This slight substitution put him a little out-causing him to aver, among other rash dogmas, that the Tower Hamlets were identical with the Cinque Ports-but the white horses of Kent started him once more fair again, and the hussars were always charmingly unmistakable.

the oppressive mid-day heat, and so much resorted to by the beautiful bulbul, that noted eastern bird of song. Falling under the ruthless axe of the woodmen, its various members here make their appearance in multifarious useful shapes. In the first place, we observe that the entire balcony, supports and all which After the marching past, commenced the sham- project from the upper story, is made wholly of fight, which is scarcely fit to be described by your bamboo, some of which retain the green hue of the special correspondent (to whom accuracy is every younger branches, whilst the old ones have been thing), but rather by some writer accustomed to polished up into a bright chrome-like yellow, whilst a works of the imagination. Even the parties engaged few, again, have been split and gaily painted. The were expected to be gifted with an enormous amount whole constitutes a light and elegant building, which of that faculty, and to make believe' with all the detracts from the ugly chunam-smeared walls of the energy of the Marchioness' in the Old Curiosity shop itself. Ascending up stairs-which we do by Shop, who concocted wine out of orange-peel. Some means of a strong bamboo ladder-to what serves as of them threw themselves into solid squares, and a kind of show-room, we find the room choke-full of received, with the greatest steadiness, suppositi- bamboo furniture. Those light and neatly painted tious charge of cavalry; others extended themselves couches and chairs have not an atom of foreign as skirmishers, and kept up a continuous fire upon material in their composition. They are exclusively the retreating horizon; while those fortunate made of bamboo-seating, joints, rivets, and all, and, bands who were not at the moment required for with the aid of a superficial coating of varnish, are imaginary slaughter, lay down in the young wheat, proof against wet and heat, and, what is a great and partook of the pipe of peace amid the horrors of consideration in India, against the invasions of white The echoing boom of the guns, and the rattle ants and other vermin. For a verandah, or for and spurt of the rifles, gave your special correspond-garden arbours, they are admirably adapted; as also for ent a headache, without imparting to him any very accurate intelligence, and, in particular, although perambulating the field with praiseworthy diligence, he was unable to learn from any actual combatant, or even from Fineairs himself, whereabouts the enemy was supposed to be.

war.

Cannon to right of us, cannon to left of us, cannon in front of us, volleyed and thundered, and at one period we were even in as evil a plight as the heroes of Balaklava, for we had cannon behind us; and yet no enemy could we discern. Surely the observation that has been already made in respect to the necessity of Placarding, is especially applicable to this case. The invaders against whom all energies ought to be devoted, ought, above all, to be distinctly ticketed: "This is the remorseless Foe!'

We have subsequently learned, that by an admirable piece of humour, the Inns of Court Volunteers were elected as the common enemy; but it is our hope and prayer that no haughty Invader may be ever more distinguishable on British soil than on Easter Monday,

1862.

NATIVE INDUSTRY IN INDIA. THOSE who wish to form some idea of native industry in India can hardly do better than to hire a palanquin, and come along with us on our visit this morning to the Thieving Bazaar, Black Town, Madras. The name is rather an ominous one; but though we termed it the Palladium of Asiatic Industry, or gave it any other high-sounding and euphonious title, the place would still retain the essential qualities of being exceedingly hot, filthy, and noisy; the startling fact, too, would remain, that the most of the goods exposed for sale have been either stolen or lost-in all which qualities it may aptly represent a branch establishment of Petticoat Lane in London. Armed with this knowledge, we are jolted upon the shoulders of four sturdy Palkee boys, and in due course get set down

at this world's fair' in the East.

In the dingy low range of thatched godowns or shops which, stretching on either side, constitute the lanes or streets, we shall find offered for sale samples of almost every handicraft in India.

