very few days after the change in the monsoon, the natives are busily engaged in fishing in these very spots, although they are entirely unconnected with any pool or running streams. This has been explained by Mr. Yarrell as owing to the existence of buried spawn, by others as caused by the fall of fishes from clouds-an electric phenomenon of which there exists sufficient evidence, but not applicable to the case in question; and Sir James remarks that the fact is no longer doubtful that fish in Ceylon, like some of those that inhabit similar waters both in the New and Old World, have been endowed by the Creator with the singular faculty of providing against the periodical droughts, either by journeying overland in search of still unexhausted water, or, on its utter disappearance, by burying themselves in the mud to await the return of the rains. The individual which is most frequently seen on these excursions in Ceylon is a kind of peroh-a fish which has even been known to climb trees (Anabas scandens)-a fact known to the Arabian travellers. The fish that bury themselves in mud in Ceylon, like the protopterus of the Gambia and the fish of the Mareb, one of the sources of the Nile, proved to be of the same species, or closely resembling it. The mud-banks that are deserted by the tide at the mouth of the Euphrates were observed in places to be covered with small fish basking in the hot sun of those latitudes, and it was only when disturbed that they buried themselves in the slime. (Researches in Assyria, Babylonia, &c., p. 135.) Certain fishes exist in the hot springs of Kannea, in Ceylon, at a temperature of 115 deg. Fishes, it is to be observed, have been found in hot springs in Barbary with a temperature of 172 deg., and in Manilla with a temperature of 187 deg. But even this is trifling compared with the fishes which Humboldt saw thrown out of a volcano in South America, at a temperature of 210 deg., being two degrees below the boiling point! Owing to the combination of heat, moisture, and vegetation, the myriads of insects in Ceylon form one of the characteristic features in the island. The golden elytra of gorgeous beetles are used to enrich embroidery, whilst the lustrous joints of the legs are strung on silken threads, and form necklaces and bracelets of singular brilliancy. Some of the Elaterida and Lamellicorns exhibit hues of green and blue that rival the deepest tints of the emerald and sapphire. The dragon-flies are preeminently beautiful. Butterflies of large size and gorgeous colouring flutter over the endless expanse of flowers, and frequently "the extraordinary sight presents itself of flights of these delicate creatures, apparently miles in breadth, and of such prodigious extension as to occupy hours, and even days, uninterruptedly in their passage; whence coming no one knows; whither going no one can tell." Sir James describes a tortoise-beetle as quite startling from the brilliancy of its colouring, which gives it the appearance of a ruby enclosed in a frame of pearl. The moths are very large, and some of great beauty. One of them attains the dimensions of nearly a foot in the stretch of its superior wings. Another, the richly-coloured Acherontia Satanas, utters a sharp and stridulous cry when seized. Scavenger-beetles are to be seen wherever wanted. Ant-lions help to This does not appear to be the fish noticed by Theophrastus as found near Babylon, and which, when the Euphrates runs low, leave the dry channels in search of food. These were only met with where the river was tidal. diminish the race of predatory insects; unclad natives fly precipitately from the vicinity of wasp-nests; while soothsayers (Mantida) and stickinsects (Phasmidæ, or spectres) excite the wonder and admiration of Europeans and natives alike. Among the noxious insects, ants take the first rank. And first among them for destructiveness are the termites, or white ants, but ants only by a misnomer. Neither house nor furniture can be secure from these depredators save by constant watching. "I have had," says Sir James, "a case of wine filled, in the course of two days, with almost solid clay, and only discovered the presence of the white ants by the bursting of the corks. I have had a portmanteau in my tent so peopled with them in the course of a single night that the contents were found worthless in the morning." Common ants are like the sands of the sea. They are everywhere; in the earth, in the houses, and in the trees; they are to be seen in every room and cupboard, and almost on every plant in the jungle. The most formidable of all are the great red ants. They drop from the branches upon travellers in the jungle, attacking them with venom and fury, and inflicting intolerable pain both upon animals and man. The ravages of the extensive family of Longicorns are also painfully familiar to the cocoa-nut planters. The larvæ of some of these beetles are esteemed a luxury by the Malabar coolies. The coffee plantations are in a similar manner devastated by the so-called coffee-bug (Lecanium Coffea). Of all the insect pests that beset an unseasoned European, the most provoking by far are the truculent mosquitoes. Sir James, alluding to a notion entertained by Herodotus, and by the entomologist Spence, that they will not venture through the meshes of a net, even when an inch square, says, amusingly