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is said to be, either through mismanagement, or, as is greatly apprehended, the rapacity of the old Queen, who is busy making a purse for herself, barely sufficient for the wants of his very numerous family. By Lord Lake, Mr. Seton, and Sir David Ochterlony, he and his son, the present Emperor, were treated with all the outward respect which even in their best days his ancestors had received from their subjects. Sir C. Metcalf, how ever, intrenched in many respects on these little outward marks of attention and deference which soothed the poor old man in his inevitable dependence; and Acbar, the present Emperor, is also said to have been deeply wounded by the demand of Lord Hastings to sit in his presence. He felt still more the insult of setting up his Vizier, the Nawâb of Oude, as King, in opposition to him; and he was hurt by what he supposed to be a continuance of the same conduct on the part of Government, when Sir Edward Paget passed him without a visit. Under these circumstances, I was glad to find that Mr. Elliott paid him every respect, and' showed him every kindness in his power. I was glad, also, that I did not omit to visit him, since, independently of the interest which I have felt in seeing the venerable ruin of a mighty stock, Mr. Elliott says that the Emperor had frequently inquired whether the Bishop also meant to pass him by.*

Acbar Shah has the appearance of a man of seventy-four or seventy-five: he is, however, not much turned of sixty-three, but, in this country, that is a great age. He is said to be a very goodtempered, mild old man, of moderate talents, but polished and pleasing manners. His favourite wife, the Begum, is a low-born, low-bred, and violent woman, who rules him completely, lays hold on all his money, and has often influenced him to very unwise conduct towards his children and the British Government. She hates her eldest son, who is, however, a respectable man, of more talents than native princes usually show, and happily for himself, has a predilection for those literary pursuits which are almost the only laudable or innocent objects of ambition in his power. He is fond of poetry, and is himself a very tolerable Persian poet. He has taken some pains in the education of his children, and, what in this country is very unusual, even of his daughters. He

* In the course of his late progress through the upper provinces, Lord Amherst paid the Emperor a visit: he was received by him in the hall of audience, which both parties entered at the same moment, and, after an embrace, the Emperor ascended the peacock throne, and the Governor-general sate down in a state chair on his right hand. After an interchange of compliments, and the usual form of presenting attar had been gone through, Lord Amherst took leave and was conducted by the Emperor to the door of the hall. On a subsequent day the Emperor returned the visit with similar ceremonies.-ED.

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too, however, though not more than thirty-five, is prematurely old, arising partly from the early excesses into which the wretched follies of an eastern court usually plunge persons in his situation, --and partly from his own subsequent indulgence in strong liquors. His face is bloated and pimpled, his eyes weak, and his hand tremulous. Yet, for an Eastern prince, as I have already observed, his character is good, and his abilities considered as above the

common run.

There are, perhaps, few royal families which have displayed during their power so many vices and so few virtues as the house of Timour. Their power had been gradually declining ever since the time of Aurungzebe, and at present, Mr. Elliott once observed to me, that he could not perceive the least chance, that, supposing our empire in the east to be at an end, the King of Delhi could for a moment recover any share of authority. He did not even think that the greater princes of India, who would fight for our spoils, would any of them think it worth their while to make use of the Emperor's name, as a pageant to sanction their own ambitious views; and he observed that, all things considered, few captive and dethroned princes had ever experienced so much liberality and courtesy as they had from British hands, and that they could not reasonably hope to gain by any diminution of our influence in India. Yet their present circumstances are surely pitiable, as well as an awful instance of the instability of human greatness. The gigantic genius of Tamerlane, and the distinguished talents of Acbar, throw a sort of splendour over the crimes and follies of his descendants; and I heartily hope that Government will reverence the ruins of fallen greatness, and that, at least, no fresh degradation is reserved for the poor old man whose idea was associated in my childhood with all imaginable wealth and splendour, under the name of " the Great Mogul!"

January 2.-This day, being Sunday, I confirmed about twenty persons, and I afterwards preached and administered the Sacrament, Mr. Fisher reading prayers; the congregation was numerous, and there were near forty communicants. In the evening also we had a good congregation. I was persecuted during a great part of the day with people who could not be persuaded that I had no interest with Government, and who, in spite of my reminding them that I knew nothing of them or their character, kept prostrating themselves before me to get recommendatory letters to this judge or that collector. Some of the better sort, such as Soobin Chund, were contented, indeed, with a sort of certificate under my seal, that they had associated with me. These I readily gratified, but this increased the clamours of the rest, till I was obliged to order the sentry at the door to

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turn them all away, and to admit no more natives to me on any pretence whatever. Such were the chief events of my last day in Delhi.

