I .-T) THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES '^^^y^-^-z^-:^-!^ (3C.- ^^^€^^^x_^ . TRAVELS KASHMIR AND THE PANJAB, CONTAINING A PARTICULAR ACCOMT OF THE GOYERNMNT AND CHARACTER OF THE SIKHS, FROM THE GERMAN OF BARON CHARLES HUGEL. WITH NOTES BY MAJOR T. B. JERVIS, F.R.S. ^3u6It^]bt^^ uulfcr i^c IBntranaqz af ft)t i^oitouraBIe t^c Court of Bitcctaxä of tt)C (Saat Snlria (Campans. TOGETHER WITH CHARACTERISTIC ILLUSTRATIONS, AND A MAP OF THOSE COUNTRIES CONSTRUCTED BY MR. JOHN ARROWSMITH, FROM THE BEST AND MOST RECENT AUTHORITIES. Method of cTouing Rivers in the Patijtib, LONDON: JOHN PETHERAM, 71, CHANCERY LANE: PUBLISHKD ALSO FOR THi: EDITOR AT CALCUTTA, MADRAS, AND BOMBAY. 1845. THE EMPIRE OF EUROPE IS NOW EXTENDED TO THE UTMOST BOUNDS OF THE EARTH, WHERE SEVERAL OF ITS NATIONS HAVE CONQUESTS AND COLONIES. THESE AND MANY MORE ARE THE ADVANTAGES DRAWN FROM THE LABOURS OF THOSE WHO EXPOSE THEMSELVES TO THE DANGERS OF THE VAST OCEAN, AND OF UNKNOWN NATIONS ; WHICH THOSE WHO SIT STILL AT HOME ABUNDANTLY REAP IN EVERY KIND ; AND THE RELATION OF ONE TRAVELLER IS AN INCENTIVE TO STIR UP ANOTHER TO IMITATE HIM ; WHILST THE REST OF MANKIND, IN THEIR ACCOUNTS, WITHOUT STIRRING A FOOT, COMPASS THE EARTH AND SEAS, VISIT ALL COUNTRIES, AND CONVERSE WITH ALL NATIONS. LOCKE. HISTORY OF NAVIGATION. LONDON:— PRINTED BY HARRISON AVD CO., ST. MARTIN'S LANE. y^:LV]^'i THE EDITOR'S PREFACE. The German original of the present publication has deservedly procured for its illustrious author the reputation of a diligent and faithful observer of nature, who possesses the happy talent of expressing his thoughts with a taste and perspicuity which imparts peculiar interest to his narrative. Independent of the entertainment which is derived, by readers of every age, from the varied incidents of personal adventure and foreign travel, the appearance of a work thus recommended, is calcu- lated at the present moment to throw great light on the important question which now occupies the public mind, as to the proper line of policy to be pursued by the Government of India, in relation to the Panjab; and although the principal personages in the scenes, so strikingly depicted in the author's progress, have been swept away by the hand of death, or the murderous contests for supremacy which have followed each other in quick succession, the country itself and its prominent features, which, in a military point of view, are of primary con- sideration — the circumstances and constitution, the habits and peculiar character of the mixed population subject to Sikh rule, are still the same, unaffected as to any ulterior purpose by tlie numerous poUtical changes which have occurred since the death of Ranjit Singh. The system of disclaiming all interference in the internal affairs of the Native Powers has invariably had the opposite effect to that which was in the contemplation of the Home Authorities, and in the ordinary course of events provoked dis- sensions, which have occasioned their overthrow and accelerated oXci-iC'O-U • IB oe L'& IV THE EDITOR S PREFACE. the aggrandizement of dominion so strongly deprecated by the British Legislature, on every ground of humanity and justice. The extension of this mighty Empire, to judge from its history and the experience of modern times, is obviously entailed in the designs of an Alhvise Providence, irrespective of any choice or human councils, by the natural impulse of conflicting interests ; and the great desideratum seems rather to be, how to bring to the administration of a trust of such magnitude all the energy which should actuate an enlightened Christian Government; how to give to every department of the State that increased efficiency which shall ensure the integrity of our territories on any emergency; in what way best to promote the fullest inquiry into their natural resources and capabilities, and admit these possessions to an equal participation in the commercial privi- leges which are enjoyed by other colonies of the British crown, without detriment to the interests of the state. The principal objects of the undertaking are succinctly stated in the Preface. The Introduction further specifies the best authorities to which the oriental scholar may refer for information respecting the former state and history of Kashmir, with a brief notice of the several European travellers who j^re- ceded the author. The cost of the original*, independent of the * The German edition was published at Stuttgart, in four parts, 8vo., at distant intervals, and is procurable in this country at the high price of 21. 10s. unbound. The first and third parts comprise the entire narrative, or journal, of which the piesent volume is a translation; the intermediate part contains a summary account of the ancient and modern history of Kashmir, abridged from Professor II. H.Wilson's papers published in the Transactions of the Asiatic Society ; with sundry miscellaneous particulars, geographical and physical ; also an account of the productions, resources, and inhabitants of the mountain regions. The fourth number is a sort of glossary and gazetteer, including miscellaneous matters relating to the various political, civil, and military affairs of Govemment, the history of India, &c. ; from all which much useful information may be gleaned. THE EDITOR S PREFACE. difficulties of a foreign language, would necessarily preclude a very extensive circulation, and the expensive form* in which Jacquemont's Travels have been published by the Committee of Public Instruction, under the auspices of M. Guizot, will limit the perusal of that work to a very small number of those who are conversant with the French language. Under such circum- stances, the present translation, together with the valuable map which accompanies it, by Mr. John Arrowsmith, will form a most acceptable contribution to the geography of Asia, and be wel- comed by those who have looked forward to its publication, as an earnest of the selection and style of an extended series, which is in abeyance only for want of proper encouragement. In any case the reader will receive it as an additional proof of that spirit of inquiry which is abroad in the world, of the liberality with which every desire for information is met by the Government of India, and the testimony borne by an impartial spectator to the intervention of British rule, and the manage- ment of the East India Company. With regard to the Orthography, I have been at great pains to ascertain the true names of every geographical object, and rendered them, as well as all Oriental terms, according to the system observed by the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, and the Royal Asiatic and Geographical Societies in this country, in which I have to acknowledge the friendly aid of its three greatest scholars. Professor Horace Hayman Wilson, the Rev. G. C. Renouard, and the Rev. Dr. John Wilson, Honorary President of the Asiatic Society at Bombay. If the reader does not find every word written exactly according to his taste, I crave his * Jacquemont's Voyage dans I'Inde is published in royal 4to., of which the first and second volume only have yet appeared. The want of plates, or maps, of any sort, renders the details of natural history and general descrip- tion far less interesting than they otherwise would be to most readers. VI THE EDITOR S PREFACE. indulgence, and can safely assure him, that it would be far easier to express the varied intonations of the musical notes by literal signs, than the complicated sounds of Oriental alphabets, by the manifold sounds of the English language, varying as Eastern letters do, not only with the great national divisions of lan- guages, but the characteristic distinctions of pastoral, nomade, military^, and agricultural pursuits, as if the several avocations of people and tribes had induced peculiarities, which were the true distinguishing tests whereby all were to be traced up to one ancient original. The vowels of Turkey, of Persia, of Arabia, and of India, in one and the same word, Bokhara, for instance, are perceptibly different in all, and the interchange and sound of the consonants, the Hquids especially, varies inde- fmitely. Whether we should spell Mohammedan, Turkisthan, and such like words, according to one or other system, it matters not, provided it be as near as any other to the true pronuncia- tion and mode of spelling. Where uniformity can be attained without any great departure from received usage, it is better to agree to adopt some standard; and although there are objec- tions to Sir William Jones's system, as well as to Gilchrist's — the two principal authorities with Oriental scholars on such subjects — the learned bodies have decided in favour of the former, to which the reader is at once furnished with a perfect key, by remembering that all the vowels are sounded as in the Italian, the accented vowels, a, i, denoting the broad sounds, and for the rest, the ch only supplying the place of c before e and i, the g being invariably hard; lastly, the j and z pro- nounced simply as in English. In respect to the notes interspersed through the volume, such as they are, I am alone responsible for them. They were such as an experience of many years' residence in India, and a long acquaintance with the Hindu character, suggested. Many more might have been added with great advantage, and promoted THE EDITORS PREFACE. Vll some inquiries of much interest. The value of good geographi- cal works, as is the case in an especial manner with respect to Marco Polo's Travels, edited by Mr. Marsden, is, in fact, to elicit inquiries and comparisons — the basis of all exact know- ledge. It is in simphcity and originality of thought that Baron Hiigel's merit as a traveller chiefly consists ; and the playful, unpretending way in which he touches upon any fact gives an expressive] picture of a heart naturally thoughtful, but full of generosity, frank, high-minded, and sincere. To appreciate its worth, the original may be consulted; to divert a leisure hour, the present work, which professes to give the spirit rather than a cold servile translation of the German text, may claim a place by the side of Heber's delightful narrative, and be safely recommended to young people. For any presumable claim to pubhc favour in regard of its style, I would advert with grateful recollection to the unwearied solicitude of the accomplished friend whose assistance I have received throughout. I have reserved the consideration of recent PoUtical events, and a detailed description of the Panjab, its resources and prin- cipal Geographical features, for a future volume, the materials for which have been suppHed by those distinguished and intel- ligent persons who are most competent to form a sound and correct judgment of its relations, capabilities, and prospects. T. B. JERVIS. London, 1st November, 1844. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE ALBERT. HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE. The Honourable the Court of Directors of the East India Company, forty copies. Her Majesty's Commissioners for the Affairs of India, two copies. The Most Noble the Marquis of Northampton, (President of the Royal Society.) The Right Hon. Lord Prudhoe, (President of the Royal Institution.) The Right Hon. the Earl of Auckland. The Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone. The Right Hon. Sir Edward Ryan. John Ayrton Paris, M.D., (President of the Royal College of Physicians.) The Royal Asiatic Society. The United Service Institution. Captain F. Beaufort, ( Ilydrographer to the Admiralty.) Professor H. H. Wilson, (Director of the Royal Asiatic Society.) W. R. Hamilton, Esq. Major-General Sir Henry Pottinger, Admiral Sir Charles Malcolm. II. T. Prinsep, Esq. Admiral Sir Wm. Parker. Lieut.-Colonel Sir Claude Wade, three copies. James Farish, Esq. Lieut.-Colonel Malcolm. Colonel Wm. Miles. Colonel Dickinson. The Rev. Dr. Wilson, Bombay. Colonel Bonnar. The Rev. G. C. Renouard, (For. Sec. Royal Geographical Society.) Louis Hayes Petit, Esq. Colonel Sabine, Royal Artillery. Richard Woosnam, Esq., (Sec. to Commissioner, China.) W. H. Medhurst, Esq. Robert Thom, Esq. Gideon Colquhoun, Esq. Archibald Sconce, Esq., (Collector and Magistrate, Chittagong.) Thomas Thompson, Esq., M.D., (Bengal Medical Service.) Gideon Colquhoun, Junior, Esq., Bombay. Robert Warren, Esq. G. Young, Esq. Captain Crawford, Royal Artillery. J. Stark, Esq., (Secretary East India Board.) Alexander Beattie, Esq. J. Cooke, Esq., Isle of Wight. Mr. J. Gardiner,' Junior. W. Fountain, Esq., 8, Regent's Villas. M. Poole, Esq., 7, Regent's Villas. G. T. Vigne, Esq. Morley's Circulating Library, 27, Park Terrace. CONTENTS. The Editor's Preface Baron Charles Hiigel's Preface Introduction Preparations for the journey-Description of the retinue-Various routes to Kashmir-Visit to Masiiri and Simla-Thc Kahlur Raja-Scene on the Setlej-ImbeciUty of Indian princes- The frontier ferry-boat— Bilaspoor . . The Panjab-Bairägis of India-Incidents of Indian travel- Character of the Panjabis-Testimony to the Indian charac- ter-Instance of native artifice-The Temple of J^vala Mukhi— Singular natural phsenomenon— Description of a Hindu festival— Hindii estimate of European character- Difficulties in Hindu geography— Indian devotees-Feats of Indian jugglers-A providential escape-The Nelumbmm, or Lotus of Egypt— Interchange of presents— Indian character- Daybreak hi the East— Character of Indian scenery-Hindd ideas of veracity— Intermittent springs Confines of India and Tibet-Kashmlrian characteristics-Terrific mountain roads- An Indian affray-Indigenous vegetation- Asiatic field sports-Pass of Ratan Panjal- Alpine forests of Asia— Distant mountains of Tibet— Legend of the Fir Pan- jal — Oriental simplicity \rrival at Kashmir-The traveller's reception-Instance of mutual dependence-Touching recollections-Effects «f chmate- Impressions of nature and art-The proper end of life-In- genuity of the Asiatics-Magnificence of the Moghuls- Scenery of the Lakcs-The Island of Char Chunar-Ascent of the Takht-i-Siiliman— Panoramic view of the valley— An Pago iii Xlll 1 27 75 X CONTENTS. Page Eastern court — Public buildings in Kashmir — Religious edifices — Manufactures of Kashmir — Military force of Kash- mir — Tortuous course of the Jelam — Oriental news-writers — , Ventipoor — Kashmirians and Sikhs — The bazars of the East — Atmospherical phsenomenon — Professional mendicity — Mystification of nature — Extensive natural caverns — Korau Pandau — Facility of domesticating animals — A characteristic legend — The dancing girls of India — Inconsistency of tradi- tion — The Saraf or Hindu banker — Hindu mode of negotia- tion — Administration of justice — Character of Hindu govern- ment — Effects of despotism and misrule — Environs of the Wullar Lake — Mountain excursion — Limit of organic vitality 99 The Guru or Sikh priest — Bararaulla — Transition to the Panjab — Eö'ects of feudatory government — Results of divided autho- rity — Remarkable suspension bridge — Description of the Jelam — River scenery of India — Remarkable geological ap- pearance — Return to a tropical climate — Migration of the Brahmins — Specimen of native altercation — Quiet scenery of a Panjabi village — Interview with a petty chief — Decline of the transit trade — Physical disturbances — Mysterious visi- tors — The Kishenganga river — The Dub Pass — Bridges of the Panjab — The plain and valley of Vergund — Naushera — Pliant temper of the natives — Agricultural productions — Kishengurh — Hussein Abdal — A Mohammedan nobleman — Oriental progresses — Shujanpoor — The pariah dog of India 169 Approach to Atok — Jellallia and Kemellia rocks — Unknown species of Palm — Interview with Kashmir Singh's Diwan — Sketch of a princely youth — Need of a guide in an open country — Nur Jehan's last resting-place — The Moghul Im- perial roads — First discovery of Bactrian antiquities — Bud- dhist, Bactrian, and Scythian coins — Field of Bactrian researches — Picturesque mausoleum — Tempestuous weather — Manikyala — Camel carriage in wet weather — Changeable course of the rivers — Inclemency of the season — The Sikh irregular troops — Rotas — Limit of the Ficus religiosa — Universal medicine of India — Sameness of the Panjab plains — Site of the ancient Taxila — Public ferry over the Jelam — CONTKNTS. XI Page Substitute for fuel— The Cheniib river— Character of Indian servants — Affable manners of a Sikh chief— Eastern gardens — Jehanghir's mausoleum .. .. •• •• ..215 Approach to the Sikh capital— Noble character and taste of Bäber — The ten principal Sikh Gurus — Powerful sway of Aurang- zib — Decline of Mohammedan power— Vigilant rule of Ahmed Shah— Total defeat of the Mahrattas— Rise of Ranjit Singh's family — Nature of the mud forts in India — Wily proceedings of the Sikhs— The Sikh confederation— Policy of the Sikhs — The Sikh territory defined — British treaties with the Sikhs — Obvious design of the Treaties— Origin of the Mahratta power — Initiatory rite of the Sikh faith — Tenets of the Sikhs 259 Entrance to Lahor — Presentation at court — Principal dignitaries — Military style of the Sikh ruler — Ranjit Singh's inquisitive- ness — The bazars of Indian cities — Hindu and European tastes — Occasion of Ranjit Singh's ailments-7-Lovely effects of returning spring — The Panjabi troops and horses — The celebrated Kohi Nur, the largest diamond in the world — Ranjit Singh's household — Etiquette of Oriental courts — The Hull festival — The Shalimar garden — Formal testimo- nial deposition — Security of property in despotic States — Im- poverished state of Kashmir — An evening scene in India — Ostensible policy of England — Sir Alexander Burnes' mission to Lahor — Presents — Skilful artillery practice — The Gor- cheli, or household troops — The celebrated horse Laili — Sikh and British interests mutual — The dancing black fakir — Cele- bration of the Basant — Court entertainment — Toleration of slave-dealing — Indian dancing girls — Style and character of the Indian songs — Munificent courtly presents — Recognition of mutual espionage — The farewell interview — Departure from Lahor . . . . . . . . ■ . • • ■ • 285 Early history of Ranjit Singh's ancestors — Charat Singh's death — Birth of Ranjit Singh — Hateful character of ingratitude — Designs against Ranjit Singh — His early disposition to in- trigue — Holkar's unsuccessful negociation — Procession of the CONTENTS. Page Moharram — Unequal contest with disciplined troops — Ranjit Singh's first victory — History of the Kohi Nur — Shah Shuja's duplicity — Stipendiary princes of the East — Native artillery practice — Results of European organization — Personal ap- pearance of the Sikh ruler — Policy of the Panjab court — Ranjit Singh's favourites — Karak Singh .. .. .. 357 Journey homeward — Amritsir— The great tank— Inscription on the Sikh banners — European abuse of Asiatic names- — Luxurious retreats in hot climates — Route from Kopertela to Felor — The chequered journey of life — ^Conclusion of the personal narrative . . . . . . . . . . . , . . 389 Brief Political and Geographical remarks on the kingdom founded by Ranjit Singh, and on the Panjab — British policy of non- interference — Order of succession to the Sikh government — Natural boundary of the Indian empire — Military difliculties of the Panjab — Route of Alexander the Great — Extent of Alexander's eifploits — Interesting observations on the British Indian government . . . . . . . . . . 403 ILLUSTRATIONS. Portrait of Baron Charles Hügel to face the title-page. Vignette in the title-page, representing the mode of crossing rivers in the Panjab on a charpäi, or cot-frame, supported on inflated skins, and pro- pelled by swimmers. The frontier ferry-boat on the Setlej at Bilaspoor (glyphographed). , -? the king who lived at the date of our Saviour's birth, and was called Sahasralingam, or Thousand Lingams, from the number of those repre- sentations of their deity it contained. The Hindu may now approach both the temple and the spring, but in former times, they belonged to the house in which I lodged, and none of that faith were sufi'ered to come near them. According to Badia-ud-din, Anatnagh was built by the second king of Kashmir, Kasaligham, 3700 years B. C, an ante-diluvian city ! It seems that the Mohammedans know how to amplify numbers as well as the Brahmins, though they are rather more moderate in their calculations. About the fifteenth century the name Anatnagh was changed into that of Islamabad, City of the Faith. It long remained the second city in Kashmir, but now the well-built and spacious houses in what we may call the principal streets, are all deserted and in ruins. Many have already sunk into decay, exposed to every wind. The beautiful carved work ornamenting the terraces and windows, is nearly destroyed by owls and jackals, who are the most frequent occupants of the place. 134 PROFESSIONAL MENDICITY. From Islamabad to Mattan, a place exclusively inhabited by Brah- mins, the road winds along under the hills, and is shaded by the most majestic avenue of plane trees I ever saw. Towards the plain these hills terminate in steep declivities, and heaps of black marble are scat- tered about in fantastic disorder ; sometimes they decline so gently into the valley that the descent is hardly perceptible. When I entered Mat- tan my horse was stopped by a Brahmin who seized my bridle and de- manded alms. But he had in me no stranger to Indian customs to deal with. The manner in which charity is sometimes asked here shews the degree of misery and despair to which the beggar must be reduced, and though by no means certain of the extent of the present case, I thought it was probable that the man might be in want, and therefore offered him a rupee. My gift, however, was rejected with scorn, and the fellow demanded fifty. I saw in a moment that I had to deal with one of those impudent fakirs who have presumed to demand from a prince as much as a lack of rupees, and have occasionally received it ! " Do you tax me so low?" cried I angrily, "drive him away." Another Brahmin now presented his petition to be accepted as my guide to Mattan, and on my consent being given, he ran on before me to his house, whence he brought me a present of fruit, offering it with a very well-turned speech, and then preceded us to the temple of Mattan, under the fine plane trees of Kashmir, which overshadowed the couch where pilgrims customarily rest. I alighted from my horse at the entrance, where sat a venerable old man absorbed in the study of the Veda. Having sa- luted him and put off my shoes, I stepped into a large square building surrounded by smaller ones on three of its sides. The fourth side is open to the valley. There is a large reservoir in the centre which seemed to me about eighty paces broad. A spring of fine water gushes into it from the rock underneath the building, and is afterwards con- ducted by channels to irrigate the plain beyond. Here, as at Islama- bad, the fish are in immense numbers in this basin or tank, and like them are looked upon by the people as sacred. The spring reminded me very forcibly of that of the Orontes in Syria, more especially of that of the valley of Balbek, though in respect of the quantity of water, both these are much surpassed by the spring at Mattan. MYSTIFICATION OF NATURE. 135 According to a curious old tradition, it was a European physician, Bernier, who was in Kashmir in Aurungzebe's time, who first disco- vered a spring in the mountains, twenty miles from hence, which was absorbed by the earth. Taking it for granted that the water made its appearance in some other part of the valley, he placed men at all the ditferent springs, and then threw into the one he had discovered some pieces of straw, which came to light again in the Mattan fountain. I was well pleased to find the name of this adventurous traveller still in the recollections of the people of Kashmir. The elucidation of the story is found some way from this spot. Near Buasuan, which lies on the same limestone rocks, and is separated from Islamabad by a bed of clay that unites and partly covers both, are caverns, which serve as aqueducts to subterranean canals. I was particularly desirous to see them on account of the organic remains which it was highly probable they contained. These caves occupy a very conspicuous place in the fables of the timid Kash- mirians, and are supposed to have originated from the following causes. In the year KaU 2108 (993 B.C.) Raja Nara succeeded his father Vi- bhishana. During his reign a certain Brahmin espoused Chandrasaha, the daughter of Susravas, a serpent-god, whose palace was in a lake near the Vitusta, and near a city built and inhabited by Nara. One day, as Raja Nara beheld the beautiful daughter of the serpent on the shore of the lake, moving gracefully through the calm waters, he was struck with the deepest admiration, and endeavoured vainly to inspire the same sentiments he himself felt. At length he resolved to carry her off from her husband, but the plan failed, and the enraged Brahmin called on her father to avenge the insult A storm was accordingly called up, and the earth opened and swallowed up the king and his whole court. The sister of the serpent-god assisted him, and hurled on the city huge stones from the Baman mountain. The caverns of Mattan are said to be on the spot where these rocks were uptorn. The natives believe that they extend to the far depths of the earth, and none will venture within them, lest with the first step they should be seized by the powers of dark- ness. Mirza Ahud assured me that the largest of them extended ten kos inwards ; that from the exterior halls, chambers, and walks, branched in every direction, the walls of which were covered with inscriptions 136 THE INFLUENCE OF SUPERSTITION. and representations of various deities. He implored me not to venture where no man had ever been known to find his way out again. Raging torrents, he said, deafened every sound, and an evil spirit called Jin, whose breath smote men to death, had his abode there. I told him, as he was afraid, he might stay where he was, which he agreed to, with many thanks, although he still protested he would follow me if I desired it. I entered first the small cavern, which lies at the extremity of a broad valley. At the projecting angle of the range of mountains which terminate at this point, a flight of steps, hewn out of the rock, leads to the entrance gate, which is from 60 to one hundred feet higher than the plain. Here the traveller enters a room about twenty feet long and twelve high and broad. Beyond, is a little temple in the rock, but the wooden gates were shut, and though most curious to know to what deity it had been dedicated, all my efi'orts to gain admittance were fruit- less. One of my Ghorka companions was more fortunate, and at last we entered, but neither image, nor sign of any kind was there. I con- cluded that this must be a kind of vestibule to the deeper caves, but could discover no trace of any communication from the place where we now were. From the hill over this cavern, I enjoyed a fine view of the rich plain of Kashmir, and as far as the Shonibal and Kirwan mountains. North- wards flowed the shallow Lidar, over its stony bed ; and, on the heights behind stood the lone fort of Aismokam, while, about a hundred paces below me, was a small square Buddhist temple, in good preservation. I descended from this eminence, and proceeded towards the great cavern. The wild intricacy of the rocks around, together with the dreadful stories I had listened to, induced me to order a great many torches to be lighted. While this was being done I espied some birds, new to me, and desired Jwali Singh, a great fellow, six feet high, and athletic in proportion, to fire at them. One of the Kashmirians stared at me with amazement, and cried out, " Maha Raja, it is impossible." Jwali laughed at his superstition ; and taking one of my double-bar- relled guns, quickly took his aim ; but the gun would not go ofl", and he turned to me with the greatest anxiety in his countenance. He tried again with fresh powder, but with as little success, when, bringing the EXTENSIVE xNATUKAL CAVERNS. 137 gun back to me, he positively declared that nothing should induce him to fire while in this place. To cure them of such superstitious fancies, I determined to take a shot myself; but the wily birds had, by this time, made their escape, so that unluckily their credulity could not be over- come by example. I dare say, if I had succeeded in my aim, they would only have believed me a magician, without feeling a whit the less convinced of the mysterious influence of the place. Mirza Ahud volun- tarily offered to follow me into the cavern, the poor Pandit's office compelling him to do the same. We accordingly proceeded to the entrance, which is about thirty feet above the plain, and difficult of access. The first thing that struck us was several little chambers of different forms. I went into all of them but could discover no com- munication whatever between them. In one was a modern tomb, in another a human skeleton ; but when we tried to push forwards into the darkness, we found the roof gradually sloping downwards over our heads ; and after we had gone about sixty paces more, of which twenty had been in the wet slippery mud, caused by dropping water, we came to the end of this celebrated cave of Mattan. Mohan Bir, who had followed in some terror, owing to Mirza Ahud's tales, now laughed heartily at the narrator, who took it in very good part, only ridiculing the superstitious fancies of the Kashmirians, of which country he him- self was also a native. I had still Korau Pandau to visit, which is on the high plain that crowns the eminence between the rocks of Buasuan and the mountains of Islamabad. We now travelled along a deep ravine, formed by the violent rains which have gradually washed away the loose soil. This is the only drain for the waters in the plain above. We then ascended a hill, from two to three hundred feet high : it is in some parts perpen- dicular, in others irregular in its descent, composed of loose mud with- out any admixture of stone or sand. We made but little progress over this steep and slippery ground, a dead flat being before us, as destitute of vegetation as a desert. The atmosphere peculiar to the country made its dimensions appear of immense extent, while, almost lost in the far distant east, peered the outline of mountains, relieved in the foreground by a dark point standing forth like a sharp black rock. 138 UNCERTAIN SITE OF ANCIENT CITIES. This was Korau Pandau, and my little ghunt soon galloped away to the temple gate. My first impressions were of gloom and heaviness only ; but the dark masses, with their gigantic outlines, are softened down by the slender pillars introduced in many places ; and the large round apertures over the doors must have admitted sufficient light to the interior to dispel much of the obscurity. Korau Pandau owes its existence and name to the most ancient dynasty of Kashmir. The great antiquity of the ruin will be acknow- ledged therefore when I remind the reader, that the Pandau dynasty ended 2500 years before Christ, after governing Kashmir according to their historians nearly 1300 years. Here no doubt Sri Nagur, the holy city, was first built ; in fact the Brahmins still call this place by that name. Just as Solomon is celebrated by the Mohammedans, the Empress Helena in the Holy Land, Charlemagne in Germany, the Cyclops in Italy, and Joseph in Egypt ; so every Hindu, from Cape Comorin to Kashmir, ascribes every relic of ancient days to the Pan- dau dynasty, unless the records of their history pronounce directly to the contrary. That the race really did exist, and in much power, can hardly be questioned, because the ancient Madura, in Southern India, according to history, was subdued by them ; and it seems most likely that it was this city to which Ptolemy gave the title Regia Pandionis. Pliny (6. 16) speaks of a city called Panda on the other side of the Soo-dus ; Solinus (c. 49) gives the same name to a town in Sogdiana, beyond the Bactrus ; while, in the same 6th book, Pliny mentions another Panda at the mouth of the Indus. Ptolemy says plainly, " the kingdom of the Pandau is near the Bydaspes,'' or Jelam. (Circa autem Bydaspum, Pandovorum regio). If the histories of Kashmir and of this race are to be relied on, then these cities may all have been in the possession of the Pandau dynasty, at dififerent epochs. But, after such a lapse of time, all these suppositions must rest in doubt, since the identity of the various places can never be made quite evident to us. By Korau Pandau is a small house and garden, belonging to a fakir. It is now deserted. The traveller still finds ripe fruit on the trees, which the fakir, who was driven forth by the last famine, will never pluck again. This house was once a place of pilgrimage for Moham- THE VALUE OF A GOOD HORSE. 139 inedans ; and a well, called Härat and Marats Baiiri, is yet considered a holy spot. The legend says, that these two good angels were sent on earth by God to reform men by their example ; but, alas ! they could not withstand the beauty of the daughters of Kashmir ; and when con- science awoke, instead of repentitig of their errors and hoping to obtain pardon by amendment, they cast themselves down, with their beloved companions, into this well, which bears their name — the Baiiri, or well of Härat and Marat. To the left is the ruined aqueduct, which formerly conveyed the water from the mountains to the plain, but has long been dry. Mirza Ahud informed me, that the water was carried to a distance of twenty miles : I asked him, if his calculation was as exact as the ten kos of the great cave of Mattan. Having sent on my people towards Islam- abad, I turned back again to the great ruin. The more one examines the mighty mass of Korau Pandau, the deeper is the impression it makes on the mind. The time was passing quietly on ; the sun sinking below Islamabad, and the mists of the valley still hanging over the snowy peaks of the Pir Panjal, like vast fleecy clouds, as I gazed attentively on the different aspects presented by these ruins. The short twilight soon faded, and I found myself on the lonely road in utter darkness. My good steed, however, retraced the way he had taken once before, in perfect security ; and in a very short time accomplished the four miles to our halting place for the night. No Brahmins came this evening ; and I was glad of it, as it gave me leisure to make out a plan and description of Korau Pandau. I was assisted also by a fire which my people had lit ; and though it smoked abominably, it prevented my fingers from being numbed b}- the cold. Islamabad lies near the end of the valley in this direction ; and the Jelam, which flows two miles off, soon ceases to be navigable. Two kos further is Sahibabad, which has a small fort, built by Nur Begam, and three old Buddhist temples, called Wamadevi. Another two kos brings us to Shahabad, a garden of the Moghul emperors ; near to this is Warndgh, which was erected by Jehanghir, and boasts of the finest spring in the valley. All these palaces are now in ruins, and the fallen roofs so block up the interior as to leave little room for a wanderer's 140 FACILITY OF DOMESTICATING ANIMALS. observation. Sahibabad and Warnagh are built on eminences ; Shahabad is at the eastern limit of the valley of Kashmir. The Jelam, soon after passing Shahabad, loses its name ; and at Banhal, twelve kos from Islam- abad, is known as the San-dran. I would fain have gone thus far, but the cold increased daily, and I apprehended a heavy fall of snow might entirely frustrate my intention of visiting the mountains of Tibet. I was, moreover, to speak the truth, nearly worn out with the indifferent food, the piercing cold, the fatigue of body and mind, I had now so long undergone, and was tormented by a constant anxiety to terminate the loneliness of my present position, and bring my journeyings to a close. Thursday, 26th. The Thanadar was unable to procure me the ore I was desirous of getting from the mountain, and was sadly afraid I should refuse to give him the certificate of good conduct and attention which he was commanded to forward to the Maha Raja. When I assured him to the contrary, his gratitude was unbounded. He in- formed me that a large animal, of the deer kind, came down from the mountains, in the cold season, and committed great ravages in the fields. The natives pursue and attack them with clubs, and frequently succeed in destroying some. One which has been captured alive has been in Islamabad ever since, roaming about the bazar and adjacent fields ; sup- porting itself on any food it chances to take a fancy to. This tame creature I saw : it was about the size of a fallow deer, but of a greyish colour and had longer hair. It had not shed its horns, which, at their full growth, have as many as twelve antlers. This animal is the Barasinghi twelve antlers, or perhaps great-antler deer of the Himalaya. The boats were waiting at Kanibal, where the Jelam ceases to be navigable. Thither we proceeded on foot, the coldness of the morning making the two miles' walk very agreeable. The bridge over the Jelam consists of two arches only. It is the last of any importance in this direction. In no country in the world, perhaps, are there so many bridges as in Kashmir. They span every river and brook, great and small, and are all built and kept in repair by the Government, without the levy of any toll. It was eleven o'clock when we pushed off from the shore, and I saw that it would be late when we arrived in Kashmir. The cold, even wrapped up as I was, was so bitter, tliat it was painful to PLEASING RECOLLECTIONS. 