Miscellaneous.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 601, 7 August 1858, Page 5

Miscellaneous.

When Mr Pitt became Premier, many of his old associates at Cambridge expected him to find preferments fortliem. One day Pitt, attended by a crowd of expectants, was present at aserrhon preached before the University by Dr. Paley, who electrified' the'assembly by giving out as his text the following passage from Str John's Gospel.—' There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two snialTHshe?; but what are they among so many ?" /

The King of Delhi's Piusox Isi>axd. —The remaining years, or rather months, of the K>ng of Delhi's miserable existance are to be endured amid the savage population of a group of small islands in the Bay of Bongal. Since the year 1824, whentheßritishexpedition against Burinah assembled at Port Cortuvallis, the Anclamuns have scarcely been heard of m this country, a:v:l even their position oh the map is still comparatively unknown. The " principal "islaiul is als:> the most northerly of the group, an:l extends 140 miles in length"'by ■20 in breadth. The little Andaman on the other hand, is the most southerly, but does not exceed 28 miles in length by 17 in breadth. In the centre of the Great Andaman the land rises to the altitude of 2100 feeti forming a well known beacon to mariners—the Saddle Peak. A few small streams thence descend to -the sea. Various kinds _of .timbar.suitable for shipbuilding are found in abundance; but the only fruit worthy of mention is the mangrove; the coeoanut, which nourishes in the neighbouring Nicobars, does not grow in" these islands. Many varieties of fish are caught off the coast, and constitute the chief food of the barbarous inhabitants, who also indulge in lizards, snakes, guanas, and rats. On the skirts of the forest which occupies the. interior of the principal island ureseen herds of a diminutive species/ of hog, supposed to be descended from a shipwrecked stock. With the skulls and bcfties of these animals the islanders adorn their huts, aud were thence. accused of cannibalism, from a belief that their favourite ornaments Avere the indigestible remains of human beings whom they had slain and devoured. They are, in truth, a cruel and savage race,-. All attempts to communicate with them have been repelled by darts and flights of arrows. They are described as resembling a degenerate tribe of negroes. They have woolly hair, thick lips, and a flat nose; their stature seldom exceeds live feet; their colour is a deep unshaded black; and their costume that of primeval Adam before the Pall. Their huts consist of four poles driven into the ground and interwoven with boughs of trees. Their chief want is a sufficiency of food, in search of which they are constantly prowling along the shores or climbing steep rocks; the chief annoyance is from the countless insects that infest the islands, to guard against which they plaster themselves over with mud, and thus render their skin as impenetrable as the hide of a hippopotamus. Their woolly hair is painted with red ochre to an extent that would excite the envy of the Gael. But wild as is th-ur aspect and fierce their disposition, they are nevertheless amenablo to the laws of politeness uiul good breeding. Thnt man is considered a booi* and

nrj gentleman who does not salute his neighbour in a becoming manner by lifting ona "log iuv;l smiting the lower part of tlie thigh with the open hand.— Allen's Indian Mail,