The Sun.
London, England, 1832-08-08 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

EXCURSIONS IN INDIA. Loxpori.
COLBURN 4ND BENTLII.

This work, as many of our readers are avvare'l
is the production of Captain Skinner, of (1°
believe) the East India Company's Service'
In the introduction he states, that " with tbe
exception of the mountain tour, the excursiof'
in India contain no very regular journal. VII
other journeys were taken at different times, and
for the accomplishment of different objects; 5°
that, should the narrative possess no other re'
t
commendation, it may at any rate claim that 0
variety." What these objects were, the author
however, does not think fit to disclose.

In the course of the work, Captain Skinne
describes his progress up the Ganges, a distant'
he computes, of 1,200 miles, with a fleet of bosh
setting out from Calcutta, and proceeding throat
the Sunderbunds, a wild jungle country, to Di'
napore, and visiting Allahabad, Cawnpore
Delhi, and other military stations in Upper P,'
dia. 'Whether it was to ascertain the suscerti'
bility of the river for the purposes of navigation'
and the facility of communication with the in'
terior, we know not ; but it is evident that the a'):
thor's mission was an important one. The red
construction of an iron steamer, destined for °I
sacred river, lends probability to our conjectorl,;
Be this as it may, we must pronounce Cap
Skinner to be a very intelligent and entertaiel
traveller, through whose guidance we become t,
miliar with the scenery of the Ganges--with Ili,
towns and villages situated on its banks---v'it,
the men and animals he met with—with the j;1
' li°n
tural productions of the country, &c. Wit d
encountering the perils and fatigues that mark
his progress.
k,
Regarding the cholera Captain Skinner "0,
duces some facts which at the present °of,
ment cannot but be considered interesting. fr ti,
his observations he does not believe the nols,
to be contagious. At Patna we have the
fo'
lowing fearful picture of its ravages : tF
" I shall never forget the afternoon of our arrival; eir
cholera had been raging some time amongst the nativebsoi
pulation, and all the dead bodies seemed to have tl
placed on a clear spot without the city, and under e'
walls of some rich man's palace. The hot wind blew pi!
violently, and we were long within sight of tbis 1;00.
without being able to reach it; the water was very td
and several dead bodies that had been washed from, it)
bank by the river were stranded on the shallows 00,
centre. It was the Ist of May, and corruption vas,/
rapid; every breath of the sirocco blew poison; the .toil
was indescribable ; bodies floated sometimes agale°l4
boats, for they were nearly all aground, and reg°),
under the bows for an hour at a time, while others .iii
uninterruptedly down the stream, with flocks of ,111'
upon them. Little could be heard but the noise of ro
ttie
tures tearing off the flesh with their beaks, while the frog
jangled in their quarrels for the morsels that fell
them." . f
By the bye, brandy and laudanum are Illth
much repute in the east, as an antidote t 0
disease, as in this country. 1-0'
Delhi, the once famous metropolis of
,e,ll
dostan, said to have formerly covered an ex' .
in length of 20 miles, is thus described :--"' ,i!
" The din of so populous a place is very great, f"„'rr:,'
house seems as well furnished as a hive of bees. 'froilr
pulation is nearly 200,000 souls, in an area of seve° j 1
in circumference, which is the extent of the wall of 0° sll
Delhi. The great peculiarity of an eastern town :704
every thing is done in public ; the people talk a Otto;
as they can ; and sometimes, when engaged in unittleto
matters, seem to be scolding each other it, the in°'.og
iageous manner. The neigh(iiwntaghtileolhfe
cattle, the creaking of cart wheels, and the 'clink U 1
torip
terers' hammers,' for all occupations are carried o
lit,
little open space in front of each shop, are beyond 50,:,
durance. The trumpeting noises of the elephdlist,oir
ahcnnoirmsuerassl,setahroeef I
intedwi I
eci:s.,,
of the camels, varied occasionally by thei:hp,
the groaning
with the unceasing beat of the tom tom, the shrill Ptil'
and the cracked sound of the viol, accompanied bcio'
,eastctoircsaectlu7rfor the purposes of boot.
},e,
derately nervous person to desperation."
i n
worseg.oif
aavnloeyiocpessakredotfcothrh e
sing
ers, are enough to drive e
, sll'
field sports, especially the )
of the tiger, and dotes J
the
et streets
of hooded,
many, curious anecdotes vl
given of the various animals peculiar t°
country. d),
~ sal' e 4
" Those who attend to the care of animals ( t tl';
author) " are so identified with all their habits, tl'ae rtil
seem to think of nothinj else, and their charges aP,P„,,-o'l
fully to understand them, that you may fancy td-tiori °
part, particularly the elephants, in the conver'3l oil':
their keepers. Sometimes the mahout gains such; loc
fluence over this animal, that he may be suspected dicie?
ing compelled the affections by ' spells and ale ci,t).)
bought of mountebanks.' Some fault had been float)
lung ago, with the driver of a baggage elephant bi; t V',
to my regiment, and he was dismissed. The ell' a:coei
received his lesson, and would not suffer another t 00'1
near him. Several were procured one after the
eoet'i,
with excellent characters for kindness and 11'333g006,
but the gentlest creature seemed suddenly tea_ na e'it,J
into the most ungovernable. A month had pas eoti‘
out any return to rule, when the discharged d ',a toy
again taken into service, and the elephant, deliglit`
4
him, became once more fit for use."
vOltif;',
But the principal attraction of these ,s:, i
is to be found in the account of the auth°.r, ti
among that stupendous range of mounts will
Ilim:laya, the highest in the world (sate

