d all sorts of
country-houses, and some very splendid retreats from the bustle of
business. The roads which intersect this charming island were
beautifully Macadamised, as I well remember, long before that grand
improvement was heard of in England; and as the soil of the island is
made up of that rich kind of mould resulting from decomposed basalt or
lava, the whole surface affords a good sample of the perennial verdure
of tropical scenery, which dazzles and surprises the new-comer, while
its interest seldom fails to rise still higher upon a more prolonged
and intimate acquaintance.

Such are among the eminent physical advantages enjoyed by Bombay; but
even these, had they been many times greater, would have been light in
the balance compared to those of a moral, or rather of a political
nature, which conspired in 1812 to render it one of the most important
spots in that quarter of the globe. At the time I speak of, it was
almost the only possession exclusively British within several hundred
miles in any direction. The enormous territory of the Mahrattas lay
close to Bombay on the east.

On the morning after my arrival at Bombay, I got up with the first
blush of the dawn, and hastily drawing on my clothes, proceeded along
greedily in search of adventures. I had not gone far, before I saw a
native sleeping on a mat spread in the little verandah extending
along the front of his house, which was made of basket-work plastered
over with mud. He was wrapped up in a long web of white linen, or
cotton cloth, called, I think, his cummer-bund, or waist-cloth. As
soon as the first rays of the sun peeped into his rude
sleeping-chamber, he "arose, took up his bed, and went into his
house." I saw immediately an explanation of this expression, which,
with slight variations, occurs frequently in the Bible, in connection
with several of the most striking and impressive of Christ's miracles,
particularly with that of the man sick of the palsy. My honest friend
the Hindoo got on his feet, cast the long folds of his wrapper over
his shoulder, stooped down, and having rolled up his mat, which was
all the bed he required, he walked into the house with it, and then
proceeded to the nearest tank to perform his morning ablutions.

I remember mentioning this, amongst many other illustrations of the
incidents recorded in Scripture, to a worthy old Scotch lady, upon
whom I expected it to produce the same pleasing and satisfactory
effect which