141 write ; but I persevered, knowing that, in such a journey as mine, what is not set down quickly is lost for ever, and no longer to be recalled to memory. We came up before dark with two vessels loading with the bark of the birch-tree. It is used in Kashmir to pack up the pears and apples which they export to other parts, the larger pieces are shaped into the long winding pipes of the hookah. Men and women seemed equally busy with the load, which they were carrying through the water, the vessels not being able to approach the shore ; they did not appear to be in the least affected with the extreme cold, although their clothing would certainly have afforded them but indifferent protection against it. The bed of the Jelam is everywhere of great depth, but the shores are generally too high to allow of any view beyond them from a boat. Sometimes the river is swollen from twelve to fifteen feet above its ordinary level, and then it overflows, but its motion is so sluggish, that the houses built on the shore are rarely in danger. The appearance of Ventipoor, as you approach it from Islamabad, is very agreeable. The few buildings and ruins stretching down to the shore, leaning as it were against the mountains, seem to form a safe harbour and landing-place. A fire was lighted on the ground while I took my dinner at seven o'clock in the evening. We then continued our march, and tried every plan to keep ourselves warm. The night, though freezing cold, was fair ; the boats glided calmly over the waters, and the boatmen beguiled the time with songs, sometimes in chorus, at other times singly, which they managed with much softness and effect. In summer weather this excursion would have been most delightful, but now the contrast be- tween the keen cold atmosphere and these sentimental strains was i-ather painful. The lamp burned dimly on the table on which I leaned, while Mohan Bir slept at my feet. Gradually the chaunt of the boatmen lulled me as I smoked my hookah, and I forgot, all associations of the past, Asia, Kashmir, and every present concern in the reveries of my early youth. The hopes and joyous expectations of boyhood, that hap- piest time, when the heart longs to know a good world, and confides so sweetly in the worth of others; the once-felt sentiments uprose now, as from a better world, in my own heart, and I could have dreamed on, and almost fancied that I was living over again those halcyon days 14^ THE IMPROVISATORI. of pleasurable unconcern. The intense cold brought nie back to the pre- sent, and cruelly reminded me of the truth that I was far from home, alone, the hopes of my youth still unfulfilled, the wishes of the man frustrated, a wanderer, perhaps forgotten, in a region so far away as I then was from every associate, from all my kindred. I roused Mirza Ahud, who was in the next boat, and bade him give me some account of Jacque- mont to divert my mind from such idle dreams. By what he related it would appear that he had rather acted a part in Kashmir : he wished to be considered a philosopher, who held money in contempt, and had even been seen to throw rupees out of the window of his lodging; but Mirza Ahud seemed to have seen through this little artifice, and told me that, though his former master did often waste a great deal of money, his first and chief thought seemed always to be, wealth. I then asked him whether he could not amuse me with some of the eld tales of his native land, whereupon he instantly began as follows : — The king Chandranand desired to erect a temple to Siva, and had been long in quest of some suitable place. Having acquired his object he set regularly to work. Now it chanced that part of the ground was in possession of a tanner, but as that trade is followed by none except per- sons of low caste, they turned him out of the place without ceremony. When the King heard of it, he punished the officer severely and ordered the work to be suspended till the tanner consented to quit the place of his own free will. I then desired Mirza Ahud to think of something more national, as this manner of dealing was common to all countries. He then com- menced a second story. The Raja Jayanand was the greatest king on earth, and after sub- duing every country in the seven climates, returned laden with treasures, to his own dominions. Here he lived in the enjoyment of life, forget- ting that his successes were all due to the protection and help of God. He had been carousing one night until very late, witnessing the displays of his three hundred nach girls, who had been amusing him with their songs and dances, and quaffing huge draughts of the forbidden spirit, when he lay down ; but although he desired his servants to leave him to recruit his strength for the next day's pleasures, sleep refused to obey his A CHARACTERISTIC LEGEND. 14'3 call. Presently there appeared to him Mäha Padma, a serpent-god, and entreated his aid against a powerful magician of Dravira, who had enchanted him, promising him, as a reward for his assistance, to lead him into a great cavern filled with an incredible mass of gold, which should be wholly at his disposal. The king sent the next morning for the magician, and desired him to point out the ser- pent-god. The magician accompanied the king to the lake, where the god was lying, and having turned the waters into a cloud, the serpent- god became visible to them in the same form as before. The king then commanded the magician to fill the lake again ; and the cloud, at his bidding, sank down, and covered it ten kos in depth ; vivid lightning shot from it, and, within half an hour, the lake was a sheet of water as before. Jayanand then rewarded the magician, and sent him back to Dravira. Mäha Padma appeared again the next night, and reproached Jayanand for the anguish he had occasioned him ; but, in reward for his having sent away the magician finally, he showed him a copper-mine instead of the cavern of gold. The king ordered it to be worked ; and, during his reign, 100 kror (990 millions) were coined. He then sent to every monarch in the world, defying them to surpass him in riches. I asked Mirza whether the Mohammedan writers admitted such sheer nonsense as this into the histories of Kashmir ; and his answer was, that if they said nothing about serpent-gods, they related wonders of another kind, but quite as surprising. For instance, they say, that in Daulut Jang's reign, a violent earthquake in Kashmir removed the city of Husanpur from the right to the left bank of the river, and caused it to change places with Huseinpoor ; but I stated to him, that this was but a false statement of a true event, which turned the course of the winding Jelam. The Auk, before which we now found ourselves, comes from the mountains of Tibet. Should the rain fall heavily for a few days, it brings down pieces of timber, which the natives pick up ; these shine in the dark as long as they continue moist. Friday, November 27. It was six o'clock in the morning when we were put ashore at the Hamedan Masjid in Kashmir, so benumbed with cold, that I was obliged to hurry to the garden as fast as I could, to warm my frozen limbs. Early in the day I assembled my attendants. 144 EUROPEAN VANITY. and desired that every preparation should be made for my departure, and at the same time I despatched the munshi to the Kazi, and begged that the Governor might be informed of my intention to leave Kashmir on the 29th, the day I had appointed before I quitted for Islamabad. The Kazi came an hour after, to tell me that it would require four days to hire the hundred and twenty bearers that I required, but I answered that my munshi would do it in less time, and that I left that charge to him. This had its effect, and the Kazi promised that everything should be ready on Monday. My next visitor was Samed Shah, the confidential servant of Mohammed Shah Nakshbandi, who came to remind me of my promise to pay his master a visit. It was agreed, therefore, that I should partake of a supper at his house on the next day, and I was glad of the opportunity of seeing something more of the manners and customs of the country. I had brought several baskets of potatoes to Kashmir, with the hope of being able to introduce this valuable article among the natives. Mr. Vigne had already spoken of its great utility to Ahmed Shah, the Raja of Iskardu, and I hoped to extend its cultivation to Tibet also. With a view of smoothing the way, I thought of sending the Raja, together with the potatoes, several presents which I judged would be acceptable, among which were three bottles of cognac and some drugs : these were accordingly dispatched to Iskardu, with our letters, in a gold embroidered bag. I now proposed to my two English friends, that we should erect something like a monument to the travellers who had preceded us in Kashmir ; and, at the same time, leave a memorial of our having met, on the present occasion, at this spot. We agreed to carve the following inscription on a black marble tablet, and set it up in the little building on the Char Chunar island : — "Three travellers in Kashmir on the 18th November, 1835, the Baron Ch. Hügel, from Jamii ; Th. G. Vigne, from Iskardu ; and Dr. John Henderson, from Ladak, have caused the names of all the travel- lers who have preceded them in Kashmir to be engraven on this stone. " Bernier, 1663. Forster, 1736. Moorcroft, Guthrie, and Trebeck, 1823. Victor Jacqucmont, 1831. Joseph Wolff, 1832. THE DANCING GIRLS OF INDIA. 145 " Two only of all these, the first and last, ever returned to their native country." I need not remark, that in the list I have included no Catholic missionaries ; Förster did, strictly speaking, return home, but he came out again, and died at Madras. Vigne and Henderson accepted the commission with pleasure ; and as it was necessary to get the stone at a short notice, I thought of one of the doors at the mosque of Nagarnagar. This plan I proposed to the Kazi ; but he looked grave, and said he must consult the Governor about it, which I desired him to do forthwith. He came back in an hour or two, and informed me that Mehan Singh had thought it right to send off and request the permission of Ranjit Singh before we did so. I expressed my hope that the Governor would not object to the stone being got ready, on my promise being given, that all subsequent proceedings should depend on the Mahä Raja's answer. This was ac- ceded to, and the Kazi said we might take away as many of the stones as we wanted. To guard against any further interruption, Vigne under- took to remove the door at sunset. To another message from Mehan Singh, asking whether it would not be agreeable to me to see the Nach girls, I replied in the affirmative, and they were accordingly ordered to attend and exhibit before us in my tent. Towards evening I went to the bazar, to see whether it had anything particularly worthy of attention, while Vigne proceeded to the ruinous mosque to fetch away the marble tablet. But he had forgotten to take any ropes or poles with him, and the stone was too heavy to be removed without such helps. He had to come back therefore, after making many fruitless efforts, without having advanced our object. Just before it was dark, a number of the Kashmirian beauties made their appearance, accompanied by musicians, duennas, and divers hideous wretches who usually attend on them, and whose monstrous ugliness makes the features of the dancers, who are almost invariably unsightly in appearance, shew off to greater advantage. After dinner was over, the tents were cleared and lighted, and the whole of our attendants were admitted to view what was going on. There was one among the dancers whose animated cast of features made her much more prepossessing than I- 146 NECESSITY OF CEREMONIAL RESPECT. the rest. The passion of the Sikhs for this amusement is so great, that my chief pleasure was really derived from attending to them, and I believe there is much truth in the proverb, that you may take away the wife and child of a Sikh while he is listening to the adventures of Rus- tam and Süräb, and he would not miss them. I shall have more to say in another place, on the dancing and song peculiar to Kashmir. The Nach girls are called sometimes Kanchni, but not by polite speakers ; and sometimes Nachwali, dancers, which is more cour- teous. They are throughout India under the surveillance of the Govern- ment, and are, in fact, little better than slaves. These poor creatures are doomed to a hard fate ; they are not allowed either to sing or dance without permission, and if they get this, an officer of the Government always accompanies them, who grasps whatever they receive. When I had dismissed the troop, they demanded one hundred rupees for the evening's performance. Saturday, 28th November. If I had anticipated so long a stay here I should have insisted on Mehan Singh visiting me in the first in- stance, and I advise every traveller who purposes to remain in Kashmir for any time to do the same, and in case of a refusal, not to visit him at all. He should insist moreover on his own visit being punctiliously returned. For the sake of those who may follow me here, I reproach myself for having swerved from this rule, which I did from my aversion to this ceremonial, which always costs a morning, but prin- cipally because I never intended to stay in Kashmir more than a few days. It was known that I was forming collections of every thing rare, and this whole day I was pestered with men having all sorts of things to sell. About noon came Ganesh Pandit, the first interpreter of the Go- vernment, and a Brahmin of some consequence in the place ; after a con- versation of greater length than learning, he laid an immense roll of paper at my feet, a history of Kashmir, which he presented to me, having hoard much of my wisdom and learning. I opened it, and found a list of names, neatly written on the finest Kashmir paper, in the Persian character, which Ganesh Pandit explained to be the names of the differ- ent Rajas who reigned in Kashmir before the Mohammedan conquest. I asked, how many kings were there? "Six thousand nine hundred and INCONSISTENCY OF TRADITION. 147 forty," he replied, evidently with a tone and look of triumphant pride at being born in such a country. His catalogue finished with the year 864 (Hegira 250), to which period he incorrectly assigned the first arrival of the Mohammedans in the valley. '' But," said I, " how many years of the Kali Yug had passed when this event took place ? " After a long reckoning he said 3938. This again was a mistake, for the year 250 of the Hegira is the 3966 of the Kali Yug, an epoch which begins 3102 years before Christ. "Then," said I, "how is it possible that in 3938 years 6940 kings could reign ?" To which he replied, that in his list he had included 400 years of the Dwapar Yug, the epoch which preceded the Kali Yug. So that his 6940 kings had 4338 years to reign in. I said only in reply, that as Kasyapa, according to their histories, had drained the lake which covered the valley 612 years before the Kali Yug commenced, he had forgotten the kings of the first 212 years altogether. I however took the list as a curiosity. At 6 o'clock, Mohammed Shah's state boat was sent to fetch Vigne, Henderson, and myself to dinner. When we had finished, the Shah took us into a room apart ; but as the Indian fashion usually demands some appearance of mystery to be displayed in all things, I took this for some empty form, and was rather surprised when the Shah solicited me to do him a great favour. I must premise that the Shah is a Syad — a descendant of the Prophet, and that his surname Nakshbandi is taken from a mystical sect founded by one of his ancestors. His family is of the royal house of Tashkend, whence his ancestors went to Turkisthan, and his grandfather, Khoja Shah Niyas, more recently wandered as far as Kashmir, where he assembled some hundred disciples of his sect around him, from Iskardu, Yarkand, and Turkisthan. Family afi"airs now render the presence of Mohammed in Turkisthan very advisable, but as the governor declines to allow of his departure on his own responsibility, he has decided on going him- self to Lahor, personally to request leave to travel of Ranjit Singh. He had already besought Mr. Vigne to allow him to make one of his party, being influenced in this by another and a very justifiable motive. Every European who had travelled in Kashmir had largely shared in his attentions, and they were particularly useful to Moorcroft during his L 2 148 HOSPITALITY WELL REQUITED. long sojourn in the valley. He seems naturally to hope now, that the Company may repay this hospitality to him in some way or other ; and it is his present object to go from Lahor to Ludiana, whei-e Captain Wade resides, and get some acknowledgment, from the official resident, of his services to English travellers. It so happened, that one of the Shah's kinsmen, holding some post in Kishtewar, had fallen under the displeasure of Gulab Singh, and had made his escape to Kashmir ; the Shah now begged me to take him as my miinshi, and thus smuggle him out of the country. This was not agreeable to me, for I did not know what fault he had been guilty of, nor what I should do with him in Hindüsthan ; my answer was therefore evasive, and I told the Shah that I had no power to protect all the suite accompanying me, and that he would be quite as safe and less noticed in his own company. He understood me, and pressed the matter no further, merely asking my leave to introduce his kinsman, which I could not refuse. The young man, on entering, prostrated him- self at my feet. His face was remarkable for its expression of stupidity, relieved only by anxiety for the consequences of an offence for which I could not offer much comfort, as I was perfectly ignorant of its nature. Mohammed Shah has a great many of the natives of Yärkand about him, pilgrims who are on their way to Mecca, which they reach more speedily and safely by way of India and Bombay, than by the consider- ably shorter route of Central Asia and Persia. This circumstance ought to sm.ooth many difficulties in the path of Europeans travelling in Central Asia; for when the natives return full of the kindness and hospitality they have received from the Company's officers, they will surely requite their generous feeling in the only way they have in their power, by showing them the like. Most of the pilgrims I met in Bom- bay were men of wealth, and therefore naturally of influence in their own country, and it is to be hoped they will use both for the benefit of fellow-wanderers. The productions of Yarkand, which were all spread out before me, were highly interesting ; thirty-two species of tea brought from the interior of China by way of Axor and Turfan were also shown me. The natives of Yärkand told me, that the caravans go in twenty-eight A DISSOLUTE INDO-BRITON. 149 days from Kashgar to Samarkhand ; from Kashgar to Yarkand in five days ; from Samarkhand to Bokhara in ten days. The tea comes from Hi, the Chinese place of exile, by Turfan to Axor. Turfan is on the confines of Turkisthan towards China. It was 10 o'clock when I took leave of my host. Sunday, November 29. — Mr. Vigne had sent his servant, Mitchell, last evening, with twenty men, provided with every thing requisite, except common sense, to bring the stone away from the ruined mosque. On our return, we heard from him that the guard had threatened to shoot him if he remained there, and that a large crowd had assembled •n Nagarnagar to prevent the stone being taken away. This Mitchell was a half-caste, and a confirmed drunkard, and I have some notion that he never went at all, and fabricated the whole story. This morning the Kazi came from Mehan Singh to request that I would visit him, for the purpose of receiving the khilat, or garb of honour, the Maha Raja's parting gift to travellers. This I would gladly have avoided, for I felt quite sure that Mehan Singh would select some worthless shawls, and expect me to return the gift with something of real value, but I did not wish to ofi'end him, so promised to go speedily. Vigne and Henderson were also invited. We were received by the Viceroy in a room in the first story in bhaherghur, without any furniture or ornaments suited to an inhabited apartment. A few officers only were present, who retired as soon as we were seated. After the usual oriental fine speeches, I thanked the Governor for the facilities I had enjoyed for seeing Kashmir. He answered that it was nothing more than the Maha Raja's order. I then told him that it was my intention to travel through the BaramuUa pass to Atok. He stared in astonishment, and remarked that the road was a very bad one. I had heard however from many people in Kash- mir, that it was the very best, and that the Sikhs always describe it as dangerous, to deter Englishmen from taking that route. I merely said, therefore, that I was prepared to find it so, but wished to travel that way, unless it were displeasing to the Maha Raja. " Here is a letter to the Maha Raja," I added, " in answer to one lately received from him. I have informed him that I purpose to enter the Panjkb again at 150 THE SARAF, OR HINDU BANKER. Hussein Abdul." I stated further that Mohammed Shah Nakshbandi would travel with me. He again enforced on my mind the danger of meeting with parties of Mohammedan robbers by the way ; but seeing that he could not move me, he turned the conversation on the beautiful shawls which I had bought. " If you wish for any more," he added, " when you go to your own country, I hope you will commission me to buy them for you." I now spoke of our inscription, of which we had prepared a Persian translation, and Mr. Vigne obtained his promise that we should not be called to any account if the stone did disappear from Nagarnagar that evening. The khilat, composed of eleven dirty old shawls, was next brought in. I had an opportunity here of observing how well Dr. Henderson had studied the character of this people. When he gave Mehan Singh a gold coin as a mark of his subjection, the features excepted, he might have been taken for one of themselves. When a trifling present was offered him, he declined it, calling himself a poor fakir, and I would have done the same, if my travelling arrangements had been quite secured. Mehan Singh was not so tipsy as at our first interview, but most assuredly was not sober. We took our leave with an embrace. I had brought letters of credit from Ludiana on a saraf, or money- changer in Kashmir ; and when first I arrived in the city, he had paid me a visit in my tent. I told him before several persons, that when I wanted money I should apply to him, not being then aware that the possessor of ever so little wealth makes the greatest mystery of it, on account of the cupidity of their Sikh masters ; and I remember being surprised at the faltering tone in which he answered that he did not know how it would be possible for him to collect even one thousand rupees ; when however he paid me a second visit, he explained the reason why, and told me that any sum I wanted was at my command. I commissioned him to buy the best shawls he could find for me, and to-day he brought me some unfinished, which were not of the first class. I suspected at first that this was a trick to impose upon me, but on stricter inquiry I found that it was a very difficult thing to get these shawls complete in Kashmir. More of this, however, hereafter. GENEROSITY AND CONCILIATION. 151 Dr. Henderson's servant arrived to-day from Ladäk, and alone, having, as he said, lost the horses and every other article in the snow in the Naubak pass. He was dismissed, together with the servant who had come to Kashmir with him: they had subsisted for three days on two chepatis. As I could not find that there was any fault in either, I agreed to take them into my service. The Doctor proposed bending his course now to the Hindu Khosh, and ßalkh, and though I tried to dissuade him from such a step at this season, he was bent on it. I there- fore fitted him out with such things as instruments, and a second watch, &c., as well as I could, and in this remote land, where a few days passed together make men more familiar, than years would under other circum- stances, we both felt much at parting. It was arranged that we should leave Kashmir the same day, the 1 st of December, travel westward to the confines of the country together, and there part, hoping to meet early in the following year at Lahor. The rest of the day was spent in packing up the dififerent collections I had made at this place. Monday, November 30. — My people all informed me, that the whole city was up in arms at the idea of our removing the stone from their mosque, and that nothing but our robbery was talked of in the bazar. We judged it as well therefore to have the Governor's authority for what we were going to do ; and when the Kazi came to tell me that every thing would be ready for my departure in two days, Mr. Vigne pressed him for the order, but this he would not give, repeating that if we chose to remove the stone, no notice would be taken. I saw how many difficulties were in our way, and that the Sikhs did not wish openly to offend the prejudices of the Mohammedans, I therefore recom- mended that we should look out for another tablet, and Mohammed Shah succeeded in getting us a beautiful slab of black marble out of the Shali- mär garden. Several dozen pair of shawls were sent to-day for my selection ; I purchased two blue and two white ones, but neither of them was finished. The conduct of Mirza Abdul Rahim highly disgusted me on this occasion, and I was the more confirmed in my original opinion of the man. The first time that Mr, Vigne visited the Governor, he was 152 ' FORCE OF CONSTITUTIONAL HABIT. accompanied by this Mirza Abdul Rahim, who demanded a seat as the Company's agent. It was at first refused, but at last his demand was complied with, although he had no right whatever to the privilege in question. The giving or withholding of this seat, is a matter of vast importance in India, and every European must not only stand firm on his rightful pretensions, but even in his own solitary tent keep up all the etiquette of a court. I passed the day in packing and purchasing, while Mr. Vigne went to complete his drawing on the Tahkt-i-Suliman. I regretted that time would not permit me to ascend this mountain again, for the great antiquity of the ruin gave it additional interest. The erection of the temple is ascribed to Gopaditya, of the Gonerdya dynasty, b.c., 370. Dr. Henderson spent the whole day in the bazar in preparing for his journey. In the evening we all dined together in my tent. Tuesday, December 1. — The Lieutenant and his guard, who had been stationed before ray tent during my stay in Kashmir, were appointed to escort me to Lahor. This was against my will, for such a thing as a guard had never occurred to me during my wanderings from one end of India to the other, and I had no inclination to avail myself of this novel protection. The servant of Ranjit Singh's chobdar had been dangerously ill in Kashmir, and so had the havildar ; several of my attendants had also been attacked with fever. I administered to, and succeeded in curing, them all. Strange to say, the natives of Bengal were of all the least afiected by the cold and the fatigues of our journey, and my only sui'prise still is, how one of the Hindus survived it, seeing that, while they ai-e pre- paring their food, they throw off every thing except the cloth which is tied round their waist, and that the highest castes all eat in this state of nudity. My munshi, a Brahmin, never failed to eat his rice thus unclad, even when the glass was at the freezing point, and his health was much better than that of the Mohammedans from the north of India, who could not clothe themselves too warmly. Among others who had heard of my success as a physician, was the Kazi, who came to consult me, but I saw that he suffered from confirmed asthma, so I HINDU MODE OF NEGOTIATION. 153 made him over to Dr. Henderson, his case not being one by which I could hope for any credit*. Mr. Vigne made a drawing for me to-day of the Dilawer Khan Bägh, and every inhabitant at present in it, servants, horses, dogs, goats, and poultry. My dealings with the shawl merchants harassed me beyond endurance ; indeed no patience can stand out against the torments of making ever so trifling a bargain with these people. The mode of their negotiating business is altogether peculiar : the two parties seated on the ground, give their right hand to each other, under a large cloth, without a word being uttered by either of them, the ofiFer and answer are signified by difi'erent ways of pressing the hand. Several days frequently elapse in such dealings, without any thing being concluded. My deputy, Abdul Rahim, I had reason to believe equal to any species of knavery ; Mirza Ahud however had always proved himself strictly honest and disinterested. My Indian servants assisted me to-day in packing up my collection of the fishes of Kashmir ; and I may remark here, that I found them on all occasions unsparing in their attention and most willing ; quite undeserving of the contempt they sometimes receive from their English masters, because they do not comprehend, as it were by instinct, all the petty wants and desires of European fastidiousness. • The natives of India, generally speaking, have very little faith in the medical skill of Europeans. In extreme and desperate cases they will gladly apply, but not till every other resource has failed them. Many such have come to my know- ledge during my residence in India, where the most consummate skill, patience, and every benevolent feeUng were generously proffered to parties beyond the reach of ordinary cure. In cases of cholera, application was rarely deferred, or in any serious affections of the sight ; but in the most dreadful maladies there is a decided aversion to European practice, even with those classes, our soldiery and menials, who come more directly under the influence of authority. Narratives of cases in which diseases of the eye have been successfully treated, would fill a volume with matter of the deepest interest, and discover much of the good quality of the Asiatic — neither wholly destitute of gratitude, good sense, nor feelings of a yet nobler kind. The record of acts of disinterested skill performed by Kemball, Marshall, Duncan, Graham, Jefferson, and many such benevolent members of the medical profession, do honour to this distinguished body, and will long be remembered throughout Western India. 