The Customs of the Moghools.

The regulations or customs of the Moghools may be comprised in the following words:—That all orders of the Khan shall be implicitly obeyed. —It is to be remarked here, that the language of their commands and letters is always plain and simple; they despise all literary ornament, and reject forms and titles. They are much attached to hunting, and consider it the most honourable of all exercises and amusements; and when the winter approaches, they make a general hunting expedition into the desert. On these occasions, they first send hunters to examine where the game is most abundant, and then assemble their troops in the order of battle before described. They then enclose an immense space of ground, sometimes twenty days journey in extent: the king himself, with his wives, and a good store of provisions, then proceed to the field, and the whole close in gradually upon the game, so as to prevent its escape; and should any notwithstand­ing escape, the ameers and their servants are punished: also, should the circle be broken or irregular, they are punished. When they arrive close to each other, they lay hold of each other’s hands; and when they approach nearer, they stand back to back and knee to knee. In the midst of of this circle is the game: the king first, with his particular friends, kill some of these with their arrows, and after that his sons and ameers, con­formably to their rank. When the king returns, the rest of the game is given up to the soldiers.— Their object in this hunting excursion, however, is not the game, but to exercise their troops in horse­manship and archery, and to teach them to be steady and cautious in the field of battle. This custom exists among the Moghools to the present day.