SCENEBY ON THE BOAD AND BIVEB. 
249 
steam-pinnace till reaching the landing-place, near the 
office of the Captain of the Port, on the right bank of 
the stream. Everybody rides here, and numbers of 
light and handy vehicles are always at hand waiting 
for hire. Driving through Binonda, the commercial 
capital, we find the bulk of the business people, full 
of life and activity, the cigar factories of themselves 
giving employment to thousands of men, women, and 
girls — the scenery from either bank of the river par- 
ticularly fine, whether amid the wharves, warehouses, 
and busy population on the right, or the churches, 
convents, and public walks on the left. In all direc- 
tions, particularly on the left bank and its neigh- 
bourhood, we seldom meet with a carriage or a 
traveller seeking to enjoy the beauty of the fine 
scenery of river, road, or villages. One could almost 
imagine, and expect to find, skiffs and pleasure- 
boats without number on the river, and yachts and 
other craft in the bay, ministering to the enjoyment, 
and adding to the pleasures, and easing off the 
monotony, of life ; but there are none. By me, 
the country villages, the beautiful tropical vege- 
tation, the banks of the rivers, and the streams 
adorned with scenery so picturesque and pleasing, 
will not be easily forgotten. Almost every house 
in these Indian villages has a pretty little garden, 
with bamboos, plantains, and cocoa-nut trees, and 
some have a greater variety of fruit. Nature has 
decorated them with spontaneous flowers, which hang 