154 THEFT TRACED TO DEPENDENTS. Dr. Henderson and I had reckoned on starting to-day, but the servants he had engaged refused to go when they found that he was journeying to Atok, the bands of robbers being so numerous and daring, that it has at times required the whole power of Ranjit Singh to oppose them. He was therefore compelled to look out for others, while my tents underwent some repairs, and the boats had not yet left the city. The days were so short and so cold, that we did not get through much business. Wednesday, December 2. — The Dilawer Khan Bagh was like a bazar to-day, not only for me but for my attendants, every one being desirous of taking something to India from Kashmir. Then came the task of examining the munshfs accounts ; and the writing of testi- monials of good conduct for all Ranjit Singh's officers, from the Viceroy down to the spy. In the evening a robbery, the first that had befallen me in India, and which was instantly laid to the Kashmirians, was efi'ected in my little territory, the object stolen being a coverlet that Jwali Singh had bought in Rajawar. It was soon discovered, cut into two pieces, in the possession of the Mali, my gardener. He vowed that he had purchased it of a Kashmirian, but the secrecy with which he had offered to sell one half to my bearer as soon as it was dark, proved his criminality. My servants wanted to complain to the Kazi, but I would not permit this, telling them that in my tents I was lord, and entitled to punish any crime committed by my servants ; and late as it was, I ordered a formal hearing of the case, assisted by Mr. Vigne. But the evidence was so contradictory and so lengthy, that I was soon glad to break up my court and pay Jwali Singh the value of his property. I must admit that the gardener was too easily let off, as he still had the stolen article in his possession. The evening was employed in carving our inscription on the stone, Mirza Ahud received thirty rupees to give to the sculptor, and he was to be charged with the care of the stone until permission came from Lahor, with authority to put it up in the Char Chunar island. Dr. Henderson set off this afternoon, but divers disagreeable affairs obliged me to remain another night in Kashmir. Thursday, December 3. — The tents were packed by dawn, and my DEPARTURE FROM THE CITY. 155 baggage, which was greatly increased by the collections I had made at this place, was all carried off to the boats. My stock of provisions was very low, compared with what it had been when first I arrived in Kashmir ; the potatoes, wine, and beer, were nearly exhausted, the remains of my cellar consisting of half-a-dozen bottles of port wine, one bottle of brandy, and a very few of other kinds of wine. From Narpoor I had written to Ludiana for a fresh supply, but it had not arrived. I was obliged in consequence to leave a request with the Governor that as soon as it should find its way to Kashmir, it should be forwarded to me. It was not till two o'clock that we left the garden. The shawl mer- chant promised that my unfinished purchases should be sent to Ludiana within four weeks, and took a bill of exchange payable at Calcutta. I mention this as a proof of the facility with which Europeans can receive money in any part of India. Neither Vigne nor I quitted the Dilawer Khan Bagh without emotion, but it was caused by very opposite feelings : he had many pleasant remembrances connected with his abode in that garden ; I had none, and the sufi'erings of my body almost annihilated every senti- ment of pleasure which, in a more genial season, the many beauties around me must have kept alive. At the Hamidan Masjid a little fleet of seven boats was waiting for us, and threading the crowds which were assembled on the shore and the bridge, we found ourselves gently gliding down the stream, and taking our last farewell view of the city. The architecture of the wooden edifices situated on its shores, is peculiar. They are two, three, and sometimes four stories high, but only one window in breadth; being built moreover detached, they appear to invite the wind, if perchance it should ever blow hard in Kashmir, to overthrow them. When we had left the city behind us, the motion of the boat seemed too slow and tedious in my present frame of mind, and I desired to be put on shore and see whether exercise would not divert my thoughts from melancholy. It was bitter cold, and long ere by dint of hard walk- ing I could get any warmth into my frame. The country is generally marshy, and in many parts uncultivated. The most romantic part of the valley is evidently in the south and south-east, although further west 156 ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. there is a point which the Kashmirians consider by far the most beau- tiful part of this region, and which has gained the appellation of the Village of Roses, or Gul Mari. I had heard of it before, but it lay far out of my way, and the season of the year altogether precluded my wish to see it. After we left Kashmir, not a flower was to be seen ; and the native whom I appointed to search for some, brought me nothing but a few evergreen leaves, the frost having completely destroyed every other description of vegetation. We came to Koshpara, a village remarkable only for having the largest plane-trees in Kashmir. This tree, as I have often mentioned, is considered of much importance by the natives, who call it the end of misfortune. On its branches criminals are hanged, a punishment of constant occurrence under the Patau sway, when the smallest offence was visited with death, but now only inflicted in cases of murder. Men are too valuable to the present ruler of Kashmir to be lightly spared : penal- ties and stripes are therefore the usual punishments. The people seem contented with the justice dealt out to them, and admitted to me that not more than one guilty person in every twenty is ever visited with the reward due to his crimes. The dreadful cruelties perpetrated by their earlier rulers, who, for the smallest offence, punished them with the loss of their noses or ears, make the poor Indians well satisfied with their present comparatively mild government ; and, in truth, there is very little oppression on the part of the governors or thanadars. The ideas of the Indians on this and many other subjects are also, it may be observed, very different from our own. As an example, I may mention that I had delayed my departure from the Dilawer Khan Bägh until noon, in order to take the sun's altitude once more. The sky was unclouded, and not to lose a moment, I began my observation at half-past eleven. Mr. Vigne meanwhile was sketching in the garden, which was crowded by the natives, who gathered around to see what we were doing. My English friend thought that they must be much impressed with our skill ; I, on the contrary, had always remarked throughout India a total want of appreciation for any of our occupations, and rather a contemp- tible idea of those who were thus engaged. To settle this difference of opinion, Vigne called Mirza Ahud, and asked him what the Kashmirians SPECULATIVE GEOGRAPHY. 157 said of us. Being told that he would not give us any offence, he frankly acknowledged that we were both looked upon as two madmen, who were troubling our heads about nothing better than stones and plants. Even the Governor concluded Mr. Vigne must be a downright idiot, to waste his time in drawing the likeness of an old ruin or a poor native. The Orientals only concern themselves about those treasures which will procure them the enjoyments of this life, or the religion which promises them the pleasures of the next. At six o'clock the boats stopped, for it was quite dark ; and as ray people wished to spend the night in Shadipur, I landed, in order to take a survey of the place, which Abul Fazl calls the city of Shahabadipur, the ancient Phalapur. I found it a wretched village, oflFering no shelter except that of a plane-tree ; but as they told me that there was a beautiful garden on the other side of the Jelam, I desired that I might be taken over to it. This garden. Dab Bägh, Surij Bägh of the Hindus, lies at the confluence of the Siund and the Jelam, the first a small stream, called by us the Chota Sind, or little Indus, a name as little known among the natives as the Indus, which in Kashmir is called Atok, and in northern India, Nilab. The little Indus has been extolled by many writers as one of the chief sources of the Indus, and many have divided this into two branches, and made one of them to flow through Kashmir, the reason of this being the similarity between names, a most prolific source of error, and an occasion of the most absurd theories. In the history of Kashmir it is said, that Sujjya, whose birth and life were both most marvellous, ordained the course of this river about the year 880. The junction of the Siund with the Jelam, which before this, took place further down the stream by the temple of Vainya Swami, was then removed higher up, namely, between the cities of Parihasapur and Phalapur. The junction of the Siund and Jelam does occur almost at a right angle, which accounts for the story. At the point of confluence is a little island, on which stands a small Buddhist temple. The garden appointed for our night station, is three-quarters of a mile from the shore; the night was dark, and there was no beaten path. When we reached it, we saw and went over several buildings, 158 CHARACTER OF HINDU GOVERNMENT. until I found at last a very convenient room in a pavilion of marble. I desired one of the Kashmirians to light a fire there, while I went forth again to seek for Vigne ; and when we returned together, the fire was kindled on the marble pavement; but the smoke was so unbearable, that we were obliged to throw open every door and window, and the cold was sharper than without. We did not get our dinner until midnight, and then I went to bed perfectly exhausted. Thus ended our first day. Friday, December 4. — The Surij Bägh, or Dab Bägh, is a large pleasure-ground, laid out in the Indian taste, the chief art of which consists in giving a full view of the whole garden and buildings in it from the entrance gates, which are always of considerable elevation. From these a broad way leads to the basin, where fountains play in abundant variety : large beds of flowers ornament the garden, and the buildings are adorned with all that caprice could desire, or money pur- chase. The Surij Bägh was made by Surij Bähri, who was summoned to Kashmir by Moti Ram, the first viceroy under Ranjit Singh, to super- intend the new partition of the lands into portions of greater or less size. Several parcels of land were given to him, for which he paid a tribute, and gradually he had charge of eighteen pergannahs, for which he had to pay not less than six lacs of rupees. During the famine he received only five lacs, and prayed therefore to be excused the sixth, but Ranjit Singh refused this, telling him that if he had lost something this year, he had gained largely in the last. On the tribute failing altogether, Surij Bähri was deprived of every thing, and received for his maintenance two villages, which keep him poorly enough. The con- sequence of such arbitrary proceedings on the part of their ruler, is, that no man feels quite sure of his own, and that neither in the Panjab nor in Kashmir, have individuals much credit. For, who would lend his richest subject money, unless at enormous interest, when the Maha Raja may, by a word, reduce him to beggary*. The garden is • Such is a correct picture of the proceedings of every native government which, during the last two centuries, has arisen out of the dismemberment of the more ancient Hindu and Moghul sovereignties throughout the whole of India. In contrasting the advantages and comparative immunity from oppression, which the RESULTS OF SUPERSTITION. 159 falling to ruin, though never completed, and many a lac of rupees must all this carving and marble undoubtedly have cost. The pavilion where we slept, consists of several little rooms, all of marble. The windows are most tastefully ornamented with the glass of Bengal ; in the midst of the large square forming the garden, is an airy edifice of wood, with beautiful columns and lattice-work, where the cool of the evening is usually passed by the natives ; and the largest of the buildings is close to a piece of water brought from the Siund; the water, when high, reaches to the walls of the buildings, although they are built at a height of forty or fifty feet above it. There are three species of the beautiful rose of Kashmir in the garden, and in defiance of the season, one of the bushes yielded me a flower. The Surij Bagh is probably on the site of the once famous, city of Pari- hasapur, of the marvels of which the native legends speak so highly . This city was built by the great conqueror Lalitaditya, who reigned from A.D. 714 to 750, and was adorned with many fine temples and monu- ments ; among others, with a pillar cut out of one stone, twenty-four yards high, at the top of which stood the image of Garuda, half-man, half-eagle. Sikandar Budh Shikan probably destroyed it, but several fragments were seen in 1727 by Mohammed Azim. Immense images of gold, silver, and other metals, also adorned the interior, but all traces of this splendour have disappeared. The point where two rivers meet is called Prayaga, or Sangam, and is always holy. The island at the junction of the Jelam and Siund has been the scene of many a self- immolation, and the Raja Taringini relates that Mitra Serma, the faithful population enjoy under British sway, with the misery attendant on such a disregard of all the higher concerns of legislation by their own princes, there can be no question that the condition of all the industrious classes has been much improved ; but this is rather to be ascribed to the concentration of such authority under one head, than to any superior system of administration ; as is evident from the mere consideration, that established practice and ancient institutions, are preferred to European ideas of legislation, whenever circumstances will admit of it. The for- mer Hindu, and indeed the Moghul governments, were very much better adapted to the state of Indian society than our own. It was the debasing, destructive, and iniquitous character of their religion, which precluded the full benefit of the former, as Christianity alleviates the bad, and fosters any measure of good in the present administration of this great empire. " Sit Deo laus." — Ed. 160 LEGENDS FOUNDED ON NATURE. diwan or minister of the great King Lalitaditya, terminated his life here. The sacrifice is made a matter of much ceremony. The man tired of his life, makes his prescribed ablutions before a vast multitude, repeats the prayers required of his sect, and then seats himself in the water, praying all the while, and remaining there uncovered until he is drowned. The most holy stream for these suicides is the Ganges, where the alligators sometimes destroy the victim before the waters. In the Shastras, suicide, on account of grief or illness, is only allowed at the sacred Prayaga at Allahabad, where the Ganges and Jamna unite with the invisible Sareswati. We breakfasted in the boat, reached Sambal, where is a bridge near the Jelam, in two hours, and there landed. The natives say that a fine city is here buried under the river, the summits of temples and other buildings having been often distinctly seen. There is no likeli- hood of this. The deepest part of the river is not more than twelve or fifteen feet, the sounding line finds nothing but earth and slime, and the Jelam carries so much mud along with it, that it would long since have filled up any inequalities of the bed. But the Kashmirians have a legend of this wonderful city, which is sinking deeper and deeper into the earth. I will repeat the story as told me by Mirza Abdul. The city was called Narapoor from its founder. Buz Nära, a Hindu Raja, who lived 1000 years before Christ, and being on the Jelam, and near the beautiful lake, it soon became the favourite abode of the chief Brahmins, one of whom, Chandrabaha, so pleased Karkota, the serpent- god, that he gave him his sister Nila Banu to wife. Her greatest pleasure, however, was to visit her brother, and linger for hours beneath the clear waters. It chanced that one day, the King Buz, who often visited Narapoor, beheld the charming Nila Banu on the shore, and became desperately enamoured of her. Failing in every attempt to obtain a return of this passion, the king determined to carry her away by force, and accordingly followed her steps with two of his trusty attendants. They were just about to seize her, when her brother Karkota appeared ; he hurled a huge wave on the head of the king's servants, drew them into the lake and stifled them. Finding that even this did not put an end to the king's presumptuous hopes, Karkota's EFFECTS OF DESPOTISM AND MISRULE. 161 rage became unbounded, he raised a storm so terrific, that the king and all his subjects dwelling in Narapoor, were carried away, and he and his sister even still unsatisfied, took huge masses of rock from the Romanya mountains, and hurled them on the city, causing it to fall in ruins into the Jelam. When all was still as death, Karkota began to be rather ashamed of his anger, and gave the country to his sister and her husband Chandrabaha, after he had turned the lake where he dwelt into milk : hence, the Mansbal Ser is called also Jamatri Saras. The place is still to be seen where the serpent-god dwelt ; it is called Amantri, and the milk-white colour distinguishes it from other points. I desired Mirza Ahud to point it out to me as soon as he saw it. We sent our boats forward from Sambal, with orders to wait for U3 at the point where the Mansbal Ser runs into the Jelam, our object being to visit the lake. On the south side it is bounded by a sedgy marsh, but in other parts the shores are steep and bare, and the oval form is clearly marked throughout. We strolled along the western shore, which is completely encircled by swelling hills, and reached a lovely point where was a garden inhabited by a fakir. We then passed Sofapoor, and the palace of the Empress Nur Jehän, the beloved wife of Jehanghir, whose name is still revered in Kashmir and through- out northern India, for her virtues and for the noble monuments which she has left of her taste and munificence. The lake is deep, the mountains of Tibet towering proudly above it, and their deep shadows darkening the waters far beyond the shore. The large building, never quite completed, is now destroyed to the very foundations ; but there are remains of three terraces, fifty fathoms in length, which were constructed one above the other. While Mr. Vigne took a sketch, I hailed a boat, and with some trouble made them take me across to Kondebal, to see the only lime- pits in Kashmir. Their kilns are eight feet in diameter, and it takes sixteen days' labour, and requires 2000 logs of stout wood to heat them thoroughly. The wood, which is from a species of the fir called kair, is brought from a distance of twelve kos. There were twenty men, at the charge of the government, working under the superintendence of M 162 THF, lUCII HAVE MANY FRIENDS. three sepoys. One hundred and ninety-two pounds (a kurwar) of burnt lime, sells on the avei'age for one rupee. A small stream, called the Amrawati falls into the lake at the northern extremity. The ground over which it flows is so white, that it looks at a distance like a foaming cataract, and this is the very spot where Karkota is said to have turned the waters into milk. The Hindus smear their bodies with the chalky soil, supposing it to be a means of religious purification. From the palace a gentle declivity stretches down to the Jelam. This, like the Korau Pandau, only wants irrigation to make it very fruitful. A few little streamlets flow from the mountains and fertilize a small tract, but the rest is a complete waste. In the deep soil of this plain, not a field was cultivated last year, and the blame of this may be charged equally to the indolence of the people, and the carelessness of the government. We saw several villages in the distance, but the popula- tion is too scanty in this place to keep the ground in order. We found our boats at Jinpur, which we reached, after many delays and wind- ings, an hour before nightfall, exhausted almost to death. In Hayapur the Thanadar and the most considerable of the natives came out to meet me. I wanted shelter ; the Thanadar led me into a palace (for so it might be called in Kashmir) where a man of some consequence was residing with his family, and desired him to make room for me. Luckily for him, neither his doors nor windows would admit my portable bed- stead ; and though I perambulated every house in the town, not one could accommodate my simple furniture. The way in which a stranger finds lodgings in Kashmir is cei-tainly very strange. He walks through the town and chooses the most convenient quarters, it being a matter of course that the owner moves out for him, without receiving either payment or thanks. At first I felt ashamed to treat any man so, but learnt that it is considered as great an honour to be turned out of one's house here, as it is in Europe to a subject to be put to the immense expense and trouble of a royal visit. In this place there was literally not a house where I could rest for the night ; I therefore gave orders for my tent to be made ready. Mohammed Shah arrived with his suite, and as there was some ENVIRONS OF THK WALLAH LAKE. 163 difficulty in purchasing food for so many people, I was forced to levy subsidies in the town. Indeed, along this route, the country is so thinly peopled, that a large party cannot expect the villages to supply their wants. They tell me that this state of things will continue as far as Mazafferabad. In other parts of Kashmir, and generally throughout India, every servant and bearer buys his provisions daily in the markets; and a walk through the bazar is always a treat for an Indian, no matter how tired he may be. The tent was pitched in the tall grass, which at this season is very dry ; well remembering how often fires break out in New Holland, and destroy every thing near, 1 ordered that it should be cut close all about my tent. Vigne thought it would be a more expeditious way to set fire to it at once : it instantly burned with violence, nor was it without the utmost trouble that the destruction of his entire baggage was prevented. Saturday, December 5. — We followed the course of the Jelam for two hours through an uncultivated district, ending in a marsh, and finally entered the Walhir Lake, into which the Jelam flows in two places. Not far from the shore is a little island called Lankh, a name which might lead us to imagine that the Kashmirians once had an observatory on it, where all their astronomical calculations were made. Here is an extensive building in ruins, formerly, no doubt, a Buddhist temple, which was overthrown by the fanatical Musselman Sikander Budh Shikan. Like the temple of Koran Pandau, it was of a square form, and surrounded by a flight of stone steps leading down to the lake. The view from this island, including the ruins of a mosque built by Bäb Hassan Khan, the grandson of Zeynal ab ud Din*, and of a palace called Zeynlankh, erected by Zeynal himself, is particularly romantic. I observed several boats engaged in collecting the Singhara or water-nut, which is found in abundance in the muddy bottom of the lake, and serves the natives as food in India: it is eaten by the Brah- mins on one particular day of the year only. A veil of mist hung over the motionless lake, and flocks of water- fowl, from the gigantic pelican to the little sea-swallow, were flying • Zeynul ab ud-din, or Zaiii ul ab-ud-din. The glimniCT of the water of religion. M 2 164 INSICiNlFICANCE OF MOGHUL OFFICES. slowly through the heavy atmosphere. When Mr. Vigne had finished his sketch of the lake, and I had obtained all the information I could from the fishermen, we pursued our way by water to Banderpoor, whence we were to surmount one of the loftiest passes to Tibet. Banderpoor (Haven City) lies a mile away from the shore in a marsh, which the retiring waters of the Wallar Lake have left. We stepped from the boats on planks, which supported us until the soil became firm enough to bear our feet, but owing to its nature, we were forced to take a very circuitous road to the town of Banderpoor, which, from being a large and well-peopled place, is now a comparatively deserted heap of ruins. The Thanadar met me, with the few remaining inhabitants, and brought me a horse, which I very gladly mounted. The saddle was made in the fashion of Central Asia, and very richly ornamented with silver and mother-of-pearl ; the seat was embroidered with velvet and gold. In fact, it was a piece of magnificence which was quite fit for a cabinet or a museum, but the pommel being a foot high in front, and half that height behind, it was so very unlike what I had ever been used to, that I much preferred entering the town less ostentatiously on foot, to the honour of feeling so very uncomfortable. The more ambitious Mohan Bir mounted the animal, and soon had a very serious fall. The Thanadar showed me a house which would have suited me for a night's lodging, but time was too precious to me to allow of my stopping so early ; I therefore continued my way on foot to Bonikut, the abode of the Malik of Banderpoor. I was met half way by his son, and a number of his followers. Bonikut lies on the banks of a charming rivulet, completely shut in by a range of high mountains. They soon spread out a carpet for me under some large poplar-trees, by a gurgling spring, a delightful spot for a weary traveller in summer, though any- thing but inviting at the present time. I accepted it nevertheless, as my servants had not yet arrived, and I was thoroughly exhausted. The Malik, whose office answers to that of a commandant on the frontier, is a fine venerable-looking personage. He had just built a house which was yet unoccupied, and he invited me to lodge in his old one, why I do not exactly know, but I fancied that I should prefer the place where I was. One by one of my party came up, first Vigne, then A MOUNTAIN EXCURSION. IG5 the attendants. The Khansaman, a Mohammedan, took possession of the mosque, and cooked in the entrance; while the Hindus lighted their fire, and gathered round it in groups. The cold was additionally trying after the previous fatigue I had undergone. Before I settled myself to sleep I ordered some of my people to watch during the night that the tires did not go out. The place of Malik of Kashmir, first appointed by Akbar, was formerly one of considerable power and influence, and the Malik was almost independent, being subject only to the authority of the distant Emperor of Delhi. By degrees this place has sunk into insignificance, although the present oflScer, living on the borders of the yet uncon- quered Ahmed Shah's territory, is a person of some consequence, but his office would speedily be suppressed altogether, if Ranjit Singh were to seize on Iskardu. The Maliks were intended to keep watch on the frontiers ; but as Ranjit has already extended his dominions on every side beyond them, this single conquest would render the office quite superfluous. There are nominally 500 armed men in the district of Banderpoor; but here, as in most places about the country, famine and sickness have so depopulated the town, that the Malik could not muster the half of that number. Henderson travelled through this pass, but he did not praise the reception given him by the Malik, nor could he expect any thing better in such a garb as his. He ought to have taken the coldness of his reception as a compliment to the skill with which he played the part of a fakir. Sunday, December 6. — My attendants were indefatigable in keeping up a good fire during the night; and whenever I waked, I saw the Indians seated about it, and doing their best to maintain the heat on the side where I was lying. We began our preparations for departure at dawn ; and yestei'day's lesson made me cautious in choosing a horse for the mountains, provided with a saddle-cloth instead of the more pic- turesque but very inconvenient saddle of Turkisthan, which, at best, is only adapted to a level country : the Malik's son was deputed to be our guide. We commenced our journey by several steep mountains inferior only to the Pir Panjal, to a height which is reckoned to be 4000 feet; here we first entered the pine forests. Through these we 166 SUBLIMITY OF NATURE. continued 1000 feet further until we stopped at a narrow slip of level ground, which was scarped perpendicularly on either side. At 6000 feet we could distinguish the highest summits of the Nanenwara mountain before us. We had still 1000 feet to climb. The ascent was made on horseback, until we were within 300 feet of the top, and thus far I observed the juniper and saxifrage growing, but the peaks were quite destitute of vegetation, and in the clefts snow was still lying in small quantities. I never shall forget the cold I felt on the summit of that mountain. The north wind cut my face as with a knife, and my very bones seemed turned to ice ; my thermometer, notwithstanding, was not lower than 31°. All around me was utter desolation, not a living creature, not a tree, nor sign of vegetation, as far as the eye could reach. Nought else in fact but rocks and ice, and masses of snow-clouds. I had brought every thing necessary to kindle a fire, that I might ascertain the boiling point; and while they were preparing it under a rock 100 feet below the highest peak, I ascended it again to look around me. Diaraal, or Nangaparvat, the highest of the chain, rises out of it like a vast pyramid, and was now veiled in clouds, showing little more than its prodigious base. This bounded the prospect towards the N.N.W. and N.E. ; further west, and W.S.W. the Gosieh mountains stretch to the Baramulla chain, and beyond this again was the snowy ridge which joins the Hindu Khosh. Southwards and S.W. lay the valley, only distinguished by a low stripe of mist, above which appeared the snowy peaks of Pir Panjal, which seemed to form but one part of the great Panjal of Tibet. Between 34° and 35° of latitude, the air is generally most transparent, and this, together with the great elevation of my present position, may account for the apparently interminable distance to which the view reached. Towards the S.W. the prospect was bounded by the Pir Panjal : of course the Indian plain beyond it cannot be reached by the naked eye. In every other direction, mountains towering above mountains were seen to an immense distance. Standing thus on the northernmost point of my wanderings in Asia, my eye involuntarily sought to pierce the veil far beyond those snowy barriers in the west, where Europe and Austria were now so far away. LIMIT OF ORGANIC VITALITY. 167 and my heart dreamed of the beloved ones never forgotten there. The mountain tops rose one above the other, like the billows of a stormy sea, and seemed to shut out all hope of escaping from their dreary wastes. How fondly did my thoughts then revert to my much-loved home, with prayer, that this day, hallowed in my recollections as the birth-day of my honoured mother, now in her 66th year, might be blest to her, as well as to her absent, though not forgetful son. A dreadful headache came on while T was on this high point, but I could not make up my mind to leave it until 1 had ascertained the height of the boiling point. For this purpose I descended 100 feet, where my people had lighted a fire under a projection of the rock. It was a long time ere the ice in our iron pot would melt at all ; the rarity of the air causing it to evaporate, without dissolving into water. At last the boiling point reached 188°, or, by the rectification of the instru- ment + 1-2 ° 186-8°. The pains in the head, which had seized Vigne also, and all my people, were now so intense, that we hastened to leave our present situation, and 1 thought that the horror of the people of Kashmir for these mountain passes, which they suppose haunted by evil spirits, was not so unaccountable after all. This was the farthest limit of my travels, and it seemed a consolation that every step hence- forward would take me nearer home. As soon as we again reached the region of birches, I looked about for the rhododendron, but could not see one ; in the pine-woods, how- ever, I saw the titmouse and other birds of our climate. The descent was even more painful than the ascent, for the poor horses stepped so cautiously down the precipitous paths, that we chose rather to walk, that we might reach Banderpoor before nightfall. It is to be remarked, that neither plant nor bird did we see, except in the pine-forests, and in some ravines where water was heard foaming over rocks. Three miles before Bonikut, we struck into a foot-path, generally taken by the lime-burners of Kondibal with their loads of fir ; it led us over a narrow shelf of rocks as slippery as ice, over which I fell several times. As soon as we were once more in the plain, I dismissed the Malik's son and went on to Banderpoor, where I passed the night in 168 EXQUISITE PLEASURE OF NOVELTY. my tent distracted with headache, and unable to swallow a morsel of food. Monday, December 7. — Later than usual, and long after the attendants and baggage were on their way to the lake, Mr. Vigne and I began our day's work. I gave Mohan a horse to-day, and his rapture was shown in galloping about the marshy plain, and dashing into the canals, unmindful of several tumbles. Vigne stayed behind with his boat, while I crossed the lake in mine in six hours, and in a short time afterwards arrived in Sopoor, There I declined the Thanadar's invita- tion to his Darbar, and went on to Tuilibal. To this point both shores of the river were covered with muscles, which supply the natives with plenty of unwholesome food. The Jelam flows rather more briskly on this side of the Wallar Lake. The sun had set sometime before we reached Baramulla. I chose my night's abode in an open hall of the Dharamsala, seeing that the room in which my people had kindled afire was enveloped in smoke. I was welcomed by the Thanadar of the place, a Brahmin from Delhi, and received letters from Dr. Henderson, whose journey had prospered hitherto, and from Mehan Singh, who wrote to wish me a happy journey, and to express his hope that the arrangements for conveying my baggage and supplying my party wnth provisions, had given me satisfaction. This they had certainly done hitherto, but the Thanadar assured me now that it would be impossible for him to find the requisite number of bearers (coolies), and carriage (tattoos), by to-morrow morn- ing. I was reluctantly compelled to wait, as the cold became daily more insupportable, and my people sutfered much from sickness. The open hall where I was lodged was spacious, adorned with marble pillars, and paved with squares of the same. True, I fancied more than once that I should have died of cold; but I must admit that I had been most incautious with regard to my wardrobe, and that I possessed neither cloak nor great coat. I drew and wrote until I was quite W'Orn out, and lay benumbed with cold in my charpäi. I would not positively affirm that I had not occasionally some dreamy idea how pleasant it might be to be spared ever again awaking to the sorrows, miseries, and labours of this nether world. THE GUKU, OR SIKH PRIEST. 169 Tuesday, December 8.— I was roused before daybreak, by a strange kind of singing. The Dharamsäla was properly a Sikh temple, or the residence of a Sikh priest, who is bound to offer a lodging to every tra- veller of his own faith, and is paid for this hospitable shelter by different sorts of gifts ; this is the chief source of his revenue. I had taken pos- session of the audience hall of a priest of some consequence in Bära- mulla, and in an open court before it, I remarked a very tasteful build- ing of stone, in which was erected a throne, adorned with red and yellow silk carpets, and hung with richly-ornamented curtains. On this throne was seated the old priest : his beard was as white as snow. In his hand he held a chduri or fly-fan, made from the tail of the Tibet yak. The handle, which was of silver, he moved to and fro incessantly. Over his head there was an oil lamp burning, and before him the Grunth, or Book of the Sikh Law, open, from which he was chaunting in a loud voice. When first I was roused from sleep by the noise, and looked out on the elegant throne, and the venerable old man upon it, I could hardly persuade myself that the whole was not a vision ; but the continued pains in my head too soon reminded me of the reality of the scene. The severity of the cold was excessive, yet the old man had been at his religious duties since four o'clock, and every now and then the Sikhs came to ask his advice : he seemed in fact to hold a continuous Durbar. I was shortly interrupted in the writing I had resumed, by the entrance of Mirza Ahud, who had talked to me so much about a giant's tooth, which was under the care of the Brahmins of Baramulla, that I desired to see it. He now ushered in a deputation from a Brahminical temple near, who straightway seated themselves on the ground, and drawing a large parcel out of a heap of cloths, laid it at my feet. This was the relic : they then commenced a long story about the Jin, to whom it had belonged. It is related that while Kasyapa was living by the Satiser, which formerly covered the whole valley, he happened one day to be praying to the goddess Mata. The Jin tried to disturb his devotions, but he was reproved by the holy man, who desired him to quit the place. Instead of doing this, he made a snatch at the devotee's pagri or turban, whereupon Kasyapa gave him so severe a blow, that it 170 MISHAPS IN THE JOURNEY OF LIFE. knocked out one of his teeth, and sent the evil spirit howling away : this tooth has been preserved in the temple, and shown to pilgrims for thousands of years since*. I begged they would let me see this relic, when, after much unwrapping and ceremonious manoeuvring, they pro- duced the upper tooth of an elephant. I ventured to insinuate that the Jin must have been an elephant, to judge by his teeth ; but one and all stoutly maintained it was no such thing, but a real giant's, and that this, to boot, was not one of his largest teeth. The tooth was bona fide that of an elephant of India, and of no great age, to judge from its appearance. While we were together, in rushed Mohan Bir to tell me that my favourite Ghunt had been stolen, and Osman Khan, to inform his master, Mr. Vigne, that the finest of his Yaks or Tibetan bulls was defunct. I held the Thanadar responsible to me for my horse ; and as there was no longer any hope for the bull, I begged Vigne to have his head cut off, and let me take it to Europe. Well versed now in Indian habits, I was curious to see their force on my Shikari Jonki, who was a native of the Himalaya, and of a good caste ; so I sent for him, and desired him to go to the place where it lay, cut the animal's head of, and bring it to me. I shall never forget the expression of the man's visage. He stammered out that he would die for me if necessary, but that this order he could not possibly obey, for that if he only touched the creature, he should assuredly lose his caste. The com- mission was therefore given to a Mohammedan, to the great satisfaction of poor Jonki, who thanked me very earnestly for not insisting on his obedience. I could not imagine how my little Ghunt could have been stolen. The stable where he stood, was in an inner court, accessible only through the place where all my servants were lodged, with one entrance door, where a guard was posted. The Thanadar set the whole population on the look out, to get intelligence of it ; and though its appearance was so remarkable, no one observed it. At last, how- * The history of all relics is much the same ; idle, fanciful, and characteristic of the unsoundness of a faith, which needs such testimonies to the strange marvels of a corrupt and idolatrous superstition. — Ed. A FOKTUNATE RECOVERY. 