The Bangkok Recorder.

A Semi-monthly Journal, will be issued from the
printing office of the American Missionary As-
sociation, at the month of the Canal, "Klawng Bang-
kok Yai" about 1st and 15th of every month. It
will contain much Political, Literary, Scientific, Com-
mercial, and Local Intelligence, as shall render it
worthy of the general patronage.

The Recorder will be open to Correspondents
subject to the usual restrictions.

The proprietors will not be responsible for the
sentiments of their correspondents.

No communications will be inserted unless ac-
companied by the name of the Correspondent.

No rejected manuscript will be returned unless
as a special favor.

First Insertion—Ten lines or half a square, and
under, One Dollar.

Each additional tine, Five Cents.

Subsequent insertions, Seventy Five Cents, for
ten lines,

and each additional line, Five Cents.

Advertisers must be particular to specify the
number of insertions.

Standing advertisements as per Contracts.

Communications and remittances can be sent
to either of the subscribers, or left at the store of
Messrs. Virgin & Co.

The article, a translation of which is
concluded in another column, of this issue
is from the pen of an able writer upon such
subjects.
Although like all other translations, when
they are at all literal, it is necessarily a lit-
tie dry but apart from this we think it must
be interesting to all those, who intend to
remain in Siam any length of time, and
have a desire to know the different locali-
ties, and their history.

A mere glance at the river between the
two palaces, is sufficient to verify the state-
ment that, that part, is not the natural, but
is an artificial channel. Although it was
completed three hundred years ago, the
evidences are clearly visible. The river is
narrower there, than those parts immediate-
ly above and below, and the water flows,
much more rapidly. All such articles there-
fore which tend to give information concern-
ing the country, its topography, names
manners, and customs &c, must be inter-
esting to the majority of European readers.
Every writer however, as well as every in-
dividual has a hobby. Our learned corre-
spondent seems to have several hobbies,
and one of which especially he has ridden
almost to death. His article commences
well but before concluding he mounts his
favorite hobby.

The Romanising of Oriental names so long
as there is no established system, will re-
main a difficult matter. All attempts too to
establish a system which will apply to all
places and all languages, has hitherto
proved a failure, and is likely to do so for
some time to come. Not even in any one
country does there appear to be a system
universally adopted by all.

The early missionaries and even modern
ones in Siam in writing to their friends
abroad, have tried to express the Siamese
names as nearly as possible in Roman
characters, so that those for whom they
were intended might if possible have some
idea of the sound of the Siamese names.
For this they have been severely blamed by
the learned writer in question and even
called a "shallow minded" because they did
not go back to the Sanskrit. Now the Sans-
krit although the parent of most Oriental
languages has long since been a dead lan-
guage, and indeed it is doubted by some
able scholars if ever it was a spoken lan-
guage. There are very few now who
thoroughly understand it, so that it is no
indication of a great mind to have a little
smattering of the Sanskrit. The writer ad-
mits that most places in Siam have two and
three names. Those derived from the Sans-
krit and Bali are generally so long that " a
forty—horse—power person" would again
be called into requisition to remember them.
Few of the Siamese outside of nobility and
probably a few just out of the voats who
have a little smattering of Bali, and like to
spout it, know any thing about them. The
Siamese names are shortest and generally
most appropriate. The time is past when
the world will delight most in high sound-
ing names and titles. Many of these
vulgar names have already gone out to the
world and are established upon the maps of
geographers, and to attempt to change them
now would create a revolution. As well
attempt to turn Siam up side down as to
change Meinam to Chow-Phya, Bangkok
to T'on boore, or Paknam to Samutts-Pra-
kan.

Those places however which have not
already gone out into the world, should
have established names at once. Let those
whose business it is give them the shortest
possible names, so that foreigners may not
break their Jaws in attempting to pronouce
them and let those names be established
and understood by all. It matters little
to the outside world whether it is P'rip-p'ri
P'at-p'ri or P'etchaburi so as there is some-
thing established. And let not men of
good education be called shallow minded
for much trifling causes for it is beneath the
dignity of a great mind to quible on such
little things.

Mr. Editor,

Our last left us in Rahaang or Muang
Tak as it is known in Siamese history and
in all official documents. It is the most
northern Siamese city on the route, being
by some regarded as the most Southern of
the Laos towns. This I think is incorrect,
though more than half of the inhabitants
are Laos and Peguans. But the governor
and most of the officials are Siamese from
Bangkok, which is not the case in the cities
north of it, and even the Laos portion of
the population are not under his juris
diction, but under that of the governor of
Chieng-Tawng, a small Laos town on the
opposite side of the river a little lower
down. It is a very pleasant site for a city
with a mountain range to the north and a
single mountain before and another behind
it. It probably has tene or fifteen thousand
inhabitants. But its principal interest to
us was as the terminus of our boat route,
and we were prepared to give it a good
name had we been hastened on our journey
thence. But in this it most signally failed
at first, though it redeemed its credit some
what in our estimation before leaving it.
In our twenty three days of travel thus far
(by mistake stated in my last to be twenty
seven) we had our own carrings, team,
driver, whip, and spur. We started when
ready and traveled till hunger or weariness
compelled us to stop. Except where we
had to yield to the deceptive river, we
had no earthly master to drive or hinder
us. Here we began to experience a new
class of annoyances. Henceforth we were
at the mercy of Siamese, and Laos officials
in neither of whom, as every body knows,
are punctuality or speed cardinal virtues.
No amount of fretting or hurrying or scold-
ing could get us along beyond a certain
pace. We had a letter to the governor,
kindly given by the authorities of Bangkok.
We found him very pleasant and apparently
disposed to aid us. But he had not been
there very long and the most of the busi-
ness was in the hands of the Palat. The
latter evidently felt his importance, and
wished to make us duly sensible of it too,
and was up to a speculation out of our
haste. After being cajoled for more than
half a week, and giving up in despair of
obtaining elephants, and deciding to walk,
a favorable change at length took place in
our prospects,and we were offered elephants
to T'ôn, with a letter to the Governor of
that place with instructions to forward us
to Lakon, and so on to Chieng-Mai.
Whether the Governor was moved with
pity at the idea of our walking, or was
afraid some difficulty might grow out of it
necessitating his coming down to Bangkok.
I do not know, I am inclined to put the
favorable construction on it, so far as he
was individually concerned, and think it
was a kind act done from a kind motive.
He said that the Siamese, and Laos, are
very extortionary and the latter would take
us out of their power, while we still might
pay whatever was proper. At any rate we
felt quite satisfied to get off quite comfort-
ably by waiting only from Thursday till
Tuesday. I have since been informed by
a gentleman who made the same trip, that
he was detained there eleven days.
It was nearly mid-day before our drivers
and guides got their rice, and tobacco and
betel, for their journey all ready and our
own portables were all stored away on
these ships of the mountains and forests,
as the camel is of the desert, and we our-
selves were mounted in fine spirits, in our
lofty howdah. Elephant riding is very
nice so long as its romance continues.
When that is gone it is still better than
walking if one is sick or tired, but I would
by no means choose it for pleasure for fif-
teen days. We often rested the wearisome
feeling produced by the peculiar swinging
motion of their gait by a walk. On two
occasions we paid dear for it too by getting
separated from them while taking a short
cut in the road. Once it was about nine
or ten in the morning and we never saw
them again till we came to our camp at
night wearied and hungry and thankful for
a travelers repose.

