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 gov ernment 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.

miles off. The town of Kishinghur is the capital of an independent native state. It is situated on the banks of a small lake, surrounded by rugged hills, and is fortified by high and strong stone walls.

In the centre of the town there is a hill about two hundred feet high, on which the Rajah's castle is built. It is surrounded by fortifications, and the space between the foot of the hill and the shore of the lake is laid out as a garden.

We entered Kishinghur through a very large gate, and walking through the long bazár, passed out on the other side of the town, and found a garden of pomegranate trees beyond the wall, where it is customary for European travellers to put up. In the garden was a stone pavilion where we took up our quarters. A baboo in the Rajah's service soon paid us a visit. He said that his Highness sent his salám and wished to know if he could serve us. We expressed a desire for some provisions, and wood for cooking, and also a wish to see the Rajah. They afterward sent us what we had asked for, except meat, which was not procurable; at the same time we were informed that his Highness lamented that he would be unable to receive us on account of an indisposition (attributable no doubt to our not being in the Honourable Company's service). The rajah, however, sent us two of his elephants, upon which we visited the town and castle. The latter is quite extensive, and the defences are strong. We were not allowed to enter the palace, which is situated within, so after a walk around the ramparts, from which the view is very picturesque, we descended to the gardens near the lake. These were not well cared for, and after a short walk we got tired of them and crossed in a boat to an island in the lake, on which there were two small summer-houses or pavilions of white marble, very pretty and graceful.

We afterwards went through the principal streets of the town, which seemed well built, and contained several very fine stone houses. A crowd of at least a hundred idlers and boys followed us all through the town, yelling and shouting, as the street boys of New York would do if a Hindoo Rajah were to drive up Broadway in a sulky.

On our return to our quarters in the garden, we were informed that one of the elephants danced and walked on his hind legs. Accordingly, we gave orders to have him perform, which he did to our entire satisfaction. The sight of the huge beast walking toward us, with his forelegs in the air, and his trunk raised perpendicularly, was one of those things that are exactly on the boundary line between the sublime and the ridiculous.

Soon after sunset it began raining very hard, so that it was impossible to think of continuing our journey. We had our palkees and dhoolees set under the roof of the pavilion, and slept in them that night.

Next morning, January 26, the storm was over, and we started at noon for Ajmeer-seventeen miles distant. We walked three-quarters of the way, and found it very pleasant, as there was a delightful breeze blowing.

The road, which was a mere wagon-track, led among wild and rocky hills, many of which were crowned with forts and castles, now deserted. We saw many sheep, and some

deer.

The travellers whom we passed were few in number. They wore their beards shaven under the chin, and brushed back towards the ears in the Rajpoot fashion. Their dress was the dhotee, or cotton cloth wrapped around the waist and descending in loose folds to the knees. The upper part of the body was covered with a short and tight-fitting jacket. All of them were armed, and had quite a martial look. As they passed us, they did not deign to salute, but looked us full in the face with an insolent stare, which would have been alone sufficient to show us we were no longer in Hindoostan.

The women wore the old Hindoo dress, the dhotee below the waist, and the sáree, or vail, covering the upper part of the body, and falling over the head.*

* In Hindoostan many of the women wear thick petticoats. The Moosulmanee women wear tight trowsers, with or without a petticoat. As regards man's dress, the panjama, or trowsers, introduced by the Moosulmans, is worn by all of that religion, and sometimes also by Hindoos. All over India

We arrived at Ajmeer about eight o'clock in the evening, and were at a loss where to put up, as there was no dâkbungalow. Fortunately, we met the magistrate in a shigram,* drawn by a pair of bullocks. He was kind enough to conduct us to an empty bungalow, in the use of which, he said, we should not be disturbed. Had we not met the magistrate, I do not know how we could have managed, except by sleeping in our palkees on the road, and giving up dinner.

The town of Ajmeer, as well as Nusseerabad, fourteen miles off, where there is a station of troops, belong to the English, and are the first places in the Company's Rajt that we had been in since leaving Futtehpoor Seekree.

The bungalow that we occupied had no furniture, so we had our palkees and dhoolees brought into the large central apartment, to be used as beds. Fortunately, we found a table and some chairs in the dining-room, and late at night our servant managed to get us some dinner.

Next morning we walked into town, a mile and a half. It is situated on the gentle slope of a hill which rises behind the town, steeply, to a great height, and is crowned by a large and very strong fort, now deserted, as are all the hill-forts in the British territories.

The native princes always fortified their towns and palaces, and many of them, for greater security, built their castles on almost inaccessible crags. This was necessary, not only for protection against external enemies, but also against their own vassals and subjects. This policy, however, was never pursued by the English. Even in places where there were forts of great strength, the English troops were stationed outside the towns in cantonments, which were not defended by

Hindoos and Moosulmans are distinguished by the way in which the doublebreasted jacket, or chupkun, is fastened. The Moosulmans invariably tie it on the left side, the Hindoos, and all other sects, on the right.

* Shigram. A two-wheeled, covered cart, much used by European travellers in the Bombay Presidency.

† Raj, i. e., jurisdiction. It is the word from which Rajah, Rajpoot, &c., are formed.