have tried it, though," he continued, "if I didn't know you could stand fire."

Peons, coolies, and charcoal-burners were now summoned to the spot, to bear off the glorious spoil; and as they bent under the enormous load, which they carried on bamboos, Croker exclaimed in high glee,

Twenty-six feet long, and four feet in girth. By Jupiter! 'tis a beautiful boa!

That night, after a plentiful supper, and quant. suf. of brandy paunee, we spread our mats on the chunam floor of the choultry, and slept the sleep of hunters. The following day was devoted to skinning and salting the skin of the "beautiful boa; an operation too disgusting for me even to look upon, but which afforded as much delight to Croker as the one in which I first beheld him engaged, the morning I landed.

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On the third day, having first satisfied our sylvan followers to their hearts' content, we returned to Colabah, with such trophies as attracted all the world to Croker's bungalow. This snake was christened by universal consent "Paddy Blake's boa; a name still current amongst the Hamadryads of Dungaree, and the young carpenters of Mazagong: and it is but little to say that so great a monster was never seen before or since in Old Woman's Island.

CHAPTER LII.

THE MASSOOLAH BOAT.

THE nine days' wonder occasioned by this singular and amusing transaction had scarcely subsided, and I was actually making preparations to follow my dear Julia to Goa, whither she had been sent to avoid me, and snatch the golden fruit from its guardian dragon, when we received orders to proceed instanter to Madras; to which presidency my regiment had returned from Batavia.

Here was an interruption to my promised joys; for I had actually engaged a passage in a patamar to Goa, and Croker had exacted a promise from his friend, the garrison chaplain, that he would tie the irrevocable knot for us on our return to Bombay. But this cursed route baffled my hopes, for I was refused leave of absence point blank, the Indiaman being ready at her moorings to take us on board; and I was thus compelled, for the present, to curb my impatience for the bonds of matrimony.

I shall never forget the scene of our embarkation: one hundred and fifty recruits, and two hundred women and children, black, white, brown, and whitey-brown, every cast of feature, every shade of colour, European, Eurasian, and native Hindoo! The row was stupendous; the confusion of tongues surpassed that of Babel: the squabbles of the soldiers with the lascars, the outcries of the women, the screams of the children, and the barking of Croker's two dozen dogs, produced altogether an uproar on the pier-head, in the boats, and on

board the Indiaman, such as had never been witnessed before, even in that noisy locality. For the settlement of the thousand and one disputes that arose from such prolific sources, every one came to me; Croker having gone off to the brigade major of king's troops to get an order for the embarkation of his dogs and the skin of his boa-constrictor, the latter having been refused admittance, on the plea that, being badly cured, it was disgusting and infectious in smell and appearance. Major Snubley, in despair of being able to effect anything like peace, also took himself off, remarking to me as he went over the ship's side,

"Purseram Bhow would never tolerate such a scene as this, sir he would either blow up the ship, or bowstring the women and children, as the shortest solution of the difficulty. He was a great man, sir, in his way, was Purseram Bhow."

At last all got on board; but here a new difficulty presented itself, for the orlop-deck, which is always appropriated to troops, was chock full of cotton and opium for China; and so was a great portion of the main-deck, the guns even being stowed away in the hold, to make room for those precious commodities. It was in vain that I shouted for the captain: he was not to be found; and the first mate was a crabbed sort of cross between a bulldog and terrier, that neither would nor could do anything in the matter. He said it was all the fault of the governor in council, who knew the crowded state in which the ship was, and should not have sent so many troops on board. The weather was fine, he added, and the men and women might stow themselves away on the forecastle, and the booms and boats amidships; all that his crew wanted being room to work the ship.

Fortunately we had delightful weather, and a favourable passage. In a week we rounded Ceylon, having a splendid view of Adam's Peak and its subordinate mountains; and, in another, the long low coast of Coromandel hove in sight, sprinkled with cocoanut-topes, with here and there the lofty tower of a pagoda rising above the flat, monotonous horizon. Great, indeed, was our jubilation when we came to anchor in the roadstead of Madras, and beheld the marblelike aspect of the lines of palaces, as they seemed to be, that stretched along the beach to the northward of Fort St. George, whose battlements, bristling with cannon, were washed by the spray of the wellknown surf, as it broke in thunder on the sandy shore.

