"Nothing at all, your honour,” sɗt of gana lod #hai Lato has „sigh, weit "Are there bills or valleys on the other side?"112 m) "oju ve stub w "Neither, your honour; only a mighty big mountain, as big as the hill of Howth. "Did you see any men?

Divel a e was after

she

your honour, y

going when she saw me "What took you there?"

SOINSTAM &mans 9 to one poor old woman in one of the and Pat, Logan coming near her." of the huts, and

9% Wait, we both went to take a big walk, for we were quite

doing nothing

that's all, your honour; so I hope no offences to put me: 219799) 10 (90 angs

This report of the removal of the 's piquet, which, it appears, was contrary to orders, led to an advance of a detachment of the Britisia troops, and a severe conflict, in which Ensign Shipp displayed his courage and address in single combat with a superior officer of the Nepaul army :

ཟ!

At last some of their men began to give way, and as we were ascending rapidly, their commander, or one of their principal officers, attempted to rally them. Having succeeded in this attempt for the moment, the said officer had the impudence to attack and put his Majesty's liege subject, John Shipp, ensign on full pay, and in the full vigour of his life and manhood, in bodily fear, on the King's high hill of Muckwanpore, on the afternoon of → I now forget the date, he so frightened me. He was a strong powerful man, protected by two shields, one tied round his waist, and hanging over his thighs as low as his knees, and the other on the left arm, much larger than the one round his waist. From this gentleman there was no escape; and, fortunately for me, I had my old twenty-fourther with me, which I had two or three days before put in good shaving order. With this I was obliged to act on the defensive, till I could catch my formidable opponent off his guard. He cut, I guarded; he thrust, I parried; until he became aggravated, and set to work with that impetuosity and determination, pretty generally understood by the phrase "hammer and tongs;" in the course of which he nearly cut my poor twenty-fourther in pieces. At last I found he was winded; but I could see nothing of the fellow, but his black face peeping above one shield, and his feet under the other; so I thought I would give him a cut five across his lower extremities; but he would not stand still a moment; he cut as many capers as a French dancing-master, till I was quite out of patience with his folly. I did not like to quit my man; so I tried other extremities; but he would not stand still, all I could do. At length, I made a feint at his toes, to cut them; down went his shield from his face to save his legs; up went the edge of my sword smack under his chin ;—in endeavouring to get away from which, he threw his head back, which nearly tumbled off, and down he fell; and I assure you, reader, I was not sorry for it, for he was a most unsociable neighbour. I don't know whether I had a right or not, but I took the liberty of taking his sword, gold crescent, turban-chain, and large shield. The latter I sported on my left arm during the action, and it was fortunate for me that I did, for I found that the shield was ball-proof, and I should have been severely wounded, had I been deprived of this trophy.

This officer was a distinguished soobah, named Kistaph Rana Bahadur, highly esteemed by the Nepaul government; and our author says that it was the opinion of Sir D. Ochterlony, that his fall contributed greatly to the suc cessful issue of the campaign, which was soon concluded by the surrender of the strong fortress of Muckwanpore.

The army returned through the pass which been turned, and the terrific description of it affords a pretty good idea of what the fate of the troops would have been had its passage been attempted.

On the close of this campaign, Mr. Shipp married at Cawnpore, in 1816, the daughter of a conductor in the commissariat; and the ensuing eighteen months were spent in domestic felicity. At the end of this period, he was summoned to join the force employed to reduce Hattrass, about thirty miles

from

from Agra, and other forts belonging to the raja of that territory. The siege was conducted by Major Gen. Sir D. Marshall. After fruitless attempts at negociation, the place was taken possession of, partly owing to the explosion of the enemy's magazine by a shell. Here our officer displayed his usual gallantry, being foremost in the fray, and severely wounded. He was obliged hand severely to be sent to Cawnpore till his wounds were healed.

Our author subjoins to his part of the narrative copies (which he affirms are genuine) of letters from privates of the 87th to their wives, giving an account of this siege; one is as follows:

"Dear Judy,-Sure, the Fort of Huttrass was taken last night when the moon rose this morning; and, sure enough, by a party of the old Fogs into the bargain. Lieut. Shipp, good luck to his honour, was twice knocked down by them. Och! by the powers, his mother or father must have been of Irish distraction, for he fights for all the world like an Irishman, Sure, he took the fort all alone with only his workingparty with pickaxes and shovels, and some Sapyes, and the devil a gun amongst them; but his working-party had a fine opportunity of picking holes in the jackets of the enemy, and shoveling them up in a corner together all in one lump. Two thousand were taken prisoners alive, besides all them that were dead. Sure, I forget, dear Judy, to tell you that there was a great big blusteration in the fort. Their magazine was blown up : yes, and all the powder and ball besides. I was standing in the toolyard, and found myself laying on my face, and before I could up I was down again. I have no more news except that we shall go from here as soon as we march for Cawnpore, where I hope to find my Judy well. Tell Mrs. Gaffy that Pat is not well, and he is sick besides with a bad cold. We are quite fatigued doing nothing. So no more at present from

Your doting husband,

"P. R."

