prime minister, received the titles of Rajalis from Maharajah Runjeet Sing. During the anarchy which followed the decease of the Maharajah, all these died violent deaths, with the exception of Rajah Goolab Sing, who owed his life in great measure to his absence at Jummoo. Here he continued chiefly to reside, amassing wealth and husbanding his resources in anticipation of the day when he might render himself independent of the Sikhs. When they invaded British territory he cleverly contrived not to appear at Lahore until the struggle had been decided, and then took part in the negotiations to such good purpose that he found himself, as we have already mentioned, the sovereign of a large territory. In that section of it bordering on the Punjab, to which we are now referring, the indigenous population are chiefly Hindoos; on the Peer Punjal route, however, which was one of those usually followed by the Emperors of Delhi when they visited Cashmere, the Rajpoot Rajahs of Bimbhur and Rajowree became Mohammedans, and many of their subjects followed their example.

We now come to the valley of Cashmere, the third and remaining subdivision of the principality. Here the majority of the population are Mohammedans, chiefly of the Soonee persuasion, but the presence of Sheeahs in their midst was shown a few months ago by a serious quarrel between the two, when blood was shed and lives were lost. Various causes have combined to diminish the population. In 1828 a dreadful earthquake destroyed 1,200 persous, and was in two months followed by the cholera. From this visitation 100,000 are said to have perished in the course of forty days. Within the last seven years the people have twice suffered under the same visitation, but the mortality has not been nearly so great. Then, too, large numbers have emigrated from the valley, and are now settled in the plains of the Punjab. It is difficult to ascertain with any precision the number of the population at present, but it does not exceed 400,000. There are probably more than 100,000 souls in the capital, Srinuggur, which stands close to the Dal or City Lake, which is about six miles long and four broad. The waters of this, and of other lakes close at hand, fall into the River Jhelum, which makes its way to the plains of the Punjab through the Baramoola Pass. The valley of Cashmere covers an area of about 4,500 square miles, and is at an average elevation of about 5,000 feet above the sea. Hitherto the British Government have deputed one of their officers to Srinuggur during the summer months, and he is their official representative, to whom the native authorities and the numerous European visitors have to refer all questions or matters of business which may arise between them. There is a rumour that a permanent Resident is to be appointed, but the Maharajah of Jummoo would be very much opposed to it, and in deference to him the Government may not perhaps adopt this course, which would be very desirable on other grounds.

The people have suffered terribly from exaction and oppression under the different rulers who have from time to time held the valley, and although their condition now is not so bad as it was under the Sikhs, they are greatly impoverished, and altogether in a very pitiable, abject state. They are, however, a light-hearted and good-humoured race. The women are handsome, and the men are very strong and ablebodied, carrying with ease heavy loads over the

highest passes. They do not, however, take service as soldiers, and are as a rule cowardly; at the same time they are quarrelsome, filthy, and extremely immoral. The past history of the country will account for much of this, for they have never enjoyed freedom, and have been little better than slaves.

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If we attempted to relate what is contained in the earliest records of Cashmere, it would be necessary to go back three thousand years. There is little doubt that at the commencement of the historic age of India Cashmere had attained a considerable degree of civilisation; its kings are referred to in the Mahabarat," the great epic poem of the Hindoos, and it has been stated on good authority that long anterior to the Christian era some of the earlier kings had spent large sums on public buildings and works of irrigation, as well as in the establishment of hospitals and dispensaries. It will suffice to say that at an early period Cashmere was the stronghold of Buddhism, some monuments of which are still to be found. After a time Buddhism had to retire to the mountains, and to give way in the valley to Brahminism, and that in turn was displacod by Mohammedanism. This for centuries maintained its supremacy, until Cashmere became a Sikh possession by right of conquest. It has now reverted to the Hindoos, for Maharajah Goolab Sing's son and successor, Maharajah Runbeer Sing, the present ruler of Cashmere, is a bigoted adherent of the Hindoo faith. It should be mentioned that representatives of the old Hindoo races of Cashmore are still to be found in the Cashmere pundits, many of whom held high office under Maharajah Runjeet Sing, and one of whom, Rajah Deenanath, was his finance minister. Every part of the valley of Cashmere is still regarded as holy ground by the devout Hindoo.

