The prayers of her votaries are directed to her during the first nine days of the Dusrah feast; and on the evening of the tenth day, a grand repast is prepared, to which the whole family is invited. An intoxicating drug is contrived to be mixed with the food of the intended victim, who is often a stranger whom the master of the house has for several months, perhaps years, treated with the greatest kindness and attention; and sometimes, to lall suspicion, given him his daughter in marriage. As soon as the poisonous and intoxicating drug operates, the master of the house, unattended, takes the devoted person into the temple, leads him three times round the idol; and on his prostrating himself before it, takes this opportunity of cutting his throat. He collects with the greatest care the blood in a small bowl; which he first applies to the lips of this ferocious goddess, and then sprinkles it over her body; and a hole having been dug at the feet of the idol for the corpse, he deposits it with great care to prevent discovery. After perpetration of this horrid act, the Kurradee Brahmin returns to his family, and spends the night in mirth and revelry, convinced that, by this praiseworthy act, he has propitiated the favour of his blood-thirsty deity for twelve years. On the morning of the following day, the corpse is taken from the hole in which it had been thrown, and the idol is deposited till next Dussarah, when a similar sacrifice is made. The discontinuance of this horrid custom, however, of late years, is said principally to have arisen from the following circumstance. At Poonah, a young and handsome Carnatic Brahmin, fatigued with travel and oppressed by the scorching heat of the sun, sat himself down in the verandah of a rich Brahmin, who chanced to be of the Kurradee sect. The Brahmin shortly after passing by, and perceiving that the youth was a stranger, kindly invited him to his house, and requested him to remain till perfectly recovered from the fatigues of his journey. The unsuspecting Brahmin youth readily accepted this apparently kind invitation, and was for several days treated with so much attention and kindness, that he showed no inclination to depart. He had seen also the Kurradee Brahmin's beautiful daughter, and conceived for her a violent attachment. Before a month had elapsed, he asked and obtained her in marriage. They lived happily together till the time of the Dussarah arrived, when the deceitful old Brahmin, according to his original intention, determined to sacrifice his son-in-law to the goddess of his sect. Accordingly, on the tenth day of the feast, he mixed an intoxicating poisonous drug in his victuals, not however unper ceived by his daughter. She being passionately fond of her husband, contrived unobserved to exchange the dish with that of her brother, who in a short time became senseless. The unlucky father, seeing the hapless state of his son, and despairing of his recovery, carried him to the temple, and with his own hands put him to death, and made to his idol an offering of his blood. This being perceived by the young Brahmin, he asked his wife the meaning of so shocking and unnatural an action. She replied by informing him of his recent danger, and the particulars of the whole affair. Alarmed for his own safety, and desirous that justice should be inflicted on the cruel Brahmin, he effected his escape, and repairing to the Peishwa, fell VOL. XXX. N.S.

at his feet, and related the whole affair. Orders were instantly given to seize every Kurradee Brahmin in the city of Poonah, and particularly the infamous perpetrator of the horrid deed. He was, with a number of others similarly convicted, put to death; and all the sect were expelled the city, and strict injunctions were laid on the inhabitants to have in future as little connexion with them as possible.

"By this well timed severity," says my authority, "Balajee Badjerow effectually prevented the recurrence of similar crimes; and the Kurradee Brahmins now content themselves with sacrificing a sheep or buffalo." pp. 86-89.

And so do the priests of Kalee now, at Calcutta.

Art. V. Narrative of an Ascent to the Summit of Mont Blanc, on the 8th and 9th August, 1827. By John Auldjo, Esq. Quarto. pp. 129. Price 1. Is. London. 1828.

