twice as large as that of Kingstown harbour, which has always been considered the cheapest and best executed harbour in these islands, and about ten times greater than the best of the Channel Islands refuge harbours now forming under the direction of the Admiralty, the estimates of which we have already astounded the reader with. It should also be further mentioned that the harbours now forming at Dover and Alderney are not to be looked upon as harbours of refuge, and, in all probability, will never save a single ship; while the proposed asylum at Redcar would be of the highest possible utility.

It should be observed, that the calculations respecting the average of available sea space for harbour purposes, above quoted, do not include the area of the southern harbour enclosed by the dotted lines, which might be easily added if required.

We believe, therefore, that the position of Redcar is the best on the north-east coast for a harbour of refuge, and its natural advantages are evidently greater than any other on this shore. The fact of there being no port between Hull and Leith capable of receiving a vessel at low water is of itself such a prolific source of loss of life and property. that our astonishment is excited by the knowledge that this admirable situation has not been taken advantage of to remedy such an annual loss as our wreck registers exhibit upon this shore. And it is only the suicidal policy of rival interests that, in our opinion, has prevented the construction of an asylum harbour at this spot years ago -for in consequence of its peculiar situation, in the great and dangerous bight, lying so far to leeward in easterly or onshore gales, ships can always run for Redcar with a certainty that would give confidence to a seaman when caught in that locality by a gale of wind.

We have but one purpose in discussing the merits of rival ports for refuge harbour purposes, and that is humanity. That one feeling overrides all superficial interests and jealousies, and it is the knowledge that the lives of our fellow-creatures may be imperilled by a hasty judgment or rash conclusion, that induces us to consider which is, of all the ports on the north-east coast, the one most likely to secure the greatest safety to the greatest number. We have given Redear the preference, and we have given our reasons why. We will now consider the claims of the Tyne. The importance of this port is patent to all; but the question is not of its importance, but is it a fit spot for a harbour of refuge? One of the advocates of the Tyne for an asylum harbour, writing on this subject, said: "Could we suppose ourselves so far raised above the surface of the ocean, on one of those days of tempest, as to have within eyeshot thirty or forty miles of coast, we should see a significant spectacle. We should find every vessel in sight straining every ingenuity of navigation to bring itself towards the Tyne." And then, with very singular logic, the writer damages his case by saying, in the next sentence, that "thirty-six ships were ashore on one day, all of which had been struggling to get to the Tyne." This we believe to be the severest censure it is possible to inflict upon a harbour of refuge, but, from the position of the Tyne, we fear it but too faithfully pictures the disadvantages it labours under,

and that is, that this port can only be run for during south-easterly gales, and then only at the proper time of tide; but on these occasions ships have also the option of running for the Firth of Forth. But when vessels have not sufficient offing, even in the gales most favourable for running for the Tyne, great loss occasionally happens, and as captains of ships are naturally anxious to avoid running so far to the leeward as the Firth of Forth, it is imperative to have the mouth of this river so improved by piers as to ensure greater safety in entering at proper time of tide. This is being done. The question is still, Is the Tyne a proper spot for an asylum harbour? and as we have before referred to the awful gale of the 4th of January last, when 94 vessels went down and 169 seamen perished within sixty miles of this port, we will do so again, to assist us in coming to a sound conclusion. On that dreadful occasion there were comparatively few ships wrecked at or near the Tyne-we believe four or five at the most. The residue of the 94 wrecked vessels either went ashore or foundered in the bight formed by the coasts of Northumberland, Durham, and the North Riding of Yorkshire; in fact, just where Redcar is situated. Now the inference is, that if an asylum harbour had been in existence at that time at Redcar, the majority of these vessels might have been saved; for the Tyne was to windward of nearly all the ships hovering at that time on the coast, while Redear was easy of access, as the gale was from N.E. to E.N.E., nearly dead into the bight. Tyne is too far north.

The

Nevertheless the importance of the Tyne and its immense commerce cannot be overlooked in a paper upon harbours of refuge. The Tyne, the Wear, and the Tees possess enormous interests upon the sea. The five ports on these rivers, it is recorded in the last year's return of shipping, had upwards of 8,100.000 tons inwards and outwards, of which one half belong d to the Tyne, being about one-sixth of the entire tonnage of the kingdom, and more than that of the Thames.

