have deserved it; but he could not have founded the Roman empire after so distressing

book.

an accident.

ISLAND OF CEYLON. (EDINBURGH Review, 1803.)
An Account of the Island of Ceylon. By Robert Percival,
Esq., of his Majesty's Nineteenth Regiment of Foot.
London. C. and R. Baldwin.

It is now little more than half a century since the English first began to establish themselves in any force upon the peninsula of India; and we at present possess in that country, a more extensive territory, and a more numerous population, than any European power can boast of at home. In no instance has the genius of the English, and their courage, shone forth more conspicuously than in their contest with the French for the empire of India. The numbers on both sides were always inconsiderable; but the two nations were fairly matched against each other, in the cabinet and the field; the struggle was long and obstinate; and,

In the acquisition of Ceylon, we have obtained the greatest of all our wants-a good harbour. For it is a very singular fact, that, in the whole peninsula of India, Bombay is alone capable of affording a safe retreat to ships during the period of the monsoons.

The geographical figure of our possessions in Ceylon is whimsical enough: we possess the whole of the seacoast, and enclose in a periphery the unfortunate King may be compared to a coarse mass of iron, set in a of Candia, whose rugged and mountainous dominions circle of silver. tary of Buddha has been so long held by the Portuguese The Popilian ring, in which this voand Dutch, has infused the most vigilant jealousy into the kingdom of Candia, as if it were Paradise or China; the government, and rendered it as difficult to enter and yet, once there, always there; for the difficulty of departing is just as great as the difficulty of arriving; and his Candian excellency, who has used every device in his power to keep them out, is seized with such an affection for those who baffle his defensive artifices,that he can on no account suffer them to depart. He has been known to detain a string of four or five Dutch embassies, till various members of the legation died of old age at his court, while they were expecting an anand his majesty once exasperated a little French amswer to their questions, and a return to their presents:* bassador to such a degree, by the various pretences under which he kept him at his court, that this lively member of the corps diplomatique, one day, in a furíous passion, attacked six or seven of his majesty's largest elephants sword in hand, and would, in all probabeasts had not been saved from the unequal combat. bility, have reduced them to mince-meat, if the poor

The best and most ample account of Ceylon is contained in the narrative of Robert Knox, who, in the middle of the 17th century, was taken prisoner there (while refitting his ship) at the age of nineteen, and remained nineteen years on the island, in slavery to the King of Candia. During this period, he learnt the language, and acquired a thorough knowledge of the people. The account he has given of them is extremely entertaining, and written in a very simple and unaf fected style; so much so, indeed, that he presents his reader with a very grave account of the noise the devil makes in the woods of Candia, and of the frequent op portunities he has had of hearing him,

* Knox's Ceylon.

Mr. Percival does not pretend to deal with the devil; but appears to have used the fair and natural resources of observation and good sense, to put together an interesting description of Ceylon. There is nothing in the book very animated, or very profound, but it is without pretentions; and if it does not excite attention by any unusual powers of description, it never disgusts by credulity, wearies by prolixity, or offends by affectation. It is such an account as a plain military man of diligence and common sense might be expected to compose; and narratives like these we must not despise. To military men we have been, and must be, indebted for our first acquaintance with the interior of many countries. Conquest has explored more than ever curiosity has done: and the path for science has been commonly opened by the sword.

We shall proceed to give a very summary abstract of the principal contents of Mr. Percival's book. The immense accessions of territory which the English have acquired in the East Indies since the American war, rendered it absolutely necessary, that some effort should be made to obtain possession of a station where ships might remain in safety during the violent storms incidental to that climate. As the whole of that large track which we possess along the Coromandel coast presents nothing but open roads, all vessels are obliged, on the approach of the monsoons, to stand out in the open seas; and there are many parts of the coast that can be approached only during a few months of the year. As the harbour of Trincomalee, which is equally secure at all seasons, afforded the means of obviating these disadvantages, it is evident that, on the first rupture with the Dutch, our countrymen would attempt to gain possession of it. A body of troops was, in consequence, detached in the year 1795, for the conquest of Ceylon, which (in consequence of the indiscipline which political dissension had introduced among the Dutch troops) was effected almost without opposition.

