[Khossrou's Capture]

I shall now return to the circumstances of the pursuit of the fugitive Khoss­rou. On Tuesday the tenth of Zilhudje,* we encamped at the station of Houdel, Sheikh Fereid the Bokharian still keeping in advance with a body of light cavalry. I was now induced to appoint Meir Moezz-ul-moulk, in consideration of his long and faithful attachment, to take charge of the important castle of Agrah, together with the treasure accumulated therein, in the room of Khaujah Jahaun. I gave orders at the same time that my sons who continued unshaken in fidelity should follow me without delay: for I had lost all confidence in years; and friendship and disunion had with me far greater weight than labour and fatigue, now that dire necessity had forced me into an absence of which I could not see the end, from my friends and all I loved.

On Thursday the twelfth of the same month our camp was at Feridabad, and on Friday the thirteenth* we reached Dehly, where I dismounted in the first instance at the tomb of my grandfather the Emperor Homayûn, doing homage to the immortal spirit of that illustrious monarch. I also gave to the surrounding poor the sum of thirty thousand rupees in alms, distributing both the money and pieces of cloth for vesture with my own hands. I proceeded thence to the grave of Sheikh Nizam-ud-dein Aoulia, intrusting the sum of fifty thousand rupees to Ameir Jamaul-ud-dein Anjû, and twenty thousand more to Hakeim Muzuffer, to be distributed among the indigent classes in the vicinity of the tomb. At this crisis I found it expedient to despatch orders to Ahmedabad, requiring that what was due upon the revenue of Gûjerat should be stated to Rajah Bikramajit; and the balance, after defraying the expenses of the youzbashies (or captains of fifties), specially accounted for to the imperial treasury.

On Saturday the fourteenth of Zilhudje my encampment was the caravan­serai of Beirah, which had been burnt down and abandoned by the fugitive Khossrou. Here I advanced Aga Moulla from the class of one thousand and the quota of one hundred and fifty horse, to that of fifteen hundred; and I delivered to Jemeil Beg the Badakhshanian the sum of one lak of five-methkaly ashrefies,* to be divided among the men of his tribe, encouraging them at the same time with abundant hopes for the future: for these men were not yet quite at ease from their apprehensions, derived from recent refractory and rebel­lious proceedings. I further ordered for Rajah Maun Sing the sum of fifty thousand rupees for distribution at Adjmeir, among the derveishes ministering round the resting-place of Mûeyen-ud-dein Chisti, and on Monday the six­teenth of the month we arrived at Pânipet.

This town has always been propitious to the fortune of the house of Teymûr, seeing that my father Akbar obtained two signal and decisive victories in the neighbourhood. The victory of my grandfather Homâyûn over Sûltan Ibrauhim Lody the Afghan, was also achieved on the plains of Pânipet. I shall here relate acircumstance which led to this latter victory.

Sekunder Lody, the son of Behlawel the Afghan and father of Ibrauhim, had appointed Doulet Khaun, the son of Tatar Khaun, governor of Pânipet, and the latter on the death of Sekunder Lody becoming the object of some jealousy and alarm to Ibrauhim, had been summoned to Dehly, the seat of government of the newly established monarch. But suspecting that there was some design in agita­tion that threatened his safety, Doulet Khaun contrived to evade the summons by delay, and sent his son Dillawer Khaun to appear in his stead. Finding this, Ibrauhim wrote to inform Dillawer, that if his father did not instantly appear at court he would infallibly be overtaken by the same punishment as had already befallen certain other refractory ameirs whom it was unnecessary to name. Dillawer Khaun did not fail to communicate this threatening message to his father; and the latter transmitting for answer that it did not exactly suit him to go to Dehly, immediately fled to Kabûl, where he joined the standard of my grandfather. It was in consideration of certain circumstances derived from this event that I raised Ibrauhim Khaun Gaugur to the highest rank and the title of Dillawey Khaun.*

