John Brown, M. D. - "Rab and His Friends"

Jehudah Steinberg - "In Those Days"

W. S. Harris - "Mr. World and Miss Church Member"

Jean de La Fontaine - "The Tales and Novels, v8: The Ephesian Matron and Others"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: Himalayan Journals (Complete)

J >> J. D. Hooker >> Himalayan Journals (Complete)




On the 21st we were ashore at daylight on the Chittagong coast far
north of the station, and were greeted by the sight of hills on the
horizon: we were lying fully twenty feet below high-water mark, and
the tide was out for several miles to the westward. The bank was
covered with flocks of white geese feeding on short grass, upon what
appeared to be detached islets on the surface of the mud.
These islets, which are often an acre in extent, are composed of
stratified mud; they have perpendicular sides several feet high, and
convex surfaces, owing to the tide washing away the earth from under
their sides; and they were further slipping seawards, along the
gently sloping mud-beach. Few or no shells or seaweed were to be
seen, nor is it possible to imagine a more lifeless sea than these
muddy coasts present.

We were three days and nights on this short voyage, without losing
sight of mud or land. I observed the barometer whenever the boat was
on the shore, and found the mean of six readings (all reduced to the
same level) to be identical with that at Calcutta. These being all
taken at elevations lower than that of the Calcutta observatory, show
either a diminished atmospheric pressure, or that the mean level of
high-water is not the same on the east and west coasts of the Bay of
Bengal: this is quite possible, considering the widely different
direction of the tides and currents on each, and that the waters may
be banked up, as it were, in the narrow channels of the western
Sunderbunds. The temperature of the air was the same as at Calcutta,
but the atmosphere was damper. The water was always a degree warmer
than the air.

We arrived at Chittagong on the 23rd of December, and became the
guests of Mr. Sconce, Judge of the district, and of Mr. Lautour; to
both of whom we were greatly indebted for their hospitality and
generous assistance in every way.

Chittagong is a large town of Mahometans and Mugs, a Birmese tribe
who inhabit many parts of the Malay peninsula, and the coast to the
northward of it. The town stands on the north shore of an extensive
delta, formed by rivers from the lofty mountains separating this
district from Birma. These mountains are fine objects on the horizon,
rising 4000 to 8000 feet; they are forest-clad, and inhabited by
turbulent races, who are coterminous with the Cookies of the Cachar
and Tipperah forests; if indeed they be not the same people.
The mountains abound with the splendid timber-trees of the Cachar
forests, but like these are said to want teak, Sal, and Sissoo; they
have, besides many others,, magnificent Gurjun trees
(_Dipterocarpi_), the monarchs of the forests of these coasts.

The natives of Chittagong are excellent shipbuilders and active
traders, and export much rice and timber to Madras and Calcutta.
The town is large and beautifully situated, interspersed with trees
and tanks; the hills resemble those of Silhet, and are covered with a
similar vegetation: on these the European houses are built.
The climate is very healthy, which is not remarkable, considering how
closely it approximates in character to that of Silhet and other
places in Eastern Bengal, but very extraordinary, if it be compared
with Arracan, only 200 miles further south, which is extremely
unhealthy. The prominent difference between the physical features of
Chittagong and Arracan, is the presence of mangrove swamps at the
latter place, for which the water is too fresh at the former.

The hills about the station are not more than 150 or 200 feet high,
and are formed of stratified gravel, sand, and clay, that often
becomes nodular, and is interstratified with slag-like iron clay.
Fossil wood is found; and some of the old buildings about Chittagong
contain nummulitic limestone, probably imported from Silhet or the
peninsula of India, with which countries there is no such trade now.
The views are beautiful, of the blue mountains forty to fifty miles
distant, and the many-armed river, covered with sails, winding
amongst groves of cocoa-nuts, Areca palm, and yellow rice fields.
Good European houses surmount all the eminences, surrounded by trees
of _Acacia_ and _Caesalpinia._ In the hollows are native huts amidst
vegetation of every hue, glossy green _Garciniae_ and figs, broad
plantains, feathery _Cassia_ and Acacias, dark _Mesua_, red-purple
_Terminalia,_ leafless scarlet-flowered _Bombax,_ and grey
_Casuarina._* [This, which is almost exclusively an Australian genus,
is not indigenous at Chittagong: to it belongs an extra-Australian
species common in the Malay islands, and found wild as far north as
Arracan.] Seaward the tide leaves immense flats, called churs, which
stretch for many miles on either side the offing.

