Estiiblislied 18523.

T

.1-_

“itxssunss. iro-r unn.";“ng tin

r ',i,lfarmers’- jijoumal unit

V

, iiAszA1tn's' GAZETTE, Burris Irotltera & 00.. Printers and Pub

TlflII—Ile per annum.——'I‘. Bunnie, Responsible Editor. Advertlsceientc inserted at the canal rat is. rniwfiwo nr ALI. i-rs snawciina srsa-rev nxscirrnn A1‘ -rate uanerrn orrtce, sou-rir sine euneiv

aqua

(Frost CItoetbcre's Edinburgh Journal.) THE BABY—S'I'EALER OF THE N UNDY. DROOG.

' I was a very lively girl of eighteen when, left an orphan,

I gladly accepted the protection olI'ered me by your father, then many years in the civil service of the East India Co peuy. in the Madras presidency. He was, as you know, my etc brother, many years my senior; and my recollec- tions him were faint. But your dear mother, to whom he had not Ion been united, was the friend of my youth ; and when, slso_ y before, she accompanied her parents to India, I little thought how soon we should be joined by even closer ties than those of friendship--that is to say, if any can be closer. I had no regrets at leaving home. I never had had I l°'f|’. ‘ill by no means of a sentimental or tender natun :' nor, indeed, had any strong claims upon my affections, for l was left without the privileges of independence, and was pizerved b your father from having to provide myself, as I will I with a hoIe—such a home as is found in re-

turn for service of mind or y. elcome and kindness were what I encountered at Madras. and there I resided a year most happily. At the end of that time. my brother w ioted to a station " u country,” where his duties '3' llP°"|No UNI IIIVOIVIII fluent journeyings to and fro amongst the towns, villages, e hamlets of the district he was in charge of. Our head-quarters. however, were at Nuadydroog—-then, as new, a wild and mountainous place, where we h little society, and seldom wished for more then we found. We were all equally tired of the geisties and pseudo-pleasures of Madras and St 'I‘homas'e Mount, and our domestic and other tastes were more then usually congenial. Nuudydroog line since so uired a bad repute in sanitary records; but though it certainly was not fever-proof. we were all blessed with health; and perhaps the energy with which woatrovc against that lounging, lazy langour so apt to attack and snbdue the British in India, may have counteracted all tendencies to disease. At Nundydroog, when your sister Thus was three years old, you were born, and became a very acceptable interruption to my studies of the botany of the East, the I-Ilttdcetanee language. and co- casionally of a science that is generally proscribed to the fair esx—a proficiency in the use of a fowllng- iece. Your father was a resolute " hunter of the woods, ’ and seeing that my tastes were of a stamp somewhat adventurous, by no means discouraged use; indeed, he was pleased to have me for hie companion on many occasions where female society is little coertcd ; and our explorations of tracts very raeel visited by Europeans extended for many miles ateodd. Bomctiuieetwe were joined by others; sometimes piwsim were formed; but on those occasions w_e felt that

a . on leather, loo herdy—I will not any less " moccnllne,” for a no woman is still woreatbait an elbiiiinatc man- recreetions ; but she enjoyed, ings, our rseits of them ; and then her botani- cal knowlcdgc was superior to mine, whilst her music, her books, and drawings always rendered our hours at home do- lightful. You have seen my hnrtoc aioeue with your mo- ther'e drawings, my dear Cuthbcrt; and as you have a turn for bctanyfiyourself, and are about to he (once amongst those Indian jungles where you were born, but which you have not seen since you were six years old, on can guess that to tea there could be few things more p eaeant than such a

life as we led’—- ' And where was Uncle Allan at that time ?’ interrupted

‘ My dear, I have told you I had no lovers tltert. You may take my word for it, that beforcl married your nnele,l h a lover; and I never had but one. You shall hear of him in due ccason'—-

‘ Aunt Rosa,’ interrupted I, in my turn, ‘-ipit really true that on once killed a tiger !‘ _“" t

