Chapter XIX

“In the morning, when the raven of night had flown
away, the bird of dawn began to sing; the nightingales
warbled their enchanting notes, and rent the thin veils
of the rose-bud and the rose; the jasmine stood bathed
in dew, and the violet also sprinkled his fragrant locks.
At this time Zelika was sunk in pleasing slumber; her
heart was turned towards the altar of her sacred vision.
It was not sleep; it was rather a confused idea; it
was a kind of frenzy caused by her nightly melancholy.
Her damsels touched her feet with their faces; her
maidens approached and kissed her hand. Then she removed
the veil from her cheek, like a tulip besprinkled
with dew; she opened her eyes, yet dim with sleep.
From the border of her mantle the sun and moon arose;
she raised her head from the couch, and looked around
on every side.”

JAMI.

Having taken his seat upon the divan, in the centre of the room, a herald, superbly attired, then appeared beside him, and read out the record of his accession to the throne, while the whole assembly were standing. The herald having concluded with the words--“And, therefore, Long live Bochari--Conqueror of the World--and the Padishah of Hindostan,” the cry was loudly repeated on all sides, with so much apparent enthusiasm and unanimity, that his spirit catching new fire from the homage he had received, prompted him to rise, and to express, in an improvised address, his sense of the proud honour they had conferred upon him. He then desired the banquet to proceed, the herald, in the mean time, making preparations for administering the great oath.

The rajaputs, seated all round the chamber, on divans placed close by the wall, the tables piled with gold and silver dishes, containing the most sumptuous fare--the usurper enthroned in the centre, before a golden table, also copiously supplied--the crowds of pages and footmen, in splendid liveries, waiting on the guests--the trumpeters on the fifty steps--the groups of black slaves employed in bringing to the banquet the numerous dishes prepared for the occasion--the candelabras, which shed their abundant and brilliant lustre over the whole scene--myriads of censers, fuming with fragrance, amid the sounds of martial music, interrupted now and then by the firing of artillery, exhibited, upon the whole, a spectacle of human grandeur, worthy of a better cause.

The wine-vases were rapidly emptied, and as rapidly replenished, in every quarter,--the imperial cellars having been thrown open on the occasion. The festival appeared to be passing off with every symptom of harmony and joy. Conversation was loud, eloquent, undisguised, at every table. No whisperings were observed; no dark looks shed upon the scene any shade of that sinister aspect, which had given to the morning so desponding a character. Bochari looked upon his possession of the throne as secured beyond all danger, and was already preparing in his mind measures for suppressing any revolt that might break out in the city, when his eye, which from the dreadful recollections of the previous night, had been more than once fixed upon the bronze portal, suddenly caught a shadowy figure moving inside it.

The horrors that had overwhelmed the mind of the merchant seemed to have been at once, as if by contagion, transferred to his own. His gaze was fixed. His countenance, hitherto flushed with wine and the excitement of the occasion, became deadly pale. In that shadowy form he beheld Fazeel, as he thought, beckoning all his slaughtered companions to assemble and witness the enthronement of their murderer.

“Wine, wine!” exclaimed the usurper, in a voice scarcely audible, while he still looked with glaring eyes upon the portal. The herald suggested to him that the time had arrived for taking the great oath.

“Wine!” repeated the Persian, his tongue cleaving to the roof of his mouth;--“wine, I say. I am sick, sick at heart.” The words were followed by a deep moan, which startled the whole assembly. Some of the rajaputs already noticed the extraordinary attitude in which the usurper had placed himself, half risen from his seat, his hand waving as if in compliance with the call of some person through the portal, his lips quivering, his limbs trembling beneath him.

“But why me alone? I was not there. I touched thee not,” he exclaimed.

“What means all this?” asked Mohabet, as, quitting his seat and crossing the table, he hastened to Bochari. “What is all this? Has the crown already turned your head?”

“The crown! Ha! ha! ha! Take it,--see if it will deliver you from that dreadful spectacle. Here--the leader of these rajaputs--here is your real immolator.”

“The Persian is mad,” said Mohabet; “hear ye what he says?”

“Aye, hear ye what I say? Answer to those bleeding warriors,--answer to Fazeel; were ye not his murderers?”

The rajaputs, by an instantaneous impulse, all drew their scymitars. The herald and all the attendants fled up the steps of the chamber, looking backward affrighted, not knowing what was about to occur.

“Are you the man to upbraid us,” cried out several voices; “you who, if you were not the disguised astrologer that told us of the prey, at all events employed that merchant who ensured it.”

“It is false.”

“He raves. Give him water. This is not like a sovereign. For shame! Shake off this weakness. We wait to take the great oath,” said one of the chieftains, who was attached to Bochari’s cause.

“He begins his reign by insulting us all,” said Mohabet.

“He knows not what he says,” resumed the usurper’s partizan. “Back to your seats. It is but a cloud passing over his mind.”

“I go--hush!--look at their hands, red with your blood. None of it is here,” added Bochari, holding out both his hands; “they are white as the lotus.”

“We will not suffer this language. What! call us murderers? as if upon us only rested the blood which he procured to be shed for his own purposes.”

“Down with the Persian!”

“Down with the traitors!” cried out the two parties, as, separating, they rushed upon each other.