We accompanied Mr. Sconce to a bungalow which he has built at the
telegraph station at the south head of the harbour: its situation, on
a hill 100 feet above the sea, is exposed, and at this season the
sea-breeze was invigorating, and even cold, as it blew through the
mat-walls of the bungalow.* [The mean temperature of the two days
(29th and 30th) we spent at this bungalow was 66.5 degrees, that of
Calcutta being 67.6 degrees; the air was damp, and the barometer
0.144 lower at the flagstaff hill, but it fell and rose with the
Calcutta instrument.] To the south, undulating dunes stretch along
the coast, covered with low bushes, of which a red-flowered
_Melastoma_ is the most prevalent,* [_Melastoma,_ jasmine, _Calamus,
AEgle Marmelos, Adelia, Memecylon, Ixora, Limostoma, Congea,_
climbing _Coesalpinia,_ and many other plants; and along their bases
large trees of _Amoora, Gaurea,_ figs, _Mesua,_ and _Micromelon._]
and is considered a species of _Rhododendron_ by many of the
residents! The flats along the beach are several miles broad,
intersected with tidal creeks, and covered with short grass, while
below high-water mark all is mud, coated with green _Conferva._
There are no leafy seaweeds or mangroves, nor any seaside shrub but
_Dilivaria ilicifolia._ Animal life is extremely rare; and a
_Cardium_-like shell and small crab are found sparingly.

Coffee has been cultivated at Chittagong with great success; it is
said to have been introduced by Sir W. Jones, and Mr. Sconce has a
small plantation, from which his table is well supplied. Both Assam
and Chinese teas flourish, but Chinamen are wanted to cure the
leaves. Black pepper succeeds admirably, as do cinnamon, arrowroot,
and ginger.

Early in January we accompanied Mr. Lautour on an excursion to the
north, following a valley separated from the coast by a range of
wooded hills, 1000 feet high. For several marches the bottom of this
valley was broad, flat, and full of villages. At Sidhee, about
twenty-five miles from Chittagong, it contracts, and spurs from the
hills on either flank project into the middle: they are 200 to 300
feet high, formed of red clay, and covered with brushwood. At
Kajee-ke-hath, the most northern point we reached, we were quite
amongst these hills, and in an extremely picturesque country,
intersected by long winding flat valleys, that join one another: some
are full of copsewood, while others present the most beautiful
park-like scenery, and a third class expand into grassy marshes or
lake-beds, with wooded islets rising out of them. The hillsides are
clothed with low jungle, above which tower magnificent Gurjun trees
(wood-oil). The whole contour of this country is that of a low bay,
whose coast is raised above the sea, and over which a high tide once
swept for ages.

The elevation of Hazari-ke-hath is not 100 feet above the level of
the sea. It is about ten miles west of the mouth of the Fenny, from
which it is separated by hills 1000 feet high; its river falls into
that at Chittagong, thirty miles south. Large myrtaceous trees
(_Eugenia_) are common, and show a tendency to the Malayan flora,
which is further demonstrated by the abundance of Gurjun
(_Dipterocarpus turbinatus_). This is the most superb tree we met
with in the Indian forests: we saw several species, but this is the
only common one here; it is conspicuous for its gigantic size, and
for the straightness and graceful form of its tall unbranched pale
grey trunk, and small symmetrical crown: many individuals were
upwards of 200 feet high, and fifteen in girth. Its leaves are broad,
glossy, and beautiful; the flowers (then falling) are not
conspicuous; the wood is hard, close-grained, and durable, and a
fragrant oil exudes from the trunk, which is extremely valuable as
pitch and varnish, etc., besides being a good medicine. The natives
procure it by cutting transverse holes in the trunk, pointing
downwards, and lighting fires in them, which causes the oil to flow.*
[The other trees of these dry forests are many oaks, _Henslowia,
Gordonia, Engelhardtia, Duabanga, Adelia, Byttneria, Bradleia,_ and
large trees of _Pongamia,_ whose seeds yield a useful oil.]

