verses, and incantations. The name of Germanicus was graved on plates of lead; fragments of human bodies, not quite consumed to ashes, were discovered in a putrid condition, with a variety of those magic spells, which, according to the vulgar opinion, are of potency to devote the souls of the living to the infernal gods."

Excursion through the English Purgunnas in Guzerat-Bats of enormous Size-Serpents-Cure of their venomous Bite by Lullabhy-Character of Lullabhy-Vanjarrahs - Life of the Palanquin-bearers - Anecdote of a young Hindoo MotherCountry near Zinore-Pass of Bowa-Peer-Arrival at DhuboyMountain of Powaghur-Brodera -Debauched Character of Indian Princes-Mahomedan Women-Mosques and Sepulchres -Funeral Ceremonies-Grand Wells-Beauty of the Brodera Purgunna-Valuable Produce of the District-Oppressions of Government-Character of Futty Sihng-Magnificent Wedding of Vazeer Ally-Anecdote of Hyder Ally-Letter from the Mharatta Peshwa to George the Third-Happy Consequences to be expected from the Power and Influence of the British Government in India-Music of the Hindoos-Ceremonies at a Hindoo Wedding-Encampment near Brodera-Injustice of the System and general Character of the Hindoos-Meah Gaum Rajah-Death and Character of Hiroo Nand-Sacrifice of his Widow Mahomedan Women - Serpents - Serpent-eatersLocusts Distillers - Potters Floods- Average of Annual Rain.

In the month of January, 1783, I accompanied the chief of Baroche, then lately arrived from Bombay, on a tour through all the purgunnas under his jurisdiction, as collector-general. We formed a social party of five English gentlemen, with proper officers and attendants; it being necessary for those who fill high stations in

India to preserve a respectable appearance in the eyes of the natives. We spent three weeks in this delightful tour, although the distance did not exceed two hundred miles. December, January, and February, are the best months for travelling in Guzerat; the mornings and evenings are cold, and the whole day temperate and pleasant. The thermometer at sun-rise is frequently under 60°, sometimes considerably lower, and at noon, until the warmest time of the day, seldom exceeds 70°; during the hot winds in the succeeding months, although the mornings may be tolerably cool, the thermometer gradually rises from 70 to 100o.

On leaving Baroche and its extensive suburbs, we travelled twelve miles near the banks of the Nerbudda, to our first encampment, under Cubbeer-Burr, (ficus Indica) one of the most magnificent banian-trees in India, which I have so often mentioned, as forming a canopy of verdant foliage impenetrable to a tropical sun, extending over a circumference of two thousand feet.

The birds, monkeys, and serpents abounding in Cubbeer-Burr are well known. The enormous bats which darken its branches frequently exceed six feet in length from the tip of each wing; and from their resemblance to that animal, are not improperly called flying foxes. Bats of this magnitude are a kind of monster extremely disagreeable both in smell and appearance. They must have been the harpies mentioned by Virgil :

"When from the mountain-tops with hideous cry,
And clattering wings the hungry harpies fly;
They snatch the meat, defiling all they find;
And parting, leave a loathsome stench behind.”

These large bats, like the rest of their species, suspend themselves by the claw or hook on the wings, with their heads downwards, when they repose or eat, in which posture they hang by thousands in the shades of Cubbeer-Burr. Archdeacon Paley remarks, that "the hook in the wing of a bat is strictly a mechanical, and also a compensating contrivance. At the angle of its wing there is a bent claw, exactly in the form of a hook, by which the bat attaches itself to the sides of rocks, caves, and buildings, laying hold of crevices, joinings, chinks, and roughnesses. It hooks itself by this claw, remains suspended by this hold, takes its flight from this position, which operations compensate for the decrepitude of its legs and feet. Without her hook, the bat would be the most helpless of all animals. She can neither run upon her feet, nor raise herself from the ground; these inabilities are made up to her by the contrivance in her wing; and in placing a claw in that part, the Creator has deviated from the analogy observed on winged animals. A singular defect required a singular substitute."

As some of the monkey tribe seem to unite the brute to the human species, in the great chain of creation, so the bat forms the link between birds and beasts. Naturalists have disputed to which class they belong. Pliny and the ancients place them among the feathered race; the moderns, with greater propriety, arrange them with quadrupeds. Like a bird they have wings, and the power of flying; unlike the oviparous tribes, they bring forth their young alive, and suckle them; the mouth is furnished with very sharp teeth, and shaped like that of a fox.

cuous.

The most disagreeable inhabitants of this verdant caravansary are snakes, which in great variety dwell among the branches; some malignant, others innoThe monkeys destroy a number of these reptiles; sufficient still remain to cause anxiety in a sojourner before his slumbering siesta, or nightly repose; yet it is extraordinary how few accidents happen from venomous creatures in India, where the natives in travelling are accustomed only to spread a mat, or cotton carpet, on the hearth when they sleep. I have occasionally mentioned circumstances irreconcileable to Europeans, constantly occurring among the Hindoos. I insert another anecdote respecting the bite of a serpent, and the consequences which took place at Baroche the year before I made this excursion; I shall only affirm that my relation is an unembellished matter of fact, from which I do not pretend to draw any conclusion.

At Baroche I was intimate with a Banian named Lullabby, the richest man in the city, and of great influence in the purgunna. He was universally believed to possess the power of curing the bite of venomous serpents, by a knowledge peculiar to himself, which he never imparted to another. By this art he certainly recovered many natives from a desperate state, after being wounded by the cobra-di-capello, and the scarlet snake of Cubbeer-Burr, without touching the patient or prescribing any thing inwardly. The talent of Lullabhy seemed to have no affinity with that of the ancient Psylli, or the modern snake charmers, but probably was not unlike the science professed by Mesmer or Dr. de Mainoduc; be that as it may, his fame for effecting these cures was every where established.