The Bangkok Recorder.

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Telegrams.

SOME interruption to the Indo-Euro- pean Telegraph has prevented any late telegrams coming on to us by this Mail. The Ceylon papers are silent as to the cause of the interruption. Bombay Te- legrams to the 10th instant have been received, but merely say, without giving dates, that the news from Europe was of a generally cheering nature. The fol- lowing have not appeared before:

LONDON, JULY 25TH.—-The commence- ment of the armistice between Austria and Prussia dates from yesterday. A great naval engagement has taken place in the Adriatic Sea between the Italians and Austrians, resulting in the destruc- tion of the Italian iron-clad vessels. Both sides claim the victory. The negotiations for an armistice between the Austrians and Italians continue.

JULY 25TH.-—Austria and Italy have agreed to an Armistice for eight days. Breach between Johnston and Congress, dissensions in Cabinet.

JULY 27TH.—-Government agreed to advance conditionally £600,000 to Mad- ras Irrigation Company. Reform Riot renewed yesterday—-Mob made demands.

THE following is a summary of news by the present Messageries Imperiales steamer:—-

THE COURT.—-The Prince and Princess Christian left Osborne for Cherbourg and Paris, from thence they proceed to Swit- zerland. The Princess Louis of Hesse has been again safely confined of a daugh- ter. Her Majesty is at Osborne.

PARLIAMENT.-—The Ministry have been engaged in their re-elections, and the Commons have not in consequence been able to sit.

THE NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE.-—Very little that can be relied upon is known as to the negotiations set on foot by France, either as regards an armistice or a definitive peace. The Paris Moniteur chides the expectant world for its im- patience, and points out that the negotia- tions cannot go on entirely by telegraph, and that it takes a courier three days and three nights to pass from Paris to the Prussian head-quarters. The Vienna Press, however, states that the propos- ed mediation of the Emperor Napoleon is for the present at an end.

THE WAR IN GERMANY.—-The Battle of Koniggratz, fought on the 3rd inst., and noticed in our last issue, of the 10th inst., completed the ruin of the Austrian army. The central advance of the Prussians was at Brunn on the 12th inst.

their second army was pushing forward between Olmutz and Brunn; and the third corps is approaching Vienna to the west by Iglau and Znaÿm. Prague is also in the hands of the foe. In the west of Germany, the Federal forces have sus- tained two defeats at Kissingen and As- chaffenburg, and the Prussians were close on Frankfort, whith city had been quit- ted by the Diet.

FRANCE.-—The Empress and the Prince Imperial left for Nancy on the 15th, the Emperor being detained in the capital by the critical state of Europe. Great naval preparations are making, and a powerful fleet is ordered to rendezvous at Toulon. The MONITEUR has cautioned the Press against disseminationg false news.

RUSSIA.-It is stated that the Czar will maintain his neutrality in the present conflict, should no foreign Power inter- fere in Germany. Troops are said, how- ever, to be concentrating on the Silesian frontier and in Bessarabia.

HOLLAND.—-The Parliament has not yet assembled. Vice-Admiral May is dead. A society has been formed with the object of acceleration the moral and social progress of the Javanese.

PAPAL STATES.—-A New York bank- ing firm has been commissioned to nego- tiate a loan for the Pope. Cardinal Mat- taucci is dead.

MEXICO.-—Matamoros has capitulated, and the Republicans are preparing to at- tack Tampico.

WEST INDIES.-—Mr. Eyre has not yet left Jamaica. The crops are excellent in all the islands except Grenada.

SOUTH PACIFIC STATES.—-Admiral En- calada is appointed commander of the Chilian—Peruvian squadron. All Spanish residents have been expelled from the Chilian territory. The Chilian Banks have offered to lend the Government six million dollars. A line of telegraph is to be established across Ecuador, Peru, Bo- livia, and Chili.

MISCELLANEOUS.-—H. M. S. AMAZON and steamer Osprey have been sunk by a collision and a few lives lost. General Peel, the new Secretary of War, has or- dered the conversion of our Enfield's into breech-loaders. The captives in Abys- sinia have been again delayed. The Jamaica Committee insist on the trial of Governor Eyre for murder of Mr. Gordon.

All Securities are generally depressed, owing to the uncertainty of the proposed peace. The London Banks are all quiet, and several favourable reports have been issued. The Birmingham Banking Com- pany have however failed, with liabilities of neary £2,000,000.

France.

The Naval preparations appear to be serious. The MESSAGER DU MIDI con- tains the following from Toulon, dated in the evening of July 9:—"The ar- mour-plated squadron has just anchored in the roadstead, coming from the Hyeres Islands. The address of the despatch ordering this movement was in the hand- writing of the Minister of Marine him- self. A later despatch has come order- ing a maritime levy throughout the entire 5th maritime arrondissement, the stop- page of the disarmament of the small vessels of the flotilla, and the immediate armament of four steam-vessels of the reserve." Further we learn:—"A Go- vernment despatch directed to the mari- time prefecture of Cherbourg orders the immediate levy of the disposable men of the classes 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, and 1865 in the first maritime arrondissement. The same despatch orders the armament of four steam vessels—Napoleon, the Bayard, the Fontenoy, and the Ville de Nantes. Another despatch directs that the plated division under the command of Rear-Admiral Le Ronciere Le Noury, consisting of the Magenta, Flandre, Herione, and the advice-boat Forbin, should put in three months' provisions, and spare stores, and proceed without delay to Toulon."

United States.

A dreadful fire has occurred at Port- land, burning nearly half the city, and rendering 2,000 families homeless. The fire has destroyed property to the value of $10,000,000. Gold on the evening of 5th inst. 153⅞.

Latest

THE NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE.—M. Benedetti, the French Ambassador, and the Count de Barral, Italian minister at Berlin, have accompanied the King to the Prussian head-quarters at Brunn. Negotiations are in progress there for a truce of three days and not for an armis- tice. An attaché to M. Benedetti left Brunn on the 14th for Vienna. The Berlin official STAATSANKZEIGER of yester- day says:—"The assertions of various newspapers that Prussia has demanded the cession of Bohemia and Moravia as a condition of peace are entirely unfound- ed. A glance at the map shows that the possession of these countries by Prussia would not be a source of strength, but of weakness; national interests also would render such an acquisition undesirable. The aim of the policy of Prussia is direc- ted towards the establishment of a new Confederation and the convocation of a German Parliament. Connection with countries only in part appertaining to Ger- men nationality would place obstacles in the way of the assembling of the Parlia- ment. The Paris CONSTITUTIONNEL has an article blaming certain journals for seek- ing to induce the French Government to acquire territorial enlargement in order to balance the increase of territory ob- tained by Prussia.—-STRAITS TIMES.

Wise Sayings by Josh Billings.

Our newspapers are afflicted with the writings of a race of bad spellers, who are very popular just now. We fail to see the wit in their poor orthography, but Josh. Billings says some good things in spite of it. Here are some of his "affair- isms," &c.:—-

-—The principal differense between a luxury and a necessary is, the price.

Wise men don't expeck tu do awa with the visissitades ov life, they onlr expeck tew blunt the edge ov them.

"Honesta is the best polisay," but don't take my word for it, tri it.

Most of the advise we reseve from others is not so much an evidense of their affekshun for us, as it is an evidense of their affekshun for themselves.

What a man spends in this life he saves; what he don't git want ment for him, and what he saves, he loozes.

When a feller gits a going down hil, it dus seem as that every thing had bin greased for the okashun.

If there was nothing but truth in this wurld, a fool would stand just as good a chance as a wize man.