' ea, my dear, and there was a man in his month. But I have no time to tell of that just at present. I mean to con- fine myself to a short account of an adventure that befell you when you were newly weaned, and which I shall term a contribution to your cradle-history. If it involve a l'cw pen- oillittgs of the woods and wilds in which it occurred, it is be- cause you like to hear of such things; and sometiniee a slight acquaintance with the tion of the East may turn to practical be I know an omcer who served during the old Burmese war, at a time when the army were actually growing diseased through the want of vegetable diet—rice bein the only anbctitntc for garden prnduce—whose botani- cel nowledgc taught him the use of perfectly wholesome and nutritious plants em lo ed by the poor natives as food, but utterly ignored by t c ritieli stranger. Ilia brother- re, who began b contemning what they called “ his weeds," ended by gla ly sharing in the feast of wild-greens, beans nfthe weeds, and roots of the lleld, he and his agent- out Madras dcutoetic served up to them with their salt-beef, tough bulalo, or sickening old pork rriesecs ; and the result wee beneficial to health.

‘ But to return. Nondydroog is a strong hill-fort in the dominion of the Mysore rejah. The mountain on which it is built is same I700 feet high. inecocmiblc on all sides but one. A Itavaldat’c guard constituted all the force of the upper fort; but at the foot were barracks, now occupied by one regiment of native infantry ; the bungalows if the olecrc and our own mansion being scattered ahou' amidst "mam par saves by no means devoid ofa certain wilo cilvan beauty. The country on our side of the dr-egg, or hilL waa fertile and cultivated. though every held and but were ncighbeiircd by partial jungle; whilst behind the mountain. extended roclry diiiglee, deep woods, and vast prairies- thoegli that is not an Eastern word--where nenseluoel locks of the hairy cheep of Hindustan were tended by their keep- erot or here and there a patch of arable-land employed a lonely sync and hie fenaily during a portion of the year. Two several rivers have their rise in those mountains, and on the backs of one of them rose our comfortable bungalow. Now .w had a fancy, daring the cool season, to make an excur- sion behind the hill-fort in search of the source of this river. the Penner, which was said to issue from the heights of Chinseycoedah—an extension, on a lower scale, of tlie

uedydrcog range; and as we knew there was good shoot- ice is that quarter, and a hunter ohsrc milk and eggs eeeld be purchased. we anticipated a few days of pleasure. more particularly as we had never nctrated so far. and re- ceived to ennlne cor picnic entirely to oorcelres. The dis- eases of the ed a as our resting-place was only twelve inllmi and though the only read was of the tough-

all narrowest, we know there wocld be no diflenliy in and a few necessaries in the nphotstsr ine,

bu ‘ - itherbe. "Ycr was delmte, an tt;c"re- s assets at a year E-saal,w at man I to‘ the cavalry else II, we

' lot more it than we had

to give the woofi s

m- flowers, of all imaginable colours; and scattered

_ttc ed. A green and gentle declivity sloped down to the river, here a narrow an shallow stream, through which I Ittelnt to make my way before the day wee many minutes o_der. There was a foreground ucrose it, so clear from either brush or cultivation, that it had the sppearanec of a gcntleman’s park ln a lovely English county: and taking off my slippers. I soon foided the ltttce-deep water, already glittering beneath theunoreasing dawn. Acl seed at the contrast between the light stream and the dark ietsnt back- ground pf jungle. I could have fancied that golden arrows tipped with ightning were being launched by some invisible hand into the myltsricus obscurity. Birds were up merry as I reached the tempting glade where I had deter- mined to collect a perfect beaten, or flower-bed, wherewith- al to gift my friends on my return. There was no lack of round were some beautiful trees, a few of which I will briefly describe. First, there was 8. clump of mangoes ; one tree was a com-

