246 RIFLE AND SPEAR WITH THE RAJPOOTS. 



jolly little fellow, and speaks English perfectly. Colonel 

 Fraser is his guardian, and the little Raja seems devoted 

 to Mrs. Fraser. 



Friday. — Early this morning we went to see the 

 Raja's performing horses. Some are taught to step ex- 

 travagantly high, raising their knees above their noses. 

 Another walked, and danced on his hind legs. Then 

 came one taught to jump over nothing ; that is, he 

 gallojied down the road and, with a word from his rider, 

 jumped up as if a gate were before him, then a brook, or 

 a flight of hurdles, just as he was told. 



The man who trained and rode the horses hardly gives 

 one the idea of the conventional wiry rough-rider. On 

 the contrary he is enormously stout, with a pair of calves 

 which in England would be the despair of a top-boot maker. 

 One dear little pony came up to us by itself, then sat down 

 like a dog, and " gave us its paw." Presently the black 

 bucks and fighting rams came out for a walk, each solemnly 

 led by an attendant, and clothed with a thick rug to 

 protect it against a chill. The men, too, were wrapped 

 and muffled in blankets, and shivered at the fresh morn- 

 ing air. It was not really cold, but a native never seems 

 thawed till the sun is well up. 



The old palace of the Maharajas is situated in the 

 town, a short drive from here, through an avenue of fine 

 trees, which leads up to an arched gateway forming the 