Illustration--GURJUN TREE.

On the 8th of January we experienced a sharp earthquake, preceded by
a dull thumping sound; it lasted about twenty seconds, and seemed to
come up from the southward; the water of a tank by which we were
seated was smartly agitated. The same shock was felt at Mymensing and
at Dacca, 110 miles north-west of this.* [Earthquakes are extremely
common, and sometimes violent, at Chittagong, and doubtless belong to
the volcanic forces of the Malayan peninsula.]

We crossed the dividing ridge of the littoral range on the 9th, and
descended to Seetakoond bungalow, on the high road from Chittagong to
Comilla. The forests at the foot of the range were very extensive,
and swarmed with large red ants that proved very irritating: they
build immense pendulous nests of dead and living leaves at the ends
of the branches of trees, and mat them with a white web. Tigers,
leopards, wild dogs, and boars, are numerous; as are snipes,
pheasants, peacocks, and jungle-fowl, the latter waking the morn with
their shrill crows; and in strange association with them, common
English woodcock, is occasionally found.

The trees are of little value, except the Gurjun, and "Kistooma," a
species of _Bradleia,_ which was stacked extensively, being used for
building purposes. The papaw* [The Papaw tree is said to have the
curious property of rendering tough meat tender, when hung under its
leaves, or touched with the juice; this hastening the process of
decay. With this fact, well-known in the West Indies, I never found a
person in the East acquainted.] is abundantly cultivated, and its
great gourd-like fruit is eaten (called "Papita" or "Chinaman"); the
flavour is that of a bad melon, and a white juice exudes from the
rind. The _Hodgsonia heteroclita_ (_Trichosanthes_ of Roxburgh), a
magnificent Cucurbitaceous climber, grows in these forests; it is the
same species as the Sikkim one (see chapter xviii). The long stem
bleeds copiously when cut, and like almost all woody climbers, is
full of large vessels; the juice does not, however, exude from these
great tubes, which hold air, but from the close woody fibres.
A climbing _Apocyneous_ plant grows in these forests, the milk of
which flows in a continuous stream, resembling caoutchouc (it is
probably the _Urceola elastica,_ which yields Indian-rubber).

The subject of bleeding is involved in great obscurity, and the
systematic examination of the motions in the juices of tropical
climbers by resident observers, offers a fertile field to the
naturalist. I have often remarked that if a climbing stem, in which
the circulation is vigorous, be cut across, it bleeds freely from
both ends, and most copiously from the lower, if it be turned
downwards; but that if a truncheon be severed, there will be no flow
from either of its extremities. This is the case with all the Indian
watery-juiced climbers, at whatever season they may be cut.
When, however, the circulation in the plant is feeble, neither end of
a simple cut will bleed much, but if a truncheon be taken from it,
both the extremities will.

The ascent of the hills, which are densely wooded, was along spurs,
and over knolls of clay; the rocks were sandy and slaty (dip
north-east 60 degrees. The road was good, but always through bamboo
jungle, and it wound amongst the low spurs, so that there was no
defined crest or top of the pass, which is about 800 feet high.
There were no tall palms, tree-ferns, or plantains, no _Hymenophylla_
or _Lycopodia,_ and altogether the forest was smaller and poorer in
plants than we had expected. The only palms (except a few rattans)
were two kinds of _Wallichia._

From the summit we obtained a very extensive and singular view.
At our feet was a broad, low, grassy, alluvial plain, intersected by
creeks, bounding a black expanse of mud which (the tide being out)
appeared to stretch almost continuously to Sundeep Island, thirty
miles distant; while beyond, the blue hills of Tipperah rose on the
north-west horizon. The rocks yielded a dry poor soil, on which grew
dwarf _Phoenix_ and cycas-palm (_Cycas circinalis_ or _pectinata_).