lete flush of bloom, making a superb picture; the young

eaves, which are of a purplish green—ae though an emo- rald and amethyst had been interfused into each other—-con- trasted finely with the foliage of the last season, which was of a sombre red, not unlike the colour that enriches the floating dulse-weed of our sea-coast. 'I‘hc blossoms, yel- low as topaz. diffused a rich and almost too powerful aroma, evidently attrectige to the innepfhrace, for they hummed about them in mytiads. Second etrbeauty were many trees of the Bruce froitdora, that drop their darlt-green leaves when the season of flowering draws near; and now the blaclt branches were one scarlet blaze of glorious bloaaom. The petals are of a deep orange-red, iinmereed in calyxes soft and shining as jet-blsclt velvet; and the show they made amongst the other trees was pro-eminently lovely. There were also clumps of tamarind, and o rycltrtos pota- foruns in rry; and those tvhity-yellow berriee are useful in refitting and clearing the muddteat water.

' Presently came lowing cattle to their morning meal from the hamlet, so that life was not wanting to the picture. Wanting, in truth, it was not from the first, since water is the life of landscape; and the animation imperte by its vitality of motion and sound filled me with delight, as I turned from the bubbling waters to the hills of Nundydroog in the distance, above which now rose the sun, seeming to send down the jutting crags, as bya ladder, a brilliant army of rays, that soon reminded me of the wisdom of retracing my II

I 5 Q.

e a. ‘PA dark little urchin, with bright eyes, gazed wondering- Iy at me as, slippers in hand, I prepared to recross the atreani. “ Dekho 3" cried be. pointing over to the spot I had just left-—-“ Dekho!" (behold); and suddenly there was a rush and a slirill serccch behind me; and looking back, I behold a large hideous ape chattering and rnrrtpeugn irtg, as we say in Scotland, on the bank, ready, as it seem- ed, to pursue me wit oetile intent. I took heart, how. ever, when the little cow-hord,~beginning to laugh, pelted the creature away. " Poorana dewul so bender aiahie"- (It in a monkey from the old pagoda); and on inquiry, he told me that some few miles distant, near the Gooty road, there wee a very ancient pagoda, which, though long aban-

doned by buman worshippers, wee frequented a colony H. 2 . e oI stonesl, es muy smell Mghairhgru an in ormaut e

