In The Evening, I Was Obliged To Take My Departure Again.

Captain Burdon very kindly offered me the use of his palanquin and the necessary bearers as far as Indos,

But I pitied the people too much, and declared that I did not find travelling on camels unpleasant; that in fact, on account of the open view, that mode was to be preferred to palanquins. However, on account of my little portmanteau, I took a third camel. I left the sepoys behind here. This evening we went eight miles towards the little town Patan.

17th February. It was not till this morning that I saw Patan was situated on a romantic chain of hills, and possesses several remarkably handsome temples, in the open halls belonging to which are placed sculptured stone figures, the size of life. The arabesques and figures on the pillars were sharply executed in relief. In the valleys which we passed through, there was a large quantity of basaltic rock and most beautifully crystallized quartz. Towards evening, we reached Batschbachar, a miserable little town.

18th February. Rumtscha is somewhat larger and better. I was obliged to put up my bed in the middle of the bazaar under an open verandah. Upon this road there were no caravansaries. Half of the inhabitants of the town gathered round me, and watched all my motions and doings with the greatest attention. I afforded them an opportunity of studying the appearance of an angry European female, as I was very much displeased with my people, and, in spite of my slight knowledge of the language, scolded them heartily. They allowed the camels to go so lazily, that although we had travelled since early in the morning until late in the evening, we had not gone more than twenty or twenty-two miles, not faster than an ox- waggon would have gone. I made them understand that this negligence must not happen again. I must now take occasion to contradict those persons who affirm that the camel can travel on the average eighty miles daily, and that even when they go slowly, their steps are very long. I examine every circumstance very accurately, and then form an opinion from my own experience, without allowing myself to be misled by what has been written about it. Before commencing a journey, I observe not only the principal distances, but also those between the individual places, arrange a plan of my journey with the help of friends who are acquainted with the subject, and by this means have the advantage over my driver, who cannot persuade me that we have gone forty or sixty miles, when we have not gone more than half this distance. Moreover, I was able, while travelling from Delhi to Kottah by the ox-waggon, to observe several camel equipages, which I fell in with every evening at the same night station. It is true that I had most excellent oxen, and that the camels were ordinary; but in this journey, with good camels, I did not go more than thirty, or at the utmost, thirty-two miles in the day, and travelled from 4 o'clock in the morning until 6 in the evening, without any other stoppage than two hours at noon.

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Words from 113711 to 114252 of 187810