defunct "Kubbur Burr," and also jungle-fowl and partridges in the
where the venerable patriarch of the Nerbudda once had his sylvan
, sole monarch of the place, ere he fell a victim to the resistless
of the mighty stream. Standing up to the knees in a paddy-
whilst in search of snipe, I could not avoid calling to my com-
is to mark the contrast between the reality and the gay pictures
ad seen of the elephants, and the retinues of native princes en-
ed amongst the stalactite-like trunks of the ideal tree; the luxurious
is of the Persian loom spread below, on which the gazelle-eyed
ters of song, the Nautch girls, had lang syne performed the graceful
ck dance, or trilled forth the favourite melody of "Taza be Tazah”
be now), to the gurgling sound of the ambrosial hookah, or the
g breeze sighing through the foliage of the giant-tree.
sum up the whole, the "Kubbur Burr" is a respectable assemblage
ian-trees, all of moderate dimensions, intermixed with other trees of
s descriptions; in short, it is a wood, amongst which the banian-tree
minates. Viewed from a distance down the river, by an approach-
oat, the illusion of a vast tree is complete; and any encomiast,
ng a judgment at a mile or two away, without putting foot on the
, would be apparently justified by applying to the enormously dense
of foliage then visible, the epithets of "gigantic," and even "awful;"
by any vivid word-paintings that exaggerated description might
st concoct a wondrous tale:-as I said, at a distance down the
the view of the pseudo tree is majestic, but, like a dissolving view
hange of scene, it becomes a huge confused mass of what it really
nely a wood, and a very ugly wood it is too.

this season (February) the aspect of the country about Broach was
what barren in appearance, as the rainy season had ceased since
er, and the principal food crops of the coonbies, or cultivators, of
Jowaree (Holcus sorghum), a kind of large millet-the stalks of
form excellent food for cattle-wheat, rice, pulse, and other grains,
the principal portion, had long been housed; the castor-oil plant
na Christi), however, was largely under cultivation, growing here
onsiderable size, and assuming the proportions of a small tree. The
es of Guzerat express this oil from the seed for lighting their huts
sundown, although its thick and viscid composition affords a poor
nating power; but the poverty of the majority of them necessarily
es the use of this oil, the cost of cocoa-nut oil being far beyond the
of most of the lower classes, who are wretchedly poor, they being
dent on the small crops of cotton cultivation to raise the necessary
to pay the rent to the government for the land they hold. In bad
1s, by the failure of the cotton crops, they become wretchedly off,
re often reduced to great straits, being obliged to mortgage their
crops to obtain, at a high rate of interest, the money requisite to
he government dues.

this time of the year the whole of the villagers were busily engaged eking and collecting the cotton crop from the pods, gathering it both hands, and depositing it in a bag hung round the neck. Men, n, and children were engaged in this operation, whilst others were ng the fibre from the tough small seeds, by means of a diminutive a, or gin, composed of a wooden and iron roller, turned by a winch,

ch its oily nature admirably adapts it. The spaces of ground cleared ut the villages were white with newly-gathered cotton spread out to previously to taking it to market for sale to the buniahs, or traders, in return dispose of it to the great native cotton-dealers for transit Bombay. In several places I saw fish in the hands of the natives, e of them of a large size, over fifteen pounds in weight. Apparently - were of a species of carp, having the same kind of scales and colour. ge as they were, the fishermen told me that they were to be caught more than double the size, a sufficient proof that fish can hold their against the attacks of their arch-enemy the alligator.

eturning to our boat in the evening, well laden with guavas, papaws, apples, and other fruits-not the produce of the famous Kubbur , but of the wood, whose place he might once have occupied-we d Domingo ready with the inevitable rice and curry, and, after the ssion of a cheroot, we turned in, well pleased with the afternoon's sion, but most specially disappointed with the wonderful banianH. S.

A SUMMER IN AMERICA.

BY CAPTAIN BROOK J. KNIGHT.

CHAPTER I.

"I'M ON THE SEA."

HE steam-tender Jackall will leave St. George's Wharf at halfight A.M. on the 22nd of June, to convey passengers on board the

."

