174 THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST, 



fine arts ) he had In his possession a larcre number of" 

 English musical boxes, clocks, watches, and other similar 

 machines, many of which were damaged or broken. I 

 assured him I had no doubt my brother would willingly 

 respond to his invitation, and that I would myself provide 

 for his family, which would remain in Europe. The maha- 

 rajah at once requested me to send for my brother, and to 

 take the necessary steps for his voyage, &c., and several 

 times subsequently made many Inquiries as to whether I 

 had sent, and if he would come, whether he was on his way, 

 and whether he might soon expect to see him. The urgency 

 of these reiterated requests was sucb, that I strongly soli- 

 cited my brother to accede to the maharajah's desire ; and 

 he accordingly set out on his journey from Kronstadt to 

 Lahore. Arrived at the isthmus of Suez, he heard, to his 

 consternation, of the murder of the maharajah and his 

 wuzeer, and of the other horrid massacres in the capital, 

 which I have before described. He continued his journey, 

 however, and arrived at Ferozepore, on the boundary of the 

 Punjab, in the beginning of February, 1814 ; which, as the 

 reader may recollect, was the epoch when Heera Sing was 

 the powerful wuzeer of the young maharajah Dulleep Sing, 

 and the time when all Europeans were dismissed from the 

 service of the Sikhs and sent from the country. I was my- 

 self at that time severely 111 ; and the minister, having heard 

 that no hope of my recovery was entertained, permitted 

 my brother to pass the frontier and visit me at Lahore ; 

 thus verifying the proverb, that "out of evil, good cometh." 

 On the very day on which my brother arrived at Lahore, 

 my recovery commenced ; but whether this was due to the 

 pleasure I derived from his arrival, or a new remedy 1 had 

 employed on that day, I am unable to say ; both clauses, 

 possibly, assisted In producing that result. My illness had 

 probably been for some time slumbering In the system, for 

 I had previously been using, as a beverage, a wine made 

 from Cabul raisins and sugar, which had not been properly 

 fermented ; and this may very likely have laid the founda- 

 tion of the disease I ara about to describe. After havips 



