CONTINUATION OF THE LETTERS. LETTER IX. DEAR SIR, Bellaspour, 22d February, 1783. BEFORE I leave our Indian world, let me, through you, make an acknowledgement for the many cordial marks of friendship, and the kind assistance, I have received, throughout every station in the provinces. The gentlemen of Bengal have been long noted for their hospitable conduct to strangers; and in mine own instance, I can testify that they amply merit the commendation. The reward due to a disposition so happily framed, they enjoy to a large extent; they experience those heart-felt pleasures which arise from the exercise of humane and liberal offices, and which ever convey an abundant recompence for the inconveniences sustained in their gratification.-Having discharged, to the best of my ability, this indispensable duty, I proceed to give you an account of my journey hither. On the 8th of February, I left Rampour, and arrived at Moradabad--ten cosses. This town, standing on the banks of the river Ramgunga, is situated in the Vizier's country, which is separated from the districts of Fyze-ullah, a few miles to the north-west of it, by the river Ramgunga. Moradabad was once a place of distinction; but like many other places which once came under that description in Hindostan, is at this day greatly decayed. Having frequently seen rupees of the coinage of Moradabad, and those of a very general currency, I apprehend that an extensive mint has been established at this place. A hot bath is now amongst the few remains of its grandeur, in which, with great ceremony, I performed the Mahometan ablutions; being received amongst my new brethren, as a Moghul officer, employed in the Vizier's service. On EARLY on the next morning, I left Moradabad, and arrived, under an intensely hot sun, at the village of Aumruah-twelve cosses. the day of my departure from Rampour, I had a complete view of the lofty range of northern mountains, whose summits are covered with perpetual snows they extend nearly in a parallel from east to west, and form, I should imagine, the northern barrier between Hindostan and Thibet. To know the opinion of the people concerning this extraordinary appearance, I enquired of a fellow traveller, the cause of so conspicuous a whiteness. He said, that it proceeded from a particular sort of clay, with which the hills in that quarter were covered. I soon perceived that the task of explaining the real cause would have been equally arduous with an attempt of making him acquainted with the properties of the magnetic needle; so, expressing my surprise at the singular quality of the earth, I left him, flattered, no doubt, with the importance of his communication. The most striking object to be seen at Aumruah, is the body of a notorious robber, which, suspended by the heels from a tree, affords an useful spectacle of terror. Travelling is by no means attended with danger in this part of India, as may be proved by my example for in no part of the roads from Benares to this place, though chiefly alone, did I meet with impediment or ill usage; and I should hold myself guilty of an injustice, did I not unreservedly declare, that the inhabitants treated me with civility, and, usually, with kindness. ON the 11th, at Chandpour - 12 cosses. Finding the want of a servant subjected me to various inconveniences, especially from the dislike of the Serauce-keepers to rub down my horse, which is, I believe, the only scruple they entertain, I took into my service an old soldier, who by his own story had been engaged in many a fell encounter: nor did his figure belie it, for, amongst the numerous desperate marks of his profession, he bore one on his face which had wholly excavated the right eye. Cosses. On the 11th, at the village of Burroo-twelve This place affords no public accommodation for passengers: but the pompous language of the old warrior, who intitled me a Moghul officer of the Vizier's, going to join the army then forming against the Sicques, procured a hospitable reception; nor did he fail to reap the advantage of our borrowed character. On the 12th, at Najebabad-eleven cosses. Najeb-ud-Dowlah*, who built this town, saw that its situation would facilitate the commerce of Kashmire, which having been diverted from its former channel of Lahore and Delhi, by the inroads of the Sicques, Marhattas, and Afghans, took a course through the mountains at the head of the Punjab, and was introduced into the Rohilla country through the Lall Dong pass. This inducement, with the desire of establishing a mart for the Hindoos of the adjacent mountains, probably influenced the choice of this spot; which otherwise is not favourable for the site of *The chief who has been already mentioned in the Rohilla traet. a capital town, being low, and surrounded with swampy grounds. About a year after the death of this chief, the fort of Majeb Ghur, which is contiguous to the town, was attacked by the Marhattas, who had compelled Shah Alum, the reigning emperor, to accompany their army. The garrison made a good defence, and would not, it is said, have surrendered, had Zabitah Khan, the son of Najeb-ud-Dowlah, then lying in the nighbourhood with a respectable force, moved to its assistance. But without offering to face the enemy, or throw any relief into the fort, he crossed the Ganges, and sought shelter in Ghous Ghur. Since that period, or rather since the death of its founder, Najebabad has fallen from its former importance, and seems now chiefly upheld by the languishing trade of Kashmire. A SMALL karavanserah, the only one in the place, being occupied, I thought myself fortunate in getting admittance into a cook's shop, where kabaubs* and stewed beef were dressed in savoury taste, and all the news-mongers, idlers, politicians, and disbanded soldiers, of the quarter, resort. Whilst I was eating my mess, a boy came in and asked, if any tra Meat minced and dressed in the manner of what culinary language calls forced-meat balls: but kabuub, in a general sense, is any roasted food. |
