148 RIFLE AXD SPEAR WITH THE RAJPOOTS. 



We only keep Rahman, who is indispensable ; Khaira, my 

 tiffin coolie ; and Guffara the bheestie, a sort of odd man, 

 not above putting his hand to any work required. 



On Friday we went to see the Fort, and Jumma Musjid. 

 The old citadel of Shah Jehan and abode of Runjeet Singh, is 

 now one of the sights included in " Cook's Tours," and has 

 often been described by far abler pens than mine. The 

 Shish-mahal, or Hall of Mirrors, is a fine room, over one 

 hundred feet long, decorated in the Eastern style with 

 thousands of little looking-glasses, which, set very closely 

 together in tiny panels, entirely cover the walls and ceiliDg. 

 Runjeet Singh's bedroom is a small square apartment, with 

 a fireplace on each of the four sides. Here the " Lion of the 

 Punjab" used to sit, with four blazing fires around to keep 

 out the raw cold of a Lahore winter. 



The Armoury has some curious old weapons. Amongst 

 the fire-arms is a curious old matchlock, some 150 years old, 

 with four revolving chambers. So the revolver was not in- 

 vented in America! Several brass helmets and cuirasses 

 have the Imperial French eagle embossed in front. They 

 are said to have belonged to one of General Ventura's 

 regiments, and were probably bought cheap after the down- 

 fall of the First Empire. The wall decorations of the Jumma 

 Musjid are artistic and effective. On a white ground, 

 bunches of conventional flowers in jars are enamelled in 

 various tones of red with a surrounding arabesque pattern ; 