Ceylon is now inhabited by the English; the remains of the Dutch and Portuguese, the Cinglese or natives, subject to the dominion of the Europeans; the Candians, subject to the king of their own name; and the Vaddahs, or wild men, subject to no power. A Ceylonese Dutchman is a coarse, grotesque species of animal, whose native apathy and phlegm is animated only by the insolence of a colonial tyrant: his principal amusement appears to consist in smoking; but his pipe, according to Mr. Percival's account, is so seldom out of his mouth, that his smoking appears to be almost as much a necessary function of animal life as his breathing. His day is eked out with gin, ceremonious visits, and prodigious quantities of gross food, dripping with oil and butter's his mind, just able to reach from one meal to another, is incapable of farther exertion; and, after the panting and deglutition of a long protracted dinner, reposes on the sweet expectation that, in a few hours, the carnivorous toil will be renewed. He lives only to digest, and, while the organs of gluttony perform their office, he has not a wish beyond; and is the happy man which Horace de

scribes :

in seipso totus, teres, atque rotundus. The descendants of the Portuguese differ materially from the Moors, Malabars, and other Mahometans, Their great object is to show the world they are Europeans and Christians. Unfortunately, their ideas of Christianity are so imperfect, that the only mode they can hit upon of displaying their faith, is by wearing hats and breeches, and by these habiliments they consider themselves as showing a proper degree of contempt, on various parts of the body, towards Mahomet and Buddha. They are lazy, treacherous, effeminate, and passionate to excess; and are, in fact, a locomotive and animated farrago of the bad qualities of all tongues, people, and nations, on the face of the

earth.

The Maylays, whom we forgot before to enumerate, form a very considerable portion of the inhabitants of Ceylon. Their original empire lies in the peninsula of Malacca, from whence they have extended them selves over Java, Sumatra, the Moluccas, and a vast number of other íslands in the peninsula of India. It

has been many years customary for the Dutch to bring them to Ceylon, for the purpose of carrying on various branches of trade and manufacture, and in order to employ them as soldiers and servants. The Ma lays are the most vindictive and ferocious of living beings. They set little or no value on their existence, in the prosecution of their odious passions; and having thus broken the great tie which renders man a being capable of being governed, and fit for society, they are a constant source of terror to all those who have any kind of connection or relation with them. A Malay servant, from the apprehension excited by his vindictive disposition, often becomes the master of his master. li is as dangerous to dismiss him as to punish him; and the rightful despot, in order to avoid assas sination, is almost compelled to exchange characters with his slave. It is singular, however, that the Malay, incapable of submission on any other occasion, and ever ready to avenge insult with death, submits to the severest military discipline with the utmost resignation and meekness. The truth is, obedience to his officers forms part of his religious creed; and the same man who would repay the most insignificant insult with death, will submit to be lacerated at the halbert with the patience of a martyr. This is truly a tremendous people! When assassins and blood-hounds will fall into rank and file, and the most furious savages submit (with no diminution of their ferocity) to the science and discipline of war, they only want a Malay Bonaparte to lead them to the conquest of the world. Our curiosity has always been very highly excited by the accounts of this singular people; and we cannot help thinking, that, one day or another, when they are more full of opium than usual, they will run a muck from Cape Comorin to the Caspian.

Mr. Percival does not consider the Ceylonese as descended from the continentals of the peninsula, but rather from the inhabitants of the Maldive Islands, whom they very much resemble in complexion, features, language, and manners.

The Ceylonese (says Mr. Percival) are courteous and polite in their demeanour, even to a degree far exceeding their civilization. In several qualities they are superior to all other Indians who have fallen within the sphere of my observation. I have already exempted them from the censure of stealing and lying, which seem to be almost inherent in the nature of an Indian. They are mild, and by no means captious or passionate in their intercourse with each other; though, when once their anger is roused, it is proportionably furious and lasting. Their hatred is indeed mortal, and they will frequently destroy themselves to obtain the destruction of the detested object. One instance will serve to show the extent to which this passion is carried. If a Ceylonese cannot obtain money due to him by another, he goes to his debtor, and threatens to kill himself if he is not instantly paid. This threat, which is sometimes put in execution, reduces the debtor, if it be in his power, to immediate compliance with the demand: as, by their law, if any man causes the less of another man's life, his own is the forfeit. "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," is a proverbial expression continually in their mouths. This is, on other occasions, a very common mode of revenge among them; and a Ceylonese has often been known to contrive to kill himself in the company of his enemy, that the latter might suffer for it.