At one time Cashmere was an appanage of Little Tibet, or Bulti, the capital of which, Iskardoh, is situated on an elevated plain surrounded by the stupendous ranges of mountains which tower over Cashmere. Now the state of things is reversed, and Bulti is a dependency of Cashmere. Instead of entering into any detailed account of the thirty-two Mohammedan princes who reigned in Cashmere after it became independent of Little Tibet, we pass on to the year 1591 A.D., when the Emperor Akbar made it by conquest an imperial possession, after which it continued to be for some time the summer residence of the Emperors of Delhi. Since the death of Aurungzeb in 1707, it has been contended for times without number by rival claimants, and it has changed hands again and again, sometimes forming a dependency of Delhi, and sometimes being held by some more powerful sovereign who ruled west of the Indus. Lastly it passed, in A.D. 1810, into the hands of Maharajah Runjeet Sing, who, by the instrumentality chiefly of Rajah Goolab Sing and his Hill Rajpoots, succeeded in extending his conquests over Little Tibet and Ladakh to the borders of Great Tibet and China. The importance of the present kingdom of Jummoo and Cashmere is to be measured not only by its resources and by the varied population it contains, but by its position as a frontier State, more particularly at this time, when the march of Russia in Central Asia has awakened apprehensions in some quarters that her purpose is to force the gates of British India, and then to make it her own.

Two distinct efforts have been made to carry the gospel into this territory. The first to enter upon the field were the Moravians, who have a mission at

Fyelang in Lahoul, a dependency of the British Government, but separated from the rest of India by the Rotang Pass, which is about 18,000 feet high. This is on the borders of Ladakh, in which the Moravians desired to establish themselves, but the Maharajah of Jummoo would not allow them to do so. They itinerate, however, from time to time into Ladakh, and out of the small number of adult converts whom they have baptized all are inhabitants of Ladakh, with one exception, and he is a Lama, from Lhassa, the capital of Tibet. This mission may be regarded as the continuation of one commenced many years ago among the Tartars who are to be found in Russian territory, for when this work was suspended by the action of the Russian Government, just as some of the Calmue Tartars and their chiefs had been influenced by the Christian instruction they had received, the Moravian Church kept alive a prayerful interest in the Tartar races; and in order to reach them they have taken up this isolated position in the Higher Himalayas, where for six months of the

year

the snow cuts them off from all intercourse with the

civilised world. The Rev. Mr. Jaeschke, who was for some time labouring in this field, is now usefully employed at home in translating the Scriptures into Tibetan, and hopes shortly to complete the New Testament, portions of which are already in circulation. Mr. Jaeschke has also half finished a large Tibetan Dictionary, which will be of great use to future labourers in this field, and will facilitate the study of a language hitherto very little known.

Another effort has been made by the Church Missionary Society to reach the people in the valley of Cashmere, and with this view they secured in 1861 the services of a medical missionary, Dr. Elmslie, whose death we have had recently to mourn, and a record of whose labours is shortly to be published. He, like Mr. Jaeschke, did good service in compiling a Cashmere vocabulary, of which language as little is known as of Tibetan. Dr. Elmslie's evangelistic work was seriously hindered by a regulation he found in force, under which ho was only allowed to reside in Cashmere during the summer months. We rejoice to learn that Lord Northbrook, the present Viceroy of India, has ruled that as far as the British Government is concerned there will be no objection in future to Europeans remaining in Cashmere all the year round; and we trust that the Maharajah of Jummoo will put no difficulties in the way of Dr. Theodore Maxwell (a nephew of General John Nicholson), who Las been appointed Dr. Elmslie's successor. When in the old-established empires of Turkey and China the British Government put forth its power and influence in order to secure the recognition of the principle of religious liberty, it will scarcely he tolerated that in a principality created by the British Government the chief should at his own will and pleasure expel from his dominions missionaries who are conducting themselves in a peaceable and orderly manner. As bearing upon this subject, we subjoin the following extract from the diary of the lato excellent Bishop Cotton:

The people nearly all seemed in a state of dirt and squalor, and certainly the work of Christianising such a population, under such a sovereign, seems at present, humanly speaking, impossible, no European being allowed to stay in the valley during the winter, so that any little good which might be done is annually suspended for some months. The case seems one in which we can only say, 'Oh that Thou

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A French lady sends some more droll examples of mispronunciation. Some of them must be old "Joo Millers," but the first anecdote she vouches for as new and true, and gives, in confidence, the names of the two commercial gentlemen who figure in the story, one of them from Bradford and the other from Leeds. Which of the two is which, the editor of the "Bradford Observer" and the editor of the "Leeds Mercury" must settle between them, after reporting the case in their several papers.

Two English travellers were together at a hotel in Paris, one of whom could speak a little and the other no French. The former went out soon after breakfast, leaving his companion busy writing in their sitting-room. Before leaving he told the waiter not to let the fire go out, saying, in the best French at his command, " Garçon, ne laissez pas sortir le fou ("ne laissez pas éteindre le feu," he ought to have said).