THIS volume affords a striking exemplification of the proper

use and judicious application of Lithography. Mr. Auldjo, on examining the details given by De Saussure and others, found that, while little remained to be done in the way of scientific description, there was yet ample opportunity for picturesque and topographical illustration, in connection with Mont Blanc, its scenery, and the surrounding country. This he has given in a very interesting and effective manner, through the medium of a well-chosen and skilfully executed series of lithographical drawings, from sketches made chiefly by himself. The draughtsman is Harding, who appears to us the ablest of all our artists in the management of this species of graphic representation ; and who has succeeded to admiration in expressing the peculiar character of the scenery to be portrayed. If the quantity and quality of decoration here given, had passed through the more elaborate processes of the engraver, we should imagine that, instead of the very reasonable rate at which the volume is now tendered, it could hardly have been afforded at three times the price. We have much jealousy in this matter; we dislike exceedingly to witness the slightest approach to trespass, and we are not without our fears of injurious consequences to line engraving from the simple machinery of Mr. Hullmandel, and its cheap and easily multiplied productions; but, in cases like the present, its employment is not merely unexceptionable, but indispensable. The chief attraction of the volume is derived from the spirited vignettes, representing the casualties and hazards of the route up the mountain, in an exceedingly lively and expressive manner. The more comprehensive landscapes are not so effective; they are executed on a scale better adapted to the point or the burin, than to the coarser and less definite touches

of the crayon. It would have gone far towards remedying this defect, if the size of the views had been doubled.

There is a great deal of difference between the escalade of Mont Blanc and the ascent of Ben Nevis. An umbrella, a stout pair of shoes, and a glass of whiskey, are ample precaution against the risks of the latter; while the very guides, skilful, intrepid, and active as they are, shrink from the hazards of the former. Mr. Auldjo found considerable difficulty in procuring a sufficient number of assistants, and had to sustain the bitter reproaches of their wives and relatives, for tempting them to an enterprise of such complicated dangers. No longer ago than 1820, a party of thirteen was swept away by an avalanche, after passing the Grand Plateau, and three perished;, a catastrophe of which a deeply interesting account was given to Dr. Clarke by Julien Devouassoud, one of the survivors, who himself most narrowly escaped. And Mr. Auldjo's expedition must have had a termination yet more tragical, but for the providential discovery, not long before, of a new path near the summit. Soon after they had diverged from the old track, they heard the rush and burst of an avalanche, but had no conception, until their return, of its critical direction.

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'I have before observed,' writes Mr. A., that during our ascent, a tremendous noise was heard, which was thought to be produced by some avalanche on the Italian side of the mountain; but we now discovered the real cause, and saw the danger from which we had escaped by following the new route. The noise had proceeded from an avalanche similar to, though greater than the one which destroyed the three unhappy guides already mentioned. It had passed exactly in the line of ascent which we must have taken, had not the new tract been discovered; and it had fallen at the very time when we should probably have been in the centre of it. We should all have been inevitably carried away by its vast body; for so great was it, that a great part of the length of the plateau appeared to be covered with. huge blocks of ice, and mounds of snow, which had formed parts of its overwhelming mass. I cannot describe my feelings when I saw the poor guides turn pale and tremble at the sight of the danger from which they had escaped. Clasping their hands, they returned most heartfelt thanks for this deliverance.'

Many vain attempts had been made, at different periods during the last century, to scale this magnificent elevation, but none of them were successful until the daring enterprise of Jacques Balma and Dr. Paccard, in 1786. These resolute adventurers were followed by M. de Saussure, in the succeeding year; and his atmospheric observations have formed the basis of all the calculations that have since been made. On the whole, there seem to have been made about sixteen successful, among a greater number of unsuccessful efforts; and the marvel is, that

there have been so many. The main motive to the attempt is nothing better than the gratification of having climbed higher than other travellers; and, after all, we suppose that Humboldt has stood on some still loftier pinnacle; while he in turn must vail his bonnet to the first adventurer who shall scale the summits of the Indian Caucasus. Mr. Auldjo had the rare advantage of a clear day, and gazed on the stupendous scene with the average quantity of delight and astonishment. For our parts, we shall conceal our envy at being thus outdone, by preferring the opinion of the Swiss gentleman and the German baron, who came down grumbling and wondering what in the world could lead people to engage in such unprofitable expeditions. At all events, Mr. A. was the hero of his day. Ladies plied their telescopes to watch his progress, and an applauding crowd hailed his descent. Seriously, however, we quite agree. with the writer of this interesting volume, that, although avalanches, storms, crevasses of awful depth, glissades along the edge of precipices, bivouacs on ledges of rock, and actual suspension over dark and dreadful gulfs, are not very pleasant things in the actual encounter, yet, they call forth the most intense exertion of both mental and physical power; that they try the man; and especially, that they furnish the material of delightful and spirit-stirring recollections.