Rize arly, work hard and late, live on what yu kan't sell, giv nothing awa, and if yu don't die rich, and go tu the devil, yu ma sue me for damages. N.B.—-The above remarks are not intended to be permanent.

We are ap tu hate them who won't take our advise, and despise them who do.

It is dredful easy tow be a phool—a man kan be one and not know it.

Real happines dont consist so mutch in what a man dout hav, as it due in what he don't want.

Marrin for love ma be a little riskey, but it is so honest that God kant help but smile on it.

Thare are a great multitude ov indivi- duals who are like blind mules, anxious enough to kick, but kant tell whare.

It is highly important, when a man makes up his minde tow bekum a raskall, that he shud examine hissela closly, and see if he aint better konstrukted for a phool.

Every time you forgive a man yu wea- ken him and strengthen yourself.

The great art in writing well is to kno when to stop.

After a man has rods. fast onse, he never wants tew go slow agin.

Great from Little.

Did holy life consist in one or two noble deeds—some signal specimens of doing or enduring or suffering—we might account for the failure, and reckon it a small dishonor to turn back in such a conflict. But a holy life is made up of a multitude of small things. It is the little things of the hour, and not the great things of the age, that fill up a life like that of Paul and John, like that of Rutherford, or Brainard, or Martyn. Little words, not eloquent speeches or sermons, little deeds, not miracles, nor battles, nor great or mighty martyrdoms, make up the true Christian life. The little constant sun- beam, not the lightning: the waters of Siloam, that go softly in their meek mis- sion of refreshment; not the waters of the river great and mighty, rushing down in torrent noise and force, are the true sym- bols of holy life.

The avoidance of little evils, little sins, little inconsistencies, little weaknesses, little follies, little indiscretions, and im- prudences, little foibles, little indulgen- cies, of self and of the flesh, little acts of indolence or indecision, of slovenliness or cowardice, little equivocations or aber- rations from high integrity, little touches of shabbiness and meanness, little bits of covetousness and penuriousness, little exhibitions of worldliness and gayety, little indifferences to the feeling or wishes of others, little outbreaks of temper and crossness or vanity; the avoidance of such little things as these go far to make up at least the negative beauty of a holy life.

And then attention to the little duties of the day and hour, in public transac- tions, of private dealings, or family ar- rangements; to the little words and tones; little benevolences or forbearances or tenderness; little self denials and self- restraints, and self-forgetfulness; little plans of quiet kindness and thoughtful consideration for others; to punctuality, and method, and true aim in the order- ing of each day—these are the active de- velopments of a holy life, the rich and the divine mosales of which it is compos- ed. What makes your green hills so beautiful? Not to the outstanding peak or stately elm, but the bright sward which clothes its slope composed of innumer- ble blades of slender grass. It is of small things that a great life is made up: and he who will acknowledge no life a great save that which is built up of great things, will find little in Bible characters to ad- mire or copy.—-BONAR.

The Famine.

The first breath of English opinion on the famine in Orissa has reached us. When the frightful blundering and cul- pable want of fore-sight which have re- sulted in as many as four thousand deaths from starvation in one week, are report- ed, and it is known that the Governor General was compelled to order the Ben- gal Government down from Darjeeling to do its duty on the spot, a cry of in- dignation from England may be expect- ed. A correspondent, who has just re- turned from the scene in Orissa assures us that, had all the rice which has been rotting on the beach been sent into Oris- sa by Gopaulpore, across the Chilka Lake, it would have reached the markets in the interior in safety and in time to have preserved hundreds who have crowded into Cuttack and Balasore only to die. Meanwhile, in England, Colonel G. T. Haly, who long commanded a Madras corps in the Northern Circars, has republished the statement in which we sounded the alarm and urged a gen- eral subscription so early as the begin- ning of April last, as the basis of an ap- peal for contributions to the "Orissa Relief Loan Fund" to be expended on works of irrigation and roads which will prevent the recurrence of a calamity like the present while relieving the sufferers. The officials and missionaries in Orissa have worked with almost superhuman energy, but they acknowledge they can do little to overtake the mass of misery outside of the great stations. Mr. Raven- shaw, the Commissioner, ought to be re- lieved from other duties, that he may de- vote all his time to organising wider measures of relief, and to supplying more detailed information than that which trickles through the Board of Re- venue. There is more need in Orissa for a special Commissioner like Baird Smith than there was in the North-Western Provinces in 1860.61.

—Up to the 11th instant the Bengal Government has assigned Rs. 8,08,399 in all for relief of the famine. The re- lief operations continue in full activity in the three Districts of Orissa. In Cut- tack alone more than 3,000 deaths are attributed to the Famine in the week ending 1st July. At Balasore 10,816 persons were on an average relieved daily in the fortnight ending 23d June; from 2,231 of these it was found possible to exact some slight work; 1,032 mounds of Rice and Rs. 2,048 in cash were expen- ded in the fortnight. The deaths attri- buted to starvation were 768. In Poree the daily average number relieved was only 1,124, of whom did no work. The expenditure of rice in the week ending 23d June was 77½ maunds; of money only Rs. 100. 69 deaths are re- ported. Mr. Barlow says large numbers get food from the various religious esta- blishments of the town.—-F. OF INDIA.

Dr. Duff on Foreign Missions.

After describing Keshub Chunder Sen's Lecture on Jesus Christ, Dr. Duff made an appeal for missionary candidates. Upon this point, there are some perhaps who might turn round on me and say,— "Why don't you set the example, and go yourself?" The old members, the fathers and brethren, know me; I would not need to make such a remark to them, for they know me better. But others who do not know may wonder that I am speaking here and not on the banks of the Ganges? Let me say this in one word. Restore me, if you can, such a reasonable portion of health and strength as would lead me warrantably to expect to work there again,-—do that, and I tell you solemnly there is not an amount of moral suasion in the Free Church, or wealth within the bounds of the British empire, that would detain me in Scotland, (Great Cheering.) I have had ties in Scotland, and I know the poignancy and heart-breaking feeling of tearing one's self away from these ties: but when my mind was made up, thirty-seven years ago, that it was my duty to go, God who put that into my mind, put it also, into my heart to tear myself away from the sobs and sighs of weeping parents and brother, and sisters, and surrounding friends; and when I came home a second time, He enabled me to tear myself away not only from these, but from my own children. I have no such ties in this country now. There are children whom God Almighty has made his own and provided for. I have still friends in this country, God be praised; but the distance across continents and oceans would not dissolve their bonds. I have properly no home in this country now. I feel as an expatriated exile in my own native land ; I never can feel myself at home on the banks of the Forth as I did on the banks of the Ganges. I have no home, properly speaking. I have a residence, but it is a cold and desolate lodging house, not a real home. I have no ties to detain me a day in this land—-no ties beyond the dust of one, my friend, my councillor, and in quiet, noiseless, and unobtrusive ways the light of my eyes and the strength of my right arm. I have no ties to detain me here now; and if this As- sembly will not help in getting the men who shall go forth to work-—if the men are exhausted—-if they are not to be found, and if the Church is obliged to confess to the Foreign Mission Commit- tee that they are not to be had, and that therefore, one or other of our mission stations must be abandoned—-if this is to be the case, and the proclamation is to go forth that as we can no longer get men to go forth to work, but must be satisfied to get men to go forth as witnes- ses and martyrs, ready to die, and in dy- ing to bear testimony to the grandeur of this missionary enterprise—-if you are to issue this announcement this night—-if I know my own heart, I will be the first to offer my services, ready to go forth and without delay.

