drenched nor was this the first injury it had received.

On the 7th, at Nourpour; the residence of the chief of a district of the same name. This town situate on the top of a hill, which is ascended by stone steps, has the appearance of opulence and industry. Towards the south-east the country is open and of a pleasant aspect, to which a winding stream of fine water gives additional beauty. Mountains that have already made my eyes ake, contract the view to the west and north; but these have their uses; and having experienced an essential one, not to give it a place would be ungenerous: The heat of the sun now growing intense, would have been severely felt, had not the wind which came from. the north-west, received a cool refreshing quality from the snows which on that quarter cover the hills; and had it not been for a like favourable situation, the residence in the Bellaspour camp, the remembrance of which makes me shudder, might have proved fatal to us.

ON a plain adjacent to the town of Nourpour, was encamped a Jumbo kafilah, chiefly the property of Sunassees, and consigned to

*Though this sect, conformably to the tenets of their doctrine, ought to renounce or never engage in the affairs of the world, yet many of its members have become merchants, soldiers, and states

men.

the Delhi market. From these people I learned that the chief of Jumbo was much embarrassed in his finances, from a destructive war he had entered into with the Sicques; that to raise supplies, he had levied a general contribution on the inhabitants of the city; and that his exactions had induced many of the principal merchants to abandon the place. The Sunassees had employed in their service two or three Kashmirians, who are men of an universal occupation, and endowed with unwearied patience and activity in the cause of gain. They told me that I should incur a manifest risk in going to Jumbo, at a time, when the appearance of persons of any property, attracted the notice of government: an information then more alarming, as my business at Jumbo required a personal attendance. Whilst I am writing of Nourpour, it may not be superfluous to mention, that a respectable merchant named Daud Khan, a native of the Punjab, resides in that town. He had lived many years at Jumbo, but having felt the oppression of that government, he has taken refuge in Nourpour, where he enjoys, with a moderate security of property, the benefit of a fine air, and a plentiful country; and should any of our countrymen come this way in the Mahometan character, they may be confidently

assured of deriving conveniency, from an acquaintance with Daud Khan.

On the 8th, halted. On the 9th, at the village of Bunguree-eight cosses. My servant, from a cold and a constitutional weakness in his breast, which he said had long afflicted him, was this day scarcely able to walk. I am now fearful that the burthen he was loaded with, was too heavy a one, and I am also to accuse myself of not alleviating its weight, by an exercise of those offices of kindness, which the law of humanity, as well as the usages of servitude, especially in the Asiatic world, obliges a master to shew his servant, the more so if he is a good one; and to say that this follower of my fortunes was not a good servant, would be an unworthy attempt to exculpate, at the expence of his character, my frequent neglect. But should I ever be enabled to recompense his worth, the act shall be classed among those of my best deeds. I used to fortify my occasional dissatisfaction at him, by enlarging too rigorously on the petulance of his temper; but I hold the reason no longer valid, nor will it atone for the compunction I feel, when I recall to my mind the many affectionate services which the honest fellow performed in the course of a laborious journey.

THE districts of Nourpour on the north, are

bounded by the river Rawee; on the east by the Chambay country; on the west by some small Hindoo districts, lying at the head of the Punjab, and by the river Byas; and on the south by Huriepour. The revenues of Nourpour are calculated at four lacks of rupees, and it would seem that it enjoys a state of more internal quiet, is less molested by the Sicques, and governed more equitably than any of the adjacent terri

tories.

On the 10th, at Plassec-ten cosses :-a small village in the Bissouly district. About eight miles to the north-west of Bunguree, and opposite to the fort of Bissouly, crossed the Rawee †, which is about one hundred and twenty yards in breadth, and very rapid. In the ferry-boat were two Sicques going to the fort, of which, a detachment they belonged to, had taken pos session, in consequence of being called in to the assistance of the Bissouly chief. Though this be the invariable result of every connection made with the Sicques, the infatuated mountaineers never fail to seek their aid when engaged in war. A bordering chief had invaded the Bissouly districts, plundered the inhabitants, and burned their villages, before any opposition

* A mountainous territory of large extent.

The Rawee is the Contral Punjab river, and runs near the city of Lahore..

was made. The Sicques were called in to repel the enemy, and defend the fort of Bissouly; but after performing the required service, they became pleased with their new situation, and refused to relinquish it.

A QUICK progress through this-country, and avoiding the track of the Sicques, were strongly, though unnecessarily, recommended to us. The boatman at the ferry of Bissouly, though a brother Mahometan, made an exorbitant demand of hire, which was considerably lessened by the interference of the Sicque horsemen, who saw the imposition, and had only to make known their will to effect obedience. The journey of this evening, solitary and dreary, gave a wrong bent to every spring of the imagination, which sullenly refused to receive one cheerful or pleasing idea. If such did begin to shoot forth, the prospect of a deserted village, a desolate country, immediately destroyed it, and introduced in its stead, those pregnant with the horrors and miseries of war. Great God! that the common evils of life so abundantly heaped on our heads, should not be felt as already too grievous, without the wilful encounter of additional mischiefs! This propensity in the nature of man, indicates a disposition at once destruc. tive of the purposes which he seems designed to