گرفت

الله

The father replied; we are told that a Dervish was passing through a forest, and reflecting on the gracious mercy and providence of God. All at once he cast his eye upon a swift flying and royal falcon, which held a piece of flesh in his talons, and was making the circuit of a particular tree; and at every turn it would with a a scream of exultation hover over a bird's nest, that happened to be in that tree. Struck with what he saw, the holy man stood some time admiring it; when he at last discerned a rook lying in that nest, that had neither wings nor plumage; and the falcon was tearing the flesh into morsels, and would drop at every round as much of it into the rook's mouth, as it could conveniently swallow. The man exclaimed, praise be to God! only mark the paramount divine goodness and infinite benevolence, that does not overlook the means of supplying with daily food a naked and unfledged rook, which in this state out of the corner of a nest has not the ability of moving or providing for itself:

Thus Sadi:

"The wide expanse of the earth is the common table of all, at this munificent board friend and foe are welcome; wide and universal is the table of the bounty of Providence spread, that the Simorgh (or ideal bird equal in size to thirty birds) has his portion amidst the barren clifts of the Caucasus." Accordingly with me, who am never at rest from seeking after food, and having turned my face towards the desert of covetousness, am able after a thousand stratagems to lay my hand on a single loaf of bread, it in some measure implies an imbecility of faith, a distrust of Providence ;

Thus Nizami :

"Providence having become the surety of my daily provision, how long am I

to wander about like a vagabond; with an exulting heart I can raise my voice and cry, whatever it may be, such is my portion and enough." It were more decent, that henceforth I should rest the head of contentment on the knee of retirement, and draw the blot of idleness across the page of labor and industry :-" for our daily bread is from the most High and Almighty."-Having after this washed his hands of the wordly means of providing for himself, he withdrew into a corner, and fixt his guileless heart on the disinterested bounty of the causer of causes, or omnipotence :-"fix not your heart on the cause, nor forsake the causer."-For three nights and days he sat immoveable within the cell of seclusion, and saw no prospect of relief; but was every moment getting more emaciated and weak, till he at length became so feeble and dejected, that the zealous devotee dwindled into a state of dotard imbecility, and neglected altogether the daily ritual of worship and piety. The most High Judge deputed the prophet of his time, and sent a message with a harsh reprehension to him, saying; oh my devoted servant! I have laid the basis of the world on motives and causes ; and though my Providence may ordain an event without any intervening cause, yet has my wisdom deemed it expedient, that most of the concerns of this life should be effected and accomplished through some motives, and from this reason the custom of giving and receiving might acquire confirmation therefore it is more proper, that you should be the medium of conferring a benefit on another, than that you should derive a benefit from him :-"roam abroad like the falcon, that you may prey on game and feed the hungry, and be not that wretched parasite of a rook destitute of wings and plumage."

Sadi says:

And Mulovi Mànove adds:"In resigning yourself to pious habits, be not negligent of getting yourself a livelihood; listen to the holy text, that the artisan is the beloved friend of God: if if you are inclined to godly habits, let it be in the midst of business, first be industrious and then place your confidence on omnipotence."

It might have been remarked in my translation of the Preface of the Anwari Sohailī in my last essay, how artfully the author proposed to familiarise his readers to the Koran by interlarding his stories with texts from that book; which our critics, and even many of our best writers and translators of oriental works have got into a habit of calling a rhapsody; but if they understood it in the original they would avoid this

cant, and be convinced that few books contain within the same compass, wiser maxims of public government and domestic policy told with all that vigor and elegance, to which the Arabic language is so capable of giving utterance, and of which in the above apologue there are three respectable examples. From all the above three apologues it will appear, that a man's belief in his predetermination to good and evil does not exclude the precautions of practical prudence, or the exertions of a vigilant industry and anticipating foresight; for he will find, as practically inculcated in many oriental parables, that in the affairs of this life Providence usually operates by human agency; and that though the will of the creature is by inscrutable means rendered subservient to the designs of the Creator, yet it is in such a manner as not to exclude individual responsibility for individual acts.