Oh, dear friends, would to God I could speak as my heart now prompts me. We have among us material resources enough and to spare. I must hold, with that Bible in my hand, that Edinburgh, Glas- gow, Aberdeen, or Dundee, could, any one of them, maintain all our existing missions and extend them greatly, with- out themselves suffering any loss(Cheers.) We have the men among us also, with energies yet undeveloped; we have the men with the strong hearts of our stur- dy national character. Looking at the ages that are past, do we not find that the indomitable spirit of civil liberty embodied itself in one representative man—the Bruce of Bannockburn? Do we not find in subsequent ages the spirit of religious liberty embodying itself in another representative man, the still mightier Knox of the Reformation? And if we were true to our own creed, after all the victories achieved by this Church, what is there to prevent the in- domitable spirit of an aggressive evan- gelism over the realms of heathenism, embodying itself in another representa- tive man, who would be a greater hero than either of the other two, and thus give us a triumvirate without a parallel among the nations? Looking abroad over the wide world, and perceiving the seething, simmering condition of the na- tions, may we not exclaim—-"Behold all things are ready!" Ah! friends and brethren, what then ought to be our re- solution this night? Up—up, onward—- onward, forward—forward, under the banner and leadership of the Saviour King! Oh! His head-—ah, that precious head!-—already are many crowns-—the crown of dominion over the kingdoms of creation, providence, and grace; the crown of dominion over the hierarchies of heaven, and the potentates of hell; the crown of dominion over the Church mil- itant on earth, and the Church trium- phant in glory. But one crown is want- ing still; it is the crown of all the earth; and all here present this night may be privileged to share in the honour of placing it on His head-—F. OF INDIA.

Velocity of Mechanism.

Fan blowers are frequently run with a velocity of 4000 turns per minute, while the usual velocity of cotton spindles is between 6000 and 7,800 turns per minute. These are the highest rotary velocities with which we are acquainted in ordinary mechanism, but M. Arago, in measuring the difference in the velocity of light while passing through air and through water, wished to give a revolving mirror a velo- city of 8000 rotations per second. This he was unable to do; with the most deli- cate and perfect arrangement of cog- wheels he was able to impart only 1000 revolutions per second to his mirror. M. Foucault, by substituting for cog-wheels a delicate turbine acted on by a steam jet, raised the velocity to 1500 turns per second. M. Arago, by removing the mir- ror and turning the spindle alone, achiev- ed a velocity even by the use of cog-wheels, of 8000 turns per second-—equal to 480, 000 turns per minute.

That spindle, therefore, turned 80 times while an ordinary cotton spindle is turn- ing once! This is the highest rotary velo- city of which we have any account.—- SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN.

VANITAS, VANITATUM!—-A gold cof fin set in precious stones now encases the body of the second King of Siam, aged thirty-seven, brother of the reign- ing sovereign. It is deposited on a throne, to await the day of the solemn funeral, which, according to the cus- toms of Siam, will not take place for a year.—-N. Y. Observer.

Bangkok Recorder.

Accusers of the king
of Cheangmai.

It appears that three of the Laos princes concerned in accusing the king of Cheangmai of plotting to throw off the yoke of Siam and taking that of Burmah instead, are now in town, and that having been duly convicted of originating and circulating entirely false accusations against the king of Cheangmai, have been sentenced by the king of Siam, to perpetual degra- tion from their princely honors and civil authority. Their names are Chow Hong-na—who was but a few days since 2nd king of Cheangmai, Chow Racha-Wong, and Chow Racha-Boot. The latter is to be detained here in Bangkok; the other two are allowed to return to their own country but not permitted to reside at the capital.

A post line to Cheangmai.

It has occured to us that all this Cheangmai affair would probably have been prevented, and the consequent great trouble and anxiety it has made to the Siamese Government, and the great expense of time and life of the king of Cheangmai and his retinue in coming hither to prove his innocence avoided, had there been a weekly or semi monthly post line from the Laos capital to this city. Cheangmai though not more than 400 miles distant by measurement, is virtually four times that distance from us in consequence of the utter absence of postal facilities, the want of any thing like a public road, and the extreme difficulty of stemming a strong current and cross- ing the series of falls in the river in the Laoe country. Such being the case, an affair like that which has just been settled has peculiar facilities, (being so far from the central govern- ment) for springing up and growing to very formidable proportions ere the strong hand of the government can be laid upon it. Now a post line, such as we have suggested, would virtually diminish the distance three fourths, and instead of but once in three months, or four or five months, which probably is the more usual experience, intelli- gence would be received from each other semi monthly. Had there been in operation a railroad between the two capitals during these last two years, thus virtually bringing them into close proximity, how could those false accusers of the king of the Laos have made a quarter of the trouble and done the quarter of the damage they have? Now a post line is the third best improvement below a rail- road (a common road being the second) and it could be established with vastly less expense.

It seems to us high time for Siam to commence some postal system among her chief cities in all her States and tributary Provinces. How weak would the governments of the western nations become by cutting off all their postal systems? Why, they would relapse into mere pigmies compared with what they now are. And Siam will and must be accounted a mere dwarf among nations if she do not begin in earnest to make improvements in this direction. It appears to us that at Cheangmai are centering great commercial as well as civil interests. The vast teak forests of the Laos belonging to Siam are now being opened, and the timber cut in them must be brought down the Me- nam to Bangkok. There is every probability that this city will, but a few years hence greatly out-rival Maul- main in the teak trade. And more- over, most of that Laos country is favored with a rich soil well adapted to the growth of rice, cotton, carda- mums, coffee, tea, and many other important articles of merchandize. We are informed too, that the country is more densely populated even than Siam proper—that the several tribes of Laos at the North and Northeast of this city, who are tributary to Siam, are even more numerous than the Si- amese themselves. If so, how import- ant that some far more speedy modes of inter-communication than now exists between these Siamese subjects and the central government should speedily be opened.

When the great telegraphic line between Rangoon and Singapore, with a branch to Bangkok is in operation, as we think it will be some two years hence, we believe it will become a prolific mother of other lines in vari- ous parts of Siam, and we prophecy that the one to Cheangmai will be the first born. But let not the authorities of the two capitals delay longer the establishment of the cheap post line which all governments in Europe and America have had in operation for scores of years. The true order to be observed in making this kind of, im- provement is, first to establish the post lines, second common roads, third Telegraph lines, and fourth iron rail- roads with their iron clad steam horses.

Petchaburee No. 9.

