for the loss of a musical voice. Splendid, indeed, is the apparel of numbers of them; but the various species most remarkable for brilliancy of plumage have been nearly exterminated on the Island of Bombay by the English, and their unerring Joe Manton's. I have, in my rambles, noticed the small kingfisher, (Alcedo Asiatica,) a bird bearing a strong resemblance to our own solitary species; indeed, I might say identical with it. Another of this genus about the size of a missel thrush, frequented some trees that shaded a tank in our compound. The back, wings, and tail feathers were of the most splendid azure, and the head and body of a rich brown, shot with purple-throat white, bill and feet red. The swallow-tailed emerald fly-catchers were very common in the rocky districts above Malabar point; and some small green woodpeckers, with crimson and yellow throats, were often heard and seen by me tapping the dead trees about Parel. I have also seen here the Malabar shrike, (Lanius Malabaricus, Lath;) hoopoe, (Upupa epops ;) sandpiper, (Tringa hypoleucos ;) common house sparrow, (Fringilla domestica, Linn ;) tree sparrow, (Fringilla montana, Linn ;) and a variety of birds common to Great Britain; but space does not admit of my enumerating more of them here. It is greatly to be lamented, that hundreds of these beautiful islandbirds are annually most wantonly destroyed by the crews of European ships for the sake of a few bright feathers; though seldom, I fear, to enrich the cabinet of the true naturalist, or effectively to further the study of Indian ornithology. Since it is not the design of this work to illustrate the Fauna of Bombay and its neighbourhood, beyond simply giving the reader, just as occasion may offer, an outline or idea of some of its various members, we will now turn for the present to other matters of history more immediately connected with that lord of the creation, Man, and take a peep at him as he appears at Bombay, at home, and abroad. X CHAPTER VI. "Oh! for one draught of cooling northern air The Hot season. Depressing days. Anglo Indians. Change of air Children born in necessary. Good effects of sea voyage to invalids. India. Their separation from their parents. Necessity of exercise. Arungzebe. A Hindoo's idea of happiness. The poor obliged to rise early. Washing at the tanks. Bitter beer and spirit drinking. Dangers of exposure to the sun. Good example of the natives. How to ward off sickness. Flannel valuable in warm climates. Luxury of a cold bath. Sleepy servants. Give your dogs Exercise. The blessed morning breeze. Tiffin. Dress coats and white jackets. Dancing. The Horse-hair Jupe. Dinner parties and their miseries. Wages of domestics. Cooks and cookery. English dishes. Preserved meats. How to make a fortune. Porous jars and wine coolers. Duties of the Abdar. Indian hospitality. Boarding houses, &c., &c. It would be a difficult task to convey to the reader a correct idea of the prostrating effect of some of the dreadfully hot days which, during an Indian sojourn, you have but too often to endure, with what share of patience and resignation you may be blessed withal. It has indeed been asserted, that, in a year or two, you become accustomed, and in fact acclimatized to the heated temperature, and care but little about the burning seasons as they roll; but I must say, that many of the old Anglo-Indians, whom I had the pleasure of knowing during my short residence amongst them, (some of them of twenty years standing in the country,) one and all asserted, that so far from becoming accustomed to the heat by degrees, they found that every year brought fresh trials to the constitution, until, at last, though not suffering from any organic disease, they were compelled to seek a change of air, either at the Cape of Good Hope, or in their native country. This change from a relaxing to a bracing air is looked upon as absolutely necessary every four or five years, in order to ensure to a European resident in India even a moderate share of that greatest of all blessings, health. 'Tis true, there are sanitary stations in the hilly districts of India, to which every year, in the hot season, numbers fly who can obtain a month or two's leave of absence; but the enormous expense of travelling deprives many a poor ensign or lieutenant, perhaps encumbered with a family, of the power of taking advantage of their fine temperature. The effect of a sea voyage, as a resto rative in cases of general debility, is wonderful; so marvellously does the enfeebled system begin to revive as the ship enters into cooler regions, and draws near to the lofty mountains that look down upon Table Bay-particularly if the voyage takes place about June or July, about which time the winter quarter there sets in. Sick officers who required a sea voyage were formerly allowed to proceed to the Cape to recruit their health, perhaps for a year, when they would not have been permitted to return home.— Now, however, the regulations are, I believe, altered; as it would take nearly the same time to go to the Cape by ship, that would be required to reach England by the present overland route. Children born in India are, generally speaking, poor, puny, sickly little things. Hundreds of them languish and die, during the first or second year of their brief existence.—— Some, indeed, through extraordinary care and good nursing, outlive the period of infancy; but unless they are sent home at the age of seven or eight years, their lives are rarely prolonged to old age; it is not solely with a view to their education that Indianborn children are separated at an early age from their parents, and sent to England. This separation is a dreadful trial to the poor parents. Mothers, in particular, appear to love, with an affection doubly ardent, the children who, in a foreign clime, are the solace of their often weary exile. Every morning, before sunrise, the picturesque sea-shores and public drives on the island are crowded by a motley company of visitors in search of health and exercise. As this is the only portion of the day, during the hot season, in which you can really walk with any comfort or advantage, every one, who can, avails himself of it for an hour or two's stroll before breakfast, either on foot or |