only to admit the troops to advance by single files, led to the ridge which they were to occupy. By the judicious arrangements of the brigadier, and the willing assistance of the Plassiah people, the provisions for the troops were conveyed to this situation with great regularity, but the officers who had to rely on their own exertions and those of their servants for their comforts, were compelled to submit to many privations. Our advanced posts were now so close to those of the enemy, that the sentries of either party had full opportunities of gratifying their inclination for venting the grossest abuse on each other. The subjects of the Plassiah Raja particularly, whose enmity to their Goorkha conquerors is implacable, indulged themselves very freely in this exercise. On the 20th, the mortars and howitzers arrived, conveyed on elephants. On the 24th, our troops succeeded in getting possession of some fine positions near the fort; and next day batteries were erected against one of the principal stockades commanding the access to it. On the 26th, took place the affair in which Lieut. Williams fell. It is said, that those who fell wounded, were not allowed quarter, but were put to death on the spot. The conduct of the Sepoys on this occasion is stated to have been admirable. Subsequent to this event nothing of any consequence has occurred. Utterly impregnable as the place is on the west side, the defences on the east would seem scarcely less formidable. They are occupied by about 6000 men, under the command of Umeer Singh. Burat was taken possession of by the grenadiers of the 1st. battalion 17th native infantry, under the command of Lieut.Colonel Carpenter, who moved from the heights above Kalsee, on the morning of the 5th December. After a toilsome march of eight hours, the party reached the foot of the mountain, which they ascended in single files by a circuitous narrow path along the edge of precipices, in some places so narrow, that the men could only advance slowly on their hands and knees. It proved to be a small fort of great natural strength surrounded by a stone wall, eleven feet high and three broad. The garrison consisting of 250 men had evacuated the place on the preceding day. ing, which have been found well adapted Janickpoor is well known in Hindoo of pilgrims, from whom the Nypal Govern- an army. exceedingly flourishing, and little inferior The Nypalese part of the Tureeanu, is to the most fertile parts of Tirhoot. It abounds with groves of mango trees, and large tanks of water. The villages are extensive, neat, and full of inhabitants, who far from dreading any injury from our invasion of their country, in crowds meet the troops, greet them with offerings, and seem delighted with their change of mas ters. The army is close to the great Saul forest which stretches from veenugar to the Teesta, a river in the district of Rungpour, and not more than nine coss from the first range of mountains, which, with the two ranges in its rear, the last topped with eternal snows, is distinctly visible from camp. BOMBAY. EXOTIC BOTANY.-Calumba Creeper. SIR.-It may gratify the lovers of exotics Nahn is about 40 miles to the south east of Ramgarh, and should it fall speedily, there is no doubt that the latter and all the other strong places in that quarter, musthouse. soon follow. The enemy will then be compelled to yield, or to meet us in the open field, where the weapons and mode of fight By way of refreshing the memory of your readers I may repeat that this plant, whose root constitutes one of the most ele gant and salubrious bitters of our Materia | and N. West coast of this Island; it comMedica has hitherto remained a non de-menced on the 25th ult. and continued till script-and that a most laudable attempt the following morning, the wind blowing to fulfil this desideratum was made by Dr. through the night with a resistless fury; Berry of Madras so far back as 1806; but as far as we have yet learned its ruinous the object was unavoidably defeated by effects have been confined to the line of his plant yielding only male flowers-coast between Point Pedro and Madram which however he distinctly described, and Kooley Head Land. consigned to the pages of that respectable repository, the Asiatic Researches, vol. x. Should the subject of this notice happiJy prove a female individual, my utmost wishes will be gratified. Similar means will be adopted to communicate to the public its Botanical description, with the requisite drawings to illustrate it. At Point Pedro it set in by a strong gale of wind from the north west, which afterwards shifted to the north east and increased in violence. The Sea rose considerably; and the waves passed the smail custom-house at that station 50 or 60 yards, the roof of which was nearly untiled: -the torrents of rain which fell, aided by the waves of the sea, washing away the greater part of the property contained in the building. Several shocks of an Earthquake were felt, the wind blew furiously, but there was no thunder-storm, a circumstance uncommon in this country. Thousands of trees were torn up by the roots, and the loss to the inhabitants will be very consi It is but a just tribute of praise to add that the community here, are indebted for this valuable acquisition to His Excellency Don Jose Maria de Castro e Almeida, Governor of Damaun, who with a laudable desire to promote useful pursuits exerted the influence of his high station in procuring at the request of a Medical Gentleman of this Presidency, a box full of fresh roots from Mozambique, their indigenous soil;derable. whence after a long passage they reached Damaun on the 11th inst. and their present perfect preservation