which appears to have been in favor with the Hindus at that time. "A poisoned robe was the medium of revenge." When he realized that the end was at hand, the rájá, "with perfect composure, ordered his chiefs to assemble in his tent; and having recommended to their protection, and received their promise of defending the rights of his son, he summoned the ministers of religion into his presence. The last gifts to the church, and these, her organs, were prepared; but, with all his firmness, the anathema of the Satís, as they ascended the funeral pyre on which his hand had stretched his father, came into his mind; and as he repeated the ejaculation, 'May your corpse be consumed in a foreign land!' he remembered he was then on the border. The images which crossed his mental vision it is vain to surmise; he expired as he uttered these words; and over his remains, which were burnt on the spot, a cenotaph was erected, and is still called Booro Dewul, the Shrine of Evil.'"

The chiefs of Marwar followed Biji Singh to the plain of Mairta, where the year before his father had put Rám Singh to flight; but fickle Fortune gave her wheel a turn, and "the Lord of Marwar, who on that morning commanded the lives of one hundred thousand Rajputs, was indebted for his safety to the mean conveyance of a cart and pair of oxen." But the chiefs of Marwar rallied and maintained the struggle, contriving the death of Jai Appa, which metaphorically clipped the wings of Rám Singh. In the

end the Maráthás got possession of the district of Ajmír, "which, placed in the very heart of these regions, may be called the key to Rájpootana," and they kept their footing until in 1818 they ceded the territory to the British in exchange for other lands.

Passing over Akbar's Palace and the mosque built by Altamsh, or his successor, both notable examples of Muhammadan architecture, we will briefly notice the Dargah, which is the most interesting building in Ajmír. This shrine is held in extreme veneration by Hindus and Muhammadans. It is the burial place of Khwajah Múin-ud-dín, who died in 1235 A.D. He was one of the celebrated Chisti family of courtiersaints, the members of which are buried in widely scattered parts of the country.

Having donned over-socks, one passes through a lofty gateway to a courtyard. The saint's tomb, a square, white marble building, with a dome, is entered through a silver arch. Near by are the tombs of the saint's daughter and a daughter of Shah Jahán. A Christian is not permitted to approach within twenty yards of these sacred spots.

The Dargah is the centre of an annual pilgrimage which attracts twenty thousand or more devotees. The Deg Feast is a peculiar and ancient institution associated with this festival. The "great" and "little" degs are huge cauldrons, 'one twice the size of the other, which stand in the courtyard. The Deg Feast is at the expense of one or another of the

pilgrims. The cost of sufficient rice, raisins, sugar, butter, spice and the rest to fill the larger kettle is one thousand dollars. The enormous pudding is cooked by means of a furnace beneath the vessel. Eight earthen pots of the decoction are set aside for the foreign pilgrims, after which the people of Indrakot exercise their hereditary privilege of scrambling for the remainder of the boiling mess. The Indrakotís, who are swaddled in bandages, tumble into the pot when it is nearly empty and scrape it clean. Burns and other injuries are numerous, but the fact that no lives are lost is attributed to the miraculous interposition of the saint.

CHAPTER X.

JODHPUR, AMBER, JAIPUR.

JODHPUR'S Fort, standing upon a bare, scarped rock full three hundred feet above the city, will hold the eye of the traveler approaching from any direction for miles before the place is reached.

The old capital of Marwar was at Mandor, three miles to the north, and there are the sombre chattris of the old rájás, marking the spots where their funeral pyres were laid. It is difficult to imagine what induced Ráo Jodha to transfer his capital to the city round the rock, for there was no water in the vicinity worth mentioning. For five hundred years, and until comparatively recently, the tanks would run dry in the hot weather, and then at sundown of each evening the women would troop out to Mandor, with chatties on their heads, to fetch the next day's supply of water. About thirty years ago an English engineer relieved the city of its plight, and now there are tanks fresh fed from the hills, and the water is piped even to the Fort.

The city lies round the foot of the rock, surrounded by a six-mile wall, but quite defenceless. The Fort,

on the other hand, is the picture of strength. The summit of the rock is guarded by strong walls, and is accessible only by a zigzag road, with massive fortified gateways at intervals. A formidable place to storm, but what if the water supply were cut off from the outside?

The Palace occupies a large portion of the Fort. It stands at the edge of the rock where it drops down one hundred and twenty feet in a sheer precipice. Like most old Indian palaces, it is a collection of buildings erected at different times, as a consequence of the religious prohibition against a rájá occupying the apartments of a deceased predecessor. Each of Ráo Jodha's successors built solidly and lavishly, so that the Palace as it stands might serve as a citadel of considerable extent.

The Mahárájá's Treasury and his Stables are the two chief points of interest. The former contains one of the finest collections of jewels in India, and the stud is probably the first in the country in the point of numbers and quality. The Mahárájá affects English customs to a considerable extent. He is a sportsman, preserves his pigs and sticks them.

Marwar is one of the many native States which have thriven under the British rule. Despite the difficulties of cultivation, the country yields an ample revenue, and has a large surplus, where not many years ago it had a very much larger deficit. This result is largely due to the splendid management of