'He came accordingly, accompanied by his officers, and no sooner was he seated in the cabin than I could perceive his astonishment in finding himself enveloped in smoke in consequence of a royal salute from my Lilliputian artillery, which were well served upon the occasion; but he instantly recovered himself, and talked on indifferent subjects. I found him a handsome young man, with a good address. After examining the yacht and guns with attention, and particularly admiring the sailing of the boat, he requested me to accompany him to his barge to partake of the shekar, or hunting-party, previously prepared for our amusement. This proved of so uncommon a nature, and so seldom witnessed by Europeans, that it is worthy of description.

'We rowed for some miles towards a rising ground, on which we landed; and were then carried on men's shoulders (their regal mode of conveyance) to a temporary stage erected for the occasion.

'On surveying the arena around us, I found that the enclosure was not less than thirty acres, surrounded by a stockade, and lined on theoutside by the vassals of the rajah. They had previously driven the wild animals of the country to this place, being the highest ground in the plain, and encircled them. The sight was whimsically wild and magnificent; the concourse of people was immense, the whole population, both of the mountain and plain, having turned out on the occasion. The first thing that struck my observation upon entering the arena, was the singularity of the dresses worn by the different tribes of Cusseahs, or native Tartars, all dressed and armed agreeable to the custom of the country or mountain from whence they came. The inhabitants of the plain were also fancifully dressed; their garb, in many instances, was a mixture of both, their arms, in general, being those of the mountain, viz., a large shield over the right shoulder, protecting nearly the whole of the body, the mountain sword, a quiver suspended over the left shoulder, full of arrows, and a large bamboo bow.

The place into which we were introduced was a species of open balcony; on either side of my chair were placed those of the rajah, his prime minister, commander-in-chief, and officers of state, who all appeared to be native Cusseahs, or Tartars, dressed and armed in the hill costume. The rajah himself affected the dress of a man more civilized, and wore the Mogul arms. Upon my entering this apartment he embraced me, and, our hookah-burdars being in attendance, we took our seats, each with his hookah in his mouth. Each man now prepared his arms for the magnificent chasse about to begin.

'Upon looking around me with attention I found that there were no fewer than 200 of the largest buffaloes enclosed-some hundreds of the large elk deer, a great variety of deer of a smaller description, and wild hogs innumerable. These animals were now galloping around us in quick succession, when the rajah, turning politely towards me, asked me to begin the shekar by taking the first shot. I was a bad marksman, and afraid to betray my want of skill in so public a manner; at first I declined the offer the rajah insisted; I therefore raised my well-loaded rifle to my shoulder, and taking a good aim, to my own astonishment dropped a large buffalo dead upon the spot. There was immediately a

general

general shout of admiration. I, on my part, put the pipe into my mouth, throwing out volumes of smoke with perfect indifference, as if the event was a matter of course. But no power could get the rajah to exhibit, from the apprehension of not being equally successful before his own people.

On my left hand, sat his luskhar or prime minister; his quiver, I observed, only contained two arrows; "How comes it, my friend," said I, "that you come into the field with so few arrows in your quiver ?” With a sarcastic smile, he replied, "If a man cannot do his business with two arrows, he is unfit for his trade;" at that moment he let fly a shaft and a deer dropped dead-he immediately had recourse to his pipe, and smoked profusely.

"The loud and hollow sound of the nagarra, or war-drum, and the discordant tones of the conch shell announced a new arrival. The folding-doors of the arena were thrown open, and ten male elephants with their riders were marshalled before us. If it is expected that I am to describe the gorgeous trappings and costly harness of these animals, or the sumptuous dress of the riders, disappointment must follow; my savage friends were little accustomed to stage effect or luxuries of any kind. The noble animal had not even a pad on his back; a rope round his body was his only harness; the rider was dressed nearly in the garb of nature, and the hook with which he guides the animal was his only

weapon.