The same report states further, that 57.000 vessels from these ports were exposed day and night, in all weathers, upon the dangerous N.E. coast, whose harbours are, as we have shown, hermetically sealed, the sooner and the closer, the heavier the gale. With such statistics as these before us, it is impossible to underrate the importance of such a port as the Tyne. The fact is, this river presents a spectacle, during a long continuance of easterly and southerly winds, that cannot be surpassed on the Thames. Sometimes from 1,000 to 1,400 vessels of all classes are spread over the ten miles of river that lie between Newcastle Bridge and the sea. It must not, however, be supposed that they have run here for refuge; many are of course wind-bound. We merely mention this fact to show the importance of the port, and to prove the necessity of a refuge harbour in or near a locality where such vast mercantile interests are constantly imperilled for the want of an asylum.

Taking therefore all the circumstances of the case into consideration, we are of opinion that there ought to be three deep-water ports on this coast, at the very lea-t :

1st. The main refuge should be placed at the bottom of the bight

formed by the coasts of Northumberland, Durham, and the North Riding of Yorkshire, the position being at Redcar.

2nd. One at or near the Tyne; and,

3rd. One at Runswick, or Robin Hood's Bay, to the north of Whitby.

If these harbours were constructed they would be in the right place, and not, like Dover and Alderney, in the wrong place. The expense too would be trifling, compared with that at Dover; for at Redcar the adjacent rocks abound with large quantities of iron-stone, and the requisite material for the manufacture of cement is found in the neighbourhood Whereas, at Dover, every stone has to be conveyed hundreds of miles by sea, at an immense cost and great waste of time, to construct a work which, when finished, will be as wonderful as the Pyramids, and for all refuge harbour purposes about as useful. These are hard words to use when speaking of a national undertaking that swallows up £1,215 per foot as it advances into the sea, and this too without extras-—and everybody knows what builders' extras are; and yet, after the debate upon refuge harbours in the House of Commons on the 3rd of last mouth, and the admissions of the First Lord of the Admiralty, what else can be said about the matter? Surely then it would be prudent to stop the expensive blunder, if it be one, and divert the enormous outlay to a channel where the money could be more advantageously employed, viz., the construction of refuge asylums on the long neglected but very dangerous and exposed northeast coast of England.

SOCIETY IN BOMBAY AND THE NATIVE TRIBES.

66

THE Sepoy Mutiny will accomplish one good result in directing public attention to India; and, most appropriately for this purpose, a book has just made its appearance from the pen of no less a person than the wife of a Bombay Governor, who may be supposed to know something on the subject of which she writes. The work bears the alluring title of Chow-Chow," which our Indian readers will remember is the designation of the most select basket of the Hindoo pedlars; and Lady Falkland, the fair author of the book, certainly presents us in its pa.es with a most attractive assortment of impressions and reminiscences, for which she will obtain a ready market. Those who are unacquainted with India will find these agreeable volumes a complete picture of the country; for they emanate from no hackneyed pen or palled mind, but show throughout a keen, quick, active observation, catching up the salient points of oriental life, and depicting them with truthfulness and vigour. From the time of Alexander to the present, that wondrous region has awakened the admi

"Chow-Chow; being Selections from a Journal kept in India, Egypt, and Syria." y the Viscountess Falkland. London, Hurst and Blackett. 2 vols.. with Illustrations.

ration of every visitor; and after all that has been written and told about it, the cadet who lands on its shores to-day, is as much astonished and as much bewildered as were the followers of the Macedonian conqueror two thousand years ago. Lady Falkland proceeded to the East from the antipodes of North America-rushed from ice and snow and freezing gales into the full blaze of a Bombay May. The heat was intense, overpowering, insupportable. Old Indians found their parchment skins in a state of liquefaction: the very mosquitoes perspired. Of course, our fair author suffered extremely, as did all the ladies, and hearts long considered fire-proof were now in danger of melting. But ladies in India, particularly those of high degree, and governors' wives above all, have public duties to perform; and Lady Falkland had scarcely set foot in Bombay, when she was called upon to make a sacrifice of personal comfort, to disregard heat, fatigue, and mosqui toes, and hold a noon-day reception—a viceregal drawing-room under a red-hot sun, just at its meridian. Ladies came through the glowing streets to be present at this Plutonic ceremony. All were dressed in the latest Paris fashions, but were so done up by their journey, that they looked like an assembly of gho-ts. The gentlemen stood round as staid as mutes at a funeral. Nothing was talked of but the heat, so that the whole company might have been set down for an assembly of Parsees, with their thoughts running continually on fire, and perhaps a smack of brimstone. Everybody was glad when the affair was over; and Lady Falkland, thinking more of common sense than custom, resolved that in future she would receive the public at night, when people could meet without fear of dissolution, and when-what was of no less importance-ladies were seen to advantage, instead of in the broiling sun, and by the tell-tale light of day.

