106 THE HUNTING GROUNDS 



niing eyes glancing througli their glossy raven hair, 

 gave them, in my eyes, an interest which the colder 

 beauties of northern climates have never raised. 

 Gentle reader, have you ever visited the land of the 

 sun? If so, you, too, must have marked that 

 languid, expressive voluptuousness issuing forth 

 from the gazelle-like eyes of her daughters, which 

 you seek for in vain in other less favoured lands. 

 You, too, may have been captivated by some one of 

 the many fair maidens of Hind ; and, perhaps, as 

 you have gazed intensely into the depths of her dark 

 and ever-changing eyes, which, sparkling with their 

 brightness, lovingly refracted back your own, you 

 have felt they spoke a language your heart has well 

 understood ; and perhaps at such a time, as you have 

 gently put away those thick jet-black and glossy 

 tresses from her fair brow, you have whispered softly 

 in her ear, " Mera Jan, tera waste mera dil panee ho 

 gia ! " (My life ! on account of you my heart has 

 become water;) and when her fond, expressive glance 

 has met your gaze, and she has twined her snow- 

 white arms around your neck, you have " ta'en her 

 answer from her murmuring lips," and felt, as you 

 pressed her delicate and yielding form the closer to 

 your bosom, that e'en the much lauded beauty of 

 your own loved though far-distant land was cold 

 and tame compared to hers. But I am wandering, 

 and bygone scenes and happy days passed long ago 

 in those fair lands " flit o'er my mind like blissful 

 summer's dreams," and as my thoughts veer back 