A motion from the rajah's hand was the signal to advance. The buffaloes at this unexpected attack naturally turned their heads towards the elephants, and appeared as if drawn up in order of battle. The scene now became interesting in the extreme. The elephants continued to advance with a slow and majestic step, also in line, when, in an instant, the captain of the buffalo herd rushed forward with singular rapidity, and charged the elephants in the centre. Their line was immediately broken; they turned round and fled in all directions, many of them throwing their drivers, and breaking down the stockades-one solitary elephant excepted. This magnificent animal had been trained. for the rajah's own use, and accustomed to the sport. The buffalo, in returning from his pursuit, attentively surveyed him as he stood at a distance, alone in the arena. He seemed for a few minutes uncertain whether to attack him or rejoin his herd. None who do not possess the talents of a Zoffany can describe the conflict that now took place. The elephant, the most unwieldy of the two, stood on the defensive, and his position was remarkable. In order to defend his proboscis he threw it over his head-his fore-leg advanced ready for a start-his tail in a horizontal line from his body-his eager eye steadily fixed on his antagonist. The buffalo, who had hitherto been tearing the ground with his feet, now rushed forward with velocity-the elephant, advancing with rapid strides at the same moment, received the buffalo upon his tusks and threw him into the air with the same facility an English bull would toss a dog-then drove his tusks through the body of the buffalo, and in that position carried him as easily as a baby, and laid him at the rajah's feet. "The elephants that were routed were brought back to the charge, and

some

some of them behaved well; but we had much more reason to be pleased with the courage of the male buffaloes, who attacked in succession. I consider them the fiercest animals in the world; for there is nothing they will not attack. I continued with the rajah two or three days, until the air became putrid with the dead carcases; I then bid him adieu, and returned to Sylhet.'-vol. iv. pp. 48-54.

This little bit of colloquy in the sporting line amuses us:—

In the cold season we had shooting in perfection-peacocks, partridges, wild cocks and hens, and water-fowl in abundance; but it was dangerous to shoot on foot, from the multiplicity of tigers and leopards that infested the woods. One day, while shooting with my Highland servant, John MacKay, he suddenly exclaimed, in his own broad accent, "Gude G-, Sir! what ca' ye that?" pointing at the same time to a huge animal in the path before him. "That, John, is a royal tiger!"— "Shall I tak a whack at him, sir?"-" No, John; let be for let be' is the surest plan."

The most usual method of catching a tiger in these parts is thus described :

'Large traps, constructed of wood and turf, of an enormous size, not less than thirty-six feet long, with four doors successively opening from each other, are built in such places as the tigers frequent. The bait is a living bullock in the centre. The tiger may enter on either side; on treading on a spring the two counter doors drop, and he is secured, while the bullock remains in perfect safety.

'A tube or cylinder of about twelve feet long and eighteen inches calibre (made of mats and fortified with rope or ground rattans, and secured at the further end by two sticks run across it) is now introduced; and the tiger, being previously teased in the trap and abundantly anxious to escape, seeing this ray of daylight conveyed into his prison through the tube, gathers himself together and darts into it, in hopes of finding a passage at the opposite extremity, but is stopped by the crossbars. A man stands by to drive in two other bars across the end by which he entered. No mouse was ever more inoffensive than this powerful animal now finds himself; the whole space he has to move in is only eighteen inches calibre, which barely allows him to move, and I have repeatedly taken him by the whiskers with impunity.

'But his troubles are not at an end. He is now lifted upon a cart and conveyed to the town. The place chosen for his public début was generally an old mosque surrounded by a high wall, enclosing full half an acre of ground. In this enclosure a buffalo awaited his arrival, and stages were erected for spectators to see the sport. It signifies but little whether the buffalo is in his wild or domestic state; they have in either case the same antipathy to the tiger, and attack him wherever they meet. In the present instance the buffalo was in his tame state, brought from his daily occupation in the field, and submissive to his driver. But the moment the tiger entered his character changed; he foamed at the mouth with rage, and with fury attacked his opponent. The tiger put himself on the defensive, threw himself on his back, biting and

tearing

tearing the limbs of his antagonist, but the buffalo soon overpowered him and threw him in the air, tossing him from horn to horn with wonderful dexterity, until he was dead.

"The leopard shows much more play when thrown into the enclosure with the buffalo; in an instant he is on the top of his back, and makes him completely furious; he then jumps from limb to limb, wounding him in every direction-but whenever the buffalo can hit him a fair blow he is done for.'

A rarer sport is that of the rhinoceros :

'He is of a morose, sulky disposition, and shuns the other beasts of the forest. During the rains, one of a very large size lost his way and took refuge in a thicket within a few miles of the town. The drums, as usual, beat to arms, and the whole population turned out. The situation was favourable-three small hillocks close to each other, covered with brushwood, and surrounded with water.

