ations of
sugar-cane, plantains, wheat, rice, and orchards of fruit come into
view. The old style of irrigation goes on, by means of buckets worked by
hand, the same as was practised in the East four thousand years ago,
while the very plough, rude and inefficient, which is used upon their
plains to-day is after the antique fashion belonging to the same period.
Indeed, except that the railroad runs through Southern India, there
appears to have been no progress there for thousands of years. A
lethargy of the most hopeless character seems to possess the common
people. Their mud cabins are not suitable abodes for human beings, and
are distanced in neatness by the ant-hills. Such a degraded condition of
humanity can hardly be found elsewhere among semi-civilized races. The
women are worn by hardships. The men are cadaverous and listless.
Clothing among them is the exception; nudity is the rule. It seems
strange, but it is true, that one-quarter of the human race goes naked
in this nineteenth century.

A day's journey northward by railroad brings us to Madras, situated upon
the Bay of Bengal. The city is spread out over a very large territory,
with a number of broad, open fields and squares, designed for drilling
of troops, some for ball-players, and some for ordinary parks. There is
an abundant and handsome growth of trees all about the city, lining the
main streets and testifying to the judicious attention given by the
authorities to this species of ornamental shade so necessary in a warm
climate. The wide streets are admirably kept, and are all macadamized.
This applies, however, to the European portion of the town, with its
fine, large public buildings, consisting of literary and scientific
institutions as well as various educational and charitable ones. The
native portion of Madras is contracted and dirty in the extreme, no
attention being given to cleanliness or decency. The extensive English
fort--Fort George--is one of the best constructed in the East, forming a
most prominent feature of the city, and crowning a moderate rise of
ground near the shore. Its attractive though warlike surroundings, white
walls, flower plats, and green, sloping banks present a charming
picture. Fort George was the original name of the city. A noble
lighthouse is situated within the fortifications. Near this spot, along
the coast to the northward, are the rock-cut temples of Mahabulihuram
rendered familiar by Southey's admirable verses.