"Huttrass, May 2, 1817." When Lord Hastings visited Cawnpore, previous to the Pindaree war, Ensign Shipp was appointed baggage-master to the left division of the grand army, as a reward for his conduct at Hattrass. On waiting upon the Marquess to thank him, he replied: "Mr. Shipp, you have no occasion to thank me, but your own merit."

The history of the Pindaree campaign is too long to be told: here Mr. Shipp had fewer opportunities of acquiring distinction than before. The narrative is, however, still extremely curious, and abounds with occasional touches of the pathetic as well as the humorous. As one of the staff of Brig. General Watson, who led the storming party in person, he joined in the assault of Gurr'h Mundelurh. After the capture of the town, our officer was directed to proceed alone, at night, to examine a distant temple, to ascertain if it was a safe asylum for the men.

This temple stood at the end of a long street, to which I was obliged to grope my way, guided only by the distant fired hut, or a peeping star. Why did the general send me alone? Because he knew I would go, and it was better to risk the life of one man than five hundred. I cannot say that I had any great penchant for this job, but off I marched without a murmur. It was the general's part to order, and my duty promptly and cheerfully to obey. The night being dark, and the dead and the dying lying in all directions, it was no very enviable trip; but duty led me through every difficulty. My pace was slow and cautious; not quite so slow as the goose-steep, but something near it. In each hand I had a pistol, and I kept one eye turned to the right and the other to the left, now and then stealing a glimpse to the front, but could not spare time to look behind me. Occasionally my pointed toe would come in contact with a dead body or wounded man. This created sensations by no means agreeable. I had not proceeded far, when some person seized my leg, and said, "Who are you?" This a little startled me I suddenly drew it away, and said I was his friend. « Then give me some water,”

said he, "for I am wounded," I felt every inclination to render the poor creature this service, but it was quite impossible; so I passed on, but had hardly recovered my fright, when a large beam that was on fire fell with a tremendous crash, and several voices were heard, and the sound of persons running from the place where the beam fell. I stopped for a moment to listen, but all was again quiet, and I moved on slowly till I reached the foot or steps of the temple, when I heard the tinkling of a small bell. I ascended the steps and reached the door, when I heard some person murmuring out his midnight prayers. I at last peeped in, and discerned an aged priest prostrating himself on the ground before one of his gods. A small lamp was suspended from the ceiling. I entered and gave him the customary salute of the evening, but he had not the politeness to return my salute, but blew out the light and ran out precipitately, and I followed him, having first minutely surveyed the temple. What the priest took me for I know not, but probably for a ghost, for he was out of the temple in a moment. I returned by the same streets I came down, but a little faster.

After the capture of the fort, our author had to follow one of the Company's artillery to the grave, upon which occasion he relates the following anecdote, which we give as a specimen of those with which the narrative is interspersed:

van Observing one of the funeral party lagging behind the rest, I asked him why he did not keep up. He answered, that "He had had a great big fight with the deceased a short time before he went dead, and he did not think the man had forgiven him.” "Poh! poh!" replied I, "the man cannot hurt you now he is dead." "Och, fait !" said he, "I beg your honour's pardon. I once knew a man, that was as dead as Barney Flynn's great grandmother, come to life; besides, the deceased said he would never rest, dead or no dead, till he gave me a great big bating, and I should not like to provoke him." "Do not not talk such nonsense to me," said I. "Nonsense! your honour'; it's no such thing, at all at all; he was a mighty cunning chap when alive, and who knows what he has learned since he went dead?" All I could say, I could not induce this man to approach, till the corpse was lowered into the grave, and that half filled, when he at last ventured to look in, and said, "Fait! I believe you are snug enough now, joy. Throw in a piece of earth as a signal that you part friends," said one of the men; but Paddy quickly replied, “No, no; that would be striking the first blow," and he went away immediately, no doubt full of apprehensions that he should some time or other receive a nocturnal visit from his comrade, who now slumbered in peace, secure in the cold grave from war's alarms. So much for superstition!

The next service upon which his regiment was employed, was the siege of the extensive and almost impregnable fortress of Asseerghur, the highest in the world, placed upon the summit of a rock 1,500 feet above the level of the plain. It surrendered without an assault, but our gallant officer was engaged to aid Gen. Watson, should the attempt have been required. The negociation for the surrender, between the British officers and the killedar, a great fat buffalo of a fellow, with enormous flitches of fat hanging over his hips," is related with a good deal of camp humour.

