wealth amongst the cotton lords here, who,
generally speaking, live in a very modest
quiet way. The great staple of export is raw
cotton—the great staple of import the same
cotton manufactured.

It is singular that so few indigenous Indian
horses should exist. Those employed in our
regular cavalry and horse artillery are
invariably either Arab or Persian; the former
small, active, and of perfect symmetry; the
latter, larger and more powerful, but with less
activity, and far less beauty. A well-bred
Arab has small ears, wide and square
forehead, jowl and cheekbones wide apart; eye
bright and large; nostril open, angular, and
transparent; nether lip pendulous; skin of a
smooth and silky texture; fore-hand fine;
shoulder not very high, but very oblique;
joints large, angular, and well-knit. The back
sinew of the fore-leg remarkably large, and
standing out well from the leg-bone, pastern
rather long, hoof hard, and crust rather high;
barrel, round; hips wide, tail set on high;
buttocks square, thigh muscular, hock large
and free from flesh; tail fine at the extremity
like that of a greyhound; temper mild and
equable; height seldom exceeding fourteen
feet two inches. This is the Arab horse of
good blood, and of such about two thousand
are imported annually into Bombay, chiefly
from Bussorah. Of course, all do not answer
this description, which comprises almost every
desirable quality of shape and make to be
found in this quadruped. Their speed is
good, but not equal to our English blood; a
mile in one hundred and twelve seconds being
about the utmost they can come up to. In
England the same distance has often been
performed in eighty seconds by our best blood.
The average speed of an Arab is, however,
much greater than that of the ordinary run
of English horses, not thorough-bred. The
price of an Arab here is high; young, sound,
and of good blood, with power to carry twelve
or thirteen stone. Such a horse cannot be
bought at the stables for less than one thousand
or twelve hundred rupees. The trade is in
the hands of Parsee brokers, four or five of
whom keep stables, capable of containing from
three to four hundred horses each. On each
sale they realise thirty-two rupees, seventeen
from the buyer and fifteen from the seller,
irrespective of the value of the horse. It
follows, therefore, that as these brokers
generally dispose of five or six hundred horses
each annually, they must realise large profits,
besides that which they derive from the
horses standing at livery.

Another article of commerce consists of
pearls, also from the Persian Gulf. The Arabs
bring these down in December or January,
and return before the monsoon sets in, carrying
home in exchange large quantities of
Manchester and Yorkshire goods.

Of these orient gems a large proportion is
unsuited to the European markets, being of a
yellowish golden lustre, and not of that pure
white so much desiderated at home. The
natives do not despise them for this; and in
my eye—which ever delighted in the rich
Venetian tone of colour, in preference to the
cold tints of Rome or Florence—I must say
they lose nothing by this golden hue. The
opulent here of every caste possess vast
hoards of these treasures of the deep; with
which, on gala days, they delight to deck
their children and wives. A considerable
portion of each wealthy native's riches consists
in jewellery, but for the most part the stones
are badly set and badly cut. Size,
irrespective of symmetry or water, is much
coveted, and the consequence is that nowhere
are so many indifferent jewels treasured up as
here.

Magnitude and profusion are the rules of
native taste in the precious stones on this
side of India, which possesses none of the
skill or science evinced by the jewellers and
lapidaries of Agra and Delhi, or even by
those in the Madras Presidency. Ornaments
of pure and massive gold distinguish the less
opulent, many of whom carry about their
persons their whole wealth. An immense
quantity of the precious metals is lost to
circulation by this propensity, which probably
may trace its origin to habits engendered
by long years of turbulence and warfare,
when no safe investment of capital existed.
Even now it is difficult to persuade a native
of the advantage held out by a Government
savings bank in preference to a gold chain or
bangle, the ready and ever-available resources
of which are, to his mind, more easily realisable
than those offered by the signature of a
bank secretary. A well-informed native has
assured me that he has reason to believe that
not less than five crores of rupees, or five
millions sterling, is invested in gold and
silver ornaments in Bombay. Certain it is,
that nowhere have I seen so universal a
diffusion of these ornaments as here. The
commonest cooley has his gold ear-ring; the
meanest artisan his amulet of gold, or his
waist-belt of silver—probably both. Should
Bombay ever be laid under contribution by a
French line-of-battle ship (and one such would
be sufficient for the purpose), the bushels of
golden ornaments that might be collected in
a couple of hours would exceed tenfold the
knightly spoils of the field of Cannae.

No place in the world is more open to a
marauding enemy than Bombay. The
defences towards the sea are contemptible, and
half-an-hour's bombardment would destroy
the Fort, the crowded houses of which are
built up to within a few feet of the ramparts,
where, in case of conflagration, no men could
stand to their guns. Without the aid of
some heavy men-of-war, Bombay might be
sacked and burnt in an hour, and no vestige
left of its pristine prosperity. I don't know
whether our rulers are aware of its insecurity;
but there is certainly, at present, nothing to
prevent the approach of a hostile line-of-