A few miles north of Rahang the river
forks, the Quaa Ping the left and largest
branch going on to Chieng-Mai, while the
Quaa Wang the right leads on to T'on and
Lakon. Had we continued up the Quaa
Wang the road would have been straighter
and shorter. But our guides were afraid
of the tigers on that route and took a more
circuitous one. Crossing the main river
below the fork, we ascended on the west
side of the Quaa Ping to T'o Poole. Here
we forded the Quaa Ping and crossed over
the country to the Quas Wang which we
never touched till just below Muang T'on.
We thus had to make our way, across
brooks, creeks and rivers and along the
outskirts of the great Teak forests some-
times by obscure paths but seldom traveled
and over hills and mountains. The view
from the top of one of these mountain
ridges was exquisitely beautiful. It was
near the Quaa Ping which wound its way
along its base, while beyond it to the right
and also to the left, rose range after range
with occasional peaks more lofty than the
rest.

It was while crossing these mountain
heights, or going down some perpendicular,
river bank that we began to respect so
highly the sagacity of the noble elephant.
On first approaching them we thought our
bones were too precious to be treated on
such clumsy looking animals up and down
their steep sides. We were at first simple
enough to think of dismounting to lighten
the burden of the noble beast. Had he
known our thought he would probably
have replied as the ox to the fly in the
fable. You soon learn to repose with con-
fidence on his judgment and sagacity as
well as strength. He does not put his
large foot down without a careful calcula-
tion as to its safety. When he does you
may know it is sure. By means too of his
long proboscis he gathers food from both
sides of the road and can thus travel all
day without hunger.

We usually pitched our tent at night in
some deep forest by a running brook or
bank of a river. Some of the men spun
yarns and kept watch while others altern-
ately amused and annoyed the sleepless
ones of our company by their loud
Stentorous sounds.

Either anxiety about an absent family
or the excitement of traveling or sleeping
in strange place or some other cause pre-
vented some of us from getting enough of
"weary natures balmy restorer" sleep. All
the recipes we had ever heard for courting
her gentle slumbers failed. We recited the
multiplication table, counted by the hun-
dred, said the Lord's Prayer, listened to
the gentle flow of water along some mur-
muring brook or down some majestic water
fall. I once had a lady friend who found
prayer an unfailing means of conciliating
her favor. The philosophy of it according
to her explanation was that then the evil
one was sure to put her to sleep. And
although it would not be pleasant to have
one's lullaby sung by his satanic majesty
yet the weary mind and body would some-
times hardly refuse the boon from most
any quarter.

We reached T'on on Saturday P.M. in
time to present our letter and make arrange-
ments for starting a Monday. That is as
long as any one would care to stay there.
It is situated on the left bank of the Quaa
Wang. There is nothing inviting in or
about the place except the mountains rising
in amphitheatral order to the East. Ones
first impressions of a Laos town derives
from it are not very favorable. There is
very little evidence of even the neatness
and thrift sometimes seen about Siamese
homes. It has probably somewhere be-
tween three and five thousand inhabitants.

By means of a little decision and the aid
of our letter we got off pretty punctually
by noon on Monday. We had but little to
interest us outside of the ordinary routine
of travel between that place and Lakon.
There is a more direct road to Chieng-Mai
by Muang Lee, but it is more mountainous
and dangerous and but little to be seen
besides. We decided to go by Lakon and
reached there on Friday morning. Our
fare on this portion of the journey was the
worst of any. We could not even get any
rice fit to eat but the glutinous kind of
which we were afraid to partake. What
we did get was some thing less than a cen-
tury old. It was worse for us also because
neither of us was perfectly well and not
very well qualified to relish any thing.
Our road lay on each side of the Quaa
Wang. A very marked improvement in
the country is observed as you proceed.
It is a fine country for some distance before
reaching the city. The houses are compar-
atively neat and comfortable. We first
noticed here a curious custom of stacking
the rice, till ready to be threshed, in the
forks of the trees. Here also we first met
several long droves of oxen in single file,
their burdens being carried in double
baskets placed like a pair of saddle bags
across their backs. The front one or lead-
er always has a mask fancifully made of
shells to cover the whole face with a large
pea-cock's tail extending up from it between
the horns and waving rather comically and
rather gracefully over the back. Every
thing that is not carried on elephants is
carried in these baskets all through the
Laos country. Thousands of them are to
be seen daily at Chieng-Mai. Often most
of the drove have little bells similar to
sleigh bells fastened all over them, which
adds a little to the life of the place. We
saw several very large Teak rafts on the
river below the city waiting for the rising
water to be floated down to market. On
new years morning the walls of Lakon
came in sight, where the kind Governor
furnished us with some excellent rice and
a nice pig for a new years dinner.

When the reign of Phya Tak-sin became
established, what is now called Bangkok
was denominated Kröng T'on-buree, and
sometimes Nâkawn T'on. But after the head
of the present royal family became king,
and removed the walls of the old city Ay-
uthia, and built with them a new city and
royal palace on the other side of the river,
—he being the founder, was pleased to give
it the name Kröng Râtanâ-Kosîn-t'ârâ-
Mâhîn-t'âra Yoot'îya. There are still writ-
ten documents extant referring to distil-
leries of Kröng Râtanâ Kosîn-t'ârâ, and
to gambling establishments of Kröng Rât'a-
nâ-Kosîn-t'ârâ &c. But at this time the
common use of the name has disappeared;
its use being found only in some public docu-
ments. The city is now called Kröng
T'êp'-Mâhâ-Nakawn only from the custom
of so calling the northern capitals. Any
city becoming the capital of the kingdom
was thus named. So it was with regard to
the capital of Chôw Oo-t'awng which is
now denominated K'ee-pom; it was anciently
called Kröng T'êp'â-Mâhânâ-k'awn, which
being translated into Siamese, would be
the great city (or royal city) where the
Lord of the great city resides. But if the
word Krông be translated strictly accord-
ing to the original, it means River. Hence
whoever was Lord of a river from its mouth
to its sources, that man was called Chów
Krông (Lord of the river). And the city
which he made his residence, was hence
denominated Krôông. The name of the
capital written เทพมหานคร in this way,
is in perfect accordance with the San-
skrit. But pupils of Laos tongues read it
incorrectly. The true sounds of the San-
skrit are given in the old manner of Ro-
manizing the name as follows—Devama-
hangara, but the following gives an incor-
rect representation of the Sanskrit—Debia-
mahangara. This name written in Siamese
is กรุงเทพมหานคร ฯ but at the present
day the Siamese generally write it in a short
way like this กรุงเทพ ฯ, Foreigners now
call the capital of Siam as they hear the
common people speak it, saying—go to
Bangkok, come from Bangkok, live in
Bangkok. This is now the name used by
nearly all classes of the people. No one
finds fault with it, because it is pure Siamese.

