ROFTSLEISTER'S TRAVELS IN CEYLON AND INDIA.

HOFFMEISTER was the physician who, at the recommendation of Humboldt and other sevens, accompanied Prince Waldemar of Prussia in his -travels in the East, and was killed by his side at the battle of Ferozeshah. This premature death prevented the full attainment of the scientific results expected from the journey ; but Hoffmeister sent home in letters, or preserved in his journal, a narrative of such observations as he made upon things in general, from the time when the Prince em- barked at Trieste until within a few days of his own death. These were pabliehed in Csermany by his relations, from a natural feeling towards his memory: the volume before us is a translation of that work, with some useful explanatory and corrective notes. For a great part of the route the scenes are hacknied enough. Corfu, Athens, Alexandria, Cairo, and the Egyptian sights, with the passage across the Desert to Suez, have no novelty in the rapid tour of a prince, described by a man who has various calls upon his time and attention in addition to that of observing. Ceylon is not so hacknied, but is hardly a fresh field, especially seen under the circumstances just indicated, and by a man who had no taste for field-sports or the daring game of elephant-hunting. Calcutta, Benares, Delhi, and other cities of Bindostan, have often been described in various ways ; but novelty is occasionally imparted by a German's observations on Anglo-Indian life, and the account of fetes and entertainments given to the party. The Prince himself, however, was no holyday traveller; the sameness of the route and the conventional mannerism of much around arose from the necessity of the case : the objects sought could not be reached without passing over the beaten road. The tributary kingdom of Nepaul was one of those objects; the Himalayas another, the source of the Ganges a third, and Thibet a fourth. This last ob- ject was baffled by frontier jealousy, and possibly by an unwillingness on the part of the Company's authorities to exert much influence over the petty border tribes or chiefs. The trade now carried on might not merely have received a check, but umbrage might have been given to the Chinese Go- vernment, which would be likely to connect the entrance of an European into the Chinese territories by this route with schemes of aggrandize- ment. The attempt, however, has given occasion to many graphic sketches of Himalayan scenery; where the wild vastness of gigantic mountains and the desolation of eternal snow are well relieved by pictures of softer landscapes in the vallies, and the curious villages of the half Tar- tar half Chinese inhabitants, with houses and cultivation adapted to their lofty sites. The effort to pass into Thibet also exhibited Prince Walde- mar as a persevering and bold traveller ; for the party underwent great labours, great privations, and encountered no small risk in toiling among the snows and rocks of the higher Himalayas. The following account may be taken as a sample of the worst part of a four-months journey around the sources of the Ganges, Sutlej, and Burhampooter. The party had succeeded in reaching a pass upwards of 15,000 feet above the level Of the sea.

"When, after long delays, the whole train of Coolies was at last assembled at this point, the guides, who meanwhile had been exploring, with a view to our onward march, returned with the assurance that it was impossible to advance farther in the same direction, recent avalanches having formed a perpendicular 'pice of from five to six hundred feet. We satisfied ourselves by ocular onstration of the truth of their assertion: the snow-field had fallen off abruptly towards the hollow on the opposite side. How then were we now to descend, with our half-dead Coolies, into this profound abyss? No expedient remained for us but to clamber in a Westerly direction over the cone, and thence to endeavour, by traversing frightfully steep banks of snow and ice, to effect a descent.

"We set out on the march; and had scarcely gained the highest point when a chill and soaking mist, gradually changing into a violent hail-shower, enveloped us in a gloom so dense that the pioneers of our long train were altogether cat off from the rest.

"Everything, however, conspired to make us earnestly desirous of reaching the foot of the mountain with the least possible delay; for the day was already on the decline, and it would have been utterly impracticable to pursue amid the perils of darkness a march itself so replete with danger. As little could we, without risking our lives, spend the night on these heights. Our guides them- selves, apparently anxious and perplexed, were urged forward with the impatience of despair.