171 ever, it was brought back to me to my great joy ; the fact was, that the groom had left him unfastened in the stable, whereupon the poor beast had sagaciously availed himself of the opportunity to take a stroll in the fields. The Thanadar had offered me another horse as a substitute before mine was found, but I refused to take it, which convinced him of the necessity of exerting himself. Baramulla is the boundary of Kashmir to the westward. On the left bank of the Jelam, near the bridge, and on the road to Prunsh, is a small fort. A gate, close to the town, where the hills approach each other, marks the limit of the territory: here the character of the Jelam changes; from a gentle stream it becomes a broad and rapid river*. Wednesday, December 9. — We began to move on at daybreak, but I purposed to remain here until noon to take the sun's altitude, and afterwards to follow the people. The day, however, did not promise to be any clearer than yesterday, and I lost my patience and deter- mined to set off at once. The bull's head not having arrived at 8 o'clock, the Thanadar assured me that it should be sent after me, but I put no faith in his promises, and declared my purpose of remaining at Bara- mulla until it was ready. As the table and chairs had been taken away, and the Dharamskla was bitterly cold, I strolled to the Juma Masjid, a building now in ruins: four magnificent columns of cedar wood are yet standing, which alone are well worth a visit. As I returned, I met a man with the bull's head, and would have made him strip off the skin for the convenience of packing it, but he refused, although I offered him a rupee for the job. W^ith much trouble I found a Moham- medan, who agreed to do it, and for an additional rupee, to carry it to our next station. Such is a specimen of the impediments in the way of those who are forming collections of natural history in these remote countries. Mirza Ahud accompanied me to the gate of the valley. It was a * The great increase of fall at this point of the valley, gives to the accumulated waters of the Jelam and its tributaries, this prodigious velocity, and fully accounts for the natural passage thus enlarged in the course of many ages, which in earlier times was probably much less considerable. The Kashmirians ascribe the work to Solomon. — Ed. 172 TRANSITION TO THE PANJAB. real grief to me to part for ever in this world from this excellent man ; he wept bitterly, while the tears stood in my eyes. Mirza Abdul Rahira also ran after me to beg that I would forgive him if he had been remiss in any thing. I walked on with the cold reply, " Ucha hy," all is well, I am satisfied. And thus leaving this Indian paradise, I passed through a rock, which together with the river forms a strong banner : northwards, the steep rocks of the Gosieh slant down to the Jelam ; southwards, the Pir Panjal stretches on the other shore as far as the Jelam also, where it forms a steep declivity, the snow-capped peaks of both mountains being but a few miles distant from the river. If there were any truth in the tradition that the valley has been drained by human ingenuity, that Herculean work must have been undertaken at this part. But the height of the mountain, and the breadth of the bed of the river, preclude the possibility of such a con- clusion, except in legendary presumption : others attribute its execution to their gods. Mounted on my trusty Ghunt, I began my long journey homewards, following the windings of the river, and pondering over the many thousand miles which lay between me and my fatherland, and over all the troubles which might occur during the weeks and months which must necessarily elapse before I could reach that spot. But there is very much to encourage hope and patience in the thought that we are gradually approaching the haven of our hopes, however slowly ; it is only when we stop to reflect, that our fatigues are removing us daily from it, or even worse, when we have nothing to look forward to in life, that our hearts sink : we too often forget that when all else in this world shall have lost its charms, there is an eternity beyond it, to which we must inevitably come. I took my departure from the valley of Kashmir with a heavy heart. The fatigues of mind as well as of body which I had undergone during my residence in this region, had been almost too much for my strength ; the extreme cold of my inconvenient dwelling-place, was enough to counteract any benefit from relaxation. Long residence in India had made me doubly sensitive in this colder clime, and I suffered so KFFECTS OF FEüDATOllY GOVEHNMKNT. 173 intensely from pain in the soles of my feet and palms of my hands, that it was a misery to me to walk. When able to add a little to my diary, it needed much care to keep my enfeebled hands under proper control. But I neither experienced uneasiness nor pain when the boundaries of this little kingdom were once passed and we were fairly journeying westward. While ray escort loitered behind, I followed for a time the banks of the Jelam; and my attention was gradually called off to the objects around me, and to the impetuous stream, which heretofore, while watering the valley of Kashmir, glided on so gently; now turbulent and rapid, hemmed in by protruding mountains, it brawled under huge masses of rock, or dashed hurriedly over the cataracts. This day's journey was easy, the descents and acclivities being alike inconsiderable. About two miles from Baramulla there is a Buddhist temple in ruins, in a small tank; I judged it to be, most probably, that of Panditran. The plane grows indigenously by the wayside, though in Kashmir this tree can only be propagated from layers. Here, as in the valley, the exhalations and dust obscured the view of the heights, and I could only make out the outlines with extreme difficulty at the distance of a few miles; when at length the sun made its appearance it was just half an hour too late to take corresponding altitudes. Three buildings in Jempura attracted my curiosity. The first, in the form of a sepulchral monument, was a circular edifice about thirty feet in height, on which stood a square chamber; but to what time or faith the monument belonged, I had no means of discovering, nor had I seen anything at all resembling it elsewhere. The walls were massive, and the whole structure seemed to refer to a race whose monuments were all of the same solid proportions. I examined this mysterious fabric on all sides with great attention, in expectation of finding some inscription which might indicate either the builders or the people to whom it once belonged, or at least its purpose, but could discover nothing to help out my ignorance. A few miles onward we came to three small forts, Atalgurh, Shen- kergurh, and Messekur, which, together with a fourth already passed near Kizenhama, and another by Jempura, were evidently constructed 174 RESULTS OF DIVIDED AUTHORITY. to protect the natives against the attacks of predatory bands. There is a Buddhist temple which is in good preservation, near Guniar, but unluckily it is situated on the left bank of the Jelam : as there was no bridge, and the stream was far too strong to allow a boat to cross, I was obliged to content myself with the view from the opposite bank. At Tätmulla, or Menä, seven kos, about fourteen miles, from Bära- mulla, I found my sleeping tent pitched, the sun having gone down. The Jelam at this place is 1200 feet lower than at Banderpoor. Thermometer at six in the evening, 52°. Thursday, December 10, thermometer, 7 a.m. 48°, noon 64°, 6 P.M. 52°. The route continued to skirt the rapid Jelam, and the hills throughout the day's march were of no great height. About five miles from TatmuUa we saw a pretty waterfall, called Shula. The land between BaramuUa and Mazafferabad, was formerly worth six lacks of rupees annually to the Pathans ; its value at present is altogether nominal. It is partitioned out between a number of petty Mohammedan chiefs, who style themselves rajas, with the further dignity of khan. This part of the country is thus reduced to the lowest stage of wretch- edness, and the unhappy people see themselves stript of everything they possess, that is worth taking. One of these petty chiefs, called Sarfaraz Khan Käker, whose territory extends along the left bank of the Jelam from Kashmir, resides in the fort of Messekur, and as they usually take the designation of their place of residence, he is called the Messekur-raja. Another styles himself Dushina-raja, from the place called Dushina, and bears in addition the title of Zaberdast Khan Ginghel. His country commences on this side of Jempura. Zaberdast Khan is still in his childhood, and is now retained in Kash- mir as a hostage for the government of his mother, who resides at Ginghel. I found my tent pitched five kos from Menah. The ruins of a once important town and temple are visible for some distance along the bank of the river, but at present Dianun cannot boast of so much as one solitary inhabitant. The bed of the Jelam increases in depth, Opposite to Dianun is a Buddhist temple still in good repair, and built in the same style as those of Kashmir. Its situation is its best defence; Remarkable Suspension BridJ.? at Uri. Binu Hiigrl'a 7'ravfli, p'lg' 17.5 REMARKABLE SUSPENSION BRIDCJE. 175 its name is Brangutri. Dianun lies 600 feet lower than Menah. At the close of the day my fellow traveller, Mohammed Shah Nakshbandi, paid me a visit of some hours. Friday, December 11. — The comitry from Dianun is highly pic- turesque. The Jelam has hollowed out its bed many hundred feet deep, and roars over huge fragments of rock : it made us quite dizzy to look down from the pathway, as it winds along the course of the lofty pre- cipitous bank. Three miles beyond Kho, the river has forced a passage through the rocks, which hang several hundred feet over it, and almost form a natural bridge. Uri Serai is very near this, and the ruins of its stone bridge are still discernible. These ruins, the bridge, and the serai for travellers, induce me to believe that the high road from India formerly passed by Ilajawar, Uri, and Baramulla. What were the stations between Rajawar and Uri, I know not, but the road must certainly have passed Punsh, which is not more than five kos distant. Had I not been deterred by the winter season, I would gladly have explored this road, which at Punsh joins that from Baramulla, direct to Rajawar, and there meets the high road from the Panjab to Kashmir. I should thus have confirmed my conjecture, that the best route from India to Kashmir must be by Punsh and Uri, so that by avoiding the Pir Panjal, it would be found practicable throughout the year. The road now led over a mountain, at the foot of which winds the Jelam. On the bank of the river is the fort of Ghorigurh, and over against it, on the perpendicular height, is Uri Kilah ; a rope bridge, or sort of ladder, is thrown over the roaring flood, stretching from the deep abyss to the mountain above. I dismounted in order to witness some men pass over this bridge, which in reality is an enterprise attended with considerable peril, it being nothing better than a thick rope twisted together, made out of horse hides. At the distance of every third foot is a loop or knot, which connects the skins together, and prevents the passenger from slipping off; but as it would be impossible to strain this material tight, he finds himself occasionally receding from the mountain across the deep abyss. On each side, however, there is another rope, about four feet above the footway, to lay hold by. In descending as well as ascending this contrivance the utmost precaution 176 DESCRIPTION OF THE JELAM. is necessary to grasp the hand ropes firmly, and to plant the foot securely on the loops or knots ; the weight causing the bridge to fall from Uri as nearly perpendicularly as possible, it requires the greatest presence of mind. Its length is from 500 to 600 feet. The danger when two persons meet is not so great as might be imagined, unless they are both laden with some burden, which certainly increases the difficulty; but I need hardly say that such a bridge is incapable of bearing the weight of any animal, though I did, to my no small astonishment, see one man carrying a sheep on his back across this frail construction. Beyond Uri Kilah, lie Uri and Dilawara, on a mountain, the surface of which is formed into numberless terraces, which are planted with rice. Behind this, again, one of the loftiest peaks of the Pir Panjal projects aloft, and in every direction the eye follows the line traced out by this snowy ridge. A small river, the Gota, dashes down the steep declivity, losing itself in a deep hollow on one side of the terraces ; while the other is bounded by a mountain brook. The whole scene is one of the wildest and most romantic I ever remember to have seen, and the smiling green fields in the midst of the stern natural features around them, render the entire landscape doubly imposing. From this point the traveller journeys for some time by the moun- tain side. The masses of rock crumble and fall into the valleys below on the occurrence of every storm of rain, thus perpetually obliterating the road tracks, and making them altogether impassable, till eventually some new path is formed, either above, or often below the former. One horse can only pass at a time, and there are places where it might not unfrequently be supposed to be quite impracticable to proceed a step further. The ground trembles under foot, and the stone which had just borne one's weight, falls heavily into the depths below; sometimes the traveller stumbles and slides downward several feet; my brave horse, as if conscious of the danger, summoned all his strength to extricate himself and his rider from this most imminent peril. The eye has ample opportunity to measure the deep chasm beneath, where the Jelam roars along, a certain grave if once the traveller should miss his footing. RIVER SCENERY OF INDIA. 177 About half way up this high mountain is a village called Nogrant, furrounded on every side by terraces. Some rain had fallen during the night, and the temperature was warmer; a few tropical plants also made their appearance. The whole way from Uri the road was bad and uneven, and I had an excellent opportunity of ascertaining how very contrary to fact is the assertion of the natives of Kashmir, that the Sikhs have given a bad name to the road, solely to serve their own political ends. The Jelam at this place is so deep and contracted by the mountains, that approach to the brink is impossible. Shah Dera, my station for the night, was fourteen miles from Dianun. It has a mosque with a beautiful doorway, the cai'ving of which was executed in Kashmir. The thermometer was 58°, 75°, and 52°. Saturday, December 12. — On leaving this morning, I had been warned to expect a difficult mountainous road, and truly it was so, but diversified with many majestic scenes. The Jelam flowed along under high rocks, so precipitous and deep, that the natives dwelling on its banks cannot avail themselves of the water, and in Shah Dera my people suffered much inconvenience from the want of this necessary, though close to the very stream. Vigne was very busy with the pretty mosque above alluded to, and its carved work ; while I found myself encircled by the sick and poor, to whom, in spite of my best wishes, I could only administer partial relief with my medicaments. We began our long dav's march some hours after the tents were struck, and on their road. As for my large tent, we found it a hard matter to light on an even spot of ground sufficiently spacious to pitch it, the mountain on which Shah Dera is built being formed for the most part into terraces, which were too narrow to allow of this accommodation. About three kos from Shah Dera the river has broken through the hills in a very remarkable manner, and in order to behold the scene I drew as close as I could to the edge of the precipice, and there gazed on the snow-capped mountains on either side, totally destitute of vege- tation ; and on the perpendicular wall springing upwards of a thousand feet above the river. In the middle of the narrow bed was a solitarv rock of the same height as the bank on either side. It resembled the gates N 178 REMARKABLE GEOLOGICAL APPEARANCE. of a huge sluice : on the summit of this rock, which is about thirty or forty feet in circumference, lie two enormous blocks of stone, one upon the other, to all appearance brought there in sport. One might almost imagine that the power of the waves had flung them where they are, ages since ; for they stand on the very extreme edge of the chasm, as though there needed but a breath to precipitate them from their present situation. Let not the reader, in transporting himself in idea to this spot, be misled by the legend of the valley mentioned in the former part of this work, nor believe for a moment in the theory that human power ever could succeed in drying the valley. This is one of the spots named as the scene of action ; but to form such theories is an easy matter, and many love to entertain them, and to ascribe the works of an Almighty power to ordinary agency. It is very certain that no human exertions ever produced this wonderful scene, nor could the drying up of the Kashmirian lake have contributed in the slightest degree to the formation of such a mighty breach ; for the fall of the Jelam is so great, that if the river ran here as high as the road itself, there would be no perceptible difference in its height even at Tatmulla. Not far from this spot there is a large place smoothly hewn in the rock, evidently intended for an inscription ; they told me that it had once borne the name of the Emperor Akbar. The superstitious people of Kashmir believe this spot to be the especial resort of evil spirits, and a Sikh soldier related an adventure of his own which proved to what lengths superstition can carry its votaries. This shall be noticed elsewhere. Another assured me that in this same place, as soon as night draws on, a spirit called Jeja takes his seat, having 5000 leeches on his breast. This was the place, moreover, where the battle was fought between the sons and successors of Timur Shah and the Viceroys of Kashmir, when the last declared their independence of the throne of Kabul. These viceroys were unable to maintain their freedom, and the inevit- able consequence was, that the fall of the Afghan kingdom, begun by the folly of the brothers, was more and more accelerated. From this narrow pass the road led through deep ravines and over RETURN TO A TROPICAL CLIMATE. 179 heights nearly inaccessible to a place where the valley widens, and the traveller arrives at a spot where traces of the most careful cultivation are still perceptible. From the foot to the summit the mountains are formed into terraces, and laid out into rice fields, which in former times were irrigated artificially ; but these are now overrun with grass, and bear no vestige of any sort of culture. In truth, anything like agriculture in this region seems quite out of fashion. On every side are mountain torrents gushing from the rocks, and many streams have ploughed so deep into the earth, in imitation of the great river, that it is scarcely possible to conceive anything more laborious than the task of clambering down to wade through them, and then again struggling upwards to reach the level of the wall of rock. At the end of eight long kos from Shah Dera is Kathai. The vegetation on the way, and in the country itself, frequently brought the Apennines to my remem- brance. There was the olive and the vine, the pinus longifolia in lieu of the common fir; the myrsine instead of myrtles; the laurel and oleander; about Kathai especially are many olive trees, but the fruit yields no oil ; they are very much like the wild olive of Europe, and are probably of the same species. Tropical plants are more and more commonly met with, and the climate was evidently milder, but the con- sequences of the cold experienced in Kashmir, began now, especially to shew themselves ; my hands were inflamed and swollen, and the blood would frequently gush out from the broken skin. My feet were in the same miserable predicament, and both were nearly as large again as the natural size. But worse than this, I suffered from an inflammation in the throat, which had prevented me from taking nourishment since we left BaramuUa, and which now extending itself to the ears, rendered me entirely deaf. I had already resorted to calomel, and this morning I repeated the dose of twelve grains. I felt better towards the evening, whether from tlie remedy employed or the gradually increasing tem- perature, I could not rightly say. My tent was pitched at Kathai. The fort, or kila, if such a name be permitted, is a simple square inclosure with mud walls, built near to the wretched town, Kathai, and belongs to a Mohammedan prince called by the pompous title of Sultan Zaberdast Khan. Neither houses nor walls can boast of any material N 2 ISO isELF-IMPORTANCE OF RETAINERS. more durable than mud and wood; nor is the situation well chosen. A few impudent dependents were seated about the gate, who regarded both the Sikhs and ourselves with the most marked contempt. There was no difficulty in returning this, and I begged to know, as we drew near them, where this Sultan Zaberdast Khan might then be. The soldiers taking my question as an insult, their Sultan being detained in Kashmir as one of the Mohammedan hostages, made me no reply, but immediately retired within their fort, and barricadoed the gate. My people entreated me to break up the encampment forthwith, and journey onward some miles; they fancied the jinjals, or musketry of the place, were already turned against us, and the Mohammedans sallying forth ; but I assured them that the affair would have no such fearful conse- quences, and remained very unconcerned within range of their artillery, without anything occurring to disturb our quiet, unless it were the hideous screams they favoured us with from time to time. Kathai is the name borne by the Chinese empire in Central Asia, and when I heard in Kashmir that my road would lead me through Kathai, [ could not help fancying that it must be a powerful state to which the name had been given for some evident reason. I soon discovered that the place had nothing in common with the Celestial empire, being, in fact, a most insignificant possession, which scarce produces to its king so much as the pay of a captain in the Company's service. The Deodara, literally, gift of God, the cedar of the Himalaya, is not seen at 4000 feet above the level of the sea, and the Pinus longi- folia takes its place; huge masses of petrified or opalized wood are seen on the road between Shah Dera and Kathai, and at the former place the limestone ceases. Kathai is 2200 feet lower than Kashmir. Sunday, December 13. — Feeling much better this morning, I began to hope that the warmer climate would soon set me free from the ail- ments brought on by cold. The garrison within the fort seemed determined to insult us, and took occasion when the Jemidar, or Sikh officer in command of our guard, was near the gate, to hail him with an order not to show himself AN EFFECTUAI, EXI'OSTULATION. 181 again at so short a distance. The officer brought his complaint to me, whereupon I dispatched one of my Chaprasis to desire the presence of the Thanadar, who sent me word, with many civil apologies, that he dared not quit the fort. I betook myself, therefore, to the gate, and summoned him to appear, which he did immediately. I assured him that I should be very sorry to receive a bad impression of his behaviour; that being an independent European, and not connected either with the East India Company or Ranjit Singh, but merely travelling for my own pleasure, I was surprised to find a want of hospitable feeling, new to me in this country. The Sikh Jemidar, I added, commanded the guard of honour given me by Ranjit Singh, and without which a man of my rank could not travel at all in India; I was much surprised on my arrival, to find that he had not been apprized of this, in order to strengthen my escort by a party of his own people. Mohan inter- preted my harangue so effectually, that the Thanadar immediately poured forth a volley of excuses, begged me to enter the fort, and on my refusal attended me to the tent. I shortly after quitted the place for Khanda, the next station, which was seven kos, or about fifteen miles, ofi". The Jelara flowed along in a more tranquil stream, and once we found ourselves on its shore ; the vegetation on the bank consisted of evergreens. Oleanders grew close to some of the smaller streams ; the Linum trigynum * grew in the ravines ; the Justicia in drier spots; the Caesalpinia Sappan covered the bushes, and the maina and bulbul warbled in the deep thickets. I was once again in India, and the thermometer, which, at six in the morning, was at 58°, rose at noon to 72° in the shade, not falling lower than 64° towards evening. On both sides of the Jelam were deserted villages with their terraces all lying waste. I did not see a single native all the way, although this was no proof that the country was uninhabited, for the people invariably flee at the approach of such a train as mine. The rivulets which fall into the Jelam, in some places rush down in cascades; at others, hollow out channels to a vast depth. Or probably some other plant, closely resembling it. — Ed. 182 MIGRATION OF THE BKAHMINS. The village of Täni affords an example of the highly cultivated state of this country in former times, the mountain on which it stands, to an elevation of nearly 3000 feet, being cut into terraces for rice fields, now almost entirely abandoned. In the evening the Shah visited me, and I availed myself of his long stay to make many inquiries about Kashmir and the country I was now passing through. This Mohammedan was evidently a conscientious person, and would admit his ignorance of a fact rather than tell an untruth. Monday, December 14. — To-day to Hätia, seven kos. The shores of the Jelam are becoming more flat ; they are, notwithstanding, very rarely accessible. To the south-east the valley widens, and the eye glancing over the nearest high lands, rests on the snowy mountains which lift their heads beyond in every direction. At Hätia we saw two Hindus, the first we had met with for a long time, and my Brahmin, Thakur-das, accosted them quickly. It was of great importance to him, as a Brahmin, to ascertain to which class they belonged, and my curiosity was not less than his. When they told him that they also were Brahmins, I bade him get all the information from them that he could, and particularly I wished him to find out how long they had been settled in this place ; they were very sparing in their answers, and we could only understand that their forefathers had come there about 150 years since. But it was interesting to see the deep respect with which they received my Brahmin, the first of a rank superior to their own, whom they had ever met with. Hätia is the most northerly point in this direction to which the Hindus are known to have migrated, after their subjection to Mohammedan power, and at present fifteen families are settled in this place. It has a fort, Topata Kila, built of mud only, and garrisoned by Sikhs; a second to the south-west, Shekara Kila, stands on a mountain on the left bank of the Jelam. Near Hätia is a bridge made of goat's skins, one rope serving for the feet, and two others for the hands to lay hold by, like the bridge of Uri; the three ropes are kept at an equal distance from each other by pieces of curved wood, but with this precaution there is no little risk in passing over. At Hätia the banks of the Jelam are low. SPECIMEN OF NATIVE ALTEKCATION. 183 Near it stands Petidra, governed by a Raja of its own, called Nasir Ali; this personage, when requested by the Jemidar to see that we were supplied with provisions, refused with the utmost insolence, whereupon my guard proceeded to load their firelocks and direct them against the Raja's house, who took to instant flight, leaving us at liberty to help ourselves. This, however, occasioned a violent dispute between my favourite Mohan and the Jemidar, the former drawing no flattering comparison between the Jemidar 's behaviour in the morn- ing towards the Kiladar, and his present violence against the defenceless Raja, reproaching him with not having revenged himself on the man who had really insulted him, but complaining to me instead, like an old woman, and getting out of the way while I conferred with the Kiladar. The Jemidar very stoutly denied this imputation on his bravery, and Mohan getting more and more enraged, gave him a blow on the face, when his antagonist brought his complaint formally to me, and I was obliged to reprove Mohan very severely. In the midst of my lecture he exclaimed, "Is not the Jemidar a cowardly rogue?" "If he were, you have no right to tell him so," I said, " and still less to strike him." " Perhaps not," answered Mohan, " but if he were not a poltroon, he would have killed me rather than come to you with his complaint." Rain fell to-day for the first time for a long period, but happily for my baggage, it was of no great continuance. My suite enjoyed the unwonted pleasure of a bazar in this place, for so they called two little houses where provisions were sold in such moderate quantities, that ten of my people would have consumed the whole stock; still it was entitled a bazar, and for the first time since they left Kashmir, they sat and smoked for an hour within ; most gladly I gave them this treat, for the poor fellows had sufi'ered fearfully from fatigue and cold together, more especially those who were from the Himalaya; my Bengalees were all in perfect health. Tuesday, December 15. — The distance from Hatiato Mazafl"erabad is reckoned ten kos, and on the way we passed several villages, but they were either quite deserted or very thinly peopled. There seemed an abundance of the purest water flowing in every direction ; the ascents were numerous and steep; but the banks of the Jelam were mostly 184 QUIET SCENERY OF A PANJABI VILLAGE. accessible, and in many places we came to small plains. The country, hitherto uninteresting in its general character, near the somewhat important town of Kosoli, became very pleasing. The Jelam forms a sudden bend, and a pretty island starts from its waters. Kosoli stands in a very favourable situation on an elevated plain on the left bank, and seemed to have several well-built houses ; the whole aspect of the place greatly reminded me of an Italian village. From hence the road was very steep as far as Mahra, which is remarkable only for its huge cypress trees and its acacias. The banks of the Jelam continue very precipitous until it meets the river Kishen Ganga, which runs onward to MazafFerabad, having about one third less water than the Jelam. There is a point, about half a mile up the Kishen Ganga, whence we can see the valley in which the united rivers flow into the Panjab. This valley is surrounded with mountains, and the Jelam flows along it for some distance, in a totally contrary direction to that of the com- bined streams. The Kishen Ganga is about twenty-five fathoms broad, and is passed first by a rope bridge, and at a point further down the stream by a ferry. Not far from the right bank lies the Zehela Serai, built by Shah Jehan, and near it the building which tradition calls the palace of Nur Jehan Begum, but which, in truth, was a mausoleum, now in ruins. Near Thandu I observed granite in large blocks, hurled, as it were, over the trap rock, and about Mazafferabad a considerable quantity of petrified wood. This town lies on a plain about 150 or 200 feet above the Kishen Ganga. The houses, built on this plain beside a wild stream, are surrounded by groups of trees, and have a very pretty, romantic appearance ; while behind the plain rises the majestic snowy mountain Kahori-Kataka, a range of stupendous hills forming an am- phitheatre around it. My camp was pitched on a natural terrace 150 feet higher than the river, under some large olive trees. The whole population soon collected round my retinue, di-awn together by the unusual and no doubt attractive sight of so many strangers in this remote place : curious also to witness the bustle of unpacking and arranging the tents, the various costumes of my followers, and their INTERVIEW WITH A PLTTY CHIEF. 185 strange features. There soon came a message from the Raja, begging me to command his services. I thankfully declined accepting any- thing, however, as Mazafferabad boasts a regular bazar, and I strictly charged the men not to take anything without paying for it. The bearers and animals laden with my baggage had accompanied me thus far from Kashmir. I now directed the Munshi to hire others to-day, that we might be all ready to start on the morrow. In the evening the Shah came; after which I was occupied in writing my journal till midnight. Wednesday, December 16. — MazaflFerabad is nearly 3000 feet lower than Kashmir, and contains 2100 inhabitants, of whom 700 are Hindus of the three higher castes. Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Shu- dras. Early this morning the Governor of the place. Sultan Zaber- dast Khan, literally, the mighty prince, sent to announce that he was coming to pay me a visit. Shortly afterwards he appeared in person, dressed in the costume of Kabul, with a mantle of fur, ornamented with gold. His suite was but small. As he entered the tent I observed, notwithstanding his apparent strength, he needed the help of a servant to reach the chair set ready for him. When we were seated, I inquired the cause of this infirmity, and heard that his eyes were so affected that he could not discern any- thing in a very strong light. Having heard that I had great skill as a physician, he hoped I might be able to do him some good. 1 had the kanat, or wall, of the tent taken down, that I might examine his state more narrowly. I have rarely seen handsomer features ; the nose slightly arched, the curved brows, and the lofty forehead, all harmonized with the look of gravity, and with the grey beard which covered the lower part of his careworn face. The light of the eye was nearly quenched, and the optic nerve was evidently fast failing. As the eyes were rather in- flamed, I prescribed leeches and abstinence from spirituous liquors, to which the Mohammedans are much addicted in this country. The Khan seemed to have great faith in me, and consulted me about another, but an incurable malady, which must soon put an end to his existence, and for which I could only recommend a temperate course of 186 DECLINE OF THE TRANSIT TRADE. life. Sad as were his bodily ailments, those of his mind were even more pitiable. He had lost his only son not long before, and the last relative now left, a youth, was detained as a hostage in Kashmir. The poor old grandfather's sole wish was to see and embrace this lad once more ; but all his entreaties to Ranjit Singh to grant him this favour were in vain. I promised to add my petition to his own, and during ray stay in Lahor to bring the matter before the Mahä Raja. As the little state possessed hereditarily by Sultan Zaberdast Khan is situated on the high road between Kashmir and Kabul, it is an inde- pendent territory of some importance. The ferry over the Kishen Ganga used to bring him in a yearly sum of a lac of rupees ; but since the decrease of traffic and the separation of Kashmir and Kabul, but especially since the population of this country has fallen off at least one-fifth, the number of passengers has of course diminished in the same proportion, and the whole revenue of the country is estimated at little more than 30,000 rupees, from which we must deduct 6000, the tribute paid to Kashmir, and at this time Mehan Singh contemplates exacting double this sum. I asked the Khan to whom the small house belonged, which is erected high above the wild rivulet, and which was clearly visible from the plain where we were, and seemed inhabited by females, whose forms we were able to distinguish in the distance. It was his new residence, built of wood, the former abode of his ancestors being in a ruinous state, but he was too poor to build another. There was a bitterness in the tone of the poor old man whenever he spoke, which shewed how deeply his feelings had been outraged. I considered which among the trifles I still had in reserve would best please him, and soon excited his amazement by presenting him with some of the little instantaneous lights, which are kindled by a touch, and which he firmly believed to be the fruits of some magical device. Mazafferabad, or Musafirabad, the abode of travellers, is the modern name of the ancient Hindu-Shikri, and was given to it, ac- cording to the Brahmins, 200 years ago by the Mohammedans. A footway along the bank of the Kishen Ganga leads from the town to the Cures, or Dures, one of its tributary streams, which rises near PHYSICAL ÜISTUKBANCES. 187 Diosay; from this place one road leads to Iskardii*, another for horses from Mazafferabad to Derband on the Atok, and a third goes to Pakeli. Derband is said to be fifty kos from this place, the first ten of which are over a chain of hills. I have no faith, however, in this estimate. Mazafferabad itself offers a rich field for the researches of a geologist; mountains of tertiary formation rise up to the limit of perpetual snow, and on them are piled, in wondrous masses, broken and dismembered heaps of stone. In many places whole mountains look as if they had been riven through and through, and the spectator beholds the vast clefts, one or two thousand feet in depth, as fresh as if the violent convulsion of nature had taken place only yesterday. Nanga Parvat, the famous pyramid, which I observed at Nanenwara, is only thirty kos from this spot. We were occupied half the day in settling terms with the bearers and drivers; the price they agreed for to go to Lahor was nine rupees. I had only given eight from Kashmir to this place, and as the very same bearers hired themselves again, I was fairly taken in. I might by a little patience have soon found men who would have taken half the money, but time had now become very precious to me ; I longed most eagerly to see my own home once more, and therefore I hurried on my departure, until noon saw the bearers on the opposite side of the river in the Zehela Serai. While they were moving off, I strolled about the neighbouring parts, and up the hill where the Sultan's new residence stands, whence I could perceive the kila of Mazafferabad, a regular fort, one mile north of the town, and garrisoned by Sikhs. Having returned from my walk, I had a great desire to shew some little atten- tion to the poor Sultan ; but this was not easy, for a visit paid to him would have obliged him to offer me some present or other. I therefore sent the Munshi to tell him I would come and see how he was, if he would dispense with the nazar. The Munshi soon returned with many compliments, but the Sultan excused himself, at the same time assuring me that his house was too wretched to receive me. * Iskardu is variously written Iskardo, Iskardoo. The Barou's mode is probably most correct. See also Attoek, Atok, «ie. — Ed. 188 MYSTEKIOUS VISITORS. Two boats, constructed of the trunks of trees rudely hollowed out, convey travellers across the river. Each passenger pays a pice for himself, and as much for every load carried either by man or beast. The animals swim across the stream, which is deep and hurried: there are certain fixed places where only it is practicable to land; the bank further down is inaccessible from the steep falling rocks, and our little boats wheeled about in a manner which inspired no great confidence of our reaching the opposite side either safely or expeditiously. After all, considering how they were stranded, the only wonder is that we did not find our way to the bottom. I desired to have one entirely to my- self and Mohan, but while the boat was pushing off, and after it had got fairly into the rapid current, three men sprang in, giving it a sudden shock, and half-filled it with water. I sat perfectly still until we came to the other side, and then discovered that our unwelcome companions were ferrymen, who were resolved on crossing with me, that they might share the present, expected as a matter of course. The Serai is situated on a height a few minutes walk from the shore, and was built by Ali Merdan Khan, by command of Shah Jehan. It forms a large square, and is kept in excellent repair; but my tent, pitched under a thick clump of trees, was far more inviting to me than the closer apartments of the building. Just as I had made myself comfortable, and it began to grow dark, the Shah came to tell me that a party was desirous to see me. His cautious and mysterious manner excited my curiosity ; accordingly I requested him to admit them. But he would not bring them through the front entrance where they would be seen, but requested permission to usher them through the back way. Having ordered that no one should obtrude, the Shah went out, and returned shortly with three Mohammedans, who threw themselves at my feet, and laid some trifling presents on the ground. I had the utmost difficulty in finding out from amidst a mass of words, compli- ments and repetitions, who they could be. I guessed rather than heard, for in spite of my manifold questions as to the name of their master, I could gather nothing but, Malik, Mir, Hakim, Sirdar, &c., which may all be translated, king, prince, lord, and master, that they had been sent to me from Sultan Zaberdast Khan, and described his unhappy situa- DESIRE FOR BRITISH PROTECTION. 189 tion — the iron yoke imposed on the Mohammedans by Ranjit Sin^h — the beautiful hind of Kashmir — and the peculiar advantages of the Mazafferabad route. 1 conjectured their object at last; and after they had gone on for half an hour, told them that I was no servant of the East India Company, and that if the Khan wished to enter into any treaty with the British, which would certainly be his best policy, in fact his only chance of preserving his independence, the present time was not the most favourable for such an attempt. They looked at me with amazement; and when I had spoken out thus freely, they drew back, and, perhaps, fearful of compromising themselves, told me that I had not understood their meaning. I answered, that in that case the error was mine ; and begging them to assure the Khan of my deep sympathy with him, I dismissed them, whereupon they quitted the tent as mysteriously as they had entered it. Having called my people, Jwala ran in to tell me of the arrival of a fakir, with a letter to me from a European. It was from Henderson, written in Mazafferabad the very day before my arrival there, and telling me that he had been most kindly received by the bearer, and now was thinking of resuming his journey to Derband by an unfrequented path, the route through the valley of Vergund being insecure on account of predatory bands who infested it. Many obstacles threatened to thwart him in this project. He begged me to give the fakir two doses of four grains of calomel, for his sick child, and as the disease was an obstinate ague, I was to order that one of the powders should be administered each day when the fever left him. Unfortunately I had disposed of all my medicines in Mazaffe- rabad, reserving for my own use only a single powder of eight grains, in case of need ; but after a moment's hesitation, I handed this to the poor fakir, who had brought me a nazar of a little basket of the pistachio- nuts of Kabul. It was midnight before all my retinue crossed to the right bank of the Kishen Ganga, a circumstance which explained to me more con- clusively than any mere assertion, how very possible it is for a caravan to be a whole month crossing the Euphrates. Thursday, December 17. — The last party arrived with my luggage before daylight, just as I sallied forth to superintend the breaking up of 190 APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. my encampment, but many of the men had loitered behind in the bazar of Mazafferabad, and I was obliged to send the Munshi back, with positive orders not to quit the place until he had seen the last of them out of it. This delayed me till nine o'clock, trying my patience most sorely. At last, our long retinue was in motion. The banks on either side of the Kishen Ganga are very steep about this place; and at the narrowest point a bridge formerly stood, which was torn away in a moment by a heavy flood which occurred in 1823, while Hari Singh Nalwa was endeavouring to get possession of the town for Ranjit Singh. It has not been rebuilt. This bridge was a subject of much interest in the war of 1803, between Mukhtyar ud Daulah and Abdullah Khan. Below Mazafferabad, exactly opposite the kila, the country is rather flat, and a second ferry crosses the river, but is seldom used ; for travellers would not be much disposed to trust themselves so near the Sikh garrison, who are usually not over-nice in taking away what little the defenceless natives may have with them. From this point the Kishen Ganga may be traced for a great distance, until it is lost to the eye behind precipitous hills. The gypsum, here seen in gigantic masses, gives a peculiar character to the landscape. In many places I observed the perpendicular walls of dissevered mountains of a dazzling whiteness, and as often the ground in rear of this is a snowy moun- tain ; the whole resembling in effect a vast avalanche that has slid from the higher range. From the Kishen Ganga we entered a deep defile leading to the bed of a mountain torrent now dry; thence we proceeded along an immense hill, full 3000 feet above the river. I saw a solitary cow licking the ground on one spot, and alighted to see whether she had found salt there, which turned out to be the case. While the bearers were toiling up this mountain I stood to gaze at the ruins of a once important fort, called Fatihgurh, or citadel of victory, which lies below the highest point of the hill. At the summit of this is the pass called Dub, formerly the resort of bands of robbers, who struck universal terror throughout the country. Hari Singh Nalwa sent a large force against them, but the robbers knew that they UNSETTLED STATE OF THE PANJAB. 191 had partisans among the natives who, as Mohammedans, abhor the name of a Sikh. The commander therefore did not succeed without infinite trouble in extirpating a number of the band, and then only by setting fire to the grass in which they lay concealed; thus forcing them to come forth and meet his troops, who slaughtered them without mercy. The bands therefore are destroyed, but for a single traveller the security is not much greater than before, and to-day six of the Sikh soldiers remained at the lop of the hill until my bearers had all mounted. There is no great cause of alarm to a traveller with a numerous retinue. It is here indeed as in Europe ; to the rich man every trouble of this kind is made light; while the poor, with his cares and sorrows, has to await the just equalization of all things in another world. At the summit of the Dub pass I saw many birds which were quite new to me, harbouring in the scattered pine trees. I took aim at some of them, but the difficulty of clambering up the steep ascents soon fatigued me, particularly when, after having shot them, there was little possibility of reaching the deep ravines into which the birds fell. Arrived at the highest part, we could see Gärhi, our place of rest for the night, as it lies in the valley of the Konyar. We had no sooner reached it than the natives, who bear the very worst character in the world, surrounded my tent, and as I had heard that their sole occu- pation was thieving, I made bold to keep their chief as a hostage for their good behaviour, and moreover desired the Sikhs as well as mv servants to keep on the alert. The place is situated in a small uncul- tivated plain: there are neither artisans nor agriculturists to be seen, which was quite conclusive to me that they supplied themselves from other men's property. Judging by the acclivities from the Kishen Ganga, and the descent into the valley of the Konyar, I should say that the last is at least 600 feet lower than the great river. It was an important point for my map to ascertain whether the Konyar united near this part with the Jelam or not. My observations brought them both to the same level ; hence I suspected that such junction must take place somewhere near, and the natives of Gärhi confirmed me in this opinion. A number of these 192 A PRESUMPTUOUS DEMAND. people live in natural caverns hollowed out of the mountains by the waters ; others in the filthiest dwellings perhaps in the whole world. Friday, December 18. — This morning, when I desired the coolies and drivers to take on my small tent as usual, they refused to go without a guard; and as the Sikhs would not divide their party, and Mr. Vigne, who was always tardy, could not be left alone, I was obliged to make a virtue of necessity, and wait patiently until the tents were packed up, the breakfast eaten, and the entire company ready to proceed together. Bearers and natives of the place all agreed that the road to the next night's station was sadly infested with robbers, and that the inhabitants of the different villages by the way, carried on the same profession. The Sikhs seemed to think we were rather in a serious dilemma; they loaded their guns, therefore, and begged me to arm all my servants, intimating at the same time that they could not go on without a present of nine rupees to each man, and double that sum to the Jemidar. I told them that my people wanted no arms, that they themselves were the greatest thieves, and that they might all march back to Kashmir together if they thought proper. Upon this, the Jemidar humbly craved my pardon, and excused the conduct of his soldiers, who he declared were quite unprovided with money. Not- withstanding I had made up my mind beforehand to give them even more than they now demanded, I did not approve of their prescribing to me, and especially as they had made their claims at a moment when my anxieties were sufiSciently pressing without any additional cause of trouble. I therefore gave the Jemidar to understand that I remembered quite well how two days before we left Kashmir, he had borrowed from Mr. Vigne a kalga, or plume of heron's feathers, in order to appear in state before the Governor when his services were hired, and that I had also given him 300 rupees, which he could not possibly have spent since we quitted that valley. Until we reached Mazafferabad both he and his men had received rations, and therefore, knowing that he must have money, I could not understand why he should tell me such a falsehood. Not a word more did he say, but got ready to proceed forthwith. There is a bridge over the Konyar, close to a fort, also called WRETCHED CONDITION OF BUID(iKS. 193 Futihgurh, where there is a strong Sikh garrison, but some robbers had burnt down the bridge not long before. This in Europe would seem almost incredible, but in Asia it is not the custom to post sentinels on guard, and thus they ventured on tliis enterprise without much danger. Travellers are forced to cross the remains of this bridge on foot, and it is well for those who do so, not to be subject to giddiness if they ever expect to see the other side ; for we found it necessary to stride over half-burnt beams of wood, thirty feet above the surface of the stream, a very perilous undertaking at any time. We got the horses and beasts of burden across the stream not far from Gärhi with much difficulty, as the water reached to the chests of the animals. We then marched on in close column through a narrow valley to a small stream, and there observed some most remarkable natural caves, which I entered, in spite of the remonstrances of my attendants, who assei'ted that they were full of robbers. Divers kinds of stone, bound together in one mass as though with the strongest cement, form the walls and roof of these caves, the largest of which might hold from forty to fifty people. The height of this cavern in particular was about twenty feet. The road is diversified at intervals by the Pinus longifolia, fre- quently a mile apart from each other. On the left bank of the Konyar is the territory formerly held as a fief by Hari Singh Nalwa, at one time Governor of Kashmir. Ranjit Singh took it from him, and granted him another and far more valuable one. By the village of Doga the road branches oflf into two ; one taking the direction of Monsiir to Mangli, the other going direct onwards. I purposed reached Mangli this evening, having computed the distance at ten kos, but the bearers declared that if they travelled without a halt, they could not get there before next morning. In this state of uncertainty I perceived a horseman approaching, who was sent by the Thanadar of Monsur, to attend me to that town. In consequence of the letters I had written to Ranjit Singh, all the Thanadars in these provinces had been commanded to receive me on the frontiers, as I had announced my desire to return into the Panjab by way of Mazaff'erabad and Atok. The man told me he had been expecting me for three days, and that the 194 DISTURBED STATE OF SOCIETY. direct road to Mangli was so bad, that I could not venture to pro- ceed by it with my baggage. Much against my will, I was therefore compelled to relinquish all hope of reaching it this evening ; and on his assurance that the road by Monsur was the safest and best, I deter- mined to follow his advice. I was much vexed, however, at the idea of not being able to arrive at Mangli before the following day. The fact is, the difficulties, the discomforts, and above all the loneliness of my present situation had completely worn me out ; and when I reflected on the 2000 miles which yet lay between me and Bombay, through a country where every mile is accomplished with fatigue and trouble of some sort, and then on the long sea voyage of 13,000 miles to Europe, my heart quite sank within me, and I often felt so ill and exhausted, that I threw myself down, and thought it madness to believe I could ever live to meet my friends again. From Doga the route continued over high lands. The pines were more numerous, the ground seemingly very productive, and the ravines more richly studded with plants, while beautiful cascades fell from the rocky heights. Many birds flew by, which were quite new to me. While the baggage moved forward I remained with Jwala and Mohan only in search of a little sport, though among these abrupt ridges it was attended with much difficulty. Two miles from Doga the road leads over an eminence, whence I had a fine prospect down the valley of Vergund. We descended into it, and found several paths branching oif into the thick wood. We ought to have provided ourselves with a good guide, but none was to be found. Our only alternative, therefore, was to march in close column, and not suffer any of the party to straggle or fall in the rear. Following a path which runs in the same direction as that we had been pursuing hitherto, we found, after pro- ceeding a mile, that it terminated at a spring ; we then chose another, which took us to a deserted building; finding again that we must have taken the wrong route, we were compelled, finally, to retrace our steps. I was apprehensive that we should have to pass the whole night in this dreary spot, in consequence of the approaching darkness. It set in to rain, and I was already much fatigued, having most unluckily sent my horse on from Doga, that by so doing I might get rid of my anxious NECKssrrv of guides in india. 195 thoughts by sheer bodily exhaustion. Thus circumstanced, I was quite at a loss how next to proceed to discover the right road, and at last my companions and I, one and all, sat down thoroughly dejected, to recruit our strength. Jwala alone made an effort to find out some human being in this wilderness. I desired him not to go far way, otherwise he might never find us again ; but at the end of half an hour, seeing nothing of him, I felt assured that he had lost his way, and fired off my gun to give him intelligence of our position. Nevertheless he did not make his appearance. It was useless to wait any longer, and with Mohan I struck into the path, which from its being the most beaten, I trusted would lead us to Monsur. In the course of half an hour we met with Jwala, who had been fortunate enough to get information as to our road, but after receiving this, he could not make his way back again to us to communicate the glad tidings. Being now in the right track, we proceeded, and soon came to a herd of camels, a glad announcement that we were nearing the plains of India, and almost clear of the toilsome and difficult mountain-roads. There were several hundreds of them, and they presented a curious appearance as they browsed on the acacia and ziziphus thorn. I tried, by shouting and firing off a gun, to bring their keepers to a parley ; but no one made his appearance, and they probably kept out of sight from some misgivings of our purpose. The south side of the plain of Vergund is full of deep and almost perpendicular ravines, hollowed out by the torrents in the soft loamy soil. We came upon them so unexpectedly, that it made the journey excessively laborious. Some of these ravines form, as it were, a valley within a valley, and must furnish a secure retreat to robbers, as no troops could venture to follow them to such coverts. On account of the intricacies of the road. I had joined my party, and for some time marched at the head, entertaining no doubt that the place was a haunt for plunderers. The whole population in fact, must have learned the trade of their Patau masters, as they now carry it on indiscriminately against their Sikh rulers and neighbouring tribes. No village is secure against these inroads, hence every one is defended by abroad thick fence of the thorny ziziphus, through which is an opening that is carefully 196 RETREATS OF THE DISAFFECTED. closed every evening. Nothing can be a more efficacious protection. In the centre stands a little court or building, surrounded with high mud- walls, in which the natives deposit all their valuables. Another reason for the insecurity of this country may be, that dis- affected persons from Kabul and Lahor have often fled hither, and carried on their petty warfare until some favourable opportunity per- mitted them to return to the plain. Pretenders also to the throne of Delhi, have made it their refuge when fortune has proved adverse, and from these mountains have witnessed the renewal of operations. It was here the fanatical Syud Ahmed stirred up the Mohammedan popula- tion against their new masters the Sikhs ; and although he fell in battle against Shir Singh, in 1831, not a year has passed since, without some prince or other having been brought to reason, by force of arms, by bodies assembled in this locality. These continual seditions fully justify the recent measure adopted by Ranjit Singh, of keeping one member of each of these petty royal families as hostages in Kashmir. When the princes are reduced to submission, their subjects are equally ready to maintain the same perpetual strife with each other ; and no defenceless traveller is secure from their depredations, nor any incautious neigh- bour from their aggressions. Often as I drew near their villages, I observed the whole population taking up arms, fearing that my suite might turn out to be a troop of enemies in disguise. Yet the land does not seem poor, and I heard with surprise, that many of these scattered villages produced to their proprietors a revenue of 2000 or 3000 rupees. The country is watered by many streams, among which the Sarn is of some importance, receiving all the tributary mountain rivulets, and supplying in its turn the Atok, or Arub as it is called here. One mile from Monsur we came to two of those gigantic tombs, so com- mon in Afghanistan. These were fifteen feet long, and nine broad. It was almost dark when I reached them, or I should have examined one or both. Night brought us to Monsur, where, according to the directions 1 had given the man who met me at Doga, I expected the two important requisites — wood and milk, would be got in readiness for our party ; neither of these however did I find. The drizzling rain which had fallen at intervals during the day, set in faster, and no tent FRONTIERS OF THE PANJAB. 197 was as yet ready for my accommodation. Completely exhausted, wet through, and heated with the fatigues and haste in getting over our hurried march, I felt that in this state the piercing wind blowing over the snowy mountains had given me a severe chill, my every limb faltered and shivered with cold. The ground was nearly under water ; and it took a full hour to get a fire properly kindled ; not a stick of wood was to be found in the wretched village, and we did not well know where to pitch our tents. It was, as may be imagined, in no enviable frame of mind, that I stood for nearly three hours in the dark night, leaning against a stone, without so much as a cloak to shelter me from the rain and wind. The Shah was no better off than myself, and his servants were all so dis- contented, that I invited him into my tent as soon as I had one. At length matters improved, the rain abated, the fire gave out a little cheering warmth ; and the clean tent with its pair of lights, seemed to me a perfect palace, in which, after changing my wet garments, I felt myself comparatively happy and comfortable. Saturday, December 19. — We were now near the frontiers of Ranjit Singh's territories. Arub, a fort about five kos westward, is the entrance to Penda Khan's country. Organized bands of robbers, to the number of two or three hundred, are frequently met in these parts. They plunder the diff'erent villages, and have hitherto met with no effectual check; in fact, the power of Ranjit Singh has never been able to keep this country in order, even for a few months at a time. I was greatly alarmed lest Henderson* should fall into the hands of one of these gangs, who, however, in their depredations, rarely pro- ceed to deeds of blood. For my own part, I congratulated myself that I had entered Monsur at this late hour, as I contemplated leaving it early in the morning, before Penda Khan had received intelligence of the route I had taken, which might have offered a temptation far too great for his cupidity to withstand. • The melancholy termination of this adventurous man's career, by cholera at Lüdiana, while under arrest, pending the determination of Government, has deprived the public of much information respecting Panjäb and Tibet, which at this juncture would have been particularly valuable. — Ed. 198 RETINUE OF AN EASTERN CHIEF. The valley of Vergund, though it cannot be seen from this miser- able village, is, after Kashmir, the largest in the Himalayan range north or west of the Setlej ; the mountains, on either side, are low and covered with thick forests ; properly speaking, it belongs to the valley of the Atok, or Indus. The heights, by which I had lost my way in descending, divide the waters of the Jelam and Atok. Vigne had sprained his foot the day before yesterday, in coming down the Dub Pass; and as he could not ride without pain, I had given up my jampan for his use. His ailment was not likely to be cured for several days, an evil which my present condition rendered extremely untoward. In the side pocket of this jampan I always kept my kukeri, one of the most fearful weapons I know, and peculiar to the Ghorkas. They talked so much about thieves, that I resolved if they did attack us, I would not be taken alive, and therefore com- mitted my arms to the charge of Mohan. At eight in the morning we struck our tents. Long before this, the Thanadar of Kota, whose district I expected to reach in two days, had arrived with a large company to welcome me. The road led about a mile away from the fort of Monsur, a paltry mud inclosure; the instant we were close abreast of it the gate was suddenly flung open, and the Thanadar issued forth with his followers, all bedizened with the fine trappings of which the Sikhs are so fond; he galloped forward in advance of his troop,, and in a moment was at my side, and alighted from his horse to salute me. My party was now as numerous as it was picturesque, the Thanadar of Kota being among us also. Many of the horsemen carried spears fifteen feet long; some wore their Indian costume with the most dazzling colours, burnished weapons, and gorgeous coats of mail ; all were splendidly mounted. The Ghunt, on which I was mounted amid this glittering throng, did not look to much more advantage than I myself did, dressed as I was in my plain black suit. While the high -mettled coursers were prancing and neighing about him, he went soberly on his way with the most perfect unconcern, seeming to care very little how ugly or insignificant he might look. I saw the Sikhs looking with infinite contempt on the queer form of my little steed, but ere the day wa:< done they had APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTKY. 199 learned to respect his admirable qualities; the first half of our way lay through a succession of ravines which yesterday's rain had made extremely dangerous to travel, across these my sturdy little Ghunt clambered up and down without making one false step. The Sikhs, on the contrary, were frequently forced to dismount : many of their horses fell down the steep banks, and their splendid dresses, moreover, looked all the worse for the day's journey. Isolated hills are scattered over the face of the country in every direction, and what in the far distance appears to be a plain, is in fact, a succession of ravines, which begin suddenly with an abrupt fall of 100 feet, and are continued down to a small river. These ravines must have originated in some violent inundations of the plain. Large quantities of water issue from all the rocky eminences. The famine which desolated Kashmir extended as far as Garhi only; it is remarkable, that although the cholera did not reach this district, yet all those Kashmirians who fled hither from their own country, fell victims to it. The mountains which had been hitherto clothed with the solitary Pinus longifolia, are here quite bare, reminding me forci- bly of the interior of Syria, only that in this place those scattered green patches which grow around the Syrian fountains, are wanting, and the hills are composed of the grey limestone in stiff formations. About half way on to-day's march we came to a Buddhist monu- ment, called by the natives, Budh, or Dhagoba, the first we had seen in this direction. Vigne got out of the jampan at my request, to take a drawing of it, while I examined it on every side. One of his servants, a silly fellow, a Patau, called Osman Beg, no sooner saw his master commence drawing, than he seated himself close by to watch his proceedings. The Sikhs followed his example, and gathered round to see what the stranger could be doing with this old ruined edifice. The Thanadar of Monsiir even laid his hand on the piece of paper on which Vigne was sketching. " If you had any manners," cried Osman Beg, " you would know how to be ashamed of such impudence." The Thanadar sprang back in a towering rage, crying out, " Siir, hog," the deepest affront he could offer to a Mohammedan. " Down with you, unbelieving dog," cried the Patau vehemently, and at the same 200 QUARKELSOMK SPIKIT OF THE PATANS. moment his sword sprang from its scabbard. The Thanadar and his followers, numbering more than fifty, rushed to their horses, mounted in a trice, and made ready for the strife; some armed with sabres, others with spears or matchlocks. My anxiety may be readily imagined. Their frightful cries made me look every instant for the attack which was impending over Vigne and Osman, but it was quite impossible either to give them any help, or even share their danger. Presently, the whole party dividing itself to the right and left, rushed by the two in the direction of the fort of Monsur, and the next minute they wheeled round again, and with the Thanadar at their head, rode straight up to me. At a little distance the Thanadar dismounted, strode up to me, and made a low obeisance, I nätti,rally enough concluded that he was going to say something to me, but no; he drew himself up, remounted his horse, and galloped off, quitting the plain with all his cavalcade. Probably he intended to show me that at least he had some idea what good manners were, in spite of the quarrel that had taken place between him and my dependents. In Amritpoor, a town of some importance, we had the first oppor- tunity of enjoying a bath; bathing is a general custom throughout the Panjab. The villages we passed were but thinly peopled by Hindus. The broken skin of my face and hands was now almost replaced by a newer and smoother surface, but the absence of bodily heat from which I suffered so much, made me feel the want of wine or brandy most sensibly. We slept at Naushera; upon my arrival I found my tents already pitched in a wretched situation, in a field as level as a floor. I pointed this out to the Kalashi, and bade him be more careful another time in selecting his ground. But as the night was clear, and there appeared to be no probability of its raining, which would have fairly imbedded me and my tent in a morass, I spared my servants, already jaded with the march, the trouble of removing the whole baggage to a more suitable spot. A tent should be always fixed on high ground if possible, or at least on sloping ground, to prevent the possibility of water making its way to the interior, in case of rain lodging there. Sunday, December 20. — With too presumptuous confidence I had TRAITS OF HINDU CHARACTER. 