Jaipoor, the lake and palaces; and far in the distance the city itself, with its minár and domes, shines white over the darkgreen groves which surround it.

The view was intrinsically striking and picturesque; the romance of the locality and its architectural features gave it an additional charm; but no one who has not travelled as we had for months, over the bare dead level of northern India, can appreciate the unalloyed enjoyment with which we gazed upon the scene.

The Dewán Am is one of the most striking features of the building. It is a very large square platform of white marble, open on one side to a great court, and on the other looking out upon the valley. It is covered by a heavy white marble roof, supported on low square pillars, without arches; the absence of which, and the massiveness of the roof, gave the architecture a very Hindoo air. We found a sitringee in the building, and sitting down upon it, took lunch and a bottle of beer, after which one of the party read aloud Bishop Heber's description of the building, in the laudations of which we all concurred. It concludes thus:-"The carving in stone and marble, and the inlaid flowers and ornaments in some of these apartments, are equal to those at Delhi and Agra, and only surpassed by the beauties of the Taj Mahul. My companions, none of whom had visited Ummeer before, all declared that, as a whole, it was superior to the Castle at Delhi. For myself, I have seen many royal palaces containing larger and more stately rooms, many, the architecture of which is in finer taste, and some which cover a greater extent of ground, (though in this, if the fortress on the hill be included, Ummeer will rank, I think, above Windsor,) but for varied and picturesque effect, for richness of carving, for wild beauty of situation, for the number and romantic singularity of its apartments, and the strangeness of finding such a building in such a place and country, I am able to compare nothing with Ummeer."

After our tiffin we visited a small and dirty temple, the floor of which was stained with the blood of sacrificed goats. Three or four dirty Brahmuns, who were squatted on the ground,

humming their poorans* in a monotonous voice, scowled at us as we entered. We found there was nothing to see, and as this was the last sight of the palace, we went out of the gate and descended the hill by a steep carriage road paved with blocks of redstone. The road passes under two large archways belonging to two separate lines of fortification for the protection of the palace.

At the bottom of the hill we found our elephants, and returned upon them to Jaipoor. The road varied slightly from the one by which we had come, and passed through a grove, the trees of which were perfectly full of monkeys. There are plenty of these animals and peacocks in all the country about Jaipoor, but in this place it really seemed as if there were not room for one more.

On our return to Jaipoor we walked through the bazár to make a few purchases, preceded by the spearmen and other servants, and followed by our elephants and a large miscellaneous and admiring public. We noticed in the streets several tame leopards tied to bed-posts, to accustom them to the sight of men. They were not chained or muzzled, and played like cats with their keepers.

We returned to the dak-bungalow late in the evening, and getting through dinner about midnight, started at one o'clock in the morning for Bugroo.

A few particulars with regard to the history of Jaipoor may not be out of place here. The Rajahs of Jaipoor were once the wealthiest and most powerful of all the rulers of Rajasthan, or Rajpootana. Their revenue was a cror of rupees, or a million of pounds sterling annually. Although nominally subjects of the court of Delhi, their position and power always enabled them to maintain a virtual independence. Their prosperity

*Poorans.-A word derived from the Hindee poorana, signifying old. It is applied to all the sacred writings of the Hindoos; but in a narrower sense is sometimes confined to the later writings. Although these last were written between the eighth and sixteenth centuries of our era, and are a mass of as absurd, incredible and contradictory fables as were ever got together, yet they are now regarded by the Brahmuns as of equal age and authenticity with the Vedas, and are almost exclusively studied.

