The other incident was of a most painful nature. Sitting 
in the billiard room of the principal hotel, the Bombay 
House, I was watching a game of pool played by Hoglish 
army officers, and chatting with a young captain of cavalry 
who sat by me, 
Naturally the conversation drifted into the engrossing 
subject of the day, the mutiny, and some items that had ap- 
peared in the daily paper in regard to a massacre of English, 
Suddenly, without warning, beyond that, which afterward 
I remembered, evidences of intense excitement, the young fel- 
low sprang at me, seized me by the throat, and ‘began shaking 
me violently. I naturally resisted, but the fight was quickly 
interrupted by the pool players, some of whom hurried 
him out of the room, while others restrained me, by a story 
quickly told, that turned my anger into pity and chagrin, 
IT had unw itting| y fired a mine, and the profuse apologies of 
the brother officers were not necessary, except to excuse 
their own neglect of duty, or rather that of one of them, a 
surgeon, who had been detailed to escort the young eaptain 
to Bombay, and thence to his home in England. They had 
heen two weeks in Bombay, and the young fellow had so far 
recovered from acute mania, that the doctor had grown 
somewhat careless, insanity ‘developing itself only when 
allusions were made to the tragedies incident to the mutiny. 
This subject would at once drive him wild. And no wonder. 
But a few weeks before, held bound and helpless, a prisoner 
to a gang of Sepoy mutineers, he had seen his young wife 
subjected to nameless suffering, and her throat cut; and his 
child tossed into the air and caught on spears and bayonets. 
He had escaped the clutches of the Sepoys, he could not tell 
how, nor what he had done between that dreadful day and 
the time when a body of British soldiers, on their route to 
relieve the beleaguered post to which he was attached, found 
him naked in a tank (large ponds are so called in India), en- 
deavoring to hide under the great lily pads—a maniac, 
While at Bombay we were Snot altogether dependent upon 
the resources ashore for enjoyment. There were American 
clippers in the harbor, and on several of them the families 
of the captains were living. I remember now only the Fly- 
ing Scud and Captains and Madams Condon and Dey, Tea 
parties and little home-made dances were very pleasant. 
And one evening, on board the French frigate Catinat, there 
were hich doings. Until 11 P. M. we witnessed amateur 
theatricals by officers and sailors which were intensely good. 
After the play came supper, and at 1 A, M., the cavalry 
charge took place. 
“And then arose as wild a yell, 
As though the very fiends of heil,” ete. 
The First Lieutenant stood in the ward-room door with a 
bugle sounding the charge. Astride of every available chair, 
the arms of many proken off for the occasion, some forty 
tight men went galloping forward, around the foremast and 
back, each and every cavalryman giving out all of the noise 
of which he was capable, and some, as they went down 
wounded and others charged over them, yelling if possible 
a little stronger. 
During our stay the Governor invited quite a party of the 
Catinat’s and our officers to make a visit to the famed Cave 
Temples of Elephanta; and on the morning of the 15th of 
January the Governor’s steam yacht, the Gulnare, steamed 
out and took us all aboard, The distance to Hlephanta 
Tsland is but seven or eight miles, and would have been 
quickly run over but for delay at Beecher’s Island, where, 
under the command of a one-legged retired lieutenant, an 
artillery school was located. The sailors were called toman 
a gun, and didsome firing at a target moored about a mile 
off, which was so abeminably poor that the lieutenant, much 
mortified, apologized to our party in general and toa post cap- 
tain, who was with us, in particular, assuring us of the ex- 
cellent character and good conduct of the captain of the 
gun, and his mortification was not lessened at the laugh 
which the captain’s answer produced. ‘‘All right, old boy, 
don’t worry yourself. I’ve no doubt but he’s a “perfect gen- 
tleman, but you must admit he's a poor shot,”’ 
About 1 P! M. we reached Elephanta, our time on board 
having been again prolonged by a sumptuous tiffin, arranged 
during our yisit ashore, and which most of the party, who 
had been there before, ‘did not scem inclined to leave, We 
anchored some fifty yards from the beach, and the water 
was so shoal that we had first to avail ourselves of the ser- 
vices of old Hassan, a boatman, and then to be carried on 
the shoulders of natives picturesquely and airily attired in 
turbans and strings. Safely landed, our troubles began. 
