backs heavy enough to stagger an average American laborer. But these
women, under such harsh usage, must become prematurely old.

After considerable hill climbing and exploration of the vicinity we
started on our return to Calcutta, and having become acquainted with the
grandeur of the scenery as a whole, were better prepared for closer
observation in detail. It was all the way down hill now, and our
spirited little engine, like a horse under similar circumstances, had
more use for the breeching than the traces. However, the speed was a
very lively one, and to the uninitiated appeared almost reckless. The
pure white magnolia was found to be abundant on the mountain, blooming
profusely at over seven thousand feet above the plains. Amid many other
flowering trees, unknown to us, the magnolia was most prominent. The
wild and abundant growth of the rhododendrons, which here become a
forest tree, mingled with a handsome species of cedar, which rose in
dark and stately groups, was a marked feature of the woods. The general
luxuriance of the vegetation was conspicuous, thickly clothing the
branches of the trees with mosses, ferns, and flowering creepers or
orchids. Here we saw for the first time the cotton-tree, with red
blossom, and which yields a coarse material for native use. A species of
lotus was seen, called here "The Queen of the Forest." It belongs to the
magnolia family, and the leaves are used by the common people in place
of tea. Many bright and exquisitely delicate ferns sprang up among the
undergrowth and about the watering stations. Brilliant little
butterflies floated in the sunshine everywhere, and contrasted with the
repulsive whip-snakes hanging here and there from the branches of the
trees. Vegetable and animal life seemed singularly abundant in these
hills, so far above the plains of Hindostan towards which we were
hastening.

The language of the masses is rather mixed, being composed of Bengali,
Hindi, and Nepalese, though English is almost universally understood,
even by the humbler classes. We found a very comfortable hotel at
Darjeeling, but discovered that the Hindoo milkman knows the trick of
judiciously watering his merchandise. The fruits upon the table were
bananas, pine-apples, guavas, and oranges. Wild animals are abundant in
the hills, including the much-dreaded tiger, which does not confine his
operations to the plains. At one of the stations on the mountain
railroad, where we stopped for ref