172 VIZIER ALLY'S WEDDING. 



The following is a description of the Wedding : 

 " The Nabob had his tents pitched in the plains 

 " near the city of LucJcnow ; among the number, 

 " were two remarkably large, made of strong 

 " cotton cloth, lined with the finest English broad 

 " cloth, cut in stripes of different colours, with 

 " cords of silk and cotton. These two tents cost 

 " five lacs of rupees, or about fifty thousand 

 " pounds sterling. They were each one hundred 

 " and twenty feet long, sixty broad, and the 

 " poles about sixty feet high; the walls of the 

 " tents were ten feet high, partly cut into lattice-' 

 " work for the women of the Nabob's seraglio, 

 " and those of the principal nobility to see 

 " through. His Highness was covered with jewels 

 " to the amount of at least two millions sterling. 



" The shumeeana was illuminated by two 

 " hundred elegant girandoles from Europe, as 

 " many glass shades with wax candles, and se- 

 " veral hundred flambeaux; the glare and re- 

 " flection were dazzling to the sight. Under 

 u this extensive canopy, above a hundred danc- 

 " ing-girls, richly dressed, went through their 

 " elegant but rather lascivious dances and mo- 

 " tions, and sung some soft airs of the country, 

 " chiefly Persic and Hindoo-Persic. 



