Mount Dilly to the northward with the small island called Green or Grove island, when ships are near the shore there is smoother water also, while the depth is convenient and the holding ground good. Soon after noon, the Company's principal civil servant here sent his curricle for us, to come out and dine with him, but his residence being at a distance of several miles in the country, we were com⚫ pelled to decline the invitation. It is remarked as a peculiar feature of Tellicherry, that the dwelling houses of the English families are farther apart than at any station along the coast. Two of them were named, which were six miles distant from each other, and therefore visits could not be conveniently made, except in carriages. We paid a visit to a young gentleman of the Madras service, in our palanquins, and took an early dinner with the judge, previous to our embarkation. It was intended that we should have taken an evening ride to Mahé, which is only five miles to the southward of this, and has a beautiful country and fine roads between it and Tellicherry; but desirous as I was of seeing a French settlement and French people in this part of the world, the ship being reported by signal as ready for sea, prevented my doing so. At 4 P. M. we embarked, and found that the whole quantity of 1000 bags of pepper, had been loaded and stowed by the ship's company without other assistance, in about four hours; an unusually short space of time for such a task. Some of it had been wetted by the spray of the sea in bringing it off from the shore, but we were told that instead of the sea-water injuring pepper, as it does most other articles, it was rather beneficial than otherwise, and this was confirmed to us by all who were most conversant with the subject. At sun-set, we weighed and made sail with a fine breeze from the N. W. It being very dark after the twilight had closed, we saw nothing of the coast, though we kept along in eight fathoms, or within a league of it, nor did we perceive any thing of Sacrifice Rock, which lies about S. E. from Tellicherry, distant five leagues, although we passed between it and the main, just in mid-channel, or about a league distant from each, in eight and nine fathoms water. At 11 P. M., having run our distance within a mile or two by the log, which we allowed for drift, we shortened sail, and hove to under the topsails; considering ourselves to be nearly abreast of Calicut, at which place we intended anchoring, to land some of the passengers, and to fill up the remaining stock of water for sea. 28th. When the day opened upon us, we found the town of Calicut right-a-head, bearing about East, at the distance of less than a league. We accordingly filled and stood in under the topsails for the anchorage, coming to in five fathoms, with the flag staff bearing E. by N., distant off shore from two to three miles. At sun-rise, the passengers quitted the ship, and I accompanied them on shore. We were met on our way by the official assistants and friends of the parties, who had made all preparation for our reception, and on reaching the shore, we accordingly found carriages, palanquins, and chairs ready to convey us to their residences. In the course of the day, we received visits from the principal people of the settlement; among whom were the Circuit Judge, the Resident Judge, the Collector of the Land Revenues, the Conservator of the Forests in Malabar, the Registrar, and the Master Attendant of the Port, an interesting old sailor of seventy, who had seen almost every part of the globe; several officers of the Bombay establishment, a Lieutenant of the Madras army and his lady, the surgeon, and a Captain of H. M. 17th foot, and others who had come down here with their families, for their health. We closed a day of great pleasure by an evening ride over some fine parts of the country, and were delighted with the charming prospects which it presented to us. 29th.-There being seldom any other religious observance of Sunday, at the out-stations in India, beyond that of closing the public offices, and enjoying a respite from business; it is a day more particularly devoted to the paying and returning of visits, in which the morning is consumed, and in the evening there is generally a party at the house of one of the principal residents, to which all the rest are invited. It was thus that after the former part of the day had been got through in returning our visitors' calls of yesterday, the whole of the family with whom I was staying, and several others of their guests, rode out to the residence of the Collector of Revenue, at a distance of about three miles from the town, where we had all been invited to dine. We found already assembled here the whole of the European residents, with the ladies of such among them as were married, though it was just past three o'clock, and the dinner hour was nominally at four. The ladies were all in full evening dresses, but the gentlemen were all in white jackets; the freedom of an out-station admitting of this indulgence even to strangers, without its being considered disrespectful. There being two billiard tables in the verandahs, the gentlemen were occupied in this game, and the ladies barely found a companion each to beguile their time until dinner. This was at length announced, and we sat down, in number about twenty, to a very sumptuously furnished table, where turtle-soup, excellent fish, choice turkeys and poultry, old Madeira wines, iced claret, and sparkling champaign were in such abundance as to have furnished a feast to any number of the most fastidious epicures. It is this constant and universal manner of high and expensive living which prevails over every part of India, in which the English are found, that ultimately injures their health to such a degree as to destroy all relish for the greatest luxuries that even Indian wealth can procure. In the present instance, as I had already seen it in a hundred others, the table literally groaned beneath the weight of the good things with which it was loaded, and at least ten or a dozen dishes were taken away without being tasted; while those that were used were consumed in such small quantities as to justify the assertion, that not one tenth part of the provisions set on the table were consumed, though the guests were all in good health and spirits. The twilight was passed in an agreeable ramble over the sides of the hills, on whose summit the dwelling of our entertainer was seated, and we enjoyed all the refreshing coolness of the sea breeze long after sun-set, and saw the shadow of night steal over the fine mountain scenery of the interior before we returned from our walk. Our evening was divided between billiards, cards, chess, and backgammon, and a sofa party for conversation. The rigour of the Protestant mode of observing Sunday in England, soon relaxes in India into a freedom quite equal to that of the Catholic, when a small community like the present finds time to hang heavy on their hands without amusements, and when they have no clerical censors at hand to repeat to them the fourth commandment. As among the Catholics of Europe, however, this laxity in the religious observances of Sunday, so prevalent among the Protestants of India, is by no means indicative of a similar laxity in general morals. Since in both classes it is found among those of the highest principles, the firmest integrity, and the most unblemished reputation. We retired at an early hour, or before ten o'clock, after a temperate and rational enjoyment of the day, and prolonged our ride homeward for the sake of breathing the delicious coolness of the land breeze and the night air. STANZAS. "Tis not an eye of deepest blue, Where dewy nectar we might sip— "Tis not in shape or face, we own the spell, And happiness lies not in wealth, M. B. HINDA. AN EASTERN ELEGY. From Maurice's Poems. LED by the star of evening's guiding fires, Where groves of spikenard greet his sense in vain. But no repose his anxious bosom found, "Ye swains, that through the bowers of pleasure rove, But oh! this breast incessant cares corrode, HINDA, once fairest of the virgin train "To that dear spot, when day's declining beam Darts from yon shining towers a farewell gleam; Constant at eve my sorrows I renew, And mix my tears with the descending dew; Kiss the cold shrine, and clasp the mould'ring clay. "Far other sounds this conscious valley heard, The pledge of ardent love and future bliss. Then, with the tear, warm trickling down my cheek, “ Prepare, I cried, prepare the nuptial feast, And Samarcand send gems, and India gold, To deck a banquet worthy of the bride, Where mirth shall be the guest, and love preside. "Full fifty steeds I boast, of swiftest pace, Nor spurn'd the needy pilgrim from my door. * Aden and Saba, are both cities of Arabia Felix, celebrated for the gardens and spice woods which surround them. |