enough: "I have been satisfied by painful experience that (if the theory is not altogether fallacious) at least the modern mosquitoes of Ceylon are uninfluenced by the same considerations which restrained those of the Nile under the successors of Cambyses." Connected with these insect annoyances, the ticks must not be passed by unnoticed. A shower of these diminutive vermin will sometimes drop from a branch if unluckily shaken, and disperse themselves over the body, each fastening on the neck, the ears, and eyelids. If torn from their hold, the suckers remain behind and form an ulcer. Scolopendræ also abound, and attain nearly a foot in length. But of all the plagues which beset the traveller in the rising grounds of Ceylon, the most detested are the land-leeches. Such is their vigilance and instinct, that on the approach of a passer-by they may be seen amongst the grass and fallen leaves poised erect, and preparing for their attack on man or horse. Sir James gives a laughable sketch of the manner in which these creatures advance to the assault. Once upon the traveller, they can insinuate themselves through the meshes of the finest stocking, not only seizing on the feet and ankles, but ascending to the back and throat, and fastening on the tenderest part of the body. Both Marshall and Davy mention that during the marches of troops in the mountains, when the Kandyans were in rebellion in 1818, the soldiers, and especially the Madras Sepoys, with the pioneers and coolies, suffered so severely from this cause that numbers of them perished. Generally speaking, it is he who comes last who fares worst, as the leeches, once warned of their approach, congregate with singular celerity. What between fleas, which may be seen in myriads in the dust of the streets, or skipping in the sunbeams which fall on the clay floors of the cottages, mosquitoes, ants, centipedes, ticks, and land-leeches, the enjoyment of a country so favoured by nature must meet at times with grievous checks. Still we are far too much enamoured with it not to wish that we could follow Sir James Emerson Tennent in his able and compendious abstract of Singhalese chronicles, his account of the progress of science and arts, his elaborate sketch of the medieval and modern history of this remarkable island, and his lively and graphic descriptions of the country from personal explorations of its forests and its ruined cities. Although we have been obliged to limit our curiosities to the works of nature, equally strange things are to be met with in the works of art the rock-temples and rock-fortresses, the artificial lakes or tanks, dagobas, tombs, colossal statues, cities and palaces, and patriarchal trees, that abound throughout the island. * In reference to India, we have further before us a work of more humble and modest pretensions, yet one that exhibits great good taste with exceeding beauty of illustration. It professes to delineate rural life in Bengal. And hence its pages are mainly occupied with the description of river and rural scenery, and by a detailed account of the palatial residence of Mr. Forlong, and his extensive indigo plantations at Mulnath. But the work is so prettily illustrated, and the account of rural and domestic life in India is so novel to most English people, that we can recommend it as one among the many pretty gift-books of the season. TO ELIZA COOK. A BIRTHDAY GREETING, 24TH DECEMBER, 1859. (With a coloured Picture of a Robin singing among snow-laden Holly-boughs.) BY W. CHArles Kent. THIS trivial leaflet-type of love The bird of winter, whose warm heart Each sings with joy, and still shall sing- Rural Life in Bengal; illustrative of Anglo-Indian Suburban Life; more particularly in connexion with the Planter and Peasantry, the varied Produce of the Soil and Seasons; with copious details of the Culture and Manufacture of Indigo. Letters from an Artist in India to his Sister in England. By the Author of "Anglo-Indian Domestic Life," "Rough Notes of a Rough Trip to Rangoon," &c. W. Thacker and Co. PEDEN THE PROPHET.* AMONGST the works of fiction which the season has brought forth, our attention has been called to a single volume that can scarcely be included under this denomination, and is of a somewhat peculiar character. It is written by the Rev. Dr. Morton Brown, one of the ministers of a body of Dissenters that has produced some eminent men. He has himself acquired celebrity as an eloquent preacher and lecturer, but his published works have been chiefly devotional. In the districts which lie between the Cotswolds and the Severn, he is known as the Christian friend, and, during his last illness, as the only spiritual adviser of Lord Fitzhardinge. The commencement of their acquaintance (as we have heard it described) was honourable to them both. Dr. Brown had waited upon his lordship on some matter of public interest; and when the deputation which had accompanied him had retired, he ventured to address the noble peer in a few earnest words of solemn import. Lord Fitzhardinge was the last man to allow any one to take a liberty with him; and he had a dignified bearing that would have prevented most persons from attempting it; but he was struck with the circumstance that this was the first minister of religion who had ever spoken to him on such subjects, and it led to a friendship