rther say, that it
is advisable for ladies to bring out with them to Bombay every thing
they can possibly want, since the shops, excepting immediately after
the arrival of a ship, are very poorly provided, while the packs, for
few have attained to the dignity of tin boxes, brought about by the
hawkers, contain the most wretched assortment of goods imaginable. The
moment, therefore, that the cargo of a vessel hag been purchased
by the retail dealers, all that is really elegant or fashionable is
eagerly purchased, and the rejected articles, even should they be
equally excellent, when once consigned to the dingy precincts of
a Bombay shop, lose all their lustre. The most perfect bonnet that
Maradan ever produced, if once gibbeted in one of Muncherjee's
glass-cases, could never be worn by a lady of the slightest
pretensions. Goods to the amount of L300 were sold in one morning,
it is said, in the above-mentioned worthy's shop, and those who were
unable to pay it a visit on the day of the opening of the cases, must
either content themselves with the leavings, or wait the arrival of
another ship.

It is but justice to Miss Lyndsay, the English milliner, to say that
she always appears to be well provided; but as her establishment
is the only one of the kind in Bombay, there must necessarily be a
sameness in the patterns of the articles made up. The want of
variety is the evil most strongly felt in Anglo-Indian toilets; and,
therefore, in preparing investments, large numbers of the same pieces
of silk ribbons should be avoided, nobody liking to appear in a
general uniform, or livery.

The stoppage of the China trade has cut off one abundant source
of supply, of which the ladies of Bombay were wise enough to avail
themselves. It is difficult now to procure a morsel of China silk in
the shops, and there appears to be little chance of any goods of the
kind coming into the market, until the present differences between
Great Britain and the Celestial Empire shall be adjusted. With
the exception of the common and trifling articles brought about by
hawkers, every thing that is wanted for an Anglo-Indian establishment
must be sent for to the Fort, from which many of the houses are
situated, four, five, or six miles.

As there are populous villages at Bycullah, Mazagong, &c, it seems
strange that no European bazaars have been established at these
intermediate places for the convenience of the inhabitants, who, with
the exception of