mothe

22

VEGETABLES AND SPICES.

sinensis, Linn.) form excellent garden hedges, and
the rich crimson of the flowers, contrasted with the
vivid verdure of the leaves, add much to our horten-
sial beauty : but, from being almost scentless, they are
less esteemed than the henna, or mendey (lawsonia
spinosa, Linn.), which makes as fine a fence, and per-
fumes the air with a delicious fragrance; few shrubs
are more esteemed throughout India, Persia, and
Arabia, than the henna. The hibiscus mutabilis, or
changeable-rose, in its three varieties, of white, rose-
colour, and crimson, all blowing at one time on the
same plant, is a pretty object in an oriental garden.

Bombay abounds with excellent vegetables, indi-
genous to the climate, and is not unfavourable to
cabbages, lettuce, potatoes, and several others, intro-
duced from Europe and the Cape of Good Hope.
The banda (hibiscus esculentus, Linn.) is a nutritious
oriental vegetable; so is the bungal, or egg-plant bringál
(solanum melongena, Linn.) which grows to a much
larger size than in Europe; the yam (dioscorea, Linn.);
with the fenugreek (mei)trigonella foenum-græcum,
Linn.); the sweet potato, and a variety of calavances,
or Indian beans, are much liked at the English tables.
The Chili pepper (capsicum), of various sorts, is planted
throughout Hindostan, and forms a principal ingre-
dient in curries, and other savory dishes, which the
natives are all fond of, whether they eat animal
food or not to the capsicum they generally add the
cardamom (amomum-repens, Linn.), a pleasant spice
from the Malabar coast ; which, with salt, pepper, and
ginger, season their viands, mingle in small quanti-
ties with the rice, which is the chief article of food
among all the higher classes of Indians: the poor

THE RAINY SEASON.

23

live principally upon juarree (holcus sorghum), bajaree (holcus spicatus), and other inferior grains.

The rice, or batty, is sown in June, at the commencement of the periodical rains; which continue, more or less, until October, when the harvest begins. The rice-grounds are enclosed with mounds of earth, and contain a great deal of water; for rice will not grow in a dry soil; and as it always rises with the water, in Pegu, and some other countries, the harvest is reaped in boats; and many low lands which can be artificially watered, produce two crops of rice in a year, with the addition of a little manure.

During the rainy season, and for a few weeks afterwards, the country in Hindostan is delightful; nothing can exceed its verdure, and general beauty; but the fervour of a tropical sun soon clothes the earth with a russet hue, which continues until the annual fall of rain; in that long interval of eight months not a single shower falls; and the nightly dews, though copious, are insufficient to preserve the grass: yet most of the trees, as in other tropical climates, are ever-greens.

In the temperate climes of Europe, it is difficult to conceive the force and beauty of the eastern language respecting fertilizing streams and refreshing showers it is not so with the inhabitants of the torrid zone, who look forward with eager expectation to the setting in of the rainy season; when cultivation commences, the seed is sown, and a joyful harvest anticipated. Should these periodical rains be withheld, when the heavens are "as brass, and the earth as iron," (Deut. xxviii. v. 23.) the consequences would be fatal. Famine and pestilence, with all their dire attendants, stalk through the land, and spread destruc

?

tion and despair on every side: as those can testify who beheld the dreadful scenes at Bengal in the year 1770; and others, who have witnessed the sad effects of a failure of the crops in different parts of Hindostan; where thousands are carried off by famine, and, from being deprived of sepulture or cremation, the atmosphere is rendered pestilential.

What renders the privation of rain at the expected season more dreadful on the continent, is the effect of the winds which then generally prevail, especially at a distance from the sea: they are very little known at Bombay in the northern provinces of Hindostan, and in the Carnatic, they are felt more or less in the best constructed houses; but are most distressing to travellers from milder climates, when passing through a country where no caravansera, tent, or friendly baniantree, affords a shelter; the greatest alleviation is a house with thick walls, to resist the heat, and every door and window shut to exclude the air; or if open, to have screens of matted grass hanging before them, kept constantly watered. When these winds prevail, furniture of wood, glass, porcelaine, and metal, exposed to their blasts, although perfectly shaded from the sun, are as hot as if they had been placed before a fierce fire at the same time, water in guglets from Persia, and jars of porous earth, hung up in the current of wind, is refreshingly cold; and wine, beer, and other liquors, in a cotton wrapper, constantly wetted, exposed in the same manner, a short time before they are brought to the table, are like iced wines in Europe.

As a contrast to the violence of the monsoon, and the unpleasant effects of the hot winds, there is some

CLIMATE OF INDIA.

25

25

times a voluptuousness in the climate of India, a stillness in nature, an indescribable softness, which soothes the mind, and gives it up to the most delightful sensations: independent of the effects of opium, champoing, and other luxuries, so much indulged in by the oriental sensualist!

26

MUS-MALABARICUS.

CHAPTER III.

Mus-malabaricus-Musk-rat-Ants-Termites-Lizards—Guana Serpents-Cobra Minelle-Cobra de Capello-Dancing-snakes -Fatal effect of the poison of the Hooded Snake-Dr. Russell on the Indian Serpents-Insects of India-Locusts-Wild HoneyGhee-Birds of Hindostan-The Myneh-Baya, or bottle-nested Sparrow-Tailor-bird-Bulbul, or Indian Nightingale-Persian Ode-Fish at Bombay.

THE small island of Bombay does not afford the variety of animated nature found on the adjacent continent which abounds with tigers, leopards, wild-hogs, antelopes, deer of many kinds, hares, rabbits, and smaller animals; the elephant and the rhinoceros are common in several parts of India. Armadillos, hyenas, porcupines, and others of less note, are to be seen in most places; but jackals, squirrels, and hedgehogs, are the only wild animals on Bombay.

The mus-malabaricus, or bandicoote rat, frequently undermine warehouses, and destroy every kind of merchandize; so that they are a dangerous enemy. The musk-rats, though small, are nearly as destructive, and have a most disagreeable smell; if one of these vermin gets into a chest of wine, every bottle it passes over smells so strong of the animal, and acquires such a disagreeable flavour, that it cannot be drank.