But before victory could declare on either side,--a victory that, giving preponderance at that moment to one faction or the other, might have been followed by many years of calamity to Hindostan, a hand unseen was unerringly preparing the penalty due to both. Auzeem was without the portal, anxiously expecting the very scene of contention which had now arisen, though he presumed it would have proceeded from a different cause. Fearful of involving the innocent with the guilty, he waited until the herald and the attendants had hastened up the steps in dismay. Then flying to the sluices, he struck the spring that held the lower gate in its place, and at the moment that the scymitars of the double oppressors of his country were lifted against each other, the sudden inundation from the Jumna, like an angry god, quelled the battle.

No groan was heard. The weight of the waters above the heads of the banditti was so tremendous, that nothing rose to the surface. The attendants, who had reached the upper steps, looked in silent horror upon the dark gulf below.

“Now,” thought Auzeem, as he returned to the palace to find out some faithful messengers whom he might despatch to the emperor; “now Kazim will do me justice. I ought not to wonder at his suspicions. Mine was, indeed, as he well designated it, an adventurous policy. To be seen co-operating openly, and even zealously, with the late usurper during a period of more than two years; countersigning his decrees; attending his councils; suggesting and advising measures of state policy, and assisting him even through the mazes of intrigue in which he was frequently involved; and in all things acting (he believed) as if I had utterly abandoned the emperor, whom I represented to be incapacitated for his functions, I did, no doubt, incur an awful responsibility.

“But I saw my course clearly from the moment the emperor was made prisoner in his own tent in Cashmere. I saw we were completely in the hands of the most ambitious, and the most remorseless of men. His next step I knew would be the assumption of the crown. Nothing could be gained--on the contrary--every thing would be hazarded by any premature resistance.

“The moment, long desired, however, has come at last. Success--more complete than I ever dared to hope, has crowned my proceedings. So perish all traitors to the honoured crown of the master, whom it will be the glory of my life to have thus rescued from the base tyranny of that Persian!”

Before the morning dawned, all the imperial galleys were assembled by the orders of Auzeem, and fully manned by crews attached to them, the men dressed in their state apparel, and the imperial standards flying. Intelligence of the awful event, which had put so decisive, and so unexpected an end to the usurpation, was diffused with the speed of lightning through the capital. The gloom, with which it had been overspread the day before, was dispersed, as if by an enchanter’s command. Every face beamed with rapturous joy. Families were seen in the streets and market-places, embracing each other, and pouring out tears of gladness. It was every where proclaimed that their beloved emperor was safe, and that he might be expected in Agra the following morning. The people seemed frantic with joy, for they venerated the house of Acbar, and loved their lawful sovereign with an enthusiasm, rendered still more intense by their hatred of the alien who had usurped his sceptre.

Couriers, on fleet Arabians, were directed by Auzeem to proceed along both banks of the Jumna, with despatches for the emperor, announcing, in a few words, what had taken place. The minister described Zeinedeen’s boat so minutely, that they could hardly fail to discover it. The state galleys, drawn against the current, by trains of swift-paced elephants, and filled with those of the omrahs and household officers, who had never wavered in their allegiance, followed the couriers. The first messenger, who had the good fortune to perceive the hermit’s boat just as the sun was setting, dashed into the river on horseback, directing the animal’s head towards the little bark, which was quietly gliding on in its course. He held up the despatch in his right hand, waving it in triumph over his head, and shouting--“Long live the emperor!”

The glorious tidings first caught the ear of Nourmahal, whose heart swelled with measureless delight, when, kissing her imperial consort, she repeated the salutation--“Long live the emperor--my own beloved--my husband--long and triumphantly may he reign in the hearts of his people as he reigns in mine!” Jehangire, pressing her in his arms, returned the kiss tenfold.

The messenger flung the despatch into the boat as soon as he could get near enough for that purpose. It was caught by Kazim, who handed it to the emperor.

“Admirable Auzeem! Read it, my lord chancellor, and suspect no more the ‘Preserver of the empire,’ as he shall henceforth be titled. Mangeli! behold the empress of Hindostan!”

The parents and the daughter were already locked in each other’s arms. Their many griefs were now all merged in a flood of transport. Zeinedeen, raising his eyes to Heaven, gave, from the bottom of his soul, thanks to Heaven that he had been permitted to witness this day of happiness for his country; and of just exultation for those dear friends--his children he might call them--whose virtues had been severely tried by prosperity, as well as by adversity. Without waiting for a carpet to be spread, the emperor followed his example, and the whole party, prostrating themselves, expressed, in silent fervent prayer, their gratitude to the Omnipotent, for the transcendant blessings He was then pleased to confer upon them.

The banks of the river were speedily crowded by couriers, who arrived one after another, but whose despatches were now superfluous. They were followed by two hundred state galleys, one of which, looked upon the waters, as the sun cast his parting rays upon them, a mass of burnished gold. Approaching Zeinedeen’s boat, they formed in a circle around it, and while the men, rising from their benches, and, lifting their oars straight in the air, hailed their sovereign with enthusiastic cheers, and the bands on board joined in the beautiful national anthem, composed by Oustad Nâë, Jehangire ascended, by a ladder of golden cords, to the deck of his own galley, on which the imperial flag was immediately hoisted.

