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diff --git a/78239-0.txt b/78239-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fb79be9 --- /dev/null +++ b/78239-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6453 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78239 *** + + + + + NOURMAHAL, + + An Oriental Romance. + + + BY MICHAEL J. QUIN, + + AUTHOR OF “A STEAM VOYAGE DOWN THE DANUBE,” + “A VISIT TO SPAIN,” ETC. + + + IN THREE VOLUMES. + + VOL. II. + + + LONDON: + HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER, + 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. + + 1838. + + + PRINTED BY STEWART AND MURRAY, + OLD BAILEY. + + + + + TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER I. 1 + CHAPTER II. 17 + CHAPTER III. 33 + CHAPTER IV. 52 + CHAPTER V. 70 + CHAPTER VI. 90 + CHAPTER VII. 109 + CHAPTER VIII. 125 + CHAPTER IX. 140 + CHAPTER X. 163 + CHAPTER XI. 175 + CHAPTER XII. 191 + CHAPTER XIII. 205 + CHAPTER XIV. 221 + CHAPTER XV. 240 + CHAPTER XVI. 258 + CHAPTER XVII. 273 + CHAPTER XVIII. 291 + CHAPTER XIX. 304 + CHAPTER XX. 319 + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + “Look, master, see how the white umbrellas float, like trembling + lotuses, in the lake of the atmosphere. The numerous banners undulate + like waves, as they play before the wind; and now the elephants + advance, their golden bells tinkling as they stride; they are mounted + by merry bevies of damsels, singing songs of rejoicing, and blazing, + like rays of light, with glittering jewels of variegated tints, as if + they were so many portions of the heavens decorated with fragments of + Indra’s bow.” + Hindoo Drama. + + +About the hour when Jehangire ascended the throne at Agra, the +conspirators entered the city of Muttra, attended by twenty thousand +Rajaputs, whom Man-Singh had previously stationed upon the road. While +they were halting here to take refreshment, Hussein Bey, late governor +of the province of Cabul, having travelled during the night, on account +of the heat of the weather, met the prince in the market-place. +Hussein was on his return to Agra, having been recalled from his +government by the late emperor, without any reason being assigned +for such a proceeding. He was accompanied by a considerable body of +Tartar cavalry, and of Afghan infantry, who voluntarily escorted him, +in order to prove to the emperor the popularity and respect which he +had earned by his bravery, and the generosity of his disposition while +governor of Cabul. Having lavished all his fortune in the splendours +of the vice-regal office, of which he had been just deprived, and +feeling, moreover, that his sacrifices and labours had been ill repaid +by the disgrace thus inflicted upon him, he lent a willing ear to the +overtures made to him by Man-Singh, to espouse the cause of Chusero. + +Many of the inhabitants of Muttra, seeing the prince supported by two +chieftains of such high reputation, eagerly enlisted in his service. +On their march towards Delhi, they encountered various detachments +of horse and foot, on the route to different stations. These they +compelled, or induced, to join his standard; and by the time they +reached the suburbs of Delhi, their numbers assumed a formidable +appearance. + +Rumours of the approach of the rebel forces had already alarmed the +imperial authorities at Delhi; the inhabitants feared the entrance +of so large an army, which no discipline could restrain from acts of +plunder. It was resolved, therefore, that the gates should be closed, +and that preparations should be made for a vigorous defence. Delhi was +then surrounded by a strong wall, and by many towers, which it would +have been impossible to reduce without the aid of artillery. Chusero +waited before the city for some days, but finding that he had no means +for capturing it, he moved forward rapidly to Lahore, where he met with +no resistance. + +In the mean time Jehangire, fully informed of Chusero’s proceedings, +issued mandates for the assemblage of an army sufficient to put down +this dangerous, and to his feelings, peculiarly painful, insurrection. +During the first impulses of his anger he had directed his household +troops to pursue the rebels, charging Ferid Bochari, on whom he +conferred the chief command of the imperial forces, to bring back the +prince’s head without delay. But the intelligence which he received +of the accessions constantly making to Chusero’s party, obliged him +to adopt more prudent counsels. He was much attached to his son, his +eldest born, the natural heir to his throne; he could not believe +that the prince was any thing more than an instrument in the hands of +Man-Singh, Hussein, and the other chieftains, who were already in open +revolt against his authority, and whose real object he apprehended to +be the division of the empire amongst themselves. Filled, therefore, +with distrust of all the world, he determined to lead the army in +person, and to contend, if necessary, with his own hand for the crown +which he had derived from the valour of his ancestors. + +The resolution of Jehangire to take the field at the head of a hundred +thousand fighting men, necessarily caused a delay, which gave great +advantages to the prince’s party. It enabled the latter to repair the +dilapidated fortifications of Lahore; to collect within its walls large +stores of rice and grain; to communicate with the subahs of Moultan +and Cashmere, and to spread the seeds of revolt throughout the whole of +the northern provinces. The elevation of Bochari to the chief command +of the imperial troops, produced the deepest dissatisfaction amongst +the nobles in general, whose pride was wounded by the elevation of +the son of a Persian portrait-painter to the highest office in the +emperor’s gift. He had, they admitted, rendered essential service to +Jehangire, by the seasonable precautions which he had adopted for +securing the succession to the throne. But he had had no military +experience. He had hitherto distinguished himself only as an intriguer, +a parasite, and a debauchee. + +The high-chancellor, Kazim Ayas, whom Jehangire nominated to that +office, had indeed also been raised above the heads of many omrahs from +the inferior grades of life. But he was of an ancient, though decayed +family; he had, moreover, exhibited talents in the discharge of his +functions, which would have secured the acquiescence of all men in his +advancement, even if he had not won their favour by the graces of his +mind, and the invariable modesty of his demeanour. Bochari, on the +contrary, treacherous, sanguinary, rapacious, insolent, had evinced no +ability for command. His promotion to so high a degree of authority, +was deemed an insult to the whole empire! + +These feelings of discontent throughout the court at Agra, were, +however, in some measure, appeased by the emperor’s resolution to +place himself at the head of the troops, destined to take part in the +approaching contest. Many of the omrahs, who had wavered in their +allegiance, accepted that resolution as an apology for the appointment +of which they so loudly complained, and prepared to follow the imperial +standards. The requisite number of troops having been organised within +three months, the emperor’s tents were sent on beforehand; and the +astrologers having been consulted as to the time when he should set out +from Agra, an hour was discovered at the termination of the third day +of the new moon, which they unanimously pronounced auspicious for that +purpose. + +The whole army having been assembled in and around the city, the great +imperial drum, accompanied by the trumpets and cymbals of the palace +and the artillery of the citadel, gave the signal for departure, and +at the precise moment indicated by the stars, the whole host was +in motion on the road to Delhi. The vanguard was composed of thirty +thousand cavalry, mounted on steeds from Turkestan and Tartary, clad +in chain armour, and bearing in their hands long spears. These were +followed by three thousand elephants, with castles on their backs, +occupied by the household guards, who bore matchlocks in their hands, +and on their breasts cuirasses of burnished steel. Mantles of scarlet +cloth covered those parts of the elephants’ hides which were not +painted black, and from their ears were suspended white tails of the +cows of Great Thibet. Their guides sat upon their necks, arrayed in +iron armour from head to foot. Next to these elephants were stationed +ten thousand archers, clothed in green quilted mail, armed with large +bows, and quivers filled with winged arrows, and with slings for the +discharge of various missiles. Then marched forward five hundred +dromedaries, and small swift-footed elephants, upon whose backs +were fixed, on swivels, pieces of light artillery, each attended by +a gunner, who held before him a shield of steel; Bengal buffaloes +drawing a hundred pieces of heavy artillery, and vast masses of +Hindoo infantry, followed at some distance by the imperial staff, +composed of omrahs and rajahs, some riding on elephants, others mounted +on war-horses clothed in armour, all distinguished by their golden +helmets, surmounted by black horse-tails and Begla plumes, cuirasses +of silver, and gold-hafted scymitars of Damascus, whose naked blades +outshone the sun. + +The omrahs were attended by cavaliers and footmen, bearing silver +maces; and the rajahs lifted the banners of the empire, surmounted +by the crescent; behind which, followed, intermixed with a thousand +flutes, trumpets, cymbals, drums, and tambourines, the sacred kour +consisting of long ebony staffs, on the tops of which glittered in +massive silver the mystical hands; spheres representing the sun, moon, +earth, and stars; birds and quadrupeds of awful forms; the scales of +justice; the head of Solomon; tablets inscribed with characters which +the prophet alone could interpret; and other symbols of sovereign +authority. High above all these veteran warriors, and this splendid +pageantry, appeared, reclining on a throne of solid gold, shaded by +curtains of cloth of gold, and a canopy of silver thickly set with +diamonds, emeralds, and rubies, the great chieftain of the host wearing +his magnificent Persian tiara and imperial robes, mounted on Indragui, +that elephant of matchless stature, towering in the air like a giant +of ancient days. To ascend this stupendous animal, required a ladder +of fourteen steps. His body was painted all over with the dust of +yellow sandal-wood. From his ears hung snow-white tails of cows from +Thibet; his neck, breast, and legs were covered with chain armour of +gold, interspersed by plates of the same metal set with opal stones of +incomparable lustre, from which rows of melodious silver bells were +suspended. + +Indragui, not withstanding his size and strength, was of a disposition +so gentle, that under his most fearful excitements, if an infant +happened to fall in his way, he would take it up with his trunk, +and place it out of danger with the utmost tenderness. Such was his +courage, that he would not hesitate to attack a hundred elephants in +the field of battle, or in the arena where combats of animals were +performed for the entertainment of the court. In speed he excelled +the fleetest horse ever seen in Hindostan. A band of music and a +company of forty spearmen were assigned to attend exclusively upon this +elephant, such was the regard in which he was held by his imperial +master. + +Bochari, in silver armour, his gold helmet covered with waving ostrich +plumes, was seated on a cushion at the emperor’s feet; and then +followed on horseback a troop of eunuchs, each with a gold-headed cane +in his hand, attending twelve of the principal ladies of the harem, +mounted on Pegu elephants, seated in litters, and protected from the +gaze of the multitude by golden lattices and canopies of brocade, over +which were thrown nets of azure silk, with deep fringes of silver. +Surrounding these elephants, were trains of female slaves from Tartary, +fantastically attired, and riding zebras and milk-white ponies from +Cashmere. + +Saddle-horses fully caparisoned, mostly of a light fawn colour, led by +pages in the red imperial livery; footmen bearing on their shoulders, +battle-axes, and javelins; pipe and hookah bearers; huntsmen leading +in couples beagles, leopards, and large birds of prey trained to the +chace; falconers with hoops suspended around them, on which were +perched hawks of twelve different kinds, including the beautiful +zodehpeer, no larger than a parrot, and the moolcheen, scarcely so +big as a sparrow,--both perfectly green, which, like the royal hawk, +attack and bring down game of any size; gladiators, and the keepers +of the wild beasts, holding in strong chains lions, tigers, wolves, +rhinocerosses, lynxes, hyenas, and panthers; monkeys riding on troops +of well-trained dogs, and bears taught to dance to the sound of drum +and fife, followed the imperial harem, guarded by the executioners +of the palace, mounted on dromedaries, clad in black mogul caps and +pelisses of leopard skins, bearing on their shoulders axes of the +finest edge, whose glittering blades struck all beholders with terror. + +Last of all appeared a vast disorderly multitude, composed of +camels, buffaloes, horses, mules, oxen laden with tents, provisions, +cooking-utensils; of suttlers of the army; vendors of articles of every +description, to whom the removal of the court would have been ruinous +if they had remained at Agra; of Brahmins, Hindoo devotees carrying +their idols, dervishes, barbers, tailors, astrologers, jugglers, +exhibitors of shows and serpents, harpers, lutanists, players on the +dulcimer, singing and dancing girls, adventurers of every colour, and +idlers and thieves of every age and sex, whose undulating masses were +seen, and whose shouts were heard in the back ground of the army, like +the waves and sounds of the untameable ocean. + +Kazim Ayas, to whom, as the high chancellor, the emperor had delegated +his authority over the capital during his absence, ascended the +watch-tower of the citadel an hour before day-break, to observe the +movements of this mighty host. The early sunbeams, piercing through the +foliage of the trees, and reflected by a vast forest of spears, soon +enabled him to discern the position of the vanguard. The glittering +cuirasses of the household troops easily distinguished them from the +dark array of the archers; and the shields of the gunners indicated +the progress of the light and heavy artillery. The Hindoo infantry, in +massive columns, ten men a-breast, were clearly seen, armed with short +pikes and cutlasses, and moving to the martial airs of their different +bands. The silver canopy of the emperor seemed in itself a sun +surrounded by a sea of plumes, through which countless helmets shone +like satellites. The multitude that followed was occasionally hidden +from Kazim’s eye by clouds of dust, which assumed hues of gold and +purple as the sun rose higher in the heavens. Their tumultuous shouts +at first filled his mind with apprehensions of a general mutiny; but +his fears were dissipated by the regularly recurring clash of cymbals, +and the roll of drums, and the tramping of men, elephants, and horses, +mingled with gay music, borne to his ear at intervals on the light +winds that played through the firmament. + +Chusero’s emissaries conveyed to him early intelligence of the advance +of the imperial army. He prepared to give them battle on the borders +of the river Sutledge, the passages of which he resolved to defend; +if defeated there, he intended to retire within the fortifications of +Lahore, and if driven thence to seek refuge amongst the mountains of +Cashmere. He was not ignorant of his father’s passion for Nourmahal, +and he carefully availed himself of the circumstance, in order to gain +over to his cause the powerful assistance of Shere-Afkun. The feelings +of that distinguished warrior were painfully alive to the insinuations +which had been circulated upon that subject, both before and after +his marriage. It was not difficult to excite his attention to the +consequences that might arise, if Jehangire should enter Cashmere, +flushed with the victories which must have crowned his banners, +should he march beyond the province of Lahore. Afkun was, moreover, +too much of a soldier to hear of battles and warlike movements in +Hindostan, in which he did not participate. He had already quelled the +insurrectionary spirit of his own province; and although the luxury of +domestic enjoyments never before possessed for him such attractions as +it yielded at that moment, still he felt it impossible for a chieftain +of his rank and celebrity, to remain neutral in a contest on which +the fate of the empire depended. In answer to the requisitions for +assistance, addressed to him by Chusero, he engaged to bring into the +field twenty thousand fighting men, being fully persuaded, from all +he had heard of Jehangire, that from idiotcy or madness derived from +his maternal blood, and aggravated by the vices of wine-drinking and +opium-eating, in which he was reported to have indulged beyond all the +ordinary bounds of decency, the new sovereign was incapacitated for +the functions entrusted to him by the weak partialities of Acbar. + +Nourmahal, notwithstanding the conflicting feelings by which her +bosom was agitated, suggested no opposition to the resolutions of her +consort. The castle in which they resided, at a short distance from +the city of Cashmere, was the resort of crowds of young noblemen, who, +from the moment they heard that Chusero was proclaimed emperor at +Lahore, and that Afkun determined to espouse his cause, were anxious to +enlist under his banners. The frank and manly character of the prince, +his freedom from those vices by which the character of Jehangire was +tainted, the cordiality of his manners, the heroic beauty of his +person, his unquestioned bravery, were rendered familiar to them by +the reports which they had heard on all sides. There was, moreover, +something especially odious to their proud minds, in the notoriety of +the influence which the son of the Persian portrait-painter exercised +over Jehangire, and they agreed that, at all events, it became the +chivalry of Hindostan to rescue the throne from the thraldom of such a +vile adventurer as Bochari. + +Their conversations upon this subject were conveyed from time to time +to Nourmahal by Afkun; sometimes she overheard them from her terrace, +as the young omrahs were carousing in the great hall of the castle. She +listened with anticipations of unfeigned pleasure to every proposition +which had for its object the destruction of Bochari’s power, +remembering, as she did, the scowling looks with which he pursued her +on the evening of the Vishnu dance, and feeling instinctively that his +ascendancy stood before her own destinies as an impassable barrier. She +therefore speedily caught the contagion of enthusiasm with which the +approaching battles were spoken of by all around her, not doubting that +they would yield fresh laurels to him whose renown had already won her +hand. How far it had yet touched her heart, was a problem which even +Kanun found a difficulty in solving. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + On that day thy cheek sparkled under thy veil, and all this beautiful + imagery appeared on the mirror of our fancies. + + HAFIZ. + + +“It grieves me,” said the pale Circassian to one of her companions, +while they were engaged in watering a bed of Cashmere roses, “to behold +the indifference with which our mistress still meets the looks, beaming +all over with love, that light the noble countenance of the subah, +whenever he finds her walking alone on this terrace. He takes her hand +in his, kisses it, gazes upon her eyes with ardour as warm as if she +had just dropped down to him from heaven; but she--has finished her +walk, or is weary of the heat, or, negligent of his attentions, turns +away to a tulip or an anemone, about which she seems to care much more +than any thing that he can address to her!” + +“It is but too true! How changed, Kanun, she appears from her former +self! You remember the night of the Vishnu dance,--when Selim, now the +emperor, was present,--what a goddess she looked on that night!” + +“Ah, never can I forget it. You know how beautiful we always thought +her,--but she was then divine! How changed indeed! She will sit for +hours at the foot of a water-fall, which tumbles from those lofty +mountains above us with a roar that is to me sometimes terrible. But +Nourmahal likes it. It hushes to repose, she says, the feelings that +trouble her bosom when she thinks of her delicious home upon the banks +of the Jumna!” + +“Why does she still call her father’s palace, which she has quitted for +ever, her home?” + +“If that palace had not been in Agra, had she not remembered that +from its towers and gardens she could behold the golden domes of the +seraglio, those domes upon which she gazed with so many tears when we +left the capital for Cashmere, think you that her heart would still +yearn for that home, when she possesses such a princely residence as +this?” + +“I understand you too well.” + +“Look, what a prospect of marvellous beauty those lines of houses at +Cashmere exhibit, their flat roofs planted according to the beauteous +fashion of this enchanting country, with flowering shrubs, geraniums, +campanulas, and roses of every colour under heaven! Standing thus in +the valley beneath us, with that ample lake like a sheet of burnished +gold around them, in which they appear again as if imitated by some +magician of the skies, do they not justify the tradition that here the +true paradise was planted in the elder days? Oh is it not rapture to +breathe the perfume which they send us upon the wings of the evening +breeze, when the fire-flies are sparkling all over them like some lost +stars that know not where to be at rest? It was but yesterday evening +that I asked our lady to sketch for us, with her matchless pencil, that +bewitching scene; but she held in her hand a faded, withered lily of +the valley, which she seemed to think more attractive than the whole +collection of living charms I had pointed out to her attention.” + +“There she now moves yonder, towards those cedars, more like a queen +than the daughter of a shepherdess.” + +“Ah! I see she is going to her favourite haunt. When wandering alone +in that dark grove she feels that she is shut out from all the world; +that she can read, or write, or sketch, or give herself up to those +long reveries,--those tears,--which she has of late exchanged for the +buoyant spirits she had always known on the banks of the Jumna. She +loves to listen to those ancient trees waving solemnly above her head, +as if they were communing with each other in their plaintive voices +about the remembered happiness of other days. The Galun, fed by a +thousand streams that descend from the mountains, do you not hear how +it contributes its sweet murmurs to the music of the grove, while that +unceasing cataract, now deepened to thunder by a rush of waters which +had been blown back for a while by opposing winds on the mountain’s +top, now modulated to the song of the bulbul, forms the bass for a +concert of which her ear never tires.” + +Nourmahal was, indeed, much attached to the cedar grove from the +earliest moment of her residence in Cashmere. She loved to escape +thither, especially at noon, from the train of her attendants, and +from the importunities of the other ladies of the subah’s harem, +who entreated her to teach them those arts of embroidery, painting, +music, and dancing, in which she had attained, almost without +exertion, unrivalled excellence. She willingly abandoned to them the +opportunities which those hours afforded, for winning the attentions +and courting the smiles of him whose slaves they were, while she +wandered alone through the cedar grove, or sometimes, accompanied by +Kanun, if the cooler temperature of the season permitted, extended her +excursions to a rising ground whence she could catch favourable views +of the scenery around the castle. Her taste for drawing had furnished +her with a solace that never lost its zest, even when thoughts of the +past, anticipations of the future, pressed upon her with a weight that +to other minds would have been all but intolerable. + +It was a landscape worthy of her happiest skill--one upon which, +notwithstanding Kanun’s remark to the contrary, she had often pondered +with delight, so different did it appear from any scene she had +ever known in Hindostan. The capital lay beneath her, at the distance +of three leagues, in a valley, through which flowed the Galun, a wide, +full, yet placid river, ever bearing to an extensive lake beyond +the town, the contributions of innumerable streams that rushed down +from the surrounding mountains. The lower circle of those mountains, +broken only at one point, where the surplus waters of the lake found +an outlet, towards the Indus, between two stupendous rocks, exhibited +a perpetual spring. It was interspersed by many villages and hamlets, +by rice-fields, saffron-meadows, gardens, lemon and orange-groves, +clusters of trees that yield the custard-apple, the guava, the +mango, the tamarind, the citron, almond, peach, nectarine, apricot, +pomegranate, fig, and mulberry. Upon the pastures sheep were browsing, +attended by myriads of lambs, white as snow. The lowing of cows was +occasionally heard from all parts of the declivities; while among the +rocks that jutted out here and there, were seen troops of goats, whose +hair furnished the materials for those splendid shawls that are held in +such esteem by all nations. + +Above the pastures and villages, Nourmahal’s eye wandered among forests +of mahogany, pine, and oak and juniper, mingled with the palm, the +walnut, and the noble plane-tree, the saul, whose wreaths of foliage +and flowers seemed all silver, the graceful festoons of the azure +convolvolus, and the golden tassels of the laburnum. From branch to +branch, those busy birds, the fly-catchers, pursued their delicate +game, arrayed in deep glossy black, or in brilliant crimson, or in that +beautiful verditer blue which gives out tints of green when touched +by the light. Hundreds of humming-birds flitted about, looking for +insects in the centre of expanded flowers, whose purple, or yellow, or +roseate hues they seemed to borrow, as they chased each other through +the woods. Here the peacock compensated for his dissonant screams, by +the display of that wondrous assemblage of colours with which his long +plumage is illumined, challenging all the other birds of Cashmere, and +casting into the shade even its peculiar pheasant, whose wings are so +resplendent with tints of burnished green and purple. The notes of the +blue thrush, the blackbird, and the cuckoo; the lively song of the +skylark and the blackcap; and the tender murmurs of the nightingale, +came from different parts of the surrounding forests to add their +charms to that enchanting valley. + +The zone of forests with which the lower range of mountains was belted +vanished, apparently, into the clouds; but, beyond them, Nourmahal +discerned a still higher circle of ridges, covered with perpetual snow, +whose summits were as bright and serene as the face of the summer moon, +when all the world beneath was overshadowed by the tempest and shaken +by the thunder. Sadi justly exclaimed, when he first beheld Cashmere, +that it was a triple diadem, composed of a band of emerald, and then of +opal, reflecting every colour, and then of diamond, glowing like the +star of morning. + +The fountains that burst forth on all sides from those aërial heights, +formed numerous cascades, as they sought their way, like veins of +liquid silver, down the naked rocks and green declivities, until they +mingled with the Galun, yielding, as they descended, a combination +of melodies that lulled the soul into an Elysian sleep. The green or +saffron soft carpets spread over the plains of the valley, animated by +thousands of azure-winged butterflies, enamelled by the yellow anemone, +the brilliant pink, the proud geranium, whole fields of roses, whose +essence the Hindoo goddesses steal to perfume their golden hair, the +dictamnus, whose petals are arranged like the strings of a lute, the +mimosa, and those sun-like flowers that dazzle the eye, seemed the work +of some magician, especially when the changing shadows of the mountain +tops, or the passing clouds, now spread a mantle over the bosom of the +valley, now left it rejoicing in the sunbeams, breathing the incense, +and robed in the radiant garments of Paradise. + +No bird or beast of prey, or poisonous reptile, disturbed the repose +of that unrivalled scene. The eagle looked upon it with delight from +his habitation amidst the snow-crowned rocks, but sought his food in +Thibet, or among the Himalayan mountains. The tiger, scared by its +resplendent beauty, turned back, when the antelope, of which he was in +pursuit, fled for sanctuary to the woods of Cashmere. + +Nourmahal might well have been excused, if she often out-stayed the +sun, while endeavouring to retain on her canvass the prospects which +attracted her eye at every step, whether she gazed upon the works of +nature, or upon the picturesque dwellings raised by man on the banks of +the lake and the river, surmounted as those dwellings were by gardens +carefully cultivated, and filled with violets, roses, narcissuses, and +rose-scented tulips, vines, melons, and quinces, the yellow broom, the +splendid rhododendron, and oleander, and with hives for bees, whose +pleasing hum was heard through the stillness of noon as they wandered +from flower to flower. + +Often, in the evening, when the heat of the day was spent, and the haze +of the air cleared away, leaving the sky a transparent blue, and the +refreshing breeze came down from the higher ranges of the mountains, +did she watch from the summit of her own tower in the castle, the +crowds of gaily decorated boats with which the lake near the capital, +and the beautiful Galun, were covered, some engaged in hawking and +fishing, some in bearing to the islands in the lake parties bent on +pleasure, some apparently abandoned to the gentle motions of the +current, as if the persons within them yielded their whole existence +to delicious visions of tranquil joy that knows no care. + +Beyond the great lake others presented themselves to her eye, whose +surface was almost wholly veiled by the nelumbium, that gorgeous, +poppy-like flower, whose seeds and stalks yield a grateful food to +the peasant. Nor did the torch of the glow-worm fail to prolong the +twilight, until the moon, rising in her majesty, flung her path of +silver along the surface of the waters, deepened the azure vestment +of the heavens, and hushed to repose the forests and all their winged +inhabitants, the bulbul alone excepted, whose song is most musical, +most bewitching, when every other sound is at rest. + +There was a vacancy in Nourmahal’s heart, which compelled her to seek +occupation out of the ordinary routine of her duties. She could not, +she did not, frequently attempt to conceal from herself, that she had +been hurried by circumstances, over which she had no control, into her +union with Afkun. She was sensible of his entire devotion to her--of +the unquestionable preference with which he treated her beyond the +other inmates of his harem--of the liberty of action which he allowed +her, and of the indefatigable affection with which he provided for her +every sort of luxury and enjoyment which she could possibly desire. +For his character she entertained the utmost respect--she esteemed him +as the friend of her father--she adhered to him as her sworn protector +through life. But in none of these sentiments, or feelings, did she +discover those diviner impulses which spiritualise the heart, and +enable it to identify itself with the thoughts, the griefs, the joys of +another heart, as if the two were one. + +The endeavour would have been useless, had she made it, to persuade +herself that she was not an exile from scenes which she very much +preferred even to the paradise around her. One circumstance alone might +have reversed her convictions upon that point--a circumstance which she +dared not prefigure to her fancy, during those moments when she was +most alone. The victorious banner of the emperor--could she but behold +it planted on the towers of the castle--Bochari overthrown from his +pedestal of power--Chusero restored to filial obedience--Afkun at peace +with his imperial master, and in the enjoyment of his confidence--her +beloved parents near her--and herself permitted now and then (it was +all that she desired) to behold those glowing eyes which once looked +up at her, and confessed her to be their mistress, alone, and without +the chance of rivalry!--ah! these were indeed visions, which she could +never expect to see realised. + +Afkun could not but perceive that Nourmahal, in her new situation, was +far from being happy. Fearless, however, as he was in all the other +relations of his life, he had not the courage to open the page which +would have disclosed to him the full measure of despair that would +have filled his mind, had he known the real state of her feelings. He +won from her, at times, one of those smiles of loveliness, which made +her for the moment look like a being from some higher world. Upon that +smile he lived for a season, deluding himself with the hope that it +might return--return frequently, and at length prove that she was all +his own. But it was the flash of the lightning. During long days, and +weeks, and months, it returned not. It became unfamiliar to his eye, +though never lost to his recollection. When the thought occasionally +came home to his heart, that he was thus to spend his life with the +woman, whom, above all others, he loved--the woman, upon whose steps +he waited, as if they bore the magnet of his existence--when he first +began to apprehend that, with all his devotion, he had not succeeded +in winning his way to that sacred tabernacle in her bosom, which was +either pre-occupied, or reserved for some other object, he wept like an +infant. + +Nevertheless, he was of a disposition too noble to permit the slightest +trace of his secret agony to be visible to any other person--especially +to her who caused it. He resorted to no petty resources of revenge to +assuage his mortified pride--he planned no schemes for exciting her +to jealousy, though his harem yielded abundant means for operations +of that description. His sense of honour taught him, that to all the +females whom he had pledged himself to guard and respect, even when +he could not love, he owed obligations of the most inviolable nature. +They were happy in his presence, and grateful for the solicitude with +which he uniformly provided for their health and convenience, and for +those gratifications of personal ornament and dress, which engage so +much of woman’s attention. But although he might have easily induced +any of them to aid him in experiments upon the princess Nourmahal, with +a view to awaken her pride, and to affect her acknowledged rank as his +principal consort, he disdained all courses of that kind, resolved, +that if he could not gain her affections by the simple appeal of his +own manly heart, and by the unchangeable tenor of his love, he would +submit to the destiny that awaited him. + +Afkun found even in time a solace in reflecting that he suffered for +Nourmahal. It was a martyrdom known only to that intense love which +survives even the hope of return. His constant meditation was, how he +could best consult her wishes in all things, without seeming to press +beyond the point which her feelings towards him could permit him to go. +This generous delicacy would have conquered the indifference of any +woman, in whose heart the affections lived alone unkindled by ambition. +Nourmahal could not but be conscious of her power over Afkun, of his +unbounded devotion to her, and of the tenderness with which he treated +her apathy. She confessed to herself the ingratitude with which she +returned all his idolatry,--accused herself even of criminality, in +not confining her hopes of happiness within the sphere in which she +was now bound to move; but she could not, strive as she might, shut +out from her view the brilliant prospects which had once, though only +for a moment, shone upon her path; prospects, upon the recollection of +which, however visionary, she would rather continue to live, than, by +abandoning them, to get back that peace and innocence of mind which +they had for ever dispelled. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + Twice forty winters tip my beard with snow, + And age’s chilling gusts around me blow. + In early youth, by contemplation led, + With high pursuits my flattered thoughts were fed; + To nature first my labours were confined, + And all her charms were opened to my mind; + Each flower that glistened in the morning dew, + And every shrub that in the forest grew: + From earth to heaven I cast my wondering eyes, + Saw suns unnumbered sparkle in the skies; + Marked the just progress of each rolling sphere, + Described the seasons, and reformed the year. + At length sublimer studies I began, + And fixed my levelled telescope on man. + + INDIAN TALE. + + +Absorbed in those visionary secrets, which had now become the great +charm of her existence, Nourmahal happened, during one of her +excursions among the mountains, to stray to some distance from her +attendants. Mounted on a padded pony, that was accustomed to climb +the hills, she left the rein loose upon his neck, permitting the +animal sometimes to browse upon the herbage over which he wandered, +sometimes to drink from the crystal springs which leaped down the +mountain’s side, full of that joy with which the whole scene appeared +to be animated. It was one of those days in the advancing spring, when +the valleys and hills and forests of Cashmere were arrayed in all the +pride of their beauty, honouring the great festival which our planet +holds every year, in thanksgiving to the Omnipotent for ordering his +chamberlain, the zephyr, to spread the emerald carpet, and the clouds +to foster the infant plants in the cradle of the earth. + +“Ah!” said Nourmahal to herself, as the fragrance of the thymy turf, +pressed by her pony’s feet, filled her soul with a rush of irresistible +emotion, “how true, how beautiful, are the words of the Gulistan:--‘He +clotheth the bodies of the trees with verdant foliage, the festal +garments of spring, and in celebration of the return of that season +crowneth the youthful branches with garlands of blossoms. By his power +the juice of the cane is converted into delicious honey; and by his +discipline the kernel of the date becometh a lofty tree. Clouds and +winds, the moon, the sun and the sky, are all busied, that thou, O man! +mayst obtain thy bread. _Eat it not in neglect._ For thy sake all these +revolve and are obedient. It is not, therefore, consistent with the +rules of justice that _thou only shouldest not obey_.’ + +“Wherefore rebels this heart of mine against its destiny? Had I been +a shepherdess, like that maiden, slumbering yonder beneath the shade +of that willow, like her I should have been content to follow my flock +wherever it chose to rove; like her I should lie down when fatigued, +repose in happiness, and awake to the renewal of that serene enjoyment, +which is expressed in her composed and rosy countenance. What evil +spirit is this that seems to have taken possession of all my faculties? +Honoured by the preference of the greatest warrior in Hindostan, placed +at the head of his household, surrounded by all the luxuries which +princely rank and opulence can bestow, why is it that my heart denies +the interchange of other sentiments, flies away from all the real +glowing loveliness spread here at my feet, to ponder upon far distant +scenes,--scenes that I, perhaps, never may revisit?” + +The grief that came over her soul while she thus yielded to despair, +found relief in a shower of tears, which ran unheeded down her +lovely cheeks. Her attendants, meanwhile, accustomed to her moods of +abstraction, and not imagining that she was likely to wander beyond her +usual rides, gave themselves up to all the gladness of the day. They +had discovered a small lake, secluded amongst the hills, shaded from +the sun by willows and palms, clear as the sky above their heads, its +bed composed of fine sand, its surface so unruffled, that when they +came in a group upon it, and looked into it, holding each other by the +hand, they beheld themselves, and the trees and the hill-sides around +perfectly pictured as in a mirror. Although they had already performed +their ablutions in the harem, they could not resist the temptation +to bathe again. Having thrown off their garments, and loosened the +fillets by which their long hair was bound, they plunged into the cool +fountain, where they sat down and amused themselves with lifting the +water in the hollows of their hands, and then permitting it to fall on +the tops of their heads in refreshing streams. “The nightingales,” as +Sadi says, “were chanting around them from the pulpits of the trees.” +A zephyr gently waved the branches of the palms and willows by which +they were shaded, the grasshoppers chirped on the hills, bees murmured +among the yellow broom, and butterflies coursed each other from flower +to flower, now expanding their ample wings, now closing them up as if +afraid of exposing their delicate azure too much to the rays of the +noon-day sun. + +While the gay maidens were still revelling in the delicious coolness +of the fountain, telling each other their dreams of the preceding +night, Kanun called their attention to a sound which she thought she +had heard. They unanimously proclaimed it to be one of her fancies, +and went on with their talk; when she, again hushing them to silence, +bade them listen in the direction to which she pointed out. They now +perceived at some distance up the hill, almost hidden by plane and +poplar-trees, an ancient temple of considerable extent, and near it a +round tower so covered with ivy, that it looked to them like a tall +cypress. Presently the sound which before was faint, swelled louder +on the air, and filling the atmosphere with an undulation of melody, +passed away as one of the visions of which they had just been speaking. +It was, however, after a short pause repeated; Kanun declared that they +must be in one of those enchanted valleys with which Cashmere abounded. +They listened with increasing wonder, and while they kept their eyes +directed towards the temple, they beheld, emerging from the shade of +the trees by which it was encircled, a line of female pilgrims, in +the Hindoo attire, preceded by a girl clad in white, her head crowned +with white roses, and bearing in her hand a silver wand wreathed with +blossoms of the apple-tree. + +The moment the procession began to move the music ceased. Each of the +pilgrims held the fore-finger of the right hand to her lips, bearing +in the left a bunch of various flowers, carefully arranged, and tied +with the slender filaments of the vine. Descending slowly towards the +lake, they seemed to experience no surprise on finding it already +occupied by the bathers, who, hiding their limbs in their hair, watched +with curiosity the progress of the religious ceremony. The pilgrims, +standing round the lake, repeated, in a voice scarcely audible, a +prayer that the flowers which they cast into the water might reach in +safety the places for which they were destined--some of those places +being, if Kanun rightly heard the names, as distant as Tatta on the +Indus, as Benares on the Jumna, and as Patna on the Ganges. It seemed +as if a shower of roses and hyacinths, of pansies and jonquils, and +tulips, had fallen from the heavens upon the lake, many of them heaped +upon the beautiful blushing faces and raven hair of the maidens, to +their boundless delight. + +The pilgrims having returned to the temple, in the same silent solemn +order as that in which they had descended to the lake, Kanun, while she +divested herself, with scrupulous diligence, of the fragrant burthen +which was partly entangled in her hair, bade her companions to be +careful to follow her example, as she was convinced, from what had +occurred, that they must be in the celebrated fountain of Send-Brare. +Being immediately called upon on all sides to explain the mysteries +of this fountain, she said, that towards the middle of the spring, as +she had heard, the fountain flowed and ebbed at the dawn, at noon, +and at night, for fifteen successive days, and then remained dry +until the same period in the following year. Pilgrims flocked to the +fountain annually, from all parts of Hindostan, for the purpose of +purifying themselves in the sacred stream, and then of worshipping +in the neighbouring temple. After their prayers and hymns were over +they returned to the spring, and threw into it bouquets of flowers, so +arranged as to express their names, as well as those of the persons +for whom they were intended; these flowers they prayed might be borne +to their native rivers and streams, in order to assure their relatives +and friends, who duly watched for the interesting messengers, of the +tidings of their happy arrival at Send-Brare, and of their having +consummated their devotions. The flowers were sure to disappear with +the retiring waters, and to be conveyed through the interior of the +earth, by the hands of genii, to the places for which they were +designed, however remote those places might be from Cashmere. + +While Kanun was explaining this matter to her companions, and answering +the thousand questions to which it gave rise, desiring them to be +astonished at nothing in Cashmere, for that it was all sacred ground +replete with wonders, neither she nor they perceived that the waters +had been gaining rapidly upon them from the moment they entered the +lake. They were already lifted beyond their depth, and one of them, in +attempting to reach the bank, having cried out that she was drowning, +the alarm became general. Those who were near the willow grasped the +branches in their terror, rending the air with their screams