The first shop on our left-hand side exhibits specimens of every article that can be constructed out of the useful and elegant bamboo bush, so grateful a shade to the wearied and footsore native traveller from

the bungalows which form the up-country cantonments, being light for transport, as well as strong and durable; their usually small size, too, adapting them for the general run of rooms in officers' bungalows. Next to these, our observation is attracted by an immense variety of bird-cages, of all sizes and shapes, painted and in a natural state, and all made out of the invaluable bamboo, from the huge habitation suitable for a cockatoo or parrot, down to the delicately worked and elegant cage, with swings innumerable in it for perches, swarming with beautiful, restless, chattering avidivats and Java sparrows. Here, then, the solitary sub, having supplied himself with the requisite chairs and couches, adds to the decoration of his bungalow and his own amusement by a choice of bird-cages full of birds.

On an upper shelf, all ranged in order, is, moreover, what will add to his creature comfortspickles and preserves-all made out of the tender shoots of the young bamboo. Rolled up in the corner, is a quantity of coarse matting, which will answer well for use in the outhouses or godowns of the bungalow, and even for the open verandahs, to shelter which from the glare and sun are also a number of blinds, made of bamboos split in half, and a coarse blue cloth, afford a pleasant gloom when hung joined together with twine, which, being lined with up, and worked by means of blocks and pulleys, so that they can be drawn up or let down at pleasure. Heaped in the same corner are a great variety of fans and tubes, all made of bamboo, and intended for again, the new arrival, who has been ordered up blowing the charcoal fire used in the kitchen. Here, stantial crates made of bamboo in which to pack the country to join his regiment, finds strong and subglass and crockery-ware requisite for domestic use, as also those indispensable cavory-boxes, made of tin, and carefully covered with bamboo, which are suspended to either end of a strong pliant bamboo, and so carried or balanced over the shoulders of one of the bearers, who is set apart from the rest for this Cavory coolie. In these boxes he carries the necessary special service, and distinguished by the appellation of changes of linen, &c., for the journey, as also his groceries, and perhaps a tea-cup or two. Suspended from nails in the wall we see a number of pellet-bows, of sizes adapted to all ages, from the child of four years old to the adult. These are made of welland which have two strings separated at either seasoned green bamboos, which are very pliant, extremity by a stout, short piece of bamboo, which is inserted and strongly lashed at either end to the bowstrings. In the centre is a piece of coarse wool-work,

securely fastened on, and whence from the thumb and forefinger of the right hand is projected those wellbaked earthen pellets which fly with such velocity as to kill even Pariah dogs with the wound they inflict. Great skill is evinced by Englishmen in India in the use of those bows, some being so expert as to knock over snipe on the wing. In this shop are also those strong male bamboo trundles which, having spears attached to one end, form the javelins so much used by sportsmen in India in chasing the wild-boar or the less ferocious jackal.

To those who have houses at Madras, with extensive grounds laid out as gardens, this shop has many attractions. Here may be purchased ready-made trellis-worked bamboo, to erect as arbours or summer-houses in any chosen spot; over these will be entwined the choicest jessamine, roses, honeysuckle, and the brilliant red Burmese creeper; whilst, to facilitate the watering of the plants and shrubs over so large a space of ground, here are sold deep, well-scooped-out bamboos, which will rivet one into another, like the joints of a flute, and so carry the water from the cistern near the well or tank to the other extremity of the compound, as fast as the two Pocottale men can, with dismal song, see-saw themselves on the pivot-supported beam, which alternately brings a huge leathern bucketful of water to the surface, and emptying itself, dips again for further supply into the water. Spring-traps there are, too, all of bamboo, for the extermination of rats and bandicoots, those hideous Indian rats which are as big as half-grown kittens.