Paddy fields in Potohaburee are seldom if ever sown, because the far- mers find that they are far more likely to reap a good harvest from rice trans- planted. What would a western farmer think of the tediousness of transplant- ing every stalk of wheat which he would have grow on a twenty acre lot? It would be exceedingly difficult if not impos- sible for even the most experienced of these native rice growers to calculate with sufficient accurateness when will be the best time for sowing. If the seed come up and there should be a fortnight of drought immediately suc- ceeding, it would perish. Or should the rains fall so abundantly as to over- flow the young paddy entirely, it would likewise perish. The seasons are such, that there are usually two or more dry spells between the first abundant fall of rain in May or June, and the still more copious fall in September and October. These latter rains are the most important and usually the most reliable. But it is then too late to think of getting a crop of grain from seed sown so late in the season, for rice needs at least 5 months of time to grow from its first sprouting to "the full corn in the ear." And as the native farmers have no means of sufficient power by which they can irrigate ex- tensive paddy fields in times of drought, they manage to have the rice growing very thickly in patches, or nurseries as we call them, and these being in comparatively a small compass they can prevent from injury in times of drought by artificial watering. For these nurseries they seek the lowest localities about the fields in the imme- diate neighborhood of some pond or near the river or canal where water can always be had with which to ir- rigate them. Having prepared the ground for the seed by ploughing and harrowing it until it is all in a semi- fluid state, they scatter the seed upon it so that it shall come up as thickly as it can stand. But they always sprout the seed before sowing. This appears to be the work chiefly assigned to women. You will see them out with their baskets full of the sprouted paddy in the latter part of May or first of June, going to sow their paddy nurseries in various parts of the great fields. Being sprouted and sown on thin mud it never needs to be covered. This sprouted rice they call kla, and the sowing of it they denominate tok kla,—that is, casting the sprouted seed. If the water be quite turbid, and the seed be covered by it, it will rot. But if the water be clear, as it usually is in some localities, the sprout- ed seed will do well even when entirely covered with water, because the sun light, being not intercepted, causes it to flourish. Hence whenever there is too much turbid water standing on the nurseries at the time of sowing it has to be drawn off, and this the farmers usually do by bailing it out, sometimes by means of the common well sweep and bucket, and sometimes by basket scoops or common baskets spread over with a kind of pitch and swung on stakes so that a slight swing causes them to dip up two or three gallons of water at once, and then another tilt throws it over the embankment on the outside of the patch. A boy or girl, not more than 15 years old will easily bail out by this means two gallons of water at a time, averaging we would judge 15 gallons a minute. We have many times seen this contrivance at work, and could not but admire its simplicity and efficiency. Whenever the nurseries begin to suffer from the want of water, the farmers irrigate the patches in the same way from the river, canal, or pond near by. By such means they keep the plants flou- rishing at all times, awaiting a favor- able time for transplanting them into the larger fields. Whenever the plants are at any intermediate state between 12 and 20 inches tall, they are thought to be of suitable size for transplanting. If shorter than 12 inches they are too liable to become covered with water, which would destroy them, and if longer than 20 inches they are too top-heavy to stand firmly in the water with their tops above it. The proper time, in- dicated by abundant rains, may come in June, August or September. It requires, we are informed, a great amount of practical experience to plan well so as to have the nurseries in the right state of growth for the trasplan- ting season; and hence the farmers ar- range to have several patches of nursery plants of different ages in a growing state to meet the necessities that may arise.

The fields into which the rice plants are to be planted are first prepared for them much as the nursery patches are prepared for the sowing of the sprouted grain. When the wet season seems to have been fully established, and the water in the fields is standing from 6 to 10 inches deep, then is the time for men women and children to turn out for the work of transplanting. It is called dam na—literally to dive into the rice fields; for they plunge the roots and ⅔ or ¾ of the stalks under water. The divers or planters have bundles of fresh pulled rice plants scattered here and there over the field. Being thus prepared, each transplanter takes a handful of plants in his left hand and wades into the water, and then sepa- rating 3 or 4 stalks from his handful he takes them with the toes of his right foot and crowds the roots down into the mud with surprising quick- ness much more so than we could in our boyhood days display in planting a hill of Indian corn. He then takes another bunch of 4 stalks and plants it about 10 or 12 inches from the other; and thus he goes on measuring the dis- tances with his eye as well as he can, in- tending to have the plants 12 inches apart each way in the best ground, and from 8 to 10 inches in that which is poorer. Now does not this appear to be a process for planting large fields intolerably tedious? And yet many hands seem to make a light work of it. It is said that an experienced trans- planter can complete a lot of one rei per day—-equal to a little more than three tenths of an acre.

It is indispensable to the success of the crop after the fields have been thus planted, that there should always be water enough on each lot to keep the ground thoroughly drenched. The best crops are reaped from lots that are after transplanting, kept continual- ly inundated to such an extent as that ⅓ or ⅔ of the stalks are under water until nearly the time of the full corn in the ear. Even from that time to harvest, though the fields continue to be thus inundated, the crop will not usually suffer, unless there come a strong wind and cause it to fall over into the water. Much of the rice reap- ed in the province of Ayuthia last year was, as we are informed, cut while standing a foot or two deep in water, and that some of it was injured by falling over into the water and sprouting.

The more we have looked into the business of growing Rice in Siam, the more are we impressed with the precariousness of the work. We once had the impression that the soil and climate of Siam are so well adapted to the growth of this grain that it would grow with but very little cul- tivation or anxiety on the part of the farmers. But such is not the fact. The crops are not only very liable to be cut off by either too much or too little water, but also by ground worms and a kind of land crab. They assail the roots of the plants soon af- ter transplanting, and sometimes make great havoc among the fields. Sometimes their work is done so early in the season as to leave still good hope that the damages may be main- ly repaired by replanting the patches and fields which have been thus de- stroyed.

Field hands are employed usually for ploughing, harrowing, and planting the rice fields at the rate of from 8 to 10 ticals per month. In times of a great scarcity of laborers, or when some peculiarity in the season has made it indispensable to press on the work to completion with all possible dispatch, the farmers will of course pay much more for help.

Sometimes hands are employed by the season, which extends from the be- ginning of the wet season in May to the end of threshing out the grain in December or January. A com- mon price for a good hand for such a season is one koyan of paddy be the same worth more or less. The pre- sent market price of the best paddy is 51 tical per Koyan.

The transplanting of the paddy is sometimes let out by the job at 30 cents a rie or 77 cts. per acre.

A rie of good soil will yield 50 buckets of paddy, and the poorest lots 25 buckets. The cultivated fields are all taxed by the rie each rie paying 21½ cents per annum.

Manners and customs of the
Cheang Mai Laos.

The Cheang Mai Laos are quite a hale looking class of people as com- pared with the Siamese. And judg- ing from the few hundreds of them we see here now and have formerly seen, they appear to be somewhat taller and stouter.

A large majority of the men are thickly tattooed from the umbilicus down to a little below the knees, and are hence denominated black bellied Laos to distinguish them from another tribe living East of them who are call- ed the white bellied Laos simply be- cause they do not tattoo their abdomen. One of the Laos princes told us a few days since, that persons of his class seldom follow this singular custom as they do not reckon themselves a- mong the class born to take the rough and tumble of life, and very rarely to become soldiers. But that other class- es of the males follow the fashion be- cause they glory in being men and not women—-men who can fight like the de- vils that are pictured on their abdo- mens and thighs, and run like deer when occasion calls, through jungles and swamps with but little to cover their tattooed nudity. That prince says that there is no religious element con- cerned in the custom. He says that it is a painful operation, and that some die in consequence of it. The colour- ing matter which it deposites under the cuticle is made chiefly of soot and hogs lard or cocoanut oil. The usu- al fee for tattooing a single person is two ticals. But when figures are re- quired demanding more of the skill and time of the operator, the fee is conse- quently a good deal more. It requires many sittings or more properly lying to complete the job on one man.

The dress of the males is very much like that of the Siamese and their heads also display the same peculiar tuft. But the dress of the Laotian women is very unlike that of the Siamese wo- men. The main article of their dress is a very peculiar petticoat—-made al- ways of four pieces sewed together so that their seams pass around the body. The upper piece is white about 6 in- ches wide; the next below is red, 12 inches wide; the next 24 inches black shaded, with motley colours, the stripes being an inch wide; the bottom piece is red and 14 inches wide. The ends of the garment thus made are sewed together, and when placed on the per- son is kept in its place just as the Si- amese do their panoong, by using the white strip for a belt as a band of a sheaf of wheat is twisted and tucked in under itself. The women very generally have a white, yellow, or pink sash which they tie around their chests. It is curious to notice the uniformity and universality of the female dress. The higher classes vary the style a lit- tle by inserting a very showy strip of wrought silk next above the bottom piece.