201 appointed the time when I should be in Atok and Lahor. Spoiled by the continuance of two months' fine weather, I had not anticipated the possibility of rain setting in at this season, and was therefore quite unprepared for the torrent which poured down during' the night. If the pelting of the storm on the roof had not aroused me, the disturb- ance made by the servants would have soon done so ; driven by the water from place to place, they at last took refuge just within my tent, though there it was likewise making its way. Towards morning the rain abated, but when I prepared to rise as usual, I stepped from my bed into a complete pool which had collected under the carpet. Having made my way out, I looked abroad on the country, and saw it overspread with a dense fog. It was absurd to think of march- ing, nor did there seem much prospect of immediate extrication from our situation; the tents were soaked completely through, this added considerably to their weight, and they would moreover require a long time to get dry again. The dismal state of a person travelling with tents in India when these violent rains set in, can only be understood by those who have experienced such a misfortune. The misery, indeed, is aggravated tenfold, when sach a mishap befalls him after a long course of dry weather. Indian servants never provide against any accident of the kind ; believing that the elements must be as obedient to the Sahib as to themselves. Hence, all my luggage was in the open air, the tent under which they should have been stowed away every night, remained unpacked ; and even the rduti, or large tent, intended specially for the accommodation of the servants, was very rarely pitched, as they usually preferred passing the night in the open air with merely some light coverlets over them. This want of energy is the great defect of the Indian character, and in such cases their patience becomes a vice. They will sit, for example, for hours together in a pelting shower, in hopes that it will soon clear off, and then, when they are really in earnest to repair their own want of forethought, and to unpack their tent, it frequently happens that the rain has made it no easy matter to remove the packing cloths, without tearing them to pieces. The water, as I have already said, had made its way through the four-fold covering of my tent, owing to their having 202 CAMPAIGNING IN THE RAINS. calculated on fine weather, and therefore not having tightened the ropes enough to allow the water to run off. The Kalashis now strained the ropes and drove the wedges deep into the ground, but it was so saturated by this time, that the pegs would not hold, and we were forced to let the tent remain as it was. To increase our raiseiy, the field became one large sheet of water, and our sole resource now was, to dig a trench round the tent. Fain w^ould I have gone elsewhere if possible, but knowing the difficulty of removing such a heavy mass, I made up my mind to bear my misfortune with true Indian patience, and lamented not so much the fact of being wet through, as the loss of one day. Assuredly, if vexations are more easily borne, when one observes others worse off than one's self, this consolation was mine; in my large tent I was certainly more comfortable than poor Vigne in his smaller one ; his tent, in short, was not habitable after ten in the morning, and his servants not being of the best, he could get nothing done to alleviate his discomfort. Nothing impeded the free entrance of the water, and he was altogether in a worse plight than if he had remained in the open air. When I heard how he was situated, I ventured through the rain to see how he bore it, and found him lying in bed, or rather in a cold bath. I invited him to change his quarters forthwith, and presently he was lodged with all his moveables under my own canvass. The Shah, unhappily, had nearly thirty men in his company, all crammed into a tent which was scarcely spacious enough for ten. He had gathered them all about his little crib, and there they sat in the water, until a violent gust of wind overturned the whole concern. Nobody was hurt, but it was a very inconvenient accident at such a time, and in spite of my good feeling and sympathy for them, I could not help laughing, as I saw these grave Mohammedans crawling out from under the soaking canvass. The Shah took shelter with me until they had put it in some sort of trim again. About noon the sky looked somewhat more promising, but the rain still poured down. We could, however, see the mountains covered with snow in the direction of Naushcra, which lies in a plain encompassed with hills of no great height. Several small streams intersect this DIFFICULTIES TO THE PROGRESS OF AN ARMY. 203 plain, which is quite bare of trees and uncultivated : at this moment it was nothing better than a bog-. They told me that it would most pro- bably be quite impassable in a few days, and as my road led through it, this piece of information was not calculated to cheer my spirits. 1 comforted myself, nevertheless, with the hope that this might be a little Indian exaggeration, and in the evening I interrogated the Thanadar belonging to the fort of Naushera; but he also declared that at this season of the year, travellers were often detained for a whole fortnight together after heavy rains, before the country was practicable. Mean- while he offered to entertain me in the fort, but I declined his invita- tion, and not over courteously; for, to confess the truth, I was quite overcome by the intelligence he had just communicated. During the night the rain fell in torrents, and my servants all came to shelter themselves in the outer division of my tent, their own having fallen in at eleven o'clock.. Monday, December 21. — The weather was better than I had dared to anticipate, though the rain had not entirely abated, and at nine o'clock the sky became still calmer. The tents, however, were in such a plight that there was no chance of our departure then, but when the sun came forth at noon, I ordered them instantly to pack up, being most anxious to quit our present position; for it seemed to me that the inclination of the ground towards this plain, must render it liable to frequent rains, and a very few days like the last would detain us prisoners for a long time in this marshy field. My people knew that I was not to be moved from a resolution once firmly taken, and though my command to quit Naushera directly, seemed to them most extraordinary, they were soon in motion. I had a little more difiiculty with the bearers. The Shah also succeeded in stirring up his retinue, though with much trouble ; but Vigne, who was so kind and indulgent to his servants, that they did just what pleased them, could not rouse a man from the place. He followed me, therefore, with a single bearer carrying his bed, in the hope that the rest would come after him. I had named Siilat as our night's post, being but three kos from Naushera, or about four miles. For one mile and a half of this distance wc had to wade through the marshy valley, which 204 PLIANT TEMPER OF THE NATIVES. cost US a vast deal of labour and fatigue. After this, the road became higher, and from the plain we came suddenly to the steep declivity on which Salat is built. The night had come on ere we reached it, nor was it easy for us to find a place of encampment; for Salat lies, as I have said, on a stony declivity, which leads down to a steep ravine, ending in a rivulet. I examined the vicinity for some time to find a suitable position for the tents, or some dwelling place where we could pass the night ; but the night fairly closed in without any successful issue. We were forced, in consequence, to encamp on a height on the other side of the river, at some considerable distance from the village. While here, I was obliged to give Mirza a very severe reprimand. My Sikh lieutenant suggested to me that in the mosque of the town there was a very clean place of shelter at my service. Knowing his religious creed, I asked him whether it was customary in the Panjab for a traveller of another faith to enter a mosque set apart for Moham- medans, and he assured me that the Sikhs always did it, when there was no Dharamsala in the place. I was just about to decline the ofi'er, when Mirza, who was a Mohammedan, stepped forward, and said that he would not permit the mosque to be so profaned. I desired him to be silent, and to remember that while in my service his duty was to make me as comfortable as possible, instead of starting difficul- ties, and if this was not consistent with his duty as a good Mussulman, he must cease to be my servant. He understood me, and in order to shew that he was sensible of having manifested his religious zeal at a most unseasonable time, prepared to pack up my baggage himself, and take it to the mosque. I desired him, however, to leave it where it was, as I was quite contented with the tent. Mr. Vigne's people did not make their appearance, neither did the bearer of his bed, and with a little trouble we found a place for him among us. I observed, on this occasion, that the higher castes did not consider themselves defiled by allowing the inferior orders to come into contact with their gar- ments, and my people gave their best shawls and coverings to furnish a bed for my guest, without making the slightest objection. Tuesday, December 22. — Salat is 1200 feet higher than Mazaffer- abad. This morning the weather was tolerably clear, but my limbs PICTURESQUE BURYING PLACES. 205 were perfectly benumbed with the cold. The thermometer was at 45°. The country for the last few days had been generally bare of trees, but at some distance from every village is a thick grove, which affords a most delightful variety to the general monotony. These usually consist of olive trees, here most appropriately dedicated to peace, for they adorn the graves which lie beneath their shade. Many are famed for encircling the tomb of some Pir, or saint, and surviving friends often bring their dead from a considerable distance to deposit them near the holy man's grave. One of these sacred groves was near Salat, and afforded us for one night that rest which so many of the inhabitants had taken up for a much longer period. As in other Mohammedan cemeteries, so these are ornamented by the surviving relatives in various ways. At several of the graves there were lamps kept constantly burning. I was up and out at break of day, and strolled to the nearest high ground, in hopes of seeing the plains of India, but nothing was visible beyond the range of hills, piled one over another. We started soon after, as I wanted to make up for our lost day by a long march. Our route lay through a narrow pass, hemmed in by detached hills, to a wide valley, in which the river Dor, or rather its stony bed, takes its course for half a mile. The rest of the valley is torn up by deep ravines, caused by the rain floods in these low grounds, which force the natives to build their villages on the heights that bound the valley like a wall to the north-west. One may well suppose that a mighty stream has once filled the whole valley, having these steep heights for its shores ; at present, no swelling of the waters could ever carry them so far. A species of aqueduct distributes the waters of the Dor at a tolerable elevation ; indeed, no region in the world can be oetter supplied than this valley, called the Dhumtur district. The town itself, which I saw only from a distance, is between five and six kos from Näushera, and there is a second very near to Hussein Abdal, our next station, which leads by it, but I had chosen the shorter route bv Salat. Many books and maps have raised Dhumtur to the rank of a large city, giving its name to a province, or even to a state ; but it is, on the contrary, a very insignificant place. Many small forts are 206 AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS. scattered about, with a view to protect the frontiers and villages. Tlie valley of the Dor introduces one to the vegetable forms of Northern India. The Justicia and Dodonea, with some species of the Mimosa, are seen in the low jungles ; the Bombax heptaphylla is in the plain, but the stunted form of the last renders it very unlike the majestic tree which astonishes the traveller in Ceylon. We also passed to-day some specimens of the Asclepias gigantea and the Caesalpinia sappan. Near Salike Serai commences the cultivation of a peculiar species of the ginger, scarcely as large as a pigeon's egg; but abundantly exported from this country into China by way of Tibet. The valley of the Dor also produces the sugar-cane in such luxuriance that they feed. the horses with it, as they do in the Panjab; and the village chieftains usually meet travellers with a present consisting of sugar candy. The majestic plantain appears now in solitary places ; but the transition from a northern to a southern vegetation, so delightful in most coun- tries, has here no charm whatever. Salike Serai, our halting-place for the night, is about twelve kos, or eighteen miles, from Salat. It is a populous place, where my Indians had the satisfaction of finding a large bazar. Close to the town is a strange-looking building belonging to a fakir, opposite to which, on the right bank of the Dor, is the temple of a Hindu Devi, or goddess. Wednesday, December 23. — As we had no more than six kos to journey to Kota, we did not begin our travels this morning until nine o'clock. The fort of Kishengurh, built twelve years ago in a regular form, though only of mud, is two miles from Salike Serai, on the left bank of the Dor. The town is half a mile further on, and is the residence of Hari Singh Nalwa, one of Ranjit's best generals, and formerly Governor of Kashmir. He received Kishengurh, his present territory, in fee from his master. Hari Singh was at this time away, but he had ordered his Diwan to meet me, with the offer of anything I might stand in need of. This was done as far back as IMonsiir, the Minister pressing me to remain a few days at Kishengurh and rest, but which of course I declined. As I came opposite the gates, they were opened, and a boy, attended HEREDITARY PRIDE OF RANK. 207 by a numerous suite, issued from within them, bringing me a similar invitation, and a nazar also of 101 rupees. I touched the money with my hand, according to the prescribed custom, and gave it back, at the same time declining his hospitality, and requesting to know his name. It was Chatar Singh, the son of Hari Singh Nalwa, and the child was not more than ten years old. His features were very noble and expressive. His dress was covered with gold, and he wore a turban adorned with a sable plume of heron's feathers ; while his arms, richly inlaid with gold, dangled at his side. The large white horse he rode with perfect grace, capered and curvetted before me, the saddle and bridle being ornamented with gold and enamel ; the housings, of Pash- mina, or Kashmir shawls, were also fringed with gold. I could see that my refusal of his present gave him great offence, though he did not express it in words, and soon afterwards he held out the purse again, which 1 still declined to take ; upon this, he took his leave abruptly, saying as he rode awaj"^, " The Sahib will not take the present from me because I am a child ; he would not dare to refuse it, were I a man," I was sorry to offend him, and therefore despatched the Munshi after him, to explain that I never accepted money from any one. Half a mile from Kishengurh is Haripoor, surrounded by mud walls, which are fast falling to decay : it seems a place of no great im- portance from without, yet it has a large and densely-crowded population, and a respectable bazar, and was the largest town I had seen in Ranjit Singh's territories in this direction. The streets were full of life, and the shops glittered with every thing to delight an Indian's taste. Every step diminished the number of my followers. One sat down at one of the stalls to smoke the pipe presented to him ; another bought spices for his noonday meal ; while their fellows supplied themselves with sweetmeats baked in grease, or listened to the noisy music before the Hindu temple. I rode slowly through the great street, and seeing that it branched off into others, I turned round to inquire of some of my attendants which way we should take. To my surprise every man of them had disappeared, and were replaced by a vast crowd of inquisitive natives who were running after me. As I had forgotten the 208 INQUISITIVE DISPOSITION OF THE NATIVES. name of the place where we were to be lodged for the night, I had no resource but to wait patiently till some of my suite returned. I dis- mounted hastily, and seated myself on a stone by the side of a spring, and held the rein of my horse. They did not make their appearance for about an hour ; and remembering the days of hard toil they had gone through with me, I could not find it in my heart to scold them for leaving me alone, while they were snatching at these, to them, so very unusual pleasures. Here we quitted the Dor, which winds along through the mountain chain, falling into the Atok, seven kos from Haripoor. Three different ways lead from this place to the town of Atok, two of them being shorter than the road by Hussein Abdal, but more hilly, and quite unprovided, according to the information of Hari Singh, who accom- panied me, with provisions sufficient for my large company. For that reason only, I decided on going by Kota and Hussein Abdal. The road led at first through deep ravines, where the Haro springs, a river which is at present quite dry, the whole way to Kota. I desired my tent to be pitched at a short distance from the town, under the walls of a little fort close by the Haro, and where was a mosque shaded by some fine trees. There was a little water in the bed of the Haro at this place in the deepest parts. During my accustomed walk, I examined both the neighbouring heights and the banks of the stream, where I saw many curious caves, as though the Troglodytes had once settled there. At noon we were met by Khan Singh, an agent from Ranjit Singh, who brought me a most friendly letter from his master, in which neither sun nor moon were spared to attest the stability of his friend- ship, and no compliments forgotten. He recommended Khan Singh to me as a man who had been of important service to him, and assured me moreover that he was ordered to provide me with every thing I could wish for. To this letter I sent an immediate reply, thanking the Mahä Raja for this additional proof of his kindness, which could only proceed from the firm friendship subsisting between himself and the East India Company, whose friend I also was proud to consider myself. Thursday, December 24. — As we passed through Kota, I took notice ANOMALOUS CHAKACTER OF TUli FAKIKS. 2U9 of a house, by far the best built in the place; and inquiring to whom it belonged, I found that it was the property of a fakir, the poor man of the town, and soon after we happened to meet this person clothed in silks, and carried in a palankeen, I thought I must have been mis- taken, but no, he told me himself that he was the fakir of Kota; and upon stricter inquiry whether I could rightly have understood the real meaning of the term, I heard further that fakir did actually signify the poor man of the place. What a strange contradiction of things ! Every village owns a beggar of this species, who receives something from each inhabitant, or sometimes there is one fakir to so many small villages. I have heard it said, " We are too poor to have a fakir here ;" but wherever there is one the people have generally a pride in taking care that he is properly supported. The Kota fakir subsisted on the charity of thirty villages. There is often a spirit of contention between dififerent places most ridiculously carried on, to see which fakir is the best kept; and they seem most desirous that strangers should consider them benevolent in proportion as their own particular object is seen well maintained. Leaving Kota, I observed some detached mountains, running all in one direction, and evidently members of the same dissevered chain. The formation is singular, and imparts a peculiar character to the locality. They appear like the backs of hills joined together, and like islands in a sea: they lie in the great plain, intersected with innumer- able ravines. We passed numerous streams and forts, and the ground seemed remarkably productive. I eagerly looked out for Hussein Abdal, which is about nine kos from Kota, the spot celebrated by Moore in his Lalla Rookh, and described by Hamilton, whose work has nothing of poetry in it, as a lovely valley, and which in sober truth is neither lovely nor a valley. The place certainly has a mountain behind it; but the elevated lands in all other directions are much too insignificant to give the plain the character of a valley, and too far apart to encompass it. The ruinous Serai, built by Akbar, is striking, not by nature but from the state of the ruin itself, and the cypresses and date-trocs, the Phoenix farinosa, near. A tepid spring rises in the neighbourhood, in which a great many sacred p 210 A AfOHAMMEDAN NOBLEMAN. fish arc kept under the protection of a fakir ; he had also in charge a couple of white-headed eagles, which my huntsman shot at, to the con- sternation of the whole place. A palace of Jehanghir's, now in ruins, lies a mile from this; it was too late to visit it to-day. The huntsman was guilty of the death of a parrot this afternoon, which excited the rage of the people, though happily it did not explode in any thing worse than abuse. I cannot say whence the erroneous opinion is derived that the Emperors of Dehli alwavs passed through Hussein Abdal on their way to Kashmir. Akbar may have done so, but his father Hamayun was compelled to relinquish his design of reaching the valley by this route, and none of his prede- cessors ever proceeded by any other road than that of Rajawar, and the Pir Panjal. I had made up my mind to see Atok, the most northern point to the west where the Hindu faith is found. It is two days' march from Hussein Abdal. As I found that I should be obliged at all events to return again to Hussein Abdal from Atok, in order to travel the faster, I resolved to leave my tents here, to proceed to Shujanpoor on the morrow, and thence on the following morning to go on very early to Atok, see the place, and return the same evening to Shujanpoor, thus finding my way back to Hussein Abdal on the third day, and giving mj- bearers and escort a rest of three days. There are certain times in one's life, when remembrances of the past are so vivid, as to preclude every consideration of the present. This was the case with me to-day. My situation, as may be readily imao'ined, is certainly most cheerless, compared with the time, when in the circle of my kinsmen, brothers, and sisters, I customarily spent such anniversaries in the home of my childhood, happy in all the ties of friendship and of love ; whereas, now, I am alone in a dreary dwelling- place, with fingers so benumbed, that I can scarcely contrive to trace a few lines by the wretched light of the lamp. Friday, December 25. — Although I have not mentioned the Shah's name very often of late, I have seen a great deal of him, enough to make me admire and appreciate his true nobility of character, and feel grateful for the repeated proofs he has given me of his kindness and attention, and A traveller's associations. 211 for the readiness with which he has thought of everything I was most likely to stand in need of. For one thing he would send to Kashmir, for another to Peshawur ; and if I asked for information on any subject, every man in the place was employed to procure it for mc. Such infor- mation, in a country like this, peopled by Mohammedan fanatics, was only to be had through Mohammed Shah Nakhsbandi, whose charac- ter for the promotion of the faith made that easy for him to acquire, which to a Sikh would have been impossible, although it were from his personal friend. Probably, I was mainly indebted to the protection of his name for the immunity I experienced in my journey from Mazaffera- bad to Hussein Abdal, through a country infested with parties of infuriated Musselman bigots. His little tent was always crowded with his retainers, and pitched near mine. When he paid his morning visits to inquire after my health, he never failed to ask my permission to return in the evening. A Mohammedan in the noblest sense of that faith; he was grave, sincere, pious, fearless of men, obliging and polite; always ready to assist others ; to feel for their sufferings ; and to bear his own with a submissive trust in God, his conduct was truly worthy of admiration. I set off with a small party of fifteen, at daybreak, on my way to Atok. Near Hussein Abdal we passed over some mounds of a soft slimy earth, which, I think, have been deposited there by the waters, as they were usually preceded by a declivity to a rapid stream. Ten or twelve miles further, brought us to Kokur, and the plain of Atok called Shush, which, although on a larger scale, reminded me of the Dera Dhun, or valley of Dera, in the Himalaya. A range of hills, broken at intervals, shuts it in towards the south, where the valley is inclosed by the Sivalik mountains. The plains of Hindüsthan ap])ear to commence with that of Atok, and from Kokur the mountains terminate entirely in a southern direction. These mountains are of limestone, and the marbles are of every shade of colour. There is not a single tree on the plain of Atok, which is as level as a sheet of water. Ruinous villages are situated on eminences arti- ficially thrown up, like those of the Egyptian Delta. The Indus p 2 212 ORIENTAL PROGRESSES. frequently inundates the whole plain, though not with the same regu- larity as the Nile. Shujanpoor is eighteen miles from Hussein Abdal, and is a wretched place by the side of a rivulet, with morasses in its immediate vicinity. The course of the Indus may be distinguished thence as far as the mountains, and to the point where it is lost in them, a distance of nineteen miles or thirteen kos from Shujanpoor. The view would be splendid were the plain well cultivated ; as it is, however, the scene is devoid of interest, and one only feels surprised at the endless range of mountains seemingly one above the other. On the plain of Atok, the contest for the possession of that city, and the influence of the Afghans and Mohammedans of the west, was finally decided. It was neither one battle, nor the superior talent of Ranjit Singh, which put an end to that singular train of circum- stances which had enabled an insignificant branch from the richest and most populous race in the world, renowned for bravery as well as descent to prescribe laws thus long ; the Mahmood power was already on the decline in India, and the unimportant battle of Atok only drove the last bands over the Indus, according to the object always kept in view by Fattih Khan, the Wazir of Mohammed Shah, the last king of Kabul, before Ranjit made his appearance on the scene ; Ranjit has now in view to penetrate into the heart of Afghanistan, and annex the capital, Kabul, to his own territory ; but no one informed of the hatred and contempt felt for the Sikhs by these wild Afghans, could ever dream of the possibility of Kabul professing allegiance to Ranjit Singh. Nevertheless he has already reached half way from Atok to Kabul, and got possession of the whole country as far as Jelalabad. I am firmly persuaded that nothing but death or some change in the policy of the East India Company, will deter him from attempting the conquest of Kabul itself. Ranjit Singh has been in this part of the country several times, and on such occasions they have thrown up small buildings for his reception, miscalled houses, of one story, consisting of a single room. These houses are rudely built of wood, plastered over with clay, with a single entrance, but without window or other opening of any sort, A QUESTION OF I'KOI'EKTY. 213 forming altogether a strange contrast with the magnificent serais of the former Moghul sovereigns*. Shujanpoor is seen at a great distance, and is remarkable for the six date-trees in its cemetery, where I took up my quarters. I ordered my bed to be put into a mosque most conveniently near, while my dinner was being cooked in another. This caused a violent altercation, for it turned out that the spot we had chosen belonged to the fakir of the town, one of those mendicants who subsist on the bounty of the simple natives. He had just made preparation to feed his falcons on some tame fowls, and was looking forward to the gratification of wit- nessing the ease with which his birds of prey would kill and tear the poor fowls, when he caught sight of my people kindling a fire with his wood, which the coldness of the evening compelled us to have recourse to. Backed by a number of the inhabitants, who had armed themselves with spears and sticks, the fakir assailed my servants with a volley of imprecations, and soon put them all to flight, I had the greatest diffi- culty to make myself heard amid this uproar. At length the fakir came up to me, and complained bitterly of the depredation committed on the store of wood he had laid up for the winter's consumption. I told him that we could not possibly remain there all night without a fire, but that he should be amply repaid for what we had consumed. To this arrangement, however, he would not accede, but said he wanted his wood, and remained immoveable in his purpose to keep his property " The above is an excellent epitome of the Hindu and Mohammedan character. The former, parsimonious, exclusive, bigoted; the latter, thoughtless, extravagant, bold, and luxurious, from the prince to the peasant; or indeed to the very befjgar the portraiture is equally applicable; yet let us not therewithal refuse them their proper meed of praise. The Hindu possesses many redeeming qualities,— extreme forbearance, submissive cooeideration, and a liij^h degree of attachment to his kindred, his relations, his paternal property, and his benefactor. The Moham- medans are brave to a fault, studiously concerned for their faith and its extension, chivalrous and hospitable. These are the necessary results of their political and religious institutions combined. Alas ! what a balance is set off against them in the united evils of a demoralising superstition and a naturally depraved heart. In such qualities they are alike; the grossest inunorality, the most lax ideas of the sacred obligations of truth, and an utter unconcern for the happiness or eternal interest of the fairest and noblest portion of the liuuiaii race. 214 THE PAKIAFI DOG OF INDIA. to himself; at length, seeing that words were unavailing, I directed the men to follow me, and proceeded without further to do, to the stack of contested fuel ; the fakir standing by and uttering not a word, while we were helping ourselves to the quantity we stood in need of*. We could get nothing to eat until night, and then partook of our Christmas dinner dismally enough; the cold in the mosque was most intense. For ten days past we had subsisted on rice, mutton, and occasionally a fowl ; all other provisions, including wine, being entirely expended. Saturday, December 26. — The complete subjection of the Moham- medans in this country may be readily inferred from the circumstance of an unbeliever like myself being suffered to sleep in one mosque and use another as a kitchen. Not that I once closed my eyes in reality, for the dreadful bowlings of the village dogs altogether prevented my getting a wink of sleep. In Mohammedan countries these animals have no owner; neither have they in the Panjab. Superstition, therefore, has nothing to do with their preservation ; but it would be thought very cruel to injure these inoffensive, watchful brutes; no native could be persuaded to kill one ; he would merely content himself with taking up a stone, or possibly stooping in a menacing attitude, when the animal approached too near him. These dogs never become attached to any person or house, however young they may be taken, but associate them- selves in a wonderful manner to each other. Woe to the stranger who * The dilemma in which the traveller often finds himself in India, under similar circumstances, would perhaps demand a larger charity than some might be disposed to allow for this mode of procedure. While the benevolent authorities at the head of affairs in India strictly enjoined that no European officer or subject should compel the natives to serve or supply them with the necessaries of life, the intimation was pcrveisely construed into an opinion that the life and comfort of their own servants was a matter of less concern than the fear of native displeasure, and has always operated most prejudicially to the best interests of Government. Proper and effectual regulations for the supply of everything they might stand in need of by the village officers, and for the fair equivalent in money, would have been the surest means of inculcating the paternal and vigilant concern of a wise administration for all its subjects equally. This, above all other measures, would have had the most salutary effect in conciliating the native army, and raising them and our own Government in the estimation of tlie people generally. — Ed. THE VANTAGE BATITE FIEI-D. '215 should attempt to obtrude into the village compact of this species. With the wolves and jackals they live on a footing of toleration ; but the former usually abide in deserted villages or solitary ruins, while the latter prefer the old tenements of inhabited places. The instinct peculiar to dogs which are the companions and friends of men, distin- guishes them in every respect from these treacherous and dastardly animals, who can neither defend themselves nor their young ; the only quality they possess in coinnion with the domestic dog, is that of watch- fulness. As soon as a traveller arrives in a village, half a dozen of them will seat themselves a little way off, and keep up an incessant howl from their mangy wasted skeletons, the prototype of famine and desolation*. The distance from Shujanpoor to Atok is reckoned five kos. We broke up early to gain time enough to visit the latter place and return before nightfall. The plain of Shush (for so they call the plain of the Atok here) is intersected by some small streams, one of which has been better known since the battle between Ranjit Singh's general, Mokham Chand, and Fatih Khan. By following its course, the Sikhs were • The Pariah dog of India is, properly speaking, a half-domesticated hybrid animal, and is faithfully described in the above account. A number of these used to come about the Cuteherry at Kaira, where I was then residmg (1810), with the Collector, the amiable Mr. Byram Bowles, and his assistants, Captain A. Robertson and Barnwell. The doors of our bungalow beiug invariably open at all hours, the dogs would come in and receive an occasional bone or piece of meat: and one, a favourite of Captain Robertson, deposited a number of puppies near the house. One of these, when I removed into my own residence in the canton- ment, I took away, as most young officers have some such attendant to beguile their loue hours and rambles, and brought it up with great care. Nothing, however, would do; it invariably found its way back to the Cuteherry, and if at any time detained by a chain, would set up such a lamentable howl, that I was obliged eventually to let it go. A number of these troublesome watchful creatures used to collect round the Residency of Baroda, and keep up such an incessant howl as people passed in and out of the town, that at length an officer, who then occupied the corner house, resolved on a general deporUvtion, and sent olf two or three cart-loads some eighteen miles away across the Mähi river, rather than offend the natives by killing them. They all found their way back in the course of a week or ten days, and resumed their old station and habit. They have none of the noble traits of the domestic dogs of Europe.