NEWS OF THE FALL OF DELHI. 17 



was small, and the minister's pronunciation of 

 English was so painfully indistinct, that it was 

 difficult to follow him ; but Mr Leader is a most 

 amiable and devoted missionary, greatly re- 

 spected by all classes and sects, and is said to 

 have effected much good at Cairo in the thirty 

 years and upwards of his residence there. Dur- 

 ing the day, the news of the fall of Delhi was 

 telegraphed from Suez, the steamer from Bom- 

 bay having arrived, and great was the rejoicing 

 amongst our countrymen, whose consumption 

 of Mr Shcppard's cham2:)agne, in honour of the 

 victory, was something prodigious. The postal 

 department of Egypt would not seem to be con- 

 sidered of much Importance, as there actually 

 was no post office at Cairo, but this want has, 

 I believe, been since remedied. The atmosphere 

 of Egypt is, I am told, unfavourable to the 

 working of the electric telegraph ; the transmis- 

 sion of messages being occasionally suspended. 

 This, it is said, generally occurs in the morn- 

 ing, before the sun has attained the zenith, and 

 is supposed to be caused by the damp arising 

 from the Nile, as no such interruption of com- 

 munication occurs between Cairo and Suez. 

 The railroad, which is now complete, at that 



VOL. I. 2 