But correctly speaking, Bangkok proper
is that part only included between the
mouths of Bangkok-yai, and Bangkok-noi
creeks; because other parts are called by
other names, as Sâm plûm, Sâm-p'ong,
K'avk-k'wai, Sâm-re, Dow-k'ânawng, &c.
The reason for calling the whole of the area
included by these several places Bangkok,
is because they are all closely connected,
being, as it were, one continuous city from
Bangkok proper; and therefore they are
all included now in the name Bangkok from
K'avk-k'wai to Sâm-sên, or rather from
Dow-k'ânawng up to Bang-p'loo and Bang-
p'lāt. But these places were anciently cal-
led Sōōăn-nei (inner plantations) from
Tălăt-k'wăn down to Păklāt; and the plan-
tations on the Măăklawng were called the
Sōōăn-năwk (outer plantations). But at
the present time, the people call the Sōōăn-
nei Bangkok, and the Sōōăn-năwk they
call Bang-ch'ang. Now the town of Bang-
ch'ang has a little creek so shallow, that in the
dry seasons the water of the river does not
flow into it. That creek is called Bang-ch'ang.
But why the whole of that district should
be called by the same name, a good answer
cannot be given.

In short, the proprietor of this city has
given it the name Rátnák Kosin-t'ârá-Mâ-
hin-t'âra-Yoôt'âya. The ancient name of the
place was Tonbooree, and the revered
name is Krông Têp'k-Mâhâ-nâk'awn. But
the inhabitants of the city and out of the
city, seeing that these names are spoken
with some difficulty, prefer to call the place
Bangkok, following the custom of the mas-
ses of the people. And the name Bangkok
has become fixed on maps of the country.
It is hence proper to use this name without
any gainsaying—it is quite right. And in
regard to the towns Pâkkât and Pâknám,
they have royal names given to them, yet
the people persist in calling them by their
vulgar names, and so do all Foreigners. Let
it be so—it is quite correct that they should
be so called because they are names easily
learned. The name Ch’ach’ong-sow is Cam-
bodian: but all the people call the place
Păăt-rew, and hence Foreigners call it the
same. It is a name easily spoken, and it
is right that it should be so called follow-
ing the masses of the people.

But as to the city P'etch'ārā-booree the
masses of the people in all parts call it
P'rīpp'ree or P'et-p'ree. The name P'et-
ch'ārā booree is Sanskrit, a royal name
given to the place the same as T'on-booree,
Non-booree, Nāk'awn-K'ūn-k'ān, Sāmōōtā-
pra-kān, and Ch'ā-Chōug-sow. Now if
Māhā-nāk'awn, be called Bangkok and the
others names respectively called Tālāt-
k'wān, Pākĭāt, Pāknăm, and Păăt-rew,
it is proper that P'etch'ārā-booree should
follow suit, and be called by her vulgar
name P'rīp p'ree or P'et-p'ree.

Now that the company of teachers and
printers should coin a name purporting to
be after the royal style and yet do not take
the true Sanskrit, seems not at all proper.
In trying to Romanize the name P'etch'ărá-
booree they place the mark over the ă thus
P'etch'ă-booree making Foreigners read
it P'etch'ă-booree following the utterances
of old dunces in the temples, who boast
that they know Balăm Băli, and not satis-
fied with that, they even call the place City
P'et setting forth both the Băli and the
meaning of the word: and thus boasting
greatly of their knowledge and of being a
standard of orthography for the name of
that city.
Now what is the necessity of coining
another name like this! There is no occa-
sion for it. When the name is thus in-
correctly printed, persons truly acquainted
with Sanskrit and Bali (for such there are
many in other places) will say that those
who write or print the name in this way,
must be pupils of ignorant teachers—blind
leaders, not following the real Sanskrit in
full, taking only the utterances of woods-
men, and holding them forth (as the cor-
rect way.) In following such sounds they
cannot be in accord with the Sanskrit, and
they will conclude that the name is Siam-
ese. Whereas in truth it is not Siamese.
The true Siamese name is P'rip-p'ree or
P'et-p'ree. It matters not what letters are
used to express it,—follow your own mind;
but let the sound come out clear and ac-
curate either P'rip-p'ree or P'et-p'ree and
it will be true Siamese. But the mode of
writing and printing the name P'etchaboo-
ree, adds the letter A and marks over it and
other marks in two places, resists the eye
and the mouth greatly. Whatever be done
in this matter let there be uniformity. If
it be determined to follow the vulgar mode
of calling the name, let that be followed out
fully and accurately; but if the royal mode
be prefered, let the king be sought unto
for the proper way of writing it which shall
be in full accordance with the Sanskrit.
And should this happen not to be like the
utterances of the people in the Temples the
difference can not be great. And persons
acquainted with Sanskrit will be constrained
to acknowledge, that yon do really know
Sanskrit; and comparing the corrected with
the improper mode of Romanizing will
praise you for the improvements which you
have made. Such persons there are a few,
not ignorant and blind leaders and dunces
like the inmates of the temples and of the
jungles and forests, but learned in the San-
skrit and residents in Siam.

Do not boast that you know a little San-
skrit as do the printers, who explain the
name P'etchabooree, and call it the City
P'et.

Gems from a philosophic mine (mind.)
"We must go back in the history of mind,
till we have reached the time when it was
not yet clothed in things external, if we
would see all that material nature is to the
human soul."

This is a longer trip backward then I had
ever thought any mere man had ever at-
tempted, and I am puzzled to know where
to look for this time in the history of mind.

Perhaps our philosopher is a transmi-
grationist, and the time intended, is after the
soul has left one material body, and is pois-
ing on the wing just ready to enter another.
If at such a moment the soul be conscious
of its previous experience in the material.
I fancy its sensations would often be far
from agreeable.

Nukprat tells us that this backward trip
in mental history "requires neither the
analysis of the philosopher, nor the imag-
ination of the poet." If this be so, I sug-
gest that he take the trip himself, and give
us his experience on his return. I am sure
it will make a sensation article.

"The mind of man in the first stages of
his existence, like his body, possesses noth-
ing but life."

Will Nukprat please tell us how many
stages there are in man's existence, when
they begin, and when end, in which either
mind or body has nothing but life?

Experience is the best teacher, even in
philosophy, and as the body must be a-
mong what, in his very philosophic style,
Nukprat calls the "tangible developements
of the infinite" or one of its "ultimates"
perhaps he will consent to bring us in tan-
gible connection, with a human body in
some one of its first stages when it posses-
ses nothing but life. It might serve to
make us better acquainted with that mys-
tery we call life. Shall we have the exper-
ement?

"Consistency is a jewel," is and old pro-
verb. Here is a gem of that sort from Nuk-
prat.

" Man destitute of revelation, has in all
ages, and in all circumstances failed to pen-
etrate beyond the physical developements
of nature by which he was surrounded.
Though we must by no means suppose that
the revelation of the true God to man,
was first made to Abraham. LONG PRIOR to
Abraham The Most High God possessor of
heaven and earth was worshipped, aye, and
that too, in Sodom, the king of which, Mel-
chiscedec was His priest and who blessed
Abraham even before his call. How long
a period it took for this pure spiritualism
to be developed, history tells us not. We
are left to mere conjecture, But when we
consider the slow progress of human ideas,
we may infer that it took thousands of
years to being it to this stage."