— AV. 216 APPKOACH TO ATOK, enabled to recruit themselves constantly throughout the heat of the day, by which great advantage the contest was decided in their favour. As we drew nearer to the Indus, we met with large blocks of granite, thrown up and left on the plain by the waters, at the period of its inundations. I longed to behold this great stream, and looked out impatiently from the jampan in which I had remained, in order to have my sextants and other instruments ready for observation, pressing the bearers now and then to hurry on, that I might reach it before noon. One mile and a half from the city we came to the height on which Atok is situated, and soon after to a small valley, where the Hindus usually burn their dead. According to Hindu law, this people are not permitted to reside beyond the Atok, but many Hindu families, nevertheless, are to be found residing both in Peshawur and Kabul, and there can be no doubt of the existence, in former times, of a great Hindu empire on the western shore of the Atok. There is a remarkable Mohammedan mausoleum with a lofty dome about a mile west of the city, where I took my last observation with the sextant. The map taken by the English officers in Mr. Elphin- stone's suite being complete as far as Atok; I was delighted to put away my ow^n chart, which occupied me two hours every evening, besides much time spent on it on the journey itself. The suburbs of the city extend as far as this building, though recent wars have laid everything waste to the very walls of the fort. The Indus at this spot is a clear, rapid, but unimportant stream, seven- eighths of its sandy bed being quite dry at this season of the year. Both banks are steep ; on the north they soon become nearlv level, but on the southern side, on the contrary, they increase in steepness, and lofty hills arise, to all appearance, from the river itself. At the distance of half a mile north the point is visible where the Länder, or Kabul river, flows into the Atok, in the plain of Shush ; while, on the left shore of the Länder, another plain stretches towards the west, where the fort is situated; the bed of the river is strictly con- fined between mountains of black clay-slate, and at a little distance beyond the fort is the bridge of boats, formed of nineteen immense vessels, built singularly enough, with fine carved work both fore and JELLALIA AND KEMELLIA ROCKS. 217 aft, in imitation of what we might fancy the ships of the Argonauts to have been when they sailed towards Colchis. I was greatly surprised indeed at the scene which presented itself. In order to enjoy the view more leisurely, I had mounted the stony bank, raised against the wall of the fortress, where some Sikh soldiers had drawn up respectfully to make room for me. My attention was at first more particularly attracted by the fantastic richly-ornamented entrance to the fort, where I stood for some time, waiting for permis- sion to enter. I was stepping forward to get a better idea of the whole, when the officer on duty advanced towards me, and requested I would not attempt to go further ; " And why not ?" I inquired. " Bo- cause Ranjit Singh has given the Diwan orders to introduce you with all due ceremony to the interior." I was therefore content to look leisurely around me. Very near the fort was a ruin on some high ground; it was a Serai built by Akbar the Great, which Elphinstone calls a fort; a broad paved road, for cattle, leads down to the Indus between this and the fort, which was also the work of that emperor. From its position on precipitous rocks, it commands a view of the river below; the rapidity of the stream has polished the surface of these rocks like marble. The clear stream itself, its broad bed, with the two huge masses of rock called Jellalia and Kemellia, now standing up dry, and presenting all their dangers, which render the passage of the Indus so perilous when the waters are high, on account of the terrible whirlpools about them; the bridge of boats; the small plain on the right shore, on which stands the fort of Kairabad; the mountains forming a half circle beyond, with their watch-towers on the highest summits ; and finally, the strange medley of Hindu and Persian cos- tume and features of the various parties bathing, the very lowest degree of Hindu wretchedness, to the highly polished and richly dressed Persian horsemen with their long lances; composed altogether a very animated and striking scene. But I wished to get down to the brink of this holy stream, the limit of my journey, as it is of many a Hindu pilgrim. Well, here was I, the first European who had hitherto wandered 218 UNKNOWN SPECIES OF PALM. through this vast empire, from its most southern point at Cape Comorin, to its northern boundary at Atok. I was at the farthest extremity of India, and yet at the nearest point to my own land, had I been but blessed with the wings of a bird to direct my flight thither. Arrived on the shore of the Indus, I looked across to the mountains in the west, and thought of the country hidden beyond them, and of the dangers which attended my homeward return. This feeling of despon- dency, however, soon left me, and gave place to my customary equani- mity as to coming events, the tears which had started unconsciously to my eyes, were dried up, and I hastily crossed the river. The banks, which rise abruptly on both sides from the sandy bed, are about eighty feet high above the level of the water. The bridge and the river in its present state, may be from forty to forty-five fathoms across, and the stream in the middle about three deep, but the breadth between the two shores must be at least 300. During the rainy season, this river is filled up from bank to bank, the waters at this time rise as much as fifty feet, when the bridge, which is admirably contrived, and made of the very best timber, is taken to pieces, the boats being employed in navigating the stream; the lower classes sometimes make use of the distended ox-hides, which I have already mentioned, but not frequently, because the passage from one shore to the other in the regular boats costs nothing. They have ropes formed out of leaves of some species of palm-tree, unknown to me, twisted together. They told me that this palm grows near Atok. I took away one leaf with me, promising five rupees to any one who would bring me a flower or some of the seeds. Mr. Vigne had taken his post and was sketching on the Kabul side of the Indus, when presently we both saw a showy troop of horsemen ride down the opposite shore, cross the bridge, and approach the spot where we stood. It was Khan Singh, who was deputed by Ranjit Singh ; he came with the Thanadar, in the name of Kashmir Singh, Ranjit's son, who was then governor, to i*equest me to visit the fort. He had ridden forth in another direction in search of me. I accepted the invitation, and quitted Afghanistan, where I had been some five minutes only, and with Mr. Vignc returned to India. The fortress is built on the Kashmir Singh's Diwan at the Gate of Atok Baron Hugel'i Traveli, page »19. INTERVIKW WITH THE MINISTER. 219 declivity of a mountain, and is very spacious, forming a parallelogram, or rather a polygon, on most uneven ground, in sonic places reduced to a rectilinear shape, one side of it stretching along the river from north to south. The principal gate is on the north; the walls are high and strong, and surmounted with battlements, but there are no advanced works. In the interior, a third part is rendered habitable for four thousand people, and contains a bazar. I was received by the prince's Diwan, a Brahmin from Dehli, who came forth on an elephant, from which he dismounted when near to me and in the name of the Maha Raja proffered me a bag of rupees ; in his own, a branch with honey from the wild bees. He was an old man, advanced in years, and could not stand upright without the assistance of two persons. I could not bring myself to give utter- ance to the usual salutation of "are you well," it seemed so like mockery rather than any compliment. I requested permission to see the building more minutely, and the Diwan declared that he would conduct me wherever I wished to go, but as the day was much too short to admit of such a mode of observation, I begged him to resume his seat on the elephant, while I proceeded on foot. The reservoir belonging to this fort is well worthy of remark. Its depth is from forty to fifty feet, its circumference about twenty-five feet, and the river fills it as it flows. On the side of the river, the walls are only eight feet above high water; at present they are as much as fifty-eight above the dry bed. I wished to see the largest guns of the place, as in all Mohammedan strong places they are of great beauty; those in position at present were of brass, cast in Lahor, and answering, as I should judge, to the French sixteen-pounders; they are without ornament, but their construction, and the carriages on which they are mounted, seem both very skilfully designed; they are kept under shelter, a necessary precaution where the heat of the sun would otherwise split the wood. I at last completed my survey of this now partly dismantled fort, and not without considerable fatigue. The day was drawing to a close, and Kashmir Singh had not yet returned, but resolving to pursue my original plan, I had declined the invitation of the Diwan to pass a day in Atok, or even to delay 220 SKETCH OF A PRINCELY YOUTH. my journey for an hour, from the same impatience which had made me refuse the invitation of Ranjit Singh to go on as far as Peshawur. There was a crush of men and beasts in the bazar, camels terrified, asses kicking, horses prancing, and all this in a place where the closely built stalls scarcely permitted three men to walk abreast. The first sight of the Diwan's elephant put all the other animals to flight, and the boards on which the merchants had displayed their wares were all overset in the tumult; among them were many things which I parti- cularly coveted, and ordered my people to buy for me. The bazar of Atok is excellently furnished with the productions of Peshawur, Kabul, and Persia, and those of India are to be had in great abundance. My Munshi, Thakur-das, a Brahmin from Dehli, found in the Diwan a countrvman of the same sect as himself, and he requested my leave to eat with him. The longer I travelled in India, the more I was conscious of the great advantage of having a high-caste Hindu in my suite. Almost every business and occupation in the service of the higher orders, being transacted by the agency of Brahmins, the stranger will succeed in whatever he wishes or requires much more readily, should the Munshi be a Brahmin, especially in all communi- cations with other Brahmins, notwithstanding the difference of rank, than if the servant were of any other class. I had scarcely passed the fort in my jampan, when a man rode up to tell me that Kashmir Singh was approaching, and we met near the field where the Hindus burn their dead to which I before alluded. He was a youth of fifteen or sixteen, with a very clever and animated expression ; he was mounted on a white charger very richly caparisoned, and dressed in a long jacket of pink silk, with a belt, in which he carried a pair of English pistols, and a dagger; a loose robe wadded, and made also of pink silk, gave him an appearance of extreme com- fort; his trowsers were of blue and white, fitted tight to the leg; his shoes embroidered; his head dress was a low red turban. The com- plexion of this youth was olive, and the dark beard was just beginning to adorn his chin ; a pink umbrella was carried over his head. " You would do well to remain here," he said ; I answered, that had I been aware of his presence in the city, I should have asked permission NEED OF A GUIDE IN AN OPEN COUNTRY. 221 to come with all my people, and brought my tents. « They can be sent for ; where are they ?" " In Shujanpoor," answered I, " and though grateful for the invitation to remain, I must proceed on my way." " I intreat you to stay, the Mahä Raja has commanded me to do everything to make Atok agreeable to you, and I wish to be able to do it." Still I persisted. " You should stay with me two days, then go to Peshawur, and make acquaintance with Avitabile Sahib; after that, the Mahä Raja has written to me that you will certainly stop at Akora to visit Court Sahib, who is stationed there with the French legion, and if you do not like to go as far as Peshawur, you can travel easily to Akora and back in one day*." I exhausted myself in thanks but took my leave. Kashmir Singh is the only Indian I ever heard speak in short sentences, and he seems to possess more talent than it has hitherto been my good fortune to meet with. I very soon alighted from my jarapan, mounted my ghunt, and attended only by Mohan, galloped over the plain in order to reach Shujanpoor before night -fall. Unluckily, one village is here so exactly like another, that I missed ray way, the six palms which distinguish Shujanpoor, being only discernible from this side when one is very near to them. The sun went down while we were crossing the plain, but I had far outridden Mohan, and not another human creature was to be seen. In the distance some villages crowned the small eminences which rise from the level surface at intervals, and I decided on making for one of these and asking my way. While I was considering what I had best do, Mohan came up and assured me we were all right, but I felt equally sure to the contrary, we rode on a little way until the much-longed-for palms started up before our eyes. The darkness soon hid them from us, and we reached Shujanpoor after every ray of light had disappeared. I waited three hours for Mr. Vigne before I began my supper. Just as I had commenced he came in dreadfully • Kashmir Singh and Peshawur Singh, the two illegitimate sons of Ranjit Singh, aUied themselves with Ittar Singh's party. The former met with a cruel death, in the sanguinary contests for supremacy in the Panjäb, in May, 1844. 222 THE SPIRIT OF MAn's LABOUR. fatigued. He had stayed behind to sketch, and like me, had lost his way ; after many attempts to set himself right, he had been obliged at last to take a guide from one of the villages, which occasioned this long delay. The plain of Shush produces a species of the goat, which grows to a great size : they have long tails, which they carry horizontally, and no horns : they have a roman nose, and eyes of an uncommon size : their hair is quite black. I purchased the largest male I could meet with, and amused myself, while waiting for Vigne, with watching the motions of this strange caricature of nature by torch light. An old donkey, belonging to the fakir, stood near him, but my goat over-topped him by at least two hands, and the creature at length appeared in my sight like something mysterious. I fancied some Mephistopheles shining out of his great eyes, and turned round to my writing again, the labours of the Danaides to me. For will it ever attain the object I desire ? It is true, that is not the meanest design, which expects neither thanks nor reward. To many, labour of any kind is the creative and spiritual life working within them, or the light play of their fancy, assuming form and reality ; to others, it is the dull heaving of the heart, in which fate has laid a painful burthen, but which still heaves on for mere existence, which is not unfrequently laid down in this struggle. But after the grave and forgetfulness have long been our portion, when another people are ploughing the field under which we lie mouldering, if no remembrance of ourselves or our actions be left behind, yet will something remain of our labours, if they have been exercised on the realities of life. Such works, however unimportant, contribute to the formation of the minds which succeed their author. Under the most favourable circumstances, mine will repose in my chest, and no kindred spirit will learn a lesson from the sharp experience of these pages*. * The amiable and instructive spirit which dictated this work, will, we trust, even in the more unpretending garb of a translation, contribute largely to the entertainment of those who are interested in the condition and history of their fellow-men hi Asia, and serve, with other travels of a like stamp, to commemorate the parties spoken of, and the author who has so faitiifuUy described the countries he visited, — Ed. PURCHASE BETTER THAN COMPENSATION. 223 More than 2000 years ago, Alexander the Great crossed this plahi with his splendid army, and will not this grand idea raise the mind and withdraw it from the every-day repetition of life's toil? Surely it would, if any loftier thought than that of conquest had moved the heart of Alexander, if he had marched to spread benefit instead of ruin over his path. Even then it is not the will that ennobles the deed, but the accomplishment of that will ; and what was the great result of Alexander's campaign in India ? The death of thousands, the misery of the inoffensive inhabitants, and in the place of tranquillity and order, the unmitigated calamities of war. To me, the idea that brave and adven- turous men carried the productions of India over this plain to the west, long before Alexander lived, is far grander than all the brilliant victories of this conqueror of worlds. Their journeys bound nations together in amitv, softened the rude manners of the west, and' improved all things. Sad is it to think that this same plain has been for the last 800 years the territory where fanatical and furious barbarians, whose faith is a cloak for every crime, have held uncontrolled sway. But these days are now almost at an end, and we may look hopefully forward to the time when expeditions from the east to the west will finally subdue the remains of so baneful a power. To the Sikhs now stretching to the Indus, will succeed the hosts of England, who will unite this country to their enormous empire. Sunday, December 27.— We started at eight in the morning. I was benumbed with the cold, which had kept me awake all night in an open mosque ; and in spite of the fakir's wood, I shivered in every limb. I expected that he would demand some large compensation for his loss, but his pride was too great for this ; I therefore told tlie people to o-ive him five rupees, a sum which would have purchased for me either in London or Paris, a most warm and comfortable apartment. I began by making use of my feet to bring some warmth into them; but yesterday's journey had so fatigued me, that I soon had recourse to my ghunt, and cantered onward to Hussein Abdal, thinking the day's march would never come to an end. The road itself is altogether uninteresting, and I was obliged to stop in many places and wait for the guide, the path through the ravines being very difficult. 224 SUPPLIES NECESSARY TO COMFORT. I had no sooner arrived at Hussein Abdal, but I set off at once to visit the ancient palace and garden built by Jehanghir, which is one mile and a half from the town ; it is called Wah, the Indian cry of astonishment, It was not a serai, but a regular palace, situated in the best part of the country around, and is now an extensive and imposing ruin. No doubt the great inducement to build a palace here arose from the presence of three beautiful springs, which gush out from the earth, and are encircled by slabs of stone : they spread into large sheets of water, which are full of fish of various kinds. I wandered long about these once splendid rooms, some adorned with specimens of the finest stones, others with rich carvings, but now abandoned to the most per- fect solitude. The entrance is still worthy of the residence of an Emperor. At the bottom of the garden stands a little building, the use of which I could not understand ; having a beautiful spring issuing from within, and flowing all round it. It is the most richly ornamented part of the grounds, but I looked in vain for some way to enter, and as usually happens, my imagination became vivid in proportion as it remained unsatisfied. I peered into the bushes which surrounded it, and even climbed to the height above, to look for the entrance, but neither door nor window, nor any aperture whatever was visible ; and with curiosity ungratified, I was forced to retrace my steps. On my return, I was overjoyed to hear that the long-looked-for stock of provisions from Ludiana had arrived : they had been sent round by Lahor, Jamu, Kashmir, and Mazafferabad. It was with no little pleasure that I received a supply of wine and brandy, after twelve days' deprivation, replaced my wretched tea and sugar with something far better, and chepatis with biscuit. Instead of the tallow candles of Kashmir, always covered with black grease, I welcomed some wax lights ; even the preserved soups and meats had come safe to hand, allowing us a brief respite from the eternal mutton and fowl to which we were latterly restricted *. • Some idea may bo formed of the predilection most men li.-ive, especially Euro- peans, for what comes from their own country : the very name is so associated with early recollections and tastes, that a preference is given at any cost for provisions, which otherwise would be regarded with indifference. — Ed. NUR .[EIIAN's last RESTING-PLACE. 225 Near Hussein Abdal stands the ruined Serai of Akbar, in one end of which a Sikh Guru has established himself. Hussein Abdal owes its name to the grave of a Pir or devotee, who lived in the eminence where the place now stands, and his tomb is still to be seen. This Pir was called Shekh Hussein Abdal ; Abdal means fanatic, and is applied to a particular tribe among the Afghans *. This individual is a very celebrated person at Kandahar, where he was known as Bäba Wali. He chose the place of his abode because a spring comes forth from its sum- mit, and was the resort of pious pilgrims of many creeds. After his death, a fakir took up his place, as is usual, in the case of all the Mohammedan saints. Guru Naiiak, the founder of the Sikh religion, coming one day to the hill as a pilgrim, much heated and tired, requested some water of the fakir. The unbeliever's demand was refused ; and Nanak, laying his hand on the rock whence the spring issued, it ceased to flow, and on the very spot was a bas-relief of that hand in stone, which as soon as the Sikhs became lords of the country, was taken away from the mountain, and placed in the building erected in the middle of the Serai, and there raised as an object of veneration opposite the entrance. The Guru sings some passages out of the Grunth, or holy volume of the Sikhs, every morning before it. A tomb, now almost destroyed, stands near this Serai, overshadowed by two large cypresses which, as is frequently the case in Mohammedan countries, grow in a place quite surrounded with massive stone walls. Every account agrees that this is the last resting-place of the well- known Nur Jehän, the wife of Jehanghir. The frame-work of the door retains some vestiges of former grandeur : it is of black marble, as was the door itself, which has been carried offf. • The meaning of the term is referred by others to Abdal, siL;nifvin|; Servant of God ; but it is very generally supposed that this race is of far more ancient origin — a tribe of the Huns, known as Abtelites. — Ed. -)■ The tombs and palaces of the once mighty princes and nobles of the East, are highly instructive and affecting as memorials of the character of Asiatic sove- rei'^nty, the instability of all human greatness, and the infirmities of humanity. De- sirous to stand alone in their lives, they are in the sad trophies of death peculiarly solitary and dishonoured. The rank weed twines carelessly round the fntted Q 226 THE MOGHUL IMPERIAL ROADS. Monday, December 28. — The nights were now extremely cold; the water froze in the bottles, and the ground was covered every morning with hard frost. At noon, however, we had our Indian sun. I had appointed the morning for my visit to the Sikh Guru, at which cere- mony the whole population of Hussein Abdal was present. When I came to the marble steps leading to his Durbar, which was held before the celebrated stone, and saw him there seated on carpets, I took off my shoes, a courtesy which gained for me the loud praises of all present. The Guru received me with every mark of dignity, and accepted a present, which was certainly well bestowed, if only for the sight of the stone, on which the above-named marvel still remains imprinted. The great imperial route formerly leading from Hindüsthan to Kabul passes from Hussein Abdal to Lahor, and Serais were built along it at intervals of every six kos from each other. There were three between the former town and Rawal Pindi, but 1 purposed making the journey in two days, and started at once therefore from the Guru's Durbar. Near the first Serai is a small eminence, which has the advantage of a paved road, not remarkable in any way ; indeed, why it is there at all is the only singulai'ity, as there are many places where it would be far more useful than here. Perhaps it is owing to its being the only rocky hill between Atok and Lahor, that the honor of a paved road has been given to it ; at all events, it is called Miilgala, and an inscription, not very intelligible, ascribes it to Akbar. Just previous to this, I saw a stone bridge in ruins, which is an evidence of the change- ableness of the soil in the Panjab. This bridge spans a rivulet, and is constructed against a hill from sixty to eighty feet high, the formation column, or depends from the massy dome which shelters the owls, and the bats, or affords a temporary refuge to the traveller from the inclemency of the noonday heat or tropical raiu. Stone after stone falls, and is carried away with impunity, till at length the name of the tenant perhaps is lost, and the wild beast of the forest, or the scorpion and snake, take up their abode in the ruins,— fit representatives of the court of death. Just such is the history of their illustrious occupants. Fancy throws its ideal charms over the last recollections of Eastern celebrity; till the destructive process of time obliterates the few faint traces of truth, and super- stition concurs with fanaticism to supersede reality by iMe.—Ed. USUAL I'KESENT TO STRANOEHS. 227 of which must have originated from the water beneath it. There is another bridge very close to this, which is also nearly destroyed ; the traveller is now left to find his way through the ravines and the stream, as he best can. My camels, however, had not learned the secret, con- sequently their burdens were all cast on the ground. Janikasang, where we halted, is a wretched place, nine kos from Hussein Abdal. Tuesday, December 29. — The way continued through the plain, where there is very little cultivation, though the soil seems excellent, and must be of a most extraordinary depth, of which I could judge from several parts where it has been torn up by occasional wild torrents. The absence of cultivation is attributable perhaps to the very superiority of the soil ; for in this part of Asia, where rain so seldom falls, agri- culiure depends almost exclusively on irrigation. The country is intersected throughout by numerous streams, which flow from the high mountains, and are so deeply embedded in the earth, that the water cannot be conducted along the plain ; hence the country is in many parts a wilderness, producing nothing except stunted acacias and the ziziphus. When the rainy season sets in, the numerous deep ravines must put a stop to all travelling. There is no bridge near at hand, and the water in many places stands sometimes from twentv to thirty feet deep, there is, therefore, no remedy that I know of but patiently to await a change of weather. The ravines being formed by the streams, many of them are well supplied with water in the very driest season- Just before Rawal Pindi, there is a river called Sawan, the Swan of the maps, whence a small plain extends to the town itself. By this river I found the Thanadar, with the Sirni, (Persian,) or ßl/thcn, (Hin- dusthani,) the present of welcome, consisting of twenty-one pots of sweetmeats, each enough for one man to carry, a basket of eggs, one of fowls, two sheep, and a bag of rupees. I went to look about me in the adjacent parts, and then to my tent, which was pitched by the only well in the town, and about a musket- shot from the nearest houses. Rawal Pindi is called a fort, but it has not even a wall of defence. The place is very populous, and has a large bazar. Not far from my tent stood a little building, the environs of which 228 FIRST DISCOVERY OF ANTIQUITIES. were ornamented with a few acacias, the only trees near. On one of these I observed a bird, which was quite new to me, sitting quietly ; and sending for the huntsman, Jonki, I desired him to shoot it ; but the natives would not permit it, because the house was the residence of the Guru. On hearing this, I ordered the people to get ready instantly to depart, not because, as I told them, my servants were not permitted to shoot, but because they had entered into a dispute with religious per- sonages. As soon as these last heard my reasons, they came out in a body, and begged me to remain where I was, and shoot whatever I liked. I did remain therefore, but prohibited the shooting. The same evening I received a letter from General Ventura, and two baskets filled with choice European dainties, an attention not to be forgotten. They were escorted by a Jemidar, who was directed to follow me. I had also to thank the General for some English powder, which he sent me by a Sowar, and for which I had written to him from Baramulla. The man had travelled on a dromedary ninety-six kos from Lahor in three days. Wednesday, December 30. — It often happens that recent occur- rences, however unimportant in themselves, will elucidate questions long put aside from history as something inexplicable. This has more particularly happened in modern days, and perhaps the most striking proof has been afforded by the discovery of the famed Damietta stone, which solved the long-existing enigma of hieroglyphics. Something similar may be found in the journeys of Europeans to the part of Asia where I now am, which have cleared up much difficulty concerning Alexander's Indian expedition, and thrown a broad light on many shadowy paths of history. It happened one day that an Englishman being in the bazar at Delhi, received in change some of the copper coin called pais, a circumstance only singular in this, that however small the purchase may be, a native always makes the bargain for these lords of India, and is usually paid in larger amounts. It was still more curious, that the Englishman took notice of these small coins, thinking there was something uncom- mon in their appearance ; and I mention the circumstance without any idea of covertly reproving the indolence usually seen in India. Every BUDDHIST, BACTUIAN, AND SCYTHIAN COINS. 229 new comer gazes with more or less curiosity, but always with curiosity, on objects which have all the charm of novelty to him ; but this at last wears out, and generally long before the presidency of Bengal is quitted for the upper provinces. I can vouch for the truth of this sensation. Many things on which years ago I should have made an infinity of inquiries, have ceased to awaken the least interest in my mind, and if I, as a traveller, feel thus in matters of immediate inquiry, how much more those whose pursuit is the pleasure to be attained by their large income, or the readiest means of acquiring one. The little copper coins I have alluded to differed from those of India: instead of some legend, as on the Mohammedan ; some idol, as on the Hindu coins, they more resembled the money of the West, bearing a bust, a whole figure, and sometimes an inscription engraved round them. A super- ficial examination pointed them out as Greek coins, or as exact imita- tions ; and a more rigid scrutiny proved them to be either Bactrian or something nearly related to that country. The discovery was no sooner made known than many Englishmen in Upper India hastened to collect as many of the coins as possible, and an immense number were brought in, and at the same time others of silver and gold : the fact was simply this; the workers in those metals had been hitherto in the habit of melting them down, they now kept them to sell to the English. In a short time these ancient coins were all classified, and divided into the ancient Hindu, or Buddhist ; the Bactrian, which have been most valuable in illustrating the history of Central Asia; and the Indo-Scythian, which are as precious as the rarest documents. The last two might be subdivided into dynasties, shewing that Alexander's generals, who shared among them the mighty empire he had conquered, had retained possession of the country of the Indus much longer than history supposes, nay, that it is very possible that some of the dynasties survived to the appearance of the victorious Moham- medans. The ^tkst- division, forming the transition from the Bactrian to the Hindu, are by far the most remarkable. Like the coins of the West, which during the sway of the Christian Emperors of Constanti- nople, departed from the noble Greek form to assume the likeness of so many tasteless caricatures; so these degenerate still more, and the 230 FIELD OF BACTRIAN RESEARCHES. beautiful proportions of the original coin are lost in an unconnected jumble of points and lines. In the same way we find, first the Greek Basileos, then the same with Sanscrit letters, then Basileos Raja, then the last only, until, finally, both name and title disappear. This part of India, before the invasion of the Mohammedans, like Italy in the middle ages, had survived all the beauty of the arts. The strip of country in which the gold and silver coins of Bactria are found is not extensive. It runs down from the bank of the Sawan at Rawal Pindi as far as the Indus, and from the description as given by the ancient Greek writers, I conclude that Rawal Pindi may be built on, or near, the site of Taxila. The coins which form the link between the Bactrian and Hindu are found there, and in greater num- bers still at Kanoj on the Ganges ; the copper money is found from Delhi to Agra. I postpone the inquiry whether there were an Indo- Bactrian kingdom existing in the Panjab and in a part of Northern India; or whether the coins discovered there were brought by the conquei'ors, and exchanged for gold and precious stones. I purchased a great many of the Bactrian coins while in Rawal Pindi, which are called Sitaram Pais, from Sita and Rama, the first being the name of a goddess, the second that of her celestial lover. The well-known truth that no place is more unpleasant to a Euro- pean traveller than one of importance, was quite substantiated here. The bearers refused to go any further ; those who carried the jampan left me, the camel drivers demanded their raza, discharge, and I was all impatience to get away. I sent therefore for the Thanadar to provide me the means of proceeding on my journey, even should he have recourse to compulsory measures, menacing him with the anger of Ranjit Singh, if I found myself necessitated to pass another night in Rawal Pindi. Happily Ranjit has given European travellers prodigious power over his functionaries, from the governor of a province down to the village justice. Every man of them was obliged to send in a certificate of my satisfaction to the Mäha Raja, and for this, if neces- sary, they would have given large presents. The consequence was visible in my preparations being completed to-day at 1 2 o'clock. I was in too great haste to wait for the whole party, and therefore left PICTURESQUE MAUSOLEUM. 