The waiter, with a look of quick intelligence, and with a confidential nod, said, "All right, monsieur." He comprehended the situation" immediately. This gentleman had charge of a lunatic, un fou, who must not be allowed to go out till his keep r returned! Not having time to watch continuously, the garçon thought the prudent thing was to go up

TAL

ALIEN BAY, where the British squadron and transports had arrived from Hong Kong, is formed by two long peninsulas that stretch out on either side and converge towards the entrance of the harbour, where three small islands check the fury of the waves during south-easterly gales. The land makes a gradual slope to the sea on the west side, and in the north-east corner; the rest of the shore is for the most part precipitous and rocky. The hills were covered with verdure, though no trees of any size occur, except in and around the villages which are scattered over the flat country. Rising out of a plain in the north-east, and surmounting all the neighbouring hills, stands a mountain over two thousand feet in height, forming a very prominent feature in the landscape.

While my commanding officer was examining the capabilities of the place, he was tapped on the shoulder by a visitor from the camp on shore. On turning round he saw one of the interpreters in her Majesty's consular service in China, who accompanied the army in that capacity.

"Ah! how are you?" said Gordon, as he shook him by the hand; "you see I'm occupied in taking a survey of this fine bay."

"Yes, it is a spacious harbour, with excellent anchorage and suitable landing-places for the troops, but there is a difficulty in procuring water, so I understand that the fleet moves to the mouth of Pehtang River, where there is an abundant supply."

You are right," Gordon remarked; "we took this news to the French general at Che-foo on our way."

In consequence of the French forces not being ready, this movement was delayed beyond the allotted time.

As the time of the embarkation drew near, the chief men of the villages were summoned and informed of the intended departure of the army, that they might send in their claims for compensation for any damage done to their land or crops. Each man was only too eager to make his demand, and when the whole was set on paper the interpreter found that it amounted to 700 dollars. This he handed to the general, remarking that as the natives were so absurdly exorbitant in their estimates, and they had been so leniently dealt with and paid so largely for everything supplied, they were not deserving of anything. But the policy of the government was not to oppress the peasantry in any way, so their claims were paid in full, to their delight and astonishment.

Next day the ships all formed in line according to their divisions, and proceeded slowly up the gulf; and by the afternoon the French fleet were seen on the horizon sailing along to the same rendezvous. The British men-of-war and transports numbered sixty-five sail, and the French fifty-five. It was a grand sight to see these noble vessels steaming up to the anchorage within five miles of the shore. The country here was very flat, and we could see nothing but a few mounds in the distance. These we were

told, were the much-vaunted Takoo forts, which it was the first object of the expeditionary force to capture.

Dark clouds hung about the sky on the evening previous to the landing, bursting occasionally on the ships with a deluge of rain, and threatening by their appearance a similar treat on the morrow. In this inclement weather the allied forces landed at Pehtang, where there are two forts and a village. But the rain was not the worst thing the troops had to contend with. For more than three miles in front of the forts there was nothing visible but a large flat on either side of soft mud and ooze, through which ran a causeway to the forts. As the boats touched the ground the troops jumped out up to their middles in mud and water. On reaching the shore a flat of soft, sticky mud extended across on every side, through which they marched, sinking ankle-deep at each step. Nearly every man was disembarrassed of his lower integuments, and one gallant brigadier led his men with no other garment on than his shirt. Immediately after the first party effected a landing, the Tartar troops in the forts retreated along the causeway towards Takoo, and the whole forces followed from day to day without accident, not a single shot being fired by the enemy. Wet and dirty, the troops laid themselves down to sleep on the muddy causeway. Fortunately the rain ceased, the sky was serenely clear, and the moon beamed placidly upon them in their wretched and uncomfortable state. During the night some Tartars approached the outposts of the rifles to within a few yards, and were hailed by a salute of bullets that deprived one of their number of his mount.

Meanwhile it was ascertained that the ground inside the lower old brick forts, the first point to be attacked, was mined. At daybreak the generals passed through the village, and visited the south fort. Here Captain Gordon and my men were set to work to dig out the mines, of which there were four. The earth had been carefully moved round a circle of thirty feet at intervals of six or seven feet; eight-inch shells filled with powder and slugs were placed in tin cases; these were connected by fuses with traps, into which flint-and-steel locks were set, and they again were attached to small strong cords. The whole were covered with matting and a thin layer of earth carefully flattened down so as to resemble the adjacent ground.

"These are cunningly devised traps," remarked my captain, "so that the weight of a man placed on one of these pitfalls would at once throw him upon the cords and explode the mine."

"I have my doubts on that point," said another officer; "though ingenious, I question if the flint and steel could be made to strike fire in this way. However, we will not try the experiment, but clear out the infernal machines and destroy them with all possible speed."

"That you had better do, Captain Gordon, thoroughly." said General Grant, who was looking