With the capture of this fortress our author's personal services in the field were closed. The regiment marched to Mhow, where they were most hospitably entertained by Sir John Malcolm, of whose facetiousness our author mentions an anecdote:

I should recommend all people subject to liver complaints to pay Sir John a visit, if opportunity favours them, and I would wager ten to one that, in one month, he would laugh most of them out of their complaints. I was myself suffering under a violent attack when I was his guest, and the smallest motion, more particularly that caused by laughter, was attended with most excruciating pain; but our host could almost make a dead man laugh. The consequence was, that I laughed to some purpose, for

I actually

I actually got rid of my complaint. Sir John generally made it a point of getting me close to him. He said to me one morning, "Shipp, did I ever tell you the story of my being invited to breakfast off a dead colonel ?" I answered, “No, Sir John; nor are my poor sides in a state to hear it."" Oh, but I must tell you: it's rather a serious story than otherwise." Finding there was no escape, I put both my hands to my sides (a necessary precaution to prevent them from bursting), and listened attentively. Sir John had a peculiar manner of relating anecdotes, which, for effect, I have never seen equalled, and a sort of squeaking voice, in which he generally spoke, especially when pleased, added greatly to the drollery of his stories. "I was invited to breakfast," said Sir John, "with a queer old colonel of the Bombay Artillery. This colonel was famous for giving good breakfasts, so I accepted his invitation, and went to his residence rather early, where I walked without ceremony into the breakfastroom. It is customary in India, when breakfast-things are laid, to throw a table-cloth over the whole, to keep the flies off. I thought it strange that I did not see a single servant; but I walked up and down the room, very contentedly, for nearly a quarter of an hour. At last I got quite hungry, so I thought I would help myself to a biscuit. For this purpose, I lifted the end of the cloth, and the first object that met my eye, was the colonel's head!" Just at that instant Sir John Malcolm struck me a violent blow on the shoulders, which so startled me, that I really thought the dead colonel was on my back. From that time, however, I lost all symptoms of the liver complaint.

Mr. Shipp visited the curiosities of Indore and Ougein; from thence he proceeded to Saugar, where the division to which he belonged was broke up, and he went to Cawnpore, in July 1819, from which period to the year 1821, when he was raised to the rank of lieutenant, his time was spent in domestic quiet, and in the performance of station duties. An unfortunate difference with Major Browne, regarding some joint transactions in the Cawnpore races, led to Lieut. Shipp's trial before a court-martial, in July 1823, the result of which was, that he was sentenced to be discharged; the court strongly recommending him to mercy. The penalty was remitted by the Commander-in-chief, but our officer was removed to the half-pay list, and was compelled to embark for England, where he arrived in October 1825. He expresses a deep feeling of distress at this unfortunate event, which cut him off in the prime of life, and in the full career of hope, from that advance in his profession, which his character seemed to promise him.

*བི».J」 H" A number of testimonials to the services of the author, expressed in flattering terms, are given in an appendix.

We should be doing injustice to the author and his work if we omitted to state that several very sensible and judicious dissertation upon topics highly important to the East-Indians,-officers, soldiers, mothers, &c., occur in different parts of the narrative. They evince much shrewdness and practical knowledge, and are not the least valuable portions of these amusing memoirs.

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January 3d, 1829.-The business of the special general meeting summoned for the 6th of December having been then adjourned, the consideration of the regulations proposed by the Council, on the proposed union with the Bombay Literary Society, was this day resumed, by Sir George Staunton, Bart., as, chairman, giving a brief outline of the question up to the last meeting. He now acquainted the meeting, that the Council had, in the interval since the 6th of December, carefully reconsidered the subject, and made several alterations in the regulations proposed to be introduced, which in their present state were as follows:

(Between the present sixth and seventh articles.)

1. The Literary Society of Bombay is from henceforward to be considered an integral part of the Royal Asiatic Society, under the appellation of “the Bombay branch of the Royal Asiatic Society."

2. The Bombay branch shall be considered quite independent of the Royal Asiatic Society, as far as regards its local administration and the control of its funds.

3. The members of the Bombay branch, while residing in Asia, shall be non-resident members of the Royal Asiatic Society; and when in Europe, shall be elected resident members, in the same manner that honorary members are elected.

4. The members of the Royal Asiatic Society, while residing in Europe, shall be non-resident members of the Bombay branch'; but when within the presidency of Bombay, shall be elected resident members, in the manner prescribed by the regulations of the Bombay Literary Society.

(Addition to the ninth article.)

-but the members of the Branch Society at Bombay are to be elected in the same manner as honorary members are elected.

(Proposed alteration of the fifty-eighth article.)

Every original communication presented to the Society becomes its property; but the author or contributor may re-publish it twelve months after its publication by the Society. The Council may publish any original communication presented to the Society, i in any way, and at any time judged proper; but, if printed in the Society's Transac tions, twenty-five copies of it shall be presented to the author or contributor, when the volume or part in which it is inserted is published. Such as the Council may not see fit to publish on behalf of the Society, may, with its permission, be returned to the author, upon the condition, that if it is printed, a printed copy of it shall be presented to the Society.

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Major Smith opposed these regulations in toto; but as he did not move any amendment, the Chairman put them to the vote, and upon a shew of hands they were declared to be carried.

The business for which the meeting was made special having been thus disposed of, the routine business of the day was proceeded with, by the reading and confirmation of the minutes of the preceding special general meeting.

Captain Dillon, who has recently arrived from a voyage among the islands of the Pacific Ocean to ascertain the fate of La Perouse, presented a consi derable number of curiosities collected by him in that archipelago. Among them are several spears and clubs, very neatly carved; three bundles of poisoned arrows, one of which bundles is pointed with human bone; specimens of cloth and mat dresses; armlets and breast plate; a cava bowloandspoon; a matrimonial pillow, formed of a bar of wood resting on a semicir

cular