Descending, we rode several miles along an excellent road, that runs
to Tipperah, and stopped at the bungalow of Seetakoond, twenty-five
miles north of Chittagong. The west flank of the range which we had
crossed is much steeper than the east, often precipitous, and
presents the appearance of a sea-worn cliff towards the Bay of
Bengal. Near Seetakoond (which is on the plain) a hill on the range,
bearing the same name, rises 1,136 feet high, and being damper and
more luxuriantly wooded, we were anxious to explore it, and therefore
spent some days at the bungalow. Fields of poppy and sun (_Crotalaria
juncea_), formed most beautiful crops; the latter grows from four to
six feet high, and bears masses of laburnum-like flowers, while the
poppy fields resembled a carpet of dark-green velvet, sprinkled with
white stars; or, as I have elsewhere remarked, a green lake studded
with water-lilies.

The road to the top of Seetakoond leads along a most beautiful
valley, and then winds up a cliff that is in many places almost
precipitous, the ascent being partly by steps cut in the rock, of
which there are 560. The mountain is very sacred, and there is a
large Brahmin temple on its flank; and near the base a perpetual
flame bursts out of the rock. This we were anxious to examine, and
were extremely disappointed to find it a small vertical hole in a
slaty rock, with a lateral one below for a draught; and that it is
daily supplied by pious pilgrims and Brahmins with such enormous
quantities of ghee (liquid butter), that it is to all intents and
purposes an artificial lamp; no trace of natural phenomena being
discoverable.

Illustration--SEETAKUND HILL.

On the dry but wooded west face of the mountain, grows _Falconeria,_
a curious Euphorbiaceous tree, with an acrid milky juice that affects
the eyes when the wood is cut. Beautiful _Cycas_ palms are also
common, with _Terminalia, Bignonia, Sterculia,_ dwarf _Phoenix_ palm,
and Gurjun trees. The east slope of the mountain is damper, and much
more densely wooded; we there found two wild species of nutmeg trees,
whose wood is full of a brown acrid oil, seven palms, tree-ferns, and
many other kinds of ferns, several kinds of oak, _Dracaena,_ and
figs. The top is 1,136 feet above the sea, and commands an extensive
view to all points of the compass; but the forests, in which the ashy
bark of the Gurjun trees is conspicuous, and the beautiful valley on
the west, are the only attractive features.

The weather on the east side of the range differs at this season
remarkably from that on the west, where the vicinity of the sea keeps
the atmosphere more humid and warm, and at the same time prevents the
formation of the dense fogs that hang over the valleys to the
eastward every morning at sunrise. We found the mean temperature at
the bungalow, from January 9th till the 13th, to be 70.2 degrees.

We embarked again at Chittagong on the 16th of January, at 10 p.m.,
for Calcutta, in a very large vessel, rowed by twelve men: we made
wretchedly slow progress, for the reasons mentioned earlier, being
for four days within sight of Chittagong! On the 20th we only reached
Sidhee, and thence made a stretch to Hattiah, an island which may be
said to be moving bodily to the westward, the Megna annually cutting
many acres from the east side; and the tide-wave depositing mud on
the west. The surface is flat, and raised four feet above mean
high-water level; the tide rises about 14 feet up the bank, and then
retires for miles; the total rise and fall is, however, much less
here than in the Fenny, higher up the gulf. The turf is composed of
_Cynodon_ and a _Fimbristylis_; and the earth being impregnated with
salt, supports different kinds of _Chenopodium._ Two kinds of
tamarisk, and a thorny _Cassia_ and _Exoecaria,_ are the only shrubs
on the eastern islands; on the central ones a few dwarf mangroves
appear, with the holly-leaved _Dilivaria,_ dwarf screw-pine
(_Pandanus_), a shrub of _Compositae,_ and a curious fern, a variety
of _Aristichum aureum._ Towards the northern end of Hattiah, Talipot,
cocoa-nut and date-palms appear.

