also is exceedingly unwholesome. The natives of Malabar are not so fond of springs as they are of their _Colam_ or ponds, from which they draw the water they use as drink. As it, however, contains too much marine salt and calcareous particles, if it be not properly filtred, it gradually produces such bad effects on the body, as to make the feet of those who drink it swell up in an extraordinary manner. I have seen some of these people whose legs were as thick as the body of a full-grown man. The most beautiful women at Cochin have sometimes feet like an elephant[150]. Rich people cause their water for drinking to be brought, for the most part, from the _Feira d’Alva_, which is very pure, and has an excellent taste. When a Malabar king, prince, or great man dies, the _Mucaver_ must for some time give over fishing; and, as a signal that it is then prohibited, branches of trees are always stuck up here and there on the banks of the rivers. They are generally suffered to remain eight or ten days, in order that the soul of the deceased during that time may choose for itself a new habitation in the body of some fish. * * * * * SHELL-FISH.--The sea hedge-hog is found at Collam, and other places on the coast; but it is much larger than at the Cape of Good Hope and the Isle of France. These animals adhere so fast to the rocks and stones, that it is almost impossible to detach them. On one side they are covered with black, sharp prickles, which serve them as a defence against their enemies; on the other is observed a round smooth aperture, which supplies the place of a mouth, and through which, by means of a few tender hollow fibres, they receive their nourishment. When they are sated with food, they attach themselves to the rocks with these fibres so fast that a knife is necessary to disengage them. When they are desirous of removing from one place to another, they use their prickles instead of oars, and swim along the surface of the sea with great ease, so that they almost have the appearance of black balls. The sea-star is found in great abundance in the ocean to the east of Cochin. These animals, like other kinds of fish, form themselves into a sort of society; for it is very rare to see one of them alone. They swim in shoals at the surface of the water, and always direct their course according to the wind: their movement, however, is scarcely perceptible. They have a few small suckers, through which they receive their nourishment, and which they contract as soon as they are touched. Their stomach, from which the nourishing juices are conveyed to the smallest vessels, is probably in the centre of their body, where all their points are united. They have neither eyes nor mouth; but a most delicate sense of feeling, which supplies the place of sight.