the banks and hedges; clumps and groves of lofty trees diminished by
distance to the appearance of mere dark green bushy excrescences; the
poplar avenue looking like two long and paralleled lines drawn upon the
ground; the fort and hill but a pigmy now; the city of sombre colour,
with its houses closely huddled together and presenting an expanse of
mud--unworthy stone for such a setting! The high and rugged mountains
on every side piercing the clouds, out of which the everlasting snow and
ice rock regions untrod by mortal foot gleam and glisten coldly in the
scene below; these are the constituent parts of a view which taken
altogether ranks among the finest (if indeed it be not itself the
finest) in the world. But I have no description for it as a whole, words
would fail me if I attempted to reproduce it on paper, so you must take
the items and arrange them to your own satisfaction, and wish you had
the opportunity of seeing the glorious original. I am no antiquarian,
but I believe the building itself possesses great interest for those who
indulge in that musty study, on account of its vast antiquity and
uncertain history. To me it is only a Hindoo temple of quaint
architecture and unwholesome smell. Inside it is a small marble idol in
the form of a pillar with a snake carved round it.

AUGUST 30th, Sunday.--The beginning of a fresh week which will at its
conclusion find me on my way homewards, my back turned on the lovely
valley and all the beauties that I have witnessed existing only in my
memory like a pleasant dream that has passed. So wags the world, joys
giving place to sorrows, and sorrows in their turn effaced by fresh
happiness or oblivion. For a little while each one of us plays his ever
varying part in the great drama of life. Now bewailing with bursting
heart, and scalding tears the light affliction which is but for a
moment; now with ringing laugh and reckless gaiety he enjoys the
present, forgetful alike of past and future, now with stormy passions
raging he "like an angry ape, plays such fantastic tricks before high
heaven, as make the angels weep;" and then is his short act over, then
the curtain falls and then will he be called before it to receive
approbation? Who can tell, I judge not one individually; but I may
generalize and say, that while as a rule we give a terrible earnestness
to the performance of the _business_ connected with our parts, we too
often fail to appreciate and interpret the _spi