themselves as necessary to carry out the intentions of Government :

First. A number of well-ventilated sleeping-cells should be constructed without delay, so as to enable every prisoner to have a separate cell for sleeping.

Secondly.-A trained and efficient teacher should be engaged to carry out instruction; arrangements should be made to provide a cheerful and well-lighted schoolroom. Educated prisoners may be employed as assistant teachers; these should be specially trained and instructed by the headmaster in their labour hours, so as to provide as efficient a staff as possible.

Thirdly.-The mark system and classification should be carried out.

Fourthly.-Prisoners awaiting trial should be kept in separation, but not under penal condition.

Fifthly. The female department should be completely remodelled, under female warders. All the advantages provided for the men should be given to the women.

Wednesday, Oct. 3.-Our next visit was of a more agreeable description, viz. to the schools of Ahmedabad. Efforts have been made for the last fifteen years to introduce education among the little girls of the place. The result has been that, as those who had received some rudiments of instruction became themselves mothers, they knew the importance of opening the minds of their daughters, and not only were themselves more enlightened, but sent their children willingly to school. The school which we were about to visit was founded by a wealthy citizen of the place, since deceased; his widow, a superior woman, maintained it from respect to his memory; she placed its management under the care of a committee composed of English and native

ladies; and though she did not wish to receive any pecuniary help from the public funds, yet she desired that it should have the advantage of Government inspection. The English ladies were much pleased to induce their native friends to act thus with them. How remarkable a step had here been quietly taken I did not fully appreciate until I had been in Calcutta, and other parts of the empire; then I found how very far behind Ahmedabad these other places were, in effort to promote female education among the leading Hindoos, -in emancipation of the ladies from the thraldom imposed by custom,-and in self-effort for improvement on their own part.

It was, then, with great pleasure that we set off soon after breakfast to visit this school for young ladies. Friends at home had bountifully supplied me with a variety of little presents-toys, beads, &c. Books would of course be useless, as English is an unknown tongue in India to the female portion of the inhabitants; but a number of pictures, tastefully mounted on fancy cards, we thought certain to prove attractive. Children in all parts of the world delight in gifts, especially from strangers; I received a welcome, therefore, by providing myself plentifully with these treasures. We were introduced into a large schoolroom, where about eighty little girls, whose ages ranged from six to eleven, were sitting in order on benches. The very slight clothing usual in this country did not conceal the profusion of jewels with which their persons were adorned-bracelets and anklets of every description, rings on the fingers and on the toes, pearl earrings and nose-rings, arranged according to the individual taste of each. The adornings were evidently special, in honour of the occasion, many wearing on their little persons two hundred

pounds' worth of jewels. At all times, however, the habit of wearing ornaments of the precious metals, pearls, or other jewels, is so common that it is not safe for the children to go out alone, lest they should be murdered for the sake of them. This occurrence is by no means infrequent, and there are consequently arrangements always made for conducting the children to school, and sending them safely home. Having observed the children, we asked for the mistress of the school. There was none! Masters only, or pundits, were there, and also two or three inspectors of schools. The older classes were examined in our presence in some of the ordinary branches of education, and they seemed familiar with them; but all the younger classes, constituting nearly three-fourths of the school, were unable to take any share in what was going on. The infant system of education appears to be entirely unknown in these parts. I requested to hear the children sing, and they performed to the best of their power a kind of harsh intoning of the poetry they were learning. One of the pundits professed to teach needlework to the girls, and appeared somewhat proud of the specimens he produced; the attempt at fancy work was not bad, but the plain sewing would certainly excite much amusement in an ordinary needlewoman at home. When the examination was concluded, and the little presents distributed, we were informed that the ladypatroness of the school invited me to call on her. I was obliged, however, to decline the honour, as she could not admit the gentlemen of the party, and we were expected at the High School. She therefore politely sent in trays of flowers and pan-sooparee, with silver vases of rosewater to sprinkle on us, the usual mode of showing honour to guests. Pan-sooparee con

sists of bits of betelnut with a little lime to draw out the flavour, wrapt in leaves of the same tree. Spices are also freely distributed. The natives are much in the habit of chewing these. We were surprised to see four women there, observing the examination; they were widows who had come to present themselves as candidates for training to teach in the school. Their appearance did not excite in my mind any expectation that they could be qualified for such an office in any short period; still the fact was encouraging, that women were anxious to gain their livelihood in this manner.

We then proceeded to the High School. Schools of this kind hold an intermediate position between the branch schools, which are vernacular only, and the college where young men prepare to matriculate and take degrees. The branch schools may be considered as corresponding to some extent with our National and British schools, but the class of boys is higher, and there are not here pupil-teachers, but assistant-masters. The boys who are to be educated generally remain three or four years in the branch school, and five in the High School, whence they proceed to the college, if they succeed in passing their matriculation or entrance examination, as it is called. Hence these youths have a much longer period of school education than is usual in England, except in the higher classes of society. In the superior mission schools, it is not uncommon for the three kinds of schools to be combined in one institution, the scholars being received in a very rudimentary stage, and continuing in a superior class after matriculation, and until they had obtained the degree of Master of Arts. This I afterwards saw at Bombay. There was no mission school here, and the High School we were about to visit prepared the young men for university degrees.

It was indeed a remarkable sight. We passed from room to room, each one with its class of from twenty to thirty young men and a teacher, all absorbed in their lessons, and manifesting an attention and good conduct, as well as intelligence, rarely witnessed in England in a large school; the Eastern dress, with the bare legs and feet, made the spectacle very striking. Most of the students appeared to be between fourteen and twenty years of age; we little imagined then that a large proportion of them were probably married; we afterwards learned that an intelligent youth of eighteen, whom we saw there, had been married nine years! We were requested to question the elder classes, and as they were familiar with English, we had pleasure in doing SO. We examined the three highest classes in our literature (both prose and poetry), Roman and English history, natural philosophy, and mathematics. The 'pons asinorum' did not appear to puzzle them, though, to satisfy ourselves that they thoroughly understood it, we requested the master to vary the figure and the letters as much as possible. In arithmetic the Hindoos are peculiar adepts. The students showed much proficiency in all the different subjects indicated. When asked to explain the eclipse which had recently taken place, they did so very clearly and accurately, and evidently saw the absurdity of the Hindoo superstition respecting such phenomena. I was surprised at a question put to them by Mr. G., 'What was their object in coming to school?' and still more astonished by the answer, To get a Government situation.' I asked the same question in almost every place I visited, and always received a similar reply. It is much to be regretted that these youths, evidently of fine powers and intellectual taste, are not incited to love knowledge for