However this may be, had Seyed Kamaul, the son of Seyed Hamid the Bokharian, been at Pânipet on the present occasion, instead of Dillawer Khaun, the unhappy Khossrou would never have succeeded in continuing his flight beyond that place: for so fatigued, harassed, and exhausted was he with hard riding and severe marches, and so discouraged his followers from the continual alarms of my rapid pursuit, that they were altogether in equal dismay and despair: add to this that my armies were closing round him on every side, in conse­quence of instructions early despatched by my orders. In the end, nevertheless, Dillawer Khaun Gaugur fully atoned for his error in quitting Pânipet, for hastening by forced marches to Lahour, he prevented that city from falling into the hands of Khossrou, as did Seyed Kamaul also in the subsequent action with Khossrou, as will be hereafter shewn.

At Pânipet, having been furnished with a litter,* through the assistance of the kroury, or collector, Khossrou had been enabled to continue his flight, and Dillawer Khaun proceeding with his utmost expedition from the same place, failed not to apprize all he met with of the force that was approaching under the fugitive. Abdurraihman, the diwan, or chancellor, of the Punjaub, receiving from Dillawer Khaun intelligence of the approach of Khossrou, threw a garrison of eight thousand horse and foot into the castle of Lahour, and proceeded with a considerable body of troops to meet the fugitive prince, at whose feet however he immediately cast himself. For this act of treason and perfidy he received from Khossrou, with the title of Melek Anwar, the appointment of lieutenant-general under his ephemeral government. The perpetration of such a deed of atrocious ingratitude was however visited after the defeat of Khossrou with its just reward: for having been taken prisoner, I caused him to be sewed up in the raw skin of a black-coloured ass, and in that guise he was led about the streets and bazars of Lahour; until, through compassion for a numerous family of defenceless children, I prevailed upon myself to pardon his crimes and spare his life. For offences of this description there is, indeed, but little room for mercy; yet such is the tenderness of my disposition, there are few instances in which I do not rejoice at any sort of feasible plea for the exercise of this benevolent quality. There are, however, two offences in particular which those intrusted with the exercise of sovereign authority can never pardon: treason against the state, and treachery in the harram.

On Tuesday the seventeenth of Zilhudje, while at Karnaul, I conferred upon Aeid or Eidy Khaujah the rank of an ameir of two thousand, and I bestowed upon Sheikh Nozamm of Tahnaser the donation of six thousand rupees. Here it was communicated to me that an ordinary shop-keeper was going about per­suading the people that he could shew them the Supreme Being in corporal substance, or in other words that he could exhibit the Creator to mortal vision;* and that he had contrived to impose upon vast numbers by his strange and im­pious discourses. Having failed in his attempt to seduce my understanding to the same absurd and impious speculation, I banished him from Hindustaun with permission to proceed to Mekkah.

On Thursday the nineteenth of the month,* we encamped at Shahabad, where we experienced the want of water to a very distressing degree. In prayer I lifted up my hands to heaven, and most providentially it so happened that on the self­same day there occurred a most copious fall of rain, which afforded to the assembled multitude which composed the army the most seasonable and abundant supply of that most valuable of blessings. A just estimate of the value of this most precious of the elements can indeed only be adequately formed in the midst of numerous armies; where instances have frequently occurred, in which men, who on ordinary occasions could scarcely be satisfied to drink of the crystal spring, have been known to swallow deep draughts impregnated with the most loathsome impurities, with as much satisfaction as if it were the very water of life. Nay, to the proudest monarchs on earth occasions have occurred, in which the weight in diamonds has been offered in vain for a draught of the precious beverage.

I can, in fact, adduce an instance in point which occurred immediately to myself, and it happened the first time in which I accompanied my father Akbar on one of his excursions into the valley of Kashmeir. Delighted with scenes of verdure and beauty not to be met with in the plains of Hindustaun, we had en­tered the mountain pass of Peirentehaul, when I lost sight of my attendants at a moment when I experienced the pressure of hunger in the extreme. In vain I sought for food or fruit, or drink—neither groom, nor cup-bearer, nor slave of any description was to be found in the midst of the multitude which thronged the narrow passes almost to suffocation.