which continued with increasing intimacy to the day of his death. The work which Dr. Brown has now produced is of a triplex kind. We remember that the poet Montgomery-we do not (like a writer in the Times) think it necessary to point out the difference between James and Robert, it will be sufficient to say the poet-in his preface to the early editions of his "Wanderer of Switzerland," described it as an endeavour to celebrate "an heroic subject in a lyric measure, on a dramatic plan :" a description upon which the Edinburgh Reviewers were more than necessarily severe. Dr. Brown's is a less ambitious and more successful attempt. He tells us that it "may be entitled a memoir, a tale, and a history;" and his intention is happily carried out. He gives us a leading portion of the history of the times, and the life and occasional narrative are its illustrations. But whatever it may be called, it has the unerring evidence of talent that we read it with interest. The period he has chosen is during the Laudian persecution; when the most horrible tortures were employed not for the punishment of crime, but for the purpose of extorting information; and when life was so little cared for, that a Covenanter for the mere amusement of the officer on guard-was shot down like a rook while taking his permitted exercise on the parapet of his prison. In the events of times like these there are abundant materials, and (as the title of the book may indicate) they are here gathered round a memoir of Alexander Peden. The life of this devoted man was, in every way, remarkable. At its outset he had to struggle against an accusation under which it seemed a *Peden the Prophet: a Tale of the Covenanters founded on fact. By the Rev. A. Morton Brown, LL.D. Cheltenham, Author of "Evenings with the Prophets," &c. &c. London: J. Snow. 1859. special interposition of Providence that his innocence was made manifest. And thus early tried, he gave proof of the union of energy with patient submission that distinguished him throughout his painful pilgrimage. From his very childhood, we are told, he seemed "to think strongly, to feel strongly, to speak strongly, and to act with decision." To this was added a tone of deep and fervent devotion. In his manhood he was "considered by the mass of the people not as a simple preacher, but as a man having a special divine inspiration and mission, and many were his sayings which, as he wandered amongst God's afflicted people, passed into proverbs and many his prognostications which assumed the form, in their estimation, of prophecies." He "spoke slowly and solemnly, had a habit of looking upward when he preached, as if he were drawing inspiration from above, and stood still now and then as if awaiting a divine message, then shouted some striking sentence and heart-thrilling appeal. He soon became known everywhere as Peden the Prophet,' became encircled with a special reverence, and, by his party, was all but worshipped." The certainty with which he spoke of "coming events," whether it arose from a believing reliance, or from a flash of insight into futurity, had the appearance of something supernatural. When he was travelling —a proscribed man-with the laird of Glorover, and had come unexpectedly upon a party of the enemy's horse (an encounter that generally led to death or torture), he told his companion to keep up his courage and his confidence, for "God," he said, "hath laid an arrest on these men that they shall do us no harm ;" and so it proved; and when, with sixty others, chained together as felons, he was on his way to transportation, he comforted them with "Fear not, brethren, the ship is not yet built which will take us either to Virginia or any other plantation;" and the words, like those of St. Paul to his companions in shipwreck, were in this case also fulfilled. We might remark, too, that living in such times, and constantly exposed to the dangers with which they surrounded him, it was something out of the ordinary course of events that, in the midst of them, he should have ended his career on a bed of peace, surrounded by his family and friends. At the period when the story commences, a reward has been offered for his apprehension, and the Highland soldiery are in pursuit of him. Their attack upon the house of the Mortons of Broomhill, where he is supposed to be concealed, and their own capture by a sudden gathering of the Covenanters, are well described; but the space which is at our disposal confines us to shorter extracts. We take the following remarks on prayer, as applied to Jenny Fleming, the humble and unobtrusive heroine of the connecting narrative. How many a brave fellow in the hospitals of Scutari would have subscribed to their truth! The man who has listened once to an affectionate, true-hearted Christian woman in prayer can never forget it. There is about the female mind and heart a pathos, a tenderness, a nice perception, to which man is altogether a stranger. There is an ardour about her nature all her own, which, as it goes up to God, embodies a distinctiveness of supplication, as well as a volume of fervour and affection strangely overwhelming. There is a correctness of utterance, a melting sweetness of tone and voice belonging to her so peculiarly adapted to devotion, that it presents all but a divine charm, an inexpressible influence. I have |