my pay to a handsome amount; I was respected by the officers, and loved by the men; and I had scarcely a wish ungratified. The year round I always found the same people, with but little variation, in the congee-house; and one man, a fine young fellow, was never off my gaol-book. The moment he was released he was assuredly in the guard-room again, and from thence to his old place of abode. I once asked him how he could, month after month, prefer that solitary and secluded life to that of liberty. He replied,-" Habit is second nature," for there, he said, "he could, alone and undisturbed, brood over his sad and hitherto melancholy career." He concluded in a most pathetic manner," Sergeant-major, I have never done any good since the time your predecessor got me flogged. I assure you, I endeavour with all my energy to forget it, but I cannot; it crushes me to the ground, and that day's disgrace has been my ruin. I am of a good family, but I never can or will return to disgrace those dear parents with a scarified back." Some three months after this, he died, in a sad state of inebriety.

One day I was going my usual round with the orderly-officer, who twice a day visited the congeehouse. This officer was a famous one for scenting anything; he could smell a cigar a mile off. In going round the yard, which is inclosed by a stupendous high wall, he discovered a large beefbone recently dropped. The sergeant was called to account for this ominous appearance. This sergeant was a shrewd fellow, and he immediately said, "Oh, sir, the pelicans have dropped it." This was very plausible, for these birds will carry enormous bones; and frequently, when fighting for them, they drop them, so that this might very probably have been the case. The moment the dinner-trumpet sounds, whole flocks of these birds are in attendance at the barrack doors, waiting for bones, or anything that the soldiers may be pleased to throw to them. The men were in the habit of playing them many mischievous tricks ; but, notwithstanding this, at the well-known sound of the dinner-trumpet they were regularly at their station. Some of the more mischievous boys would tie two large bones together, and throw them.

VOL. II.

These would be swallowed with the greatest avidity by two of those poor hungry mendicants, who, in general, would both soar above the barracktops with their prey, pulling and hauling against each other, and attended by a hundred crows and kites, pecking them on the head most unmercifully. Sometimes they would throw out a single bone, a pretty large one, with a string and small kite at the end of it, or a large piece of rag. One of the pelicans having swallowed the bone, he would fly aloft, with the string and kite hanging out of his mouth, and with hundreds of his own tribe after him, in hopes he might throw up the bone again, which these birds can do with the greatest. facility. Thus ascending, they are lost sight of amidst the clouds; but the same gentleman would frequently be in attendance the following day at dinner-hour, with a portion of the string hanging to

him.

We had not gone much further on our round, when the officer scented a bundle of cigars, which he picked up, and archly said,—“ Sergeant, what luxurious dogs these pelicans must be! I have

already seen beef, mutton, and pork bones, and here I find a bundle of cigars. I should not be surprised if I stumbled upon a bottle of brandy next." This the artful sergeant did not know how to account for; but the thing was obvious enough: the whole had been thrown over for the prisoners, by some of their friends. The sergeant was severely admonished for his neglect of duty, and a long conversation then took place between me and the orderly officer, on the subject of these wonderful birds. They grow so tame that they will feed out of your hand. At night, they roost on the tops of the barracks, and on trees in their vicinity. In the morning early, they pay their respects to the riverside in search of any dead bodies that may be washed ashore; and it is a most appalling sight to see those ravenous creatures, with hundreds of enormous vultures, tearing human bodies to pieces.

If

you live on the banks of the Ganges, it is no uncommon sight to see crows, vultures, and hawks, riding down the river on dead bodies, feeding on them as they sail along. This is easily accounted

for.

Hindoos, in general, are committed to the

pile after death, and burned to ashes; but the poor people, who cannot perform this last office to their departed relatives, burn the hair off the body, which is then committed to the Holy Gunga, as they call the Ganges. The bodies, when exposed to the sun, swell to an enormous and frightful size

A poor woman, a servant of mine, at Benares, went to bathe in the twilight, and she thought she discovered a stone projecting out of the water. On this she laid her clothes; and, having bathed, she then sat down upon this supposed stone, which, in reality, was a dead body. a dead body. My servants were aroused by her screams, and immediately flew to her assistance. They found her lying in the water, almost drowned, in a fainting fit. She survived thisshock but a short period, and was soon after committed to the watery element,

One day, I was walking on the banks of the Ganges, when I saw a group of people sitting together, and mumbling something to themselves, Near them, I saw a corpse, wrapped in a white. sheet, with its feet covered with water. A few moments after, a young man, I should think about