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Leader (1850-1860), 8th October 1859, Edition 2 of 2, Page 9, No. 498. Oct. 8, 1859 1 THE LEADER. 1125

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      Srukgircon Out-Dosr.-At Naples The Pries...

      ous manner with which the quadruped walks by his master and looks up to his face , and the readiness with which he obeys his orders without murmurs , suggested toa sprightly habitue that he would not fce unqualified for a portfolio . There is no need for nlarm , however , oh the part of the most nervous holder of office , and the fidelity of this noble creature ( the Newfoundland in question ) need not disturb his slumbers . He would probably know as much of the Imperi * mind as . any of the biped ministers , perhaps more than any of them—during a tete-a-tete . .

      A Lively Capital . —No one coming to Turin ( says one of this week ' s correspondents ) , even in the best of times , will ever be particularly struck by the liveliness of the place . Those distressingly rectangular streets , following the four cardinal points at the compass—^ one-fourth unbearable in winter , the other insufferable in summer , the third disagreeable in the morning , and the fourth unpleasant in the evening ! Those dreary monotonous rows of houses all alike , each with the same iron balcony before the same sloped window , above each the same cornice , and all looking down on the same six lines of four

      flagging—two for the foot passengers , and the remaining ones for the carriages—each line divided mathematically from the others by the traditional pavement of little round stones , evidently laid down with the intention of preventing people from using the largest part of the street , and confining their movements to the regular lines of flagging ! , Wo to the inquisitive traveller who looks down on these straight lines from his window if he is in the least disposed to giddiness ! They will produce on him the effect of magic lines from which he can no more turn away his eye ; something like a . barn-door fowl , hefore whose beak a chalk line has been drawn on the

      ground , he becomes drowsy and immovable . At last , by an effort , he overcomes the effect of the spell , and goes down into the streets in search of life and movement . He hastens under the arcades which run round the Piazza del Castello and along the Via del Po , where he is told he is to see all the woTld . If it be early enough in the morning he may " see a number of servant girls making their provisions for the day , and here . and there a sporadic crinoline , evidently intent on shopping , and a sprinkling of black coats moving towards piie of the cafes to have breakfast . Later in the day the first element altogether disappears , and the lastnamely , the blackcoats—increases to a considerable

      extent ; so that towards the evening you find a regular proqession of them moving up and down . But in the morning , or , indeed , any part of the day , there is the same automaton-like regular movement , which gives one almost the idea that a special improved breed of beings has been produced to move about in this most regular and sedate of towns . It is neither the busy , active , energetic crowd of London , which communicates its life even to the most lymphatic temperament , nor is it the amusing , enjoying crowd oijlaneurs of the Paris Boulevards . There is neither enjoyment nor activity in it , but a

      general listlessness , I might say nothingness , which gives you the impression that you are walking about in a town of somnambulists by daylight . Even the crowds collected in the evening before the cafes present this half sleepy appearance ; you begin almost to feel an affection for the news vendors , who try in vain with their shrill voices to rouse the town from its sleepiness . If this be the appearance of Turin in the best of times—ami every one not born within tlie precincts of Taurinum ' will toll you it is soyou may imagine what it is now in the so-called dead season .

      PoBTicAt- Pkayhrs . —The Bombay papers give large extracts from the various sermons preached in the city on the appointed thanksgiving day . Jews , Mahomedans , Vedantists , Gond Brahmins , Parsees , and their numerous soots , observed tlie day . One Mponshee publishes his Munnjat in which the following occurs : —" Non-entity , Q Lord , wns our abode ; terra incognita our habitntion . By the sufferings of impatient lovers , and by tho elegance and gracefulness of the beloved { by the weeping eyes , and by the affecting ardour of tho Holy , render India a House of safety . " Dulputrum Dynbahee , " tho colerated poet of Gussorat , " read such sentences as these iti Shreo liunjoo ' s temple .