Here certainly is a singular union.
We are first told that man alway ; and
under all circumstances destitute of revel-
ation, has failed to penetrate beyond the
physical and reach the spiritual idea of a
true God; we are then informed of that
wonderful fact in history, that the revel-
ation of the true God was not first made to
Abraham.

I wonder if Nukprat ever heard of Adam,
Enoch, or Noah.

And last of all we are told that this pure
spiritualism was developed, by the slow
progress of human ideas during thousands
of years. Now if it was revealed it did not
require thousands of years to be developed.
If it was developed by the progress of hu-
tional ideas during thousands of years, it did
not require to be revealed. Perhaps Nuk-
prat can logically and metaphysically"
develope the golden thread of unity in the
above passage. But if there is one it lies
beyond my depth.

No. 1 "Melchisdec was king of Sodom,
and blessed Abraham even before his call."
See Above.

No. 2. "Abraham the father of the faithful
was prepared to offer up his only son as a
victim, in obedience to the teachings and
practices of the sun worshippers."

No. 3. "The incense offered by the Jews,
and by the Roman Catholics, had its origin
in the original worship of the sun."

As President Lincoln would say; these
historic gems, remind me of an anecdote
told of a certain professor in a theological
school. The students were required to
prepare and deliver, before the assembled
class, short trial sermons. The professor
who presided over the exercise made such
criticism upon each discourse as he thought
best and then told the class monitor to call
the next speaker. Upon one occasion a
young man, evidently conscious of his sup-
erior ability, entertained his fellow students
by an ambitious discourse on the history of
the creation. The professors only com-
ment was, "The young man beats Moses,
call the next."

Our philosopher evidently beats Moses,
and it is about time to call the next. But
before dismissing him, I wish to inquire,
upon what data he makes Buddhism four
thousand years old. And upon what author-
ity he make Sutteeism to "exist in one of
its purest forms, and in all its integrity in
China to the present day."

If after the perusal of the above speci-
mens, any still doubt Nukprats eminent
qualification, to lecture the public generally,
and propagandists in particular, on Pagan
philosophy, I must refer them to his writ-
ings, where may be found other gems of
equal brilliancy to reward the labor of those
who will dig for them.

A knowledge of Sanskrit—of "Pali," and
of some modern languages of Hindustan
and Indo-China, would be the only means
of arriving at the origin of the ancient peo-
ple of Cambodia, who have left all these
traces of their civilization, and that of their
successors, who appear only to have known
how to destroy, never to reconstruct. Until
some learned archæologist shall devote
himself to this subject, it is not probable
that aught but contradictory speculations
will be promulgated. Some day, however
the truth will surely appear, and put them
all to flight, I myself, having nothing but
conjecture to rest upon, advance my own
theory with diffidence.

Nokhor has been the centre and capital
of a wealthy, powerful, and civilized state,
and in this assertion. I do not fear contra-
diction from those who have any knowledge
of its gigantic ruins. Now, for a country
to be rich and powerful, a produce relative-
ly great and an extended commerce must
be presumed. Doubtless, Cambodia was
formally thus favored and would be so at
the present, under a wise government, if
labor and agriculture were encouraged, and
not despised. If the ruling power exercised
a less absolute despotism, and above all, if
slavery were abolished—that miserable in-
stitution which is a bar to all progress,
reduces man to the level of the brute, and
prevents him from cultivating more than
sufficient for his own moral wants.

The greater part of the land is surpris-
ingly fertile, and the rice of Battambong is
superior to that of Cochin-China. The
forests yield precious gums, gum-lac, gam-
boge, cardamums and many others, as well
as some useful resins. They likewise pro-
duce most valuable timber, both for home
use, and for exportation, and dye wood is
in great variety. The mines afford gold,
iron, and copper.

Fruits and vegetable of all kinds abound,
and game is in great profusion. Above all
the great lake is a source of wealth to the
nation; the fish in it are so incredibly abun-
dant, that when the water is high they are
actually crushed under the boats, and the
ply of the oars is frequently impeded by
them. The quantities taken there every
year, by a number of enterprising Cochin-
Chinese, are literally miraculous. The river
of Battambong is not less plentifully stock-
ed, and I have seen a couple of thousands
taken in one net.

Neither must I omit to mention the
various productions which form so import-
ant a part of the riches of a nation, and
which might be here cultivated in the
greatest perfection. I would especially in-
stance cotton, coffee, indigo, tobacco, and
the mulberry, and such spices as nutmegs,
cloves, and ginger. Even now all these are
grown to a certain limited extent, and are
allowed to be of superior quality. Sufficient
cotton is raised to supply all Cochin-China
and to allow some being exported to China
itself. From the little islands of Ko Sutin
above, leased to the planters by the king
of Cambodia, the transport of the cotton
produce alone, employs three hundred ves-
sels. What might not be accomplished if
these were colonies belonging to a country
such for example, as England, and were
governed as are the dependencies of that
great and generous nation.

A glance at the map of Cambodia, suffices
to show that it communicates with the sea
by the numerous mouths of the Mekong,
and the numberless canals of lower Cochin-
China, which was formerly subject to it ;
with Laos, and with China by the great river.

These facts being established, whence
came the original inhabitants of this coun-
try? Was it from India, the cradle of civi-
lization, or was is from China? The lans-
guage of the Cambodians, is that of the old
Cambodians, of Khedome, as they call the
people who live retired at the foot of the
mountains, and on the table lands, and it
is too distinct from the Chinese to render
the latter supposition possible. But whether
this people originally came from the north
or from the west, by sea, and gradually
making their way up the rivers, or from
the land, and descending them, it seems
certain that there must have been here other
ancient settlers, who introduced Buddhism
and civilisation. It would appear as though
those had been succeeded by some barba-
rous race, who drove the original inhabitants
far into the interior, and destroyed many
of their buildings. At all events, it is my
belief, that without exaggeration the date of
some of the oldest parts of Ongcor the Great
temalo atond at more than two thousand
years ago; and the more recent portions
not much later. The state of decay of
many of these structures would indicate even
a greater age ; but they probably date from
the dispersion of the Indian Buddhists,
which took place several centuries before the
Christian era, and which led to the expatri-
ation of thousands of individuals.

All that can be said respecting the present
Cambodians, is that they are no agricultural
people, among whom a certain taste for art
still shows itself, in the carved work of the
boats belonging to the better classes, and
their chief characteristic is unbounded
conceit.

It is not so among the savages of the east
called by the Cambodians their elder broth-
ers. I passed four months among them,
and arriving direct from Cambodia, it seem-
ed like entering a country comparatively
civilized.

Great gentleness, politeness, and even
sociability, which, to my fancy, bore evid-
ence of a past refinement, struck me in
those poor children of nature, buried for
centuries in their deep forests, which they
believe to be the largest portion of the
world; and to which they are so strongly
attached, that no inducement would tempt
them to move.

When looking at the figures on the bas-
reliefs at Ongoor. I could not avoid re-
marking the strong resemblance of the faces
to those of these savages. And besides the
similar regularity of feature, there are the
same long beards, straight langoutis, and
even the same weapons, and musical in-
struments.