Towards evening we were amused with the approach of a catamaran; this was nothing but two logs of cocoanut-tree lashed together, on which the boatman, if I may so call him, sat squat on his hams, with a paddle in his hands, that he used alternately, right and left, As he came alongside, bobbing up and down, like a piece of cork, with the motion of the waves, he took a chit, or note, from his langooty, or waistcloth, and handed it to a seaman at a lower deck port, for the burra sahib. This was an order to get the troops in readiness to land forthwith; and soon after, we were surrounded by ten or twelve Massoolah boats to take us to shore.

It was not, however, without misgiving that we intrusted our bodies to the safeguard of these singular specimens of naval architecture. Let the reader imagine a huge, shapeless, hollow shell,

without deck, masts, sails, or rigging, formed of rough planks of the cocoanut-tree, actually stitched together (there not being a single nail in the whole structure) with a sort of twine, made from the fibrous coating of the cocoanut, and he will readily understand the diffidence with which we stepped on board such a shaking, bending, pliable fabric, which might, for aught we knew, collapse with our weight, and carry us all to the bottom. The Massoolah boat is, however, the only description of vessel that can live in this tremendous surf, which would dash the most substantial vessel that ever was built in England to atoms in a few moments.

Our crew consisted of eight or ten wild-looking fellows, naked all but the langooty, who, with long uncouth oars, impelled us gently forward, until we approached the outer wave of the surf; while our elastic boat, yielding to every pressure, seemed ready, as we thought, to burst asunder at the first shock, and plunge us into the deep. Suddenly the boatmen set up a wild, vociferous chorus of "Ulla! ulla! ulla!" which increased to an extraordinary rapidity of enunciation as we rose to the summit of a watery mountain; for we were now within the influence of the surf.

Scarcely had we crested this enormous wave, which was at least twenty feet high, when we were plunged into a deep and foaming abyss; the song of the boatmen now sounding in our ears like the yells of so many fiends, rejoiced at having entrapped their prey. The land had totally disappeared from our eyes, and nothing was visible but two huge walls of water, supporting, as it were, the canopy of heaven. We had barely time to wonder at this strange position, when, with a fearful hoist, we found ourselves elevated to the summit of another mountain wave; plunged again into a foaming abyss; lifted for the third time to another watery pinnacle; and then, with a long impetuous sweep, cast high and dry upon the beach.

By the time we had collected our scattered senses, we found ourselves safe from the thundering surge, and surrounded by a host of smiling and obsequious dubashes, maty-boys, coolies, humauls, ghoracurras, &c. &c., who offered us every possible comfort, accommodation, and luxury, as if they were the ready agents of some beneficent genius who presided over this enchanted land.

We had no time, however, to avail ovrselves of their tempting offers, for we were marched off immediately for Poonamalee, an extensive depôt some fifteen miles distant. But, as we jogged along on the beautiful Mount-road, smooth and level as a bowling-green, and lined on each side with splendid palaces, luxuriant gardens, and park-like pleasure-grounds, I felt inclined to repeat the well-known Persian couplet

Oh! if there be an Elysium on earth,

It is this! It is this!

Sol, in Homeric phrase, had now sunk into the arms of expecting Thetis, but the atmosphere was excessively hot and sultry. Major Snubley had accommodated himself with a palanquin for the march; Croker had hired a tattoo, which, when he mounted, his long legs swept the ground; but I withstood all temptations of a similar nature, being determined on all occasions to walk with the men-a

species of magnanimity which greatly excited the wonder and contempt of the natives. A number of hackeries, doolies, and other conveyances having been hired for the women and children, brought up the rear, with a long line of bullocks laden with our baggage; and thus we proceeded on our route, to the great admiration of the mulls, as the Madras people are called, from their fondness of mullikatauny.

But night had now come down; and though a splendid moon had risen, we had scarcely got half way upon our journey when two or three of the men began to complain that they couldn't see.

"Hollo! hollo!" cried one, "I'm blind!"

'By jingo, I'm stone blind!" cried another, as they both began to stagger about till they fell down by the road-side, where they were soon joined by several others in the same predicament.

What's this? What's this?" exclaimed Major Snubley, as his humauls now came grunting along. “Is it a mutiny? Purseram Bhow would blow these fellows away from the mouth of a 24pounder."

