BEAUTY AND BATHOS. 291 



broad river, its darkness broken here and there by the 

 bright reflection of a star. On either side, as far as the eye 

 could reach, a pale green sheen shadowed the wild juno-le. 

 No sound or trace of man was visible, and, except for 

 the melancholy howl of a jackal, the country might have 

 been destitute of animal life. Suddenly the Maharaja's 

 band struck up "Knocked 'em in the Old Kent Road," 

 with much verve and spirit. The bathos was heart- 

 breaking, and the contrast with the weird beauty of the 

 sceue almost made me cry — and the men swear. 



This house has the reputation of being haunted, 

 although I could not discover what form the ghost takes. 

 During the Mutiny the room above us was the scene of 

 a sad tragedy. The then Resident, Captain Burton, and 

 his two children, were murdered in cold blood by a party 

 of rebels. The ringleader was afterwards caught, and 

 hanged in the room where the crime was committed. 



February 10th. — Colonel Wyllie's camp is about forty 

 miles by road from here, and near the Jalra-patan jungles. 

 After breakfast the Raja's carriage came to drive us there, 

 the servants and luggage following in tongas. One of the 

 Kotah nobles, a Rajpoot named Apji Sahib of Paliata (the 

 name of his fief) is coming with us, and has kindly pro- 

 mised to arrange some shooting on the way. 



About ten miles from Kotah we found a tent pitched 



by the roadside, and luncheon ready. There are many 



u 2 