- We arrived in safety at the base of the first snowy steep; but here we found that the lowest, and unfortunately also the most abrupt declivity, consisted of a smooth mass of ice, upon the existence of which we had by no means calculated. We forthwith began, axe in hand, to hew steps in it. It was a painfully tedious operation ; and while engaged in our fatiguing labour, we were obliged, hanging over a giddy abyss, to cling fast with our feet and our left hands, lest we should lose our hold and slide down to the bottom. This did, indeed, all but happen to the Prince himself; his pole however, furnished with a very strong iron tip, checked his fall. I too slipped, and darted down to a considerable distance; but fortunately, with the aid of my alpenstock,' I contrived, in spite of its point being broken off, to keep myself in an upright position. Thus the Prince and I, accompanied by the guides arrived prosperously at the end of the ice, and reached a less dangerous surface of snow: but not a creature had followed us, and the thick rimy snow that darkened the atmosphere prevented us from casting a look behind towards our lost companions and attendants. One of the guides was sent back in quest of them; and it turned out that the Coolies had refused to descend by this route. Neither money nor cudgelling seemed now to be of the least avail.

"At length the snowy shower somewhat abated; the curtain of mist opened for a moment; and we descried, standing in a line on the crest of the ridge from which we had descended an hour before, the whole array of Coolies. Not one of them could muster resolution to venture upon the icy way; they looked down in despair. When they perceived us standing below, a few of the most courageous, urged on by Count 0— with voice and stick, at length agreed to follow in our steps. They got on pretty well as far as the smooth icy precipice; but here mayoral of them lost their firm footing, and slid down the steep descent with their heavy burdens on their backs. It was a frightful scene, and to all appearance full of danger; not one of them, however, met with any injury: even Mr. Brown, whose shooting descent from the highest part filled us with terror, as he slid down a distance of at least a hundred feet into a crevasse, in which he was appa- rently engulfed, was at last brought to us safe and sound, with the exception of considerable excoriation and torn raiment. It cost half an hour, however, to hew a long flight of steps for him in this icy wall. During all these proceedings, which occupied more than an hour, the Prince and I were standing at the foot of

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the declivity, up to our knees in snow, exposed to a freezing blast and to inces- sant sleet: but most heartily were we rejoiced when at length all our people were gathered around us, without one broken neck or limb. The Coolies had latterly given tip the attempt to scramble down the fatal precipice of ice, and had glided down la montagne Rinse,' abandoning themselves to their fate. " The remainder of our downward way was through half-melted snow, and unattended with any considerable danger, until we arrived at the top of a mound of travelled blocks about three hundred feet in height, by which we must needs descend to reach the glen below. Here our Coolies seemed to lose every spark of courage; some howled and wept aloud, others threw themselves prostrate with their faces on the ground. What was now to be done? Who could have brought himself in such circumstances to have recourse to blows with these poor suf- fering creatures? Oar last expedient to bring them to their legs again was to relieve them of all the baggage, each one of our party carrying a share of the load on his own shoulders. It was no very arduous undertaking; for the most pon- derous article, to wit our tent, we had been under the sad necessity, as it had become thoroughly wet and very heavy, of leaving on the summit of the ridge. This good example produced the desired effect; the bearers advanced immw- diately, and, with the exception of a few who were extremely ill, at a more lively pace: thus the joyful prospect opened upon us of reaching a night's quarter below the limit of perpetual snow."

The following reception of Prince Waldemar and his suite by the Prime Minister of Nepaul forms a striking contrast to the dangers and desola- tions of the Himalayas.

" We dismounted, and were conducted within the marquee: but we had seemly seated ourselves when the arrival of the Nepaulese Minister—Martabar Singh (Magnanimous Lion)—was announced. His appearance was like the rising sun; clothed entirely in gold tissue resplendent with emeralds, pearls and diamonds, and so fragrant of sandal-word oil and otto of roses that it almost suffocated one. On the breast he wore three large plates of gold covered with insignia and inscriptions, the badges of his dignity; round his neoir hung thick strings of pearls; his head-dress was the fiat turban of Nepaul, made of Chinese brocade studded with pearls, and surmounted by a bird of Paradise; his ears were adorned with large hoops of gold, and his arms and each of his fingers were encircled with brilliants. He was mounted on a tall white steed with blue cock- ades and golden trappings. "Such was the picture presented by Martabar Singh, Minister and Generalis- simo of the kingdom of Nepaul; of proud and stately mien, tall, handsome, and corpulent, with a keen and lively eye, a small aquiline nose a magnificent black beard, and long raven hair. He was immediately followed! by two of his sons, arrayed in every colour of the rainbow. Next to them appeared Dill Bickram Thappa,—gorgeons and shining beyond what we had ever seen even him before; and Bahadur, a kinsman of the Rajah,—a man of very intelligent counts nance, by far the most educated and agreeable of them all: he too was overloaded with superb silken stuffs, with pearls and glittering arms. Twenty or more offi- cers, equipped in simple red and white uniforms, some of whom were veterans with silvery beards, though still vigorous and strong, brought up the rear of the procession. " Martabar Singh advanced to most the Prince; first made a most graceful salam ' then, stepping forward about two paces, bowed himself over the left, than over the right shoulder of the object of his salutations, in a way similar to what is practised in embraces on the stage; a second salam and a retreating step con- cluded the ceremony, which each of our party was in his turn obliged to undergo. His sons too, and the officers, all performedit with the same formal solemnity; the whole operation occupying as you may imagine a considerable time."