Mr. Auldjo commenced his ascent early in the morning of... August 8, 1827, and very soon encountered some of the minor difficulties in the way. After winding along narrow paths athwart the face of precipices, and clambering, up the loose débris of the Moraines', an accumulation of rocky fragments, earth, and gravel, lying against the sides of the glacier, they reached the ice. Here, the utmost care became necessary; both activity and caution were required to secure a safe passage over the rugged and slippery surface. Ropes, six yards in length, passed from one to the other, connecting two individuals toge ther, excepting in Mr. A's case, who made one of three, thus secured.

'The benefit of being secured to each other by ropes, is shewn almost every instant, as not a minute passed without some one of the party slipping on the ice; and falling, had he not been linked to another, would have glided into some crevice, and inevitably have perished. We were surrounded by ice piled up in mountains, crevices presenting themselves at every step, and masses half sunk into some deep gulf; the remainder raised above us, seemed to put insurmountable barriers to our proceeding; yet, some part was found, where steps could be cut with the hatchet; and we passed over these bridges, often grasping the ice with one hand, while the other, bearing the pole, balanced the body, hanging over some abyss, into which the eye penetrated, and searched in vain for the extremity.'

Several of these crevices were passed on ice-bridges; in some cases, the communication was nothing more than a mass of snow, and a guide, having managed to get across, drew the remainder over while they lay on their backs; in one case, a narrow pontoon was made by laying the poles close together. A number of beautiful caves, with fairy baths of melted snow, invited an examination that leisure would not allow. In their approach to a mass of rock called the Grands Mulets, they were intercepted by a tremendous chasm eighty feet in width, and bridged by a narrow acclivity of ice, terminating in a wall twenty feet high. This was partly scaled, and partly ascended by the aid of ropes and of steps cut in the ice. A very striking representation of this perilous pass is given among the views. Soon afterwards, Mr. A. fell on a sharp declivity, and was sliding rapidly towards a precipice, when he was arrested at the very edge, by the ropes that fastened him to his guides. Having reached the Mulets', the party took up their lodging for the night, on an elevated shelf of rock. At half-past three on the following morning, the march was re-commenced, under the same circumstances as before. Two or three excellent sketches, aided by some clear description, exhibit part of the dangers of the route; travelling along a thin cornice of ice projecting over a fearful abyss-traversing a crevice along the face of a frozen mass-halting on a snow-bridge-and crossing a deep fracture on a narrow ledge. One of the guides slipped up to 'his neck', through one of these bridges of snow, and had a narrow escape with his life. The sufferings of the whole party now became severe. The cold, sharp wind was on one side; on the other, a scorching sun. The rarified atmosphere and the fatigue of the ascent, overcame Mr. Auldjo, and he was with difficulty forced to proceed, by the persuasions and efforts of the guides. At length, the summit was gained, and a short sleep restored him sufficiently to give him the full enjoyment of his lofty standing. He tells us what he saw; but we shall decline repeating what must altogether fail of conveying an adequate idea of so magnificent a panorama.

At twelve, the party began their descent, symptoms of a storm promising to give variety to its dangers. Presently it came down in full force, and, to increase the interest of the affair, the guides missed the route in the midst of a labyrinth of fissures and precipices. Mr. Harding has given an admirable drawing of the party taking shelter from the pelting of the tempest, in a recess formed by the projection of a part of the 'glacier over a narrow ledge in the side of a deep crevice.'

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'The storm raged with most awful fury; the gusts of wind, the