328 RIFLE AXD SPEAR WITH THE RAJPOOTS. 



is supposed to bring luck to its possessor. The only other 

 thing of interest is the Raja's bed. It is of solid silver, but 

 without legs, and suspended by silver chains from the ceiling, 

 with the intention of rocking him to sleep. 



In the afternoon there was a game of polo for the Arch- 

 duke, and a big dinner at night, when everybody in the 

 place was asked to meet him. After dinner there was a 

 nautch in the large durbar tent. Jodhpore is celebrated for 

 its nautch-girls and its national dances. Although these 

 dances have little poetry of motion to boast of, they certainly 

 have sonic life and spirit, which is far from being the case 

 with the ordinary Indian nautch. 



There were at least a hundred girls dancing, who moved 

 together with considerable precision, chanting a chorus the 

 while. The savage-sounding music is deepened by a large 

 bass drum, whose constant " boum-boum ! " marks the 

 changes in the measures. Numbers of unkempt, dishevelled- 

 looking men with flaming torches follow every movement of 

 the dancers, advancing and retreating with them, and casting 

 a barbaric glare of light through the smoke and gloom. 

 And when the drum thundered and the women threw up 

 their arms together with a sort of death shriek, the scene 

 was intensely wild and dramatic. 



Like all Rajpoot States, the history of Marwar teems 

 with tales of victory and defeat in its struggles against the 

 Mahommedan invaders, and I believe this dance commemor- 



