588 



LAHORE. 



it is found adhering to the twigs on which it was 

 originally deposited. The seed-lac is the yellowish 

 hard resinous powder, which remains after the red 

 colour of stick-lac has been extracted, as far as it 

 can conveniently be done, by water. Shell-lac is 

 produced from seed-lac, by putting the latter into 

 long cylindrical bags of cotton cloth, melting it by 

 holding the bags over a charcoal fire: and when the 

 lac melts, straining it through the cloth by twist- 

 ing the bags. The lac thus strained is allowed to 

 fall upon the smooth plank of a plantain -tree, and 

 is there spread into thin plates; in this form it is 

 brought to Europe, and is employed in the manu- 

 facture of sealing-wax and varnishes. It forms 

 the basis of the well-known French polish, and is 

 used by hatters in the making of waterproof hats. 



The colouring matter which the stick-lac con- 

 tains, is employed in dyeing; and the deeper the 

 colour of the sample, the better it is for that pur- 

 pose. The colour which it affords, is less brilliant 

 than the scarlet obtained from cochineal ; but it 

 has the advantage of possessing greater durability. 

 It is said, that it may be employed to good pur- 

 pose, by mixing a certain quantity with the cochi- 

 neal, when, if it is not in too large a proportion, 

 the scarlet will be rendered more permanent, with- 

 out losing any thing of its beauty. The lac-colour 

 is preserved by the natives, upon flakes of cotton- 

 wool dipped repeatedly into a strong solution of 

 the lac-insect in water, and then dried. Dr Ban- 

 croft endeavoured, by certain processes, to improve 

 the brilliancy of the colouring-matter of the lac, 

 and he so far succeeded, as to dye several small 

 pieces of cloth of a brilliant scarlet, equal to that 

 produced by cochineal ; but when the experiment 

 w:is tried on a larger scale, from some ill-under- 

 stood cause, it was unsuccessful. 



A very singular use is made of this substance in 

 India ; namely, forming it into grindstones, by the 

 following plan: " Take of river-sand three parts, 

 of seed-lac washed one part, mix them over a fire, 

 and form the mass into the shape of a grindstone, 

 having a square hole in the centre ; cement it to an 

 axis with melted lac, heat the stone moderately ; 

 and while revolving rapidly on its axis, it can be 

 easily formed into a circle." Polishing grindstones 

 are only ' made of such sand as will pass easily 

 through fine muslin, in the proportion of two parts 

 sand to one of lac. Some persons, instead of sand, 

 use the powder of a very hard kind of granite. 

 These grindstones cut very fast. The same com- 

 position is formed upon sticks for cutting stones, 

 shells, &c., by the hand. 



In 1837, the quantity of lac imported, re-ex- 

 ported, and consumed at home, was as follows: 



Imported. Re-exported. Consumption. 



Lar-ifye. Stie'lac. Lac-diie. Shellac. Lac-dye. Shel'ac. 

 1,011,674 2,217,679 133,9.i9 574,391 423,335 574,273 



In 183'2, the specific duty on lac was fixed at 6s. , 

 per hundred-weight. The price of fine lac is from 

 3s. to 4s. per pound, and of shellac from 6 to 7 

 per hundred-weight. 



LAHORE; an extensive province in the north- 

 ern part of Hindostan, lying between the 30th and 

 34th degree of north latitude. It is hounded on 

 the north by Cashmere, on the south by Delhi, 

 Moultan, and Ajmeer, on the east by the moun- 

 tains of Hindostan, and on the west by the Indus. 

 It is about 340 miles in length, and 200 in breadth. 

 It is divided into two districts, called the Punjab 

 and the Kohistan of Lahore. The Punjab is the 

 flat country to the south-west, and is so called 



from the five celebrated rivers by which it is in- 

 tersected ; the Kohistan is the mountainous tract 

 to the north-east. The population of Lahore is 

 estimated by some at about 20,000,000. These 

 consist of Sikhs or Singhs, Jauts, Rajpoots, Hindoos 

 of lower castes, and Mahommedans. In the Pun- 

 jab one-third of the inhabitants are Singhs or 

 Sikhs. On the north-western borders the inhabi- 

 tants are chiefly Afghans. The Punjab is the most 

 fertile portion of Lahore. In it wheat, barley, 

 rice, pulse, sugar and tobacco are cultivated. In 

 some of the districts near the Indus, the manufac- 

 ture of silk goods is extensively carried on, and 

 large quantities annually exported to Cabul and 

 Candahar. White cotton goods, indigo, sugar, and 

 rice are exported to the countries west of the In- 

 dus and to Cashmere, in return for which shawls, 

 various kinds of cloths, and fruits are imported. 

 Horses and camels are exported to the south, in 

 return for which the merchants bring back metals, 

 spices, and European manufactured goods. 



The Sikhs are a sect sprung from Nanak, a na- 

 tive of Lahore, who flourished in the fifteenth cen- 

 tury. Sikh means in Sanscrit disciple. Nanak 

 left two sons, from whom are descended 1400 fami- 

 lies, called Shabzadehs, who are much venerated. 

 The Sikhs have gradually increased in strength. 

 Gooro Govind, who died near the beginning of the 

 last century, new-modelled their government, and 

 trained them into a band of ferocious soldiers, 

 changing their name from Sikh to Singh, signifying 

 a lion. In 1762 and 1763, the Sikhs were almost 

 exterminated by the Afghans, but their undaunted 

 resolution enabled them to overcome their misfor- 

 tunes, and they at last succeeded in acquiring and 

 consolidating their present territories. Up to the 

 beginning of the present century, Lahore was di- 

 vided into a number of petty principalities, who 

 were continually at war with each other. Runjeet 

 Singh, an ambitious chief, amalgamated these into 

 one kingdom, and brought the whole under his 

 authority. His commander in chief was a French- 

 man, General Allard, one of the officers of the old 

 imperial army of Napoleon. General Allard was 

 formerly attached to the staff of marshal Brune. 

 He quitted France at the downfall of Napoleon, 

 with the intention of going to the United States 

 of America, and had already paid for his passage 

 on board one of the frigates of the Union, when 

 he met with an Italian officer, who, like himself, 

 was about to seek his fortune in a foreign clime, 

 and was induced by the Italian to give up his 

 American trip, and go into Egypt. He did so; and 

 met with but a cold reception from the Pacha, and no 

 employment. He then went into Persia, and at 

 Ispahan he was heartily welcomed by the Abbas- 

 Mirza, who conferred upon him the title of colonel, 

 and treated him as such: he promised him the com- 

 mand of a regiment, but failed in his promise. 

 Fortunately for Allard there was at the court of 

 Ispahan an old king of Cabul, whose brother had 

 usurped his throne and deprived him of his sight; 

 this king, an experienced old man, told Allard that 

 in Cabul he would be sure of welcome and em- 

 ployment. Cabul is situated between Persia and 

 the principality of Cachmere. Allard went there, 

 and found in fact that there was a king who could 

 well appreciate the services of an European officer. 

 But scarcely was Allard established in Cabul, when 

 he learnt that there dwelt, two hundred leagues 

 further on, a skilful and bold chief, who was em- 

 ploying all his energies and resources in founding a 



