ETTAIAH. 
107 
guine and ambitious temperament ; while, to the less 
ardent people of the tropics, there exists not in the 
prospective any measure of delight so full as the calm 
enjoyment of dreamy recollection ; the most glowing 
promise will often fail to excite, when a glipipse of life 
by-gone will immediately engross all the faculties. In 
Europe every active mind is bent upon improvement, 
the energies are devoted to the aggrandisement of the 
present, or are absorbed in schemes to foretell and 
meet the exigencies of the future ; few indeed devote 
their time to constant reflection on the past; and 
when by chance they are called upon to rehearse the 
events of former days, their best efforts only prove 
how necessary practice is to excellence. The con- 
templative Asiatic will at a moment’s notice assem- 
ble and renew the faded images of times long 
past away, and, without effort, paint his picture 
in such life-like form and colour as to present his 
audience with a complete reflection of the scene 
itself. His powers, too, are quickened by being con- 
stantly in request, for all Oriental families are ad- 
dicted to narration, and seldom close the day without 
one or other reciting some passage from the records of 
their own lives or the traditions of their forefathers. 
For the gentle reader’s sake I heartily wish I possessed 
the power of penning my descriptions, or of reciting 
my legends, with one half the graphic spirit and effect 
which would be infused into them by these eloquent 
though unlettered people. With a hope of preserving 
