Letter from Lahore.
On the 13th of July, a deputation from the Kardar of Kot Kamalia waited on us with presents of fruit, &c., and a sum of 1100 rupees. A letter was brought, at the same time, from the Maharaja, expressive of his great satisfactionat our approach. The epistle was flowery to a degree seldom met with even in the Persian language; and filled with similes about gardens, roses, zephyrs, and fountains. Every word of a letter which I had addressed to his Highness was declared to be a bud of everlasting friendship; and every letter of every word was a blown rose! But the document would require a translation, and that, perhaps, it does not deserve.
Religious wars of the Seiks.
Neither the congratulations nor munificence of the Maharaja could keep our people well: they were attacked with whitlow; and there were no less than seven or eight of them laid up at once with that painful complaint. They themselves ascribed it to the water; but I was rather disposed to attribute it to a want of it and exercise; for they had had a voyage of longer duration than a trip from India to England. We now entered the country of the Seiks. All these people are either soldiers or husbandmen, like the Romans of old. They were very communicative; and described with much ardour the campaigns in which they have fought, and their collision with the bigoted Euzoofzyes across the Indus. I should hardly expect to be credited if I recorded many of the circumstances that have been communicated to me, and the number of people that have fallenin these religious wars. The Euzoofzyes entertain such hatred for the infidel Seiks, that they often declare themselves “ghazee,” and devote their lives to their extinction; believing that the death of one of them is more meritorious than that of any other unbeliever. As the Seik religion arose some hundred years after Mahommed, they are not certainly supported by their prophet. To use an expression of the Seiks, the Euzoofzyes “laugh at death.” It has been justly remarked, that we know little and care less for the history of such transactions, when we have no connection with the parties concerned.
Deputation.
In the evening of the 15th we reached Changa, about twenty-five miles from Lahore, and were received by a deputation from the Maharaja, consisting of two Seik Sirdars, and Noorodeen Fakeer, of a Mahommedan family enjoying trust and influence at Court. The meeting, as was requested, took place on elephants, five of which bore the magnates and ourselves. Each individual delivered a purse of money in gold and silver, and, by his Highness’ desire, asked for the health of the King of England, and the period that had elapsed since we left London: for the Maharaja, it seemed, believed us to have been deputed from the royal footstool. I replied as circumstances required. The principal Seik, by name Sham Sing, presented a bow.The party also produced a letter from the Maharaja, mentioning that they had been instructed to congratulate us on our arrival, and use every expression which could be pleasing to the sense; and a tissue of flattery ensued, which I confess my inability to describe.
“The seasons,” said the Fakeer, “have been changed to aid your safe arrival; and when it should have rained, the sun shines; but it is the sun of England. You must now consider yourselves at home, and in a garden, of which you are the roses; that such a friendship had now grown up between the British and the Seiks, that the inhabitants of Iran and Room would hear it proclaimed in their distant dominions; that light had succeeded darkness when we merged from the barbarians of Sinde, and that its genial influence had changed the bud into the rose.” I should exhaust a vocabulary if I recorded all his expressions. I replied as well as I could in the same style, asking after the Maharaja’s health; and assured the deputation of our satisfaction at the kindness and attention which we had received in the Seik dominions. Before taking leave, I showed the party the horses, with which they were delighted.
Escort.
The Sirdars brought an escort of lancers and Seik cavalry: the latter party were entirely dressed in yellow, and had just returned withSham Sing from the campaign against Syud Ahmed, who had long carried on a fanatical war in this country, and had been lately killed.
Among the party, a boy was pointed out, who had been nominated to the command held by his fallen father,—a Seik rule admirably calculated to feed the military spirit of their nation. We rode among them, evidently much to their delight, and to our own amusement. The chiefs wore many valuable jewels; but these ornaments did not become the wrists and brows of such warriors.
Seik ladies.
We had now an opportunity of seeing the Seik ladies, who are not less peculiar in their appearance than their husbands. They knot the hair at the crown, and throw a white robe over it, which entirely envelopes the body, and gives a conical shape to the head. They pull up the hair so tight to form this knot, that the skin of the forehead is drawn with it, and the eyebrows are considerably removed from the visual organ. As may be imagined, this fashion does not improve their personal appearance, yet it is general among all classes of the females. The Seik ladies are not so handsome as their husbands; their features are sharp and regular. They are not confined to their houses as strictly as the Mahommedan women; for the Seiks, in matrimony as well as religion, differ widely from the followers of the Prophet.
In the evening of the 16th, we had a second visit from the deputation of yesterday, who brought us a sum of 700 rupees, with an announcement from the Maharaja that that amount had been fixed on as our daily allowance during our further stay in the Punjab. I accepted the sum, but did not consider it proper to allow of such wasteful munificence being in future continued.
At noon, on the 17th of July, we came in sight of the lofty minarets of the King’s mosque at Lahore, and might have reached the ancient capital of the Moghul empire, and the termination of our protracted voyage; but the ceremonial of ourentréerequired arrangement, and we halted three or four miles from the city, at the earnest request of our conductors. As the sun set, I saw, for the first time, the massy mountains which encircle Cashmere, clothed in a mantle of white snow. I felt a nervous sensation of joy as I first gazed on the Himalaya, and almost forgot the duties I owed to our conductors, in contemplating these mighty works of nature.