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encamping in tents, and vicisistudes of temperature, had, all and each, their share in the work of death, Mr. Thom proceeds as follows; "There is another undeniable, and almost incalculable pre-disposing cause of disease, alike common in the 86th and other European corps, in this as in other garrisons in India; viz., the use of raw and ardent spirits. While I admit the extent of this evil, I do not mean to say it was greater in the 86th than in any other corps. I have taken the trouble to possess myself of information in figures on this subject, which satisfies me, that what I state is exactly correct. The soldiers were allowed to obtain four drams or 'tots' of arrack daily, the amount of which when put together is about half a common bottle. If a man does not exceed this, he thinks himself temperate, and is considered so in his regiment. Many of course do not avail themselves of this indulgence, but there are few who do not take two drams daily. Day by day this practice is followed by too many men, AND PERMitted.”

These men, as we find from the Report from which I have made an extract, were the greatest sufferers from cholera in this, and other regiments, to which Mr. Thom alludes; though he says that he does not mean to infer that inebriety was in every case visited by this scourge of the East. The soldiers suffered most; their wives next; the children and officers still less; while ladies had a total exemption from this fearful malady. Had it been, as he observes, contagious, all were equally liable to its attacks; in fact, scarcely an officer's compound entirely escaped it; yet out of forty-two ladies living in the cantonment at Kurrachee, only one had a slight and doubtful attack of cholera, and not one died. This he attributes to temperance; to the absence of fatigue and night-marches; and to living in cool and well-ventilated bungalows; seeing that these ladies were subject, in common with the soldiers, to the same atmospheric changes; and that it was certainly not their sex which protected them; as the soldiers' wives suffered severely.

The East India Company have erected on Colabah, comfortable buildings for the benefit of invalid officers who may require sea-air and bathing. These buildings are called the "sick bungalows," and are enclosed in a spacious compound. Near to them is a neat little thatched chapel, where the English service is performed; but all who wish to avail themselves of it, must bring their own chairs, as it does not contain any seats. I went two or three times, and heard pleasing discourses from the Rev. Mr. Pigott, the gentleman who usually officiates there.

A few old Mohammedan tombs still rear their domed roofs among the cocoa-nut trees; and some very ancient Portuguese houses crumbling into ruins, recall to memory the wealthy merchants who once occupied these islands, and the heavily-laden Spanish galleons that were wont to sail from these shores to enrich the nobles of Spain, and gild the palaces of the Venetians. The sea-shore here, was a favourite morning ramble of mine, and the collecting of the variety of beautiful shells which here abound, afforded me amusement and instruction. The shells are literally thrown up in heaps by the tide; though the large leopard-cowry was the only one of any size which I met with. The petrified sponge, astræa favosa, pumice stone, and cuttle-fish bones, were scattered about in great abundance. The small cowries are sought after here by the natives; for in many parts of India they still pass current for money; and to say a thing is not worth a cowry, is a common Indian expression.

A curious species of land-crab infested the shores of Colabah. I fancy these crabs must have been the ocypodes, or swift-footed crabs, of the naturalist; if not, they well deserved the name. Hundreds might be seen at a time, in the morning and evening, hunting about for any stray food that the sea or the fishermen might have left. When disturbed, they ran with incredible swiftness, holding high above their bodies two extended claws, which they would knock together with a singular sound, as if to intimidate their enemies. As they ran into holes which they had formed in the bank, that gently shelved down to the shore, I used sometimes to perplex them, by placing a stone over the entrance of their holes, and give chase to the excluded owner. Upon finding that his own door was closed against him, he would make a few attempts to remove the obstacle, and, failing in accomplishing this, he would remain stationary for a second or two, as if determining what he should do next; then he would again start off, and bolt down the first hole in his road. If it chanced to be already occupied, the lawful tenant and the intruder soon re-appeared upon the surface, and a fierce combat ensued. The body of these curious crabs, which are all of a brown colour, and much about the same size, is about an inch long, and almost spherical in shape. They have, beside their claws, four delicate legs on each side, each armed with a sort of hook. The claws are small and long; and capable of grasping firmly any soft substance. The eyes are protuberant and horny, like those of the common crab.

Bidding adieu to Colabah, we will now turn our attention to some of

those natives, who, in the way of their respective occupations, minister so largely to an Englishman's comfort and happiness in India; and whose useful services may be said to be indispensable in every bungalow. (To be continued.)

LINES

Suggested by the Statue of TALIESIN PEN BEIRDD exhorting the Clergy to retain the Doctrines of the Gospel, as they had received them from Apostolic hands,* against the Innovations of ROME.