The sun was broiling, and before us to be surmounted was 
a long vista of white stone steps, actually half a mile in 
length, apparently unending. 
At last reaching the summit, a sharp turn to the left 
brought us to the first cave, but we wasted no time examin- 
ing it, for alarge tree outside furnished us with a shady 
rest, and there was still a mile of tramping toreach the 
great temple. 
My description of this temple in my note book is embraced 
between quotation marks and credited to ‘‘encyclopzdia;” 
therefore if any one recognize a passage or sol stand ac- 
quitted of plagiarism. My first impression was that the 
term ‘‘caye” was misapplied and deceiving, for there was no 
gloom nor descent into the earth, no torches nor candles 
required, except to explore one small inner dark room, in 
which there was a large basin or tank hewed into the rock 
floor, and a large flat-surfaced stone, in the top of which 
were cut grooves, from which fact legend pronounces it a 
sacrificial altar. In the basin, which contains fresh water, 
seyeral women, who fled at our apDrOHeH: were washing 
either themselves or garments. 
“The preat temple is an excavation in the side of the hill, 
183 by 130 feet, thus nearly square, the ceiling flat, and 
about 16 feet in height, supported by 26 pillars and 16 
pilasters, There are three entrances, one each on the north, 
east and west sides; that on the north bsing the principal. 
ening Immediately fronting this entrance stands a re- 
markable three-headed, gigantic bust fifteen feet in height, 
the center face having a placid expression; that on the left, 
apparently that of a female, with pleasant features; the one 
on the right haying an angry, repulsive aspect. The figure 
had originally six arms, each hand holding some object, - but 
all are now greatly mutilated.” 
However mutilated they may haye been at the date when 
the encyclopedia man saw them, all were not gone when I 
saw them; for in one hand of the figure on the right, is held 
an unmistakable cobra—as you may judge from the inclosed 
sketch. Nor did the encyclopedia writer mention that this 
fisure was possessed of three eyes, as was also the center 
one. 
I was told that the three represent Brahma, the Creator 
(in center); Vishnu, the Preseryer (the left); and Siya, the 
Destroyer (on the right). — 
STREAM. 
FOREST AND 
Our French friends did not seem at all awed by the | white sand on its southern edge. As eee rue en mnURUN Meter tori tits upland tc sill sual hyochel| white cand ot-fideouthain edo, Ax viewed tiger hewmen from the water, 
grandeur of this triad; for in a yery few moments they had 
scrambled to its summit, and hanging in grotesque attitudes 
to the head of Brahma, the nose of Vishnu and the neck of 
Siva’s snake, they chanted airs from an opera comique, 
and drank our healths i in a bottle of wine they had taken up, ; 
coolly inviting us to join. 
A great number of the pillars were broken, and I was told 
that this had been done by the shot from English gunboats 
practicing. All were covered with carvings of figures, and 
must once have been very beautiful. 
While one of our party was making some drawings I 
strolled outside, and started on a little tramp through the 
surrounding woods or jungle, following a trail which was 
somewhat overgrown, and showed signs ‘of little trayel. 