On the 22nd we entered the Sunderbunds, rowing amongst narrow
channels, where the tide rises but a few feet. The banks were covered
with a luxuriant vegetation, chiefly of small trees, above which rose
stately palms. On the 25th, we were overtaken by a steamer from
Assam, a novel sight to us, and a very strange one in these creeks,
which in some places seemed hardly broad enough for it to pass
through. We jumped on board in haste, leaving our boat and luggage to
follow us. She had left Dacca two days before, and this being the dry
season, the route to Calcutta, which is but sixty miles in a straight
line, involved a detour of three hundred.

From the masts of the steamer we obtained an excellent _coup-d'oeil_
of the Sunderbunds; its swamps clothed with verdure, and intersected
by innumerable inosculating channels, with banks a foot or so high.
The amount of tide, which never exceeds ten feet, diminishes in
proceeding westwards into the heart of these swamps, and the epoch,
direction, and duration of the ebb and flow vary so much in every
canal, that at times, after stemming a powerful current, we found
ourselves, without materially changing our course, suddenly swept
along with a favouring stream. This is owing to the complex
ramifications of the creeks, the flow of whose waters is materially
influenced by the most trifling accidents of direction.

Receding from the Megna, the water became saltier, and _Nipa
fruticans_ appeared, throwing up pale yellow-green tufts of feathery
leaves, from a short thick creeping stem, and bearing at the base of
the leaves its great head of nuts, of which millions were floating on
the waters, and vegetating in the mud. Marks of tigers were very
frequent, and the footprints of deer, wild boars, and enormous
crocodiles: these reptiles were extremely common, and glided down the
mud banks on the approach of the steamer, leaving between the
footmarks a deep groove in the mud made by their tail. The _Phoenix
paludosa,_ a dwarf slender-stemmed date-palm, from six to eight feet
high, is the all-prevalent feature, covering the whole landscape with
a carpet of feathery fronds of the liveliest green. The species is
eminently gregarious, more so than any other Indian palm, and
presents so dense a mass of foliage, that when seen from above, the
stems are wholly hidden.* [_Sonneratia, Heritiera littoralis,_ and
_Careya,_ form small gnarled trees on the banks, with deep shining
green-leaved species of _Carallia Rhizophora,_ and other Mangroves.
Occasionally the gigantic reed-mace (_Typha elephantina_) is seen,
and tufts of tall reeds (_Arundo_).]

The water is very turbid, and only ten to twenty feet deep, which, we
were assured by the captain, was not increased during the rains: it
is loaded with vegetable matter, but the banks are always muddy, and
we never saw any peat. Dense fogs prevented our progress in the
morning, and we always anchored at dusk. We did not see a village or
house in the heart of the Sunderbunds (though such do occur), but we
saw canoes, with fishermen, who use the tame otter in fishing; and
the banks were covered with piles of firewood, stacked for the
Calcutta market. As we approached the Hoogly, the water became very
salt and clear; the Nipa fruits were still most abundant, floating
out to sea, but no more of the plant itself was seen. As the channels
became broader, sand-flats appeared, with old salt factories, and
clumps of planted _Casuarina._

On the 28th of January we passed Saugor island, and entered the
Hoogly, steamed past Diamond Harbour, and landed at the Botanic
Garden Ghat, where we received a hearty welcome from Dr. Falconer.
Ten days later we bade farewell to India, reaching England on the
25th of March, 1851.

APPENDIX. A.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS IN BEHAR, AND IN THE VALLEYS OF THE SOANE
AND GANGES.