Kazim and Zeinedeen assisted Nourmahal and Mangeli to the deck, where they were received, and successively embraced by the emperor, who, directing the cheers and music to cease for a moment, and, holding Nourmahal by the right hand, proclaimed her the empress of Hindostan. The intelligence was received with cheers, again and again repeated; for her virtues, her accomplishments, and her beauty--beauty heightened by the simplicity of her prison dress, which she still wore,--had gained her the love of every man, who had a heart to recognize the charms of filial affection, combined with an exalted passion, which knew not how to descend from its throne.

The couriers, returning to the capital, diffused the tidings of the spectacle they had just witnessed, along the whole line of the Jumna. The train of barges, forming in the rear of the imperial galley, proceeded down the river, the oars moving to the sounds of martial airs. The banks were every where crowded with people, who hastened thither from the neighbouring towns and villages, holding in their hands torches of pinewood, which gave to the darkening night almost the splendor of day. Myriads of small fishing boats were launched on the river, occupying it almost from bank to bank, at a short distance behind the courtly procession.

As the day approached, boats of every description were seen coming from the capital, filled with gaily dressed parties, anxious to pay their homage to the emperor and empress, who appeared on the deck of their galley, and received the congratulations of the joyous people in the most endearing manner. The beauty of Nourmahal was the theme of every tongue, and never did that noble being look more captivating than when thus beside him, whom she loved so well, fanned by the fresh zephyrs of the summer morning, and arrayed in a plain muslin robe and turban, the work of her own fingers, she stood under the flag of Hindostan.

As soon as the crowds moving down the river were observable from the tower of the citadel, the signal was given to the artillery. The guns summoned from the city and its extensive suburbs, all their vast population. The gates of the citadel were flung wide open; the great square was in a moment filled with the exulting multitude, whose incessant shouts, amidst the thunders of the ramparts and the music of a hundred bands, proclaimed the universal gladness that prevailed.

Upon arriving at the steps which led from the Jumna to the palace, the emperor beheld Auzeem waiting to receive him. Jehangire summoned him on board, and without permitting him to kneel, warmly embraced him, and immediately invested him with the title of “Preserver of the Empire.” In paying his homage to Nourmahal, Auzeem expressed to her the sincerity of his joy, that she was now in the station to which it had long been his hope that he would be instrumental in raising her. Kazim and Mangeli poured out their gratitude to him for his services to their family and their country; the chancellor, by the pressure of his hand upon his heart, rather than by any words, telling him how truly penitent he felt for having, even during a single hour, entertained the slightest suspicions of the minister’s unabated zeal for the welfare of Jehangire.

The debarkation of the emperor and his consort took place under fresh salutes of artillery from all parts of the capital. Upon surmounting the steps, which were spread with cloth of gold, they beheld the whole line before them strewed with flowers; on each side were ranged the daughters of the faithful omrahs, arrayed in white robes, their heads crowned with chaplets. Behind these beauteous maidens stood their fathers, many of them of venerable age, weeping with joy for having witnessed the restoration of their lawful sovereign, of whose cause they had almost despaired.

Jehangire and Nourmahal walked, hand-in-hand, along this fragrant path, to the palace, where officers were in attendance with the imperial vestments. Immediately proceeding to the Am-kas, the emperor and his consort ascended the throne, the former wearing his crown. He was followed by pages bearing upon a cushion another diadem, which he placed on the brow of Nourmahal, amidst repeated bursts of acclamation from the vast assembly below. They spent a great part of the day in receiving the petitions of the people--petitions, unhappily filled with the most afflicting narratives of the wrongs sustained by every class of the community during the usurpation.

It is needless to add, that the chancellor was speedily restored to the eminent station which he had so long dignified by his virtues, and adorned by his talents. His re-appearance in the supreme court of justice was hailed with a degree of enthusiasm, scarcely secondary to that with which the restoration of the lawful sovereign was rendered so memorable in the annals of the capital.

Zeinedeen contemplated all these unlooked-for changes with a sanguine delight, which he would not, for the present at least, suffer to be clouded in his mind by presages of those changes to which all human happiness is liable. He made no effort to explore the future history of Hindostan, contented that he saw, in the ascendancy which Nourmahal appeared already to exercise over the mind of the emperor, a powerful corrective of any defects which might have weakened his authority, and prepared fresh troubles for his reign. It was too much to hope, that the remaining years of that reign should be altogether free from vicissitude; but from the united talents and power of the empress and her father, he expected, with little fear of disappointment, that their influence would ensure to Hindostan many years of felicity.

For himself, Zeinedeen had now no further desire, except to return to Cashmere, and to devote the evening of his life to the religious and philosophical contemplations, that would best prepare him for the brighter worlds, to which he looked forward with so much ardour. Jehangire, however, would not hear of any plan, which would remove the good hermit from the neighbourhood of Agra. It was arranged, therefore, that a monastery should be constructed within a short distance of the capital, upon the banks of the Jumna, which Aquaviva and his companions should be invited to occupy; that in their sacred society, Zeinedeen should spend his remaining years; and that thither Jehangire, Nourmahal, Kazim, and Mangeli, should often repair, to talk over the events by which they had been bound together in links of sympathy, never to be solved at this side of the grave, and to renew their thanksgivings to the Omnipotent, in those beautiful forms of prayer furnished so abundantly by the ritual of the missionaries.

THE END.

NOTES TO VOLUME I.

