sepoy never did, and which had two disadvantages. In the first place, it spoiled the uniform for parade, and then it made the men appear to disadvantage, for a native never looks so badly as in European clothes. Notwithstanding this deficiency in their appearance, the experience of last year has shown them to be much the most faithful, and has stamped with approval the system of indiscriminate enlistment which was about being abandoned in Bombay in favour of the Bengal system of receiving into the army only the members of one or two favoured castes.

At Nusseerabad we made a few purchases at the shop of a Parsee. In the Bengal Presidency the stores of the stations are all kept by Europeans, and contain large assortments in which everything is of the best quality. The style of living in the smaller Presidencies is, however, much less expensive, and the shops are all kept by natives, generally Parsees, and are much inferior in the variety and quality of what is sold in them.

We left Nusseerabad at midnight, and at six o'clock on the morning of the 29th arrived at Bunai dâk-bungalow, which is situated half a mile from a semicircle of high and bald hills, at the foot of one of which the village is built, and on top of another is the Castle. A short distance in front of the bungalow is a row of noble trees. As soon as we arrived, our bearers as was always their custom, went into the village bazár to buy food, which they afterwards cooked under the shade of these trees. Cooking is, among the Hindoos, a long and laborious operation, and each man has to cook his own food, unless he be rich enough to hire a Brahmun to do so for him. In the first place, a little mud-furnace, which can never be used a second time, has to be built. Then water must be drawn, by each man for himself, and in his own lota, a brass vessel of which every Hindoo possesses one, and which he always takes with him when travelling. When the furnace is built, the water drawn, and the fire, which is generally of dried cow-dung, lighted, the man squats on the ground and draws a circle which encloses himself and all these things. Cooking then begins in the ordinary way, but each step of the process is

accompanied by religious ceremonies, and the meal must all be prepared and eaten within the magic circle. If anything unclean, such as a man of another caste or an ordinary fowl, comes within the circle, the food has to be thrown away and the operation begun anew. On this account whenever we came near our bearers at their meals, they would at once cry out, "Rotee kháta, Sahib, rotee kháta," "We are eating bread, Sir," to drive us away.

If anything remains unconsumed from one meal, it cannot be eaten the next day; and if the laborious cooking operation cannot be gone through, the Hindoo can eat nothing but parched gram, a sort of pulse which tastes not unlike roasted peanuts. I have seen sepoys, at sea, living for a week together on this alone, and some of the higher castes will not eat even the gram, instances having been known where they have starved on shipboard rather than break the rules of caste.

The absurdly stringent ceremonies of cooking, with the ablutions which precede, occupy a great length of time, and Hindoos, therefore, eat only one meal a-day-still this custom occasions an immense waste of time, and is one of the most oppressive and injurious restrictions of that heavy chain of caste-rules and prejudices which cramps every action of the Hindoo.

In the afternoon we walked through the village, which has heavy mud walls; and climbed up the hill to the castle, which is a massive structure on the very summit. From the foot of its walls the rocky hill-sides descend almost perpendicularly for a hundred feet, and the only approach is by a narrow stairway cut in the stone. After toiling up the ascent we were disappointed by finding the door closed, so we descended and returned to the bungalow, where we found a shikarree, or huntsman, who informed us that having heard of our illustrious names, he had come to offer us his salám, and to lay at our feet an antelope which he had shot. We accepted both, and gave him a rupee, with which he was well satisfied.

The natives of India are remarkably good shots, but their guns are of the rudest description. The barrel is very long, and the stock straight. The charge is ignited by a match,

which is held over the pan of priming by a sort of "hammer.” When the aim is taken, the shooter presses upon a button, below the stock of the gun. The button communicates with the hammer, and brings it and the match down upon the priming.

At half past eleven we left Bunai, and arrived at Dáblah on the morning of January 30th. The country around the bungalow is most uninteresting and level. The village is half a mile on the left, and contains nothing of interest but a Thakoor's Castle in ruins.