I called th in. ' I need not tell you of the admiration my nosegay received, or of the laughter my monkey-adventure excited; but I was pleased to find thiit the old pagoda was known by re- port to my brother, who deemed it worthy of a visit. Nei- ther need I tell you how happily we spent a few days uhere we were, but proceed at once to that portion of my recital which more especially pertains to you. The monkey- dewul was a few miles out of our return route, but that met- teted not, as it was nearer to Nundvdroog. Here, then, we found ourselves one day, pitched at some distance from the ruin, to avoid tnonkey-intrusion. As there wee no hamlet here, we had brought all that was necessary to make us comfortable for it day or two ; and our train of camp~follow- re was increesv-d by an aspirant for pagehood in little llyder Khan, the cow-boy, who had professed a strong at- tachment for myself. It was a delicious cool nftcrnoon on which we repaired ttlih our sketching materials to take separate views of the pagoda, which we found to be one of those edifices that betruy it mixture of Hindoo and Moorish architecture so common in certain districts of India; or, per- haps, they are buildings whose ori in is guessed at from Jewish and Iigyptian lI'lIdIIlOI]I. fit was, in its state of robust dilapidstion (an to speak), worthy of iibler artists; and the creeping-plants with which some of its prominent buttresses were clothed, whilst other portions gepetl liutigri- ‘ ly in stony gloomincss, bare and hold, made it quite a fea- ture atnidst the grassy liilloclis that surrounded it. Your fither had stolen off with his gun ; your mother was seated in frotit of the temple, alreiiily busy ; while the ayalt, with her little charge—_vourself, Cutlibcrt—accoiiip:tniod me to the re tr, where a magnificent l)“IfbVfIIl~lI’I:8, now covered with red mosaic figs, called for pictorial illustration at my hands. llyder was ostensibl_v our guiiidtatt; but as hitherto few monkeys had shown theinselves, we began to suppose they had gone, like ourselves. mi a picnic ; so he wandered iiliuiit, collecting berries in ilie skirts ofthe jungle, which ltore extended close to the piigodzi. How time passes when one Is thoroughly absorbed in a favourite pursuit, you riiu some day know. I forgot everytliing ; and though a sort of consciousness of great silence around struck me, I did iioi think of looking to inquiru why iiyab and baby were so quiet. ' The uict, if natural. was broken by aecream so on- naturally fierce and shrill, that for It minute I was too terri- fied to look wlience it came. When I did look, I behold the ayelt. still slirielting, in pursuit of what at first I believed in be a ltutrian being. Where is the child! I could not one it; and in aiiotliur iiioinrnt flashed the terrible conviction on me of tits wliole trutii. I rushed frantically after the ayah, and as she fell lifeless across my p:itli,I neither stayed to‘ pity nor to help her, for there before me. bl" I “W Will paces, was a hideous apc—-yoii in its arma—and I was con- vines-.d it was the identical ape of the river. 'I'lie creature, in seeming enjoyment, kept at is certain price from me, still making into the jungle ; and the tester I followed. ilI0.m°f¢ speedily it trotted on; wliilet at last broke out your piteous little voice, almost itisddeiiing me. On an on I went- still through woods that begun to tlticlten. so that twilight was arnun me. Every device I could hit on to arrelt the steps of the malignant creature. failed to have any other ¢fl'ect than to elicit a discordant chatter; aod.when at last, completely fatigued. altnoet fainting, I lost sight of it in a dense thicket which I hail not strength to penetrate, I fairly gave way, and lying on the ground, cried bitterly ', oh, more bitterly than I have ever done since. ut I gave not way to the nervous hysteria that threat- ened me. I felt that in this matter there was nothing more that Icould do, and as I prayed for that higher Ilel which I knew could do all, my spirit bccaine calmer, and erotic, determined as best I could to el|l'If.‘.lIO myself from the jun- gle. I knew not what course to talte—a|| were alike to use —bot nitric were so dense as that which led into tliccopse, amidst which the ape had disappeared, from whiclt, indeed, no sounds now p save the monotonous and plaintive coo of the wood-pigeon. I teolt than what seemed the least intricate track, where path was none, and are many minutes ccmc apot. op... .I|iI(l, with more grace than trees. In} to my ' y beheld that the sun was not yet below the hurt-

gg t-ccvcvle are reached our title encampment It see his gave me courage, and I hastened on and on. ll“ poll; t as everything had been forwarded several at length the red and golden trail of the set of ‘also was ‘III heave-hwhee IO , all was ready. all 6 and that remained of day. Then I quivered at the idea of bein Oenghdvsc eaplercttccs were tctrrdieicd for day. we lieeig there, and stripped tor a manner to reflect. thd cake a little ymcas la the idea of having eocad struck on III ears—a faint or —not the can of the loved so peectret lctn oohoowe cl-vs, nor the gattarsl call of the qua‘ . nor the bark of the Q well we might be, of erg a ya that. Again! it is a child's voice; or is the frah t ,ce ethee h or eeluol. 'I\o of lit aw’e normals still in my ears! Nol for hamlet ecntci not are than twenty hate; and If not then follows the csckllag chatter of the iounksy, and a thrill caused some wonder, it was no doubt qerchf dlo- of hope made my 'rcolate. I resolved to conceal my-

presence polled when the peaceful and gentlciriltabitanta were told

self, to watch an o portaaity, end. are the acetate inc. snatch the in ant from its grasp. at all risks. I event

is t It I h it . , d d it: coft':s're?s’tst had o::s'3iii.°lli°s b.enteh?k.tIlc:P?f"smiI3' morning then, before

behind a thick bush. and, presently, etill carrying yon, al-

other was stirring, I‘ meet as expertly as your ayah might have done, the

' est "*le forth jest ‘fut. em eolcuviiiga of light cetsta flutter-\ appeared. In advance of the line It took was a greasy -