These Laotian women wear their hair long, and dress it neatly by put- ting it up in a roll on the back part of the head. It is, perhaps, this style of dressing their hair more than any oth- er peculiarity, which makes them look better than Siamese women com- monly do. Even those who serve as cooks for the king and other princes appear so neat in the prosecution of their business, that it gives one a good relish for the dishes they prepare by simply looking at them while thus engaged. Their cooking utensils are mostly made of copper. Iron rings from 8 to 12 inches in diameter sustained in a hor- izontal position by four iron legs 8 in- ches long form their fire places. Their rice pots, spiders, tea kettles &c. are placed on these portable stoves and fire built under them.

We observed that a number of the boats belonging to the retinue have quite a quantity of teak blocks on their bows brought down for use in cooking for the king and his family. The men were splitting them up into small pieces for the women. Their axes are exactly of the shape and size of the iron wedge with which in our youthful days we split wood and rails They are used with great power in split- ting, but must, we think, be quite awk- ward to chop with.

LOCAL.

We had the pleasure of receiving a small European mail on the 27th ult. per British Steamer "Seewoon". And from one of our Singapore Ex- changes of the 18th Aug. we have copied in our present issue some inter- esting European intelligence.

Mr. Albert Tucker and Chia Ah Hin came as passengers on the "See- woon."

A. M. Odman Esqr. and Mr. Per- eirs left for Singapore as passengers on board the Siamese Str. "Chow Phya" on the 25th ulto.

The steps at the landing in front of the Protestant Chapel, we have observed for a long time, are getting much out of repair. The last sabbath they seemed so bad as to render it a good deal hazardous to ascend and descend upon them. Allow us to en- quire whose business it is to see that they are repaired.

ELOPEMENT.—We learn that the wife of H. A. Gardner Constable to the British Consulate in this city, eloped and fled the country under the pro- tection of Captain Kruse, master of "Orestes" a Siamese bark.

A SIAMESE MARRIAGE.—Koon Noo son of the late governor of Ayü, his was to-day married after Siamese style to a niece of His E. Chow Phya Ka- lahome and daughter of Phya Souri- wong Wieyawat. The bridegroom we think is a cousin of his bride. The new married couple are to reside in a house built for them by the father of the bride in the vicinity of the old homestead

Surveying Siam.

We have been credibly informed that a certain European Engineer—-a professional surveyor, has recently of- fered his services to the Siamese gov- ernment for making a scientifical sur- vey of the rivers of Siam and other parts of this kingdom, and that his proffer has been rejected on the score that there is not yet sufficient necess- ity for such a work to justify the ex- pense to which it would subject the government. We know nothing of the merits of this surveyor and consequent- ly can form no opinion on the question of paying him $500 per month for which it is said, he has proposed to serve. We can only say, that if he be a thorough man in his profession, with strict hon- esty and temperance as his security, the Siamese government might well afford to employ him on those terms. The work which he proposes to do is one of the gravest importance to the prosperity of this kingdom. The Siam- ese government should feel deeply humbled in view of the fact that it has never to this late day of her boast- ed enlightenment had any accurate surveys made of any one of her four noble rivers, nor of the precise local- ity, surroundings, and boundary of more than half a dozen cities, towns, or countries among all her many States and tributary Provinces. How can she deserve the name of being an enlightened government while per- sisting in such ignorance of her own territory? As well might a surgeon be said to be enlightened in his pro- fession, who has never studied anato- my, and has only a vague conjecture of the nature and locality of the bones, muscles, nerves, and blood vessels of the human system. Let not the gov- ernment think of excusing herself longer from inaugurating thorough surveys of her country on the ground of pecuniary expense. Such a plea, it seems to us, would be void of any good reason. It would only prove that the money which has been flowing in- to the kingdom to an extraordinary amount during these last 8 years, has [............] on such works as do not at all [....] the country. We would counsel that all such expendi- ture be stopped and the public money devoted to making internal improve- ments in good earnest.

Visit to the ruins of Cambodia.

After having passed to the other side of the river of Siemrah, we en- countered in the forests the ruins of two other places which present the same combination of a royal and priest- ly residence as in the towns of Nakhon Luang and Nakhon Watt. The royal city bears the name of Patru Ta- Phrohm,—the citadel of Ta-Phrohm and the priestly one is called Prasat Keoh, the gem tower. The ancient kings removed to this place after the destruction of Nakhon Watt and Na- khon Luang, and there still exists a long chain of traditions which connect the first and second period of Cambo- dian history, distinct indications of which are given by the names them- selves.

The last king of Nakhon Luang lost his reign because he had erected the four faced figure of Phrohm to keep off the snake god, who till then had been the protector of the country, and the first king is called Ta Phrohm, ancestor or Grand father Phrohm.

This statue still stands in one of the corridors in a mutilated state, but sufficiently well preserved to show that the hair has been tied up in the Bhraminical fashion. One of the principal ornaments on roofs and bal- conies is the vigorous figure of Kruth Garuda, the inveterate enemy of the Nagas tearing a viper in his hands.

The outer wall of the Patru Ta Phrohm is only a mound of earth, but the two inner circles are built of stone. A line of passages and doorways leads up to the palace, composed of an in- tricate labyrinth of low and narrow corridors enclosing small courts and running out in small turrets, at the ends between a convolute of chambers of different sizes and filled with clusters of pillasters. Most of the columns are richly ornamented, and on each of the portals is sculptured a scene referring to some event in Hindu Mythology. The whole pillar is often a mass of sculpture from the base to the capitol.

The style of architecture is less col- ossal than that of Nakhon Luang, but the ornamental approaches in elegance the master pieces which embellish Na- khon Watt, and as in this latter place the honey suckle border everywhere decorates the columns by which the pointed arch is supported.

The columns are clothed with ara- besque which have been carved out of the stone, and mostly enclose in their curvatures the representations of Rosi or Thevada or Thephanon a figure frequently mistaken for a Buddha. The palace at Patru Ta Phrohm was surmounted by thirty-five towers some of which are still stand- ing, but most of them lie in ruins. The stones are not so much hewn as really polished, and they fit together without mortar. The spires on the roofs stand in groupes of five forming a pancha Prauda like the ancient buildings ascribed by the Malays to their Hindu princes.

Prasat Keoh the adjoining temple monastery of Patru Ta Phrohm stands on a broad flat hill, to the summit of which leads several flights of steps un- der covered passages. The forest has here reclaimed its own and destroyed the work of human hands, so densely has the luxuriant jungle shot up in this formerly cultivated place that for every step a path has to be cleared by a cutlass. The plan of the buildings is that of a cross four turrets with gates at the four points of the horizon surrounding a fifth one, and each of those turrets opens again in four gates placed at right angles. The temples as well as the broad terraces on which they stand are composed of large stones which although consisting for the most part of hard slate, are as neatly fitted together as the soft grey stone of Nakhon Watt. Ornaments are very sparingly used and sculptures of men and animals outside are want- ing. The temple is said to have con- tained the famous image of a single Emerald, or more likely Jadestone, like the present one called Phra Keoh about which a great number of wild legends are current in Siam and Cam- bodis, originating perhaps in the re- membrance of the wonderful Jasper image of Ceylon, which was carried by the priestly sculpture Nantch overland to China in the fifth century and care- fully preserved.