I was, as I have said, labouring under the pressure of extreme hunger, and had made my way through the throng for a short distance, when I observed a few sheep which belonged to Assof Khaun. Instantly dismounting I seized one of the animals by the throat, and causing it to be slaughtered, desired that a kabaub (or fry) might be immediately prepared of the flesh, in order to allay the hunger which devoured me. At the moment I am writing these lines I am arrived at the age of forty years, and 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 this carcase of a stray sheep. I thus experienced what it was to be without the means at hand of appeasing hunger and allaying thirst; and my attendants were therefore instructed, whether on a march or on a hunting party, hereafter never to be without the case, canteri, or basket of refreshments. But while we remained in Kashmeir, neither the Khaun Khanan nor myself ever went unprovided with cakes of bread at least about our own persons. I cannot omit to mention that on this occasion it was stated by the Kashmirians that whenever blood was shed within the pass of Peirentehaul, whether of men or other animals, so that loss of life was the result, some awful convulsion of nature invariably ensued. I can only add that I never witnessed any thing that furnished the slightest confirmation of such a fact.

At the same encampment near Shahabad I conferred the office Meir Adil (or minister of justice) on Sheikh Ahmed Lahoury. He had held the same office under me previous to my accession, and I had never forgotten his services: and he had indeed received his education under my patronage; for of youths of this description, whether as journalists, or otherwise employed, I had as my wards or disciples not less than sixty-six in number. All of these were instructed to be governed implicitly by certain rules of duty arranged for their observation. Of these we shall particularize the following:

In the disposal of their time they were never to be the dupes of their adversaries. Always to put their trust in the author of existence; always to commit them­selves to the shield and protection of their Creator. Never with their own hands to be the death of any having life, excepting in the field of battle or the chase. Always to reverence the light as the abode of the glory and power of the Su­preme Being. To consider all nature as bearing the impression of his Omnipo­tent Divinity. Always to keep in check the faculties of the mind. Never for a moment to be unmindful of God. In all undertakings to be governed by this impression—to do nothing without having him in remembrance.

In these maxims of mental discipline, my father, whose abode is now in para­dise, and who in every thing has been my example and instructor, was pre­emi-nently perfect, making them ever the stedfast rules of his conduct, whether in his closet or his court. Neither am I myself less persuaded, that to have a sincere remembrance, and a just reliance on him who is the friend of all who serve him, is better than the professional sacrifices made in pretended devotion to him, while the imagination is intoxicated with the absurd vanities of this changeful world. Such, indeed, was the unwearied piety of that excellent prince, that I do not think the world ever furnished the example of its like; for from night to morning he was ever engaged, for the greater part, in meditation on the goodness of his Creator; in telling his praises by his revolving beads, and in prostrations before the throne of his eternal power. In his instructions, also, he never failed to inculcate, that if I were desirous of surmounting the difficulties of life, with ease to myself and satisfaction to others, I would neither rejoice nor place any reliance on any other than Him,* who is the cherishing principle of all creation. [The couplets are omitted which he describes as often repeated to him by his father.]

On Saturday the 21st of Zelhudje,* I encamped at the station of Anwund (or perhaps Anund), where I conferred upon Aeil Beg the Ouzbek the title of Bahauder Khaun, and thence despatched him with fifty-seven Ameirs and Mûn­sebdaurs, from the order of one thousand to five thousand inclusive, to the sup­port of Sheikh Fereid, who, with the advanced division, continued to precede us some distance in front. At the same time, I remitted to Sheikh Fereid the sum of ten laks of rupees,* equivalent to three thousand tomauns of Irâk, in order to defray his expenses in entertaining the same Bahauder Khaun, together with Jemmeil Beg the Badakhshanian, Shereif Ammole, and the other dignitaries; thus encouraging them, with an united object in view, to press vigorously upon the rebels, and accelerate those reports of success and victory which they were to transmit to my presence.