_Page 1._

The great chain of the Himalas divides Northern from Southern Asia. Parallel to this chain, on the northern side, runs another considerable range, called the Ice Mountains. These two ranges are connected by a third, which commencing near Hindu-Kush, in the Himalas, proceeds northward, and revives again beyond the Ice Mountains. This third range, after it passes the Ice Mountains, goes under the name of the Hills of Arjun.

_Page 23._

The _Indian_ pink indicates the country of its birth. We have scarcely a flower, or a fruit, in Europe, which does not flourish in Asia, as in its native place.

_Page 145._

This account of the birth of the infant, afterwards called Nourmahal, is almost strictly historical.

_Page 149._

Our travellers in the East have made the phenomena of the “Mirage of the Desert,” familiar to every body. Mr. George Robinson, whose tour in Palestine and Syria (recently published by Mr. Colburn), written in a most unpretending style, gives the best account I have ever read of those highly interesting countries, thus speaks of a _moonlight_ mirage, which he observed on his way from Damascus to Aleppo:--“Soon after quitting the khan (it was still moonlight), I inquired of my guide the name of some water, which I fancied I saw in the plain of the East. The inquiry produced a laugh amongst my hearers. They told me that what I took to be water, was nothing more than the bed of a salt lake, the water of which, evaporating in summer, leaves an incrustation of salt on the earth. It was either this, or a mirage of the moon, which produced the delusion on the sight. On my arrival at Aleppo, I mentioned the circumstance to a gentleman who had frequently performed the journey from thence to Bagdad, and had, therefore, more than once observed the latter phenomenon in the desert. On one occasion, he had actually alighted from his camel, to fill his cup with the water he thought he saw before him, ere he discovered his error.”--_Travels in Palestine and Syria, by George Robinson, Esq._, vol. ii. p. 236.

NOTES TO VOLUME II.

_Page 9._

Jehangire has left behind a very curious auto-biographical fragment, which has been translated by Major David Price, and published by the Oriental Translation Committee--a body of distinguished persons, to whom the country is much indebted for many publications of great interest and value. In these “Memoirs” the emperor thus speaks of Indragui:--

“Among my brother’s elephants devolved to me on the occasion was one of which I could not but express the greatest admiration, and to which I gave the name of Indraguj (_the elephant of India_). It was of a size I never before beheld: such as to get upon its back required a ladder of fourteen steps. It was of a disposition so gentle and tractable, that under its most furious excitements, if an infant unwarily threw itself in its way, it would lay hold of it with its trunk, and place it out of danger with the utmost care and tenderness. The animal was, at the same time, of such unparalleled speed and activity, that the fleetest horse was not able to keep up with it; and such was its courage, that it would attack, with perfect readiness, an hundred of the fiercest of its kind. Such, in other respects, although it may appear in some degree tedious to dwell upon the subject, were indeed the qualities of this noble and intelligent quadruped, that I assigned a band of music to attend upon it, and it was always preceded by a company of forty spearmen.”--_Memoirs, &c._, p. 62.

_Page 39._

Bernier, in his amusing account of the Mogul Empire, mentions the fountain of Send Brare. In the month of May, he says, when the melting of the snows on the mountains of Cashmere has taken place, the fountain flows and ebbs three times a-day--at the dawn, at noon, and at night. After the lapse of fifteen days the fountain becomes dry, and so remains until the same month in the following year. During the period of its ebbing and flowing, pilgrims, he says, flocked from all parts to purify themselves in the sacred spring, and to perform their devotions in the temple that stood near it. The general belief in the efficacy of the fountain to distribute the flowery messengers cast into it, is stated by Abul Fazeel in his account of Cashmere. See the _Ayeen Akberry_, vol. ii. p. 127. London. 1800.

_Page 41._

Bernier states, that on the summit of Pees-Punchal (from which a view of Cashmere is first obtained by travellers from India) there lived in the time of Jehangire a hermit, who was reputed to be a great worker of miracles. He was said to have the power of raising all sorts of storms. His white uncombed beard, extremely long and bushy, gave him a remarkably savage aspect. He imposed a species of toll on all persons passing the top of the mountain. He forbade them to make the least noise during their progress, threatening them with tempest if they dared to violate his mandate. Jehangire, according to Bernier, when passing the mountain, in defiance of the hermit’s injunction, ordered the kettle-drums to beat, and the trumpets to be sounded, the consequence of which was, a furious tempest that menaced destruction to his whole army. The phenomenon is, in fact, consistent with the meteorological history of the Alps, where the concussions caused in the atmosphere, by the discharge even of a pistol, are known to have been attended with considerable danger.

_Page 62._

The fate of Sodom and Gomorrah was not limited to those two cities. It is very well known, that in several parts of the east, towns have been inhumed, either by the agency of the tempest or the earthquake. It is not improbable that excavations, rightly directed in that region, would bring to light more than one Herculaneum.