even the Andes in elevation, the Dwawalagiri, or
White Mountain, being estimated at 26,862
feet above the level of the sea, white Sorala, the
loftiest of the Andes, is computed at 24,200.)
" I have beheld" says Captain S., " nearly all the
celebrated scenery of Europe, which poets and p linters
have immortalized, and of which all the tourists in the
world are enamoured ; but J have see❑ it surpassed in these
unfrequented and almost unknown regions. The youth
who, just emerged from college, gazes for the first time on
Mont Blanc, may appreciate my feelings when I enjoy the
glories of the Himalaya—although I have witnessed the
sun rise from the summit of Mount Etna, certainly one
of the grandest objects in Europe. My awe and astonish.
ment, so far fram being diminished by such scenes, ex-
ceeded all I felt when I first saw
Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise.'
I was almost sorry that I could not cast off the ties of
another world, as it were, and remain in these mountains
for ever !"

Travelling from place to place in a palanquin,
is thus amusingly pourtrayed :

4' On entering a town the bearers vary the usual grunt
with which they enliven the way, by extolling the cha-
racter of the person they are carrying, in true Easter hy-
perbole, not knowing even his name perhaps. The first
trip I ever made by Dik was from Meerut to Delhi. I am,
indeed, but little practiced ; and just before entering the
town I had fallen into a doze, from which I was awak-
ened by the loud exclamations of my people in praise of
some great man, as I imagined. They were shouting out,
as we moved through the streets, Make way for a great
man !" A mighty Prince!" The Poor Man's Friend !'
The Lion of War !' ' Our Father and Mother !' with a
hundred other honourable appellations. I expected the
Great Mogul, at least, to pass me ; but not a traveller
was to be seen but myself, and I was the undisputed
hero of all these fine phrases. Am I Giles, or am I not ?
thought I, or has some facetious Caliph been playing
me a trick ? Like Abon Hassan am Ito be King for a
day? On finding that I had awakened, they roared my
titles out still louder; and I entered a small tent beneath a
tree, by the castle ditch, is spite of this magnificent pro.
clamation, without a soul being there to notice me, and
not even a breakfast provided for the ' poor man's pro-
tector.' "

A hundred other passages, equally agreeable
with the foregoing, might be found in the vo-
lumes, but our limits preclude us from extract-
ing them. We cannot conclude our notice of
the work, however, without presenting to our
readers Captain Skinner's description of the
sensations of the traveller on first arriving in
India:—
" I was struck with the air of romance in which every
thing seemed to be decked : the sparkling river, with its
picturesque and various vessels, from the rude boat with
its roof of thatch, to the golden barge of state; the grace-
ful palms, and the matted villages that they shadowed ; the
Stillness of the pagodas; the men awl animals whose ap-
pearances were so new to me ; and the aromatic odour shed
around by the herbs and plants; indeed the merest trifle,
for a time, was magnified into a most wonderful occur-
rence ; and every scene through which I had to pass was
invested with as much consequence as it would have be-
come Dun Quixote to have attached to it."
To conclude, a more lively narrative than that
of Captain Skinner it has rarely been our lot to
peruse, not excepting the strange adventures, in
the other hemisphere, of Mr. Ross Cox. Had
the author given a map or chart of his route, it
would have materially enhanced the value of his
work.

EXPRESS FROM PARIS.

From the Messager des Chambres, dated Tuesday.)