I'll in. bird-liltc, amongst the trees near which we were lo

I praywhen I31’.

l

are

w, eoroe paces from the shrubs that screened inc. '1' . this it hrtook itself, and laying its borders on the ground, went through a series 0 grotesque notice, which, cedar other circumstances, might have diverted trse, t now terri- are me as to their issue. Your complete eilcecc _hc' htcncd my fears ; had the animal strangled you, or was it destroy you ? Presently, still keeping so close to you that I hesitated about rushing out upon it until al'aire want more favourably, it began to pluck up the grace, as if in of roots. At that moment, I became aware that another actor had entered on the scene. _ \

‘ In a direct line from me. and beyond the hollow, per- haps eotnc doncn of acne. stood a thick low tree. its trunk visible, but its root thed in foliage. It was the or wild-fig, and in the twilight Its branches showed crimson with its studs of vcriuilion fruit. dead ripe. A movement‘ amongst the lower unibrage arrested my gaze, and I could preceive the crouching shape of some living creature. some dangerous animal perhaps, or was it another monkey! A rustle of leaves interrupted the labours of the child-eteelcr, and, skipping about, he ran towards the fig-tree, as if to ex- amine it. Beltolding nothing,I suppose, but the fruit, be instantly applied himself to satisfy his hunger, apparently forgetting his former occupation. Now, I thought, was the time for an exertion to be made ; but, as I moved, a rotten stick on which I trod made a noise, which instantly attract- ed the vigilant creature‘s notice, and turning his back to the tree, he stood listening, as be gaaed towards the spot where I watched. At that juncture, to in incxprcrsible astonish- ment, two tiny paws—werc they ands 7-—wcre protruded from the fig-tree, and ere the most startling heart could beat once, out sprang around the monkey's neck a noose of cord. And lo! screaming and struggling with hideous contortions, with rain efforts to free himself, the creature dashed‘ about in agony. With a spring I reached you where you lay, in-- deed senseless. but not dead. and held you to my heart.

is it who stands beside me, ointin to the ape bound firmly by the strangling cord to t e true of the tree . Ah! my little page Hydcr! bravely have you done! and, but for this dear babe upon my breast, I could have taken him in my erirta and thanked him with many iases. mes- ed h was to End metherc; but when by degrees you be- gan to recover. and I found you still alive, and, barring scratches and scars whence blood had freely flowed, seem- ingly unhurt, great was our joy in that dark hour. I-Iyder plucked the ripe figs, and they served to moisten your dry ipa and to refresh us : and then he told me how he strayed away to gather fruit, when the cries of the syah had reach- ed his cars. e heard from her what had happened, and instantly made for a part of the woods where he knew the monkeys often come to dig up the roots of a plant of which they are fond, and which grew abundantly only in the lace I have called the “ grassy hollow." I may as wel you that this plant was a species of wild-yam—thc Dior- corea bttIbt_'/"era, by no means espicable fare for man or inun- lrey. Hyder's cow-boy belongings of a tether became use- ful in his pagedom novitiate; but when he assured me I must have travelled five miles, I doubted how I could man- age to reach the pagoda, so tired and upset was I.

t was almost quite dark. as we came upon a good beaten treck—thc Gooty road, Ilyder told me. I sat down In i:scLagl_ii_le, and pl _ west to cd my clia c 1li.o_t_I"y sleeping in my lap. "Dekho, Beebcc sshib! pa cc atec his Gooty eay !”—(I.oolr, lady, a palsnquin is coming from Gooty !) And in truth a flash of distant lights iii in my eyes, a sound of humming voices in my ears—a palsnquin with its full compleitient of bearers and torches. and the loud but not unpleasing chorus of their song. Before half an hour they had come tip to tie: and when Hydrr hailed them, great was their wotider on hearing what had occurred of which they immediately informed their sltitnberiug freight.