nouncing their stated times of prayer, which, conformably to their usage, is proclaimed in a loud tone of voice. A Sicque who in the chase shall have slain a wild hog, is frequently known to compel the first Mahometan he meets to carry to his home the body of the animal; and, on being initiated into the rites of their religion, the Sicques will sometimes require a Mahometan convert to bind on his arm the tusk of a boar, that, by this act of national impurity, he may the more avowedly testify a renunciation and contempt of the tenets of his former faith. These facts will sufficiently mark the haughty and insulting demeanour, which, with few deviations, forms a prominent feature in the character of the military Sicques; but we may also ascribe a certain portion of their severe and contumelious treatment of the Mahometans, to a remembrance of recent injuries.

THE discordant interests which agitate the Sicque nation, and the constitutional genius of the people, must incapacitate them, during the existence of these causes, from becoming a formidable offensive power; nor are they invested with that species of executive strength which is necessary to advance and establish a distant conquest. In the defence and recovery of their country, the Sicques displayed a courage of the most obstinate kind, and manifested a perse

verance, under the pressure of calamities, which bear an ample testimony of native resource, when the common danger had roused them to action, and gave but one impulse to their spirit. Should any future cause call forth the combined efforts of the Sicques to maintain the existence of empire and religion, we may see some ambitious chief led on by his genius and success, and, absorbing the power of his associates, display, from

the ruins of their commonwealth, the standard of monarchy. The page of history is filled with the like effects, springing from the like causes. Under such a form of government, I have little hesitation in saying, that the Sicques would be soon advanced to the first rank amongst the native princes of Hindostan; and would become a terror to the surrounding

states*.

I am,

Dear Sir,

Yours, &c.

*Mhadgee Scindia, a Marhatta chief, by seizing the relics of the Imperial authority and domain, has placed himself in the situation which the Sicques must have been desirous of occupying. This resolution will naturally create a national enmity, perhaps a contest, between the northern branch of the Marhatta empire, and the Sicques.

LETTER XII.

DEAR SIR,

Kashmire, April, 1783.

ON the 17th of April, I left

Jumbo; and, accompanied by a Kashmirian servant, who carried my baggage, I reached the small village of Dunshaulah, after a painful journey on foot, of ten cosses. A review of my feet, too plainly shewed that they had not been proof against the steep and rocky roads I had clambered over; indeed they had suffered so severely by bruises and excoriations, that I could scarcely walk.

HAVING bound up my feet with bandages soaked in oil, I reached, on the 18th, though with difficulty, the village of Nagrolah-five cosses. During these two last days, I paid, at the different custom-houses, certain small fees of office, which were not authorized charges; but being known to be a stranger, and apparently in a condition to satisfy the demand, I was seldom permitted to pass a custom-house unmolested.

Though the lacerations in my feet gave me much pain, especially at the first setting off, I pursued my journey in good spirits, being protected by the quiet disposition of the people, and sure of procuring a good meal in the evenings, with commodious lodging. The first night, we were received into a retail shop, at Dunshaulah, where I slept on my large blanket, and supped on some spiced meat and biscuits, which my Jumbo host had provided: and at Nagrolah we were accommodated by a Mahometan family, who supplied me with a standing bed.

The

On the 19th, at Luttere-eight cosses. latter part of the journey led me up a high and steep hill, and the sun, then at its meridian height, had nearly overpowered me; when, on a sudden, I found myself on a summit, where some charitable Hindoo had erected a small, but a cool, building, plentifully supplied with pots of water. Under this hospitable shade, I was permitted, though a Mahometan, to rest during the day, and to sleep at night. Many Hindoos came in for the benefit of the water and shade, and observing that I was lame, they treated me with an attentive kindness, and dispensed with my rising when any of their principal people entered.

* Called, in the language of the country, Durmsallen, which signifies "A charitable foundation."

1

Is the number of those who came to partake of the charitable uses of this house, was a Mahometan, who, ejaculating his Bismillah, laid himself down, without farther ceremony, in the interior quarter of the apartment. A Hindoo of rank, accompanied by several attendants, entered soon after, and observing that the mendicant had occupied the most convenient as well as honorary place, and that he offered no mark of attention or respect, the Hindoo ordered that his chattels, which were heavy, should be thrown into the road. On exclaiming against this act of ejection, he was told, that though the house was erected for the purpose of common accommodation, with no view of excluding any nation or sect; yet in some cases, as in the present, an observance of précédency and deference was necessary. This anecdote will serve to generally delineate the native difference betwixt the temper of a Hindoo and a Mahometan. What do you think would have been the reception of a Hindoo, particularly of a religious order, had he come into a karavanserah, in a Mahometan country, and thrown his brass pot, his rice, or peas, into an apartment which Mahometans had previously occupied? Could the Hindoo have

An Arabick compound word, signifying "In the name of God."