The old chitty who lives .at the back of this neighbourhood, in some walled-in dungeon of a place, comes here for a fresh supply of inkhorns made of bamboo, and for chatteries, or huge umbrellas, made of the same material. The poultry-yard is supplied with bamboo hencoops, and large round open-work baskets to secure chickens from the incursions of Brahminy kites and hawks; and yonder strange-looking thing, consisting of slits of bamboo, highly polished, and about a foot in length, but varying in thickness all through, is a Burmese piano, from which, as it is suspended from a framework on either side, can be emitted the most dulcet notes, by striking them with a well-rounded kind of a drumstick. There are more uses for the bamboo both here and elsewhere. In Sumatra, they cook on bamboos, and by friction make them serve as a substitute for matches; whilst in Siam, the whole of the vast capital of Bangkok is floated upon bamboo-rafts.

of an hour-glass stand, and all found most service-
able and useful in the wash-houses, attached to an
establishment. Neither is the nursery overlooked in
the assortment before us, for there are a prodigious
number of rattan rattles, filled with fine pebbles and
other noisy material; the racket occasioned by which
must of a necessity astonish and silence fractions
babies, and drive any sedate old bachelor to the very
confines of insanity. Here are men hard at work
fresh bottoming chairs with strips of rattan. There
are goglets or water-bottles, and glass bottles of
various shapes and descriptions, all carefully pro-
tected by an outside armour of rattan. Yonder
open-worked nondescript-looking things are Indian
imperials, which are carried upon the poles of the
palanquin, and fastened to the body of it, and in
which are stowed goglets of water, and bottles of
wine and beer for the journey. Those rattans, cut
of an equal length, of about three feet each, are
destined for the use of schools; a moral and phy-
sical digest for the boys, to be taken with their
Eton Latin grammar.

Chinnah Agu, the proprietor of the next shop we
visit, is a kind of Pariah commercial traveller, who
has collected in his store some very beautiful
specimens of the workmanship of the natives that
inhabit the shores of the Coromandel and Malabar
coasts; as also from Colombo, in Ceylon. Here we find
an immense variety of beautifully finished desks,
work-boxes, work and flower baskets, card-cases,
&c., all executed by the natives of Vizagapatam,
with porcupines' quills set in ebony and ivory, and
mostly lined with sandal-wood. The porcupine is so
plentiful in the country lying between Vizagapa-
tam and Waltam on the one side, and Viziana-
gram and Chicacole on the other, that I have
been assured by the native manufacturers of these
beautiful things, that they seldom, if ever, are
compelled to resort to the necessity of killing the
porcupine for its quills; the natives of the inland
villages collecting a sufficiency of such as have been
shed to supply the annual demands of the market.
Great taste is displayed in the arranging of the
quills, so as to form curves and angles with the
different shades, which, blending together, have a
very beautiful effect. There is quite a little town
just outside of the fort at Vizagapatam, which is
exclusively devoted to the making of these porcupine-
quill boxes and baskets, which go through an amazing
number of hands, and a great many intermediate
processes, before they are fit for shop-windows. In
Next only in usefulness is the display made in the the first place, the women and children have to well
shop opposite, where the greater mass of commodities air and cleanse the basket-loads of quills brought in
exposed for sale are made of the rattan. The flooring from the interior from the many impurities of dust and
of the upper apartment is covered with an elegant filth that adhere to them, before handing them to a
matting made of split rattans, the upper surface of set of men whose special duty it is to wash them in
which is beautifully polished, each rattan being hot soap-nut water before placing them in the hands
between thirteen and fourteen feet in length. The of the polishers; from the polishers, they go to those
whole is carefully stitched together by means of well skilled in the art of arranging and blending the
a stout sail-needle and strong cord; and what may be colours, and are inserted by carpenters into the
rolled up into a foot or a foot and a half of circum- ready-made framework of ebony and ivory; the
ference, will, when opened out, cover the largest carpenters pass them on to cabinet-makers, who
rooms in India. Nothing can be more agreeable, in skilfully line the interior with sandal-wood, and
a hot and suffocating climate, than the cool, clean set up the various partitions requisite for the desks
appearance of these mats, which are easily swept or and work-boxes; this done, these latter are handed
rolled up, and carried out to be beaten, and which, over to looking-glass manufacturers, who insert a
moreover, will admit of being washed with warm looking-glass inside of the lid; and finally, the
water and soap. Made out of finer strips of the boxes go to the silversmith, who puts on a little
younger shoots, we see a great variety of small table-lock with a silver key, which completes the operation.
mats for dishes or lamps to stand upon. Yonder
strongly wrought circular basket, which stands full
four feet from the floor, and the lid of which can be
secured by a stout padlock, is very much used by
Europeans as a receptacle for soiled linen; affording,
at the same time, a by no means disagreeable-looking
addition to the light furniture used generally in
Indian dressing-rooms. There are a great variety
of smaller baskets also, some made in the shape

For eighteen rupees, or about thirty-six shillings, you
may purchase a beautiful little box.

