It was in this very area, now filled with the youth and beauty of Kotah, that the regent exhibited his wrestlers; and it was from the very seat I occupied, that Sriji of Bundi challenged these ruffians to the encounter related in the annals.[[7]] Having sat a quarter of an hour, in obedience to the laws of etiquette, and in courtesy to the son of the Regent, who had come thus far to escort me, we took leave and hastened to get a cup of tea.
Talera,[[8]] September 11.—Two miles north-west of Nanta we passed the boundary of the regent’s estate and the Bundi territory. The roads were good, over a well-cultivated and well-wooded plain, the cotton particularly thriving. Talera is a large [668] village on the margin of a fine clear stream, its banks delightfully wooded, abounding in fish, which even tempted my invalid friends to try their luck. Talera is in the jagir of the wakil who attends me on the part of the Bundi Raja, but is still a heap of ruins, and being on the high road, is open to parties of troops.
Nawagāon, September 12.—The road very fair, though a little winding, to avoid some deep ravines. The land rich, well-watered, and too much wooded; but man is wanting to cultivate the fertile waste. The encamping ground afforded not a single tree to screen us from a scorching sun. We passed two cenotaphs, where Rajputs had fallen; but there was no inscription, and no one could reveal their history.
PALACE AND FORTRESS OF BŪNDI.
To face page 1710.
Būndi, September 13.—The country and roads, as usual, flat, with an apparent descent from Talera to the base of the Bundi range, whose craggy and unequal summits showed it could be no buttress to the tableland with which it unites. The general direction of the range is east-north-east, though there are diverging ridges, the course of which it is impossible to delineate.
As we neared the capital of the Haras, clouds of dust, gradually obscuring the atmosphere, were the first signal of the Raja’s approach: soon the sound of drums, the clangour of trumpets, and tramping of steeds, became audible, and at length the Sandnisawars, or camel-messengers, announced the Raja’s presence. He was on horseback. Instantly I dismounted from my elephant, and although too weak to contend with the fire of my steed Javadia, it would have been an unpardonable sin against etiquette to have remained elevated above the prince. All Javadia’s[[9]] warlike propensities were awakened at the stir of this splendid retinue, from which ever and anon some dashing young Hara issued, “witching the world with noble horsemanship”; and as, in all the various evolutions of the manège, there was not a steed in Rajwara could surpass mine, to my vast inconvenience and no small danger, he determined on this occasion to show them off. In one of his furious bounds, he had his fore-feet on the broken parapet of a reservoir, and as I turned him short, he threw up his head, which came in contact with mine, and made my Chabuk-sawar[[10]] exclaim, “Ali madad!” “The help of Ali!” and a few more bounds brought me in contact with my friend, the Rao Raja, when we dismounted and embraced. After going through the same ceremony with the principal chiefs, he again gave me three fraternal hugs to prove the strength of his friendship, as he said, with blunt sincerity, “This is your home, which you have come to at last.” With other affectionate welcomes, he took leave and preceded me. His retinue was striking, but not so much from tinsel [669] ornament, as from the joyous feeling which pervaded every part of it. As my friend twirled his lance in the midst of about eight hundred cavaliers and fifteen hundred foot, I thought of the deeds his ancestors had performed, when leading such a gol, to maintain their reputation for fealty. It recalled his words on the formation of the treaty, when the generosity of Britain again restored his country to independence. “What can I say, in return for the restoration of my home? My ancestors were renowned in the time of the kings, in whose service many lost their lives; and the time may come when I may evince what I feel, if my services should be required: for myself, my chiefs, are all yours!” I would pledge my existence that performance would not have lagged behind his promise. We allowed a quarter of an hour to elapse, in order to avoid the clouds of dust which a Rajput alone can breathe without inconvenience; and accompanied by my worthy and dignified old friend, the Maharaja Bikramajit, we proceeded to our tents, placed upon the bank of a tank beyond the town.
The Būndi Palace.
It were vain to attempt a description of Bundi, even were I inclined. It was the traitor of Karwar who raised the walls of Taragarh, and it was Raja Budh Singh who surrounded the city with walls, of which Ummed Singh used to say “they were not required against an equal foe, and no defence against a superior—and only retarded reconquest if driven out of Bundi, whose best defence was its hills.”
Illness of Dr. Duncan, September 21.—Partly by business, partly by sickness, we were compelled to halt here a week. Our friend the doctor, who had been ailing for some time, grew gradually worse, and at length gave himself up. Carey found him destroying his papers and making his will, and came over deeply affected. I left my bed to reason with my friend, who refused all nourishment, and was sinking fast; but as much from depression of spirits as disease. In vain I used the common arguments to rouse him from his lethargy; I then tried, as the last resort, to excite his anger, and reviled him for giving way, telling him to teach by example as well as precept. By this course, I raised a tinge of blood in my poor friend’s cheek, and what was better, got a tumbler of warm jelly down his throat; and appointing the butler, Kali Khan, who was a favourite and had great influence, to keep rousing and feeding him, I left him. No sooner was he a little mended, than Carey took to his bed, and nothing could rouse him. But, as time passed, it was necessary to get on; and with litters furnished by the Raja we recommenced our journey.