and +piteous shouts, which were echoed through the mountains. + +Strange yelling sounds were immediately heard on all sides, as of +many persons tortured with intolerable agonies; these noises, which +were at first distant, seemed every moment to come nearer, until they +burst over the heads of the affrighted sufferers, in a shout of horrid +laughter that shook the earth to its centre. The waters were still +rising, all traces of the flowery banks had disappeared, the pilgrims +had come out from the temple and were running about distracted, not +knowing what to do in their confusion. Some fortunately hastened to +rescue the maidens from their perilous condition, many lay prostrate +in fear, others knelt down to appease, by their prayers, the angry +gods. The sky assumed a fiery redness, which was succeeded by the +darkness of night, and a silence more awful even than the dreadful +uproar that had just subsided. + +A low murmur proceeded from the ravines of the mountains, followed by +flashes of lightning and hurried peals of thunder, each louder than the +former, scarcely distinguishable from the countless shouts by which +they were re-echoed all round the lurid horizon. Hail, snow, rain, +furiously precipitated from the clouds, were succeeded by a tempest of +wind that bent the tops of the stoutest pines to the earth. The tower +of the temple, struck by a thunder-bolt, was rent in two, and one of +the lofty walls fell with a tremendous crash. The dome gave way before +the storm, when an enormous globe of fire entered with a hissing sound, +and exploding in the sacred building, left it a pile of ruins. + +While the battle of the elements was thus raging, Nourmahal, borne +rapidly towards the higher ranges of the mountains by the faithful +animal on which she was seated, whose sagacity and experience taught it +the means of safety on such occasions, escaped from all the dangers of +the scene. Above her, the sky was serene as an infant’s smile; beneath, +she beheld a sea of black clouds, agitated as if they had been scourged +against each other by the lash of some fiend. The lightning was visible +through them in zig-zag lines, and forked, as if wielded by the same +implacable hand, for the destruction of all things that lived on earth. +The clouds rose higher, every moment, with appalling sounds, that urged +her companion to greater speed, until his steps were arrested by a +voice, louder even than the thunder. + +Nourmahal, turning round, beheld standing near her on an isolated rock, +the figure of an aged man, his loins girded with a panther’s hide, a +goat-skin flung over his shoulder, a pointed woolly cap on his head, +his white uncombed beard long and bushy, and in his hand a rude thorny +staff, upon which he leant. Looking down on the warring elements below, +he seemed not only to enjoy the spectacle with a savage delight, but +to direct the conflict with the authority of a commander. He called to +the hail, and the rain, and the lightnings, the rolling thunders, and +the winds, by names such as a charioteer uses when he urges his horses +to their utmost prowess on the course, or in the field of battle. His +voice resounded through the sky, as he bade the elements advance, or +retreat, or suspend their fury; and when he issued his mandates and +saw how well they were obeyed, he cheered his slaves with a roar of +laughter awful as the trumpet of the destroying angel. + +Pausing for a while, he gazed on Nourmahal, who was trembling through +all her frame, and in accents, somewhat softened from their harsher +sounds, he assured her that she was out of all danger, as she had no +share in the causes that produced it. He then directed her to proceed +onwards by a path which he pointed out, which led her to some distance, +until it terminated at a splendid portal, the arch and pillars of +which seemed to have been carved out of the living rock, and glittered +in all the colours of the rainbow. She was met at the entrance by a +female attendant, graceful as a sylph, who encouraged her by winning +smiles to dismount from her palfrey, and to enter the hall, the sides +and roofs of which were composed of porphyry and jasper. From the hall +she was led through long galleries to a spacious saloon, where she +was conducted to a couch spread with Persian cloth of silver, through +a group of virgins, who paid her the homage due only to a reigning +sovereign. + +Nourmahal summoned all the energies of her mind, to preserve her +conviction that she was not the sport of some delusion of her fancy. +Her apprehensions were soon set at rest upon this point, by the +information which she received from her beautiful attendants, who +expressed their astonishment that she had not before heard of the +hermit Baba Zeinedeen, to whom was entrusted the guardianship of the +three wells, whence spring the Jumna, the Indus, and the Ganges. To his +power also, they added, it belonged to control the dreadful tempests +which were always called forth among the mountains of that district +by any noises in the open air, beyond the ordinary sounds of nature. +The peasants, when crossing those mountains, never spoke above their +breath; the pilgrims repairing to Send-Brare, never uttered a syllable +out of the temple, so well were they aware of the fearful consequences. +Not only winds and thunders arose, but fields of ice were separated +from the higher declivities of the mountains, and in their descent to +the valleys involved whole villages in destruction. On those occasions +Zeinedeen was obliged to issue from his tower, and to restrain the +warring elements, otherwise the whole country of Cashmere, the paradise +of the earth, would be converted into a scene of desolation. His anger +was unbounded when thus disturbed from his usual pursuits; but when the +calamities of the hour were over, he resumed, with fresh ardour, his +sublime studies, and was accessible to all who wished to consult him. + +Nourmahal’s fortitude sensibly returned, while this cheering and +interesting intelligence was conveyed to her by rosy lips, and +amidst sunny smiles. They, moreover, assured her, that she was well +known to Zeinedeen, who had often spoken of her. Iced lemonade, with +confectionary of the most exquisite flavour, was then served on golden +trays; and, by the time she had rested from her fatigue, Zeinedeen +returned. + +Taking Nourmahal by the hand, the hermit soothed the alarms with which +his savage appearance filled her breast, notwithstanding all she +had heard of his benevolence. He informed her that the commotions, +unfortunately excited by her own attendants, from their ignorance of +the nature of the fountain in which they bathed, and of the results +by which their loud cries would be followed, were happily terminated, +and that, with the exception of the ruined tower and temple, no other +mischief had occurred. Her attendants had been saved from their perils +by the pilgrims, and had found shelter in a cavern to which one of his +slaves should conduct her, as soon as she wished to return to them. + +Nourmahal’s terrors having been completely dissipated by the friendly +language of the hermit, she prayed permission to revisit him, in order +to receive instructions in the lofty walks of knowledge with which +he was conversant, to explore the fountains of the great rivers, +especially of her own beloved Jumna, and to behold the wonders over +which he held dominion. The hermit readily acceded to her wishes, and +attending her to her palfrey, which was in waiting at the portal, he +led the animal with his own hand, through the more difficult passages +of the mountain; then confiding her to the care of an intelligent +slave, whom he had sent forward for the purpose, he gave her his +benediction, and watched her progress, until distance shut her out from +his view. + +Nourmahal’s attendants were no less delighted than herself, with their +having met again, after a separation so unexpected and so awful during +its continuance. Afkun fortunately had spent the day in the capital, +where he was much occupied in organizing his troops for the march to +Lahore, having been summoned hither by urgent despatches from Chusero. +The bustle of military preparations in which all the male inmates +of the castle were involved, left them little time for attending to +the adventures which Kanun and her companions had to relate upon +their arrival. What, with rivetting of armour, whetting of sabres and +spear points, polishing of shields and matchlocks, new stringing of +bows, packing of quivers with arrows, and trying the mettle of horses +destined for the field, it seemed as if nobody had a moment to spare +to listen to Kanun. The cooks and servants of the kitchen were all +taken up in providing the continual banquets which were kept up in the +great hall of the castle, from morning until late in the night, in +consequence of the number of Omrahs, and Rajahs, and cavaliers, who +crowded to the residence of the subah, to tender their services. + +Resolving, as he had done from the beginning, to espouse the cause of +the prince, it was highly gratifying to Afkun’s mind, to find that +cause so popular throughout Cashmere. The offers of assistance which +he received from all sides were so numerous, that within a few weeks +he was enabled to muster the whole force of twenty thousand fighting +men, with which he had pledged himself to join Chusero’s army. The last +letters from the prince informed him, that Jehangire, after remaining +for a while at Delhi, had set out with the whole of his troops in the +direction of Lahore, and that not a moment was to be lost in making +preparations for the general battle, upon which the destinies of the +empire depended. + +As speedily as the different troops marched into the capital, from +the surrounding districts, they were embodied under the command of +experienced officers, and directed to proceed to Bember, where they +were to wait until the whole contingent should be assembled. A strong +garrison was left in the capital of Cashmere. The castle of the subah +being raised on an eminence, surrounded by a deep dyke filled with +water, which could only be crossed by a drawbridge, and the rocks +which formed its walls and the greater portion of its towers, being +inaccessible to an invading force, was confided to the care of a small +band of veterans, too old to take any part in the expedition. + +Afkun deferred to the last moment the painful task of announcing to +Nourmahal his departure for a war, from which it might not be his fate +to return. His steed was already caparisoned in the court-yard; the +officers by whom he was to be attended, were mounted; and his pages +were waiting in the great hall, holding his scymitar and shield, when +he presented himself to his idolized consort, clad in his chain armour, +and plain helmet of steel without plumes. Taking both her hands in +his, he looked into her eyes to find there some tokens of that deep +passionate love, which could afford him one bright remembrance to +dwell upon during his absence. But he could discern in those spheres +of unbounded loveliness no impulses, beyond that interest which she +unfeignedly felt in his success as a warrior. Kissing her cheeks, +while the big tear was gathering from his anguished heart, he hastened +to the hall, and girding on his sword, and passing his left arm through +the clasp of his shield, he went forth, reckless of a life that he felt +to be of such little worth to Nourmahal. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + “Thou art the father of all things, animate and inanimate; thou art + the sage instructor of the whole, worthy to be adored! There is none + like unto thee; where then, in the three worlds, is there one above + thee? Wherefore, I bow down; and, with my body prostrate upon the + ground, crave thy mercy. Lord! worthy to be adored; for thou shouldst + bear with me, even as a father with his son, a friend with his friend, + a lover with his beloved. I am well pleased with having beheld things + before never seen; yet my mind is overwhelmed with awful fear.” + + BHAGVAT-GEETA. + + +The discovery of Send-Brare, and of the marvellous agency which enabled +it to disperse secret messages throughout all parts of Hindostan, were +the never-ending topics of Kanun’s admiration. She would have exposed +her dress to be drenched a thousand times by the rain, her soul to be +appalled by a hundred storms, rather than not to have known the exact +position of the sacred fountain. Often as she had heard of it, since +her arrival in Cashmere, she never could succeed in getting any body to +show her where it was, and all her regrets were now converged on one +point, that there lived nobody in Hindostan to whom she could despatch +one of those symbols of her affection. Haply a few days might make +some difference in that respect. The march to Bember would be speedily +effected. Ah! there was one to whom she looked as to a star--so far +beyond her reach--so bright, so fascinating always to her adoring gaze, +but to whom her feelings were unknown, who, even if he knew them, would +never notice them--could she dare to take this mode of disclosing +to him the secret of her life? The thought was rapture--it almost +brightened into hope--that ray of gladness which still remains to us of +the sun of Eden. + +Nourmahal also felt no slight curiosity to behold the fountain of +so much power, and, as the period of its operation was limited, she +crossed the drawbridge the day after the departure of Afkun, and, +attended only by the Circassian, proceeded in the direction which she +pointed out. When they arrived at the spot, so well remembered by +Kanun, they found it perfectly dry; but the moment the sun attained its +mid-day height, they perceived the sands gradually becoming moist--the +whole of the bed of the lake was soon covered with water, which rose +higher every moment. Pilgrims, who had performed their devotions in the +ruined temple, but silently, as no part then remained of the roof of +the building, crowded round the margin of the fountain as before, and +cast into it their various bouquets of flowers. + +Nourmahal stopped to see the waters retire, and she was surprised to +observe, that, with the element disappeared, through fissures at the +sides of the lake, all the bouquets of the devotees. Whatever were the +thoughts by that circumstance excited in her bosom, she kept them to +herself. Kanun watched the varying expression of her countenance, with +an intense desire to know what was passing within the world of her +mistress’s mind; but she had not the temerity even to insinuate any +question on a subject, which, above all others, she knew to be sacred. + +Kanun, however, when she perceived Nourmahal alone the same evening in +her garden, culling a variety of flowers, from which she diligently +separated every imperfect or fading leaf, and which she re-examined +from time to time with a degree of anxious attention, that mantled her +countenance in glowing blushes, felt scarcely at a loss to conjecture +the purpose for which those letters of love’s alphabet were put +together. Nor were her suspicions diminished, on receiving orders from +her mistress the same evening, to direct that her favourite palfrey +should be in readiness an hour before sunrise the next day, when she +purposed, as she said, to pay a visit to Baba Zeinedeen. + +There being so many fountains, and caves, and temples, and groves, +and hills, resorted to in Cashmere, by religious men and women from +all parts of the earth, it was no unusual circumstance to meet there +with females alone, or in groups, with or without attendants, at all +hours of the night or day, proceeding in the different directions to +which they were led by their vows. The purposes which they were engaged +in executing, invested them with a character of inviolability held +in universal respect. No remark was, therefore, made by the guard or +sentinels of the castle, when they opened the gate to the drawbridge +for Nourmahal, just as the first streaks of morning were reddening the +sky. Arrayed in a plain white muslin turban and veil, a pelisse of blue +cloth, her under garments being of slightly figured straw-coloured +silk, a Cashmere shawl carelessly thrown over her shoulders, and a +bouquet of flowers held in her girdle, she passed through the gate +on her padded palfrey, and reached Send-Brare in time to witness a +repetition of the flowing and ebbing of the mysterious lake, after +having duly performed the prescribed devotions amidst the ruins of the +temple. While stooping over the fountain, just as it was beginning +to diminish, her cincture, by some means, became loosened, and her +bouquet falling into the water instantly disappeared. She would have +given worlds to obtain it back again. Her mind had suffered during the +night so much agitation, on account of that bouquet--the visions which +haunted her during the few moments of slumber she had enjoyed, rendered +her so irresolute, that when the moment came for taking the decisive +step of committing it to the mystic well, she determined at least to +postpone a step, fraught with consequences which she scarcely knew +whether she ought more to hope for or to apprehend. + +The accident which occurred deprived her of all further control over +the symbol she had prepared. She lingered on the margin of the lake +until all its waters vanished, and then, hoping that she might still +find some balm in the counsels of Zeinedeen to tranquillize the +conflicting storms in her heart, where her duties were all upon one +side, and her affections on the other, she remounted her palfrey and +directed his steps up the mountain. + +The little active animal, well accustomed to climb those rugged +heights, rapidly conveyed her to the hermitage. She was forthwith +conducted to Zeinedeen, whom she found in the uppermost chamber of a +lofty tower, surrounded by piles of books, by globes representing the +earth and starry heavens, circles on which the signs of the zodiac were +figured, charts, and compasses, and steel mirrors, paintings of strange +insects and birds, and statues of gods, such as she had never seen +before. The hermit received her with patriarchal kindness, and at once +entered upon the subject which he knew to be nearest to her heart. + +“You are unhappy, my daughter,” he said, “and it has not been difficult +for me to divine the source from which your solicitude proceeds. I, +who, as you know, have dominion over the elements, could not have once +glanced over the page which your countenance discloses to my eyes, +without reading in it the secret sorrow that, like a bird of ill omen, +perpetually hovers over your mind, and mars all the delights your +youth, and intelligence, and susceptibility, ought to strew along the +path of your existence. Thus it always is--and will be with those +who inhabit this globe. It is written in the stars which rule their +destinies, that the moment one cherished object is attained, another +is sought for as the true loadstone of felicity, to which tend all +their desires. But that acquired, still new wants, real or imaginary, +arise, the latter being, of all others, the most tyrannical in their +exactions, the most indefinable in the duration and number of the +miseries they inflict on mankind. + +“It is given to me to converse much with beings of a higher order, for +there are gradations of intelligence, from the mite you discern in that +sunbeam, to Him in whose presence that sun would be but as the darkness +of night. From those admirable masters I have learned that happiness is +a gift withdrawn from this planet, in consequence of the transgressions +of those by whom it was first inhabited; and that, nevertheless, the +search after that lost treasure, which they never shall find again +while here, is a penance which all the sons and daughters of Eve must +perform to the last hour of time. + +“Give up, then, my child, the vain pursuit. Be assured, that if you +were to-morrow to be placed in possession of the throne of Hindostan, +the next day would find you meditating on some object, dearer to your +hope than even the throne of the first empire in the world. Come with +me, and I shall expose to your view a scene that will teach you, if, +indeed, you can yet be taught by any experience to shun the precipices +towards which ambition may urge you, how futile are the dreams of +felicity fostered by mankind.” + +Nourmahal never felt so humbled as in the presence of this monitor, +who, without asking her a question, or consulting a star, seemed to +fathom, with unerring certainty, all the most hidden abysses of her +soul--to whose lofty trains of meditation the thoughts that engrossed +her attention seemed now so little in her own esteem. + +Unlocking a door that was concealed behind a mirror, the hermit led his +fair pupil by a secret staircase, to a cavern, beyond which further +progress appeared to be intercepted by a wall of porphyry. Zeinedeen +struck the wall with his staff, calling out at the same time, in his +awful voice, the name of Chunder. The name was repeated by a thousand +echoes through the hollows of the mountain, and before the lapse of +many minutes Nourmahal heard chains let down, and enormous bolts drawn +back, when the mural mass, separating from the roof of the cavern, was +lowered with a creaking noise, until it became level with the floor. A +black, swarthy figure, with shaggy hair, and bent almost to the earth +by the weight of years, stood at the other side of this drawbridge, +holding a lighted branch of pine-wood; by the flame, Nourmahal +perceived that the bridge spanned a torrent, through which rolled an +immense body of water. + +“Here,” said the hermit to his trembling companion, as he led her +over the bridge, “you behold the first gush of the Indus; no man has +ever yet plumbed the depths from which those waters ascend. Proceed, +Chunder, to the halls of the Ganges.” + +Following the footsteps of their guide, Zeinedeen and Nourmahal walked +on hand in hand, until they entered a gallery lined on each side with +brazen figures of serpents. They then passed through a chamber, in +which gigantic marble statues of the Hindoo gods were arranged, one +hand of each pressed on the lips, the other pointing towards a spacious +vestibule, where the light of the flambeau was no longer necessary, so +resplendent was the arch of many colours, through which fell from the +heavens, curled by no wind, stained by no foam, a vast sheet of water +into an abyss in the bosom of the earth, whence no sound returned. +The silence with which the stupendous element descended from on high, +struck Nourmahal as more appalling than any thunder that had ever +reached her ear. It was the fountain of the Ganges. + +Chunder next led the way through a dark and horrid labyrinth, which +opened upon an ample circular space, thickly spread on all sides with +cinders and lava. The blue sky was visible at a great height above the +tops of the surrounding mountains, while, at a short distance beneath +the spot on which they stood, appeared a glassy lake. A boat, with oars +in it, was hauled up on the declivity. Chunder immediately launched the +little bark, into which Zeinedeen conducted his wondering companion, +who scarcely hoped that she could retain her senses amidst the marvels +she was permitted to witness. + +When the boat was in the middle of the lake, Chunder drew in his oars, +and Zeinedeen, after waiting till the circles caused on the surface +of the water by the motion of the vessel had disappeared, desired +Nourmahal to look down into the bosom of the calm mirror. Instead +of the reflection of the gloomy scene around, which she expected to +see, she beheld, as if in another world beneath her, numerous temples +and towers; palaces and houses of every order; market-places filled +with people and commodities of every description; bazaars and shops; +streets and squares lined with shady trees; suburbs decorated with +gardens in the highest state of cultivation; green hills, and vallies, +and forests; rivers gleaming through them, on which were numerous +boats piled with fruits, and vegetables, and flowers; and on the roads +leading to the different gates of the city, and in the streets, crowds +of elephants, and camels, and buffaloes, engaged in the conveyance of +passengers and burthens, and all things indicating the presence of a +great and luxurious capital. + +“Need we do more than gaze upon this imperishable monument of the +vengeance of the Supreme Being, to be convinced of the emptiness of +all human hopes and calculations?” said the hermit. “Behold, there are +crowds of every age and sex, whom the morning sun found occupied in all +the affairs of life. That building which you see crowning the citadel, +is the palace of Damuder, famed for the immense treasures of gold, +silver, and precious stones, which he accumulated during his reign; and +for the exquisite loveliness of the sultanas, with whom his harem was +filled from all quarters of the globe. He had many valiant sons, had +conquered all the foes who attempted to disturb his peaceful reign, +and in those fields and vineyards surrounding the capital, you may +perceive his disbanded soldiers turning their spears into ploughshares, +their scymitars into pruning-hooks, and their once formidable clubs +into the staffs of shepherds. Men who had grown grey in battles, you +may see on the hillsides tending their flocks, or sleeping beneath the +shade of their own fig-trees. + +“The senate-house, a sumptuous pile of building, long frequented by +orators and crowds of citizens, who hastened hither to consult for the +safety of the state, or to regulate, by wise laws, the interests of +the community, seems without a being in it; to such a state of order +and peace had they arrived, that no further precautions were necessary +in the way of legislation. Abundance prevailed every where. Orange +and lemon groves teemed with their cooling fruits. Luxuries which the +neighbourhood of the capital did not supply, were borne hither from all +parts of Asia; spices are passing hither from Arabia; fine cloths and +silks from Persia; diamonds, and emeralds, and rubies from Golconda; +muslins and chintzes from Masulipatam; rice, and timber, and wheat +from Bengal; and fine wool from Thibet. + +“Behold the lakes and islands filled with families occupied only in +pursuit of pleasure. Musical instruments are in the hands of thousands +of players, surrounded by groups of dancers and singers, from whose +upraised looks and joyous countenances you may easily fancy you hear +the bursts of laughter that come from hearts inexperienced in care. +The public arena is thronged in every part with spectators, assembled +to witness the combats of elephants and lions, and of those terrible +bulls who make the forests of Cabul tremble with their roar. But the +temples raised in the elder days are all abandoned. So secure had the +sultan become of the permanence of the felicity which he enjoyed, that +he ceased to put up prayers to the gods, and the people were taught to +worship Damuder alone, as if he were the fountain of all the blessings +they enjoyed. + +“Look on that lofty golden throne, shining with precious stones of +every hue, on which the sultan is seated, in the midst of a large +plain, densely crowded with his vassals kneeling before him, and +holding silver censers still full of frankincense, which were prepared +for a general act of adoration he had ordered. He had proclaimed a +great festival to be celebrated on his birth-day. A thousand oxen +were led, decorated in flowers and ribands, to that altar, where you +may still count them. Near them are the priests of the new religion, +which the sultan had ordained to be instituted in his own honour; and +elevated on a lofty stage are a hundred musicians, with silver trumpets +raised to their mouths. Upon the first signal from those trumpets being +sounded, the sacrificers were to slay the oxen, the priests were to +lift their hands to the throne, and the worshippers were to hold in the +same direction their censers kindled at the moment, in order that the +cloud of their fragrant offering, and the hymns of the priests, and the +blood of the victims might in unison complete the triumph of the new +faith. + +“But, awful to relate, the first blast of those silver trumpets was +answered by a voice of scorn from the skies, that shook the earth in +its orbit. That capital then occupied a magnificent valley, called +the Garden of Cashmere, above the place where we now stand. The +sultan, arrayed in more than the glory of Solomon, was at the instant +paralysed on his throne. The censers repelled the fires that were +applied to them; the uplifted arms of the priests remained suspended +in the air; the knives vanished from the clenched hands of the +sacrificers; the womb of these mountains opened, and amidst lightnings +and thunders, such as from the creation of the world were never seen or +heard before, the whole kingdom was precipitated into the abyss where +you now behold it; every thing living that it contained, struck dead by +the sword of the archangel. + +“For the instruction of yet distant generations, a sheet of crystal +was spread over this valley, whose declivities still retain frightful +traces of the convulsion, by which that occurrence was signalized. The +lake that covers the crystal is the fountain-head of your favourite +Jumna. When you behold that river again, forget not the terrible +example of punishment, visited upon human insolence and folly, which +you have witnessed at its source. I know not if it shall deter you from +the ways of ambition. The appetite for power, when once excited, is +insatiable as the ensanguined jaws of the tiger! + +“Hindostan! Hindostan! when shalt thou be at rest? Even now the son is +armed against the father,--the father against the son, and troops are +marching from all parts of the empire to contend for a throne, just as +certain to perish, as that sepulchred beneath these waters! + +“Men, men!” repeated the hermit, rising and clasping his hands in +emotion; “think you with Damuder, that there is no God? Is there a +whisper to be heard on earth which denies His existence? Do you hear +it on the plains, in the forest, among the mountains? Comes it from +ocean booming in the tempest; from the conflicting clouds when they +peal along the arches of eternal space? The breath of such a voice, +passing over Cashmere, would clothe it in widows’ mourning, blighting +the golden harvest, bereaving the rose of its fragrance, the lily of +its raiment, the vine of its fruit, the woodland of its shade, and +all that fair scenery diversified by hill and vale of its beauty and +enchantment. The heart of man--would it not be palsied with horror--his +brain fired with madness, if he were assured by such an unearthly +mutter that there is _no_ Omnipotent? What would he have to live +for--what to hope, if he be indeed the sport of a delusion--the fool +of the universe? Why was he born in helplessness, condemned to labour +in sorrow, endowed with desire of offspring who could but renew his +misery? Why feels he pleasure in virtue, loathing in vice, if there be +no parent to cherish him hereafter, no judge to distinguish between +innocence and crime? No; there is no such voice on earth, or in space; +or, if there be, it is a LIE, which the very outcasts from +heaven would not dare to repeat; for even they believe and tremble, +thoughtful of the arm that hurled them from those regions of light +which they shall never see again!” + +Nourmahal had no disposition to interrupt the silence that followed +these words of the hermit, who leading her back by the way they came, +and resigning her to the care of an attendant, resumed the studies +in which he had been engaged upon her arrival. On her way down the +mountain she was met by Kanun, who had been anxiously looking out for +her mistress, and they both returned to the castle together. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + _Kanchanamala._ Glory to your grace! The queen sends + you word that Samvarana Siddha, the magician, is + arrived from Ougein; will your majesty be pleased to + see him? + + _Vatsa._ By all means; I take much pleasure in this + cunning; bring him hither. + + _Kan._ Here is the king. + + _Sam._ What are your majesty’s commands? Would + you see the moon brought down upon earth--a mountain + in mid air--a fire in the ocean, or night at noon? + I will produce them--Command. + + HINDOO DRAMA. + + +To the proclamations which he had distributed amongst the chieftains of +the northern and western provinces of the empire, Chusero received so +many favourable answers, that by the time the adverse troops marched +from Delhi, he found himself at the head of a formidable army. He +proceeded from Lahore to meet them, and encamped a few leagues to the +south-east of that city, where he waited for the auxiliaries from +Cashmere. + +The difficulty of procuring provisions for his army, in a country +already ravaged by the insurgents, compelled Jehangire to encamp in a +plain near Shahabad, and there await the fresh supplies, for which he +had issued orders to all the provinces still bearing him allegiance. +The ground was peculiarly favourable for the display of that superb +military spectacle, the halt of a grand army, within the neighbourhood +of the field on which a general engagement is expected to take place. +The principal quarter-master selected for the emperor’s tents a rising +ground, which was speedily prepared by the pioneers, and enclosed by +high screens of strong cloth, lined on the inside with printed calico, +representing gardens, and lakes, and vases of flowers, and other +objects agreeable to the eye of taste. The screens thus raised, formed +an ample square, and on the side on which the imperial entrance was +formed, festoons of rich silk drapery embellished the external side of +the temporary mural boundary. + +Within this square the first tent erected was that called the Am-kas, +from the hall in the capital in which the emperor, attended by his +judges and nobles, gives public audience, and administers justice. The +tent is devoted to the same purposes, and near it was raised another +of scarcely less extent, to which the omrahs repaired every evening to +pay their obeisance to the sovereign, and when necessary to consult +with him upon the affairs of the empire. A lower boundary of screens, +lined with chintz, and decorated with deep silken fringes, secluded +the remainder of the square for the pavilions of the emperor and his +seraglio. The outside of all these habitations was covered with coarse +red cloth, ornamented with large variegated stripes, the roofs and +walls inside being lined with white velvet or flowered satin, richly +embroidered with gold and edged with fringes of azure silk. Cotton +mats, three or four inches thick, were spread on the floor, and covered +with Persian carpets, on which were disposed large cushions enveloped +in the most splendid brocade. These tents were supported by pillars of +massive gold. + +On either side of the imperial gate, leading to this square, were +erected two long tents, where horses saddled and superbly caparisoned +were kept in readiness for the emperor, whenever he chose to ride forth +to the chase, or to review his troops. Before the tents several pieces +of field artillery, and trumpeters on high stages were stationed, in +order to salute the emperor as he passed through the gate. Here also +tents were arranged for the omrahs on guard. + +Within a short distance from the other three sides of the great square +were the tents of the officers of the household, and those prepared +to contain the arms and harnesses belonging to the emperor, the vests +of brocade, and other materials given by him as presents upon state +occasions, the fruit, sweet-meats, Ganges’-water, wines, saltpetre for +cooling them, betel leaves, and other stores necessary for the use of +his table, his choice elephants, and the various animals employed in +hunting. The tents within and immediately without the great square +constituted the imperial quarters, and beyond these were laid out, +in long lines, the imperial bazaars, from which the emperor and his +household were supplied with provisions, and all other articles +of which they stood in need. These bazaars were distinguished by +extremely long poles, erected at a distance of three hundred paces from +each other, bearing red standards, surmounted by the tails of Great +Thibet cows. + +Beyond the bazaars the great omrahs had their tents pitched, surrounded +also by screens, and near them those of their officers and cavaliers. +Then appeared the bazaars of the suttlers, who supplied forage for the +horses of the army, and rice, corn, butter, and bread for the great +body of the cavalry, artillery, and infantry. Each of these bazaars +had also long poles at both ends, distinguished by peculiar standards +floating high in air, in order that those which furnished the different +supplies might be the more easily distinguished. The remainder of +the ground was occupied by the tents of the inferior officers, the +artillery, cavalry, and infantry, the civil officers, trades-people, +and the multitudinous followers of the army. + +Three of the emissaries commissioned by Chusero to watch the movements +of the hostile forces, met, on a cloudy night upon a hillock, from +which they beheld, for the first time, stretching far and wide before +them, the imperial encampment. They saw numerous fires blazing in +all directions, round which were collected groups of men employed in +cooking. They recognised the entrance to the imperial quarters by +the lantern which was suspended at the top of a very lofty pole, and +which at a distance looked like a star. Approaching nearer, in order +to penetrate as far as possible into the camp unperceived, they passed +the outer lines of tents and bazaars, when their apprehensions were +excited by seeing long rows of flambeaus suddenly kindled, amidst lanes +of tents, from which the omrahs, followed by their attendants, hastened +towards the imperial pavilion. They suspected that a council of war was +about to be held, and anxious to divine the results, they concealed +themselves from notice as well as they could, until the council broke +up. The trumpets at the imperial gate sounded as the omrahs passed in, +the shrill and oft-repeated notes incessantly echoing through the vast +encampment, while the lines of light, and the countless fires, threw +a lurid reflection on the dark clouds, portentous of the approaching +scenes of slaughter. After an absence of two hours, the omrahs returned +to their tents; the flambeaus were extinguished, the cooking fires +were permitted gradually to go out, and the emissaries, disappointed +in their hope of meeting any one who could afford them the information +they required, resolved to retire. + +As they withdrew in different directions, they were obliged frequently +to lie down on the grass, to avoid meeting with the watchmen who +perambulated the quarters of the omrahs, and who cried out from time +to time, “Kaber-dar, kaber-dar” (have a care). Similar warnings were +uttered in peremptory voices by soldiers sent in all directions by +the grand provost, who visited the bazaars in search of thieves, and +sounded trumpets at assigned stations to denote that all was well. It +was not without difficulty that the spies made good their escape from +these guards, and also from the sentinels posted round the whole camp, +near guard-fires kindled at the distance of five hundred paces from +each other. + +Having re-assembled at the hillock where they met the previous +night, the emissaries waited there until the dawn, when the sun +rising, unveiled by a single cloud, presented to their view the +whole encampment in all its magnitude and splendour. The red-striped +pavilions of the imperial quarters standing on an eminence, surrounded +by their screens, looked peculiarly superb and imposing. The bazaars +of the household, and many-coloured tents of the omrahs and their +officers, the bazaars of the suttlers, the hosts of tents assigned +to the great body of the army, stretching over the plain to the very +edge of the horizon, the long poles surmounted by Thibet cow-tails, +and by standards floating high over the encampment in all directions, +exhibited a spectacle of authority and strength, and a combination of +resources, which the emissaries began to apprehend their master was but +ill prepared to encounter. + +They therefore consulted amongst themselves as to the course they ought +to take, whether to go back and represent the overwhelming numbers with +which the prince would have to contend, or to penetrate the camp again, +and observe whether any opportunities were presented by the habits of +the emperor which would enable a resolute man to take away his life, +and thus remove the only obstacle to Chusero’s ascent to the throne. +Could they accomplish that object, they doubted not that, besides the +plunder which they might possibly be able to carry away from the +royal tents, during the confusion which such an event would create, +they would receive, as their least reward, the principal provinces of +the empire. They were not ignorant of Chusero’s objection to the many +propositions that were made to him for the assassination of his father. +But the deed once consummated, and the throne opened to his acceptance, +they could not persuade themselves that he would refuse it, and that, +having the power, he would hesitate to bestow any compensation they +could reasonably require for such an important service. + +“Who doubts,” said one of these debaters, “that the Orcha Rajaputs +were employed by Bochari to cut off Abul Fazeel on his way to the +Deccan? Who doubts, that whether this act was or was not suggested by +Jehangire, it was sanctioned by him, since he has elevated Bochari to +the first office in the state?” + +“But the question now is,” observed another, while he looked upon the +splendour of the imperial quarters with the eye of the miser counting +over his ingots of gold--“how any of us could find the means of getting +near the person of the emperor, surrounded as he is by all those +tents, and bazaars, and screens, and lines of household guards. It +seems to me that even if we had resolved upon the course you recommend, +the accomplishment of it would be impossible.” + +“Not impossible,” said the third emissary,--“if the proper means be +taken. You remember the Bengal Bauzigurs, whose tents we passed three +days ago. Let us go back to them, and say that we have been sent to +invite them to the imperial camp, where they may reckon on being well +received, for the emperor never loses an opportunity of witnessing the +performances of those wondrous magicians. We will, of course, accompany +them, as if we formed part of their train, and shall then stand a good +chance of being admitted to the imperial presence.” + +“An admirable suggestion!” exclaimed at once both his companions--“let +us not lose a moment in carrying it into execution.” + +The emissaries returned, without delay, through the bye-paths of the +country to the well, near which they had previously encountered the +Bauzigurs; but not finding them there, they made inquiries amongst the +shepherds, until they traced them to the high road towards Lahore. +Having at length, by great exertion, overtaken the magicians, they +stated that they were commissioned by the emperor, who had heard of +their extraordinary feats, to conduct them to his camp, where they +would be sure of receiving magnificent presents for the exhibition of +their skill. + +The Bauzigurs, of whom there were seven in all, too much delighted +with this intelligence, and the invitation by which it was followed, +to think of putting many questions to their new acquaintances, were +easily prevailed upon to give up their intention of proceeding to the +northern provinces, and directed their steps towards the camp, attended +by the emissaries, who took care to make themselves useful as carriers +of part of the equipage with which those wonder-workers are usually +incumbered. Upon their arrival at the outskirts of the encampment they +were challenged by the sentinels, who refused to allow them to pass +without orders from the emperor. This difficulty had been foreseen and +provided against by the emissaries, who produced a memorial signed by +the Bauzigurs, setting forth some of the marvels which they had it +in their power to display, and praying his majesty’s permission to +appear before him. This memorial, which the emissaries represented to +the Bauzigurs to be an affair of court form, indispensable even where +an invitation had been previously given, was forwarded to the hands +of Jehangire, who read it with puerile transport, happy to have the +listlessness of the camp thus broken in upon for a day or two, and gave +instant directions for the admission of the strangers. + +Advancing through the tents and bazaars, amidst the gaze of the curious +multitude, to whom they were obliged to promise a day’s amusement +upon their return from the imperial quarters, they entered the +imperial gate, passed the screens, and preceded by a guard of eunuchs, +approached the pavilion of the emperor. The report speedily went the +round of the tents in which the ladies of the harem were lodged, that +famous Bauzigurs from Bengal were arrived, and about to entertain the +court. They forthwith prayed and obtained permission to witness the +spectacle through latticed screens, which were speedily arranged for +the purpose. A space was cleared for the exhibition, in front of the +imperial pavilion, and the magicians having announced that all things +were prepared for their operations, the emperor came forth, attended +by Bochari and a number of his principal officers and omrahs, whom the +emissaries were well pleased to see unarmed. Immediately behind the +divan, however, upon which Jehangire was seated, they observed a number +of eunuchs, in close array, with drawn scimitars. A rustle of silks and +brocades, accompanied by low busy whispers, intermingled now and then +with gentle laughter, drew occasionally the attention of the younger +omrahs to the lattices, through which many bright eyes were beheld, +waiting, with intense eagerness, for the novelties of the day. The +emissaries, who were actively engaged in