But evening entertainments are most in fashion at Bombay in the cold season-for so, by antiphrasis, a certain period of the year is called. Dinners also abound at this time, and are conducted on much the same principle as in England, except that the guests are placed further apart, so as to afford, if not more elbow-room, a better circulation of air, which is further assisted by a punkah, and, perhaps, there is a greater consumption of fluids. But ceremony is as potent here as at the governor's drawing-room, and, as usual, is busiest among the ladies. The wife of any high functionary is a very great charac ter. She is called a "burrah bibi," and has to maintain the dignity of that lofty title. Inferior burrah bibis bow before one of greater magnitude, and they cannot leave a ball or public assembly while so august a personage is present-no matter what straits they may be put to in remaining. Lady Falkland saw one delicate lady sinking from exhaustion, and kindly advised her to go home, but was shut up by the answer that it was impossible, as there was a lady of higher rank-a superior burrah bibi-still on the floor. Nor is this nonsense confined to the ladies, as the sterner sex have their burrah-bibis too; and we are ashamed to say that they sometimes wear a red jacket. An officer of the Queen's service went out to India in the same vessel with a Company's officer. They were the same rank, but the Queen's officer was the son of a Peer, and, as Lady Falkland tells us, happened

-of course, quite accidentally-to take precedence at dinner of the Company's officer; but there was a hock in store for him; and on reaching Aden, his messmate observed, "Now, sir, I take rank of you," and stepped foremost, the Company acknowledging no family rank in their dominions. Lady Falkland is a little incensed at the strict justice of the Company's officer, who, she says, "actually displaced my friend at the table." The whole thing was absurd, but why not mete to Peter the same measure as to Paul? The lordling took the initiative, and could not complain that his brother-officer, when his turn arrived, should follow suit, and insist on the letter of his bond.

A ball in India is a different affair from the same festivity in England. In the first place, the company includes no old ladies—at least, of the softer sex; for doubtless there are the usual proportion in breeches. The absence of elderly persons in Indian society, is one of the first things that strike a new arrival. At a certain age, people usually leave the country, and thus there is always a degree of youthfulness about the company one meets. But, strange to say, young unmarried ladies are as scarce as old ones, and naturally more in demand consequently, a lady's dancing days last as long as she remains in India, and a man has the satisfaction of seeing the mother of his six children as much in request, even among young sparks, as before he married her, while any damsel not yet wedded has as many partners on hand as she could accommodate in a week. Hence the light fantastic toe has enough to do, and has to keep up the steam to the end of the chapter. Fortunately the bail-rooms are expressly adapted for such efforts, being lofty, spacious, and airy, windows open on every side, and ventilation facilitated by a hundred-punkah power. A white cloth, coated with French chalk, covers the floor, and affords a smooth surface for the feet. Among the male portion of the company, there is a great predominance of uniforms, while the toilettes of the ladies are of the most expensive kind, and, there being no lack of lights, the whole forms a brilliant scene.

Lady Falkland dwells especially on all that relates to her own sex in our Eastern dominions, and thus we obtain much information respecting what may be called the inner circles of Anglo-Indian life. With us, as with the natives from time immemorial, the East is still a market for beauty, and we annually send out bevies of ladies to look for husbands It would seem, the thing is to this day a good spec., though nothing has been more written about, ridiculed, and abused. Even the scourge of the satirist fails to restrain, when our object is gold. Mothers bring out their daughters, younger married ladies their spinster sisters, on the same errand that engaged their own little hearts before they lost them. A few simple girls fall in love on their way out, and engage themselves to cadets; but, on their arival, find their thoughtful father has his eye on something better, and experience the old fate of true love. What a world we make for ourselves! Open the breast beneath that star-or, alas! beneath that muslin robe, and what baseness and meanness, what deceit, what perfidy, shall we find heaped up and stored and garnered in every nook and corner!