had attracted a number of the neighbouring peasantry, who were assembled outside the walls with their weapons, waiting for the departure of the treasure, while sentries were posted by the escort on all the old towers, and the gates were fast closed. One of our servants applied for a passage in vain; the warders were civil, but peremptory, pointing to the lurking enemy, and asking how they should endanger the treasure of "the refuge of the world." At last, on more of our sepoys coming up, and finding that we were strong enough to protect them, they gladly opened their gates, and the armed peasantry dispersed themselves. Our camp was fixed beyond the town, near a large pool of water, amid some tall trees, and having at a little distance a grove surrounded by a high wall with a gothic gateway, the garden, as we were told, of a former minister of Oude, named Nawâll Sing, who had built the village, and from whom it derived its name.

Adjoining the pool we saw a crowd of people assembled round a fallen elephant; apprehending that it was one of our own, 1 urged my horse to the spot. On asking, however, whose it was, a bystander said it belonged to "the asylum of the world," and had fallen down from weakness, which was not surprising, since, instead of an allowance of twenty-five rupees a month, necessary for the keep of an elephant, I was told that these poor creatures, all but those in the immediate stables of his majesty, had for some time back, owing to the dilapidated state of the finances, and the roguery of the commissariate, received only five! They had now given the wretched animal a cordial, and were endeavouring to raise it on its legs, but in vain. It groaned pitifully, but lay quite helpless, and was in fact a mountain of skin and bone. Another elephant of very large size, and in somewhat better plight, was brought to assist; and I was much struck with the almost human expression of surprise, alarm, and perplexity in his countenance, when he approached his fallen companion. They fastened a chain round his neck and the body of the sick beast, and urged him in all ways, by encouragement and blows, to drag him up, even thrusting spears into his flanks. He pulled stoutly for a minute, but on the first groan his companion gave he stopped short, turned fiercely round with a loud roar, and with his trunk and fore feet began to attempt to loosen the chain from his neck. In fact, his resistance and refusal to sanction their proceedings were so decisive, that an immediate cry arose of "le-jao," take him away, in which I very cordially joined. I asked them if they could get nothing which the fallen animal was likely to eat, urging that, weak as he was, even if they did get him to rise, he would certainly fall again. They seemed sensible of this, and two of them ran for a great bundle of greens and a pot of water; the greens he ate readily enough, but refused the water, which

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they accounted for by saying he supposed it was physic. He was said to be very old, which the size of his tusks confirmed. Among the group thus assembled were some of the tallest and finest men I have ever seen here, or indeed in Europe. All the crowd were civil and communicative, and I could not help thinking that the peasants of Oude, in every thing but honesty, bore a high rank among those of their own class throughout the world.

In the course of the day a messenger, mounted on a fast trotting camel, (a style of conveyance for couriers very usual in these provinces,) arrived from Mr. Ricketts, his saddle perched high on the top of the hump, his carbine and sabre hanging down on each side, and guiding the animal not with a bridle, but with å small cord fastened to a ring through his nostrils. The message from Mr. Ricketts was that his own aide-de-camp, with one of the king's, would meet me next morning at about six miles from Lucknow, and that if I chose they would bring with them spare elephants for our party. This was fortunate, since on inquiry we found that we had still nearly ten coss between us and the Residency, a greater distance than our animals or foot attendants could get through without some rest, or before the middle of the day. Mr. Ricketts's offer, however, made the arrangement easy.

October 21.-We set out at half past three o'clock, and for some time lost our way, there being no other road than such tracks as are seen across ploughed fields in England, the whole country being cultivated, though not enclosed, and much intersected by small rivers and nullahs. The king's suwarrs were, I found, for show only, since they knew nothing about the road, and as for defence I should have been very sorry to be obliged to rely on them. I was pleased, however, and surprised, after all which 1 had heard of Oude, to find the country so completely under the plough, since were the oppression so great as it is sometimes stated, I cannot think that we should witness so considerable a population, or so much industry. Yet that considerable anarchy and mis-rule exist, the events of yesterday afforded a sufficient reason for supposing.

The bulk of the population is still evidently Hindoo. All the villages have pagodas, while many are without mosques; by far the greater part of the people who pass us on the road, have the marks of caste on their foreheads, and it being now a Hindoo festival, the drumming, braying, and clattering of their noisy music, was heard from every little collection of houses which we passed through. At length, and sooner than we expected, we saw a considerable "Suwarree," or retinue, of elephants and horses approaching us, and were met by Captain Salmon and the King of

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ENTRANCE INTO LUCKNOW.

Oude's officer, the latter followed by a train of elephants splendidly equipped with silver howdahs, and sufficient to accommodate more than three times the number of our party. A good many suwarrs, in red and yellow, followed Captain Salmon, and a most irregular and picturesque body of infantry, with swords and shields, long matchlock guns, and other guns of every sort and size, spears like spits, composed, sheath and all, of iron, and some silvered over, large triangular green banners, and every thing most unlike the appearance of European war, made up the cortège of Meer Hussun Khân. The whole formed a stage procession of the most interesting and showy kind, in which there was no regularity and little real magnificence, for the dresses of the men and trappings of the elephants were all the worse for wear, and the silver howdahs did not bear a close examination, but were flowing and picturesque dresses, glowing colours, numbers; and the majestic size of the noble animals which formed the most prominent part of the group, produced an effect more pleasing in the eye of a poet or an artist, than the sprucest parade of an English review.