Mr Editor,

Nukprat the astute philosopher of the
"Siam Times" seems to have had his
equanimity somewhat disturbed by your
correspondent Novice. Your correspon-
dent's pen was evidently not nibbed with
a diamond, nor dipped in rose water;
and it is possible he may be more familiar
with the quadrant and chart, than with the
author's pen, he might find it less difficult
to navigate a tempest tost ocean than a
metaphysical quagmire.

But whether "scurrility" is the appro-
priate epithet to be applied to his article
your readers can judge. Whether or not
the charge of "ignorance" comes with a
good grace from Nukprat, may be safely
left to any intelligent reader who has at-
tempted to follow him through his philoso-
phic speculations. Novice at least appears
to know what he wishes to say, and this
I think is much more than can be truthfully
said for Nukprat.

But will our philosopher condescend to
the ignorance of his readers, who have not
yet reached the profound depth of his
metaphysical speculations, and tell us how
long or how high, his "one step from pure
Buddhism to Christianity" is. And how
long it will take a man of ordinary human
ability to accomplish it; or to put it in an-
other form, will he show us " logically and
metaphysically" how long according to the
laws of "natural spiritualism" it will take
to develope a good Christian out of a pure
Buddhist?

To Clear a Room of Mosquitoes.—I have tried
the following, and find that it "works like a charm;"
Take of gum camphor a piece about one-third the
size of an egg, and evaporate it by placing it in a tin
vessel and holding it over a lamp or candle, taking
care that it does not ignite. The smoke will soon
fill the room and exped the mosquitoes. One night,
not long since, I was terribly annoyed by them, when
I thought, and tried the above, after which I neither
saw nor heard them that night, and the next morning
there was not one to be found in the room though
the window had been left open all night.—

There are “Three Old Men” who, at
the present time, are prominently before
the gaze of the world. One of them is
Leopold, the King of the Belgians, once
the handsome and youthful husband of the
long lamented Princess Charlotte of Wales.
He is the Nestor of Continental politicians;
he alarms no one ; he is, as to bearing and
influence, at onco conciliatory and com-
manding. If in the heart of Napoleon and
the French nation there is a secret craving
after the annexation of Belgium, it is Leo-
pold who stops the way, and causes the
solution of the question to be postponed.
He has this Autumn been at Biarritz with
the Emperor Napoleon, and shares with
Lord Clarendon the credit of having
brought favorable pressure to boar on many
difficult questions. His daughter-in-law is
an Austrian princess, and so is listened to
at Vienna. The Queen of England
receives him at Osborne House, in the
sorrow of her widowhood finding comfort
from his fraternal presence and sympathy ;
and in matters political she and her Privy
Counsel weigh well his counsels. He has
a great horror of war, and has ere now
been tho conducting rod that has convoyed
a lightning bolt innoxious to the earth,
to be seen no more. The King of tho Bel-
gians is liberal and Anti-Jesuit; yet even
the Romish priests do not insult him, and
all parties are willing “ to wait.” He has
a wonderful discernment of human charac-
ter and motives. He owes the protraction
of his life to a surgeon in London, Dr.
Fergusson, (a Scotchman,) on whom, as a
successful operator, the grateful King has
lavished gifts. Well might he do so, for life
is sweet, even to the old.

The second of the three old men, for
whom, like the other two, Europe waits
postponing a final solution of great ques-
tions fill death has done its work—is Pope
Pius the Ninth. He was a liberal once,
and the hopes of young Italy wore swelling
and lofty as to a now era, in which Cathol-
icism, freedom, and commercial prosperity
were all to bo linked in choral dance and
song—the shootings of the vintage. The
gladness of the harvest home at hand.
But he “back recoiled'’’ at the sound of his
own armor, and by attempted compromises,
and final submission to the Jesuite and
Antonelli, he grew obstinately passive to
every proposal of reform—non possumus
being the cry. At present be is troubled
by the Italian Convention. It was not
expected. " Take any form but that," (the
King of Italy, the excommunicate," to
be, forsooth, his protector!) and my firm
nerves should never tremble."

Lord Palmerston, the last of the " three
old men," like the other two, profoundly
acquainted with the political condition of
every country in Europe. He has never
been a bigoted Tory ; he was always the
friend of the enslaved and oppressed; he
dislikes and discountenances bigotry of all
kinds, and is singularly free from bitterness
in manner or speech. See him, as I have
done, at his official residence, receiving a
Deputation protesting against the opening
of the Crystal Palace on the Lord's day,
end mark that diplomatically fixed, yet
soft blue eye, which seems so passionless
that no one could ascertain from it what his
sympathies were. It is the result of long
diplomatic experience

The Paris correspondent of the daily news
says, I must put on record that I have this
day had an interview with General Tom
Thum, Mrs Thum, the baby, and the babies
aunt Miss Minnie, I received a polite note
from the Generals private secretary intimat-
ing that although the public receptions
were over the "family" would have the
pleasure of receiving myself and wife. at a
public interview. In a handsome drawing
room, No. 95, on the third floor of the Hotel
du Souvre, we found the interesting party.
The only visitors besides ourselves, were
the Peruvian minister with his wife and two
ladies. The General, who has long been
well known in Europe, is in splendid health;
his manners are affable and unaffected, and
his toilet unexceptionable. His wife is
really pretty, and like her Lilliputian sister,
Miss. Minnie, remarkable intelligent. But
the lion of the party was the baby, a little
girl twelve months old looking the picture
of health, and without exaggeration, ex-
tremely beautiful. The face has nothing of
the dwarf about it, but my observations,
that she looked as big as an ordinary child,
was not approved by the secretary, who
assured me her weight was something very
far below the average, and lifting up the
expensive lace frock, showed me her little
feet in red morocco shoes, which are not
larger than those of a moderate sized doll.
My inquiries whether the child was expected
to grow up a dwarf met with the cautious
answer that there was "no precedent."
This is I believe true. There is I am pretty
sure no instance of such a small couple as
Tom Thumb and wife, having been the pro-
genitors of a child. I venture to prophecy
however that Miss Minnie Stratton, (that
is the name of the infant) will if she lives
to attain her majority, be nearer the ordi-
nary size of mankind than her parents, I do
not believe in the foundation of a race of
pygmies. The General is going to leave
Paris almost immediately, to fulfil an en-
gagement in England—He has not seen
the Emperor on this occasion.