I forgot to mention in its proper place that the ornaments and shawls which I received from the Emperor were valued to me at two hundred and eighty-four sicca rupees. The horse was reported to be barely worth thirty rupees, but as I declined redeeming him from the Company's hands I never saw him.

CHAPTER XX. ·

DELHI TO AGRA.

RUINS OF TOGHLIKABAD-VISIT TO THE RAJA OF BULLUMGHUR-DANCING GIRLS NAWAB OF SIKRE-HINDOO PILGRIMAGE TO BINDRABUND-MUTTRA-SACRED MONKEYS-DEATH OF ONE REVENGEDLEPERS-PARTY OF FAQUIRS-ESCAPE OF TRIMBUKJEE-TOMB OF ACBAR-PUBLIC BUILDINGS-DEWANNY AUM-TAGE-MAHAL-ABDUL MUSSEEH-FRENCH IN CENTRAL INDIA.

JANUARY 3.-This morning early I sent off my tents and baggage to Furreedabad, a little town about fifteen miles from Delhi, and in the afternoon followed them on horseback, escorted by five of Skinner's horse, and accompanied by Mr. Lushington and Dr. Smith. We passed by Humaiöon's tomb, and thence through a dreary country full of ruins, along a stony and broken road marked out at equal distances of about a mile and a half, by solid circular stone obelisks, "coss minars," erected during the prosperous times of the empire of Delhi. Half way to Furreedabad we passed the gigantic ruins of Toghlikabad, on a hill about a coss to our right. I regretted that we could not see them nearer, but the stage was of sufficient length for our horses and the few remaining hours of day-light without this addition. Mr. Elliott described them as chiefly interesting from their vast dimensions, and the bulk and weight of the stones employed in them. They were the work of Toghlou Khân, one of the early Patan sovereigns.

Furreedabad offers nothing curious except a large tank with a ruined banqueting-house on its shore; it has a grove of tamarind and other trees round it, but no mangoes; a few of these, indeed, grow in the province of Delhi, owing to the unusual multitude of white ants, to whose increase the ruins and the dry sandy soil are favourable, and who attack the mangoes in preference to any other tree. The whole country, indeed, is barren and disagreeable, and the water bad. That of the Jumna acts on strangers like the Cheltenham waters, and the wells here are also extremely unpalatable. One might fancy oneself already approaching the confines of Persia and Arabia. Our camp is, however, plentifully supplied with all necessaries and comforts, and a servant of the Raja of Bullumghur brought us some fine oranges, and at the same time told us, that his master would not suffer him to receive either

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payment or present for any of the supplies furnished, and only hoped that I would call at his house next morning in my way, which I readily promised to do. The Raja of Bullumghur holds a considerable territory along this frontier as a feudatory of the British Government, on the service of maintaining two thousand men to do the ordinary police duties, and guard the road against the Mewatta and other predatory tribes. The family and most of their people are of the Jât race, and they have for many generations been linked by friendship and frequent intermarriages with the neighbouring Raja of Bhurtpoor, who is now our friend, but whose gallant and successful defence of his castle against Lord Lake during the Maharatta war, has raised the character of the Jâts, previously a very low caste, to considerable estimation for their valour in all this part of India. The present acting Raja of Bullumghur is only Regent, being guardian to his nephew, a boy now educating at Delhi. I had heard the Regent and his brother described as hospitable and high-spirited men, and was not sorry to have an opportunity of seeing a Hindoo court.

January 4.-A little before day-break we set of as usual, through a country something, and but little, more fertile than that we had passed. It improved, however, gradually as we approached Bullumghur, which, by its extensive groves, gave evidence of its having been long a residence of a respectable native family. I was not, however, at all prepared for the splendour with which I was received. First we saw some of the wildlooking horsemen whom I have already described, posted as if on the look-out, who, on seeing us, fired their matchlocks and galloped off as fast as possible. As we drew nearer we saw a considerable body of cavalry with several camels and elephants, all gaily caparisoned, drawn up under some trees, and were received by the Raja himself, a fat and overgrown man, and his younger brother, a very handsome and manly figure, the former alighting from a palanquin, the other from a noble Persian horse, with trappings which swept the ground. I alighted from my horse also, and the usual compliments and civilities followed. The elder brother begged me to excuse his riding with me as he was ill, which indeed we had heard before, but the second went by my side, reining in his magnificent steed, and showing off the animal's paces and his own horsemanship. Before and behind were camels, elephants, and horsemen, with a most strange and barbarous music. of horns, trumpets, and kettle-drums, and such a wood of spears that I could not but tell my companion that his castle deserved its name of Fort of Spears. As we drew nearer we saw the fort itself, with high brick walls, strengthened with a deep ditch and large mud bastions, from which we were compli

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