then made it over to our ally, the ranah of Gohud; he remained in possession of it near two years, when Mhadajee Sindia, who meditated the ranah's destruction for his attachment to the English interest, commenced a siege, which, having continued seven months with very little effect, he contrived to tamper with Mootee Mul, a man who had been useful to Captain Popham, and at his recommendation promoted by the rajah to a post of distinction. He was at that time of so much consequence in Gwalier, (the ranah being absent) as to share equally in the administration with the rance, or queen, and a nephew of the ranah. Mhadajee Sindia, by bribery and intrigue, having gained over this man, contrived to have several interviews with the traitor, which were not so secretly managed as to prevent the intelligence reaching the ranah. The indignant prince immediately wrote to the ranee, who constantly resided in the fort, to take measures for Mootee Mull being cut off. This letter being intercepted fell into his hands, and instead of answering the intended purpose, only accelerated the completion of his perfidy. He communicated the discovery to Mhadajee Sindia, urging him not to lose a moment in assisting his treacherous designs. Two battalions instantly marched from his camp to that of the works commanded by the traitor, and entered the garrison without losing a man; these were followed by the main body of the army. Two thousand of the garrison went over to Mootee Mull, three thousand more, seized with a panic at this sudden turn of affairs, either fled or laid down their arms; six hundred only remained firmly attached to the ranee, who shewed the greatest magnanimity and firmness on the occasion. At length five hundred and fifty of these brave fellows being cut to pieces,

the other fifty rallied round the heroine and performed prodigies of valour. All proving of no avail, the ranee retired into an inner apartment of the palace with her attendants, where having locked the door, she set fire to the building, and perished in the flames. Sindia, now master of Gwalier, marched to attack the ranah in his capital of Gohud, from whence he fled for refuge to the rajah of Caroulee, at a considerable distance. He afterwards unfortunately fell into the power of his enemy, and loaded with chains, drags on a miserable existence in the fort of Gwalier.

We left Gwalier before day-break on the 5th of May, and proceeded towards Agra, through a country so completely depopulated, that in passing near several large ruined villages, we only now and then saw a poor half-starved being peeping through a wretched hovel, hardly able to screen them from the intense heat. A good road, soon brought us to Nourabad, where is the handsomest bridge I have yet seen in India, a large serai, well paved, and beautified by several small domes and minarets; also the tomb of Cunnah Begum, wife of that notorious delinquent and fugitive Ghazyul-din Khan, who died on the road, and was buried under a tree not far from the town, until her mother sent a thousand rupecs to have her body removed, and interred in a manner more suitable to her former rank. It is now deposited under the mausoleum of one of the ancient kings in the centre of a garden.

The river Saunk runs by Nourabad, in a broad and full stream. About four miles further we crossed another considerable river, called Afsan, and halted at Choonda, a small village on the opposite side, where we pitched our tents for the night, and the next

morning marched sixteen miles to the village Keytree, on the banks of the Chumbel, by far the broadest of any river we have yet seen, except the Nerbudda, though the stream was at this season narrow and shallow. The road was generally good, the country very little cultivated, and as we approached the river often cleft into deep ravines and immense hollows. We saw a few tolerable villages, and overtook a large caravan of oxen, laden with grain for Sindia's army, a detachment of which we found encamped near our ground. The banks of the Chumbel, intersected by immense gullies, with the general inequality of the ground, gives the landscape a wild and singular appearance. In a short excursion from our camp we saw several wolves, deer, and hares, and on our march overtook six fine brass field-pieces on their way to Sindia, said to have been cast at Gwalier; and met several larger guns proceeding with a considerable force from Sindia's army against the Ragoghur rajah.

On the 7th we marched thirteen miles. Proceeding at dawn of day through a broken country and a heavy sandy road, we reached Dolepoor, the residence of Mahomed Beg Humdannee, a jaghiredar under Sindia, and a principal actor in the commotions which caused the present change of affairs in the Mogul empire. The town is large, has many public and private edifices of great beauty, and is delightfully situated amidst groves and gardens laid out with taste. From thence we travelled through a country capable of all the advantages of cultivation, to Munnea, another town under his former government, and there passed the remainder of the day under a pavilion in the centre of a pleasant garden, not far from a handsome mausoleum without an inscription.

The next day we crossed the bed of the Gumbeer, a very broad river, now without water, which, when full, is passed by a bridge of larger dimensions, but not executed with so much taste as the bridge at Nourabad. This, like all the others we have yet seen, has not the smallest rise in the centre, but is carried on in a straight surface. It consists of twenty arches, each upwards of five yards wide, and the intermediate space of equal breadth; it is well paved and adorned with two minarets at each end. On the north bank of the Gumbeer stands the town of Jajew, where is a serai built by order of Sha Jehan, beyond comparison the most elegant we have yet seen. The entrances are uncommonly grand, each consisting of two minarets, tastefully decorated, with the gate and appropriate ornaments in the centre. On the left is a musjeed, not more remarkable for general beauty than for the delicacy of the stone with which it is built. It is of a pale reddish hue, inlaid with ornaments of light yellow, and white marble.

Soon after leaving the Gumbeer we passed a less considerable river, called the Karra Nuddy, or salt-river, which we were told has its source in a salt lake in the neighbourhood of Jaypoor; but other information attributes the spring to another spot: the water was brackish and disagreeable. From thence we proceeded to Oakwalla, our halting-place for the day, which, to avoid the extreme heat, we passed under the dome of a Mahomedan mausoleum. Near it were two Hindoo tombs; on one of them was sculptured a tiger, on the other a deer. We could gain no intelligence concerning these singular monuments, which were the first of the kind we had met with. From this spot we could discern, by the assistance of a telescope, the most conspicuous buildings

and lofty minarets in the far-famed city of Agra. Thither we marched very early the next morning, and arrived there at daybreak on the ninth of May, after a journey of six hundred and thirty-six miles from Surat, performed entirely on horseback, in fifty-five days including halts, at the hottest season of the year. As Sir Charles Malet preferred riding, we followed his example, though we had the option of using his elephants or our own palanquins.

The country through which we travelled for several days past has presented a melancholy picture, occasioned by a dreadful famine, which had sadly diminished population, and left the survivors in a state of misery. At Gwalier the whole suburbs were strewed with skeletons; from thence to Agra the villages were generally uninhabited, and the land become a wilderness from want of cultivation, but our arrival at Agra presented a scene lamentable beyond conception.

The gloom of the morning veiled the suburbs in a great measure from our observation, and we entered the gates of Agra, or Akber-abad, with the carly dawn; and proceeding through the quarter called Momtazabad, beheld on all sides the most melancholy objects of fallen grandeur: mosques, palaces, gardens, caravansaries, and mausoleums, mingled in one general ruin. Agra had been the frequent subject of our conversation, we had anticipated much novelty, and expected every comfort at the close of our fatiguing journey. These considerations added to the poignancy of disappointment-instead of the spacious squares and frequented streets of a great capital, it was with difficulty and danger we kept our horses on their feet amidst the magnificent, but terrible