The uncultivated tracts in Guzerat are woody, and abound with tigers, leopards, hyenas, wolves, wild-hogs, and a variety of deer, elks, and antelopes, with those large brilliant eyes, so highly extolled in oriental poetry. The Persian and Arabian poets are extremely fond of alluding to these beautiful eyes, which, according to lady Wortley Montague's translation, "are black and lovely, but wild and disdainful as those of the stag:" this idea extends from the gazelle of Arabia to the rein-deer of Lapland, as we find in the songs of those northern regions. In the Song of songs, the enraptured monarch seems to prefer the "doves' eyes, which ravished his heart, as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set within the locks." But the gazelle, or antelope, is most probably alluded to by his enamoured princess, when she says, her beloved "cometh leaping over the mountains, and skipping upon the hills; like a roe, or a young hart he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice."

The more I saw of Guzerat, the more I admired its fertility and beauty: to both of which three noble rivers, the Taptee, the Nerbudda, and the Myhi, largely contribute; while the Sabermatty and many smaller streams, water its luxuriant plains. In the reign of Akbar the soubah of Guzerat contained nine sircars, or large districts, which were subdivided into one hundred and ninety-eight purgunnas, of which thirteen were sea-ports. The amount of revenue was forty-three crore, sixty-eight lacks, 2,301 dams, together with one lack, 62,628 dams of port duties; the whole being equivalent to sicca rupees 10,96,123,3,11. The measured lands in Guzerat exceeded one crore and sixty-nine

VOL. III.

lacks of beegahs, and it then mained 67,375 cavalry, and 8900 infantry.

I conclude this account of Guzerat, taken from the Ayeen Akbery, with a short extract from Abul Fazel's description of Hindostan in general. "The whole extent of this vast empire is unequalled for the excellency of its waters, salubrity of air, mildness of climate, and the temperate constitutions of the natives. Every part is cultivated and full of inhabitants, so that you cannot travel the distance of a coss without seeing towns and villages, and meeting with good water. Even in the depth of winter the earth and trees are covered with verdure; and in the rainy season the air is so delightfully pleasant, that it gives youthful vigour to old age."

"In the fortieth year of the reign of Akber, the imperial dominions consisted of one hundred and five sircars, or provinces, subdivided into two thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven koubahs or townships; the revenue of which he settled at sicca rupees, 9,0743881, 2, 5. The empire was then parcelled out into twelve grand divisions or soubahs, each of which was committed to the care of a soubahdar or viceroy; to which the sovereign of the world was pleased to add three more, which he had obtained by conquest, thus increasing the number to fifteen."

Such was the empire of Akber, and in all his vast domain no part in beauty and fertility exceeded the province of Guzerat, which still abounds with large commercial cities, the capitals of districts which, since the dismemberment of the Mogul empire, have become independent. Populous villages and a well-cultivated country enrich most of the purgunnas with crops of wheat, rice,

barley, and abundance of inferior grain; while cotton, indigo, and tobacco, amply repay the little trouble they occasion the farmer, by a ready sale at foreign markets.

Nature seems also to be peculiarly favourable to the animal tribes in Guzerat: the oxen are esteemed the finest in India; they are perfectly white, with black horns, a skin delicately soft, and eyes rivalling those of the antelope in brilliant lustre. The oxen reared in the northern part of the province are noble animals, superior in strength, size, and docility; some of them travel with a hackery from thirty to forty miles a day, and are yoked to the carriages of the wealthy Hindoos in distant parts of India. I had a very fine pair of these white oxen, in spirit, size, and beauty, equal to most I ever saw in Guzerat; and in sweetness of temper and gentleness of manners nearly approaching the elephant formerly described in Ragobah's campaign. With these animals I travelled many thousand miles in the delightful province of Guzerat. The Ayeen Akbery mentions some of these oxen valued at one hundred gold mohurs the pair, a sum nearly equal to two hundred pounds sterling; the common price at that period was from ten to twenty mohurs a pair; while at the same time the usual price of a good cow, yielding daily twenty quarts of milk, was only ten rupees, or twenty-five shillings, in the beast-market at Delhi. A smaller breed of these animals is employed in the province in agriculture, and the transportation of merchandize. There is also a variety of inferior in size, strength, and value, reared in different parts of Guzerat for the same purposes; these are of all colours, and with the usual characteristics of the species in other parts of Hindostan.

Horses in India are seldom employed for the pack or draft; a great number are bred in different parts of Guzerat to supply the cavalry of the respective governments; those of Cutch and Cottyawar are in high estimation, but the best horses are brought to India from Arabia, Persia, and Tartary; from the two former the trading vessels sometimes import mules of a large size, which are very serviceable animals, and far more hardy than the fine breed of horses brought from the same country. Many horses of various descriptions are bred in the Deckan and the northern provinces of Hindostan, all of which are sure to find purchasers at the courts of princes, and especially in the Mahratta armies. The horses of Thibet are a peculiar race, generally pied, not exceeding the English galloways in size, natural amblers, and much valued as pads.

Such were the animal and vegetable productions of the country through which we were now travelling. If the government of Mohman Caun, nabob of Cambay, was discouraging and oppressive, I am sorry to say there was no amelioration for the peasantry when we left his purgunna and entered the Mahratta dominions. Whether the districts were under the immediate government of delegates from the peshwa at Poonah, or ruled by different branches of the Guicawar sovereigns in Guzerat, the evils of despotism every where prevailed; the rapacity of venal and corrupt zemindars was felt in every village, and left the wretched inhabitants no choice of masters. Little as the poor ryot of India knows of a comfortable home, that little is most cruelly infringed by rapacious harpies of every description.

The nearer we approached the capital the more we traced the former splendor and magnificence of the moguls: ruined palaces,

gardens, and mausoleums, which once adorned the country, now add a striking and melancholy feature to its desolation; these are conspicuous in every village in the campagna of Ahmedabad, and form a striking contrast to the mud cottages and thatched hovels of the Mahrattah peasantry.

On our arrival at Betwah, or Puttowah, which we were told had once formed a part of the suburbs of Ahmedabad (but was now a detached village five miles from the city walls), we were conducted to a large square, containing several mahomedan tombs and grand mausoleums; some were of white marble, others of stone, covered with the finest stucco, white as alabaster, and exquisitely polished. The domes were supported by elegant columns, their concaves richly ornamented, and the tessellated marble pavement beautifully arranged, vied with those of ancient Rome in the museum at Portici; the tracery in the windows resembled the Gothic specimens in European cathedrals; and the small cupolas which cover each tomb are of fine marble, curiously inlaid with fruit and flowers, in festoons of ivory, mother-of-pearl, cornelians, onyxes, and precious stones, as neat as in European snuff-boxes. The small tombs in the centre of the building are adorned with palls of gold and silver stuff, strewed with jessamin and mogrees, and hung round with ostriches' eggs and lamps, which are kept continually burning by the fakeers and dervises maintained there for that purpose.

Near most of the mahomedan cities in Asia are these extensive cemeteries (none being allowed within the walls) containing a number of beautiful temples, sometimes supported by pillars and open