The arrival of Nantha Anon or Ananda plays still an important part in the traditions of the Cambodians, who distinguish him very well from Gautama's favorite disciple of the same name.

The original of Phra Keoh was perhaps the Jasper image of Ceylon described still by Fa Hean, which had already attracted the attention of the Chinese in the first century.

In the neighborhood of Phra Keoh is an artificial lake called Sa Song, the royal lake, which was built by the kings Patru Ta Phrohm for their re- creation and surrounded by pleasure houses. It is now covered with lotus and aquatic plants but still supplies the villages scattered in the forest with water as there is no other near. It must have been a work of immense labour, and fills the beholder with doubtful wonder when he compares these witnesses of former centuries with the present state of the country. The whole of the population of Cam- bodia of to-day would scarcely be able to raise one of these gigantic structures which abound in ruins.

The Burmese lake Oungbenteh comes in no way near to that of Sa Song, which may perhaps be placed by the side of the Ceylonese works of irrigation. The lake of Sa Song is of oblong shape about 2000 feet broad, and 4000 long, surrounded by a high embankment of solid masonry. Some of the blocks are from 14 to 16 feet long and highly finished. In conven- ient places square platforms overhang the water, with broad flights of steps leading down to it, and on such places the huge masses of stones laid on each other are embellished with delicate chisellings bearing the figures of ser- pents, eagles, and lions in three fabul- ous shapes as Nagu, Kruth, Sinto, on the ends. In the middle of the lake is a small island with the remains of a former palace upon it.

Of all the figures used for ornaments that which occurs most frequently is that of the Nags, and the Chinese of- ficer who visited Cambodia in 1295 has described already the pillars of the stone bridges adorned with serpents each of which has nine heads.

Returning to Siemrab on the left hand of the river I passed two other remains of antiquity Laitan and Ba- kong, both of them now converted into convents, that is to say, the priests have built their low and tottering cells between these splendid ruins which they were not able to repair.

At Laitan a large square platform is supported by three terraces of cut stone, ascending one above another on the highest point of an inclined plain which stretches away from these to low grounds on the bushy horizon. In the height of the rainy season these are covered with water, and in this lake boat races and boat fights were annually held, as the tradition says, the king of Inthapatsburi looking on from the terraces of Laitan. A simi- lar contrivance existed at Arnnapoorra in Birma.

The stones of which the terraces of Laitan are composed are huge blocks symmetrically cut and joined together with great accuracy. A broad flight of steps guarded by lions leads up from the side on one abutment: upon the platform stand in two four Praasat built up with bricks upon the free- stone which forms the foundation and the lower stage. The bricks are ex- ceedingly hard and made in a manner not understood now by the people of the country. They are polished and laid upon each other in so neat a manner that no trace of mortar can be dis- covered.

The folds of the stone gates are covered with intricate carvings of re- buculated ornaments, great care being bestowed on even the minutest portions of the design and in the niches ad- joining statutes of warriors stand sen- tinels. The surface of the stone which forms the portal is in every case elaborately sculptured to present one scene or other of mythological import.

The most magnificent inscriptions I have ever seen cover the door posts from top to bottom in a nearly perfect state of preservation, the letters are three quarters of an inch long and cut half an inch deep into the hard stone. A another stone inscription is found on both sides of a flat stone set upright.

The most interesting feature at Ba- kong, one hours distance from Laitan, is a hill built up artificially upon a natural base in the style of the Mexi- can Teocalli. It rises in terraced lines and bears the remains of a square alter upon its level platform where a wide view opens out over the surrounding country. The foot of the trunested pyramid is surrounded by ten praasats most of them with pedestals inside on which the statues of the gods were formerly placed. These are wanting now, but some of them are heaped up in idol houses close by. Mutilated figures of elephants, lions and dragons stand on the steps, and the stone gates are embellished with ornamental designs arabesque in the same way as at Laitan. In the carvings of the portal stone, the central place is al- ways occupied by a Gorgon head on the face of a Rakshaka called on ac- count of its peculiar form Rhea by the Siamese and Cambodians artists. This is sometimes identified with Rahu, on according to Cambodian Savans with Rembu Chutung whose head when cut off by Vishnu's Chakr had already imbibed the immortalizing liquor. It resembles somewhat the hideous mask on the calender stone at Mexico and in the sculptures at Palengu. Bakong was built for the reception of Phra Kho (the holy ox) which associated with Phra Kheo (the holy gem) is continually alluded to in Cambodian history.

As the Chinese in the middle ages after Bhraminical rites had been intro- duced by the Tamulians remarked of the kings of Ceylon, that they looked with equal reverence on the Ox and on the image of Buddh, so it was with the kings of Cambodia, and even now a days the form of Sevas bull lies on the sacred hill of Udong, at the feet of the temple of Gautama, whose sym- bol was the ox in the Syara Malaya. It is said that the people never ate the cow nor killed it. The Buddhistic priests to conceal the fact that the ox had been worshipped, are accustomed to say that it was used as a library and kept in reverence on account of the holy books placed in its belly. I found no inscriptions at Bakong.

Of the ruins which I visited after my having navigated the Thalesab in the province of Battabong, I will only mention those of Watt-ek, which con- sists of a monastry, rising on a square platform, formed by stone terraces above the swampy ground surrounding it. Banon which forms a fortified temple on the top of a steep hill amongst wild and romantic scenery, and Basak which was formerly a royal residence, with considerable remains of walls, palaces, temples, houses and streets all built or paved with stone, and in some places repaired with bricks. Sometimes to strengthen the structure beams of a hard kind of iron wood (chiefly at Watt-ek) are fixed into the masonry, but in such a way as only to become visible after the outer stones have fallen down by some accident.

The Cambodians who accompanied me thought that some of the great slabs were not natural but manufac- tured on the spot, and I remember to have seen such an opinion proffered about some ancient temples in Assam, as for instance the stone pillars at Dhemapoor. Of the immense rocks which enter into the construction of Nakhon Watt, tradition says, that they had first been soft and by some pro- cess hardened after being placed there. The guides point to the traces of the fingers which the gods when they re- moved left on the stones, taking for such large holes which originally served to insert the fastenings of the lead or other metals with which the building was roofed, or for the ma- chinery to hoist them up. According to the Chinese account in the 13th century the palace of the Cambodian kings was partly tiled with lead and partly covered with yellow bricks.

Inscriptions are only found in Basak and Watt-ek not in Banon, but the ornamental sculptures of portals, gates, and columns are equally exquisite on the three places. Banon was formerly ly as it is said the seat of Bhraminical rites, and there are now families of Bhramins settled in Cambodia as well as in Siam and Birma, chiefly as astrologers in the royal service. They have an alphabet of there own, copies of which I have procured, but the letters bear little resemblance to those of the inscriptions. Amongst the statues frequently occurs that of the Inan bearer in the form of the popular hero, Kotabong, whose name (tabong) disappeared, Bat at Battabong written wrongly Phra tambong by the Siamese.

The natives enumerated many other towns which according to their ac- count contain ancient ruins in bricks and stones, and it appears that they are spread over the whole valley of Mekhong as far a Laos, but as their relative position could only be under- stood on a map, I limit the catalogue to two communications which were given me on reliable authority, as the 2nd King of Siam told me, that there are some stone ruins at Phra Mai (probably Chieng Mai) near Raxasama the capital of the province of Korat, built on the model of the temple of Nakhon Watt, but in smaller dimen- sions.