BERLIN, JULY 27.—They speak of, a serious note
having been sent by the English Cabinet on the affairs of
Belgium ; but France continues on the most amicable
terms with the politics of the rest of the Allied Powers of
Europe, and gives every hope of the maintenance of peace.
CARLSRHUE, Aug. 3.—lt is assured that the King of
Wirtemberg is on the point of concluding with the King of
Bavaria a treaty to oppose the execution of the Frankfort
protocol.

HAGUE, JULY 31.—News of a favourable nature was
received yesterday from the Conference of London. Th
despatches were immediately sent to the King, and it is
expected that the affairs between Belgium and Holland
will soon be arranged.
They write from Brussels that the Belgian patriots are
much enraged at the late protocol, and Leopold has serious
obligations to fulfil. No news has bee❑ received from
Don Pedro's expedition at the Hotel de Braganza.
Accounts from Lisbon of the 18th state that the Bth
division, commanded by Povosa, has submitted to Don
Pedro. They speak of an insurrectio❑ in Algarves, where
a small division of Don Pedro has disembarked. The
towns of Vianna, Braga, and Guimaroens have submitted
to the Queen. Lisbon is quiet.
FRENCH FUNDS, PARIS, AUG. 6.-1 hree per Cents., 69f. 50c.
money ; time, 69f. 70c. ; Five per Cents., 99f. 65c. ; end of the
month, 99f. 75c.

PRICES OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK.
Bank Stock - New 5 per Cent.
3'per Cent Red. 04% LA 14 India Stock
3 per Cent. Cons. 8334 %% Ditto Bonds 4 5 pin.
3% per Cent. 92%% South Sea Stock 93N
Ditto Red 91% 2 1% Old Annuities
New 3% per Cent....911,-4 1 LA New Ditto 81;
3 per Cent. Ann. 172.6 .... - 3 per Cent. Ann. 1751
4 per Cent 1826
Rank Long Ann. to expire Ditt0............500 l6 15 pro.
Jan. 5, 1801 l6 11-16 % Ditto Small l6 15 17 pm.
Oct. 10, 1850 16% 9-161 Ditto Commercial pm.
Jan. 5, 1860 16;54 7-16 Ditto Advertised - pm.
Jan. 5, 1880 - Bank for Account -
April 5, 1880 - India for Account -
Jan. 5, I'7o - Cons. for Aug. 29 '<3li•YiN

PRICES OE FOREIGN FUNDS '
Austrian Bonds 91'4
Belgian Bonds 75
Ditto Account...—. 7514 5 14
Brazilian Bonds 46 53i 64
Ditto Account 1.6 5%
Buenos Ayres Bonds te2
Ditto Account
Chilian Bonds ... l6

THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK.
Peruvian Bonds 1034

Ditto Account
'Portuguese Bonds 'A V,
Ditto Account 53 114
I Regency Scrip 4 3!4 dis.
Ditto Account 4 3!4 dis.
Prussian Bonds 99
Ditto Account

Ditto Account
Columbian Bonds 10N

Ditto Bonds, 1822 IOOV,
Russian Bonds, 1822 99Y6%
Ditto Account 99%
New Loan
Spanish Bonds, 1821 ...... 14
Ditto Account 14% .1{,%
Ditto Bonds, 1823 13%

Ditto Account

Ditto Bonds, 1834 ll%
Ditto Account l2
Danish Bonds 67',i 14
Ditto Account 6714
Greek Bonds

Ditto Bonds, !935.

Ditto Account
French Rentes, 5 p. c. —f —c.
Exchange —f —e.
—3 per cent. —c.
Exchange —f —c.
Dutch Scrip 43%
Ditto Account 43% Xi%
French Scrip

Ditto Account
Mexican Bonds, 3 per cent 25

Ditto Account _ _

Ditto, 6 per cent `2'.)54 30
Ditto Account
Neapolitan

PRICES OF SHARES THIS DAT AT ONE O'CLOCK.
Paid. Per Share.
Anglo I,4ex. Min. Co. (iss. at 51. pm.) £lOO 844
Bolanos Mining Company £l5O 215
Brazilian Imp. Min. Co. (iss. at 51. pm.) £2O
British Iron Mining Company . £so
Columbian Mining Co. (iss. at 51. pm.) 48
English Mining Company 12%
General Mining Association ll
Real del Monte Mining Co. ..., —
United Mex. Min. Co. (iss. at 2/. pm.) 40
Ditto New Snip o
Alliance Fire Insurance Comp lO
Protector Insurance Comp.
Australian Co.
Canada Company
General Steam Navigation Co.
Provincial Bank of Ireland 25

57i
22.P4
24
18%
3
37,3
4
£1 4 6
44%
28%