1806.] Hem arks oyi Earl StanJiopes mitfical Work. 



349 



tbe tigers. An inllance of this kind oc- 

 curred while we lay ut Kedgeree ; a 

 Portuguefe having been feized and killed 

 by one of thofe animals, who was in tiie 

 act of dragoing him into the JLnii;le, when 

 fome of the iKiity (hot the tiger, and both 

 corpfes were brought back in the boat ! — 

 They are fo fierce on .Saugur illaiid, that 

 they w ill ibmctimes fwun oiF to the na- 

 tive boats that are at anchor near the 

 fliore in the night, and make dreadful 

 Jiavoc among the men who are then 

 alleep. 



The ftieani itfelf is much infeltcd with 

 fharks, which are nioitly of the ground 

 kind : and as fooii as any garbage is 

 thrown overboard, they will inltantly riiij 

 and fei/e it, aifoitlmg an eafy mc'th.Kl of 

 taking them by the hook : but failors fel- 

 doiu give thcmfelvcs the trouble of de- 

 claring war againft this their common 

 enemy unlels at lea, wliere a hear>y meal 

 js always made of the captive's body. 



It i» well known, that to this river, 

 »vhofe fircain and liaiilis are the refort of 

 fiich deltrucuve creatures, many Hindoos 

 wer^ in the habit of ammally coming 

 down, at certain feal'ons, in order to de- 

 vote tiiemtelves to the fury of tiie alliga- 

 tor, tiger, and (hark ! thinking tliemfelves 

 happy, and even tlicir friends favoured 

 by irieaven, if they were permitted to ex- 

 pire on the hanks, or in the waters, of 

 their beloved Ganges ! 



The Hindoos eat little or no animal 

 fo(jd, and rice is the principal article of 

 their fubiiiience. There is no doubt but 

 the prohibition of the former, now a reli- 

 gious inltitute, was founded in true po- 

 licy ; a vegetable food being much better 

 adapted to the human conltitution in tro- 

 pical climates, than an animal one. It' 

 Europeans were to pu.fue tlie fame fyf- 

 tem they would perliaps not only avoid 

 many fulhionalde Oriental difeafes, fuch 

 as liver complaints, bilious fevers, &c. 

 hut enjoy permaiiently the invaluable 

 blelfmg of health. 



Tiio Eunjpean is generally much dif- 

 gufted at firll with the Aiiatic manner of 

 eating : as the Indians ufe nothing but 

 their fingers, which perhaps half a dozen 

 of them will be thruRing at the fame time, 

 into the fame dilh of curry and rice, which 

 they roll up in balls, and fling into 

 their mouths with great dexterity, and 

 which they fccm to fvvallow in rather a 

 v(n'aci(ius iiumiier ; the whole circle thus 

 fijualted round their homely ineal, ex- 

 hibiting a very grotcfquc and novel fight 

 Ki the (traiiL'cr, 



pii the 16th of November, a party of 



us embarked in the pilot fchooner for 

 Calcutta, a place we were all very anxi- 

 ous to fee. As the north-eall m(jnfoon, 

 however, had now completely let in, and. 

 blew right down the river, we were 

 obliged to tide it all the way : which, 

 however, gave us better opportunities of 

 obferving the beautiful Icenery that de- 

 cor;ites each lide of this river, efpecially 

 after it leparates from the Old Ganges 

 near Fulta. 



A few miles above Diamond harbour, 

 the Hoogly and Old Ganges unite their 

 ilreams ; and at the conHuence of thefe 

 two rivers, there is a very dangerous 

 /hoal, called the " James and Mary," on 

 whicii velltis are fre(|uently loll : the 

 ftrcam running ilrong on the llo»d into tha 

 O.d Ganges, (called alfo the Roup na 

 Ran) ihips, efpecially in light winds, are 

 curried often upon this llioal, in attempt- 

 ing to turn up into the Hoogly ; whea 

 they are generally upfct in an mftant, and 

 rolled over and over, in a manner fright- 

 ful to behold ! 



As we palled this place in the pi- 

 lot fchooner, we witncli'ed a fcene that 

 nearly proved tragical. 



A large Arab Ihip, in turning into the 

 Hoogly, llruck on this flioal, and in a 

 moment the rapidity of the tide laid her 

 on her beam ends, with every (titch of 

 fail let : the water, however, riling very 

 fuddeiily, Ihe i'wung round with her head 

 to the dream, and by righting quickly 

 was thus miraculouily preferved. The 

 Arabs on thele occalions frequently im- 

 pute the accident to the pilot, and were 

 once or twice on the point of heaving 

 pilots overboard. ! 



The fcenery is not veiy interefting un- 

 til one gets above Fulta, when chateaus, 

 as well as cottages, begin to peep out 

 from the umbrageous foliage that ikirts 

 the banks of the river. — [^b be continued 

 in oar next.^ 



To the'EHitor of the Alouthli/ Magazine, 



SIR, 



A\ ING feen in your laft INIagazine 

 fome Strictures, ligned C.,upon Lord 

 >taiHi.)pe\.Syftein of Tuningl'iaiio-Fortes, 

 I IhiU be oblij;ed to you to infert the fol- 

 lowing remarks upon the fame publica- 

 tion, which, if it Ihould not fucceed in 

 overturning the long ellabhlhed fylleras 

 of turtuig, has certainly tlie merit of being 

 one of the moll clear and peifpicuous 

 treatifos U])on an abftru'e fubjeCl that 

 ever was written. 



At tiie bottom of page 5, his Lorddiip, 

 aftei' pblervhij^ that mu.iciaus ufnally 



ipcak 



