The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-10 00:00:00

185.8.

tune thought or iecollsction stung his brain to .madness
reeeding from the taWe without rising fram his chair, be
uplifted his foot---dash l went the table—crass I went
the dejeuner; and tae Einipqor, springing up, paced
the room with rapid and perturbed strides, indicative of
the most frenzied rage. Dunand looked on without
moving a muscle, and quietly gave the fitting orders to
his staff. Quick as thought the wreck was cleared
away, an exact duplicate of the dejeuner appeared ns if
by magic, and its presence was quietly announced by
the customary "Sa Majeste est serrie." Napoleon felt
the delicacy and appreciated the tact of this mode of
service. Merci biers, mon cher Dunand., and one of his
inimitable smiles showed that the hurricane had blown
over. Whether Napoleon was a hero to his valet-de-
cltambre we will not pretend to say, but he was certainly
a hero to his mail re-d'

The Timely Retreat ; or, a Year in Bengal. By
Two Sisters. Second Edition. 2 vols. Bentley.
These volumes contain a very lively and pleasant
narrative of the adventures of two sisters, who paid
a visit to their brother in Bengal the year before
the mutinies. The fresh and animated style of the
work, and the novelty of the proceeding, combine
to give an air of interest and vivacity to its pages,
which will afford entertainment to many readers.
The entire absence of pretens on, and the avoidance
of all serious or instructive details, add to its re-
commendation. It professes to be nothing more than
what it is—the sight-seeings and doings of two light-
hearted and adventurous maidens, whose faithful
return at the promised time was the means of their
escaping imminent peril. Having all their lives
hoard of India as a household word, and having
many members of their family established out
there, the two sisters were suddenly seized with the
idea of forming a personal acquaintance with the
land of their dreams, and paying a visit to their
brother, who held a judicial appointment at
Dhoorgur, better known as Meerut. Their
mother having made the journey several times her-
alf, saw no objection to the plan, and off they
started, fully resolved not to exceed their twelve-
months' leave of absence. They started in high
spirits, and quite prepared to put up with any uu
avoidable deficiencies or inconveniences of the route
with a good grace. Their journey up the country,
however, presented some formidable difficulties.
The writer was attacked with lever, and had
scarcely recovered when her sister succumbed to
the same evil influence. They had allowed them-
selves to be driven on in their ";harries" dur-
ing the heat of the day, and the fatigue
and sun wore too much. Added to their
troubles, their conveyance broke down in the mid-
dle of the Midst, when the opportune arrival of
their brother to meet them, relieved them from
their dilemma. Their arrival in their brother's
bachelor establishment excited great astonishment
among the native servants, who peeped and spiel
everywhere. Three ayahs always sat on the floor
of their roem to watch the progressof their toilettes,
and the cushions for the fashionable arrangement
of the hair produced the greatest excitement. '
Their experience of Indian life was not at all agree-
able. They found the tedium of it insupportable,
notwithstanding the civility of the neighbours to
the new corners. The monotony and lassitude of
a country life in India is thus described :
It is nearly impossible to give people at home the
slightest idea of the monotonous sameness of a lady's life
in the hot weather even in a large station ; but I can
never hope to describe anything like the utterly dreary
existence of ladies at an out station (as I have heard it
done), the complete stagnation of all amusement, almost
of employment, the utter lassitude and exhaustion of the
body, and the perfect depression and prostration of the
mental energies. Suppose you are (as is often the case)
the only lady at the station, your husband goes out to
office about ten o'clock. Now, if you have any children,
fortunate, indeed, are you ; those untiring little mortals
will always give full employment to any one who chooses
to take much trouble about them. Their powers of life
are fresh and young ; there is an unending spring of
vital energy about them, which even the hot weather
cannot subdue. In the simple fact of dressing them up
for their morning and evening drives, the languid mother
may find some occupation and exercise for her taste at
least; but supposing you have no children, or they are
in England, what remains to be done ! LiteraMynothing.
Until about 7 o'clock you know no single event (with
the exception of tiffio) will occur to break the monotony
of the day. The piano is too much out of tune to be
bearable ; besides, the exertion of touching it is too
great; you have written up all your correspondence,
you have read all the amusing books in the house, and
have not energy enough to begin any others, you cannot
possibly sleep any more . if you look out of the window
the glare blinds you ; and if you could bear it you would
see nothing—no moving creature to break the stillness.
Just as the Indian poet observes--
Nothing comes by day
But shadows on the wall ;
Nothing comes by night
But the grim jackal.
If a woman has a highly-cultivated mind, and many
resources within herself, she may battle more bravely
against the adverse circumstances around her ; but when
failing health is added to all the rest, there are few people
who will not at least deteriorate very much, it they do