The exquisitely carved and chased sandal-wood
inkstand, pen, pencil, and paint-brush holders, card-
cases and snuff-boxes, ranged side by side with the
above, are manufactured by the Nyah and Moplah
tribes inhabiting a district on the Malabar coast,
not far from the Portuguese island of Goa. A vast
amount of labour and patience is evidenced in this

1

CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL.

art, the work being mostly accomplished with a
penknife and a tool not unlike a blunt sail-needle.
Although their notions of parrots and butterflies
may not exactly suit the descriptions given by
naturalists, the open-work filigree and the leaves
and flowers are admirably executed; and few can
begrudge ten or a dozen rupees for such elegant
In
and fragrant ornaments for the drawing-room.
the same shop are some very fair specimens of
Cingalese workmanship, consisting chiefly of paper
and dispatch boxes made of satin-wood, inlaid with
ebony, and a great variety of beautiful tortoise-
shell combs, ribbon-boxes, and card-cases-all from
Ceylon.

The delicious odour which assails us, and which is
so much at variance with the usual smell of this
place, proceeds from the little store before us, where
some score of men, women, and children are busily
at work making blinds out of that most fragrant
of grasses the cusscuss, the sweetly scented wild-
hay of the inland hills and valleys. The inestimable
boon conferred by these upon Europeans residing in
India can only be appreciated by those who have had
long practical experience of their value during the
prevalence of the scorching land and long-shore winds,
which last for months, and are literally as the breath
of a furnace. Then to every window and door are
these blinds affixed, to every palanquin door or car-
riage window, and even sometimes to the stabling for
horses. Being kept wet, they cause the hot surging
wind to blow through them, iced and fragrant. On
every window-sill and at every door are ranged
earthen goglets of water, and bottles of beer or wine,
besides plates full of mangoes and other fruit-all of
which, during the course of the day, get nearly iced,
so that the beebee sahibs (the ladies) who have no
business to call them out of doors, can lounge upon
sofas and read, setting the outside atmosphere at
defiance. But there are sometimes days in India
against which even the cusscuss blinds are of no
avail; days of terrible languor, when not a breath of
air of any description is stirring. Then it is that
those huge viceries or fans which we see standing
up against the corner of this shop come into play;
they are at least five feet in circumference, and are
attached to poles as long, which, resting on the
ground, are worked backwards and forwards by a
chokera or valet on either side of the couch, and so
fan pleasantly the fevered and wearied cheeks of the
fair invalid, who would otherwise succumb to the
heat. Over our head is a cusscuss punkah, a specimen
of such as we shall find hung over almost every
dining-table, and even in the pews of many of the
churches.

But the day is growing late, and our space is limited, so that we cannot afford more than a rapid casual glance at the remainder of the samples of native industry exposed for sale. Here we have beautifully constructed models of houses, huts, kutcharies, bungalows, and capital helmets and wide-a-wakes, all made out of pith. There we find an amazing variety of gaudily painted toys, constructed of clay on wooden frames, and representing bullocks, camels, elephants, tigers, jackals, sepoys, horses, sheep, and so forth -all very attractive to the eyes of children, but not exactly done after nature. Neither are the paintings on yonder white canvas screen, which folds into four, and is serviceable enough and gay enough to partition off bedrooms, so as to leave the doors open in sultry weather. We are constrained, however, to admit that the flower-pots with cabbages in them, and the invariable sporting character, whose gun, according to the laws of perspective, must be five times the length of his body, and the bird he is shooting at, at least twenty times as big, are not the most magnificent of paintings.