assisting in the marvels about +to be performed, now and then conveyed to each other, by their glances, +an expression of rejoicing at the success which had so far crowned +their scheme. But those glances had not altogether escaped the vigilant +eye of Bochari, from whose mind suspicion never was absent. + +The first performances were little beyond the usual arts of manual +dexterity. One of the Bauzigurs plunged a red rose into water, and +brought it out a bright yellow. The next produced a bird-cage, which +at first appeared to contain a pair of sweet-singing nightingales. The +cage seemed to be without partition; but upon being turned around, the +nightingales were changed into a couple of beautiful green parrots, +and these vanishing were replaced by a brace of partridges, singularly +mottled. They exhibited a large ewer, filled with water. Reversing +it, they spilled the water to the last drop; but on turning the +vessel, with its mouth upwards again, it appeared as full of water as +before. They shewed a sack, open at both ends. At one end of this they +introduced a melon, which at the other was brought out a cucumber; then +the cucumber was converted into a bunch of grapes; and these into a +branch of a tree, laden with apples of the true Abbas sort. + +One of the seven stood up, and setting open his mouth, the head of a +snake immediately came out of it. Another of the men seized the snake +by the neck, and drew it out to the length of four cubits. This being +cast to the ground, another and another followed, in the same manner, +to the number of ten, none of them being less than five cubits in +length. These being all flung upon the ground, were immediately seen +writhing in the folds of each other, and tearing one another with the +greatest fury. + +They arranged twelve porcelain jars, which every body who looked into +them pronounced to be completely empty. The jars were then covered, and +the covers being removed a few minutes after, they all appeared to be +full, one of wheat, parched, and fit for use; another of sugar-candy; +another of citron; another of tamarind, and so on; each jar containing +a different eatable, which was tasted by the eunuchs. The jars were +again covered, and so remained for a few moments, when, upon the covers +being once more removed, the vessels appeared as empty and as clean on +the inside as if they had been washed with spring-water. + +One of the men displayed a ruby ring on his little finger; he removed +the ring to another finger, when the gem became emerald, then to +another finger, when the emerald became a diamond; then to another, +when the diamond was transformed into a turquoise. + +Jehangire expressed his astonishment at these various changes. At +the conclusion of each feat a buzz of admiration was heard throughout +the whole courtly circle, and from behind the lattices expressions +of wonder and delight became so audible, that it became necessary to +intimate in that quarter the expediency of lowering their voices a +little. Curiosity, however, was raised still higher, when the Bengalese +announced that they had still in reserve matters better worth his +majesty’s attention. + +They held up a book, the leaves of which they turned separately over +before the whole court. Every body was convinced that the leaves, +which were of the purest white paper, were perfectly blank, containing +neither figures nor colours of any description. When the spectators +were satisfied upon this point, one of the men took the volume in hand, +and, opening the first page, shewed it a most elaborate vignette, +sprinkled with gold upon a bright red ground. The second leaf appeared +of a beautiful azure, sprinkled in the same manner, the margins being +illuminated with numbers of men and women in various attitudes. On +a third leaf were delineated herds of cattle, pursued by lions and +panthers, painted with such exquisite perfection, that they seemed +almost to live on the page. The fourth was of a beautiful green ground, +powdered with gold, on which was represented, in glowing colours, a +garden, with numerous cypresses, rose-trees, and flowering shrubs in +full bloom, and in the midst of the garden a sumptuous pavilion. The +next change exhibited a leaf of orange, also powdered with gold, on +which was pictured a battle. Two adverse hosts were seen engaged in +deadly strife, led on by two kings, who fought hand to hand against +each other, with a degree of frenzy that roused the enthusiasm of the +young warriors to the highest pitch. + +The seven Bengalese armed themselves with bows, and quivers full +of steel-pointed arrows. One shot an arrow into the air, where +it remained, at a considerable height, as if fixed in some solid +substance. A second discharged an arrow at the first, to which it +became attached; and so with every one of the remaining arrows, to the +last of all, which, striking the united sheaf, the whole broke asunder, +and fell in a shower upon the earth. + +The principal Bauzigur, placing himself at the emperor’s feet, asked +his majesty to mention the kind of trees which he would wish to see +composing a shady grove before his pavilion. The emperor named the +mango, the apple, the cypress, the fig, the walnut, the mulberry, and +several other trees. The seven, immediately placing themselves in +different parts of the open space, set seeds in the ground, and recited +over each certain prayers in language unintelligible to any of the +spectators. In a few moments plants were seen springing gradually up +from each of the seeds, small and slender at first, like saplings, then +rising higher, throwing out branches, the stems constantly acquiring +greater thickness, the branches becoming stronger, with buds coming +forth as in spring time, and then blossoms and leaves, and, finally, +fruits, until a dense grove appeared, composed of all the fruit-trees +which the emperor had named. + +Jehangire could scarcely believe the evidence of his senses. Descending +from his divan, he plucked mulberries, apples, and figs, with his own +hand, and, tasting each, convinced himself that he was not deceived. +While the emperor and different members of the court were roving +beneath the shades of the trees, and partaking of the fruits which +were thus wonderfully placed within their reach, they were still more +astonished to hear the notes of different birds. Looking up among the +branches, they perceived them tenanted by crowds of yellow and black +nightingales, thrushes, cuckoos, goldfinches, and mocking-birds, of +such beauty, shape, colour, and melody, as they had never seen before. +They poured forth their different songs, hopped from spray to spray, +followed each other through the branches with playful indifference, +and seemed, in all respects, as if they had been familiarised to the +presence of their visitors. The fruits, after a while, gradually +disappeared; the leaves assumed the variegated tints of autumn; the +birds took their departure; the branches became bare as in winter; +the cold blasts howled through them, they were covered with snow, and +beautiful filagree work of hoar frost; and then diminished rapidly in +size, until they disappeared into the earth, from which they had been +so miraculously made to spring. + +This exhibition every body pronounced most extraordinary. They believed +it to be the work of no mortal hand. The emperor asked his learned men +to account for it, but they acknowledged their inability to explain the +power thus exercised, without attributing it to super-natural sources. +The emissaries, in their astonishment, overlooked the purpose which +they came to attempt, and fearing that persons of such skill as the +Bauzigurs might divine it, and denounce them to the vengeance of the +emperor, resolved, at all events, to postpone their design until the +conclusion of the shows. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + Though he take recreation in my absence, and smile on all around + him, yet my soul remembers him;--him whose locks are decked with + the plumes of peacocks resplendent with many coloured moons, and + whose mantle gleams like a dark blue cloud, illumined with rainbows. + + SONGS OF JAYADEVA. + + +The next day the whole court assembled again to witness the +performances of the Bengalese. They began by making an excavation in +the earth, which they filled with water. They then spread a sheet +over the pond, and after a short interval removed it, when the water +appeared to be a complete mass of ice. To prove its solidity, one of +the elephant keepers was directed to lead his elephants across the +frozen element; the stupendous animals walked across it with as much +ease and safety as if it were a platform of solid rock. The sheet was +thrown over the pond again, and when after a while it was withdrawn, no +vestige remained either of the ice or the water, or even of moisture +of any kind. Two tents were set up at the distance of a bow-shot from +each other, the entrances being mutually opposite. The walls of these +tents were lifted all round in order to shew that they were perfectly +empty. Then fixing the tent walls in their proper position, one of the +seven entered each tent, while their chief man, prostrating himself +before the emperor, supplicated his majesty to name any birds or +beasts between which he would choose to behold a contest. Jehangire +called for two ostriches, as he had never seen any of those birds. +Immediately two of those enormous birds ran forth from the tents, and +opening their wings, attacked each other with fury; the blood streamed +from their heads and long necks, and the combat having continued for +nearly an hour, without victory declaring on either side, the birds +were separated, and conveyed within the tents. The greater part of the +day was spent in similar contests between lions and panthers, wolves +and tigers, and other animals, all of which came out, as the emperor +commanded, from the two tents, and yet when these were removed, no +trace of any bird or quadruped could be discovered. + +A chain of fifty cubits in length was next produced from a bag; one +end of the chain was thrown towards the sky, where it remained as if +fastened in the air. A fox was then brought forward, who ran rapidly +up the chain until he reached its extremity, when he vanished. A wild +boar followed, and disappeared in a similar manner. Next appeared a +noble stag, panting as if pursued by hunters; stopping, he looked +steadily around him, lifting his antlered forehead with that composed +and graceful pride which seems to disdain even the shafts of fate. +Presently the deep cry of a troop of beagles was heard in the distance, +followed by the cheers of the hunters. The cry sounded nearer. The +stag hastened up the chain, and was instantly followed by a hundred +hounds and hunters. All dashed on into the sky, where the voices of +the dogs and men were heard echoing far and wide, as if they had been +in a neighbouring forest. For a while all was silent. A single bark +was then heard,--again another, and another; the huntsman’s call to +the dogs followed, and then came swelling on the air in a deep and +soul-stirring concert, the full melody of the whole of the hounds, as +if they had but one voice. The fox, the wild boar, and the stag were +distinctly seen in the sky, returning towards the camp, pursued by the +dogs and men through the firmament. It was a glorious spectacle. A +shout of wonder burst from the whole army, who rushed from their tents +to witness it. The fox was at length seized, and instantly torn in +pieces and devoured. The same destiny awaited the boar. The dogs were +closing rapidly on the stag. “The trumpets! The artillery!” exclaimed +Jehangire. The signals were immediately given; and just as the +exhausted and beauteous animal surrendered to his victors, a clash of +cymbals, and a peal of trumpets and drums from all parts of the camp, +followed by the thunder of the artillery, hailed the termination of the +splendid chase. A dense black cloud, rising in the north, swept through +the sky; and when it passed, neither hounds nor hunters were any longer +to be seen. + +The emperor immediately directed the bearer of his privy purse to +present the Bengalese with fifty thousand gold rupees. The emissaries, +when they beheld the money bags delivered to the principal of the +seven, grieved that they had as yet no opportunity for commencing their +work of plunder. Their fears, however, of being betrayed, were far from +being diminished by the wonders they had witnessed. They observed the +lynx eye of Bochari frequently directed towards them. His pallid cheek +and frowning brow told them, moreover, that something was passing in +his mind which often took away his attention from the operations of the +Bauzigurs. Feared he that they would unmask the murderer of Fazeel? + +Jehangire having directed the principal of the seven to attend him +in the evening, retired within his pavilion. The court immediately +followed his example, and the emissaries hearing the Bengalese say +something of a nocturnal exhibition, which was to eclipse all their +preceding performances, withdrew to the suttlers’ bazaar, where, over +some cups of arrack, they settled the course of their proceedings. When +the chief of the Bengalese waited on the emperor, whom he found alone, +his majesty questioned him much upon the means that were used in order +to produce the marvels which excited every body’s astonishment. As to +himself, he confessed that they were beyond his comprehension. The +sage, bowing with great humility to the sovereign, entreated that he +would issue his command for any sort of entertainment he might desire +to witness, but avoided answering the king’s interrogatories, upon the +plea that inviolable secrecy as to the sources of the power exercised +by himself and his companions, was one of the essential conditions upon +which they were granted. Jehangire then demanded whether it was within +the magicians’ art to predict the result of the approaching battle; to +which the latter replied that he was altogether unskilled in astrology, +and denied the faculty of looking into futurity. + +The emperor, disappointed, rose from the divan upon which he was +seated, drawing from his superb hookah the fragrant perfume of tobacco +leaves of Shiraz. He walked up and down his tent for some time, much +excited; at length, stopping before the Bengalese, who was standing in +an attitude of profound obeisance, asked him whether he could exhibit +before him his misguided son, Chusero, whose rebellion had caused him +so much trouble and anxiety of mind. The Bauzigur expressed a hope +that he might be able to gratify his majesty upon this point. He then +rejoined his companions, and speedily returned to the pavilion with a +mirror, which he placed upright on the divan, against the wall of the +pavilion, opposite the cushions occupied by Jehangire. + +In the course of a few minutes the space behind the mirror appeared +to be occupied by a large army, drawn up on the banks of a river, +and beyond it, on a rising ground, Chusero was distinctly visible, +surrounded by Man-Singh, Hussein, and a brilliant staff, to whom he was +giving orders, while he held in his hand a chart, with strong red lines +drawn upon it. Far in the distance was seen the subah of Cashmere, at +the head of a numerous body of troops, marching towards the river under +the standard adopted by the prince. + +“It is indeed my son!” exclaimed Jehangire, with deep emotion. “Unhappy +boy! Heaven be my witness, that if he were now to repent of his crime, +and to sue at my feet for pardon, I would receive him with open arms! +Chusero--my son--oh! who could have imagined this when first I +received you smiling from your mother’s bosom? How have I watched over +your infant years, with the warm gushing love known only to the heart +of a parent! How have I waited, when fever or pain preyed upon your +delicate frame, for the changes that indicated the departure of the +disease! Oh, when those happy moments came--moments that appear to be +but of yesterday--when your countenance became itself again, and your +precious, blithe, and innocent looks, repaid us all for the sorrows we +had suffered on your account--what joy we experienced! How the world, +that was before all darkness, seemed to put on a new robe of triumph! +But now--armed against your father--the father that still cherishes you +in his heart of hearts--it is too much--agony beyond endurance!” + +The Bauzigur, affected by this natural burst of parental tenderness, +was about to remove the mirror, but the emperor, who perceived his +purpose, beckoned to him to desist. Pressing his hand upon his forehead +and eyes, from which tears copiously rolled, Jehangire sobbed aloud. + +“And Afkun, too,” he resumed, when the flood of his emotion subsided; +“Afkun, the subah of Cashmere; the husband of Nourmahal--of _my +Nourmahal_--turned traitor! The conduct of Hussein does not surprise +me. Man-Singh’s machinations are not new to me; but Afkun, why has he +turned traitor against his lawful sovereign? Misguided men--misguiders +of my son; whom, doubtless, ye desire to use as an instrument for the +accomplishment of your own base designs, few are the hours that remain +between this and the moment of my just vengeance. Bochari! Bochari! I +say!” + +The commander immediately made his appearance--surprized--not a little +annoyed, upon seeing the emperor alone with the Bengalese. + +“Bochari! issue orders through the camp to-night, to prepare for +marching at the dawn. Afkun has joined the rebel standards, and if +we delay here much longer, possibly other wavering chieftains may be +induced to follow his example.” + +“I have learned as much by despatches which have just arrived. The +rebel forces are drawn up on the farther bank of the Sutledge, resolved +to resist our passage across that river. Afkun has brought twenty +thousand men into the field, instigated by his sultana, Nourmahal, of +whose real designs I never entertained a doubt.” + +“By Nourmahal!” exclaimed the emperor, in a voice of amazement; +“impossible. If I had ever any skill in reading the heart of woman, her +soul is free from the guilt you would impute to it. Say, if you choose, +that she aspires to be the empress of Hindostan; but with Jehangire at +her side.” + +“An officer of the outposts humbly asks admission to your majesty,” +said one of the eunuchs in waiting. + +“What is his business?” demanded Bochari, in a peremptory tone. + +“He states that his message is one of importance, which he can +communicate only to your majesty,” said the eunuch, still standing +before the emperor. + +“Let him come in,” said Jehangire. The officer having been admitted, +and having made the usual obeisance, proceeded to relate, that as he +was walking on the banks of a small river, near which the guard under +his orders was stationed, outside the camp, his attention was drawn +to a bundle of flowers floating down the stream. It was stopped in +its course by a cluster of rushes that grew in the river, and when +he brought it out on the end of his spear, he perceived that it had +been carefully tied by a golden band, and arranged, manifestly as a +symbol, which, as he was unskilled in the language of flowers, he knew +not how to interpret. Apprehending that it might be a mode of secret +communication between the rebel leaders and disaffected persons in the +camp, he deemed it his duty to lay it at the feet of his majesty, where +he requested permission to present it, with his sincere, though lowly +homage. + +The emperor took the symbol into his hands, which he examined with +intense anxiety. “It is!” he exclaimed, his face radiant with +exultation; “it is a message from Nourmahal. See here, Bochari; +_Nourmahal to Selim--her heart to its lord!_ Said I not the truth? Oh! +I knew it well. I needed no messenger to tell me that though I were +abandoned by all the world, she would remain faithful to her first +love. Divine invention, by which distance is thus annihilated between +two beings, who are conscious of the thoughts of each other.” + +Pressing the flowers to his bosom, Jehangire examined them again and +again, kissing them with passionate ardour. + +“Take that officer’s name, and write him down a commander of two +thousand.” + +“What, sire!” inquired Bochari, “make a man commander of two thousand +for bringing you a handful of flowers, picked up in a stream--thrown +into it, no one knows where, or by whom. To a low pass, indeed, has +fallen the service of the state, when its honours are to be dealt about +in this manner!” + +“Where they have been found, I know not,” remarked the Bengalese, in a +tone intended only for the emperor’s ear; “but certain I am, that those +roses could only have come from Cashmere. They are the true growth of +that garden of the world, and cannot be found beyond it.” + +“If so,” said Bochari, who permitted nothing to escape him, “then +Nourmahal must be nearer than we were aware of; there must be treason +in the camp.” + +The officer of the outposts was questioned, and desired to explain +his discovery, without omitting the slightest circumstance. He could +only repeat what he had already stated, adding that he had heard, +while formerly serving in Cashmere under Acbar, of a fountain that +communicated, in some mysterious manner, with all the rivers in +Hindostan; that it was dry during eleven months of the year, but that +during the month of May it was filled and emptied three times within +the twenty-four hours. He had never seen it, but the tradition was +notorious. + +“Wonderful!” exclaimed the emperor. “What think you of this tradition?” +he asked, addressing himself to the Bengalese. + +“The officer is well informed,” answered the sage; “your majesty will +find it mentioned in the Ayeen Acberry.” + +“It is false!” said Bochari, who turned pale and trembled all over; “it +is the silly invention of some fools, or the machination of some knaves +to impose upon the emperor.” + +“I can only appeal to the work itself for the truth of what I say,” +mildly replied the Bengalese. + +“Desire one of my secretaries to bring hither the Ayeen Acberry,” said +Jehangire, addressing the eunuch who answered to the call of his silver +bell. + +In a few minutes a secretary appeared, with the volume in his hand; it +was, by the emperor’s command, delivered to the Bengalese, who, turning +to the author’s account of the subahship of Cashmere, read from it +these words:--“In a long straight, in a mountain, there is a reservoir +of water, seven ells square, which the Hindoos consider as a place of +great sanctity. This reservoir is dry eleven months in the year; but +in the month of May, the water gushes out from two springs. First the +water appears in an aperture, which they call Send-Brare, situated in +one corner of the reservoir; and when this is full, the water springs +up in another corner, called Sureyshy, till at length the reservoir +flows over; after which it immediately begins to decrease, and +continues doing so till it is perfectly dry; and this flux and reflux +happens every morning, noon, and evening. When the reservoir is full of +water, people throw into it flowers for the different rivers, and, to +the astonishment of the beholders, the flowers are afterwards found in +the particular spring to which they were consigned.” + +“Let the officer be written down forthwith a commander of _three_ +thousand,” said the emperor, delighted with this proof of the accuracy +of his information. Bochari bowed to the mandate with his usual +malevolent smile, jealous of any favours bestowed by Jehangire, which +were not of his own suggestion, and directing the fortunate bearer of +the flowers to follow him to his tent, quitted the imperial pavilion. + +“I have read the same account of Send-Brare,” added the Bengalese, “in +the Neelmut, the most ancient book we possess relating to Cashmere, and +said to have been found at the bottom of the spring that gives birth to +the Jumna. Beneath that spring, as the Ayeen Acberry also relates, is +the celebrated city of the sultan Damuder.” + +“Assuredly there is no empire in the world to be compared to this +of mine for the wonders it contains, and for the great and wise men +it has brought forth in every age. Future generations will scarcely +credit the marvels which you and your associates have wrought in +my presence. But I have given strict orders to my secretaries to +preserve a faithful record of them, in order that I may not omit such +unprecedented operations in the memoirs which I intend to compose of +my life. There is one thing more I would ask of you, if it should be +within the dominion of your faculties. Nourmahal,--you must have heard +of her matchless beauty, of that miracle of intelligence and grace that +captivates all hearts,--does she accompany Afkun, or has she remained +in Cashmere?” + +The Bengalese again arranged his mirror, and, after a short interval +spent by him in silent prayer and meditation, the instrument disclosed +a castle raised on a rock, surrounded by natural fortifications, +apparently impregnable, and by a deep wide fosse filled with running +water. Within the walls were seen an extensive garden, teeming with +flowers and fruits of every description, and a grove of cedars which +appeared to wave gently in the breeze. Sentinels walked up and down the +ramparts; the draw-bridge was chained up; domestics passed occasionally +through the court-yard, in performance of their ordinary occupations; +the towers of the castle rose, in fair proportions, one above another, +most of them mantled in ivy, one being distinguished from the rest by +the superior beauty of its windows of richly painted glass, on which +the sun shone in the full splendour of its setting. + +While Jehangire was gazing on this beauteous scene, one of these +windows looking to the garden and grove was thrown open, and at the +casement appeared the figure of a lady, sitting on a couch, with a +withered lily of the valley in her hand. Her countenance was almost as +pale as the flower upon which she looked with intense solicitude, as if +she were reading in its decayed leaves some story that held in thraldom +all the feelings of her soul. + +“There,--there they are! those eyes,--that light about her countenance +never to be by me mistaken,--never forgotten! Nourmahal! O that you +could hear my voice! Can she not? say, can she not speak to me?” + +The sage shook his head. + +“That lily of the valley, too!--Ah! I remember it. Her pallid +cheek,--there is grief upon it. She is no longer the glowing, buoyant, +smiling seraph she was at Agra,--but how infinitely more lovely! For me +she suffers! O these welcome interpreters give me assurance that for +me she still preserves her heart inviolate, though a terrible destiny +has separated us for a season. I have erred. Too much of my youth has +been spent in habits of gross indulgence. Twenty, thirty cups of the +strongest wines in one day I have often, for years together, thought +but a moderate allowance. If I were but an hour without my usual +beverage, my hands began to shake, I was unable to sit at rest. I have +deserved punishment, and now it has come upon me. My best beloved son +in open arms against his parent! Nourmahal,--whatever human laws may or +shall say,--_my_ Nourmahal,--the wife of another!” + +Jehangire, tearing off his turban, flung it away from him, and throwing +himself on the carpet, sobbed aloud, as if his heart would break. + +“Crown, sceptre, treasures, all, I would be content to resign,--never +to have possessed,--rather than have them upon these dreadful +conditions! The peasant who wraps to his bosom the maiden of his first +affection, and the infant of their mutual love, ah! how much happier is +he than Jehangire! Why are those feelings planted in our bosoms? What +is authority over millions of men to me, if at my heart I am to suffer +these pangs of woe!--woe, which no tongue can tell, no medicine can +assuage!” + +The Bengalese, affected by this scene of imperial humiliation, felt +that he ought no longer to interrupt the sacred privacy of grief so +overwhelming. Hoping that the entertainments which he had still in +store for the night might afford the royal sufferer some relief, he +quitted the pavilion with a soft step, and rejoined his companions. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + Boy, let you liquid ruby flow, + And bid thy pensive heart be glad. + Whate’er the frowning zealots say, + Tell them their Eden cannot show + A stream so clear as Rocnabad, + A bower so sweet as Mosellay. + + HAFIZ. + + +When the eunuchs in waiting went to announce to the emperor, at the +usual hour after sunset, that the evening meal was ready, they found +him still prostrate on the carpet, occasionally talking to himself in a +low whispering voice, of his father, of Nourmahal, Chusero, Afkun, and +Abul Fazeel, in an incoherent manner; to which, however, they had been +long accustomed. + +“It was wrong--very wrong--that marriage. My father ought never to +have permitted it, knowing, as he must have known, my feelings towards +her. And yet he was the most affectionate of parents--the most upright +of rulers. He would not offend against the laws which, unhappily, gave +her to Afkun. Fazeel favoured that marriage. He is gone--whither? His +blood is upon me. It trickles down my face with the icy coldness of +death! Oh, no--it was Bochari’s act, not mine! Had I any hand in the +mutilation of his limbs? It was the Rajaputs. For this crime they shall +be exterminated. That head, crowned with silver hairs--full of all +wisdom--the reproaches it breathes upon me, are poisoned arrows that +enter my very soul! Oh, that those early days could be renewed, when I +first looked upon the world and found it so beautiful--the air perfumed +with spicy fragrance--full of the melody of birds--when seated beneath +a mulberry-tree my heart was innocent--and poetry, and Arabian tales, +and sweet music, constituted all my delight--days of bliss I shall know +no more.” + +“Is it your majesty’s pleasure,” asked one of the eunuchs, “that the +banquet should be delayed?” + +“Bring hither my son Chusero--bring him here instantly--say I must see +him--his father must see him.” + +The eunuch went to the harem, and leading forth a cherub boy, with +golden hair flowing on his head in natural ringlets, eyes of the +colour of the nutshell as to the pupil, the remainder of the orb +a pearl beyond all price,--full cheeks, roseate with the glow of +health; eyebrows arched and penciled as the first crescent of the +moon; a mouth exquisitely sculptured, and smiling with intelligence +and gentleness, placed him on the carpet near Jehangire. The child, +in playful affection, passed his hand round the emperor’s neck, and +that well-known word, “Papa!” breathed in a voice of the sweetest +tenderness, at once recalled the monarch’s wandering thoughts to their +more wholesome channels. + +“Purveiz! my charming boy! I had indeed forgotten myself, when I +commanded them to bring me Chusero. Ah, my beloved! that you may +never know the pangs which your brother has cost me! These beauteous +hands--they are fair as the primrose. When, as you are wont to do, +you twine with these slender tapering fingers your favourite ringlet, +and, notwithstanding all your mother’s prohibitions, draw this tiny +thumb far within your lips, deeming it an inexhaustible fountain of +nectar, there is no picture of innocence and happiness on earth like +to thine! What would I not give to exchange with thee at this moment! +No--not exchange--Heaven forbid you should know half the griefs I have +suffered!” + +Jehangire’s mind having been calmed down to a reasonable temperature +by the prattle of his child, permitted his turban to be re-arranged, +and proceeded to the evening meal, where, as usual, he found Bochari +and several of the favourite officers of the household waiting for +his presence. A few cups of Cabul wine soon altered the tenor of his +thoughts. Having learned that his orders had been executed as to the +preparations for advancing towards the insurgents on the following +morning, he talked only of the vengeance which he hoped to inflict upon +the author of the revolt and his confederates. + +“Let it be fully explained,” he said, “to all my omrahs, that no man +is to fail in the application of the sources placed at his disposal. +In the concerns of sovereign power there is neither child nor kin. The +alien who exerts himself in my cause, is of more worth to me than a +thousand sons or kindred. The son who, in the presumption of his heart, +forgets the duty which he owes to his father, and the unnumbered marks +of royal bounty bestowed upon him, is to me, in every sense, a stranger. + +“Have we not, in this respect, in Islam, a distinguished example +prescribed, in the domestic policy of the monarchs of the house of +Othman, who, for the stability of their royal authority, of all their +sons preserve but one, considering it expedient to destroy all the +rest? What, then, if, for the preservation of the state, if, to prevent +the disorders that might otherwise interrupt the peace of the world, I +should think it necessary to extinguish the mischief, though it shews +itself in the bosom of my own family? Little, indeed, should I have to +boast of my capacity for the exercise of the power entrusted to me, if, +after such a flagrant proof of his total disregard of filial duty, with +my eyes open, I should ever again be tempted to entrust this wretched +fugitive with the slightest share of delegated authority.” + +“Spoken like Acbar!” cried out Bochari. + +“Safeguard of the world!--Sovereign splendour of the faith!” exclaimed +the omrahs, “the victory is already yours.” + +“Delicious wine!” said Jehangire, holding out his large silver cup +to be replenished. “The prophet, when he forbade his followers the +generous element, certainly could not have visited Cabul.” + +“Very fortunate for us,” observed Bochari, “that the Koran is so +express on that point, otherwise the Cabulites would doubtless have +kept their wine at home.” + +“I doubt,” rejoined Auzeem, one of the omrahs, whom the emperor, in +his convivial moments, honoured by the title of _uncle_, “whether the +prophet was himself so abstemious as his laws ordain. I have heard it +said, that in his own case, at least, he admitted certain cases of +exception--such as illness--when he took a cup as medicine--or fatigue +from a day’s hunting--when he claimed a cup for refreshment--or if +the rains prevented him from going abroad--when he found a cup or +two necessary in lieu of exercise--or if he was employed in writing +the Koran--when the juice of the grape, he acknowledged, heightened +his inspirations. If he married a young wife, he demanded a bowl to +signalize his joy--if he lost an old wife, he took three or four bowls +to enable him to sustain his sorrow.” + +“Uncle, uncle, as great an infidel as ever! your pilgrimage to Mecca, I +see, has done you no good.” + +“And yet,” said Bochari, “if rumour may be believed, no pilgrim ever +performed the sacred ceremonies with a greater appearance of zeal and +devotion.” + +“It was the pleasure of the late emperor that I should visit Mecca,” +said Auzeem, “and being once there, really one could not help being +religious. However, I am, once for all, about to repent. New laws, I +hear, have been lately made against wine-drinking.” + +“True--true--and they must be obeyed,” the emperor declared, as he +emptied his cup. “As soon as I can see how they operate upon the mass +of my subjects, whose happiness it is my first duty to consult, I shall +begin to submit to them myself, and live on Ganges water.” + +An attendant, who heard only the last words, conceived that Jehangire +had asked for water, which he began to pour into his cup. + +“Slave!” exclaimed the sovereign, “what is this?” + +“Ganges water, sire.” + +“Fool! to waste the sacred stock in this manner, keep it for the day of +battle--wine--nothing but wine to-night.” + +Auzeem could not repress his laughter. He was privileged. The laugh was +contagious. It went round the circle, until the “splendor of the faith” +joining in it, the apartment became a scene of uproar. + +“How happens it,” asked Jehangire, “that there is no person about my +court who reads the Koran with more elegant enunciation than my uncle; +and yet no man, in my empire perhaps, pays so little regard to its +precepts?” + +“The truth is,” answered Auzeem, “that I am very diffident of my own +judgment. I have often recited it to your majesty since you left the +harem, and I am still waiting to discover the result of my exertions.” + +“Is there no excuse for me? Encompassed as I have always been with +youthful associates of congenial minds, breathing the air of a +delicious climate, ranging through lofty and splendid saloons, every +part 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 essence of the +grape?” + +“Besides,” rejoined Bochari, “the laws against wine-drinking are +absolutely necessary for the good of the people, who are made irritable +and furious against each other, by excessive indulgence, to which their +ignorance makes them subject; whereas, the person who makes laws for +them, must be supposed to possess a degree of knowledge that enables +him to ascertain the limit to which he ought to go for the benefit +of his health, and to act accordingly. It is no slight labour to be +constantly sounding the great drum of sovereign power over an empire +like Hindostan, two years’ journey in compass.” + +“Well said! Bochari,” observed Jehangire, shewing his empty cup once +more to the attendants; “there is no repose for crowned heads. Hours, +such as these, amongst old friends, are the only hours of happiness I +now enjoy. Alas! for the jewels of this world, which have been poured +in such profusion on my head; they bear no longer any value in my +sight. There is not on this side of the grave any permanent felicity. +All is fleeting, vain, perishable. In the twinkling of an eye shall we +see the enchantress, which enslaves the world and its votaries, seize +another and another victim; and so exposed is man to be trodden down by +the calamities of life, that one might be almost persuaded to affirm +that he never had existence.” + +Auzeem began to fear that the emperor’s next words would be an order +for the production of the Koran, which he often had read to him +when over-heated with wine. Strange to say, on those occasions, he +frequently prostrated himself in prayer, while Auzeem read to him from +the volume of the prophet. The melodious sound of a flageolet, however, +being heard outside the pavilion, Jehangire started up from his divan, +and bade the attendants see who was the musician. + +“If Oustad Nâë be in Hindostan,” said Auzeem, “he must be the man--the +first player on the flageolet in the world.” + +“Bring him in,” said the emperor; “I hold excellence in every science +and art to be the true ornament of an empire.” + +The musician was introduced. He appeared a cunning-faced fellow, +dressed in a pointed Persian cap, a shabby pelisse that had witnessed +better days, a vest of faded brocade covering an ample paunch, +which shewed that however wretched he now appeared, he had not been +unaccustomed to good living; and loose linen trowsers, more than the +half of which were devoted to the purposes of pockets. His forehead +was deeply furrowed by age, his cheeks were browned by much exposure +to the sun, and upon his chin there were a few short curly grey hairs +that seemed in no haste to require the discipline of the barber. The +sphere of one eye had altogether vanished from its place; and of the +other, so small a portion remained susceptible of light, that the +wonder was how he could see at all. His fingers were short and clumsy, +most marvellously ill adapted, one should have thought, to modulate +the tones of any instrument. Nevertheless, when he took the reed of +his flageolet in his mouth, and preluded to the air he was called upon +to perform, his face lighted up with a fire truly beautiful to behold; +and from beneath those ill-favoured fingers emanated notes of the most +enchanting clearness and harmony. + +The emperor soon forgot, in the sprightly music of Oustad Nâë, the fit +of prayer to which the wine had elevated him. “Never before,” said +he, repeatedly, “have such melodies as these thrilled my ear. I could +listen to this piper for days together, and feel no desire for food or +drink.” + +“Poor as ever, I perceive,” said Auzeem. “I thought, my friend, that +when I saw you at Shiraz, you were in a fair way to fortune.” + +“So I was, my lord, but in coming back from her, I lost my path, and +have ever since been wandering to little purpose.” + +“I was told that even then you were a rich man.” + +“Alas, my lord! who can say he is rich that has fourteen wives?” + +“Fourteen wives!” exclaimed the emperor, laughing aloud. “Can this be +true, uncle?” + +“Quite true, sire. It is wonderful what a fancy Persian women have for +ugly men. This Oustad Nâë,” continued Auzeem, speaking in Hindostanee, +which the piper did not understand, “was absolutely idolized by the +ladies of the court. They said, and perhaps believed, that they were +beguiled by his unrivalled skill in music; but I have known some of +them to contend, with a degree of rivalry almost amounting to civil +war, for a single lock of that wool or hair, whichever it be, growing +on his chin.” + +“Ha! ha! ha! It must be admitted that the Persian dames have a peculiar +taste. We must add him to our household band, but without his wives. +Nâë, what has become of all your consorts?” + +“They led me such a life, sire, that I have been obliged to escape from +them all. My household now consists only of two dogs and a little girl, +and it is wonderful how easy I have been in my mind since, depending +entirely upon my flageolet, I have sought protection in the dominions +of the ‘Subduer of the world.’ To shew my gratitude for so great a +blessing, I have composed a melody in honour of your highness, which, +with your permission, I shall now play.” + +“By all means--let us hear it. Give him a cup of wine.” + +Nâë having, without any ceremony, drank off the generous beverage, +proceeded with his melody, still well known under the title of +“Sout-e-Jahangueiry,” a very beautiful composition, mingling great +tenderness of expression with a certain solemnity, which have given it +a high place amongst the national songs of Hindostan. + +The emperor, enraptured, forgot even his wine, while the musician +repeated the air again and again. As soon as the performance was +concluded, Jehangire ordered a pair of scales to be brought in, +telling the piper that he knew of no mode of rewarding him except +that of presenting him with his weight in gold. Upon receiving this +information, Nâë, without uttering a syllable by way of thanks, ran out +of the pavilion, and immediately after returning with a dog stuffed +into each pocket of his trowsers, a piece of music fixed to one arm, +and a little girl of about six years old in the other, put himself, +thus burthened, into the scales! This ludicrous method of adding to +his own specific gravity, set the whole circle in a roar of laughter, +in which the emperor heartily joined. + +“Upon what plea,” asked Auzeem, “are these appendages added to your +side of the scales, my friend?” + +“Your lordship shall hear. When I composed this melody, I had this +little girl in my arms, and my two dogs were playing with her.” + +“And so they formed, as it were, the sources of your inspiration, and +you claim their weight in addition to your own--not very complimentary +to his majesty.” + +“No matter--no matter,”--said Jehangire--“let the man and his family +be placed in the balance.” Their weight having been duly ascertained, +an order was written upon the imperial treasurers for the same weight +in gold, which was to be given to the piper. The emperor then desired +that they should be weighed again, and the amount was ordered to be +paid to the little girl. Bochari held up his hands in rage at this +lavish liberality of the emperor, but he knew that he could not prevent +it, and that perhaps his resistance would only cause the piper to be +weighed again. The man was then dismissed; but he had scarcely gone a +few yards from the royal tent, when he retraced his steps, and asked +that while he staid with the army he should be supplied daily with a +camel-load of Ganges water. Auzeem could not tolerate such mingled +avarice and insolence as this, and the fellow, after receiving his +money, was turned out of the camp. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + King, do not grieve, but like a valiant chief, + Pluck from thy heart all terror of thine enemies, + And only deem of thy propitious fortune, + Or who shall foremost plunge into the fight. + + Hindoo Drama. + + +A short but profound sleep having relieved Jehangire from the effects +of his copious libations, he proceeded to witness the concluding +performances of the Bengalese, which were appointed to take place +at midnight. The ladies of the harem, and the whole court, were in +attendance in their usual places. The night was intensely dark, +uncheered by the twinkling even of a solitary star. Three of the +Bauzigurs made their appearance, all wrapped in white sheets, from +beneath which they produced mirrors that at first cast upon the +sky a luminous reflection, bright as the lustre of the sun itself. +Travellers, who, at the distance of ten days’ journey from the camp, +beheld that light, were deterred from pursuing their way, fearful that +some convulsion had taken place in nature, by which the order of things +had been reversed, and that the sun was thenceforth to take the place +of the moon. + +The illuminated space in the heavens soon exhibited to the eye +an incredible number of towns and villages, thickly peopled, and +apparently in the enjoyment of peace, and of riches of every +description. Horsemen and infantry presently were seen emerging from +the confines of darkness, and marching towards the principal town. The +gates of the town opened, and a female of consummate beauty, clothed +in armour, with a helmet of matchless splendor on her head, mounted +in a wooden tower on an elephant, her bow and quiver by her side, and +a burnished lance in her hand, came forth, followed by a numerous +train of elephants, and warriors on foot and on horseback. The adverse +forces met, rushing upon each other with savage ardour. The shock was +tremendous, thousands lay dead on either side. The invaders fled back +in confusion to their encampment. Some time was spent in burning the +dead on either side, amidst the solemn sounds of trumpets, which were +heard wailing for the heroes that had perished. + +The queen, as soon as the obsequies were over, re-assembled her troops, +and pointing to the camp of the enemy, called upon them to follow her +forthwith, and to attack it. The leaders declined the enterprize, +and returned to weep over the ashes of their companions. The enemy, +refreshed, came forth to renew the combat. The queen prepared to meet +him, but with difficulty prevailed on her troops to advance. The +conflict was renewed with great slaughter. The forces of the heroine +rapidly diminished, many falling on the field, more basely deserting +her standard, and diving into the night. She received an arrow in the +eye, which she instantly extricated. Another arrow passed through +her neck. Dimness swam before her eyes, and she began to nod from +side to side in her tower. The driver of her elephant, faithful to +his mistress, urged the noble animal forward, who, conscious of her +situation, seemed resolved, by his indomitable wrath, to avenge her +injuries. Whithersover he turned, the impassioned creature trampled +down numbers of the foe. + +The spirit of the queen, which had almost departed from her, now +returned. She cheered the elephant in his victorious progress, until +his steps were at length arrested by a net of chains, from which he +could not disentangle himself. She called upon her driver to end +her life with his dagger. He refusing, she snatched the weapon from +his girdle, and plunging it into her bosom, expired. The conquerors +marched on to the town, of which, after brave resistance from the +garrison, they took possession. Loads of timber, and straw, and oil +were collected in a large house, into which the garrison were driven; +the house was then set fire to; the conflagration was awful; the groans +of the victims were so agonizing, that the emperor drew his scymitar, +and hurrying forth from his seat, as if to rescue the unfortunate +sufferers, was met in the crowd of courtiers by an assassin, who struck +a knife up to the hilt into his side. + +A faint cry escaped from Jehangire, but such was the confusion of the +moment that nobody seemed to understand what had happened. Flambeaus +were brought. The emperor was found bleeding on the ground, the +knife still remaining in his side. Auzeem, and a body of the omrahs, +immediately bore him into his pavilion, while Bochari, taking with him +the guard of eunuchs, ran to the gate of the screen walls, by which +the imperial tents were surrounded. Cries of treason resounded on all +sides. Suspicion instantly fell upon the Bengalese, who were placed +under arrest. In a few moments the guards of the imperial quarters +brought in a man, whom they found climbing over the screens, and unable +to give any excuse for his conduct. The prisoner turned out to be +one of the attendants of the Bauzigurs. The suspicions against them +were thus turned into certainty, and if the councils of Bochari had +been followed, the seven, and their three followers, would have been +sacrificed on the spot. + +Auzeem however interposed, and as the night was now far advanced, it +was resolved that the further investigation into this atrocious deed +should be postponed until the following morning. In the mean-time +orders were issued to suspend the march of the army. + +With the returning day, poured into the camp a thousand rumours of the +assassination of the emperor, some representing that he had fallen +a victim to the intrigues of Bochari, who aimed at the throne for +himself; some setting forth that the crime was perpetrated by the +Bengalese, at the instigation of Chusero, while others hinted that +under the influence of too much wine, Jehangire had made an attempt on +his own life. The state physicians pronounced the wound not dangerous, +and promised that the sovereign would be convalescent in a few days, +his weakness at the moment arising from the loss of much blood. This +intelligence diffused satisfaction amongst the troops, and prevented +the tendency to tumult which had already manifested itself. + +The Bengalese, and their attendants, having been brought before the +officers of justice, in the tent dedicated to public business, were +examined separately as to their knowledge of the prisoner, whose +efforts to make his escape had necessarily pointed him out as the +principal criminal. Their testimony, given apart from each other, +perfectly agreed in the statement, that the alleged assassin, and +his two companions, had overtaken them on their road to the northern +provinces; communicated to them a message, with which they said they +had been charged by the emperor, to command the attendance of the +Bauzigurs in the camp; and that, in obedience to that supposed order +it was they had sought, and, as they believed, obtained admission to +the imperial presence, which, otherwise, at such a moment, they should +not have thought of soliciting, not imagining, that a great sovereign +actually engaged in preparations for the field, would have had +disposition or leisure for such amusements as their humble skill might +afford. + +The fugitive prisoner was next examined. His first statement was, +that being naturally of a timid disposition, when he learned that the +emperor was assassinated, he knew not but that the next victim might +be himself, he being a stranger in the camp, and that he, therefore, +sought safety in flight. Being questioned about his comrades, he +represented them as poor men, who were anxious to better their +fortunes; and that, he being in a similar condition, they had offered +their services to the Bauzigurs, to whom they suggested the probable +benefits of a visit to the imperial camp. Upon being put to the +torture, he admitted that they had fabricated the message to which the +Bauzigurs alluded. His comrades, having been separately interrogated, +disagreed with him and with each other, in so many particulars, and +gave their evidence in a manner so pregnant with suspicion, that they +were also put on the rack. The whole truth at length came out, by +the confession of the youngest of the three, who declared that they +had been employed as emissaries by the insurgents, to explore the +camp, and to ascertain the probable movements of the imperial troops. +With a view, however, to save his own life, he alleged that the +assassination of Jehangire formed the chief object of their mission, if +any opportunity should be presented to them for accomplishing it, and +he said that upon that point they had received their instructions from +Chusero himself. + +Upon the conclusion of the investigation, the Bauzigurs were +unanimously acquitted of all participation in the crime; but as +the contrary belief still actuated the great bulk of the troops, +Auzeem caused them to be escorted, the following night by a body of +the household guards, beyond the precincts of the camp. The three +emissaries were condemned to death. They were each stripped naked, and +then clothed in asses’ skins, in which they were led through the camp, +exposed to the derision of the multitude. The shouts that rang the +air, as they passed through the different divisions of the military +assemblage, acted like balm on the wound of the imperial invalid, +who, whatever may have been the errors of his heart or his head, +acknowledged, at all times, that it was his greatest delight to know +and to feel that he was beloved by his people. + +As soon as this ceremony was performed, the criminals were sewed up in +skins, which had been previously distended as much as possible, after +having been saturated in water. They were then placed on a sand-bank, +exposed to the hottest rays of the sun, and, by the gradual shrinking +of the hides, their frames were so compressed, that the agonies they +endured were dreadful. To prolong their punishment, water was now and +then sprinkled on the hides, which were again exposed to the sun. They +thus lingered in excruciating agonies for three days, and when at last +the soundless masses proclaimed that they were no longer the abode of +life, they were kicked through the whole assembled army into the river +Sursoom, near which the camp was pitched. + +Upon the convalescence of the emperor, the camp was broken up, and the +troops proceeded towards the Sutledge, where the enemy were reported +to have been posted in great force. Jehangire, when mounted once more +on Indragui, resolved on shewing no mercy to a son, who, as the late +occurrence had taught him to believe, was so lost to all sense of +filial recollections, as to meditate the murder of a parent. + +In order to escape from the dust of the high road, Jehangire, and +a few of the officers of his staff, took the bye-paths which led +through shady groves and cultivated fields. Perceiving a man coming +towards them, the emperor, who was anxiously watching for some omen of +success, demanded his name. The stranger replied, that his name was +“Mûrad-Khaujah,” signifying the “auspicious.” + +“Heaven be praised!” exclaimed the emperor, “my desire shall be +obtained.” + +A little farther on they met another man, driving before him an ass +loaded with fire-wood, and having a burthen of brambles on his own +back. He was also called upon to disclose his name, when he declared it +to be “Dowlet-Khaujah.” + +Jehangire was in raptures. “Our fortunes would be complete,” said he, +“if we should now meet with a third person, bearing the same name.” + +Great, therefore, was his surprise and satisfaction, when observing +a little boy in a field, who was tending a cow grazing, he caused a +similar inquiry to be made. He received for answer, that the boy called +himself “Saadet-Khaujah.” + +In order to perpetuate the memory of these happy prognostications, +Jehangire directed that from that moment all the affairs of his +government should be classed under three heads, to be called +“Eymaun-o-Thalâtha,” or the “Three Signs.” + +After crossing one of the main branches of the Gogur river, the emperor +learned that there lived in the neighbourhood a recluse, on whose +head fell from the skies every Friday evening throughout the year, a +shower of gold coin. Determined to ascertain the truth of this report, +he proceeded to visit the dervish, whom he found seated on the ground +before the entrance to a cavern, surrounded by four hundred of his +disciples, clothed in skins. The hermit offered to the emperor no token +whatever of respect, although the latter made to him the customary +salaam, in the most humble manner, and did every thing in his power to +entice him into conversation. + +At last, after nearly half-an-hour’s uninterrupted silence, the dervish +said,--“I serve that king who sustains rambling about the earth, many +such kings as thou art.” Here another long pause ensued. The emperor +prayed that the hermit would instruct him in his duties. Again awaking +from an apparent lethargy, the dervish sternly said,--“Strive for +the repose of God’s creatures, committed to thy care. In the agents +whom thou mayest employ in the different provinces of thy empire, +be it thy study to discover and reject such as are tyrannical and +rapacious. Pursue and punish the secret perpetrators of murders. Such +men you shall find at Serhind, and elsewhere. Whilst thou hast power, +exercise it discreetly. Cherish the grey beard and the dervish. Scoff +not at the aged man, weighed down by the hand of affliction. Kindle +not the flame which consumes the broken-hearted. Be not at one time a +trifler--at another grave. Art thou full? Give not words to the wind. +Be not evil-minded, lest thy words be evil. Be not slanderous, if thou +wouldst avoid a name of reproach. Let thy treatment of thy eldest son +be merciful, for he is misled.” + +To these words, pregnant with sage admonition, and confirmatory of +the omens which had already favoured the progress of the emperor, he +listened with equal admiration and delight. The evening, (it happened +fortunately to be the evening of Friday,) closing in, tapers were +lighted, and the venerable recluse proceeded to the performance of his +devotions, bending his body, at intervals, eight times to the earth. +Immediately afterwards, five of the eldest of his disciples stood +before him in an erect posture, while he raised his hands towards +heaven. He had scarcely commenced this act of adoration, when, all +at once, a shower of golden ashrefies fell on his head from the sky, +which, when collected, amounted in value to a thousand gold rupees. +These coins the hermit divided into two equal parts, one of which he +presented to the emperor, the other he shared amongst his disciples. +Jehangire, desirous of testifying his respect for a recluse of so +much sanctity, offered to endow his cloister with the revenue of the +neighbouring villages, producing annually about fifty thousand gold +rupees, for the subsistence of the devout men who attended upon him. +“Apply your money,” said the saint, “to the support of those whose +reliance is upon human charity. I need it not.” + +When the emperor returned to the army, and the news of his visit to +the dervish had spread abroad, it was communicated to him that the +son of Khann-e-Douraun had dared to turn his conduct on the occasion +into ridicule. “How childish!” said he, “in the emperor, to be +magic-blinded by this canting dervish.” Such language as this could +not be overlooked. Jehangire therefore commanded that one side of his +head and face should be flayed, and in that state he was led through +the army, proclamation being made, at the same time, that such was the +punishment which awaited those who applied disrespectful language to +their sovereign. It further appeared that this young man, on a previous +visit to the same dervish, had demeaned himself very contemptuously, +and that the hermit told him he should not go so far as to take his +head, his youth and rashness being beneath his notice; “but,” said +he, “I shall have thee flayed.” Thus were the words of the holy man +fulfilled to the letter. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + They suffered justly according to their own wickedness; for they + exercised a more detestable hospitality than any: others indeed + received not strangers unknown to them, but these brought their + guests into bondage, that had deserved well of them. + + BOOK OF WISDOM. + + +While the imperial army continued their march towards the ground +occupied by the insurgents, Jehangire, finding that the unavoidably +slow progress of so large a force gave him the opportunity of paying a +visit to Serhind, proceeded to that city attended by a numerous escort +of his household guards. Serhind was, at that period, a city of great +extent, famed for its wealth, the number and splendour of its temples, +and other public edifices, and the magnificence of its private mansions +and gardens. It was the abode of men of every nation and faith. Its +women, proverbial for their beauty, were not strictly confined within +harems, as in other parts of Hindostan; and abounding as it did in +luxuries of every description, the great business of life there seemed +to be the pursuit of pleasure under all its most alluring forms. + +The periodical reports of the local authorities addressed to the +emperor had, for some time, noticed the frequent disappearance from the +bosom of their families, of females belonging to the better classes of +society. Although the members of the families thus deprived of their +best ornaments, and the officers of the police had combined their +incessant exertions, in order to discover the source of this most +serious evil, they had hitherto failed to make out even the slightest +clue which might assist them in the accomplishment of their object. The +exactions, also, of the principal farmer of the revenue were complained +of. Both these matters the emperor had resolved to inquire into +personally, with the view of affording his subjects all the redress +that was in his power. + +On arriving at Serhind, where his majesty was received with every mark +of affectionate loyalty and respect, he sent immediately for the chief +collector of the revenue, and called upon him to answer to the charges +of rapacity and oppression that were made against him, and, especially, +to shew upon what ground he had dared to continue the tax of the +Zekkaut, which the emperor, upon his accession to the throne, had most +strictly forbidden to be levied any more. This was a tax previously +imposed upon all the subjects of the empire, the Moslems only excepted. +The collector, arrayed in a turban wreathed with diamonds, and a +chaplet of large pearls hung round his neck, of the value of at least a +lak of rupees, attended by a numerous retinue, also clad in sumptuous +attire, paid his homage to the emperor in the most obsequious style, +and then proceeded to defend his conduct, upon the plea that the +Hindoos being idolaters and infidels, it was fitting that they should +pay the Zekkaut for the toleration they enjoyed, and that, moreover, +they had amassed great wealth, of which a due proportion, he conceived, +ought to go to the treasury of the state, under whose protection they +had risen from poverty to affluence. + +“Idolators and infidels!” exclaimed the emperor, glad of an opportunity +to display his knowledge on this subject. “Such the ignorant amongst +them may be, but it is no part of my duty to condemn a whole nation for +the ignorance of the poor and the uneducated. If they be in error, and +if it be the will of the Supreme Being to punish them for that error, +am I called upon to augment the measure of divine justice? If He pardon +them, am I to be so presumptuous as to stand between them and His +mercy? Their Pundits may have in former ages fallen into some mistakes +as to the adoration which the Hindoos pay to images. But in my late +conferences with those learned doctors, I have convinced them that an +idol cannot be a God, the Almighty being eternally exempt from change +or decay, having neither length nor breadth, nor any shape visible to +mortal eye. I shewed them that to consider figures, moulded in brass, +or carved in wood, as the immediate objects of worship, was a most +fearful doctrine, since worship is due to God alone, supreme in glory. +It is true, that they still retain in their temples the idols to which +I suppose you allude, but it is only because the mind, being in itself +so liable to be distracted while at prayer by external objects, they +find it necessary to have images before them, solely dedicated to God +and his attributes, as otherwise they would find it impossible to +settle their attention to a steady contemplation of the perfections of +the Omnipotent. Of this no Moslem has a right to complain. + +“Besides, what was the language addressed to me by my father, (now in +Paradise!) when in the ignorance of youth, I asked him why the haunts +of idolatry, as I then deemed them, were not to be overthrown? ‘My +dear child,’ said he, ‘I find myself a puissant monarch, the shadow +of God upon earth. I have seen that he bestows the blessings of his +gracious providence upon all his creatures, without distinction. Ill +should I discharge the duties of my exalted station, were I to withhold +my compassion and indulgence from any of those entrusted to my charge. +With all of the human race, with all God’s creatures, I am at peace; +why then should I permit myself, under any consideration, to be the +cause of molestation or aggression to any one? Moreover, are not five +parts in six of mankind, either Hindoos, or aliens to the Mahometan +faith? Were I to be governed by motives of the kind suggested in your +inquiry, what alternative can I have but to put them all to death? I +have thought it therefore my wisest plan to let these men alone.’ + +“Neither is it to be forgotten, that the class of men of whom we +are speaking, in common with the other inhabitants of Serhind, are +usefully engaged, either in the pursuit of science or the arts, or of +improvements for the benefit of mankind, and that there are indeed to +be found in this city men of every description, and of every religion +on the face of the earth.” + +The collector, a man far advanced in years, and full of the pride of +that superiority which his Moslem faith gave him, as he supposed, +above all those who professed a different doctrine, held up his hands +in astonishment when he heard these words fall from the lips of his +sovereign. He was proceeding to enlarge upon his tried zeal for the +throne, for the house of Acbar, for the preservation of the faith, and +on the dangers in which such novel doctrines must involve the empire, +especially if the zekkaut were to be given up; when Jehangire demanded +what proportion of the tax the collector reserved to himself, and how +much of it entered the exchequer? This question the official said he +could not answer without the production of accounts, which he had never +before been called upon to render. They should however be made out, if +such were the wish of the “Safeguard of the world.” + +Upon the accounts being examined, it turned out that for every rupee +of the zekkaut paid into the imperial treasury, five were pocketed by +the collector. In order to escape from the difficulty in which this +discovery placed him, he offered, as the emperor was now embarked in +a war, necessarily attended with great expense, if the zekkaut were +continued, to pay in advance the assessment of three whole years, +amounting to as much gold as five hundred camels heavily laden could +carry. + +Jehangire, considering himself fully justified, under the +circumstances, in getting possession at all events of the treasure thus +tendered, ordered the collector to bring him the money forthwith. In +the course of a few hours he re-appeared, himself leading the foremost +of five hundred stout camels, all laden with gold to the utmost ounce +they could bear, each load covered in wrappers of the finest scarlet of +Irâk. Ten of the loads the emperor ordered to be distributed amongst +his escort, the remainder to be conveyed to his exchequer at Agra. + +“It would be satisfactory to me,” said the emperor, “now to know, +whether the whole of this gold, which you have laid at my feet, was +exclusively your own property, or whether it belonged in part to +others, who wish to share with you in the profits arising out of the +collection of the zekkaut.” + +“Sire,” replied the extortioner, deeply hurt at the supposition, “my +cellars still retain more than double the quantity which you now see +before you.” + +“What! all your own property!” + +“Inherited from my father--now in the bosom of the prophet! When on +the eve of death, he disclosed to me that in a certain secret place +under ground he had concealed, in large jars, a mass of treasure, +which, in the hour of distress, he might employ to relieve himself. I +was therefore under no necessity for bringing discredit on my name by +borrowing.” + +“Impossible! I cannot believe it.” + +“I know it, sire, to be the truth that I say.” + +“If so, then you cannot hesitate to let one of my officers see the +treasure you speak of.” + +The collector acceded, without hesitation, to the emperor’s proposal. +An officer was forthwith appointed to inspect the vaults, who, upon his +return, reported the collector’s statement as by no means exaggerated, +for that in his judgment fifteen hundred camels could not convey, at +the rate of one load each, the jars filled with gold, which he had seen +in the subterranean stores in question. + +“It would not be just,” thought Jehangire, “if I were to take +possession of the treasures remaining in the jars, as they manifestly +belong to this man’s children. But his attempt to continue the zekkaut +is not to be forgiven.” + +The emperor retired to his closet, where he ordered the immediate +attendance of Kuly, his chief executioner. That formidable minister of +vengeance in a few minutes presented himself before the sovereign. + +“You will find the collector of Serhind,” said Jehangire, “at his own +house,--bow-string him. His turban, and chaplet, and dress, are yours. +Bind round his loins a linen scarf, and set him, in all other respects +naked, on a camel, and so conduct him through all parts of the town, +at the same time proclaiming, in a loud voice--‘Such is the punishment +to which that man is doomed, who, when his sovereign, from a paternal +regard to his people, has remitted the impost of the zekkaut, dared to +continue it, and to advise its legal restoration, thus violating the +most sacred laws, and attempting by his counsels to give the thoughts +of the sovereign a direction, replete with evil to the subject, and +dishonour to himself.’” + +The order was carried into execution the same evening, amidst the +plaudits of the inhabitants of Serhind. + +Amongst the personages of distinction, who waited the next day upon +the emperor, to return his majesty thanks for this signal mark of his +attention to the welfare of his people, was Abdul, generally known at +Serhind as a Mogul employed in the pursuit of commercial concerns, +and possessed of wealth to an amount, which it was said even he +himself could not calculate. His palace, the galleries containing his +collections of works of art, his gardens and fountains, all surrounded +by a lofty wall of enormous thickness, were the principal ornaments of +Serhind, rich as that city was in edifices of excelling splendour. + +Abdul, on taking leave, expressed a hope, that before his majesty +quitted Serhind, he would deign to permit the shadow of his celestial +presence to be seen within his humble abode. Jehangire accepted the +invitation; and when the business of the day was concluded, attended by +Auzeem, and his ordinary suite, proceeded to the residence of the Mogul. + +Embarking on the river, in a twelve-oared galley belonging to Abdul, +they were landed on a flight of marble steps, white as snow, which led +to a massive bronze gate, moving in a solid frame of porphyry, richly +inlaid with gold and lapis lazuli. The master of the mansion was on +the marble stairs, waiting to receive them. The gate, which flew open +at his command, was immediately closed with a ringing sound, like +that of a bell. They immediately found themselves in a covered avenue +of sycamores, affording a most delicious shade, planted on each side +with scarlet roses. Beyond the avenue were groves of cypress, firs, +plane-trees, and evergreens, so disposed as to leave between them all +a wide circle, which formed a garden, laid out in beds that teemed +with every flower under the sun, each the most perfect of its kind. +In the midst of the garden played a fountain of limpid water, which, +when occasion required, cast its refreshing dews upon the flower-beds +surrounding it. The fragrance of this garden, and its seclusion amidst +the groves; the murmurs of the pellucid waters, and the songs of many +birds, hid in the adjacent shades, filled the heart of the emperor with +transports of delight. “Ah!” thought he, “if Nourmahal were here!” + +An ascent, through one of the groves, led the visitors to an elevated +terrace, planted with lines of orange and citron-trees on each side, +between every pair of which were seen, on pedestals of red granite of +Egypt, statues of exquisite workmanship in bronze, gold, and silver, +in alabaster, and in marble that rivalled alabaster as to the spotless +purity and freshness of its colour. In an alcove, a colossal warrior +in bronze held on his left arm a golden shield, of well-proportioned +dimensions, upon which the exploits of Acbar were delineated in bold +relief, with a degree of accuracy, elegance, and animation, that +astonished even the practised eye of Auzeem. + +The terrace led to an octagonal pavilion, raised two stories high, +surrounded by a double colonnade of jasper pillars, exhibiting from a +gallery that ran round the dome, an enchanting view of the neighbouring +country. The interior of the pavilion was painted in various +compartments, in which were seen processions of slaves captured in +battle, and bearing to their conquerors offerings of all the fruits of +the earth, the interstices being filled with figures of birds engaged +in flight or pursuit, so as to display their character and plumage in +the most striking point of view. + +This pavilion was composed of two saloons, each capable of affording +accommodation to a thousand guests. Four round towers graced and +strengthened the outer walls of the edifice. Through one of these +towers visitors ascended, by a spiral staircase, to the upper saloon; +a second tower was reserved for the visitors descending; and the other +two yielded each a small circular apartment, lined by mirrors, and +permitting the sky to be seen through a roof of glass. In the lower +saloon, coffee, sherbet, and ices, were served to all those for whose +enjoyment the Mogul threw open his gardens once a week. The upper +saloon was devoted to music and dancing, and the mirrored apartment to +tête-a-tête conversations. + +Abdul’s mansion was of the castellated form, and occupied a spacious +square beyond the pavilion. It had not been for many years open to +public view. The interior apartments, those especially of the harem, +were said to be furnished in a truly regal style, the floors covered +with gold-woven carpets, the walls hung with cloth of gold from +Khorassan, with velvets from Gujerat, and figured tapestry, both +European and Chinese. + +The Mogul appeared to experience no small measure of pride, as he led +the emperor along the terrace to the pavilion, where, after pipes and +coffee, iced wines, sweetmeats and confectionery were presented to his +majesty, on salvers of massive gold, by a numerous train of attendants. +Jehangire next expected to be shown through the Mogul’s house; but the +latter excused himself on account of its being under repair, and not +in a state to receive the sovereign of Hindostan. + +Auzeem threw out some hints about the number and beauty of the ladies, +whom so much wealth, and such distinguished taste could not fail to +have assembled in the harem; but, to his surprise, he learned that +Abdul had no wives, and that from some disappointment of the heart, in +the early part of his life, he had uniformly declined all the advances +of those parents, who, in compassion for his misfortune, tendered their +daughters, to share in his unbounded opulence. + +On his return from the garden of the Mogul, the emperor, assisted +by Auzeem, had a long conference with the civil officers of justice +upon the disappearance of so many females of rank and station, as +noticed in their reports, and upon the ineffectual steps that had +been adopted in order to detect the mode in which it took place. On +looking carefully through the reports, and comparing the dates of +those mysterious occurrences, it struck Auzeem as singular, that they +pretty generally coincided with the evenings on which Abdul’s gardens +were opened for the reception of his numerous visiters, comprising, +indeed, all the families of Serhind above the caste of artizans +and secondary merchants. It seemed not an improbable supposition, +that upon their return from the gardens, which was generally late +in the night, sometimes accident, inevitable in narrow and crowded +streets,--sometimes young men heated by wine, taking advantage of the +obscurity to possess themselves of women on whom they had fixed their +affections,--sometimes the revenge of rejected lovers,--sometimes +the propensity to suicide or murder, had combined to produce these +deplorable results. But in answer to these hypotheses it was stated, +that there was scarcely an evening in the week, during the fine season +of the year, when assemblages equally numerous had not taken place, +either in private or public gardens, and that no similar consequence +had been observed to distinguish them one from the other. + +Another peculiar feature marked these mysterious occurrences. The +victims were uniformly those females whose apparel was most costly, no +matter of what age, or whether beautiful or deformed. The conclusion +was obvious, that the value of their attire had some connexion with +the cause of their abstraction, and it was therefore surmised, that +a band of criminals must be confederated for the purpose of enriching +themselves upon the spoil taken from the persons whom, probably with +that view alone, they deprived of life. But then, where were the +remains of the females so murdered? These had never been discovered in +any one instance. The farther the inquiry extended, the more perplexing +it became. The officers of justice confessed that they could throw no +light upon the matter. + +“Do you happen to know,” asked Auzeem, “whether the artizans engaged +in the repairs of the Mogul’s mansion are Hindoos or foreigners? If +foreigners, it is barely possible that they might, in this manner, +supply themselves with rich wives, whom they may have some means of +sending out of the country.” + +The officers replied, that they were not aware of the mansion +in question being under repair, and that it was impossible any +considerable number of artizans, native or foreign, could be engaged +in any such occupation without their knowledge, as all such persons, +and the places where they were employed were regularly entered on the +registry. An answer, however, on this point might be easily obtained +from the Mogul himself. A kotewaul was immediately despatched for this +purpose, who returned with intelligence, that the Mogul was not at +home, but that, from all the inquiry he could make amongst the artizans +of the neighbourhood, he had no doubt that there were no repairs going +on in Abdul’s house, which had, indeed, been shut up for more than ten +years. + +This account was inconsistent with the statement made by the Mogul to +the emperor. Jehangire expressed his surprise. Auzeem suggested that +before they proceeded farther, this matter should, at all events, be +cleared up. There was, perhaps, nothing in it; however it seemed to +require explanation: for if workmen were employed there unknown to the +police, it was against the law. + +Two of the officers were despatched to investigate this point. They +proceeded to the gardens, where they found Abdul, walking on his +terrace alone, enjoying the evening breeze. To their inquiries he +answered, without hesitation, that they must have been erroneously +informed, as he had had no repairs done to his house for many years, +and had no artizans then in his employment. They said, that it was +their duty to satisfy themselves by a personal inspection of the house, +to which he could, of course, have no objection. + +Abdul, they observed, turned deadly pale at this suggestion, and +trembled violently. He complained of not being well, adding, that if +they presented themselves the next morning, he would be happy to comply +with their desire. The officers retired, having fixed to return at +sun-rise. + +Soon after that hour they appeared before the emperor, and reported to +him the interview which they had had with Abdul the previous evening; +they then said, that they proceeded to his house at the time appointed, +but that they could not gain admission. Jehangire began to suspect +that there was something more in this inquiry than he had at first +apprehended. He therefore directed the officers to apply again at the +gates, and if they were not opened, to cause them to be forced. The +officers, in obedience to his orders, went again to the residence of +the Mogul, but all the gates were closed against them. They proceeded +accordingly to use force; with the assistance of the pioneers they +scaled the walls of the gardens, and effected an entrance into the +mansion, which they found apparently uninhabited, though furnished in +the most sumptuous style. A noise, as of something having fallen on the +floor, attracted their attention to an apartment, the door of which was +shut. They tried to open the door, but it resisted their efforts until, +by applying their united strength, they burst it open. Here they found +the Mogul stretched lifeless on the floor, and on the divan near him, +a large cup half full of a liquid, which upon examination, turned out +to be essence of poppies. The vital spark appeared to have just fled, +as, although the heart was still, the colour of life had not wholly +deserted his cheek. + +One of the officers having acquainted the emperor with the intelligence +of this event, Jehangire, attended by Auzeem, hastened to the spot, and +further researches having been made, a subterraneous chamber was at +length discovered, in which chests were found filled with rich female +dresses, to the number of seven hundred. In the same chamber were +discovered other chests, replete with wreaths of diamonds and other +precious stones, necklaces of pearl, and gold trinkets. + +From this chamber they made their way through a long winding passage to +another, from which emanated a most disagreeable odour. By the feeble +light which reached it, from a narrow window near the ceiling, they +perceived a spacious fire-place nearly filled with ashes; intermixed +with which, they found an amazing number of fragments of human bones. +No further evidence was necessary, to shew the diabolical species of +commerce in which the Mogul merchant must have been for years engaged. +It was only to be regretted that, by inflicting the penalty of his +crimes with his own hand, he had anticipated the decrees of justice. + +One of the officers, suspecting that there might be a communication +between this chamber of death and the pavilion on the terrace, searched +narrowly all round, until he groped his way through a short narrow +passage to a staircase. Ascending the staircase, until he was stopped +by a door, he pushed it open, and found himself, when the door was +shut, completely surrounded by mirrors, the arched-roof being composed +of glass, through which he saw the sky. + +Further examination enabled the pioneers to ascertain that this +mirrored alcove was capable of being elevated by the simple machinery +of ropes, pullies, and weights, and that, when raised to its utmost +height, it gave admission to the upper story of the pavilion, through +one of the four round towers of that beautiful building. + +Entering the other mirrored apartment, in the opposite tower, after +several experiments, they found, that by pressing a spring, concealed +in the divan, which ran all round, the apartment imperceptibly sank to +the bottom of the tower; whence, also, there was a communication to the +sepulchral chamber. + +While the festivities of the evening were at their height, the +Mogul, or one of his associates, doubtless engaged a devoted victim +to converse with him in either of these apartments; a group of his +confederates gathered, in the meantime, at the door leading to it, +would divert attention from his proceedings. Having descended to the +bottom of the tower, he would lead her to the spot where she would be +sacrificed in an instant, stripped of her apparel, and then consumed. +The alcove would, in the meantime, be restored to its place by his +assistants. He would speedily rejoin the gay throng in the saloons, +and in this manner it must have been, that he dispatched as many as +five or six splendidly dressed women in the course of an evening. + +The dresses and ornaments discovered in the chests, were publicly +exhibited, and most of them were recognised by the families of the +unhappy persons, by whom they had been worn. The inmates of the mansion +were undoubtedly participators in the guilt of the Mogul, and acted, +when necessary, ostensibly in the capacity of his servants. They had +all fled, justly apprehensive of the vengeance of the emperor, who +ordered the mansion to be demolished, its furniture to be sold for the +benefit of the poor, and the gardens to be preserved at the expense of +the state, for the use of the inhabitants of Serhind. Thus were the +two grievances pointed out by the Dervish, effectually redressed by +Jehangire. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + Heads glittering with polished gold, divided by the blade, drop + incessantly; and mangled bodies, wallowing in their gore, lay like + fragments of mighty rocks, sparkling with gems and precious ores. + Millions of sighs and groans arise on every side; and the sun is + overcast with blood, as they clash their arms, and wound each other + with their dreadful instruments of destruction. + + MAHABHARAT. + + +The scouts sent out by Chusero, rapidly returned on the heels of +each other, announcing daily the nearer and nearer approach of the +imperial army. The Sutledge was full to the margin, and as all the +bridges had been broken down, and the ferry-boats destroyed, the +insurgents relied upon the position they had taken up as one not +easy to be reduced. Their line was compact, and skilfully arranged. +Their strength in artillery was limited, but it was disposed of to +the greatest advantage. Fifty heavy pieces of cannon were chained +together, to guard that part of the river which offered the most +favourable chances of passage to the enemy. The left wing, composed +of the Cashmere auxiliaries under Afkun, was disposed somewhat higher +up the river, armed with spears, slings, and bows. The Rajaputs under +Man-Singh watched the passages of the river on the right; while the +troops commanded by Hussein, partly composed of matchlockmen, partly +of spearmen and cavalry, took their station in the centre, behind the +artillery. Companies of elephants, bearing men armed with matchlocks +and heavy javelins, were distributed through the three divisions of +the army, and the prince, with a small reserve of cavalry, took his +post upon an eminence, commanding a view of the river and of the plains +beyond it to a considerable distance. They were in all sixty thousand +fighting men. + +Bochari, accurately informed of the disposition of the insurgent +forces, moved forward with great caution towards the higher banks +of the Sutledge, above the station occupied by Afkun, expecting +that he might be able to ford it in that direction, and so turn the +left flank of the enemy. When, by the first light of the sun, he +beheld the glistening line of the river, he ordered a strong body of +cavalry, assisted by a company of the light artillery, to move rapidly +in column, and dashing headlong through the Sutledge to establish +themselves if possible on the farther bank. The remainder of the light +artillery he directed to open a fire upon Afkun’s division. + +Chusero, who was mounted on his swift-paced elephant, at an early hour +speedily perceived in the distance the thread-like columns hastening +across the plain. After dispatching messengers along the line, to +announce the presence of the enemy, and the movement they had made, he +proceeded with his reserve to the assistance of Afkun, who was already +on the alert. The banks of the Sutledge were high and precipitous in +the direction aimed at by Bochari, and the current deep and extremely +rapid. Nevertheless, before Chusero could reach the spot, the foremost +horses of the foe were plunged in the stream, and ascending the +opposite bank. He proceeded to attack them as fast as his troops could +come up, but such was the vigour of the onset of his enemies, owing to +the superior strength of their horses, that they gained upon him until +Afkun, seeing what was taking place, mounting his charger, and calling +upon a troop of his cavalry to follow him, rushed into the river, which +he speedily crossed. Despising the efforts of the light artillery +opposed to him, he directed his march at once against the column of +cavalry commanded by Bochari, and succeeding in breaking their line, +cut them off from those who had already advanced into the stream. +Chusero being, in the mean time, strongly reinforced, entered into the +conflict with spirit, and drove back the tide of assailants. Their +retreat was attended with great confusion, as many of their comrades +were still contending against the rapidity of the current. + +Chusero followed up his advantage, driving the enemy before him, sword +in hand, who, perceiving that they were separated from their comrades, +turned the heads of their horses down the current. The bank occupied by +the insurgents was immediately lined by bowmen; they poured clouds of +arrows upon the fugitives, most of whom perished in the river. Afkun, +having accomplished his object, retreated in good order to his former +position. + +The imperial troops now advanced thickly into the plain, appearing in +the distance like an enormous flight of locusts. Jehangire, apprized of +the failure of Bochari’s first attempt to turn the left flank of the +insurgents, ordered all his artillery in front. As the drivers took +their ground in succession, the gunners opened their fire, and the +line becoming every moment more lengthened, the thunder of the field +augmented with terrific energy. It was answered from the hostile ranks +in compact volleys, which were discharged with great effect, the crowd +of balls issuing from the chained artillery, acting like the mower’s +scythe, and causing tremendous gaps in the masses of the advancing +cavalry and infantry on the imperial side. + +The theatre of battle on either side of the Sutledge was by noon +enveloped in a dense cloud of smoke, illumined only near the guns by +the flashes of fire which burst from them as they hurled forth their +weapons of death. The ardour of the Rajaputs under Man-Singh could not +be restrained. Taking advantage of the obscurity which hung over them, +they crossed the river in one body, and scouring the plain, hewed down +cavalry, infantry, camels, every thing with which they came in contact. +Then returning to their position they rested awhile, until their +fearless commander again gave the word for another experiment of the +same perilous nature. Afkun, more prudent, remained within the position +entrusted to his keeping, which he defended with great valour against +the repeated efforts of the imperialists to effect a passage in that +direction. Hussein, being in the centre, had as yet no opportunity of +distinguishing himself, his front being covered by the artillery, whose +fire continued to be most destructive. Chusero might be seen during the +thickest of the fight in all parts of the field, exposing his person +in the most fearless manner, encouraging and inspiring his men by the +hopes of success which he declared were brightening every where in his +favour. + +Bochari observing the rashness with which Man-Singh frequently advanced +from his post to carry the battle to the imperial side of the river, +directed a numerous division of cavalry to arrange themselves behind an +eminence, below that part of the river occupied by the Rajaputs, with +orders to wait there until they were informed that the Rajaputs had +again crossed the river, and then to make a bold effort to seize upon +the position of the enemy. In the mean time he stationed another body +of cavalry to receive the Rajaputs, and engage them with an apparent +determination of fierce resistance; but, after a few moments, to +retreat, so as to draw the foe after them as far as he would follow. He +had a train of elephants ready to march down on the river the moment +his men began the feigned retreat, so as to form a rampart against the +Rajaputs on their return. + +These orders were executed with great precision. The Rajaputs had +already crossed the Sutledge thrice, and without suffering any +considerable losses, had destroyed numbers of the imperialists. Their +activity in the field was wonderful. They flew after their audacious +leader like an army of spirits over the plains, their rapidity of +movement placing them beyond the reach of every arrow, javelin, or +matchlock, that was directed against them. The Sutledge was filled with +sand-banks in the neighbourhood of their position, which rendered it +easily fordable even to infantry. + +For the fourth time, Man-Singh gave the signal for another charge, +when the whole body, lance in hand, rushing through the river, rode, +with their usual chivalry, against the first body of troops they met, +who, being prepared for the encounter, sustained the shock with more +firmness than Man-Singh had expected. His followers hurled their +lances at the foe, and then relying on the scymitar, dealt such hot +destruction around them, that the immediate retreat of their opponents +seemed to have little in it of a feigned character. The Rajaputs +pursued them. + +Meanwhile, the division of cavalry concealed behind the eminence, +mounting their horses, galloped down to the river, and passing it +without resistance, established themselves in the position confided +to the Rajaputs; and the train of elephants having moved rapidly to +the opposite bank, constituted a living rampart, through which it was +impossible for any force to penetrate. + +Chusero, whose eye at once discovered the snare, in which the +excessive and undisciplined ardour of the Rajaputs had involved them, +joined Hussein without delay, and the two divisions attacking the +enemy, drove them back into the river. But Bochari, prepared for this, +had already despatched to their support a body of light artillery, +mounted on camels. The fire of the guns, passing over the heads of his +troops, speedily repelled the masses of infantry brought against them; +directing the line of the elephants to open, a dense body of cavalry +hastened through the passage into the river, and gaining the opposite +bank, under a terrible fire from the matchlocks, recaptured the enemy’s +position. + +Man-Singh, returning with his Rajaputs, found, to his dismay, the +passage walled up by an enormous crowd of elephants. The men stationed +in the towers, opened upon him a terrible fire, while a fresh division +of cavalry attacking him on the other side, he found himself enclosed +within the very jaws of the demon of battle. But his spirit flinched +not from the conflict. The fury of his Rajaputs was capable of any +thing he could call upon them to perform. Turning back upon the enemy, +he resolved to cut his way through them, though closing on him in +masses that seemed to offer no chance of escape. Nevertheless, with +his single sabre, he clove down horse and rider, until he forced a +path, which being made wider behind him by the indomitable valour of +his companions, they drove through the dense assemblage, like a wedge +riving the oak consolidated by the storms of a thousand winters. + +Jehangire, who, mounted on that noble elephant Indragui, watched the +events of the day with the utmost diligence, dispatched orders to +all the cavalry and camels to take advantage of the passage of the +Sutledge, already secured; and such was the speed with which his +mandate was obeyed, that before the sun began to decline, the fortune +of the day seemed to have crowned his banners with victory. The fire +of his artillery was maintained with undiminished intensity; while +that of the insurgents, from a failure of ammunition, began to exhibit +unequivocal symptoms of decay. The vollies, at first so admirably +regular, became less frequent. Gun after gun yielded no new flash. +Terror seized the men the moment their supplies were exhausted, and, +as the guns were chained together, they despaired of extricating them +from the dangers of capture, to which they were now too evidently +exposed. They fled, and in their flight began to diffuse a panic +through the field, which would have ended the battle, had it not been +restored by Afkun. + +Abandoning a position, the defence of which was no longer of any +consequence, he advanced to the assistance of Chusero and Hussein, +who were in engagement with the enemy. The infantry, elephants, and +camels of the imperialists, crossing the river at all the fords without +any farther difficulty, forthwith proceeded to take an active part in +the battle, which now became general. The artillery was for a while +silenced on both sides; and, as the smoke in which the field had been +involved the whole day, cleared off into the higher regions of the +atmosphere, clouds of arrows were seen to take its place, spreading +over the combatants a canopy of iron. + +At one moment forests of spears glittered in the sun. Then levelled +against each other, the masses by whom they were wielded appearing +rising and falling like the waves of the ocean--now tending in one +direction--now in another. Again the spears were raised, as the forces +on either side gave way--but red with gore--and flourished amid shouts +of triumph, mingled with the cries of wounded men and dying horses, +agonizing even to ears best inured to the din of war. Afkun, Hussein, +and Chusero, it was universally admitted, exhibited incessantly +prodigies of valour. But the ill-directed ardour of Man-Singh had +disconcerted the whole of their plans; their men fell around them, +overwhelmed by numbers. Their artillery was not only captured, but in a +very short time turned against them by the imperialists. The elephants +trod them down. The flying artillery pressed upon them, wherever an +attempt was made to offer further resistance. Nevertheless, it was not +until Hussein fell, gashed by a hundred sabres, that Afkun, seeing the +day irrecoverably lost, exerted all his remaining energy to extricate +the prince from the perils, against which he had no longer any power to +contend; and prevailing upon the ill-fated youth to mount behind him on +his charger, withdrew from the field of slaughter. + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + Treading disdainfully + Upon our very throats, he echoed back + Our clamorous shouts of triumph with defiance, + And laughed all threats and stratagems to scorn. + + HINDOO DRAMA. + + +Chusero, and his brave companion in calamity, wandered all night +through the woods, uncertain as to the direction in which they were +proceeding. Towards morning they discovered a wretched hut, loosely +covered with dried branches and withered leaves. Permitting their horse +to take such food as he could find in such a spot, they laid themselves +down to rest, and slept until noon, when Afkun, awaking to the dreadful +recollection of the events of the preceding day, pressed both his hands +on his forehead, thought of his home, and asked himself with a sob +that almost rent his manly heart, “Ah! what now shall become of my +Nourmahal!” + +No regrets passed through his mind for having joined the banner of +the prince in this war. He felt convinced, from all he had heard of +Jehangire, from the well-known habits of his life, from the follies +which he had committed, even when on his way to the Sutledge--follies, +which of course lost no shade of their original puerility, in the +rumours that wafted intelligence of them to all quarters of the +empire; but especially from the sallies of downright insanity to which +Jehangire was subject, that he was unfit to rule so important an empire +as Hindostan. + +In summing up and justifying to himself his motives of action, the +husband of Nourmahal endeavoured to conceal the consciousness, that +he had also committed his destinies in the prince’s cause, from a +vague, yet always increasing apprehension, that there were strong, +perhaps indissoluble, though invisible links of affection between her +and Jehangire, which must, sooner or later, draw them too closely +together. And yet it was, perhaps, this feeling which, more than +any other, determined him, in the first moments of the civil war, to +choose the side he had taken. He knew not to what courses the reckless +and malignant Bochari might instigate the emperor, if he reached +the northern provinces, borne on the tide of victory. He feared the +passions of the sovereign, now no longer checked by the prohibitions of +Acbar, or awed by the authority of Fazeel. + +Looking at the intelligent and chivalrous youth slumbering by his side, +covered with the gore and dust of battle, in which, though defeated, +he bore a part worthy of the valour of Baber, he felt more and more +attached to him. Placing his left hand on the prince’s shoulder, and +raising the other to the skies, he swore never to desert him; and even +if he could not promote him to the throne, for which he was so well +fitted by nature, at all events to acknowledge no other master, to the +last moment of his existence. + +Afkun had awoke feverish and thirsty. He saw, by the flushed cheek and +brow, that his companion was equally so; and hearing, as he thought, +a gurgling sound at some distance, he went out to search for the +place whence it came. He soon lighted on a little brook, whose clear +waters were singing their way over a bed of pebbles and through fallen +leaves, little conscious of the tremendous scenes that had just been +enacted upon the banks of the river, to which haply they were about to +offer their slender tribute. Stooping down, he drank copiously of the +refreshing stream; then taking off his helmet, he filled it with the +transparent element, and laid it beside the prince, who, just opening +his eyes, looked around, wondering where he was. The affectionate +pressure of Afkun’s hand answered all his inquiries, and a draught of +the pure cold spring at once restored to his features their wonted +expression. + +Chusero and his companion agreed that their only resource would be to +proceed at once to Lahore, which, being well fortified and powerfully +garrisoned, would enable them to hold out against the enemy, until +the late disasters could be in some measure repaired, and a new army +organized. With this view Afkun went in search of his horse, which was +nowhere to be seen. Venturing to call aloud to the animal, certain, +that if within the reach of his voice it would immediately answer +to his appeal, three or four men started at the sound from beneath +branches of trees, with which they had covered themselves. They turned +out to be soldiers of Cashmere, who had fled thither, like himself, +from the field of battle, and whose delight was inexpressible on +finding that their leader had also escaped unhurt from the perils of +the disastrous day. They immediately went in different directions +to look for their chieftain’s well-known steed, which they found at +some distance, feeding on the leaves of a tamarisk. The whole party +then proceeded through the forest, directing their course by the sun, +westward. + +After emerging from the forest, they were joined, from time to time, by +other fugitives from the late scene of contest, who informed them that +the emperor’s army was already moving, with great rapidity, towards +Lahore. The unwelcome tidings also reached them, that Man-Singh, +notwithstanding his astonishing feat in cutting his way through the +ranks of the enemy, had been made prisoner, and ordered to be confined +in the fortress of Gwalior; and that Bochari, with three thousand +chosen men, had set out expressly in pursuit of the prince, whom he +had strict injunctions to convey, dead or alive, to the presence of the +emperor. Chusero resolved to sell his freedom only with his life, for +he knew that so long as Bochari controlled the councils of his father, +one would be just as valueless to him as the other. + +Subsisting upon such wild berries and fruits, as the trees and shrubs +they found on their way, furnished; or, upon the provisions supplied +to them by the hospitable peasants, at whose huts they claimed the +assistance seldom denied in Hindostan to travellers; the prince and +his friend, attended by their followers, arrived in the course of a +few days on the banks of the Rawee, a deep and rapid river, which it +would be impossible for them to pass, unless at some of the ferries, +where boats were established at the expense of government. A boy whom +they met with, driving some swine, conducted them to the nearest ferry; +but although the passage was much frequented, no boats were to be +found. Afkun proceeded alone to the next village, where the ferryman +lived, and learned from him, that orders had been already received by +the zemindar of the district, from the imperial army, to stop all the +passages of the Rawee, and that, in compliance with those orders, the +boats had been secreted. + +Upon returning to the prince, Afkun proposed to take measures for +compelling the ferryman to disclose the place where the boats were +concealed. “We have,” said he, “it is true, but a small force--in +all, I think, not exceeding a hundred men, but their quivers are +not wholly exhausted, their zeal may be relied upon, and we have no +time for deliberation.” It was then near midnight. Proceeding to the +village, they took the ferryman out of his bed, and threatened to tie +a large stone round his neck and throw him into the river, unless he +forthwith complied with their demand. He declared that the mandate of +the zemindar had been executed, not by him, but by the villagers, as +he happened to be at some distance fishing, when the orders arrived. +They then proceeded to seize the villagers, whose huts he pointed out. +Some were taken in their beds--others escaping, by their outcries +alarmed the country. The ferry-boats were nowhere to be found. Two of +his followers, whom Afkun had taken the precaution to send down the +river to see if, in any of the creeks, the boats had been concealed, +returned to him at day-break, with intelligence that two rafts, loaded +with wood, were tied to a tree at a distance below the village. +Hastening with the prince and his followers to the spot, they speedily +disencumbered the rafts of their burthen, and, crowding on board, began +to put across the stream. They had scarcely quitted the bank, when the +zemindar, being roused from sleep by the tumult, presented himself, +attended by his guards and a concourse of the people, and having in +vain ordered the rafts to be brought back, fired upon the navigators. +They returned the fire with their arrows, one of which transfixed the +zemindar, others wounded his guards and the people, who, irritated by +the circumstance, plunged into the river, and surrounding the rafts, +endeavoured to sink them. Some were pierced with arrows in the attempt, +others had their hands cut off. In the confusion the paddles were lost, +by which the rafts had hitherto been conducted. The fugitives were +therefore obliged to allow themselves to be borne down the current. + +Chusero and Afkun immediately divested themselves of their armour, +with a view to swim to the farther bank, though the Rawee exhibited +a considerable expanse at that place, and appeared to widen at every +step. Meanwhile, a strong body of the imperial guards made their +appearance, led on by Bochari, who, perceiving his prey ready to +escape, jumped into the ferry-boat, which was just launched from +a neighbouring creek, where it had been hauled up, and with a few +followers, proceeded at once towards the raft, where he saw the prince +and Afkun ready to dive into the stream. Bochari, also, had left off +his armour, in consequence of the heat of the weather, and the rapidity +with which he was eager to travel. Afkun, observing the foe whom he +had in vain often attempted to discover in the field of battle, felt +new life rushing through his nerves, and entreating the prince to save +his life by hastening to the distant bank, lifted him on his steed, +and pushing the animal into the water, waited the approach of the +ferry-boat as the rock expects the coming wave, whose utmost fury it +disdains. + +Both the warriors instinctively drew their scymitars at the same +moment, and as the boat, impelled by the oar and the current, passed +the raft, the two weapons met with a clash which flung a blaze of light +upon the water. The men on either side hung back, as if in the presence +of such chieftains they had no right to take a share in the conflict. + +The impetuosity with which the boat was urged drove it against a sand +bank, where it adhered. The raft was in a few moments at its stern, +and Afkun, ordering his men to board the boat and sink her, if they +could, grappled with Bochari. The latter, feeling his arm held back +by somebody behind him, made an effort to extricate himself, and in +doing so, fell over the side of the vessel. Afkun seized him by the +shoulder, and pulling him on to the raft, gave him time to get erect +upon his legs. Again the two scymitars flashed against each other, each +of the combatants feeling, that in that moment, the fate of the empire +was in his hands, and that he had no means of safety except in his +own prowess. The advantage, at first, seemed in favour of Afkun, who, +scarcely allowing Bochari any time for parrying his blows, laid upon +him as if he were about to cleave him in two. + +The Persian, however, gradually finding his footing on the raft, threw +up the weapon of the Turcoman by a dexterous understroke, and stooping, +wheeled round to the other side, where he placed himself in an attitude +of defence that drew forth applause even from the rival parties in +the boat, and suspended their contest. Both raft and boat were now +entangled in the sand-bank, the current driving them through it with a +force which they could not master. + +Afkun again advanced upon his foe, who, holding his scymitar before +him, watched the coming blow with admirable coolness, and rendered it +ineffectual, without attempting to return it. He felt the power of +the gigantic arm against which he had hazarded his life, and looked +only to the resources of his ingenuity to exhaust that strength, or at +least to reduce it to his own level. But the Turcoman was not there +for the play of the gladiator, with which he was little conversant. He +repeated his onsets, until finding himself baffled by the vigilance of +his antagonist, he turned his scymitar in his hand, and striking that +of Bochari with the back of his weapon, sent more than the half of +it ringing into the stream. Then flinging his own blade after it, he +closed at once upon his dismayed opponent, grasping him in his arms +as the bear of Gundwana compresses the panther when they meet over +the same spoil, threatened to annihilate him, and would probably have +accomplished his purpose, if the raft, over-balanced by their united +weight, had not inclined to one side, when both fell headlong into the +foaming current. + +The combatants disappeared; but in a few moments their heads were seen +above the water, at a short distance below the boat, struggling for +breath, Afkun still holding Bochari powerless in one of his muscular +arms, while with the other he endeavoured to stem the rapidity of +the tide. The contest was no longer equal. The cavalry on the banks +witnessed the danger in which their chief was involved, but afraid to +fire while the antagonists were thus closely linked together, they +procured another boat, and hastened to Bochari’s assistance. Afkun, +still stemming his way to the further bank, plunged repeatedly with +his burden in the depths of the river, and it was not until he saw the +second boat push forth from the shore, and quickly gaining upon him, +that diving once more, he returned to the surface alone. + +The boatmen gave up Bochari as lost, when the soldiers in the vessel, +levelling their matchlocks at Afkun, sent forth a shower of balls that +ploughed the waters around him. But like the noble stag, even when hard +pressed by dogs and hunters in full pursuit, he held on his way in +stately pride, not looking once behind him, and urging his limbs with +unquailing energy through the flood, now that he could use them without +incumbrance, soon left the boat at a distance whence their fire was of +no avail, until touching the shelving bank, he strode it up like a god +emerging from his own dominion. + +Bochari re-appeared a few moments after, and was taken into the boat, +in a condition so feeble that he was at first supposed to be lifeless. +But being conveyed to the shore with the least possible delay, he was +stripped of all his garments, and covered with hot sand, while the +soles of his feet were rubbed with heated oil. The flickering embers of +existence were thus gradually retained and strengthened, the glow came +back to his pallid cheek, and his arms were again seen beating the +air, as if he were still engaged in the deadly strife from which he had +just been rescued. From that moment he never heard the name of Afkun +repeated, without feeling his frame incased in the icy shroud of death. + +The Turcoman’s first anxiety was to know what had become of the prince. +Nor was he long condemned to doubt upon that subject; while, having +ascended an eminence, he was still hesitating as to the direction +in which he should bend his steps, his beauteous steed, much soiled +with mud, came trotting towards him, neighing with delight for having +recovered its master. Looking along the bank whence the animal had +come, he perceived Chusero, and ran forward eagerly to meet him. The +prince related, that having escaped with no small difficulty from the +eddies of the Rawee, in which he was for some time involved, he lost +sight of the rafts altogether, but that, keeping his way, as soon as he +reached the land, along the river be heard the discharge of fire-arms. +He was at no loss to conjecture at whom they were directed, and +galloped on with all speed until, without suspecting it, he entered a +morass, where his horse sunk instantly to the saddle. He threw himself +off; the animal, with instinctive foresight of its peril, swaying on +its side, rolled over, and thus extricating its limbs, cautiously +retraced its steps, until it found a firm footing. At that moment +Afkun’s well-known figure presented itself upon the rising ground. + +A brook, which formed one of the tributaries of the Rawee, enabled +them to cleanse the animal, who stood with joyous tranquillity in the +stream, while they applied the element to his limbs. Then mounting on +his back, and following the guidance of the river, they rode onward +night and day until they reached the gates of Lahore, which they found +closed, and vigilantly guarded, on account of the rumoured approach of +the imperial troops. The prince, on demanding admission, was at once +recognised by the sentinels, and entering the city, was every where +received with enthusiastic acclamations, notwithstanding his recent +disaster. The promises of fidelity made to him by the garrison and the +inhabitants, were renewed. They swore that they would defend the town +to the last; for besides the obligation they had already contracted +towards the prince, they apprehended from the mode in which the +emperor, at the instigation of Bochari, dealt with the prisoners who +had fallen into his hands, that they were to expect no mercy; that the +town, if unfortunately captured, would be given up to the pillage of +the imperial troops; that neither sex, nor age would be spared; and +that of the city itself not one stone would be permitted to remain upon +another. + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + Watchmen! what of the night? + Fearful noises come from the camp, my lord. + + HINDOO DRAMA. + + +Nor were the rumours of the imperial wrath meditated to be inflicted +upon Lahore, nor of the terrible cruelties practised upon the +prisoners, by the orders of Bochari, exaggerated. The captive +chieftains of the insurgent force, who had not died of their wounds, +were condemned to various punishments, distinguished from each other, +according to the rank of the sufferers, by refinements of torture, +which the genius of Bochari had invented. Some were impaled, some +flayed alive, some condemned to wear wooden yokes, and perform menial +services for the lowest followers of the army; while others were thrown +into the dens of wild beasts for food, or trampled to death by the +elephants. + +Such of the unhappy men as had not been able to make their escape from +the rafts and boats on the river, during the conflict between Bochari +and Afkun, were reserved for the special vengeance of the Persian. It +was said that he had resolved to cut them limb from limb with his own +hand, but that through the interposition of the emperor, they were only +drawn through the river until they were nearly suffocated, and that +then they were suspended from the branches of trees with their heads +downwards. + +The spectacle of these punishments, instead of shaking the fidelity of +the troops, in whose presence they were conducted, served to animate +them with fresh ardour for the attack which they were about to make +upon Lahore. They were informed that the public treasures, accumulated +in the vaults of the citadel, were incalculable; that the wealth of +the nobles and merchants, resident within the walls, was, of itself, +sufficient to enrich every individual in the army; that the granaries +and stores overflowed with provisions of every kind, and that all +these they should be at liberty to distribute amongst themselves, if +they should succeed in capturing the town. They received the official +license for universal plunder with shouts that rent the air, and called +upon the emperor to lead them without delay against the devoted walls, +within which all the available resources of the insurrection were +supposed to be now concentrated. + +Bochari passed through the lines, borne on an elephant, and further +gave orders, for which he had not received the sanction of Jehangire, +that when they entered Lahore, as he had no doubt they would do +triumphantly, they should put to death every man they met, armed +or unarmed; that they should drive into the temples the women and +children, fling combustibles amongst them, and sacrifice them to the +just anger of the violated laws. The captor, he added, who should bring +him Afkun alive, should, besides receiving ten elephant loads of gold, +be appointed viceroy of the best province of the empire. If he could +not be taken alive, the amount of gold just mentioned would be given +for the head of that arch leader of the rebellion. + +These communications were every where listened to with shouts of “Long +live Bochari!” which resounded through the whole army, as if the war +were henceforth to have for its principal object the gratification of +the implacable resentment excited in the breast of that commander, by +the disgrace he had suffered from the hands of Afkun, in the presence +of the imperial guards. + +The troops having arrived, by forced marches, within a short distance +of Lahore, proceeded, without delay, to establish their lines. Their +camp was pitched immediately behind a forest, which extended on both +sides of the Rawee to the north and east of the town, around which +they posted strong detachments, resolved, if they could not take it +by storm, to effect the destruction of the besieged by the more tardy +process of blockade. As soon as they could plant their artillery in +a favourable position, they opened a fire upon four of the twelve +gates by which the walls were divided; but having been defended on the +outside by large bundles of brambles chained together, the discharges +produced no effect. Frequent attempts were made on the part of the +besiegers to set fire to these external defences; soldiers, tempted by +large sums of money, ran forward with lighted torches for the purpose, +but they were vigorously repulsed by matchlockmen, who, sallying from +small door-ways in the walls, met them half way, and cut them down as +fast as they approached. Women and children were seen pouring down +water upon the brambles, to protect them from the burning missiles +hurled from a distance. + +The imperial artillery next directed their guns against those portions +of the walls, extending between the towers, with a view to effect +breaches, through which storming parties might attempt to effect an +entrance. But the walls having been of great thickness, and bulwarked +on the inside by mounds of earth raised against them, the largest balls +which the besiegers could use rebounded, without causing the slightest +impression on those massive ramparts. + +Meanwhile the guns of the citadel, as well as those planted on the +outer walls and towers, poured an incessant fire upon the assailants, +which, being steadily directed under the orders of Afkun, produced +considerable havoc amongst the imperialists, and prevented them +from establishing any posts within the nearer points which they had +intended to occupy. Rockets and grenades issuing from the citadel, as +well as from the imperial camp, constantly crossed each other in the +sky, producing through the night especially, a fearful illumination. +Occasionally houses in the town were set on fire by these messengers +of destruction, but the river being at hand, and numbers of the +inhabitants being prepared with buckets, especially set apart for +that service, the conflagrations were subdued almost as soon as they +commenced. + +In the middle of the second night of the siege, the whole garrison was +thrown into alarm, by an enormous explosion, which took place in the +citadel. The inhabitants all ran out from their houses, which were +shaken to the foundation. At first the universal impression was, that +an earthquake had taken place, and that the hopes of the besiegers +were already accomplished by the interposition of that most awful of +all auxiliaries. But when, amidst the coruscations, which threw a +lurid flame through the skies, they beheld fragments of human beings +scattered in all directions, some without heads, some without arms, +here shapeless trunks, there mutilated limbs, intermixed with domestic +utensils, broken beams of wood, bricks and stones, which immediately +fell to the earth again amidst cries of woe that rent the air, they +concluded that some of the magazines of powder had either by accident, +or by treachery, been ignited, and that the enemy were already rushing +in upon them in overwhelming numbers. + +Instead of hastening to the ramparts, whither the dictates of duty +would have directed them, lamentable to relate, the mob collected by +this catastrophe, precipitated themselves upon the quarter of the +citadel where the houses were in ruins, and murdering every body who +offered any resistance, proceeded to plunder the habitations thus +exposed to their atrocious thirst for gold. The efforts of the prince +to check the banditti in their rage for prey of any kind, would have +been fatal to him, had not Afkun, with a select body of troops, arrived +at a seasonable moment to his assistance. Attacking the ruthless crowd +sword in hand, he hewed them down, until some pieces of artillery, +which he had ordered to follow him, were ranged across the street they +had occupied. Then suddenly retiring behind the guns, he applied +the match himself to the cannon that was nearest to him. Upon this +signal being given, the whole street was swept in a few minutes of the +infamous offenders, who sought to avail themselves of the confusion of +such a scene, to spread wider, for their own benefit, the havoc already +too extensive. + +The besieging army, startled from sleep by the explosion that had taken +place in the citadel, and the tumult by which it was followed, ignorant +of the real cause of the firing which they heard, assumed at once that +the garrison had made a nocturnal attack upon the camp, and prepared +to defend themselves with all possible expedition. They were, however, +soon apprised, by their sentinels, that the firing was altogether +within the walls. + +Bochari was already mounted on his charger, and in council with the +emperor, who was also mounted, and surrounded by his staff. The +Persian then disclosed the fact, that he had succeeded in opening +a communication with a powerful party within the town (by which he +meant fifty omrahs, whom he had found means to corrupt by largesses +and promises of immense plunder), that it must have been through +their instrumentality the powder-magazine, in the citadel, had been +ignited; but that, unfortunately, they had done their appointed work +prematurely, as it was his intention that it should not take place +until the next night, when the army was to be prepared to follow it up +by a general assault upon the town. + +“It is not yet too late,” said Jehangire, “to turn what has occurred to +our advantage. Have the torches been distributed?” + +“They have not,” answered Bochari; “but I shall see that done, if your +majesty will, in the mean time, ride through the camp, and give the +requisite orders for an immediate march upon the walls.” + +The emperor, adopting Bochari’s suggestion, rode through the lines, +where he found the men very generally on the alert; and after directing +that their pay should be doubled, ordered that they should close +upon the walls with a light but rapid pace, and in the most profound +silence. Torch-bearers were sent forward, by the care of Bochari, to +the foot of the walls, where the assault was intended to be made; but +with strict orders not to kindle the flambeaus until the ladders, +which he had also despatched, were erected. + +These preparations were completed by the time the banditti had been +dispersed in the citadel, and a body of upwards of twenty thousand men +were already within an arrow’s flight of the walls, on the Delhi side, +when the sentinels on the ramparts, whose attention had been hitherto +engrossed by the events occurring in the citadel, imagined that they +heard an unusual sound beneath them. Attributing it to the consequences +of the explosion, and apprehending no danger from the enemy, they were +slow to take the alarm. + +Afkun, however, when he saw that the banditti were about to be disposed +of in the way they deserved, anticipating a combined movement on the +part of the besiegers, to whose machinations he at once attributed +the explosion of the magazine, apprised the prince of his suspicions, +and suggested to him the expediency of an immediate inspection of the +ramparts. Chusero went in one direction, while Afkun proceeded in +another. It was the fortune of the latter to visit the walls on the +Delhi side; when hearing, from the sentinels, a report of the low +noises that had just reached their ears, he instantly desired them to +fire in that direction. The fire remained unreturned; but as the murmur +without seemed to approach nearer, Afkun ordered the trumpets to sound +to arms. + +In a few moments the garrison were all out; but before they could +take their stations on the ramparts, a thousand torches flung their +light upon as many ladders, up which men were crowding with desperate +courage. Some of the assailants had already surmounted the walls, and +were in conflict with the sentinels, who were almost all slain upon the +spot. + +Afkun leading on the first company of the garrison, which he could +embody for the purpose, ran against them with such impetuosity, that +most of those to whom he was opposed were precipitated over the +ramparts. This check, however, did not repress the continued lines of +men, who were seen ascending rapidly as far as the eye could reach. + +Chusero, on the other hand, hearing the alarm, placed himself at the +head of a large body of troops, and, hastening towards the Delhi gate, +perceived that all the danger was in that quarter. He was immediately +in the thick of the assailants, who fought with the most undaunted +valour. It was difficult at such a moment, the night being intensely +dark, to distinguish between friend and foe; but Afkun calling the +prince to him, suggested that they should let the enemy, already on the +walls, rush on; in the mean time direct the attention of the garrison +only to the men who were ascending the ladders, and occupy the ramparts +in that direction with masses, through which it would be impossible +for any reinforcement to penetrate. This suggestion being carried into +immediate execution, he, with a handful of men, went in pursuit of +those who had already entered the town. He found them, as he expected, +hastening down to the Delhi gate, with a view to open it to their +friends. Attacking them sword in hand, he drove them before him through +the narrow street leading to that gate, where, for nearly an hour, the +conflict was maintained on either side with an energy which no efforts +seemed to exhaust. + +The imperialists being nearest to the gate, Afkun urged his men to cut +their way at all hazards through the enemy, in order to reach the gate +before it could be opened. His soldiers gallantly exerted themselves +to fulfil his orders; but so densely wedged within the narrow way were +their adversaries, that it became impossible for them to penetrate the +living rampart. + +Chusero having succeeded in stopping the tide of the assailants, +directed the men on the ramparts, on either side of the Delhi gate, +to pour down their fire upon the enemy in the street, and also upon +the masses prepared on the outside to enter, the moment the gate +should be unbarred. But no danger--no slaughter, seemed to divert the +imperialists from their object. The enormous bolts of the gate were +already drawn back; the chains drawn across it were heard falling; +the masses without were pressing onwards with a force that seemed +irresistible, when Afkun, climbing up the rampart, leaped down in the +space which the enemy had cleared with difficulty, in order to let the +gate be opened; and placing his back against the iron bars, by which it +was still defended, he repelled the assailants. + +Chusero lost no time in following his example. A few noble and faithful +followers were instantly by their side, and the attack, being all at +once renewed against the enclosed enemy in front, on both sides, and in +the rear, not a man escaped to tell the emperor, how fearlessly they +persevered in their resolution to die or to accomplish the object he +had entrusted to their valour. + +The assault of the imperialists having thus failed, those who were +outside the walls retired in good order. When the morning came, the +space between their lines and the ramparts presented a terrible +array of victims, sacrificed to the crude plans of Jehangire and his +commander. Soon after the sun had risen, a cavalry-officer was seen +riding towards the walls, with his shield upon his back. He was, +therefore, permitted to approach; and, having signified, that he was +commissioned to propose a truce of three days, in order that the dead +should be removed, and burned, with the honours due to their gallantry, +the proposition was immediately acceded to by the prince, who was glad +to have some interval of repose, in order to repair and guard against +a recurrence of the disaster, which had placed the citadel in so much +danger. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + “What ho? beware! In youthful strength and sport, + The tiger, in the temple’s porch confined, + Has burst his iron cage, and roams at large; + With tail high waving, like a banner, vast + And mighty limb, he stalks among the groves. + From his deep throat he roars in thunder loud, + And men and beasts fly trembling from the echo; + Look to your lives--as best you may avoid him.” + + HINDOO DRAMA. + + +Songs of triumph, aided by pipe and timbrel, acclamations and +expressions of boundless joy, greeted Afkun wherever, in the +performance of his duties, he moved through Lahore. Crowds of the +people watched for his approach, assembled before the house in which +he resided, or sought him out on the ramparts, in order to testify by +their applause the gratitude which they owed him as their deliverer +from the two-fold perils, by which the safety of the town had been +menaced on the preceding night. No language, they very truly declared, +could exaggerate the praises which he had earned, no reward could +adequately compensate the heroic actions which he had performed on +that eventful night; and they one and all hailed him as future viceroy +of the province, should the fortune of war ultimately enable them to +destroy the forces against which they had to contend. + +Afkun, in the few and modest words of a soldier, thanked the people +for the honours they conferred upon him. “He had adopted,” he said, +“the cause of their prince, from a feeling that he was thereby serving +the best interests of the empire; and having so determined the line of +his duties, he had only to execute them to the best of his ability. He +fully depended on the loyalty, and zeal, and bravery of the garrison +and inhabitants, but he warned them that treason was secretly at +work, which, unless it were actively watched and resisted, might, +notwithstanding all their exertions, deprive them of the fruits of the +victory which they had already achieved.” + +The prince appointed the second day of the truce to hold his court +in the splendid palace of the citadel, in order to receive the +congratulations of the nobility and merchants, the officers and +regiments of the garrison, and the great mass of the people of Lahore, +upon the auspicious events which had, to a great degree, repaid him +for the calamitous results of the battle on the Sutledge. It was +to be a day of universal rejoicing throughout the city, but by the +prudent precautions of Afkun provision was made, that no relaxation of +discipline should take place on the ramparts, so as to afford to the +enemy any chance of advantage during the festival. He had no faith, he +declared, in the honour of the man who, unhappily, held Jehangire under +his absolute control. If Bochari could find an opening by night or day +into Lahore, he would pay no regard whatever to the truce, and the only +sure way of causing it to be strictly observed, was to preserve the +strictest vigilance at all the assailable points. + +The morning was ushered in by a salute of artillery from the citadel, +and by peals of trumpets from all the regiments of the garrison, who +were drawn out upon the ramparts arrayed in their best attire. The +omrahs and wealthy inhabitants were seen moving from all quarters of +the town in their palanquins, or mounted on splendidly caparisoned +horses or elephants, towards the palace, where they were received by +the prince, seated on a jewelled throne. In order to pay peculiar +honour to Afkun, it was arranged that fifty of the nobles should +attend him on foot from his residence--a large mansion near the Delhi +gate--to the citadel, in processional order, and that his palanquin +should be borne by them in turn. Afkun would have very much preferred, +soldier-like, to have mounted his horse and proceeded, without any +show, to the palace; he did not much relish the over-eager zeal in his +favour which some of the omrahs about to attend him had exhibited, and +who, had he listened to their flattering proposals, would have exalted +him in a triumphal car, or rather in a kind of golden cage, which +they had decorated for the purpose. The time, however, pressed, and +ascending a palanquin, the procession marched forward, followed by an +immense crowd of the people, who kept up an incessant shouting as they +passed through the streets leading to the citadel. + +It happened, as the procession turned the corner of a narrow street, +that they met a train of elephants, apparently on their way to the +Rawee for a supply of water. The driver urged them forward, without any +regard to the crowd before him. Two or three persons had been already +trodden to death. The elephants were still goaded on. The procession +was thrown into confusion, the palanquin was overturned, and the noble +bearers were obliged to fly to save their lives. Afkun, perceiving the +danger in which he was involved, drew a short sword, which always hung +by his side, and striking the first elephant he met across the root of +the trunk, he cut it off at one blow. The animal, turning from him, +fell down with an appalling roar, and expired. He then directed the +drivers to go back by the way they came, adding that if they did not +forthwith obey his orders, he would slay them on the spot. The men, +terrified by the unparalleled exhibition of strength which they had +just witnessed, were too happy to be allowed to escape on the proposed +condition, and the street having been cleared of what many thought to +be a premeditated interruption, Afkun, attended only by the people, +walked to the palace, where he was received by the vast assemblage +already collected, with repeated shouts of exultation, and a royal +salute from the guns in the battery. Chusero, rising from his throne, +placed the warrior on the highest step, amidst the renewed acclamations +of the court and the people. + +The whole garrison under arms then passed in review before the prince, +with his banners flying, and their drums, and cymbals, and various +musical instruments, playing martial airs, to which the people +occasionally added the swelling chorus of their triumphant shouts, as +the different regiments, especially those which had most distinguished +themselves in resisting the late assault of the enemy, appeared in the +brilliant line. + +When the review was over, the prince was informed that the authorities +of the town had prepared a combat of wild beasts to celebrate the +day, and that the animals were already about to enter the arena. +Chusero, attended by Afkun and the court, immediately adjourned to the +amphitheatre of the palace, where those entertainments were usually +held. It was an immense circular edifice open to the heavens, with +benches of solid marble ranged all round, capable of affording seats +to upwards of twenty thousand spectators. The arena was enclosed +within a circle of strong wooden palisades, high enough, as it was +thought, to prevent any animal, however powerful in limb or enraged by +passion, from leaping over it, and endangering the lives of any of the +spectators. + +The amphitheatre was crowded to the top with every order of the +inhabitants. The twelve doors of the arena having been all at once +thrown open, a host of wild beasts rushed forward instantly from the +dark dens behind them, and meeting in the centre, overthrew, or were +overthrown by those they met, in their first impetuous exercise of the +freedom allowed them. Like insane creatures, they pursued each other +round the arena, taking no notice whatever of the multitude of human +beings gazing down upon them from all sides. Panthers, jackals, lions, +tigers, bears, wolves, immense antelopes, wild horses, bulls, hyenas, +wild dogs, caracals, and buffaloes, were seen in terrible confusion +attacking or resisting, pursuing or pursued, each foaming with anger, +and uttering in its peculiar cry the sensations of fear, or the +impulses of hunger, by which it was actuated. + +The horses were soon ripped open by the horns of the wild bulls. The +prostrate animals became immediately the prizes for which not only the +bulls, but the lions, tigers, dogs, and wolves, contended. The battle +was fought with terrible fury. Several of the beasts crouched away from +the scene, and waited the result, as if they expected to be the next +victims themselves. The horses were torn piecemeal, limb from limb; and +as each unsatiated fighter returned for a fresh supply, the combat was +renewed with augmented energy. The floor of the arena torn up, streamed +with blood. It was sometimes altogether hidden from the spectators by +the clouds of dust, which rolled upwards in thick volumes. + +The larger animals, at length enfeebled by the loss of blood, from the +wounds which they inflicted on each other, or exhausted by the efforts +which they made in self-defence, lay down in different parts of the +arena; while the lesser beasts crept out from their lurking places, +with a stealthy trembling pace, to snatch a portion of the fragments +which still remained undevoured. From these enjoyments they were +speedily scared by an enormous tiger, who rushed forth, fresh from one +of the dens, having been manifestly reserved for the conclusion of the +exhibition. There was no antagonist to meet him in the arena. A voice +cried out, “Who, among you, will advance singly, and attack this tiger?” + +The omrahs, on the benches of the nobles, looked on each other in +silence. The people all turned their eyes on Afkun, at once fearful +lest, by accepting the challenge, he should expose to danger a life so +precious to them at that moment, and yet confident that he would not +suffer his valour to be doubted by permitting such a question to pass +unanswered. + +Three omrahs--three of the very men who had fled from his palanquin, +when it was overturned on his way to the palace, starting from their +seats, proclaimed their readiness, with the prince’s permission, to try +their strength successively against the raging animal, who had already +caused considerable alarm, by attempting to leap the barrier. In one of +his springs, he actually gained the top of the palisade; but losing +his footing, he fell backward. Another bound might be more successful; +his destruction became necessary to the safety of the assembly. + +The proposal of the omrahs touched the pride of Afkun. They called for +the long swords which the gladiators generally used on such occasions, +and the first of them was apparently about to descend into the arena, +when the Turcomanian, who had derived his title from his celebrated +victory over a lion in his early youth, spoke out. + +“To attack an animal with weapons,” said he, “is both unmanly and +unfair. God has given to man limbs and sinews, as well as to tigers: he +has added reason to the former to conduct his strength.” + +The omrahs objected, “that all men were inferior to the tiger in +strength, and that he could be conquered only by steel.” + +“I will convince you of your mistake,” replied Afkun, who, putting down +his sword on the bench, jumped unarmed into the arena. + +A cry of terror ran through the whole assembly; but the contest +becoming now inevitable, all eyes looked down upon Afkun with +breathless anxiety. The beasts that had lain feverish and fatigued in +the arena, awed by the lustre of his countenance, arose, and retiring +to the boundary, made way for this new combatant. The tiger alone +seemed unappalled. Backing, as far as he could, he couched to the +earth, and gazing fiercely upon his adversary, who stood undaunted +before him, sprang upon him with dreadful energy. Afkun, holding +both his hands clenched firmly before him, repelled the attack, but +not without some loss of blood, the foreclaws of the animal having +lacerated the fleshy part of his arms. In the rebound, the tiger fell +upon his side. The Turcomanian, well experienced in that species of +war, before the animal could recover his position, grasped his hind +leg, and turning him on his back, dragged him thrice round the arena, +the infuriated creature vainly exerting its utmost power of resistance. + +Afkun having thus, in some degree, broken the strength and courage +of his antagonist, left him near the barrier. Again the animal +couched; but just as he was about to spring, the warrior, taking a +slight circuit, ran in upon him with wonderful agility, and struck +him with his foot so violently on the left ribs, that he drove three +of them into the intestines. The animal howled with agony, but still +unconquered he rose and pursued his foe, who retired, his face towards +the beast, until he felt his back against the palisades. The tiger, +leaping in the air, rushed upon him with distended jaws. Trembling +fears, reaching almost to despair, were pictured in every countenance, +with the exception of the three omrahs, who seemed to rejoice in the +peril which awaited Afkun. But their hopes were short-lived. Afkun +elevated himself above the tiger, grasping an upright of the barrier +with one hand, then plunging the other into the foaming gulph beneath +him, wrenched the tongue from its roots, as if it were but a sapling, +and flung it into the middle of the arena. The tiger fell heavily on +the earth, the blood gushing from his mouth, and with a groan, that +shook the whole amphitheatre, expired. A peal of joy burst from the +multitude, who, rising as one man, unbound their girdles, and waving +them over their heads, cheered the victor with louder and louder +shouts, while he returned to his seat, his features as calm as if he +had only been sporting in the meadows with a gazelle. + +The three omrahs looked at each other, pale and downcast with +disappointment. Chusero, who received his friend with open arms, +noticed their feelings towards him, but attributed it to envy of such +matchless bravery, strength, and skill combined. Others, however, +perceived in their conduct, coupled with what had occurred in the +morning, a still baser motive--a motive that would have identified them +as the purchased agents of Bochari. The authorities of the city having +been questioned as to their preparations for such shows, at a moment +when the presence of the enemy might well have absorbed their attention +in other matters, replied that they knew nothing whatever of the +arrangements that had been made for the arena. Suspicions of treachery +arose on all sides against the three omrahs, who would doubtless have +been sacrificed to the rage of the people, had they not immediately +disappeared. + +As Afkun was returning to his house from the amphitheatre, a dervish +approached him, and warned him to be on his guard, for that designs +were entertained against his life, which it would require the strictest +caution upon his part to frustrate. The Turcomanian treated the +communication with the indifference of a man to whom the sensation of +fear never was known. He was surrounded by no guards--his servants, +according to custom, retired at night, each to his own home. After +inspecting the ramparts, and desiring that he should be sent for upon +the slightest appearance of movement from without, he retired late +at night to his couch. He was scarcely asleep, when forty assassins +suddenly entered his apartment from an upper room, in which, through +the negligence, or co-operation of the porter, they had been enabled to +conceal themselves during the early part of the night. Their daggers +were about to descend upon him, when, one of the band, a veteran +soldier, who had witnessed the battle in the arena, struck with shame, +cried out, “Hold! let us behave like men! What? Though we have the +imperial orders--though the prize is great--shall forty fall upon one, +and that one asleep?” + +“Bravely spoken!” exclaimed Shere, who, on the instant starting from +his bed, seized his sword, and placing himself in a corner of the room, +awaited the attack of the ruffians. In a few minutes, three of them who +rushed in upon him, lay weltering in their blood at his feet. Several +others were wounded--the rest fled in dismay--the veteran soldier +excepted, who confessed that they had been hired by the three omrahs +to take away his life, and to deliver to them his head, for which they +were to receive three elephant loads of gold as their reward. The +omrahs, he added, shewed them a proclamation from the emperor, in which +an enormous price was set upon his person, living or dead. Shere took +him gratefully by the hand, praised him for his generous conduct, and +dismissed him with handsome presents, to relate through the town the +particulars of what had just occurred. + +In the morning, the intelligence of this new attempt, the third that +was made in the course of twelve hours, upon the existence of their +gallant defender, filled the garrison and inhabitants of Lahore with +the greatest indignation. They assembled in crowds before his house, +and entreated him to lead them at once against an enemy, whom no +feelings of honour, no respect for the laws of war, no veneration for +true heroism could prevent from having recourse to base stratagems, +unworthy of the lowest race of mankind. Afkun received their +expressions of sympathy and admiration with just pride, but he would +disdain, he said, to follow the example of such an enemy, by violating +the truce. He would not believe that the proclamation, of which they +had heard, was the work of Jehangire. It proceeded, doubtless, from the +hand already imbrued in the blood of Fazeel--the most illustrious man +whom Hindostan had ever seen. + +“May justice strike the murderer!” shouted the multitude. + +“Is it to be tolerated,” asked Afkun, “that such a fiend as this should +be the ruler of the empire, for he whom that low-born Persian calls +emperor, is but a bauble in his hands!” + +“Down with Bochari!” they answered: “vengeance on his guilty head--the +tyrant--the murderer of Fazeel--the assassin, if he could be, of Afkun!” + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + Dread not though singly he contend with multitudes, + To such as he--odds are of little moment-- + He needs no succour but his own right arm, + Resistless as the lion, when delightedly + He rings his clashing claws, and cleaves asunder + The elephant’s broad temples. + + HINDOO DRAMA. + + +The three days of truce demanded, and unhappily obtained by the +imperialists, under the pretext of burning their dead, for which as +many hours would have been sufficient, were not intended to be spent +in idleness. Finding that in Afkun they had no ordinary foe to contend +against, that the inhabitants were determined in their resistance, that +supplies of provisions did not reach the camp adequate to the wants of +so large an army, and that they would be soon under the necessity of +raising the siege, unless some extraordinary measures were adopted, +Bochari arranged with omrahs, resident within the walls, with whom he +carried on intercourse by means of spies, the several attempts upon +Afkun’s life, which, however, the indomitable strength and valour of +the Turcomanian had defeated. + +It is but justice to Jehangire to observe, that when these mean +stratagems were hinted or talked of in the council, for they were +not made the subject of any discussion or resolution in that body, +both he and Auzeem uniformly discountenanced them. But Bochari took +every thing upon himself. Whenever he discovered that any plan which +he had conceived was likely to meet with resistance, he immediately +avoided any further show of carrying it on. Regardless of personal +responsibility, he persevered in his own course, whatever it was, +acting nevertheless in the name of the emperor, as if he had obtained +the assent of Jehangire to all his schemes. + +Auzeem felt as strongly as Bochari the necessity of reducing Lahore, +or of abandoning the siege, with all possible expedition. The idea of +taking it by storm, after the specimen of resistance the imperialists +had already encountered, seemed hazardous in the extreme. Observing, +however, that the river Rawee, upon which the inhabitants almost +entirely depended for their supply of water, might be diverted from +its natural channel, by excavating a passage for it, partly in the +forest above the town, partly behind the lines of the beseigers, and +permitting it again to enter its own bed at some distance below the +walls, Auzeem proposed that during the truce twenty thousand men +should be employed in forming a canal for that purpose. The idea was +a bold one, and upon a survey of the ground being made, it was found +so practicable, that the men were set to work upon it without delay. +Their labours having been carried on day and night, not only without +interruption, but even without suspicion, on the part of the besieged, +the excavation was completed during the night of the third day of the +truce. + +A canal was formed sufficiently wide and deep to receive the whole +volume of the Rawee, nearly a league above Lahore, and to convey it to +one of its own tributaries, which entered the old channel at about +the same distance below the town where the descent was so rapid that +no danger existed of any part of the water finding its way upwards. It +became necessary, however, to throw a dam across the ordinary bed of +the river, which was effected by driving stakes into it, and filling +the interstices with rocks and hard clay, so as to prevent any portion +of the water from making its escape in its wonted direction. This +latter operation, however, occupied the besiegers some hours beyond the +period of the truce. + +The vigilance of Afkun suffered nothing connected with the defence of +the town to escape his attention. His preparations for meeting a fresh +assault were fully arranged on the morning after the three days had +elapsed. As he was crossing the wooden bridge, however, which led over +the Rawee, in the middle of Lahore, he observed that the river had +fallen considerably below its margin. He mentioned the circumstance to +a group of the inhabitants, who happened to be standing on the bridge; +but as they did not attach any great importance to the circumstance, +attributing it to the heats which had already set in with great +violence, he passed on to the ramparts. His eyes were directed on all +sides to the lines of the besiegers; he found them strongly occupied, +but exhibiting no symptoms of a renewal of any thing like a general, +or even a partial assault. Nevertheless, he imagined, from the bustle +which he occasionally detected beyond the lines, and from the numerous +parties which he saw in motion here and there, that operations were in +progress either for raising the siege, or for carrying into effect some +other purpose, which he could not at the moment divine. + +Afkun’s suspicions having been excited, he sent for the prince, and, +accompanied by him, walked back to the bridge, where he ascertained +that the river was still lower than when he first observed it. He +immediately ordered the Rawee to be sounded, and having convinced +himself that the volume of its waters was rapidly failing, he apprized +the people of their danger, and directed them forthwith to bring every +vessel they could lay their hands upon, to fill all the reservoirs +of the town and citadel, and to be as frugal as possible in their +consumption of the vital element, until measures could be taken for +frustrating this new attempt upon the part of the enemy to compel the +town to surrender. + +The intelligence that the river was somewhere stopped in its course, +spread with the rapidity of lightning through all parts of Lahore. The +people, alarmed lest they should be deprived of the most essential of +all things, especially at such a season, when the sun was raging in +the sky, and pouring down its fire upon the town as from a glowing +furnace, were seized with an universal panic. Instead of proceeding +methodically, as Afkun had directed them, to secure as much of the +ebbing stream as they could, while any portion of it remained, they +rushed into the channel with their pitchers, and such small earthen +vessels as they could carry in their hands, and rendered the water so +muddy by their improvident haste, that they destroyed the only chance +which they possessed of securing a supply even for the coming night. +By noon the river was completely dried up, and when the sun set, the +channel was as hardened as the footway of the most frequented street in +Lahore. + +The slender provision which the inhabitants had thus allowed themselves +to make, of an element without which existence could not go on above +a few hours at the utmost, was quickly exhausted, the very fear of +losing it having even accelerated its consumption beyond the ordinary +proportions. The public fountains were surrounded by multitudes, who, +instead of waiting for the regular supply, such as it was, contended +with each other in breaking down the marble ornaments, in order to get +at the stream within, which was wholly inadequate to their wants. + +As the evening advanced, the contests at the wells throughout the town, +whether public or private, became dreadful. Mothers, with infants in +their arms, and followed by troops of children, fainting for the want +of water, fought against each other with a degree of fury which seemed +to belong to the region of condemned spirits, for a portion of water +that would scarcely fill the hollow of the hand. This when obtained, +they gave at once to the infant at the breast, their natural sources +having been dried up by the excitement of the scenes in which they +were engaged. When the cries of the infants were allayed, those of +the other children became still more urgent. They lay upon the earth +in piles, most of them unable to express their wants in any language +save that of mournful and incessant wailings, which drove the mothers, +already miserable and exhausted by their exertions, to madness. Besides +the hostilities which they had to carry on against each other for +precedence at the few wells that still yielded a scanty supply, they +had soon fiercer enemies, even than their own sex to encounter, in the +numerous troops of dogs congregating around them. + +Wherever blood was shed, and in many parts of the town it might +have been seen in streams all the night, these unfortunate animals, +possessing no masters, and accustomed to band together for +self-defence, rushed upon the red torrents, which they speedily drank +up. Fired by the taste of the grateful liquid, and by the thirst which, +on that fatal night, and the greater part of the next day, preyed upon +all living creatures within the walls, these rabid outlaws fearlessly +attacked every thing that came in their way. The results were awful. +The howl of insanity was heard in every direction. Men, women, and +children, as if suddenly struck by the sword of the destroying angel, +became simultaneously victims of this new pestilence. They ran up and +down the streets, wild with anguish. The inhuman sounds which they +uttered--now resembling the barking of blood-hounds--now the fierce cry +of the jackall--now the agonizing moan of the wild bull, when stung +to the heart by swarms of the gadfly, gave to the other accumulating +horrors of the scene so painful a character, that captivity, torture, +death itself, seemed preferable to existence in such a place. + +Those of the inhabitants who still retained the power to move, +collecting in a body, rushed out through one of the gates, along the +dry bed of the river, until they arrived at the spot, where it again +received the flowing waters. They hastened headlong into the flood. +Many were drowned--many drinking too copiously of the element in the +midst of the fever, which prevented them from knowing what they did, +perished instantly, the vital current being at once repelled from the +heart. Those whom the waters did not destroy, were easily overcome +by the enemy, who, having assembled in force, attacked and slew them +without mercy. + +Chusero gave up all hope of retaining the town, under these +circumstances. But the resolution of Afkun was not so to be subdued. +At all events he determined that, if possible, Lahore should not be +given up to the mere mercy of the imperialists. Collecting at night the +principal part of the garrison, he explained to them that the river +must have been intercepted in its course, by a mound thrown across it, +somewhere above the town. The forest which lay in that direction, and +the works raised by the besiegers, prevented him from ascertaining +the precise spot where that mound must have been erected; but the +difficulties of the hour admitted of no deliberation. Military weapons +were now of no further use. Hatchets, pickaxes, spades, torches, +were the only arms of which they stood in need. He appeared himself, +equipped with a massive iron club in one hand, and a lighted flambeau +in the other, and having already collected from the citadel all the +instruments of the kind just mentioned, which it contained, he bade the +soldiers take them up and follow him. + +The imperialists were on the watch for a movement of this description. +They were, therefore, prepared to defend the mound, as well as to +take advantage of the opening of the gate in that direction. Their +calculations upon the latter point were foreseen, however, by Afkun. +They might have easily penetrated the town in the opposite quarter, had +they reached the gate in time, during the rush of the populace to the +lower part of the Rawee. But before Afkun quitted the town, he closed +that gate with his own hand, and confided the care of the portal, +through which he was now about to lead his forlorn hope, to the valour +of Chusero. + +Out went ten thousand men in the depths of the night, armed only as +the Turcomanian had directed, animated by the sufferings they were +enduring, to a degree that fitted them to meet any perils. When the +last man passed the gate the prince was there to bar it again, and +to encourage, by his presence, his patience, and his gallantry, the +remnants of the guard that still survived the general calamity. Moving +in a solid mass, the followers of Afkun no sooner reached the forest +than they lighted their torches, and set fire to the trees. These were +chiefly pine, and having been rendered particularly inflammable by the +prevalent heats, the whole forest was immediately in conflagration on +both sides of the bed of the Rawee. The men advanced, unflinching, +through the blaze, until they arrived near the mound, whence a hundred +pieces of artillery were discharged upon them. Their ranks, though +ploughed through, still moved on, reckless of all danger. Again the +volley was repeated; but the fevered men heard above its thunder the +rushing of the waters, of which they were in search, and hurrying +onward with a quickened but steady and resolute pace, attacked the +mound with their pick-axes. + +In the meantime, the forest burning far and wide, attracted the +attention of the besiegers, and filled them with alarm for the safety +of the camp, should the wind bear the flame in that direction. Their +apprehensions were soon realized. The night breeze from the river +blew along the new channel, and carried with it showers of ignited +fragments, which fell among the tents and bazaars. All hands were +called upon to pull down the tents, many of which were already on +fire, or consumed like a scroll of parchment. The army was thrown +into confusion. The plans, so well arranged by the council for taking +advantage of all probable movements on the part of the besieged when +driven to despair, were rendered of no avail. There was nobody to carry +them into effect--all were occupied in looking to their own safety. + +Afkun was the first to ascend the mound. Regardless of the gunners, +whose office soon became useless, as his surviving followers were +already engaged in undermining the dam on which the artillery was +planted, he drove his iron mace between two of the stakes, and +loosening them, until they yielded to his hand, he pulled them out of +the bed of the river as if they were bulrushes. He proceeded, in the +same manner, to remove one stake after another, while the pickaxes, +spades, and hatchets, resounded along the pile incessantly. His next +care was to remove the cannon to the banks of the river, and to point +them against the mound. As soon as he saw, by the flames around him, +that it was sufficiently weakened, he directed his men to withdraw, +and place themselves at the guns which the imperialists had abandoned. +A single discharge of the battery was sufficient to shake the wall to +its foundation, when the whole mass, yielding to the pressure of the +flood, disappeared. + +The joy of these brave men, when they beheld the triumphant result of +their labours; the feeling, that to their perishing parents, children, +and relatives--to all their partners in calamity--they had been the +means of restoring existence, and with it new courage and hope--gave +them temperance in the enjoyment of the delicious waters of which +they had been so unexpectedly deprived. Under the direction, and the +example, of their leader, they at first bathed in the stream--a course +by which they found their thirst effectually slaked. They then drank +without danger of excess. Thus refreshed, they hastened back to Lahore, +where they were received at the dawn of day by all the assembled +people, who lavished upon them tokens of admiration for their valour, +and of affection for their services, which no rewards could repay. + +The banks of the Rawee, within the town, were crowded all the day +by the aged men, the matrons, and their children, who remained by +its flowing waters, to assure themselves that the intelligence of +its return was no deception. Now that the precaution was no longer +necessary, they felt a pleasure in taking to their homes abundant +supplies of the copious element; when fatigued with their exertions, +they still revisited the stream, carrying with them their mandolins and +tabors, to the sounds of which the youths danced and sang; while their +happy parents sat in circles around them, as if they were celebrating +a festival. When the dance and the song were over, they suspended +their instruments upon the dependent branches of the adjacent trees, +and slumbered beneath the pleasant shade, or sported with the dimpling +tide, until their senses became once more familiarised to its music. + +Amidst all the congratulations, however, poured in upon him by the +inhabitants, for rescuing them from the horrors which they had lately +suffered, Afkun could not conceal from himself the impression, that +they were much more apprehensive of a reconstruction of the mound, +than of any other disaster which could befall them. Their fears upon +that subject, when yielded to for a moment, assumed an appearance of +unnatural excitement, blinding all power of judgment, and suppressing +every sentiment of loyalty to him, whose cause now depended chiefly +on their allegiance. Of the ten thousand choice men of the garrison, +who had sallied out to overthrow the dam, scarcely half the number +returned. The havoc made in the garrison, and amongst the able-bodied +of the people, by the want of water, during the dreadful days and +nights they had just passed, was irreparable. + +He was not unapprised of the state of the besieging army--of their want +of provisions--of the confusion into which they had been thrown by the +firing of the forest, amidst which they were encamped. But the latter +evil admitted of a speedy remedy--indeed he saw, by the restoration +of the tents, and re-organization of the besieging lines, that the +discipline of the imperialists, though for a while endangered, was soon +re-established. The deficiency of supplies would urge them to desperate +efforts. Should they succeed in capturing the town, their vengeance +would be insatiable--the calamities, which the faithful inhabitants had +just sustained, would only be exchanged for extermination. + +The prince was also fully sensible of the difficulties, which any +attempt to hold the town much longer presented. The control which +the imperialists possessed over the Rawee, whenever they might +choose to exercise it, was alone sufficient to destroy his hope of +permanent success, if he were to confine himself within its walls. His +emissaries, moreover, brought him intelligence, that a division of the +enemy had received orders to march for Cashmere--his only remaining +resource. Should they arrive there before Afkun, the consequences +would be fatal. He felt that he owed to the people of Lahore a debt of +gratitude, which he could never repay. They had adhered to him under +circumstances, such as never before had tested the fidelity of a town +besieged. The moment had arrived, he thought, when a capitulation might +be obtained upon the most favourable terms; if so, the interests of the +inhabitants, which he very much preferred to his own, required that +arrangements for that purpose should be made without delay. + +Upon communicating with the principal authorities of the town, Chusero +and Afkun had the satisfaction to learn that they, as well as the +leading inhabitants, were prepared to hold out to the last, if such +were the wish of the prince; but that if no real benefits were likely +to arise from a prolongation of their resistance, they would take it +upon themselves to arrange for a surrender, as soon as they should be +assured of the safety of the prince, and of his valiant champion. + +“You,” they said, “can never expect to make a capitulation, which will +not include your own submission; and then you would be in the hands of +a man--that odious Persian--from whom you could expect no mercy. Betake +yourselves, therefore, to Cashmere, while yet you may--your presence +there is of infinitely more importance than it can be any longer in +Lahore; and should you ultimately succeed in rescuing the empire from +the sway of that tyrant, be confident that the people of Lahore will be +among the first to hail your triumph, and to rally round your throne.” + +Chusero and Afkun were deeply affected by these natural and fervent +expressions of attachment; and being upon further reflection convinced +that the course thus suggested, was the right one, they took an +affectionate farewell of their friends, and at midnight, disguised as +dervishes, passing through a postern door of one of the towers of the +fortifications, bent their footsteps towards Cashmere. + +In the afternoon of the next day, the authorities sent a messenger, +with his shield on his back, to the camp of the imperialists, to +announce that they were ready either to capitulate upon honourable +terms, or to defend the town while a handful of rice remained in +their granaries; that they had abundant supplies both of rice and +wheat, which they would place at the emperor’s disposal, but that +there should be a complete amnesty for the past, and that no plunder +should be permitted on any account. Bochari, upon being informed that +the prince and Afkun were no longer in Lahore, refused to listen to a +proposal for a capitulation upon any terms. But on this occasion, the +more prudent councils of Auzeem, supported as they were by the clement +disposition of Jehangire, who felt at all times for the sufferings of +his people, fortunately prevailed; and Auzeem took care that the terms +of the surrender, which were eventually arranged as the authorities had +proposed, should be inviolably observed. + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + The russet suit of camel’s hair, + With spirits light, and eye serene, + Is dearer to my bosom far, + Than all the trappings of a queen. + + MAISUNA. + + +Although the tidings of the entire destruction of the Cashmere +auxiliaries had reached his province before Afkun’s return, +nevertheless upon his arrival at his castle, which he and Chusero +reached in safety, shortly after their departure from Lahore, he was +received with tokens of universal satisfaction. The many families who +had to mourn the loss of kindred and friends, were speedily reconciled +to the decrees of fate; and they deemed it the highest mark of honour +which the young prince could confer upon Cashmere, that he now sought +within its precincts protection, and relied upon its generosity for +new resources. + +Nourmahal received her consort with more ardour than she had ever +before exhibited towards him. Though defeated at the Sutledge by +overwhelming force, and through the fatal want of discipline manifested +by Man-Singh and his Rajaputs, yet no tidings of that great battle had +reached her ear, which spoke not of the subah of Cashmere as still +the bravest among the brave. The fame of his actions in Lahore,--of +his defence, single-handed, of the gate, when it was upon the point +of being opened by the enemy,--of his ready valour when about to +be trampled down by the elephants,--of his exhibition of undaunted +courage and unequalled strength in the arena,--his defeat of the +forty assassins, and above all, of his enterprize in breaking down +the barrier which the imperialists had thrown across the Rawee, +had preceded him to Cashmere. The people were proud of his renown. +Nourmahal could not be insensible to the marks of warm and genuine +affection lavished upon her by such a husband. Her heart, always +generous, though too true to its first-born impulse of passion, taught +her that it was her duty to do every thing that depended upon her +exertions, to cheer him under the disappointments he had experienced, +and to aid him in his efforts to repair them. + +Her first interview with Chusero, however, ruffled not a little this +train of dutiful thought and feeling. He was not at all like Jehangire +in person, or in feature; but when he spoke, there was a peculiar +expression about his eyes, which restored irresistibly to her mind, +thoughts she ought never to have known. His delicately fair hands,--his +long tapering fingers, were exactly those of the emperor; besides, +there were intonations in his voice, when he spoke with any degree of +vivacity, which came upon her ear like a spell that baffled all her +resolutions. + +For resolutions Nourmahal had made, during the absence of her +husband, to conquer what she could not but deem the unhallowed fire +that ever since her marriage had burned in her breast, and acquired +more intensity every day. She was not forced into this union by any +harshness of superior authority. Never was a daughter so beloved by +parents, so tenderly cherished as she. What wish had she ever formed, +that had not been anticipated by their ever vigilant affection? What +desire could she express, which it would not have been their highest +gratification to promote? Contrary to the usages of Hindostan, had +she not been left to her own unrestrained, unbiassed dispositions, +to receive or decline the tender of Afkun’s heart? Her affiance, was +it not the result of her own free consent, and her final union, the +necessary consequence of that act? + +“But what a world was disclosed to me!” she thought in her solitary +walk, some days after the return of Afkun. “What visions beamed upon +my soul during the few last weeks of my existence, when my will ceased +to be my own--after I had pronounced the words no longer revocable! +Destiny! destiny! thee alone have I to blame! Can I conceal from myself +that my heart knows no emotion when he, who has the best right to my +affections, appeals to it for the return of his devoted love? Can I be +ignorant of the hopes, the aspirations, that, without any encouragement +from my reason, without any sanction from probability, and even against +my consciousness of what innocence and rectitude dictate, flutter in +this bosom, whenever any accidental circumstance, a passing flower, a +dream of the night, or one of those impulses that, like a cloud, casts +for a while its ominous shadow over me, brings back that image which I +ought never to have seen? + +“When shall I recover my peace of mind? The councils of the hermit had +gone far towards banishing from my soul all those lurking miseries +which depressed my spirits, and diverted my thoughts from their proper +channel of happiness. After all, what is the happiness of which he +spoke? Does it not consist principally in the consciousness that we +belong to a better world, that we are treading our way constantly +towards it, that obliged to act in the numberless small events of +life, the slight routine of every day, we so conform to the progress +of circumstances as to draw from them all the honey they contain, and +to convert into wholesome medicine the bitter elements which they +sometimes present instead? + +“Am I overruled, as the dervishes say we all are, by a fate which we +cannot overcome? Zeinedeen declares that we make our own fate, and +I think he must be in the right. I am--or at least have been--free +to resolve--free to reject my resolution, or to act upon it. One +act leads on to another, as one thought springs from that which has +preceded it. Thus the chain of life lengthens from hour to hour, and +when we arrive at the end of it we find it composed of actions, the +children of ideas all our own, and then we complain that this is +destiny! The hermit might well laugh at such folly. + +“And yet, assuredly, we are subject to some influences that are to +me incomprehensible. Amongst my gazelles at Agra there were some I +never could much regard. They were all dependent on my care, and I +fed them equally from my own hand. But yet there were some I loved +from the instant I first beheld them. Hilali was not more graceful, +more playful, more affectionate to me than Zamaa, nor, indeed, so much +so, for often she was so wild, so thoughtless, as apparently even to +despise my caresses. Nevertheless, her eyes kindled emotions within +me, her well-being excited in my heart a real interest, her gratitude, +when she expressed it in her way, drew from my lips expressions of +tenderness, which I had no pre-disposition to afford to any of the +others. + +“So it is with even the choicest flowers that are reared under my own +eye. Some are splendidly painted--I admire them; some are arrayed in +the most varied and agreeable colours, and I in vain endeavour to +appreciate them; many are worthy of being perpetually renewed as among +the best ornaments of my garden, and I take precautions that secure +their perennial existence; several are justly deemed stars, for their +pre-eminence in beauty, and I worship the Being who has deigned to +clothe them in garments of so much loveliness. But here I light on +one, modestly hiding, perhaps, in the shade, or gaily smiling in the +sun, which at once wins its way to my heart, and with the power of a +magician causes a fountain of delight to be born within me, which flows +with fresh rapture as often as I behold the precious mystery. Whence is +this, since it has not the same enchantment for others? + +“Alas! do we not feel the same controlling power, chaining our impulses +of a higher nature? I fondly imagined that the admonitions of Zeinedeen +had cured my heart of those secret thoughts and prepossessions, which +I dare not acknowledge even to myself. But one peculiar turn of +expression in the features of Chusero--one occasional modulation of +his voice--puts to flight all my inward reserve, and I wait for their +return with the devotion of the Persian watching the first ray of his +god on the summit of the mountains. + +“Would that there were an end to this struggle! Shall it ever be ended? +What is this prince to me? In himself nothing. I could pass through +a host of such as he is without remembering the countenance of one +of them. But then those resemblances which start like meteors about +him--what have I not to fear from their visitations? + +“Nor is this all. The emperor, will he not pursue the prince hither? +Flushed as he is with victory, will he be content to resign to Chusero +the fairest province in his dominions--that which it cost Acbar so much +labour to subdue--the gem of gems in the diadem of Hindostan? What a +wreath for a human brow! The crown of the East, resplendent with the +glory of the sun, the pledge of peace, or the flambeau of war to a +hundred millions of people! + +“Whose is the voice--whence comes it--in the night and in the day +whispering to me of the hour when that wreath of majesty shall +descend upon these throbbing temples--and this hand--this feeble, +trembling hand, shall wave the sceptre of so vast an empire? My brain +wanders through other worlds--I attempt in vain to remember where +and who I am--my very name vanishes from my recollection--when these +visions--these tempests of portentous thought--burst upon my soul! + +“What if the insurgent cause should be successful? The fortune of +war may perchance desert the standard of Jehangire--Afkun may be the +conqueror yet. Is it _his_ throne I desire to share? That is not the +loyalty my father has planted in this heart. _He_ is not the lawful +heir of the generous sovereign whom my infant lips were taught to +bless, as the restorer of our ancient family to those honours which it +long had worn, and now wears again with so much dignity. Should Chusero +be the victor! Victor of whom? Of the parent who gave him existence--of +his liege sovereign--and so wade through the blood of him whom he +ought to love and venerate, to the possession of supreme power! Is it +with the sceptre of such a king as that, I should contaminate this +unspotted hand? No--sooner should it strike the unnatural rebel to the +earth--if to me the strength were given!” + +Kanun presented herself to her mistress, to receive her orders as to +the patterns of some new shawls, which were about to be manufactured +for her in the neighbouring capital. She found Nourmahal in the cedar +walk, but so excited, so changed in appearance, that the timid girl +hardly knew her. Not only was her countenance brightened with a degree +of energy, such as the Circassian had never seen in it before, but her +stature seemed to have grown higher and more erect, the personation +of authority accustomed to command, and of power that disdained +resistance. Kanun forgot what she had to say, and drew her veil partly +over her eyes, dazzled by the apparition. + +The presence of the maid recalled Nourmahal from the sea of reveries, +on which her mind had been borne away; but Kanun’s quiet train of +thought was not so easy to be recovered. + +“I am glad at all times to see thee, my dear Kanun,” said Nourmahal, +glad to be relieved from the conceptions with which her bosom was +over-fraught; “when I kiss this pale soft cheek, it reminds me so well +of the many happy days we have spent together, that they seem to return +again.” + +“Ah! they were, indeed, happy days; could _you_ but think they had +returned again, we should all think so too.” + +“What is going on in the castle? what are they all doing to-day?” + +“The subah and the prince,--what a beautiful youth he is!--such +eyes!--and he walks so like the emperor!