      "Bo gracious and blacken tlie faces of tlio wicked . .. . Armies mutinied and calamities ensued ; children and women were tortured and cruelly immlureil . It appeared as if Tamil had been excited with anger . .. . We resigned ourselves like bootlos at Thy feet , and placed our entire reliance on Thee .. . When the drum of the great subject-protecting Queen begun to beat , the thunder * like noise of arms ceased of Itself . " Some of tho Parseo forms wore close imitations of those in the Prayer-book . There was a poetical contest among the Shenrcc Brahmins . Hymns composed in Guzorati , Murathi , Hindustani , and Sanscrit , wore read by their authors to an extent more than sufficient to form a second " Queen ' s Wake . "

      No. 498. Oct. 8, 1859 1 The Leader. 1125

      No . 498 . Oct . 8 , 1859 1 THE LEADER . 1125

      India, And Indian Progress. ^I

      INDIA , AND INDIAN PROGRESS . ^ i

      Stitution Than That Of The Plains Of Sci...

      stitution than that of the plains of Scinde . The object , in fact , was to be made a twofold one , inasmuch as it was also designed to place within reach of the deputy collector a place where he would be able to reside and transact his business with less trial to his health and strength , and where he would be accessible to the people of his districts ; the task was accordingly entrusted to Captain Lionel Dunsr terville , the deputy collector in charge of Sehwan , and a better selection we do not think could have been made .

      A NEW SANATAEIUM . IN March last the commisioner called upon the collector of Kurrachee to take early steps , for the purpose of ascertaining whether there could be a spot made available on or near our western border north of Sehwan for a sanatarium , or as an agreeable resort during the hot weather , and where the climate would be less trying to the European

      con-On the . 2 nd of April Captain Dunsterville left Johee for Haira Khan Lugharee , a village founded , it appears , by the great grandfather of the present headman . On the 3 rd he started for Rajah Dehra . towards which . there is no regular road , and he had to take a circuitous route in a north-westerly direction , until reaching the village of Meerur Lugharee , from whence a course was taken to Raj ah Dehra , situated in the Mehur district . There are a great number of pukka wells here , upwards of 100 , many of which , however , are choked up from having been neglected for a lengthened period . Rajah Dehra is close to the mouth of the Gaj , and at the foot of Kuchruk , the hill which Captain

      Dunsterville had resolved on visiting ; he , however , found great difficulty in ascertaining correct information regarding Kuchruk , or , in fact , about part of the Keerthut range . It was soon discovered that obstacles were thrown in his way through the instrumentality of the hill tribes , who had a spy at Rajah Dehra to watcli his movements , and who , no doubt , were jealous of any encroachments on their boundaries . Captain Dunsterville , notwithstanding all these drawbacks and hindrances , which under ordinary circumstances might have tempted him to retrace his steps , persisted in prosecuting his journey ; and when his determination to proceed was'made known , the spy referred the

      to actually had the audacity to warn people to desert their villages or hamlets before Captain Dunsterville ' s arrival ! The water of the Gaj is described as being as clear as crystal , and always cool . The stream for the greater part is narrow and shallow , but everywhere tolerably rapid . It abounds in large pools , some of considerable depth , and all literally teeming with fish , varying in length from an inch to three feet . Crocodiles are said to be numerous hereabouts , but Captain Dunsterville failed to see even one ; neither did he learn of any ravages ever having been committed by the brutes . After undergoing privations and difficulties , Captain Dunstorville managed on the 8 th April to reach the summit of the Kuchruk , which

      light as MofussiHtes do lawyers in India . Divested as they are of religious prejudices , they are equally so of all ideas of cleanliness ; and one of the tribe told Captain Dunsterville that , as a general rule , he -washed himself every tenth day ! " Up this path Captain Dunsterville met strings of Belooch . women , toiling with ' large goat skins filled with , water , carried on their backs , and secured by straps ; some with children astride on their hips ; others braiding goat ' s hair as they climbed the steep ; ascent with their accustomed loads . The fact of several of the women having passed the meridian of their years , and one woman in particular , whose age was scarcely under the span allotted to human , existence , having a grey bearded son , and she herself

      being in the full possession of her intellectual faculties , and strong and healthy in every respect , would favour the notion that such drudgery was by no means injurious . Captain Dunsterville gave up the idea of selecting a site at Kuchruk for a summer residence for the deputy collector of Sehwan . Kuchruk , as described by him , is a large crater or basin , and the difficulty of procuring water there is great ; the springs or pools on which the populace depend for their daily supplies are found in the bed of a torrent several hundreds of feet below the level of the basin , and an attempt to make the hill track traversable by donkeys heavily laden woulJ be attended with a heavy expense ; at present it is impassable by beasts carrying even ordinary loads .