On the other hand, the jeweller next door shews us some filigree-worked card-cases and boxes in silver

and gold, all designed and executed by himself, which
are really marvellous achievements of scientific skill.
We hurry through the last fifty yards of mud and
filthy rubbish, and are just rejoicing at the prospect
of being carried into a fresher atmosphere speedily,
when the sign of an isolated house, inscribed Vera-
sawney, Portrait-painter to his Highness the Nabob of
Arcot, arrests our further progress. We must have a
look at these portraits. They are mostly painted on
But
circular pieces of ivory, and are really very fairly
executed, some being of persons we have seen.
they are invariably profiles, a circumstance which
makes us wonder, as we quit the Thieving Bazaar,
whether the rogues that infest the place arrive at the
same conclusion as a native consular agent we once
knew in Syria did, when upon looking over an ancient
illustrated history of England, he exclaimed in amaze-
ment: Wonderful! Why, all the kings and queens
of England have only got one eye.'

TIDE-CAUGHT.

ON a fine May morning, not many years ago, I left
the town of Ayr, on the west coast of Scotland, bent
upon making a zoological examination of the half-tide
rocks about four miles down the coast to the south of the
town. Persons acquainted with the locality of which
I speak will recollect that south of the town of Ayr,
and overlooking the far-famed 'Banks and Braes o
Bonny Doon,' is Brown Carrick Hill, an eminence of
no great height, but having for its western termination
a series of steep weather and water worn cliffs, locally
known by the name of the Heads of Ayr. These form
a mighty sea-wall, against which the sea, when land-
ward driven by a westerly gale, foams and chafes
madly. At right angles to them, and trending sea-
ward, are trap-dykes with softer rocks between.
Upon these last the tide ebbs and flows, giving life to
the curious animals which form interesting occupants of
aquaria, and good subjects for physiological study.

In former seasons, I had hunted on the same ground
with considerable success; and setting out for the first
day of the season, I felt all the novel feelings and sensa-
tions known to field-naturalists only thrilling within
me. What a joy was mine, after having traversed
the shingly beach near Greenan Castle, and the sand-
banks that lie between it and the Heads, when once
again I stood upon the sea-formed terrace of rocks,
surrounded with glittering wrack and tangle, and
rock-pools all astir with animal life! My coat and
stockings were soon deposited upon a large block of
stone that had fallen from the cliff, at whose base I
was about to commence my pursuits. My boots-a
pair of old ones-I kept on, to save my feet from the
As the tide receded, I fol-
pointed rocks and shells, and to prevent my slip-
ping on the sea-weed.
lowed it seaward, working from pool to pool, and
cranny to cranny, carefully, earnestly, enthusiastic-
ally, only raising my head at times to gain relief from
the pressure in my forehead. It was coming near the
turn of the tide, and I had got to a considerable
distance from the shingly base of the cliffs and high-
water mark, when I discovered, adhering to the rock
in a darkened cranny, a beautiful pink daisy ane-
mone, a kind rare upon the Ayrshire coast.
secure it carefully was my first impulse, and I
stretched my arm into the fissure of tangle-draped rock
to secure the prize. As I laid my shoulder to the rock,
stretching in my arm, I experienced a slight jolt; at
the same time my arm was compressed firmly, but not
painfully, just above the wrist. Not feeling any alarm,
I carefully manipulated the radiate animal-flower till
it came off the rock into my hand. Then, as I
endeavoured to withdraw my arm and the coveted
anemone, was my position made known to me; my
arm was caught hard and fast. Move it to and from
me a little, I could; move it round or withdraw it
entirely, I could not. At first, I felt no alarm-my

To

CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL

OF POPULAR

LITERATURE

Science and arts.

CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS.

No. 439.

SATURDAY, MAY 31, 1862.

CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH AN
ENGLISHMAN'S HOUSE IS NOT

HIS CASTLE

WHEN we first took possession of No. 2 Albert Villas, what a delightful prospect lay before us! Agreeably situated, not quite out of town, and yet not in it; away from the smoke and din, in a pleasant little world of our own; with fresh air for the children, and delightful walks into the now easily attainable country; what could have been better? So very convenient, too, it was to find that every requisite of domestic economy would be brought to the door by the kind-hearted venders! I did not think that remark of mine called forth any ecstasy from the household authorities, which at the time rather surprised me; but, in the emphatic words of the Artful Dodger, I was 'so jolly green, you know.' Beautiful in its neatness and simplicity, and in the quietness and repose which would be obtainable there after the worry of business, I was about to enjoy-after officehours, of course-a veritable retreat.

During the first fortnight, indeed, whenever I happened to be at home, I was disturbed by the incessant ringing of the door-bell, but I concluded that probably my family had not quite 'settled down,' as the phrase is there were little matters connected with the furnishing department, perhaps, not finally arranged. By and by, there would be peace. By and by!' I look back upon myself, indulging as I was in a hope so My little boy forlorn, with sardonic enjoyment. once asked me anxiously, on the occasion of my putting off some juvenile desire with the above idiom: When is by and by?' As the weeks rolled on, I felt disposed to ask the same question with respect to the cessation of that horrible bell. First, there was the roll-boy, whom I didn't mind; then a dozen or so of fish-venders, with each of whom there ensued an irritating wrangle before he could be induced to believe himself declined with thanks. Then the vegetable carriers and small fruit-merchants, varied by an occasional wretched old man, who required of us that we should buy bad cakes of him at double the price of good ones, because he was old! I should have thought that one reason why he ought to have done with such mercenary tricks. Then came irritating imps who would not believe that we were supplied with 'family bread,' best salt, flowers a-growin' and ablowin'-which, by the way, were no more growing or

'PRICE 14d.

going to grow than I was, having been stuck in for
As to itinerant merchants of all
the occasion.
denominations, they were endless, and the worst of it
was, that the march of civilisation and refinement
having reached them, they no longer simply brought
their wares and offered them; that is too old a dodge.
No, they left polite notes in elaborate envelopes, for
which with your esteemed order'-they would call
again in the space of an hour. You might issue a
general order that nothing be bought from these
wandering Jews, but you can't tell your servants to
take in no notes. Then there were the callers who
wanted to know the way to Victoria Place, or Napo-
leon Buildings; or to ask if Mr John Smith lived
here, and if he didn't, where did he live? And if I
didn't know anything about Mr John Smith, could I
direct them to some one who did? But of all worries
that pluck a sensitive man's nerves to pieces, the
worst is beggars!

For whole nights together I have been haunted
by dismal cries and distorted faces, which were in
reality only want travestied. Poverty exists, I know,
If you would see
but not amongst street-beggars.
poverty, you must go into the wretched homes of
those who work night and day to keep life and soul
together, but who never think of tramping the streets
for the daylight to shine upon their rags. Have you
got a suburban villa, my friend, and what do you
think of the beggars? Do you know the decayed
opera-singer, who imitates stage-tricks for you, and
represents piety? I am sorry to tell you that, as
I came round by the corner gin-palace, near Vic-
toria Place, one evening, I saw a mass of some-
thing in the gutter. I touched it with my cane;
That
it rolled up hideous eyes at me; it opened a caver-
nous mouth, from which there issued thickly sounds
like this: Go to er devil an lerrem alone.'
mass was the decayed opera-singer; and the next
day she was calling down blessings upon the head
of any deluded victim who might chance to fling
I remember one impudent
her a half-penny. But even she is not the most
irritating of her tribe.
young vagabond, who, when the door was closed in
his face, as a mild hint that we did not receive, would
lie down with his mouth to the crack, and howl out
his requirements for hours, in defiance of comers and
goers. Then the number of decent miners, and respect-
able but oppressed weavers, whom it has fallen to
my lot to encourage! Sometimes they have mutilated