elephant; nor would he stand to face the moving mountain: and yet no creature can be more perfectly tamed and made obedient to the will of man than this colossal animal, whose dimensions are only rightly appreciated when you look at the mahout or attendant sitting astride upon his neck, and ten or twelve travellers placed in the howdah, or seat upon his back, all which seem not to occasion to him any incumbrance. The intelligent and almost rational obedience of this huge and mammoth-like domestic is proverbial : but when you look at the powerful and ungainly creature, kneeling down at the bidding of the human voice, the movement of the hand, or the glance of the eye, and behold him rise again, stretch out his proboscis as a stirrup for his mahout, and help him into his seat; when you stand by and witness his docility and submission, bending his hind leg, so that those who are to travel on his back, may make a step of his joint, and climb up behind; and then, when all seem ready for starting, if any loose cloths or cords have fallen off, with a sagacity and minute sense of touch, which can pick up a needle, gathering them together with his trunk, and conveying them to his mounted driver, you are willing almost to confess that the instinct of the elephant surpasses, in too many instances, the reason of the men who employ the creature's power capriciously, or only for the purposes of destruction. I have seen the elephant moving onward, swinging to the right and left a broad waving branch of a tree, larger than a man could carry, and which he had broken off from some lofty stem, that he might fan himself in the heat, or flap off the flies which might gather round his head. It seemed to him an amusement, and required from him no greater effort than was suited to the most indulgent pleasure. The pace at which an elephant walks, from its seeming slowness, but positive speed, takes the beholder by surprise; the breadth of his foot, the size of his limbs, and the constancy of his movement, render his progress quick, though imperceptible. I have seen them crossing the river not only where it could be forded, but where a deep and precipitous stream rolled with a torrent's power, and made it hazardous for boats to cross: but the elephants stemmed the torrent with ease, and passed over in a straight direction, without a curve in their course. The utility and fitness of the elephant for this country and climate, form one of the wisest and most beneficient provisions in nature for the service of man.

St. Thomas's Mount is the nearest station beyond Madras for military-a little more than nine miles brings you to the place; but the cantonment and contiguous bungalows stretch far off from the mount, and by a circuitous sweep, the visitor might reach, at a few miles further, Palaveram. The latter was a station for native infantry, and contiguous to it were the governor's gardens, a kind of suburban retreat, to which Sir Thomas Munro frequently retired. Connected with the station, as was customary for all cantonments, was a bazaar, but no town lay nearer than Covelong. This place was the principal factory of the Ostend Company, and having built a fort, they retained possession of it till their charter was suspended, in 1727; it is now subject to Madras. The Mount was the point to which Hyder Ali dashed forward when he dictated terms to the Madras government, and held out no other prospect to the alarmed civilians than a journey to Seringapatam, should their lives be spared. This circumstance, perhaps, induced the authorities to fix upon the mount as a chief station for their artillery. Towards the barracks, a sloping ascent brings you to the foot of the Mount-it is but a mount, not even a hill, but planted with pieces of ordnance, and furnished with military stores and weapons of war. Many neat garden bungalows have been built and occupied round the base of the Mount; a church has been erected, and is occupied by a Company's chaplain. Although the place seems intended principally for an artillery garrison, yet I have frequently found king's infantry and persons residing; connected with other branches of the Company's service : some warrant, or non-commissioned officers, conductors of ordnance stores, &c., and their families, have houses here. Among the latter class, and their country-born connexions, as also among the European soldiery, there were frequent opportunities for usefulness; prayer meetings and domiciliary visits, and occasional services, afforded the privilege of speaking to the consciences of some, and appealing to the judgment and hearts of others. I have known four chaplains of various talent and principles successively employed at this station; yet I have never seen it when the temporary or more protracted labours of a visitor were unseasonable or intrusive. A constant and resident teacher, wholly devoted to the good of the people, would be an arrangement advantageous to the cause of religion, and acceptable to many.

The road leading between the Mount and Fort St. George is equal to any drive of the same distance I have ever seen in Asia or in Europe. An avenue of the finest, most verdant, and umbrageous trees, extends for about six miles from Madras. The cenotaph, to the memory of the Marquis Cornwallis, is the general rendezvous for the Madras loungers, who come out for an evening drive. Marmalong bridge terminates the more shady portion of the road, and opens upon a nullah, or brook, which, in the warm season, is almost dry, and in the wet, or monsoon season, flows as a rapid torrent. Here many of the washermen of the neighbourhood may be seen following their cleansing occupation, dashing the clothes against a stone in the bed of the stream, and then spreading them on the pebbly banks, where not a spot of verdure is visible, under the vertical and scorching rays of the sun. This process, repeated, without the aid of soap or the friction of the hands, for a few times, produces a snowy whiteness, unmatched by the labours of the English laundress. Within two miles of the fort, St. George's church stands, on the Mount road, an airy, commodious structure, occupied generally by the senior chaplain at the presidency, and well attended by the civilians and merchants of Madras.

Poonamallee lies at a greater distance than the Mount from Madras, and beyond it, about twelve or fourteen miles, is placed the invalid station of Tripassore: a visit to these places was more necessary than to the more contiguous station. The people were of a humbler and more neglected class, and the local advantages were fewer, though more required. The road to Poonamallee has been described by an English officer in graphic terms, but with great justice. Its beauty and richness are perfectly oriental. Starting from the Hospital gate of Black Town, you pass the Ophthalmic (a government) Institution on the right, and St. Andrew's, or the Scotch Church, on the other side. The style of architecture in the latter building is mixed and splendid-more as a monument of Scottish ambition, than as a becoming fane for sacred worship. To look at it outwardly you would conclude it fit to contain some fifteen hundred or two thousand; but I have repeatedly attended when the congregation might be fifty people. The building was not erected, nor are the two chaplains paid, by the liberality of the people. The road continues onward till we reach the Spur Tank and the garden