While I was changing elephants, a decent looking man stepped up to me, and begged to know my name and titles at full length, in order, as he said, "to make a report of them to the asylum of the world." I found, on inquiry, that he was the writer of the court circular, a much more minute task, and one considered of far more importance here than in Europe. Every thing which occurs in the family of the King himself, the Resident, the chief officers of state, or any stranger of rank who may arrive, is carefully noted and sent round in writing. And I was told that the exact hour at which I rose, the sort of breakfast I afe, the visits I paid or received, and the manner in which I passed my morning, would all be detailed by the King's chobdars, for the information of their master, whose own most indifferent actions, however, are with equal fairness written down for Mr. Ricketts's inspection. As I mounted my new elephant, the same sort of acclamation of" Bismillah! Ullah Acbar! Ullah Kureen!" was made by the attendants, as I had heard by the Nawab of Dacca's arrival and departure. It is, I find, the ancient Mussulman fashion, and during their stay in Lucknow, my chobdars and bearers learnt it also from those of the King and the Resident. How long they will continue it I do not know. It seems a very pious custom, and one which I should not wish to check, though I certainly should not allow them to adopt the proclamation, which followed on this occasion, of my name and title, so mangled as never name was before.

We now proceeded, three elephants abreast, that on which Mr. Lushington and I rode in the centre. Meer Hussun Khân

on the right, and Captain Salmon on the left, with the motley multitude before and the spare elephants behind. The Corries had fallen back, being unable to keep up with us. We thus advanced into Lucknow, through a very considerable population, and crowded mean houses of clay, with the filthiest lanes between them that I ever went through, and so narrow that we were often obliged to reduce our front, and even a single elephant did not always pass very easily. A swarm of beggars occupied every angle and the steps of every door, and all, or nearly all the remaining population were, to my surprise, as much loaded with arms as the inhabitants of the country, a circumstance which told ill for the police of the town, but added considerably to its picturesque effect. Grave men in palanquins, counting their beads and looking like Moullahs, had all two or three sword and buckler lacquies attending on them. People of more consequence, on their elephants, had each a suwarree of shield, spear, and gun, little inferior to that by which we were surrounded, and even the lounging people of the lower ranks in the streets and shop doors, had their shields over their shoulders, and their swords carried sheathed in one hand.

I recollected Sir W. Scott's picture of the streets of London in "The Fortunes of Nigel," but I should apprehend that Lucknow offered at this moment a more warlike exterior than our own metropolis ever did during its most embroiled and troublesome periods. As we advanced, the town began to improve in point of buildings, though the streets remained equally narrow and dirty. We passed some pretty mosques and some large houses, built like the native houses in Calcutta, and the bazars seemed well filled, so far as I could distinguish from the height at which I sat, and the general narrowness of the area. At last we suddenly entered a very handsome street indeed, wider than the High-street at Oxford, but having some distant resemblance to it in the colour of its buildings, and the general form and gothic style of the greater part of them. We saw but little of it, however, as we immediately turned up through some folding-gates into a sort of close, with good-looking houses and small gardens round it, and a barrack and guard-house at its entrance. One of these houses, I was told, belonged to the Resident, another was his banquetinghouse, containing apartments for his guests, and a third very pretty upper-roomed house in a little garden was pointed out as that which the King had assigned to receive me and my party. Here, therefore, our companions took their leave, and Mr. Lushington and I found ourselves in a very prettily arranged and wellfurnished dwelling, with excellent stables and accommodations for our numerous followers. It was the house usually assigned to the king's physician, now absent, and was extremely well

suited to my purpose, both as being near the Residency, and sufficiently detached from it to allow me to have some part of my mornings to myself. The Corries arrived in about half an hour, and shortly afterwards we were summoned to breakfast at the Residency, where we found so large a party as completely to give the idea of a watering-place. After breakfast I was told the prime minister was come to call on me, and Mr. Ricketts introduced us to each other in form. He is a dark, harsh, hawknosed man, with an expression of mouth which seems to imply habitual self-command struggling with a naturally rough temper. He is, I understand, exceedingly unpopular. He was originally khânsaman to the present King, when heir apparent, and in disgrace with his father, Saadut Ali. His house is the most splendid in Lucknow, and his suwarree exceeds that of the King, who is said to be so attached to him as to have given himself entirely into his hands. His manners, though not his appearance, are those of a gentleman; he is said to be a man of undoubted courage, and to be a pleasant person to do business with, except that too much confidence must not be placed in him. He was very civil to me, and very tolerant of my bad Hindoostanee; but I saw that he was nursing some ill-humour towards Mr. Ricketts, and found at length that offence had been taken because Lord Amherst had not himself written to the King to introduce me, as had, he said, been the constant custom with other Governorsgeneral whenever any person of a certain rank in the country visited Lucknow. We explained to him that my regular progress was through those stations where there were chaplains, and that, therefore, it was probable that Lord Amherst did not know that I intended to visit Lucknow, and he seemed satisfied. Possibly Lord Amherst was not aware that such an etiquette was usual, and in my own case it was certainly ignorance which prevented my asking for such credentials.* However, the minister seemed

* The following letter from the Governor-general was subsequently sent to the King of Oude:

"TO HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF OUDE.

"Written 10th December, 1824.

"I have lately been informed, by a letter from the Lord Bishop of Calcutta, of the gracious reception which his Lordship experienced from your Majesty, and of the gratification which he derived from his visit to your Majesty's court of Lucknow.

"I had no opportunity of making known, previously, to your Majesty, the 'Bishop's intention of visiting Lucknow, as his proceeding to that capital was a sudden thought, and he had not beforehand contemplated that the course of his public duties would allow of his deviating so far from his proposed route. This being the case, I feel myself now doubly called on to address your Majesty, both in explanation of the above apparent omission, and to offer my sincere acknow.