The Rangoon Times records an at-
tempt to reform Buddhism made by some
of the chief Phoongyeen of Kemmendine.
Like the Protestants of Christianity and
the Brahmists of Hindooism, the reformers
seem to go back to their oldest books or
Bedagat, the three series of which minutely
describe the duties of priests and laity and,
and define the objects of faith. They condemn
the lax practices of this degenerate age,
such as priests wearing sandals carrying
umbrellas, and visiting religious theatreical
shows. The new sect seems to be the Quakers
of Buddhism. At the bottom of their re-
forms, ludicrous as they appear, there is
doubtless much Puritan earnestness. They
call themselves "Soolay Gander." Soolay
meaning the great spirit to whom the pago-
da in the centre of Rangoon is dedicated.
In Hindooism some new and earnest sect,
like the Religious Orders of Romanism, is
always rising. But it is a new theory to
see a development of earnestness within so
apathetic a crred as modern Buddhism.
We notice in the Rangoon papers the
death of Mrs. Vinton, the widow of the late
well-known American Missionary, the Rev.
Justus Vinton. The deceased and her hus-
band were distinguished by their ministra-
tions among the Syam Karens among whom
they had established schools and founded
a church.
The King of Siam's Consul at Rangoon, a Mr.
E. Fowle, writes his Majesty a curious letter acknow-
ledging the receipt of two autograph letters of the
King, and two Photographic likenesses addressed
to the Commissioner of British Burmah, and to Colo-
nel Fytche, Commissioner of Tenasserim. Besides
acknowledging them he takes the opportunity of
sympathizing with his Majesty on the death of his
"beautiful white female elephant," a misfortune
which they had not as yet experienced in Burmah.
They had however a very heavy shock of an earth-
quake recently in that province, which may be sup-
posed to counterbalance the public calamity caused
by the death of the elephant in Siam. On the whole
the letter is a remarkable production, coming from
an educated Englishman.

The Kurrachee Paper mentions the sudden dis-
appearance of one the Maldive Islands, a hundred
miles from tho Malabar coast. The Raja of Con-
nanore has lost three lakhs of rupees rental per year,
and some fisliermen who returned from sea found
the homes they had left in the morning gone.

The Report of the Secretary of the Navy in America,
which has for several days occupied a large space in
our columns, is more than the mere official summary
of a department, it is a document of historical in-
terest. It narrates the steps by which, in less than
four years of actual war, a navy of prodigious
strength has been created by a State which previ-
ously was content with the establishment of a fourth-
rate marine power, and which, by the outbreak of
hostilities, was deprived almost entirely of even its
existing fleet. Money, we are in the habit of saying,
will do any thing, and the doctrine is a comfortable
one to those who esteem theirs the wealthiest of na-
tions. But it is not the least remarkable part of the
story told by the American Naval Secretary that
this extraordinary development has been accom-
plished at a very moderate cost. The total amount
expended in the four years is only about fifty-five
millions sterling. In the mere maintenance of a fleet
actually existing we have in the same period spent
about forty-five millions. Undoubtedly there is a
lesson in these figures. It may well startle us to
find a first-class naval power spring into existence
at so short notice, but it is still more calculated to
make us ponder when we find that its fleet has been
built, manned, maintained on a war footing, occu-
pied in blockading a coast as long as that from
Gibraltar to the North Cape, employed in the cap-
ture of several strongly fortified ports on the enemy's
seaboard, and in carrying on at the same time a war
in an inland navigation of many thousand miles, and
that all this, subject to the immense disadvantage
of compulsory haste, of dislocated commerce and a
depreciated currency, has been done for only ten
millions more than our own Admiralty have in the
same period spent in keeping up a mere peace es-
tablishment.

The actual results effected by the American Ad-
ministration need, however, a closer examination to
show us their true magnitude. When war broke
out, in the early summer of 1861, the chief naval
yard, and the best of the vessel on the home station,
fell into the power of the Confederates. At the same
time the available number of seamen was reduced
to 200. Under these circumstances, the first object
of the Administration was to procure men and ships.
The former could only be slowly drawn from the
Merchant Service; for a seaman cannot, like a sol-
dier, be made by a few weeks' drill. The latter
could not be built at once, and so a large number
were purchased from the Mercantile Marine. With
these means the blockade was instantly declared.
Nor, though reaching over an extent of 3,500 miles
of dangerous coast, broken up by innumerable in-
lets, and comprising a number of excellent ports,
was it ever possible for the neutral Powers to object.
to it as not effectual. No doubt there was, as there
always is in such cases, plenty of blockade running,
as there is plenty of smuggling, in spite of the most
efficient preventive service, when the rate of prices
offers a sufficient temptation; but gradually, as the
number of vessels in the blockading force became
larger, and as the fleet successively captured the
entrances to Port Royal, New Orleans, Charles-
ton, and Mobile, the range of blockade running be-
came more limited, till it is now almost confined to
Wilmington. Mr. Welles assigns the following as
the reasons why this port has so long resisted the
efforts of the blockading squadron:

"The two main entrances are forty miles apart, and
these two are subdivided into several others, each
of which affords an entrance to vessels. The water
shoals gradually and regularly to the shore line, and
numerous isolated batteries are erected along the
coast, so that a blockade runner of light draught is
not under the necessity of making directly for the
entrance, but can, by the lead, run close under the
land protected by the batteries, and pass in over
the bar at leisure. When coming out, a steamer
will select her own time, thus securing every advan-
tage, and she can pass either up or down the coast
before making an offing, or she may proceed straight
out to sea, trusting for her escape to the night and
favouring darkness and mist, and the fact that she
is under full speed, while the steamer's blockading
must have low steam."

But the fleet, such as it was, operated not merely
on the sea coast. Squadrons of gunboats, many of
them originally passenger steamers, were organized
in the inland waters; and as soon as the fall of New
Orleans, in the spring of 1862, opened the mouth of
the Mississippi, these gunboats patrolled the whole
navigable length of that river and its affluents. It
will be remembered what important service they
rendered in the reduction of Fort Donelson, Mem-
phis, and Vicksburg, as well as the part which their
heavy guns played in may of the actions fought be-
tween the contending armies of the west. This in-
land fleet now consists, we are told, of more than
100 vessels. The service is in some respects one of
peculiar difficulty. The vessels are liable to be at-
tacked by shore batteries, or field guns, and subject
to be stranded by the sudden falling of the rivers.
The ingenuity of Colonel Bailey, of the Engineers,
on one occasion rescued the flotilla which had be-
come thus embayed on the Red River, by construct-
ing a series of dams, which, something on the princi-
ple of salmon ladders, created artificially a sufficient
depth of water to float the vessels over the bar. A
mode of warfare requiring resort to such expedients
would undoubtedly seem strange to any of our Eu-
ropean admirals.

While such use was made in the meantime of the
resources at once available, every effort was em-
ployed to push forward the construction of a larger
and more formidable fleet. From the want of a
navy yard, it was necessary to trust almost entirely
to private contractors, who, it seems, have not al-
ways fulfilled their contracts with punctuality. And
as the tables given in the report afford no means of
distinguishing vessels completed from those under
construction, it is impossible to state accurately the
present strength of the navy of the United States.
But it may be pretty safely assumed that most of
the vessels now under construction will be hastened
so as to be finished within the ensuing year, and we
may, therefore, take the statement as representing
what the force will be by the end of 1865. It ap-
pears that the United States navy will then com-
prise 671 vessels, of a gross tonnage of 510,396 tons,
and carrying 4,610 guns. Of these there are 125
steamers especially constructed for the navy, a-
mounting to 221,108 tons burden, and carrying 1,930
guns—the guns, it must be remembered, being of
a weight not known in any European service. There
are besides 71 iron-clads, of 80,596 tons and 275 guns.
Nor must it be supposed that either class comprises
only vessels fitted for coast service. There have
been constructed, since 1861, 17 screw steamers of
above 3,000 tons and from 17 to 23 guns, 11 of above
2,000 tons and 8 to 13 guns, 20 of from 1,000 to 2,000
tons and 8 to 16 guns, and 35 of from 500 to 1,000
tons and 4 to 8 guns. Of the iron-clads, two are sea-
going turret ship of 4,800 tons. The rest of the iron-
clads are, with but two exceptions, turret ships, but
are only intended for service on the coast or inland
waters. But it is highly important for us to observe
that the Americans, who have had very ample op-
portunities of considering the merits of this class of
vessels, seem to have decided that they are prefer-
able for all purposes, and this in spite of defects in
construction which Captain Coles has been able to
avoid. And it may be also noted that they have
behaved even better than their commanders dared
to anticipate, having maintained without loss their
position in the Charleston Channel for seventeen
months, although a former admiral of the squadron
had reported they could not be depended on for
such service.