But a short distance from the caye I was startled enough 
by seeing flash up directly in front of me, not. more than five 
yards away, a snake, which I at once recognized as a cobra 
de Capello, the most dangerous of all Indian reptiles. It 
seemed that its head and its curiously marked neck stood at 
least a yard above its coil on the ground; undoubtedly they 
did at least half of that height. By instinct I almost imme- 
diately and with hardly an aim, fired at it with my revol- 
vet as fast as I could pull trigger, for it was an old-fashioned 
self-cocker, and at one of my shots—1 think my very first— 
ib dropped its head and squirmed away into the bushes, 
leaving behind it a bloody spot and trail, and a thoroughly 
excited young man. This was, and still i is, the first and 
only time during my life that I have (hunting and fishing 
included) encountered a dangerous snake, and this adyen- 
ture, now that I write it, doesn’t seem, in comparison with 
some snake stories, much of a one, but I can assure you 
that it was to me a very interesting one after it was all over, 
On our return from the cave we made a side trip to see the» 
remains of a colossal stone elephant, from which the isiand 
received its name, Although once a remarkable sight, for 
it was over forty feet high, and large in proportion, we 
werv but poorly paid for our trip, in seeing but two large, 
ee stones, which we were told were once part of the 
egs 
“A sleepy trip back to Bombay by starlight, a good-night 
and good-bye to our friends and the next day we were “oft 
again for China, PISECO. 
THE END OF THE YEAR. 
A® a life-weary pilgrim sinks to his last repose, 
The old year, pale and pulseless, swoons o’er the drifting snows; 
He’s gone to join the ages, in the past years laid away, 
To sleep in time’s mausoleum, until the judgment day. 
When he wav’'d his fairy spring wand, the airs grew balmy sweet, 
There op’d the blue-ey’d violets, in every dusk retreat, 
‘Then snow white bloom of orchards, and floral offerings rare, 
Iumin’d all the landscape, and perfum” d all the air. 
His magie wand touch’d tree and shrub, touch*d arbor, sprig and 
spray, 
And quick, suffusing smiles of green would o’er the tendrils play, 
They blush’d with joy, as all their buds thei folded lips unclos’d, 
And their virgin pearly leaves, and petals red disclos’d, 
Then all the painted butterflies enjoy'd their little hour, 
They flew like winged blossoms, from floweret to flower, 
In honeysuckles dipt the bees, to sip from hidden wells 
The sweet, ambrosial nectar, and bear it to their cells. 
We saw thee in thy summer prime, in all thy bravery drest, 
Thy woods in wealth of foliage, by gentle airs caress’d, 
Thy limpid lakes reflecting the colors of the skies, 
And all the dales and mountains made gay with flowery dyes. 
Ah, pleasant the wide landscape, in your bright summer prime, 
The clear, swift, shaded brooks, with their unceasing chime, 
Where droop’d the birch and alder, the willow’s tresses green, 
And oaks and elms on upland slopes, a pastoral, fair scene. 
Thy luminous day-skies, the moonlit shades of night, 
When sweetest sounds of nature are a blessing and delight; 
When chants and bynins of bird life, of blackbird and of thrush, 
Entrance with soothing melodies the universal hush. 
We welcom'd thee in autumn, o’er all the harvest plain, 
Thy forehead thick enwreath’d with chaplets of the grain, 
When the orehards drop the fruit, and purple grapes hang sweet, 
And the sportsman’s shots are ringing in field and wood retreat. 
And in this winter season, when icicles, like gems, 
Adorn each twig and bush with twinkling diadems, 
We welcome the New Year, for o’er the falling snow, 
The sounds of merry laughter and jocund carels flow. 
To ull who loye the transports of forest and the stream, 
To hunt the deer, to take the fish that in the waters gleam, 
To seek the duck and partridge, the ywoodcock and the quail, 
We send a New Year’s greeting, we say to them ‘‘Ali hail!’ 
May the New Year rejoice you, with all delights of life, 
Prosperities, endearments , of home and child and wife, 
May the lights of love and friendship, burn ever pure and clear, 
No household glooms, no shades of death, to darken o’er the year. 
GREENPORT, L, I. Isaac McLELLAN, 
CAMP FLOTSAM. 
VILE.—CAMP BUILDING VERSUS WOODCRAFT, 
ote the night spent at the hamlet yclept Battersea, 
we rose with the proud consciousness of being yictors. 