_Page 83._

In the memoirs of Jehangire, already alluded to, the operations of the Bauzigurs are related at considerable length. The imperial author prefaces his account of them in these words:--

“At the period of which I am about to speak there were to be found, in the province of Bengal, performers in slight-of-hand, or jugglers, of such unrivalled skill in their art, that I have thought a few instances of their extraordinary dexterity not unworthy of a place in these memorials. On one occasion, in particular, there came to my court seven of these men, who confidently boasted that they were capable of producing effects so strange as far to surpass the scope of the human understanding: and most certainly, when they proceeded to their operations, they exhibited in their performances things of so extraordinary a nature, as without the actual demonstration the world would not have conceived possible; such, indeed, as cannot but be considered among the most surprising circumstances of the age in which we live.”--_Memoirs, &c._ p. 96.

The imperial author, after enumerating the performances of the Bengalese, concludes with the following observations:--

“In very truth, however we may have bestowed upon these performances the character of trick or juggle, they very evidently partake of the nature of something beyond the exertion of human energy; at all events, such performances were executed with inimitable skill, and if there were in the execution any thing of facility, what should prevent their accomplishment by a man of ordinary capacity? I have heard it stated, that the art has been called the Semnanian (perhaps _asmaunian_, ‘celestial’), and I am informed that it is also known and practised to a considerable extent among the nations of Europe. It may be said, indeed, that there exists in some men a peculiar and essential faculty, which enables them to accomplish things far beyond the ordinary scope of human exertion, such as frequently to baffle the utmost subtilty of the understanding to penetrate.”--_Memoirs, &c._ p. 104.

_Page 111._

May I confess that the portrait of Purveis, painted in the text, was literally copied from a child of my own,--the delight of my heart,--my only boy, who was standing at my knee while I wrote that page? He was then little more than five years old, a model of meekness, beauty, and affection. His intellect already gave promises of superiority, which I dare not enumerate. The sheet containing that passage had scarcely passed through the press, when a sudden blight--one of those awful dispensations of Providence, into which we cannot presume to enquire--descended upon my flower, and withered it almost in an instant. On the Wednesday, our beloved Edward was the joy of his home--all life and loveliness;--on the Monday, he was in his shroud.

_Page 115._

Jehangire’s decrees against drinking wine, are thus mentioned in his “Memoirs:”--

“No person was permitted either to make or sell either wine or any other kind of intoxicating liquor. I undertook to institute this regulation, although it is sufficiently notorious that I have myself the strongest inclination for wine, in which from the age of sixteen I have liberally indulged. And in very truth, encompassed as I was with youthful associates of congenial minds, breathing the air of a delicious climate--ranging through lofty and splendid saloons, every part of which decorated with all the graces of painting and sculpture, and the floors bespread with the richest carpets of silk and gold, would it not have been a species of folly to have rejected the aid of an exhilarating cordial--and what cordial can surpass the juice of the grape?”--_Memoirs, &c._ p. 6.

The imperial author is very frank upon the subject of his own excesses; but promises to give them up _some time or another_.

“For myself, I cannot but acknowledge that such was the excess to which I had carried my indulgence, that my usual daily allowance extended to twenty, and sometimes to more than twenty cups, each cup containing half a seir (about six ounces), and eight cups being equal to a maunn of Irak. So far, indeed, was this baneful propensity carried, that if I were but an hour without my beverage, my hands began to shake, and I was unable to sit at rest. Convinced by these symptoms, that if the habit gained upon me in this proportion my situation must soon become one of the utmost peril, I felt it full time to devise some expedient to abate the evil: and in six months I accordingly succeeded in reducing my quantity gradually from twenty to five cups a day. At entertainments I continued, however, to indulge in a cup or two more: and on most occasions I made it a rule never to commence my indulgence until about two hours before the close of the day. But now that the affairs of the empire demand my utmost vigilance and attention, my potations do not commence until after the hour of evening prayer, my quantity never exceeding five cups on any occasion; neither would more than that quantity suit the state of my stomach. Once a day I take my regular meal, and once a day seems quite sufficient to assuage my appetite for wine; but as drink seems not less necessary than meat for the sustenance of man, it appears very difficult, if not impossible, for me to discontinue altogether the use of wine. Nevertheless, I bear in mind, and I trust in heaven that, like my grandfather Homayun, who succeeded in divesting himself of the habit before he attained to the age of forty-five, I also may be supported in my resolution, some time or other to abandon the pernicious practice altogether. ‘In a point wherein God has pronounced his sure displeasure, let the creature exert himself ever so little towards amendment, and it may prove, in no small degree, the means of eternal salvation.’” _Memoirs, &c._ p. 6, 7.

_Page 118._

Captain Hawkins (in “Purchas,” vol. i. p. 222,) gives the following quaint sketch of the routine of the emperor’s life, from his own observation:--