is a striking proof of the cares and attention with which the experiment has been conducted thus far. Your most obedient servant, BOTANO-PHILOS. Bombay 24th, October 1814. P. S. The state of the plant this day (24th Oct.) is as follows, one strong shoot 4 feet high-at 2-Sds of its height sending off a side shoot also healthy at intermediate distances from the origin of the main stem there are three radical tubes of a conical shape-peeping above the soil-and replete with seemingly fresh circulating juices, of a deep yellow colour-and these only retained from flowing by a thin Epidermis. The soil of the box is composed of a fine sand, which coinciding with that brought with Dr. Berry's plant, affords a presumption of its being it's congenial element. Lightning: observation on. In the Decan, nothing is more common than the injury done by lightning, and it is rather singular, that in Bombay it should rarely be attended with the same effects. Can this difference be owing to the multitude of trees on this island, of the palm species, which act as conductors? CEYLON. Tremendous Hurricane. December 7, 1814. We are sorry to announce a tremendous Hurricane having taken place off the N. At Kaits the sea also made great inroads; and throughout the district of Jaffna, the effects of the storm will long be felt by the natives, in the loss of their palmira and cocoa-nut trees, and in the damage done to their Paddy fields, many of which were overdowed by the sea water. At Pooneyru, the storm was equally severe. The greatest damage, however, appears to have been done at Werteltivo where the sea broke in and washed down nearly the whole village, including the Magistrate's house and office: two lives were lost by the falling of the houses, and about 600 head of cattle were swept away. The sea water stood two feet high in the house of Mr. Theille. At Manar, the storm also was felt in it's greatest fury, most of the houses in the fort were unroofed, as were the Grain Godown and other Bankshals in the Pettah, and nearly all the mud tenements of the natives levelled with the ground: the Collector's house was partly unroofed and the doors blown off, the water stood ankle deep in every room. We regret to learn that many lives have been lost: a Dhony from Chilaw with seed Paddy on board belonging to Government has been stranded near the south bar, and out of her crew which consisted of eight persons, only one escaped a watery grave. Almost every tree has been blown down, many of which had stood for fifty years. The storm commenced in the north west quarter, and gra dually came round to the south-west. Several Dhonies sunk at their anchors Houses in every direction are blown down-tanks burst-trees of all descriptions torn up and destroyed. All the boats between Arippo and Manaar are lost. The storm appears to have extended not far to the southward of Manaar, as several dhonies have a: ived there which rode out the gale at Condatchy and Maichicatté without injury. In a garden near Manaar containing 500 cocoa-nut trees only fifteen remain standing: at Talamanaar, upwards of 2,000 palmira trees are blown down. This day there are nine coast mails due. At Delft Island, all the houses except the Government store-houses are blown down. The hemp crop is destroyed; that in store is spoiled by the salt water. The wheat crop has sustained great injury. The inhabitants have lost almost all their goats and sheep, with 4,000 palmira trees. At the Two Brothers Island, 360 head of cattle are lost; and all the tanks and wells are filled with salt water and sand. The greatest consternation prevails there. opposite the Fort, and many of the crews | Seringapatam had sailed from London in are stated to be missing, in fact, nothing| March 1812, on a whaling voyage to the withstood the violence of the gale. The Coast of Peru; on which coast she capfour boats which convey the mail between tured the ship Edward, of Nantucket, the coast and Ceylon were all at Tallama-laden with 1200 barrels of oil, and sent naar, and are likewise lost. The ravages her a prize to England; shortly afterof the storm which is stated to have been wards the Seringa patam was taken by the more violent than any remembered by the Essex American frigate off the Gallipagoes oldest inhabitants in Ceylon, appear to Islands, nearly about the time that the have extended throughout the whole of Essex captured the New Zealander and this District with the most disastrous con- the Chariton whalers; these ships sequences. were all carried by the Essex, into Bankes's Cove, and left there by that frigate, which proceeded on another cruise; from which she returned, having captured the Sir Andrew Hammond, and brought her also into Bankes's Cove-That in a little time the Seringapatam, with the other captured ships, were carried to the Marquesas Islands, and the seamen continued prisoners there, treated with a cruelty scarcely ever known to have been practised among enlightened nations; that they were wrought in heavy irons, exposed to every privation, and doomed to linger in miserable captivity; but with a spirit peculiar to the sons of Britain, they bore their sufferings with resignation, watching an opportunity to effect their deliverance from their unfeeling tyrants; and having frequently cautiously consulted together for that purpose, were at length happily furnished with an opportunity on the 6th of May last.The Essex was at sea on a cruize, and expected very shortly to return, having been 6 months out; her return would have frustrated all their hopes, and therefore the crisis of deliverance was important; they seized the moment, and what is more honourable to the interests of