We had fought our Armageddon and bad won a famous 
victory. The foe had retreated with all his cohorts to ‘‘the 
mash,’’ and we were in possession of the field. It was 4 
o'clock when we awoke, but we found George already astir 
and engaged in examining the tents, which had arrived 
sometime during the night. Our pluck had returned with 
daylight, and we determined to see something of the lake 
before deciding on a return to the St. Lawrence. 
The boat which George had secured over night was 
housed some forty rods away, and it was but the work of 
a few minutes for him to put her in the water and bring her 
up at the landing, when we embarked, and with the old tar 
at the oars, started up the stream, On either side the shore 
was low and miry, and fringed with tall flags, but within 
and along the edge of these the long white waterlilies lay in 
beds before and around us, almost closing the channel in 
places and making the morning fragrant, After half a 
dozen turns up the windings of the stream for nearly half a 
mile we entered the lake. Here the marsh and fen came to 
an end, and low rocky shores on either hand broke upon our 
gaze, stretching away in front and to the right, with a back 
ground of high granite hills. A half mile distant in front 
lay a charming island of some six acres in extent, well 
wooded with young timber, and having a beautiful beach of 
it seemed almost the counterpart of another island far away 
to the south in the States, where through summer nights for 
years in the past, the pines had thrown 1 back the radiance of 
the camp-fire on bronzed and stalwart anglers, on fair and 
peerless women, and from which, in this year of grace, the 
song of the siren, in the form of Truthful James, had 
allured us with promises of such sport as our brains had 
never conceived. We put the helm to starboard and ran 
upon the beach. We found a fair spot for a camp, but there 
was hardly enough shade, and the island was rather low, so 
after exploring it thoroughly we again embarked and 
pushed toward the west. Before us a chain of islands with 
high rocky shores and narrow channels between completely 
shut out the view up the lake, and gave the portion over 
which we had passed the appearance of a rock-bound lake 
by itself. 
On a point of the mainland on our port side, we spied a 
low, rudely constructed cabin, toward which we turned, 
prompted by curiosity to learn who its occupants might be, 
and to gather what information we might asto a good camp- 
ing place. Upon the beach was an Indian dugout, and be- 
side it an old heavy skiff. A large box was floating in the 
water a couple of rods from the shore, and kept in place by 
stakes driyenin the mud. As we approached, a tall, un- 
kempt, long-bearded native made his appearance, and after 
a single glance at us, stepped in the dugout and pushed out 
to the box. We pulled alongside the latter, and holding on 
to the stakes, invoked him to tell us what he knew of camp- 
ing places. He named McLain’s Point, a bluff a mile and a 
half up the lake, and remarked it as being well shaded, hay- 
ing a good landing and a good spring. Then we broached 
the subject nearest our hearts—the ‘fishing, ‘The fishing, 
ah, yes, the fishing was good; here were some he caught 
yesterday,’ "he said, and he lifted the top of the box. We 
jeaned over and took a look. Great Washington and—Truth- 
ful James, the boy who could not, and the angler who did 
not, tell a lie! their faces ought to look down from the walls 
of every three dollars a day—boat, bait and guide extra— 
house at every fishing resort in this broad land. In that box 
were more than forty bass, of which there were at least a 
dozen four-pounders, with lots of them of three pounds 
weight, and but few under a pound anda half. The bass 
were mostly small-mouths, and had been taken on perch bait. 
Just then we were sorely tempted to let the party on shore 
enjoy the hospitality of the ‘‘Queen’s Own’ for the day, 
while we ‘‘played hookey” and went a-fishing; but the 
thoughts of another Aceldema, which the legions in ‘‘the 
mash” might give us, should we pass the night on shore, 
made us hasten off. So after engaging Sabattis—the reason 
for cognomen we will shortly explain—to meet us at Batter- 
sea at noon, and help transport the luggage to the place 
which we should select for a camp, we started for the point. 
