BISHOP HEBER'S JOURNAL.

We had intended to give a long review of 'Bishop Heber's Journeys in India,' recently published, by Mr. Murray, in two quarto volumes; but found, at the close of the month, that their contents were already almost wholly before the reading public, in various channels, from the 'Quarterly Review,' which made free use of the materials, before they were published in volumes, to the weekly and daily papers, in which almost every thing of interest has been extracted. We can speak in the highest terms of the general character of the work; but, as it is our object to present the readers of the 'Oriental Herald,' rather with matter not likely to have been already seen by them, than with repetitions of what has appeared before, even when of higher interest, we have confined our larger review of Bishop Heber's volumes to the 'Athenæum,' and shall offer only one or two extracts from it here, from among the very few which have not already been laid before the public through other channels. This, indeed, has been the only reason which induced us to prefer the portions selected, to others of equal interest; but, where so much has been already republished, the novelty of an extract will be, at least, one of its recommendations. We may add, that the book is beautifully got up,' to use a technical, but expressive, phrase; that the illustrations are of peculiar interest; and that it deserves the popularity which it will, no doubt, enjoy. The following are the portions we have selected, as specimens of the powers of observation, and style of writing, of the lamented author:

Unhealthiness of the District of Terrai.

'Mr. Boulderson said, he was sorry to learn from the Rajah, that he did not consider the unhealthy season of the Terrai, as yet, quite over. He, therefore, proposed that we should make a long march of above twenty miles, the following day, to Ruderpoor, in order to be as short a time in the dangerous country as possible. I was, for several reasons, of a different opinion. My people and sepoys had already had two long marches, through very bad and fatiguing roads. That to Ruderpoor, was described as worse than any which we had yet seen. As Ruderpoor is reckoned only a shade less. dangerous than Tandah, to halt there on the Sunday would be impossible, and we should have, on that day also, a march of twentyfive miles, through the forest of Bamoury. Besides my reluctance to subject the men to so great fatigue on such a day, I had always understood that lassitude was among the most powerful predisposing causes to fever, and I could not think, without uneasiness, of any of them being tired out, and lagging behind, in so horrible a country. The direct way to Ruderpoor lay through the Nawab's territory; and Manpoor, the intervening station was by no means

a desirable one, either from its air or the mutinous character of its inhabitants. A little to the right, however, was a village named Kulleanpoor, within the Company's border, and, at least, not more unwholesome than its neighbours. The distance was eight or nine short coss, which would do nobody any harm. There would remain a stage of six or seven miles to Ruderpoor on Sunday, which might be done without any nightly travelling, and leave both men and cattle fresh next morning, for our long march to the mountains. For Europeans, there was, in either place, little risk; our warm clothing, warm tents, elevated bedsteads, musquito nets, (a known preservative against malaria,) and our port wine, would probably be sufficient safe-guards; but for the poor fellows who sleep on the ground, and are as careless of themselves as children, it behoved me to take thought, and Mr. Boulderson, for the reasons which I have mentioned, agreed with me in the opinion that Kulleanpoor should be our next stage.

'I asked Mr. Boulderson, if it were true that the monkeys forsook these woods, during the unwholesome months. He answered, that not the monkeys only, but every thing which has the breath of life, instinctively deserts them, from the beginning of April to October. The tygers go up to the hills; the antelopes and wild hogs make incursions into the cultivated plain; and those persons, such as dak-bearers, or military officers, who are obliged to traverse the forest in the intervening months, agree that not so much as a bird can be heard or seen in the frightful solitude. Yet, during the time of the heaviest rains, while the water falls in torrents, and the cloudy sky tends to prevent evaporation from the ground, the forest may be passed with tolerable safety. It is in the extreme heat, and immediately after the rains have ceased, in May, the latter end of August, and the early part of September, that it is most deadly. In October, the animals return; by the latter end of that month, the wood-cutters and the cowmen again venture, though cautiously. From the middle of November to March, troops pass and repass, and, with common precaution, no risk is usually apprehended.