Eng upon this official information, we presented ourselves at St. e's Wharf, Liverpool, at the time specified, and were duly conveyed rd the Persia, lying about a couple of miles higher up the river. nails were brought on board shortly after nine o'clock, and the gers' baggage being stowed away, we steamed slowly from our gs at 9.50 A.M.

ow delighted I shall be when I see that boat again,” said my wife, Jackall spluttered from our side.

did see it again in less than three months, during which time we ny more wonderful sights than the dingy, labouring Jackall, of I purpose giving a sketch. A summer in America has, at least, rm of novelty in its favour. It has nothing in common with the the spas of Germany, the mountains of Switzerland, or the Italian True, there are mountains, lakes, and spas in America, but I the broad natural features, which are to be met with everyare about the only points of similarity between the other side of antic and Europe. However, I have no business to "guess" till here, which we hope to do in ten days, for is not the Persia the

: seas!

ere was scarcely a breath of wind as we forged slowly ahead. A
fall of fog and smoke hung over the river. In vain we endea-
1 to pierce the lurid darkness in search of the Great Eastern,
we were told, was at anchor about half a mile astern of us.
here she is! Don't you see her?" cries one whose wish was (I
father to the sight.
"Don't you see that huge black mass with

se masts and funnels looming up out of the fog?"

, I saw them, but whether they represented the big ship, or half a little ones, I would not take upon myself to say.

had a very quiet passage to Cove, and a very slow one, for we had time than we wanted, owing to the fact of having to wait for the Scotch and Irish, I believe, till four o'clock Sunday afternoon. ny, then, did we leave Liverpool so early? Why not have started evening of Saturday? Had we started as late as ten o'clock at we should still have been at Cove long before four on Sunday

ɔon.

ceived three answers to the above questions; you shall have them d adopt which you please:

st, I was told that it was as well to be in time; secondly, that the ould not serve till too late at night; thirdly, that by starting early re enabled to go half-speed, which saved fuel, id est, money to the

ny.

ent on deck about eight o'clock on Sunday morning in search of a
atmosphere than that which we had enjoyed during the night in
ate cabin (save the mark!). We were running down the south
of Ireland, which, to say the truth, looked particularly unpicturesque
evoid of interest. At half-past nine we came to our moorings off
Island, directly opposite Cove, which smiled at us at a distance of
a mile and a half. I say "siniled at us," because the sun was
g brightly, and all nature smiled, even Spike Island.

, ye subalterns who have been quartered on that romantic island,
nt of rugged rocks and gloomy barracks, saw ye ever a smile during
sojourn there on aught save the lips of the comrade departing?
aly, Spike Island enjoys a very moderate reputation as a quarter
gst military men.

had divine service in the saloon at half-past ten, the captain ting; and most excellently well did he perform his part. He read and distinctly, with a becoming reverence, removed alike from the ive gabble of hurry and haste as from the equally offensive droning cted sanctity. Many a country clergyman might take a lesson in g the service of our Church from Captain Judkins, and the reason success was evident enough-he took pains. He did not read y as a duty, a thing to be got through and done with, but he read

l as he could.

er service we wrote letters to send back by the coming mail-boat, en we lounged about and grumbled at the delay.

e mails were on board at four o'clock, and ten minutes afterwards ere steaming out of Cove harbour, which, by the way, has been reed under the name of Queenstown. Certainly vanity is the parent

our of the royal visit, we should have, in very sooth, a right regal intry.

We were still running down the south coast of the Emerald Isle : the eralds (if there were any) had a rough setting-such a dreary, desorugged coast it would be difficult to match. About a mile or so n the mainland, upon a narrow strip of an island, I saw the ruins of it once, apparently, had been a castle.

What an extraordinary place for any one to build a castle," I obed.