As we rounded the headland beyond the cabin, the 
lake opened into a broad expanse some four miles in length, 
Islands were on every side, reminding us of the natural 
scenery, of ten years ago, between Clayton and Alexandria 
Bay. Passing under the lee of Griffin Island for a mile, we 
headed off to “port and were soon at the point, Here we 
found the shore well wooded, but too open back from the 
water, with no protection from the afternoon sun. Thenwe 
turned to the north, and after scouring two more islands, con- 
cluded ‘to settle on the one which we ~ had first visited. So 
back we pulled, steering for the side opposile, and across 
the island from where we had landed, When a quarter of a 
mile from its northerly shore we caught sight of a white 
sandy beach at the foot of a bluff on our left. It looked in- 
viting and we pulled toit and Janded, It was in a broad 
cove and we could see the sandy bottom a hundred feet away 
from the shore; besides, there was a good landing. Upon 
the bluff we found a smooth spot well” shaded, with an out- 
look of a couple of miles across the water to the south. A 
group of pines were moaning in the breeze, hard by, and- 
remembering our nightly music about the old camp of the 
past ten years, we cried, “‘A/abama—here werest.” An hour 
brought us back to the starting of the morning. When we 
arrived it was 10 o'clock, and we had not tasted food, but 
Yan Alstyne’s larder withstood the shock, 
By the time we had finished breakfast our friend of the 
morning was on hand, prepared to boat our baggage to the 
camping place. His son, a half-breed, accompanied him, — 
and we loaded their boats with sufficient Jumber for floorins 
the tents and building a table, added the tents to the cargo 
and started them off. After they had gone we learned that 
the father was married to an Indian woman, and with her 
and their four children, occupied the cabin on the point 
where we bad seen him that mor ning. We followed our 
employees and were soon at camp. There is no great mys- 
tery attached to the pitching of a wall tent. Our two were 
soon up, the flooring laid four or five inches from the ground, 
and we were secure against any kind of weather. The bed 
making was next in or der. Foreach bed four pieces of wood, 
three feet or so in length, were cut for bed-posts; to these side-, 
head- and foot-boards were nailed about eighteen inches from 
the bottom, and we had a frame which would stand alone. 
Across the head and foot, on the inside of this frame, a strip 
was nailed about fourteen inches from the floor to support 
the slats. The latter were cut and fitted in a few minutes, 
and we had a spring bedstead. An empty tick in our luggage 
was filled with straw from the shore, the blankets were 
spread and our sleeping arrangements were complete. Such 
a bedstead can be constructed in the woods with the aid of 
an axe and nails; the latter can be dispensed with and bark 
lashings used instead. Straw, hay or dried grass can usually 
be obtained, if not, the tick can be filled with browse, 
thick layer of the latter upon the slats under the tick is an 
addition in the way of luxury. If the bed-tick forms no 
part of the impedimenta, a bed of browse can be built on the 
frame. If the tent is without a floor, the bed-posts can be. 
cut longer and their ends sharpened and driven firmly in the 
grou nd. With such a bed you are secure from the dampness 
of the earth, the air can circulate freely underneath, there is 
a place below to stow away loose articles, and you are not 
liable to awake with a rattler or other reptile at your elbow. 
Had ‘“‘Nessmuk” built his bunk with four bed-posts driven 
in the ground that night on the Tiadaghton, he would not 
have lain a prisoner, with guard- mounting performed over 
him by a crawler. 
We will speak right here of the superior advantages of 
what is called in ‘Woodcraft? the worst kind of a tent— 
the wall tent. For tramps through the woods and over — 
carries, slopping where night overtakes one, the less there is 
to carry the better. “The Indian camp,” the “brush 
shanty” or the ‘‘shanty tent” is undcubtedly the best for 
tha sort of business. But the majority of the grand army 
of outers will be foundin camps. located for a stay of from 
ten days to three weeks, where ample space and a home-like 