All these are facts which it will become us to pond-
er, certainly in no spirit either of hostility or of fear,
but that we may measure the shortcomings of our
own naval administration by the achievements of our
American kinsmen. The story is one which Mr.
Welles may be pardoned for narrating in language
somewhat more pompous than is usually found in
our own State documents, for it is certainly one of
very singular energy and success. And if unhap-
pily the American SECRETARY of the NAVY weaves
into it some useless and irritating reproaches against
our share in the exploits of the Alabama and the
blockade runners, which have been so sore a thorn
in his side, we shall be better occupied in taking the
beam out of the eye of our own Admiralty, than in
extracting from his the mote that in some degree
blinds him to the facts.

Between years, the admission of a new State into
the Union, presenting at long intervals, was quite
an event in our national history. The preliminary
steps were chronicled and the principles involved
were discussed in the public press, and sometimes
formed the themes of embittered controversy in
political assemblies and in legislative balls.

But of late so engrossed has been the public mind
with military campaigns and a Presidential canvass,
that little attention has been given to the circum-
stance that another star has been added to the
national constellation. Nestling amidst the gulches
of the American Alps, and isolated in its remote
mountain fastnesses from its sister States, a hardy
population has erected itself into another sover-
eignty, and has inscribed its name—Nevada—The
Snowy—upon the rocky peaks whose hidden riches
have attracted the enterprising emigrant to their
sides.

This Switzerland of America, elevated some five
or six thousand feet above the level of the sea,
possesses a physical conformation peculiar to itself.
Stretching from the Humboldt Mountains on the
East to the Sierra Nevada on the West, (from the
115th to the 120th degree of longitude West from
Greenwich,) and extending from North to South
(from the 43d to the 37th parallel,) between divid-
ing ranges that separate the tributaries of the
Columbia from those of the Colorado, the drainage
of its own mountain streams is necessarily inward,
where they are collected into numerous lakes, or
lose themselves in spongy sands. In our school-
boy days this whole district was conveniently
marked in our school-atlas as a "vast unexplored
region," in the midst of which was located a lake,
only partially defined upon the map, as one upon
whose shores some daring adventurer had stood,
but whose circuit had never been made. Often
amidst the dry details of bounding the older States,
and designating their well-known rivers and moun-
tains, our youthful imagination would wander off
to that mysterious lake, would complete the circuit
of its unknown shore, would penetrate the dim sur-
rounding region, and thread the deepest recesses
of its undiscovered hills.

Even yet a large portion of Nevada might well be
marked upon the map as "unexplored," the brief
period of its settlement not having sufficed for a
full exploration of a territory nearly one-third larger
than all the New-England States combined, and
immensely more difficult to traverse. Intersected
by numerous parallel ranges of barren hills, extend-
ing from North to South, too many mountain bar-
riers have presented themselves to the toil-worn
emigrant from the Eastern States to admit of a
thorough examination of the whole country; and
wherever the latest discovery of the precious ore
promises the most abundant return for his labor,
thither the new-comer turns his steps. As a home
for the agriculturist, Nevada is not so tempting as
California. It has its fertile valleys and its grassy
fields, suitable for pasturage, but its mountains are
in general sterile and its plains barren. As a reg-
ion it would be pronounced forbidding, and its pro-
minent characteristic would be sterility.

The history of California and Nevada has strick-
ingly exemplified the amazing capabilities of our
country for rapidity and yet permanence of develop-
ment, wherever an inviting field has been opened
up to American enterprise. Four years ago Neva-
da contained a population of some six thousand;
two years ago, twenty-five thousand; last year, at
a general convention election, nearly eleven thou-
sand votes were polled; and now, though her pres-
ent population has not been stated, she places her
star as the thirty-sixth upon our national ensign.
Her rapid growth, as in the case of California, is
due of course to the constant stream of immigration
which at once set in, upon the discovery of her as-
tonishing mineral resources. In these she is per-
haps unexcelled by any portion of our country.
Gold, silver, quicksilver, iron, coal, and salt, are
said to abound in the utmost profusion and of the
finest quality. Almost fabulous stories have been
told of the wealth of this modern Ophir; and after
all requisite abatement has been made, enough
remains, of a well-authenticated character, to justify
the popular estimate of its unparalleled mineral
wealth. A year ago one hundred and twenty-five
quartz-crushing mills were in operation, erected at
a cost of from $10,000 to $100,000 each, driven by
water or by steam. The ore yields at an average
of $50 per ton, and the production is at least $15,
000,000 of the precious metals per annum.

The history of the P'ra-pra-t'on Chedee
is involved in much darkness. It is report-
ed that a finger-ring has been found in dig-
ging there, which bears indubitable marks
of having been made more than 800 years
ago. There appears to be no written do-
cument extant which throws any light upon
the question, when and why that Pagoda
was made. But there are various traditions
touching these questions; the one which most
interested the writer is, that that was once
the seat of a Rajah's rale called Phya P'an,
—that all the plains of Siam, were then
divided among many petty chiefs who were
frequently at war with one another—that
on a certain time, a collision took place
between Phya P'an and his son Phya Kong,
when being seated each on his elephant,
they fought with each other—and that the
son by one stroke of his lance severed the
head of his father from his body, and hence
won the day. But he, not long afterward,
became greatly distressed in mind at the
thought, that he had thus killed his father.
Having suffered a long time with the bitter-
est remorse on that account, a Buddhistic
oracle at length extended to him the com-
forting thought, that he might do much to
atone for his sin of patricide, by erecting on
the spot where his father fell, and also the spot
where Buddh once slept, a Pagoda reaching
above the highest flight of doves, and in
shrining in it a bit of the most sacred relics
of Buddha. With this oracle Phya Kong
was delighted, and in obedience to it he
gave all his great wealth and after life.
The present Governor of Saigon, Admiral
de la Grandière, is an enlightened and liber-
ally disposed man, and the colony is likely
to florish under his rule. He publishes a
monthly journal called the Courrier de
Saigon, devoted entirely to local news.
The last number we have seen is dated the
5th of November, and it contains some in-
formation which adds to our knowledge of
the country. The Chinese are making ex-
cellent colonists—"they have undertaken
the reconstruction of Cholen, and in six
months they have created a new town.
They are trying to substitute steam barges
for the slow junks for transport on the rivers.
They have also spontaneously instituted a
school for the French language at their own
cost.” With such help in their work, the
French will soon make rapid advances.
The Courier points out the immense
facilities presented by the harbor of St.
James, and justly says that it “offers the
only point between Singapore and Hong-
Kong where vessels can run with perfect
safety, for refuge bad weather, with
facilities for refitting.” In October last the
accounts shewed a surplus of a million
francs. Eigtheen schools have been esta-
blished, and we are told "conversions are
numerous, now that the natives appreciate
the greatness and the excellence of Chris-
tian morality. " The only item of polithe-
news confirms all that we have said above
regarding Cambodia. It appears that the
Governor of Saigon had some suspicion that
a secret treaty had been entered into be-
between the King of Cambodia and the King
of Siara. He therefore sent for the former
monarch, and the King reached Saigon on
the 25th of October. He renewed the pro-
fessions of his fidelity to the French and
seems to have satisfied Admiral de la Gran-
diére. The minor incidents of his visit are
set forth by the Courier in a passage with
which we shall conclude this article :-