Most of the instruments which I employed were constructed by Mr.
Newman, and with considerable care: they were in general accurate,
and always extremely well guarded, and put up in the most portable
form, and that least likely to incur damage; they were further
frequently carefully compared by myself. These are points to which
too little attention is paid by makers and by travellers in selecting
instruments and their cases. This remark applies particularly to
portable barometers, of which I had five at various times. Although
there are obvious defects in the system of adjustment, and in the
method of obtaining the temperature of the mercury, I found that
these instruments invariably worked well, and were less liable to
derangement and fracture than any I ever used; the best proof I can
give of this is that I preserved three uninjured during nearly all my
excursions, left two in India, and brought a third home myself that
had accompanied me almost throughout my journey.

In very dry climates these and all other barometers are apt to leak,
from the contraction of the box-wood plug through which the tube
passes into the cistern. This must, in portable barometers, in very
dry weather, be kept moist with a sponge. A small iron bottle of pure
mercury to supply leakage should be supplied with every barometer, as
also a turnscrew. The vernier plate and scale should be screwed, not
soldered on the metal sheath, as if an escape occurs in the
barometer-case the solder is acted upon at once. A table of
corrections for capacity and capillarity should accompany every
instrument, and simple directions, etc., in cases of trifling
derangement, and alteration of neutral point.

The observations for temperature were taken with every precaution to
avoid radiation, and the thermometers were constantly compared with a
standard, and the errors allowed for. The maximum thermometer with a
steel index, I found to be extremely liable to derangement and very
difficult to re-adjust. Negretti's maximum thermometer was not known
to me during my journey. The spirit minimum thermometers again, are
easily set to rights when out of order, but in every one (of six or
seven) which I took to India, by several makers, the zero point
receded, the error in some increasing annually, even to -6 degrees in
two years. This seems due to a vaporisation of the spirit within the
tube. I have seen a thermometer of this description in India, of
which the spirit seemed to have retired wholly into the bulb, and
which I was assured had never been injured. In wet-bulb observations,
distilled water or rain, or snow water was used, but I never found
the result to differ from that obtained by any running fresh water,
except such as was polluted to the taste and eye.

The hours of observation selected were at first sunrise, 9 a.m.,
3 p.m., sunset, and 9 p.m., according to the instructions issued to
the Antarctic expedition by the Royal Society. In Sikkim, however,
I generally adopted the hours appointed at the Surveyor General's
office, Calcutta; viz., sunrise, 9h. 50m. a.m., noon, 2h. 40m. p.m.,
4 p.m., and sunset, to which I added a 10 p.m. observation, besides
many at intermediate hours as often as possible. Of these the 9h.
50m. a.m. and 4 p.m. have been experimentally proved to be those of
the maximum and minimum of atmospheric pressure at the level of the
sea in India, and I did not find any great or marked deviation from
this at any height to which I attained, though at 15,000 or 16,000
feet the morning maximum may occur rather earlier.

The observations for nocturnal (terrestrial) radiation were made by
freely suspending thermometers with naked bulbs, or by laying them on
white cotton, wool, or flannel; also by means of a thermometer placed
in the focus of a silvered parabolic reflector. I did not find that
the reflector possessed any decided advantage over the white
cotton: the means of a number of observations taken by each
approximated closely, but the difference between individual
observations often amounted to 2 degrees.

Observations again indicative of the radiation from grass, whether
dewed or dry, are not strictly comparable; not only does the power of
radiation vary with the species, but much more with the luxuriance
and length of the blades, with the situation, whether on a plane
surface or raised, and with the subjacent soil. Of the great effect
of the soil I had frequent instances; similar tufts of the same
species of grass radiating more powerfully on the dry sandy bed of
the Soane, than on the alluvium on its banks; the exposure being
equal in both instances. Experiments for the surface-temperature of
the soil itself, are least satisfactory of any:--adjoining localities
being no less affected by the nature, than by the state of
disintegration of the surface, and by the amount of vegetation in
proximity to the instrument.