the surface of his kites with the horizon, so as to make his aërial horses go fast or slow as he chose; and side-lines to vary the direction of the force, till it came almost to right angles with the direction of the wind.  His kites were made of varnished linen, and might be folded up into small compass.  The same principle was successfully applied by a nautical lad of the name of Dansey to the purpose of saving vessels in a gale of wind on ‘the dread lee-shore.’  His kite was of light canvas.

In India, China, and the intermediate countries, the aggregate population of which includes one-half of mankind, kites are the favourite toy of both old and young boys, from three years to threescore and ten.  Sometimes they really resemble the conventional dragon, from which, among Scotch children, they derive their name; sometimes they are of a diamond shape, and sometimes they are like a great spider with a narrow waist.  Our Old Indian is eloquent on kites, and the glory of their colours, which, in the days of other years, made her girlish heart leap, and her girlish eyes dazzle.  The kite-shop is like a tulip-bed, full of all sorts of gay and gorgeous hues.  The kites are made of Chinese paper, thin and tough, and the ribs of finely-split bamboo.  A wild species of silkworm is pressed into the service, and set to spin nuck for the strings—­a kind of thread which, although fine, is surprisingly strong.  Its strength, however, is wanted for aggression as well as endurance; and a mixture composed of pounded glass and rice gluten is rubbed over it.  Having been dried in the sun, the prepared string is now wound upon a handsome reel of split bamboo inserted in a long handle.  One of these reels, if of first-rate manufacture, costs a shilling, although coarser ones are very cheap; and of the nuck, about four annas, or sixpence worth, suffices for a kite.

In a Hindoo town the kite-flying usually takes place on some common ground in the vicinity, and there may be seen the young and old boys in eager groups, and all as much interested in the sport as if their lives depended upon their success.  And sometimes, indeed, their fortunes do.  Many a poor little fellow bets sweetmeats upon his kite to the extent of his only anna in the world; and many a rich baboo has more rupees at stake than he can conveniently spare.  But the exhilarating sport makes everybody courageous; and the glowing colours of the kites enable each to identify his own when in the air, and give him in it, as it were, a more absolute property.  Matches are soon made.  Up go the aërial combatants, and with straining eyes and beating hearts their fate is watched from below.  But their masters are far from passive, for this is no game of chance, depending upon the wind.  Kite-flying is in these countries an art and mystery; and some there be who would not disclose their recipe for the nuck-ointment, if their own grandfathers should go upon their knees to ask it.