resisting the most pressing solicitations for a longer stay, slept in our budgerows. On the 4th we passed the long straggling towns of Chuprah and Cherun, where pastures abounding with herds and flocks, varied by rich groves, afforded a beautiful scene. Here the sight of a few palmyra trees, after a long absence from those objects, unexpectedly rising above the mango topes and banian trees, produced a delightful sensation; which, tracing to its source, proceeded from a recollection of the pleasant diversified island of Bombay; a little spot abundantly occupied by the cocca-nut and palmeto, and drawing a thousand associated ideas from the tablet of memory sacred to friendship and affection. At Chuprah is a factory of saltpetre and opium; all the latter produced in Berah is collected at this place. A variety of nullahs, or brooks, which intersect the neighbouring plains, pour their streams into the Ganges near Chuprah. Here also are a number of wide-spreading banian trees, many of them walled round and consecrated; those overhanging the river with their drooping branches, dispose the mind to solemn musing. So great is the rise and overflow of the Ganges this season, that the eye cannot discover the extent; and the villages are so entirely surrounded that they appear to be floating. Indeed the lower part of most of the houses are under water, and the inhabitants betake themselves to stages erected for the purpose. From thence we reached Dinapore on the 4th, and dined with some friends we had formerly known with General Goddard's detachment at Surat, in the elegant and extensive cantonments which are said to have cost the Company twenty-five lacks of rupees. They form a large and small square, and each suite of apartments consists of a hall or sitting-room, and a bed-chamber on each side; the field-officers' quarters are excellent; those belonging to the commanding officer form an elegant and spacious building. The kitchens and offices are at a proper distance. The area of the principal square is a grass-plot, divided by gravel walks into four equal parts, regularly planted with beautiful nym or lym-trees. During our stay we took the advantage of two fair days to go to Monheer, celebrated for a mosque and tank of singular beauty; in them we were disappointed, but the neighbouring country afforded us excellent sport in hunting the wild hog. After a reluctant parting with our friendly hosts at Dinapore, we proceeded, Sept. 21, to Banguepore, a few miles from Patna, and the residence of the civil servants on that station. On landing, we met with the usual kind reception; and among other things saw the gola, a building intended for a public granary, or a deposit of grain to be provided, as are similar ones at other stations, against the future ravages of famine. Its external appearance is that of an immense dome, covering one of rather smaller dimensions, within which the grain is deposited. The following morning we rode from Banquepore to Patna, to view the monument erected in commemoration of the massacre in the year 1763, ordered by Cossim Ally Khan, and executed by Samnoo. By this inhuman mandate upwards of two hundred civilians, military officers and soldiers, prisoners with Cossim Ally, were deliberately murdered. The monument stands near the house where the cruel deed was committed; it is surrounded by an enclosure which forms the English burying-ground. The column is in a good style, but has neither an inscription, nor any device ex planatory of the purpose for which it was erected. Patna is a large populous trading city, and from the river makes a good appearance. There we found a number of vessels employed in its commerce, and the bazar well stocked with merchandize, particularly abounding with coppersmiths, cooks, and confectioners. A large space was allotted to the bird-sellers, who daily frequent it with a variety of birds, from the voracious hawk to the innocent dove: the most abundant were the languishing love-sick bulbuls ; for so these nightingales are described in the zenanas, whither they and the doves are generally destined. The morning we left Patna the snowy mountains were distinctly visible in the N. E. quarter. Our next landing was at Mongheer, where we arrived on the 27th, but apprehensive of the usual hospitable reception and friendly detention, we concealed our arrival, and walked immediately to Seeta Coond, a celebrated hot-well at some distance from the town. It is secured by masonry, and a centinel is placed over it to prevent nuisances. The water is extremely hot, so that I could not bear my finger in it a single moment. It smokes and bubbles violently, and is perfectly clear and tasteless. Near it is another well, called Ram Koond, where the water is only tepid: that in the Seeta Coond is of such purity, as not only to be preferred to any other by the natives, but is procured by those who can afford it, on the voyage from India to Europe, as it never putrefies, nor becomes in the least offensive. Ram and Seeta are as eminent in the Hindoo mythology as Jupiter and Juno in the Grecian. The fortifications of Mongheer appear extensive but ruinous. The commanding officers' quarters, situated on an eminence, com mand a fine view over a pleasant diversified country; many parts of it are covered with a high grass, or reed, with bunches of seedvessels on the top, so white and singular in their growth as to give the fields the appearance of feeding numerous flocks of sheep, for which I at first took them. Intending to proceed on the 28th, we were prevented by a furious tempest, and forced to take shelter under the river bank, where we passed the night with great danger, and the loss of two men drowned. Violent gales and heavy rains delayed our reaching Bhaughulpore, on an interior branch of the great river, until the 1st of October. The English chief's house is a large beautiful building on the Italian model, finely placed at the top of a lawn, sloping down to the river, planted with flowering shrubs, and near it is a paddock with elks and some curious deer. Bhaugulpore, now a flourishing place, is indebted for all its beauties and improvements to the late chief, Mr. Cleveland, whose good name stands infinitely beyond any panegyric I can bestow, being established on the most permanent basis, the universal praise of a grateful people, liberated from perpetual invaders by his exertions, and enjoying security and tection under his fostering care. pro When Mr. Cleveland took charge of the chiefship of Bhaugulpore, the jurisdiction of which extends to the distance of a hundred and twenty miles, the country was in many places a perfect waste, and cultivation in general relaxed and deficient, arising chiefly from a scanty population, in consequence of the insecurity of property from the depredations of a savage race who inhabited the neighbouring hills; and not only robbed, burnt, and destroyed the villages, but to devastation frequently added cruelty and mur der. A military force became necessary to repel these invaders, which was not effected without much bloodshed. On Mr. Cleveland's appointment to this station, he projected a plan, which admirably included the protection of the inhabitants, the conciliation of the robbers, the increase of population, and the encouragement of agriculture. Such was the ability and perseverance with which he furthered its execution, that in a few years the desert became a scene of fertility, conducted by the very people who had formerly struck the country with terror, and rendered it uninhabitable. The ancient ryots of the plains, who had fled from the mountaineers as their murderers, now mingled with them in friendship; and, certain parts of the land remaining yet untilled, were distributed to the invalids of the Company's native troops, who were invited by advantageous terms to spend the remainder of their lives in the vale of peace, and the salutary employments of husbandry. INSCRIPTION ON A MARBLE MONUMENT AT BHAUGULPORE, ERECTED BY THE GOVERNOR GENERAL AND COUNCIL OF BENGAL, TO THE MEMORY OF AUGUSTUS CLEVELAND, esq. To the memory of AUGUSTUS CLEVELAND, Esq. Late collector of the districts of Bhaugulpore and Rajamahal; Employing only the means of conciliation, confidence, and benevolence, of the lawless and savage inhabitants of the Jungleterry of Rajamahall, |