--are gone out to the mountains +with a number of rajahs, who came in from the capital this morning.” + +“Have they brought any intelligence from the south?” + +“Nothing of any importance, that I have heard, except that the people +of Lahore opened their gates to the emperor, and that he means to hold +his court there for some time.” + +“Ah! I remember Lahore. It was there, Kanun, that fortune first smiled +on my beloved father. I should like much to see it again, and the small +hut in which we lived.” + +“But you would not like--would you? to live in the hut +again--accustomed, as you long have been, to palaces so superb as that +at Agra, and this in which you now reside?” + +“I really do not know. You perhaps would be incredulous if I were to +say that I should. What matters it where one lives, if the mind be at +rest? That, my dear Kanun, after all, is the great secret.” + +“Ah! but how difficult it would be to descend from a palace to a hut, +and at the same time carry with you a contented mind!” + +“Why so? Suppose that by the fortune of war, or by some series of +unforeseen calamities, I were reduced to the condition in which my +beloved parents were when they first entered--aye, and for years after +they took up their residence in, Lahore; think you that I should not, +like them, cheerfully sit down and toil for my own bread?” + +“Oh! the very thought of such a sad reverse, is dreadful. If such a +thing were to happen, what would become of poor Kanun? of us all? who +feel that we live only for our adored mistress?” + +“Surely you would not abandon me? would you?” + +“Never!” said the affectionate girl, with an emphatic emotion, that +spoke the true and artless attachment she felt for Nourmahal. + +“Assuredly, it would not be difficult for us to maintain ourselves. +We could all do something or another. I am myself no bad hand at +embroidery. I can paint a little on ivory. Some of the dresses in +brocade, which, when I was under my mother’s care, I worked for myself, +were supposed not to be ill done.” + +“Far from it. They were truly admired for their novelty and exquisite +neatness. Indeed, I heard it said, that if you had been compelled to +produce many such examples of your skill, you might easily make your +own fortune.” + +“Well, then, you see we should have some ground to begin upon. We +should all work together, some at brocade, some at painting, some +at copying music, some at making transcripts of the Koran, some at +tapestry, while you would amuse us with your stories; and so, I fancy, +Kanun, we might be as happy as the day is long, and as rich as Emir +Jemla.” + +“Dear mistress, so we might; but still it is horrid to think of.” + +“Jemla did not think so. He was, you know, originally a shepherd boy.” + +“Ah! I did not know that. He is now, they say, the richest merchant +in Golconda; and, if he liked it, might dine on diamonds every day, +without lessening his store.” + +“While employed as a shepherd, he was one day crossing a river amongst +those mountains yonder, when his mantle, which was a goat-skin with all +the hair on, fell off his shoulder, and was carried down the stream. +He gave it up as lost, the torrent bore it away so quickly out of his +sight. The following day, however, happening to be crossing the same +river, somewhat lower down, he, to his great joy, found his goat-skin +stopped by some rocks. He took it out of the water, and having dried +it in the sun, he shook it to get rid of the sand with which it was +encumbered, when he beheld the ground spread with a shower, not of +sand, but of gold.” + +“Of gold!” + +“Of gold dust! Wondering whence it came, he shook his skin again, when +forth fell another shower, and another, until he could extract no more.” + +“Something wonderful is always happening to these shepherds. Some of +the good genii, no doubt, filled his cloak with the gold, in reward +for some kind action he had done.” + +“I know not how that was. He dipped his skin again in the same part of +the river, spreading it over the bottom, and placing a heavy stone on +each corner to keep it down. He returned to find it in the morning, +and after drying it in the sun, as before, he obtained from it a still +more copious supply. In this manner he procured as much of the precious +sand as was sufficient to load a camel, and having taken leave of his +master, he set out with his cargo to Delhi, where he disposed of it +to great advantage. He then returned to Cashmere, with many trinkets +in gold and silver, travelling the country as a pedlar. He next +purchased a stall in the great bazaar at Agra, where he appeared as a +merchant, dealing in rubies, emeralds and diamonds, and not satisfied +with the good fortune by which his industry was rewarded, he removed +to Golconda, became a proprietor of diamond mines, and now inhabits a +splendid castle, in which he retains an army of his own, and lives in +all the splendour of a sovereign.” + +“There is a freak of fortune! a shepherd-boy transformed into a +sovereign!” + +“No freak of fortune, Kanun, but the fair and natural result of +well-directed industry. So let us not despair, even if we should be +driven to live by our own exertions.” + +“Well, if that ever should be the case, and we should happen to get as +rich as Emir Jemla, we should have no great reason to complain. Was +there not some emperor, in former days, who in the midst of all the +treasures he could command, preferred to support himself by making +sandals?” + +“I never heard that he made sandals. In other respects the story is +true. Mamood, the sandal-maker, as you call him, was certainly in some +respects a very singular character. Like many others of our emperors, +his early days were spent in a prison, where, despising the allowance +that was granted to him by the state, he supported himself by his +writings. It was with him a maxim, that ‘he who could not work for his +bread, did not deserve it.’ Amongst other strange peculiarities by +which he was distinguished, do you know, Kanun, that he never had more +than one wife?” + +“The barbarian! Only one wife! Ha! ha! ha! That was ridiculous. I could +as soon fancy a peacock with only one feather! I hope he treated her +well; at the very least he must have kept her in a shrine of gold.” + +“Quite the reverse. Even when he was upon the throne, he made her do +all the work of his house with her own hands.” + +“What, the sultana of Hindostan make coffee and wash the cups with her +own hands!” + +“Aye, and change the mats, and sweep the floor, and make the fires, and +mend his garments, too, when they were worn threadbare!” + +“The silly woman, to put up with such tyranny!” + +“Yes; but, Kanun, she loved him.” + +“There we all fail, simpletons that we are, all wreck our dignity upon +that fatal rock.” + +“One day, when the empress unfortunately burnt her fingers while baking +bread for their supper, she asked him to allow her even one maid, to +assist her in her domestic toils.” + +“He had not the cruelty to refuse her!” + +“Indeed, but he had. It was, he said, a needless expense, which he +would never bring on the state!” + +“I know that if I had been his wife, he should have gone to bed +without his supper for that night, at least.” + +“Those hours of the day which others spend in sleep, Mamood devoted +to labour,--chiefly transcripts of the Koran, which he executed with +such accuracy, that no man could detect an error in his page. Upon the +produce of his labour he lived.” + +“He must have been an uncommon ideot.” + +“Read the poems of Minhage, in which you will find him celebrated--and +justly celebrated--for his energy in the field, his wisdom in the +council, his justice in the seat of judgment. He was the patron of +every useful science and elegant art, and a beneficent father to his +people.” + +“With his one wife?” + +“Ah, Kanun! is it possible to love more than _one_?” + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + And shall a king, of nature uncontrolled, + And spirit lofty as his state, submit + To such degrading check? Impossible! + He must and will resent it.--Pray proceed. + + HINDOO DRAMA. + + +Much as the parental heart of Jehangire was afflicted by the obstinacy +of Chusero, in prolonging a civil war that now seemed more unlikely +than ever to favour his designs of usurpation, still the necessity +of an expedition to Cashmere presented some visions to the emperor’s +mind, which were not without their charms. He had heard and read many +panegyrics upon the agreeable climate, the combinations of mountain, +valley, forest, and stream, which gave peculiar features, and +ever-varying beauty to its natural scenery. He had, from his earliest +youth, filled his memory with the legends and traditions which spoke +of its ancient ages of renown. He was conversant with every thing his +favourite poets had written in praise of its flowers and nightingales, +and above all, of the exquisite forms and irresistible attractions +of the maidens, who inhaled the pure and fragrant air of those green +declivities, while chasing the blue butterfly until their cheeks took +the blush of their native rose,--one of the wonders of the world. + +Jehangire had often pictured to himself the pleasures he should enjoy, +when relaxing from the cares of empire, he might be at leisure to +wander idly through the groves and saffron-meadows, and pore over the +transparent fountains, of Cashmere. It was, to his fancy, a world set +apart from the busy scenes of life, in which he might altogether divest +himself of the weight and emblems of sovereign authority, and subsiding +to the level of the shepherd and the mountaineer, enjoy those emotions +of independence and happiness which nature loves to bestow upon those, +who worship her amidst the solitudes she has peculiarly consecrated to +her own immortal presence. + +Nor was he without the hope--the illusion, perhaps, but still one it +pleased him to indulge--that some happy accident might enable him to +behold once more his son--his rebellious, criminal, and unrepentant +boy--to win him from the unhappy path, on which he had too long +delayed--to forgive him all that had passed--to press him to his +breast, and kindle in his eyes those well-known smiles, so dear to a +parent--so powerful to subdue every feeling of resentment. + +No man was less fitted than Jehangire to maintain these continued +struggles between the duties of the sovereign, and the impulses of +the father. The fluctuations between the two characters, though +occasionally terminating on the side of stern justice, preponderated +in the main, in favour of those feelings, which not even gross filial +ingratitude can often eradicate from the parental bosom. + +Did Jehangire endeavour to conceal from himself, that whatever there +was of tenderness in the composition of his character--and it is not +to be denied that he had his share--whatever there was in his mental +constitution, which rendered him susceptible of the influence of +poetry, of beautiful scenery, and made him a listener to the mystic +voices that breathe from the recesses of woods, the undulations of +ever-flowing waters, the airy invisible multitudes of insects and +choirs of birds exulting in the felicity of existence--opened out like +the parched flower, expanding to receive the dews of evening, when he +reflected that Cashmere now contained another treasure, more precious +to his soul than a hundred diadems? + +“Nourmahal!” What raptures were linked in his mind with that sweet +name! To pronounce it in secret to his own ear, was to summon to his +cheek the very elements of life--to turn him away and detain him, hour +after hour, in the silence and solitude of the night, from all other +thoughts. + +Strange to say, Jehangire, though he had abundant cause for complaint +against the political conduct of Afkun, never entertained towards that +distinguished person the slightest feeling of hostility. He never, for +a moment, apprehended that the Turcomanian possessed, or could gain the +affections of Nourmahal, although her legal protector. The relation in +which he stood towards her, invested him, in the contemplation of the +emperor, with a character rather parental than conjugal--and, as such, +estimable on account of its connexion with her preservation, for what, +he hoped, to be her future and higher destinies. He, therefore, heard +with deep pain from Auzeem, of the many base schemes by which Bochari +had attempted to get rid of that great warrior; and it was amongst his +hopes, that, if the expedition to Cashmere should be prosecuted with +success, he might enjoy the opportunity of making some arrangement with +Afkun, by which the ties subsisting between him and Nourmahal, should +be dissolved, without injury to the warrior’s pride, or to the respect +which the monarch, more than any of his subjects, was bound to shew to +the laws of the empire. + +To Bochari, Jehangire had not lately ventured to breathe a syllable +about Nourmahal. The hatred which embittered every expression of that +functionary, whenever he had to make mention of Afkun, since the period +of their personal encounter in the Sutledge, was so implacable, that +to speak to him of the one, was only to draw from him a volley of +imprecations as to the other. To Auzeem, however, the emperor did +not hesitate to disclose his most intimate thoughts on all subjects, +especially when shut up together in his private cabinet, whether in +the camp, or in the palace at Lahore, they smoked the chibouque, or +indulged in an extra cup of wine. + +It was already perceptible to many persons about the court, that the +influence of Auzeem, in the direction of public affairs, began to +assume a defined character, since the commencement of the civil war. +The title of “My Uncle,” by which Jehangire had always distinguished +him, more in the familiarity of mirth, than from any acknowledgment of +particular esteem, lately seemed, in the opinion of shrewd observers, +to wear a new and more important meaning. Auzeem was not the last to be +sensible of his position. His knowledge of mankind, his acquaintance +with the habits of sovereigns and princes in different countries, and +a cheerfulness of disposition, which taught him at all times to look +at the sunny side of things, enabled him to accommodate himself to +the eccentricities and whims of the emperor, without incurring the +charge of pandering to his vices, or even of encouraging them. In his +laugh and his jest there was always a limit, beyond which the respect +he felt for himself never permitted him to go. He was not ambitious. +He detested intrigue, cabals, and machinations of every description, +whatever the purpose which they contemplated. He looked upon all such +courses as the unequivocal characteristics of that mean order of +intelligence, which, whenever it happens to obtain the ascendancy in +states, never fails, however specious its occasional triumphs, to draw +after it national calamity and degradation. + +Jehangire found himself, without intending it, gradually approximating +every day towards Auzeem, and, in the same proportion, diverging +from the path which Bochari had hitherto been accustomed to mark out +for him. The coarseness of language and of manner, the impatience of +contradiction, and the jealousy of supreme control, which on every +occasion, whether of slight or primary importance, characterised the +Persian, were of such common occurrence, that before his accession to +the throne the prince never stopped to analyse or question them. But +after he put on the crown, he more than once felt that the authority +belonging to his station was restrained by a will not his own. This +feeling touched his pride, and broke in upon the inveteracy of habit; +and although the labour of emancipating himself from the domination +to which he was so long subject, deterred him from resolving on any +material change, yet the idea occurred to him that if a change were to +be made, there was no person in whom he would more willingly repose his +confidence than Auzeem. + +The latter was not ignorant of the emperor’s prepossession respecting +Nourmahal. To his ear were divulged, through some channel or another, +those secrets of the imperial harem, which, strengthened by his own +keen observation, enabled him to judge that a void existed in that +establishment, not easy to be filled up. The favourite of a former day +complained of the emperor’s indifference--of his abstraction--the long +intervals between his visits to a region which had been accustomed +to his particular attention. There was no recognised sultana. The +consorts of the sovereign appeared to be all upon an equality, much +more mortifying to their pride than a recognised scale of rank. Where +each had as shadowy a right as the other to deem herself preferred, +jealousy became more active, and converted the harem into a theatre of +discord. + +Auzeem, it may be supposed, was no admirer of Bochari. Still he did not +wish to make a man accidentally invested with so much power, his enemy. +His mind was the reverse in all things of that of the Persian. But his +experience rendered him circumspect, and taught him to avoid collision +with that dangerous adventurer. Whenever he had occasion to differ from +him in the council, he expressed his opinions mildly--and in the shape +of interrogatory, as if he were seeking for information and advice, +rather than giving both. Thus he had the good fortune to add every +hour to his rising influence with the emperor, without awakening the +suspicions of the commander-in-chief. To military science or experience +Auzeem avowed no claim. On civil matters he might sometimes have an +opinion--which, however, he had no desire to press, or even to shape +for discussion, unless it seemed to others, better qualified than +himself to judge, worth attention. + +Like Jehangire, Auzeem had a strong turn for literature and the fine +arts. It was the emperor’s habit, when a sleep of an hour or two +dispelled the effects of his indulgence at the table, to pass a part of +the night in reading, or in having read to him, portions of the history +of his empire, or of the works of the most celebrated poets, and not +unfrequently of the theologians and philosophers, with whose writings +he was remarkably conversant. Auzeem was often his only companion +during those periods of study, which no pressure of public business was +ever allowed to disturb. The uncle and the nephew, if they may be so +described, also resembled each other in a turn for adventure; and when, +after a poem or a tale was concluded, they discussed the incidents and +characters of which it was composed, they often went on to dramatise +situations similar to those of which they had just read, and wove a +series of enterprizes and escapes, to which each contributed a sequel, +until they believed themselves to be altogether transferred to the +world of imagination. + +It was in moods such as these, perhaps, that Auzeem learned the whole +extent of the passion nurtured in Jehangire’s bosom for Nourmahal. He +saw that it was a real, unsophisticated, fervent feeling, cherished as +a sacred treasure, subject to no caprice, the same when the emperor’s +mind was agitated, as when reposing in the most serene tranquillity. +The difficulties which stood in the way of his desires, tended, no +doubt, to augment the power which this passion exercised over his +soul. To conquer those difficulties--but at the same time to preserve +a strict and impartial observance of the laws relating to the union +between the sexes, which, in all our communities, whether Mahometan +or Hindoo, are universally held as dear to us as our lives, was the +frequent object of his conferences with Auzeem, from the moment that +the expedition to Cashmere was resolved upon. + +It seemed essential, for many reasons, that the troops selected for +that purpose should proceed upon their march without delay. The legion +which the province had already sent to the war having been annihilated, +it became expedient, if practicable, to prevent the subah from +gaining time to form another. While the war lingered in any quarter +of the empire, it afforded a pretext to the disaffected in the other +districts, for questioning the authority by which the imposts were +levied, and for committing various acts of insubordination. As soon, +therefore, as the emperor believed Lahore to be secure from any danger +of a fresh insurrection, and that he had succeeded in purchasing, by +his kindness to all the inhabitants, and his largesses to the persons +who seemed to possess most influence over them, that general good-will +upon which it was his highest ambition to rest the foundations of his +throne, he gave orders for the usual consultation of the astrologers. +The auspicious hour having been ascertained, the troops, consisting +chiefly of light cavalry and light artillery, fitted for mountain +warfare, setting out at the prescribed moment, proceeded on their route +towards Cashmere. + +Bochari was fully apprised, from the information of officers who had +already served in that province, of the vast strength of the castle +occupied by Afkun. A small garrison, he learned, was sufficient to +defend it against any force that could be brought to bear upon it. +Raised upon an elevated platform, girdled by a natural rampart of rock, +to which hardly any artificial additions were necessary, completely +insulated by a deep moat filled with water, containing within itself +ample resources in wells, in granaries for every kind of supplies, +in woods and gardens,--in short, every thing conducive not only to +subsistence, but to the convenience of life, such a fortress seemed +capable of defying every ordinary resource of war. + +Finding it, therefore, necessary to avail himself of such other means +of success as circumstances might render expedient, Bochari conceived +the design of summoning Kazim Ayas and the mother of Nourmahal to the +presence of the emperor, with a view to treat them as hostages, to be +dealt with as he might decide, in case the Turcomanian’s stronghold +should turn out to be otherwise unassailable. + +If Nourmahal possessed the power over her husband with which her +fascinations, so much talked of, were supposed to invest her, she would +not, he thought, refuse to apply it for the preservation of those +so dear to her, should their lives be fixed upon as a price for the +surrender of the castle. + +This design, worthy of his character, he took care to conceal from the +knowledge of the emperor. To him Bochari represented the difficulties +that might present themselves in the capture of the strongest fortress +of the empire; adding that it might therefore be useful to send for +Kazim Ayas and Mangeli, in order that they might, as they were bound +to do, by the high office which the chancellor held, and by their +allegiance, and gratitude for many honours conferred upon them, exert +their best influence with their son-in-law to induce him to acknowledge +the authority of the rightful sovereign, and to give up the rebellious +Chusero. + +The plan, placed in the latter point of view, coincided so agreeably +with the emperor’s projects in other respects, that he felt no +hesitation in assenting to it. Letters were in consequence forthwith +despatched to Agra, commanding Kazim and Mangeli to follow the emperor +without delay to Cashmere, and authorising the chancellor to delegate +the duties of his office, during his absence, to a commissioner named +by himself for that purpose. The parents of Nourmahal received the +mandate with feelings of unqualified delight. The hope of soon again +embracing their child, put aside all thoughts of the inconvenience of +so long a journey, and Kazim, moreover, flattered himself with the +expectation that, through his interference, Afkun might be dissuaded +from pursuing any farther a line of conduct not likely to serve the +cause of Chusero, or to redound to his own credit. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + My royal friend has an unaccountable taste. What can I think of a + king so passionately fond of chasing unprofitable quadrupeds? “Here + runs an antelope! There goes a bear!” Such is our only conversation. + Even at noon, in excessive heat, when not a tree in the forest has + a shadow under it, we must be skipping and prancing about like the + beasts whom we follow. Are we thirsty? we have nothing to drink but + the waters of mountain-torrents, which taste of burned stones and + maukish leaves. Are we hungry? We must greedily devour lean venison, + and that commonly rosted to a stick. Have I a moment’s repose at + night? My slumber is disturbed by the din of horses and elephants, + or by the sons of slave-girls hallooing out, “More venison, more + venison!” Then comes a cry that pierces my ear, “Away, to the forest, + away!” + + SACONTALA. + + +The emperor set out for Cashmere in high spirits. The war he looked +upon as substantially terminated in his favour; the great object +he had now to obtain of a political nature, was the capture of the +rebellious prince; until that was accomplished, he could not be at ease +upon his throne, inasmuch as if the prince were to remain at large, he +would, no doubt, always find the means of exciting the spirit of revolt +in one or more of the remote provinces of the empire. + +The country between Lahore and Cashmere may be said to present almost +a level surface, to the very foot of the mountains within which the +latter district is situated. Here and there tracts of forest afford to +the traveller a temporary protection from the heat of the sun, which +shines down upon all that immense plain with a degree of intensity not +experienced in any other part of Hindostan. The rivers are numerous by +which it is intersected; but they flow in such imperceptible currents, +spreading frequently into large lakes when swollen by the melting of +the snows on the mountains, and then leaving behind them marshes, which +speedily become jungles, that the roads most frequented in one year, +are the succeeding year scarcely to be distinguished. The march of an +army over such a plain as that, is necessarily attended with numerous +difficulties. Hemmed in, moreover, along its whole northern border +by an abrupt chain of rocks, rising like a mural boundary almost to +the sky, its atmosphere traversed by no refreshing breezes, and when +disturbed, varied only by winds hotter even than the simoom of the +desert, it scarcely permits to man or beast the power of breathing, or +of moving, without great pain. + +The emperor, therefore, leaving his elephants at Lahore, mounted the +fleetest of his Arabian hunters, and attended by Auzeem, and a small +escort of his household guard, confided himself to the care of guides, +resolved to journey chiefly by night, and to pursue the shortest route +which could be found practicable to the nearest range of the mountains. +Once arrived on the rising grounds, they could travel at their ease +by circuitous paths into Cashmere, sporting on the way, or resting +among the cooler regions of the Himalahs, until the whole army should +overtake them. Bochari, as commander of the forces, could not abandon +them to the control of any inferior officer, upon such an occasion. But +he had full authority from the emperor to consult his own and their +convenience in every possible way, resting in the forests, making short +marches during the night, and keeping as nearly as a reasonable degree +of expedition could allow them, to the banks of the rivers, that they +might, under no circumstances, be out of the reach of the vital element. + +Jehangire took also with him his dogs and hunting leopards, his falcons +and fowling-pieces, not forgetting his celebrated gun Droostandaz, +that never missed any object at which he aimed it. It was of Damascus +manufacture, the barrel exquisitely formed within and without, +exhibiting, near the extreme end, a small but exceedingly bright +diamond, as a point for directing the sight, and along its sides, +curiously inscribed in gold, a series of hieroglyphic characters, which +were said to bestow upon it the virtues it possessed. The barrel was +set in a stock of ebony, cut from a tree that had grown in the garden +of Eden. It was inlaid with pearls white as the snow, and with emeralds +and rubies of great price. Droostandaz was always kept in a silver +case, lined with purple velvet, except when the emperor wished to use +it. Such was the veneration in which this gun was held, that it was a +rule with Jehangire to discharge it on the first day of every month, +and this discharge was immediately followed by the whole train, from +the highest dignitary to the lowest stipendiary enrolled in the service +of the state, whether cannoneer or matchlock-man, who happened to be at +the time within the reach of its report. + +A few nights’ hard riding, under the direction of guides perfectly +conversant with the country, enabled the imperial party to pass +the more oppressive part of the plain, and to gain the eminences +leading to the mountains, of which they speedily became sensible by +the fresher air which they began to breathe. Here they reposed for +a while, enjoying the breezes that came down, wafted on the surface +of many a merry stream, and which, after the furnace they had just +gone through, they found peculiarly delicious. As they ascended the +mountains they met, from day to day, with game in abundance--antelopes, +deer, quails, grey and black partridges, wild ducks and teal, which +they did not disdain to dress for themselves, when they happened to be +near no hamlet, where persons could be found to perform that office for +them. On these occasions, Auzeem took an active part in the culinary +functions, in which he displayed no common skill. The emperor found a +new pleasure in affording him assistance. The produce of the morning’s +sport, in which Droostandaz maintained its celebrity, was distributed +at noon; a shady ravine was then fixed upon, to which brambles, and +other dried wood, was brought by some of the escort; fires were +lighted; the birds were divested of their feathers; the deer, if any +had been taken, were cut up into fragments; and both were stretched +on spikes of the arbutus, which grows in abundance on those heights. +The spikes being then placed round the fires, were carefully turned +round, until the viands, whose savoury odours filled the atmosphere +with a fragrance peculiarly welcome to the sense of mountain sportsmen, +were fully roasted, when the whole party sat in circles, without any +ceremonies of precedence, and enjoyed the meal they had procured with +their own hands. The sparkling streams falling near them were their +only drink, and although Auzeem, as well as his imperial companion, +were of opinion that the spring would have been improved, if it could +be made to blush a little with a flask of Cabul wine, nevertheless, +they both agreed, that the game of the Himalahs was the most delicious +they had ever tasted. + +Having had no occasion to ascend to the upper ranges of the country, in +pursuit of sport, the hunting party roved through a charming climate. +Valleys and gentle declivities, carpeted with thymy herbage, opened +passages for them around the bases of bold mountains, whose summits +were crowned with perpetual snow. They seldom, failed towards night, +to discover huts of shepherds, or clusters of habitations belonging +to villagers, where, though unknown, they were received with the +greatest hospitality. Mats were stretched on the floor, and covered +with sheep-skins, on which they slept; in the morning, the new milk of +cows and goats was presented to them in wooden bowls, with cakes baked +upon the embers of the cedar, and cream-cheese, fresh from the hand of +the fair manufacturer, and spread upon a couch of green reeds, newly +plucked from the neighbouring stream. These simple luxuries, enjoyed +in the pure air of morning, beneath a sky of transparent azure, amid +the music of waterfalls and gentle breezes, and myriads of birds, +imparted new life to Jehangire, and taught him how irreparable were the +privations of those sons of fortune, whom soft cushions, and nocturnal +indulgences, and habits engendered by artificial wants, detained at +such hours beneath the gilded roofs of their palaces. + +Nor did he disdain, when, towards evening, no sign of human dwelling +was observable, to assist his companions in cutting down wood and +erecting rude huts, beneath which, if the night were cold, they found +an agreeable shelter. But if the moon silvered the sky and the valley, +and the plane or cedar offered its friendly shade, and the softened +genial breeze just stirred the foliage with that sweet murmur, so +friendly to sleep, he preferred the couch thus prepared for him by +nature, surrounded by his beagles and hunting leopards, who formed +a night-guard, not unworthy even of the Emperor of Hindostan, so +beautiful did those noble animals appear when wrapped in slumbers, from +which the slightest sound of his voice would have aroused them, had he +had occasion for their services. + +The enjoyments of the party were sometimes varied by fishing, when +they reached the more copious torrents which tumbled from the rocks +above them. Here they amused themselves by fabricating baskets from +the willows, or reeds, or such other materials as the place afforded. +Placing themselves near the midst of the stream, and holding their +baskets firmly beneath the rush of the waters, they soon received whole +clusters of the red and silver mullet, the carp, the trout, and pike, +and chard, whose efforts to escape, by leaping from the toils in which +they were caught, and by slipping through hands unaccustomed to deal +with such prey, afforded cause for many blithesome bursts of laughter. +But the more awkward fishermen were not without their revenge, when, +the fires being lighted, they beheld the scales lately so polished and +evasive, assume a deep rich brown, and inhaling from the cheerful blaze +the incense of the smoking captives, prepared for the feast which they +were about to enjoy with hearty appetites. + +While thus roaming among the hills, Auzeem, by the emperor’s desire, +issued strict orders that his real character should on no account be +mentioned by any of his suite; that they should be represented simply +as a party of idlers, in search of sport, and that no appearance of +state observance, or homage, should indicate to strangers the presence +of any person above the ordinary station of cavaliers. + +In order to preserve his assumed character, Jehangire exchanged his +jewelled turban, his flowered satin pelisse, his cincture of Persian +gold cloth, his vest of brocade, and his trowsers of white silk, for +the plain attire of a hunter, consisting of a linen vest and trowsers +bound at the waist by a shawl, a light green cloth pelisse, and round +cap, covered with the yellow fur of the flying squirrel, which Auzeem +succeeded in procuring for him at one of the villages they had visited +in the course of their excursions. + +One afternoon, as the lengthening shadows of the poplars, and the +golden reflection of the sunbeams upon the mountains, whose snowy peaks +were already putting on their mantles of purple, warned Jehangire and +his companions that it was time to look out for a resting-place for the +night, they were about to establish themselves upon the margin of a +river, which ran under a beetling rock, covered with ivy and clematis +in full flower, when the quick ear of Auzeem detected the sound of a +distant drum. Bending down to the surface of the water, he listened +more attentively, and being assured that he was not mistaken, and that +the drum was occasionally aided by some other instrument, he informed +the emperor of his discovery, at the same time proposing that they +should go on alone to trace the sounds to their source. They had not +gone far up the stream, when they satisfied themselves that they were +approaching some scene of rustic rejoicing, as shouts of mirth came +upon the breeze, mingled with the music of the pipe and tambourine, +to whose music dancers were keeping time. The river, suddenly winding +through a small defile, led them to a green valley, completely circled +by rocks, where they beheld a numerous group of peasants and shepherds, +assembled round the stump of an oak tree, on which the musicians +were elevated. Youths and maidens, clothed in white linen tunics and +trowsers, their heads bound with wreaths of natural flowers, were +engaged dancing in a circle, sometimes holding each other by the hand, +sometimes separating and chasing each other under an arch of fresh +branches, evidently just erected for the purpose. Then gathering round +a pole, which was decorated with gay ribands, intermingled with white +and yellow roses, they sang a hymeneal song, inviting to the scene of +their festivity two lovers whose union, they said, they were assembled +to celebrate. The lovers were hid in a neighbouring cave, but upon the +conclusion of the song they came forth hand in hand, vested in bridal +garments. A venerable ancient, whose hair flowed on his shoulders like +fine filaments of burnished silver, pronounced a blessing upon the +blushing pair, as they knelt before him, and the nuptial ceremony being +then concluded, the song and the dance were resumed round the pole, the +newly married couple joining in the general mirth with the most artless +cordiality. + +Jehangire, delighted with this picture of rural enjoyment, felt happy +that he could become one of the party, without any fear of his rank +being detected. The moment the two strangers made their appearance, +they were hailed as friends, and presented with curdled milk, parched +wheat, cakes, oranges, and sweet lemons, with portions of their green +branches still appendant to them. Two of the prettiest shepherdesses in +the assembly then selected them for their partners in the next dance, +in which they joined with infinite glee, endeavouring, as well as their +disciplined limbs could permit them, to imitate the heavy step and the +swaggering jumping gait of their male rivals in the scene. + +An interval of breathing-time allowed Auzeem to observe, that in the +place in which this happy meeting was held, no fewer than seven crystal +brooks formed a junction. The streams descended from the declivities +of the hills, and singing on their way through trees, and over verdant +dells, and naked rocks, united in the centre of the valley. Thence +flowing away in one full river, their varied sounds were hushed into +a low murmur of sweet content, as if each had felicitated itself upon +succeeding in the attainment of an object necessary to the perfection +of its happiness. An aged man, to whom he expressed the idea thus +presented to his mind, explained that it was for this reason--the +meeting of the seven streams, and the joy their music inspired--the +valley was usually chosen for the celebration of the nuptials of the +peasantry of the district. + +In the course of the evening, while all were seated on the turf, +partaking of the simple refreshments that had been provided for +them, two sturdy looking boors arose, and placing themselves before +Jehangire, asked him what birds he should wish to see or to hear +upon the trees around them? The monarch, astonished at the question, +replied, that he would be well-pleased if he could hear the blue +thrush of the Himalahs, whose song he understood to be enchanting, +though it had never yet met his ear. The boors said that the haunt of +those thrushes was at some distance from the valley where they then +were, and, therefore, that it would require a little time to get the +songsters to come to their command, but that they would do the best +they could. Ascending one of the rocks, the two men uttered a united +call, whose shrillness, at first, pierced the sky, but as it was +continued, it softened gradually into a voice of melody, quivering on +the air, answered repeatedly by echoes still more musical, until the +whole atmosphere seemed busy in repeating and modulating the sounds. +Just as they died away, a flight of birds became perceptible at the +verge of the horizon. In a few minutes they were perched upon one of +the neighbouring trees, whence, after a momentary pause, they poured +forth a full tide of notes, the wildest, the most varied, the most +captivating, which even the travelled Auzeem had ever heard from glade +or forest. Their azure backs, their wings tipped with Indian ink, and +their breasts of a deep autumnal yellow, characterised them as beyond +all doubt the identical species of birds which the monarch had desired +to behold. The beauteous creatures, being dismissed from their task of +obedience, winged their way back again to their distant homes with the +joy of exiles, who are permitted, after a long absence, to bend their +steps towards the land of their birth. + +The next choice was offered to Auzeem, who said, that as he was not +particular, he would be contented to renew an acquaintance he had once +formed with a colony of rawils[1]--the pleasantest set of feathered +fellows it had been his fortune to have yet encountered. The boors, +looking knowingly at Auzeem, and at each other, returned to the rocks +they had before ascended, and each placing his fore-finger, bent nearly +double, in his mouth, uttered a whistle, which, after a pause, seemed +to have been answered from an immense distance. They then beckoned +with their hands, as if summoning in the direction where they stood, +a little speck of cloud, scarcely visible, near the highest ridges +of the mountains; it came on, however, rapidly, subservient to their +mandate, enlarging as it approached, until separating into fragments, +it resolved itself into a troop of above a hundred birds, who took +possession of a large mulberry-tree that overlooked the valley. +There was something so grotesque in their appearance, the plumage of +the back, wings, and tail being of a dun brown, while their heads, +surmounted by elevated crests, and their throats and breasts looked +as if they had been powdered with flour by some mischievous boy, that +Jehangire could not help laughing at the odd choice Auzeem had made. + + [1] Laughing crows. + +The emotion of the monarch was taken up immediately by the new visitors +as a sort of personal rudeness. They bandied it about from one to +another, as if asking, “Did you ever hear such a thing?” until one of +the elder rawils, who looked more cunning than the rest, seemed to say, +“The man surely must be tipsy:” when up rose a shout of laughter from +the mulberry-tree, as if not only each bird, but each particular +leaf upon every one of its branches were endowed with the faculty +of turning the “sovereign splendour of the faith” into ridicule. +Jehangire was astonished beyond measure. The old bird, not content with +this retaliation, waited quietly until the noise somewhat subsided, +when with his--“Laugh at us, indeed,--the squirrel!” or sounds which +Jehangire could have sworn to be those words--alluding, he supposed, +to his cap--the peal was renewed again and again until the emperor, +Auzeem, the whole nuptial assembly, and the very boors themselves, +joined in the merry chorus, jumping about, and holding their sides, and +rolling on the earth, as if the joyous visitation were never to have an +end. + +This was not all. The leader of the band, determined on an ample +measure of revenge, hopped down deliberately upon the ground before +Jehangire, and looking up in his face, turned rapidly round on one leg, +cocked up his tail, and enriching the earth with spoils, for which the +“Safeguard of the world” was little prepared, again gave the signal +of mirth. It was answered by the whole century of scaramouches, who, +perching on the rocks, had the impudence to revile the Padishah with +all the indignity that could be concentrated in halloos and groans, +intermingled with ebullitions of laughter tuned to every note of the +ascending and descending scale of the gamut. + +Auzeem at length cried out, as well as his aching sides allowed him, +that they must all expire, unless the rawils were sent away. His +request was attended to, as soon as the boors could recover their power +of speech, and the valley, once more resuming the soothing songs of its +seven streams, the assembly gradually separated, not, however, before +abundant arrangements were made for the hospitable entertainment of the +two strangers and their companions, as long as they might choose to +remain in that part of the country. + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + Nature! Source of all great and lovely things! + What builder can thy temples imitate? + The music of thy mountains, woods, and streams, + What harper can steal from thee? Where’s the pen, + Or pencil, that can paint thy countless charms? + + BINAI. + + +As the hunters approached the higher mountains of Cashmere, they +were warned by the guides that the creation of loud sounds might be +attended with consequences of a fatal description. They mentioned many +instances, which they said came within their own knowledge, wherein +the echo only of a single horn was known to have loosened immense +masses of ice from the sides of the upper declivities, which, driving +down before them huge rocks, drifts of frozen snow, patches of earth, +herds of sheep, cottages, and hamlets, tumbled into the valleys beneath +them, involving whole districts in calamity. Auzeem was not surprised +at this intelligence, as he had heard that some such accidents as +these were not uncommon in lofty mountainous regions. It was therefore +resolved that the dogs, leopards, and falcons, and their keepers, +should remain in the village where they then were, until further +notice; and that the escort should return to the army to caution them +on their entrance into Cashmere, while Jehangire and Auzeem, attended +only by the guides, should proceed to the temple of Mahadeo, with a +view to propitiate the god who was held to exercise a tutelar power +over the whole of that province. The mere character of pilgrims to that +celebrated temple, was of itself sufficient to render the presence of +any escort unnecessary, even if they had to pass through columns of +the enemy marshalled in order of battle. The guides, calculating by +the state of the moon, assured the emperor that the image of Mahadeo, +which was already rapidly approaching its full stature, would speedily +be upon the wane, and that unless he could succeed by great exertions +in reaching the temple within a few days, he would be obliged to wait +another month before he could render it his homage. They stated, that +two days before each new moon, there appeared upon the marble altar +of the temple a small grain of gold, which grew larger every day, +expanding, as it increased in size, into the figure of a human being +of the most exquisite beauty; that on the fifteenth day of the moon +the god attained his full colossal amplitude, and during the three +ensuing days, wielded unlimited authority for good or for evil; but +that with the failing orb, the energies of Mahadeo also declined; his +figure gradually shrank; and that when the moon ceased to be visible, +the god also disappeared, to be renewed only when the crescent again +returned to the sky. No person, having any great project in hand, and +being within the precincts of Cashmere, ever thought of attempting to +carry it into execution, without paying the tribute of his devotions at +the shrine of Mahadeo. It was, doubtless, in a great measure owing to +his neglect of the god, though much was also to be attributed to the +dominant star of the emperor, that the subah of Cashmere had been so +unfortunate in all his enterprises, since he took up his residence in +that country. + +Putting away, therefore, all weapons of defence, resigning Droostandaz +to the special care of the commander of the escort, and exchanging +their Arabian steeds for