CRITICAL NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 49 



that the Directors of the East India Company were an irresponsible body, 

 independent of, and almost wholly unconnected with, the Government of 

 the mother country. Here again the peculiar circumstances of the case, 

 not only neutralized the greater portion of the evils which might be 

 naturally expected in such a system, but in many instances converted 

 them into positive advantages. To say nothing of the extraordinary 

 secrecy and dispatch which they thus ensured in all their undertakings ; 

 the very circumstance of their having no family nor political connexions 

 to court, no parliamentary majorities to seek, enabled them to select as 

 agents of their power, men recommended solely by their talents and 

 efficiency. It is under such a system as this that have flourished a 

 Malcolm, an Elphinstone, and many others whose names are recorded in 

 the annals of Eastern history with gratitude and admiration. 



And, to go no further than the work before us, we have in their author 

 a remarkable instance of the position we have just advanced. Lieut. 

 Alexander Burnes, a soldier of fortune, recommended solely by the 

 talents he had displayed in some inferior diplomatic situations, was 

 nominated by the Governor-General for two of the most important 

 missions which have ever been entrusted to an individual. And well 

 and faithfully has he executed the task imposed upon him. 



The present volumes are of themselves sufficient evidence that the 

 author possesses considerable intelligence, observation, and perseverance ; 

 but they no less prove that his education and habits fit him rather for 

 leading an expedition than compiling a narrative. 



They certainly contain an immense mass of information relating to 

 countries hitherto almost unknown ; but there is an unconnectedness 

 and want of arrangement throughout, which take away greatly from the 

 interest they would otherwise inspire, and render an analysis of them 

 almost impracticable. At the same time, wherever this want of con- 

 nection occurs, and (we regret to say) it is only too frequent, we are 

 disposed to think that it arises from the omission of some passage con- 

 taining political or other observations which it might have been inex- 

 pedient to publish ; and we, therefore, view it more mildly than we 

 otherwise should have done. Nor is this all. — In defiance, as it were, of 

 all system whatever, our author has chosen to invert the chronological 

 order of his proceedings, and has given to his more recent journey into 

 Bokhara priority over his voyage up the Indus. The reason which he 

 assigns is, that the former possesses greater interest ; we doubt, how- 

 ever, whether his readers will be of the same opinion. With all these 

 defects, however (and they are defects solely of style). Lieutenant 

 Burnes's work will be found invaluable as a book of reference upon 

 every thing connected with the countries he has visited. He has seen 

 much, and observed more, and his narratives bear a stamp of truth 

 rarely to be met with in any work connected with regions so fraught 

 with mystery and fable as those through which he has travelled. 



In the short notice which follows, we shall treat of the two expeditions 

 in the order in which they were undertaken, in preference to that in 

 which our traveller has chosen to describe them, and we recommend his 

 readers to follow the same plan. 



In the year 1830, Mr. Burnes, then political agent in Cutch, was sent 

 on a mission to Lahore, with a present of five large spotted horses from 

 the King of England to Maharaja Runjeet Sing, the Sovereign of the 

 Seik nation. He was accompanied by Ensign Leckie, a surveyor, a 

 native doctor, and their servants. They set off from Cutch in five native 

 boats, and after meeting with considerable difficulties in their attempts 

 to proceed up the western branch of the Indus, they found themselves 



February. — vol, ii. no. vii. h 