“First in the morning, about the break of day, he is at his beads, with his face turned to the westward. The manner of his praying, when he is at Agra, is in a private fair room, upon a goodly jet stone, having only a Persian lamb-skin under him: having also some eight chains of beads, every one of them containing four hundred. The beads are of rich pearl, ballace rubies, diamonds, emeralds, lignum aloes, Eshem, and coral. At the upper end of this jet stone, the pictures of Our Lady and Christ are placed, graven in stone: so he turneth over his beads, and saith three thousand two hundred words, according to the number of his beads, and then his prayer is ended. After he hath done, he sheweth himself to the people, receiving their salaams--unto him multitudes do resort every morning for this purpose. This done, he sleepeth two hours more, and then dineth and passeth his time with his women, and at noon he sheweth himself to the people again, sitting till three of the clock, viewing and seeing his pastimes and sports made by men, and fighting of many sorts of beasts--every day sundry kinds of pastime. Then at three o’clock all the nobles in general (that be in Agra, and are well) resort unto the court, the king coming forth in open audience, sitting in his seat royal, and every man standing in his degree before him; his chiefest sort of nobles standing within a red rail, and the rest without. They are all placed by his lieutenant-general. This red rail is three steps higher than the place where the rest stand, and within this red rail I was placed among the chiefest of all. The rest are placed by officers, and they likewise be within an outer very spacious place, railed; and without that rail stand all sorts of horsemen and soldiers, that belong unto his captains, and all other comers. At these rails there are many porters, who have white rods to keep men in order. In the midst of the place, right before the king, standeth one of his sheriffes, together with his master-hangman, who is accompanied with forty hangmen, wearing on their heads a certain quilted cap, different from all others, with an hatchet on their shoulders; and others, with all sorts of whips, being there ready to do what the king commandeth. The king heareth all causes in this place, and stayeth some two hours every day. (These kings sit daily in justice, and on the Tuesdays do their devotions.) Then he departeth towards his private place of prayer. His prayer being ended, four or five sorts of very well dressed and roasted meats are brought him, of which, as he pleaseth he eateth a little to stay his stomach, drinking once of his strong drink. Then he cometh forth into a private room, where none can come but such as himself nominateth. (For two years together I was one of his attendants here.) In this place he drinketh other five cupfulls, which is the portion that the physicians allot him. This done, he eateth opium, and then he ariseth; and being in the height of his drink, he layeth him down to sleep, every man departing to his own home. And after he hath slept two hours, they awake him, and bring his supper to him, at which time he is not able to feed himself; but it is thrust into his mouth by others, and this is about one of the clock, and then he sleepeth the rest of the night.”

_Page 119._

Jehangire gives a similar account of the visit of Oustad Nâë, in his “Memoirs.”

_Page 138._

The emperor’s visit to this hermit, is mentioned in his “Memoirs.”

_Page 146._

The wealth of the collector, and his acts of tyranny, as well as his punishment, are recorded by Jehangire in his “Memoirs.”

_Page 149._

The emperor thus speaks of this Mogul merchant in his “Memoirs:”--

“A certain Moghûl had resided for some time in the place, employed, as was supposed, in the pursuit of some commercial concern; and he was, it seems, in the habit of inviting such females as he observed to be addicted to liquor, to meet him in some of the gardens in the vicinity, where he told them they would find and experience from him such a reception as would surpass their most luxurious expectations.

“The women thus invited, usually arrayed themselves in their richest ornaments, and thus repaired to the place of appointment; where, as it afterwards appeared, it was the practice of the villain first to reduce them to a state of intoxication, and then to murder and strip them of their ornaments, with which he returned to his own residence. This he was permitted to continue for many a week, until he had, by these nefarious means, contrived to amass treasure to the amount of five-and-forty thousand tomauns.”[1]--_Memoirs, &c._ p. 118.

[1] At thirty-three rupees to the tomaun, this would
be about fourteen lacs and eighty-five thousand rupees, or about
150,000_l_.

_Page 287._

We find the following curious passage in the “Memoirs of Jehangire.”

“While I remained in the precincts of Delhy, at the period to which I shall now return, they described to me a species of feathered game, with tails of a particular description, and the flesh of which was of a flavour in the highest degree delicious. But what more particularly attracted my curiosity was, that they spoke a language known to none but to the natives of Kashmeir, who, by using a sort of note or call, took from them the power of flight; and who were thus able to catch them by thousands at a time. On a plain in the neighbourhood, frequented by thousands of these birds in a flock, by way of experiment, I employed about a thousand of the Kashmeirians accustomed to the business, to give me a proof of their skill, and I attended in person to view the sport. As had been represented to me, about twenty of the Kashmeirians collected together, and produced a sort of murmuring sound, which, attracting the attention of these birds, they were drawn by degrees within such a distance of the men, that they were taken in entire flocks. My pity was greatly moved by the reflection that these harmless birds should have fallen victims to this sort of treachery; that they should have been betrayed into the hands of the destroyer by their irresistible love of harmonious sounds, and that I should be found capable of consigning them to slaughter from a mere idle and vicious curiosity; the next day, therefore, I caused the whole, to the number of twenty thousand birds which had been taken on the occasion, to be set at liberty. My object was obtained in witnessing the fact; but to have seen them slaughtered would have bespoken a want of compassion foreign to my nature.”--_Memoirs, &c._ p. 132.

_Page 290._

The Rawil, Kuhy, or Laughing crows, assemble in numbers of from twenty to fifty in the forests, and make a noise closely resembling many persons laughing together. The plumage of the back, wings, and sides, is of an olive brown; the tail of umber brown. The head is ornamented with an elevated crest of rounded feathers. A black line passes from the base of the beak, through the eyes, and occupies the ear coverts. Excepting this black mark the whole of the head, throat, and breast, are white. The feathers of the crest, as they approach the occiput, appear as if slightly washed with Indian ink. The whole of this white space is bounded by a band of rufous, which loses itself in the olive brown of the rest of the body.

NOTES TO VOLUME III.

