64 PHYSICAL AND NATURAL OBJECTS. [1843 



Bengalese and European soldiers, in their varied and 

 gaudy dresses, and here and there some tiny-footed 

 damsel, toddling awkardly along, followed by her swarthy 

 page, or elderly Duenna, bearing a huge umbrella. In 

 our rambles over the mountains the steep ascent is cheered 

 at every step by some scarce plant or sparkling insect. 

 Showy Orchideous and Composite flowering-plants, huge 

 Carice8 y and singular Graminea, uprear their fragile forms, 

 and, on every side, the Ferns, Grasses, and Lichens, are 

 particularly beautiful, though of small dimensions. Huge 

 Grytti spring up from among the brushwood, and Cater- 

 pillars spin odd-shaped cocoons among the stunted trees ; 

 Ants are busy in their granaries and citadels, Lizards glide 

 among the prickly Aloe leaves and painted Butterflies 

 spread their gorgeous wings on every barren spot. The 

 fish-market of Victoria, when the boats that swarm 

 among the islands have just discharged their cargoes, 

 offers a rich ichthyological treat to the naturalist. Bril- 

 liant Mullet, fresh, and leaping on the boards, strange 

 looking Balistes, in their coats-of-mail, curiously formed 

 Pleuronectes of various shapes, and marked with red, 

 brown, and grey ; enormous Perch, with glittering sil- 

 very scales, hugh mis-shapen Skates, and the fins of mon- 

 strous Sharks ; gigantic Eels, and Chaetodons, with 

 bright-banded sides; Gudgeons, and Sturgeons, Rays 

 and Diodons, and the snake-like Gymnothoraac, with its 

 pointed mouth and elongated jaws ; while numerous tubs 

 are placed around filled with living fish, including Pali- 

 nuri red and green, and Crabs of the most fantastic 

 forms ; Frogs tied up in animated bundles may also be 

 seen in prodigious numbers." 