'But to rouse him from his den was a business of no small difficulty. Finding himself surrounded, he lay close. We fired into the thicket and threw fireworks, without effect. At last we got a very long rope and tied a log of wood to the middle of it; we then passed the ends to the two opposite hillocks, holding the weight suspended over the place where the rhinoceros lay, and at a signal given, we dropped it directly upon the animal's back. On this he made a furious charge on our centre, but we received him with a shower of iron balls, which compelled him to retrograde. We continued to fire at him, with no effect whatever, owing to the toughness of his coat of mail. I ordered one of my servants to aim at him between the folds under the neck, in a horizontal direction from the lower ground; upon which he at last fell. I had then an opportunity of examining his body, and found that (except the last) he had not sustained any injury from the many balls fired at him. And I was not a little pleased to extricate myself from the crowd; for the inhabitants from the adjoining villages, with a savage enthusiasm, had besmeared themselves with his blood, and were dancing around him with frantic wildness. Every part of the carcase possessed, in their opinion, charms for one disease or another, and was carried off piecemeal. It was with much difficulty that I secured the head and horn, which I brought home with me, and have now in my possession. I had also the curiosity to secure a collop, with which I made a very tolerable steak. Upon the first view we had of him, when charging us on the hill, he had all the appearance of a hog of enormous size. I never knew an instance of his coming in contact with the elephant or buffalo, but, from the powerful weapon on his nose, I think he would prove a formidable antagonist."-vol. iv. pp. 108-112.

Shortly after his return from India in 1788, this gentleman acquired Balcarres, and married his cousin, a daughter of Sir Alexander Dick, of Prestonfield, Bart.; and Lady Anne Barnard visiting them in 1803, says:

"The dear old nest shall have the precedency from my pen of all other abodes in my list of visits; dear as being the nest where eleven brother

brother and sister chickens were hatched and fostered-chickens, who through life have never known once what it was to peck at each other; all flew into the world together, and all return from time to time to the parent hamlet, where sits the valued mother on her bed of straw, meditating her flight to higher regions.

"When Robert married his cousin Elizabeth, she was very pretty, and was so still, but that which was most pleasing in her was the innocence of her mind, guileless as one of her own babes, but with all the liberality of the great world. Robert had been lucky; she had no fortune, but she made him happy-and is not that enough? His own worth, his patriarchal care of every thing belonging to him, the prosperity that attended all his purchases, and the uninterrupted health his children enjoyed, give him altogether a happy lot, though it was not unchequered, for if Monday saw him rich, Tuesday perhaps dawned on him full of cares and crosses, which overnight he had forgotten; a legion of blue devils would dance around him (I hope my readers have no acquaintance with such troops), and Robert continued on the brink of ruin for twenty-four hours perhaps, till a good ride set all to rights, and he waked an emperor next morning. In one respect he never varied, in his attentions to our good old mother, nearly eighty, enjoying every blessing still, but that of memory; she sometimes remarked, with a smile, that she believed she was better without it."'

We conclude with an anecdote of Mrs. Robert Lindsay's brother, Sir Robert Keith Dick, of which Lord Lindsay may well say, that it possesses more than mere family interest.' It also is given in the words of Lady Anne Barnard—and refers to the impeachment of the late Lord Melville in 1806

"Amidst the many cruel emotions that arose to Dundas, on an occasion when men were proved, I saw a pleasurable one flow from his eyes in a flood of tears which seemed to do him good. A young man -the younger brother of my sister-in-law, Mrs. Robert Lindsay, was sent, when quite a boy, to the East Indies, by Lord Melville, as a writer; his industry and abilities gave him a little early prosperity; he heard of this attack on Dundas; he venerated him; he knew he was not a man of fortune; he had made five thousand pounds or more, and in words the most affectionate and respectful, manly and kind, he remitted to him an order for the money, should he have occasion for it to assist in defraying the heavy expenses he must be put to.

"It was a sweet letter, generous and principled, such as any one of that excellent family would write in similar circumstances. Dundas read it to me with an exultation of satisfaction, together with his reply.

""I have never beheld a countenance but one," said he, "that did not feel this letter as it ought, when I read it, and that one was my daughter-in-law's, before she knew I had refused it." "I hope," said she, "that, while my purse is full, you never will receive aid from a stranger." "I knew she spoke as she felt; to find two such people at such a moment, is it not worth a score of desertions ?"'—vol. ii. p. 230. We are very sensible that our selections can have afforded

but