with which to sustain his outspread covering, the handle of which was tied to a pocket-handkerchief, which he had girt round his waist. His grotesque figure was ludicrous enough, only there were few beside ourselves in the jungle through which we passed to be excited by the joke. We rode leisurely; the day began to clear, and the rain was gradually abating. We whiled away the hours of our journey by conversation. One theme after another was discussed, generally of a profitable tendency, till some incident suggested to my companion the story of "Valentine and Orson." I had either forgotten it, or had perhaps not read it at all, and so did not recollect the matter to which he referred for illustration. He began to recite the story; had entered the wood, and was just about the denouement of some exciting part of the plot, when his horse, with a sudden jerk, came down upon his knees : if a bear had come out of the jungle the catastrophe could not have been more momentary and complete. My friend executed the evolution in an instant, and lighted first on the peak of his umbrella fastened to his hat; his boat cloak flapped round his head and shoulders. A more perfect summerset could not have been made by a merryandrew; and the passage from the grave to the gay, from the lively to severe, from the sublime to the ridiculous, was so abrupt, that terror and apprehension gave place to an irresistible outburst of laughter, which I had not time to check, till my horse sprang forward, startled by the disaster. Had the bones, or even neck, of my fellow-traveller been broken, I could not have restrained the first impulse, though, as soon as I could rein up my horse, and hurry back to the spot, it was my first solicitude to ascertain whether any injury had been received. A few bruises, slight and immaterial, were the only consequence; though, had a bone been broken, or a limb dislocated, my mirth would have been turned into grief very suddenly, and my perplexity would not have been the less, that we were some ten or twelve miles from any European assistance. While the story of Valentine and Orson would have seemed a poor preparation for a sick or dying bed, yet I cannot blame my fellow-traveller for levity or improper conversation. On such a feeble thread are suspended the congruities and coincidences of this ever-varying and chequered life! One of our topics had been "fate and freewill"-the extremes of Calvinism, and the opposites of Arminius; the moral influence of the Predestinarian doctrine, and the effect, in comparison, of the Latitudinarian creed of Pelagius. Perhaps never before had those wilds been the scene of such discussions, or had such converse been held by wanderers in those regions; but it was all interrupted, and passed away, by the events of a moment. Conjeveram is too noted a place to be passed without a visit by the traveller. Its distance from the cantonment of Walajahbad, is only a few miles, and the intercourse is frequent,; I have seen the brahmins attached to the pagodas of this city, going from door to door of the officers' quarters, as mendicants, soliciting contributions for the maintenance of their festival solemnities: nor did they ask in vain, gifts being often bestowed either thoughtlessly or from a presumed liberality, by the nominally christian Briton. Conjeveram is celebrated for its sacred and pompous pagodas: but it is also a place memorable in the annals of British warfare. From 1757 to 1780, frequent collisions between the English and French, or between Hyder Ali and the British, occurred here : and, on the year last named, an action was fought by Hyder and his son Tippoo, who personally commanded the Mysore forces, and Colonels Fletcher and Bailie, who led on the small Madras army. In military phrase, it was a well-fought field, but a most destructive conflict. The British troops were but a handful; and Hyder's strength was concentrated around their devoted position. The ranks of the British were, after protracted, heroic, and skilful resistance, broken by the blowing up of two tumbrils of ammunition, and their destruction or capture was completed by Hyder's horse or the French artillery. Many a brave soldier, but thoughtless man, found here his grave on the battle-field: and his slumbering dust serves to enrich the soil around Conjeveram. The country is level and the soil generally poor; yet the town has the appearance of prosperity; it is large and regular; the streets are wide, and cross each other at right angles; they are shaded with rows of cocoa-nut trees on each side. The houses are generally built of mud, and such as are not terrace-roofed are covered with tiles. The tanks are large; but there is one distinguished above the rest for its size and celebrity-it is resorted to for ceremonial ablutions, by the inhabitants and worshippers from a distance. It is lined with stone, and furnished with flights of steps down to the water. The conduits by which these pools are supplied, are sluggish and scanty, and their chief dependance is upon the monsoon rains. Yet stagnant as are the waters, till they have sometimes seemed to me like a marsh rather than a flowing stream, with a green and sickly scurf gathered on the surface, hither the highest, as well as the lowest, brahmins repaired for cleansing. The first offices of purification in the morning, and other washings connected with pooja or daily devotions, bring the multitudes to these tanks, where all is performed, from the brushing of the teeth, and the necessary washings, to the sprinklings or immersions, and the minutest service which their idolatry enjoins. The principal inhabitants are brahmins, connected with two Hindoo temples; but the town is chiefly dependant upon the attraction and celebrity of the temple dedicated to Mahadeva. The grand entrance is lofty, with a pyramidal tower, gorgeous and tasteless. Its front, sides, and gateway are crowded with sculpture. The style of pagoda architecture is common through the peninsula. The tower is ascended by inside steps, and divided into stories; the central spaces on each being open and smaller as the tower ascends. The light is seen directly through them, and, according to the shades of the sky, which form the back-ground, the effect is sometimes beautiful. The sides of the steps leading to the pagoda are formed by two elephants drawing a chariot, carved in stone. The more sacred place is surrounded by a double wall. Upon a central paved court stands the inner temple, raised from the ground a few feet; a deep verandah runs round the whole court, supported by columns of stone, which serves as a receptacle or choultrie, for pilgrims and devotees. The form of these pillars is shaped to suit the appearance of animals sacred to the several deities by which they are rode. The walls, basements, entablatures, and all other parts of the pagoda are covered with sculptured imagery in alto, or demirelief. These fantastic representations of Vishnu, the preserver, Seva the destroyer, Krishnu, Gunesa, Kamadeva, Sureea, Chandava, Agni, and Baroona, with the bull and twisted snake, the flute, the parrot, the bow of sugar cane, the sun and his chariot, with a seven-headed horse; the moon and her antelopes, and the ram, and the crocodile, exemplify the absurdities of idol worship. |