کر چه کسي بي

"Though our apportioned lot must be forthcoming whether we seek after it or not, yet is it incumbent on our good sense to ask the road that leads to it : though none will die without the decree of fate, yet you must not walk into the mouth of a dragon."

Thus could a Sadi adapt that grand tenet of his faith to the

usage of common life and opinion, and not seem that downright necessitarian, a Doctor Priestley, and other able champions of the Christian faith have been among us:-but I have exceeded my bounds and must abruptly sign myself

GULCHIN.

and the monk said, "send a person to him," and his majesty came with a cloud shadowing him; and when he came near the people who had seated themselves under the shade of a tree he also sat down, and the shade of the tree inclined towards him.

Abutalib said, "I was with the prophet at Mecca, and we came out to the environs, and his majesty did not go near a hill or tree, but said, 'peace be to thee, oh messenger of God!'

nun was compensated by a fine of fifty rupees, and that of a monk or Gelum by one of sixty.

August 14th.-Halt at Tírtápúri. Thermometer 38°. A report current amongst the Juáris and Dharmis, that the Gorkhali governor of Srinagar has written, that he understands two Europeans have gone by the Niti, and two others by the Dharma pass, into the Undés. He desires information may be conveyed to him as to who they are, and with what intention they are going.

Some Juáris whom we here met were concerned in the transaction respecting conveying shawl-wool to Belebré fair for Mr. Gillman, which had excited the attention of the Latákhis, caused their complaint to the Garpan, and his severe edict against the clandestine sale of this article. One man told me that he had been seized by Amhed Khan, the Latákhí, for having a small quantity in his possession, which he said he was about to make into pankhis. This day I was much indisposed with fever.

August 15th.-Thermometer 44°. March at 9h 30': at four thousand seven hundred paces come to an ascent of high table land. At five thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, a large river, supposed to issue from Ráwanhrad, joins the Térat river, at S. 30 E. distant 14 mile, the little stream falls into it here likewise. The stream resulting from this junction now takes the name of the Sutudrá. At six thousand three hundred and twentyfive arrive at some mud temples, with many caves in the rocks, shewing the place to have been once a winter resort of the Uniyas but now deserted. A violent storm of wind, thunder and lightning, hail and rain, now sets in and lasts till nearly an hour.-Rains again at sun-set. Thermometer 59°. Find two Juáris encamped here on the road to Klen-lung: one of these traders reproached us with spoiling their market, by selling our goods at too low a rate. The Juáris have hitherto been the principal medium through which the Uniyas have received, since the conquest of the hills by the Gorkhálts, the produce of Hindústdn and European merchandize ; and they have sold their wares at so high a rate, as to have confined the demand to a

few rich individuals, such as the Garpan, Débas, and Nerbas.

August 16th.-Thermometer 45o. March at 8h 30'. River remaining close to the left. The low warm swampy land in the vales about Tírtápúrí gives a grass, which is cut and carried as hay for winter provision, for the horses of the Garpan, and the people of Kien-lung, Dábá and Dúmpú. The grain called Awa-jau raised in Teekla-kote is also given to them during the rigorous season, and said to be hearty food. As this grain grows in a rigorous climate, it is worth while to send some to Britain for the use of the inhabitants of the western isles.

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At five thousand two hundred and eighty paces, reach a steep rocky pass of a stone laminated, rolled and whirled as at Tírtápúri, and apparently bound by the same agency. At five thousand six hundred, broken ground presents appearances similar to those in which gold dust is found. At five thousand seven hundred and forty immense masses of broken rock of a brown colour, much veined with quartz, in the cavities of which is much rock crystal; that, which is small, generally transparent and regular in form the large crystals ordinarily discoloured, full of flaws, and fractured or shivered. At six thousand seven hundred and thirty seven, water drips over an inclined plain of rock and tastes salt and nauseous. At seven thousand one hundred and seventyeight, hot-water flows from the rock and covers the edges of its course with stony concretion of a yellowish colour. At nine thousand four hundred and sixty-five reach a good sankho over the Setlej, about fifteen paces long and four feet broad. On the right bank a natural fountain throws hot-water a foot above its level, the edges of which are covered with a compact, hard, white tufa, at a distance looking like ice. Come to our ground at 4h 10': wait in a cave till our baggage arrives. Have this day come nine thousand seven hundred and sixty-five paces, and encamp in a hollow surrounded by rocks formed by hot-water, opposite to the town of Kien-lung, situated on the spires of rock on the right bank of the Setlej distant of a mile. The road of to-day has been of a very rugged description; and the yaks with the wool and baggage were