may be judged of from the great works executed by Jai Singh: the four observatories, the palaces, and the city. This prosperity was blighted by the conquests of the Maharattas. The thakoors took advantage of the disturbances to revolt, and were continually engaged in feuds and in predatory excursions which stripped the unfortunate inhabitants of the little left them by the bands of Pindarrees, a nation of robbers who devastated the country as each year came round. The power of the Rajah was almost extinct, and his revenue was reduced to almost nothing. In his despair he applied to the British, who reinstated him in his dominions and restored order. After his death, one of his wives assumed the government, and administered it so badly, rejecting the authority and counsel of the English Resident, that when Bishop Heber visited the place, she had nearly lost all authority over the thakoors, who were resuming their old practices, and the country was fast relapsing into a state of anarchy which would encourage a renewed invasion of Maharattas. Subsequently, however, British influence again became predominant, public confidence and prosperity were restored, peace at home and security against foreign invasion were guaranteed by their power, and when I visited Jaipoor the authority of the Rajah's government was recognized throughout his territories and his revenue was steadily growing to something like its old proportions.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

RAJPOOTANA-"THE COUNTRY OF PRINCES."

Bugroo-Peacock Shooting-Thakoor's House-Dhoodoo-Superstition about WellsJain Temple-Kishinghur-Visit from Baboo-Rajah's Palace-Excitement of the Public-A Dancing Elephant-Road to Ajmeer-Scenery-Dress and Manners of Rajpoots-A Providential Rencontre-Fort of Ajmeer-Shrine of the Saint-Ruins of a Hindoo Palace-Nusseerabad-Bombay Sepoys-The Shop of a Fire-worshipper -Bunai-Hindoo Cooking-The Fortress-A Native Huntsman-Dáblah-Filial Grief-Bunaira-Remarkable Castle-Road to Ummeerghur-Cheap Meat-The Day

of Rest.

On the morning of January 23d we arrived at Bugroo dâkbungalow. It is situated on a vast and barren plain with nothing in sight but a garden of large trees a quarter of a mile behind the bungalow. After breakfast we went out and shot a good many pigeons, as well as some peacocks which we found in the trees of the garden. The latter are easy to kill, and looked like meteors as they came tumbling down to earth through the leaves and branches of the trees.

In the afternoon we took a walk through the village, which is about half a mile behind the garden. We found it a mere collection of mud huts, the inhabitants of which looked sufficiently dirty and wretched. In the centre is the residence of the thakoor, surrounded by a moat and fortifications. The town also is surrounded by a high and broad wall of earth. We learned that this thakoor has to pay a tribute of three lakhs ($150,000), in return for which he has the absolute government of a large tract, and rents to probably double that

amount.

The following day we stopped at Dhoodoo, twenty-three miles from Bugroo. This place was also on a plain, with hills

visible on the horizon. The village was about a quarter of a mile off, surrounded by mud walls, above which was seen the thakoor's residence, a large white building. After breakfast we walked into the village, which was, like the others, a collection of miserable hovels. In the centre was an unpaved square containing the thakoor's house, which was defended by stone walls and bastions. On the walk back to the bungalow we passed a fine well going to ruin, and which will never again be used, as the water was defiled by a man falling into it and being drowned.* The country around the village was all cultivated in cotton and tobacco. We saw some deer, and heard of plenty more, but there was no getting a shot at them as our guns were all smooth-bored. In the afternoon we went out to shoot some wild ducks in a pond near by, but the ducks were too wild, and we had to be contented with getting some pigeons.

Towards evening I walked again into the village with Gibson and visited a temple of the Jains, a sect which sprang from among the Indian Boodhists when they were persecuted by the Brahmuns. They practised their religion secretly for a long time. Now they are quite numerous in some parts of India, and count among their ranks many wealthy men.

This temple was built of white marble, and consisted of a small court, at one end of which was an arched portico, where were the idols, three in number, under a finely carved canopy. I could see no resemblance in the figures to the statues of Boodh in China.

At ten in the evening we dined, and at one o'clock the next morning we left Dhoodoo.

Daylight found us on a desert and rocky plain, with hills not far off, and plenty of deer in sight. We breakfasted beside a well, and walked to Kishinghur, which was about two

A remarkable illustration of this Hindoo prejudice was afforded during the siege of the English and faithful native regiments in the Lucknow Residency. One of the garrison was killed while drawing water, and his body tumbled into the well. From that time the Sepoys of the garrison refused to drink the water, although what could be procured from other sources was inferior in quality and uncertain in supply.