'November 20th.-The way to Kulleanpoor turned out exceedingly bad, rugged, and intersected by nullahs, and "gools," or canals, for the purpose of irrigation; so that our baggage, though sent off at five in the evening of the 19th, did not arrive till five the next morning, and both camel-drivers and sepoys complained a good deal. It turned out, however, that they had been themselves partly to blame, in not, according to my directions, taking a guide, and consequently losing their way. The country is, by no means, ill-cultivated thus far.-Vol. I. pp. 453, 454.

A Tyger Hunt.

'The young Raja (of Ruderpoor) mentioned, that there was a tyger in an adjoining tope, which had done a good deal of mischief, that he should have gone after it himself had he not been ill, and

had he not thought that it would be a fine diversion for Mr. Boulderson and me. I told him I was no sportsman, but Mr. Boulderson's eyes sparkled at the name of tyger, and he expressed great anxiety to beat up his quarters in the afternoon. Under such circumstances, I did not like to deprive him of his sport, as he would not leave me by myself, and went, though with no intention of being more than a spectator. Mr. Boulderson, however, advised me to load my pistols for the sake of defence, and lent me a very fine double-barrelled gun for the same purpose. We set out a little after three on our elephants, with a servant behind each howdah, carrying a large chatta, which, however, was almost needless. The Raja, in spite of his fever, made his appearance too, saying that he could not bear to be left behind. A number of people, on foot and horseback, attended from our camp and the neighbouring villages, and the same sort of interest and delight was evidently excited which might be produced in England by a great coursing party. The Raja was on a little female elephant, hardly bigger than the Durham ox, and almost as shaggy as a poodle. She was a native of the neighbouring wood, where they are generally, though not always, of a smaller size than those of Bengal and Chittagong. He sat in a low howdah, with two or three guns ranged beside him, ready for action. Mr. Boulderson had also a formidable apparatus of musquets and fowling-pieces, projecting over his mohout's head. We rode about two miles, across a plain covered with long jungly grass, which very much put me in mind of the country near the Cuban. Quails and wild fowl rose in great numbers, and beautiful antelopes were seen scudding away in all direc tions. With them our party had no quarrel; their flesh is good for little, and they are in general favourites both with native and English sportsmen, who feel disinclined to meddle with a creature so graceful and so harmless.

'At last we came to a deeper and more marshy ground, which lay a little before the tope pointed out to us; and while Mr. Boulderson was doubting whether we should pass through it, or skirt it, some country people came running to say that the tyger had been tracked there that morning. We therefore went in, keeping line as if we had been beating for a hare, through grass so high that it reached up to the howdah of my elephant, though a tall one, and almost hid the Raja entirely. We had not gone far, before a very large animal of the deer kind sprang up just before me, larger than a stag, of a dusky brown colour, with spreading but not palmated horns. Mr. Boulderson said it was a mohr,' a species of elk; that this was a young one, but that they sometimes grew to an immense size, so that he had stood upright between the tips of their horns. He could have shot it, but did not like to fire at present, and said it was, after all, a pity to meddle with such harmless animals. The mohr accordingly ran off unmolested, rising with

splendid bounds up to the very top of the high jungle, so that his whole body and limbs were seen from time to time above it. A little further, another arose, which Mr. Boulderson said was the female; of her I had but an imperfect view. The sight of these curious animals had already, however, well repaid my coming out, and from the animation and eagerness of every body round me, the anxiety with which my companions looked for every waving of the jungle-grass, and the continued calling and shouting of the horse and foot behind us, it was impossible not to catch the contagion of interest and enterprise.