obliged to make a circuitous route over the tops of the hills, in order to prevent the loads being knocked off by the stones which projected from the sides of the path that we took. Yet, notwithstanding, many of the loads fell, and at night it was discovered that the sirkar's bundle was missing, along with a small packet of Cashmir saffron which I had bought from the Latákhí agent.

The whole of the country, from Tírtá. púri to Kien-lung or Chinglung, exhibits abundant proof of the presence of minerals, and the rocks teem with springs of hot-water, impregnated with various mineral and saline substances, which we had neither leisure nor means to analyse. The springs of Tirtápúri seem charged with calcareous matter alone, which in process of time becomes lime stone, marble, and calcareous spar. Near Kien-lung, the hot-water contains calcareous matter mixed with salts. Still nearer to this town it is charged with iron; and opposite to Kein-lung is a cavern into which drips water highly charged with sulphuric acid. This cavern is about twelve feet in breadth at its mouth, five feet high, and about fourteen feet in depth, from the entrance to the back part. The floor consists of projections of calcareous matter mixed with sulphur, and cavities or pools of water about four feet deep, transparent, highly charged with sulphur. Hot sulphureous vapour issues through numerous holes in the floor, and a person is thrown into perspiration almost immediately, without his breathing being incommoded, by the sulphur steam, provided he stand upright but he is seized with coughing and a sense of suffocation, if he crouch on the floor, as happened to a Hindu who sat down. This occurs likewise in the grotto dei cani, and arises merely from the specific gravity. of the sulphureous gas being greater than that of the atmospheric air, with which it does not mix with celerity. The sides of the cavern were formed by calcareous matter, and flour of sulphur, in some places straw colour, in others of a deep brimstone hue. The proportion of brimstone to the other material is nearly two to one. The side is so soft, that it may be scooped off by the hand, and is a little moist. It is rubbed into powder with ease, and then mixed with oil which

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unites with the sulphur, and the calcareous matter subsides. Coal has not yet been found by the natives; and fuel is only afforded by the furze in small quan tity. If fuel were plentiful, I apprehend that many hundreds of tons of sulphur might be obtained from this cavern and the immediately surrounding calcareous rock; which, even where white, is highly charged with sulphur. Immediately in front of the mouth of the cavern, and forming as it were its threshhold, is a mound of calcareous stone, through chinks of which spring many jets of hot water perfectly transparent, and of a smell and taste very similar to that of Harrowgate. The vast walls and masses of rock which have been formed by the action of hot springs in this neighbourhood, shew an antiquitity that baffles research and would afford food for sceptics.

The town of Kien-lung, consisting of about a hundred small houses, built of unburnt bricks painted grey and red, is situated upon the summit of a cluster of spires or natural pillars of indurated clay, in the face of high banks of the same material, which overtop it by at least a hundred feet, whilst the town itself is at least two hundred feet above the bed of the river, and in a retiring angle. This kind of situation seems particularly affected by the Unias for their winter retirements ; and the preference is founded upon judicious principles; for, from the conical shape of the pinnacles which form the foundation of the houses, the snow slips from them and falls into the valley below, the height of the rocks behind guards them from the force of the winds which sweep over the summits of the hills, and the elevation of the town above the level of the plain prevents the inhabitants from feeling the blasts which frequently rush along the course of the river, with a violence which can scarcely be conceived. At present, from this being the season most favourable for pasturage, the greatest part of the inhabitants here have left the town and gone to a distance with their flocks and herds.

August 17th.-Thermometer 429. Four men were dispatched before day-break in search of the sirkar's bundle, which they found, and returned by nine o'clock: however, as the servants had begun to