_Page 249._

Jehangire’s admiration of Eastern tales, was in keeping with his fondness for wonders of every description. He relates, in his “Memoirs,” a story which he states was told to him by a native of Arabia. It might be well included in a new edition of the “Arabian Nights:”--

“I shall here take upon me to relate, that once upon a time a native of Arabia, who had passed the age of forty, was brought to the metropolis for the purpose of being presented to me. When introduced to my presence, I observed that he had lost his arm close to the shoulder, and it occurred to me to ask him whether this was his condition from his birth, or whether it was an injury which he had received in battle. He seemed considerably embarrassed by the question; but stated that the accident which had deprived him of his arm was attended with circumstances so very extraordinary, as to be rather beyond credibility, and might perhaps expose him to some degree of ridicule: he had therefore made a vow never to describe it. On my importuning him further, however, and urging that there could exist no reason for concealment compatible with what he owed me for my protection, he finally relented, and related what follows:

“When I was about the age of fifteen, it happened to me to accompany my father on a voyage to India; and at the expiration of about sixty days, during which we had wandered in different directions through the ocean, we were assailed by a storm so dreadful, as to be for ever impressed upon my recollection. For three days and three nights successively, it raged with such indescribable fury, the sea rose in such tremendous surges, the rain descended in such torrents, and the peals of thunder accompanied by lightning so incessant, as to be terrific in the utmost degree. To complete the horrors of our situation, the ship’s mast, which was as large in compass as two men with arms extended could encircle, snapped in the middle, and falling upon the deck, destroyed many of the crew. The vessel was therefore on the very verge of foundering; but the tempest subsiding at the close of the third day, we were for the present preserved from destruction, although we were driven far from the course which led to the port of our destination.

“When, however, the ship had for some days been pursuing this uncertain course, we came in sight, unexpectedly, of what appeared to be a lofty mountain in the midst of the ocean; and as we neared the spot it was soon ascertained to be an island, covered with numerous buildings, and interspersed with trees and river streams in most agreeable variety. Our stock of water in the ship was nearly exhausted, and we therefore steered close in land; and from certain fishermen, who were out in their boats, we now learnt that the island was in possession of the Portuguese Franks; that it was extremely populous, and that there were no Mussulman inhabitants; moreover, that they had no intercourse with strangers.

“To be as brief as possible: as soon as the ship had reached the anchoring ground and dropped her anchor, a Portuguese captain and another officer came on board; and instantly, without leaving even an infant child to take care of the ship, conveyed the whole of the ship’s company, passengers and all, in boats to the shore; desiring, at the same time, that we might not be under any apprehensions, for that as soon as it could be discovered that there was among us a person that suited a particular purpose, which they did not choose to explain, that one alone would be detained, and the others dismissed without injury. The port being theirs, and ourselves entirely at their mercy, we were compelled to submit to all they said; and accordingly the whole ship’s company, merchants, slaves, and mariners, to the number of twelve hundred persons, were all crowded into one house.

“From thence they sent for us one by one alternately, and stripping us stark-naked, one of their hakeims, or physicians, proceeded to make the minutest examination of our bodies, in every muscle, vein, and limb, telling each respectively, after undergoing such examination, that he was at liberty to go about his business. This they continued to do until it came to the turn of myself and a brother who was with us; and what was our dismay and horror when, after the described examination, the hakeim delivered us into the custody of some of the people in attendance, with orders to place us behind the curtain; that is, where we should not be open to human intercourse. With the exception of my brother and myself, the whole of the ship’s company, on whose bodies they failed to discover the marks of which they were in search, were now dismissed. Neither could my father, either by tears or remonstrances succeed in diverting them from their purpose; to his repeated demands to know in what his sons could have offended, that out of a ship’s company of twelve hundred persons they alone should be detained, they replied only by a frown, utterly disregarding every entreaty.

“They now conveyed my brother and myself to a part of the place where they lodged us in separate chambers, opposite, however, to each other. Every morning they brought us for food fowl kabaubs, honey, and white bread, and this continued for the space of ten days. At the expiration of that period the naokhoda (or commander of the ship), demanded permission to proceed on his voyage. My father implored that he would delay his departure, if it were only for two or three days longer, when, peradventure, the Portuguese might be induced to give up his sons. He presented himself to the ruler of the port, and again, by the most humble entreaties endeavoured to obtain our release, but in vain.

“The same medical person, on whose report we were detained, now came with ten other Franks to the house or chamber where my brother was confined, and again stripping him naked, they laid him on his back on a board or table, where he was exposed to the same manual examination as before, They then left him and came to me, and stretching me out on a board in the same manner and plight, again examined my body in every part as before. Again they returned to my brother; for, from the situation of our prisons, the doors being exactly opposite, I could distinctly observe all that passed. They sent for a large bowl and a knife, and placing my brother, with his head over the bowl,--his cries and supplications all in vain,--they struck him over the mouth, and with the knife actually severed his head from the body, both the head and his blood being received in the bowl. When the bleeding had ceased, they took away the bowl of blood, which they immediately poured into a pot of boiling oil, brought for the purpose, stirring the whole together with a ladle, until both blood and oil became completely amalgamated. Will it be believed, that after this they took the head, and again fixing it exactly to the body, they continued to rub the adjoining parts with the mixture of blood and oil, until the whole had been applied. They left my brother in this state, closed the door, and went their way.

