them; and to this practice the Psalmist seems to allude: "Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly;" and," Break their teeth, O God! in their mouth." Those who had been thus treated said, "We have escaped with the murasu," i. e. the gums of our teeth.

When a man is

says,

"Take care;

with another, he angry I will knock thy teeth out. Thou shalt only have thy gums left." "What!" asks the person thus threatened, "am I thy slave, to have my teeth knocked out?"

But the teeth are always spoken of as being very valuable; and by them the people often estimate the worth of any blessing. "Ah! the king might have granted me that favour; his teeth would not have fallen out on that account." "Would his gums have been left, if he had told me that secret?" "Yes, yes; take care, or you will lose your pearls,' (teeth). "See the miserable man; the sickness has left him his gums only."

24.

"Graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever."

This probably refers to the ancient practice of writing on stone (by means of an iron instrument) those events which were to be conveyed to posterity. The fact, also, of lead being used, may allude to the fixing of the stone by means of that metal. In all parts of the East are to be found records thus written, many of which have never been deciphered, as they are in languages not now understood.

It is proverbial to say, "The words of the wise are written on stone." "Learning for the young is like a writing in

stone."

26.

"And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." (Job xxiv. 20.)

Though worms be not in the original, I believe the translators have acted wisely in supplying the word for the text. Dr. Mason Goode translates it, "After the disease hath de

stroyed." But the opinion of the Orientals, as expressed in their ancient writings, and also in those of the present day, is, that worms do exist in the skin and in all parts of the body, and that they principally cause its destruction. They say the life is first destroyed by them, and afterwards the body.

A man who is very ill, often exclaims, "Ah! my body is but a nest for worms; they have paths in all parts of my frame." "Ah! these worms are continually eating my

flesh."

In the ancient medical work called Kurru-Natich-Sooteram, written by the celebrated Agattiyār, it is said, "The human body contains eighteen kinds of worms: - of 1. the skin; 2. the flesh; 3. the bones; 4. the blood; 5. (producing) wind; 6. the excrement; 7. the urine; 8. intestines; 9. σжEрμa; 10. abscess; 11. sores (generally); 12. leprosy; 13. itch; 14. cancer; 15. mouth; 16. teeth; 17. skull; and 18. the hair."

Is it not a fact that the medical men of England have only of late years discovered that animalcules exist in some of these parts alluded to? and perhaps they may do well also to enquire whether old Agattiyar be not correct in some of his other opinions.

"Is his root

28. "The root of the matter is found in me." "What is the ROOT of his conversation?" right?" "We cannot find out his root ?" good root."

"Ah! he has a

XX. 16.-" The viper's tongue shall slay him." (Matt. iii. 7. Rom. iii. 13.)

In a country where serpents lurk in every path, and where such numbers of people lose their lives from their bite, can it be a matter of wonder that they are greatly afraid of them, and that their language abounds with figures taken from the destructive power of that reptile? Some modern writers have asserted, that there are very few of them which have poisonous qualities. It is said that some travellers take occasional

journeys of several months into Italy, Greece, and Egypt, that they may have an opportunity of writing a book "for the gratification of their friends ;" and that it is necessary to contradict, or alter a little, the descriptions of their predecessors, in order to find a sale, or to ensure a modicum of popularity. There may be something like scandal in these observations; but I am quite sure they are not without force in reference to some who have favoured the world with their sketches of the East. To say there are many serpents whose bite is not fatal, is correct; but to assert that there are many whose bite is not poisonous, is nonsense. Perhaps the most harmless of all the tribe is the rat-snake; but its bite always produces giddiness in the head, and a great degree of deadness in the part where the wound has been inflicted.

Apologising for this digression, I observe, that when a man is enraged with another, and yet dare not make a personal attack upon him, he says, "The viper shall bite thee." "From whom art thou? the race of vipers?" "Yes, yes; the poison of the puddeyan-pāmbo, i. e. the beaver-serpent, is in thy mouth." "What! serpent, art thou going to bite

me? Chee, Chee! I will break thy teeth."

17.

"The rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter."

Is a man about to leave his native place to reside in another country, in hope of becoming rich; people say to him, "We suppose there are rivers of ghee, and honey, and milk, in the town where you are going to live!"

23. "About to fill his belly."

A man here does not, as in England, say he has eaten plentifully, or he has not taken any thing to eat; but he has well filled his belly, or "to his belly there is nothing." Thus, the beggar at your door stoops a little, then puts his hands on the abdomen, and exclaims, "My lord, for my belly nothing, for my belly nothing!"

XXI. 15.-"What profit should we have if we pray

unto him?"

The heathen sometimes ask us, "Why should we pray to your God? is there any thing to be gained by it? When we go to our own temples, we have often fruit given to us; but when we come to yours, nothing is offered: give us something, and we will pray to him." On one of these occasions, a bystander repeated a favourite proverb, "Do you ask for pay when requested to eat sugar-cane?" which silenced the jester.

24.- -"His breasts are full of milk." The margin has,

for breasts, "milk-pails."

Of a man who is very rich, it is common to say, " His chattees (vessels) are full of milk." But of a good king or governor it is said, "He nourishes like the king whose breasts are full of milk." "Yes; he so rules, that the breasts of the goddess of the earth are full of milk."

XXII. 6. "Stripped the naked of their clothing." This proverbial form of speech is used when a man drags from another that which is his last resource. "Why do you "What! take a cloth from the naked? Is there no shame?" How often, also, do we see a man seize another by the cloth on the public road, and swear, if he will not instantly pay his debt, he shall be left naked.

take this tax from the naked ?”

7.—“Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink.” It is one of the thirty-two charities of the Hindoos, "to have water ready for the traveller to drink." Hence, on the public roads, in front of the houses of charitable people, may be seen vessels filled with water, for the use of all who pass that way. But respectable men do not drink there: they go inside, and say, Conjum-taneer," a little water; and it is given to them.

XXIII. 11.-"My foot hath held his steps: his way

have I kept."

When a man follows another in a path so closely as almost to touch the feet of him who goes before, it is said, "His feet hath laid hold of his steps," intimating that the men are so near to each other, that the feet of him who follows, like unto the fingers of a man's hands, seize the feet of him who goes. before. Thus, the devoted disciple of a gooroo, or the man who closely pursues another, is said to take hold of the steps of him who goes before.

Perhaps the figure may be taken from the great adroitness that the natives of the East have in seizing hold of any thing with their toes! See a man walking along the road: he sees something on the ground which he wishes to pick up; but he does not stoop, as an Englishman. No! he takes it up between his first and second toes. Look at tailors, shoemakers, or sailors: when they want to twist a cord, they do not tie it to a nail, or ask another person to take hold. No; they make one end fast to the great toe, and perform the other operation with the hands.

But the most remarkable illustration of this practice was in the case of Alypulle, the Kandian chief, who was beheaded near Kandy. When he arrived at the place where he was to be executed, he looked around for some time for a small shrub; and, on seeing one, he seized it with his toes, in order to be firm while the executioner did his office.

XXIV. 9." They pluck the fatherless from the breast."

It used to be said of the cruel king of Kandy, that he would not allow the infant to suck its mother's breast. Of a wicked woman it is said, "She will not allow her own child to suck her." "O the savage husband! he snatches the child from his wife's breast."

16. "In the dark they dig through houses."

Nearly all the houses in the East are made of unburnt