On the 24th of the month,* having obtained information that my triumphant banners had made their appearance in pursuit, certain of the most determined of Khossrou’s generals received his permission to give battle. Sheikh Fereid on his part also bravely advanced his standard, at the foot of which he stood prepared for the attack. Bahauder Khaun above mentioned, to whom with my own hand I had devolved the sovereignty of Badakhshaun, and whom I knew to be a veteran and experienced soldier, proceeded to draw out his troops in order of battle; and having formed his army in three columns or divisions, with one of these he advanced directly upon the front of the enemy, while the two other divisions assailed them in flank. The action then commenced, and continued with suffi­cient obstinacy and considerable slaughter on both sides, until, of Khossrou’s four principal generals, two betook themselves to flight, and the two others, with a thousand prisoners, were delivered alive into my hands. These I condemned to various punishments: some to be flayed alive, some to carry wooden yokes about their necks, others to be drawn through the river, and others to be trampled to death by my elephants. Those who escaped from the field wounded, conveyed themselves, heart-broken and harassed with dismay and terror, to the presence of Khossrou.

This same day reports repeatedly came in regarding the siege of the castle of Lahour, from which it became known that the garrison and the people of the town had embraced the same interest, and entered into engagements of mutual support. In these circumstances Hussun Beg Badakhshany represented to Khossrou that the people of Lahour were throwing open the doors of the impe­rial treasury, and were squandering the contents by extravagant donatives to the gunners who had made successful use of their pieces, independently of what was due to them as their regular pay; it being the design of this man, by persuading Khossrou to the pillage of Lahour, to involve him in irrevocable hostility, the city being indeed inhabited by men abounding in wealth and property of every description. Too easily misled by these insidious suggestions, and buoyed up by his expectations, that the plunder of the place would give him a treasury full to the skies, Khossrou gave instant orders that the gates should be closed; and the unhappy city was thus, for seven days, delivered up to ruthless and indiscriminate pillage, the children of the wealthy inhabitants being seized on as hostages, and cast into prison.

The blood-stained banditti now set fire to one of the gates of the castle, which, it is here observed, together with the town is entered by twelve principal gates and four sally-ports. In the mean time Dillawer Khaun, with Hûs­seyne Beg, who at present holds an employment in my household, Nour-ud-dein Kûly, the Kotwaul (or prefect of police), and others engaged in his support, hastened to defend the gate from within, the enemy not yet having succeeded in setting it on fire, the people from the inside incessantly pouring water upon it. By these means the wood-work of the gate being prevented from taking fire, the confidence of the enemy began to droop; and Nour-ud-dein Kûly, ascending the ramparts of the citadel, opened such a discharge of artillery and rockets from the walls and towers, as must have rendered the situation of the plunderers both hazardous and irksome in a very great degree.

The generals of Khossrou, not less than his troops, now despairing of the capture of the castle, and assailed by accumulating rumours of the approach of the imperial armies, began to perceive the folly of the treasons by which they had so deeply committed themselves; neither could they venture to foresee the moment at which, instead of laying siege to others, they should not be them­selves besieged. All was now consternation, in which, nevertheless, setting their minds on battle and death, it was resolved, with one hundred and twelve thousand horse, which they had contrived to collect together, to make at night a bold and simultaneous attack upon my camp.

With this magnificent design in view, on Tuesday the 24th of Zilhudje, be­tween the hours of evening prayer and supper-time, they abandoned the siege of the castle of Lahour, and withdrew from before the city altogether. On the evening of Thursday the 26th,* while at the serâi of Rhaujush Ally, intelli­gence was brought to me, that after raising the siege of Lahour, Khossrou, with about twenty thousand men, had gone off no one knew whither; and this awaken­ing the greatest anxiety lest he might, after all, be able to elude my pursuit, I instantly gave orders to march, although there was at the time a heavy and incessant fall of rain. The same day I crossed the river of Goundwaul, and encamped at Dowaul.