The king had not visited Nakhon Watt himself, as there prevails a mys- terious fear throughout Siam and Cambodia to approach this hallowed spot; but several of his people who accompanied him to Chieng Mai had been at Nakhon Watt and were struck with the resemblance.

A French missionary who had pass- ed several years amongst the savage tribes of Stien, describes to me exten- sive stone ruins which exist on the islands of Kosatin on the Mekhong three days upwards from Panompen, they consist of four large towers or- namented with sculptures, and have an ancient kind of letters inscribed on them very like by the Akson Miking as in the other places at Udong.

I saw in the principle Watt, two inscribed stones which had been brought from some ruins half way on the road to Kampot.

The Origin and History of

#The Needle Gun.

The following account of the origin and history of the needle-gun is nar- rated by the Paris correspondent of the Liverpool Journal. Everything rela- ting to the terrible instrument has a special interest at the present moment.

If the Peace Society had offered a re- ward for the invention of the best means of putting a speedy end to war, the prize might certainly be claimed by the inven- tor of the needle-gun, which evidently proves to be the secret possessed by Bis- marck, and to which he has so often allud- ed as ensuring a successful termination of the struggle with Austria. The news of the complete defeat of the latter, after a terrible combat in which the whole forces of both parties were engaged, has filled with dismay even those who had hoped for this very result; for it is owned that neither to superior bravery nor skill, nei- ther to superior numbers nor advantage in ground, is the victory owing, but simply to the employment of the needle-gun. This arm, which has shown itself equal to the task attempted in vain by philosophy and reli- gion, that of staying the combatants and arresting the progress of war, has a history exactly similar in all points to that of every other invention. It is well known to be the produce of the long study and perseverance of an English officer who, while stationed at a solitary outpost in Canada, amused his leisure hours with ex- periments in the rough construction of a substitute for the rifle which he had dam- aged by letting it drop down a precipice while in pursuit of a bear. It was almost by accident that the discovery became palpable to the solitary hunter in the woods. But no sooner did it become manifest to his senses than he resigned his commission in the army, returned to Europe, and, as a matter of course, hurried to the War Office with his invention, certain of its adoption in the English army, from its evident superiority over the old-fashioned weapon in use. For more than a year was the inventor kept in suspense. The Enfield rifle met him at every turn. He was bandied about from one official to another during all this time merely to be told at last that Government did not feel disposed to alter the principle of the arms employed. It was then that in disgust he brought his invention to Paris, and by even a more bitter mockery of fate than in London he obtained an in- terview with the Emperor, who listened with the greatest apparent interest to the description of the gun, examined the plans and sections brought by the officer, much questioned the superiority of the invention over others which had been laid before him, declared it seemed to him liable to the great objection of being too delicate for field use, and abruptly sounded the little gong which stands upon his bureau, and, lightly rising when the usher entered at the summons, dismissed the visitor to admit other inopportunates. It was then that with the undaunted perseverance of inventors in general, he betook himself, armed with his needle-gun, to Holland, whose Sovereign had always manifested great interest in the advancement of gun- nery, and who had first become the pur- chaser of a steel caullker to repair instan- taneously the damage caused by the en- emy's shot in ships' sides, which, being the invention of a poor carpenter's jour- neyman, had nevertheless found its way into the royal presence, and been accepted without the smallest attempt at bargain- ing. But, when arrived at the Hague he found that his resources had dwindled away to such an extent that he was com- pelled to delay his presentation to the King for want of proper costume to appear in. Meanwhile, he became accidentally acquainted with one of the gentlemen at- tached to the Prussian Legation at the Hague, and to whom he recounted his bitter grievances. This time was he lis- tened to with interest. The brother-in-law of his new friend held some appointment at the Court of Berlin. War and revolution were already floating through the air. He saw at once all the advantage which might accrue from being the first to present a new and valuable instrument of destruc- tion to Bismarck so determined to destroy, and he lost no time in repairing with the Englishman to Berlin. Here the way was open—the hour had come, the needle-gun was tried, examined, and accepted in the shortest possible space of time—the inven- tor handsomely rewarded and encouraged to establish himself in Prussia. We have seen the result in this terrible encounter with the Austrians, where courage, skill, prudence, and valour were of no avail against the needle-gun, which for a long time served as the laughing-stock to every ETAT MAJOR in Europe, and which has now become an object of envy to all. The Austrian cavalry, which by sheer in- trepidity managed to break one or two squares of the Prussian infantry in spite of the needle-gun, did so at an enormous sacrifice of life, and proved beyond all doubt that both cavalry and infantry have found their master in the terrible weapon employed by the Prussians in this war.

The odds in favour of the needle-gun are easy enough to calculate. The Prussians can fire three rounds a minute: if four minutes' march be the usual time allotted for a bayonet charge, the Austrian foot- soldier must have stood four-and-twenty shots before he could have a chance of meeting the enemy hand to hand: and, should he give way to take the full spring forward, he must of necessity have been struck down. With such certainty of des- truction as that provided by the needle- gun, all question of right and justice be- comes unnecessary.—-STRAITS TIMES.

MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG CHICKENS. —A writer in the New York TIMES says: "When the chickens are hatched, if be- fore taking them from the nest you would oil the top of the heads of the chicks, you will destroy all the lice there are in the brood; for as soon as two or three chicks are hatched, all the lice up- on the hen leave her, and quarter them- selves on the heads of the chicks, and the oil will kill them; and then with clean quarters for the chicks on a start, and a thorough cleaning of the coop each week, you will not fail to raise your brood."

THE BULLET AND DISEASE.—The Pro- vost-Marshal General has furnished the War Department with various statistics of the war in which the casualties in the Union service during the war are set down as 280,737, distributed as follows: Officers killed in action, or died of wounds while in the service, 5,221; en- listed men do., 90,868; commissioned of- ficers died from disease or accident, 2, 821; enlisted men do., 182,329. It will thus be seen that nearly one hundred thousand more men died from camp and other diseases, than were killed and died from wounds.

DR. CHALMERS instructs us to "Live for something." Do good and leave behind you a monument of virtue that the storm of time can never destroy. Write your name in kindness, love, and mercy, on the hearts of thousands you come in contact with year by year; you will never be forgotten. No; your name, your deeds will be as legi- ble on the hearts you leave behind as the stars on the brow of evening. Good deeds will shine as the stars of heaven."

DURING one of the battles on the Mississippi, General Pillow called out to a Captain Duncan, in his usual pompous, solemn manner, "Captain Duncan, fire!—the crisis has come." Duncan, without saying a word, turn- ed to his men, who were standing by, their guns already shotted and primed, and simply called out "Fire!" The men were slightly surprised at the or- der, their being no particular object within range, when an old grey-head- ed Irish sergeant stopped up with, "Plaze yer honor, what shall we fire at?" "Fite at the crisis," said Dun- can, "didn't you hear the general say it had come?"

Results of the Constantinople
Cholera Commission.

The Commission chosen from the members of the International Sanitary Conference have drawn up an able and comprehensive report, after a laborious session of two months. The questions of the origin, the naturalization, the trans- mission, and the propagation of cholera were examined in all their aspects, and the Commission have embodied the facts collected in the course of the inquiry, and the conclusions obtained, in a docu- ment which will rank hereafter amongst the most valuable authorities on the sub- ject of special diseases. The Commission formed itself into six sections. The gen- erating origin of the disease was assigned to the first, its transmission and import- ation to the second; the circumstances and intermediate agents of such transmis- sion to the third, while the fourth under- took to examine the influence of large gatherings of human beings on the inten- sity and propagation of the disease. To the fifth section was given the task of resuming the facts thus ascertained, and of deducing from them means for arres- ting the progress of the disease, and the labours of the sixth comprised the special study of the epidemic of last year.