"Fiddlestick, mutiny!" responded Croker. "It's no mutiny, but blindness; the men are all getting blind in front."

"Oh, if that be all," said the major, "you have only to push on, Croker, with those that can see; those that cannot must stay where they are, with a few men to look after them, till the sun rises, when they will be sure to recover their sight. I know this night-blindness perfectly well; the first time I ever observed it, Mr. Blake, was one evening when I commanded a guard of honour over Purseram Bhow, in the jungle that surrounds Savindroog-"

Here, luckily for me, the major's humauls suddenly whipped up the palanquin, and bore him off, in the midst of his story, the last of which I heard was a murmuring repetition of Purseram Bhow-owow, which chimed in passably well with the ordinary chorus of the palanquin boys.

"Fall in, men!" shouted Croker. "By Jupiter! this is more of the balderdash. Keep your sections now, bad scran to you, for an awkward squad as ye are. Slope arms! quick march!" and on we went again; blind men falling out occasionally, and lying down patiently by the road-side till the sun got up.

At length, about 12 o'clock, we arrived at Poonamalee, with about half our men, and no women, the latter having stopped to comfort the sick.

It was a beautiful moonlight night; and the broad, level esplanade upon which the barracks and officers' quarters are built, in long, low lines of masonry, had a peculiar air of neatness and cleanliness. The men were dismissed to their barrack-rooms, where refreshment was supplied to them from the canteen, and we proceeded to the mess

room.

This occupied the centre of a fine esplanade; its numerous doors all open to the greensward, giving ready ingress to a well-furnished supper-table, brilliantly lighted, which awaited our presence; and there we brought the labours of the day to a cheerful close, in spite of Major Snubley's old stories about Hurry Punt and Purseram Bhow.

CHAPTER LIII.

THE SACRILEGE.

WE remained at Poonamalee only long enough to be furnished with tents and other camp-equipage; and then got orders to march to Bangalore, about 200 miles distant, where the regiment lay. Our mess was increased by Dr. Scott, the assistant-surgeon of the 3rd native cavalry, a shrewd fellow and a jolly companion, who was ordered to take us in medical charge: our commissariat and transport department being also duly attended to, and hackeries provided for the women and children, we commenced our march.

I have, on a former occasion, spoken in praise of a march in England, as a delightful party of pleasure, but I doubt if it be not greatly surpassed by one in India. The day's journey, for instance, rarely exceeds ten or twelve miles; and this may be performed on horseback, or in a palanquin, according to the state of the exchequer. When we come to our ground, having sent our servants in advance, we find an excellent breakfast laid out, as if by enchantment, in some shady tope or comfortable choultry by the side of a tank. By the time this has been disposed of, the tents have come up and are pitched: then the careworn subaltern may lie down upon his comfortable couch, to repose after his morning's fatigue. Or, if so disposed, he may throw his gun over his arm, and shoot paddy-birds or florikens; or, if the country be jungly, he may bag a peacock, an antelope, or a wild boar, making up his mind to the possibility of falling in with an elk or a tiger, in which case his maty-boy and other attendants will leave him to shift for himself. After this sylvan exercise he returns to his tent, throws off his clothes, has half a dozen chatties of water poured over him, sits down and dresses leisurely, saunters to the mess-tent, where an excellent dinner awaits him, indulges in its varied enjoyments till the drowsy god asserts his reign, and enables him, by sound repose, undisturbed by guard or outlying picket, to meet the vicissitudes of the morrow. How often have I compared this playing at soldiers with our long, fatiguing marches in the Peninsula, our sleepless nights in the trenches, our sudden retreats without tents, canteens, or camp-equipage, our lost dinners, and our empty stomachs! And every time I did so my conscience seemed to reproach me with the enjoyment of my present luxury.

In this manner we journeyed on for several days without meeting with any incident worth recording. Croker and I supplied the mess plentifully with all sorts of game, in pursuit of which we wandered over hill and dale, sometimes floundering in paddy-fields, sometimes losing ourselves in the intricacies of the jungle; rarely, however, did it happen that our attendants were not heavily laden with the spoils of the chase, which we freely shared amongst the feminine portion of our nomadic community.

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