"He contemplated the portrait of the Emperor
for a long time with attention and respect, but was
only withdrawn from it, to admire that of the Em-
press. He visited all the different establishments
and made numerous enquiries regarding what he
saw, and especially as to objects which he thought
might be useful in his own country. He was partic-
ularly impressed by the Imperial printing office
and the electric telegraph. He had his portrait
taken by photography and made purchases in the
different shops, not forgetting some articles of fash-
ion, destined no doubt to set off she beauty of the
ladies of the Court of Houdon."

On the 5th instant the residents of Lahore and
Umriteur met Sir Robert Montgomery at a farewell
entertainment. Mr. McLeod presided. Speeches
were made by the Judicial Commissioner in propos-
ing the health of the guest of the evening, by Mr.
McLeod in speaking of the Viceroy, by Mr. M.
Cooper, C. B., in proposing the Army and Navy, and
by General Cumynghame in replying. On Saturday
lest Sir Robert received the chiefs and gentlemen of
the Lahore Division at a farewell durbar, at which
the Rajah of Kuppurtulla, K. S. I., was present.
Immediately after, a deputation from the missionsaries
in the Punjab of all sects asked permission to present
him with a clock and a Bible accompanied by an ad-
dress in which they eulogised his impartial adherence
to the principles of religious neutrality—*an ad-
herence which was restored to Native Christians
rights too long ignored by Christian Rulers,"—and
the aid he had extended to email European com-
munities, in the erection of Churches. In reply Sir
Robert Montgomery, said:—"I value the addresses
most highly, as coming from a body of earnest and
faithful men, unconnected in any way with the Gov-
emment Service, who have devoted their lives to the
highest interests of the people, and for whose un-
wearied and self-denying labors I have been a wit-
ness. To you belongs the credit of having been the
pioneers of Education in this, as in other parts of
India; and, at the present time, some of the great
flourishing Educational Institutions in the province
and conducted by members of your body." Sir Ro-
bert Montgomery left the Punjab on Tuesday last,
and the day after observed as a holiday to enable all
classes to witness his departure.

Many years ago a celebrated Continental
physician, author of an excellent work on
the force of imagination, being desirous to
add experimental to his theoretical know-
ledge, made application to the Minister of
Justice to be allowed an opportunity of prov-
ing what he asserted, by an experiment on
a criminal condemned to death. The Minis-
ter complied with his request, and delivered
over to him an assassin, a man who had
been born of distinguished parents. The
physician told him that several persons who
had taken an interest in the family, had
obtained leave of the Minister that be should
suffer death in some other way than on the
scaffold, to avoid the disgrace of a public
execution, and that the easiest death he
could die would be by blood-letting. The
criminal agreed to the proposal, and count-
ed himself happy in being freed from the
painful exposure to which he would other-
wise have been subjected, and rejoiced at
being thus enabled to save the feelings of his
friends and family. At the time appointed,
the physician repaired to the prison, and the
patient having been extended on a table,
his eyes bound, and everything being ready,
he was slightly pricked near the principal
vein of the legs and arms with the point of
a pin. At the four corners of the table were
two little fountains filled with water, from
which issued small streams, falling into ba-
sins placed there to receive them. The
patient, thinking that it was his blood that
trickled into the basins, became weaker and
weaker by degrees ; the remarks of the
medical men in attendance, in reference to
the quality and appearance of the blood
(made with that intention ), strengthened
the delusion, and he spoke more and more
faintly, until his voice was at length scarcely
audible. The profound silence which reign-
ed in the apartment, and the constant drop-
ping of the fountain, had so extraordinary
an effect on the brain of the poor patient,
that all vital energy was soon gone, and,
although before a very strong man, he died
without having lost a single drop of blood.
Imagination has always been found a pow-
erful agent in the production or aggravation
of disease. Indeed, the fact has passed
into a proverb.

His Majesty the Supreme King is enjoy-
ing himself these evenings upon the New
Road. He starts out about 5 o'clock P. M.
and returns about 10 P. M. It is to be
hoped the presence of His Majesty may
have a salutary effect upon some of the pro-
ceedings in that quarter.

The return of His Majesty the Supreme
King from his journey by way of Nak'awn-
Chai-S66, is likely to prove beneficial to the
country. We learn upon pretty good auth-
ority that there is in serious contemplation
the cutting of a large canal direct to the
sugar regions in Ta-Chid. The contem-
plated canal is to start from the neighbor-
hood of Bang-Chak on the Klawng Bang
Hlaung. They also contemplate the con-
struction of a carriage road from Bang-
kok to Nak'awn-Chei-S66. These would
be quite an undertaken, but if completed
would be permanent blessings to the coun-
try. If they are undertaken it is to be hoped
they will be carried through.

Patience is but lying to, and riding out the gale.

A contemporary, noticing the marriages of deaf
and dumb couple, wished them unspeakable bliss.

Douglas Jerrold once said to an ardent young
gentleman, who was anxious to see himself in print.
"Be advised by me, young man ; don't take down
the shutter before there is something in the win-
dow."
A person complained to Dr. Franklin of having
been insulted by one who called him a scoundrel.
"Ah," replied the doctor, "and what did you will
him?" "Why," said he, "I called him a scoundrel,
too." "Well," resumed Franklin, "I presume you
both spoke the truth."

Mr. Jenkins was dining at a very frugal table,
and a piece of bacon near him was so very small,
that the lady of the house remarked to him, "Pray,
Mr. Jenkins, help yourself to the bacon: Don't be
afraid of it!" "No, indeed, madam—I've seen a piece
twice as large, and it did not scare me a bit."

A shopkeeper purchased of an Irishwoman
a quantity of butter, the lumps of which, intended
for pounds, he weighed in the balance, and found
wanting. "Sure it's your own fault if they are
light," said Biddy, in reply to the complaints of the
buyer: "it's your own fault, sir; for wasn't it with
a pound of your own soap I bought here myself that
I weighed them with?"

A letter of credit was demanded of M. de Roths-
child for the Empress, the terms of which it was de-
sired should be different to the ordinary letter of
credit. M. de R., who has a witty turn, it appears,
though he might afford, from his wealth, to do
without such an article, wrote the following curious
circular letter:—"M. de Rothschild of Paris begs
M. de Rothschild of Frankfort to place at the dispo-
sition of the Countess de Monterau himself and for-
tune."