“At the expiration of three days from this, they sent for me from my place of confinement, and telling me that they had obtained, at my brother’s expense, all that was necessary to their purpose, they pointed out to me the entrance to a place under ground, which they said was the repository of gold and jewels to an incalculable amount. Thither they informed me I was to descend, and that I might bring away for myself as much of the contents as I had strength to carry. At first I refused all belief to their assertions, conceiving that doubtless they were about to send me where I was to be exposed to some tremendous trial; but as their importunities were too well enforced, I had no alternative but submission.

“I entered the opening which led to the passage, and having descended a flight of stairs, about fifty steps, I discovered four separate chambers. In the first chamber, to my utter surprise, I beheld my brother apparently restored to perfect health. He wore the dress and habiliments of the Ferenguies, or Portuguese,--had on his head a cap of the same people, profusely ornamented with pearl and precious stones,--a sword, set with diamonds, by his side, and a staff, similarly enriched, under his arm. My surprise was not diminished when the moment he observed me I saw him turn away from me, as if under feelings of the utmost disgust and disdain. I became so alarmed at a reception so strange and unaccountable, that although I saw that it was my own brother, the very marrow in my bones seemed to have been turned into cold water. I ventured, however, to look into the second chamber, and there I beheld heaps upon heaps of diamonds and rubies, and pearls and emeralds, and every other description of precious stones, thrown one on the other in astonishing profusion. The third chamber into which I looked contained, in similar heaps, an immense profusion of gold; and the fourth chamber was strewed middle deep with silver.

“I had some difficulty in determining to which of these glittering deposits I should give the preference. At last I recollected that a single diamond was of greater value than all the gold I could gather into my robe, and I accordingly decided on tucking up my skirts and filling them with jewels. I put out my hand in order to take up some of these glittering articles, when from some invisible agent, perhaps it was the effect of some overpowering effluvia, I received a blow so stunning, that I found it impossible to stand in the place any longer. In my retreat, it was necessary to pass the chamber in which I had seen my brother. The instant he perceived me about to pass, he drew his sword, and made a furious cut at me. I endeavoured to avoid the stroke by suddenly starting aside, but in vain; the blow took effect, and my right arm dropped from the shoulder-joint. Thus wounded and bleeding, I rushed from this deposit of treasure and horror, and at the entrance above, found the physician and his associates, who had so mysteriously determined the destiny of my unhappy brother. Some of them went below, and brought away my mutilated arm; and having closed up the entrance, with stone and mortar, conducted me, together with my arm, all bleeding as I was, to the presence of the Portuguese governor, men, and women, and children, flocking to the doors to behold the extraordinary spectacle.

“The wound in my shoulder continued to bleed; but having received from the governor a compensation of three thousand tomauns, a horse, with jewelled caparison, a number of beautiful female slaves, and many males, with the promise of future favour in reserve, the Portuguese physician was ordered to send for me, and applying some styptic preparation to the wound it quickly healed, and so perfectly, that it might be said I was thus armless from my birth. I was then dismissed, and having shortly afterwards obtained a passage in another ship, in about a month from my departure reached the port for which I was destined.

“On the above relation,” continues our imperial memorialist, “I have to observe, that in all probability the extraordinary circumstances to which it refers were effected through the operations of chimia (‘alchemy’), known to be extensively practised among the Franks, and in which the jugglers from Bengal appear to have been very well instructed.”

_Page 264._

Nitocris, an Egyptian queen of great beauty, revenged herself for the death of her brother and predecessor on the throne in a similar manner. “On her accession, she invited those whom she suspected of being privy to his murder, to a festival. A large subterraneous hall was prepared for the occasion; and though it had the appearance of being fitted up with a view to celebrate the proposed feast, it was, in reality, designed for a very different purpose; for, when the guests were assembled, the water of the Nile was introduced by a secret canal into the apartment; and thus, by their death, she gratified her revenge, without giving them an opportunity of suspecting her designs.”--See Mr. Wilkinson’s _Manners and Customs of the Egyptians_, vol. i. p. 91. London, Murray. 1838. This work appears to be the result of infinite labour and research. It is fraught with the deepest interest for minds anxious to dive into the early history of that most mysterious people. The style in which it is got up is truly splendid.

LONDON:
PRINTED BY STEWART AND MURRAY,
OLD BAILEY.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

Small caps have been changed to all caps. Italics changed to _italic_.

Due to a probable printer’s error, there are two chapters titled _Chapter X_. The original numbering has been preserved as it appears in the printed work, however “(continued)” has been added to the second _Chapter X_ for clarity.

A Table of Contents has been added by the transcriber.

Variations in spelling of the same words have been left as originally printed.

Minor punctuation errors and missing or misplaced quotation marks have been silently corrected.

The following probable printing errors have been changed as listed below:

Page 7: “conntry” changed to “country”: ...passing through the country, with a view...

Page 53: “assen” changed to “assent”: The high chancellor having signified his assent to this arrangement...

Page 180: “obtascles” changed to “obstacles”: So long as Kazim and Nourmahal existed, he felt them as obstacles in his way...

Page 181: “Perian” changed to “Persian”: The only person with whom the Persian seemed to share...

Page 205: “circustances” changed to “circumstances”: I can imagine many circumstances by which...

Page 219: “may” changed to “many”: They had not advanced many paces, when they heard...

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