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dilemma, such as could accomplish it, resolved to settle their Indian concerns, and to embark for England by the first convenient opportunity. But in addition to other inconveniences, we were informed by our correspondents at Bombay, that the captains of the homeward-bound Indiamen demanded eight thousand rupees (1,000l.) for the passage of a single person, and fifteen thousand for that of a gentleman and his wife. This was certainly imposed upon the passengers by the last ship of that description which had sailed from Bombay; some families were now returning by the men of war ordered home in consequence of the general peace in Europe and America; and on our arrival at Bombay we were offered a passage on more moderate terms. The captain with whom we embarked for England received upwards of eighty thousand rupees, or ten thousand pounds sterling, for his homeward-bound passengers. One gentleman, distinguished for his liberality, gave five thousand guineas for the accommodation of his wife and family in this ship, besides an ample supply of Madeira wine, provisions, and delicacies for the table. This will be deemed a handsome compensation for five or six months board and lodging in any part of the world.

A great change had taken place at Surat during the last ten years. The splendour formerly kept up in the nabob's durbar, and the style of Mogul magnificence in which the principal Mahomedans lived on my first visit, seemed almost annihilated. Neither Hindoo nor Mahomedan pageantry now enlivened the public streets, and the war which had so long raged in Europe and India, affected the Asiatic commerce in

DREADFUL STORM.

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general, but was most sensibly felt at Surat. Her dock-yards, storehouses, and bazars, indicated little of that life and spirit, formerly likened to the glowing picture of ancient Tyre; all was now comparatively silent and forsaken. The usual calamities of war had been heightened by the dreadful storm, which happened a year before on the western shores of India. The effects of its ravages at Baroche have been mentioned; at Surat it was still more tremendous. The tottering mansions of the Moguls, long out of repair, the slighter Hindoo houses, and the mud-built cottages of the lower classes, alike gave way, and buried many of their inhabitants in the ruins. Extensive parts of the outer walls and towers of the fortifications, long in a dilapidated state, fell down; and the whole city exhibited a scene of desolation. In the surrounding country, whole villages, with the peasantry and cattle, were swept away. Every ship at the bar, with yachts, boats, and vessels of all descriptions in the river, either foundered at their anchors, or were driven on shore. Three ships richly laden, belonging to a Turkish merchant, were entirely lost; their cargoes exceeded five lacs of rupees. The Revenge, the finest cruizer on the Bombay station, foundered, and every soul perished; together with the Terrible, Dolphin, and several of the smaller armed vessels. The ravages of this storm extended along the coast for upwards of six hundred miles on the west side of India; but it was felt most about the latitude of Surat and Baroche, and added no trifling effect to the sombre appearance of this once animated emporium.

The palace and gardens at Mahmud-a-Bhaug were

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ORIENTAL PAVILIONS.

nearly destroyed by the storm, nor did the nabob seem inclined to repair them. The garden-houses of the English gentlemen suffered much damage, but were now resuming their former appearance. Melancholy indeed was the general aspect of Mahmud-aBhaug. The pavilions and detached buildings were blown to pieces, having by lapse of time, and the parsimony of the nabob, been for many years out of repair. The pavilions and smaller buildings, so often mentioned in the oriental gardens, separated from the princely mansion, are not to be considered like the generality of European summer-houses, as ornamental structures to embellish a vista, or command a prospect; on the contrary, being intended for use as well as ornament, they occupy different parts of the garden; sometimes connected to the principal building by corridors and verandas, oftener entirely detached, like those described in the chief's garden at Baroche, where each pavilion, shaded by a slight veranda, and encircled by its own canals, fountains, and parterres, is appropriated to a respective purpose: the most retired is generally among the Moguls, set apart for the

zenana.

Shah-Bhaug, the summer palace of the emperor Shah Jehan, near Ahmedabad, and Mahmud-a-Bhaug, at Surat, bear a striking resemblance to the Tusculan villa and Laurentinum, especially the detached building at the latter, which Pliny calls "Amores mei, re vera amores."

Zulam-Bhaug, the "Garden of Oppression," formerly noticed, still continued to be the favourite retreat of the nabob. In this garden I made considerable additions to a collection of near two hundred

specimens of seeds I had preserved from the trees, shrubs, and flowers at Baroche, and different parts of Guzerat; many of which have since flourished in the conservatory at Stanmore-hill. There I have had the pleasure of beholding the tamarind-tree, custardapple, and cotton-plant, flourishing with the ginger, turmerick, and coffee; and have gathered ripe guavas from a tree entwined by the crimson ipomea, the lovely Mhadavi-creeper of the Hindoos; encircled by the changeable rose (hibiscus mutabilis) the fragrant mogree, attracting alhinna, and sacred tulsee. I have not succeeded with the mango, which, in larger conservatories, has not only blossomed, but produced fruit; in those belonging to the Duke of Northumberland, and perhaps in some others. The fruit, I believe, did not arrive at maturity; the blossoms were in perfection and richly scented.

Surat at that time contained only the shadow of a Mogul court; as I have before observed, an extensive commerce, of far more importance to its aggrandizement, rendered it the first emporium in India, and the resort of merchants from every quarter of the globe. It was also the residence of several eminent and learned Mahomedans from Persia and the northern provinces of Hindostan, where Mogul literature, art, and science, no longer met with encouragement. I occasionally associated with these literati, as also with many Armenians and Turks, at the villa of Mulna Facroodeen, a rich Mogul partial to English society.

At these visits, and similar opportunities during three months' leisure in this extensive and opulent city, I was at some pains to investigate the progress

of art and science, and the extent of literary acquirements, and if not misinformed by those most able to make a proper estimate, it may be safely affirmed, that their knowledge is contracted, and their sentiments illiberal. I have occasionally mentioned the few exceptions within my own observation of the natives of India, and we may conclude that Gibbon's remark on the Arabians may be justly applied to the generality of Asiatics, and especially of the Indian moslems in higher classes of society, where he says, "The instinct of superstition was alarmed by the introduction, even of the abstract sciences."

The effects of the belief in predestination, not only among the Mahomedans just mentioned, but the Indians in general, are wonderful, and pervade their whole conduct. The entrance of the jumma musjid, or grand mosque, in the capital of a district, had been adorned by two lofty minars; one of them, struck by lightning, fell down at a few feet from its base, and left the other a desolate beauty. On inquiring why the damage was not repaired, the mullah told me their religion did not permit it when produced by such a cause.

It would be unpardonable to conclude the subject of oriental literature without mentioning Avyar, a celebrated female philosopher among the Tamuls. Dr. John, in the Protestant Mission on the Coromandel coast, has given a very interesting account of this extraordinary woman, accompanied by many valuable translations from her writings. This Indian phenomenon was a polytheist, and invoked the god Pulleyar, or the deity held by the Hindoos to be the protector of learning and science, as Mercury was