The rooey[28] is a large fish, and in Native families is much admired for its rich flavour; the size is about that of a salmon, the shape that of a carp; the flesh is white, and not unlike the silver mullet.  The scales of this fish are extremely useful; which, on a tolerable sized fish, are in many parts as large as a crown-piece, and of a substance firmer than horn.  It is not uncommon to see a suit of armour formed of these scales, which, they affirm, will turn the edge of the best metal, and from its lightness, compared with the chain armour, more advantageous to the wearer, though the appearance is not so agreeable to the eye.

’Chirryah wallah’[29] (Bird-man).—­The bird-catcher cries his live birds fresh caught from the jungles:  they seldom remain long on hand.  I have before described the practice of letting off the birds, in cases of illness, as propitiatory sacrifices.  The Natives take delight in petting talking-birds, minas and parrots particularly; and the bull-bull,[30] the subzah,[31] and many others for their sweet songs.

The numberless varieties of birds I have seen in India, together with their qualities, plumage, and habits, would occupy too much of my time at present to describe.  I will here only remark a few of the most singular as they appeared to me.  The butcher-bird,[32] so called from its habit, is known to live on seeds; yet it caters for the mina and others of the carnivorous feathered family, by collecting grasshoppers, which they convey in the beak to the thorny bushes, and there fix them on sharp thorns, (some of which are nearly two inches in length), and would almost seem to have been formed by Nature for this use only.  The mina[33] follows his little friend’s flight as if in the full assurance of the feast prepared for him.

The coel[34] is a small black bird, of extreme beauty in make and plumage; this bird’s note is the harbinger of rain, and although one of the smallest of the feathered race, it is heard at a considerable distance.[35] The coel’s food is simply the suction from the petals of sweet-scented flowers.

The lollah,[36] known to many by the name of haverdewatt, is a beautiful little creature, about one-third the size of a hedge sparrow.  The great novelty in this pretty bird is, that the spots of white on its brown plumage change to a deep red at the approach of the rainy season; the Natives keep them by dozens in cages with a religious veneration, as their single note describes one of the terms in use to express an attribute of the Almighty.

But enough—­I must hasten to finish my list of popular cries by the Indian pedlars, who roar out their merchandize and their calling to the inmates of dwellings bounded by high walls, whose principal views of the works of Nature and art are thus aided by those casual criers of the day.

’Artush-baajie’[37] (Fireworks).—­Fireworks are considered here to be very well made, and the Native style much extolled by foreigners; every year they add some fresh novelty to their amusing pastime.  They are hawked about at certain seasons, particularly at the Holie[38] (a festival of the Hindoos,) and the Shubh-burraat[39] of the Mussulmauns.  Saltpetre being very reasonable, fireworks are sold for a small price.  Most of the ingenious young men exercise their inventive powers to produce novelties in fireworks for any great season of rejoicing in their families.