Far and wide, cultivated land
alternates with heaths and sandy moors, and the miserable villages
or small towns which lie on the road, excite no desire to delay the
journey even for a moment.
A long and handsome chain bridge crosses the Jumna near the town of
Gassanger.
On the 20th of January, at 4 in the afternoon, we reached Delhi.
Here I met with Dr. Sprenger, a very kind and amiable countryman.
Dr. Sprenger, a Tyrolese, has won for himself, by his remarkable
abilities and knowledge, a considerable reputation, not only among
the English, but throughout the whole learned world. He holds the
position of Director of the College in this place, and but a short
time since was requested by the English government to go to Lucknau,
for the purpose of examining the library of the Indian King of
Lucknau, to make known the valuable works, and put the whole in
order. He is a perfect master of the Sanscrit, the ancient and
modern Persian, the Turkish, Arabic, and Hindostanee languages, and
translates the most difficult of them into English and German. He
has already made the most valuable and interesting contributions to
literature, and will still continue to do so, as he is an extremely
active man, and scarcely thirty-four years of age.
Although he was on the eve of his departure for Lucknau, he was,
nevertheless, kind enough to become my Mentor.