      A stone dam , however , could be thrown across the gorge , the expenditure on which , it is calculated , would amount to something hear Rs . 2 , 000 , but it would last for years . Captain Dunsterville recommends that , as a preparatory measure , a careful survey , be made of the whole basin , when it would be easy to secure the retention of a large body of water , sufficient to meet a year ' s consumption , by regulating the height of the dam by the levels taken . No obstacles to the project being carried out need be apprehended from the people living : in those parts , as it is reasonable to surmise that they would gladly purchase the inestimable blessing of « . having a ready facility of procuring the precious liquid at the cost of a few wheat fields . 1

      Fort Hurrar is one march , or a distanceof about ten miles from Kuchruk ; the route to it is cercuitous , and in its present state traversable only by fqpt passengers , and donkeys lightly laden . Tlie basin here is of a less area than that of Kuchruk , with which it contrasts favourably by its being irrigated by a rapid little stream , issuing from a clear spring sacred to the Punj tunn ( tlie Five Companions — Mahommed and the Cliar Yar ) . This stream is deemed sufficient to supply four wheels in the twenty-four hours , and as it appears to be choked by fallen leaves and detritus from the . hills , a removal of such obstacles * and their effectual prevention , will , no doubt , conduce to beneficial results . A portion of this

      ground , or all that happens to be level , is surrounded by a massive wall of stone and ehunaiu , standing about ten feet in height . Within this inclosure Meer Ali Moorad intended to secure his harem and valuables in the event of a foreign invasion . Two round towerapf stone and chunam , loopholed ami furnished with embrasures for cannon , guard the head of the pass leading towards Scinde . These towers are connected with euch other by curtain walls of tho same material , which , descending in steps , meet about the centre of the gorge in » doorway just large enough to admit of the ingress of a camel with a Kuja > rah . The whole is ia excellent preservation , including the woo . leu framework for the door or gate . — Sindittu .

      overlooked the Gaj , some thousands of feet below . His stay on the hill did not extend over three duys , but even in this short space of time ho managed to ingratiate himself into the good graces of the Belooohes , who wore exceedingly cross-grained and surly at first , insomuch that they would not be prevailed upon either to render assistance of any kind , or to dispose of tho veriest trifle . This feeling of diffidence , or more properly antipathy , was to be accounted for on the assumption that Captain Dunsteryille ' s advent amongst them was looked on as a sure prelude to their being taxed , and that he had evidently been scut on the express mission of measuring their corn fields ! Such misgivings were soon dispelled , and the first symptom of a relaxation in tltcir feelings was manifested in a consent to soil the travelling

      party fat-tailed sheep at two rupees each , and wheat at one rupee peroassn , or sixty rupees per Khurwnr ! The men are described by Captain Dunatorvljle as being a fine , manly , independent sot of follows ; many of them good-looking , tall , and upright , with a Jewish cast at countenance . To give one an idea of the primeval state of simplicity they enjoy , and the utter absencoof any thing approaching bigotry and intolerance in . their religious notions , which are evidently a 9 original as the people ore thoinnol vos . Captam Punstorvllle states , " Tho gleam of satisfaction which brightened their countenances when they told mo they had no Moolahs amongst them , showed that they regarded these gentry in somowhut tho same

      Civil Salaries. " Mksdambs," Says A Cook...

      CIVIL SALARIES . " Mksdambs , " says a cook in an olil French caricature to his fowls , " how do you wldh to booookuU t " Wo do not want to bo killed , " a-icklo . 1 the hoiisr wandering , says tho caricaturist , from tho point . Tlie members of tho Civil ( Service are like thu unfortunato hens . They do not want to . bo'killed , ami will give no hints as to tliu comparative savouriness of sauces . Tlio petition drawn up by Mr . AXoxyao Money has been signed by all civilians accessible , from secretaries downwards , nml goes home by the next mail . It is simply a protest nguiiit reduction . of tlioservice

      Tho writer points to tho past position , and compares its prospects unfavourably with those of the service in Ceylon . The signer * would perhaps bo slightly astonished if Sir C . Wood took them at their word , and placed them at once on the Ceylon scale . All this , uud all prutoat nguluat reduction in the abstract , is ) simpJy wandering . H reductions bo 'not a necessity , reductions will not bo made . No man , secretary or suuonlinutc , wunta , to reduce j to be tormented by petition * uiul protests i to be besieged by ai ' ngry olUcluls , and considered a demon by olliuiala' angrier wives . Tlioro is no popularity to bo niudy in India by ' cuttings . " Nobody wiahus for them , from tho civilians who lose their luxuries to tho trades-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 8, 1859, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08101859/page/9/