The following passages give a good idea of the beat of India, and the artificial contrivances resorted to by Europeans to mitigate it. Coming altogether fresh to the unnatural mode of life, it probably struck the German more than it would strike an Englishman, who has heard so much about it.

"We entered Agra on the 7th of April; rejoiced at having hitherto escaped the noxious effects of the hot season in this climate, and not less so to find a shelter from its intensity in the ingenious construction of the dwellings here. It is diffi- cult in the temperate climate of our German home to form any conception of the burning heat of a Tropical sun. When in Agra, tempted by the artificial lower- ing of the temperature in the interior of our residence, we ventured after midday to take a short walk along the street, the sensation caused by first meeting a rushing stream of air heated up Jo 34° or 350 (109° or 111° Fahrenheit) was most startling. The pain felt in the nose resembled that caused by excessive cold, and a sort of shivering ran down the back. We were involuntarily impelled to betake ourselves to running, in order to reach the cool atmosphere of the first tatty or of the nearest shades. Immediately on reentering after such an exposure to the heat any inhabited apartment,—or I should rather say vault, for all the rooms are very lofty and surmounted by domes, and light is admitted only by s small skylight,—one is in danger of being struck with apoplexy, for a current of cold air flows upon one from all sides. A pair of bellows is at work, noiseless but ceaseless, behind each door; and over the heated crown of the entering guest, which, nevertheless, he is constrained to uncover, the weighty punkah is moved backwards and forwards so vehemently that every hair is made to fly loosely about his head: at any rate, there is no doubt that to go out before evening is by no means advisable • coup-de-soleil or fever may not indeed be very frequent, but cough, catarrh, add toothache, are the ordinary evils that result from such im- prudence. "It is interesting to observe how inventive the necessities of the climate have here made man. How varied and ingenious are the methods he has devised in the internal arrangement of his domestic architecture for obtaining relief from the oppressive heat!

A house such as the wealthy and distinguished British residents here occupy is generally a structure of considerable height, but of only one story, of a horse- shoe form, with a colonnade in the centre: windows are altogether wanting; and the only doors are in the side-walls opening into a corridor, and screened by double hangings, (coverlets of cotton Cloth thickly wadded,) beneath which every one that enters must bend, and thus creep in. The sitting-rooms in the side-wings of the mansion receive their light from above, or else through small bath-rooms. in which jars full of water are continually standing, and which have but one ex- ternal entrance, and that dosed up by means of a tatty-frame, kept always moist by having water poured perpetually upon it All rooms that lie towards the West are cooled by an apparatus of this sort; for the sultry West wind is changed, by the rapid evaporation of the water—caused by the current of air flowing in —into an agreeably cool, and even occasionally into a cold breese: it is therefore much easier to produce a moderate temperature within the dwelling when this hot wind blows, than when every breath is hushed, even though the heat in the open air may then be less intense.' * * The manner of life, where everything great and small is so artificially. regu- lated, differs essentially from that usual among us at home. The open air is only to be endured 01 about nine, or at latest ten o'clock; an Englishman at least will never leave the house after that time of day. German constitutions, fresh from Europe, are not easily injured by the heat: I have frequently remained at my drawing, in the open air, till eleven o'clock, without suffering in consequence; al- though the danger of such an exploit was depicted before me in the most vivid colours. It is an inherent part of the English character to maintain steadfastly a belief once established: no one therefore ventures to go out of doors after nine in the morning, or before five in the evening; while, on the other hand, it is held to be quite allowable, and indeed a matter of course, to make a most substantial meal three times daily, and to drink a quantity of strong ale and fiery wine, as though no danger could possibly be apprehended from that quarter. In my opi- nion, it would he abundantly safe to take a little more exercise, even during the extreme heat; indeed, with a table so luxuriously supplied, it might doubtless be a most wholesome practice."