It was on Thursday the 26th, about noon, that Sheikh Fereid succeeded in interrupting the march of Khossrou, and thus found himself at last in presence of the enemy. At this moment, at Sûltanpour, I had just seated myself, and was about to eat of some parched wheat, which was brought me by Moezz-ul-moulk, when intelligence was communicated to me of the situation of Sheikh Fereid, and that he was actually engaged with the troops of Khossrou. Having swal­lowed a single mouthful for good luck, I instantly called for and mounted my horse, and consigning myself entirely to the protection of God’s providence, without suffering myself to be delayed by any concern for an array of battle, or being able to furnish myself at the moment with any other arms than my sword and a javelin, I gave the reins to my horse, and hastened towards the scene of the conflict. I had however about my person more than ten thousand horse, although none were apprised that they were that day to be led to battle. Neither was it indeed in strict conformity with the rules of military discipline, to engage in conflict with numbers so inferior, however favoured by Providence, the troops being, in fact, much disheartened by the contemplation of their manifest disparity. I endeavoured to remove these impressions, by directing the Bukh­shies to order the whole army forward to our support without delay, and making generally known the crisis at which we were arrived. By the time I reached Goundwaul, accordingly, my force had amounted to twenty thousand horse and fifty thousand camel-mounted gunners or matchlockmen, all of whom I now for­warded to the support of Sheikh Fereid.

Things were at this perilous crisis when I thought it advisable to despatch Meir Jummaul-ud-dein Hûsseyne with a message to Khossrou, intreating that he would retrace his steps in time, and to beware of the awful responsibility to which he was exposing himself for the blood of such untold thousands of God’s creatures. From this, though himself well-inclined to repair to my presence, he was however withheld by the counsels of the desperate and turbulent profli­gates by whom he was surrounded; and the reply which he conveyed to me through Jummaul-ud-dein imported, that having proceeded so far, there was no alternative but the sword; and that God Almighty would doubtless give the crown to that head which he knew to be most worthy of the empire.

When this presumptuous reply from Khossrou was communicated to me by Meir Jummaul-ud-dein, I sent to announce to Sheikh Fereid that there was no longer room for deliberation, and that he was at once to attack the main body of the rebels. These orders were carried into execution without a moment’s delay. The attack commenced on one side from Bahauder Khaun the Ouzbek, at the head of thirty thousand horse in cotton mail, and twenty thousand camel-mounted matchlockmen; while Sheikh Fereid with a body-guard of chosen warriors rushed upon the enemy on the other. The army of Khossrou, on this occasion, consisted altogether of two hundred thousand horse and camel-mounted matchlockmen; the former clad in the same description of quilted mail as worn by the troops of Bahauder Khaun. The battle commenced at the close of the second watch of the day, and continued until sunset. The providence of God and the fortune of the empire being on my side, the result was a trium­phant day for me: for when thirty thousand of the enemy had bitten the dust, the remainder discontinued all resistance and quitted the field in dismay.

Bahauder Khaun came, as it happened, to the very spot where Khossrou, having dismounted from his horse, had seated himself on a litter, conceiving that in the tumult and confusion of the pursuit he might possibly be able to escape without being known. Bahauder Khaun caused him however to be immediately surrounded by his troops, and Sheikh Fereid arriving also on the spot, Khossrou no longer perceiving the smallest outlet for escape, and that he must be overtaken without alternative, quitted the singhassun (or covered litter) on which he lay concealed, and announced to Sheikh Fereid that all further force was unnecessary, as he was, of his own accord, on the way to throw him­self at his father’s feet.

I call God to witness, that while at Goundwaul, at this perilous crisis, I expe­rienced some strong forebodings that Khossrou was coming to my presence; but Jummaul-ud-dein Hûsseyne did not hesitate to express considerable doubt that Sheikh Fereid would that night be able to repulse the enemy, since, as he said, he had with his own eyes ascertained that Khossrou had with him a force of more than two hundred thousand fighting men. In this sort of discussion we were engaged when it was announced that Sheikh Fereid was victorious, and that Khossrou was his prisoner. Still incredulous of the joyful event, Jummaul-ud-dein dismounted from his horse, and throwing himself at my feet, persisted in the declaration, that although my imperial fortune indicated all that was propitious, still he could not yet give credit to the report. Every doubt was removed, however, a little afterwards, when Khossrou on his litter, accompanied by his general of artillery, was conducted into my presence.

