There is a very singular bird that frequents the streets and en1803. virons of Calcutta, where it is almost domesticated, called, from Nov. the length of its legs, and slow solemn walk, the Adjutant*. As it devours the garbage, and all putrid animal substances in the streets, it is on that account held sacred, and no one is allowed to shoot any of these birds: they perch on the battlements, and highest projecting parts of the houses, where they stand as motionless as statues, with their heads pensively resting on their pouches, or sometimes turned to one side: in these positions, strangers generally take them for inanimate beings, so perfectly divested do they seem of life and motion. As Calcutta lies close to the tropic of Cancer, when the sun is in Capricorn, or 56 degrees removed from them, the inhabitants experience a kind of little winter, or considerable diminution of the intense heat of the summer; which is still farther effected by the north-east monsoon, that blows with a refreshing coolness at this season. During the months of December and January particularly, it is not uncommon to sleep with a blanket over one; whereas, at other times of the year, the suffocating heat (in conjunction with swarms of mosquitoes,) renders the night an object of dread, rather than a comfortable refreshment after the heats of the day. This little diversity of season (were the climate otherwise healthy,) would render Bengal far preferable to the more southern parts of India, where very little change is felt, except for a short space, at the shifting of the monsoons on the coast of Coromandel: the flatness of the country, however, and its being every where intersected, and a great part annually overflowed by the Ganges, will for ever be the cause of sickness, as well as fertility! "The Adjutant, Argall, or gigantic Crane, grows to the height of five feet when erect; the bill is of great strength and vast length, compressed, and sharp pointed; the circumference of the base of one measured by Mr. Ives, was sixteen inches: the extent of wings fourteen feet ten inches; the length from tip of the bill to that of the claws, seven feet six inches. It is a bird of filthy aspect; the craw appears red and naked, passing over the shoulders, and returns in front, and becomes pendulous, and is covered with long hair below the breast. “It is a most useful bird, clears the country of snakes, noxious reptiles, and insects. In Bengal it finishes the work begun by the jackal and the vulture. They clear the carcases of animals from the flesh-it removes the nuisances of the bones by swallowing them entire. "They are perfectly familiar in Bengal, and undaunted at the sight of mankind. The Indians believe them to be invulnerable, and that they are animated with the souls of the Brahmins. Mr. Ives missed his shot at several, which the standers-by observed with great satisfaction, telling him he might shoot to eternity and never succeed." Pennant's Views of Hindoostan, The Europeans in Calcutta, dine at so late an hour as seven o'clock; but they take a slight repast at one, which consists in general of light curries, or the like, with two or three glasses of wine: they therefore seldom have a good appetite at dinner, but sit down languid and inert, with more inclination to drink than eat. Now, though no people can be more temperate in both these respects, yet the unseasonableness of the hour at which they dine, cannot fail to be prejudicial to their health, in such a hot climate as this, where indpendant of a loaded stomach, it is at all times difficult to procure any thing like good rest at night. Those therefore, who would prefer sound health to fashionable hours, should tiff, (as they term it,) a little later, and make it serve for dinner. They say indeed, (with much justice,) that seven o'clock is the most comfortable time of the day to dine, that then all business is over, the air cooler, and the insects, (a great pest during the day,) all dispersed. This is very true, but slight inconveniencies should be made subservient to a real good. With respect to the hospitality of the Calcutta gentry, and the English settlements in general; from what I could observe during a space of more than two years, it is my opinion, (whatever a few Smel fungi may say to the contrary,) that in no quarter of the globe, is the term so seldom used, and the practice so universally adopted. I have often indeed admired the liberality of sentiment in these grumblers, who measure the hospitality of a whole people, by the degree of attention that happens to be paid to themselves! who would confidently pronounce the inhabitants of Calcutta, or Madras, a set of unhospitable hypocrites, if they did not happen to receive all that civility, which they consider as due to their self-importance! Yet such there are, who draw general conclusions from obscure and local circumstances, instead of observation. The houses in India, are remarkably well adapted to the climate, or rather to counteract the effects of a hot one; by having large and lofty apartments, with spacious verendahs, in which they sit and dine frequently in the hot season: in their rooms they have curious machines, called punka's, or large fans, which are kept constantly waving over head while at dinner, and produce a most agreeable effect. Very little furniture is kept in rooms in India, any thing that obstructs the air being a great inconvenience: I scarcely recollect having seen a ceiling in Calcutta, they say it would harbour dirt, and consequently heat, besides becoming a rendezvous for different kinds of vermin. The coolness of their wine, and water, is in this climate a very great luxury; the process is entirely a chemical one, viz. the VOYAGE TO INDIA, &c.] E 1803. Dec. communicating to wine, &c. the cold produced by the solution of 1803. a solid, in a fluid body; every family, therefore, keeps a hobDec. daar, for the purpose of cooling their water and wine. This fellow takes a small tub, and throwing in two or three pounds of salt-petre, pours a quantity of water on it, and then keeps stirring the mixture, with his bottles of wine, or water, which he holds by the neck until they are sufficiently cool, when he proceeds with other bottles, and so on, till the mixture ceases to give out any more cold, and obliges him to throw in more saltpetre. About seven-tenths of this salt is recovered, by evaporating the water in boiling, and suffering the crystals to shoot in the cold. We had opportunities of seeing elephants and tigers at this place, of the largest size; indeed we every day found fresh objects to engage our attention, and contribute to our entertainment; it was, therefore, with the utmost reluctance we bade adieu to this hospitable and elegant settlement, in order to return on board the ship, which was now preparing for sea. THE GANGES. Being accommodated with a budgerow, and provisions, as the winds were very faint, and sometimes contrary, we proceeded slowly down the river on the ebb tides, bringing up during the floods, at the villages on the banks, and making excursions from thence into the country, to see the manufactures, manners, and customs of these harmless people; thus prolonging this little voyage of pleasure, to the length of three or four days. We visited the Botanical Garden, which is delightfully situated on the western bank of the river, a few miles from Calcutta ; its appearance from the water too, while passing it, is very picturesque. "Here waving groves a chequer'd scene display, The natives were exceedingly civil to us wherever we went, shewing us every thing, and supplying us with all kinds of fruits, for a mere trifle. At a neck of land called Melancholy Point, where there are the ruins of an old fort; we learned from an European whom we met here the following little history, which he said gave name to the place. A young gentleman of the army, having married a lady in England, was ordered a short time afterwards to proceed to India with his regiment; the lady's relations, or the gentleman's own |