This dreadful spirit of revenge, so inconsistent with the usually mild and humane sentiments of the Ceylonese, and much more congenial to the bloody temper of a Malay, still continues to be fostered by the sacred customs of the Candians. Among the Cinglese, however, it has been greatly mitigated by their intercourse with Europeans. The desperate mode of obtaining revenge which I have just described, has been given up, from having been disappointed of its object; as in all those parts under our dominion, the European modes of investigating and punishing crimes are enforced. A case of this nature occurred at Caltura, in 1799. A Cinglese peasant happening to have a suit or controversy with another, watched an opportunity of going to bathe in company with him, and drowned himself, with the view of having his adversary put to death. The latter was upon this taken up, and sent to Columbo, to take his trial for making away with the deceased, upon the principle of having been the last seen in his company. There was, however, nothing more than presumptive proof against the culprit, and he was of course acquitted. This decision, however, did not by any means tally with the sentiments of the Cinglese, who are as much inclined to continue their ancient barbarous practice as their brethren the Candians, although they are deprived of the power.'-(pp. 70—72.)

bargain possible is made for each boat separately. The fished on government account, and the pearls disposed of in Dutch generally followed this last system; the banks were different parts of India or sent to Europe. When this plan was pursued, the governor and council of Ceylon claimed a certain per centage on the value of the pearls; or, if the fishing of the banks was disposed of by public sale, they bargained for a stipulated sum to themselves over and above what was paid on account of government. The pretence on which they founded their claims for this perquisite, was their trouble in surveying and valuing the banks.'

-(pp. 59-61.)

The warlike habits of the Candians make them look | boat. There are, however, no stated prices, and the best with contempt on the Cinglese, who are almost entirely unacquainted with the management of arms. They have the habit and character of mountaineers-warlike, hardy, enterprising, and obstinate. They have, at various times, proved themselves very formidable enemies to the Dutch; and in that kind of desultory warfare, which is the only one their rugged country will admit of, have cut off large parties of the troops of both these nations. The King of Candia, as we have before mentioned, possesses only the middle of the island, which nature, and his Candian majesty, have rendered as inaccessible as possible. It is traversable only by narrow wood-paths, known to nobody but the natives, strictly watched in peace and war, and where the best troops in the world might be shot in any quantities by the Candian marksmen, without the smallest possibility of resisting their enemies; because there would not be the smallest possibility of finding them. The King of Candia is of course despotic: and the history of his life and reign presents the same monotonous ostentation, and baby-like ca-ject under water with their toes. Their descent is price, which characterize oriental governments. In public audiences he appears like a great fool, squatting on his hams; far surpassing gingerbread in splendour; and, after asking some idiotical question, as whether Europe is in Asia or Africa, retires with a flourish of trumpets very much out of tune. For his private amusement, he rides on the nose of an elephant, plays with his jewels, sprinkles his courtiers with rose-water, and feeds his gold and silver fish. If his tea is not sweet enough, he impales his footman; and smites off the head of half a dozen of his noblemen, if he has a pain in his own.

ώσπερ γαρ (says Aristotle) τελεωθεν βελτιστον των ζωων ανθρωπος εστι, ούτω και χωρισθεν νομού, και δικης χειριστον πάντων. Polit.

The only exportable articles of any importance which Ceylon produces, are pearls, cinnamon, and elephants. Mr. Percival has presented us with an extremely interesting account of the pearl fishery, held in Condatchy Bite, near the island of Manaar, in the straits which separate Ceylon from the main land.