Both Sheikh Fereid and Bahauder Khaun had conducted themselves on this trying occasion with distinguished ability and valour, and I immediately advanced the latter to the order of five thousand, with the insignia of the drum and standard, and a present of horses with enriched caparisons, confer­ring upon him, moreover, the government of Kandahaur. Sheikh Fereid had previously possessed the rank of an Ameir of two thousand, and I now promoted him to that of four thousand. Seyf Khaun, the son of Seyed Mahmoud, had also greatly distinguished himself, having received not less than seventeen wounds in different parts of the body. Seyed Jullaul received a mortal wound in the upper region of the heart, of which he died a few days afterwards. He was of a distinguished family among the Afghans.

Seyed Hullaul and his brother, two of Khossrou’s generals, terror-stricken by the din of the imperial kettle-drums, fled in consternation from the field at the very commencement of the action. Nearly four hundred heads of tribes, Owimauk, were sent to perdition in the conflict, and about seven hundred were brought from different quarters prisoners to my presence. The jewel-chest of Khossrou, containing jewels to the value of nearly two krour of five-methkaly ashrefies,* fell into the hands of some persons who were never discovered.

In the course of the same Thursday I entered the castle of Lahour, where I took up my abode in the royal pavilion built by my father on this principal tower, from which to view the combats of elephants. Seated in the pavilion, having directed a number of sharp stakes to be set up in the bed of the Rauvy, I caused the seven hundred traitors who had conspired with Khossrou against my authority to be impaled alive upon them. Than this there cannot exist a more excruciating punishment, since the wretches exposed frequently linger a long time in the most agonizing torture, before the hand of death relieves them; and the spectacle of such frightful agonies must, if any thing can, operate as a due example to deter others from similar acts of perfidy and treason towards their benefactors.

As the imperial treasury remained at Agrah, and it seemed inconsistent with good policy, in so early a stage of my authority, to continue long among the disaffected hypocrites at Lahour, I now quitted that place on my return to the metropolis, leaving the unhappy Khossrou a prey to the visitations of shame and remorse, in the custody of Dillawer Khaun, who had instructions to watch over him with unremitting vigilance. A son ought, indeed, always to be considered as the stay of monarchy; to continue therefore in a state of disunion and hostility with such would be to sap the foundations of its prosperity. Never have I permitted myself, either in this or any other instance, to be misled by injudicious counsels; my proceedings, as far as they were under my control, being ever governed by the dictates of my own reason and my own experience; constantly have I borne in mind the observation of that best of guides, my father, that there were two things of permanent utility to the sons of sovereign princes, prudence and fidelity in availing yourself of opportunities; the one indispensable to the preservation of sovereign power, and the other to the main­tenance of a course of good fortune. But, too frequently, felicity in promoting a career of prosperity is found extremely inconstant; after a very limited period it slips through our fingers never to return.

But to resume the narrative. On the twenty-sixth of the month of Suffur, of the year one thousand and fifteen,* I returned to the metropolis of Agrah. I cannot omit to describe that, in sorrow for his past misconduct, the unhappy Khossrou neither ate nor drank for the space of three days and three nights, which he consumed in tears and groans, hunger and thirst, and all those tokens of deep repentance, peculiar only to those on earth who have sustained the character of prophets and saints, but who have nevertheless found that a slight daily repast was still necessary to the support of life. It may be superfluous to remark, that an abstinence carried to the extremity of an entire fast for three days and three nights together, would inevitably have sent them on the fourth day to the bosom of mercy.*

[Of a certain Kalujen or Kumbujen, it is impossible to ascertain which, the imperial narrator proceeds to state as follows:]