OH! Prophet Bard, a spell-like power shadows thine image now,
With the glorious dower of mighty thought, upon thy lofty brow;
Piercing through veiled ages, thy gifted eye had scann'd

The footstep of the foeman stalk proudly on thy land:
And loudly did thy voice invoke the servants of the Lord

To shrink not from the tempest-storm, that dark and dimly lower'd;
But manfully and faithfully the Gospel to retain

Untinged by innovation, unmark'd by error's stain,

As in its perfect purity from apostolic hands,

They first received its blessed truths, and learn'd its high commands.
A mighty task was thine, and one that still embalms thy name
With a glory more resplendent than thy high poetic fame :
And now, while on thy sculptured form our eyes enraptured dwell,
One only thought our hearts pervades, with pure and holy spell;
The thought, that THOU, oh! gifted one, in danger's dreaded hour
Didst consecrate to HIM who gave, thy spirit's mighty power,
And in His cause stand boldly forth, denouncing the fell blight
That sought to cloud the beauty of the gospel's blessed light.
M. C. L.

Llangynwyd Vicarage.

It is believed that Christianity was brought over to Britain from Rome by Brân the Blessed, who was the father of Caractacus; and who, during his captivity in that place, is supposed to have learned the knowledge of the way of salvation through Jesus Christ, from the lips of the Apostle Paul.

Vide "Hora Britannica."

MONTHLY NOTICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS,

FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC.

THE period comprehended by the Session of Parliament which may probably have closed before these pages meet the view of our readers, has been singularly eventful. The mighty changes which have taken place on the Continent of Europe, while the throne of England has remained safe under "the shadow of the Almighty," may well suggest matter of deep thankfulness to Him who "is known by the judgments which he executeth;" while the signal defeat of the recent Chartist demonstrations in this country, and of the more rampant attempts at rebellion in the sister-island, call no less loudly for national gratitude.

Those persons who conscientiously believe, that the endowment of the papal church in Ireland, and the legalizing of diplomatic relations with the court of Rome, would be national sins, cannot but especially regret, that at a period during which England has been so peculiarly protected by the Almighty, these measures should have found numerous and powerful advocates in the British legislature; and we may surely add, that all those among us who believe popery to be indeed that corrupt and dangerous faith, which, in protesting against it, even unto death, the noble martyrs of our land, and with them our forefathers for more than three centuries, have declared it to be, are bound to exert themselves to the utmost of their power, each one in his own sphere, to diffuse among our population those Protestant principles which they believe to be essentially bound up with the safety of this hitherto signally favoured nation. For the encouragement of those who may thus believe and thus act, it may be observed, that the whole volume of Scripture bears witness to the efficacy of such endeavours when undertaken in faith and prayer.

The prospects of the harvest are, upon the whole, such as call for national thanksgiving; but in one quarter, there is on the horizon a cloud, which, though it be now "no bigger than a man's hand,” may portend fearful consequences. The cholera, that fearful scourge of God, is said to be advancing, not rapidly, but steadily, towards our shores. Under such circumstances, the duty of general and national humiliation before Him "in whose hands are the issues of life," is sufficiently obvious;

but in addition to this, there is another duty which especially devolves upon persons of leisure and intelligence, and among such, perhaps, preeminently upon Christian ladies; we mean the duty of diffusing among their poorer or less-informed neighbours, correct notions respecting the nature of the danger by which they are threatened, and the best means, under Providence, of averting it. Plain instructions respecting the importance of free ventilation, strict temperance, and other matters concerning which the poor frequently entertain very erroneous ideas, are often invaluable in seasons of epidemic disease; and if such instructions are to be given effectually, it must be before the dreaded pestilence has prostrated the energies of those who are to profit by them.

REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

THE COURSE OF LIFE. A Sketch for Christian Females. By F. M. S. London: Seeleys, Fleet Street, and Hanover Street. 1848.

THE Christian religion has been called the charter of woman's emancipation. In pagan antiquity the position of woman was, for the most part, that of a slave; and even "the light which shone out of Zion, and flashed upon the noble brow of the daughter of Judah," revealed not the full privileges of her sex. At length, however, the twilight of the elder dispensation brightened into noon; the voice of the Gospel proclaimed "In Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female ;" and woman, no longer the oppressed slave, or the jealous.y concealed idol of man, was permitted to assume the position for which she was created that of his help-meet and companion.

The main object of the work which we would now recommend to the notice of our readers, is to induce Christian women duly to estimate and rightly to use the privileges which they enjoy; ever remembering, that their advancement in the scale of society brings along with it its responsibilities no less than its advantages. "The echoes of past years," observes our author, " and the voice of the present hour, together call on the handmaids of the Lord to redouble their diligence in his service."

Such is the general purport of this volume. "The Course of the Christian Lady, a beautiful progression of moral, mental, and physical

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