The inquiries of the first section were directed towards India, regarded as the birthplace of cholera since its first ap- pearance in Europe. The disease, traced to the earliest periods of Indian history, seems to have disappeared towards the close of the last century, reappearing in 1817 in the new and formidable charac- ter of an invading pestilence. It spread beyond the immediate confines of the peninsula on several occasions in the years immediately succeeding 1817, but it was not till 1830 that it found its way to Europe. This invasive tendency, ob- serves the report, gave to the cholera the character of a new disease. Since that fatal epoch it has constantly threatened mankind, not by any distinct or "fatal" route, but by following the footsteps of human beings as their passage offered opportunities for its conveyance. It has in no instance moved faster than the human stream, while the rapidity of its progress has increased in proportion to the increased speed of communication between distant countries. For this rea- son, the Commission emphatically re- pudiates the notion that the seeds of the disease can be carried by the atmosphere. Reverting to India, the Commission de- clares its decided and unanimous opinion, that every invasion of cholera since its first appearance originated in India, the birthplace of the malady, and where it constantly remains in an endemic state. In unison with the general opinion the basin of the Ganges is declared to be the focus of disease, and Calcutta is desig- nated one of its principal strongholds; but others are enumerated, amongst which are Bombay and Arcot, near Mad- ras.

The habits of the Hindoos and the vast and reckless assemblages at Jug- gernauth and elsewhere form, in the opinion of the Commission, a quite suf- ficient explanation of the extent and per- tinacity of the Indian cholera.

The Commission, thus agreed in fixing the origin of the cholera in Hindustan, is almost equally unanimous in denying that it originates or is permanently dom- iciled elsewhere. It is admitted that in the countries bordering on India the dis- ease is so frequently present as almost to appear endemic, but this frequency is probably owing to the proximity of the centre of the disease. The question of the Hedjaz is especially and carefully examined. It is allowed that the district is at all times liable to sporadic cholera, and the epidemic in its worst form has shown itself very frequently during the period of the pilgrimage. But the Com- mission decidedly, and with the excep- tion of Dr. Goodeve unanimously, rejec- ted the notion that cholera had at any period been spontaneously developed in the Hedjaz.

The vital question of the transmission of cholera which forms the next subject of inquiry, is carefully and fully handled. The report traces the line of choleraic progress on various occasions, and shows it to have concurred directly with the line of march of human beings. In some instances it distinctly followed the march of armies. In America its first attacks have in every case been made in the sea- ports. Instances are given from several choleraic periods showing the precise mode in which the epidemic was brought from place to place by human beings. In the advance of last year it travelled from the Hedjaz to Paris in three months and a half, and its course, in accordance with the usual traveling route, can be clearly followed. In various remote spots of Germany, too, its advent strictly coin- cided with that of travelers from infect- ed spots. It even appears that vessels arriving from infected places may import the disease, even though no person on board be affected by it. One instance of this occurred last year, when the cholera appeared at Guadaloupe immediately af- ter the arrival of a ship from Marseilles. No case of the disease was on board, yet no other vehicle of contagion existed. The cases of importation by choleraic vessels into the small islands of the West Indies and the Indian Ocean, are extreme-

ly numerous. On this point, therefore, the Commission unanimously decides that the cholera is propagated by man, with greater rapidity as the locomotion of man himself becomes more active and rapid.

The transmission of cholera by human agency is further proved by the progress as well as by the first importation of the disease. The development at Constan- tinople last year followed the course of communication between the several quarters of the city. In the villages of the Bosphorus its appearance was nearly in every case contemporaneous with the arrival of infected persons. The ap- proach of even a diarrhoeic patient may, according to the report, introduce cholera in its worst form. Further proofs are ad- duced from the success of strict quaran- tine in effectually barring out the epide- mic. Sicily and Greece are instanced as having been thus preserved last year,—- to which the Commission might have ad- ded Tunis. Passing from man to his companion or his property, there appear to be no good grounds for suspecting the lower animals to be agents in choleraic transmission. It is, however, very differ- ent with inanimate objects which have been in contact with human bodies. Lin- en which has been used by cholera pa- tients, is pronounced to be a most dan- gerous vehicle of the disease. Washer- women have accordingly in every instance been especially liable to attack. Clothes brought from a distance have turned out to be the cause of choleraic visitation in remote places where the appearance of the epidemic was at first altogether in- explicable, and even ordinary goods which have in no way served as clothing may transmit the malady. On this most important point the Commission declares "that all effects of which use is made, coming from an infected place, and es- pecially those used by patients, may transmit the cholera, even though kept from contact with the air; and further, that every article coming from an infect- ed place should be considered as suspect- ed. In the category of objects especially dangerous are to be considered human corpses.

The effect of the disease on gatherings of human beings is the next subject of examination. The special gatherings from which danger is to be apprehended are these religious pilgrimages, the great fairs of the East, and armies. On the first the Commission expresses a strong opinion. Whilst exonerating the Hedjaz pilgrimages from the charge of origina- ting the evil, it transfers the accusation to the pilgrimages to Juggernauth and the other great religious gatherings of the Hindoos. The cholera, endemic in the country, is developed and propagated by those large gatherings of persons with- out regard for life, decency, or safety, and whose religious prejudices are above all others at once the most provocative of disease and the most difficult of man- agement. After these gatherings, the disease becomes epidemic in the greater part of Hindostan, from whence under favourable circumstances it spreads to the outside world. Armies also are fav- ourable to the reception of the contami- nation and apt to carry it with them. But troops are less liable to dispersion than other assemblages, and the risk is there- fore more limited. It is otherwise with the great fairs, from whence the disease, if once imported, is liable to be exten- sively dispersed. The Commission con- cludes on this point that "these three great human conglomerations are one of the most certain means of propagating cholera, that they constitute the great epidemic foci which import the disease into the places which they traverse, and that the attacks of the disease upon these conglomerations—-commonly very violent—in most cases rapidly disappear. The Commission adds that the disease may be arrested by dispersing these gath- erings of human beings, but the danger of its transmission elsewhere is thereby increased.

With reference to the faction of the epidemic upon masses of human beings, the Commission has collected some curi- ous facts. The mortality, it would ap- pear, is not so great as might be expect- ed on board ship, and is still less in the lazarets. From the latter, however, it is apt to spread to the neighbouring towns. Instances are quoted of high rates of mortality in vessels at sea; one of those mentioned being that of the French fleet, which suffered greatly from cholera dur- ing the Crimean war, but such cases are considered exceptional. Those who have lived through a violent choleraic visita- tion, are less liable to danger on the re- turn of the epidemic, and may, according to the report even be said to enjoy a species of immunity from infection. The ambient air is the great vehicle of conta- gion, but acts as such at only a short dis- tance from infected persons. A porous soil impregnated with matter from a dis- eased patient is a special source of mis- chief, and may even renew the contagion after the disease has become apparently extinct. The Commission examines the period of what is called the "incubation" of cholera, the time elapsing between the reception of the poison into the frame, and the earliest manifestation of diarr- hoea. This period appears never to ex- tend beyond a few days. Finally, the Commission observes that the real nature and cause of the origin of cholera can only be determined by strict inquiries instituted at its birth place in the basin of the Ganges.—FRIEND OF INDIA.

CORRECTION.

In the Tide Table of the Bangkok Calendar for 1866 for May, June, Au- gust, and October, for High read Low, and for Low read HIGH.