The subject of wild-beast combats at the court of native princes is by no means a new one; but our traveller's sketch is as good as any we have seen. The scientific naturalist marks more closely the character- istics Of the different animals.

"The combats of wild beasts were now to commence. We were conducted to a gallery, from which we looked down upon a narrow court, surrounded by walls and gratings. This was the arena on which the exhibition was to take place. Unluckily the space allotted for spectators was, on account of the great number of English ladies present, so circumscribed, that we could find only a bad stand- ing-room, and one moreover in which the glare and heat of the sun were most op- pressive: however, the spectacle exhibited before our eyes in the depth of the little-field was of such a nature that all discomfort was soon forgotten. "We there beheld six powerful buffaloes, not of the tame breed, but strong and mighty beasts, the offspring of the arnees of the mountains; measuring at least four feet and a half in height to the back, with huge and wide-arching horns, from three to four feet in length. There they stood, on their short, clumsy legs, snorting violently, and blowing through their distended nostrils, as if filled with forebodnigs of the approaching danger. What noble animals ! what strength in those broad necks! -Pity only that such intense stupidity should be marked in their eyes. "A clatter of sticks, and the roar of various wild beasts, now resounded; to which the buffaloes replied by a hollow bellowing. Suddenly, on the opening of a side-door, there rushed forth a strong and formidable tiger, measuring, I should say, from ten to eleven feet in length from bead to tail, and about four feet in height. Without deliberating long, he sprang with one mighty bound into the midst of the buffaloes, and, darting unexpectedly between the redoubtable horns of one of the boldest champions, he seized him by the nape of the neck, with teeth and claws. The weight of the tiger nearly drew the buffalo to the ground: a most fearful contest ensued. Anud roars and groans, the furious victim dragged its fierce assailant round and round the arena, while the other buffaloes, striving to liberate their comrade, inflicted on the foe formidable wounds with their sharp and massive horns.

"Deep silence reigned among the audience; each spectator watching in breath- less suspense to mark the issue of the combat, and at the same time the fate of a few unhappy monkeys, which, constrained, as if in mockery, to witness the bloody scene, looked down at first with indescribable terror from the tops of their poles, but when these were violently shaken by the horns of the buffaloes, fell down as if dead, and lay extended at full length, with the utmost resignation expecting their end, without making the least attempt to avert it.

"Two other tigers, somewhat inferior in size, were now, with great difficulty, driven into the battle-field, while the struggle still continued. Nothing, however, could induce them to make an attack in any quarter: they paced slowly round the scene' rubbing themselves, cat-like' against the wall as they moved, when- ever the buffaloes, which without regarding them were ever and anon goading their adversary with their horns, approached nearer to them. But now the dread tiger received a thrust upon his ribs which forced him to quit his hold: he fell with violence, and then slunk timidly into a corner. Thither he was pursued by the buffalo, rendered furious by his mangled neck; and was made the butt of many a vengeful blow and thrust, while he merely betrayed his pain by the hideous -contortions of his month, not making the least movement in self-defence."

When we look at the original publication as the memorial of afriend pre- maturely cut off in the prime of life and fulness of hope, no curtailment could have been expected. Nor perhaps was it needed for German readers; to whom the subject of Greece, Egypt, and the East, is fresher than to the British public, and who appear to possess a greater patience over superficial description and individual remarks. The translator, how- ever, would have exercised a sound discretion had he only given in full the journey through Nepaul and the Himalayan region ; confining himself M a selection of entire sections or striking passages from the travels in the other parts of India and Ceylon, and altogether omitting the journey thi- ther. In this there is nothing new except the parties into which Dr. Hoff- meister's attendance upon Prince Waldemar introduced him ; and he does not shine as an European courtier bepraising the King and Queen of Greece, and censuring their German-expelling subjects as a set of bar- barians. Even in Ceylon and India, the haste, the forms, and the many subjects to whiah the traveller's mind was directed, give a superficial cha- racter to nearly all the early part of the Oriental tour. The continual description of externals, with little that is striking in life or remarkable in observation, is not only without attraction in itself, but wearies the reader before he reaches the really interesting parts of the work.