244 



I shall not enter on a description of" the various birds, insects, 

 and plants, which accompanied my drawings from Baroche, as in 

 general they varied but little from those at Bombay and on the 

 Malabar coast. The serpents in Guzerat were more numerous, 

 and in greater variety; many were of a large size, and especially 

 a species which seemed peculiarly partial to the shrubs and creep- 

 ing plants which overshadowed the large well in my gardens; these 

 the gardeners would neither destroy, nor suffer to be molested, as 

 they looked upon them to be the genii, or guardian-angels of the 

 garden, and often invoked them under the endearing appellations 

 of father, mother, and other respectful and affectionate epithets. 

 This veneration for serpents is confined to Hindustan; the ancients 

 thought there was something divine in these reptiles. Esculapius, 

 and several of the heathen deities are supposed to have appeared 

 in this form; their statues were often adorned with serpents, and 

 the cobra de capello makes a conspicuous appearance among the 

 Hindoo sculpture in the temples of Elora. Salselte, and the 

 Elephanta. 



Whether our hortensial snakes were evil genii, or guardian- 

 angels, I shall not determine; IIarrabhj r , the head gardener, con- 

 sidered them as the latter, and paid them religious veneration: 

 on that account I never disturbed them until I had erected a cold 

 bath in an orange and lemon grove for an English lady, who re- 

 tired thither at sun-rise, with her sable nymphs, to enjoy one of 

 the greatest luxuries in the torrid zone. This bath, perfectly con- 

 cealed from view, was more useful than ornamental, and very un- 

 like the lake of Diana, or any of the modern hummums in orien- 

 tal cities; it was indeed nothing more than a humble shed, thatched 



