172 KMIZAN FESTIVAL. 



respects on his arrival. His prayers, however, 

 ended, and liis friends gone, I j^ointed out tlie 

 error that he had committed. '' Oh," replied the 

 poor old Moulavie, who has since been '' gather- 

 ed to his fathers," "I don't suppose it will 

 make much difference in my way to Paradise." 

 The hot weather had fairly set in, and the 

 Indus was nearly at its highest, when a royal 

 salute from the Park of Khyrpoor announced 

 the first glimpse of the new moon of Eamzaii, 

 thus giving notice to all true believers that 

 the festival had commenced. Immediately 

 that the last gun had fired, the artillerymen 

 embraced and offered each other congratula- 

 tions, though whether these had reference to 

 their most holy season, or betokened rejoicing at 

 their own joersonal safety after firing guns of 

 such doubtful strength as those of His High- 

 ness, appeared rather questionable. The Rani- 

 zan, or month of abstinence, fell, when I was at 

 Khyrpoor, at the very hottest time of year, com- 

 mencing on the sixteenth of April, when the 

 thermometer in one of the coolest houses in the 

 town was at 90°, or from that to 100°, daily ; 

 thus, those who conscientiously observe the fast 

 must suffer greatly, as they not only deny 