'At last the elephants all drew up their trunks into the air, began to roar, and to stamp violently with their fore feet; the Raja's little elephant turned short round, and in spite of all her mohout could say or do, took up her post, to the Raja's great annoyance, close in the rear of Mr. Boulderson. The other three, (for one of my baggage elephants had come out too, the mohout, though unarmed, not caring to miss the show,) went on slowly but boldly, with their trunks raised, their ears expanded, and their sagacious little eyes bent intently forward. "We are close upon him," said Mr. Boulderson, "fire where you see the long grass shake, if he rises before you."-Just at that moment my elephant stamped again violently. There, there,” cried the mohout, "I saw his head !" A short roar, or rather loud growl, followed, and I saw immediately before my elephant's head the motion of some large animal stealing away through the grass. I fired as directed, and, a moment after, seeing the motion still more plainly, fired the second barrel. Another short growl followed, the motion was immediately quickened, and was soon lost in the more distant jungle. Mr. Boulderson said, “I should not wonder if you hit him that last time; at any rate we shall drive him out of the cover, and then I will take care of him." In fact, at that moment, the crowd of horse and foot spectators at the jungle side began to run off in all directions. We went on to the place, but found it was a false alarm, and, in fact, we had seen all we were to see of him, and went twice more through the jungle in vain. A large extent of high grass stretched out in one direction, and this we had now not sufficient daylight to explore. In fact, that the animal so near me was a tyger at all, I have no evidence but its growl, Mr. Boulderson's belief, the assertion of the mohout, and, what is perhaps more valuable than all the rest, the alarm expressed by the elephants. I could not help feeling some apprehension that my firing had robbed Mr. Boulderson of his shot, but he assured me that I was quite in rule; that in such sport no courtesies could be observed, and that the animal in fact rose before me, but that he should himself have fired without scruple, if he had seen the rustle of the grass in time. Thus ended my first, and probably my last essay, in the "field-sports" of India, in which I am much mistaken, notwithstanding what Mr. Boulderson said, if I harmed any living creature.'-Vol. I. pp. 460. 460.

Opium Gathering-Hoolee Festival-Indian Women. 'March 4.-We marched seven coss, or about sixteen miles, to Amba Ramba, or, as it is generally called, Ambera. The country during this march becomes more rugged and woody, but is still tolerably well cultivated; and, after passing a low but rocky chain of hills, I was glad to see that the people were at work in their poppy-grounds, and that the frost, to all appearance, had not extended far in this direction. The opium is collected by making two or three superficial incisions in the seed-vessel of the poppy, whence a milky juice exudes, which is carefully collected. The time of cutting them seems to be as soon as the petals of the flower fall off, which is about the present season. Sugar-mills are seen in every village, but no canes are now growing. The crops of barley and wheat are very thin, and the whole country bears marks of drought, though not by any means so decidedly and dismally as Jyepoor.

'Ambera is a large village on the slope of a hill, with a nullah not far from it, now standing in pools, and some large trees. At some little distance, it is enclosed by rocks fringed with wood, and the scene would be beautiful, if it were less parched and sunburnt. The morning had been again cold, but it was very hot during the day. We must now, indeed, expect to be more or less inconvenienced by heat, and may reckon ourselves fortunate in the frosty mornings which have so long favoured us. The people of Ambera were very noisy all day and great part of the night, in the merriment of the Hoolee. In the course of the evening, a man came to us who said he was a Charun from Cattywar. He had not his distinctive dress on, which I was curious to see.. I told him, therefore, to bring his "burra pugree," or large turban, and that he should have a present. He promised to do so, but never returned, and had, possibly, laid claim to a character which did not belong to him.

'I was to-day talking with Dr. Smith on the remarkably diminutive stature of the women all over India,-a circumstance extending, with very few exceptions, to the female children of Europeans by native mothers; and observed that one could hardly suppose such little creatures to be the mothers or daughters of so tall men as many of the sepoys are. He answered, that the women whom we saw in the streets and fields, and those with whom only, under ordinary circumstances, Europeans could form connexions, were of the lowest caste, whose growth was stinted from an early age by poverty and hard labour, and whose husbands and brothers were also, as I might observe, of a very mean stature. That the sepoys, and respectable natives in general, kept their women out of our way as much as possible; but that he, as a medical man, bad frequently had women of the better sort brought to him for