Those, sir, are the Stag Rocks; there is no building there whatever," one of the mates.

knew, of course, that the man was right, and yet I could scarcely it his assertion, so exactly had nature condescended to imitate art: e was the tower, there the walls and buttresses. I wondered whether nate had ever landed there.

c.

on after dark we passed Cape Clear, the most westerly point of the coast. The next land we should sight would probably be Sandy

e wind freshened during the night, and for the next four or five we had a strong breeze ahead, which stopped our way, and disturbed tomachs "some," as our American friends would say.

ing to the disturbed state of America we had scarcely the usual ement of passengers on board; a great proportion of these were

icans.

ad never before seen much-I may almost say anything of that -and certainly the nasal drawl peculiar to that people is the reof agreeable to an English ear. They have also many idioms and s different from ours, but, as far as my experience goes, their hearts the right place. We made acquaintance-I may, indeed, say -with several American ladies and gentlemen on board. Nothing exceed their kindness to us, and nothing would give us greater e than to have an opportunity of returning in England the hoswe received in America.

en we had been about five days out fogs proclaimed the vicinity of undland, and cold, that of icebergs. The change of temperature y apparent, for although we had experienced somewhat stormy - previously, there had always been a summerish feeling in the t now it was piercing, it breathed of ice. The fog enveloped us ad day, not, however, continuously, but with short intermissions, al days.

you ever been in the vicinity of icebergs in a fog?-a fog so dark, that you could not see the funnel of the boat as you stood innacle, steaming furiously along at the rate of fourteen or fifteen hour? It is a situation in which, I trust, never again to be True, the immensity of the ocean is very much in favour of miss it; it may be ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred to one in one's out however great the odds against collision, the chance of a and awful death must ever be present to him who is tearing through impenetrable darkness in the neighbourhood of ice

e can be no doubt. She was a large and powerful steamer, well ered, well manned, and as capable of riding out a storm as any ship t. She entered the dark fog-bank of Newfoundland, but never did emerge from the darkness; that fog-bank was a funereal pall to the ned ship. A terrible concussion, a few frantic plunges, a rush of r, and the Pacific is blotted out from the face of the sea; down the depths below she sinks, with hundreds of human beings in her

ist before leaving Liverpool we heard of the loss of the Canadian. as but a telegraphic, and, therefore, only a meagre account: "Cut the ice in the Straits of Belle Isle, between thirty and forty people the remainder saved by boats. Land five miles distant."

y

The

tion that naturally first suggests itself is, "How many would have 'saved by boats,' had the accident occurred a couple of hundred s from land in place of five miles only?"

gentleman on board the Persia told me (of course during the densest and in the immediate vicinity of ice) that he had once come into sion with an iceberg. It happened, he said, about two years ago in Edinburgh, running from New York to Glasgow. The fog was so that the "look-outs" did not see the iceberg until they were close it; the helm was instantly put down, and the boat shot past the -sing mass, but a shock was felt as she glided by, and her bows seemed ttle down on the water. In fact, although they had escaped the ice e water, they had struck the ice below, and had stove in the two ard compartments. Lucky for all on board, the ship was built in partments, but for that she must have gone down at once; and had un full upon the iceberg in place of grazing the underfloat, she must been dashed to atoms. They were two hundred miles from St. John's, foundland, when the accident occurred, which place they reached y-six hours afterwards, but which they never would have reached they not been blessed with calm weather; the steamer had settled uch by the head that a storm must have sunk her. "No one on 1," said Mr. R., "knew the extent of the mischief; we knew that wo forward compartments must be stove by the sinking of the boat's , but what further damage had been done we could not tell. All s worked at the pumps until we reached St. John's, and during the e of those thirty-six hours all felt that the boat might sink from r them at any moment. When we anchored, and the ship's bottom examined, it was discovered that she had lost upwards of thirty feet r iron sheeting forwards; we had, therefore, pumped to no purpose, e must have pumped the Atlantic dry before we could get the water of the injured compartments; but," he added, "it was a good thing id work; it employed our minds as well as hands; we fancied we doing something towards saving our lives, at all events."

much for a slight collision with an iceberg under water; what must tably be the effect of a direct collision with an iceberg above water be readily imagined.

he morning, whilst steaming rapidly through the dense fog, we sudemerged into daylight-as suddenly as one emerges from a subterun vault into the outer world; more so, indeed, for in the latter case