ce. "Madras is
the third city in population of India, or next to Bombay, with 452,518
souls, by the census published last year. It is on the Coromandel coast,
which is nearly the whole of the Madras Presidency. It is nearly the entire
western shore of the Sea of Bengal, including the bay, as the northern part
of it is called in modern times. There is scarcely a single safe harbor for
large vessels.

"I suppose you have often heard the expression, 'in the Carnatic,' for it
is memorable as the scene of the struggle in the last century between
England and France for the supremacy of India. Though there is no state
with that name, nearly the whole coast region south of the Godavery River
retains this name. In fact, there is no little confusion of names in many
parts of India. The country near the Arabian Sea still receives the
designation of the Deccan, from the Kistna River to the Gulf of Cambay on
the north. But this name does not belong to a political division,"
continued the speaker, pointing out every location and river he named.

"Madras extends along the shore nine miles, and is thus exposed to the fury
of the sea for this distance; for it is not on a river, like Calcutta, or a
sheltered bay, like Bombay. Formerly, on the approach of a cyclone, vessels
lying in the roadstead, as the only harbor it had, which was no harbor, had
to put to sea to avoid being driven on the shore. Decidedly it was a very
inconvenient place to build a city; but the town formerly consisted of a
number of villages, which have been united, after the fashion of some of
your American cities.

"An attempt has been in progress the last twenty years to make a harbor in
the shape of an enclosure of strong walls, about half a mile square. It was
seriously damaged by a cyclone a dozen years ago; but they are still at
work upon it, though it is said to be doubtful whether or not it will ever
be safe for ships in a violent storm. There is always a heavy surf rolling
in on this coast, even in what the commander would call a smooth sea."

"Then how shall we get ashore there?" inquired Mrs. Belgrave.

"The natives construct a boat, which is a sort of raft of planks, tied
together with ropes, called a _masulah_, which passes through the surf
very well in ordinary weather; but no boat could live in a cyclone in a sea
there, for the waves are fourteen feet high."

"I should like to try it with the second cutter, so far as the waves are
concerned; but bu