We were startled during the morning by hearing some loud shrieks, and much weeping. We all sprang up at once, and running out, found that all the noise was made by two young women, who were walking slowly at a short distance from the bungalow. As they went along they continued to cry, and throw their arms about, with much apparent grief. Whenever they met any other women, they embraced, throwing their arms around each, one by one, and leaning their heads over the shoulders of the woman whom they were embracing— first to the right and then to the left. We were informed that they were two young wives who were returning to their husbands after a visit to their parents, and that it was considered only proper that they should thus testify their sorrow.

Our next stopping-place was Bunaira, where we arrived very early, as it is only fourteen miles from Dáblah. The town of Bunaira was a mile from the dâk-bungalow, so that we did not visit it; but we had a fine view of the castle, which is a very large building situated on the crest of a hill overhanging the town, and having all the appearance of a large European fortification-even to the white palace, seen above the battlements, which with the turret on its roof looked from the distance very like a whitewashed chapel.

Having only done such a short distance the previous night, we determined to push on, after getting breakfast. The distance to the next bungalow was twenty-four miles, and a hard enough march it proved. We walked most of the way, to relieve the bearers, who had been awake since midnight. The country was mostly hilly and wooded jungul, in which

the road was so badly marked, that we several times lost our way. We, however, found some cultivation around the one or two villages which we passed, and saw a field of poppies, which showed that we were approaching Malwa, the great opium country of Western India. The poppies were in flower, and looked very beautiful, especially to me, who had not seen any other flowers in India, except those used in the worship of idols.

We did not arrive at Ummeerghur till after eight o'clock, and got dinner at midnight. The next day we had to rest, as our bearers were quite used up by the twenty hours' march of the day before. We therefore spent the 1st of February at Ummeerghur, and treated our men to some goats, which cost us eight anas, (24 cents,) apiece, and were, I suppose, bought by the men for one-half or two-thirds of that money.

During the day, we walked out to the borders of a lake, just outside the town. Its banks were shaded by parallel lines of beautiful trees, in the shade of which we took our seat, and watched the women washing clothes, and the Brahmuns worshipping a shapeless stone, which they painted red, and decorated with silver ornaments. They could not venture to do the latter further north, as some sacrilegious Moosulman would be sure to walk off with the idol's jewelry.

Towards evening, we walked into the town. It is of moderate size, walled, and built at the foot of a hill, on the summit of which is a ruined stone castle. The only objects of interest in the town were three very regular and handsome Hindoo temples, built in a row.

CHAPTER XXIX.

COUNTRY OF THE MAHARATTAS.

Arrival at Chittor-The Town-Remarkable Situation of the Fortress-Seven Miles of Ruins-Tank-The Moon Lady-The Great Temple-Hindoo Religious Architecture-The Great Tower-Antiquity of Hindoo Ruins-Religious Pic-nic-Enter the Maharatta Territories-"Zubburdustee"-"The Good Old Rule"-Poppy-fieldsNeemuch-Noble Banyan Tree-Irrigation-Mundissoor-A Pleasant Resting-place -Jowra-Nawáb's English Palace-Khachród-New Style of Architecture-Wrestling The Soobah's Politeness-Oojén-The City--Temple of Kunaia-The God's Carriage-Indian "Punch"-The Maharattas-A Native Government--Professional Robbing-Spread of the Maharatta Power-Nature of their Government-Their Subjugation by the English-Gwalior States-The Police-Indirect Utility of Native Misrule.

WE left Ummeerghur on the evening of February 1st, and next morning I awoke on a jungul, separated from the other palkees, my bearers having taken a short cut which compelled us to go a mile down the river for a ford, so that I arrived at the dak-bungalow of Chittôr at eight o'clock, half an hour after the others. The march was twenty two miles.

After breakfast, we went out to see the place, which had much excited our curiosity, as well from Bishop Heber's glowing description, as from the view of the minárs and other prominent buildings which were visible from the dâk-bungalow.

We had a very hot walk of a mile, over a bare and sandy plain, and then, crossing by a fine stone bridge over a river which is a tributary of the Jumna, we entered the town through a gateway in the stone wall which surrounds it.

It is a place of about five thousand inhabitants, and was once the capital of an independent raj. We stopped in the bazár to eat some cocoa-nuts, and while we were so engaged, two chowkeedars, or native policemen, armed with sword and