excavations, and, in the absence of anything like positive proof, a degree of uncertainty must attach to all conjectures regarding the period at which they were executed. Bishop Heber is opposed to the more generally received opinion of their high antiquity, and urges in support of his views, amongst other arguments, the following:-That the rock out of which the temple is carved, is by no means calculated to resist, for any great length of time, the influence of the elements; and that decomposition has rapidly increased within the memory of man; but this is evidently an erroneous view of the matter, for if the mouldering is so rapid as to be perceptible by persons now living, the whole structure would have been one heap of ruins long before the lapse of half the number of ages which the learned prelate admits it most probably to have existed.

There can be little doubt that these caves were appropriated to religious purposes (the pure Hindoo religion and mythology it seems almost certain); and as they are the most magnificent to be found in the country, we are entitled to trace their origin to that period of Hindoo history when that people had arrived at their highest pitch of prosperity, and their religious ceremonies were conducted on the most splendid scale, and in the most magnificent edifices. We are by no means to suppose that, in the decline of national prosperity, and consequently of religious observances, such a Herculean labor as the execution of Elephanta would have been undertaken; nor is it likely, on the other hand, that it was elaborated from the solid rock, before the national prosperity had reached at least a very high degree of perfection, else we might look for still more remarkable instances of their industry, taste, and religious zeal, which, however, are not to be found. But all authentic records of the ancient history of this part of India have perished, and the poems and histories which at present exist, and generally relate the occurrences of remote antiquity, are a tissue of incredible fables. This, the only other means of determining the question, being denied us, plausible conjecture alone can be advanced; and it is, that these works were executed three or four thousand years ago.

MR. BIANCONI'S CARS.

FEW men have been so useful in their day as Mr. Bianconi of Clonmel. This gentleman, whose successful enterprise affords an apt instance of what may be accomplished by well-directed perseverance, is a native of Milan, and from being one of the poorest, is now one of the wealthiest men in Ireland. Having come to Ireland about thirty years ago, in some humble mercantile capacity, he quickly perceived the advantages, public and private, which might be gained by establishing stage-cars on various roads throughout that country, and began by attempting to run one from Clonmel to Cahir. The experiment was at first discouraging, few or no passengers supporting it; but the plan ultimately triumphed, beyond the most sanguine expectations which could have been formed of such an undertaking.

At the meeting of the British Association at Cork, Statistical Section, Mr. Bianconi was called on to read a paper on the subject of his establishment, which he did as follows:

'Up to the year 1815, the public accommodation for the conveyance of passengers in Ireland was confined to a few mail and day coaches on the great lines of road. From my peculiar position in the country, I had ample opportunities of reflecting on many things, and nothing struck me more forcibly than the great vacuum that existed in travelling accommodation between the different orders of society. The inconvenience felt for the want of a more extended means of intercourse, particularly from the interior of the country to the different market-towns, gave great advantage to a few at the expense of the many, and, above all, occasioned a great loss of time; for instance, a farmer living twenty or thirty miles from his markettown spent the day in riding to it, a second day doing his business, and a third day returning. In July, 1815, I started a car for the conveyance of passengers from Clonmel to Cahir, which I subsequently extended to Tipperary and Limerick. At the end of the same year, I started similar cars from Clonmel to Cashel and Thurles, and from

Clonmel to Carrick and Waterford; and I have since extended this establishment so as to include the most isolated localities—namely, from Longford to Ballina and Bellmullett, which is 201 miles north-west of Dublin; from Athlone to Galway and Clifden, 183 miles due west of Dublin; from Limerick to Tralee and Cahirciveen, 233 miles south-west of Dublin; and numbering 110 vehicles, including mail-coaches and different sized cars capable of carrying from four to twenty passengers each, and travelling eight to nine miles per hour, at an average fare of one penny farthing per mile for each passenger, and performing daily 3800 miles, passing through more than 140 stations for the change of horses; consuming 3000 to 4000 tons of hay, and from 30,000 to 40,000 barrels of oats annually; all of which are purchased in their respective localities. These vehicles do not travel on Sundays, unless such portions of them as are in connection with the postoffice or canals; for the following reasons:-First, the Irish being a religious people, will not travel on business on Sundays; and secondly, experience teaches me, that I can work a horse eight miles per day, for six days in the week, much better than I can six miles for seven days. The advantages derived by the country from this establishment are almost incalculable: for instance, the farmer who formerly rode and spent three days in making his - market, can now do so in one, for a few shillings; thereby saving two clear days, and the expense and use of his horse. The example of this institution has been generally followed; and cars innumerable leave the interior for the principal towns in the south of Ireland, which bring parties to and from markets at an enormons saving of time, and, in many instances, cheaper than they could walk it. This establishment has now been in existence twentyeight years, travelling with its mails at all hours of the day and night, and never met any interruption in the performance of its arduous duties. Much surprise has often been expressed at the high order of men connected with it, and at its popularity; but parties thus expressing themselves forget to look at Irish society with sufficient grasp. For my part, I cannot better compare it than to a man emerging into convalescence from a serious attack of ma