mountain ponies, Jehangire, Auzeem, and the +guides, taking into their hands the staffs of pilgrims, set out in the +early dawn upon their ascent to the Bember, whose summits appeared far +distant in the sky, like a scarcely defined line of blue cloud. The +green turfy eminences, amidst which they had been hitherto sporting, +were soon left behind, yielding to wild heathery tracts of territory, +occasionally covered with the thistle and the broom. These products of +vegetation gradually became less luxuriant; small patches of stunted +brushwood marked their higher progress, until they began to traverse +the naked rocks, which at each step seemed to become of more gigantic +dimensions, and to be piled upon each other, as if the object had +been to erect a rampart, which was to enclose Cashmere, on that side, +against the footsteps of the stranger. The whole face of the mountain +appeared like a solid wall, through which it seemed a vain labour to +look for any passage. + +The guides, however, went on, heedless of any difficulties, leaving +the rein on the necks of their ponies, who, penetrating now through +narrow fissures, where the feet of the rider touched the rock on either +side, now clambering up steps worn by use in the almost perpendicular +cliff, now sliding down sudden descents, continued with marvellous +sagacity and safety to make their way. By noon, the ridges of Bember +became distinctly visible; the cold winds, which blew from its summits, +rendered it unnecessary, for the pilgrims to seek refuge from the sun, +whose rays, on the contrary, they found it convenient to court, in +order to preserve a genial degree of warmth in their frames. They were +soon involved in the hoary regions, through which, however, they had +no difficulty in making progress, as preceding travellers had already +beaten tracks, upon which no new snows had descended. + +Upon arriving at the foot of the ridge of Pees-Punchal, the highest of +the whole range of the Bember, the pilgrims dismounted, not a little +fatigued with their morning’s ride. The ponies, having been unsaddled, +were permitted to wander in search of such scanty herbage as they could +discover, so near the clouds, while Auzeem, calling for the scrip, in +which he supposed he should find the materials for an ample meal,--for +which, by the bye, both the imperial pilgrim and his associates were +well prepared,--found to their horror, that no scrip was forthcoming, +that useful appendage to the staff having been unfortunately left +behind. + +No sign of human habitation being within the reach of any eye, and +the passage of Pees-Punchal being of itself an affair of no small +difficulty to be achieved on foot, as the pathway was so perpendicular +that the ponies would have quite enough to do to surmount the ascent, +with all the assistance the guides could give them, the prospects +before the worshippers of Mahadeo were by no means pleasant to +contemplate. An antelope or a red-deer came now and then to smile at +them, but scared by the slightest movement, off the animals bounded to +other ridges, rejoicing in the freedom with which Jehangire would have +gladly interfered, if a decree could have controlled them. Never did he +feel his sovereign authority reduced to such ridiculous imbecility, +as in the valley of the seven streams, and at the foot of the ridge of +Pees-Punchal. Deeply did he lament that he had left Droostandaz behind +him. + +“How delightfully we should have dined upon that red stag,” he +exclaimed to Auzeem, “had but Droostandaz been here!” + +“Yes; but, Sire, what would have become of us before the dinner could +have been dressed. Pees-Punchal, with all his snows, would have been +upon us!” + +“I should have willingly taken that risk. We might as well perish of a +storm without, as of the tempest which now proclaims vacuity in all the +internal regions of my personal fabric.” + +While the emperor was thus lamenting the unseasonable absence of +Droostandaz, he thought that he heard the bleat of a sheep at some +distance. Looking to the quarter whence he believed the grateful +voice to have come, he perceived something in motion, towards which, +without reflecting a moment on his imperial dignity, he ran as fast +as his limbs could bear him. He found himself speedily in chace of a +small black horned sheep, which he fortunately overtook. Grasping the +terrified little animal by one of its hind legs, he threw it over his +shoulder, with a degree of pleasure he had seldom experienced before, +and brought it in triumph to Auzeem, to whose care he resigned it. The +unhappy victim was forthwith sacrificed, and cut up into slices. A +light was procured from flints, which they found on the mountain; as +no other materials for a fire could be discovered, they broke up their +pilgrims’ staffs for the purpose, and thus enjoyed, most unexpectedly, +a feast, which the emperor spoke of afterwards with peculiar delight. + +“At the moment I am writing these lines,” he says in his memoirs, “I +can with truth declare, that in the whole course of my life, I never +experienced such exquisite relish in food as in that simple meal, so +opportunely furnished by the carcase of a stray sheep.” + +When the repast was concluded, the party ascended Pees-Punchal, not, +however, without considerable difficulty and exertion. But they were +more than repaid for their labour, by the prospect which was presented +to them the moment they stood upon its summit. The whole valley +of Cashmere lay fully revealed beneath them, its saffron meadows, +its green pastures, gardens, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, forests, +declivities dotted with countless herds, towns, villages, and separate +cottages, all illumined by the golden glow of the sun, just dipping +below the horizon. + +Jehangire, leaning on the shoulder of Auzeem, gazed upon the valley in +silence. The reality so far exceeded all the expectations he had formed +of its beauty, that he doubted whether it was not the delusive creation +of some enchanter. The cares of imperial authority, the weight alone +of which he had hitherto experienced, were at once transformed into +sources of rapture, when the fulness of the thought came upon his soul, +that he not only possessed the faculty, in common with other men, to +appreciate the charms of that Elysian scene, but that it was a portion +of his own rightful empire; that to him, however misguided by evil +counsel they might be for a moment, the inhabitants of that fair region +were bound to look for the security of that peace and happiness which +they seemed already to enjoy, and that, above all, in the midst of the +paradise spread out before his eye, beat the pulses of one heart, at +least, of whose fidelity he felt assured. + +“Else,” he thought, communing with his friend, “why that message by +the symbol she sent me--this symbol, which has never since left my +bosom? Ah! Auzeem--to live with Nourmahal, in such a valley as we +here behold--shut out from all the world around--to wander together +by those tranquil lakes--those streams--beneath those shades--to roam +with her among those hills--to inhale, with her, the delicious incense +of those saffron meadows--those fields of roses--and at eve, when all +nature is subsiding into repose, to listen with her to the song of the +bulbul--those--those, indeed, were raptures worth an empire!” + +“And for which, I suspect,” thought Auzeem to himself, “if all I have +heard of Nourmahal be true, an empire must be paid.” + +The guides were summoned to point out the situation of the capital, +and of the fortress occupied by the subah. The former was easily +distinguishable, as the large lake, in its immediate neighbourhood, +lay expanded below like a mirror of liquid gold, the long rays of +the descending sun resting upon it with a lingering delight, as if +reluctant to resign to darkness even a temporary dominion over a region +of such transcendant beauty. + +The fortress was not, at first, discernible; but as the sun lowered, +several spots suddenly glistening, disclosed the windows of the towers, +as they reflected the level lines of fire. The whole edifice, with +its cupolas, and minarets, and castellated walls, were soon bathed +in a flood of splendour. A standard, however, floating in the fresh +breeze, with the figures of sentinels moving on the ramparts, whose +spear-tops sparkled now and then, as they caught the fading light, +indicated preparations little consonant with the features of innocence, +happiness, and loveliness almost lulled to sleep, by which they were +surrounded. + +The guides having pointed out the direction in which the temple of +Mahadeo was situated, the pilgrims turned their steps thither. Unlike +the other side of the mountain, the descents down which they now had +to make their way were frequently encumbered by enormous trees flung +down by tempests, uprooted by shocks of earthquake, and wasted by the +lightnings of ages, that had torn away their branches, stripped them +of their bark, and shivered them frequently into blackened masses, +which assumed a thousand fantastic shapes. Some lay across the +beds of torrents, where they were buttressed by piles of rocks, and +intercepting the flood, sent it foaming high in air, with tremendous +uproar. Others accidentally formed bridges across abysses, whence +subterranean cascades resounded. Some had plunged, or were plunging, +into ravines, down which no traveller had ever ventured--some, heaped +one upon another, lay mouldering with time, yielding funguses of +enormous dimensions, whose extraordinary shapes seemed to belong to +some other planet--some, with branches stricken into the earth, rose +again at some distance, shooting forth fresh descendants, proud of +their yet unperished ancestry, which must have been coeval with the +infancy of the world. + +One awful--ever-accumulating inundation--that must have oceans for its +source--swept straight downwards between the walls of a riven mountain +until it passed the brow of a precipice, over which, bending like the +arch that separates time from eternity, it fell in one overwhelming +wave into a deep abyss, a chaos unfathomable, dimly revealed by the +lightnings of the element, as it bounded from depth to depth, through +the echoes of everlasting thunders below. + +A temple still exists, which Jehangire, the moment he first beheld that +stupendous cataract, resolved to erect on a rock hard by, a monument of +the admiration with which he viewed that work of Nature--so inimitable +by human power--so inexhaustible in her strength--so unlimited in her +faculties of production--so marvellous as to the facility with which +she executes all her designs, whether she chooses to arrange the +colours on the chalice of the tulip, or to toss from her hand a Ganges. + + + + + CHAPTER XIX. + + “What need of the mirror, when our eyes meet, and + in them we view each other?” + + INDIAN POEM. + + +The moon rising, with an orb almost complete, and exhibiting within its +visible circumference but a small segment still to be silvered, forbade +the pilgrims to seek repose during the night. They travelled onward in +the direction prescribed by the guides--now along the edge of mural +precipices--now over boundless heaths--now through dark forests--now +through the dried channels of winter torrents, with all the expedition +which their animals could command, until they reached a hamlet, where +they found it absolutely necessary to take refreshment and repose. The +means for both were speedily supplied by the tenants of the humble +dwellings they found in that part of the mountain, the Cashmerians +deeming it a sacred duty, or rather a privilege, to attend to all +pilgrims who pass their way. From these good people, Auzeem learned, +to his great satisfaction, that the habitation of the famed Zeinedeen +was distant only a few hours; and that the temple of Mahadeo, of which +the hermit was said to be the high priest, was within an arrow’s flight +from his residence. + +Remounting their ponies, just as the friendly light, which had hitherto +guided their steps, grew pale in a sky resuming the roseate tints of +morning, the pilgrims drew renovated strength and spirits from the +spicy breath, which ascended as an offering to Aurora, from the meadows +and the flowery hills below. Some remains of the winter snow still +accompanied their path, especially where they had to pass abrupt rocks, +or glens impervious to the summer sun. Their route became from hour +to hour more and more enchanting, until they at length reached the +entrance to the habitation occupied by the anchorite. It was then near +mid-day. Auzeem remarked, that Zeinedeen must be engaged with visitors +of distinction, as several ponies, caparisoned in a peculiarly elegant +style, were tied together in an enclosure hard by. + +Chunder, as soon as his infirm limbs could permit him, answered to the +call of one of the guides, who seemed familiar with his name. The old +man appeared to derive pleasure from seeing before him persons, whom +he at once conjectured to be pilgrims, on their way to the temple of +Mahadeo; for it was one of his constant complaints, that those shrines, +which he remembered in his youth to have been frequented by throngs of +devotees from all parts of the world, had been, in the degeneracy of +modern times, almost wholly abandoned. The god, he informed them, had +re-appeared as usual, and had nearly attained his perfect form. He had +no doubt, that as soon as Zeinedeen was informed of their arrival, he +would give orders for their entertainment, during their stay, within +his own dwelling. + +This intelligence was the more agreeable to Jehangire and Auzeem, as +they had heard much of the hermit’s science, intelligence, and superior +talent, and they were happy to have the opportunity of enjoying his +society in that familiar intercourse which they would thus be permitted +to hold with so distinguished a personage. The emperor would be under +no necessity to conceal, even if concealment from such a superior being +were possible, his true rank and character. Nor was he without a faint +hope, that all anchorite as was the occupant of the place--curiosity, +or accident, had already enabled him to learn something of the +existence, the habits, perhaps the secret feelings and wishes of +her, at whose shrine the imperial pilgrim would, at the moment, have +preferred kneeling, rather than at that of any golden god or goddess, +who had ever been worshipped in Cashmere. + +While the strangers were waiting for the return of Chunder, a bevy of +gay damsels, with small silver-mounted whips in their hands, rushed +together from the interior halls into the court-yard, laughing and +talking aloud, in their sweet and playful voices, until they found +themselves unexpectedly in the presence of strangers. Immediately +checking each other, and flinging their veils, some with rather a +coquettish carelessness, over their faces, they passed on to the +enclosure where the ponies where detained. The animals at once +recognised their light-hearted owners, and permitted themselves to be +led in succession to a stone bench, from which the damsels jumped on +their backs, and rode away amidst an abundance of tittering, and of +stolen looks at the pilgrims, who, upon their side, watched the scene +with at least an equal degree of curiosity. + +One of the ponies, a beautiful creature, of a half zebra breed, +still remained unmounted, the rein being held by a female slave, who +seemed to wait for some person not yet come forth from the residence +of Zeinedeen. The pilgrims still stood in the court-yard, waiting +to be summoned to the presence of the hermit. Presently a female +figure, arrayed in a white muslin turban and veil, a dove-coloured +satin pelisse, a tunic of white silk, slightly sprigged with silver, +cinctured at the waist by a band of gold, with an emerald clasp in +front, and trowsers of the same material as the tunic, appeared, +also with a small whip in her hand, mounted in gold, crossing the +court-yard with a hurried step. Her cheek was much flushed--her eye +highly animated; as she passed, she stopped a moment, pressed the end +of the whip to her reddened lips as if she doubted whether she had +not forgotten something behind; but, immediately resuming her step, +hastened to where the slave was waiting. + +Auzeem, who had a full view of her countenance and person, stood mute +with surprize. After a momentary pause, he turned to Jehangire, to +express his emotions of admiration; but the emperor was no longer near +him. The slave, who held the rein, felt herself obliged suddenly to +yield it to a more vigorous hand, just as the fair rider had adjusted +herself on the padded back of the animal, and in an instant the +beautiful equestrian, her poney, and her new guide, were out of sight. + +“This,” exclaimed the latter, when he found himself beyond the danger +of observation; “this is, indeed, an unexpected joy. Oh! Nourmahal!” + +The female so addressed, oppressed by terror upon finding herself in +the hands of a stranger, who had hitherto bent down his face, whose +motives for bearing her thus rapidly away, she could not divine; +pre-occupied, too, to an intense degree of excitement as she had +already been, so much so that she scarcely noticed what had happened, +until a moment before she heard her name thus passionately sounded, +wore no longer the ruby on her cheek or lips. A death-like shadow, +pale and livid, by turns overspread her brow. Trembling in every limb, +unable to hold her seat, she fell while clasping her hands, and, +resting her head upon them, lay on the ground like a lifeless victim of +despair. + +Jehangire, plucking from his bosom the symbol which he hoped she had +sent him, placed it in her hand, to assure her of his identity. Was +he wrong in that hope? In its withered form would she still recognise +the token? What fates depended in the balance of that moment? Kneeling +by her side, he sickened in agony; her first word would be to him the +sting of death, or the sun of all his future existence. + +“Here--buried for ever; oh, fatal messenger!” exclaimed Nourmahal, as +her returning sense informed her of the circumstances in which she was +placed. “Forgive--forget this; it should never have left the bosom +where it now rests.” + +Jehangire hung upon every accent; no word escaped his lips. The rapture +that rose, kindling within him,--the thought that, come what may, +he was once more in the presence of all he most loved upon earth, +dispelled every other idea. + +“It hung here,” she continued; “it fell, I know not how--into that +mystic fountain--since then, oh, what have I not suffered?” + +“It is thine. If I ought not to have received it,--though how can I +forget that it reached my hands, that it has since been the companion +of my heart?--let it be thine again.” + +“Do I dream?” asked the agitated Nourmahal, rising and looking wildly +around her. “Whose words are those? That voice?”-- + +“Am I not remembered?” + +“My sovereign! It is, indeed, my imperial lord, here in the midst of +his enemies! Fly,--Allah! know you not that all Cashmere is in arms +against you?” + +“I am here a pilgrim.” + +“If you be discovered, nothing will protect you from the hate of your +enemies. It is madness to expose your anointed head to their arrows.” + +“All seems at peace as yet within your valley.” + +“You are assuredly not here without an escort?” + +“I have a few,--two or three companions.” + +“It is my first duty, then, to implore you to fly while yet you may. Be +convinced, that if the intelligence get abroad that the emperor is in +the province, you cannot count a moment on your safety.” + +“I am, as you see, disguised.” + +“Oh, Sire, no disguise can conceal your rank, for you cannot move, you +cannot look unlike Selim,--I should have said Jehangire,” she added, +blushing all over, kneeling before the sovereign, and bending her head +upon the palm of her hand. + +“To thee, Selim,--by no other name let me ever be known to thee, at +least,--Oh, Nourmahal! How has all this happened? Why was I left in +ignorance of the steps that led to this fatal marriage?” + +“They were scarcely known to myself. In an evil hour, before--but, oh, +question me not--to what tend now such enquiries? My fate is sealed, +for _ever_!” + +The deep sigh with which that _ever_ was pronounced, renewed the +distraction which seized the mind of Nourmahal, when she was first +borne away from the care of the slave. Happily a flood of tears came to +her relief. Jehangire induced her to sit upon a green bank, and holding +both her hands in his, soothed her feelings by all the kindness he +could administer. He did not renew the subject nearest to his heart, +until he saw that she was more composed. + +“It has been always represented to me, that Abul-Fazeel--no friend of +mine--was the author of what has occurred.” + +“Alas! I know not with whom the idea originated. But I should never +forgive myself if I did not, as I do, most fully admit that my consent +was freely given,--given, before--Oh, how shall I confess it!--before I +knew my heart, before I felt what it was indeed to love!” + +“This is a condition hard to be endured. You should have been mine. +There is not a pulse in this hand, Nourmahal,--not a thought in thy +heart,--that does not proclaim its unison with another than him to whom +the laws have bound thee. And he--does he not know this?” + +“Afkun is the most generous of men; his soul is noble as his arm is +valiant. Alas! that such a man, worthy of thy esteem, should be at +this moment in arms against his lawful sovereign! He cannot be ignorant +that there are some impulses, howsoever they arise, which cannot be +controlled; but it is vain to think more upon this,--my duties are +fixed, my destiny is cast!” + +“It is equally vain--Nourmahal, can you--do you wish to forget who it +was that first gave you that name?” + +“Would it had never met my ear! Oh, that the circumstances of that +evening could vanish from my soul!” + +“They cannot,--I was about to say that it was equally vain to +expect that I could not think more--think ever, of the impressions +of that evening, which, for good or for evil, are inseparable from +all that I can now ever know of happiness. I wear the crown of +Hindostan, but behold, no sooner was it placed upon my brow, than my +son,--Chusero,--my eldest, born--” + +“My tears, too, have been shed for this unnatural rebellion.” + +“Ah! had you been his parent, if you could but conjecture half the +grief which weighs upon a father’s heart, when, instead of affection, +obedience, reverence from him who shares the life-blood of your veins, +whose infant caresses you remember with a delight that thrills your +soul, whose earliest smiles remain star-lights in the canopy of your +existence--when, instead of the tenderness you expect, not as a return +for your solicitude, but as the growth of the seed you have sown and +reared up, you meet only resistance, hostility, bitter, remorseless +eagerness to supplant and destroy you,--oh! you would indeed, +Nourmahal, give me all your sympathy.” + +“Would I could hold out the hope, that even his evil fortunes had +produced a disposition to seek for forgiveness.” + +“Heaven be my witness, that I ask no more. He has but to utter a single +expression of regret, all shall be expunged on the instant from my +memory. Tell the boy,--you have lately seen him, perhaps--” + +“This morning,--hush! I hear horsemen coming this way,--to those rocks, +Sire, or you are lost!” + +Jehangire had just time to climb a precipitous ascent above the bank +where they were sitting, when Afkun and Chusero, attended by twenty +spearmen, made their appearance in a defile below. They rode rapidly +towards Nourmahal, who, summoning all her fortitude, mounted her pony, +and composing her veil, rode on to meet them. + +“We have been anxiously looking for you, Nourmahal,” said Afkun. +“Knowing that you had gone to visit Zeinedeen, we have found it +necessary to come out with an escort, for the advanced guard of the +invaders are already visible from the castle. We must hasten home-ward, +and I fear that your excursions must be given up, until the enemy shall +disappear. You would be too precious a prize in their hands at such a +moment.” + +The ladies of the harem, who had only preceded Nourmahal to a fountain +hard by, where they went to water their ponies, now joined the +cavalcade, of which the emperor had a full view from his place of +refuge, without being exposed to their observation. He could plainly +distinguish his son, who was mounted on a grey Arabian courser; the +animal curvetting, and now and then pawing the earth with a beautiful +pride, seemed conscious that he bore on his back a rider of no +ordinary rank. Afkun led the way, riding by Nourmahal’s side. The +prince and the other ladies immediately followed, and the line was +closed by the spearmen, mounted also on spirited animals. + +Jehangire watched their progress down the mountain, with the most +painful feelings. It was not until his straining eye failed to discern +any part of the group, that he descended to the bank, so lately +consecrated in his esteem, by having served as a couch for her, who had +now full possession of his soul. Sitting there awhile, he tranquillised +his thoughts. He felt as if the atmosphere around him still breathed +of Nourmahal’s presence--still echoed her soft enchanting voice--still +gave him back the fresh impression of those features, over which, in +a few moments, so many traces of emotion--of emotion so precious to +him--had passed, all exalting and perfecting that beauty, of which, +he believed, the earth held no rival. At length, bending his steps +towards the hermitage, he found Auzeem anxiously waiting his return. +That experienced person, however, asked no questions. He had already +learned from the slave, to whom the bewitching form belonged, which had +excited his admiration. He easily conjectured what followed. + + + + + CHAPTER XX. + + “If you listen to him, my lord, the old man will weary + out the stars in telling tales of the days of his youth. + Come this way, and heed him not.” + + HINDOO DRAMA. + + +Chunder having stated that Zeinedeen was engaged in deep discourse with +three strange dervishes, as he supposed them to be, who had recently +arrived in Cashmere from the islands of the west, led Jehangire and his +companion to an inner chamber, where mattresses were already spread +for their reception. Chiboques and coffee were immediately presented +to them by two negro slaves, after which a repast, consisting chiefly +of hot cakes, fowls, and rice, was served with lemonade, which the +pilgrims found particularly acceptable after their long ride across the +mountains. + +Auzeem, desirous of learning, if he could, what preparations were going +on in the province, with a view to the maintenance of the civil war, +questioned Chunder upon the subject as soon as the other slaves had +been dismissed. + +“I do not find, Chunder, that so many pilgrims, as I had expected, have +assembled to visit the shrine of Mahadeo.” + +“No--nothing like the numbers that used to come in old times. I +remember the days when the whole of these mountain sides were covered +with them--their staffs making a moving forest as they crowded to the +entrance of the temple yonder.” + +“How does it happen that they are now so few?” + +“Infidels--Mahometans as they are called--have, in these times, been +teaching some nonsensical things about houris, and prophets, and +other follies, and the silly people are led away to other places--to +gingerbread houses with round chimnies stuck up on one side, on the +tops of which sooty urchins cry out to them to come to their prayers. +And then they kneel down on a bit of carpet, and go to sleep for a +while, and when they get up, they kneel down again, and then they stand +and bawl, as if the world was coming to an end.” + +Jehangire could not repress a smile at Chunder’s irreverent description +of the religion of the prophet. + +“And it is for these childish novelties that the people have deserted +the fine old temples built by the hands of the gods, that in the elder +days were spread over the land. Why, I well recollect, that when I was +once at Bokla, upon the shore of the great sea, there came a storm +which lasted twenty days, and every day the sea rose higher and higher, +until every house in the town and in the country round, was swallowed +up. But the temples of the gods rose as mountains above the raging +waters, and afforded dry footing to all the inhabitants. What would +have become of them then, I should like to know, if they had only pots +turned upside down, and chimnies of whitened mud to fly to?” + +“If ever you go to Agra, my friend,” said Jehangire, “you will see that +the mosques there are not quite so insignificant as you imagine.” + +“Pshaw! simpleton! Have you seen the temple of the Sun in Guzerat?” + +The emperor was obliged to confess that he had not. + +“Nor the fortress of Kebeer, who built the temple, and in which +fortress the subah of Cashmere now resides?” + +“No; except from the tops of these mountains.” + +“Then you have seen nothing; you are but a poor pilgrim, just come, +I suppose, out of Thibet. They say that that madman, that up-start, +Bochari, who leads the sultan, his master, by the nose, is coming +hither with a large army to attack the fortress. He might as well have +staid at Lahore--and much better--and spent his time, as his father did +before him, in daubing pictures of old women.” + +Auzeem, who saw that the conversation was assuming a turn he had not +intended, eagerly interposed with an inquiry whether the fortress was +not strongly garrisoned. + +“Garrisoned! The fortress of Kebeer garrisoned! I am sure I know not +whether there be many soldiers within the walls, if that be what you +mean by a garrison; but this I do know, that ten or twenty men could +easily defend it from all the armies that the painter’s son can bring +against it.” + +“May I ask,” added Auzeem, “who this Kebeer was, of whom you speak?” + +“What? Have you never heard of Kebeer? Ha! ha! ha! Well, you are a +pair of the most ignorant pilgrims I ever met. There is not a child in +Cashmere who could not have told you the story of Kebeer.” + +“We should be glad to hear it from you,” said Auzeem, “if you could +spare the time to tell it.” + +“It is soon told; but I must have a pipe and a cup of coffee first.” + +Chunder going to the door of the chamber, called aloud to the negroes +in his husky voice, who immediately made their appearance, and supplied +the vice-hermit, as he might be styled, with the necessaries he +required. Then settling himself on a mattress, which he had directed +to be brought in for the purpose, and assuming an air of more than +ordinary importance, he thus proceeded with his tale. + +“A poor cobbler, who lived in Cyrinagur, as the capital of Cashmere was +called in the old times, used to go out frequently in the hard days +of winter, with his ass and his hatchet, to the woody hills above the +town, to collect fuel to keep his wife and his little family warm in +their cottage, while he hammered away in his stall. One day he happened +to light upon the tough stump of a brambly tree, which he attempted to +chop into small fragments; but his hatchet turning aside from the wood, +struck against a stone and was splintered. ‘No more chopping for you +to-day,’ said he, looking at his hatchet. ‘It was only yesterday you +came back from that lazy blacksmith, Kebeer, and now you must go again +to get a new edge. Why; how is this? It is not my own--the robber--he +has given me an old hatchet of copper, instead of my own bright steel, +which I have had all my life. I warrant me, I’ll have him before the +Cadi!’ + +“The cobbler, you must know, was but an ignorant old man; and so, +when he took the hatchet to Kebeer, the latter saw, with the eye of a +lynx, what had occurred. ‘Ah! very true,’ said he, ‘this hatchet is +not yours, it belongs to another customer, and was sent to you in a +mistake. I can’t find your own just now; but no matter, here is a new +one, take it and keep it, until I get you your own. By the by, it must +have been a very hard tree you were trying to cut, when you splintered +this in the way you have done. I should like to see it.’ + +“‘It was not the tree,’ said the cobbler, ‘as I told you before; but a +stone, against which it struck, when I missed the stump.’ + +“‘A stone, was it? Well, the hatchet you now have, will cut through +stone as well as wood.’ + +“The cobbler laughed heartily at the idea of a hatchet cutting a stone, +upon which Keeber said, ‘If you do not believe me, I’ll go with you +to-morrow morning to the place where you said you splintered this +old hatchet; and if, at the first blow, I don’t cut in two, with the +hatchet I have lent you, the identical stone you struck, I shall make +you a present of all the hatchets in my shop!’ + +“The cobbler laughed again and again, much more heartily than before; +well pleased to think how rich he should become, for the shop was full +of new hatchets; and how fortunate he was in dealing with so shallow a +fool. He then went away, saying that he would return the next morning +at day-break, and take the blacksmith to the very spot in the wood +where the stone was. + +“The cobbler could hardly sleep all night, for joy that he should +no longer have occasion to mend old shoes. He rose before dawn, and +hastening to the blacksmith’s shop, awoke him. They both went together +to the wood, and having reached the place where the half-chopped stump +still remained, the cobbler pointed out the stone. + +“‘Now give me the hatchet,’ said Kebeer. The cobbler placed it at +once in his hand. Kebeer, grasping the handle of the instrument with +both his hands, and raising it high above his head, struck the stone +with all his might. But, instead of splitting the stone, he broke the +hatchet in two, when both parts turned at once from a bright steel +colour to a deep yellow. The cobbler jumped about, transported with +gladness. He danced, and sung, and whistled, half mad with his joy, +that had no bounds. + +“‘Unhappy simpleton, that I am,’ exclaimed Kebeer, ‘to have made the +promise I have made--but it shall be kept. Go, take possession of my +shop, and all that it contains. I am too much ashamed of my folly ever +to shew myself there again. All my neighbours would laugh at me, and +say--there goes the ass, Kebeer! and they would make long ears with +their hands. I’ll betake me to some foreign country.’ + +“The cobbler did as he was told, and from that day he had no occasion +to mend shoes any more. + +“As soon, however, as the cobbler was out of sight, Kebeer picking +up the pieces of the broken hatchet, and uncovering the stone, which +was partly buried in the earth, he took it out of the ground, and +carefully concealed it under his jacket in the folds of his girdle. +He then hastened out of the wood, and proceeding towards the high +road, travelled into Hindostan, until he reached Lahore. He there +found no difficulty in selling the fragments of his hatchet, for they +were of the purest gold, the stone being the celebrated talisman that +could turn into gold all things it touched, which was possessed by a +Bengalese magician in the olden times--by him, after working numberless +miracles, buried, in a fit of anger, where the cobbler struck by +accident against it, and so discovered once more, after the lapse of +many thousand years. + +“Kebeer forthwith purchased a great quantity of iron, which he locked +up safely in a large storehouse; he then changed it into gold, but +when he beheld his growing riches, he began to fear that he should be +robbed. He, therefore, hired numbers of armed men, whom he clothed in +sumptuous coats of mail; and to whom, on the condition of guarding his +treasures, he assigned yearly pensions of such an amount, that some +of the greatest omrahs and rajahs, and many of the most learned and +illustrious men in the empire, were glad to be enrolled in his service. + +“Kebeer had now an ambition to found cities, and erect temples to the +gods, by whom he had been so highly favoured. Attended by his great +men, he went about travelling. One day, being in the province of +Guzerat, while he was standing on a lofty peninsula, that overlooked +the ocean, he beheld an eagle dive into the water. The bird, having +thus washed its body, returned to the land, and, perching on a rock, +made obeisance to the sea. Kebeer, astonished at this sight, consulted +his learned men, desiring to be informed why the eagle adored the waves. + +“One of these, who was acquainted with the language of birds, asked the +bird what it was to which he paid his homage. The eagle answered, that +while diving in the sea he had struck against the long-lost statue of +Sumnaut, the general judge of the dead, and that he, therefore, bowed +down before it. + +“Search having been made by expert divers, the precious image was +discovered, and Kebeer resolved, that there should be erected to the +honour of the god, on the summit of the peninsula, a temple, such as +human eye had never seen before. + +“Artificers in masonry and wood, in gold, silver, and ivory, having +been collected from all parts of the world, the temple was speedily +raised; since called, from its exceeding beauty and magnificence, the +Temple of the Sun. It is in the interior larger than the whole town +of Cyrinagur. Its walls are one hundred and fifty cubits high, and +nineteen cubits thick. There are three entrances to it; and, at one of +the entrances, are two figures of elephants, in white marble, each +with a man seated on his trunk. You would think they were living, +and about to move in another direction. At another entrance are two +surprising figures of horsemen, completely armed, and mounted on bronze +horses, of marvellous workmanship; at the third, is a figure of a dead +lion in brass, with two tigers, of the same material, standing over it, +as if about to devour the slain monarch of the forest. The wonder is, +that they do not devour it. + +“Over the temple is spread a dome of gold, in the interior of which the +sun is represented by a myriad of diamonds, that blaze in torch-light +like the day. Around it, in various kinds of precious stones, are the +planets, and many stars, the whole encircled by a wide border, in which +are minstrels, men kneeling in prayer, females dancing and beating +tambourines, horses racing against each other, warriors fighting, +wrestlers and gladiators, and birds and beasts, all most truly awful to +behold; for though they are plainly seen to be living, they are too far +off to be heard. + +“When that infidel warrior, Mahomet of Ghazni, invaded Guzerat, and +took possession of the peninsula of Sumnaut, he found that there were +assigned, for the support of the temple, two thousand villages, all +purchased by the blacksmith; three thousand priests were constantly +in attendance upon the shrine of the god, whose ancient golden image +remained unchanged; but in the interior of the figure he discovered +precious stones, deposited in it by Kebeer, to such an amount, that he +took them as an adequate ransom for the whole province which he had +captured, and quitted the country, leaving the temple untouched, and +also five hundred golden statues of inferior deities, by which Sumnaut +still remains surrounded.” + +“It must, indeed,” exclaimed Auzeem, “be a marvellous structure.” + +“Well, you may suppose that a man of such unbounded wealth became at +last anxious to enjoy repose, and to secure some place of strength, +where he might preserve himself and his treasure against any power +that might cause him fear. So returning to Cashmere, he fixed upon the +woody hills near Cyrinagur, where he found the talismanic stone. Upon +careful examination, they were found to be surrounded, on all sides, +by a chain of rocks, which he had fashioned, with great labour, like +a wall; immediately beneath it he caused a ditch to be excavated, into +which he led whole rivers, until the deep abyss was filled up, and then +the country about it, for a considerable distance, whether rock or +earth, he caused to be levelled, so that the fortress now resembles a +mountain in itself, starting up from a plain. It communicates with that +plain, only by a single bridge, which may be drawn up or let down, as +the people in the fortress may think fit. It contains within itself, +abundant wells of pure water, temples, castles, towers, houses of every +description, groves, gardens, fields, pastures, granaries, always +filled with provisions for five years, and when you see it, I think you +will say that the son of the portrait painter, if he tells the emperor +that he can take it by force, deserves to have his head lifted on a +pole for all his army to laugh at.” + +This intelligence was by no means pleasant to the ear of the imperial +pilgrim. He could not, however, forbear from inquiring what had become +of the talisman with which all these wonders had been wrought. + +“By the time the fortress was finished, as you may easily suppose, the +fortunate blacksmith had become a great sovereign, and had a harem full +of the most beautiful women, and many sons and daughters. Emperors and +kings from all parts came to his palace, among the rest, the sultan +of Burhanpour, who, upon beholding the exceeding beauty of Kebeer’s +eldest daughter, asked her hand in marriage for his son. The union +having been agreed upon, the sultan returned home, full of expectation +that the bride would be sent to Burhanpour, with a dowry such as the +world never saw before. She was, however, equipped in a very frugal +manner; but for her dowry, because she was Kebeer’s favourite daughter, +he presented her with a sealed purse of cloth of gold, in which was +contained the talismanic stone. He desired her to say to the monarch of +Burhanpour, when presenting him with the stone, that a single scruple +of it was worth, at the least, a hundred elephant-loads of gold. He +then explained to her its miraculous properties. + +“The princess, attended by a retinue of her father’s people, and an +ambassador, set out for Burhanpour, and proceeded as far as the river +Nerbuddah, within four days’ journey from that city. She was there +met by the sultan, with a numerous escort of his nobles, and sumptuous +tents were fitted up for her reception. Having made her the usual +presents of gold, and beautiful palanquins and horses, he was not a +little disappointed when, in return, the princess laid on the floor of +her tent only the sealed purse, containing, as she said, a jewel equal +in value to the revenue of a hundred provinces. The sultan, on opening +the bag, and perceiving nothing in it but what appeared to him to be an +ordinary stone, became angry, believing that it was intended by Kebeer +as a mark of his contempt for the sovereign of a district, not in +itself very wealthy. Taking up the stone indignantly, he flung it into +the river, and from the same spot sent back the princess to her father. + +“Kebeer, in return for this insult, contented himself with writing and +despatching a letter to the sultan of Burhanpour, in these words:--‘The +article which I sent thee by my daughter, and of which thou hadst +not the common sense to understand the value, would have produced +thee, every day, gold by the horse-load. But thou hast cast it into +the Nerbuddah, whence it can never more be recovered.’ You may well +imagine the grief of the foolish sultan, when he read this letter. He +immediately caused the bed of the river to be searched, but the stone +was never met with again.” + +“Except upon one occasion,” added Jehangire, “for I remember hearing +my father, Acbar, now in paradise, say, that when he set on foot an +expedition against a subsequent sultan of Burhanpour, one of the +elephants in the imperial train had a ponderous iron chain attached to +his fore-leg, as a check upon his furious and intractable temper. In +passing the Nerbuddah, the chain came in contact with something, which +must have been the very stone in question, that turned it into gold. +The circumstance was made known to the emperor, who employed a number +of people in searching the river for the talisman, but without success.” + +Chunder, lifting his withered hands to his eyes, rubbed them, as if +he had awoke from a lethargy, and gazing at the emperor, his mouth +distended with astonishment, knew not what apology to make for the +manner in which he had hitherto addressed the two pilgrims. Auzeem, +however, relieved him at once from his embarrassment on that point, and +lifting the old man from his mattress, desired him to conduct them to +the hermit’s tower. + + END OF VOLUME II. + + PRINTED BY STEWART AND MURRAY, OLD BAILEY. + + + + + TRANSCRIBERS’ NOTES + +A Table of Contents was created and added to the beginning of the text. + +Small caps have been changed to all caps. Italics have been marked with +_underline_. + +Minor typographical errors such as missing periods, commas used instead +of periods, etc. have been silently corrected. + +Spellings and punctuation reflecting period or local usage have been +retained as printed; however, probable printer’s errors have been +corrected. The corrections made are listed below: + +Page 21: “she had often pondered i th delight” changed to “she had +often pondered with delight” + +Page 144: “they would find it imposible to settle” changed to “they +would find it impossible to settle” + +Page 144: “the blessings of his gracions providence” changed to “the +blessings of his gracious providence” + +Page: 152: “the insterstices being filled with figures of birds engaged +in flight” changed to “the interstices being filled with figures of +birds engaged in flight” + +Page 188: “and ran foward eagerly to meet him” changed to “and ran +forward eagerly to meet him” + +Page 193: “with provisions o every kind” changed to “with provisions +of every kind” + +Page 288: “from he mulberry-tree” changed to “from the +mulberry-tree” + +Page 316: “mounted on a grey rabian courser” changed to “mounted on a +grey Arabian courser” + +Page 319: “as he suposed them to be” changed to “as he supposed them +to be” + +Page 329: “erected to th honour of the god” changed to “erected to the +honour of the god” + +Page 336: “lifting the ld man” changed to “lifting the old +man” + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78239 *** |