In zeal, and diligence, and attention to the duties of his trust, he far surpassed his father. By night and by day he was unremitting in his attendance; wet or dry, rain or fair, leaning upon his staff, he would continue to read to me from night to morn. Neither did he discontinue his practice even when forming one of the suite on my hunting parties. For these services I had previous to my accession conferred upon him the order of one thousand horse, and I subsequently advanced him to that of two thousand. He is now, however, from his increasing corpulence, become in a great degree incapable of discharging the duties of his office with the activity which formerly distinguished him. I shall here remark, in passing, that kings do not look so much to the persons of men as to their ser­vices; and exactly in proportion as these latter improve in merit, so will be the advancement in favour, wealth, and dignity.

On the first day of every month, it was the rule with my father to set the ex­ample to his ameirs by discharging his musket, and this was followed by the whole train, from the highest dignitary to the lowest stipendiary enrolled in the service of the state, whether cannonier or matchlockman. But this discharge of artillery and musquetry never occurred but on that single occasion; unless, of course, in battle. In imitation of the same example I have continued the prac­tice, a shot from my gun Droostandauz being followed by one from every indi­vidual in my armies, high or low. In short, the teffung, or matchlock-gun, is a weapon so unerring in its effects, has cost so much thought and skill in the inven­tion, that an army preceded by fifty thousand camels, mounted by a force of this description, may be considered equal to the achievement of any undertaking whatever. I shall here further observe, that there are at present employed in the pay of the state, either immediately about my person, or that may be assembled at the very shortest notice, nearly five hundred thousand matchlockmen, either on foot or mounted on camels, independently of those engaged in defence of the different fortresses, great cities, and other places, throughout the empire, which do not fall far short of thirty lacs, or three millions of men similarly armed; not including ordnance on the works of the numerous fortifications, some of which latter pieces require a charge of fifty and sixty maunns Hindûstauny of powder and ball.

At the period when I took my departure from Lahour for Agrah, on the occa­sion recently described, it happily occurred to me to direct that the different zemindaurs (or landholders) on that route, should plant at every town and village, and every stage and halting-place, all the way from Lahour to Agrah, mulberry, and other large and lofty trees affording shade, but particularly those with broad leaves and wide-spreading branches, in order that to all time to come the way­worn and weary traveller might find under their shadow repose and shelter from the scorching rays of the sun during the summer heats. I ordered, moreover, that spacious serrâis, choultries, or places of rest and refreshment, substantially built of brick or stone, so as to be secure against early decay, should be erected at the termination of every eight kôsse,* for the whole distance, all provided with baths, and to every one a tank or reservoir of fresh water: a certain number of attendants was also allotted to every serrâi, for the purpose of sweeping and keep­ing clean, and in other respects to take care of them. And, lastly, at the passage of every river, whether large or small, convenient bridges were erected, so that the industrious traveller might be enabled to pursue his objects without obstruction or delay.

In the same manner, all the way from Agrah to Bengal, a distance altogether of six months’ journey, at similar intervals trees have been planted and serrâis erected, the former of which have already grown to such a size as to afford abundant shade. And more than this, many benevolent individuals, emulous of evincing their zeal in promoting my views, have at different stages laid out spacious gardens and plantations, containing every description of fruit tree; so that at the period at which I am writing, any one desirous of travelling to any quarter of my dominions, will find at convenient distances spacious buildings for his accommodation, and a refreshing supply of fruit and vegetables for his recreation; in so much, indeed, that he might be led to declare that he is a stranger to the fatigues of travelling.

Of a surety, these are the things of which the effects will be found beneficial both now and hereafter. Acts of this kind will sanctify our descent into the silent grave; will constitute our memorial in the world of the benefits derived from us to our fellow-creatures. But with all this, we are not to exalt ourselves with the thought that the germ of vigilance is inherent in our nature, nor that faculty of foresight combined with humility in individuals of the stock of Adam, while the mind is so polluted with worldly gratifications, that not a methkal of gold or silver can be extracted for the purpose of being devoted to religious uses or the cause of God.*