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with those of the natives in colder climates, particularly in houses, 

 fuel, and raiment. Give a poor Hindoo his cocoa-nut hubble- 

 bubble, or smoking machine ; a shady tree, near a tank for his 

 beverage and ablutions : and a village bazar to purchase a little 

 rice and tobacco, and he performs a long journey perfectly con- 

 tented. Poor indeed must be the spot which cannot supply him 

 with those necessaries ; I never met with any so desolate in the 

 course of my travels. For in Hindostan are no ruthless deserts or 

 pathless plains, common in Persia and Arabia; those arid tracts 

 which Buffon so admirably describes in a few words : " Qu'on se 

 figure un pays sans verdure, et sans eau; un soleil brulant, un eiel 

 loujours sec, des plaines sablaneuse, des montagnes encore plus 

 arides, sur les quelles l'ceil se tent, et le regard se perd, sans pou- 

 voir s'arreter sur aucun objet vivant." 



If I were to point out the most beautiful part of India I ever 

 saw, I should fix upon the province of Guzerat. If I were to de- 

 cide upon the most delightful part of that province, I should with- 

 out hesitation prefer the purgunnas of Brodera and Neriad. The 

 crops in the other districts may be equal in variety and abun- 

 dance, but the number of trees which adorn the roads, the rich- 

 ness of the mango topes round the villages, the size and ver- 

 dure of the tamarind trees, clothe the country with uncommon 

 beauty, such indeed as I never saw to so great an extent in any 

 other part of the globe. There is, besides, a voluptuous stillness, 

 if I may use the expression, in an Indian landscape, a serenity in 

 the atmosphere, and a quietness in the road during a morning 

 walk, or evening ride in the cool season, not generally known in 

 Europe. I am almost tempted to say, that the lotos-covered lakes, 