humanity, effected their object without bloodshed, or other personal violence than what was necessary to secure three Prize-masters, who happened that day to be on board the Seringapatam; our valiant countrymen, fourteen in number, were employed in removing stores from the other captured vessel in that port on board the Seringapatam; and, on a signal given, they rushed upon the Prize masters, whom they suddenly secured and bound, and having also overpowered two other men, four out of the fourteen got into the boat, repaired directly with extreme caution on board the Greenwich (another captured vessel), and rushing into the cabin, secured all the firearmis, ammunition, and weapons, and having spiked the guns, returned to the Seringapatam, where they lost no time. other than what was necessary to dispatch a small party on shore to spike the fort guns, and bring off such ammunition as they could procure. Having effected this CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. Lord Somerset has issued a Proclamation, admitting all East India Goods to entry for exportation: on the same terms with those of the warehousing system at home. It is said, that the generality of the settlers at the Cape, were much averse to the Colony being ceded to the Dutch! As a proof of this, when the report of the intended transfer was made known, a great fall took place in the value of landed property and houses. NEW SOUTH WALES. AMERICAN CAPTURE RETAKEN. Extract of a letter from Sydney. July 2, 1814.-Yesterday evening the Seringapatain of Loudon, whaler, arrived in this Port, from the Marquesas Islands, having been re-captured by 14 men at that place, under circumstances of a very singular nature, and affording a most praiseworthy instance of what bravery and resotution, governed by prudence and discretion, can accomplish. It seems the Foreign Literary Gazette. INDIA. The following article is re-printed from ral individuals in this walk, have, of late them verified by his own experiments and observation, were selected to illustrate the Articles treated of. Near two Decades of our fleeting years have passed over the Doctor's head while engaged in this important arduous pursuit the completion of which has now been successfully accomplished. an Indian Journal, which has taken pleatherto made its appearance in India.--Whatsure in characterizing the work alluded to, ever sources of knowledge in Medical pracin the highest terms of praise. Copies of tice or the Materia Medica were accessiblethe performance have been received at the either in the MSS. Volumes, Oral traditions, or practical experience of the best informed India House; and we have inspected them, Hindu Vaidayas-Mussulman, or Persian with some care, but not at leisure sufficient Doctors; they were resorted to by the Auto venture an opinion on the merits of the thor with eager and animated research; book. We conceive, however, that the their various judgements and opinions were impartially weighed, and the most consismere action of arrangement, and descrip-tent and satisfactory conclusions, most of tion of the articles, is no small service to science; and that much new and valuable information must be comprized in such a laborious undertaking. The history and application of articles attached to the Materia Medica, of the processes they undergo, and their uses in different states, interests European practitioners, no less than those of the faculty who may be called to practice in India, more particularly. The application of the ingenious in their several arts and trades, may afford valuaOn the ble hiuts to our manufacturers. whole, we recommend the naturalization of this work, or of its principal contents among us :-but, at the same time, repeat our notice of the imperfect manner in which we have hitherto been able to examine it. MATERIA MEDICA OF HINDUSTAN. The work is modestly enough entitled of Lower Hindostan : The collection into one body of the scattered facts, that are to be found in the writings and traditional practice of creditable Hindoo, and Mussulman Physicians for ages past, relative to the subjects comprehended under this title, cannot fail to form a Store-house of valuable materials, at all times of ready reference, and very often, of useful application in the pursuits both of professional men, and others, who are anxious to obtain a more enlarged acquaintance with the products and arts of this most anciently civilized portion of the Globe. The circumscribed and indefinitive degree of knowledge hitherto acquired by Europeaus relative to the natural history To the Botanical tourist, as well as to. and medicinal qualities inherent in the Vegetable productions of India, has for a long those interested in the commercial and time formed a subject of regret, and excit- agricultural prosperity of our Indian terried among the literary world in general, tories, it will form a most instructive Vade and the medical tribe in particular, a lau- Mecum, in indicating topics of much curiodable curiosity for the possession of more sity, as well as sterling utility: frequently accurate ideas in this extensive and un- furnishing points of comparison-and explored field; accordingly, from time to thence suggesting modes of improvement time various objects under the head of most probably destined to augment the Desiderata, have been propounded for re- comforts, and promote the happiness of search and elucidation, and as tasks peeu- distant countries, and of ages yet unborn. In a work so generally replete with valiarly incumbent on the medical faculty to undertake. The insulated labours of seve-luable matter, we shall only briefly advert VOL. II. Lat. Pan. New Series. Aug. 1.1 2 E |