not feel disposed to comply, especially as we could see all that the chamber contained through the open door, and had no intention to pay homage to the saint.  The sarcophagus, according to custom, was covered with a rich pall, and the devout pressed forward to lay their offerings upon it.  These offerings consisted of money, cloths, grain, fruit, &c. nothing coming amiss, the priests of the temple being quite ready to take the gifts which the poorest could bestow.  The beggars in the porch were more clamorous than ever, the maam sahibs being especially entreated to bestow their charity.

Having satisfied my curiosity, I was glad to get away into the fair, where I found many things more interesting.  Convenient spaces in the wood were filled with merry-go-rounds, swings, and other locomotive machinery, of precisely the same description as those exhibited in England, and which I had seen in Hyde Park at the fair held there, in honour of Queen Victoria.  Mahim Wood boasted no theatres or wild-beast shows, neither were we treated with the sight of giants or dwarfs; but there was no want of booths for the purpose of affording refreshment.  One of these cafes, the front of which was entirely open, was most brilliantly illuminated, and filled with numerous tables, covered with a multitude of good things.  That it was expected to be the resort of English guests was apparent, from an inscription painted in white letters, rather askew, upon a black board, to the following effect:  “Tea, Coffee, and Pastry-House.”

We were invited to enter this splendid establishment by the moonshee, who had evidently ordered a refection to be prepared for the occasion.  Being unwilling to disappoint the old gentleman, we took the seats offered to us, and ate the cakes, and drank the coffee, presented by some respectable-looking Parsees, the owners of the shop, which they had taken pains to set off in the European style.  Although the natives of India will not eat with us, as they know that we do not scruple to partake of food prepared for their tables, they are mortified and disappointed at any refusal to taste the good things set before us; the more we eat, the greater being the compliment.  I was consequently obliged to convey away some of the cakes in my handkerchief, to avoid the alternatives of making myself ill or of giving offence.

When we were sufficiently rested and refreshed, we followed the moonshee to his mansion.  The moon was at the full, and being at this time well up, lighted us through the less thronged avenues of the village, these tangled lanes, with the exception of a few candles, having no other illumination.  Here, seated in corners upon the ground, were the more humble traders of the fair, venders of fruit, the larger kind being divided into slices for the convenience of poor customers.  In one spot, a group of dissipated characters were assembled round bottles and drinking-vessels (of which the contents bore neither the colour nor the smell