THE TOUR 335 



to inspect them, and this palace was built for his 

 accommodation. 



But the presence of the court so near them was not 

 at all desired by inhabitants of the mountains, for in 

 the East the presence of the court means oppression. 

 They could not, of course, compel the Emperor to 

 depart, but they devised a scheme by which he might 

 be induced to do so. In the Himalayas, as in the Alps, 

 goitre is very prevalent. The villagers collected a 

 number of women in whom the complaint was strongly 

 developed, and sent them down to the palace. On some 

 pretext or other the women got admission to the 

 zenana. The ladies of the zenana were horrified at the 

 appearance of their swollen throats ; the women, as 

 they had been instructed, informed the ladies that their 

 swollen throats were caused by the water of the region. 

 They also added that if the court remained here the 

 throats of the ladies themselves would before long 

 become the same. Then ensued a scene : the ladies 

 believed the statement, and assailed the Emperor with 

 tears, entreaties, and threats of suicide. In the end the 

 Emperor had to yield, and returned to Delhi. 



Such is the tradition. It is current all over the 

 mountains as well as in the neighbouring parts of the 

 plains; I have over and over again heard it related. 

 Nevertheless a well-educated Mahomedan, the manager 

 of a property near, assured me that there was no truth 

 in the story whatever. The palace, he said, was merely 

 erected, as a compliment to the Emperor, by the noble- 

 man to whom the superintendence of the works of the 

 canal had been committed ; but the Emperor, he said. 