not altogether succumb. When 7 o'clock comes at last,
and you get into the carriage, there are, perhaps, only
two drives to choose from, both of which you know so
well and are so wearied of. When you are out you see
no one save two or three exhausted gentlemen, driven
out by ennui to take a breath of air, such as it is, hot
and glowing. You return to find your husband too tired
with his day's work to speak, almost to listen to you.
After existing in this way for five or six years, can you
be t urprised to hear a lady say, as I once did, after de-
scribing the dreary stagnation of her life as being agree-
ably diversified by a dangerous fever, when she over-
heard the attendants saying there was not the elightesi
hope of her recovery—her only sensation being extreme
thankfulness. " Here, then, is at last an end of this
weary existence altogether." No doubt it was very
wicked of her, and she ought to have had diffirent
thoughts in her mind at such a time ; but I cannot help
thinking it was exceedingly natural. Probably military
men suffer as much from ennui as ladies do ; but then
they base generally some kind of mess to resort to, and
a bibia ill table, as well as the solace of smoking. Besides,
I naturally pity my own sex the most.
The sameness of their lives was most unplea-
santly varied by the dangerous illness of Netr,
ono of the sisters, who felt ill of a fever, and who
was given up by the doctors. for despairing re-
latives insisted on moving her to the fresher air of
the hills, despite their threats, and after a most t
painful and anxious journey they arrived in safety,
and were rewarded by her gradual recovery.
They remained for some time on the La,ndour hills,
just above Mussoorie, " perched upon a little
promontory 7,000 feet high." The author thus
describes the rainy season in the hills :
As the season advances the rain is something astonish-
ing—a perfect torrent pouring on day and night, without
cessation; so you can scarcely hear yourself speak in the
house from the clatter of the drops on the roof. Down
it comes, till you believe every atom of soil and vegeta-
tion must inevitably be swept away, and all the houses
be carried down in the flood. In England there is a fall
of about 30 inches of rain scattered throughout the whole
year, but here 106 inches must fall in three months ;
consequently, no wonder it comes down with a will, as if
it had no time to spare. At Cheeunee, higher up, lam
told there is a fall of 600 inches during the rains ; but
I see no object to be gained by going t i such a place, as
one could easily stand under a waterfall at home, and so
realise the sensation to perfection.
But when the rains begin to break up, what language
can describe the marvellous beauty and endless variety
of the Himalayan sunsets ! No word-picture, however
truthful, no artist's hand, however skilful, can hope to
approach their sublime magnificence. You may talk of
glowing gold and flaming scarlet ; you may picture the
small floating clouds, looking quite black against the
fiery crimson behind, and the dark, palpitating, purple
mountains, rearing their solemn heads high into the soft
paly green of the sky around—all this may give you a
vague, soothing idea of grandeur—but the reality f you
cannot imagine it ; you must go there to see for your-
self, and feel awed by the mysterious immensity of God's
world.
Our adventurous heroines subsequently accom-
panied their brother on a shooting excursion to
the Himalayas, which filled them with delight,
and gave them the most agreeable recollections of
India that they possessed. They submitted to all
sorts of strange conveyances and modes of
transit with unshaken equanimity, though, to
judge by the representations given, some of
them were sufficiently alarming. They re-
turned to their former quarters in safety, how-
ever. The numerous illustra'ions to the work
must not be omitted in the catalogue of its merits.
They were taken chiefly on the spots sepre
sorted. Of the extravagance and roguery of
the servants of an Indian establishment, who ne-
cesaarily, have almost unlimited power in their
hands, the author draws a mournful picture. The
waste and cheating seem almost inevitable, and
when the victims endeavour to check it in one way
they feel morally certain it is made up iu another.
One lady told the writer that she found the expense
was the same whether she kept company or not.
Another family had an old Khansameh who had
been thirty years in their service, and who acknow-
ledged having saved 30,000 rupees out of a salary
of 14 rupees per month. Surely some moans
' should be found to check such an abominable sys-
tem. The following affords a somewhat melan-
choly picture of an Anglo-Indian life :
" A civilian's duties are so varied that it would take
a long time and a clear head to make them at all cora-
-1 prehensible to English understandings. In the North-
! West Provinces, in addition to the whole judicial busi-
ness arising from the crimes and misdemeanours of some
1,200,000 human beings, he has the revenues of a dis-
trict of perhaps 2,500 square miles to collect. In many
instances the roads of the district are under his orders ;
he has to superintend and often supply the engineering
work of all the bridges required ; any public buildings
come under his supervision ; any extra work, boweve
incongruous, is always thrown on the shoul-
derscivilian'susac.
; and I assure you the amount of business
Ith .
_era,
cumulated forms no light weight for a man of
day in tae
Fanghealth and average abilities. Fan
tihotve
theutc p
h er ya,n
punkah
crowdedA
over to
yourh
sad just
sitting
suffocation_ ow vriene a k
bn
agrne
lay-