231 the Munshi behind to look after the baggage, while I myself journeyed on as far as a ruinous Serai, seven kos distant from Rawal Pindi, where I halted to give the bearers time to join me before night, A good many travellers were already assembled there. Nothing is left of ancient splendour in this serai, except some portions of the outer walls ; but in earlier times there were here, as in most other serais, shaded walks in which persons of the lower ranks found shelter, but the smallest of them, which still afforded some trifling protection against the cold, were all occupied. Although there was room enough to spread my tent in the inner court, the wind whistled round it in every direction, and the walls afiForded no defence against the weather; the filthiness of the court-yard was disgusting. I therefore preferred occupying my small tent, which made its appearance towards evening, and pitched it before the entrance to the building, where it was screened from the strong north-west wind ; while my servants all lodged near me, in the only unoccupied apart- ment. The view from this point was very delightful. Before it lay a large Mohammedan mausoleum, surmounted by a lofty cupola, and surrounded on every side by a multitude of other tombs. The square in which they were erected contained also a mosque and an asylum for pilgrims. The large building was already falling to decay; the cupola admitted the light of heaven through many a rent, and the whole structure had a threatening aspect. Surrounded by rocks of remarkable form, some towering one above the other, some standing out singly and dark from the horizon, this funeral monument is the highest point in the vicinity. In the far distance, and over the lofty mountains, above all these objects, rose the snow-capped chain of which the Pir Panjal is the monarch. The rocks are of sandstone ; the direction N.VV. and S.E., the strata vertical. From this elevation there is but one solitary mountain discernible in the south-west, the plain of the Panjab seeming to extend uninter- ruptedly in that direction. This appearance however is deceptive, for on a nearer examination the surface is found deeply intersected with ravines and water- courses. Before dinner Vigne and I wandered about the neighbourhood, and soon came to a large tank, round which were some 232 TEMPESTUOUS WEATHER. fragments of rock. Here we did our best to furnish ourselves with an extra dish, in the shape of some wild fowl, which were swimming about the water very temptingly. But we were unsuccessful, and on our return I found the Munshi had arrived, with information that my baggage had left Rawal Pindi on the backs of coolies, in default of proper carriage; that he had seen the large tent poles, usually carried by four men, lying down on the road, and half a dozen other packages belonging to me also strewed about, the bearers having, of course, run away. I immediately dispatched people for the packages, but the tent poles were too far off and much too heavy for the men to fetch them this day; the bearers of the Panjab, like their fellows in Kashmir, being immoveable at any price after nightfall. The Shah had arrived also, and pitched his tent near mine. As the sun went down, I saw symptoms in the sky which made me anticipate rain, although I hoped that it might prove only a passing shower. As a precautionary measure, however, I had those things most likely to be injured by wet, brought within the small tent where I was lodged. In the evening I visited the Shah, and seeing that his tent was pitched in a piece of low ground, I warned him of the likeli- hood of rain ; but he did not think there would be much, and so left the tent where it was. Thursday, December 31. — I had erred in my reckoning as to the time when I made sure of reaching Lahor. A violent sirocco came on last night, accompanied by storms of rain ; the wind shifted, and my tent now suffered the fiercest attacks of the tempest. I heard the rain pouring down during the night, and when I left my bed after lying awake for hours, everything in my tent was swimming. My clothes were all saturated with water, and my only comfort in putting them on, in this state, arose from the feeling that it was only an anti- cipation of what they must be very shortly, at all events. I looked out upon a deluge. The whole country had become one interminable swamp, and the things which had been left outside the tent were scarcely distinguishable. A fire to make our breakfast seemed quite out of the question, and some change of situation absolutely requisite ; but where wore we to find a better? The ruinous old Serai was filled with a THE traveller's REFUGE. 233 motley assemblage of travellers ; and though in my capacity of White Lord, I might have turned them all out of their quarters, without the smallest apprehension that they, though many hundreds in number, would think of disputing my right to rob them of their shelter, backed as I should have been by the Munshi and Khan Singh's authority, humanity prevailed with me, to waive any such method of bettering my own situation. Whereupon I sallied forth to look about me, and about a quarter of a mile in the direction of the cemetery, I found out a place where we could remain for a day defended from the weather, the ruins being surrounded by walls, and having several small vaulted niches, which are still in tolerable repair, the destructive fury of the Sikhs having exhausted itself on the larger tombs and the mosque. Into these niches, therefore, I had all my goods conveyed, and selected a corner cell for myself, very like a dungeon of the age of chivalry, without any window. The entrance was narrow, dark, and very hard to find. There I established myself for the day with my carpet, kanat, and a few immediate necessaries; it was so dark that candles were indispensable, but my greatest discomfort arose from the loss of an entire day, or perhaps many days while this rain lasted. In truth, I could not make sure that I might not be detained in this part of India so long as even to miss the steamer which left Bombay for Egypt, and in this case, it was a question not only of days but of months. So little had I thought of these rains, that I had announced to General Ventura my intention of being in Wazirabad on the 4th of January; an additional proof, if any were needed, of the extreme folly of laying down any definite plan for the future, particularly in a country like this, where a man travelling alone on horseback may get on well enough, but when obliged to have a number of people with him, he is dependent on a thousand contingencies. After making my own arrangements, I sallied out again to look after my companions in misfortune. I found Vigne in bed, with water all about him, and rain pouring in on all sides. I could not help laughing at his philosophy, and with some trouble persuaded him to get up and share my strange lodging. As for the poor Shah, he was sitting amidst his twenty-five attendants, drenched through; he had 234 REVIEW OF THE PAST. lost all his energies, and declined even the trouble of moving when I invited him to share my dry prison-house. And thus passed the last day of a year which I had purposed to spend on the broad sea. On looking back, I confess that more extra- ordinary to me than even the wondrous scenes of nature, was the great diversity existing in manners and habits among the various people with whom my travels had brought me acquainted. The last day of the year 1834, I passed on my voyage from Manilla to Canton, upon the stormy waters of the Yellow Sea; and during the succeeding twelve- months, how much had I been allowed to seel China and India; the most extensive empires in Asia, the most beautiful by nature, offering new evidences of the majesty of creation, and of the high refinement of ancient civilization. From China in the East, where the vast ocean is the only boundary of this mighty continent, to China in the West, or Tibet, I travelled in a very wide and devious course. I had visited the flourishing settlement of Singapoor ; the Muluccas now declining ; the rich island of Penang; Madras, the theatre of many a European contest ; Calcutta, the famous city of palaces ; the ancient Brahminical retreat of Benares; Allahabad, Oude, Agra, Gwalior, and Delhi, still magnificent in its fallen greatness; the Himalaya, those giants of our earth; the beautiful but melancholy valley, not impossibly the cradle of the human race; finally, I had had a glimpse of Tibet, finishing with a toilsome journey to the ancient Taxila and the modern Atok. The whole year was fraught with events well deserving my remembrance; and though I had at times experienced a deep sensation of loneliness, I had many days to dream of, full of peace, tranquillity, and friendly intercourse ; my strength of mind and of body were unimpaired ; yet fatigue and occupation generally silenced evei*y half-suppressed wish for more comforts than I could procure. And thus, also, ended my fortieth year, without a wish to live over again one of its days, or even hours; that year which, beginning with a storm, and ending in a tomb, presented a true image of our life on earth. Friday, 1st January, 1836. — Floods of rain ushered in the first day of the new year. I was left alone to welcome it; Vigne had gone A CHANGE OF WEATHER. 235 early to bed, overcome with fatigue. Some future traveller will perhaps inhabit this same little nook, and should curiosity lead him to creep about it, he will wonder whether he has got into the den of a hyena or a wolf, or if serpents ever made it their abode. But when his researches have led him from the narrow entrance to the dark round tower, and the light of his torch discovers to him the murky walls, and his own laboured breathing tells him of the heavy damp air within, he may with difficulty comprehend how it was possible for a European travelling with a large suite of natives, ever to dream of remaining in such a place for two whole days. The unfortunate conjuncture of circumstances, which brought my tent poles into the power of bearers who were pressed into my service without wages, contrary to my express orders; the folly of leaving them without any one to look after them, solves the riddle but too plainly of their flight and throwing down their burden at four miles distance. The sky cleared in the afternoon, and I desired them instantly to get ready for a move ; the old Serai had not proved a very desirable residence for any of us, for there was no bazar for the natives, and no wood procurable ; as for the bearers and camel drivers, they had all taken to flight. Luckily, six camels that my Munshi had picked up somewhere in Rawal Pindi, arrived about noon ; very suspiciously answering to the beasts that had been driven away, and wanting drivers into the bargain ; I was anxious, if possible, to get on to Mänikyäla to-day, to bring all our affairs into a due train once more, and give the natives the opportunity of thoroughly drying themselves ; for this short journey we had yet abundant time. My first visit, on emerging from my cell, was to the Shah, whom I found in a miserable plight, shivering like a patient in an ague fit, while his servants were so completely soaked with the rain, that I looked forward to nothing else than their serious illness. I ofi"ered to administer some brandy to them all, but as staunch Mohammedans they would not listen to such a proposal. The Shah was quite amazed at first when he heard of my intention to recommence our journey to-day, but he soon found himself able to follow my example and get ready, and this being done we started, and after a short progress through a flat 236 BUDDHIST RUINS OF MANIKYALA. country, reached the end of our day's n^arch, a grand monument of ancient times, called by the natives Mänikyäla Top, or Burj. According to Elphinstone, this Dhagoba"** is 72 feet high, and 450 in circum- ference. While in Ceylon, where these Dhagobas are frequently seen, I took much pains to find some way of admission into them. They are always strongly built, the exterior being in the form of cupola, but there is nothing else but this; the Dhagoba being, in fact, an edifice raised over some relic, a tooth, a lock of hair, &c., considered sacred, in the Buddhist faith. Near it is generally some Vihara or Temple, and in the neighbourhood of this Mänikäyla Dhagoba, I observed, towards the west, the foundation walls built in the form of a large square, all that remained of a former Vihara. Compared with others which I have seen, this Dhagoba is the smallest in proportion to its elevation that I have ever met with, and the drawing in Elphinstone's work does not give any correct idea of its proportions. It is built of Kankar stone, which is the produce of water, and the softest stone known; the base is constructed of coarse sand-stone, and about six or eight feet high, ornamented with pilasters four feet high, and with decorative capitals. These pilasters are six feet apart. Above this, and about fourteen feet higher than the ground, runs a projecting cornice whence the cupola rises. The building was first opened by General Ventura. From the highest point which I reached, a well descends, twelve feet square and eighteen feet deep, but as the work of opening proceeded, this was soon filled up with stones ; and another attempt to penetrate by the lower part of the building was found impracticable. He therefore ordered the workmen to begin at the upper part. In a short time, they arrived at the middle of the shaft, where they met large masses of stones; these were broken through, and near the foundation appeared a small vaulted recess containing • Or Dagop, {Dhatugarhha, Sanscrit), Dagonpa, Tibetan ; a name given to all buildings in which relics of Buddha are deposited ; generally a hair, a tooth, &c. The remains of these edifices are found extensively scattered throughout the Eastern continent and islands of Asia. The term Top {Stupa, Sanscrit), also sig- nifies a Buddhist edifice of like character. — Ed. CAMEL CARRIAGE IN WET WEATHER. 237 a gold cylinder, with some fluid in it, and some Buddhist coins. Mr. James Prinsep has given a description of these in the Asiatic Journal. According to the natives, 500 men worked for a whole month at the opening of this monument. Whether owing to their increased weight by being wet, or to the slipperiness of the ground, which always distresses these animals, the camels had carried the tents as far as Manikyala with the utmost difficulty ; they were still too damp to be pitched, and I was obliged to look out for a lodging in the wretched village. The Hindu and Sikh have always their temple to resort to, and the Mohammedan his mosque, the first had often been my refuge, the last but seldom, owing to my unwillingness to shock the Mohammedan prejudices, but on the present occasion it happened that the mosque was the only place large enough to hold my bed. I was, therefore, obliged to take possession of it. Manikyala is ten kos from Rawal Pindi, and two and a half kos from the Serai. Saturday, January 2. — I purposed making the journey to Rotas, twenty-five kos, in two days, Taraak being about half-way. But the poor camels had arrived at Manikyala very much fatigued, and though I expected that the road would be somewhat drier to-day, yet I feared for the success of ray plan. Taniak, therefore, was fixed upon for the end of this day's journey, and after waiting at the Top until my people had all departed, I followed. The first glance at the unfortunate camels, slipping along the ground, and tumbling down with their burdens, while nothing but heavy blows could induce them to rise or move at all, satisfied me that no baggage would reach Tamak that night, and that if I wanted to keep my people along with me, I must shorten the march. Bisentaur was therefore appointed as the night station, about three kos nearer than Tamak, but this new order only reached a small number of the suite. About half-way to Bisentaur stands a Serai of large dimensions. I have already said that these buildings were erected at certain distances, and served as lodging places for the Moghul Emperors when they travelled from Delhi to Kabul. They are not always on the modern traveller's route, nor must the reader even suppose, when I speak of a 238 CHANGEABLE COURSE OF THE RIVERS. road, that this is always a broad path kept in constant repair ; it is, on the contrary, a mere beaten track, usually found with much trouble, altered by every accident of nature, and, in this part of the Panjab, constantly broken up by the ravines and hurried waters, and com- pelling the traveller, no longer invited to shelter himself in the Serai, to swerve very far from the original line. I never passed through a country so devoid of any pretension to beauty. The water has ploughed deep furrows in every direction, and probably owing to the summer droughts, the ground is left without cultivation. Our march was so toilsome that I almost despaired of seeing Bisentaur at all this night, the last hour being consumed in labouring through the deep sandy bed of the Kähan, with precipitous banks on either side of us, Bisentaur lies on one of the highest points, but whether of the right or left bank I cannot say, for the now dry river winds in a thousand directions, and I was so entirely exhausted, that it was with difficulty that I climbed the bank which led us to the miserable dirty village, where the only decent house was the Zenana of the Thanadar. He oifered to send his wives elsewhere if I would take up my quarters in it, but this T felt bound to decline. It was in vain to think of waiting for my tent, and I was really at a loss where to go, for neither bearers nor servants were there to assist me. The wretched huts were full of vermin, the whole place seemed under water, in the so-called street, the mud was over my feet ; and without warm coverings, or cloak, to pass the night in the open air would have been death. At last, I found shelter in the Dharamsala, the house of the Sikh Guru, who, seeing me seat myself quite worn out at the threshold of one of the huts, invited me in, on the condition that none of my Musselman servants should enter; to this, however, I refused to accede, and the Brahmin, who joined me at the moment, was eminently useful to me, as the Sikhs hold them in great veneration. He told the Guru that if he put up with the contamination of the unclean Musselman out of affec- tion to me, a Sikh might safely do the same, and the other being reassured by his tone, opened his dwelling to me, which consisted of one apartment, inclosed on three sides, the other left open. I had neither bed nor chair, and was forced to lie on the ground, so weary and INCLEMENCY OF THE SEASON. 239 heartsick that life itself seemed a burden. Some of the servants arrived at eight in the evening. For the first time since our companion- ship, I left the care of providing food to Vigne, but neither khansaman nor bawarchi had arrived. Nazim Khan, Ahmed Shah's deputy from Iskardu, prepared for us a dish much eaten at Kabul, and which they called kubebi. It consisted of mutton cut into small pieces and roasted; Mohammed Shah sent us a mess of reivash, rhubarb, the Brahmin baked some chepatis, and when a bottle of Bordeaux was discovered, though I could not touch a morsel, Vigne's hunger was quite satisfied. The night was cold and rainy, and as the bearers, who had the very things I wanted to protect myself against the weather, were still absent, it passed uncomfortably enough with me. The men who had come, pressed me to take whatever warm covering they had, but I could not deprive them of it, and only entreated to be left undisturbed. Trembling with cold, 1 watched through the greater part of that wearisome night. Sunday, January 3. — Long before daybreak I was awakened by the chanting of the Guru ; and suffering from severe headache and cough, I wanted to start ; but it was no easy matter to rouse up the poor tired creatures, and I felt how much it costs to put one's self in motion. I had not the least idea what had become of the bearers, the camels, or two- thirds of my attendants. The Brahmin fulfilled his duty of presenting a handsome present to the Guru, on my part, which he acknowledged with the most profound gratitude, in words and gestures, blessing me in God's name, and wishing me a happy journey. We were passing through the filthy streets, when the confidential servant of the Shah met us with the news that his master was very ill. I reproached my- self for having quite forgotten him, since it was to be expected that the cold and damp together would be attended with some injurious conse- quences to his health. I now dismounted quickly, and went on to see how he really was. I found him very feverish; and after giving him my usual prescription — calomel, advised him to wrap himself well up in his arm-chair, and keep as much warmth in him as possible, until we reached Makreli, eight kos from hence, which place I had fixed on as the station for the night. As soon as we were finally out of Bisentaur, we 240 MARCHING IN THE RAINS. entered a country entirely composed of lulls, running for a long time in every possible direction ; and as if to put a negative at once on the Guru's friendly wishes, a storm came rolling onwards from the south- east, the direction we were taking, and whence, for the last two days, we had heard occasional claps of loud thunder resounding. The hail storm now came on in good earnest, accompanied by repeated and terrific peals, which reverberating from hill to hill, made the noise quite deafening. Not a tree was visible, and my sedan being uncovered, 1 was wetted to the very skin. The bearers ran as fast as they could to a building at some distance, where the coolies had already taken refuge ; but I did not allow them to remain there long, for the place was too small to admit my jampan, and I was consequently exposed all the time to the incessant rain. Our progress now became truly difficult, for the way was so slippery, that the bearers could scarcely keep on their feet ; the ravines were all filled with water, foaming and tearing along, and there was not a spot of level ground. It may be guessed that we were by no means in a state to be envied, nor did the piercing wind and rain improve my cold or cough. At length, the road became so bad, that I was obliged to get out and walk. The bearers had chosen to take a bye-way which shortened the distance by three kos, but which was only practicable for pedestrians and horses without any burden, and does not lead by Tamäk. Before we reached this place, it was necessary to descend into the bed of the Kähan ; and after this we found ourselves more than once in the midst of some swollen mountain torrent; and I was constantly slipping down the deep and insecure paths which skirted the banks. The formation of these is sandstone, of a light grev, very brittle, covered with a red ferruginous earth; the stratum of the sandstone is perpendicular; and on the summit of the hills insulated rocks projected in the most remarkable shapes, the inter- vening spaces being filled up with the earth above alluded to, which is frequently indurated to stone, and covered with another surface four or five inches thick. Pieces of chalcedony, measuring a quarter of an inch in thickness, are embedded in it ; quartz in small crystals, and a whitish substance, unknown to me, is also found in the sandstone. Before we arrived at Makreli, we entered the bed of the Kalian, where the red. THE SIKir IRREGULAR TROOl'S. 1241 yellow, and grey formations towering above each other in masses, were most remarkable. The place is miserable, and very small. 1 was sur- prised to see the people and baggage coming in during the evening, but the poor camels were not to be driven so fast. I slept in my little tent, which they pitched in the Mohammedan cemetery, although it was not yet quite dry. For the first time for several days I enjoyed the genial warmth of a fire. Towards evening the Shah arrived : he was much better than when we parted, at least so he assured me; but I think his politeness to his physician carried him a little too far, for he still had a good deal of fever. Monday, January 4. — I feel as if I ought to be nearer home ; for my late exposure to bad weather has given me such a catarrh as I never had before, and my health is evidently affected. A fine sunshiny morn- ing succeeded the stormy weather of yesterday; and before starting, I sent to inquire after my patient, who came to thank me in person, and to assure me that he was quite cured. I was as much astonished as many other doctors are occasionally at the success of their own pre- scriptions, though I had not quite so many scruples in testifying my surprise. Our road, in point of hillocks and ravines, was little better than that of yesterday. We had gone about three kos, when we fell in with two Sikh battalions marching towards Peshawar, fine well dressed men, with long blue coats and turbans. They were irregular troops, and formed no part of the French legion. They marched in good order, and were followed by a body of camp-followers with their tents, also in close column ; but I did not think it at all agreeable nevertheless, to be stopped by half a hundred camels in this narrow pass, where it was quite impossible to get out of their way. It was really a pitiable thing to watch these poor beasts trembling with fatigue, toiling up the steep way with their heavy burdens, which threatened every instant to over- set them. About a dozen women followed the troops, and one group, consisting of a little woman riding a small pony, with a young girl in front, and a taller one behind her, struck me as quite original. The fort of Rotas, one of the most extensive in the north of India, is visible from a high point at four kos' distance, and encircles, as it were, an R 242 THE ANCIENT FORTRESS OF ROTAS. isolated hill between 200 and 300 feet high. It is separated into two by a deep cleft in the rock. The fort has an imposing appearance at the end of a fruitful plain, one of the first seen in this part of the Panjab, with the further advantage of being able to protect the harvest; and it is bathed by the waters of the Kähan, which winds round Bisentaur and Makreli ; that is, when it has any water. The Mohammedans have sunk deep wells to supply the plain during the summer season, when the river is always dry ; one of these, about two kos on this side of Rotas, is really an immense work. The fortress has long been abandoned as too extensive, and is now all but in ruins, one large portion of the walls having fallen into the depths below. The house of a fakir near the river, was fixed on as my resting-place, but on one side it lay entirely exposed to the wind, which at this season is piercingly cold throughout the Panjab ; I wished, moreover, to visit the fortress, and therefore desired to be conducted to the lodging which Khan Singh told me had been got ready for my accommodation within it. The walls rise in the most singular forms above the river ; the entrance gate, 200 feet high, seems to be quite lifted up in the air, so gigantic are its proportions. Other divisions of these immense works, are on a scale equally vast. There are but three gates in the whole fortress : two are almost concealed from view by the ravines and steep eminences close to them. The way to the third is more open towards the river, but still well defended by large towers, which protect the chief entrance, formed by two gates, one within the other. On the second, which is reached by a winding path 1 00 or 1 30 feet higher than the first, is an Arabic inscription, which makes known the year of the Hejira, and that of the builder, Shir Shah Lodi Patan, who for five years, until his death in 1545, sat on the defeated Humayun's throne of Delhi. When Humayun fled to Afghanistan and Persia, in order to levy forces to recover his kingdom, Shir Shah raised this formidable obstacle in his way. The interior is highly interesting. The ruins of buildings are scattered in every direction. The angular pillars yet standing; the one window in each direction, still traced in the solitary fragment of the ruined palace, struck mc forcibly. It seemed unaccountable how it could have survived the ravages which have laid all waste beside it. LIMIT OF TUE FICUS RELIGIOSA. 243 But northern India is more fortunate in this respect than the southern parts, where nature soon destroys the most substantial edifices. Here the vegetation is more feeble, and they have not the Ficus religiosa in such luxuriance, as in the more tropical regions, where it frequently takes root in the crevices of the walls. I did, indeed, see one tree of this species growing in Rotas, at the door of a fakir, near the bridge which leads over the ravine to the interior of the town, but tiiis was among the earliest symptoms of my approach to India, and during the cold months of winter the tree is always sickly- The portion of wall above noticed, now standing has been rendered really habitable. Where the deep chasm has parted the mountain in two, a gate and bridge have been erected, which connect the two divisions of the fortress; and on the southern side of the gate a large Indian fig has flourished nearly long enough to overshadow the whole of the entrance in the most picturesque manner. Here the Jemidar deputed by General Ventura to provide for me, had prepared a very convenient little dwelling, and a stock of wood for our use; a necessary article which it occasioned us considerable time and trouble to procure at every station. As I was about stepping in, I was saluted by a puff of smoke, and presently saw three dirty girls squatting round the fire, and warming some bread by it. The poor Thanadar, who was expecting a great many eulogiums on the excellent state of the house, was struck dumb on seeing the children, who had taken the liberty of appropriating to their own use both the wood and the house, calculating that I should not make my appearance for some days to come. He gave the first who came within his reach a slap, which sent her squalling away in a moment, but the others who echoed her screams, did not attempt to move, or to desist from their occupation, in spite of all I could say or do. I really could not help laughing at their horrid noises, and this seemed to have more effect than scolding, for as soon as their bread was done to their liking, they took themselves off. According to the Thanadar, the detached building which I had been observing with so much interest, is called the palace ; Raja Mehan Singh ka Mahal; the people called it Mali Taj or Mali Burj, the Gar- dener's Tower, and ascribe its construction to Mehan Singh, Shir r2 244 UNIVERSAL. MEDICINE OF INDIA. Shah's wazir. The Thanadar told me that the fortress, as it now stands, was built in three years, and cost 150 lakhs of rupees. I could believe the last account more easily than the first ; but as Shir Shah did not occupy the throne of India more than five years, meeting his death at Kalingarh by the bursting of a bomb from one of his own guns, which rebounded from the walls of the fortress, it is not probable the construction of this great work could have taken a much longer time. It was not until the reign of the third prince in succession to Shir' Shah that Humayun led an army into India to reconquer the throne of his father. The governor of this fortress, Tatäi Khan, evacuated it without striking a blow, and gave Hamayun a good oppor- tunity of seeing to advantage what his enemies had done for him. This fortress has never been well defended. We read in Ferishta's History of India, that there was at Rotas an impregnable fortress four centuries before the Christian era, a proof of the high antiquity of the place. This day General Ventura sent me two packages, one containing some excellent claret, the other some beer, a kindness which I felt most gratefully, and which I quickly acknowledged; for I had caught a severe cold in the late hail-storra, and my poor Brahmin was worse than myself. For his fever I recommended a strong dose of calomel, and I got to his lodging to see him, but no further; for I had no strength left me. In the room where I had to sleep there was no window, and the walls were blackened with smoke, so that as I looked at the bed, and the lights burning near it, the whole had a most funereal aspect. Tuesday, Januarj»^ 5. — I was very glad when the night was fairly gone. In the morning several sick persons came to ask my advice and aid as usual ; among these were two sepoys belonging to the corps we had met yesterday on their march. One who was borne along by two comrades was past all human help, and as my store of medicines was exhausted, I could do little or nothing for any of them, however com- passionately disposed towards them. During my journey to Kashmir I was so frequently called upon to act the part of a physician, that I had abundant opportunity of observing the benefits arising from the use of SAMKNKSS OF TUE I'ANJAB PLAINS. 245 calomel, and in this country 1 should consider it the only medicine of any service. We passed through a variety of climates in our long marches; sometimes we travelled in companies of some hundreds of persons together ; and scarcely a day passed without one or more cases of sickness, and yet, with two solitary exceptions, (where jaundice had preceded the attack of fever,) none of them lasted more than a single day, nor did I lose so much as one of my followers' during the whole five months of my travels, neither was I obliged to leave any of them behind me. The whole company now started for Wazirabad, where a vehicle an