lignant fever, and requiring generous and nutritive diet in place of medical treatment. Thus I act with my drivers, who are taken from the lowest grade of the establishment, and who are progressively advanced according to their respective merits, as opportunity offers, and who know that nothing can deprive them of this reward, and a superannuated allowance of their full wages in old age and under accident, unless their wilful and improper conduct; and as to its popularity, I never yet attempted to do an act of generosity or common justice, publicly or privately, that I was not repaid tenfold. In conclusion, Mr. Bianconi regretted that the shortness of the notice which he had received to meet the Association, should have rendered it impossible for him to prepare a document more ample in details and more worthy of the Section.'

Mr. and Mrs. Hall, in their work, a Week at Killarney, speak in warm terms of approbation of Mr. Bianconi's cars. 'In form, they resemble the common outside jaunting-car, but are calculated to hold twelve, fourteen, or sixteen persons; they are well-horsed, have cautious and experienced drivers, are generally driven with three horses, and usually travel at the rate of seven Irish miles an hour; the fares for each person averaging about two-pence per mile. They are open cars, but a huge apron of leather affords considerable protection against rain; and they may be described as, in all respects, very comfortable and convenient vehicles. It would be difficult for a stranger to conceive the immense influence which this establishment has had upon the character and condition of the country; its introduction, indeed, has been only second to that of steam in promoting the improvement of Ireland, by facilitating intercourse between remote districts, and enabling the farmer to transact his own business at a small expense, and with little sacrifice of time."

Is it possible to read these particulars without a reflection on the advantages to be derived from persevering in properly designed enterprise? Here is an unfriended foreigner, who, by the mere force of his own ingenuity and industry, directed to practical objects, realizes vast public benefits, not to speak of a justly earned private fortune; while others, spending the energy of a life-time on visionary

abstractions, accomplish not only no public good, but an incalculable amount of evil, and, as might have been anticipated, leave off poorer than they began.

LOGAN, THE INDIAN CHIEF.

ONE of the most remarkable chiefs of North American Indians, was the celebrated Logan, a Cayuga, the acknowledged head of the Six-Nations, who flourished in the decade 1770-80. In a work on Indian biography, published a number of years ago at New York, there is an account of this individual, and the fate to which he was exposed by the encroaching policy of the whites.

According to the narrative in question, Logan, though belonging to an eastern tribe, resided during most of his life in a western settlement, either at Sandusky, or upon a branch of the Scioto, there being at the former location, a few years before the revolution, about 300 warriors, and about sixty at the latter.

Logan was the second son of Shikellimus, a respectable chief of the Six-Nations, who resided at Shamokin (Pennsylvania), as an agent, to transact business between them and the government of the state. Logan's father was a shrewd and sober man, not addicted to drinking, like most of his countrymen. Indeed, he built his house on pillars, for security against the drunken Indians, and used to ensconce himself within it on all occasions of riot and outrage. He died in 1749, attended in his last moments by a good Moravian bishop.

Logan inherited the talents of his father, but not his prosperity. Nor was this altogether his own fault. He took no part except that of peace-making in the French and English war of 1760, and was ever before and afterwards looked upon as emphatically the friend of the white But never was kindness rewarded like his.

man.

In the spring of 1774, a robbery and murder occurred in some of the white settlements on the Ohio, which were