LASSA.

This is the chief city of Thibet. Here is the palace of the Grand Lama. It is of enormous size. What do you think of TEN THOUSAND rooms? Did you ever hear of so large a house? Neither did you ever hear of so high a house. It is almost as high as the pinnacle of St. Paul's church. There are seven stories, and on the highest story are the state apartments of the Grand Lama. It is no matter to him how many flights of stairs there may be to reach his rooms; for he is never allowed to walk; but it is fatiguing for his worshippers to ascend so high. I suppose the priests make their Grand Lama live so high up, that he may be like our God who dwells in the highest heavens. Who occupy the ten thousand rooms of the palace? Chiefly idols of gold and silver. The house outside is richly adorned, and its roof glitters with gold.

There are many magnificent houses in Thibet, where priests live. No one could live with them, who could not bear a great noise: for three times a day the priests meet to worship, and each time they hollo with all their

might, to do honour to Buddha. The noise is stunning, but they do not think it loud enough; so on feast days, they use copper instruments, such as drums and trumpets, of the most enormous size, and with them they send forth an overwhelming sound.

This unmeaning noise may well remind us of a sound-louder far-that shall one day be heard; so loud that all the world will hear it. It is the sound of the LAST TRUMPET! It will wake the dead. Stout hearts will quail; devils will tremble; but all those who love the Lord, will rejoice, and say, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us." (Is. xxv. 9.)

CEYLON.

THIS is one of the most beautiful islands in the world. Part of it indeed is flat-that part near Hindostan; but in the midst-there are mountains; and streams running down their sides, and swelling into lovely rivers, winding along the fruitful valleys. Such scenes might

remind you of Switzerland, the most beautiful country in Europe.

The chief beauty of Ceylon is her TREES.

I will mention a few of the beautiful, curious, and useful trees of this delightful island. The tree for which Ceylon is celebrated, is the CINNAMON tree. For sixty miles along the shore, there are cinnamon groves, and the sweet scent may be perceived far off upon the seas. If you were to see a cinnamon tree, you might mistake it for a laurel;-a tree so often found in English gardens. The cinnamon trees are never allowed to grow tall, because it is only the upper branches which are much prized for their bark. The little children of Ceylon may often be seen sitting in the shade, peeling off the bark with their knives; and this bark is afterwards sent to England to flavour puddings, and to mix with medicine.

There are also groves of cocoa-nut trees on the shores of Ceylon. A few of those trees are a little fortune to a poor man; for he can eat the fruit, build his house with the wood, roof it with the leaves, make cups of the shell, and use the oil of the kernel instead of candles.

The JACK TREE bears a larger fruit than any other in the world ;—as large as a horse's head, -and so heavy that a woman can only carry one upon her head to market. This large fruit

does not hang on the tree by a stalk, but grows out of the trunk, or the great branches. This is well arranged, for so large a fruit would be too heavy for a stalk, and might fall off, and hurt the heads of those sitting beneath its shade. The outside of this fruit is like a horse-chesnut, green, and prickly; the inside is yellow, and is full of kernels, like beans. The wood is like mahogany,-hard and handsome.

But there is a tree in Ceylon, still more curious than the jack tree. It is the TALPOT TREE. This is a very tall tree, and its top is covered by a cluster of round leaves, each leaf so large that it would do for a carpet, for a common sized room; and one single LEAF, cut it in three cornered pieces, will make a TENT! When cut up, the leaves are used for fans and books. But this tree bears no fruit till just before it dies,—that is till it is fifty years old: THEN an enormous bud is seen, rearing its huge head in the midst of the crown of leaves; -the bud bursts with a loud noise, and a yellow flower appears,-a flower so large, that it would fill a room!! The flower turns into fruit. THAT SAME YEAR THE TREE DIES ! !

PEOPLE. And who are the people who live in this beautiful land?

In the flat part of the island, towards the north, the people resemble the Hindoos, and

speak and think like them; and they are called Tamuls.

But among the mountains of the south a different kind of people live, called the Cingalese. They do not speak the Tamul language, nor do they follow the Hindoo religion. They follow the Buddhist religion. You know this is the religion of the greater part of the nations. Ceylon is full of the temples of Bud dha. In each temple there is an inner dark room, very large, where Buddha's image is kept, a great image that almost fills the room.

The priests in their yellow cloaks, with their shaven heads and bare feet, may be seen every morning begging from door to door: but proud beggars they are,—not condescending to speak, but only standing with their baskets ready to receive rice and fruit; and the only thanks they give--are their blessings.

There is another worship in Ceylon, and it is more followed than the worship of Buddha, yet it is the most horrible that you can imagine. It is the worship of the DEVIL!! Buddha taught, when he was alive, that there was no God, but that there were many devils: yet he forbid people to worship these devils; but no one minds what he said on that point. There are many devil priests. When any one is sick, it is supposed that the devil has caused