The banks are divided into six or seven portions, in order to give the oysters time to grow, which are supposed to attain their maturity in about seven years. The period allowed the merchant to complete his fishery, is about six weeks, during which period all the boats go out and return together, and are subject to very rigorous laws. The dexterity of the divers is very striking; they are as adroit in the use of their feet as their hands; and can pick up the smallest obaided by a great stone, which they slip from their feet when they arrive at the bottom, where they can remain about two minutes. There are instances, however, of divers, who have so much of the aquatic in their nature, as to remain under water for five or six minutes. Their great enemy is the ground-shark ; for the rule of, eat and be eaten, which Dr. Darwin called the great law of nature, obtains in as much force fathoms deep beneath the waves as above them: this animal is as fond of the legs of Hindoos, as the Hindoos are of the pearls of oysters; and as one appetite appears to him much more natural, and less capricious than the other, he never fails to indulge in it. Where fortune has so much to do with peril and proft, of course there is no deficiency of conjurers, who, by divers enigmatical grimaces, endeavour to ostracise this submarine invader. If they are successful, they are well paid in pearls; and if a shark indulges himlives at Colang, on the Malabar coast, who always self with the leg of a Hindoo, there is a witch who

bears the blame.

A common mode of theft practised by the common people engaged in the pearl fishery, is by swallowing There is perhaps no spectacle which the island of Cey. the pearls. Whenever any one is suspected of having lon affords more striking to an European, than the Bay of swallowed these precious pills of Cleopatra, the poCondatchy, during the season of the pearl fishery. This lice apothecaries are instantly sent for; a brisk cadesert and barren spot is at that time converted into a scene, thartic is immediately despatched after the truant which exceeds, in novelty and variety, almost any thing I pearl, with the strictest orders to apprehend it, in ever witnessed. Several thousands of people, of different whatever corner of the viscera it may be found lurkcolours, countries, castes, and occupations, continually passing and repassing in a busy crowd; the vast numbers of ing. Oyster lotteries are carried on here to a great small tents and huts erected on the shore, with the bazaar extent. They consist in purchasing a quantity of the or market place before each; the multitude of boats return- oysters unopened, and running the chance of either ing in the afternoon from the pearl banks, some of them finding or not finding pearls in them. The European laden with riches; the anxious expecting countenances of gentlemen and officers who attend the pearl fishery the boat-owners, while the boats are approaching the shore, through duty or curiosity, are particularly fond of and the eagerness and avidity with which they run to them these lotteries, and frequently make purchases of this when arrived, in hopes of a rich cargo; the vast numbers of jewellers, brokers, merchants of all colours and all des- sort. The whole of this account is very well written, criptions, both natives and foreigners, who are occupied in and has afforded us a great degree of amusement. By some way or other with the pearls, some separating and as- what curious links and fantastical relations, are mansorting them, others weighing and ascertaining their num-kind connected together! At the distance of half the ber and value, while others are hawking them about, or globe, a Hindoo gains his support by groping at the drilling and boring them for future use;-all these circum- bottom of the sea, for the morbid concretion of a shell stances tend to impress the mind with the value and impor-fish, to decorate the throat of a London alderman's tance of that object, which can of itself create this scene. wife. It is said that the great Linnæus had discovered "The bay of Condatchy is the most central rendezvous for the boats employed in the fishery The banks where it is carried on, extend several miles along the coast from Manaar southward off Arippo, Condatchy, and Pomparipo. The principal bank is opposite to Condatchy, and lies out at sea about twenty miles. The first step, previous to the commencement of the fishery, is to have the different oyster banks surveyed, the state of the oysters ascertained, and a report made on the subject to government. If it has been found that the quantity is sufficient, and that they are arrived at a proper degree of maturity, the particular banks to be fished that year are put up for sale to the highest bidder, and are usually purchased by a black merchant. This, however, is not always the course pursued: government sometimes julges it more advantageous to fish the banks on 'Nature has here concentrated both the beauty and the its own account, and to dispose of the pearls to the mer-riches of the island. Nothing can be more delightful to the chants. When this plan is adopted, boats are hired for the eye, than the prospect which stretches around Columbo. season on account of government, from different quarters; The low cinnamon trees which cover the plain, allow the the price varies considerably according to circumstances; view to reach the groves of evergreens, interspersed with but is usually from five to eight hundred pagodas for each tall clumps, and bounded everywhere with extensive ranges

the secret of infecting oysters with this perligenous disease: what is become of the secret we do not know, as the only interest we take in oysters is of a much more vulgar, though, perhaps, a more humane nature.

The principal woods of cinnamon lie in the neighbourhood of Columbo. They reach to within half a mile of the fort, and fill the whole surrounding prospect. The grand garden near the town is so extensive. as to occupy a track of country from ten to fifteen miles in length.